Method And System For Secure Authenticated Payment On A Computer Network

Abstract

A simple, secure and easy-to-deploy method and system for authenticating credit and debit cardholders at the point-of-sale on a computer network (e.g., the Internet) is disclosed. Cardholders are authenticated using digital signatures on a sales draft, in a manner that does not necessarily require any changes in the transaction flow of the participating financial institutions.

1 . A method for authenticating an electronic payment comprising:
 receiving from a seller an electronic sales draft including an electronic signature;   receiving from said seller a digital certificate associated with a buyer, said digital certificate including a verification key and an encrypted version of a personal identification number (PIN);   using said verification key to verify that said electronic signature was authorized by said buyer;   extracting said encrypted version of said PIN from said digital certificate;   decrypting said encrypted version of said PIN;   generating, using said PIN, an authorization request;   sending said authorization request for a PIN to a financial institution;   receiving an approval of said authorization request from said financial institution; and   sending said approval to said seller.