WO2011032596A1

WO2011032596A1 - Electronic transfer of money

Info

Publication number: WO2011032596A1
Application number: PCT/EP2009/062113
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrik Centellini
Original assignee: Bankgirocentralen Bgc Ab
Priority date: 2009-09-18
Filing date: 2009-09-18
Publication date: 2011-03-24

Abstract

Method for executing an electronic transfer of money from a user (11;21) to a recipient, whereby the user (11;21) holds at least one account to be debited, where the account is provided by an account keeping third party such as a bank, a credit card company or the like, where the account is caused to be identifiable using an account identifier, and where a first central server (14;24) is connected to a central identification server (17;27) which in turn is caused to comprise information regarding the identity of the user (11;21). The invention is characterised in that the method comprises the steps of a) the first server (14;24) being caused to comprise information regarding the identity of the user (11;21), said account identifier and an association between the identity and account of the user (11;21); b) the user (11; 21) establishing an electronic connection to the first server (14;24); c) the user (11;21) being caused to identify himself to the first server (14;24) using an electronic procedure for identification, provided by the first server (14;24), which procedure is caused to comprise a step wherein the stated identity of the user (11;21) is verified by a call from the first server (14;24) to the identification server (17;27); and d) the first server (14;24) executing a transfer instruction to the account keeping party, from the user's account to the account of the recipient, of a certain predetermined amount, where the account identifier of the user's account is associated with the identity of the user (11;21) in the first server (14;24). The invention also relates to a system.

Description

ELECTRONIC TRANSFER OF MONEY

The present invention relates to a method for carrying out an electronic transfer of money from a user to a recipient.

Nowadays, an increasing number of money transactions take place through electronic transferring. For example, this is the case for purchases of goods or services via the Internet. A problem for such transactions is that a paying or transferring user in some way must identify an account that can be debited in the transfer. For example, this can be done by directly stating an account number or to state the number of a credit card issued by a credit card company. In this case, the user is forced to supply sensitive information in the form of account or credit card specifications across an elec^¬ tronic communications network, which is associated with secu^¬ rity hazards and therefore undesirable in many cases. Alternatively, the user may state information identifying an account with a different type of payment intermediating third party, which in turn carries specifications regarding a sepa^¬ rate account on which the user has deposited money. This alternative requires that the user beforehand has registered such an account with such an intermediating party, and also has made sure that enough coverage is present on this ac^¬ count. Moreover, at the time for the very purchase, some type of authentication is required of the user towards the inter^¬ mediary party in connection with the transfer of money. To sum up, such a method puts relatively high demands on the user, which is not desirable.

The present invention solves the above described problems. Thus, the invention relates to a method for executing an electronic transfer of money from a user to a recipient, whereby the user holds at least one account to be debited, where the account is provided by an account keeping third party such as a bank, a credit card company or the like, where the account is caused to be identifiable using an ac^¬ count identifier, and where a first central server is con^¬ nected to a central identification server which in turn is caused to comprise information regarding the identity of the user, and is characterised in that the method comprises the steps of a) the first server being caused to comprise infor^¬ mation regarding the identity of the user, said account iden^¬ tifier and an association between the identity and account of the user; b) the user establishing an electronic connection to the first server; c) the user being caused to identify himself to the first server using an electronic procedure for identification, provided by the first server, which procedure is caused to comprise a step wherein the stated identity of the user is verified by a call from the first server to the identification server; and d) the first server executing a transfer instruction to the account keeping party, from the user's account to the account of the recipient, of a certain predetermined amount, where the account identifier of the user's account is associated with the identity of the user in the first server.

The invention also relates to an electronic transfer system according to claim 2. In the following, the invention will be described in closer detail, with reference to exemplifying embodiments of the invention and to the appended drawings, where: Figure 1 is an overview of the different parts in a system for carrying out a first preferred embodiment of a method according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is an overview of the different parts in a system for carrying out a second preferred embodiment of a method according to the present invention; and

Figure 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the invention.

Figure 1 depicts a user 11 of a method according to the present invention. Using a piece of digital communication equipment, such as a computer 13 or a mobile terminal 12 in the form of a mobile telephone, the user 11 can connect elec^¬ tronically to a centrally arranged first server 14. Such an electronic connection may take place over the Internet or any other suitable electronic communications network.

The first server 14 comprises information regarding the identity of the user 11. This information may have any suitable format, admitting the first server 14 to uniquely identify the user 11. A first example is a social security number or the corresponding, possibly in combination with a code for nationality. A second example is a code in the form of a unique combination of letters and/or digits which code is not a social security number. In this second case it is preferred that the code is associated with a certain electronic means of identification personally issued to the user 11, and that the code in this way is tied to the user 11.

