Payment card terminal for mobile phones

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a first mobile phone of a merchant associated with a first mobile phone number, first data characterizing a second mobile phone number associated with a customer, a payment card and a settlement amount for a transaction, the first data being user-generated input;
• initiating wireless transmission of second data characterizing a request to provide a payment card settlement service of a merchant account of a merchant account provider for the transaction, the wireless transmission to be from the first mobile phone over a carrier data network to an application server;
• receiving, by the application server and from a payment card association server and via a merchant account provider server, data characterizing whether the payment card associated with the customer can be used to settle the transaction;
• initiating by the application server, wireless transmission of a request to authorize settlement of the transaction with the payment card, the request to be transmitted in accordance with a wireless mobile phone messaging protocol to the second mobile phone using the second mobile phone number characterized in the first data;
• receiving by the application server a message generated by the second mobile phone characterizing customer-generated input authorizing settlement of the transaction;
• and
• wirelessly receiving third data characterizing authorization of settlement of the transaction with the payment card, the third data wirelessly received by the first mobile phone from the application server based on receiving the message authorizing the settlement of the transaction from the second mobile phone.

A system comprising:

• a first mobile phone;
• a second mobile phone;
• an application server comprising memory and at least one data processor;
• a merchant account server comprising memory and at least one data processor;
• wherein:
• first data is received from the first mobile phone through a wireless carrier data network at the application server, the first data characterizes a request to provide a payment card settlement service, the first mobile phone is associated with a first mobile phone number, the request characterizing a payment card of a customer with which to settle a transaction and merchant account information of a merchant account;
• the merchant account provider server is accessed to obtain processing of the request for the merchant account based on the merchant account information, the merchant account information comprises the first mobile phone number;
• the application server receives second data from the merchant account provider server that characterizes authorization to settle the transaction with the payment card for the merchant account;
• the payment card is associated with a cardholder profile for the customer that comprises a second mobile phone with a second mobile phone number, the cardholder profile being stored at a computing system associated with an issuer of the payment card or a payment card association;
• the application server initiates wireless transmission of a request to authorize settlement of the transaction with the payment card, the request is transmitted in accordance with a wireless mobile phone messaging protocol to the second mobile phone;
• the application server receives a message generated by the second mobile phone characterizing customer-generated input authorizing settlement of the transaction;
• and
• the application server initiates wireless transmission of third data characterizing the authorization for the settlement based on receiving the message authorizing the settlement of the transaction from the second mobile phone, the third data is wirelessly transmitted through the wireless carrier data network to the first mobile phone.