U.S. patent application number 14/339932 was filed with the patent office on 2014-11-13 for system and method for facilitating on-line payment.
This patent application is currently assigned to EWISE SYSTEMS PTY LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is EWISE SYSTEMS PTY LTD.. Invention is credited to Mark Chazan, Alexander Grinberg, Michael Kontorovich, Colin Reyburn.
Application Number | 20140337228 14/339932 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31954266 |
Filed Date | 2014-11-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140337228 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Grinberg; Alexander ; et
al. |
November 13, 2014 |
System and Method for Facilitating On-Line Payment
Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and method for
facilitating on-line payment particularly for goods or services
purchased via a merchant site on the Internet. The system enables
payment from an existing customer account at a financial
institution, but does not require the user to provide credit card
details. The payment is implemented in real-time from the customer
account to a merchant account via a financial institution
application such as an Internet banking website. An interface is
provided which is initiated via the merchant site and which then
interfaces the customer computer to the financial application
having access to the customer computer's account. The customer can
then enter payment details directly with the financial institution
to pay the merchant directly for the transaction.
Inventors: |
Grinberg; Alexander; (North
Sydney, AU) ; Kontorovich; Michael; (North Sydney,
AU) ; Reyburn; Colin; (North Sydney, AU) ;
Chazan; Mark; (North Sydney, AU) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
EWISE SYSTEMS PTY LTD. |
North Sydney |
|
AU |
|
|
Assignee: |
EWISE SYSTEMS PTY LTD.
North Sydney
AU
|
Family ID: |
31954266 |
Appl. No.: |
14/339932 |
Filed: |
July 24, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10561699 |
May 15, 2006 |
8825545 |
|
|
14339932 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/44 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/40 20130101;
G06Q 20/382 20130101; G06Q 20/027 20130101; G06Q 20/10 20130101;
G06Q 20/42 20130101; G06Q 20/04 20130101; G06Q 20/12 20130101; G06Q
30/04 20130101; G06Q 20/26 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/44 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/40 20060101
G06Q020/40; G06Q 20/42 20060101 G06Q020/42; G06Q 20/02 20060101
G06Q020/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 25, 2004 |
WO |
AU2004/000846 |
Claims
1. An online payment process comprising connecting a customer
computing system to a computing system controlled by a financial
institution responsive to a purchase selection received via a
merchant website, making accessible to the customer computing
system an account interface that facilitates selection of a
customer controlled account from a plurality of customer controlled
accounts, the selection designating, for payment of a purchase fee
defined by the merchant website, a customer controlled account
maintained by the financial institution, receiving payment
confirmation from the financial institution controlled computing
system following transfer of the purchase fee from the financial
institution directly to an account specified by the merchant
website, and transferring the payment confirmation to the merchant
website without intervention from the customer computing
system.
2. The process of claim 1 comprising transferring payment data,
including a purchase fee and a merchant account for payment of the
purchase fee, from the merchant website to the financial
institution controlled computing system.
3. The process of claim 1 comprising receiving an institution
selection from the customer computing system that designates a
financial institution for payment of the purchase fee.
4. The process of claim 1 comprising transferring a security device
directly from the customer computing system to a financial
institution application hosted by the financial institution
controlled computing system to authenticate the customer computing
system.
5. The process of claim 4 comprising interfacing the customer
computing system with the account interface via the financial
institution application responsive to authentication of the
customer computing system via the security device.
6. The process of claim 1 comprising facilitating authorisation of
payment, by the customer computing system, from the selected
customer controlled account to an account specified by the merchant
website, the payment authorisation authorising the financial
institution to transfer the purchase fee directly from the selected
customer controlled account to the account specified by the
merchant website.
7. The process of claim 1 comprising transferring payment
authorisation from the customer computing system to the financial
institution controlled computing system and payment confirmation
from the financial institution controlled computing system to the
merchant website in real-time.
8. The process of claim 1 comprising making accessible to the
customer computing system, for each of the customer banking
accounts accessible via the account interface, an account balance
that represents the funds available from the respective
account.
9. The process of claim 1 comprising initiating a dedicated
financial institution active agent gateway that connects the
customer computing system directly to an online banking interface
provided by the financial institution controlled computing system
responsive to a financial institution selection from the customer
computing system.