Herein, the expression "electronic means of identification" refers to an identification service issued by a certain is^¬ suing party, for example in the form of a downloaded file, a so-called smart card or a personal SMS (Short Message Ser^¬ vice) , the latter being sent to a mobile phone belonging to a certain user. An electronic means of identification may be used by a user to whom the means is issued in order to elec^¬ tronically identify himself in various contexts. Examples comprise so-called electronic identities, such as the Swedish service BankID, that may be used to sign documents in a le- gaily binding manner under certain jurisdictions.

Moreover, the first server 14 keeps information regarding an account belonging to the user 11. By way of example, the account may be a normal banking account, or may be a debit or credit card account, being provided by an account keeping party which is associated with a second server 16 to which the first server 14 is connected. The account keeping party may for instance be a bank, a credit card company or the like . The information regarding the account comprises an account identifier in the form of an account number, a credit card serial number, or an identifier which in some other way may be used to uniquely identify the account with the account keeping party. Furthermore, the first server 14 comprises an association between the identity of the user 11 and the account identifi^¬ er, so that the first server 14 may connect one to the other.

The information regarding the identity of the user 11, the account and the association between the two have been sup^¬ plied at an earlier point in time, for example by the user 11 himself .

Using the connection to the second server 16, the first serv- er 14 may electronically send for example payment orders to the second server 16 for executing payments. Such payment orders are of course subject to strict security requirements, why the second server 16 typically will demand from the first server 14 some type of electronic identification of the user 11 the account of whom will be debited.

Additionally, the first server 14 is also connected to a central identification server 17, which in turn comprises information regarding the identity of the user 11. It is preferred that the identifications server 17 comprises infor^¬ mation regarding at least one electronic means of identifica^¬ tion which is issued to the user 11, whereby it is possible for the identification server 17 to verify that the user 11 really is who he/she pretends to be by checking an electronic means of identification provided by the user 11 with the data being kept in a database in the identification server 17. According to a preferred embodiment, the electronic means for identification is issued by an issuing party at the request of the first server 14, possibly after a request from the user 11, which first server 14 in connection to the request to the issuing party also queries information from the user 11 concerning one or several accounts of the user 11, and also stores the information regarding the identity of the user 11, the account identifier and an association between them. Alternatively, the electronic means for identification is created by the issuing party at the direct request of the user 11, whereafter the user 11 registers the electronic means for identification, together with an account to be associated therewith, via a separate call to the first server 14. In an exemplifying embodiment, described in the following and illustrated in Figure 3, the user 11 performs an online pur^¬ chase of a good or service via an Internet web page operated by a seller/recipient of payment. The recipient has a third server 15, to which the first server 14 is connected. In a first step 31, and as described above, the user 11 pro^¬ vides the first server 14 with the necessary information for the first server 14 to be able to store the identity of the user 11, the account identifier and the association between them. This step may be performed beforehand. What is impor^¬ tant is also that this step may be performed once only, and under rigorous security standards. Thus, a simple yet safe method is achieved.

In a second step 32, which is preferably carried out in di^¬ rect connection to the purchase, the user 11 subsequently establishes an electronic connection to the first server 14, using the mobile terminal 12, the computer 13 or in any other suitable manner.

In a third step 33, the first server 14 requests the user 11 to identify himself using a procedure for electronic identi^¬ fication, which procedure is provided by the first server 14 to the user 11. During such procedure for identification, the user 11 is requested to provide information concerning a certain electronic means for identification. The first server 14 verifies that the user 11 really is who he/she pretends to be by requesting the identification server 17 to verify the electronic means for identification for the user 11 in question.

In a fourth and final step 34, the first server 14 subse^¬ quently executes an instruction to transfer the money for payment of the good or service from the account of the user 11 to an account held by the recipient, the details regarding the latter being identified by a suitable query to the reci^¬ pient server 15 during the purchase or beforehand. To this end, stored information relating to the identity of the user 11, the account identifier and the association between them is used by the first server 14. Suitable calls are made to the servers 16, 15 of the account keeping party and of the recipient, respectively. The transfer instruction may be in the form of an instruction to immediately transfer the indi^¬ cated funds to the recipient, or to carry out the transfer at any later time.

Since the first server 14 carries information regarding the electronic identity of the user 11, and since the identity already has been verified by the issuing party, a secure connection can be established to the account keeping party, whereby a money transfer to the recipient can be cleared and executed by the account keeping party.

