WO2013049359A1

WO2013049359A1 - Social network payment authentication apparatuses, methods and systems

Info

Publication number: WO2013049359A1
Application number: PCT/US2012/057577
Authority: WO
Inventors: Igor Karpenko; Ayman Hammad; Kevin P. Siegel; Craig O'connell
Original assignee: Visa International Service Association
Current assignee: Visa International Service Association
Priority date: 2011-09-27
Filing date: 2012-09-27
Publication date: 2013-04-04
Anticipated expiration: 2014-03-27

Abstract

The SOCIAL NETWORK PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS ("SNPA") transform social networking user login inputs via SNPA components into notifications of authenticated purchase transactions. In one embodiment, the SNPA obtains an authentication request for a purchase transaction. The SNPA extracts card account data related to the authentication request, and provides the card account data related to the authentication request to a social networking server. The SNPA also provides an indication for a user to authenticate via logging into a social networking service associated with the social networking server. The SNPA obtains an indication from the social networking server that the user is authenticated. In response to obtaining the indication that the user is authenticated, the SNPA initiates completion of the purchase transaction.

Description

1 SOCIAL NETWORK PAYMENT AUTH ENTICATION

2 APPARATUSES, M ETHODS AND SYSTEMS

3 [oooi] This patent application disclosure document (hereinafter "description"

4 and/or "descriptions") describes inventive aspects directed at various novel innovations

5 (hereinafter "innovation," "innovations," and/or "innovation(s)") and contains material

6 that is subject to copyright, mask work, and/or other intellectual property protection.

7 The respective owners of such intellectual property have no objection to the facsimile

8 reproduction of the patent disclosure document by anyone as it appears in published

9 Patent Office file/records, but otherwise reserve all rights.

0 PRIORITY CLAI M

11 [0002] This application is a non-provisional of and claims priority under 35 USC §

12 119 to: United States provisional patent application serial no. 61/539,571 filed

13 September 27, 2011, entitled "SOCIAL NETWORK PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION

14 APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS," attorney docket no. P-

15 42196PRVI 20270-158PV; United States patent application serial no. 13/434,818 filed

16 March 29, 2012, entitled "GRADUATED SECURITY SEASONING APPARATUSES,

17 METHODS AND SYSTEMS," attorney docket no. 233US01I20270-230US; United is States provisional patent application serial no. 61/569,371 filed December 12, 2011,

19 entitled "WALLET VERIFICATION APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS,"

20 attorney docket no. 13US03I 20270-179PV2; United States provisional patent

21 application serial no. 61/566,969 filed December 5, 2011, entitled "DYNAMIC

22 NETWORK ANALYTICS SYSTEM"; and United States provisional patent application

23 serial no. 61/563,941 filed November 28, 2011, entitled "WALLET VERIFICATION

24 APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS," attorney docket no. 13US01120270-

25 179PV. The entire contents of the aforementioned applications are expressly

26 incorporated by reference herein. FIELD [ 0003 ] The present inventions are directed generally to apparatuses, methods, and systems for payment processing, and more particularly, to SOCIAL NETWORK PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS ("SNPA").

BACKGROUND [ 0004 ] Consumers often use card-based transactions (e.g., credit, debit, prepaid cards, etc.) to obtain products and services. Some debit cards utilize a pin to authenticate transactions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [ 0005] The accompanying appendices and/or drawings illustrate various non- limiting, example, inventive aspects in accordance with the present disclosure: [ 0006 ] FIGURE 1 shows a block diagram illustrating example aspects of social network payment authentication in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0007] FIGURE 2 shows a data flow diagram illustrating an example procedure for social network payment authentication enrollment in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 00 08 ] FIGURE 3 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating example aspects of social network payment authentication enrollment in some embodiments of the SNPA, e.g., a Social Network Authentication Enrollment ("SNAE") component 300; [ 0009 ] FIGURES 4A-D show data flow diagrams illustrating an example social network authenticated payment procedure in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ o o i o ] FIGURES 5A-E show logic flow diagrams illustrating example aspects of social network authenticated payment in some embodiments of the SNPA, e.g., a Social Network Authenticated Payment Execution ("SNAPE") component 500; and [ 0011 ] FIGURES 6A-B show block diagrams illustrating example aspects of the SNPA; [ 00 12 ] FIGURE 7 shows a block diagram illustrating an example SNPA logic flow and component configuration; [ 0013 ] FIGURE 8 shows a datagraph diagram illustrating examples of transforming user virtual wallet activity via a User Wallet Activity Recording ("UWAR") component into stored user wallet activity records;

[ 0014] FIGURE 9 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating examples of transforming user virtual wallet activity via a User Wallet Activity Recording ("UWAR") component into stored user wallet activity records; [ 0015 ] FIGURE 10 shows a datagraph diagram illustrating examples of transforming user fraud reporting inputs via a Fraud Data Recording ("FDR") component into stored fraud report data records; [ 00 16 ] FIGURES 11 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating examples of transforming historical virtual wallet fraud reports via a Statistical Risk Analysis ("SRA") component into transaction risk assessment data and rules;

[ 0017] FIGURE 12 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating examples of transforming transaction requests, security inputs, historical wallet activity data, and transaction risk assessment data/rules via a Transaction Risk Assessment ("TRA") component into transaction risk assessment type/score signals; [ 00 18 ] FIGURE 13 shows block and logic flow diagrams illustrating examples of transforming transaction risk type and score assessments, security data, and transaction risk allocation offer responses via a Graduated Security Escalation ("GSE") component into transaction authorization notifications/triggers and transaction denial notifications; [ 00 19 ] FIGURE 14 shows a datagraph diagram illustrating example aspects of transforming a user checkout request input via a User Purchase Checkout ("UPC") component into a checkout data display output; [ 00 20 ] FIGURE 15 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating example aspects of transforming a user checkout request input via a User Purchase Checkout ("UPC") component into a checkout data display;

[ 00 21] FIGURES 16A-B show datagraph diagrams illustrating example aspects of transforming a user virtual wallet access input via a Purchase Transaction Authorization ("PTA") component into a purchase transaction receipt notification; [ 0 022 ] FIGURES 17A-B show logic flow diagrams illustrating example aspects of transforming a user virtual wallet access input via a Purchase Transaction Authorization ("PTA") component into a purchase transaction receipt notification; [ 0023 ] FIGURES 18A-B show datagraph diagrams illustrating example aspects of transforming a merchant transaction batch data query via a Purchase Transaction Clearance ("PTC") component into an updated payment ledger record; [ 00 24] FIGURES 19A-B show logic flow diagrams illustrating example aspects of transforming a merchant transaction batch data query via a Purchase Transaction Clearance ("PTC") component into an updated payment ledger record; [ 00 25 ] FIGURE 20 shows a user interface diagram illustrating an overview of example features of virtual wallet applications in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0 026 ] FIGURES 21A-G show user interface diagrams illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications in a shopping mode, in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0027] FIGURES 22A-F show user interface diagrams illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications in a payment mode, in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0 028 ] FIGURE 23 shows a user interface diagram illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications, in a history mode, in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0 029 ] FIGURES 24A-E show user interface diagrams illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications in a snap mode, in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0030 ] FIGURE 25 shows a user interface diagram illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications, in an offers mode, in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0031] FIGURES 26A-B show user interface diagrams illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications, in a security and privacy mode, in some embodiments of the SNPA; [ 0032 ] FIGURES 27A-F include example data flows, where the SNPA may be effected, and illustrates various additional advantageous aspects of the SNPA; and [ 0033 ] FIGURE 28 shows a block diagram illustrating example aspects of a SNPA controller. [ 0034] The leading number of each reference number within the drawings indicates the figure in which that reference number is introduced and/or detailed. As such, a detailed discussion of reference number 101 would be found and/or introduced in Figure 1. Reference number 201 is introduced in Figure 2, etc.

1 DETAILED DESCRIPTION

2 SOCIAL NETWORK PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION (SNPA)

3 [0035] The SOCIAL NETWORK PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION APPARATUSES,

4 METHODS AND SYSTEMS (hereinafter "SNPA") transform social networking user

5 login inputs, via SNPA components, into notifications of authenticated purchase

6 transactions. FIGURE 1 shows a block diagram illustrating example aspects of social

7 network payment authentication in some embodiments of the SNPA. In some

8 implementations, a user, e.g., 101, may utilize a user device, e.g., 102, to request a

9 purchase transaction. For example, the user device may communicate with a payment

10 network, e.g., 105, to purchase checked-out items, e.g., 103, in an online shopping cart,

11 or in a brick-and-mortar store. In some implementations, the payment network may

12 desire to authenticate the identity of the user, and verify that the payment information

13 utilized in the transaction is not fraudulently used. The payment network may

14 advantageously utilize a social network, of which the user is a member, to authenticate

15 the user and prevent fraudulent payment information usage. For example, the payment

16 network may request the social network, e.g., 107, to verify the identity of the user, e.g.,

17 106. The social network may request the user to login, e.g., 108, and on the basis of the

18 user logging in, the social network may verify the identity of the user. Also, in some

19 implementations, the social network may have pre-stored payment account

20 information, and may be able to compare the payment account information stored in

21 the social network to the payment information utilized in the transaction. On the basis

22 of such a comparison, in some implementations, the social network may be able to

23 verify the user's payment information and the user's identity for the payment network.

24 Thus, in some implementations, the social network may provide an additional layer of

25 security for purchase payment processing by the payment network.

26 [0036] FIGURE 2 shows a data flow diagram illustrating an example procedure

27 for social network payment authentication enrollment in some embodiments of the

28 SNPA. In some implementations, a user, e.g., 201, may desire to enroll in social 1 network authenticated purchase payment. The user may communicate with a pay

2 network server, e.g., 203, via a client such as, but not limited to: a personal computer,

3 mobile device, television, point-of-sale terminal, kiosk, ATM, and/or the like (e.g.,

4 202). For example, the user may provide user input, e.g., enroll input 211, into the

5 client indicating the user's desire to enroll in social network authenticated purchase

6 payment. In various implementations, the user input may include, but not be limited

7 to: a single tap (e.g., a one-tap mobile app purchasing embodiment) of a touchscreen

8 interface, keyboard entry, card swipe, activating a RFID/NFC enabled hardware device

9 (e.g., electronic card having multiple accounts, smartphone, tablet, etc.) within the user0 device, mouse clicks, depressing buttons on a joystick/game console, voice commands,1 single/multi -touch gestures on a touch-sensitive interface, touching user interface2 elements on a touch-sensitive display, and/or the like. For example, the user may3 swipe a payment card at the client 202. In some implementations, the client may4 obtain track 1 data from the user's card as enroll input 211 (e.g., credit card, debit card,5 prepaid card, charge card, etc.), such as the example track 1 data provided below:

6 %B123456789012345^APUBLIC/ J. Q. ^Λ 99011200000000000000* * 901 * * * * * * ?*

7 (wherein ^, 123456789012345 ' is the card number of V.Q. Public' and has a CVV8 number of 901 . ' 990112 ' is a service code, and *** represents decimal digits9 which change randomly each time the card is used. )

0

1

2 [0037] In some implementations, using the user's input, the client may generate3 an enrollment request, e.g., 212, and provide the enrollment request, e.g., 213, to the4 pay network server. For example, the client may provide a (Secure) Hypertext Transfer5 Protocol ("HTTP(S)") POST message including data formatted according to the6 extensible Markup Language ("XML"). Below is an example HTTP(S) POST message7 including an XML-formatted enrollment request for the pay network server:

8 POST /enroll. php HTTP/1.1

9 Host: www.merchant.com

0 Content-Type: Application/XML

1 Content-Length: 718

2 <?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

3 <enrollment_request>

4 <cart ID>4NFU4RG94</order ID> <timestamp>2011-02-22 15 : 22 : 43</timestamp>

<user_ID>j ohn . q . public@gmail . com</user_ID>

<client_details>

<client_IP>192.168.23.126</client_IP>

<client_type>smartphone</ client_type>

<client_model>HTC Hero</client_model>

<OS>Android 2.2</OS>

<app_installed_flag>true</app_installed_flag>

</c1ient_detai1 s>

< ! --account_params> <optional>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<account_type>credit</account_type>

<account_num>123456789012345</account_num>

<billing_address>123 Green St., Norman, OK 98765</billing_address> <phone>123-456-7809</phone>

<confirm_type>email</ confirm_type>

<contact_info>j ohn . q. publicSgmail . com</ contact_info>

</account_params-->

<checkout_purchase_details>

<num_products>l</num_products>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>XML for dummies</product_title>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

<seller>bestbuybooks</seller>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

</product>

</checkout_purchase_details>

</enrollment_request>

[0038] In some implementations, the pay network server may obtain the enrollment request from the client, and extract the user's payment detail (e.g., XML data) from the enrollment request. For example, the pay network server may utilize a parser such as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to FIGURE 28. In some implementations, the pay network server may query, e.g., 214, a pay network database, e.g., 204, to obtain a social network request template, e.g., 215, to process the enrollment request. The social network request template may include instructions, data, login URL, login API call template and/or the like for facilitating social network authentication. For example, the database may be a relational database responsive to Structured Query Language ("SQL") commands. The merchant server may execute a hypertext preprocessor ("PHP") script including SQL commands to query the database for product data. An example PHP/SQL command listing, illustrating substantive aspects of querying the database, e.g., 214-215, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_connect ( " 254 . 93 . 1 7 9 . 1 12 " , $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server mysql_select_db ( "SOCIALAUTH . SQL" ) ; // select database table to search

//create query

$query = "SELECT template FROM EnrollTable WHERE network LIKE '%' $socialnet" ;

$result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

mysql_close ("SOCIALAUTH. SQL") ; // close database access

? >

[0039] In some implementations, the pay network server may redirect the client to a social network server by providing a HTTP(S) REDIRECT 300 message, similar to the example below:

HTTP/ 1 . 1 300 Multiple Choices

Location:

https : / /www . facebook . com/dialog/oauth?client_id=snpa_app_ID&redirect_uri= www.paynetwork.com/enroll.php

<html>

<headxtitle> 300 Multiple Choices</title></head>

<body><hl>Multiple Choices</hlx/body>

</html>

[0040] In some implementations, the pay network server may provide payment information extracted from the card authorization request to the social network server as part of a social network authentication enrollment request, e.g., 217. For example, the pay network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message to the social network server, similar to the example below:

POST /authenticate_enroll .php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.socialnet.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 1306

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<authenticate_enrollment_request>

<request_ID>4NFU4RG94</order_ID>

<user_ID>j ohn . q . publicSgmail . com</user_ID>

<client_details>

<client_IP>192.168.23.126</client_IP>

<client_type>smartphone</ client_type>

<client_model>HTC Hero</client_model>

<0S>Android 2.2</OS>

<app_installed_flag>true</app_installed_flag>

</client_details>

<account_params>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<account_type>credit</account_type>

<account_num>123456789012345</account_num>

<confirm_type>email</ confirm_type>

<contact_info>j ohn . q. publicSgmail . com</ contact_info>

</account_params>

</authenticate_enrollment_request>

[0041] In some implementations, the social network server may provide a social network login request, e.g., 218, to the client. For example, the social network server may provide a HTML input form to the client. In some embodiments, the social network login request, e.g., 218, may be customized using the Graduated Security Seasoning ("GSS") component described herein, e.g., FIGURES 6A-28. For example, in one embodiment the social network server may require the user to identify social networking photos in order to authenticate the user's identity. Using the GSS component, the number and type of photos may be customized depending upon the transaction, user, fraud, and/or like risk factor. In another embodiment, the GSS component may use data relating to a user's associations (e.g., "friends") on a social network. In still another embodiment, the GSS component may use payment account information and/or payment history or transaction data to authenticate the user. It should be noted that, in one embodiment, the GSS may be implemented by or on social network server (s). In another embodiment, the GSS may be called by social network server(s) and reside on third party servers (e.g., issuer, payment network, and/or the like). The client may display, e.g., 219, the login form for the user. In some implementations, the user may provide login input into the client, e.g., 220, and the client may generate a social network login response, e.g., 221, for the social network server. In some implementations, the social network server may authenticate the login credentials of the user, and access payment account information of the user stored within the social network, e.g., in a social network database. Upon authentication, the social network server may generate an authentication data record for the user, e.g., 222, and provide an enrollment notification, e.g., 224, to the pay network server. For example, the social network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the example below:

POST /enrollnotification.php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.paynet.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 1306

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<enroll_notification>

<request_ID>4NFU4RG94</order_ID>

<result>enrolled</result>

</enroll_notification>

[ 0042 ] Upon receiving notification of enrollment from the social network server, the pay network server may generate, e.g., 225, a user enrollment data record, and store the enrollment data record in a pay network database, e.g., 226, to complete enrollment. In some implementations, the enrollment data record may include the information from the enrollment notification 224. [ 0043 ] FIGURE 3 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating example aspects of social network payment authentication enrollment in some embodiments of the SNPA, e.g., a Social Network Authentication Enrollment ("SNAE") component 300. In some implementations, a user may desire to enroll in social network authenticated purchase payment. The user may communicate with a pay network server via a client. For example, the user may provide user input, e.g., 301, into the client indicating the user's desire to enroll in social network authenticated purchase payment. In various implementations, the user input may include, but not be limited to: a single tap (e.g., a one-tap mobile app purchasing embodiment) of a touchscreen interface, keyboard entry, card swipe, activating a RFID/NFC enabled hardware device (e.g., electronic card having multiple accounts, smartphone, tablet, etc.) within the user device, mouse clicks, depressing buttons on a joystick/game console, voice commands, single/multi-touch gestures on a touch-sensitive interface, touching user interface elements on a touch- sensitive display, and/or the like. In some implementations, using the user's input, the client may generate an enrollment request, e.g., 302, and provide the enrollment request to the pay network server. In some implementations, the SNPA may provide an enrollment button which may take the user to an enrollment webpage where account info (such as in FIGURE 6, "Accounts 6i9g") may be entered into web form fields. In some implementations, the pay network server may obtain the enrollment request from the client, and extract the user's payment detail from the enrollment request. For example, the pay network server may utilize a parser such as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to FIGURE 28. In some implementations, the pay network server may query, e.g., 304, a pay network database to obtain a social network request template, e.g., 305, to process the enrollment request. The social network request template may include instructions, data, login URL, login API call template and/or the like for facilitating social network authentication. In some implementations, the pay network server may provide payment information extracted from the card authorization request to the social network server as part of a social network authentication enrollment request, e.g., 306. In some implementations, the social network server may provide a social network login request, e.g., 307, to the client. For example, the social network server may provide a HTML input form to the client. In some embodiments, the social network login / 1 authentication request, e.g., 307, may be customized using the GSS component, e.g.

2 307a, FIGURES 6A-28 and related descriptions. The social networking server may

3 invoke the GSS component, in some embodiments, before generating the social

4 network login form 307. The GSS component may be on the social networking server,

5 the pay network server, or on a third party server. The GSS component may utilize a

6 user's social network profile. A social network profile may include a user's personal

7 associations (e.g., "friends"), a user's payment history, a user's card account data (e.g.,

8 card number, billing address, and/or the like), a record of the user's advertisement

9 viewing and/or advertisement engagement, and/or any measure of the user's

10 interaction with the social network. If the GSS component determines that additional

11 login requirements, heightened security requirements, heightened login credentials,

12 and/or the like should be used, then the login form and/or interface the client displays

13 308 may be customized for enhanced security and/or authentication by the GSS, the

14 SNAE, the SNPA, the social networking server(s), and/or the like. The client may

15 display, e.g., 308, the login form for the user. In some implementations, the user may

16 provide login input into the client, e.g., 309, and the client may generate a social

17 network login response for the social network server. In some implementations, the is social network server may authenticate the login credentials of the user, and access

19 payment account information of the user stored within the social network, e.g., in a

20 social network database. Upon authentication, the social network server may generate

21 an authentication data record for the user, e.g., 311, and provide an enrollment

22 notification to the pay network server, e.g., 313. Upon receiving notification of

23 enrollment from the social network server, the pay network server may generate, e.g.,

24 314, a user enrollment data record, and store the enrollment data record in a pay

25 network database, e.g., 315, to complete enrollment. The pay network server may

26 provide an enrollment confirmation, and provide the enrollment confirmation to the

27 client, which may display, e.g., 317, the confirmation for the user.

28 [0044] FIGURES 4A-D show data flow diagrams illustrating an example social

29 network authenticated payment procedure in some embodiments of the SNPA. With

30 reference to FIGUIRE 4A, in some implementations, a user, e.g., 401, may desire to

31 purchase a product, service, offering, and/or the like ("product"), from a merchant, e.g., 403, via a merchant online site or in the merchant's store. The user may communicate with a merchant server, e.g., 403, via a client such as, but not limited to: a personal computer, mobile device, television, point-of-sale terminal, kiosk, ATM, and/or the like (e.g., 402). For example, the user may provide user input, e.g., checkout input 411, into the client indicating the user's desire to purchase the product. For example, a user in a merchant store may scan a product barcode of the product via a barcode scanner at a point-of-sale terminal. As another example, the user may select a product from a webpage catalog on the merchant's website, and add the product to a virtual shopping cart on the merchant's website. The user may then provide input indicating the user's desire to checkout the items in the (virtual) shopping cart. In various implementations, the user input may include, but not be limited to: a single tap (e.g., a one-tap mobile app purchasing embodiment) of a touchscreen interface, keyboard entry, card swipe, activating a RFID/NFC enabled hardware device (e.g., electronic card having multiple accounts, smartphone, tablet, etc.) within the user device, mouse clicks, depressing buttons on a joystick/game console, voice commands, single/multi-touch gestures on a touch-sensitive interface, touching user interface elements on a touch-sensitive display, and/or the like. For example, the user may swipe a payment card at the client 402. In some implementations, the client may obtain track 1 data from the user's card (e.g., credit card, debit card, prepaid card, charge card, etc.), such as the example track 1 data provided below:

%B123456789012345^APUBLIC/ J. Q. ^Λ 99011200000000000000* * 901 * * * * * * ?*

(wherein ' 123456789012345 ' is the card number of V.Q. Public' and has a CVV

number of 901 . ' 990112 ' is a service code, and *** represents decimal digits which change randomly each time the card is used. )

[ 0045 ] In some implementations, using the user's checkout input, the client may generate a checkout request, e.g., 412, and provide the checkout request, e.g., 413, to the merchant server. For example, the client may provide a (Secure) Hypertext Transfer Protocol ("HTTP(S)") POST message including the product details for the merchant server in the form of data formatted according to the extensible Markup Language ("XML"). Below is an example HTTP(S) POST message including an XML- formatted checkout request for the merchant server: POST /checkout. php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.merchant.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 718

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<checkout_request>

<cart_ID>4NFU4RG94</order_ID>

<user_ID>j ohn . q . publicSgmail . com</user_ID>

<client_details>

<client_IP>192.168.23.126</client_IP>

<client_type>smartphone</ client_type>

<client_model>HTC Hero</client_model>

<0S>Android 2.2</OS>

<app_installed_flag>true</app_installed_flag>

</c1ient_detai1 s>

<purchase_details>

<num_products>l</num_products>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>XML for dummies</product_title>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

<seller>bestbuybooks</seller>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

</product>

</purchase_details>

</checkout_request>

[0046] In some implementations, the merchant server may obtain the checkout request from the client, and extract the checkout detail (e.g., XML data) from the checkout request. For example, the merchant server may utilize a parser such as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to FIGURE 28. The merchant server may extract the product data, as well as the client data from the checkout request. In some implementations, the merchant server may query, e.g., 414, a merchant database, e.g., 404, to obtain product data, e.g., 415, such as product pricing, sales tax, offers, discounts, rewards, and/or other information to process the purchase transaction. For example, the database may be a relational database responsive to Structured Query Language ("SQL") commands. The merchant server may execute a hypertext preprocessor ("PHP") script including SQL commands to query the database for product data. An example PHP/SQL command listing, illustrating substantive aspects of querying the database, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_connect ("254.93.179.112", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server mysql_select_db ("PRODUCTS . SQL") ; // select database table to search

//create query

$query = "SELECT product_info product_price tax_linfo_list offers_list

discounts_list rewards_list FROM ProdTable WHERE product LIKE '%' $prod";

$result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

mysql_close ("PRODUCTS . SQL") ; // close database access

?>

[0047] In response to obtaining the product data, the merchant server may generate, e.g., 416a, a card authorization request according to the product data. For example, the merchant server may generate a HTTP(S) POST message including the product order details for a pay network server, e.g., 406, in the form of XML-formatted data. Below is an example HTTP(S) POST message including an XML-formatted card authorization request for the pay network server:

POST /purchase. php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.paynetwork.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 1306

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<purchase_order>

<order_ID>4NFU4RG94</order_ID>

<user_ID>j ohn . q . publicSgmail . com</user_ID>

<client_details>

<client_IP>192.168.23.126</client_IP>

<client_type>smartphone</ client_type>

<client model>HTC Hero</client model> <OS>Android 2.2</ΟΞ>

<app_installed_flag>true</app_installed_flag>

</c1ient_detai1 s>

<purchase_details>

<num_products>K/num_products>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>XML for dummies</product_title> <ISBN>938-2-14-168710-0</ISBN>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

<seller>bestbuybooks</seller>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

</product>

</purchase_details>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Books & Things, Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>lNNF484MCP59CHB27365</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params>

