Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECURE TELEPHONE
AND COMPUTER TRANSACTIONS
SPECIFICATION
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application
No. 10/764,099, entitled "System and Method for Secure Telephone And Computer
Transactions Using Voice Authentication," filed on January 23, 2004 (claiming
priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/442,143, filed January
23,
2003), which is fully incorporated herein by reference. This application also
claims
priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/538,761, filed January
23,
2004, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Credit cards and other forms of payment cards were originally
designed for use during in-person transactions, during which the card may
provide
both a means for payment and a means for authentication of the cardholder. In
addition to having actual possession of the card, the purchaser must also
provide a
signature which may be compared with the signature on the back of the card.
The major drawback in telephone order transactions is that the vast
majority are not authenticated in the manner described above. Accordingly, the
number of fraudulent transactions and chargebaclcs associated with
credit/payment
cards are increased as a result. Additionally, consumers may be concerned
about the
potential hazards of providing personal payment information over a telephone
to a
possibly unknown and unidentifiable individual.
On-line shopping, or e-commerce, suffers many of the same problems.
On-line shopping offers unprecedented ease and convenience for consumers,
while
enabling merchants to reduce costs and obtain new customers. However, many
consumers have been reluctant to take advantage of these benefits due to fear
of theft
of sensitive information such as credit card numbers. Efforts have been made
to
increase the security of such information transmitted across the Internet. For
example,
in the secure socket layer (SSL) technique, messages sent between the consumer
and
the merchant are encrypted, thereby making it more difficult for a third party
to
intercept and use the information. ~ However, this method does not provide the
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merchant with any verification of the identity of the consumer. Accordingly,
if a third
party were to obtain a credit card number by other fraudulent means such as
theft of
physical credit card,, the SSL method would not prevent the third party from
fraudulently using the stolen information.
Secure Electronic Transaction (SETTM) techniques attempt to solve the
foregoing problems by using digital certificates to authenticate the
consumer/account
holder, the merchant, and the credit card issuer. Each certificate is issued
by a trusted
certificate authority. While SETTM is currently the most secure way to handle
payments over the W ternet, it requires digital certificates and cryptographic
software
to be installed and operated on the account holder's computer.
In fact, most prior art secure electronic commerce systems require
consumers to install special software on their computers. Yet, many consumers
are
reluctant to install such software and, in any case, a specialized account
holder
application may not be compatible with a wide variety of account holder access
devices - e.g., personal computers, personal digital assistants, and mobile
communication devices such as mobile telephones. As a result, it has been
difficult
for some secure electronic commerce systems to gain widespread acceptance
among
consumers.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a system and method for
confirming the identity of a customer in conjunction with a telephone or on-
line
purchase in order to facilitate a more secure transaction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTTON
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of
conducting secure telephone and on-line transactions.
This and other objects are accomplished by a system and method for
conducting a secure transaction which preferably includes the steps of
providing a
database including first authentication information associated with a holder
of the
payment account, providing payment account information associated with the
payment account, the payment account information to be used for conducting the
transaction, transmitting an authentication request including the payment
account
information to an access control server, receiving by a merchant information
including authentication instructions, receiving second authentication
information
from the customer, and comparing the first and the second authentication
information
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to determine whether the transaction is authorized by the holder of the
payment
account.
The objects of the invention are further accomplished by a system and
method for conducting a secure transaction which preferably includes the steps
of
receiving payment account information associated with the payment account, the
payment account information to be used for conducting the transaction,
transmitting
an authentication request including the payment account information to an
access
control server, the authentication request triggering automatically by the
server the
transmission of data used to display an electronic form, receiving via the
electronic
form authentication information from the holder, authenticating the holder for
purposes of authorizing the transaction, and authorizing said transaction.
The objects of the invention are further still accomplished by a method
for conducting a secure transaction which preferably includes the steps of
providing a
database including at least a first set of authentication information
associated with a
holder of said payment account, receiving payment account information
associated
with the payment account, the payment account information to be used for
conducting
the transaction, receiving an authentication request including at least the
paynent
account information in comlection with conducting the transaction, triggering
automatically the display of an electronc form, receiving a second set of
authentication information from the holder of the payment account, inputting
the
second set of authentication information into the electronic form, and
comparing the
first set of authentication information to the second set of authentication
information
to determine whether the transaction is authorized by the holder of the
payment
account.