10. An online payment system comprising a transaction computing
system having a processor and memory containing instructions that
are executable by the processor to connect a customer computing
system to a computing system controlled by a financial institution,
the instructions being executable responsive to a customer purchase
selection received via a merchant website to cause the transaction
computing system to make accessible, to the customer computing
system, an account interface that facilitates selection of a
customer controlled account from a plurality of customer controlled
accounts, the selection designating, for payment of a purchase fee
defined by the merchant website, a customer controlled account
maintained by the financial institution, the transaction computing
system being configured to receive payment confirmation from the
financial institution controlled computing system following
transfer of the purchase fee from the financial institution
directly to an account specified by the merchant website, and
transfer the payment confirmation to the merchant website without
intervention from the customer computing system.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to transfer payment data,
including a purchase fee and a merchant account for payment of the
purchase fee, from the merchant website to the financial
institution controlled computing system.
12. The system of claim 10 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to receive an institution
selection from the customer computing system that designates a
financial institution for payment of the purchase fee.
13. The system of claim 10 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to transfer a security
device directly from the customer computing system to a financial
institution application hosted by the financial institution
controlled computing system to authenticate the customer computing
system.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to interface the customer
computing system with the account interface via the financial
institution application responsive to authentication of the
customer computing system via the security device.
15. The system of claim 10 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to facilitate
authorisation of payment, by the customer computing system, from
the selected customer controlled account to an account specified by
the merchant website, the payment authorisation authorising the
financial institution to transfer the purchase fee directly from
the selected customer controlled account to the account specified
by the merchant website.
16. The system of claim 10 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to transfer payment
authorisation from the customer computing system to the financial
institution controlled computing system and payment confirmation
from the financial institution controlled computing system to the
merchant website in real-time.
17. The system of claim 10 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to make accessible to the
customer computing system, for each of the customer banking
accounts accessible via the account interface, an account balance
that represents the funds available from the respective
account.
18. The system of claim 10 wherein the instructions are executable
to cause the transaction computing system to initiate a dedicated
financial institution active agent gateway that connects the
customer computing system directly to an online banking interface
provided by the financial institution controlled computing system
responsive to a financial institution selection from the customer
computing system.
19. An online payment process comprising connecting a customer
computing system to a computing system controlled by a financial
institution, responsive to a purchase selection received via a
merchant website, making accessible to the customer computing
system an account interface that facilitates selection of a
customer controlled account maintained by the financial
institution, the account interface facilitating payment of a
purchase fee from the financial institution directly to an account
specified by the merchant website.
20. The process of claim 19 comprising initiating a dedicated
financial institution active agent gateway that connects the
customer computing system directly to an online banking interface
provided by the financial institution controlled computing system
following a financial institution selection from the customer
computing system.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the priority of, and hereby
incorporates by reference, non-provisional application Ser. No.
10/561,699 filed May 15, 2006; which is a U.S. National Phase of
International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/AU2004/000846,
filed Jun. 25, 2004, which claims priority to Australian Patent
Application No. 2003903229, filed Jun. 25, 2003.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a system and method for
facilitating on-line payment and particularly, but not exclusively,
to a system and method for facilitating on-line payment for goods
and/or services purchased via a network based merchant site.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] One of the major barriers to user uptake of on-line shopping
is the lack of or at least perceived lack of security in relation
to the provision of payment details, such as credit card numbers,
to merchant sites. There is such a reluctance to provide credit
card or debit card details to merchants that surveys carried out in
relation to on-line shopping have determined that anywhere between
25% and 75% of customers abandon their "shopping carts" without
completing purchase.
[0004] There are other reasons for non-completion of purchase apart
from customers not trusting merchant sites with their credit card
details. These include the fact that not all on-line consumers have
credit cards, and, for those with credit cards, credit limits may
have been reached.
[0005] Customer initiated direct debit is known for on-line payment
of bills, such as utility bills, and for recurring payments, but
the sites need prior standing authority from the user, usually
organised through off-line mechanisms. Without this explicit
authority no third parties, such as merchants, are able to access
funds from the customer. Such an arrangement is tedious and
inconvenient to set up. In any event, customers are extremely
reluctant to give authority to a third party to access their funds
and there are concerns about fraud and difficulty in cancelling
such an authority.
[0006] Presently, there is no mechanism for enabling direct payment
from a customer's usual account, such as a bank account, to a
merchant's account, during an on-line product transaction initiated
from a merchant's site.
[0007] These difficulties give rise to a low rate of uptake of
on-line merchandising.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In accordance with a first aspect, the present invention
provides a system for facilitating on-line payment for an on-line
product transaction, comprising an interface means which is
arranged to be initiated via a merchant site and is arranged to
provide a connection to a financial institution application to
enable processing of the payment, via the financial institution
application, to a merchant account.
[0009] By "on-line payment" is meant any payment which is initiated
over a network connection. By "on-line product transaction" is
meant any transaction for a product which occurs over a network
connection. A network may be any computing system or telephony
network. "Computing system network" includes any network of
computing devices. "Computing devices" include conventional
computers, PCs, laptops, and mobile communications devices such as
mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, and any computing
system which is connectable to a network.
