WO2003009243A1

WO2003009243A1 - Mobile electronic funds transfer system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2003009243A1
Application number: PCT/SG2001/000152
Authority: WO
Original assignee: W3 Infocomm Group Pte Ltd; Quak, Ser, Khoon; Tay, Siew, Choon; Seah, Moon, Ming
Priority date: 2001-07-19
Filing date: 2001-07-19
Publication date: 2003-01-30
Also published as: CN1529878A

Abstract

A mobile virtual e-purse micro-payment method and system is provided. The consumer keys in a formatted SMS instruction and sends this to a specified telephone number to effect micro-payment from a monetary funds account which may include a stored-value virtual electronic purse account or an issuing bank account from which funds may be directly debited to his selected merchant. A security feature is provided in which the unique MSISDN phone number identifier and the USERID serve to identify the consumer. For added security the consumer gets a formatted voice call asking him to confirm the payment instructions and to key in his PIN (Person Identification Number). The invention also provides for simple, effective multi-modal return paths via simple fax, e-mail or phone confirmation giving physical records to the merchant that payment has been made.

Description

MOBILE ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER SYSTEM AND METHOD

TECHNICAL HELD

This invention relates to the field of e-co merce and transferring electronic funds particularly from a mobile device.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The advent of e-commerce in which payment for goods and services may be done electronically, has provided consumers with a much more efficient method of paying for the goods and services that they consume. Many modern day institutions cater for electronic fund payment whether it be via credit cards, telephone banking or more direct payment from an electronic purse of a consumer to an account of a goods or service provider.

More recent developments have allowed the consumer to transfer funds electronically via a mobile terminal. In particular, consumers are able to transfer funds electronically via a mobile phone through the use of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology. This requires the user to log onto a network via wireless means, initiate a request for funds transfer, receive confirmation and acknowledgement data and conduct the general funds transfer transaction on-line- While convenient, this approach suffers from a number of draw backs- Firstly, because the user is on-line for the duration of the transaction, the transaction can incur significant costs. Secondly, on-line session connections are prone to time-outs and disconnects. Furthermore, for a user to be able to take advantage of the service, the user must be in possession of a WAP enabled mobile phone. At the current time, this covers only a small percentage of mobile phone owners.

Furthermore, most recent developments address purely virtual transactions only, as in Internet transactions, WAP transactions or mobile Internet transactions, and not mobile virtual payments for a physical transaction between a payer consumer and a payee merchant. Accordingly, it would be advantageous if a system and method were provided which allowed more users to transact electronic funds transfer procedures by a mobile teπninal and reduce the costs of effecting such transactions, whether it be for mobile virtual transactions, or for physical transactions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENΉON

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for transferring funds electronically from a payer to a payee, the system including, a mobile communications device able to transmit a Short Message Service (SMS) message, a monetary funds account associated with the payer and a central payment gateway server for receiving the SMS message, and a connection to enable authorised access to a payment transaction control centre at a payment infrastructure provider for effecting in response thereto, a financial transaction between the monetary funds account and the payee.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of transferring funds electronically from a payer to a payee, the method including receiving a Short Message Service (SMS) message containing an instruction to transfer funds from a monetary funds account associated with the sender of the SMS message and automatically ef ecting a transfer from the monetary funds account to a specified payee in accordance with the instruction.

Preferably, the monetary funds account is either an electronic purse account, or an issuing bank account.

Preferably, upon receiving the SMS message, a request is transmitted to the sender of the SMS message to confirm payment instructions. Preferably, this request also requires the user to transmit a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Preferably still, the confirmation request is in the form of a formatted voice call, using TTS technology. Preferably, there is provided a multi-modal return path payment record to the payee at the time of a physical transaction. Preferably still, this payment record is in the form of a fax, an e-mail, a fixed-line FVR or a mobile SMS or FVR.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the following figures in which:

Figure 1 shows the various elements of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1.1 shows the various elements of an embodiment of the present invention for the case of a mobile electronic purse for purely virtual micro-payment transaction with such government or public service agencies, telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, and others where there is little risk of wrong payment or overpayment not being refunded. Figure 1.2 shows the various elements of an embodiment of the present invention for the case of a mobile direct debit virtual micro-payment for a physical transaction with Point-Of-Sales (POS) merchants such as petrol stations, boutiques, salons, florists, restaurants, and others, and the POS merchants need confirmation and payment record at the time of transaction mat payments have been made. Figure 1.3 shows the various elements of an embodiment of the present invention for the case of a mobile direct debit virtual micro-payment for a P2P transaction whether or not such a transaction is purely virtual or where it involves a physical transaction between the payer and the payee.