<account_params>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<account_type>credit</account_type>

<account_num>123456789012345</account_num>

<confirm_type>email</ confirm_type>

<contact_info>j ohn . q. publicSgmail . com</ contact_info>

</account_params>

<shipping_info>

<shipping_adress>same as billing</shipping_address>

<ship_type>expedited</ ship_type>

<ship_carrier>FedEx</ ship_carrier>

<ship_account>123-45-678</ ship_account>

<tracking_flag>true</ tracking_flag>

<sign_flag>false</sign_flag>

</shipping_info>

</purchase_order> [0048] In some implementations, the pay network server may process the transaction so as to transfer funds for the purchase into an account stored on an acquirer of the merchant. For example, the acquirer may be a financial institution maintaining an account of the merchant. For example, the proceeds of transactions processed by the merchant may be deposited into an account maintained by at a server of the acquirer. [0049] In some implementations, the pay network server may determine whether the user has enrolled in social network authenticated payment. For example, the pay network server may query a database, e.g., pay network database 407, for user enrollment data. For example, the server may utilize PHP/SQL commands similar to the example provided above to query the pay network database. In some implementations, the database may provide the user enrollment data, e.g., 419. The user enrollment data may include a flag indicating whether the user is enrolled or not, as well as instructions, data, login URL, login API call template and/or the like for facilitating social network authentication. For example, in some implementations, the pay network server may redirect the client to a social network server by providing a HTTP(S) REDIRECT 300 message, similar to the example below:

HTTP/ 1 . 1 300 Multiple Choices

Location:

https : / /www . facebook . com/dialog/oauth?client_id=snpa_app_ID&redirect_uri= www . paynetwork . com/purchase . php

<html>

<headxtitle>300 Multiple Choices</title></head>

<body><hl>Multiple Choices</hlx/body>

</html>

[0050] In some implementations, the pay network server may provide payment information extracted from the card authorization request to the social network server as part of a social network authentication request, e.g., 420. For example, the pay network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message to the social network server, similar to the example below:

POST /verify. php HTTP/ 1 . 1 Host: www.socialnet.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 1306

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<authentication_request>

<request_ID>4NFU4RG94</order_ID>

<user_ID>j ohn . q . publicSgmail . com</user_ID>

<client_details>

<client_IP>192.168.23.126</client_IP>

<client_type>smartphone</ client_type>

<client_model>HTC Hero</client_model>

<0S>Android 2.2</OS>

<app_installed_flag>true</app_installed_flag>

</c1ient_detai1 s>

<account_params>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<account_type>credit</account_type>

<account_num>123456789012345</account_num>

<confirm_type>email</ confirm_type>

<contact_info>j ohn . q. publicSgmail . com</ contact_info>

</account_params>

< ! --optional-->

<merchant_id>CQN3Y42N</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Acme Tech, Inc . </merchant_name>

<user_name>j ohn . q . public</user_name>

<cardlist> www . acme . com/user/john.q. public/ cclist . xml<cardlist> <user_account_preference>l 3 2 4 7 6 5<user_account_preference> </merchant>

</authentication_request>

[0051] In some implementations, the social network server may provide a social network login request, e.g., 421, to the client. For example, the social network server may provide a HTML input/login form to the client. In some embodiments, the social network login request, e.g., 421, may be customized using the Graduated Security Seasoning ("GSS") component described herein, e.g., FIGURES 6A-28. For example, in 1 one embodiment the social network server may require the user to identify social

2 networking photos in order to authenticate the user's identity. Using the GSS

3 component, the number and type of photos may be customized depending upon the

4 transaction, user, fraud, and/or like risk factor. In another embodiment, the GSS

5 component may use data relating to a user's associations (e.g., "friends") on a social

6 network. In still another embodiment, the GSS component may use payment account

7 information and/or payment history or transaction data to authenticate the user. It

8 should be noted that, in one embodiment, the GSS may be implemented by or on social

9 network server (s). In another embodiment, the GSS may be called by social network

10 server(s) and reside on third party servers (e.g., issuer, payment network, and/or the

11 like). The client may display, e.g., 422, the login form for the user. In some

12 implementations, the user may provide login input into the client, e.g., 423, and the

13 client may generate a social network login response, e.g., 424, for the social network

14 server. In some implementations, the social network server may authenticate the login

15 credentials of the user, and access payment account information of the user stored

16 within the social network, e.g., in a social network database. The social network server

17 may compare the payment account information stored in the social network to the

18 payment account information provided to the social network server by the pay network

19 server. The social network server may determine whether the information in the social

20 network and the request from the pay network server match each other. Based on the

21 comparison, the social network server may generate an authentication response, e.g.,

22 426, and provide the response to the pay network server. For example, the social

23 network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the example below:

24 POST /authresponse.php HTTP/ 1 . 1

25 Host: www.paynet.com

26 Content-Type: Application/XML

27 Content-Length: 1 30 6

28 <?XML version = " 1 . 0 " encoding = "UTF- 8 " ? >

29 <auth_response>

30 <request_ID>4NFU4 RG 94</order_ID>

31 <timestamp>2011 - 02 - 22 1 5 : 22 : 4 3</timestamp>

32 <result>authenticated</ result>

33 <authcode> 94352 897 6302 - 4556 9- 00382 9 - 04</authcode>

34 </auth_response> [0052] With reference to FIGURE 4B, in some implementations, upon receiving notification of authentication from the social network server, the pay network server may forward the card authorization request, e.g., 428, for payment processing (for example, including an authentication code obtained from the social network server). In some implementations, the pay network server may generate a query, e.g., 429, for one or more issuer servers corresponding to the user-selected payment options. For example, the user's account may be linked to one or more issuer financial institutions ("issuers"), such as banking institutions, which issued the account(s) for the user. For example, such accounts may include, but not be limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, stored (cash) value accounts and/or the like. Issuer server(s), e.g., 4o8a-n, of the issuer(s) may maintain details of the user's account. In some implementations, a database, e.g., pay network database 407, may store details of the issuer server(s) associated with the issuer(s). For example, the database may be a relational database responsive to Structured Query Language ("SQL") commands. The pay network server may query the pay network database for issuer server(s) details. For example, the pay network server may execute a hypertext preprocessor ("PHP") script including SQL commands to query the database for details of the issuer server(s). An example PHP/SQL command listing, illustrating substantive aspects of querying the database, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_connect ("254.93.179.112", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server mysql_select_db (" ISSUERS . SQL" ) ; // select database table to search

//create query for issuer server data

$query = "SELECT issuer_name issuer_address issuer_id ip_address mac_address

auth_key port_num security_settings_list FROM IssuerTable WHERE account_num LIKE '%' $accountnum";

$result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

mysql_close (" ISSUERS . SQL" ) ; // close database access

?> [0053] In response to obtaining the issuer server query, e.g., 429, the pay network database may provide, e.g., 430, the requested issuer server data to the pay network server. In some implementations, the pay network server may utilize the issuer server data to generate authorization request(s), e.g., 431, for each of the issuer server(s) selected based on the pre-defined payment settings associated with the user's virtual wallet, and/or the user's payment options input, and provide the card authorization request(s), e.g., 432a-n, to the issuer server(s), e.g., 4o8a-n. In some implementations, the authorization request(s) may include details such as, but not limited to: the costs to the user involved in the transaction, card account details of the user, user billing and/or shipping information, and/or the like. For example, the pay network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message including an XML-formatted authorization request similar to the example listing provided below:

POST /authorization .php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.issuer.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 624

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<card_query_request>

<query_ID>VNEl39FK</query_ID>

<purchase_summary>

<num_products>l</num_products>

<product_summary>Book - XML for dummies</product_summary>

<product_quantity>l</product_quantity?

</product>

</purchase_summary>

<transaction_cost>$22.61< /transaction_cost>

<account_params>

<account_type>checking</account_type>

<account_num>1234567890123456</account_num>

</account_params>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Books & Things, Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>lNNF484MCP59CHB27365</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params>

</card_query_request> [ 0054 ] In some implementations, an issuer server may parse the authorization request(s), and based on the request details may query a database, e.g., user profile database 409a-n, for data associated with an account linked to the user. For example, the issuer server may issue PHP/SQL commands similar to the example provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_connect ("254.93.179.112", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server mysql_select_db ( "USERS . SQL" ) ; // select database table to search

//create query for user data

$query = "SELECT user_id user_name user_balance account_type FROM UserTable

WHERE account_num LIKE '%' $accountnum" ;

$result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

mysql_close ( "USERS . SQL" ) ; // close database access

?>

[ 0055 ] In some implementations, on obtaining the user data, e.g., 433a-n, the issuer server may determine whether the user can pay for the transaction using funds available in the account, e.g., 434a-n. For example, the issuer server may determine whether the user has a sufficient balance remaining in the account, sufficient credit associated with the account, and/or the like. Based on the determination, the issuer server(s) may provide an authorization response, e.g., 436a-n, to the pay network server. For example, the issuer server(s) may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the examples above. In some implementations, if at least one issuer server determines that the user cannot pay for the transaction using the funds available in the account, see e.g., 437-438, the pay network server may request payment options again from the user (e.g., by providing an authorization fail message 438 to the merchant/client and requesting the user to provide new payment options), and re- attempt authorization for the purchase transaction. In some implementations, if the number of failed authorization attempts exceeds a threshold, the pay network server may abort the authorization process, and provide an "authorization fail" message to the merchant server, user device and/or client. [0056] In some implementations, the pay network server may obtain the authorization message including a notification of successful authorization, see e.g., 437, 440, and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction, the pay network server may generate a transaction data record, e.g., 439, from the authorization request and/or authorization response, and store the details of the transaction and authorization relating to the transaction in a transactions database. For example, the pay network server may issue PHP/SQL commands similar to the example listing below to store the transaction data in a database:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_connect ( "254.92.185.103", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server mysql_select ( "TRANSACTIONS . SQL" ) ; // select database to append

mysql_query (" INSERT INTO PurchasesTable (timestamp, purchase_summary_list,

num_products, product_summary, product_quantity, transaction_cost,

account_params_list, account_name, account_type, account_num,

billing_addres, zipcode, phone, sign, merchant_params_list, merchant_id, merchant_name, merchant_auth_key)

VALUES (time(), $purchase_summary_list, $num_products , $product_summary,

$product_quantity, $transaction_cost, $account_params_list, $account_name, $account_type, $account_num, $billing_addres, $zipcode, $phone, $sign,

$merchant_params_list, $merchant_id, $merchant_name, $merchant_auth_key ) " ) ; // add data to table in database

mysql_close ("TRANSACTIONS. SQL") ; // close connection to database

?>

[0057] With reference to FIGURE 4C, in some implementations, the pay network server may forward an authorization success message, e.g., 440, to the merchant server. The merchant may obtain the authorization message, and determine from it that the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction. The merchant server may add a record of the transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized transactions. For example, the merchant may append the XML data pertaining to the user transaction to an XML data file comprising XML data for transactions that have been authorized for various users, e.g., 441, and store the XML data file, e.g., 442, in a database, e.g., merchant database 404. For example, a batch XML data file may be structured similar to the example XML data structure template provided below:

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<merchant_data>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Books & Things, Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>lNNF484MCP59CHB27365</merchant_auth_key>

<account_number>123456789</account_number>

</merchant_data>

<transaction_data>

</transaction_data>

[0058] In some implementations, the server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g., 441, and provide the purchase receipt to the client, e.g., 443. The client may render and display, e.g., 444, the purchase receipt for the user. [0059] With reference to FIGURE 4D, in some implementations, the merchant server may initiate clearance of a batch of authorized transactions. For example, the merchant server may generate a batch data request, e.g., 445, and provide the request, e.g., 446, to a database, e.g., merchant database 404. For example, the merchant server may utilize PHP/SQL commands similar to the examples provided above to query a relational database. In response to the batch data request, the database may provide the requested batch data, e.g., 447. The server may generate a batch clearance request, e.g., 448, using the batch data obtained from the database, and provide, e.g., 449, the batch clearance request to an acquirer server, e.g., 410. For example, the merchant server may provide a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted batch data in the message body for the acquirer server. The acquirer server may generate, e.g., 450, a batch payment request using the obtained batch clearance request, and provide the batch payment request to the pay network server, e.g., 451. The pay network server may parse the batch payment request, and extract the transaction data for each transaction stored in the batch payment request, e.g., 452. The pay network server may store the transaction data, e.g., 453, for each transaction in a database, e.g., pay network database 407. For each extracted transaction, the pay network server may query, e.g., 454-455, a database, e.g., pay network database 407, for an address of an issuer server. For example, the pay network server may utilize PHP/SQL commands similar to the examples provided above. The pay network server may generate an individual payment request, e.g., 456, for each transaction for which it has extracted transaction data, and provide the individual payment request, e.g., 457, to the issuer server, e.g., 408. For example, the pay network server may provide a HTTP(S) POST request similar to the example below:

POST /requestpay.php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.issuer.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 788

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<pay_request>

<request_ID>CNI4ICNW2</request_ID>

<pay_amount>$34.78</pay_amount>

<account_params>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<account_type>credit</account_type>

<account_num>123456789012345</account_num>

</account_params>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Books & Things, Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>lNNF484MCP59CHB27365</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params> 2 <num_products>l</num_products>

3 <product>

4 <product_summary>Book - XML for dummies</product_summary>

5 <product_quantity>l</product_quantity?

6 </product>

7 </purchase_summary>

8 </pay_request>

9

10

11 [0060] In some implementations, the issuer server may generate a payment

12 command, e.g., 458. For example, the issuer server may issue a command to deduct

13 funds from the user's account (or add a charge to the user's credit card account). The

14 issuer server may issue a payment command, e.g., 459, to a database storing the user's

15 account information, e.g., user profile database 409. The issuer server may provide a

16 funds transfer message, e.g., 460, to the pay network server, which may forward, e.g.,

17 461, the funds transfer message to the acquirer server. An example HTTP(S) POST

18 funds transfer message is provided below:

19 POST /clearance .php HTTP/1.1

20 Host: www.acquirer.com

21 Content-Type: Application/XML

22 Content-Length: 206

23 <?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF- 8 " ? >

24 <deposit_ack>

25 <request_ID>CNI4ICNW2</request_ID>

26 <clear_flag>true</clear_flag>

27 <timestamp>2011-02-22 17 : 00 : 02</timestamp>

28 <deposit_amount>$34.7 8< /deposit_amount>

29 </deposit_ack>

30

31

32 [0061] In some implementations, the acquirer server may parse the funds

33 transfer message, and correlate the transaction (e.g., using the request_ID field in the

34 example above) to the merchant. The acquirer server may then transfer the funds

35 specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant, e.g., 462.

36 [0062] FIGURES 5A-E show logic flow diagrams illustrating example aspects of

37 social network authenticated payment in some embodiments of the SNPA, e.g., a Social Network Authenticated Payment Execution ("SNAPE") component 500. With reference to FIGUIRE 5A, in some implementations, a user may desire to purchase a product, service, offering, and/or the like ("product"), from a merchant via a merchant online site or in the merchant's store. For example, the user may provide user checkout input, e.g., 501, into the client indicating the user's desire to purchase the product. In some implementations, using the user's checkout input, the client may generate a checkout request, e.g., 502, and provide the checkout request to the merchant server. In some implementations, the merchant server may obtain the checkout request from the client, and extract the checkout detail (e.g., XML data) from the checkout request. For example, the merchant server may utilize a parser such as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to FIGURE 28. The merchant server may extract the product data, as well as the client data from the checkout request. In some implementations, the merchant server may query, e.g., 504, a merchant database to obtain product data, e.g., product pricing, sales tax, offers, discounts, rewards, and/or other information, to process the purchase transaction. In response to obtaining the product data, e.g., 505, the merchant server may generate, e.g., 506, a card authorization request according to the product data. In some implementations, the pay network server may process the transaction so as to transfer funds for the purchase into an account stored on an acquirer of the merchant. For example, the acquirer may be a financial institution maintaining an account of the merchant. For example, the proceeds of transactions processed by the merchant may be deposited into an account maintained by at a server of the acquirer. [0063] In some implementations, the pay network server may determine whether the user has enrolled in social network authenticated payment, e.g., 509. For example, the pay network server may query a database, e.g., 507, for user enrollment data. In some implementations, the database may provide the user enrollment data, e.g., 508. The user enrollment data may include a flag indicating whether the user is enrolled or not, as well as instructions, data, login URL, login API call template and/or the like for facilitating social network authentication. In some implementations, the pay network server may provide payment information extracted from the card authorization request to the social network server as part of a social network authentication request, e.g., 510. 1 In some implementations, the social network server may provide a social network login

2 request, e.g., 511, to the client. For example, the social network server may provide a

3 HTML input form to the client. The client may display, e.g., 512, the login form for the

4 user. In some implementations, the user may provide login input into the client, e.g.,

5 513, and the client may generate a social network login response for the social network

6 server. In some implementations, the social network server may authenticate the login

7 credentials of the user. For example, if the login was not successful, the social network

8 server may request the user to provide login credentials until the user successfully logs

9 into the social network. Upon authenticating the user, the social network server may0 query a database, e.g., 515, for a user profile of the user including stored payment1 account information. The database may provide the user profile data, e.g., 516. The2 social network server may compare the payment account information stored in the3 social network to the payment account information provided to the social network4 server by the pay network server, e.g., 517. The social network server may determine5 whether the information in the social network and the request from the pay network6 server match each other. Based on the comparison, the social network server may7 generate an authentication response and provide the response to the pay network8 server. If the information from the two sources do not match, e.g., 518, option "No,"9 the pay network server may generate a "transaction terminated" message, e.g., 519, and0 provide it to the merchant server and/or client. 1 [0064] With reference to FIGURE 5B, in some implementations, if the2 information from the two sources match, e.g., 518, option "Yes," the pay network server3 may forward the card authorization request for payment processing. In some4 implementations, the pay network server may parse the card authorization request,5 e.g., 520, and generate a query, e.g., 521, for issuer server(s) corresponding to the user-6 selected payment options. In response to obtaining the issuer server query, the pay7 network database may provide, e.g., 522, the requested issuer server data to the pay8 network server. In some implementations, the pay network server may utilize the9 issuer server data to generate authorization request(s), e.g., 523, for each of the issuer0 server (s), and provide the card authorization request(s) to the issuer server (s). [0065] In some implementations, an issuer server may parse the authorization request(s), and based on the request details may query a user profile database for data associated with an account linked to the user. In some implementations, on obtaining the user data, the issuer server may determine whether the user can pay for the transaction using funds available in the account, e.g., 524-527. For example, the issuer server may determine whether the user has a sufficient balance remaining in the account, sufficient credit associated with the account, and/or the like. Based on the determination, the issuer server(s) may provide an authorization response, e.g., 528, to the pay network server. In some implementations, if at least one issuer server determines, e.g., 529, that the user cannot pay for the transaction using the funds available in the account, see e.g., 530, option "No," the pay network server may request payment options again from the user (see e.g., 531, option "No," by providing an authorization fail message to the user device and requesting the user device to provide new payment options), and re-attempt authorization for the purchase transaction. In some implementations, if the number of failed authorization attempts exceeds a threshold, see, e.g., 531, option "Yes," the pay network server may abort the authorization process, and provide an "authorization fail" message to the merchant server, user device and/or client, e.g., 532. [0066] With reference to FIGURE 5C, in some implementations, the pay network server may obtain the authorization message including a notification of successful authorization, see e.g., 530, option "Yes,", and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction, the pay network server may generate a transaction data record, e.g., 533, from the authorization request and/or authorization response, and store, e.g., 534, the details of the transaction and authorization relating to the transaction in a transactions database. In some implementations, the pay network server may forward an authorization success message, e.g., 536, to the user device and/or merchant server. The merchant may parse the authorization message, e.g., 537, and determine from it that the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction, see, e.g., 538. The merchant server may add a record of the transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized transactions, see, e.g., 539-540. In 1 some implementations, the merchant server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g.,

2 541, and provide the purchase receipt to the client. The client may render and display,

3 e.g., 543, the purchase receipt for the user. In some implementations, the user device

4 may also provide a notification of successful authorization to the user.

5 [0067] With reference to FIGURE 5D, in some implementations, the merchant

6 server may initiate clearance of a batch of authorized transactions. For example, the

7 merchant server may generate a batch data request, e.g., 544, and provide the request

8 to a database, e.g., merchant database. In response to the batch data request, the

9 database may provide the requested batch data, e.g., 545. The server may generate a0 batch clearance request, e.g., 546 using the batch data obtained from the database, and1 provide the batch clearance request to an acquirer server. The acquirer server may2 generate, e.g., 548, a batch payment request using the obtained batch clearance3 request, and provide the batch payment request to the pay network server. The pay4 network server may parse the batch payment request, and extract the transaction data5 for each transaction stored in the batch payment request, e.g., 549-551. The pay6 network server may store the transaction data, e.g., 552-553, for each transaction in a7 database, e.g., pay network database. For each extracted transaction, the pay networks server may query, e.g., 554-555, a database, e.g., pay network database, for an address9 of an issuer server. The pay network server may generate an individual payment0 request, e.g., 556, for each transaction for which it has extracted transaction data, and1 provide the individual payment request to the associated issuer server. 2 [0068 ] In some implementations, the issuer server may generate a payment3 command, e.g., 557-558. For example, the issuer server may issue a command to4 deduct funds from the user's account (or add a charge to the user's credit card account).5 The issuer server may issue a payment command, e.g., 558, to a database storing the6 user's account information, e.g., user profile database. The issuer server may provide a7 funds transfer message, e.g., 560, to the pay network server, which may forward the8 funds transfer message to the acquirer server. In some implementations, the acquirer9 server may parse the funds transfer message, and correlate the transaction (e.g., using0 the request_ID field in the example above) to the merchant. With reference to FIGURE 5E, the acquirer server may then transfer the funds specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant, e.g., 562-564. GRADUATED SECURITY SEASONING ("GSS") COMPONENT [ 0069 ] With reference to FIGURE 6A, in some embodiments, the GSS may allow a user to engage in a purchase transaction with a merchant using one or more accounts stored in a virtual wallet of the user. For example, the user may download and install a GSS mobile wallet component on a mobile device (e.g., an Apple iPhone, a BlackBerry, a Google Android, a Samsung Galaxy, etc.) or other portable web-enabled computing device. As another example, a user may be able to access a virtual wallet account from a point-of-sale ("POS") terminal in a merchant store, or on a merchant website. Alternative and/or complementary user interfaces are also contemplated including: desktop applications, plug-ins to existing applications, stand alone mobile applications, web based applications (e.g., applications with web objects/frames, HTML 5 applications/wrappers, web pages, etc.), and/or the like. [ 0070 ] In some embodiments, the GSS may perform security checks before authorizing a transaction using an account from the user's virtual wallet. For example, the GSS may assess transaction risks associated with authorizing the transaction to be completed. For example, the GSS may identify one or more transaction risk types, and associated risk scores to each of the transaction risk types. Examples of risk types include, without limitation: user fraud, merchant fraud, insufficient account funds, product return, television advertisement scams, product recall, account hacks, wire fraud, mail fraud, spyware/malware invading transaction privacy, etc. The GSS may require specific security protocols to be adopted depending on the transaction risk types. In some embodiments, the GSS may determine a risk score associated with each risk type, and modify the security protocols followed to authorize the transaction depending on the risk scores. For example, the GSS may determine a risk score for each risk type based on factors such as, without limitation: the type of the current transaction (e.g., user enrollment into a new request, purchase transaction, modifying user wallet settings, modifying privacy settings, accessing personal information), current user transaction request details, historical (including recent/real-time) user virtual wallet activity, historical fraud reporting data (e.g., including parameters correlated to fraudulent activity), responses to secure authentication requests, etc. [ 0071] In some embodiments, the GSS may categorize risks associated with a type of transaction risk into graduated levels. According to the graduated level of the risk type, the GSS may appropriately escalate (or de-escalate, as the case may be) the security protocol(s) required to mitigate the risk. For example, where a transaction risk type is at a higher risk level, the GSS may escalate the security protocol required to authorize the transaction to a more secure protocol, which in some scenarios may come with additional attendant burden on the entity (e.g., a user) required to engage in the security protocol.

[ 0072 ] With reference to FIGURE 6A, a first tier of (low) risk may only require a security protocol set 1 (603a), which may have a low burden. For example, the protocol may only require a response from a device of the user, without requiring the user to provide any input for the device to generate a response. For example, if a device has to provide its IP address, user intervention may not be required. However, if a transaction risk type (e.g., risk typei (611), risk type 2 (612), risk type 3 (613)), has a higher risk score, then the GSS may escalate the protocols employed from security protocol set 1 to security protocol set 2 (603b) (which may pose a higher burden to one of the entites involved in the transaction). Similarly, as the transaction risk score for a transaction risk type increases, the GSS may escalate the security protocol set for the entities involved in the transaction to security protocol set 3 (603c) or security protocol set 4 (603d). It is to be understood that different transaction risk types may be escalated at different values of risk scores associated with each of the risk types, either dependent on or independent of the escalation of security protocols for any of the other transaction risk types associated with the transaction. For example, the graduated levels for the different transaction risk type may be drawn at different values of transaction risk scores associated with the transaction risk types. Further, it is to be understood that the set of entities engaged in a security protocol associated with one graduate risk level may be the same as, of different from, the set of entities engaged in a different security protocol associated with a different graduated risk level. [0073] In some embodiments, the selection of a security protocol may be dependent on the amount of burden (e.g., amount of time, amount of user input, amount of attention that needs to be paid, etc.) imposed on the entity (e.g., a user) enagaged in the security protocol. For example, if a risk can be mitigated by either of two sets of protocols, and one set imposes a lesser burden on the entity engaged in the security protocol than the other, then the first set may be chosen in some embodiments. Similarly, in some embodiments, the security protocol that imposes the least burden on a human (e.g., a user) may be chosen, even if it means that the burden imposed on a device (e.g., the user's smartphone) may be higher. For example, the GSS may choose security protocols that can mitigate the risk while minimizing the intrusion into the user's experience, or minimizing the amount of attention the user needs to pay to the security protocol.

