WO1999028873A1

WO1999028873A1 - Method and system for guaranteed purchasing

Info

Publication number: WO1999028873A1
Application number: PCT/IL1998/000501
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chaim Huber
Original assignee: Garnor Ltd.
Priority date: 1997-12-04
Filing date: 1998-10-15
Publication date: 1999-06-10
Also published as: IL122461A0; KR20010023710A; EP1036380A1; JP2001525583A; CA2300976A1; DE1036380T1; IL122461A; AU9558598A

Abstract

A method for allowing buyers to make advance payments for the purchases of good and services at a Retail Business (RB), wherein said payment is guaranteed by a Guaranteeing Organization (GO) which provides a written guarantee issuable on the premises of said Retail Business, said method comprising the steps of: (a) establishing a credit by the GO for the RB, (b) providing within the GO means for storing, retrieving and updating information representative of the level of credit accorded to the RB by the GO; (c) providing communication means; (d) providing in the GO means for printing out at a remote printer a valid authenticated guarantee for the sum involved in said transaction; (e) checking whether the credit of the RB is sufficient to cover the requested guarantee; (f) preparing data required for issuing a guarantee to said customer; and (g) printing out said valid, authenticated guarantee at said remote printer.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GUARANTEED PURCHASING

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method and system for allowing the

secure advance payment or prepayment of goods and services by the general

public.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Purchasing of goods through retail stores often involves an advance

payment or prepayment for goods and services acquired prior to the actual

delivery of the goods or services purchased. Many goods, e.g., cars and

houses under construction, are not available off the shelf but are ordered

and/or completed according to the requirements of the customer, after

payment to the supplier. When making a purchase involving a large amount

of money, such as the purchase of an apartment which has not yet been

constructed, customers often require that the prepayment or advance

payment be secured by a bank guarantee, in order to ensure that the funds

they have prepaid are returned to them in the event that the seller is not

able to deliver the apartment, or other expensive property, which has been

paid for by the buyer. Providing bank guarantees is a relatively complicated, expensive and time-

consuming procedure, involving the verification of the seller's credit, the

establishment of acceptable collaterals for the bank on the seller's part, and

the issuance of bank documents representing the bank's guarantee to the

buyer to repay his money if certain preset conditions occur, in which the

seller cannot or does not fulfill his contractual obligations to the buyer. The

procedure of authorizing and issuing such bank guarantee, which usually

covers not irrelevant sums of money, may take a relatively long time to be performed, and cannot be carried out on the seller's premises.

Because of the complexity of providing bank guarantees, and the expense

attached to the procedure, such guarantees are typically issued only for

transactions involving substantial sums of money, such as in the purchase

of a house, and even then not in every case, since the buyer is sometime

required to bear the cost of the bank guarantee. However, an extremely

large number of small transactions is effected every day in retail stores or

the like business establishments, which cumulatively involve very large sums, but each of which separately involves a relatively low sum.

Thus, for instance, when ordering furniture to be paid in three installments,

all or some of which is to be paid prior to the delivery of the furniture

purchased, the use of a bank guarantee to secure the refund of the

payments effected is highly impractical. Even if the seller could provide a

bank guarantee, he could not do so in his store at the time when the purchase is made. It is therefore often the case that a buyer required to

make an advance payment for a purchase may remain exposed to the

financial risk of the seller's failure to deliver, for instance, as a result of the

seller's bankruptcy. It is therefore often that the seller has to forego an

advance payment as a result of his inability to provide an appropriate

guarantee in his store at the time of the purchase.

Thus, the art has so far failed to provide any means by which a customer

who purchases goods or services to be delivered or provided to him after

payment, can be certain to obtain the refund of his money if the goods or the

services have not been supplied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and a

system which permit buyers to obtain a guarantee for sums paid on the

account of goods or services to be supplied at a later time.