The obj ects of the invention are further accomplished by a system for
conducting a secure transaction which preferably includes a server computer
subsystem, the server computer subsystem including information relating to at
least
one payment account including at least a first set of authentication
information
relating to an account holder of the payment account, an automated voice
response
subsystem, and an authentication subsystem, wherein the automated voice
response
subsystem connects a call to the account holder to obtain a second set of
authentication information, and further wherein the authentication subsystem
compares the first set of authentication information to the second set of
authentication
information to determine whether the transaction is authorized by the account
holder.
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The obj ects of the invention are further accomplished by a system for
conducting a secure transaction which preferably includes a server computer
subsystem, the server computer subsystem including information relating to at
least
one payment account including at least a first set of authentication
information
relating to an account holder of the payment account, and a virtual electronic
form
subsystem, wherein the virtual electronic form subsystem provides an
electronic form
to the merchant, the electronic form receiving a second set of authentication
information from the merchant, and further wherein the server computer
subsystem
compares the first set of authentication information to the second set of
authentication
information to determine whether the transaction is authorized by the account
holder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further obj ects, features, and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction
with
the accompanying figures showing illustrative embodiments of the invention, in
which:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an additional exemplary system
for conducting a payment transaction in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2A is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for
conducting a payment transaction in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2B is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for
conducting a payment transaction in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for
conducting a payment transaction in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for
conducting a payment transaction in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system for
conducting a payment transaction in accordance with the present invention; and
Fig. 5 is a bloclc diagram illustrating an exemplary system for
conducting a payment transaction in accordance with the present invention.
Throughout the figures, unless otherwise stated, the same reference
numerals and characters are used to denote like features, elements,
components, or
portions of the illustrated embodiments.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary method for performing secure paynent
transactions in accordance with the present invention. The system includes a
consumer 102, a merchant 104 selling goods and/or services, an acquirer 106 -
typically the merchant's acquiring bank - and an issuer 108 - typically a
financial
institution such as a bank - that has issued a payment account being used to
conduct
a transaction with the merchant. The system may also include a cardholder
directory/database 110 which stores information regarding the cardholder's
account.
The database 110 is operated by a payment organization such as the MasterCard~
payment organization and is preferably a server computer connected to a
network
such as the Internet. The system preferably further includes, as part of the
issuer
system 108, an issuer access control server 112 which is mated to an issuer
virtual
authentication service 114, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention.
The consumer 102 may be conducting the transaction 120 with the
merchant 104 via telephone. The system and method of the present invention may
be
implemented regardless of the means by which the transaction between the user
and
merchant is conducted, and the present invention accordingly shall not be
limited to
telephone transactions. The payment account used to pay for the goods or
services
rendered by merchant 104 is typically a credit card account, a debit card
account,
and/or any other type of payment card account. The account can, but need not
be,
associated with a physical card. For example, the payment account can be
associated
with a virtual card which can be stored electronically on a computing device
used by
consumer 102. The consumer can, but need not be, the account holder, and as
used
herein the term "holder" includes one or more individuals associated with and
authorized to use a payment account or payment card.
In one exemplary embodiment of a method according to the present
invention, transaction 120 is conducted between a consumer 102 and a merchant
104,
using a payment card such as a MasterCard° credit card. Consumer 102
selects the
goods/services to purchase, and places an order with merchant 104, thereby
providing
merchant 104 with payment account information, including MasterCard't credit
card
information such as account number, expiration date, and name of the
cardholder.
Merchant 104, using a computer system connected to a network, may transmit a
query
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122 to a directory 110 such as a MasterCard~ directory to determine the
cardholder's
participation in authentication services.
The directory 110 then preferably communicates 124 with the issuer
108 to verify cardholder participation. This verification 124 may be conducted
with
an issuer access control server 112, which preferably is part of an issuer
system 108.
Assuming the cardholder is verified as utilizing authentication services such
as those
described in accordance with the present invention, directory 110 may transmit
to the
merchant 104 an enrollment verification message 126 verifying the cardholder's
enrollment for authentication services. After the merchant 104 receives the
enrollment verification message from the directory 110, the merchant 104 may
inform
the consumer 102 that authentication will be performed, and that the
transaction will
be completed upon receipt of authorization. The merchant 104 preferably then
transmits to issuer access control server 112 via issuer authentication
service 114 a
request for authentication 130.