[0074] With reference to FIGURE 6B, in some embodiments, the GSS may determine a transaction risk level 611, of a transaction risk type associated with a transaction request, based on the familiarity 612 that the GSS has with the parameters of the transaction request. For example, when the GSS has a low level of familiarity with an originating device (e.g., a smartphone, desktop computer, point-of-sale terminal), the GSS may calculate the transaction risk(s) associated with the transaction request as being higher compared to when the GSS has a higher level of familiarity with the originating device (see curve in FIGURE 6B for transaction parameter 1, 616a). Such familiarity-based transaction risk assessment may extend to any parameter of the current transaction request. For example, FIGURE 6B shows two curves representing the dependence of the transaction risk level of a transaction risk type associated with the transaction request on the familiarity of the GSS with the sales channel (e.g., mobile, online, physical store, etc.) utilize for the transaction (see 616b), and the dependence of the transaction risk level of a transaction risk type associated with the transaction request on the familiarity of the GSS with the geographic location of the originator of the transaction (see 616b). Other parameters to which such familiarity-based transaction risk assessment may extend include, without limitation: user ID; merchant ID; product type; product ID; transaction cost; payment mechanism (e.g., account numbers); geographical location; payment currency; combinations thereof and/or the like. In some embodiments, the GSS may determine that the familiarity of a transaction parameter is such that the transaction risk contribution of that parameter may be neglected in the calculation of transaction risk. Such a parameters may be determined to be "seasoned" 615, whereas parameters that the GSS may determine may not (yet) be neglected in the calculation of transaction risk may be considered "unseasoned" 614. In some embodiments, the GSS may utilize different seasoning thresholds 613 to determine the seasoning of different parameters in the calculation of transaction risk. Further, in various embodiments, the calculation of transaction risk may depend on numerous factors besides the seasoning levels of the parameters of the transaction request. [0075] Accordingly, in some embodiments of the GSS, authentication of a transaction can be done separately from authorization/payment, in any environment (e.g., electronic commerce, mobile payments, person-to-person, etc.). In some embodiments, authentication may be integrated into the authorization flow, e.g., as illustrated in FIGURE 16A. In some embodiments, consumer credentials as well as device credentials may be evaluated for risk and fraud management. In general, the GSS may apply graduated authentication and fraud review appropriate to the action being taken and the actual risk of loss or data compromise. The GSS may utilize non- invasive technologies where possible. Examples of risks that the GSS may eliminate or mitigate using graduated authentication during scenarios including, without limitation: merchant on-boarding and authentication; merchant transaction processing (e.g., platform review of merchant activity); merchant login, and maintenance; merchant pay- out/deposit changes, user creation etc.; consumer registration; consumer login; consumer maintenance (e.g., updating preferences, reviewing transactions, rewards, etc.); adding cards, shipping address, payment methods, etc.; reviewing transactions; and/or the like. In all such activites, the GSS may provide gradated, escalatable, initial evaluations and requirements, and may have customized authenticated decision trees applied to them using a variety of data elements including, without limitation: federated IDs; username/account alias; password; IP address; device fingerprint-issuer record comparison; device fingerprint-wallet record comparison; address verification services; identification challenge questions; merchant IP address; merchant device; merchant BIN; merchant card number; merchant-stored shipping address; email address; phone number; CW; and/or the like. In some embodiments of the GSS, a failure of authentication may result not in a full denial of the transaction, but in an escalation of the challenge presented to the entity taking the action. The risk in such transaction may be assessed using indicators available in data fields including, without limitation: catgory of action; type of action; user history; merchant history; device intelligence data elements; merchant category; product category; product quantity; product price point; and/or the like. The GSS may also utilize device fingerprinting data in real-time risk assessment/security protocol graduation for online and/or mobile transactions. Authentication challenges during protocol escalation may include calls to third-party identification services (e.g., Idology, Experian, Accurint, 192.com, Dunn & Bradstreet, etc.). Such third-party calls may be saved for the highest risk events, such as merchant automated underwriting or high risk/high price consumer initiated events. [0076] FIGURE 7 shows a block diagram illustrating an example GSS logic flow and component configuration. In some embodiments, a user, a merchant, a user device, etc. may request the GSS to authorize a purchase transaction, e.g., 711. For example, the request may take the form of a card authorization request, such as that card authorization request 1616, depicted in the example purchase transaction authorization ("PTA") component of FIGURE 16. The GSS may obtain historical data on user's activity (including recent or real-time user behavior in the virtual wallet) in the user's (or user-related) virtual wallet from a database, e.g., 712. For example, the GSS may utilize a component such as the example user wallet activity recording ("UWAR") component of FIGURES 8-9 to generate historical user wallet activity data records that are stored in the database. In some embodiments, the GSS may also obtain historical virtual wallet fraud data reports, e.g., 713, to inform transaction risk analysis. For example, the GSS may utilize a component such as the example fraud data recording ("FDR") component of FIGURE 10 to generate historical (virtual wallet) fraud data records that are stored in a database. The GSS may perform a Statistical Risk Analysis, e.g., 714, on the historical fraud data records to generate transaction risk assessment reference data points, rules, score weights, etc., e.g., 715. For example, the GSS may utilize a component such as the example Statistical Risk Analysis ("SRA") component of FIGURES liA-B to generate the transaction risk assessment reference data points, rules, score weights, etc. Using the current transaction request data, the user's historical virtual wallet activity, and historical fraud data-based transaction risk assessment reference data points, rules, score weights, etc., the GSS may identify a set of transaction risk types associated with the current transaction request, and may calculate a risk score associated with each of the transaction risk types, e.g., 716. For example, the GSS may utilize a component such as the example transaction risk assessment ("TRA") component of FIGURE 12, to identify a set of transaction risk types associated with the current transaction request, and calculate risk scores associated with each of the transaction risk types. [0077] In some embodiments, the GSS may attempt to allocate the transaction risks associated with the current transaction request to one or more entities involved in the current transaction (e.g., user, merchant, issuer, acquirer, payment service processor, payment network, etc.). For example, the GSS may provide an offer to one or more of the entities to assume (a portion of) the risk type associated with the transaction, e.g., 719. For example, the GSS may offer a discount, rewards, incentive, bonus, future payout, reduced transaction fees, etc., in exchange for the entity assuming the risk specified in the offer. If any of the entities accept the offer to assume (a portion of) the risk type, then the GSS may recalculate the risk score associated with the risk type. If the risk score is acceptable, see 721, (e.g., lower than a maximum allowable risk threshold value for the risk type for the current transaction), then the GSS may authorize the transaction (assuming no other transaction risks are present that need to be mitigated). If the risk score is not at an acceptably low level, then the GSS may select a set of security protocols for the entities involved in the transaction to engage in before authorizing the transaction, e.g., 722. For example, the GSS may utilize a component such as the example graduated security escalation ("GSE") component of FIGURES 13A- B, to select a set of security protocols for the entities involved in the transaction to engage in before authorizing the transaction. If there are no security protocols that can be engaged in to mitigate the transaction risks (see 723), the GSS may deny the transaction, e.g., 725. If, however, there are security protocols that may mitigate the risk if successfully completed, then the GSS may request the entities involved in the 1 transaction (e.g., user, user device, merchant, merchant device, issuer, acquirer, etc.) to

2 provide security data, e.g., 724, 719. The entities may provide the rquested security

3 data, otherwise the GSS may deny the transaction request. The GSS may utilize the new

4 security data, in addition to the previously mentioned adat, to re-assess the risk(s)

5 involved in the transaction, and if needed, re-apply the above-mentioned procedure

6 until the level of each transaction risk type is reduced to acceptable levels, or the risks

7 are assumed by one of the entities involved in the transaction. Upon obtaining

8 confirmation that the risk types are all at acceptable levels, the GSS may authorize the

9 transaction for execution, e.g., 726.

10 [0078 ] FIGURE 8 shows a datagraph diagram illustrating examples of

11 transforming user virtual wallet activity via a User Wallet Activity Recording ("UWAR")

12 component into stored user wallet activity records. In some embodiments, a user, e.g.,

13 801, may provide inputs into a user wallet device or point-of-sale terminal ("device"),

14 e.g., 802, representing user actions within a virtual wallet of the user. In various

15 implementations, the user input may include, but not be limited to: a single tap (e.g., a

16 one-tap mobile app purchasing embodiment) of a touchscreen interface, keyboard

17 entry, card swipe, activating a RFID/NFC enabled hardware device (e.g., electronic card is having multiple accounts, smartphone, tablet, etc.) within the user device, mouse clicks,

19 depressing buttons on a joystick/game console, voice commands, single/multi-touch

20 gestures on a touch-sensitive interface, touching user interface elements on a touch-

21 sensitive display, and/or the like. Such physical user input may be representative of the

22 user's desire to perform an action within the virtual wallet. For example, the user may

23 desire to perform a price check for a product (e.g., by scanning the product's barcode

24 using the user device), snap a QR code, add a product to an electronic shopping cart,

25 request a purchase, select payment options, etc. FIGURES 20-26 depict various

26 features that a virtual wallet application may provide to a user; thus, any of the features

27 described herein, and any like features, may be activated by the user, and such user

28 actions may be recorded. The device may determine whether the user wallet activity

29 should be transmitted to a wallet server for recording, e.g., 812. Upon determining that

30 the user action should be recorded at a server, the device may present a wallet activity

31 transmission notification, e.g., 813, to the user. In some embodiments, the user may be able to set (e.g., via privacy control settings), the type, amount, detail, etc. of user wallet activity that may be provided by the device to the server. The device may generate a user wallet activity record, and provide the user wallet activity record to the wallet server. For example, the record may include a batch of user actions aggregated together, and sent as a single message, or the record may include a single user action sent per message. For example, the device may provide the user wallet activity record 814 to a pay gateway server, e.g., 804a, as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, substantially in the form of the example below:

POST /walletactivityrecord.php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.paygateway.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 1283

<?XML version = "1. 0 " encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<activity_record>

<user_ID>j ohn . q . public</user_ID>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>54TBRELF8</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>BARNES , Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>TMN45GER98</merchant_auth_key>

</merchant_params>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>XML for dummies</product_title>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

</product_params>

<unit_cost>$14.46</unit_cost>

<coupon_id>AY34567</coupon_id>

<social_flag>ON</ social_flag>

<social_message>Look what I bought today ! </social_message>

<social_networks>facebook twitter</ social_networks>

</detail> </datatypel>

<! --optional parameters-->

<device_fingerprint>

<device_IP>192.168.23.126</device_IP>

<device_MAC>0123.4567.89ab</device_MAC>

<device_serial>312456768798765432</device_serial>

<device_ECID>00000AEBCDF12345</device_ECID>

<device_identifier>j qp_air</device_identifier>

<device_UDID>21343e34-14f4-8jn4-7yfe-124578632134</device_UDID>

<device_browser>firefox 2.2</device_browser>

<device_type>smartphone</device_type>

<device_model>HTC Hero</device_model>

<OS>Android 2.2</OS>

<wallet_app_installed_flag>true</wallet_app_installed_flag> </device_fingerprint>

</activity_record> [0079] In some embodiments, the pay gateway server may obtain the user wallet activity record from the device, and may parse the user wallet activity record to extract the data field and their associated values. The pay gateway server may store, e.g., 815, the extracted fields and data values in a pay gateway database, e.g., 804b. For example, the pay gateway server may issue hypertext preprocessor/structured query language ("PHP/SQL") commands to store the data to a database table (such as FIGURE 28, Behavior Data 2819η). An example user wallet activity record store command 815, substantially in the form of PHP/SQL commands, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_connect ( "254.92.185.103", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server mysql_select ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // select database to append

mysql_query (" INSERT INTO BehaviorDataTable (user_id, timestamp, action_data) VALUES ($userid, time(), $actdata_xml ) " ) ; // add data to table in database mysql_close ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // close connection to database

?> [0080] FIGURE 9 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating examples of transforming user virtual wallet activity via a User Wallet Activity Recording ("UWAR") component into stored user wallet activity records. In some embodiments, a user may provide inputs, e.g., 901, into a user wallet device or point-of-sale terminal ("device"), 1 representing user actions within a virtual wallet of the user. In various

2 implementations, the user input may include, but not be limited to: a single tap (e.g., a

3 one-tap mobile app purchasing embodiment) of a touchscreen interface, keyboard

4 entry, card swipe, activating a RFID/NFC enabled hardware device (e.g., electronic card

5 having multiple accounts, smartphone, tablet, etc.) within the user device, mouse clicks,

6 depressing buttons on a joystick/game console, voice commands, single/multi-touch

7 gestures on a touch-sensitive interface, touching user interface elements on a touch-

8 sensitive display, and/or the like. Such physical user input may be representative of the

9 user's desire to perform an action within the virtual wallet. For example, the user may

10 desire to perform a price check for a product (e.g., by scanning the product's barcode

11 using the user device), snap a QR code, add a product to an electronic shopping cart,

12 request a purchase, select payment options, etc. FIGURES 20-26 depict various

13 features that avirtual wallet application may provide to a user; thus, any of the features

14 described herein, and like features, may be activated by the user, and such user actions

15 may be recorded. The device may identify the user activity, e.g., 902. For example, the

16 device may utilize the gesture-identification features of the operating system of the

17 device, and combine that information with the virtual wallet interface features to

18 identify the user action. The device may determine whether the user wallet activity

19 should be transmitted to a wallet server for recording, e.g., 903. For example, the device

20 may compare the recorded user activity to a list of actions (e.g., in a lookup table) to

21 determine whether the recorded user activity is present in the list. Upon determining

22 that the user action should be recorded at a server (904, option "Yes"), the device may

23 generate a wallet activity transmission notification, e.g., 905, for the user, and present

24 the wallet activity transmission notification for the user via a display of the device, e.g.,

25 906. In some embodiments, the user may be able to set (e.g., via privacy control

26 settings), the type, amount, detail, etc. of user wallet activity that may be provided by

27 the device to the server. The device may generate a user wallet activity record, and

28 provide the user wallet activity record to the wallet server, e.g., 907. For example, the

29 record may include a batch of user actions aggregated together, and sent as a single

30 message, or the record may include a single user action sent per message. In some

31 embodiments, the pay gateway server may obtain the user wallet activity record from

32 the device, and may parse the user wallet activity record to extract the data field and 1 their associated values. For example, the pay gateway server may utilize a parser such

2 as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to FIGURE 28,

3 to extract the data field and their associated values. The pay gateway server may store,

4 e.g., 908-909, the extracted fields and data values in a pay gateway database.

5 [0081] FIGURE 10 shows a datagraph diagram illustrating examples of

6 transforming user fraud reporting inputs via a Fraud Data Recording ("FDR")

7 component into stored fraud report data records. In some embodiments, a user, e.g.,

8 1001, may wish to report a fraudulent activity involving the user's virtual wallet. For

9 example, the fraudulent activity may include missing (or unintended additional)

10 accounts within the user's virtual wallet, missing (or unintended additional)

11 transactions using the virtual wallet account, etc. The user may provide a fraud report

12 request input into a client, e.g., 1002. In various implementations, the user input may

13 include, but not be limited to: a single tap (e.g., a one-tap mobile app purchasing

14 embodiment) of a touchscreen interface, keyboard entry, card swipe, activating a

15 RFID/NFC enabled hardware device (e.g., electronic card having multiple accounts,

16 smartphone, tablet, etc.) within the user device, mouse clicks, depressing buttons on a

17 joystick/game console, voice commands, single/multi-touch gestures on a touch- is sensitive interface, touching user interface elements on a touch-sensitive display, and/or

19 the like. In response, the client may generate and provide a fraud report form request,

20 e.g., 1012, to a pay gateway server, e.g., 1004a. For example, the client may provide the

21 fraud report form request 1012 as a HTTP(S) GET message, substantially in the form of

22 the example below:

23 GET /fraudreportform. html HTTP/ 1 . 1

24 From: jqp@mail.com

25 User-Agent: Firefox/ 1 . 0

26

27 [0082] The pay gateway server may query a database, e.g., 1004b, for the fraud

28 report form, e.g., 1013-1014, and may provide the fraud report form, e.g., 1015, to the

29 client. For example, the pay gateway server may provide a HTML input form to the

30 client. The client may display, e.g., 1016, the fraud report form for the user. In some

31 implementations, the user may provide fraud report form input into the client, e.g.,

32 1017, and the client may generate a fraud report data response, e.g., 1018, for the pay 1 gateway server. The pay gateway server may parse the fraud report data response and

2 extract the data fields and their associated values, and generate a record for storage, e.g.,

3 1019, in a database.

4 [0083] FIGURES 11A-B shows a logic flow diagram illustrating examples of

5 transforming historical virtual wallet fraud reports via a Statistical Risk Analysis

6 ("SRA") component into transaction risk assessment data and rules. FIGURE 11A

7 depicts a 3-dimensional risk parameter plot space, which may be utilized to extract

8 fraud detection rules using aggregated fraud reports from individual users. For

9 example, in FIGURE 11A, each dot, e.g., 1105, represents an individual instance of a

10 fraudulent transaction reported by a user. In this example, the fraudulent transaction

11 may be defined by a sales channel 1103 through which it occurred, a transaction cost

12 1102, and a merchant ID 1101. It is to be understood, however, that any parameter of a

13 current or prior transaction, user action, or event may be utilized as a parameter in an

14 N-dimensional plot, where N may be as large as necessary to accurately represent the

15 fraudulent or otherwise risky transactions. Example parameters may include, without

16 limitation: user type, user ID, geographical region, issuer ID, merchant ID, account

17 type, transaction cost, sales channel, product type, number of products, number of

18 accounts used to pay for the transaction, terminal device type, transaction origination

19 geo-political region, social messaging settings, privacy settings for the transaction, type

20 of transaction (e.g., enrollment, purchase, etc.), in-store/online, prior user wallet

21 activity, prior user purchases, real-time user behavior, recent price scans, etc.

22 [0084] In the example of FIGURE 11A, the risk data points fall into four clusters

23 ii04a-d. Thus, the GSS may define four risk types - one associated with each of the

24 clusters. The GSS may identify a boundary surface in the N-dimensional space (in

25 FIGURE 11A, N=3), and may generate an equation that defines the boundary surface.

26 Thus, the boundary surface equation may serve as a rule to determine whether a

27 transaction falls into a risk type defined by a cluster of risk data points. The number of

28 data points within each cluster may serve as an indicator of the magnitude of risk

29 associated with the risk cluster, e.g., a risk score weight. The GSS may normalize a risk

30 score weight for a cluster/risk type (e.g., by dividing the number of risk data points in a

31 cluster) by: a total number of risk data points, a total number of transaction (non-risky, 1 as well as risky), a total number of non-risky transactions that would also fall within the

2 boundary surface of the cluster, etc. Thus, the boundary surface equations and the risk

3 score weights for each cluster/risk type may be utilized by the GSS to assess the risk of a

4 current transaction.

5 [0085] Accordingly, with reference to FIGURE 11B, in some embodiments, the

6 GSS may obtain aggregated fraud (or other forms of risk) data reports for statistical

7 analysis, e.g., 1111. The GSS may select a fraud data report for processing, e.g., 1112, and

8 may parse the report to extract the data fields from the report, e.g., 1113. The GSS may

9 resolve the data fields from the fraud report into the parameters of the N-dimensional

10 risk analysis plot parameters being used to plot the fraud reports as data points in the

11 risk analysis, e.g., 1114. The GSS may parse the report to extract the data values for each

12 plot parameters, from the report, e.g., 1115. Using the data values, the GSS may plot a

13 data point representing the fraud report within the N-dimensional risk analysis plot,

14 e.g., 1116. The GSS may plot a data point for each of the fraud reports in the aggregated

15 fraud data reports, see 1117. Upon completion of the plotting, the GSS may segment the

16 N-dimensional parameter plot into clusters, e.g., 1118, such as the clusters in the plot of

17 FIGURE 11A. The GSS may assign a risk type number (e.g., risk type 1, risk type 2, etc.)

18 for each cluster in the risk analysis plot, e.g., 1119. For each cluster, the GSS may

19 identify an equation (e.g., a polynomial equation that results in a least mean square-

20 error) that defines the boundary of the cluster, e.g., 1120. The GSS may identify the

21 parameters that appear as variables in the boundary surface equation, e.g., 1121, such as,

22 e.g., issuer routing number, user device type, etc. The GSS may correlate each of the

23 identified parameters to entities involved in the transaction, so that these entities may

24 be requested to either assume the risk of transactions having risk of these types, or

25 request security data from these entities to mitigate the risk of these types of risk, e.g.,

26 1122. Also, the GSS may calculate a risk score weight for each risk type (i.e., each

27 cluster) using, e.g., ratio of the number of data points within cluster to the total number

28 of fraud data points; ratio of the number of data points within cluster to the number of

29 transactions falling within boundary surface (both fraudulent and non-fraudulent); etc.

30 The GSS may store the boundary surface equations and the risk score weights, as well as

31 the identified entities that can either assume or mitigate the risk type, in a database. 1 [0086 ] FIGURE 12 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating examples of

2 transforming transaction requests, security inputs, historical wallet activity data, and

3 transaction risk assessment data/rules via a Transaction Risk Assessment ("TRA")

4 component into transaction risk assessment type/score signals. In some embodiments,

5 the GSS may obtain a current transaction request for a user associated with a virtual

6 wallet account, e.g., 1201. The GSS may identify all other transactions (current, recent

7 or historical), as well as all user wallet activity (current, recent, or historical), matching

8 the user, or the virtual wallet account, e.g., 1202. The GSS may aggregate the identified

9 data for analysis, e.g., 1203. The GSS may also obtain transaction risk assessment rules

10 for specific risk types and their associated risk score weights, e.g., 1204. For example,

11 the GSS may obtain such rules using components such as the example statistical risk

12 analysis ("SRA") component of FIGURES 11A-B. The GSS may select a transaction risk

13 assessment rule for processing, for a particular risk type, e.g., 1205. The GSS may

14 extract the boundary surface equation for the transaction risk assessment rule (see the

15 discussion of FIGURES 6A-B), e.g., 1206, and calculate a rule score by apply the

16 aggregated data to the extracted boundary surface equation corresponding to the

17 transaction risk assessment rule, e.g., 1207. The GSS may determine whether the

18 current transaction falls within the boundaries of the surface defining the cluster of risk

19 data points representing transaction risk of a particular type within the N-dimensional

20 risk analysis plot, e.g., 1208. If the current transaction falls within the boundary surface

21 of the cluster, e.g., 1209, option "Yes," then it may be susceptible to the same type of

22 transaction risk. The GSS may assign the risk type number, and risk score weight

23 associated with the transaction risk assessment rule, to the current transaction, e.g.,

24 1210. The GSS may perform such a procedure on the current transaction request for all

25 transaction risk assessment rules, see 1211. Upon completing the rule processing, the

26 GSS may return the assigned risk types and their associated risk scores (e.g., for

27 graduated security protocol escalation, see, e.g., FIGURE 13).

28 [0087] FIGURE 13 shows block and logic flow diagrams illustrating examples of

29 transforming transaction risk type and score assessments, security data, and transaction

30 risk allocation offer responses via a Graduated Security Escalation ("GSE") component

31 into transaction authorization notifications/triggers and transaction denial notifications. FIGURE 13A shows an example security protocol stack 1301, wherein each security protocol provides different amount of risk mitigation for different types of risk, if the security protocol is successfully completed. For example, each protocol may have a protocol description, 1302, burden level indicator(s) (e.g., intrusiveness into user experience, response time, bandwidth requirements, etc.), 1303, a list of risk types the security protocol may mitigate, 1304, and an amount of the risk type that the security protocol is capable of mitigating upon successfully completion, 1305. Example security protocols include, without limitation: obtaining a device IP address, obtaining a full device fingerprint, obtaining a user PIN from the user, obtaining a user password, providing a text message challenge, placing an audio call to the user, placing a video call to the user. [0088] With reference to FIGURE 13B, in some embodiments, the GSS may obtain a set of transaction risk types and associated transaction risk scores, e.g., 1311. For example, the risk types and scores may be generated by a component such as the example Transaction Risk Assessment ("TRA") component for FIGURE 12. The GSS may select a risk type, risk score pair to attempt to mitigate, e.g., 1312. The GSS may identify a set of candidate entities who may be able to assume the risk, e.g., in exchange for consideration. For example, the GSS may provide an offer to one or more of the entities to assume (a portion of) the risk type associated with the transaction. For example, the GSS may offer a discount, rewards, incentive, bonus, future payout, reduced transaction fees, etc., in exchange for the entity assuming the risk specified in the offer. If any of the entities accept the offer to assume (a portion of) the risk type, then the GSS may recalculate the risk score associated with the risk type. For example, the user may be able to bear a risk that the merchant is fraudulent, in exchange for a discount on the purchase, or for a discount in payment processing fees for the payment network. As another example, the merchant may be able to bear the risk that the user is fraudulent, which may result in a refund request by the actual user at a later date. As an alternative, the payment network, issuer, or acquirer may be able to bear such risk. [0089 ] In some embodiments, upon identifying a list of entities who may be able to bear the risk type, e.g., 1313, the GSS may generate transaction risk allocation offers for the identified entities, e.g., 1314. The GSS may provide the offers and obtain the 1 responses from the solicited entities, e.g., 1315. If the risk is accepted in its entirety (or

2 to an amount sufficient for the GSS to continue the transaction), e.g., 1316, option "Yes,"

3 the GSS may move on to the next transaction risk to mitigate (see 1327).

