Payment and transactions in electronic commerce system

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective secret between that customer and the agent;
• sending to the agent in a single authenticated communication from a customer of the plurality of customers, a payment request message as electronic signals representing a request for payment of a specific amount to a specific merchant and a unique identification of the customer, wherein the authenticated communication is indistinguishable by the agent from a communication which was generated solely by the customer without any customer/merchant interaction;
• and
• the agent issuing a payment advice message based only on:
• (a) the payment request message, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent, and (c) status information which the agent has, the payment advice message bearing a verifiable digital signature of the agent over part of its content.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective secret between that customer and the agent;
• receiving at the agent from a customer of the plurality of customers, a single authenticated communication comprising electronic signals representing a payment request message comprising a request for payment of a specific amount to a specific merchant and a unique identifier of the customer, wherein the authenticated communication is indistinguishable by the agent from a communication which was generated solely by the customer without any customer/merchant interaction;
• and
• issuing by the agent to the customer a payment advice message which bears a verifiable digital signature computed over part of its content, the issuing being based only on:
• (a) the payment request message, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent, and (c) status information known by the agent.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent and wherein each customer shares a respective secret between that customer and the agent, the method comprising, at a specific merchant:

• forming a session key for a specific session between the customer and the specific merchant;
• receiving from a customer electronic signals representing a portion of a payment advice message issued by the agent, the payment advice message indicating that payment will be made to the specific merchant, wherein the payment advice identifies an authenticated quote previously provided by the merchant to the customer, and wherein the quote is verifiable only by the customer;
• and
• providing goods to the customer in response to receiving the electronic signals representing the portion of the payment advice message.

An electronic payment system comprising:

• an agent mechanism;
• a plurality of merchant mechanisms;
• a plurality of customer mechanisms having accounts with the agent mechanism, each customer mechanism sharing a respective secret with the agent mechanism;
• and
• a mechanism constructed and adapted to send in a single authenticated communication to the agent mechanism, from a customer mechanism of the plurality of customer mechanisms, a payment request message as electronic signals representing an identifier for the customer mechanism and a request for payment of a specific amount from the customer mechanism to a specific merchant mechanism of the plurality of merchant mechanisms, wherein the authenticated communication is indistinguishable by the agent from a communication which was generated solely by the customer without any customer/merchant interaction;
• and
• a mechanism constructed and adapted to issue, from the agent mechanism, electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message in response to only:
• (a) the payment request message received by the agent mechanism, (b) the secret shared between the customer mechanism and the agent, and (c) status information known by the agent mechanism.

An agent mechanism, in an electronic payment system comprising the agent mechanism, a plurality of customer mechanisms and a plurality of merchant mechanisms, the customer mechanisms having accounts with the agent mechanism and each customer mechanism sharing a respective secret with the agent mechanism, the agent mechanism comprising:

• a mechanism constructed and adapted to receive, from each customer mechanism of the plurality of customer mechanisms, a payment request message as electronic signals representing a single authenticated communication comprising an identifier for the customer mechanism and a request for payment of a specific amount to a specific merchant mechanism of the plurality of merchant mechanisms, wherein the authenticated communication is indistinguishable by the agent from a communication which was generated solely by the customer mechanism without any customer/merchant interaction;
• and
• a mechanism constructed and adapted to issue electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message in response to only:
• (a) a received payment message from a customer mechanism by the agent mechanism, (b) the respective secret shared between the customer mechanism and the agent mechanism, and (c) status information known by the agent mechanism.

A customer mechanism, in an electronic payment system comprising an agent mechanism, a plurality of customer mechanisms and a plurality of merchant mechanisms, the customer mechanisms having accounts with the agent mechanism and each customer mechanism sharing a respective secret with the agent mechanism, the customer mechanism comprising:

• a mechanism constructed and adapted to send a payment request message as electronic signals in a single authenticated communication comprising an identifier for the customer mechanism and a request for payment of a specific amount to a specific merchant mechanism, wherein the authenticated communication is indistinguishable by the agent from a communication which was generated solely by the customer mechanism without any customer/merchant interaction;
• and
• a mechanism constructed and adapted to receive electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice issued by the agent mechanism in response to only:
• (a) a received payment request message from a customer mechanism by the agent mechanism, (b) the secret shared between the customer mechanism and the agent mechanism, and (c) status information known by the agent mechanism.

A merchant mechanism, in an electronic payment system comprising an agent mechanism, a plurality of customer mechanisms and a plurality of merchant mechanisms, the customer mechanisms having accounts with the agent mechanism and each customer mechanism sharing a respective secret with the agent mechanism, the merchant mechanism comprising:

