Transaction authorization and alert system

US5708422A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• AT&T CORP. · US

Inventors

• Greg E. Blonder · Summit, US
• Steven L. Greenspan · Ewing, US
• J. Robert Mirville · Manalapan, US
• Binay Sugla · Aberdeen, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 31, 1995
• Grant date: Jan 13, 1998
• Expiry date: May 31, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G07F7/08
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

An automated method for alerting a customer that a transaction is being initiated and for authorizing the transaction based on a confirmation/approval by the customer thereto. In accordance with one illustrative embodiment, a request to authorize the transaction is received, wherein the request includes a customer identifier; a determination is made whether to authorize the transaction based on the customer identifier; if the determination is to authorize the transaction, that fact is communicated to the customer; a confirmation that the transaction should, in fact, be authorized is received back from the customer; and the transaction is authorized in response to the customer's confirmation thereof. In accordance with another illustrative embodiment, a transaction initiated by an agent of the customer (i.e., the principal) is authorized by the principal when one or more threshold parameters that may be pre-defined by the principal are exceeded. A preferred method of alerting the customer and receiving a confirmation to authorize the transaction back from the customer is illustratively afforded by conventional two-way pagers.