4 [0090 ] If the transaction risk is not assumed to a sufficient degree (e.g., as

5 compared to a pre-defined maximum acceptable risk threshold value for the risk type in

6 the current transaction, and stored in a database) by any of the solicited entities, e.g.,

7 1316, option "No," the GSS may identify entities that can provide security data to

8 mitigate risk. For example, a mobile merchant can provide seller digital certificate

9 credentials to assure the GSS that the mobile merchant may be trusted in the0 transaction, and can be traced should any problems arise from the transaction in the1 future. As another example, a user suspected of being fraudulent may be asked to2 engage in any of the security protocols listed in FIGURE 13A. The GSS may obtain, from3 a database, a pre-determined maximum acceptable threshold risk value for the risk type,4 as well as a list of security protocols, e.g., 1318, available that, if completed successfully5 by the identified entities that can provide security data to mitigate the risk, would6 sufficiently mitigate the risk to continue transaction processing of the current7 transaction. The GSS may also obtain the associated security burdens and risks mitigation score capabilities of each of the identified security protocols, e.g., 1319. In9 some embodiments, the GSS may identify the combination of security protocols (and0 associated entities that will have to engage the security protocols) that poses the1 minimum burden to a user experience, e.g., 1320. In alternate embodiments, the GSS2 may seek to minimize: the number of security protocols used, number of entities3 solicited for security data, security protocol processing time, security protocol4 processing overhead (e.g., cost, computational complexity), and/or the like. 5 [ 0091] The GSS may generate security data requests for the identified entities,6 e.g., 1321, and obtain security data from the entities, e.g., 1322. Using the security data,7 the GSS may calculate an updated risk score for the transaction risk type, e.g., 1323. For8 example, the GSS may utilize a component such as the example Transaction Risk9 Assessment ("TRA") component of FIGURE 12. The GSS may compare the updated risk0 score to the predetermined maximum acceptable threshold risk value for the risk type in1 the current transaction, and determine whether the risk score has been lowered below 1 the threshold. If the risk has been lowered enough, e.g., 1324, option "Yes," the GSS

2 may move on to the next transaction risk to mitigate, see 1327. If the risk score has not

3 been lowered below the threshold, e.g., 1324, option "No," then the GSS may determine

4 whether the number of security data requests, security protocol processing time,

5 transaction authorization attempts, etc. have exceeded a predetermined value, e.g.,

6 1325. If the timeout has occurred, the GSS may generate a transaction denial

7 notification, e.g., 1326. Otherwise, the GSS may iteratively perform the above-

8 mentioned procedure for the risk type, until the risk type is sufficiently mitigated (below

9 the risk threshold), or the transaction is denied (see 1313-1326). The GSS may perform0 such a transaction risk allocation and graduated security protocol escalation procedure1 for each transaction risk type involved in the current transaction (see 1327), until the2 transaction is either authorized, see 1328, or denied, see 1327.

3 [ 0 092 ] FIGURE 14 shows a datagraph diagram illustrating example aspects of4 transforming a user checkout request input via a User Purchase Checkout ("UPC")5 component into a checkout data display. In some embodiments, a user, e.g., 1401a, may6 desire to purchase a product, service, offering, and/or the like ("product"), from a7 merchant via a merchant online site or in the merchant's store. The user may8 communicate with a merchant/acquirer ("merchant") server, e.g., 1403a, via a client9 such as, but not limited to: a personal computer, mobile device, television, point-of-sale0 terminal, kiosk, ATM, and/or the like (e.g., 1402). For example, the user may provide1 user input, e.g., checkout input 1411, into the client indicating the user's desire to2 purchase the product. In various embodiments, the user input may include, but not be3 limited to: a single tap (e.g., a one-tap mobile app purchasing embodiment) of a4 touchscreen interface, keyboard entry, card swipe, activating a RFID/NFC equipped5 hardware device (e.g., electronic card having multiple accounts, smartphone, tablet,6 etc.) within the user device, mouse clicks, depressing buttons on a joystick/game7 console, voice commands, single/multi-touch gestures on a touch-sensitive interface,8 touching user interface elements on a touch-sensitive display, and/or the like. As an9 example, a user in a merchant store may scan a product barcode of the product via a0 barcode scanner at a point-of-sale terminal. As another example, the user may select a1 product from a webpage catalog on the merchant's website, and add the product to a 1 virtual shopping cart on the merchant's website. The user may then indicate the user's

2 desire to checkout the items in the (virtual) shopping cart. For example, the user may

3 activate a user interface element provided by the client to indicate the user's desire to

4 complete the user purchase checkout. The client may generate a checkout request, e.g.,

5 912, and provide the checkout request, e.g., 1413, to the merchant server. For example,

6 the client may provide a (Secure) Hypertext Transfer Protocol ("HTTP(S)") POST

7 message including the product details for the merchant server in the form of data

8 formatted according to the extensible Markup Language ("XML"). An example listing

9 of a checkout request 1412, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message0 including XML-formatted data, is provided below:

1 POST /checkoutrequest .php HTTP/1.1

2 Host: www.merchant.com

3 Content-Type: Application/XML

4 Content-Length: 667

5 <?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

6 <checkout_request>

7 <session_ID>4NFU4RG94</session_ID>

8 <! --optional parameters-->

9 <timestamp>2011-02-22 15 : 22 : 4 K/timestamp>

0 <user_ID>j ohn . q . publicSgmail . com</user_ID>

1 <device_fingerprint>

2 <device_IP>192.168.23.126</device_IP>

3 <device_MAC>0123.4567.89ab</device_MAC>

4 <device_serial>312456768798765432</device_serial>

5 <device_ECID>00000AEBCDF12345</device_ECID>

6 <device_identifier>j qp_air</device_identifier>

7 <device_UDID>21343e34-14f4-8jn4-7yfe-124578632134</device_UDID>

8 <device_browser>firefox 2.2</device_browser>

9 <device_type>smartphone</device_type>

0 <device_model>HTC Hero</device_model>

1 <OS>Android 2.2</OS>

2 <wallet_app_installed_flag>true</wallet_app_installed_flag>

3 </device_fingerprint>

4 </checkout_request>

5

6 [0093] In some embodiments, the merchant server may obtain the checkout7 request from the client, and extract the checkout detail (e.g., XML data) from the8 checkout request. For example, the merchant server may utilize a parser such as the 1 example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to FIGURE 28. Based

2 on parsing the checkout request 1412, the merchant server may extract product data

3 (e.g., product identifiers), as well as available PoS client data, from the checkout request.

4 In some embodiments, using the product data, the merchant server may query, e.g.,

5 1414, a merchant/acquirer ("merchant") database, e.g., 1403b, to obtain product data,

6 e.g., 1415, such as product information, product pricing, sales tax, offers, discounts,

7 rewards, and/or other information to process the purchase transaction and/or provide

8 value-added services for the user. For example, the merchant database may be a

9 relational database responsive to Structured Query Language ("SQL") commands. The0 merchant server may execute a hypertext preprocessor ("PHP") script including SQL1 commands to query a database table (such as FIGURE 28, Products 2819I) for product2 data. An example product data query 1414, substantially in the form of PHP/SQL3 commands, is provided below:

4 <?PHP

5 header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

6 mysql_connect ("254.93.179.112", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server7 mysql_select_db ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // select database table to search

8 //create query

9 $query = "SELECT product_title product_attributes_list product_price

0 tax_info_list related_products_list offers_list discounts_list rewards_list1 merchants_list merchant_availability_list FROM ProductsTable WHERE

2 product_ID LIKE '%' $prodID";

3 $result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

4 mysql_close ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // close database access

5 ?>

6

7 [0094] In some embodiments, in response to obtaining the product data, the8 merchant server may generate, e.g., 1416, checkout data to provide for the PoS client. In9 some embodiments, such checkout data, e.g., 1417, may be embodied, in part, in a0 HyperText Markup Language ("HTML") page including data for display, such as1 product detail, product pricing, total pricing, tax information, shipping information,2 offers, discounts, rewards, value-added service information, etc., and input fields to3 provide payment information to process the purchase transaction, such as account4 holder name, account number, billing address, shipping address, tip amount, etc. In5 some embodiments, the checkout data may be embodied, in part, in a Quick Response ("QR") code image that the PoS client can display, so that the user may capture the QR code using a user's device to obtain merchant and/or product data for generating a purchase transaction processing request. In some embodiments, a user alert mechanism may be built into the checkout data. For example, the merchant server may embed a URL specific to the transaction into the checkout data. In some embodiments, the alerts URL may further be embedded into optional level 3 data in card authorization requests, such as those discussed further below with reference to FIGURES 16-17. The URL may point to a webpage, data file, executable script, etc., stored on the merchant's server dedicated to the transaction that is the subject of the card authorization request. For example, the object pointed to by the URL may include details on the purchase transaction, e.g., products being purchased, purchase cost, time expiry, status of order processing, and/or the like. Thus, the merchant server may provide to the payment network the details of the transaction by passing the URL of the webpage to the payment network. In some embodiments, the payment network may provide notifications to the user, such as a payment receipt, transaction authorization confirmation message, shipping notification and/or the like. In such messages, the payment network may provide the URL to the user device. The user may navigate to the URL on the user's device to obtain alerts regarding the user's purchase, as well as other information such as offers, coupons, related products, rewards notifications, and/or the like. An example listing of a checkout data 1417, substantially in the form of XML- formatted data, is provided below:

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<checkout_data>

<session_ID>4NFU4RG94</session_ID>

<! --optional data-->

<expiry_lapse>00 : 00 : 30</expiry_lapse>

<total_cost>$121.49</total_cost>

<alerts_URL>www .merchant . com/ shopcarts . php?sessionID=4NFU4RG94</alerts_URL> <user_ID>j ohn . q . publicSgmail . com</user_ID>

<user_device_fingerprint>

<device_IP>192.168.23.126</device_IP>

<device_MAC>0123.4567.89ab</device_MAC>

<device_serial>312456768798765432</device_serial>

<device ECID>00000AEBCDF12345</device ECID> <device_identifier>j qp_air</device_identifier>

<device_UDID>21343e34-14f4-8jn4-7yfe-124578632134</device_UDID> <device_browser>firefox 2.2</device_browser>

<device_type>smartphone</device_type>

<device_model>HTC Hero</device_model>

<OS>Android 2.2</OS>

<wallet_app_installed_flag>true</wallet_app_installed_flag>

</user_device_fingerprint>

<purchase_detail>

<cart>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>54TBRELF8</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>BARNES , Inc . </merchant_name> <merchant_auth_key>TMN45GER98</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>XML for dummies</product_title> <ISBN>938-2-14-168710-0</ISBN>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

</product_params>

<unit_cost>$14.46</unit_cost>

<coupon_id>AY34567</coupon_id>

<social_flag>ON</ social_flag>

<social_message>Look what I bought today ! </social_message> <social_networks>facebook twitter</ social_networks> </product>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Books, Inc . </merchant_name> <merchant_auth_key>lN484MCP</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>Sophie' s World</product_title> <ISBN>955-2-14-112310-0</ISBN>

<cover>hardbound</cover> </product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

<unit_cost>$34.78</unit_cost>

<coupon_id>null</coupon_id>

<social_flag>OFF</social_flag>

</product>

</cart>

<cart>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>RFH5IB4FT</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Amzn, Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>44543DSJFG</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>XML - a primer</product_title> <ISBN>938-2-14-1436710-0</ISBN> <edition>2nd ed . </edition>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

<unit_cost>$12.93</unit_cost>

<coupon_id>AY34567</coupon_id>

<social_flag>ON</ social_flag>

<social_message>Look what I bought today ! </social_message> <social_networks>facebook twitter</ social_networks>

</product>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>BestBooks, Inc . </merchant_name> <merchant_auth_key>lN484MCP</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>Sophie' s Choice</product_title> <ISBN>938-2-14-168710-0</ISBN>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

<social_flag>OFF</ social_flag>

</product>

</cart>

</purchase_detail>

<checkout data> [0095] Upon obtaining the checkout data, e.g., 1417, the PoS client may render and display, e.g., 918, the checkout data for the user. [0096] FIGURE 15 shows a logic flow diagram illustrating example aspects of transforming a user checkout request input via a User Purchase Checkout ("UPC") component into a checkout data display. In some embodiments, a user may desire to purchase a product, service, offering, and/or the like ("product"), from a merchant via a merchant online site or in the merchant's store. The user may communicate with a merchant/acquirer ("merchant") server via a PoS client. For example, the user may provide user input, e.g., 1501, into the client indicating the user's desire to purchase the product. The client may generate a checkout request, e.g., 1502, and provide the checkout request to the merchant server. In some embodiments, the merchant server may obtain the checkout request from the client, and extract the checkout detail (e.g., XML data) from the checkout request. For example, the merchant server may utilize a parser such as the example parsers described below in the discussion with reference to FIGURE 28. Based on parsing the checkout request, the merchant server may extract product data (e.g., product identifiers), as well as available PoS client data, from the checkout request. In some embodiments, using the product data, the merchant server may query, e.g., 1503, a merchant/acquirer ("merchant") database to obtain product data, e.g., 1504, such as product information, product pricing, sales tax, offers, discounts, rewards, and/or other information to process the purchase transaction and/or provide value-added services for the user. In some embodiments, in response to obtaining the product data, the merchant server may generate, e.g., 1505, checkout data to provide, e.g., 1506, for the PoS client. Upon obtaining the checkout data, the PoS client may render and display, e.g., 1507, the checkout data for the user. [0097] FIGURES 16A-B show datagraph diagrams illustrating example aspects of transforming a user virtual wallet access input via a Purchase Transaction Authorization ("PTA") component into a purchase transaction receipt notification. With reference to FIGURE liA, in some embodiments, a user, e.g., 1601a, may wish to utilize a virtual wallet account to purchase a product, service, offering, and/or the like ("product"), from a merchant via a merchant online site or in the merchant's store. The user may utilize a physical card, or a user wallet device, e.g., 1601b, to access the user's virtual wallet account. For example, the user wallet device may be a personal/laptop computer, cellular telephone, smartphone, tablet, eBook reader, netbook, gaming console, and/or the like. The user may provide a wallet access input, e.g., 1611 into the user wallet device. In various embodiments, the user input may include, but not be limited to: a single tap (e.g., a one- tap mobile app purchasing embodiment) of a touchscreen interface, keyboard entry, card swipe, activating a RFID/NFC equipped hardware device (e.g., electronic card having multiple accounts, smartphone, tablet, etc.) within the user device, mouse clicks, depressing buttons on a joystick/game console, voice commands, single/multi-touch gestures on a touch-sensitive interface, touching user interface elements on a touch- sensitive display, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the user wallet device may authenticate the user based on the user's wallet access input, and provide virtual wallet features for the user. [0098 ] In some embodiments, upon authenticating the user for access to virtual wallet features, the user wallet device may provide a transaction authorization input, e.g., 1614, to a point-of-sale ("PoS") client, e.g., 1602. For example, the user wallet device may communicate with the PoS client via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular communication, one- or two-way near-field communication ("NFC"), and/or the like. In embodiments where the user utilizes a plastic card instead of the user wallet device, the user may swipe the plastic card at the PoS client to transfer information from the plastic card into the PoS client. For example, the PoS client may obtain, as transaction authorization input 1614, track 1 data from the user's plastic card (e.g., credit card, debit card, prepaid card, charge card, etc.), such as the example track 1 data provided below:

%B123456789012345^APUBLIC/ J. Q. ^Λ 99011200000000000000** 901 ******?*

(wherein '123456789012345' is the card number of V.Q. Public' and has a CVV

number of 901. '990112' is a service code, and *** represents decimal digits which change randomly each time the card is used. ) [0099] In embodiments where the user utilizes a user wallet device, the user wallet device may provide payment information to the PoS client, formatted according to a data formatting protocol appropriate to the communication mechanism employed in the communication between the user wallet device and the PoS client. An example listing of transaction authorization input 1614, substantially in the form of XML- formatted data, is provided below:

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<transaction_authorization_input>

<payment_data>

<charge_priority>l</charge_priority>

<charge_ratio>40%</ charge_ratio>

<account_type>debit</account_type>

<value_exchange_symbol>USD</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_number>123456789012345</account_number>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add>

<ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add>

<CVV_type>dynamic<CW_type>

<CVV>http: //www.paynet. com/dcvv . php?sessionID=4NFU4RG94</CVV> <cloak_flag>ON</cloak_flag>

<alert_rules>tarl tar4 tarl2</alert_rules>

</account>

<charge_priority>l</charge_priority>

<charge_ratio>60%</ charge_ratio>

<account_type>rewards</account_type>

<value_exchange_symbol>VME</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_number>234567890123456</account_number>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add>

<ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add>

<CVV_type>static<CVV_type>

<cloak_flag>ON</cloak_flag>

<alert_rules>tarl tar4 tarl2</alert_rules>

<mode>Bluetooth</mode>

</account>

<charge_ratio>l 00%</charge_ratio>

<account_number>345678901234567</account_number> <account_type>credit</account_type>

<value_exchange_symbol>USD</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add>

<ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add>

<CVV_type>static<CVV_type>

<cloak_flag>ON</cloak_flag>

<alert_rules>tarl tar4 tarl2</alert_rules>

</account>

</payment_data>

<! --optional data-->

<expiry_lapse>00 : 00 : 30</expiry_lapse>

<secure_key>0445329070598623487956543322</secure_key>

<alerts_track_flag>TRUE</alerts_track_flag>

<device_fingerprint>

<device_IP>192.168.23.126</device_IP>

<device_MAC>0123.4567.89ab</device_MAC>

<device_serial>312456768798765432</device_serial>

<device_ECID>00000AEBCDF12345</device_ECID>

<device_identifier>j qp_air</device_identifier>

<device_UDID>21343e34-14f4-8jn4-7yfe-124578632134</device_UDID>

<device_browser>firefox 2.2</device_browser>

<device_type>smartphone</device_type>

<device_model>HTC Hero</device_model>

<OS>Android 2.2</OS>

</transaction_authorization_input> [ o o i o o] In some embodiments, the PoS client may generate a card authorization request, e.g., 1615, using the obtained transaction authorization input from the user wallet device, and/or product/checkout data (see, e.g., FIGURE 14, 1415-1417). An example listing of a card authorization request 1615-1616, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below: POST /authorizationrequests .php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.acquirer.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 1306

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<card_authorization_request>

<session_ID>4NFU4RG94</order_ID>

<! --optional data-->

<alerts_URL>www .merchant . com/ shopcarts . php?sessionID=AEBB4356</alerts_URL> <user_ID>j ohn . q . publicSgmail . com</user_ID>

<device_fingerprint>

<device_IP>192.168.23.126</device_IP>

<device_MAC>0123.4567.89ab</device_MAC>

<device_serial>312456768798765432</device_serial>

<device_ECID>00000AEBCDF12345</device_ECID>

<device_identifier>j qp_air</device_identifier>

<device_type>smartphone</device_type>

<device_model>HTC Hero</device_model>

<0S>Android 2.2</OS>

<purchase_details>

<total_cost>$121.49</total_cost>

<cart>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>54TBRELF8</merchant_id>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>XML for dummies</product_title> <ISBN>938-2-14-168710-0</ISBN>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

</product_params>

<coupon_id>AY34567</coupon_id>

<social_flag>ON</ social_flag>

</product>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>Sophie' s World</product_title> <ISBN>955-2-14-112310-0</ISBN>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

<unit_cost>$34.78</unit_cost>

<coupon_id>null</coupon_id>

<social_flag>OFF</social_flag>

</product>

</cart>

<cart>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>RFH5IB4FT</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Amzn, Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>44543DSJFG</merchant_auth_key> </merchant_params>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<cover>hardbound</cover>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

<unit_cost>$12.93</unit_cost>

<coupon_id>AY34567</coupon_id> <social_flag>ON</social_flag>

</product>

<merchant_params>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<product_type>book</product_type>

<product_params>

<product_title>Sophie' s Choice</product_title> <ISBN>938-2-14-168710-0</ISBN>

</product_params>

<quantity>K/quantity>

<unit_cost>$44.86</unit_cost>

<coupon_id>null</coupon_id>

<social_flag>OFF</social_flag>

</product>

</cart>

</purchase_details>

<account_params>

<charge_priority>l</charge_priority>

<charge_ratio>40%</ charge_ratio>

<account_type>debit</account_type>

<value_exchange_symbol>USD</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_number>123456789012345</account_number> <account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add> <ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add> <CVV_type>dynamic<CW_type>

<alert_rules>tarl tar4 tarl2</alert_rules>

</account>

<charge_priority>l</charge_priority>

<charge_ratio>60%</ charge_ratio> <account_type>rewards</account_type>

<value_exchange_symbol>VME</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_number>234567890123456</account_number> <account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add>

<ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add>

<CVV_type>static<CVV_type>

<cloak_flag>ON</cloak_flag>

<alert_rules>tarl tar4 tarl2</alert_rules>

<mode>Bluetooth</mode>

</account>

<charge_priority>2</charge_priority>

<charge_ratio>l 00%</charge_ratio>

<value_exchange_symbol>USD</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add>

<ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add>

<CVV_type>static<CVV_type>

<cloak_flag>ON</cloak_flag>

<alert_rules>tarl tar4 tarl2</alert_rules>

</account>

</account_params>

<shipping_info>

<shipping_adress>#ref-ANON-123-45-678</ shipping_address>

<ship_type>expedited</ ship_type>

<ship_carrier>FedEx</ ship_carrier>

<ship_account>ANON-123-45-678</ship_account>

<tracking_flag>true</ tracking_flag>

<sign_flag>false</sign_flag>

</shipping_info>

</card_authorization_request> [ o o i o i] In some embodiments, the card authorization request generated by the user device may include a minimum of information required to process the purchase transaction. For example, this may improve the efficiency of communicating the 1 purchase transaction request, and may also advantageously improve the privacy

2 protections provided to the user and/or merchant. For example, in some embodiments,

3 the card authorization request may include at least a session ID for the user's shopping

4 session with the merchant. The session ID may be utilized by any component and/or

5 entity having the appropriate access authority to access a secure site on the merchant

6 server to obtain alerts, reminders, and/or other data about the transaction(s) within that

7 shopping session between the user and the merchant. In some embodiments, the PoS

8 client may provide the generated card authorization request to the merchant server, e.g.,

9 1616. The merchant server may forward the card authorization request to a pay gateway0 server, e.g., 1604a, for routing the card authorization request to the appropriate payment1 network for payment processing. For example, the pay gateway server may be able to2 select from payment networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Paypal,3 etc., to process various types of transactions including, but not limited to: credit card,4 debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like transactions. In some embodiments, the5 merchant server may query a database, e.g., merchant/acquirer database 1603b, for a6 network address of the payment gateway server, for example by using a portion of a user7 payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database8 query. For example, the merchant server may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a9 database table (such as FIGURE 28, Pay Gateways 2819I1) for a URL of the pay gateway0 server. An example payment gateway address query 1617, substantially in the form of1 PHP/SQL commands, is provided below:

2 <?PHP

3 header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

4 mysql_connect ("254.93.179.112", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server5 mysql_select_db ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // select database table to search

6 //create query

7 $query = "SELECT paygate_id paygate_address paygate_URL paygate_name FROM

8 PayGatewayTable WHERE card_num LIKE '%' $cardnum";

9 $result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

0 mysql_close ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // close database access

1 ?>

2

3 [ 00 102 ] In response, the merchant/acquirer database may provide the requested4 payment gateway address, e.g., 1618. The merchant server may forward the card authorization request to the pay gateway server using the provided address, e.g., 1619. In some embodiments, upon receiving the card authorization request from the merchant server, the pay gateway server may invoke a component to provide one or more services associated with purchase transaction authorization. For example, the pay gateway server may invoke components for fraud prevention, loyalty and/or rewards, and/or other services for which the user-merchant combination is authorized. The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization request to a pay network server, e.g., 1605a, for payment processing. For example, the pay gateway server may be able to select from payment networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Paypal, etc., to process various types of transactions including, but not limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like transactions. In some embodiments, the pay gateway server may query a database, e.g., pay gateway database 1604b, for a network address of the payment network server, for example by using a portion of a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database query. For example, the pay gateway server may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a database table (such as FIGURE 28, Pay Gateways 2819I1) for a URL of the pay network server. An example payment network address query 1621, substantially in the form of PHP/SQL commands, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_connect ("254.93.179.112", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server mysql_select_db ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // select database table to search

//create query

$query = "SELECT payNET_id payNET_address payNET_URL payNET_name FROM

PayGatewayTable WHERE card_num LIKE '%' $cardnum";

$result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

mysql_close ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // close database access

?> [00103] In response, the payment gateway database may provide the requested payment network address, e.g., 1622. The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization request to the pay network server using the provided address, e.g., 1623. [00104] With reference to FIGURE 16B, in some embodiments, the pay network server may process the transaction so as to transfer funds for the purchase into an 1 account stored on an acquirer of the merchant. For example, the acquirer may be a

2 financial institution maintaining an account of the merchant. For example, the

3 proceeds of transactions processed by the merchant may be deposited into an account

4 maintained by at a server of the acquirer.