It is another object of the invention to provide means for issuing reliable

guarantees to customers, in an efficient and cost-effective way.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method and a system which

allows sellers of goods and services to provide valid guarantees to customers

on the spot, thus avoiding the need for expensive and time-consuming bank

procedures to be conducted outside the business area. The invention is primarily directed to a method for allowing buyers to make

advance payments for the purchases of good and services at a Retail

Business (RB), wherein said payment is guaranteed by a Guaranteeing

Organization (GO) which provides a written guarantee issuable on the

premises of said Retail Business, said method comprising the steps of:

a) establishing a credit by the GO for the RB;

b) providing within the GO means for storing, retrieving and updating

information representative of the level of credit accorded to the RB by

the GO;

c) providing communication means operated by the RB. suitable to

provide predetermined data to the GO, representative of the

transaction which it is desired to guarantee;

d) providing in the GO means for printing out at a remote printer a

valid authenticated guarantee for the sum involved in said

transaction;

e) checking whether the credit of the RB is sufficient to cover the

requested guarantee and in the affirmative case, modifying the credit

level of the RB within the GO, by subtracting the amount of the

requested guarantee from the total available credit;

f) preparing data required for issuing a guarantee to said customer,

wherein said guarantee identifies the transaction, the amount

guaranteed and the terms under which the guarantee may be

presented by the customer to the GO for payment; and g) printing out said valid, authenticated guarantee at said remote printer.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the data used to issue a

guarantee further include the name of the person to whom the guarantee is

issued. While, of course, guarantees to the bearer can also be issued, a

guarantee which identifies the customer is usually more preferred.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the method further

comprises adjusting the credit level of the RB within the GO by adding to

the total available credit a sum corresponding to any original, authentic

guarantee returned by the RB to the GO. Such authentic guarantees will, of

course, be returned when the customer of the RB has received the goods or

services guaranteed for, in exchange for the restitution of the guarantee.

Additionally, the amount of any guarantee the validity of which has expired

without having been claimed will also be added to the credit level of the RB.

There are different types of transactions. In many cases, the transaction

requires the physical presence of the customer on the premises of the RB, as

may be, for instance, when furniture has to be selected. In this case,

according to the invention the guarantee is printed out at a printer located

within the RB. Some transactions are not carried out on the premises of the RB, but by

remote purchase methods. Examples of such remote purchase methods

include, but are not limited to, the Internet, purchases carried out by

telephone, and purchases effected by mail. According to another preferred

embodiment of the invention, when the purchase is carried out by remote

systems, the guarantee is printed out at a printer belonging or available to

the customer. In the context of the present invention, the term "printer"

includes any outlet which may provide a valid guarantee to the customer,

such as a computer printer, a fax printer, and the like.

There are several methods of controlling the printing out of the guarantee.

In one instance, a Turbo Pascal program can be used to read an ASCII file

which is sent, one character after the other, to the printer, without using

the BIOS. This illustrative program sends characters to the printer using a

direct print protocol to the port which, in most cases in current PC

computers, is associated with LPT1. The program verifies, for each

character, whether the printer is available or not, but does not carry our

checks such as error checks. Such program may print a file to the printer

without using the BIOS of the PC, in order to make it difficult to capture

the print file, using commonly available programs known to the skilled

person.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the guarantee is

printed out by transmitting to computing means connected to the printer, executable objects which control the printing operation. There are several

means to do so, e.g., by using languages such as Active-X and Java.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, when the purchase is

effected by remote system, the printing out of the guarantee is operated by a

program using the Java or the like language.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the printer is

connected to decoding apparatus which receives coded printing instructions

from computing means operated by the GO.

The invention is also directed to a system for allowing buyers to make

advance payments for the purchases of good and services at a Retail

Business (RB), wherein said payment is guaranteed by a Guaranteeing

Organization (GO) which provides a written guarantee issuable on the

premises of said Retail Business, comprising:

a) means provided within the GO for storing, retrieving and

updating information representative of the level of credit accorded

to the RB by the GO;

b) communication means operated by the RB, suitable to provide

predetermined data to the GO, representative of the transaction

which it is desired to guarantee;

c) means provided in the GO, for printing out at a remote printer a

valid authenticated guarantee for the sum involved in said

transaction; d) means provided in the GO, for checking whether the credit of the

RB is sufficient to cover the requested guarantee and in the

affirmative case, for modifying the credit level of the RB within

the GO, by detracting the amount of the requested guarantee from the total available credit;

e) means for preparing data required for issuing a guarantee to said

customer, wherein said guarantee identifies the transaction, the

amount guaranteed and the terms under which the guarantee

may be presented by the customer to the GO for payment; and

f) means for printing out said valid, authenticated guarantee at said

remote printer.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the system further

comprises means for modifying the credit level of the RB within the GO by

adding to the total available credit a sum corresponding to any original, authentic guarantee returned by the RB to the GO, or to any guarantee the

