CA2300976A1 - Method and system for guaranteed purchasing - Google Patents
Method and system for guaranteed purchasing Download PDFInfo
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- CA2300976A1 CA2300976A1 CA002300976A CA2300976A CA2300976A1 CA 2300976 A1 CA2300976 A1 CA 2300976A1 CA 002300976 A CA002300976 A CA 002300976A CA 2300976 A CA2300976 A CA 2300976A CA 2300976 A1 CA2300976 A1 CA 2300976A1
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
- G06Q40/02—Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/02—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/22—Payment schemes or models
- G06Q20/28—Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
- G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
- G07F17/42—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for ticket printing or like apparatus, e.g. apparatus for dispensing of printed paper tickets or payment cards
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- Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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- Strategic Management (AREA)
- General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Finance (AREA)
- Economics (AREA)
- Marketing (AREA)
- Development Economics (AREA)
- Technology Law (AREA)
- Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
- Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)
- Cash Registers Or Receiving Machines (AREA)
- Control Of Vending Devices And Auxiliary Devices For Vending Devices (AREA)
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 A.'~Tl? 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 tl~e 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. Fven if the seller could provide a bank guarantee, he could not do so in his store at the time v~~hen the _ WO 99/28873 _3_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 G0, 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 - - WO 99128873 _5_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 credi'~ 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 G0.
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 G0, 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;
_ WO 99/28873 _$_ PG"f/IL98/00501 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.
_ WO 99/28873 _9_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 Wig. 4 is a flow chart that summarizes the main steps involved i.n 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 jurisdiction(s). 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 - WO 99/28873 _11_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 said 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
con~,acts 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.
- - WO 99/28873 -14- PCT/IL98~00501 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 I1.
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 Wig. 2, therefore, the RB operator inputs the relevant details of the transaction into computer 10, which may function either a.s 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, with respect to transactions involving transfer of funds and/or securities.
WO 99/28873 -15- PG"TIIL98/00501 An example of a simple form for inputting data to be transmitted form the RB to the GO is shown in F'ig. 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 G0, 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 G0, 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 tre 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 "goodslservices code" of the example of dig. 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 wa3~, of its refusal - - WO 99/28873 -1$_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 G0, 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 G0.
As will be apparent from the above description, the invention simplifies trade by making transactions more secure for the public, and providing valid guarantees far relatively small transactions which, prior to the inverition, had no means of being effectively guaranteed. Furthermore, the - WO 99/Z8873 _ 19_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 LAa~T 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.
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 tl~e 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. Fven if the seller could provide a bank guarantee, he could not do so in his store at the time v~~hen the _ WO 99/28873 _3_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 G0, 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 - - WO 99128873 _5_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 credi'~ 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 G0.
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 G0, 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;
_ WO 99/28873 _$_ PG"f/IL98/00501 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.
_ WO 99/28873 _9_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 Wig. 4 is a flow chart that summarizes the main steps involved i.n 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 jurisdiction(s). 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 - WO 99/28873 _11_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 said 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
con~,acts 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.
- - WO 99/28873 -14- PCT/IL98~00501 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 I1.
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 Wig. 2, therefore, the RB operator inputs the relevant details of the transaction into computer 10, which may function either a.s 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, with respect to transactions involving transfer of funds and/or securities.
WO 99/28873 -15- PG"TIIL98/00501 An example of a simple form for inputting data to be transmitted form the RB to the GO is shown in F'ig. 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 G0, 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 G0, 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 tre 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 "goodslservices code" of the example of dig. 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 wa3~, of its refusal - - WO 99/28873 -1$_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 G0, 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 G0.
As will be apparent from the above description, the invention simplifies trade by making transactions more secure for the public, and providing valid guarantees far relatively small transactions which, prior to the inverition, had no means of being effectively guaranteed. Furthermore, the - WO 99/Z8873 _ 19_ PCT/IL98/00501 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 LAa~T 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 (23)
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.
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 I 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 claimed.
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.
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.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| IL122461 | 1997-12-04 | ||
| IL12246197A IL122461A (en) | 1997-12-04 | 1997-12-04 | Method and system for guaranteed purchasing |
| PCT/IL1998/000501 WO1999028873A1 (en) | 1997-12-04 | 1998-10-15 | Method and system for guaranteed purchasing |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2300976A1 true CA2300976A1 (en) | 1999-06-10 |
Family
ID=11070926
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002300976A Abandoned CA2300976A1 (en) | 1997-12-04 | 1998-10-15 | Method and system for guaranteed purchasing |
Country Status (8)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| EP (1) | EP1036380A1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JP2001525583A (en) |
| KR (1) | KR20010023710A (en) |
| AU (1) | AU9558598A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2300976A1 (en) |
| DE (1) | DE1036380T1 (en) |
| IL (1) | IL122461A (en) |
| WO (1) | WO1999028873A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA2289955A1 (en) * | 1999-11-16 | 2001-05-16 | Jacob Katsman | Secure payment and trade management system |
| JP2002063401A (en) * | 2000-08-21 | 2002-02-28 | Daiwa House Ind Co Ltd | Merchandise sales system utilizing internet |
| GB2378543B (en) | 2001-05-15 | 2004-01-14 | Nihon Dot Com Co Ltd | Real time transaction data processing |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2596550B1 (en) * | 1986-03-28 | 1988-07-15 | Desgigot Francois | TRANSACTION EXECUTION METHOD AND MICROCOMPUTER FOR IMPLEMENTING IT, IN PARTICULAR AS A TRANSPORTATION TITLE OR GAME BULLETIN |
| US5010485A (en) * | 1989-01-31 | 1991-04-23 | Jbh Ventures | Apparatus, system and method for creating credit vouchers usable at point of purchase stations |
| US5426281A (en) * | 1991-08-22 | 1995-06-20 | Abecassis; Max | Transaction protection system |
-
1997
- 1997-12-04 IL IL12246197A patent/IL122461A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
-
1998
- 1998-10-15 EP EP98949224A patent/EP1036380A1/en not_active Ceased
- 1998-10-15 AU AU95585/98A patent/AU9558598A/en not_active Abandoned
- 1998-10-15 CA CA002300976A patent/CA2300976A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 1998-10-15 KR KR1020007002364A patent/KR20010023710A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1998-10-15 WO PCT/IL1998/000501 patent/WO1999028873A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1998-10-15 DE DE1036380T patent/DE1036380T1/en active Pending
- 1998-10-15 JP JP2000523645A patent/JP2001525583A/en active Pending
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JP2001525583A (en) | 2001-12-11 |
| KR20010023710A (en) | 2001-03-26 |
| AU9558598A (en) | 1999-06-16 |
| DE1036380T1 (en) | 2001-03-15 |
| WO1999028873A1 (en) | 1999-06-10 |
| IL122461A (en) | 1998-12-06 |
| EP1036380A1 (en) | 2000-09-20 |
| IL122461A0 (en) | 1998-06-15 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| FZDE | Discontinued |