5 [00105] In some embodiments, the pay network server may generate a query, e.g.,

6 1624, for issuer server(s) corresponding to the user-selected payment options. For

7 example, the user's account may be linked to one or more issuer financial institutions

8 ("issuers"), such as banking institutions, which issued the account(s) for the user. For

9 example, such accounts may include, but not be limited to: credit card, debit card,0 prepaid card, checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, stored (cash)1 value accounts and/or the like. Issuer server(s), e.g., 1606a, of the issuer(s) may2 maintain details of the user's account(s). In some embodiments, a database, e.g., pay3 network database 1605b, may store details of the issuer server(s) associated with the4 issuer(s). In some embodiments, the pay network server may query a database, e.g., pay5 network database 1605b, for a network address of the issuer(s) server(s), for example by6 using a portion of a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a7 keyword for the database query. For example, the merchant server may issue PHP/SQL8 commands to query a database table (such as FIGURE 28, Issuers 28191) for network9 address(es) of the issuer(s) server (s). An example issuer server address(es) query 1624,0 substantially in the form of PHP/SQL commands, is provided below:

1 <?PHP

2 header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

3 mysql_connect ("254.93.179.112", $DBserver, $password) ; // access database server4 mysql_select_db ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // select database table to search

5 //create query

6 $query = "SELECT issuer_id issuer_address issuer_URL issuer_name FROM

7 IssuersTable WHERE card_num LIKE '%' $cardnum";

8 $result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

9 mysql_close ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // close database access

0 ?>

1

2 [00106] In response to obtaining the issuer server query, e.g., 1624, the pay3 network database may provide, e.g., 1625, the requested issuer server data to the pay4 network server. In some embodiments, the pay network server may utilize the issuer server data to generate funds authorization request(s), e.g., 1626, for each of the issuer server(s) selected based on the pre-defined payment settings associated with the user's virtual wallet, and/or the user's payment options input, and provide the funds authorization request(s) to the issuer server(s). In some embodiments, the funds authorization request(s) may include details such as, but not limited to: the costs to the user involved in the transaction, card account details of the user, user billing and/or shipping information, and/or the like. An example listing of a funds authorization request 1626, substantially in the form of a HT P(S) POST message including XML- formatted data, is provided below:

POST /fundsauthorizationrequest .php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.issuer.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 624

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<funds_authorization_request>

<request_ID>VNEl39FK</request_ID>

<debit_amount>$72.89</debit_amount>

<account_params>

<account_type>debit</account_type>

<value_exchange_symbol>USD</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_number>123456789012345</account_number>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add>

<ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add>

</account>

</account_params>

<! --optional parameters-->

<user_device_fingerprint>

<device_IP>192.168.23.126</device_IP>

<device_MAC>0123.4567.89ab</device_MAC>

<device_serial>312456768798765432</device_serial>

<device_ECID>00000AEBCDF12345</device_ECID>

<device_identifier>j qp_air</device_identifier>

<device_UDID>21343e34-14f4-8jn4-7yfe-124578632134</device_UDID>

<device_browser>firefox 2.2</device_browser>

<device_type>smartphone</device_type> <device_model>HTC Hero</device_model>

<OS>Android 2.2</OS>

<wallet_app_installed_flag>true</wallet_app_installed_flag> </user_device_fingerprint>

</funds_authorization_request> [ 00107] In some embodiments, an issuer server may parse the authorization request(s), and based on the request details may query a database, e.g., user profile database 1606b, for data associated with an account linked to the user. For example, the merchant server may issue PHP/SQL commands to query a database table (such as FIGURE 28, Accounts 28i9d) for user account(s) data. An example user account(s) query 1627, substantially in the form of PHP/SQL commands, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

//create query

$query = "SELECT issuer user_id user_name user_balance account_type FROM

AccountsTable WHERE account_num LIKE '%' $accountnum" ;

$result = mysql_query ( $query) ; // perform the search query

mysql_close ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // close database access

?> [ 00 108 ] In some embodiments, on obtaining the user account(s) data, e.g., 1628, the issuer server may determine whether the user can pay for the transaction using funds available in the account, 1629. For example, the issuer server may determine whether the user has a sufficient balance remaining in the account, sufficient credit associated with the account, and/or the like. Based on the determination, the issuer server(s) may provide a funds authorization response, e.g., 1630, to the pay network server. For example, the issuer server(s) may provide a HTTP(S) POST message similar to the examples above. In some embodiments, if at least one issuer server determines that the user cannot pay for the transaction using the funds available in the account, the pay network server may request payment options again from the user (e.g., by providing an authorization fail message to the user device and requesting the user device to provide new payment options), and re-attempt authorization for the purchase transaction. In some embodiments, if the number of failed authorization attempts exceeds a threshold, the pay network server may abort the authorization process, and provide an "authorization fail" message to the merchant server, user device and/or client. [00109] In some embodiments, the pay network server may obtain the funds authorization response including a notification of successful authorization, and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction, e.g., 1631, the pay network server may invoke a component to provide value-add services for the user. [00110 ] In some embodiments, the pay network server may generate a transaction data record from the authorization request and/or authorization response, and store the details of the transaction and authorization relating to the transaction in a transactions database. For example, the pay network server may issue PHP/SQL commands to store the data to a database table (such as FIGURE 28, Transactions 28191). An example transaction store command, substantially in the form of PHP/SQL commands, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain');

mysql_query ("INSERT INTO TransactionsTable (PurchasesTable (timestamp,

purchase_summary_list, num_products , product_summary, product_quantity, transaction_cost, account_params_list, account_name, account_type,

account_num, billing_addres, zipcode, phone, sign, merchant_params_list, merchant_id, merchant_name, merchant_auth_key )

VALUES (time(), $purchase_summary_list, $num_products , $product_summary,

mysql_close ( "GSS_DB . SQL" ) ; // close connection to database

?> [o o i i i] In some embodiments, the pay network server may forward a transaction authorization response, e.g., 1632, to the user wallet device, PoS client, and/or merchant server. The merchant may obtain the transaction authorization response, and determine from it that the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction. The merchant server may add a record of the transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized transactions. For example, the merchant may append the XML data pertaining to the user transaction to an XML data file comprising XML data for transactions that have been authorized for various users, e.g., 1633, and store the XML data file, e.g., 1634, in a database, e.g., merchant database 904. For example, a batch XML data file may be structured similar to the example XML data structure template provided below:

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<merchant_data>

<merchant_id>3FBCR4INC</merchant_id>

<merchant_name>Books & Things, Inc . </merchant_name>

<merchant_auth_key>lNNF484MCP59CHB27365</merchant_auth_key>

<account_number>123456789</account_number>

</merchant_data>

<transaction_data>

</transaction_data> [ 00 112 ] In some embodiments, the server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g., 1633, and provide the purchase receipt to the client, e.g., 1635. The client may render and display, e.g., 1636, the purchase receipt for the user. In some embodiments, the user's wallet device may also provide a notification of successful authorization to the user. For example, the PoS client/user device may render a webpage, electronic message, text / SMS message, buffer a voicemail, emit a ring tone, and/or play an audio message, etc., and provide output including, but not limited to: sounds, music, audio, 1 video, images, tactile feedback, vibration alerts (e.g., on vibration-capable client devices

2 such as a smartphone etc.), and/or the like.

3 [ 00113 ] FIGURES 17A-B show logic flow diagrams illustrating example aspects of

4 transforming a user virtual wallet access input via a Purchase Transaction Authorization

5 ("PTA") component into a purchase transaction receipt notification. With reference to

6 FIGURE 17A, in some embodiments, a user may wish to utilize a virtual wallet account to

7 purchase a product, service, offering, and/or the like ("product"), from a merchant via a

8 merchant online site or in the merchant's store. The user may utilize a physical card, or

9 a user wallet device to access the user's virtual wallet account. For example, the user wallet

10 device may be a personal/laptop computer, cellular telephone, smartphone, tablet, eBook

11 reader, netbook, gaming console, and/or the like. The user may provide a wallet access

12 input, e.g., 1701, into the user wallet device. In various embodiments, the user input may

15 RFID/NFC equipped hardware device (e.g., electronic card having multiple accounts,

19 the like. In some embodiments, the user wallet device may authenticate the user based

20 on the user's wallet access input, and provide virtual wallet features for the user, e.g.,

21 1702-1703.

22 [ 00114] In some embodiments, upon authenticating the user for access to virtual

23 wallet features, the user wallet device may provide a transaction authorization input,

24 e.g., 1704, to a point-of-sale ("PoS") client. For example, the user wallet device may

25 communicate with the PoS client via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular communication, one- or two-

26 way near-field communication ("NFC"), and/or the like. In embodiments where the user

27 utilizes a plastic card instead of the user wallet device, the user may swipe the plastic card at

28 the PoS client to transfer information from the plastic card into the PoS client. In

29 embodiments where the user utilizes a user wallet device, the user wallet device may

30 provide payment information to the PoS client, formatted according to a data formatting 1 protocol appropriate to the communication mechanism employed in the communication

2 between the user wallet device and the PoS client.

3 [ooii5] In some embodiments, the PoS client may obtain the transaction

4 authorization input, and parse the input to extract payment information from the

5 transaction authorization input, e.g., 1705. For example, the PoS client may utilize a

6 parser, such as the example parsers provided below in the discussion with reference to

7 FIGURE 28. The PoS client may generate a card authorization request, e.g., 1706, using

8 the obtained transaction authorization input from the user wallet device, and/or

9 product/checkout data (see, e.g., FIGURE 14, 1415-1417).

10 [ 00 116 ] In some embodiments, the PoS client may provide the generated card

11 authorization request to the merchant server. The merchant server may forward the

12 card authorization request to a pay gateway server, for routing the card authorization

13 request to the appropriate payment network for payment processing. For example, the

14 pay gateway server may be able to select from payment networks, such as Visa,

15 Mastercard, American Express, Paypal, etc., to process various types of transactions

16 including, but not limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like

17 transactions. In some embodiments, the merchant server may query a database, e.g.,

18 1708, for a network address of the payment gateway server, for example by using a portion of

19 a user payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the

20 database query. In response, the merchant/acquirer database may provide the requested

21 payment gateway address, e.g., 1710. The merchant server may forward the card

22 authorization request to the pay gateway server using the provided address. In some

23 embodiments, upon receiving the card authorization request from the merchant server, the

24 pay gateway server may invoke a component to provide one or more service associated

25 with purchase transaction authorization, e.g., 1711. For example, the pay gateway server

26 may invoke components for fraud prevention (see e.g., VerifyChat, FIGURE 8E), loyalty

27 and/or rewards, and/or other services for which the user-merchant combination is

28 authorized.

29 [ 00117] The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization request to a

30 pay network server for payment processing, e.g., 1714. For example, the pay gateway

31 server may be able to select from payment networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, 1 American Express, Paypal, etc., to process various types of transactions including, but

2 not limited to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, B2B and/or like transactions. In

3 some embodiments, the pay gateway server may query a database, e.g., 1712, for a

4 network address of the payment network server, for example by using a portion of a user

5 payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database

6 query. In response, the payment gateway database may provide the requested payment

7 network address, e.g., 1713. The pay gateway server may forward the card authorization

8 request to the pay network server using the provided address, e.g., 1714.

9 [ 00 118 ] With reference to FIGURE 17B, in some embodiments, the pay network

10 server may process the transaction so as to transfer funds for the purchase into an

11 account stored on an acquirer of the merchant. For example, the acquirer may be a

12 financial institution maintaining an account of the merchant. For example, the

13 proceeds of transactions processed by the merchant may be deposited into an account

14 maintained by at a server of the acquirer. In some embodiments, the pay network

15 server may generate a query, e.g., 1715, for issuer server(s) corresponding to the user-

16 selected payment options. For example, the user's account may be linked to one or

17 more issuer financial institutions ("issuers"), such as banking institutions, which issued

18 the account(s) for the user. For example, such accounts may include, but not be limited

19 to: credit card, debit card, prepaid card, checking, savings, money market, certificates of

20 deposit, stored (cash) value accounts and/or the like. Issuer server(s) of the issuer(s)

21 may maintain details of the user's account(s). In some embodiments, a database, e.g., a

22 pay network database, may store details of the issuer server(s) associated with the

23 issuer(s). In some embodiments, the pay network server may query a database, e.g.,

24 1715, for a network address of the issuer(s) server (s), for example by using a portion of a user

25 payment card number, or a user ID (such as an email address) as a keyword for the database

26 query.

27 [ 00 119 ] In response to obtaining the issuer server query, the pay network database

28 may provide, e.g., 1716, the requested issuer server data to the pay network server. In

29 some embodiments, the pay network server may utilize the issuer server data to

30 generate funds authorization request(s), e.g., 1717, for each of the issuer server(s)

31 selected based on the pre-defined payment settings associated with the user's virtual wallet, and/or the user's payment options input, and provide the funds authorization request(s) to the issuer server(s). In some embodiments, the funds authorization request(s) may include details such as, but not limited to: the costs to the user involved in the transaction, card account details of the user, user billing and/or shipping information, and/or the like. In some embodiments, an issuer server may parse the authorization request(s), e.g., 1718, and based on the request details may query a database, e.g., 1219, for data associated with an account linked to the user. [ 00120 ] In some embodiments, on obtaining the user account(s) data, e.g., 1720, the issuer server may determine whether the user can pay for the transaction using funds available in the account, e.g., 1721. For example, the issuer server may determine whether the user has a sufficient balance remaining in the account, sufficient credit associated with the account, and/or the like. Based on the determination, the issuer server(s) may provide a funds authorization response, e.g., 1722, to the pay network server. In some embodiments, if at least one issuer server determines that the user cannot pay for the transaction using the funds available in the account, the pay network server may request payment options again from the user (e.g., by providing an authorization fail message to the user device and requesting the user device to provide new payment options), and re-attempt authorization for the purchase transaction. In some embodiments, if the number of failed authorization attempts exceeds a threshold, the pay network server may abort the authorization process, and provide an "authorization fail" message to the merchant server, user device and/or client. [ 00 121 ] In some embodiments, the pay network server may obtain the funds authorization response including a notification of successful authorization, and parse the message to extract authorization details. Upon determining that the user possesses sufficient funds for the transaction, e.g., 1723, the pay network server may invoke a component to provide value-add services for the user, e.g., 1723.

[ 0 0122 ] In some embodiments, the pay network server may forward a transaction authorization response to the user wallet device, PoS client, and/or merchant server. The merchant may parse, e.g., 1724, the transaction authorization response, and determine from it that the user possesses sufficient funds in the card account to conduct the transaction, e.g., 1725, option 'Yes." The merchant server may add a record of the 1 transaction for the user to a batch of transaction data relating to authorized

2 transactions. For example, the merchant may append the XML data pertaining to the

3 user transaction to an XML data file comprising XML data for transactions that have

4 been authorized for various users, e.g., 1726, and store the XML data file, e.g., 1727, in a

5 database. In some embodiments, the server may also generate a purchase receipt, e.g.,

6 1728, and provide the purchase receipt to the client. The client may render and display,

7 e.g., 1729, the purchase receipt for the user. In some embodiments, the user's wallet

8 device may also provide a notification of successful authorization to the user. For

9 example, the PoS client/user device may render a webpage, electronic message, text /0 SMS message, buffer a voicemail, emit a ring tone, and/or play an audio message, etc.,1 and provide output including, but not limited to: sounds, music, audio, video, images,2 tactile feedback, vibration alerts (e.g., on vibration-capable client devices such as a3 smartphone etc.), and/or the like. 4 [ 00123 ] FIGURES 18A-B show data flow diagrams illustrating example aspects of5 transforming a merchant transaction batch data query via a Purchase Transaction6 Clearance ("PTC") component into an updated payment ledger record. With reference7 to FIGURE 18A, in some embodiments, a merchant server, e.g., 1803a, may initiate8 clearance of a batch of authorized transactions. For example, the merchant server may9 generate a batch data request, e.g., 1811, and provide the request, to a merchant0 database, e.g., 1803b. For example, the merchant server may utilize PHP/SQL1 commands similar to the examples provided above to query a relational database. In2 response to the batch data request, the database may provide the requested batch data,3 e.g., 1812. The server may generate a batch clearance request, e.g., 1813, using the batch4 data obtained from the database, and provide, e.g., 1814, the batch clearance request to5 an acquirer server, e.g., 1807a. For example, the merchant server may provide a6 HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted batch data in the message body for7 the acquirer server. The acquirer server may generate, e.g., 1815, a batch payment8 request using the obtained batch clearance request, and provide, e.g., 1818, the batch9 payment request to the pay network server, e.g., 1805a. The pay network server may0 parse the batch payment request, and extract the transaction data for each transaction1 stored in the batch payment request, e.g., 1819. The pay network server may store the transaction data, e.g., 1820, for each transaction in a database, e.g., pay network database 1805b. In some embodiments, the pay network server may invoke a component to provide value-add analytics services based on analysis of the transactions of the merchant for whom the GSS is clearing purchase transactions. Thus, in some embodiments, the pay network server may provide analytics-based value-added services for the merchant and/or the merchant's users. [ 00 124 ] With reference to FIGURE 18B, in some embodiments, for each extracted transaction, the pay network server may query, e.g., 1823, a database, e.g., pay network database 1805b, for an address of an issuer server. For example, the pay network server may utilize PHP/SQL commands similar to the examples provided above. The pay network server may generate an individual payment request, e.g., 1825, for each transaction for which it has extracted transaction data, and provide the individual payment request, e.g., 1825, to the issuer server, e.g., 1806a. For example, the pay network server may provide an individual payment request to the issuer server(s) as a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data. An example listing of an individual payment request 1825, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:

POST /paymentrequest . php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.issuer.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 788

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<pay_request>

<request_ID>CNI4ICNW2</request_ID>

<pay_amount>$72.89</pay_amount>

<account_params>

<account_type>debit</account_type>

<value_exchange_symbol>USD</value_exchange_symbol>

<account_number>123456789012345</account_number>

<account_name>John Q. Public</account_name>

<bill_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</bill_add>

<ship_add>987 Green St #456, Chicago, IL 94652</ship_add>

</account> </account_params>

</pay_request> [00125] In some embodiments, the issuer server may generate a payment command, e.g., 1827. For example, the issuer server may issue a command to deduct funds from the user's account (or add a charge to the user's credit card account). The issuer server may issue a payment command, e.g., 1827, to a database storing the user's account information, e.g., user profile database 1806b. The issuer server may provide an individual payment confirmation, e.g., 1828, to the pay network server, which may forward, e.g., 1829, the funds transfer message to the acquirer server. An example listing of an individual payment confirmation 1828, substantially in the form of a HTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, is provided below:

POST /clearance .php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.acquirer.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 206

<?XML version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<deposit_ack>

<request_ID>CNI4ICNW2</request_ID>

<clear_flag>true</clear_flag>

<deposit_amount>$72.89</deposit_amount>

</deposit_ack> [00126] In some embodiments, the acquirer server may parse the individual payment confirmation, and correlate the transaction (e.g., using the request_ID field in the example above) to the merchant. The acquirer server may then transfer the funds specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant. For example, the acquirer server may query, e.g. 1830, an acquirer database 1807b for payment ledger and/or merchant account data, e.g., 1831. The acquirer server may utilize payment ledger and/or merchant account data from the acquirer database, along with the individual payment confirmation, to generate updated payment ledger and/or merchant account data, e.g., 1832. The acquirer server may then store, e.g., 1833, the updated payment ledger and/or merchant account data to the acquire database. [ 00127] FIGURES 19A-B show logic flow diagrams illustrating example aspects of transforming a merchant transaction batch data query via a Purchase Transaction Clearance ("PTC") component into an updated payment ledger record. With reference to FIGURE 19A, in some embodiments, a merchant server may initiate clearance of a batch of authorized transactions. For example, the merchant server may generate a batch data request, e.g., 1901, and provide the request to a merchant database. In response to the batch data request, the database may provide the requested batch data, e.g., 1902. The server may generate a batch clearance request, e.g., 1903, using the batch data obtained from the database, and provide the batch clearance request to an acquirer server. The acquirer server may parse, e.g., 1904, the obtained batch clearance request, and generate, e.g., 1907, a batch payment request using the obtained batch clearance request to provide, the batch payment request to a pay network server. For example, the acquirer server may query, e.g., 1905, an acquirer database for an address of a payment network server, and utilize the obtained address, e.g., 1906, to forward the generated batch payment request to the pay network server. [ 0 0128 ] The pay network server may parse the batch payment request obtained from the acquirer server, and extract the transaction data for each transaction stored in the batch payment request, e.g., 1908. The pay network server may store the transaction data, e.g., 1909, for each transaction in a pay network database. In some embodiments, the pay network server may invoke a component, e.g., 1910, to provide analytics based on the transactions of the merchant for whom purchase transaction are being cleared. [ 00 129 ] With reference to FIGURE 19B, in some embodiments, for each extracted transaction, the pay network server may query, e.g., 1911, a pay network database for an address of an issuer server. The pay network server may generate an individual payment request, e.g., 1913, for each transaction for which it has extracted transaction data, and provide the individual payment request to the issuer server. In some embodiments, the issuer server may parse the individual payment request, e.g., 1914, and generate a payment command, e.g., 1915, based on the parsed individual payment request. For example, the issuer server may issue a command to deduct funds from the user's account (or add a charge to the user's credit card account). The issuer server may issue a payment command, e.g., 1915, to a database storing the user's account 1 information, e.g., a user profile database. The issuer server may provide an individual

2 payment confirmation, e.g., 1917, to the pay network server, which may forward, e.g.,

3 1918, the individual payment confirmation to the acquirer server.

4 [ 00130 ] In some embodiments, the acquirer server may parse the individual

5 payment confirmation, and correlate the transaction (e.g., using the request_ID field in

6 the example above) to the merchant. The acquirer server may then transfer the funds

7 specified in the funds transfer message to an account of the merchant. For example, the

8 acquirer server may query, e.g. 1919, an acquirer database for payment ledger and/or

9 merchant account data, e.g., 1920. The acquirer server may utilize payment ledger0 and/or merchant account data from the acquirer database, along with the individual1 payment confirmation, to generate updated payment ledger and/or merchant account2 data, e.g., 1921. The acquirer server may then store, e.g., 1922, the updated payment3 ledger and/or merchant account data to the acquire database. 4 [ 00131 ] FIGURE 20 shows a user interface diagram illustrating an overview of5 example features of virtual wallet applications in some embodiments of the GSS.6 FIGURE 20 shows an illustration of various exemplary features of a virtual wallet7 mobile application 2000. Some of the features displayed include a wallet 2001, social8 integration via TWITTER, FACEBOOK, etc., offers and loyalty 2003, snap mobile9 purchase 2004, alerts 2005 and security, setting and analytics 2096. These features are0 explored in further detail below. 1 [ 00132 ] FIGURES 21A-G show user interface diagrams illustrating example2 features of virtual wallet applications in a shopping mode, in some embodiments of the3 GSS. With reference to FIGURE 21A, some embodiments of the virtual wallet mobile4 app facilitate and greatly enhance the shopping experience of consumers. A variety of5 shopping modes, as shown in FIGURE 21A, may be available for a consumer to peruse.6 In one implementation, for example, a user may launch the shopping mode by selecting7 the shop icon 2110 at the bottom of the user interface. A user may type in an item in the8 search field 2112 to search and/or add an item to a cart 2111. A user may also use a voice9 activated shopping mode by saying the name or description of an item to be searched0 and/or added to the cart into a microphone 2113. In a further implementation, a user may also select other shopping options 2114 such as current items 2115, bills 2116, address book 2117, merchants 2118 and local proximity 2119. [ o o i 33 ] In one embodiment, for example, a user may select the option current items 2115, as shown in the left most user interface of FIGURE 21A. When the current items 2115 option is selected, the middle user interface may be displayed. As shown, the middle user interface may provide a current list of items 2ii5a-h in a user's shopping cart 2111. A user may select an item, for example item 2115a, to view product description 2ii5j of the selected item and/or other items from the same merchant. The price and total payable information may also be displayed, along with a QR code 2115k that captures the information necessary to effect a snap mobile purchase transaction. [ 00134] With reference to FIGURE 21B, in another embodiment, a user may select the bills 2116 option. Upon selecting the bills 2116 option, the user interface may display a list of bills and/or receipts 2ii6a-h from one or more merchants. Next to each of the bills, additional information such as date of visit, whether items from multiple stores are present, last bill payment date, auto-payment, number of items, and/or the like may be displayed. In one example, the wallet shop bill 2116a dated January 20, 2011 may be selected. The wallet shop bill selection may display a user interface that provides a variety of information regarding the selected bill. For example, the user interface may display a list of items 2116k purchased, a QR code 21161 or the like suitable for scanning, a total number of items and the corresponding value. For example, 7 items worth $102.54 were in the selected wallet shop bill. A user may now select any of the items and select buy again to add purchase the items. The user may also refresh offers 2ii6j to clear any invalid offers from last time and/or search for new offers that may be applicable for the current purchase. As shown in FIGURE 21B, a user may select two items for repeat purchase. Upon addition, a message 2116I may be displayed to confirm the addition of the two items, which makes the total number of items in the cart 14. [ 00135 ] With reference to FIGURE 21C, in yet another embodiment, a user may select the address book option 2117 to view the address book 2117a which includes a list of contacts 2117b and make any money transfers or payments. In one embodiment, the address book may identify each contact using their names and available and/or preferred modes of payment. For example, a contact Amanda G. may be paid via social 1 pay (e.g., via FACEBOOK) as indicated by the icon 2117c. In another example, money

2 may be transferred to Brian S. via QR code as indicated by the QR code icon 2ii7d. In

3 yet another example, Charles B. may accept payment via near field communication

4 2117ε, Bluetooth 2ii7f and email 2ii7g. Payment may also be made via USB 2117I1 (e.g.,

5 by physically connecting two mobile devices) as well as other social channels such as

6 TWITTER.

7 [o o i36] In one implementation, a user may select Joe P. for payment. Joe P., as

8 shown in the user interface, has an email icon 2ii7g next to his name indicating that Joe

9 P. accepts payment via email. When his name is selected, the user interface may display0 his contact information such as email, phone, etc. If a user wishes to make a payment to1 Joe P. by a method other than email, the user may add another transfer mode 2ii7j to2 his contact information and make a payment transfer. With reference to FIGURE 21D,3 the user may be provided with a screen 2117k where the user can enter an amount to4 send Joe, as well as add other text to provide Joe with context for the payment5 transaction 2117I. The user can choose modes (e.g., SMS, email, social networking) via6 which Joe may be contacted via graphical user interface elements, 2117m. As the user7 types, the text entered may be provided for review within a GUI element 2117η. When8 the user has completed entering in the necessary information, the user can press the9 send button 21170 to send the social message to Joe. If Joe also has a virtual wallet0 application, Joe may be able to review 2117P social pay message within the app, or1 directly at the website of the social network (e.g., for Twitter™, Facebook®, etc.).2 Messages may be aggregated from the various social networks and other sources (e.g.,3 SMS, email). The method of redemption appropriate for each messaging mode may be4 indicated along with the social pay message. In the illustration in FIGURE 21D, the5 SMS 2ii7q Joe received indicates that Joe can redeem the $5 obtained via SMS by6 replying to the SMS and entering the hash tag value '#1234'. In the same illustration,7 Joe has also received a message 2ii7r via Facebook®, which includes a URL link that8 Joe can activate to initiate redemption of the $25 payment.