Since the first server 14 is connected to both the account keeping party and to the identification server 17, two main advantages are achieved. Firstly, in most electronic systems in which a user may order a money transfer to a recipient, notably in e-commerce sys^¬ tems, the user must identify himself before placing a pur^¬ chase order or the like, for the simple reason that the sys^¬ tem needs to know who the user is to carry out the transac- tion. Subsequently, the user must go through an additional identification procedure for actually ordering the money transfer. Using a method according to the present invention, there is no need for the user 11 to go through two separate identification steps, since the user 11 can be identified in a secure manner already when logging into the system, and since the first server 14 can use the same credentials when executing the money transfer instruction. To this end, the first server 14 may, after the user 11 has been authenticated using the identification server 17, share information stored in the first server 14, regarding the identity of the user 11, to the recipient's server. Such information may be pro^¬ vided beforehand by the user and may for example include the address of the user 11 for delivery of a purchased good.

Secondly, the security can be increased. Namely, the login procedures of many e-commerce systems and the like are asso^¬ ciated with poor standards of security. For example, a simple permanent-type password may be used to access the login ac- count of the user from any computer with Internet access. The reason for this may for example be that it is complicated to implement authentication procedures with more rigorous secu^¬ rity standards. Since the user profile may comprise sensitive and personal information, this presents a hazard to the inte- grity of the user. In a subsequent step, in order to execute the money transfer, the user is in general obliged to either priorly have set up an arrangement with an intermediary third party as described above, or, if this is perceived as too complicated, to state account or credit card details directly online. This is clearly a security threat. Using a method according to the present invention with a first central server 14, one single, secure electronic means for identification can be used both to login to the system and to order the transfer of the necessary funds without explicitly stating any details regarding accounts or credit cards.

The next time the user 11 wants to transfer money using the presently described method, it is only necessary to complete steps 32, 33 and 34. In other words, step 31 needs only be carried out once.

According to one preferred embodiment, the identity of the user 11, which identity is stored in the first server 14, is associated with only one account identifier in the first server 14. This way, at the time for the transfer, there is no need for the user to provide information regarding what account to be debited neither to the first server 14 nor to the recipient. In other words, the user 11 will simply in- struct the first server 14, via an electronically sent re^¬ quest, to execute the money transfer instruction to the ac^¬ count keeping party using the information regarding the account to be debited as given beforehand by the user. The first server 14 will upon such request execute the money transfer instruction without requesting the user 11 to supply any information regarding account or credit card number. This way, the integrity of the user 11 can be protected efficient- ly. According to an alternative embodiment, the identity of the user 11 in the first server 14 is instead associated with at least two account identifiers for at least two different accounts. For example, the user 11 may have beforehand pre^¬ sented to the first server 14 information regarding his/her savings account, his/her credit card and his/her account with a micro payment service provider. Each of these accounts is associated with a respective secondary identifier, which for instance may be a short text string provided by the user himself, such as "savings account", "amex" or the like. Given a certain user 11, each secondary identifier uniquely identifies an account associated with that user 11. It is important that each secondary identifier does not contain sufficient information for it to be possible to establish the identity of the respective account without using the said association to the account which is stored in the first server 14. In other words, the information contained in the identifier must not allow a third party with no access to the stored associa^¬ tion in question, to uniquely identify an account based upon that information. Thus, for example, the secondary identifier must not contain the account number itself.

Prior to the execution of the money transfer instruction, the first server 14 queries the user 11 for which one of the associated accounts that should be debited. Preferably, such a query results in the user 11 being presented with a choice as to which one of a certain set of available secondary identifiers to use. Depending on the circumstances, the set of available identifiers does not have to include all of the available identifiers. For example, an associated account may be known to lack coverage, or may be unavailable for the type of transaction to be carried out. Such a method makes it possible for a user to select one of several preregistered payment methods without having to disclose any sensitive information across the communication network at the time of purchase .

According to a preferred embodiment, the first server 14 electronically queries the account keeping party regarding if the selected account is in a state to be debited for the transfer or not. Such query is made before the money transfer instruction is executed. If the account is not in such a state, the first server 14 will instead let the user 11 choose another one of the set of available secondary iden^¬ tifiers the associated account of which is to be debited.

It is additionally preferred that, in case the money transfer concerns the payment of a purchased good or service, the first server 14 electronically sends information concerning that the user 11 has been identified and that the account is in a state to be debited, to the recipient and prior to the purchase is effected. Thereafter, the first server 14 ex^¬ ecutes the transfer instruction upon the express request from the recipient. This way, the recipient will be guaranteed, with no need to actually transfer sensitive information to or from the recipient, that sufficient funds are available be^¬ fore for example executing the purchase.