[0010] A "product transaction" is a transaction for any product,
which may include goods and/or services.
[0011] A "merchant site" is a computer network site provided by a
computing system which is connectable to the network to offer
products for sale via the network to customers. A "financial
institution application" may include any application operated by a
financial institution, such as a bank or other account providing
authority. The financial institution application will be usually
provided by a financial institution computing system which is
connectable to the network to make available the financial
institution application.
[0012] A typical computer network on which on-line product
transactions take place is the Internet. The Internet offers many
merchant sites which can be browsed by customers to enable
customers to determine whether they wish to purchase a product. The
present invention is not, however, limited to application on the
Internet only. It may be applied to any computer network where
products are sold on-line and with the facility to connect to
financial institution systems.
[0013] Preferably, the interface means enables the payment to
proceed in "real time". This preferably enables payment to occur
during the product transaction.
[0014] Payment may be by way of any stored valued methodology eg.
money, loyalty points, etc.
[0015] Preferably, the interface means is arranged to be initiated
via the merchant site via a customer operating a customer computing
system.
[0016] Preferably, the interface means is arranged to generate
confirmation to a merchant system that payment has occurred.
Preferably, the confirmation enables the merchant system to
complete the product transaction. Preferably, the system is
arranged to establish a connection with the financial institution
computing system for generation of confirmation that payment has
occurred. Preferably the connection is established between the
merchant site and the financial institution computing system.
Preferably the connection is a secure connection. This
advantageously avoids fraudulent generation of confirmation of
payment, therefore reducing the chances of fraud and assuring the
merchant that the confirmation is generated by the financial
institution computing system.
[0017] Preferably, the interface means is arranged to obtain
details of the transaction and provide those details to the
financial institution application to enable payment. Preferably,
the transaction details include the amount of payment. Preferably,
the transaction details include information which may be required
to identify the transaction. For example, the transaction details
may include a merchant account identifier.
[0018] In one embodiment, the interface means is arranged to
interface with known pre-existing financial institution
applications. These include financial institution applications
provided by so-called "Internet banking" sites.
[0019] Financial institution applications usually require a
security means to be entered to enable operation to carry out
processes such as payment by a customer (who may hold an account
with the financial institution) to third party accounts. In one
preferred embodiment, the interface means interfaces a customer's
computing system to the financial institution application to enable
the customer, who is facilitating the transaction at the merchant
site, to enter their security means (which may be a password, PIN
or any other type of security means).
[0020] In an alternative embodiment, the system for facilitating
on-line payment includes an agent application which is arranged to
automatically enter the security means to the institution
application. The agent application is preferably arranged to obtain
the security means from a customer computing system, the security
means being stored in a storage location accessible by way of the
customer computing system. Preferably, the security means is stored
in encrypted form. The agent application is preferably arranged to
obtain the decryption key for the customer's encrypted security
means, to enable decryption of the security means. The agent
application may operate in a similar manner to that of the active
content agents described in the applicant's pending international
patent application, no. PCT/AU02/00150, filed on 14 Feb. 2002.
Disclosure of this document is incorporated herein by
reference.
[0021] The system is preferably arranged to store a record of
transaction details for a transaction.
[0022] The system preferably further includes a database arranged
to store transaction details of transactions. This database may be
accessible by merchants and/or customers in order to enable them to
monitor the history of transactions they have carried out via the
system.
[0023] Preferably, the system of the present invention may be used
to facilitate payment for a transaction from a debit or credit
account of a customer to a designated account of a merchant.
[0024] In at least a preferred embodiment, the system of the
present invention provides the advantages that a customer accessing
a merchant site and wishing to purchase a product, can make payment
for that product in "real time". In the preferred embodiment, the
interface means connects the customer system to a designated
financial institution application which enables the customer (under
control of the interface means) to make payment from customer
account (e.g. a standard cheque account available on-line) to a
designated merchant account. The system then confirms to the
merchant that payment has been made so that transaction can proceed
(e.g. delivery of the product can be authorised). In one
embodiment, as discussed above, a secure connection is made between
the merchant site and the financial institution computing system
for confirmation that payment has been made to the merchant.
[0025] In at least the preferred embodiment, the transaction
payment is carried out under the control of the customer who is
paying. The customer does not have to give any security means (such
as credit card information, account identification information,
etc.) to any other third party, other than the financial
institution that they usually deal with (by way of the financial
institution application). No passwords or credit card numbers need
to be given to merchants that the user may not trust. The merchant,
in turn, has the comfort of being aware that payment has occurred
before he delivers his product.
