System and Method for Prepaid Account Replenishment

Abstract

A method of processing a transaction for provision of funds to a mobile telephone prepayment account associated with a mobile telephone is disclosed. The method includes: an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) receiving, from a card associated with a user of the mobile telephone, information identifying a financial account associated with the user of the mobile device; the ATM receiving, from a user, an identifier associated with the mobile telephone; the ATM receiving, from the user, information indicating an amount of funds to be provided to the mobile telephone prepayment account; and the ATM sending, to a financial institution associated with the financial account, an instruction to transfer the indicated amount of funds from the financial account to the wireless service provider, so as to provide the indicated amount of funds to the mobile telephone prepayment account.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for use in a payment transaction, comprising:
 at a computer server system having memory and one or more processors:
 receiving, via the Internet, an instruction from a user of a mobile telephone to perform a payment transaction; 
 receiving, via the Internet, a unique identifier of the mobile telephone; and 
 performing an authentication process to authenticate the payment transaction using the unique identifier, including sending, via a telephony network, a request to the mobile telephone for the user to provide verification information via the wireless telephone, and receiving the requested verification information. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the payment transaction comprises payment to an account associated with a service provider, the instruction indicates a predefined amount of money to be transferred to the account and the method further comprises:
 transferring said predefined amount of money to the account in response to receipt of the requested verification information.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the verification information comprises a code provided to the user. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , further comprising receiving the verification information via the Internet. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the request is sent as an SMS message. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the requested verification information is received in an SMS via the telephony network. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the instruction is received from a personal computer. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the payment account is associated with the unique identifier. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending an SMS message to the mobile telephone indicating that the payment transaction has been completed. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the payment transaction comprises replenishment of a prepaid account. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 10 , wherein the payment transaction comprises payment from an account associated with the user. 
     
     
         12 . A computer server system, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory, the one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:
 receiving, via the Internet, an instruction from a user of a mobile telephone to perform a payment transaction; 
 receiving, via the Internet, a unique identifier of the mobile telephone; and 
 performing an authentication process to authenticate the payment transaction using the unique identifier, including sending, via a telephony network, a request to the mobile telephone for the user to provide verification information via the wireless telephone, and receiving the requested verification information. 
   
     
     
         13 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the payment transaction comprises payment to an account associated with a service provider, the instruction indicates a predefined amount of money to be transferred to the account and the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:
 transferring said predefined amount of money to the account in response to receipt of the requested verification information.   
     
     
         14 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the verification information comprises a code provided to the user. 
     
     
         15 . The computer server system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for receiving the verification information via the Internet. 
     
     
         16 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the request is sent as an SMS message. 
     
     
         17 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the requested verification information is received in an SMS via the telephony network. 
     
     
         18 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the instruction is received from a personal computer. 
     
     
         19 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the payment account is associated with the unique identifier. 
     
     
         20 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for sending an SMS message to the mobile telephone indicating that the payment transaction has been completed. 
     
     
         21 . The computer server system of  claim 12 , wherein the payment transaction comprises replenishment of a prepaid account. 
     
     
         22 . The computer server system of  claim 21 , wherein the payment transaction comprises payment from an account associated with the user. 
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions when executed by a computer server system causing the computer server system to perform a method of performing a financial transaction, the method comprising:
 receiving, via the Internet, an instruction from a user of a mobile telephone to perform a payment transaction;   receiving, via the Internet, a unique identifier of the mobile telephone; and   performing an authentication process to authenticate the payment transaction using the unique identifier, including sending, via a telephony network, a request to the mobile telephone for the user to provide verification information via the wireless telephone, and receiving the requested verification information.   
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the payment transaction comprises payment to an account associated with a service provider, the instruction indicates a predefined amount of money to be transferred to the account and the method further comprises:
 transferring said predefined amount of money to the account in response to receipt of the requested verification information.   
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the verification information comprises a code provided to the user. 
     
     
         26 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein the method further comprises receiving the verification information via the Internet. 
     
     
         27 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the request is sent as an SMS message. 
     
     
         28 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the requested verification information is received in an SMS via the telephony network. 
     
     
         29 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the instruction is received from a personal computer. 
     
     
         30 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the payment account is associated with the unique identifier. 
     
     
         31 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the method further comprises sending an SMS message to the mobile telephone indicating that the payment transaction has been completed. 
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 23 , wherein the payment transaction comprises replenishment of a prepaid account. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 32 , wherein the payment transaction comprises payment from an account associated with the user.