Authentication may now be performed by one of several methods
depending upon the speciFc implementation of the present invention. For
example, in
the context of a telephone order authentication system, the merchant 104 may
prompt
the cardholder for data over the telephone line (or via Internet, in the case
of ail on-
line transaction), which data may be used to perform authentication. However,
several other procedures for authentication may also be implemented within the
scope
of the present invention.
For example, in one exemplary embodiment, extensions to the
transaction's core protocol (e.g., the 3-D Secure protocol, described in
greater detail
hereinafter and in related applications referenced hereinafter) may be
implemented,
and the data necessary for authentication may be carried within extension
"tags" of
the messages exchanged (such as the VEReq, VERes and PAReq messages) during
the course of an otherwise-standard 3-D Secure transaction.
In another exemplary embodiment in accordance with a system and
method of the present invention, the core protocol may be implemented without
modification. In one such embodiment, all data and tags according to the 3-D
Secure
protocol may remain unchanged. However, in order to perform the authentication
steps, a merchant may query a second directory to determine independently
whether
an issuer participates in authentication. If the issuer does participate in
authentication,
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the merchant may direct the cardholder to call an Interactive Voice Response
("IVR")
System in order to complete authentication.
In yet another exemplary embodiment in accordance with a system and
method of the present invention, as discussed above, the core protocol may
remain
largely unchanged, with minor modification which would allow the merchant, on
behalf of the cardholder, to enter data into the authentication system. Such a
system
may be beneficial particularly for telephone transactions wherein the
cardholder may
not have access to a computer and may not wish to terminate the telephone call
with
the merchant (to provide the necessary authentication data to the issuer)
until the
transaction has been completed. In one such embodiment, modification may be
made
to the 3-D Secure protocol such that the Access Control Server URL field in
the
VERes message may be modified to prompt a merchant to enter authentication
data
on behalf of the cardholder. Notably, the cardholder may preferably be the
consumer
102 or, alternatively, the consumer may be a purchaser who is authorized by
the
cardholder to pay for the transaction with the merchant. The latter case may
apply
where, for example, an agent of the cardholder is directed to purchase goods
or
services on behalf of the cardholder. As used herein, the term "holder"
includes any
of these individuals.
Regardless of the procedure used to obtain the required information
from the cardholder, the information requested from the cardholder for
authentication
purposes may include any information on file with the issuer 108 and which may
be
used to verify the identity of the caller/purchaser, i.e., that the
caller/purchaser is the
cardholder. One such example would be to utilize an EMV Chip Card and card
reader
to provide the merchant, issuer, or an automated call center with the
Cardholder's
SecureCode.TM Other procedures for verification as would be known to those
skilled
in the art may include use of dynamic security questions, Dual Tone Multiple-
Frequency ("DTMF") user input by the caller/purchaser, voice biometrics
analysis, or
any other method for confirming that the caller/purchaser is the cardholder.
Continuing with the description of the exemplary embodiment of a
system according to the present invention, if the issuer access control server
112
determines that the transaction has been properly authenticated, the access
control
server 112 preferably transmits an authentication response message 132 through
the
issuer authentication service 114 to the merchant 104, indicating that the
transaction
has been authenticated. Thereafter, the transaction may be completed as would
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otherwise be known in the art, e.g., through communications 134 between the
merchant 104 and an acquirer 106 and communications 136 between acquirer 106
and
issuer 108. An exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be
implemented
in conjunction with security protocols such as the 3-D (or three domain)
Secure
authentication protocol. The 3-D Secure authentication protocol is known in
the art
and has generally been adopted and implemented across the payment industry.
The
present invention may be implemented in conjunction with MasterCard°'s
implementation of 3-D Secure as described in U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No.
60/477,187, entitled "Algorithm for use in a Secure Payment Application,"
filed on
June 10, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and
related
applications. However, it is noted that the scope of the present invention
shall not be
limited to this implementation of a system and method for secure transactions
using
the 3-D Secure protocol; the concepts described herein may be broadly applied
in
numerous ways as would be apparent to one skilled in the related art.
