Payment system

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide a method of processing payment authorization requests for payment transactions to be conducted via a data communications network; the payment authorization requests are conducted as a result of orders by financial account holders via a plurality of different online merchant systems, and the financial account holders hold accounts with a plurality of different issuing banks. These embodiments of the invention provide a means of identifying an issuing bank from a plurality of issuing banks as one which is to be utilized in a given transaction and facilitate a user specifying, in real time in relation to the given transaction, a particular bank account that is to be used to deduct funds for that transaction.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by an issuing bank server from a user system, sign in details of a user from the user system via a redirected web page from a browser of the user system accessing an online merchant server in a transaction;   transmitting, by the issuing bank server to the user system, an instruction to re-direct an iFrame associated with the browser to a trusted intermediary application, and a request to the trusted intermediary application for a list of accounts associated with the user;   receiving, by the issuing bank server, the request for the list of accounts associated with the user from the trusted intermediary application;   transmitting, by the issuing bank server, the list of accounts associated with the user to the trusted intermediary application, the trusted intermediary application generating an account selection page with the list of accounts and providing the account selection page to the user system;   receiving, by the issuing bank server from the trusted intermediary application, a selection of an account in the list of accounts obtained from the user system; and   providing a credential to the trusted intermediary application after receiving the selected account, wherein the trusted intermediary application provides the credential to a merchant internet payment service provider computer, which generates an authorization request message comprising the credential and transmits the authorization request message to the issuing bank server for authorization.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein upon successful notification of authorization of the transaction, a web server and servlet engine associated with the trusted intermediary application transmits a return merchant URL to the iFrame with notification of successful authorization, and causes the iFrame to empty, and reload with Javascript code to return the user to the online merchant server. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the trusted intermediary application is part of a trusted intermediary system that has a database that holds data relating to multiple merchants and issuer banks, together with transaction data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the credential is a debit card number. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the debit card number is linked to the account held by the trusted intermediary application. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein after the issuing bank server authorizes the transaction, the iFrame is removed from the browser. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the authorization request message is transmitted to the issuing bank server via an acquirer computer. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user system is a personal computer. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the trusted intermediary application, a bank selection from the user system.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein receiving the bank selection is in response to the user selecting a bank on the user system in response to the user system interacting with the trusted intermediary application. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the list of accounts comprises a list of payment card accounts of the user maintained by the issuing bank server. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user system is communicating with a merchant Website on the online merchant server when the list of accounts is received by the user system. 
     
     
         13 . A system comprising an issuing bank server, the system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more non-transitory computer readable media, comprising code, executable by the one or more processors to perform a method comprising: 
 receiving, from a user system, sign in details of a user from the user system via a redirected web page from a browser of the user system accessing an online merchant server in a transaction; 
 transmitting, to the user system, an instruction to re-direct an iFrame associated with the browser to a trusted intermediary application, and a request to the trusted intermediary application for a list of accounts associated with the user; 
 receiving the request for the list of accounts associated with the user from the trusted intermediary application; 
 transmitting the list of accounts associated with the user to the trusted intermediary application, the trusted intermediary application generating an account selection page with the list of accounts and providing the account selection page to the user system; 
 receiving, from the trusted intermediary application, a selection of an account in the list of accounts obtained from the user system; and 
 providing a credential to the trusted intermediary application after receiving the selected account, wherein the trusted intermediary application provides the credential to a merchant internet payment service provider computer, which generates an authorization request message comprising the credential and transmits the authorization request message to the issuing bank server for authorization. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the list of accounts comprises a list of payment card accounts, the list of payment card accounts including at least one debit card account. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the credential is a debit card number. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein upon successful notification of authorization of the transaction, a web server and servlet engine associated with the trusted intermediary application transmits a return merchant URL to the iFrame with notification of successful authorization, and causes the iFrame to empty, and reload with Javascript code to return the user to the online merchant server. 
     
     
         17 . A method comprising:
 receiving, in a payment transaction by a trusted application in a trusted intermediary system, a selected bank identifier associated with a selected bank from a user system of a user in communication with an online merchant web server;   determining that the selected bank participates in a service provided by the trusted application;   retrieving a URL of a web page of an issuing bank server;   transmitting the URL of the web page of the issuing bank server to a browser of the user system to re-direct the user system to the issuing bank server, wherein the issuing bank server thereafter authenticates the user of the user system;   receiving a request for a list of accounts of the user from the user system;   transmitting the request for the list of accounts to the issuing bank server;   receiving the list of accounts from the issuing bank server;   generating an account selection page comprising the list of accounts and providing the account selection page to the user system;   receiving a selection of an account from the list of accounts from the user system; and   transmitting the selected account to the issuing bank server,   wherein responsive to transmitting the selected account to the issuing bank server, the issuing bank server transmits a credential to the trusted application, which provides the credential to a merchant internet payment service provider computer, which generates an authorization request message comprising the credential and transmits the authorization request message to the issuing bank server for authorization.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the list of accounts includes a debit card account. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the user was authenticated by the issuing bank server before the request for the list of accounts was received. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the URL is a URL of a sign in page of an online banking Web site operated by the issuing bank server.