[0026] In accordance with a second aspect, the present invention
provides a method for facilitating on-line payment for a
transaction between a customer and a merchant, comprising the steps
of, during a transaction via an on-line merchant site, accessing a
financial application and making the financial application
available to enable a payment from a customer's account to an
account of the merchant.
[0027] Preferably, the method comprises the further step of
operating the financial application to make the payment.
[0028] In accordance with a third aspect, the present invention
further provides a computer program arranged to control a computing
system to implement a system in accordance with the first aspect of
the present invention.
[0029] In accordance with a fourth aspect, the present invention
provides a computer readable medium providing a computer program in
accordance with the third aspect of the present invention.
[0030] In accordance with a fifth aspect, the present invention
provides a system for facilitating on-line payment for a product
transaction, comprising an interface means which is arranged to be
initiated via a merchant site and is arranged to provide connection
to a payment means to enable processing of the payment to a
merchant account.
[0031] Preferably, the interface means is arranged to connect a
customer computer accessing the merchant site to the payment means
whereby the customer computer can initiate payment.
[0032] Preferably, the payment means is provided by a financial
institution site.
[0033] A further aspect of the present invention may relate to
on-line payment of transaction such as bills, and peer to peer
payment.
[0034] In accordance with a sixth aspect, the present invention
provides a system for facilitating on-line payment, the system
comprising an interface means which is arranged to be initiated via
a system message and is arranged to provide connection to a payment
means to enable processing of the payment.
[0035] A system message may be any message which can be transmitted
via a network. Preferably, the system message is an e-mail
message.
[0036] In a preferred embodiment, therefore, one party may send an
e-mail message to another party, the e-mail message indicating to
the other party a requirement for payment. For example, the e-mail
message may include a bill for utility service. The e-mail
preferably includes a link which is enabled to connect the further
party to a payment means, such as through a merchant site, to
enable payment in response to the message.
[0037] In accordance with a seventh aspect, the present invention
provides a method for facilitating on-line payment, comprising the
steps of using a system message initiating payment for a
transaction, to link a transaction payers computing device to a
payment means to enable processing of the payment.
[0038] In accordance with an eighth aspect, the present invention
provides a computer program including instructions for controlling
a computing system to implement a system in accordance with the
sixth aspect of the present invention.
[0039] In accordance with a ninth aspect, the present invention
provides a computer readable medium providing a program in
accordance with the eighth aspect of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0040] Features and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof,
by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which;
[0041] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for illustrating operation of
a system in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0042] FIGS. 2 through 7 are example computer screen displays for
illustrating operation of an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0043] FIG. 8 is a an example computer screen display illustrating
transaction data records which may be produced in accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0044] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a process in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0045] A system and method in accordance with one embodiment of the
invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0046] The system and method of this embodiment of the invention
facilitate on-line transactions. By "on-line transactions" is meant
any transaction which occurs over any network. The example network
used in the following description is the Internet. The invention
may be applied in any network environment, and is not limited to
application over the Internet.
[0047] The system of this embodiment includes an interface means,
which will be illustrated and described in detail later, and which
in this example is implemented by an appropriate server computing
system 1 which is connected to the Internet 2 via appropriate
communication means 3. The interface means in this example includes
software which is arranged to be made available over the network by
the server computer 1.
[0048] Also illustrated in FIG. 1 is a merchant computing system 4.
The merchant computing system 4 may include any appropriate type of
server computing system 4 which is arranged to serve Web pages 5 on
the Internet 2, in order to provide a merchant site where, for
example, products may be offered for sale. In the illustration a
single merchant system 4 is shown. This merely serves as an
illustrative example of many existing merchant computing systems
arranged for connection to the Internet 2. The present invention
may be implemented via any suitable merchant system, and is likely
to be implemented on many merchant systems. The merchant system 4
is arranged to serve web pages 5, to provide a website via which
information on products (including goods and/or services) may be
accessed and via which products may be purchased in a known manner.
In accordance with this embodiment of the invention, the merchant
computing system 4 is also arranged to operate with the interface
means provided by the system 1.
[0049] Also shown in FIG. 1, are customer computing systems 6. The
customer computing systems 6 may comprise any appropriate computing
system including appropriate software and hardware and in this
examplary embodiment are illustrated as being PCs including a
computer 7, monitor 8, keyboard 9 and mouse 10.
[0050] The user computing systems 6 includes browser or other
software 11 which is arranged to enable the computing system 6 to
browse or access Web pages over the Internet 2, such as Web pages 5
provided by the merchant system 4. Browsers are known.