As for the type of electronic means for identification asso^¬ ciated with the user 11 in the first server 14 and verifiable by the identification server 17, according to one preferred embodiment the identification server 17 provides an electronic means for identification of the type electronic identity, which is a PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) identification procedure such as for example the Swedish BankID and the Norwegian bank-id identification service. In this case, the user 11 may for instance own a file comprising an encryption key, and be authenticated by matching this key with another key stored by the issuing party in the identification server 17.

According to another preferred embodiment, the identification server provides an electronic means for identification of the type temporary password in combination with a user identity. In this case, the user 11 has, at a previous point in time, received a valid temporary password associated with his/her user identity from the identification server, for instance comprised in an SMS sent to the user's 11 private mobile telephone 12. The authenticity of the password may be veri^¬ fied by the identification server 17 by checking that the password is the same as the one stored on the identification server 17.

According to yet another preferred embodiment, the first server 14 is connected to at least two different identifica^¬ tion servers (not shown in the Figures) . In this case, the different identification servers may provide similar or dif- ferent procedures for electronic identification. Moreover, the user 11 is allowed to be identified by any one of a set including one or several of such different or similar, avail^¬ able means forms for electronic identification. In this case, the first server 14 may be used as a single point of access for the user 11 to several or all means for electronic iden^¬ tification subscribed to by the user 11. For example, the user 11 may be presented with a choice between all supported electronic identification means associated with the identity of the user 11 when logging in.

Figure 2 illustrates a system for carrying out a method ac^¬ cording to a second preferred embodiment of the invenion. This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment as de- scribed above in connection to Figure 1, and reference is made to this first embodiment regarding the detailed proce^¬ dural steps as described above and below. A user 21 estab^¬ lishes, in an initial step preferably taken in connection to the issuing of the transfer order, an electronic connection to a recipient's server 25. The connection between the user 21 and the first server 24 is mediated by the recipient via the recipient's server 25. For instance, the login creden^¬ tials presented by the user 21 to the recipient when logging in to the recipient' s online store may be directly forwarded from the recipient's server 25 to the first server 24 for verification, whereafter the first server 24 uses an identification server 27 to verify the credentials as described above. In a next step, when the user 21 decides on a purchase and wants to pay, the order to transfer money is again for- warded to the first server 24 by the recipient's server 25, and the first server 24 carries out the transfer order as described above using its preregistered association with one or several of the user's 21 accounts. Using such a method, the user 21 may for example be provided with access to the usual methods for payment which he/she would use when paying for something in a real-world store, without having to pro^¬ vide sensitive information at the moment of purchase and without having to login or identify himself more than the one single time. Also, in this case it is possible to, with no major overhead, use of the high security standards available in many electronic means for identification. Especially in comparison to a typical setup using a user name - password procedure connected to an e-mail address of the user 21, for example an electronic identity is much more secure.

According to yet another preferred embodiment, at least one, preferably several, of the identification servers are, as regards network topology, arranged in the same, secure net- work as the first server 14, such as in the same business intranet. This way, the sensitive information regarding ac^¬ counts, users and associations between them can be better controlled, resulting in a higher security standard. Prefera^¬ bly, the first server 14 is located in the same geographical location as the identification server or servers arranged in the same secure network. This would provide very high securi^¬ ty standards.

Above, preferred embodiments have been described. However, it is obvious for the skilled person that many modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the idea of the invention.

For example, in some cases it would be appropriate for the first server to be arranged as a part of the recipient's computer network. This way, the recipient would be able to offer secure identification methods to users and at the same time a simplified interface for effecting money transfers for online purchases. In another example, the money transfer does not relate to the immediate purchase of a good or service, but instead to the transfer of money in general or for any other reason. Using a method according to the present invention, such a general money transfer service can be implemented with support for several banking and credit card institutions with no need for additional login procedures. It is, however, to be noted that in order to achieve the advantages of the present invention, the first server should not be arranged in the same local network as a server of an account keeping party. Namely, this would make it more diffi^¬ cult to achieve high security standards, especially for a user who uses money transfer services of several account keeping parties.

