WO2009080935A2

WO2009080935A2 - On-line payment system

Info

Publication number: WO2009080935A2
Application number: PCT/FR2008/052200
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nicolas Benady
Original assignee: Limonetik
Priority date: 2007-12-03
Filing date: 2008-12-03
Publication date: 2009-07-02
Also published as: FR2924510B1; FR2924510A1; WO2009080935A3; EP2232423A2

Abstract

On-line payment system comprising: - a server (10), - a client computer (20) comprising an account on said server, - means of connection for connecting said client computer to said server via a hypertext link provided on an Internet site (30) chosen by said client computer, - server payment means for making said server make a payment on said Internet site, and - account debiting means for debiting the account of said client computer.

Description

Online payment system

The present invention relates to an online payment system on the Internet.

The online payment systems are quite numerous, and allow in particular to pay for purchases made online on merchant websites, including credit card, electronic credit card, gift certificate, etc.. A disadvantage of all these means of payment is that they must be integrated into the various websites or websites on which they can be used, which requires prior acceptance on the part of said site, but also a modification of this site to allow this integration, especially in the pages dedicated to payment. Since most existing websites already have many means of payment available, it is usually difficult to obtain from them the integration of new payment systems or additional means. In addition, this integration has a cost, especially related to the intervention of a programmer, which can be a brake for websites.

The present invention aims to provide an online payment system that does not reproduce the aforementioned drawbacks.

More particularly, the present invention aims to provide an online payment system that does not require substantial modification of the websites on which it can be used.

The present invention also aims to provide an online payment system that is simple and inexpensive to install and use.

The present invention therefore relates to an online payment system as described in claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims.

The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, given by way of non-limiting examples, and which illustrate particular embodiments thereof. In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the principle of an advantageous embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of the architecture usable with the present invention; Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the principle of another advantageous embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the payment process by the server.

The principle of the invention is based on the fact that a server 10 forms an intermediary between a user or customer 20 and a merchant website (or website) 30, at least during payment. Of course, several servers 10 may be used and a plurality of client computers 20 may simultaneously connect to said server.

According to a variant of the invention, a simple hypertext link, for example on a payment page of a website, allows the client computer to connect to the server. Advantageously, the merchant site 30 simply publishes a static link to a JavaScript tag, which, once activated, transmits the client's session information, including cookies, to the server 10, as shown in FIG. 3. Thanks to the transfer of cookies the server, at the time of payment, will be recognized by the website as being the customer itself. This is different from PayPal ™ payment systems, which send payment related information (customer identification, transaction amount, etc.) to a server that will pay for the customer's account. These systems require a dynamic hypertext link, which requires the intervention of a programmer to be integrated on the payment page. On the contrary, with the present invention, the publication of the static link can be carried out very simply, simply graphical integration, including directly by the web master, which simplifies the process. Advantageously, when the payment page of the merchant site 30 is detected by the server 10, a special banner can be added to the site, offering the customer 20 the choice of pay via the server 10. The user can then be redirected to a replacement page of the payment page of the visited site. The payment is then made by the server, for example by generating numbers of "e-credit card". The client computer, which has an account on said server, is then debited by the server directly on this account. This account can be for example a prepaid account, a gift voucher account, a bank account on which the server has the hand. Several types of accounts can also be combined. Advantageously, the server queries the account of the client computer before making the payment on the website visited by the client computer, and proposes to said client computer to feed his account if the amount available is less than the price to be paid on the computer. website. In the variant described above, the only modification needed on the website is the addition of the link to connect to the server. No other modification or adaptation of the site is necessary, unlike the current means of payment.

In another advantageous embodiment shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the client computer 20 connects to the server 10, where a number of links to commercial Internet sites 30 are proposed. The number and type of accessible sites can be arbitrary and controlled according to various parameters. By clicking on one of these links, the server's connection means connect to the site concerned and the server's reproduction means display the homepage of said site on the customer's screen. Preferably, this display is done with more information, for example a banner at the top of the pages, indicating to the client that it browses via the aforementioned server. In parallel, the server can add a flag to the navigation of the client computer, which indicates to the visited website that the user has come from a link proposed by said server. This implementation allows the server operator to touch the affiliation commission, classic for this type of business contribution in the world of the Internet.

From a technical point of view, a gateway, also called "Proxy Server", can be used by the connection means of the server, so that all http requests from the client computer will go through the server before being redirected to the visited website. This gateway can for example function in the manner of a "translator". More specifically, this gateway can modify the contents transmitted between the client and the website so that the communication always goes through the server. For example, hypertext links are modified. However, for the customer, the pages of the website are faithfully reproduced so that it has the impression of being directly browsing on said site. So navigation happens for the client computer in a traditional way, as if it was visiting the site directly without going through the server. However, when the client computer arrives on a payment page, the server, which includes appropriate detection means, will automatically propose to the client computer to make this payment using his account on the server. If the user (client computer) accepts, then the server account will be debited with an amount corresponding to the payment made, and meanwhile, payment means of the server will allow said server to proceed directly to the payment on the payment page of the site Internet visited. The present payment system is not integrated at all in each of the sites, but on the contrary it is of universal application that does not require any modification or adaptation of the merchant sites visited, not even the insertion of a hypertext link, as described for the first embodiment.

The server may of course include means for recognizing the client computer, these recognition means may for example include conventional means of identification of the client computer by username and password. The user, during his first connection to the server, can create his account, in known manner, and then feed this account by any appropriate means of payment, such as including credit card payments, gift vouchers and / or transfers banking. An account based on loyalty points or the like can also be used. The payment means of the server are particularly adapted to display a payment page instead of the payment page of the visited site, when the server detection means have detected that the client computer has accessed such a page of payment of the visited website. This payment page can be for example a pop-up that appears on the screen of the client computer, to offer to use his account on the server to make the payment. Alternatively, the payment page displayed by the server can return to the payment page of the website by graying the input fields of the credit card, the customer having only to validate his payment.