[0051] In FIG. 1, three user computing systems 6 are shown. This is
for illustrative purposes only. As is well known, there are many
customer computing systems which are arranged for connection to
networks such as the Internet, so that, for example, customers can
browse various merchant sites (as well as other Web pages) in order
to select products for purchase. This embodiment of the present
invention may be implemented for many customer computing systems
and many customers.
[0052] Conventionally, when a customer accesses the Internet to
view a merchant site, their browser brings up the appropriate Web
page and the user studies the Web page(s) and selects an
appropriate product (by way of a "shopping basket") for purchase.
In order to proceed with the purchase, the customer must then
provide payment details to the merchant site. This is most usually
done by way of providing credit card details. As discussed above,
many people are reluctant to provide their credit card details to
merchant sites.
[0053] The majority of customers keep accounts with financial
institutions, such as banks. The majority of financial institutions
offer services which are available on-line. These services may
include access to a customer's account records. They may also
include facilities which enable a customer to pay third parties
directly from their account. For example, the financial institution
may offer an on-line financial application which enables a customer
to pay from their account to a third party whose account details,
or some account identification of the third party, are provided to
the application. The third party's account details or
identification may include account number, which financial
institution the third party holds the account with, and other
required details.
[0054] In FIG. 1, a server computing system 12 of the financial
institution is illustrated. The financial institution server
computing system 12 is arranged to serve Web pages 13 to the
Internet 2. Web pages 13 may enable operation of the financial
applications for allowing access to customer account records and
making account transfers, and other functions. Such applications
are known.
[0055] Only a single financial institution server computer 12 is
illustrated in the drawings. It will be appreciated that there may
be many financial institutions arranged to serve Web pages for
facilitating financial applications. The present invention may find
use with many such financial institution applications, and the
single server computer 12 is shown for illustrative purposes
only.
[0056] The system of this embodiment of the present invention
includes an interface means, which in this embodiment is in the
form of a software application provided by server computing system
1. The interface means operates to connect to the financial
institution application provided by the financial server computer
12, to enable payment to an account of a merchant associated with
the merchant system.
[0057] In this embodiment, the system 1 of the present invention
also includes a transaction record database 15 for storing records
of transactions occurring via the system 1 and also a decryption
key database 16 which stores decryption keys for decrypting
encrypted customer security means and which will be described in
more detail later. The system 1 of the present invention may be
implemented by any appropriate computing hardware and software.
Although databases 15 and 16 are shown separately, they may be
implemented by combined hardware/software.
[0058] The customer computing system 6 also may include software in
the form of a digital safe 17 and an "active content agent" engine
18. The function of these will be described in more detail
later.
[0059] Operation of an embodiment of the present invention will now
be described by way of illustrative example with reference to the
example computer screen displays of FIGS. 4 through 7. The example
screen displays have MICROSOFT.RTM. toolbar layouts and "look and
feel". The present invention is not limited to this format any
appropriate format may be used. Please note that where brand names
and trade marks are shown in the drawings, they are for example
purposes only and are in no way limiting to the invention.
[0060] The example computer screen display shown in FIGS. 2 through
7 are the displays which will appear on a customer system 6 monitor
8.
[0061] With reference to the Figures, the customer computer 6
accesses a merchant site provided by Web pages 5 supported by
merchant computing system 4. In this illustration, the merchant
site offers for sale digital video discs (DVDs). The customer
browses the merchant site and may select one or more DVDs for
purchase. The customer then proceeds to a "payment" page on the
merchant site, the payment page 20 being illustrated in FIG. 2. The
payment page displays the merchant brand name 21 (in this case
Price Buster DVD's (Pty) Ltd). The payment page 20 also directs 22
the customer to select a payment method. The payment methods
available on payment page include the conventional payment method
of paying by credit card 23. It also includes the option 24 of
paying the merchant by way of the payment system and method in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The payment
method 24 is labelled with the brand name "eWise Pay 3P" 25. This
is a brand name only. Any brand name or any other designation of a
payment method may be utilised. A drop-down menu 26 is available
for selecting a financial institution application to facilitate
payment to the merchant.
[0062] The page also includes a "Biller Code" 27, and "Amount" 28
and a transaction "Reference" 29. Some or all of this information
may or may not be shown on the page 20. For example, in an
alternative embodiment, the Biller Code 27 may not be shown, and
instead may be stored and retrieved from a database.
[0063] The amount 28 is the amount that the customer needs to pay
to the merchant.
[0064] FIG. 3 is a further view of the payment page 20, showing
details of the drop-down menu 26. It is clear from this that there
are a number of financial institution applications (in this case
four) available for the customer to select. Note that any number of
financial applications may be provided for selection. This will
depend upon the number of financial institution applications that
the present invention is authorised for use with and also the
number of the financial institution applications which may be
available.
