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US 7,954,704 B1Granted
Electronic payment system with PIN and sub-account configurations
AssigneeTranssec Data Limited Liability Compnay
InventorsBrian R. Gephart, Darrell Redford
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Implementations of the present invention provide systems, methods, and apparatus for stopping unauthorized transactions before they are processed, as well as for creating and using one or more sub-accounts. For example, a debit or credit account can be activated or deactivated at will through various spend control mechanisms, which can be limited by specified time periods, numbers of transactions, and/or monetary amounts. Further implementations also relate to using a unique 6-digit identification number (or biometric information) that is known only to the account granting institution and the primary account owner for the various types of activation/deactivation.
Claims22
An electronic account access card, comprising:
- a plate;
- and
- an information storage device coupled to the plate and configured to store access authorization information,
- wherein the information storage device is configured to be read by a card reader, the card reader being configured to receive an entry of a sub-account PIN associated with an electronic sub-account and the electronic sub-account is configured to provide access to at least a portion of funds available to a primary electronic account,
- wherein the access authorization information and the sub-account PIN together are configured to allow for authorizing access to perform an electronic transaction associated with the electronic sub-account, other than a restricted transaction,
- wherein the restricted transaction is associated with the access authorization information,
- wherein the electronic sub-account is configured to be activated by the sub-account PIN, the sub-account PIN being same as a PIN for the primary electronic account, and
- wherein the electronic sub-account is configured to be deactivated by the sub-account PIN.
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- setting up a primary electronic account;
- generating a minimum length value for a PIN for the primary electronic account;
- producing a number of digits to form the PIN, the number of digits defined by said generated length;
- setting up one or more sub-accounts corresponding to the primary electronic account, the one or more sub-accounts configured to provide access to at least a portion of funds available to the primary electronic account using sub-account PINs associated with the one or more sub-accounts;
- setting up one or more spend controls for at least one of the one or more sub-accounts;
- and
- activating at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN, wherein the associated sub-account PIN is same as the PIN for the primary electronic account;
- and
- deactivating the at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN.
6 more elements
A method comprising:
- receiving a request to setup one or more sub-accounts corresponding to a primary electronic account;
- determining one or more spend controls and a number of digits for a sub-account PIN for at least one sub-account of the one or more sub-accounts, wherein the number of digits for the sub-account PIN is defined by a length of the sub-account PIN;
- receiving a transaction request, wherein the transaction request includes an identification of a sub-account number for the at least one sub-account;
- determining whether the transaction request is allowed based on the one or more spend controls and the sub-account PIN for the at least one sub-account;
- and
- billing the primary electronic account for activation or deactivation of the one or more spend controls associated with the at least one sub-account.
3 more elements
A system comprising:
- means for setting up a primary account;
- means for generating a minimum length for a PIN for the primary account;
- means for producing a number of digits to form the PIN, the number of digits being at least as great as said generated minimum length;
- means for setting up one or more sub-accounts corresponding to the primary account, the one or more sub-accounts configured to provide access to at least a portion of funds available to the primary account using sub-account PINs associated with the one or more sub-accounts;
- means for setting up one or more spend controls for at least one of the one or more sub-accounts;
- means for activating at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN, wherein the associated sub-account PIN is same as the PIN for the primary electronic account;
- and
- means for deactivating the at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN.
5 more elements
A tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
- generating a minimum length value for a PIN for a primary account;
- producing a number of digits to form the PIN, the number of digits defined by said generated length;
- setting up one or more sub-accounts corresponding to the primary account, the one or more sub-accounts configured to provide access to at least a portion of funds available to the primary account using sub-account PINs associated with the one or more sub-accounts;
- setting up one or more spend controls for at least one of the one or more sub-accounts;
- activating at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN, wherein the associated sub-account PIN is same as the PIN for the primary electronic account;
- and
- deactivating the at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN.
4 more elements
A system comprising:
- means for receiving a request to setup one or more sub-accounts corresponding to a primary account;
- means for determining one or more spend controls and a number of digits for a sub-account PIN for at least one sub-account of the one or more sub-accounts, wherein the number of digits for the sub-account PIN is defined by a length of the sub-account PIN;
- means for activating at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN, wherein the associated sub-account PIN is same as the PIN for the primary electronic account;
- means for receiving a transaction request, wherein the transaction request includes an identification of a sub-account number for the at least one sub-account;
- means for determining whether the transaction request is allowed based on a time of day restriction associated with the transaction request, the one or more spend controls and the digits for the sub-account PIN for the at least one sub-account;
- and
- means for deactivating the at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN.
4 more elements
A tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that, if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
- receiving a request to setup one or more sub-accounts corresponding to a primary account;
- determining one or more spend controls and digits for a sub-account PIN for at least one sub-account of the one or more sub-accounts, wherein the number of digits for the sub-account PIN is defined by a length of the sub-account PIN;
- activating at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN, wherein the associated sub-account PIN is same as the PIN for the primary electronic account;
- receiving a transaction request, wherein the transaction request includes an identification of a sub-account number for the at least one sub-account;
- determining whether the transaction request is allowed based on a time of day restriction associated with the transaction request, the one or more spend controls and the digits for the sub-account PIN for the at least one sub-account;
- and
- deactivating the at least one of the one or more sub-accounts with the associated sub-account PIN.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.