WO1999049385A1

WO1999049385A1 - Electronic fund-raising method and system

Info

Publication number: WO1999049385A1
Application number: PCT/FR1999/000610
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roland Moreno
Original assignee: Innovatron
Priority date: 1998-03-20
Filing date: 1999-03-17
Publication date: 1999-09-30
Also published as: FR2776403A1; AU2841999A; EP1064596A1; FR2776403B1

Abstract

With a portable object such as a microcircuit card (16), a summary financial transaction is carried out whereof the parameters are based on the history of previous individual financial transactions with the same card. The method comprises the following steps: a) executing with a first type of terminal (28) at least an individual transaction with: a1) transmission of a money transfer order, for an amount and on behalf of a beneficiary which are a function of the executed individual transaction; and a2) updating the card memory (18) an incremental parameter (A) according to the individual transaction, on the basis of pre-established rules (C); b) executing with a second type of terminal (32) a summary transaction, with: b1) reading from the card the incremental parameter; b2) transmitting a money transfer order, for an amount based on the incremental parameter value and on behalf of a predetermined collecting body; and b3) re-initialising the incremental parameter in the card memory.

Description

Electronic fundraising method and system

A method and system for electronic fundraising are provided. It is a question of executing with a portable object such as a microcircuit card or "smart card" a financial transaction (which one will call "summary transaction") operating this collection, starting from parameters function of the history of previous financial transactions, (which we will call "special transactions") carried out with this same smart card. One possible application, which will be explained in detail, is fundraising for charitable or humanitarian organizations. This application is not, however, limiting, and other applications can be envisaged, for example the collection of taxes, commissions, or other fees based on particular transactions carried out with a smart card.

In the case of charitable campaigns, one of the factors that reduce its effectiveness is the path which, for the benefactor, separates the will to give concrete and final action. Several steps are essential, none of which can be overlooked. For example, a personality, known for his charisma, makes an appeal on television. The call is followed by the exact and detailed title of the organization to be funded, for example on the large print screen, for a period of a few seconds. The benefactor must then: - copy this address very quickly (which presupposes that he has paper and pencil on hand), keep it, decide on the amount of the donation, make a check payable to the organization charity, - get an envelope, stamp this envelope, don't forget to post it (so find a mailbox). If he wishes to benefit from tax advantages associated with his gesture, the benefactor must also organize the memory and the trace of his donation. In the event of failure on only one of these stages, the gesture cannot succeed, and generally fails more or less irreversibly (for example loss of account number or address of the charity). The most precious part of the gesture of charity being the initial motivation, it is regrettable that this will can be wiped out for a cause as insignificant as the absence of a pencil or an envelope at hand.

This is why automating the process can be a significant step forward, both for charitable organizations and the donor and potential donor community. One of the aims of the invention is to automate such a process, so as to ensure greater efficiency in fundraising.

Another object of the invention is to obtain such efficiency while preserving the confidentiality of the donation, by avoiding that each donation can be identified or visualized by any of the human operators intervening throughout the chain (entry of the check, postal circuit, receipt of donations) to avoid loss and misappropriation. To this end, the method of the invention comprises the following steps: a) execution by means of a first type of terminal of at least one particular transaction, with: ai) issuance of a money transfer order, for a amount and for the benefit of a beneficiary which are a function of the particular transaction executed, and a2) updating in the memory of the card of an incremental parameter as a function of the particular transaction, on the basis of pre-established rules; b) execution by means of a second type of terminal of a summary transaction, with: b1) reading in the card of the incremental parameter, b2) issuance of a money transfer order, for an amount depending on the value of the parameter incremental and for the benefit of a predetermined collecting body, and b3) reinitialization of the incremental parameter in the memory of the card.

The incremental parameter can be a cumulative monetary value increased with each particular transaction by an increment determined in step a), for example by a predetermined value, constant for each particular transaction, or by a predetermined percentage of the both of the money transfer order of the particular transaction. As a variant, it can also consist of a pointer addressing the last section of a history of the particular transactions stored in the card.

Step b2) may optionally include the issuance of a plurality of money transfer orders for the benefit of a plurality of corresponding predetermined collecting bodies, and for respective amounts depending on the value of the incremental parameter and d '' a predetermined distribution key stored in the card.