Additional detail regarding completion of the transaction using
MasterCard"'s implementation of the 3-D Secure protocol can be found in the
following applications, all of which are also incorporated herein by reference
in their
entirety: U.S. Patent Application No. 09/963,274, entitled "A Universal and
Interoperable System and Method Utilizing a Universal Cardholder
Authentication
Field (UCAF) For Authentication Data Collection and Validation," filed on
September 26, 2001; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/280,776,
entitled
"System and Method for Secure Payment Application (SPA) and Uiuversal
Cardholder Authentication," filed on April 2, 2001; U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 60/295,630, entitled "Method and Process for a Secure Payment
Application Using a Universal Cardholder Authentication Field," filed on June
4,
2001; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/307,575, entitled "Method and
System for Conducting Transactions Over a Communication Network Using a Secure
Payment Application," filed on July 24, 2001; U.S. Patent Application No.
09/886,486, entitled "Method and System for Conducting Secure Payments Over a
Computer Network Without a Pseudo or Proxy Account Number," filed on June 22,
2001; U.S. Patent Application No. 09/886,485, entitled "Method and System for
Conducting Secure Payments Over a Computer Networlc," filed on June 22, 2001;
U.S. Patent Application No. 10/096,271, entitled "System and Method for
Conducting
Secure Payment Transactions," filed on March 11, 2002; and U.S. Provisional
Patent
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Application No. 60/352,96, entitled "MasterCard UCAF TM and SPA TM Client-
less Solution," filed on January 30, 2002.
Figs. 2A and 2B illustrate an exemplary method for operating the
payment transaction system illustrated in Fig. 1 using authentication, in
conjunction
with the 3-D Secure authentication protocol. First, a consumer selects goods
and/or
services which are the subject of the transaction (Step 202). Next, the
merchant
computer system queries a MasterCard" directory to verify cardholder
participation in
the voice authentication system (Step 204). This query may preferably be in
the form
of a 3-D Secure Verify Enrollment Request (VEReq) message, as described in
detail
in the references incorporated hereinabove. Notably, the merchant system may
be
configured with a software plug-in to facilitate compatibility and efficient
interoperability with, e.g., the issuer (e.g., via a plug-in on the issuer
side such as an
issuer virtual pop-up service) and directory systems. This plug-in may be used
to
translate data from the merchant system into a format suitable for use by the
issuer
system, and vice-versa. Such a plug-in would be useful to facilitate upgrading
a
merchant's current system for use with a system and method in accordance with
the
present invention, though such an upgrade is not necessary within the scope of
the
present invention. Additionally, the plug-in may be composed of software,
hardware,
or some combination thereof.
Next, the MasterCard° directory communicates with an Issuer Access
Control Server to verify cardholder participation (Step 206). Assuming
cardholder
participation is verified, the MasterCard° directory then transmits an
enrollment
verification message to the merchant computer system (Step 20~), indicating
that
authentication will be performed (Step 214). The enrollment verification
message
may preferably be in the form of a Verify Enrollment Response (VERes) message
in
accordance with MasterCard°'s implementation of 3-D Secure as
referenced above.
Also as described above, this message may be received by a software plug-in in
the
merchant system, which plug-in provides interoperability with the merchant's
current
system.
After the merchant receives the VERes from the MasterCard°
directory, which validated cardholder participation, the merchant may transmit
an
authentication request message (Step 210) to the issuer system. The request
message
may preferably be a 3-D Secure Payer Authorization Request (PAReq) message,
and
may be received by the Issuer's Access Control Server. The PAReq message
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preferably includes a plurality of data fields, e.g., including information
which will
enable the issuer to perform authentication, and may also contain a "Request
Expiration" field, which may be used to indicate the date and time when the
merchant
plug-in will allow the transaction to time out if no Payer Authentication
Response
(PARes) is received from the Issuer Access Control Server by the merchant plug-
in.
After the Issuer Access Control Server receives the PAReq message,
authentication may be corninenced. In one exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the issuer authentication service may be a "Virtual Pop-Up" Service
which
prepares an electronic form for the Cardholder (Step 212) and transmits the
form to
the Merchant for entry of the Cardholder's data. The Merchant may then request
the
caller/purchaser's pertinent data over the telephone and enter the information
into the
form and transmit the data to the issuer for authentication of the Cardholder
(Step
' 214) (this exemplary embodiment may be termed a Merchant-On-Behalf Of, or
"MOBO" approach, described more fully hereinafter in connection with Fig. 3A).
Upon completion of the authentication procedure, described more fully in
conjunction
with Figs. 3A and 3B below, an authentication response is generated by the
Issuer
Access Control Server and transmitted to the merchant (Step 222), indicating
the
result of the authentication procedure. The authentication response may be in
the
form of, e.g., a Payer Authentication Response (PARes) in accordance with the
3-D
Secure protocol.
