Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02551179 2001-05-31
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXECUTING
AUTOMATED TRANSACTIONS
This is a division of co-pending Canadian Patent Application
No. 2,349,306 filed on May 31, 2001.
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of automated transactions. More
particularly, this invention relates to a server for hosting execution of
automated
transactions, including maintaining security of a user's confidential and
personal
information and also a method of using the server. This invention also relates
to
improved convenience and efficiency of using automated information
distribution.
Background of the Invention
Communication systems have benefited from rapid improvement in recent
history. The advancements occur in three major facets including: (1) transport
method including protocols, (2) content, and (3) action executed. The
introduction of the Web, also known as the Internet, provides a non-
proprietary
transport protocol that allows universal access to communications. The Web
supports data transport. This allows the possibility of further automating the
action executed facet of communications.
As is known, many Web based applications support transactions. For
example, a user can purchase groceries, books and other products via the Web.
However, only a few Web based applications automatically execute transactions
on behalf of a user.
For a transaction to occur on behalf of a user, the system must be able to
verify that it is indeed the user making the request for the transaction. For
this to
occur, often the user must enter certain verification information, such as a
password, PIN number, credit card number, bank account information, account
number(s), home address, business address, billing address, date of birth,
mother's
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maiden name, and the like. Often, the private verification information cannot
be
ascertained by conventional public access means.
Unfortunately, all transactions, except for a cash only transaction, suffer
from a common problem. In particular, a user's private verification
information
can be misused by a non-authorized person. A non-authorized person can gain
access to a user's private verification information using legitimate or
illegitimate
means. Once such access is gained, the non-authorized person can make
non-authorized purchases.
Legitimate means of obtaining a user's private verification information can
be when the user intentionally provides their private verification information
to a
sales person and also provides certain other billing information, such as when
checking in to a hotel for a business trip a hotel clerk can capture personal
information such as name, address, credit card and the like. Illegitimate
means
could include a hacker surreptitiously taking such information from a Web
site.
1 S This can occur when a user intends to make a purchase over the Internet
and
provides their credit card number. In either case, once the user's private
verification information is ascertained by a non-authorized person, it can be
used
to make non-authorized purchases against the account of the user.
Another common problem persons suffer is information overload,
especially advertisement overload. Additionally, information is provided at
the
convenience of the information provider and not at the convenience of the
receiver. Persons are constantly provided advertisements on Web pages, as
billing
stuffers, direct mail pieces and the like. Most, if not all, such unrequested
information is not useful to the receiver.
Even where the information is useful to the receiver, it is often provided at
a time that is not convenient. For example, a receiver may choose to pay all
their
monthly charges on a particular day of the month, such as the third Saturday.
If
the invoice for a particular vendor is sent on the first, the receiver must
maintain
that invoice.
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What is needed is a method of securely maintaining a user's private
verification information. What is further needed is a method of preventing
non-authorized access to a user's private verification information. In
addition,
what is needed is a method of using the Web to securely maintain a user's
private
verification information. What is needed is a means for securely maintaining a
user's private verification information. What is further needed is a means for
preventing non-authorized access to a user's private verification information.
In
addition, what is needed is a means for using the Web to securely maintain a
user's private verification information.
Additionally, what is needed is a remote means for authenticating the user,
for non-Web transactions. What is also needed is a remote method of
authenticating the user, for non-Web transactions.
What is also needed is a method of obtaining advertising information that
is desired while avoiding advertising information that is not useful. What is
further needed is a means for obtaining advertising information that is
desired
while avoiding advertising information that is not useful.
What is needed is a method of receiving information at a convenient time
for the receiver. What is also needed is a means for a receiver of information
to
control when they receive useful information.
Summary of the Invention
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a
method of providing relevant messages to a user comprising the steps of:
(a) maintaining a database of user preferences by a controlled server, wherein
the
user preferences define criteria for accepting a vendor message; (b) receiving
one
or more vendor messages by the controlled server; (c) matching the user
preferences to the received one or more vendor messages; and (d) filtering the
one or more received vendor messages to provide selected vendor messages to
the
user that match the user preferences.