9 [00137] With reference to FIGURE 21E, in some other embodiments, a user may0 select merchants 2118 from the list of options in the shopping mode to view a select list1 of merchants 2ii8a-e. In one implementation, the merchants in the list may be affiliated to the wallet, or have affinity relationship with the wallet. In another implementation, the merchants may include a list of merchants meeting a user-defined or other criteria. For example, the list may be one that is curated by the user, merchants where the user most frequently shops or spends more than an x amount of sum or shopped for three consecutive months, and/or the like. In one implementation, the user may further select one of the merchants, AMAZON 2118a for example. The user may then navigate through the merchant's listings to find items of interest such as 2ii8f-j. Directly through the wallet and without visiting the merchant site from a separate page, the user may make a selection of an item 2ii8j from the catalog of Amazon 2118a. As shown in the right most user interface of FIGURE 21D, the selected item may then be added to cart. The message 2ii8k indicates that the selected item has been added to the cart, and updated number of items in the cart is now 13. [ 00138 ] With reference to FIGURE 21F, in one embodiment, there may be a local proximity option 2119 which may be selected by a user to view a list of merchants that are geographically in close proximity to the user. For example, the list of merchants 2ii9a-e may be the merchants that are located close to the user. In one implementation, the mobile application may further identify when the user in a store based on the user's location. For example, position icon 2ii9d may be displayed next to a store (e.g., Walgreens) when the user is in close proximity to the store. In one implementation, the mobile application may refresh its location periodically in case the user moved away from the store (e.g., Walgreens). In a further implementation, the user may navigate the offerings of the selected Walgreens store through the mobile application. For example, the user may navigate, using the mobile application, to items 2ii9f-j available on aisle 5 of Walgreens. In one implementation, the user may select corn 21191 from his or her mobile application to add to cart 2119k. [ 00139 ] With reference to FIGURE 21G, in another embodiment, the local proximity option 2119 may include a store map and a real time map features among others. For example, upon selecting the Walgreens store, the user may launch an aisle map 2119I which displays a map 2119m showing the organization of the store and the position of the user (indicated by a yellow circle). In one implementation, the user may easily configure the map to add one or more other users (e.g., user's kids) to share each other's location within the store. In another implementation, the user may have the option to launch a "store view" similar to street views in maps. The store view 2119η may display images/video of the user's surrounding. For example, if the user is about to enter aisle 5, the store view map may show the view of aisle 5. Further the user may manipulate the orientation of the map using the navigation tool 21190 to move the store view forwards, backwards, right, left as well clockwise and counterclockwise rotation [ 00140 ] FIGURES 22A-F show user interface diagrams illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications in a payment mode, in some embodiments of the GSS. With reference to FIGURE 22A, in one embodiment, the wallet mobile application may provide a user with a number of options for paying for a transaction via the wallet mode 2210. In one implementation, an example user interface 2211 for making a payment is shown. The user interface may clearly identify the amount 2212 and the currency 2213 for the transaction. The amount may be the amount payable and the currency may include real currencies such as dollars and euros, as well as virtual currencies such as reward points. The amount of the transaction 2214 may also be prominently displayed on the user interface. The user may select the funds tab 2216 to select one or more forms of payment 2217, which may include various credit, debit, gift, rewards and/or prepaid cards. The user may also have the option of paying, wholly or in part, with reward points. For example, the graphical indicator 2218 on the user interface shows the number of points available, the graphical indicator 2219 shows the number of points to be used towards the amount due 234.56 and the equivalent 2220 of the number of points in a selected currency (USD, for example). [ 00141 ] In one implementation, the user may combine funds from multiple sources to pay for the transaction. The amount 2215 displayed on the user interface may provide an indication of the amount of total funds covered so far by the selected forms of payment (e.g., Discover card and rewards points). The user may choose another form of payment or adjust the amount to be debited from one or more forms of payment until the amount 2215 matches the amount payable 2214. Once the amounts to be debited from one or more forms of payment are finalized by the user, payment authorization may begin. [00142] In one implementation, the user may select a secure authorization of the transaction by selecting the cloak button 2222 to effectively cloak or anonymize some (e.g., pre-configured) or all identifying information such that when the user selects pay button 2221, the transaction authorization is conducted in a secure and anonymous manner. In another implementation, the user may select the pay button 2221 which may use standard authorization techniques for transaction processing. In yet another implementation, when the user selects the social button 2223, a message regarding the transaction may be communicated to one of more social networks (set up by the user) which may post or announce the purchase transaction in a social forum such as a wall post or a tweet. In one implementation, the user may select a social payment processing option 2223. The indicator 2224 may show the authorizing and sending social share data in progress.

[00143] In another implementation, a restricted payment mode 2225 may be activated for certain purchase activities such as prescription purchases. The mode may be activated in accordance with rules defined by issuers, insurers, merchants, payment processor and/or other entities to facilitate processing of specialized goods and services. In this mode, the user may scroll down the list of forms of payments 2226 under the funds tab to select specialized accounts such as a flexible spending account (FSA) 2227, health savings account (HAS), and/or the like and amounts to be debited to the selected accounts. In one implementation, such restricted payment mode 2225 processing may disable social sharing of purchase information.

[ o o 144 ] In one embodiment, the wallet mobile application may facilitate importing of funds via the import funds user interface 2228. For example, a user who is unemployed may obtain unemployment benefit fund 2229 via the wallet mobile application. In one implementation, the entity providing the funds may also configure rules for using the fund as shown by the processing indicator message 2230. The wallet may read and apply the rules prior, and may reject any purchases with the unemployment funds that fail to meet the criteria set by the rules. Example criteria may include, for example, merchant category code (MCC), time of transaction, location of transaction, and/or the like. As an example, a transaction with a grocery merchant having MCC 5411 may be approved, while a transaction with a bar merchant having an MCC 5813 may be refused. [ 00 145 ] With reference to FIGURE 22B, in one embodiment, the wallet mobile application may facilitate dynamic payment optimization based on factors such as user location, preferences and currency value preferences among others. For example, when a user is in the United States, the country indicator 2231 may display a flag of the United States and may set the currency 2233 to the United States. In a further implementation, the wallet mobile application may automatically rearrange the order in which the forms of payments 2235 are listed to reflect the popularity or acceptability of various forms of payment. In one implementation, the arrangement may reflect the user's preference, which may not be changed by the wallet mobile application.

[ 00 146 ] Similarly, when a German user operates a wallet in Germany, the mobile wallet application user interface may be dynamically updated to reflect the country of operation 2232 and the currency 2234. In a further implementation, the wallet application may rearrange the order in which different forms of payment 2236 are listed based on their acceptance level in that country. Of course, the order of these forms of payments may be modified by the user to suit his or her own preferences. [ 00147] With reference to FIGURE 22C, in one embodiment, the payee tab 2237 in the wallet mobile application user interface may facilitate user selection of one or more payees receiving the funds selected in the funds tab. In one implementation, the user interface may show a list of all payees 2238 with whom the user has previously transacted or available to transact. The user may then select one or more payees. The payees 2238 may include larger merchants such as Amazon.com Inc., and individuals such as Jane P. Doe. Next to each payee name, a list of accepted payment modes for the payee may be displayed. In one implementation, the user may select the payee Jane P. Doe 2239 for receiving payment. Upon selection, the user interface may display additional identifying information relating to the payee. [ 00 148 ] With reference to FIGURE 22D, in one embodiment, the mode tab 2240 may facilitate selection of a payment mode accepted by the payee. A number of payment modes may be available for selection. Example modes include, blue tooth 2241, wireless 1 2242, snap mobile by user-obtained QR code 2243, secure chip 2244, TWITTER 2245,

2 near-field communication (NFC) 2246, cellular 2247, snap mobile by user-provided QR

3 code 2248, USB 2249 and FACEBOOK 2250, among others. In one implementation,

4 only the payment modes that are accepted by the payee may be selectable by the user.

5 Other non-accepted payment modes may be disabled.

6 [ 00 149 ] With reference to FIGURE 22E, in one embodiment, the offers tab 2251

7 may provide real-time offers that are relevant to items in a user's cart for selection by

8 the user. The user may select one or more offers from the list of applicable offers 2252

9 for redemption. In one implementation, some offers may be combined, while others0 may not. When the user selects an offer that may not be combined with another offer,1 the unselected offers may be disabled. In a further implementation, offers that are2 recommended by the wallet application's recommendation engine may be identified by3 an indicator, such as the one shown by 2253. In a further implementation, the user may4 read the details of the offer by expanding the offer row as shown by 2254 in the user5 interface. 6 [ 00150 ] With reference to FIGURE 22F, in one embodiment, the social tab 22557 may facilitate integration of the wallet application with social channels 2256. In one8 implementation, a user may select one or more social channels 2256 and may sign in to9 the selected social channel from the wallet application by providing to the wallet0 application the social channel user name and password 2257 and signing in 2258. The1 user may then use the social button 2259 to send or receive money through the2 integrated social channels. In a further implementation, the user may send social share3 data such as purchase information or links through integrated social channels. In4 another embodiment, the user supplied login credentials may allow GSS to engage in5 interception parsing. 6 [ 00151] FIGURE 23 shows a user interface diagram illustrating example features of7 virtual wallet applications, in a history mode, in some embodiments of the GSS. In one8 embodiment, a user may select the history mode 2310 to view a history of prior9 purchases and perform various actions on those prior purchases. For example, a user0 may enter a merchant identifying information such as name, product, MCC, and/or the1 like in the search bar 2311. In another implementation, the user may use voice activated search feature by clicking on the microphone icon 2314. The wallet application may query the storage areas in the mobile device or elsewhere (e.g., one or more databases and/or tables remote from the mobile device) for transactions matching the search keywords. The user interface may then display the results of the query such as transaction 2315. The user interface may also identify the date 2312 of the transaction, the merchants and items 2313 relating to the transaction, a barcode of the receipt confirming that a transaction was made, the amount of the transaction and any other relevant information. [ 00152] In one implementation, the user may select a transaction, for example transaction 2315, to view the details of the transaction. For example, the user may view the details of the items associated with the transaction and the amounts 2316 of each item. In a further implementation, the user may select the show option 2317 to view actions 2318 that the user may take in regards to the transaction or the items in the transaction. For example, the user may add a photo to the transaction (e.g., a picture of the user and the iPad the user bought). In a further implementation, if the user previously shared the purchase via social channels, a post including the photo may be generated and sent to the social channels for publishing. In one implementation, any sharing may be optional, and the user, who did not share the purchase via social channels, may still share the photo through one or more social channels of his or her choice directly from the history mode of the wallet application. In another implementation, the user may add the transaction to a group such as company expense, home expense, travel expense or other categories set up by the user. Such grouping may facilitate year-end accounting of expenses, submission of work expense reports, submission for value added tax (VAT) refunds, personal expenses, and/or the like. In yet another implementation, the user may buy one or more items purchased in the transaction. The user may then execute a transaction without going to the merchant catalog or site to find the items. In a further implementation, the user may also cart one or more items in the transaction for later purchase. [ 00153 ] The history mode, in another embodiment, may offer facilities for obtaining and displaying ratings 2319 of the items in the transaction. The source of the ratings may be the user, the user's friends (e.g., from social channels, contacts, etc.), reviews aggregated from the web, and/or the like. The user interface in some implementations may also allow the user to post messages to other users of social channels (e.g., TWITTER or FACEBOOK). For example, the display area 2320 shows FACEBOOK message exchanges between two users. In one implementation, a user may share a link via a message 2321. Selection of such a message having embedded link to a product may allow the user to view a description of the product and/or purchase the product directly from the history mode.

[oo i54] In one embodiment, the history mode may also include facilities for exporting receipts. The export receipts pop up 2322 may provide a number of options for exporting the receipts of transactions in the history. For example, a user may use one or more of the options 2325, which include save (to local mobile memory, to server, to a cloud account, and/or the like), print to a printer, fax, email, and/or the like. The user may utilize his or her address book 2323 to look up email or fax number for exporting. The user may also specify format options 2324 for exporting receipts. Example format options may include, without limitation, text files (.doc, .txt, .rtf, iif, etc.), spreadsheet (.csv, .xls, etc.), image files (.jpg, .tff, .png, etc.), portable document format (.pdf), postscript (.ps), and/or the like. The user may then click or tap the export button 2327 to initiate export of receipts. [ 00 155 ] FIGURES 24A-E show user interface diagrams illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications in a snap mode, in some embodiments of the GSS. With reference to FIGURE 24A, in one embodiment, a user may select the snap mode 2110 to access its snap features. The snap mode may handle any machine-readable representation of data. Examples of such data may include linear and 2D bar codes such as UPC code and QR codes. These codes may be found on receipts, product packaging, and/or the like. The snap mode may also process and handle pictures of receipts, products, offers, credit cards or other payment devices, and/or the like. An example user interface in snap mode is shown in FIGURE 24A. A user may use his or her mobile phone to take a picture of a QR code 2415 and/or a barcode 2414. In one implementation, the bar 2413 and snap frame 2415 may assist the user in snapping codes properly. For example, the snap frame 2415, as shown, does not capture the entirety of the code 2416. As such, the code captured in this view may not be resolvable 1 as information in the code may be incomplete. This is indicated by the message on the

2 bar 2413 that indicates that the snap mode is still seeking the code. When the code 2416

3 is completely framed by the snap frame 2415, the bar message may be updated to, for

4 example, "snap found." Upon finding the code, in one implementation, the user may

5 initiate code capture using the mobile device camera. In another implementation, the

6 snap mode may automatically snap the code using the mobile device camera.

7 [ 00 156 ] With reference to FIGURE 24B, in one embodiment, the snap mode may

8 facilitate payment reallocation post transaction. For example, a user may buy grocery

9 and prescription items from a retailer Acme Supermarket. The user may, inadvertently

10 or for ease of checkout for example, use his or her Visa card to pay for both grocery and

11 prescription items. However, the user may have an FSA account that could be used to

12 pay for prescription items, and which would provide the user tax benefits. In such a

13 situation, the user may use the snap mode to initiate transaction reallocation.

14 [ 00157] As shown, the user may enter a search term (e.g., bills) in the search bar

15 2121. The user may then identify in the tab 2422 the receipt 2423 the user wants to

16 reallocate. Alternatively, the user may directly snap a picture of a barcode on a receipt,

17 and the snap mode may generate and display a receipt 2423 using information from the

18 barcode. The user may now reallocate 2425. In some implementations, the user may

19 also dispute the transaction 2424 or archive the receipt 2426.

20 [ 00 158 ] In one implementation, when the reallocate button 2425 is selected, the

21 wallet application may perform optical character recognition (OCR) of the receipt. Each

22 of the items in the receipt may then be examined to identify one or more items which

23 could be charged to which payment device or account for tax or other benefits such as

24 cash back, reward points, etc. In this example, there is a tax benefit if the prescription

25 medication charged to the user's Visa card is charged to the user's FSA. The wallet

26 application may then perform the reallocation as the back end. The reallocation process

27 may include the wallet contacting the payment processor to credit the amount of the

28 prescription medication to the Visa card and debit the same amount to the user's FSA

29 account. In an alternate implementation, the payment processor (e.g., Visa or

30 MasterCard) may obtain and OCR the receipt, identify items and payment accounts for

31 reallocation and perform the reallocation. In one implementation, the wallet application 1 may request the user to confirm reallocation of charges for the selected items to another

2 payment account. The receipt 2427 may be generated after the completion of the

3 reallocation process. As discussed, the receipt shows that some charges have been

4 moved from the Visa account to the FSA.

5 [ 00 159 ] With reference to FIGURE 24C, in one embodiment, the snap mode may

6 facilitate payment via pay code such as barcodes or QR codes. For example, a user may

7 snap a QR code of a transaction that is not yet complete. The QR code may be displayed

8 at a merchant POS terminal, a web site, or a web application and may be encoded with

9 information identifying items for purchase, merchant details and other relevant

10 information. When the user snaps such as a QR code, the snap mode may decode the

11 information in the QR code and may use the decoded information to generate a receipt

12 2432. Once the QR code is identified, the navigation bar 2431 may indicate that the pay

13 code is identified. The user may now have an option to add to cart 2433, pay with a

14 default payment account 2434 or pay with wallet 2435.

15 [ 00160 ] In one implementation, the user may decide to pay with default 2434. The

16 wallet application may then use the user's default method of payment, in this example

17 the wallet, to complete the purchase transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, a is receipt may be automatically generated for proof of purchase. The user interface may

19 also be updated to provide other options for handling a completed transaction. Example

20 options include social 2437 to share purchase information with others, reallocate 2438

21 as discussed with regard to FIGURE 24B, and archive 2439 to store the receipt.

22 [ 00 161 ] With reference to FIGURE 24D, in one embodiment, the snap mode may

23 also facilitate offer identification, application and storage for future use. For example, in

24 one implementation, a user may snap an offer code 2441 (e.g., a bar code, a QR code,

25 and/or the like). The wallet application may then generate an offer text 2442 from the

26 information encoded in the offer code. The user may perform a number of actions on the

27 offer code. For example, the user use the find button 2443 to find all merchants who

28 accept the offer code, merchants in the proximity who accept the offer code, products

29 from merchants that qualify for the offer code, and/or the like. The user may also apply

30 the offer code to items that are currently in the cart using the add to cart button 2444. 1 Furthermore, the user may also save the offer for future use by selecting the save button

2 2445.

3 [00 162 ] In one implementation, after the offer or coupon 2446 is applied, the user

4 may have the option to find qualifying merchants and/or products using find, the user

5 may go to the wallet using 2448, and the user may also save the offer or coupon 2446 for

6 later use.

7 [ 00163 ] With reference to FIGURE 24E, in one embodiment, the snap mode may

8 also offer facilities for adding a funding source to the wallet application. In one

9 implementation, a pay card such as a credit card, debit card, pre-paid card, smart card0 and other pay accounts may have an associated code such as a bar code or QR code.1 Such a code may have encoded therein pay card information including, but not limited2 to, name, address, pay card type, pay card account details, balance amount, spending3 limit, rewards balance, and/or the like. In one implementation, the code may be found4 on a face of the physical pay card. In another implementation, the code may be obtained5 by accessing an associated online account or another secure location. In yet another6 implementation, the code may be printed on a letter accompanying the pay card. A user,7 in one implementation, may snap a picture of the code. The wallet application may8 identify the pay card 2451 and may display the textual information 2452 encoded in the9 pay card. The user may then perform verification of the information 2452 by selecting0 the verify button 2453. In one implementation, the verification may include contacting1 the issuer of the pay card for confirmation of the decoded information 2452 and any2 other relevant information. In one implementation, the user may add the pay card to the3 wallet by selecting the 'add to wallet' button 2454. The instruction to add the pay card to4 the wallet may cause the pay card to appear as one of the forms of payment under the5 funds tab 1716 discussed in FIGURE 17A. The user may also cancel importing of the pay6 card as a funding source by selecting the cancel button 2455. When the pay card has7 been added to the wallet, the user interface may be updated to indicate that the8 importing is complete via the notification display 2456. The user may then access the9 wallet 2457 to begin using the added pay card as a funding source. 0 [ 00 164 ] FIGURE 25 shows a user interface diagram illustrating example features of1 virtual wallet applications, in an offers mode, in some embodiments of the GSS. In some implementations, the GSS may allow a user to search for offers for products and/or services from within the virtual wallet mobile application. For example, the user may enter text into a graphical user interface ("GUI") element 2511, or issue voice commands by activating GUI element 2512 and speaking commands into the device. In some implementations, the GSS may provide offers based on the user's prior behavior, demographics, current location, current cart selection or purchase items, and/or the like. For example, if a user is in a brick-and-mortar store, or an online shopping website, and leaves the (virtual) store, then the merchant associated with the store may desire to provide a sweetener deal to entice the consumer back into the (virtual) store. The merchant may provide such an offer 2513. For example, the offer may provide a discount, and may include an expiry time. In some implementations, other users may provide gifts (e.g., 2514) to the user, which the user may redeem. In some implementations, the offers section may include alerts as to payment of funds outstanding to other users (e.g., 2515). In some implementations, the offers section may include alerts as to requesting receipt of funds from other users (e.g., 2516). For example, such a feature may identify funds receivable from other applications (e.g., mail, calendar, tasks, notes, reminder programs, alarm, etc.), or by a manual entry by the user into the virtual wallet application. In some implementations, the offers section may provide offers from participating merchants in the GSS, e.g., 2517-2519, 2520. These offers may sometimes be assembled using a combination of participating merchants, e.g., 2517. In some implementations, the GSS itself may provide offers for users contingent on the user utilizing particular payment forms from within the virtual wallet application, e.g., 2520. [ 00 165 ] FIGURES 26A-B show user interface diagrams illustrating example features of virtual wallet applications, in a security and privacy mode, in some embodiments of the GSS. With reference to FIGURE 26A, in some implementations, the user may be able to view and/or modify the user profile and/or settings of the user, e.g., by activating a user interface element. For example, the user may be able to view/modify a user name (e.g., 26na-b), account number (e.g., 26i2a-b), user security access code (e.g., 2613-b), user pin (e.g., 2614-b), user address (e.g., 2615-b), social security number associated with the user (e.g., 2616-b), current device GPS location 1 (e.g., 2617-b), user account of the merchant in whose store the user currently is (e.g.,

2 2618-b), the user's rewards accounts (e.g., 2619-b), and/or the like. In some

3 implementations, the user may be able to select which of the data fields and their

4 associated values should be transmitted to facilitate the purchase transaction, thus

5 providing enhanced data security for the user. For example, in the example illustration

6 in FIGURE 26A, the user has selected the name 2611a, account number 2612a, security

7 code 2613a, merchant account ID 2618a and rewards account ID 2619a as the fields to

8 be sent as part of the notification to process the purchase transaction. In some

9 implementations, the user may toggle the fields and/or data values that are sent as part0 of the notification to process the purchase transactions. In some implementations, the1 app may provide multiple screens of data fields and/or associated values stored for the2 user to select as part of the purchase order transmission. In some implementations, the3 app may provide the GSS with the GPS location of the user. Based on the GPS location4 of the user, the GSS may determine the context of the user (e.g., whether the user is in a5 store, doctor's office, hospital, postal service office, etc.). Based on the context, the user6 app may present the appropriate fields to the user, from which the user may select fields7 and/or field values to send as part of the purchase order transmission. s [ 00 166 ] For example, a user may go to doctor's office and desire to pay the co-pay9 for doctor's appointment. In addition to basic transactional information such as0 account number and name, the app may provide the user the ability to select to transfer1 medical records, health information, which may be provided to the medical provider,2 insurance company, as well as the transaction processor to reconcile payments between3 the parties. In some implementations, the records may be sent in a Health Insurance4 Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant data format and encrypted, and5 only the recipients who are authorized to view such records may have appropriate6 decryption keys to decrypt and view the private user information. 7 [ 00167] With reference to FIGURE 26B, in some implementations, the app8 executing on the user's device may provide a "VerifyChat" feature for fraud prevention.9 For example, the GSS may detect an unusual and/or suspicious transaction. The GSS0 may utilize the VerifyChat feature to communicate with the user, and verify the1 authenticity of the originator of the purchase transaction. In various implementations, 1 the GSS may send electronic mail message, text (SMS) messages, Facebook® messages,

2 Twitter™ tweets, text chat, voice chat, video chat (e.g., Apple FaceTime), and/or the like

3 to communicate with the user. For example, the GSS may initiate a video challenge for

4 the user, e.g., 2621. For example, the user may need to present him/her-self via a video

5 chat, e.g., 2622. In some implementations, a customer service representative, e.g., agent

6 2624, may manually determine the authenticity of the user using the video of the user.