The invention also relates to a system for the implementation of this method, comprising: portable objects such as microcircuit cards, with a data memory comprising a register memorizing the bank references of a predetermined collecting body, a register storing rules for determining a quantum associated with a particular transaction executed by means of the card, and a register storing an incremental parameter updated with each particular transaction; first type terminals, capable of cooperating with a card for the execution of a particular financial transaction, and comprising means for issuing a money transfer order, for an amount and for the benefit of a beneficiary who are dependent on the particular transaction executed; and terminals of a second type, capable of cooperating with said card for the execution of a summary financial transaction, and comprising means for reading in the card the incremental parameter, issuing a money transfer order, for a amount as a function of the value of the incremental parameter and for the benefit of a predetermined collecting body, and reset the incremental parameter in the card memory. Very advantageously, the card includes means for determining said quantum itself from the data of the particular transaction supplied by a terminal of the first type.

0 Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description below of an example of implementation, made with reference to the single appended figure which is a synoptic representation of the various elements of the system involved in the method of fundraising according to the invention.

0

The invention is based on the use of a smart card of the bank card type, specially configured to carry out fundraising in the manner taught by the invention.

To obtain such a card from their bank, a person must classically fill out an application form 10, a form which will have been completed by two sections 12, 14 intended to indicate respectively the bank references (RIB number of Bank Identity Statement ) the beneficiary organization chosen by the person; the other section is intended to indicate the method of calculating the elementary donation which will be taken into account for each particular transaction, for example a fixed donation of 1 F (or any other amount) per transaction, or a proportional donation of 1% (or any other percentage) of the transaction amount.

The bank then issues a card 16 to the person, a card in which the two parameters of items 12 and 14 have been programmed. Thus, if we consider the mapping 18 of the memory of the microcircuit of the card 16, there is there, in addition to the usual data necessary for the execution of bank transactions and contained in the area 20, a register 22 memorizing the bank references RIBC of the collecting body and a register 24 storing a datum C representative of the method of calculating the elementary donation referred to above. One can for example provide for C a numerical heading which. if it is less than 1, indicates that it is a percentage of the amount of the transaction and gives the amount of this percentage (for example C = 0.01 indicates that the unit amount or "quantum" of the donation will be 1% of the amount of the particular transaction made with the card) and, if it is greater than or equal to 1, directly indicates the unit amount in francs of the donation for each transaction (for example C = 1 indicates that the donation is 1 franc per transaction, C = 5, 5 francs per transaction, etc.). The memory also contains an accumulator register 26 storing a data item A incremented for each particular transaction in the manner which will be described below.

Once provided with this card, the person will be able to carry out various purchases in the usual manner, each being carried out by means of an electronic payment terminal (EPT) 28. During the execution of each of these particular transactions, the accumulator A is increased by the amount of the donation, as determined by parameter C.

Very advantageously, the incrementation of the accumulator is carried out by the card itself, by programming in particular the application software of the microcircuit processor. This can be done very simply, with just a few additional lines of code (see below).

The integration on the card of the calculation of the donation and of the incrementation of the accumulator makes it possible to use for the terminals 28 conventional, unmodified VSEs, which therefore will not need to discriminate between microcircuit cards classics and cards according to the invention; in either case, the TPE 28 proceeds in the conventional manner to the issuance of a money transfer order, transmitted to a remote site 30 for compensation. At the stage just described, no transfer of funds has yet been made for the benefit of the collecting body.

To do this, specific terminals 32 are provided for operating the system according to the invention.

These terminals can advantageously be placed in places with high traffic, waiting places, or places associated with a certain luxury or a certain futility of expenditure, such as duty-free shops, drugstores, shopping malls, game counters and lotteries. On his initiative, and at the moment when he decides to do so - which materializes the voluntary and motivated nature of the donation - the donor can go and empty the accumulator of his card in one of these specific terminals 32 by carrying out the summary transaction , whose different stages are link as follows: insertion of the card, display of the totalizer amount (accumulator register 24), composition of the confidential code, - execution of the transaction itself by issuing a money transfer order to the computer 30, at profit of the organization whose bank references RIBC have been read in register 22, debit of the card, calculation and issuance of the certificate, - reset to zero of accumulator A.

Once the transfer order has been recorded in the computer 30, the automatic compensation may be carried out in a conventional manner from the benefactor's bank to that of the charity, via the existing means of processing card transactions bankers.

The specific terminal 32 can be formed from a standard TPE whose software will have been adapted to read and process the zones 22 and 24 of the card, and it can be associated with a ticket printer intended to serve as supporting document to the benefactor so that he can benefit from the tax advantages associated with the donation he has just made.