[0065] The customer selects one of the financial institution
applications 26 for payment to the merchant (the customer will
usually select a financial institution application of a financial
institution where they hold an account). The selection initiates
operation of the system 1 of the present invention. The system 1
provides a "payment gateway" display 30 (FIG. 4). The payment
gateway 30 opens in a separate browser window on the user computer
6 (note that it may open in the same browser window). The page 30
is served by the system 1 in accordance with the present invention.
Note that the payment gateway display 30 displays branding 31 of
the financial institution deploying the system. Whether or not this
branding is displayed is optional.
[0066] Other information may also be displayed in the payment
gateway 30 page. Shown in FIG. 4 is the "Merchant Name" 32, a
"Reference" 33 and a payment amount 34. The "Amount Paid"
information includes type of payment that would occur, in this
particular example being a direct debit. Note that the further or
alternative information may be included in the payment gateway page
30 as desired.
[0067] In this embodiment, the system 1 utilises a software
application in the form of a software agent in order to provide an
interface to the financial institution application selected. Once
the system 1 is initiated by selection of the payment method 24 and
selection of the financial institution application, the software
agent navigates the Internet 2 to locate the financial institution
system 12 and website 13 served by the financial institution
system. The software agent then connects the customer computer 6 to
the website of the financial institution, so that the customer can
connect to the financial institution application. In this
embodiment, the agent application is also arranged to extract
payment details from the merchant system and provide those payment
details to the financial institution application.
[0068] When the agent application has navigated to the financial
institution system 12 the appropriate Web page 13 is served to the
customer computer system 6. FIG. 5 shows one example of an
"Customer Sign In" page 35 provided by one particular financial
institution application. This page includes some information (the
information will depend on the financial institution application
being accessed) and also a "Customer Sign In" section 36 requiring
entry of a security means to enable access to the financial
institution application. It is to be noted that the financial
institution application is a pre-existing application. The agent
application of this embodiment of the present invention has
interfaced the customer computer 6 automatically to the
pre-existing financial institution application without requiring
any operation by the customer other than to select the financial
institution application to be navigated to from the merchant site.
Note that FIG. 5 gives one example only of a financial institution
application, and the present invention may be used with any
financial institution application.
[0069] The next step in the process is that the customer enters
their security means to the Customer Sign In section. In this
example the security means includes a Customer Number 37 and a
Password 38. The security means may include any type of security
means, depending upon the security means required by the financial
institution application.
[0070] Note that in an alternative embodiment to be described
later, the system of the present invention may automatically
provide the security means to the financial institution
application. In the illustrated embodiment, however, the customer
provides the security means themselves.
[0071] No security means is provided to the merchant site. The
customer instead provides the security means directly to the
financial institution application. This is something that the
customer is comfortable with doing. There is no potential for the
merchant, therefore, to illicitly access the customer's account via
the financial institution application. The payment to the merchant
via the financial institution application is under the control of
the customer and is separated from the merchant system.
[0072] Once the security means have been entered, the financial
institution application operates to enable payment to the merchant.
The agent application automatically navigates the site to the
appropriate page. Referring to FIG. 6, the page 40 is served to the
customer computer 6 by the financial institution system 12. The
page 40, in this example, enables entry of details for payment from
an account the customer has with the financial institution, to an
account of the merchant (which may be with the same financial
institution or another financial institution). In this example,
page 40 includes information such as the account "Pay From" 41, the
"Payer Name" 42, a "Description" of what the payment is for 43. The
page 40 also includes information relating to the merchant payment
details, including the "Account Name" 44 of the merchant, the
current identification information including in this example a "BSB
Number" 45 and an "Account Number" 46. It also includes a
"Description" 47, which in this case is the Reference 33 which
appears in the merchant site as reference numeral 29 and on the
payment gateway as reference numeral 33 and which identifies the
transaction to the system 1 of the present invention. The
information also includes an "Amount" to be paid.
[0073] In this embodiment of the invention, as discussed above the
agent application obtains payment details from the merchant site.
It may also obtain details of the payer either from the merchant
site or the customer computer or a system database. In the example
shown, the details obtained by the agent application are
automatically entered into the financial institution application.
These details include the Payer Name 42, the Description of the
item 43, the Account Name of the merchant 44, the BSB Number 45,
the Account Number 46, the Description 47 and the Amount 48. One
advantage of having these details automatically entered into the
financial institution application is that they will be accurate
without any potential for customer error. Conventionally, a
customer would enter the details via a user terminal 6, which can
often result in error. The agent application is arranged to obtain
the details that are relevant for the particular financial
institution application. The agent application therefore operates
by first detecting which financial institution is selected at the
merchant site and then obtaining the details that it knows are
required for that financial institution application from the
merchant site and (if required) the customer computing system
6.