If authentication fails or times out, the transaction may still be
corninenced depending on the reason for failure and configuration of the
particular
embodiment of the system according to the present invention. However, if
authentication fails due to an apparent authorization problem, signaling a
potential
fraudulent transaction, authentication may be declined (Step 218) and the
transaction
cancelled. In contrast, if authentication completes successfully (Step 220),
then the
Access Control Server may transmit an authentication response to the Merchant
(Step
222) and the transaction may be completed in the conventional manner in
accordance
with the 3-D Secure protocol (Step 224).
An exemplary procedure for performing authentication (Step 214 of
Fig. 2A) is illustrated in Fig. 3A. In this exemplary embodiment, a Merchant-
On-
Behalf Of ("MOBO") approach is implemented, i.e., the Merchant requests the
authentication information from a Cardholder (e.g., over the telephone during
a
telephone transaction) and enters the authentication information into the
system via an
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electronic form or other means. Upon a Cardholder's purchase, the Merchant may
communicate via a Merchant Plug-In with the Issuer Access Control Server to
determine whether the Cardholder is enrolled in authentication services (Step
302). In
response, the Issuer may transmit a VERes message which includes a query
string
parameter "IVRNO" within the ACS (Access Control Server)~URL element (Step
304). For example, the following sample URL may be included in the VERes
message:
hops://securecode.issuer.comlauthenticate.asp?IVRNO=MOBO
This additional query string parameter appended to the ACS URL is detected by
the
Merchant Plug-In and indicates to a Merchant that the Cardholder is enrolled
for
telephone authentication and that the Merchant must perform a MOBO
authentication
using the prescribed means for authentication (e.g., SecureCodeTM)
Next, the Merchant Plug-In may generate a PAReq message and
append a name/value pair within the merchant data (such as "##authentication-
type=MOBO##") The Merchant may then transmit the merchant data to the Issuer
Access Control Server (Step 306). This name/value pair indicates to the Access
Control Server that the PAReq transmitted by the Merchant is for telephone
authentication as opposed to e-commerce/on-line transaction authentication.
The
Merchant may then follow the instructions provided on an authentication web
page
provided by the Issuer Access Control Server (Step 30S) and collect the
necessary
authentication information from the Cardholder. The Merchant may then input
the
received authentication information into the Access Control Server electronic
form
(Step 310). The electronic form (or "Virtual Pop-Up") is preferably provided
by the
Issuer Authentication Service. The electronic form may be provided via the
Internet
using a web interface, or may be provided using any software application which
would facilitate the secure transfer of data between the Merchant and Issuer.
Next, The Issuer Access Control Server preferably generates a PARes
(Step 312) and transmits the PARes to the URL defined in the TermURL element
of
the PAReq. The Merchant Plug-In may receive the encoded PARes and extract and
validate the digital signature (Step 314). In accordance with the 3-D Secure
Protocol,
the Merchant may then retrieve the Application Authentication Value (AAV) from
the PARes and pass the AAV in the authorization message (Step 316). Finally,
the
Merchant may complete the transaction in accordance with the 3-D Secure
protocol or
other known transaction protocol (Step 319).
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Another exemplary procedure for performing authentication (Step 214
of Fig. 2A) is illustrated in Fig. 3B. In this exemplary embodiment, an
Interactive
Voice Response ("IVR") approach is implemented, i.e., wherein the Merchant
conducts a transaction over the telephone with a caller/purchaser and
transfers the
caller/purchaser for authentication purposes to an IVR system which prompts
the
purchaser for authentication information and performs the necessary
authentication
steps.
Upon a Caxdholder's purchase, the Merchant may communicate via a
Merchant Plug-In with the Access Control Server to determine whether the
Cardholder is enrolled in authentication services (Step 320). Next, the Issuer
may
transmit a VERes message which includes a query string parameter "IVRNO"
within
the ACS (Access Control Server) URL element (Step 322). For example, the
following sample URL may be included in the VERes message:
https://securecode.issuer.coxn/authenticate.asp?IVRNO=IVR
This additional query string parameter appended to the ACS URL is detected by
the
Merchant Plug-In and indicates to the Merchant that the Cardholder is enrolled
for
telephone authentication and that the Merchant must perform IVR
authentication.