validity of which has expired, and for which no claim has been presented by

the buyer.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the system comprises means

for printing out the guarantee at a printer located within the RB. In another

preferred embodiment of the invention, the system comprises means for

printing out a valid, authentic guarantee at a printer belonging or available

to a customer of a remote purchasing system. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention there is

provided a system comprising means for printing out the guarantee by

transmitting to computing means connected to the printer, executable

objects which control the printing operation.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the system

comprises decoding means connected to the printer, which decoding means

are suitable to receive coded printing instructions from computing means

operated by the GO, and for decoding them and translating them into

printing instructions for the printer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 schematically shows, in general terms, the functioning of a

system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 schematically shows a computer arrangement according to one

preferred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 is an example of a simple form for inputting data to be

transmitted form the Retail Business (RB) to the Guaranteeing

Organization (GO), filled-in with sample details; and

Fig. 4 is a flow chart that summarizes the main steps involved in the GO's processing of a request for the issuance of a guarantee.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

The invention will now be further described through the detailed

description of an illustrative and non-limitative preferred embodiment

thereof. Looking at Fig. 1, the functioning of a system is schematically

shown, which illustrates the functional relationship between a Guaranteeing Organization (GO), indicated by numeral 1, and a Retail

Business (RB), indicated by numeral 2. The GO can be any financing

organization, including but not limited to banks, insurance companies,

bonding firms, etc., provided that such organization is legally authorized to

carry out such financial activities in the relevant jurisdictions ). The RB can

be virtually any type of business, such as retail stores, service companies,

and any kind of organization which requires pre-payment, or payment on

account, for supplying any type of goods or services, or for transmitting legal

title in property.

In order to be able to use the system of the invention, the RB must establish

a credit line with the GO. The total amount of guarantees that the GO will

issue on behalf of the RB at any given time will not exceed the total amount _ _

of credit accorded to the RB by the GO, although of course each GO can

decide on exceptions to this rule in respect of any given RB. The RB credit

line with the GO, indicated by numeral 3, constantly changes as will become

apparent from the following description. In Fig. 1 only two credit levels are

shown, namely level A and level B, for the sake of simplicity.

The GO and the RB are connected via a communication line 4, which may

be, e.g., a computer line or a telephone line, which is used by the RB to

request the issuance of a guarantee. According to a preferred embodiment of

the invention, and as will be described in greater detail below, the request

for the issuance of a guarantee is made through a computer terminal,

according to predetermined standards decided upon by the GO.

The GO is also connected to a printer 5 via a communication line 6, which

printer is used to print out the guarantee. As will be further explained

hereinafter, in many instances communication lines 4 and 6 may be unified

into a single communication line. Additionally, printer 5 may operate either

as a remote printer for the computing system located within the GO, or it

may be coupled to computing means, such as a PC, provided within the RB,

and printing instructions for the guarantee may be provided to it by the GO

through s.aid local computing means. The printing operation of the

guarantee will be discussed in greater details later. When a customer wishes to obtain a guarantee for his prepayment, the RB contacts the GO, through communication line 4, providing all the relevant

details of the purchase, such as purchase amount, amount of the guarantee,

expected supply date, details of purchasing customer, etc.. The GO processes

the request by first verifying the level of credit presently available to the

specific RB. Assuming the level of credit A is in excess of the requested

guarantee, and that the transaction meets all other basic requirements of

the GO, the GO authorizes the transaction, reduces the level of the credit

available to the RB to level B (assuming the value of the guarantee

requested for the specific transaction is A-B), and sends instructions to

printer 5, through communication line 6, to print out the required

guarantee setting forth all the details of the specific transaction. The

guarantee 7 is then printed out and handed over to the customer. The

customer, schematically indicated by numeral 8, receives the guarantee 7

and may verify its authenticity by contacting the GO and confirming its

details. Such verification can be carried out by phone or in person, or in any

other suitable way.

Once the goods or services to be supplied become available, they are

supplied to the customer against the return of the written guarantee. The

RB then returns the original written guarantee to the GO (such process

being indicated by numeral 9 in broken lines, to indicate that the original

guarantee must be physically returned to the GO, and not through

electronic communication lines), which reinstates the level of its credit by the amount indicated on the guarantee. The reinstatement of the amount of

RB's credit with the GO by the amount of the guarantee also takes place

when the validity of the guarantee, which is normally limited in time, has

expired. Thus the full cycle of sale, guarantee and cancellation of guarantee

is completed. However, many such cycles can be effected simultaneously,

the only limitation being the level of credit available to the RB within the

GO.