[0074] Note that the account of the customer 41 may be selected by
the customer or may automatically be selected by the agent
application based on information provided by the customer
computer.
[0075] Note that this page and other pages may not be visibly
displayed to the user in the case where it is fully automated by
the agent.
[0076] Following submission of the payment details and processing
by the financial institution application of the payment to the
merchant, the system 1 of the present invention produces a "Payment
Received" page 50 (FIG. 7). This page is similar to the initial
Payment Gateway page 30. It includes further details, however. In
particular it includes a date and time 51 on which payment was
made. It confirms 52 the amount of payment that was made and the
date. It provides information on the receipt 53 which is provided
by the system 1 to the merchant system 4. It also includes some
further reference information 54 providing details of the account
paid from and the financial institution receipt number that the
agent extracted automatically from the financial institution site.
The merchant therefore receives an official receipt of payment to
their account of the required funds for the transaction. They can
therefore organise delivery of the product to the customer in the
comforting knowledge that they have already been paid. In one
embodiment, the system implements a process to reduce or avoid the
potential for provision of a fraudulent receipt to the merchant. In
this embodiment, the customer system 6 transfers the relevant
session information to the merchant server 4 before the financial
institution system 12 issues the receipt page 50. The merchant
system 4 then establishes its own Secure Socket Layer (SSL) session
either directly with the financial institution system 12 or via the
customer system 6, providing an end-to-end SSL session between the
financial institution system 12 and the merchant system 4. SSL
communication is known. The customer's existing session with the
financial institution system 12 may be maintained. Because the
merchant system 4 has a direct SSL session with the financial
institution server 12, the merchant can be assured that the receipt
information they are receiving is being provided by the financial
institution not by a fraudulent process eg a fraudulent customer
system.
[0077] The establishment of the additional/alternative
communication channel between the merchant system 4 and the
financial institution system 12 does not require that the customer
disclose any of their authentication details to the merchant system
4.
[0078] In one embodiment, the payment confirmation details may be
digitally signed by the financial institution. Where the financial
institution digitally signs the payment confirmation, the system 1
of the present invention validates the signature to ensure validity
before notification to the merchant.
[0079] Note that a "Return to Merchant" button 55 is provided for
the customer's return to the merchant site.
[0080] FIG. 8 is an example computer display screen which may be
viewed via a merchant system 4 and shows a records page 60 of
transaction records stored in database 15 of the system 1. The
system 1 serves the page 60 to the merchant system 4 so that the
merchant can view the transaction records of the transactions that
have occurred via the system 1.
[0081] The records may be represented in any convenient form on the
page 60. In this example, the records include information such as
"Biller Code" 61; "Biller Name" 62; "Reference" 63; "Account Paid
Via" 64; "Comment" 70; "Amount Paid" 66; "Date Paid" 67, and the
"Receipt Number" 68.
[0082] Records may also be provided for access by a customer
computer server so that a customer can view transactions that they
have paid via the system 1.
[0083] In the above embodiment, the customer is expected to
remember and enter their own security means to enable access to the
financial application (FIG. 5). In an alternative embodiment, the
technology disclosed in the applicant's co-pending international
application no. PCT/AU02/00150 may be employed to enable the agent
application to automatically obtain the customer's security means
and enter them to the financial institution application.
[0084] Referring to FIG. 1, in this alternative embodiment a
customer computer system 6 includes software including a digital
safe 17, and an ACA or "Active Content Agent" engine 18. The
digital safe 17 stores in encrypted form (using any suitable
encryption technology) the security means of the user for enabling
entry into the financial institution application. Database 16 at
invention system 1 stores decryption keys for decrypting the
encrypted security means in the digital safe 17.
[0085] In operation, the agent application which implements the
interface to the financial institution application, is also
arranged to obtain the security means 17 from the digital safe 17
of the customer computer 6. It does this by first determining the
identity of the customer computer, then obtaining a decryption key
from the database 16 which is arranged to decrypt the encrypted
code in the digital safe 17. As part of the registration process, a
customer would have their security means, such as passwords,
encrypted by the system 1 and be provided with a password to enable
access of the agent application to the decryption key 16 for the
user computer 6 stored in the encryption key database 16. The
customer may be required to enter a password to the gateway so that
the agent application can then automatically obtain the security
means for the financial institution application from the digital
safe 17.