Figure 2 shows the main elements of the system of Figure 1 in more detail. Figure 3 shows an example display of the form of an SMS message sent; and

Figure 4 shows an example display of the form of an SMS message confirmation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown the various elements of an embodiment of the present invention. A user of the system, who wishes to effect an electronic fund transfer from their electronic purse to a merchant for example, will be in possession of a mobile communications device 1 such as a mobile phone with SMS capability. Of course, this electronic communications device could be a portable computer or any other device which is able to transmit and receive SMS message. Device 1 will be connected to a telecommunications network governed by a telecommunications company to which the user subscribes,

A feature of the present invention is that it allows the various telecommunications companies to implement a loyalty /personalisation platform in conjunction with the various merchants which register as participating merchants. The loyalty /personalization platform can be run via block 2 which provides the telecommunication companies with the ability to manage their merchants and customers with differentiated or customised payment products and services through personalised interfaces to their respective customers. This allows the provision of special loyalty programmes to which merchants can subscribe, which may for example provide a subscriber of SingTel a 10% discount on products or services purchased from a merchant which participates in the SingTel loyalty program.

Block 3 relates to a (or any) currently existing loyalty platform/engine of a particular telecommunications company. There are many transactions which may form part of a currently existing loyalty platform/engine of a telecommunications company such as fixed-line voice and data (including broadband) transactions and mobile voice and data transactions that are not related to mobile micro-payment transactions and are thus outside the scope and not part of the transactions contemplated in the system of present invention. The loyalty /personalisation platform in block 2 provides both mobile micro-payment related loyalty programs for the system of present invention for each telecommunications company and its participating merchants, as well as connectors and business logic that connect to and integrate with the telecoitrimtinications company's existing loyalty platform/engine. Likewise loyalty /personalisation platform in block 2 provides its own blacklist derived from micro-payment related transactions for the system of present invention for each telecommunications company and its participating merchants and banks, as well as connectors and business logic that connect to and integrate with the telecommunications company's existing blacklist platform/engine in block 4. The loyalty /personalisation platform block 2 interfaces with merchant web server 5 which allows interface between the telecommunication company and a merchant terminal 6. A particular merchant can sign up with one or more telecommunication companies via the merchant web server 5 and provide details relating to an acquiring bank account into which payments will be made, or in the case of a merchant opting for P2P micro-payment, a personal acquiring bank account into which payments will be made. The merchant is provided with a merchant code which is linked to the bank account details provided, or in the case of a merchant opting for P2P micro-payment, his unique mobile phone MSISDN number and merchant code will be linked to a personal acquiring bank account details provided. The merchant can also specify a preference for receiving payment transaction records via fax, e-mail, Fixed Line FVR, mobile FVR or SMS. The merchant can also specify special offers, promotions and discounts for products and services which will be presented to consumer preference server 7 and can be announced to consumers via SMS messages to the consumer's phone if the consumer has preselected an option to be notified of any special offers in this manner. The merchant can also access details relating to consumer behaviour and customer profiles to more efficiently target their special offers and promotions.

The consumer preference web server 7 contains details of each consumer which has signed on to the mobile payment service of the present invention, including telephone number, details relating to issuing bank accounts from which payments can be debited, including virtual e-purse accounts. In instances where the consumer is paying a bill to a merchant, for example, a telecommunications company, an internet service provider or a gas company, the consumer can link his issuing bank account and virtual e-purse account to the merchant. At the consumer preference web server 7, the consumer can also elect to be notified by SMS message of merchant promotions and discounts as well as elect if the consume* wishes ta h& A payee for peer-to-peer transactions in which case the consumer will also specify an acquiring bank account into which payments can be made. They may in fact be the same bank account as previously specified from which funds can be debited in the case where the consumer is the payer. In the Case of mobile e-purse micro-payments to merchants involving purely virtual transaction and with low risk of wrong payment or overpayment not being refunded, the consumer can also specify whether he would like an added security feature having to confirm transaction details before any electronic fund transfer is effected. If so specified, the consumer will receive an FVR voice message requiring confirmation of the transaction order as well as input of a personal identification number (PIN) authorisation. In the case of mobile direct debit micro-payments to POS merchants for a physical transaction, the FVR transaction and PEST confirmation is the default and consumer will need to disable or bypass this requirement at their own risk if such is accepted by the consumer's issuing bank.

The entire system is controlled by a payment gateway 8, which interfaces the merchant web server 5, consumer preference web server 7, telecommunications company loyalt /personalisation platform 2 and the payment provider gateway 9. Payment provider gateway 9 controls the actual electronic funds transfer and may be done in any conventional manner as would be known to the person skilled in the art. In brief however, gateway 9 facilitates the various transactions between the issuing bank 12 in which the consumer's specified bank account (as specified by the consumer at the consumer preference web server 7) is held and the acquiring bank 13 which holds bank accounts of payees as specified by merchants on the merchant web server 5. After completion of the electronic funds transfer, the various goods and services providers will be paid whether they be traditional POS merchants 6 in the case of physical transactions paid via mobile virtual means or bill payment merchants 11 in the case of purely virtual transactions.