The GO will of course charge the RB an amount agreed between them,

which may for instance represent a percentage of the guarantee issued, or

any other sum no matter how calculated. The present invention is not

concerned with the commercial aspects of the relationship between the GO

and the RB, and therefore the remuneration required by the GO for the

services described above will not be discussed here.

Looking now at Fig. 2, a system is illustrated which is used, according to

one preferred embodiment of the invention, to print out valid guarantees to

the customer. The printer 5 of Fig. 1 is located on the premises of the RB

and, according to this preferred embodiment, is connected to computing

means 10, which may be a PC or the like apparatus, located within the RB.

Computer 10 is in turn connected with computing means 11, located within

the GO, which controls the process of issuing the guarantee. The procedure described hereinafter relates, for the sake of brevity, only to

the fully computerized operation. However, as it will be apparent to the

skilled person, all operations carried out by computer 10 can be carried out

in other ways, such as the information can be faxed or telephoned to the

GO, and a GO operator may input the relevant information into computer

11, rather than having it fed to it directly from computer 10. This option

may be useful when the RB is a small organization (e.g., a kiosk) which does

not possess a local PC, in which case a communication device (not shown)

will be provided to permit direct printing of the guarantee by computer 11

onto printer 5. Another situation in which such option can be important is if

the RB is having temporary communication problems that do not allow

computer 10 to transmit the desired information directly to computer 11.

However, such obvious modifications are apparent to the skilled person, and

will therefore not be described in detail herein, for the sake of brevity.

According to the embodiment of Fig. 2, therefore, the RB operator inputs the

relevant details of the transaction into computer 10, which may function

either as a terminal of computer 11, or which may transmit to computer 11

a file containing the relevant information, according to any suitable

communication protocol. Appropriate security measures, such as encryption

and/or validation of the data transmitted to and from computer 11, will

most often be desirable, as customary and understood by skilled persons,

v/ith respect to transactions involving transfer of funds and/or securities. An example of a simple form for inputting data to be transmitted form the

RB to the GO is shown in Fig. 3, which is self explanatory. It should be

noted, however, that the "transaction input form" must contain at least full

details of the buyer, the goods involved, the amount of the purchase, the

amount of the guarantee, and a "guaranteed supply date". This latter is the

date after which the buyer may apply to the GO, if the goods or services

have not been supplied, and demand that the amount of the guarantee be

paid to by him by the GO, against the original written guarantee prior to

the expiration of the guarantee. The GO will of course exercise appropriate

caution in processing such claims, to ensure that no fraudulent activity is

involved, such as the attempt to process a stolen guarantee. However, such

cautionary measures, which are customary and necessary in the trade,

exceed the scope of the invention and are therefore not discussed herein in

detail.

The printing procedure of the guarantee at the RB's end must also be

effected with suitable cautionary measures, to avoid the possibility that an

RB should attempt to issue false guarantees. There are many ways known

in the art and constantly developed in order to achieve the above goal, and

the skilled person will be able to chose suitable means which can be

incorporated within a given system. According to one preferred embodiment

of the invention, computer 11, which controls the guarantee printing

operation, does so by transmitting to computer 10 executables which

perform the printing operation. Such executables are not permanently resident in the memory of computer 10, and are canceled after their task

have been performed. An illustrative and non-limitative example of such

executables are the so-called "Java applets".

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the printing

instructions are transmitted to the printer, either directly or through

computer 10, in an encrypted form which needs be decrypted prior to

printing. Decryption can be effected using, e.g., suitable decryption

hardware provided by the GO and connected between the printer and

computer 10, either externally or internally. Such decryption hardware, not

unlike, in principle, television decoding apparatus, is not easily accessible

by the RB, since it operates according to a standard known only to the GO,

and therefore does not permit the RB to interfere with the printing of the

guarantee. Providing such coding and decoding apparatus is of course

within the skill of the man of the art, and such apparatus is therefore not

described herein, for the sake of brevity.