[0086] The ACA engine 18 determines whether the agent application
is a correct agent application for the financial institution
application and whether it is authorised to access the customer
computer 6 for digital safe 17. The agent application may be
provided with a digital certificate which the ACA engine can use
for authorisation. The ACA engine then executes the agent
application insofar as it enables the agent application to access
digital safe 17 and decrypt the requisite security means for the
particular financial application. At the stage where the user is
expected to enter their security means to the financial institution
application (FIG. 5), this is automatically entered by the agent
application. The rest of the process is then the same as with the
above embodiment. Note that once the security means has been
decrypted by the agent application, the decryption key is discarded
and must be obtained again from the decryption database 16 for
future operation.
[0087] FIG. 9 gives a summary flowchart of operation of the
embodiment described above. At step 70, a customer accesses a
merchant site. At step 71, the system of the present invention is
operated and the payment gateway is called up onto the customer's
computer. At step 72, the gateway implements operation of the agent
application. At step 73, the agent application connects the user
computer to the financial institution application that has been
selected. At step 74, either the user or the agent enter the
security means and payment details to the financial institution
application. At step 75, the institution application processes
payment. At step 76, the agent provides confirmation of payment to
the merchant site and stores a transaction record in a database. As
discussed above, the confirmation of payment to the merchant site
may be made by secure connection between the merchant's system and
the financial institution system.
[0088] The above description of the embodiment shows one particular
implementation of the present invention. The invention is not
limited to this particular implementation and may be implemented in
a number of different ways. For example, the agent application
described automatically fills in payment information to the
financial institution website. This need not be the case. In an
alternative embodiment the agent application merely connects the
customer to the financial institution application and the customer
fills in the details. The agent then extracts the receipt and
notifies the merchant of the completed payment. One advantage of
the present invention is that the interface means can be adapted to
interface with any pre-existing financial institution application.
Advantage can therefore be taken of the fact that there are already
many financial institution applications in existence which enable a
user to pay third parties. The present invention is not limited to
use with pre-existing financial institution applications, however.
Financial institution applications may, for example, be designed
specifically for use with the system and method of the present
invention. The present invention may also, obviously, be used with
financial institution applications that are designed subsequent to
implementation of the present invention.
[0089] The computer display pages illustrated in the drawings are
described in relation to the specification embodiment of one
particular form. The invention is not limited to this form. Any
appropriate form or format may be used with the present invention.
Further, different information to that information shown in the
specific embodiment may be utilised and illustrated in pages used
with the present invention.
[0090] In the above description of the preferred embodiment, it is
assumed the customers utilising the invention will access the
merchant sites from their own computing system. The present
invention is not limited to this, however. There is potential for
customers to access from any computing system which is connectable
to the network.
[0091] In the above description of the preferred embodiment, the
agent application and other components of the system are
implemented by appropriate software supported by appropriate
hardware. Any software/hardware mix that can implement the
invention falls within the scope of the present invention.
[0092] In the above described embodiment, the financial institution
system provides a website accessible by way of the Internet. The
present invention is not limited to use with financial institutions
that provide access to their applications by way of Internet
websites. Other methods of connection from a network to the
financial institution may be utilised with the present invention.
For example, the system 1 of the present invention may in some
cases have a direct connection to a financial institution, the
direct connection being implemented when connection to a financial
institution application is required. Further, the network is not
limited to the Internet. The present invention may be implemented
over any appropriate network.
[0093] Generally, the present invention provides interface means
which is arranged to connect to a payment means so that the
processing of payment to a merchant account can be carried out. In
this, in at least a preferred embodiment, is without requiring any
security means to be provided by the customer to the merchant.
[0094] In the above described embodiment, the customer account is a
debit account. The present invention is not limited to use with a
debit account. The account may be any type of account. For example,
the account may be a credit card account, and the credit card
details would be provided to the financial institution application
for credit to the merchant.
[0095] In a variation of this invention, on-line payment may be
facilitated without requiring that customer first access a merchant
site. In this variation, peer to peer payments can be facilitated
and bill payments can be facilitated. Implementation is similar to
the implementation discussed above in relation to first embodiment
of the present invention. Instead of initiation of the payment
being by way of merchant site, however, initiation is via a system
message. The system message may be an e-mail message. A customer
receives an e-mail message, and the e-mail message contains a link
to the system gateway such as described in FIG. 4 of the drawings.
The difference here is that the link is in the e-mail message and
not at the merchant site, but otherwise operation is similar.
Details of the person who is to be paid may be exacted from the
e-mail or a system database.
[0096] The person who is to be paid may be anybody. It could a
utility provider, for example, sending out a utility bill. It may
be another person merely requiring payment into their account from
the payer.
[0097] Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a
skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present
invention.
* * * * *