Referring now to Figures 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, there is shown the various elements of an embodiment of the present invention in the case of the invention being applied respectively in (a) a mobile electronic purse for purely virtual micro-payment transaction with such government or public service agencies, telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, and others where there is little risk of wrong payment or overpayment not being refunded; (b) a mobile direct debit virtual micro- payment for a physical transaction with Point-Of-Sa s (POS) merchants such as petrol stations, boutiques, salons, florists, restaurants, and others, and the POS merchants need confirmation and payment record at the time of transaction that payments have been made; and (c) a mobile direct debit virtual micro-payment for a P2P transaction whether or not such a transaction is purely virtual or where it involves a physical transaction between the payer and the payee. The identified processes are as described in aforementioned reference to Figure 1, except that the processes are represented individually for ease of reference.

Referring now to Figure 2, there is shown the payment gateway 8 in more detail interfacing to payment provider gateway 9.

Payment gateway 8 includes SMS engine 81 which receives the SMS message from mobile communications device 1 via the SMSC of various telecommunications companies. SMS engine 81 sifts through the message format of the SMS message which includes telephone number, time stamp and formatted message fields, and stores this in configured file directories. The Receiver module 82 receives SMS messages from the incoming queue of the SMS engine 81 and forwards these to the SMS Router module 83. The Sender module 86 and Receiver module 82 encapsulate the processing logic of the SMS engine 81 from the rest of the payment gateway components with the advantage that the SMS engine 81 may be changed without impacting the process for the other modules. SMS router 83 parses and separates the time stamp from the message fields, performs syntax checking, generates corresponding error messages and performs business logic functions on each message field. SMS Router 83 checks the destination of each message. If the message is for payment, SMS Router 83 forwards it to a message queue 84 for the Message broker 85, and if it is for requests on goods and services available, forwards it to a message queue 84 for the Merchant Server 5. The message queue 84 performs the buffer function between the SMS router 83 and the merchant server 5, as well as between the SMS router 83 and the Message broker 85. Payment gateway 8 also includes data miner 87, administration control module 88, audit log 89 and message broker 85.

Message Broker 85 also converts an SMS command message to binary format message as specified by a given payment infrastructure provider according to message transformation rules agreed upon by the aclministrators of the system of the present invention and the various payment providers.

Payment Gateway 8 interfaces to Merchant Server 5 and Consumer preference Server 7. The POS merchant eg a hair salon, signs up at Merchant Server 5 and provides his company name, acquiring bank account, his preferred return path for payment record, and the fax number, fixed-line number or mobile no. which he wants to receive such records. Merchant Server 5 interfaces with the Payment provider back-end system 9 which is connected to various participating banks, recognizes the acquiring bank account and allocates a Merchant Code which the merchant displays at his locations and promotes to his customers. Some of these information such as merchant Code, Preferences, fax no. etc are interfaces with Database module 89 which is linked to SMS Router which contains the business logic to identify the Merchant and attend to his preferences etc.

Payment Gateway 8 also interfaces to Consumer Preference Server 7. The consumer signs up at Consumer Preference Server 7 and provides his name, mobile no., USERID, PIN, issuing bank account or virtual e-purse account, his preference whether to require FVR return confirmation and PIN authorisation, his preferred return path for payment record, and whether he wants to receive a FVR or SMS payment record. Consumer Preference Server 7 interfaces with the Payment Provider back-end system 9 which is connected to various participating banks, and recognizes the issuing bank account. Some of these information such as USERID, mobile no. and preferences etc are interfaces with Database module 89 which is linked to SMS Router which contains the business logic to identify the consumer and attend to his preferences etc. Message broker 85 converts the message text to payment inf astructure provider message format to allow instructions to be given to payment provider gateway 9, for a subsequent initiation of electronic funds transfer.

SMS engine 81 handles all communications between the payment gateway 8 and the SMSC of the various telecommunication companies to which consumers may subscribe. Sender module 86 sends SMS messages to the outgoing queue of the SMS engine 81.

Message router 83 will check the syntax of a received SMS message and if any syntax errors are detected, message router 83 will send back an SMS error message. Message router 83 will also read a message from merchant server 5 via message queue 84 which may advise a consumer that particular goods ordered may not be available and can reply directly to the consumer via SMS. If the goods are available, payment can be initiated by SMS Router 83 forwarding payment message to the message queue 84 for message broker module 85. The SMS router 83 also reads a message from message broker 85 via message queue 84 for subsequent forwarding to message sender module 86.