Thus, the invention is not limited to the described embodi^¬ ments, but may be varied within the scope of the enclosed claims.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. Method for executing an electronic transfer of money from a user (11;21) to a recipient, whereby the user (11;21) holds at least one account to be debited, where the account is provided by an account keeping third party such as a bank, a credit card company or the like, where the account is caused to be identifiable using an account identifier, and where a first central server (14;24) is connected to a central iden^¬ tification server (17;27) which in turn is caused to comprise information regarding the identity of the user (11;21), c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the method comprises the steps of:

a) the first server (14;24) being caused to comprise in^¬ formation regarding the identity of the user (11;21), said account identifier and an association between the identity and account of the user (11;21); b) the user (11;21) establishing an electronic connection to the first server (14;24);

c) the user (11;21) being caused to identify himself to the first server (14;24) using an electronic proce^¬ dure for identification, provided by the first server (14;24), which procedure is caused to comprise a step wherein the stated identity of the user (11;21) is verified by a call from the first server (14;24) to the identification server (17;27); and

d) the first server (14;24) executing a transfer instruction to the account keeping party, from the us^¬ er's account to the account of the recipient, of a certain predetermined amount, where the account iden^¬ tifier of the user's account is associated with the identity of the user (11;21) in the first server (14;24) .

2. Electronic transfer system for executing an electronic transfer of money from a user (11;21) to a recipient, which user (11;21) holds at least one account to be debited, where the account is provided by an account keeping third party such as a bank, a credit card company or the like, where the account is arranged to be identifiable using an account iden^¬ tifier, and where the system comprises a first central server (14;24) connected to a central identification server (11; 21) which in turn comprises information regarding the identity of the user ( 11 ; 21 ) , c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the first server (14;24) is arranged to comprise information regarding the identity of the user ( 11 ; 21 ) , said account identifier and an association between the identity and account of the user (11;21), and in that the first server (14;21) is arranged to perform the steps of:

a) allowing the user (11;21) to establish an electronic connection to the first server (14;24);

b) requesting the user (11;21) to identify himself using an electronic procedure for identification, provided by the first server (14;24), which procedure is arranged to comprise a step wherein the stated identity of the user (11;21) is verified by a call from the first server (14,-24) to the identification server (17;-21); and

c) executing a transfer instruction to the account keeping party, from the user' s account to the account of the recipient, of a certain predetermined amount, where the account identifier of the user' s account is associated with the identity of the user (11;21) in the first server (14;24) .

3. Method according to claim 1 or system according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the identity of the user (11;21) in the first server (14;24) is associated with only one account identifier, and in that the user (11;21) at the time for the transfer does not provide neither the first server (14;24) nor the recipient with information regarding what account to be debited.

4. Method according to claim 1 or system according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the identity of the user (11;21) in the first server (14;24) is associated with at least two account identifiers for at least two different accounts, where each account is associated with a respective secondary identifier, in that each secondary identifier does not contain sufficient information for it to be possible to establish the identity of the respective account without using the said association to the account which is stored in the first server (14;24), and in that the first server (14;24) prior to said money transfer instruction execution queries the user (11;21) for which one of the accounts to be debited by allowing the user (11;21) to choose one among a set of available secondary identifiers.

5. Method or system according to claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the first server (14;24) prior to the said money transfer instruction execution electronically queries the account keeping party regarding if the account is in a state to be debited for the transfer, and if such is not the case lets the user (11;21) choose another of the set of available secondary identifiers the associated account of which is to be debited instead.

6. Method or system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the money transfer concerns the payment of a purchased good or service, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the first server (14;24), to the recipient and prior to the purchase is effected, electronically sends information con- cerning that the user (11;21) has been identified and that the account can be debited, whereafter the first server (14;24) executes the transfer instruction.

7. Method or system according to any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the identification server (17;27) is caused or arranged to provide an electronic means for identification of the type electronic identity.

8. Method or system according to any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the identification server (17;27) is caused or arranged to provide an electronic means for identification of the type temporary password in combination with a user identity, whereby the user (11;21) at a previous point in time has received a valid such temporary password associated with his/her user identity from the iden^¬ tification server (17;27).

9. Method or system according to any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the first server

(14;24) is caused or arranged to be connected to at least two different identification servers and in that the user (11;21) is allowed to be identified by one or several of the differ^¬ ent available means for identification.

10. Method or system according to any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the user (11;21) in an initial step establishes an electronic connection to the recipient, and in that the connection between the user (11;21) and the first server (14;24) is mediated by the reci^¬ pient via a server (15) of the recipient.

11. Method or system according to any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that the user (11;21) establishes the electronic connection to the recipient and/or the first server (14;24) using a mobile terminal (12;22) for data-communication, such as a mobile telephone.