US 7,363,265 B2 · Method and system for ubiquitous enablement of electronic currency

Abstract

A process for facilitating payment card transactions from an underlying virtual account that exists as a data entity within a trust account, wherein cardholders are able to purchase goods and services from a merchant. The cardholder may execute a transaction at any venue which presently accepts a debit card for payment. The funds of the trust account need not be linked to a checking account or credit account, wherein the liability of the cardholder, card issuer, and merchant can be reduced. Preferably, the virtual account is initially established when the card is issued and activated, and can be depleted through one or more transactions for which the card is used as the means of payment, or monetary transfer, and may be recharged from time-to-time by depositing additional funds into the virtual cardholder account or crediting the balance of the virtual account as the result of a merchant refund, adjustment, or transfer from another cardholder.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A method for facilitating payment transactions, comprising:

generating a virtual account on behalf of a user, within a trust account configured for aggregating a plurality of virtual accounts under the control of a trustee appointed to administer the funds within the trust account;
said trust account configured with an associated repository of capital sufficient to disburse funds by said trustee equivalent to the cumulative balances within the associated virtual accounts;
issuing, to a user as a cardholder, a virtual account electronic payment card encoded with said virtual account number and linked to said trust account;
accessing said virtual account in response to presentation of payment transaction information associated with a virtual account payment card when executing a payment transaction;
and
immediately transferring any portion of a balance from the virtual account of said user, as said trustee releases a level of funds from the trust account in response to user directive, to render payment for executing said payment transaction without creating a chargeback liability.

3 more elements

A method for performing monetary transactions with a virtual account payment card, comprising:

manufacturing a virtual account payment card containing a virtual account number printed or embossed on the card, and encoded magnetically within a magnetic stripe on the virtual account payment card;
generating a virtual account corresponding to the virtual account payment card, said virtual account maintained as a record within the database for a trust account, said virtual account record containing balance information indicative of the portion of funds received within the trust account which may be paid out from the trust account in response to a transaction with the virtual account payment card;
processing the virtual account payment card for a transaction the same as that used for other payment cards;
and
settling the transaction by the trustee, appointed to administer the funds within the trust account, from said trust account on behalf of the cardholder in response to the trustee releasing a level of funds from the trust account in response to cardholder directive;
wherein said transaction is settled immediately, without incurring chargeback liability, upon processing said transaction, by decrementing the existing balance of the virtual account in response to payments made with the virtual account payment card, and incrementing the existing virtual account balance in response to transfers made into the virtual account payment card.

3 more elements

A system for facilitating payment transactions, comprising:

means for generating a virtual account by a financial or other institution on behalf of a user within a database having a database record for the virtual account within a trust account which is responsive to a monetary remittance from the cardholder;
said trust account is controlled by a trustee appointed to administer the funds within the trust account in response to directives from the cardholder of said virtual account;
said database is configured to provide agglomeration of multiple virtual accounts to be associated with a single trust account;
an electronic payment card having a virtual account number associated with said virtual account, said virtual account number configured for being read while executing monetary payment and transfer transactions through said trustee;
means for issuing and activating said card;
means for initially establishing said virtual account when the card is issued and activated;
and
means for executing a payment transaction with said payment card against a virtual account without requiring the user to maintain a checking account associated with said payment card;
wherein said payment transaction comprises executing a payment through the existing payment card infrastructure, or transferring in response to user directive any portion of a balance from said virtual account to a virtual account of another cardholder;
and
said payment transaction decrementing the balance of said virtual account immediately upon authorizing said payment transaction, and without incurring a chargeback liability.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and system for ubiquitous enablement of electronic currency

Life of this patent

Method and system for ubiquitous enablement of electronic currency

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims30