A METHOD OF CONDUCTING FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Credit cards are widely used to effect payment. The credit cards are often read by a point of sale terminal which is connected via a telephone line to a banking database. Once a credit card has been read, the point of sale terminal interrogates the banking system database to determine if the card holder has sufficient funds to effect payment.

Another form of card, known as a smartcard, contains a computer chip which can be "loaded" with a certain amount of money. When such a card is used to effect payment, the balance loaded within the computer chip is reduced.

Both the credit card and the smartcard do not automatically provide card holders with details of the balance of their accounts. Furthermore credit card fraud is rife. In many cases, the only form of security associated with credit cards is the signature of the card holder, which can be relatively easily forged.

In this specification, unless the context clearly indicates the contrary, the term voucher and vouchers has the meaning, "a document(s) which can be exchanged for goods or services as token of payment made or promised by the holder or another, which document can be real or virtual"

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a method of conducting real time, on-line voucher transactions, which method includes:

- operating one or more database associated with one or more server;

- populating the database with registered user information and voucher information, wherein each registered user is allocated an alphanumeric identifier which is correlated to a telephone number or unique network identifier;

- linking the vouchers with the alphanumeric identifiers of registered users who have purchased vouchers;

- linking otherwise unallocated vouchers to the database operator so that these vouchers together with the allocated or linked vouchers correspond to a pooling account in which funds to honour the vouchers are stored;

- receiving information from the first registered user's mobile communication device, which information includes a unique identifier of the first registered user, details of the vouchers to be transferred to the second registered user, and the alphanumeric identifier of the second registered user;

- verifying that the first registered user has the vouchers which are to be transferred linked to it in the database; and

- transferring, after successful verification, one or more vouchers from the first registered user to the second registered user by changing the links between the vouchers and the registered users.

The voucher is an entry stored in the database or in another electronic form, whether realizable in paper form or not.

The method may include authenticating the user as described here below.

The transfer may take place after successful authentication and verification.

The second registered user may be identifiable in the database by a USSD code or number.

The USSD code or the code which follows the USSD code may be referred to as a SWAP number which is allocated uniquely to a registered user on the database.

Thus, the database operator may sell unallocated vouchers to a user whereupon the sold vouchers are linked to the user.

The selling of the vouchers may be by means of mobile originating funds transfer instruction, EFT, credit card transaction, direct deposit, or the like.

The mobile originating funds transfer instruction may be a debit order instruction originating from a mobile handset.

The funds transfer instruction may be from a party other than the user or the user's bank instructing a holder of the instructor's funds to transfer funds for the benefit of the first or second registered user.

The selling of the vouchers may be by means of an automatically initiated transaction or so called auto top-up which automatically triggers the funds transfer, or the like in response to depletion of vouchers linked to the first registered user.

The funds transfer may thus be user initiated or system initiated depending on circumstances.

The mobile communication device may communicate with the one or more servers over at least a mobile telecommunication network, for example, a mobile telephony network.

The method may include the step of communicating the fact of the voucher having been transferred to the first registered user's mobile communication device and also to the second registered user's mobile communication device.

The one or more databases may be controlled by the person who controls the mobile communication network.

In addition to communicating the fact of the transfer to the first and second registered users, a statement of values of linked vouchers and transferred vouchers, and lists of vouchers linked to one or both users may be communicated to the respective users' communication devices.

The information may also include details regarding the identity of the first registered user's communication device, such as the serial number thereof.

The communication device may contain a subscriber identity module (SIM card) within which the unique network identifier and/or telephone number and/or alphanumeric identifier is stored.

The first registered user's mobile communication device may be a telephone, and thus the unique network identifier will be its telephone number. In one form of the invention, the telephone is a cellular telephone, and the communication network is a cellular telephone communication network.

The communication network may consist of a plurality of communication networks. The plurality of communication networks may be cellular telephone networks, fixed wire networks, optical fibre networks or wireless data networks including the world wide web.

The mobile communication devices are preferably digital communication devices.

The information transmitted by the first registered user's mobile communication device may be a file of data or transaction card which is transmitted via a Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service, USSD, e-mail, or the like.

The file of data may have a capacity of at least 160 characters.

The file of data may be encrypted.

According to a second aspect of the invention a method of conducting voucher transactions including the step of linking a telephone number of a communication device to at least one alphanumeric identifier, such as a code which is used in conjunction with a USSD, within a database controlled by a computer.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of purchasing vouchers for use in the method described above, said vouchers being linked to a registered user in response to a financial transaction between an operator of the method and the registered user whereby the registered user purchases vouchers from the operator, said operator linking the vouchers to the registered user in the database.

The purchase of the vouchers by the registered user can be by means of a debit order, an EFT, a credit card transaction, an online deposit, or a bank deposit.

The invention extends to a payment system for processing payments for the purchase of goods and services, said system including:

- one or more servers in communication with a mobile communication network;

- one or more software modules running on the one or more servers, said software modules including:

o a registration module for registering users on the system;

o one or more database for recording registered users and voucher information; and

a transaction module for performing the method as described above.

The system may include a notification module to send notifications to registered users.

The system may process payments by transferring vouchers from a purchaser to a recipient in accordance with the method described above.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of authenticating a user in a method of conducting real time transactions, said authentication method including:

- requesting authentication by a user transmitting a USSD code from a handset to a server;

- transmitting one or more questions to the handset of the requester;

- transmitting answers provided by the user through the handset to an authentication server over a mobile communications network;

- weighting the questions;

- evaluating the answers; and

- determining whether the weighted score of the answers is above a minimum passmark before the authentication server authenticates the user for the transaction or rejects the request for authentication.

The questions may be in the form of a menu of questions.

The questions may be structured as yes and no answers, with no correct answer possible for one or more questions.

Once a user has been authenticated an EFT, credit card, or debit card transaction for the purchase of vouchers may be permitted.

Description of an Embodiment of the Invention

The invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example only, by the accompanying flow sheets which illustrate examples of an authentication system of the invention.