Merchant server 5 receives a customer request from message queue 84, check the availability of goods and services provided by merchants connected with this system and if not available, will send a "not available" SMS message to the consumer via Message Router 83. Otherwise, merchant server 5 will send back a confirmation to Message Router 83 via message queue 84 to initiate a payment request.

Message queue blocks 84 provide a buffer area to temporarily store messages, synchronises access to the queues, provides a method of sending stored messages from the queue and retrieves messages from the queue.

The database module 89 contains the audit log tables. The audit log logs all the

SMS messages received by SMS router 83 over TCP/IP socket, logs all SMS messages sent by SMS router 83 over TCP/IP socket, logs all binary messages received from payment mfrastrucrure provider 9, logs all messages sent to merchants by merchant server 5 and logs all messages received from merchants via merchant server 5.

The data miner module 87 will collate traffic statistics, estimate average system response times, provide error tracking, provide details relating to frequency of usage of services by customers, estimate system peak hours and estimate customer purchase preferences.

Gateway administration and control module 88 implements an SMS payment gateway server log on GUI display server IP and port number, starts and shuts down the server, displays transaction statistic information, searches and displays customer information, activates customer accounts, freezes customer accounts, terminates customer accounts, manages customer PIN details, updates customer credentials and logs all system administration and control activities.

Figure 3 shows an example of the use of an electronic mobile communications device 1 in use in the system of the present invention. The SMS message sent by the user consists of instructions as shown in Figure 3. The SMS message sent will include an instruction to pay a particular merchant (ie a merchant code), consumer's user ID, amount to be paid and a transaction code for a particular transaction, eg a notice number in the case of a parking fine, an account number in the case of paying a telecommunications company or ISP or utility bill etc. T ie merchant code will be, for example, ST for SingTel in the case of bill payment or M1234 for a hair salon in the case of POS merchants which will display this merchant code and indicate any telecommunications company loyalty program for the purpose of accepting and promoting such mobile micro-payment by the consumer.

In Figure 4, there is shown an example of a message which may be displayed on communications device 1 as a confirmation that the audit funds transfer has been effected. The information displayed may include the date and time upon which the funds were received and the bank from which the funds are received, a repeat of the instructions originally sent, and a reniaining balance of the consumer's electronic purse or account. Of course, it ill be understood that any other suitable details may also be displayed.

The present invention is particularly useful in enabling mobile micro-payment of regular monthly bills such as telephone bills, utility bills, town council, conversancy charges and ISP charges. The system may equally be used to pay for goods and services from goods and service providers such as petrol stations, boutiques, salons, florists and restaurants.

A further advantage of the present invention is at it is able to be "plugged in" to an already established electronic funds transfer network. The system of the present invention provides an interface between an SMS enabled mobile communications device and users of the established electronic funds transfer network. The system also provides for additional features including loyalty schemes which allow merchants, consumers and telecommunications companies to benefit from the system.

Accordingly, the present invention has provided an alternative to existing methods of electronic funds transfer including the advantage of allowing a far greater number of consumers to use mobile electronic funds transfer as well as reducing the cost of accessing the service over existing systems.

While the invention has been described in relation to a specific embodiment, it will be understood that many variations and modifications are possible vΛthin the scope of the present invention as will be understood by the person skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A system for electronic funds transfer for transferring funds electronically from a payer to a payee, the system including, a mobile communications device able to transmit a Short Message Service (SMS) message, a monetary funds account associated with the payer and a central payment gateway server for receiving the SMS message, and a connection to enable authorized access to a payment transaction control centre at a payment infrastructure provider for effecting in response thereto, a financial transaction between the monetary funds account and the payee.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said payment infrastructure provider is connected to participating financial institutions.

3. A system according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said monetary funds account is an electronic purse account.

4. A system according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said monetary funds account is a designated issuing bank account.

5. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said payer receives a response to the transmitted SMS message.

6. A system according to claim 5 wherein said response is a formatted voice response (FVR) voice call, requesting that said payer confirm the transaction mstruction andto keym PIN.

7. A system according to claim 4, wherein said financial transaction is between a direct debit account of the payer at said designated issuing bank, and a merchant's designated acquiring bank account.

8. A system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a confirmation that the transfer of funds has been effected is sent to the payer and/or the payee.

9. A system according to claim 8 wherein said confirmation is via fax, e-mail, FVR or SMS.

10. A method of transferring funds electronically from a payer to a payee, the method including receiving a Short Message Service (SMS) message containing an instruction to transfer funds from a monetary funds account associated with the sender of the S S message and automatically effecting a transfer from the monetary funds account to a specified payee in accordance with the instruction.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the monetary funds account is an electronic purse account.