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In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is
provided an apparatus for providing relevant messages to a user comprising:
(a) means for maintaining a database of user preferences by a controlled
server,
wherein the user preferences define criteria for accepting a vendor message;
(b) means for receiving one or more vendor messages by the controlled server;
(c) means for matching the user preferences to the received one or more vendor
messages; and (d) means for filtering the one or more received vendor messages
to provide selected vendor messages to the user that match the user
preferences.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is
provided a method of invoicing a user comprising the steps of: (a) maintaining
a
database of user preferences; (b) maintaining a database of vendor invoice
information; and (c) providing electronic access of vendor invoice information
to
the user.
In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention there is
provided an apparatus for invoicing a user comprising the steps of: (a) means
for
maintaining a database of user preferences; (b) means for maintaining a
database
of vender invoice information; and (c) means for providing electronic access
of
vendor invoice information to the user.
Brief Description of the Drawing
Figure I shows an architecture of a controlled server according to the
present invention.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The present invention provides a controlled server for maintaining private
verification information for one or more users. The inventor has coined the
term
'eXact Server' for the controlled server. The information stored on the
controlled
server can include credit card numbers, bank account information, user
identification, passwords, PIN numbers, billing address, among other
information.
In addition, the controlled server represents a single address for a user for
hosting
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4a
and communicating with automated applications, a common attribute model for
sharing with all hosted applications, security protection and single user
logon for
access to all applications.
Figure 1 shows the architecture for the controlled server of the present
invention as it resides on the Web. The controlled server 100 can, from a
hardware standpoint, be similar to conventional Web servers. However, the
controlled server 100 includes functional software elements that make it
dissimilar
from conventional Web servers. In the preferred embodiment the controlled
server 100 operates according to the XML protocol. The controlled server 100
is
coupled as a gateway to a telephony server 200 which in turn is coupled to the
public switched telephone network PSTN 202. Using a telephone 204, a user
can access the controlled server 100 via the PSTN 202 through the telephony
server 200. The telephone 204 can be a POTS telephone, a digital telephone, a
feature telephone, a PBX telephone or a cellular telephone.
Additionally, the controlled server 100 is coupled to the Web 300 also
known as the Internet by any conventional means. Using any conventional data
CA 02551179 2001-05-31
terminal 302, a user can access the controlled server 100 via the Web 300. The
data terminal 302 can be a personal computer, a wireless PDA (personal data
assistant such as a Palm Pilot~), and the like. As is well known, the Web 300
can
be coupled to a user's employer's file server 304, bank file server 306,
merchant
5 file server 308 and stock broker ftle server 310 among many other file
servers.
The controlled server 100 includes a plurality of hosted applications 102
including a database 104, a directory 106, a transaction server 108, an XML
processor 110, an e-mail server I 12, an FTP agent 114 and a Web server 116.
Additionally, the controlled server 100 includes a publisher/receiver 118.
A user wishing to make a purchase need only provide the merchant with
public information. The merchant can be a Web merchant such that the user
enters
the request for a purchase using a data terminal 302. A merchant wishing to
confirm that a transaction will result in a payment will interact with the
controlled
server 100 to verify that the user can make the purchase. The merchant will
transmit to the controlled server 100 public information about the user, such
a
name, e-mail address and the like in addition to the amount of the purchase.
The
only communication from the controlled server 100 to the merchant will be
either
an authorization for the purchase or a refusal for authorization. In this way,
no
private verification information for the user is ever transmitted or provided
to the
merchant. Indeed, the merchant has no need for the user's private verification
information.
The controlled server 100 can authorize the transaction directly based upon
criteria established in advance by the user. In the alternative, the
controlled server
100 can contact the user requesting confirmation of the purchase. When the
controlled server 100 does contact the user for confirmation, the transaction
does
not occur in 'real time.' If confirmation is requested, the transaction cannot
take
place until the user responds to the request from the controlled server.