7 In some implementations, the GSS may utilize face, biometric and/or like recognition

8 (e.g., using pattern classification techniques) to determine the identity of the user. In

9 some implementations, the app may provide reference marker (e.g., cross-hairs, target

10 box, etc.), e.g., 2623, so that the user may the video to facilitate the GSS's automated

11 recognition of the user. In some implementations, the user may not have initiated the

12 transaction, e.g., the transaction is fraudulent. In such implementations, the user may

13 cancel the challenge. The GSS may then cancel the transaction, and/or initiate fraud

14 investigation procedures on behalf of the user.

15 [ 00 168 ] In some implementations, the GSS may utilize a text challenge procedure

16 to verify the authenticity of the user, e.g., 2625. For example, the GSS may

17 communicate with the user via text chat, SMS messages, electronic mail, Facebook® is messages, Twitter™ tweets, and/or the like. The GSS may pose a challenge question,

19 e.g., 2626, for the user. The app may provide a user input interface element(s) (e.g.,

20 virtual keyboard 2628) to answer the challenge question posed by the GSS. In some

21 implementations, the challenge question may be randomly selected by the GSS

22 automatically; in some implementations, a customer service representative may

23 manually communicate with the user. In some implementations, the user may not have

24 initiated the transaction, e.g., the transaction is fraudulent. In such implementations,

25 the user may cancel the text challenge. The GSS may cancel the transaction, and/or

26 initiate fraud investigation on behalf of the user.

27 [ 00 169 ] FIGURES 27A-F include example data flows, where the GSS may be

28 effected, and illustrates various additional advantageous aspects of the GSS. With

29 reference to FIGURES 27A-D, effectuation of the GSS may include additional example

30 embodiments such as those depicted in sub-figures (a)-(p). With reference to FIGURE

31 27E, in some embodiments, the GSS may apply graduated authentication and fraud review appropriate to the action being taken, and may thus mitigate risk in a variety of risk areas, as illustrated. With reference to FIGURE 27F, in some embodiments, the GSS may provide graduated authentication-based consumer protection. Consumer registration may be graduated based on the source of the registration and the actions being taken. Some embodiments may reduce consumer enrollment friction using features such as Visa RightCliq. For example, a consumer registering from a participating issuer's website through a secure session may already have been screened by the issuer; in such implementations, the enrollment process may be less intrusive to the consumer than if they came directly to the enrollment site. The GSS may utilize tools to evaluate risk of a consumer including, without limitation, device firngerprint and IP geolocation information, consumer entered data including email address, consumer settings and consumer /virtual wallet interaction. For example, an example consumer login may be made frictionless - the GSS may vary authentication methods so that the consumer does not feel that they are being challenged every time they take an action. SNPA Controller [ 00170 ] FIGURE 28 illustrates inventive aspects of a SNPA controller 2801 in a block diagram. In this embodiment, the SNPA controller 2801 may serve to aggregate, process, store, search, serve, identify, instruct, generate, match, and/or facilitate interactions with a computer through various technologies, and/or other related data. [ 00171] Typically, users, e.g., 2833a, which may be people and/or other systems, may engage information technology systems (e.g., computers) to facilitate information processing. In turn, computers employ processors to process information; such processors 2803 may be referred to as central processing units (CPU). One form of processor is referred to as a microprocessor. CPUs use communicative circuits to pass binary encoded signals acting as instructions to enable various operations. These instructions may be operational and/or data instructions containing and/or referencing other instructions and data in various processor accessible and operable areas of memory 2829 (e.g., registers, cache memory, random access memory, etc.). Such communicative instructions may be stored and/or transmitted in batches (e.g., batches of instructions) as programs and/or data components to facilitate desired operations. These stored instruction codes, e.g., programs, may engage the CPU circuit components and other motherboard and/or system components to perform desired operations. One type of program is a computer operating system, which, may be executed by CPU on a computer; the operating system enables and facilitates users to access and operate computer information technology and resources. Some resources that may be employed in information technology systems include: input and output mechanisms through which data may pass into and out of a computer; memory storage into which data may be saved; and processors by which information may be processed. These information technology systems may be used to collect data for later retrieval, analysis, and manipulation, which may be facilitated through a database program. These information technology systems provide interfaces that allow users to access and operate various system components. [ 00172 ] In one embodiment, the SNPA controller 2801 may be connected to and/or communicate with entities such as, but not limited to: one or more users from user input devices 2811; peripheral devices 2812; an optional cryptographic processor device 2828; and/or a communications network 2813. For example, the SNPA controller 2801 may be connected to and/or communicate with users, e.g., 2833a, operating client device(s), e.g., 2833b, including, but not limited to, personal computer(s), server(s) and/or various mobile device(s) including, but not limited to, cellular telephone(s), smartphone(s) (e.g., iPhone®, Blackberry®, Android OS-based phones etc.), tablet computer(s) (e.g., Apple iPad™, HP Slate™, Motorola Xoom™, etc.), eBook reader(s) (e.g., Amazon Kindle™, Barnes and Noble's Nook™ eReader, etc.), laptop computer(s), notebook(s), netbook(s), gaming console(s) (e.g., XBOX Live™, Nintendo® DS, Sony PlayStation® Portable, etc.), portable scanner(s) and/or the like. [ 00173 ] Networks are commonly thought to comprise the interconnection and interoperation of clients, servers, and intermediary nodes in a graph topology. It should be noted that the term "server" as used throughout this application refers generally to a computer, other device, program, or combination thereof that processes and responds to the requests of remote users across a communications network. Servers serve their information to requesting "clients." The term "client" as used herein refers generally to a computer, program, other device, user and/or combination thereof that is capable of processing and making requests and obtaining and processing any responses from servers across a communications network. A computer, other device, program, or combination thereof that facilitates, processes information and requests, and/or furthers the passage of information from a source user to a destination user is commonly referred to as a "node." Networks are generally thought to facilitate the transfer of information from source points to destinations. A node specifically tasked with furthering the passage of information from a source to a destination is commonly called a "router." There are many forms of networks such as Local Area Networks (LANs), Pico networks, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Wireless Networks (WLANs), etc. For example, the Internet is generally accepted as being an interconnection of a multitude of networks whereby remote clients and servers may access and interoperate with one another.

[00174] The SNPA controller 2801 may be based on computer systems that may comprise, but are not limited to, components such as: a computer systemization 2802 connected to memory 2829. Computer Systemization

[00175] A computer systemization 2802 may comprise a clock 2830, central processing unit ("CPU(s)" and/or "processor(s)" (these terms are used interchangeable throughout the disclosure unless noted to the contrary)) 2803, a memory 2829 (e.g., a read only memory (ROM) 2806, a random access memory (RAM) 2805, etc.), and/or an interface bus 2807, and most frequently, although not necessarily, are all interconnected and/or communicating through a system bus 2804 on one or more (mother)board(s) 2802 having conductive and/or otherwise transportive circuit pathways through which instructions (e.g., binary encoded signals) may travel to effect communications, operations, storage, etc. Optionally, the computer systemization may be connected to an internal power source 2886; e.g., optionally the power source may be internal. Optionally, a cryptographic processor 2826 and/or transceivers (e.g., ICs) 1 2874 may be connected to the system bus. In another embodiment, the cryptographic

2 processor and/or transceivers may be connected as either internal and/or external

3 peripheral devices 2812 via the interface bus I/O. In turn, the transceivers may be

4 connected to antenna(s) 2875, thereby effectuating wireless transmission and reception

5 of various communication and/or sensor protocols; for example the antenna(s) may

6 connect to: a Texas Instruments WiLink WL1283 transceiver chip (e.g., providing

7 802.1m, Bluetooth 3.0, FM, global positioning system (GPS) (thereby allowing SNPA

8 controller to determine its location)); Broadcom BCM4329FKUBG transceiver chip

9 (e.g., providing 802.1m, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, FM, etc.); a Broadcom BCM4750IUB80 receiver chip (e.g., GPS); an Infineon Technologies X-Gold 618-PMB9800 (e.g.,1 providing 2G/3G HSDPA/HSUPA communications); and/or the like. The system clock2 typically has a crystal oscillator and generates a base signal through the computer3 systemization's circuit pathways. The clock is typically coupled to the system bus and4 various clock multipliers that will increase or decrease the base operating frequency for5 other components interconnected in the computer systemization. The clock and various6 components in a computer systemization drive signals embodying information7 throughout the system. Such transmission and reception of instructions embodying8 information throughout a computer systemization may be commonly referred to as9 communications. These communicative instructions may further be transmitted,0 received, and the cause of return and/or reply communications beyond the instant1 computer systemization to: communications networks, input devices, other computer2 systemizations, peripheral devices, and/or the like. Of course, any of the above3 components may be connected directly to one another, connected to the CPU, and/or4 organized in numerous variations employed as exemplified by various computer5 systems. 6 [ 00176 ] The CPU comprises at least one high-speed data processor adequate to7 execute program components for executing user and/or system-generated requests.8 Often, the processors themselves will incorporate various specialized processing units,9 such as, but not limited to: integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management0 control units, floating point units, and even specialized processing sub-units like1 graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, and/or the like. Additionally, processors may include internal fast access addressable memory, and be capable of mapping and addressing memory 2829 beyond the processor itself; internal memory may include, but is not limited to: fast registers, various levels of cache memory (e.g., level 1, 2, 3, etc.), RAM, etc. The processor may access this memory through the use of a memory address space that is accessible via instruction address, which the processor can construct and decode allowing it to access a circuit path to a specific memory address space having a memory state. The CPU may be a microprocessor such as: AMD's Athlon, Duron and/or Opteron; ARM's application, embedded and secure processors; IBM and/or Motorola's DragonBall and PowerPC; IBM's and Sony's Cell processor; Intel's Celeron, Core (2) Duo, Itanium, Pentium, Xeon, and/or XScale; and/or the like processor(s). The CPU interacts with memory through instruction passing through conductive and/or transportive conduits (e.g., (printed) electronic and/or optic circuits) to execute stored instructions (i.e., program code) according to conventional data processing techniques. Such instruction passing facilitates communication within the SNPA controller and beyond through various interfaces. Should processing requirements dictate a greater amount speed and/or capacity, distributed processors (e.g., Distributed SNPA), mainframe, multi-core, parallel, and/or super-computer architectures may similarly be employed.Alternatively, should deployment requirements dictate greater portability, smaller Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) may be employed. [ 00177] Depending on the particular implementation, features of the SNPA may be achieved by implementing a microcontroller such as CAST'S R8051XC2 microcontroller; Intel's MCS 51 (i.e., 8051 microcontroller); and/or the like. Also, to implement certain features of the SNPA, some feature implementations may rely on embedded components, such as: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit ("ASIC"), Digital Signal Processing ("DSP"), Field Programmable Gate Array ("FPGA"), and/or the like embedded technology. For example, any of the SNPA component collection (distributed or otherwise) and/or features may be implemented via the microprocessor and/or via embedded components; e.g., via ASIC, coprocessor, DSP, FPGA, and/or the like. Alternately, some implementations of the SNPA may be implemented with embedded components that are configured and used to achieve a variety of features or signal processing.

[00178] Depending on the particular implementation, the embedded components may include software solutions, hardware solutions, and/or some combination of both hardware/ software solutions. For example, SNPA features discussed herein may be achieved through implementing FPGAs, which are a semiconductor devices containing programmable logic components called "logic blocks", and programmable interconnects, such as the high performance FPGA Virtex series and/or the low cost Spartan series manufactured by Xilinx. Logic blocks and interconnects can be programmed by the customer or designer, after the FPGA is manufactured, to implement any of the SNPA features. A hierarchy of programmable interconnects allow logic blocks to be interconnected as needed by the SNPA system designer/administrator, somewhat like a one-chip programmable breadboard. An FPGAs logic blocks can be programmed to perform the function of basic logic gates such as AND, and XOR, or more complex combinational functions such as decoders or simple mathematical functions. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be simple flip-flops or more complete blocks of memory. In some circumstances, the SNPA may be developed on regular FPGAs and then migrated into a fixed version that more resembles ASIC implementations. Alternate or coordinating implementations may migrate SNPA controller features to a final ASIC instead of or in addition to FPGAs. Depending on the implementation all of the aforementioned embedded components and microprocessors may be considered the "CPU" and/or "processor" for the SNPA. Power Source [00179] The power source 2886 may be of any standard form for powering small electronic circuit board devices such as the following power cells: alkaline, lithium hydride, lithium ion, lithium polymer, nickel cadmium, solar cells, and/or the like. Other types of AC or DC power sources may be used as well. In the case of solar cells, in one embodiment, the case provides an aperture through which the solar cell may capture photonic energy. The power cell 2886 is connected to at least one of the interconnected subsequent components of the SNPA thereby providing an electric current to all subsequent components. In one example, the power source 2886 is connected to the system bus component 2804. In an alternative embodiment, an outside power source 2886 is provided through a connection across the I/O 2808 interface. For example, a USB and/or IEEE 1394 connection carries both data and power across the connection and is therefore a suitable source of power. Interface Adapters [00180] Interface bus(ses) 2807 may accept, connect, and/or communicate to a number of interface adapters, conventionally although not necessarily in the form of adapter cards, such as but not limited to: input output interfaces (I/O) 2808, storage interfaces 2809, network interfaces 2810, and/or the like. Optionally, cryptographic processor interfaces 2827 similarly may be connected to the interface bus. The interface bus provides for the communications of interface adapters with one another as well as with other components of the computer systemization. Interface adapters are adapted for a compatible interface bus. Interface adapters conventionally connect to the interface bus via a slot architecture. Conventional slot architectures may be employed, such as, but not limited to: Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), Card Bus, (Extended) Industry Standard Architecture ((E)ISA), Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), NuBus, Peripheral Component Interconnect (Extended) (PCI(X)), PCI Express, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), and/or the like.

[00181] Storage interfaces 2809 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to a number of storage devices such as, but not limited to: storage devices 2814, removable disc devices, and/or the like. Storage interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: (Ultra) (Serial) Advanced Technology Attachment (Packet Interface) ((Ultra) (Serial) ATA(PI)), (Enhanced) Integrated Drive Electronics ((E)IDE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, fiber channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and/or the like.

[00182] Network interfaces 2810 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to a communications network 2813. Through a communications network 2813, the SNPA controller is accessible through remote clients 2833b (e.g., computers with web browsers) by users 2833a. Network interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: direct connect, Ethernet (thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T, and/or the like), Token Ring, wireless connection such as IEEE 8o2.na-x, and/or the like. Should processing requirements dictate a greater amount speed and/or capacity, distributed network controllers (e.g., Distributed SNPA), architectures may similarly be employed to pool, load balance, and/or otherwise increase the communicative bandwidth required by the SNPA controller. A communications network may be any one and/or the combination of the following: a direct interconnection; the Internet; a Local Area Network (LAN); a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN); an Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI); a secured custom connection; a Wide Area Network (WAN); a wireless network (e.g., employing protocols such as, but not limited to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), I-mode, and/or the like); and/or the like. A network interface may be regarded as a specialized form of an input output interface. Further, multiple network interfaces 2810 may be used to engage with various communications network types 2813. For example, multiple network interfaces may be employed to allow for the communication over broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast networks. [ 00183 ] Input Output interfaces (I/O) 2808 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to user input devices 2811, peripheral devices 2812, cryptographic processor devices 2828, and/or the like. I/O may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: audio: analog, digital, monaural, RCA, stereo, and/or the like; data: Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), IEEE I394a-b, serial, universal serial bus (USB); infrared; joystick; keyboard; midi; optical; PC AT; PS/2; parallel; radio; video interface: Apple Desktop Connector (ADC), BNC, coaxial, component, composite, digital, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), RCA, RF antennae, S-Video, VGA, and/or the like; wireless transceivers: 802.na/b/g/n/x; Bluetooth; cellular (e.g., code division multiple access (CDMA), high speed packet access (HSPA(+)), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long term evolution (LTE), WiMax, etc.); and/or the like. One typical output device may include a video display, which typically comprises a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) or Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) based monitor with an interface (e.g., DVI circuitry and cable) that accepts signals from a video interface, may be used. The video interface composites information generated by a computer systemization and generates video signals based on the composited information in a video memory frame. Another output device is a television set, which accepts signals from a video interface. Typically, the video interface provides the composited video information through a video connection interface that accepts a video display interface (e.g., an RCA composite video connector accepting an RCA composite video cable; a DVI connector accepting a DVI display cable, etc.). [ 00 184] User input devices 2811 often are a type of peripheral device 2812 (see below) and may include: card readers, dongles, finger print readers, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards, microphones, mouse (mice), remote controls, retina readers, touch screens (e.g., capacitive, resistive, etc.), trackballs, trackpads, sensors (e.g., accelerometers, ambient light, GPS, gyroscopes, proximity, etc.), styluses, and/or the like. [ 00 185 ] Peripheral devices 2812 may be connected and/or communicate to I/O and/or other facilities of the like such as network interfaces, storage interfaces, directly to the interface bus, system bus, the CPU, and/or the like. Peripheral devices may be external, internal and/or part of the SNPA controller. Peripheral devices may include: antenna, audio devices (e.g., line-in, line-out, microphone input, speakers, etc.), cameras (e.g., still, video, webcam, etc.), dongles (e.g., for copy protection, ensuring secure transactions with a digital signature, and/or the like), external processors (for added capabilities; e.g., crypto devices 2828), force-feedback devices (e.g., vibrating motors), network interfaces, printers, scanners, storage devices, transceivers (e.g., cellular, GPS, etc.), video devices (e.g., goggles, monitors, etc.), video sources, visors, and/or the like. Peripheral devices often include types of input devices (e.g., cameras). [ 00 186 ] It should be noted that although user input devices and peripheral devices may be employed, the SNPA controller may be embodied as an embedded, dedicated, and/or monitor-less (i.e., headless) device, wherein access would be provided over a network interface connection. 1 [00187] Cryptographic units such as, but not limited to, microcontrollers,

2 processors 2826, interfaces 2827, and/or devices 2828 may be attached, and/or

3 communicate with the SNPA controller. A MC68HC16 microcontroller, manufactured

4 by Motorola Inc., may be used for and/or within cryptographic units. The MC68HC16

5 microcontroller utilizes a 16-bit multiply-and-accumulate instruction in the 16 MHz

6 configuration and requires less than one second to perform a 512-bit RSA private key

7 operation. Cryptographic units support the authentication of communications from

8 interacting agents, as well as allowing for anonymous transactions. Cryptographic units

9 may also be configured as part of CPU. Equivalent microcontrollers and/or processors

10 may also be used. Other commercially available specialized cryptographic processors

11 include: the Broadcom's CryptoNetX and other Security Processors; nCipher's nShield,

12 SafeNet's Luna PCI (e.g., 7100) series; Semaphore Communications' 40 MHz

13 Roadrunner 184; Sun's Cryptographic Accelerators (e.g., Accelerator 6000 PCIe Board,

14 Accelerator 500 Daughtercard); Via Nano Processor (e.g., L2100, L2200, U2400) line,

15 which is capable of performing 500+ MB/s of cryptographic instructions; VLSI

16 Technology's 33 MHz 6868; and/or the like.

17 Memory

18 [00188] Generally, any mechanization and/or embodiment allowing a processor to

19 affect the storage and/or retrieval of information is regarded as memory 2829.

20 However, memory is a fungible technology and resource, thus, any number of memory

21 embodiments may be employed in lieu of or in concert with one another. It is to be

22 understood that the SNPA controller and/or a computer systemization may employ

23 various forms of memory 2829. For example, a computer systemization may be

24 configured wherein the functionality of on-chip CPU memory (e.g., registers), RAM,

25 ROM, and any other storage devices are provided by a paper punch tape or paper punch

26 card mechanism; of course such an embodiment would result in an extremely slow rate

27 of operation. In a typical configuration, memory 2829 will include ROM 2806, RAM

28 2805, and a storage device 2814. A storage device 2814 may be any conventional

29 computer system storage. Storage devices may include a drum; a (fixed and/or

30 removable) magnetic disk drive; a magneto-optical drive; an optical drive (i.e., Blueray, 1 CD ROM/RAM/Recordable (R)/ReWritable (RW), DVD R/RW, HD DVD R/RW etc.);

2 an array of devices (e.g., Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)); solid state

3 memory devices (USB memory, solid state drives (SSD), etc.); other processor-readable

4 storage mediums; and/or other devices of the like. Thus, a computer systemization

5 generally requires and makes use of memory.

6 Component Collection

7 [00189] The memory 2829 may contain a collection of program and/or database

8 components and/or data such as, but not limited to: operating system component(s)

9 2815 (operating system); information server component(s) 2816 (information server);0 user interface component(s) 2817 (user interface); Web browser component(s) 28181 (Web browser); database(s) 2819; mail server component(s) 2821; mail client2 component(s) 2822; cryptographic server component(s) 2820 (cryptographic server);3 the SNPA component(s) 2835; and/or the like (i.e., collectively a component4 collection). These components may be stored and accessed from the storage devices5 and/or from storage devices accessible through an interface bus. Although non-6 conventional program components such as those in the component collection, typically,7 are stored in a local storage device 2814, they may also be loaded and/or stored in8 memory such as: peripheral devices, RAM, remote storage facilities through a9 communications network, ROM, various forms of memory, and/or the like. 0 Operating System 1 [00190] The operating system component 2815 is an executable program2 component facilitating the operation of the SNPA controller. Typically, the operating3 system facilitates access of I/O, network interfaces, peripheral devices, storage devices,4 and/or the like. The operating system may be a highly fault tolerant, scalable, and5 secure system such as: Apple Macintosh OS X (Server); AT&T Plan 9; Be OS; Unix and6 Unix-like system distributions (such as AT&T's UNIX; Berkley Software Distribution7 (BSD) variations such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and/or the like; Linux8 distributions such as Red Hat, Ubuntu, and/or the like); and/or the like operating9 systems. However, more limited and/or less secure operating systems also may be 1 employed such as Apple Macintosh OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft DOS, Microsoft Windows

2 2000/2003/3.1/95/98/CE/Millenium/NT/Vista/XP (Server), Palm OS, and/or the

3 like. An operating system may communicate to and/or with other components in a

4 component collection, including itself, and/or the like. Most frequently, the operating

5 system communicates with other program components, user interfaces, and/or the like.

6 For example, the operating system may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or

7 provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests,

8 and/or responses. The operating system, once executed by the CPU, may enable the

9 interaction with communications networks, data, I/O, peripheral devices, program0 components, memory, user input devices, and/or the like. The operating system may1 provide communications protocols that allow the SNPA controller to communicate with2 other entities through a communications network 2813. Various communication3 protocols may be used by the SNPA controller as a subcarrier transport mechanism for4 interaction, such as, but not limited to: multicast, TCP/IP, UDP, unicast, and/or the5 like. 6 Information Server 7 [00191] An information server component 2816 is a stored program component8 that is executed by a CPU. The information server may be a conventional Internet9 information server such as, but not limited to Apache Software Foundation's Apache,0 Microsoft's Internet Information Server, and/or the like. The information server may1 allow for the execution of program components through facilities such as Active Server2 Page (ASP), ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, Common Gateway3 Interface (CGI) scripts, dynamic (D) hypertext markup language (HTML), FLASH,4 Java, JavaScript, Practical Extraction Report Language (PERL), Hypertext Pre-5 Processor (PHP), pipes, Python, wireless application protocol (WAP), WebObjects,6 and/or the like. The information server may support secure communications protocols7 such as, but not limited to, File Transfer Protocol (FTP); HyperText Transfer Protocol8 (HTTP); Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Socket Layer (SSL),9 messaging protocols (e.g., America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger (AIM), Application0 Exchange (APEX), ICQ, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Microsoft Network (MSN) Messenger Service, Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol (PRIM), Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF's) Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), open XML-based Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) (i.e., Jabber or Open Mobile Alliance's (OMA's) Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), Yahoo! Instant Messenger Service, and/or the like. The information server provides results in the form of Web pages to Web browsers, and allows for the manipulated generation of the Web pages through interaction with other program components. After a Domain Name System (DNS) resolution portion of an HTTP request is resolved to a particular information server, the information server resolves requests for information at specified locations on the SNPA controller based on the remainder of the HTTP request. For example, a request such as http://123.124.125.126/myInformation.html might have the IP portion of the request "123.124.125.126" resolved by a DNS server to an information server at that IP address; that information server might in turn further parse the http request for the "/mylnformation.html" portion of the request and resolve it to a location in memory containing the information "mylnformation.html." Additionally, other information serving protocols may be employed across various ports, e.g., FTP communications across port 21, and/or the like. An information server may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the information server communicates with the SNPA database 2819, operating systems, other program components, user interfaces, Web browsers, and/or the like. [ 00 192 ] Access to the SNPA database may be achieved through a number of database bridge mechanisms such as through scripting languages as enumerated below (e.g., CGI) and through inter-application communication channels as enumerated below (e.g., CORBA, WebObjects, etc.). Any data requests through a Web browser are parsed through the bridge mechanism into appropriate grammars as required by the SNPA. In one embodiment, the information server would provide a Web form accessible by a Web browser. Entries made into supplied fields in the Web form are tagged as having been entered into the particular fields, and parsed as such. The entered terms are then passed along with the field tags, which act to instruct the parser 1 to generate queries directed to appropriate tables and/or fields. In one embodiment,

2 the parser may generate queries in standard SQL by instantiating a search string with

3 the proper join/select commands based on the tagged text entries, wherein the

4 resulting command is provided over the bridge mechanism to the SNPA as a query.