The means of payment of the server, by which the server will proceed to the payment directly on the payment page of the visited site, may for example generate an electronic credit card number, as proposed in particular by the service called "e-credit card" . For the merchant site considered, all purchases passing through said server will be identifiable, which simplifies the calculation of the affiliation commission that the site will have to pay back to said server.

To avoid that during the reproduction of the web pages visited by the client computer, there are problems of quality, such as layout problems (the latter is generally different from one site to another) , the present invention advantageously provides to assign, preferably dynamically, that is to say when the client clicks on the link, a domain name to each website accessible via the server. For example, a link such as www.serverXXX.fr may be used for a particular site, the server identifying each site by a respective XXX number allocated to it, preferably dynamically. It should be noted that this process could be implemented independently of a payment system, for example in an internet page translation system or the like. Eventually, it is possible to block or not to pass pictures, style sheets and / or javascripts of the visited website through the server, in order to speed up navigation and not overload the server. Another problem that may arise with a gateway as described above concerns software of the Flash type. An innovative solution has been found to solve this problem, consisting in reading the compiled code of the program, finding the passages corresponding to the addresses of the links and replacing these addresses with other addresses, for example having the same number of characters for the Flash. This will display a Flash identical to the original one. It should be noted that this technique could also be used independently of a payment system, for example with an Internet page translation system or the like.

At the time of payment, the detection means of the server detect that the user arrives on a payment page, which has been previously set and identified as a payment page. The server then intercepts the communication, and the client computer is "disconnected" from communication with the website that it visits. The server proposes its payment offer and verifies that the amount requested is less than the amount allowed for this client computer, namely in general to the amount available on his account. If the amount is higher, the server can offer an additional payment. If the client agrees, the server then replaces the client computer to pay directly on the payment page of the website. A corresponding amount is debited from the user's account.

The present invention thus makes it possible to use the server as an electronic gift voucher issuer, or as a prepaid account system, enabling users to make purchases without necessarily indicating their blue card number. The present invention also makes it possible to set up a "cash-back" system, which makes it possible to reimburse users a portion of their expenses by paying back part of the margin of affiliation paid to said server by the websites visited.

FIG. 1 schematically represents a connection, in particular via the Internet protocol, between a client 20 and an Internet site 30 via an intermediate server 10, whereas FIG. 2 represents schematically a possible functional architecture of the server, integrating more particularly the application of gift voucher portals. In the context of a gift certificate use, the server may propose the use of one or more of these checks, with or without additional payment by another appropriate means. It is also possible that existing gift certificates on the market can be used to feed the user's account on said server.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a payment process according to the invention. The user or client 20 requests the server 10 to proceed with the payment (step 1). The server can then connect with a private issuer 40 when it manages an account of said client, to debit the account (step 2). If the customer's account is insufficiently powered, the server may request the customer an additional payment (step not shown in Figure 4). If the customer's account is sufficiently powered, or if the customer has made an additional payment, the server connects to an issuing bank 50 to request a means of payment, such as a dynamic virtual credit card number (CVD), e-card type Blue (step 3). The server then pays the merchant site with the CVD (step 4). The merchant site that receives this payment generally requests authorization from the issuing bank of the CVD (step 5), and in case of a positive response, will confirm the payment to the server (step 6). The server then confirms the same payment to the customer (step 7).

Although the present invention has been described more particularly with reference to a particular embodiment thereof, it is understood that any modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

claims

1.- online payment system, characterized in that it comprises:

a server (10),

a client computer (20) having an account on said server,

connection means for connecting said client computer to said server via a hypertext link provided on a website (30) chosen by said client computer,

means of payment of the server for causing said server to pay on said Internet site, and

- Account debiting means for debiting the account of said client computer.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein said system comprises recognition means comprising identification means of the client computer, in particular by identifier and password.

3.- System according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the account of the client computer can be powered by any means of payment, such as credit card payments, gift vouchers, bank transfers.

4. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said connection means connect said server to a website (30) chosen by said client computer, said system further comprising:

reproduction means for reproducing and displaying on the client computer the web pages of the website visited by said client computer, detection means for detecting whether said client computer is visiting a payment page on said chosen Internet site, and

means of payment offer commanded by said detection means for proposing to said client computer a payment method specific to the server,

5. System according to claim 4, wherein said connection means comprise a gateway passing all the http streams of the chosen Internet site, so that navigation on said chosen Internet site is via this gateway.

6. System according to claim 4 or 5, wherein said means of connection allocate, preferably dynamically, a domain name for each visit to an Internet site accessible via said server.

7. System according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein said connection means block certain elements of the website visited by the server, such as images, stylesheets and / or javascripts of the visited website. by the server, to speed up navigation.

8. System according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein said connection means add a flag to the navigation to indicate to the visited website that the client computer passes through said server.

9.- System according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein said reproducing means insert information, such as a banner, on the pages visited, in particular to inform the client computer that it browses via said server .

10. System according to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein said means of payment offer display a payment page in lieu of the payment page of the visited website.

11. System according to any one of claims 4 to 10, wherein said connection means read the compiled code of a software, including the Flash type, integrated into the chosen Internet site, find the corresponding passages to the addresses of the links and replace these addresses with other addresses, preferably having the same number of characters, to allow the reproduction means to display the same software as the original on the client computer.

12. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said hyperlink is a static link to a JavaScript tag.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the activation of said JavaScript tag generates a transfer of session information from the client computer, including cookies, to said server.

14.- System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said means of payment of the server generate an electronic credit card number used on the payment page of the website visited.