Next, the Merchant Plug-In may generate a PAReq message and
append name/value pairs within the merchant data element to indicate
parameters for
authentication, for example:
"##authentication-type=IVR;caller-id=14403528444;transfer-
back=Y;transfer-number=18004681512##"
The merchant may then transmit the PAReq to the Issuer Access Control Server
(Step
324). For example, the value above may indicate to the Access Control Server
that
the PAReq transmitted by the Merchant is for telephone authentication as
opposed to
e-commerce/on-line authentication, that the authentication procedure is IVR,
and
preferably also provides information such as caller identification
information,
instructions regarding the telephone number to which the customer should be
transferred for IVR authentication, and a TransferBack flag which indicates to
the
IVR system whether or not the caller should be transferred back to the
Merchant upon
completion of IVR authentication. The Merchant may then transfer the caller to
the
phone number provided within the query string to initiate IVR authentication
(Step
326). The caller/purchaser may then be transferred to the issuer IVR for
authentication (Step 328). Authentication may be performed using numerous
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different procedures within the scope of the present invention, and may
include, e.g.,
prompting the caller/purchaser to confirm the purchase information and
prompting the
caller/purchaser to enter/speak authentication information such as the
Cardholder's
SecureCode. Next, The Issuer Access Control Server may authenticate the
caller/purchaser, generate a PARes and transmit the PARes to the URL defined
in the
TermURL element (Step 330). The Cardholder may be transferred back to the
merchant if the TransferBack parameter in the merchant data so dictates. The
Merchant Plug-In may then receive the encoded PARes and extract/validate the
digital signature (Step 332). In accordance with the 3-D Secure Protocol, the
Merchant may then retrieve the AAV from the PARes and pass the AAV in the
authorization message (Step 334). Finally, the Merchant may complete the
transaction as normal in accordance with a 3-D Secure protocol or other known
protocol (Step 336).
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the methods and
systems illustrated in Figs. 1-3 can be implemented using various standard
computer
platforms operating under the control of suitable software. In some cases,
dedicated
computer hardware, such as a peripheral card in a conventional personal
computer,
may be used to enhance the operational efficiency of the above methods.
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate typical computer hardware suitable for
practicing the present invention. Refernng to Figure 4, the computer system
includes
a processing section 410, a display 420, a keyboard 430, and a communications
peripheral device 440 such as a modem. The system can also include a printer
460.
The computer system typically includes one or more disk drives 470 which can
read
and write to computer-readable media such as magnetic media (i.e., diskettes)
and/or
optical media (e.g., CD-ROMS or DVDs), for storing data and application
software.
The system also typically includes an internal computer-readable medium 480
such as
a hard disk drive. Other input devices, such as a digital pointer 490 (e.g., a
mouse)
and a card reader 450 for reading a payment card 400 can also be included.
Computer
hardware such as is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 can be used to execute the
software
illustrated in Figs. 1-3, and/or can be used to perform functions of a
computer
processors utilized by consumer 102, merchant 104 (and the related merchant
plug-in
discussed hereinabove), acquirer 106, issuer system 108, and directory system
110.
Figure 5 is a functional bloclc diagram which further illustrates the
processing section 410. The processing section 410 generally includes a
processing
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WO 2005/072382 PCT/US2005/002591
unit 510, control logic 520 and a memory unit 550. Preferably, the processing
section
410 can also include a timer 530 and input/output ports 540. The processing
section
410 can also include a co-processor 560, depending on the microprocessor used
in the
processing unit. Control logic 520 provides, in conjunction with processing
unit 510,
the control necessary to handle corrununications between memory unit 550 and
input/output ports 540. Timer 530 provides a timing reference signal for
processing
unit 510 and control logic 520. Co-processor 560 provides an enhanced ability
to
perform complex computations in real time, such as those required by
cryptographic
algoritluns.
Memory unit 550 can include different types of memory, such as
volatile and non-volatile memory and read-only and programmable memory. For
example, as shown in Fig. 5, memory unit 550 can include read-only memory
(ROM)
552, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) 554, and
random-access memory (RAM) 556. Different computer processors, memory
configurations, data structures and the like can be used to practice the
present
invention, and the invention is not limited to a specific platform. For
example,
although the processing section 410 is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 as part of
a
computer system, the processing section 410 and/or its components can be
incorporated into a PDA or a mobile telephone.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with
specific exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that various changes,
substitutions, and alterations apparent to those skilled in the art may be
made to the
disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention as
set forth in the appended claims.
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