The terminal 32 can be juxtaposed, or even integrated, with a standard terminal such as an interactive terminal, a parking meter, a bank terminal or automatic teller machine, or even a telephone booth, thus allowing various actors such as cities, banks or telecommunications companies to contribute to the system by financing the upgrading of their own equipment so that they can play the role of a specific electronic fundraising terminal. As can be seen, the implementation of this system requires very few modifications to current payment systems. Firstly, with regard to the card, it suffices to provide three additional registers 22, 24 and 26 containing the RIBC data, A and C, and to adapt the application software so as to calculate the amount of each transaction. donate and increase the accumulator corresponding amount. This function can be summarized by the following instructions, expressed 7

metalanguage

001 while operation

002 wait CMD 003 if CMD = TS then send A: A = 0: end

004 execute transaction

005 MD = ((C <1) ^* T + (C> = 1)) ^* C

006 A = A + MD

007 wend

008 end

On the first two lines, the algorithm waits for the reception of a CMD command from the terminal while the application is running. On line 3, if this command indicates the presence of a specific terminal (TS), that is to say a type 32 terminal intended to collect funds, the amount of accumulator A is sent to terminal for processing, then reset. Otherwise (lines 4 to 6), the terminal is a standard TPE and the transaction (bank payment) is executed normally. On line 5, the amount of the MD gift is calculated based on the amount T of the transaction and the charitable quantum C (this quantum corresponds to the example indicated above, that is to say, it gives a percentage if it is less than 1, and a unit amount if it is greater than or equal to 1), and this amount is added to the accumulator on line 6.

On the side of the specific terminal 32, this can be of a type similar to a standard TPE, modified by incorporating lines of appropriate codes such as:

001 read RIBC

002 if RIBC = 0 then return (standard TPE basic function)

003 copy RIBC, A

004 A = 0

005 return 8

In line 2, the terminal examines whether the register 22 is completed, that is to say whether it contains RIBC bank references; if so, it records these bank references and the amount of the accumulator to trigger the transfer of funds, and resets the accumulator to zero. Otherwise, it is a non-specific card of the invention, or a specific card which the bearer did not want to be a donor, and the terminal then behaves like a TPE pure and simple . Various variants of implementation are of course conceivable. For example, instead of calculating for each particular transaction the amount of the donation and incrementing a corresponding accumulator, one can be satisfied with storing only a pointer addressing the history of the previous transactions operated by means of the card. At a given time, the pointer points to the last transaction for which a specific terminal had raised funds. It is at the time of the introduction of the card in the specific terminal that the latter will explore the history of previous specific transactions and calculate, in one go, the total amount of the donation and reposition the pointer on the last line (the history). Alternatively, the donation quantum can be a predefined quantum, which no longer has to be entered in the card; the quantum is then the same for everyone, for example one franc (or 1%) per credit card payment transaction, ten cents per telephone call, etc. Furthermore, the memory can keep a plurality of bank references corresponding to several beneficiaries, the card memorizing a key for distributing the donation between these different organizations; the allocation can also be made at the request of the terminal before the transfer. Other variants are also possible.

Thus, it is possible to provide for a "re-routing" of the monetary transfer before executing it: prior to this transfer, the user can thus give an order to modify the beneficiary, of the "type" instead of giving to organization A, whose bank references are entered in the card, I wish to give to B ", the bank references of beneficiary B being then provided by the terminal (for example downloaded). A sub-variant consists in authorizing a "modulation" of the amount of the gift at the time of transfer, according to a rule of the type "instead of giving the whole amount to A, I only give them half and I keep the other half in reserve ", or" I split the amount, I give 50% to A and 50% to B ".

In yet another variant, it can be provided that the zone 22 containing the RIBC bank references of the beneficiary is left blank, or is even omitted. In this case, the recipient of the donation will not be determined in advance from information entered on the card; it is the terminal, at the time of transfer, which will propose a list of possible beneficiaries to the card holder who will then choose from the list offered.

The method of the invention can give rise to various other forms of implementation.

Thus, the donation quantum can be a predefined quantum, which no longer has to be entered in the card; the quantum is then the same for everyone, for example one franc (or 1%) per credit card payment transaction, ten cents per telephone call, etc. As will be understood, in addition to the bank card of the example described above, the invention can be implemented from a very wide variety of cards such as a toll card for urban transport, card for public telephone, card for GSM cell phone, card type "electronic purse", card for television decoder, etc. On the terminal side, in addition to the VSEs of the example described above, the functionalities of the invention can be easily incorporated into various devices, for example (and in particular) the digital television decoders used for viewing channels on the Internet. subscription and / or toll. These decoders are indeed often connected to the telephone network, in particular in applications of the "pay-per-session" type, and have functions making it possible to display various commands on the screen, accessible and selectable by the user from a remote control.

