EP0668579A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Secure money transfer techniques using smart cards
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1995-02-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-02-02
Abstract
Abstract Systems and methods for providing secure electronic financial transactions characterized in that money is electronically stored on a plurality of smart cards. A plurality of smart cards are each equipped with an electronic security wall having a closed state and an open state. In the closed state, the smart card is disabled from participating in financial transactions, and in the open state, the smart card may participate in financial transactions. A security key smart card is equipped with a first security key for changing the state of the electronic security wall from the open state to the closed state, and a second security key for changing the state of the electronic security wall from the closed state to the open state. Financial transactions include, for example, electronically transferring money between a bank center and a smart card; electronically transferring money between the first and second smart cards; checking the amount of money stored on a smart card; and adding interest to the amount of money stored on the smart card.
Inventors
- 👤 David Michael Claus
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 22:03
CPC Classifications
G; G07; G07F; G07F7/00; G07F7/08; G07F7/10; G07F7/1008; G06; G06Q; G06Q20/00; G06Q20/08; G06Q20/10; G06Q20/105; G06Q20/30; G06Q20/34; G06Q20/341; G06Q20/36; G06Q20/367; G06Q20/3676; G06Q20/38; G06Q20/40; G06Q20/409; G06Q20/4097
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
195 words
A method for performing financial transactions, characterized by the following steps: (a) storing an electronic representation of a monetary value on a plurality of smart cards including at least a first smart card and a second smart card; (b) equipping at least one of the first and second smart cards with an electronic security lock for providing system security, the security lock having a locked state such that the smart card is disabled from participating in at least one financial transaction, and an unlocked state such that the smart card may participate in at least one financial transaction; (c) equipping the first smart card with a first security key and the second smart card with a second security key; and (d) comparing the first security key and the second security key to generate a match signal if the first security key matches the second security key, and to generate a no-match signal if the first security key does not match the second security key, the electronic security lock being responsive to the match signal to enter the unlocked state, and the electronic security lock being responsive to the no-match signal to enter the locked state.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method for performing financial transactions as set forth in Claim 1 further characterized in that the financial transactions include transferring an electronic representation of a monetary value from the first smart card to the second smart card.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
119 words
A method for performing financial transactions as set forth in Claim 1 further characterized in that the financial transactions include one or more of the following: (i) electronically transferring money from a bank to any one of the plurality of smart cards; (ii) electronically transferring money from any one of the plurality of smart cards to a bank; (iii) electronically transferring money from the first smart card to the second smart card; (iv) electronically transferring money from the second smart card to the first smart card; (v) checking a smart card balance including the amount of money electronically stored on any one of the plurality of smart cards; and (vi) adding an interest payment to the smart card balance.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
68 words
A method for performing financial transactions as set forth in Claim 1 further characterized in that the first smart card includes a first plurality of security keys and the second smart card includes a second plurality of security keys, the comparison step generating a match signal if a plurality of ones of the first plurality of security keys match a plurality of ones of the second security keys.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
190 words
An apparatus for performing secure financial transactions characterized by: a) a first smart card including: i) monetary value storage means for storing an electronic representation of a monetary value; and ii) security key storage means for storing a first electronic security key; b) a second smart card including: i) monetary value storage means for storing an electronic representation of a monetary value; and ii) security key storage means for storing a second electronic security key; the first and second smart cards each further including: iii) security key comparison means for comparing the first electronic security key with the second electronic security key, the comparison means producing a match signal if the first electronic security key matches the second electronic security key, the comparison means producing a no-match signal if the first electronic security key does not match the second electronic security key; and iv) electronic security lock means coupled to the security key comparison means for enabling the smart card to participate in a financial transaction in response to a match signal and for disabling the smart card from participating in a financial transaction in response to a no-match signal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
154 words
An apparatus for performing secure financial transactions as set forth in Claim 5 further characterized in that the first smart card security key storage means includes means for storing a first plurality of electronic security keys and the second smart card includes security key storage means for storing a second plurality of electronic security keys; the security key comparison means being adapted to compare any one of said first plurality of electronic security keys with any one of said second plurality of electronic security keys; the comparison means producing a match signal if a plurality of ones of said first plurality of electronic security keys matches a plurality of ones of said second plurality of electronic security keys; and the comparison means producing a no-match signal if a plurality of ones of said first plurality of electronic security keys do not match a plurality of ones of said second plurality of electronic security keys.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
92 words
An apparatus for performing financial transactions as set forth in Claim 5 further characterized by: (a) first smart card read and write means for reading data from and writing data to the first smart card; (b) second smart card read and write means for reading data from and writing data to the second smart card; and (c) communications link means connected to the first smart card read and write means and the second smart card read and write means for exchanging data between the first smart card and the second smart card.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus for performing financial transactions as set forth in Claim 7 further characterized in that the data includes at least one security key.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
129 words
An apparatus for performing financial transactions as set forth in Claim 5 further characterized by: (a) a third smart card; (b) first smart card read and write means for reading data from and writing data to at least one of the first smart card, the second smart card, and the third smart card; (c) second smart card read and write means for reading data from and writing data to at least one of the first smart card, the second smart card, and the third smart card; and (d) communications link means connected to the first smart card read and write means and the second smart card read and write means for exchanging data between any of the first smart card, the second smart card, and the third smart card.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
167 words
An apparatus for performing financial transactions as set forth in Claim 9 further characterized in that the first smart card is a bank center smart card, the second smart card is a merchant smart card, and the third smart card is a customer smart card, the data including financial transaction data and one, or more security keys, the financial transaction data specifying financial parameters including a quantity of electronic money and/or an interest rate, the financial transactions including one or more of the following: (i) transferring money from a bank center to any one of the first, second, and third smart cards, (ii) transferring money from any one of the first, second, and third smart cards to a bank center, (iii) transferring money between any of the first, second, and third smart cards, (iv) checking a smart card balance including the amount of money stored on any one of the first, second, and third smart cards, and (v) adding an interest payment to the smart card balance.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
150 words
A smart card for performing secure financial transactions and characterized by: a) monetary value storage means for storing an electronic representation of a monetary value; b) security key storage means for storing a first electronic security key; c) security key comparison means for receiving a second electronic security key and for comparing the first electronic security key with the second electronic security key, the comparison means producing a match signal if the first electronic security key matches the second electronic security key, and the comparison means producing a no-match signal if the first electronic security key does not match the second electronic security key; and d) electronic security lock means coupled to the comparison means for enabling the smart card to participate in a financial transaction in response to a match signal and for disabling the smart card from participating in a financial transaction in response to a no-match signal.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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