The main steps which the GO has to execute in the processing of a request

by the RB to issue a given guarantee, are summarized in Fig. 4. The first

step, 41, involves receiving the data provided by the RB, which form the

basis for the acceptance or rejection of the RB's request, and for the

preparation of printed guarantee. The transaction is tested (step 42), based

on specific details required by the GO, to determine whether it falls within

the scope of the transactions that the GO defines as acceptable. In the example of Fig. 3, for instance, the GO will examine whether the type of transaction (purchase of furniture), the amount and the term of the

transaction, comply with its rules, which of course will change from one RB

to another. Codes may be provided, such as the "transaction code" and the

"goods/services code" of the example of Fig. 3, to simplify processing of the

information at the GO's computer, and to avoid as much as possible the

need for human intervention in the process. Of course, if the transaction

should involve, e.g., the sale of unlawful drugs, the GO would refuse to

issue a valid guarantee for it, but there may be less clear situations in

which whether the transaction is acceptable by the specific GO's standard is

not readily apparent.

If the transaction is not acceptable on a basis of principle, the GO will

advise the RB of this fact (step 43), and will discontinue the processing of

the request. The RB can be advised in any suitable way, e.g., by printing out

a "notice of refusal" rather than a valid guarantee, or by contacting the RB's

representative.

If there is no objection of principle to the transaction, the credit level of the

RB (who is sometime identified herein as "the customer", from the point of

view of the GO) is verified (step 44), to determine whether sufficient credit

is available to cover the requested guarantee, as well as any related GO

costs. If the level of credit available at the time of processing is not

sufficient, again the GO advises the RB, in any suitable way, of its refusal to issue the guarantee (step 45), and discontinues the processing of the

request.

If the RB has sufficient credit for the specific transaction, the value of the

guarantee (as well as any GO costs involved) is deducted from such credit.

The GO then prepares the data needed to print the guarantee, which as

explained above will contain at least the major details needed to identify the

transaction, as well as the conditions which, when met, entitle the buyer to

demand the payment of the guaranteed sum from the GO. Guarantees will

normally be addressed to a specific and identified buyer, although it is also

possible to issue guarantees to the bearer, as long as the transaction

involved in unequivocally identified. The GO then connects to the printing

means of the RB, as explained above, either through a computer located

within the RB, or directly to printing apparatus, e.g., via a secure interface,

and prints out the guarantee. When the buyer has inspected the guarantee and, if desired, has confirmed its authenticity by directly contacting the GO,

he can make the payment to the RB, knowing that, should the terms of the

transaction not be complied with by the RB, he will be able to call on the

guarantee from the GO.

As will be apparent from the above description, the invention simplifies

trade by making transactions more secure for the public, and providing

valid guarantees for relatively small transactions which, prior to the

invention, had no means of being effectively guaranteed. Furthermore, the invention can be exploited in a variety of environments, whether on a

national or an international basis. For instance, the GO and RB can be

connected not through a LAN or direct modem connection, but may also

function over the Internet. A buyer wishing to purchase an item via the

Internet will be able to obtain a valid guarantee from a GO which also

operates over the Internet. Furthermore, the GO may maintain branches in

various countries, so that a buyer who wishes to purchase goods over the

Internet from an RB physically located in another country, may still be

issued a guarantee payable in his own country and currency.

Another example is the purchase of articles through international television

channels, where the buyer authorizes payments on his credit card to an

entity which may turn out to be located in another country, and where he

has no means of ascertaining that the goods will be eventually delivered to

him.

Another variant of the invention, particularly useful when purchases over

the Internet and via television or catalogue are involved, permits the printing out of valid guarantees by the GO on the buyer's printer, as

opposed to printing out the guarantee in a shop, where both buyer and

seller are physically present. The skilled person will appreciate that there

are no particular problems associated with the printing out of forms at the

buyer's end, and this may be carried out in a variety of ways, whether by

accessing the buyer's printer, or by allowing the buyer to print out a file sent to him, in a way very much similar to that used for operating with the

RB, However, in all cases it is necessary to provide means for preventing

the unauthorized reproduction of a printed guarantee, and for ensuring that

the document printed out by the GO at the customer's printer is unique and

cannot be forged. Many ways are available in the art for this purpose, and

the skilled person will be able to select a suitable method for its specific

system.

