Audio-equipped transaction card systems and approaches

A system for processing business transactions and financial transactions between sellers and buyers, the system comprising:

• a seller transaction card programmed with information representing digital data, the digital data including account information for a seller associated with the seller transaction card;
• a retailer transaction card programmed with information representing digital data, the digital data including account information for a retailer associated with the retailer transaction card;
• a communication circuit configured to communicate, in connection with a particular business transaction and a particular financial transaction, the information from the seller and retailer transaction cards using tones encoded to convey the digital data, the encoded tone including at least one of:
• encoded authorization information;
• encoded security information;
• and encoded encrypted information;
• and
• an authorization circuit configured to authorize the business transaction as a function of the communicated audio information, the digital data and the financial transaction.

A system for processing business transactions and financial transactions between two parties, the system comprising:

• a first transaction card programmed with audio information that is frequency encoded and that represents account information for an account held by one of the two parties;
• a second transaction card programmed with audio information that is frequency encoded and that represents account information for another account held by the other of the two parties;
• a transaction card reader for communicating, in connection with a particular business transaction and a particular financial transaction using the accounts held by the two parties, the audio information from the transaction cards, the audio information being communicated in the form of encoded tones that include at least one of:
• encoded authorization information;
• encoded security information;
• and encoded encrypted information;
• and
• a transaction processing arrangement for authorizing the business transaction as a function of the communicated audio information and the financial transaction and for providing a transaction receipt to a wireless portable device associated with the account of at least one of the two parties.