Multi-tier transaction processing method and payment system in m- and e- commerce

For automated transactions involving a first party and a second party agreeing to trade resources such as money in an account held by a third party on behalf of the first party for goods or services available from the second party, a method protecting personal identifying information of the first party from disclosure to the second party and protecting the specific transaction from repudiation by any party to the transaction, comprising:

• executing a protocol using a server for obtaining commitments from the first, second and third parties to a specific transaction having transaction parameters arranged between the first and second parties, the protocol including:
• exchanging messages on communication channels between the server and terminals of the first party and the second party (i) for authentication of the first party to the server by a user authentication process that identifies the first party and verifies that the first party holds an account with the third party, (ii) for identification and verification of the transaction parameters by receiving an identifier of the second party from the first party, by communicating with the second party for determination of the transaction parameters, and by communicating with the first party for verification of the transaction parameters, and (iii) for authentication of the server to the first party including delivering a transaction parameter determined by the server from the second party to thereby define a pre-authenticated form of the specific transaction;
• storing a definition of the pre-authenticated form of the specific transaction in a record of the specific transaction in the server;
• exchanging messages on communication channels between the server and terminals of the first party and the second party to obtain authorization from the first and second parties for the server to commit on behalf of the first and second parties to the specific transaction in the pre-authenticated form;
• storing an indication in the record of the specific transaction in the server confirming said pre-authorization;
• exchanging messages on communication channels between the server and terminals of the third party to obtain authorization from the third party for the server to commit on behalf of the third party resources for clearance of the specific transaction;
• storing an indication in record of the specific transaction in the server confirming said authorization by the third party;
• and
• after obtaining said authorizations from the first, second and third parties, generating at the server a transaction clearance code unique to the specific transaction, delivering the transaction clearance code to the parties of the specific transaction, and storing the transaction clearance code in the record of the specific transaction in the server;
• said record of the specific transaction capable of being used for non-repudiation of the specific transaction by the first, second and third parties, and said transaction clearance code usable by the second party to prove a right to receive said allocated resources from the third party and by the first party to prove a right to receive the goods or services subject of the specific transaction from the second party.

A server for automated transactions involving a first party and a second party agreeing to trade resources such as money in an account held by a third party on behalf of the first party for goods or services available from the second party, while protecting personal identifying information of the first party from disclosure to the second party and protecting the specific transaction from repudiation by any party to the transaction, comprising:

• a processor, a storage system coupled with the processor, and communication interfaces, and including instructions stored in the storage system and executable by the processor to execute a protocol including:
• obtaining commitments from the first, second and third parties to a specific transaction having transaction parameters arranged between the first and second parties, the protocol defining a pre-authenticated form of the specific transaction, obtaining authorization from the first and second parties for the server to commit on behalf of the first and second parties to the specific transaction in the pre-authenticated form, and obtaining authorization from the third party for the server to commit on behalf of the third party resources for clearance of the specific transaction in the pre-authenticated form;
• after obtaining said authorizations from the first, second and third parties, generating a transaction clearance code unique to the specific transaction, delivering the transaction clearance code to the parties of the specific transaction, and storing the transaction clearance code in the record of the specific transaction;
• said record of the specific transaction capable of being used for non-repudiation of the specific transaction by the first, second and third parties, and said transaction clearance code usable by the second party to prove a right to receive said allocated resources from the third party and by the first party to prove a right to receive the goods or services subject of the specific transaction from the second party.