All the above description of preferred embodiments has been provided for

the purpose of illustration, and is not intended to limit the invention in any

way. Many modifications can be effected in the various systems and

methods employed, and many functions can be incorporated in the system of

the invention, all without exceeding the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method for allowing buyers to make advance payments for the

purchases of good and services at a Retail Business (RB), wherein said

payment is guaranteed by a Guaranteeing Organization (GO) which

provides a written guarantee issuable on the premises of said Retail Business, said method comprising the steps of:

a) establishing a credit by the GO for the RB;

b) providing within the GO means for storing, retrieving and updating

information representative of the level of credit accorded to the RB by

the GO;

c) providing communication means operated by the RB, suitable to

provide predetermined data to the GO, representative of the

transaction which it is desired to guarantee;

d) providing in the GO means for printing out at a remote printer a

valid authenticated guarantee for the sum involved in said transaction;

e) checking whether the credit of the RB is sufficient to cover the

requested guarantee and in the affirmative case, modifying the credit

level of the RB within the GO, by subtracting the amount of the

requested guarantee from the total available credit;

f) preparing data required for issuing a guarantee to said customer,

wherein said guarantee identifies the transaction, the amount guaranteed and the terms under which the guarantee may be

presented by the customer to the GO for payment; and

g) printing out said valid, authenticated guarantee at said remote printer.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the data used to issue a

guarantee further include the name of the person to whom the guarantee

is issued.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising modifying the

credit level of the RB within the GO by adding to the total available

credit a sum corresponding to any original, authentic guarantee

returned by the RB to the GO, or by the amount of any guarantee the validity of which has expired without having been cl.aimed.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the guarantee is

printed out at a printer located within the RB.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the transaction

is not carried out on the premises of the RB, but by remote purchase

methods.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the purchase is effected by

Internet.

7. A method according to claim 5, wherein the purchase is carried out by

telephone.

8. A method according to claim 5, wherein the purchase is carried out by

mail.

9. A method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the guarantee is

printed out at a printer belonging or available to the customer.

10. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the guarantee is printed out

by transmitting to computing means connected to the printer, executable

objects which control the printing operation.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the printing out of the

guarantee is operated by a program using the Java language.

12. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the printer is connected to

decoding apparatus which receives coded printing instructions from computing means operated by the GO.

13. A system for allowing buyers to make advance payments for the

purchases of good and services at a Retail Business (RB), wherein said

payment is guaranteed by a Guaranteeing Organization (GO) which provides a written guarantee issuable on the premises of said Retail Business, comprising:

e) means provided within the GO for storing, retrieving and updating

information representative of the level of credit accorded to the RB by

the GO;

f) communication means operated by the RB, suitable to provide

predetermined data to the GO, representative of the transaction which it

is desired to guarantee;

g) means provided in the GO, for printing out at a remote printer a valid

authenticated guarantee for the sum involved in said transaction;

h) means provided in the GO, for checking whether the credit of the RB is

sufficient to cover the requested guarantee and in the affirmative case,

for modifying the credit level of the RB within the GO, by detracting the

amount of the requested guarantee from the total available credit;

i) means for preparing data required for issuing a guarantee to said

customer, wherein said guarantee identifies the transaction, the amount

guaranteed and the terms under which the guarantee may be presented

by the customer to the GO for payment; and

j) means for printing out said valid, authenticated guarantee at said

remote printer.

14. A system according to claim 13, further comprising means for modifying

the credit level of the RB within the GO by adding to the total available

credit a sum corresponding to any original, authentic guarantee returned by the RB to the GO, or to any guarantee the validity of which

has expired.

15. A system according to claim 13 or 14, comprising means for printing out

the guarantee at a printer located within the RB.

16. A system according to claim 13 or 14, comprising means for printing out

a valid, authenticated guarantee on a printer belonging or available to a

customer of a remote purchasing system.

17. A system according to claim 16, wherein the printing of the guarantee is

effected by Internet.

18. A system according to claim 16, wherein the printing of the guarantee is carried out via modem.

19. A system according to any one of claims 16 to 18, comprising means for

printing out the guarantee by transmitting to computing means

connected to the printer, executable objects which control the printing operation.

20. A system according to claim 19, wherein the printing out of the

guarantee is operated by a program using the Java language.

21. A system according to claim 13, comprising decoding means connected to

the printer, which decoding means are suitable to receive coded printing

instructions from computing means operated by the GO, and for

decoding them and translating them into printing instructions for the

printer.

22. A method for allowing buyers to make advance payments guaranteed by

a financial institution for the purchases of good and services at a Retail

Business, substantially as described and illustrated.

23. A system for allowing buyers to make advance payments guaranteed by

a financial institution for the purchases of good and services at a Retail

Business, substantially as described and illustrated.