Preferably,
the contact from the controlled server 100 is made by e-mail. The controlled
server
100 includes a database that contains the user's e-mail address. If the
purchase is
authorized by the user, the controlled server 100 then will confirm to the
merchant
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that payment will be made; the merchant can process the transaction knowing it
will be paid. No private verification information need be provided to the
merchant. All the merchant learns about the user is public information.
The private verification information is entered for the user one time only
and maintained by the controlled server 100. The information can be entered by
the user directly to a database maintained on the controlled server 100.
Alternatively, the user can authorize a trusted agent, such as the service
provider
that maintains the controlled server 100 to enter the data. This procedure
prevents
the user's private verification information from repeatedly being transmitted
over
the Internet and further never provides the information to the merchant
thereby
preventing unauthorized access to the private verification information. This
procedure prevents this form of commercial fraud.
The controlled server 100 can be maintained by an Internet service
provider. Alternatively, the controlled server 100 can be a captive service of
a
financial institution, such as a bank, stock brokerage or credit card company.
This controlled server 100 system can also be used when making a
transaction in person. For example, a user can make a hotel reservation in
advance using the controlled server 100. Upon arriving at the hotel, the user
must
prove their identity to the satisfaction of the hotel clerk. According to the
prior
art, a user shows an identification card, such as a driver's license. Under
certain
circumstances, a driver license number can be used to commit fraud on a user.
According to this invention, the user could request access to a keypad or data
terminal 302 which is linked to the controlled server 100 via the Web to enter
a
PIN or other secure code. The controlled server 100 then verifies the identity
of
the user to the merchant.
In the preferred embodiment, the service provider for the controlled
server 100 can issue an auto-synchronizing data card that continuously
updates a synchronized data code. Such a system prevents a PIN from
becoming known through repeated use and provides further security for
the user. The user must prevent the data card from loss.
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Financial, credit institutions and merchants routinely send out paper
invoices to consumers via the postal service. In many circumstances, the user
that
receives the invoice is not prepared to make payment at that time. For
example, the
user may pay all invoices on a predetermined day of the month, or be short of
funds. Using the controlled server 100, a financial, credit institution or
merchant
can securely post an invoice for the convenience of the user. The user can
access
their invoice and make a payment, either via the postal service, or, if the
creditor
authorizes, by electronic funds transfer.
Many vendors and service providers provide notification of products and
services to prospective consumers via bill stuffers, direct mail pieces,
flyers, arid
via banners on Web pages. Often the recipient of such notifications has little
or no
interest in the product or services advertised. In those cases, the expense
and effort
to send that notification is wasted. To resolve this waste, the user can enter
their
preferences into a database 104 maintained by the controlled server 100. The
preferences can refer to specific products, services, locales, times, among
other
preference types. Vendors will provide prospective notifications to the
controlled
server 100. The controlled server 100 will only notify users of products and
services that correlate with their listed preferences: Waste is eliminated.
This service can be expanded so that users can enter into the controlled
server 100 information regarding a specific product or service they need or
desire.
Additionally, the user can enter a price or cost at which they would make a
purchase. Similarly, vendors and service providers can enter information
including
the price charged for products and services. The controlled server 100 will
notify
the user when their sought product or service is available at or below the
specified
price. Additionally, for Web vendors the user can simply respond to the
notification by electing to make a purchase. Because the user's private
verification
information is already maintained by the controlled server 100, it will
authorize the
transaction.
This invention has been described in terms of specific embodiment is
incorporating details to facilitate the understanding of the principles of
construction
CA 02551179 2001-05-31
and operation of the invention. Such reference herein to specific embodiment
and
the details thereof is not intended to limit the scope of the claims and
hereto. It will
be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that modifications can be
made in
the embodiment chosen for illustration without departing from the spirit and
scope
S of the invention. Specifically, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill
in the art
device of the present invention could be implemented in several different ways
and
the apparatus disclosed above is only illustrative of the before embodiment
invention and is in no way limitation.