The same is true for digital audio decoders (whether they are stand-alone or integrated into a television decoder or other computer device), intended to download musical sequences from the Internet to restore them to the user after decompression and decryption: see including French applications 98 10543 for "Device for pro- 10

duction of audio signals for a sound reproduction installation "and 98 15377 for" Secure device decoder of encrypted and compressed information, in particular video, audio or text information ". Generally, the terminal used must, as a necessary condition and sufficient, to be able to execute a transaction of the bank card type (electronic payment transaction or electronic transfer), which can, schematically, be itself reduced to two sequences, characterized by the value of a "Sens" parameter (1 ^ere phase direction = -1; ^2nd stage: direction = 1):

Credit card transaction

For Sens = -1 to 1 step 2

S (RIB (x)) = S (RIB (x)) + (Direction * M): store RIB (x ¹ ) next end

Notations: x: customer, x ': merchant, E (Issuer): card holder (BE bank customer),

R (Receiver): transfer recipient (customer of bank BR),

M = Amount of amount paid (wire transfer) by E to R,

S (RIB (x)) = instant account balance held by bank B (BE,

BR or other) on behalf of client x, Meaning = -1: debit from a RIB account (account x),

Direction = +1: credit from a RIB account (account x '),

It is thus possible, with a very small number of lines of code, to process both the "customer account" x (that is to say the donor account) and the "merchant account" x '(that is - say the account of the beneficiary organization).

The donor will see appear on the statement that the bank will send him later, both the amount of the donation and the name of the beneficiary organization, this document thus constituting proof of the donation, usable in particular for tax purposes. 11

The implementation of the invention can simply be obtained by software adaptation of the decoder (or other terminal) by simple incorporation of an additional module. Insofar as this function can be implemented by a simple software update, it can be added a posteriori to pre-existing terminals, for example by downloading a new version of the terminal control software, without it either need to disassemble it or return it to its manufacturer.

Claims

12 CLAIMS

1. A method of electronic fundraising, in which a summary financial transaction is carried out with a portable object such as a microcircuit card (16), the parameters of which depend on the history of previous particular financial transactions carried out with the same card, method comprising the following steps: a) execution by means of a first type of terminal (28) of at least one particular transaction, with: ai) issuance of a money transfer order, for an amount and for the benefit of a beneficiary which are a function of the particular transaction executed, and a2) updating in the memory (18) of the card an incremental parameter (A) as a function of the particular transaction, on the basis of pre-established rules ( VS) ; b) execution by means of a second type of terminal (32) of a summary transaction, with: b1) reading in the card of the incremental parameter, b2) issuance of a money transfer order, for an amount depending on the value of the incremental parameter and for the benefit of a predetermined collecting body, and b3) reinitialization of the incremental parameter in the card memory.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the incremental parameter is a cumulative monetary value, increased for each particular transaction by an increment determined in step a).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the increment is a predetermined, constant value for each particular transaction.

The method of claim 2, wherein the increment is a predetermined percentage of the amount of the money transfer order of the particular transaction. 13

5. The method of claim 1, in which the incremental parameter is a pointer addressing the last item of a history of the particular transactions stored in the card.

6. The method of claim 1, in which step b2) comprises the issuance of a plurality of money transfer orders for the benefit of a plurality of corresponding predetermined collecting bodies, and for respective amounts depending on the value of the incremental parameter and of a predetermined distribution key stored in the card.

7. An electronic fundraising system by executing a summary financial transaction, the parameters of which depend on the history of previous specific transactions, this system comprising: - portable objects such as microcircuit cards (16), with a data memory (18) comprising: a register (22) memorizing the bank references (RIBC) of a predetermined collecting body, a register (24) memorizing rules (C) for determining a quantum associated with a particular transaction executed by means of the card, and a register (26) storing an incremental parameter (A) updated with each particular transaction;

- first type terminals (28), capable of cooperating with a card for the execution of a particular financial transaction, and comprising means for issuing a money transfer order, for an amount and for the benefit of a beneficiary depending on the particular transaction executed; and

- terminals of a second type (32), capable of cooperating with said card for the execution of a summary financial transaction, and comprising means for reading the incremental parameter from the card, issuing a money transfer order, for an amount depending on the value of the incremental parameter and for the benefit of a predetermined collecting body, and reinitializing the incremental parameter in the memory of the card. 14

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the card includes means for determining itself said quantum from the data of the particular transaction provided by a terminal of the first type.