• a mechanism constructed and adapted to provide electronic signals representing an authenticated quote to a customer mechanism, the quote specifying goods, wherein the authenticated quote is verifiably only by the customer mechanism;
• and
• a mechanism constructed and adapted to receive electronic signals representing a verifiable portion of a digitally signed payment advice message issued by the agent mechanism in response to only:
• (a) electronic signals representing a received single communication from a customer mechanism by the agent mechanism, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent, and (c) status information known by the agent mechanism.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective dynamic secret between that customer and the agent;
• obtaining, by a customer of the plurality of customers, electronic signals representing an authenticated quote from a specific merchant of a plurality of merchants, the quote including a specification of goods and a payment amount for those goods, the authenticated quote being verifiable only by the customer;
• sending from the customer to the agent a payment request message as electronic signals representing a request for payment of the payment amount to the specific merchant and a unique identification of the customer;
• the agent issuing and sending to the customer electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message, the issuing being based only on:
• (a) the payment request from the customer to the agent, (b) the dynamic secret shared between the customer and the agent and, (c) status information known by the agent;
• the customer forwarding electronic signals representing a portion of the payment advice message to the specific merchant;
• and
• the specific merchant providing the goods to the customer in response to receiving the electronic signals representing the portion of the payment advice message.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective secret between that customer and the agent;
• obtaining, by a customer of the plurality of customers, electronic signals representing an authenticated quote from a specific merchant of a plurality of merchants, the quote including a specification of goods and a payment amount for those goods;
• sending from the customer to the agent a payment request message as electronic signals representing a request for payment of the payment amount to the specific merchant and a unique identification of the customer, the authenticated quote being verifiable only by the customer;
• the agent issuing and sending to the customer electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message, the issuing being based only on:
• (a) the payment request from the customer to the agent, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent, and (c) status information known by the agent;
• the customer forwarding electronic signals representing a portion of the payment advice message to the specific merchant;
• and
• the specific merchant providing the goods to the customer in response to receiving the electronic signals representing the portion of the payment advice message, wherein the merchant is unable to associate the origin of this transaction with prior transactions from the same customer.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective secret between that customer and the agent;
• obtaining, by a customer of the plurality of customers, electronic signals representing an authenticated quote from a specific merchant of a plurality of merchants, the quote including a specification of goods and a payment amount for those goods, the authenticated quote being verifiable only by the customer;
• sending from the customer to the agent a payment request message as electronic signals representing a request for payment of the payment amount to the specific merchant and a unique identification of the customer;
• the agent issuing and sending to the customer electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message, the issuing being based only on:
• (a) the payment request from the customer to the agent, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent and (c) status information known by the agent;
• the customer forwarding electronic signals representing a portion of the payment advice message to the specific merchant;
• and
• the specific merchant providing the goods to the customer in response to receiving the electronic signals representing the portion of the payment advice message,
• wherein transactions cannot be linked to customers by anyone other than the agent.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective secret between that customer and the agent;
• obtaining, by a customer of the plurality of customers, electronic signals representing an authenticated quote from a specific merchant of a plurality of merchants, the quote including a specification of goods and a payment amount for those goods, the authenticated quote being verifiable only by the customer;
• sending from the customer to the agent a payment request message as electronic signals representing a request for payment of the payment amount to the specific merchant and a unique identification of the customer;
• the agent issuing and sending to the customer electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message, the issuing being based only on:
• (a) the payment request from the customer to the agent, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent, and (c) status information known to the agent;
• the customer forwarding electronic signals representing a portion of the payment advice message to the specific merchant;
• and
• the specific merchant providing the goods to the customer in response to receiving the electronic signals representing the portion of the payment advice message, whereby
• the encrypted session between customer and merchant creates a unique customer/merchant shared secret which acts as the sole authenticated reference for this transaction.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective secret between that customer and the agent;
• obtaining, by a customer of the plurality of customers, electronic signals representing an authenticated quote from a specific merchant of a plurality of merchants, the quote including a specification of goods and a payment amount for those goods, the authenticated quote being verifiable only by the customer;
• sending from the customer to the agent a payment request message as electronic signals representing a request for payment of the payment amount to the specific merchant and a unique identification of the customer;
• the agent issuing and sending to the customer electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message, the issuing being based only on:
• (a) the payment request from the customer to the agent, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent, and (c) status information known to the agent;
• the customer forwarding electronic signals representing a portion of the payment advice message to the specific merchant;
• and
• the specific merchant providing the goods to the customer in response to receiving the electronic signals representing the portion of the payment advice message,
• wherein the agent issues the payment message without verifying the quote and wherein the customer does not send the full quote to the agent.

A method of payment in an electronic payment system wherein a plurality of customers have accounts with an agent, the method comprising:

• each customer sharing a respective secret between that customer and the agent;
• obtaining, by a customer of the plurality of customers, electronic signals representing an authenticated quote from a specific merchant of a plurality of merchants, the quote including a specification of goods and a payment amount for those goods, the authenticated quote being verifiable only by the customer;
• sending from the customer to the agent a payment request message as electronic signals representing a request for payment of the payment amount to the specific merchant and a unique identification of the customer;
• the agent issuing and sending to the customer electronic signals representing an authenticated verifiable payment advice message, the issuing being based only on:
• (a) the payment request from the customer to the agent, (b) the secret shared between the customer and the agent, and (c) status information known to the agent;
• the customer forwarding electronic signals representing a portion of the payment advice message to the specific merchant;
• and
• the specific merchant providing the goods to the customer in response to receiving the electronic signals representing the portion of the payment advice message, wherein
• the merchant issues the quote verifiable only by the customer.