5 Upon generating query results from the query, the results are passed over the bridge

6 mechanism, and may be parsed for formatting and generation of a new results Web

7 page by the bridge mechanism. Such a new results Web page is then provided to the

8 information server, which may supply it to the requesting Web browser.

9 [00193] Also, an information server may contain, communicate, generate, obtain,

10 and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications,

11 requests, and/or responses.

12 User Interface

13 [00194] Computer interfaces in some respects are similar to automobile operation

14 interfaces. Automobile operation interface elements such as steering wheels, gearshifts,

15 and speedometers facilitate the access, operation, and display of automobile resources,

16 and status. Computer interaction interface elements such as check boxes, cursors,

17 menus, scrollers, and windows (collectively and commonly referred to as widgets) is similarly facilitate the access, capabilities, operation, and display of data and computer

19 hardware and operating system resources, and status. Operation interfaces are

20 commonly called user interfaces. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) such as the Apple

21 Macintosh Operating System's Aqua, IBM's OS/2, Microsoft's Windows

22 2000/2003/3. i/95/98/CE/Millenium/NT/XP/Vista/7 (i.e., Aero), Unix's X-Windows

23 (e.g., which may include additional Unix graphic interface libraries and layers such as K

24 Desktop Environment (KDE), mythTV and GNU Network Object Model Environment

25 (GNOME)), web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java,

26 JavaScript, etc. interface libraries such as, but not limited to, Dojo, jQuery(UI),

27 MooTools, Prototype, script.aculo.us, SWFObject, Yahoo! User Interface, any of which

28 may be used and) provide a baseline and means of accessing and displaying

29 information graphically to users. [00195] A user interface component 2817 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU. The user interface may be a conventional graphic user interface as provided by, with, and/or atop operating systems and/or operating environments such as already discussed. The user interface may allow for the display, execution, interaction, manipulation, and/or operation of program components and/or system facilities through textual and/or graphical facilities. The user interface provides a facility through which users may affect, interact, and/or operate a computer system. A user interface may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the user interface communicates with operating systems, other program components, and/or the like. The user interface may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses. Web Browser [00196] A Web browser component 2818 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU. The Web browser may be a conventional hypertext viewing application such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Secure Web browsing may be supplied with I28bit (or greater) encryption by way of HTTPS, SSL, and/or the like. Web browsers allowing for the execution of program components through facilities such as ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java, JavaScript, web browser plug-in APIs (e.g., FireFox, Safari Plug-in, and/or the like APIs), and/or the like. Web browsers and like information access tools may be integrated into PDAs, cellular telephones, and/or other mobile devices. A Web browser may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the Web browser communicates with information servers, operating systems, integrated program components (e.g., plug-ins), and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses. Of course, in place of a Web browser and information server, a combined application may be developed to perform similar functions of both. The combined application would similarly affect the obtaining and the provision of information to users, user agents, and/or the like from the SNPA enabled nodes. The combined application may be nugatory on systems employing standard Web browsers. Mail Server [00197] A mail server component 2821 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 2803. The mail server may be a conventional Internet mail server such as, but not limited to sendmail, Microsoft Exchange, and/or the like. The mail server may allow for the execution of program components through facilities such as ASP, ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, pipes, Python, WebObjects, and/or the like. The mail server may support communications protocols such as, but not limited to: Internet message access protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)/Microsoft Exchange, post office protocol (POP3), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and/or the like. The mail server can route, forward, and process incoming and outgoing mail messages that have been sent, relayed and/or otherwise traversing through and/or to the SNPA.

[00198] Access to the SNPA mail may be achieved through a number of APIs offered by the individual Web server components and/or the operating system.

[00199] Also, a mail server may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, information, and/or responses. Mail Client [00200] A mail client component 2822 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 2803. The mail client may be a conventional mail viewing application such as Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla, Thunderbird, and/or the like. Mail clients may support a number of transfer protocols, such as: IMAP, Microsoft Exchange, POP3, SMTP, and/or the like. A mail client may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the mail client communicates with mail servers, operating systems, other mail clients, and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, information, and/or responses. Generally, the mail client provides a facility to compose and transmit electronic mail messages. Cryptographic Server

[00201] A cryptographic server component 2820 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 2803, cryptographic processor 2826, cryptographic processor interface 2827, cryptographic processor device 2828, and/or the like. Cryptographic processor interfaces will allow for expedition of encryption and/or decryption requests by the cryptographic component; however, the cryptographic component, alternatively, may run on a conventional CPU. The cryptographic component allows for the encryption and/or decryption of provided data. The cryptographic component allows for both symmetric and asymmetric (e.g., Pretty Good Protection (PGP)) encryption and/or decryption. The cryptographic component may employ cryptographic techniques such as, but not limited to: digital certificates (e.g., X.509 authentication framework), digital signatures, dual signatures, enveloping, password access protection, public key management, and/or the like. The cryptographic component will facilitate numerous (encryption and/or decryption) security protocols such as, but not limited to: checksum, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Elliptical Curve Encryption (ECC), International Data Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), Message Digest 5 (MD5, which is a one way hash function), passwords, Rivest Cipher (RC5), Rijndael, RSA (which is an Internet encryption and authentication system that uses an algorithm developed in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman), Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), and/or the like. Employing such encryption security protocols, the SNPA may encrypt all incoming and/or outgoing communications and may serve as node within a virtual private network (VPN) with a wider communications network. The cryptographic component facilitates the process of "security authorization" whereby access to a resource is inhibited by a security protocol wherein the cryptographic component effects authorized access to the secured resource. In addition, the cryptographic component may provide unique identifiers of content, e.g., employing and MD5 hash to obtain a unique signature for an digital audio file. A cryptographic component may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. The cryptographic component supports encryption schemes allowing for the secure transmission of information across a communications network to enable the SNPA component to engage in secure transactions if so desired. The cryptographic component facilitates the secure accessing of resources on the SNPA and facilitates the access of secured resources on remote systems; i.e., it may act as a client and/or server of secured resources. Most frequently, the cryptographic component communicates with information servers, operating systems, other program components, and/or the like. The cryptographic component may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses. The SNPA Database [00202] The SNPA database component 2819 may be embodied in a database and its stored data. The database is a stored program component, which is executed by the CPU; the stored program component portion configuring the CPU to process the stored data. The database may be a conventional, fault tolerant, relational, scalable, secure database such as Oracle or Sybase. Relational databases are an extension of a flat file. Relational databases consist of a series of related tables. The tables are interconnected via a key field. Use of the key field allows the combination of the tables by indexing against the key field; i.e., the key fields act as dimensional pivot points for combining information from various tables. Relationships generally identify links maintained between tables by matching primary keys. Primary keys represent fields that uniquely identify the rows of a table in a relational database. More precisely, they uniquely identify rows of a table on the "one" side of a one-to-many relationship.

[00203] Alternatively, the SNPA database may be implemented using various standard data-structures, such as an array, hash, (linked) list, struct, structured text file 1 (e.g., XML), table, and/or the like. Such data-structures may be stored in memory

2 and/or in (structured) files. In another alternative, an object-oriented database may be

3 used, such as Frontier, ObjectStore, Poet, Zope, and/or the like. Object databases can

4 include a number of object collections that are grouped and/or linked together by

5 common attributes; they may be related to other object collections by some common

6 attributes. Object-oriented databases perform similarly to relational databases with the

7 exception that objects are not just pieces of data but may have other types of

8 functionality encapsulated within a given object. If the SNPA database is implemented

9 as a data-structure, the use of the SNPA database 2819 may be integrated into another

10 component such as the SNPA component 2835. Also, the database may be implemented

11 as a mix of data structures, objects, and relational structures. Databases may be

12 consolidated and/or distributed in countless variations through standard data

13 processing techniques. Portions of databases, e.g., tables, may be exported and/or

14 imported and thus decentralized and/or integrated.

15 [ 00 204] In one embodiment, the database component 2819 includes several tables

16 28i9a-u. A Users table 2819a may include fields such as, but not limited to: user_id,

17 ssn, dob, first_name, last_name, age, state, address_firstline, address_secondline, is zipcode, devices_list, contact_info, contact_type, alt_contact_info, alt_contact_type,

19 and/or the like. The Users table may support and/or track multiple entity accounts on

20 a SNPA. A Devices table 2819b may include fields such as, but not limited to:

21 device_ID, device_name, device_IP, device_GPS, device_MAC, device_serial,

22 device_ECID, device_UDID, device_browser, device_type, device_model,

23 device_version, device_OS, device_apps_list, device_securekey,

24 wallet_app_installed_ flag, and/or the like. An Apps table 2819c may include fields

25 such as, but not limited to: app_ID, app_name, app_type, app_dependencies,

26 app_access_code, user_pin, and/or the like. An Accounts table 28i9d may include

27 fields such as, but not limited to: account_number, account_security_code,

28 account_name, issuer_acquirer_flag, issuer_name, acquirer_name, account_address,

29 routing_number, access_API_call, linked_wallets_list, and/or the like. A Merchants

30 table 28i9e may include fields such as, but not limited to: merchant_id,

31 merchant_name, merchant_address, store_id, ip_address, mac_address, auth_key, 1 port_num, security_settings_list, and/or the like. An Issuers table 28i9f may include

2 fields such as, but not limited to: issuer_id, issuer_name, issuer_address, ip_address,

3 mac_address, auth_key, port_num, security_settings_list, and/or the like. An

4 Acquirers table 28i9g may include fields such as, but not limited to:

5 account_firstname, account_lastname, account_type, account_num, account_

6 balance_list, billingaddress_ linei, billingaddress_ line2, billing_zipcode, billing_state,

7 shipping_preferences, shippingaddress_linei, shippingaddress_line2, shipping_

8 zipcode, shipping_state, and/or the like. A Pay Gateways table 2819I1 may include

9 fields such as, but not limited to: gateway_ID, gateway_IP, gateway_MAC,

10 gateway_secure_key, gateway_access_list, gateway_API_call_list,

11 gateway_services_list, and/or the like. A Shop Sessions table 28191 may include fields

12 such as, but not limited to: user_id, session_id, alerts_URL, timestamp, expiry_lapse,

13 merchant_id, store_id, device_type, device_ID, device_IP, device_MAC,

14 devicejbrowser, device_serial, device_ECID, device_model, device_OS,

15 wallet_app_installed, total_cost, cart_ID_list, product_params_list, social_flag,

16 social_message, social_networks_list, coupon_lists, accounts_list, CW2_lists,

17 charge_ratio_list, charge_priority_list, value_exchange_symbols_list, bill_address, is ship_address, cloak_flag, pay_mode, alerts_rules_list, and/or the like. A Transactions

19 table 28i9j may include fields such as, but not limited to: order_id, user_id,

20 timestamp, transaction_cost, purchase_details_list, num_products, products_list,

21 product_type, product_params_list, product_title, product_summary, quantity,

22 user_id, client_id, client_ip, client_type, client_model, operating_system, os_version,

23 app_installed_flag, user_id, account_firstname, account_lastname, account_type,

24 account_num, account_priority_account_ratio, billingaddress_linei,

25 billingaddress_line2, billing_zipcode, billing_state, shipping_preferences,

26 shippingaddress_linei, shippingaddress_line2, shipping_ zipcode, shipping_state,

27 merchant_id, merchant_name, merchant_auth_key, and/or the like. A Batches table

28 2819k may include fields such as, but not limited to: batch_id, transaction_id_list,

29 timestamp_list, cleared_flag_list, clearance_trigger_ settings, and/or the like. A

30 Ledgers table 2819I may include fields such as, but not limited to: request_id,

31 timestamp, deposit_amount, batch_id, transaction_id, clear_flag, deposit_account,

32 transaction_summary, payor_ name, payor_account, and/or the like. A Products table 1 2819m may include fields such as, but not limited to: product_ID, product_title,

2 product_attributes_list, product_price, tax_info_list, related_products_ list,

3 offers_list, discounts_list, rewards_list, merchants_list, merchant_availability_list,

4 and/or the like. An Offers table 2819η may include fields such as, but not limited to:

5 offer_ID, offer_title, offer_attributes_list, offer_price, offer_expiry, related_products_

6 list, discounts_list, rewards_list, merchants_list, merchant_availability_list, and/or

7 the like. A Behavior Data table 28190 may include fields such as, but not limited to:

8 user_id, timestamp, activity_type, activity_location, activity_attribute_list,

9 activity_attribute_values_list, and/or the like. An Analytics table 2819P may include0 fields such as, but not limited to: report_id, user_id, report_type, report_algorithm_id,1 report_destination_address, and/or the like. A Fraud Reports table 28i9q may include2 fields such as, but not limited to: report_id, user_id, session_id, merchant_id,3 fraud_type, fraud_description, products_list, transaction_cost, timestamp,4 contact_info, and/or the like. A Risk Rules table 28i9r may include fields such as, but5 not limited to: rule_id, risk_type, transaction_type, rule_elements, rule_inputs,6 rule_processing, rule_outputs, rule_threshold, geo_scope, last_updated, and/or the7 like. An Escalation Rules table 2819s may include fields such as, but not limited to:8 rule_id, risk_type, transaction_type, entity_type, rule_elements, rule_inputs,9 rule_processing, rule_outputs, rule_thresholds_list, geo_scope, last_updated, and/or0 the like. A Clients table 28i9t may include fields such as, but not limited to: user_id,1 client_id, client_ip, client_type, client_model, operating_system, os_version,2 app_installed_flag, and/or the like. A Payment Ledgers table 2819U may include fields3 such as, but not limited to: request_id, timestamp, deposit_amount, batch_id,4 transaction_id, clear_flag, deposit_account, transaction_summary, payor_ name,5 payor_account, and/or the like. 6 [ 00 205 ] In one embodiment, the SNPA database may interact with other database7 systems. For example, employing a distributed database system, queries and data8 access by search SNPA component may treat the combination of the SNPA database, an9 integrated data security layer database as a single database entity. 0 [ 00 206 ] In one embodiment, user programs may contain various user interface1 primitives, which may serve to update the SNPA. Also, various accounts may require custom database tables depending upon the environments and the types of clients the SNPA may need to serve. It should be noted that any unique fields may be designated as a key field throughout. In an alternative embodiment, these tables have been decentralized into their own databases and their respective database controllers (i.e., individual database controllers for each of the above tables). Employing standard data processing techniques, one may further distribute the databases over several computer systemizations and/or storage devices. Similarly, configurations of the decentralized database controllers may be varied by consolidating and/or distributing the various database components 28i9a-u. The SNPA may be configured to keep track of various settings, inputs, and parameters via database controllers.

[00207] The SNPA database may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the SNPA database communicates with the SNPA component, other program components, and/or the like. The database may contain, retain, and provide information regarding other nodes and data. The SNPAs [00208] The SNPA component 2835 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU. In one embodiment, the SNPA component incorporates any and/or all combinations of the aspects of the SNPA discussed in the previous figures. As such, the SNPA affects accessing, obtaining and the provision of information, services, transactions, and/or the like across various communications networks. The features and embodiments of the SNPA discussed herein increase network efficiency by reducing data transfer requirements the use of more efficient data structures and mechanisms for their transfer and storage. As a consequence, more data may be transferred in less time, and latencies with regard to transactions, are also reduced. In many cases, such reduction in storage, transfer time, bandwidth requirements, latencies, etc., will reduce the capacity and structural infrastructure requirements to support the SNPA's features and facilities, and in many cases reduce the costs, energy consumption/requirements, and extend the life of SNPA's underlying infrastructure; this has the added benefit of making the SNPA more reliable. For example, in some 1 embodiments, the SNPA may be configured to allow a merchant to process payment

2 requests without the need for additional authentication infrastructure, thereby

3 reducing resource outlay, network traffic and overhead. Also, by reducing the

4 duplication of such authentication infrastructure, such consolidated authentication

5 infrastructure may employ more robust network connections and server resources,

6 thereby optimizing transaction response time, reducing latency, and load balancing

7 network traffic to a more dedicated consolidated infrastructure. In other embodiments,

8 the SNPA may allow a merchant, in a transaction where a user is unknown, to receive

9 sufficient authentication to process a transaction on behalf of a user. In doing so, the

10 SNPA may allow the merchant to avoid manual processes such as telephoning the user

11 to verify identity before processing a transaction. Similarly, many of the features and

12 mechanisms are designed to be easier for users to use and access, thereby broadening

13 the audience that may enjoy/employ and exploit the feature sets of the SNPA; such ease

14 of use also helps to increase the reliability of the SNPA. In addition, the feature sets

15 include heightened security as noted via the Cryptographic components 2820, 2826,

16 2828 and throughout, making access to the features and data more reliable and secure.

17 [ 00 209 ] The SNPA component transforms enroll input 211, social network request

18 template 215, login input 220, checkout input 411, product data 415, user enrollment

19 data 419, login input 423, issuer server data 430, user data 434a-n, batch data 440,

20 issuer server data 448, and/or the like via UPC 2841, PTA 2842, UWAR 2844, FDR

21 2845, SRA 2846, TRA 2847, GSPE 2848, SNAPE 2849, SNAE 2849, and/or GSS 2850

22 components, into outputs authentication data record 223, enrollment notification 224,

23 enrollment data record 226, enrollment confirmation 227, card authorization request

24 428, authorization response 436a-n, authorization fail message 438, authorization

25 success message 440, batch append data 442, purchase receipt 443, funds transfer

26 message 453-54, and/or the like.

27 [ 00 210 ] The SNPA component enabling access of information between nodes may

28 be developed by employing standard development tools and languages such as, but not

29 limited to: Apache components, Assembly, ActiveX, binary executables, (ANSI)

30 (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, database adapters, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript,

31 mapping tools, procedural and object oriented development tools, PERL, PHP, Python, shell scripts, SQL commands, web application server extensions, web development environments and libraries (e.g., Microsoft's ActiveX; Adobe AIR, FLEX & FLASH; AJAX; (D)HTML; Dojo, Java; JavaScript; jQuery(UI); MooTools; Prototype; script.aculo.us; Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP); SWFObject; Yahoo! User Interface; and/or the like), WebObjects, and/or the like. In one embodiment, the SNPA server employs a cryptographic server to encrypt and decrypt communications. The SNPA component may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the SNPA component communicates with the SNPA database, operating systems, other program components, and/or the like. The SNPA may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses. Distributed SNPAs [00211] The structure and/or operation of any of the SNPA node controller components may be combined, consolidated, and/or distributed in any number of ways to facilitate development and/or deployment. Similarly, the component collection may be combined in any number of ways to facilitate deployment and/or development. To accomplish this, one may integrate the components into a common code base or in a facility that can dynamically load the components on demand in an integrated fashion.

[00212] The component collection may be consolidated and/or distributed in countless variations through standard data processing and/or development techniques. Multiple instances of any one of the program components in the program component collection may be instantiated on a single node, and/or across numerous nodes to improve performance through load-balancing and/or data-processing techniques. Furthermore, single instances may also be distributed across multiple controllers and/or storage devices; e.g., databases. All program component instances and controllers working in concert may do so through standard data processing communication techniques. [00213] The configuration of the SNPA controller will depend on the context of system deployment. Factors such as, but not limited to, the budget, capacity, location, and/or use of the underlying hardware resources may affect deployment requirements and configuration. Regardless of if the configuration results in more consolidated and/or integrated program components, results in a more distributed series of program components, and/or results in some combination between a consolidated and distributed configuration, data may be communicated, obtained, and/or provided. Instances of components consolidated into a common code base from the program component collection may communicate, obtain, and/or provide data. This may be accomplished through intra-application data processing communication techniques such as, but not limited to: data referencing (e.g., pointers), internal messaging, object instance variable communication, shared memory space, variable passing, and/or the like.

[00214] If component collection components are discrete, separate, and/or external to one another, then communicating, obtaining, and/or providing data with and/or to other component components may be accomplished through inter- application data processing communication techniques such as, but not limited to: Application Program Interfaces (API) information passage; (distributed) Component Object Model ((D)COM), (Distributed) Object Linking and Embedding ((D)OLE), and/or the like), Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Jini local and remote application program interfaces, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Remote Method Invocation (RMI), SOAP, process pipes, shared files, and/or the like. Messages sent between discrete component components for inter-application communication or within memory spaces of a singular component for intra-application communication may be facilitated through the creation and parsing of a grammar. A grammar may be developed by using development tools such as lex, yacc, XML, and/or the like, which allow for grammar generation and parsing capabilities, which in turn may form the basis of communication messages within and between components.

[00215] For example, a grammar may be arranged to recognize the tokens of an HTTP post command, e.g.:

w3c -post http : / / . . . Valuel [00216] where Valuei is discerned as being a parameter because "http://" is part of the grammar syntax, and what follows is considered part of the post value. Similarly, with such a grammar, a variable "Valuei" may be inserted into an "http://" post command and then sent. The grammar syntax itself may be presented as structured data that is interpreted and/or otherwise used to generate the parsing mechanism (e.g., a syntax description text file as processed by lex, yacc, etc.). Also, once the parsing mechanism is generated and/or instantiated, it itself may process and/or parse structured data such as, but not limited to: character (e.g., tab) delineated text, HTML, structured text streams, XML, and/or the like structured data. In another embodiment, inter-application data processing protocols themselves may have integrated and/or readily available parsers (e.g., JSON, SOAP, and/or like parsers) that may be employed to parse (e.g., communications) data. Further, the parsing grammar may be used beyond message parsing, but may also be used to parse: databases, data collections, data stores, structured data, and/or the like. Again, the desired configuration will depend upon the context, environment, and requirements of system deployment.

[00217] For example, in some implementations, the SNPA controller may be executing a PHP script implementing a Secure Sockets Layer ("SSL") socket server via the information server, which listens to incoming communications on a server port to which a client may send data, e.g., data encoded in JSON format. Upon identifying an incoming communication, the PHP script may read the incoming message from the client device, parse the received JSON-encoded text data to extract information from the JSON-encoded text data into PHP script variables, and store the data (e.g., client identifying information, etc.) and/or extracted information in a relational database accessible using the Structured Query Language ("SQL"). An exemplary listing, written substantially in the form of PHP/SQL commands, to accept JSON-encoded input data from a client device via a SSL connection, parse the data to extract variables, and store the data to a database, is provided below:

<?PHP

header (' Content-Type : text/plain'); // set ip address and port to listen to for incoming data $address = ¹192.168.0.100 ' ;

$port = 255; // create a server-side SSL socket, listen for/accept incoming communication $sock = socket_create (AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);

socket_bind ($sock, $address, $port) or die ( 'Could not bind to address');

socket_listen ($sock) ;

$client = socket_accept ($sock) ; // read input data from client device in 1024 byte blocks until end of message do {

$ input = "";

$input = socket_read ( $client, 1024);

$data .= $input;

} while ($ input != "") ; // parse data to extract variables

$obj = j son_decode ( $data, true) ; // store input data in a database

mysql_connect ( "201.408.185.132 " , $DBserver , $password) ; // access database server mysql_select ( "CLIENT_DB . SQL" ) ; // select database to append

mysql_query ("INSERT INTO UserTable (transmission)

VALUES ($data)"); // add data to UserTable table in a CLIENT database

mysql_close ( "CLIENT_DB. SQL" ) ; // close connection to database

?> [00218] Also, the following resources may be used to provide example embodiments regarding SOAP parser implementation:

http : / /www . xav . com/perl/ site/ lib/ SOAP/Parser . html

http : / /publib . boulder . ibm . com/ infocenter/tivihelp/v2rl/ index. j sp?topic=/com . ibm . IBMDI . doc/ referenceguide295. htm [00219] and other parser implementations:

http : / /publib . boulder . ibm . com/ infocenter/tivihelp/v2rl/ index. j sp?topic=/com . ibm . IBMDI . doc/ referenceguide259. htm [00220] all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference. [00221] In order to address various issues and advance the art, the entirety of this application for SOCIAL NETWORK PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS (including the Cover Page, Title, Headings, Field, Background, Summary, Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description, Claims, Abstract, Figures, Appendices and/or otherwise) shows by way of illustration various embodiments in which the claimed inventions may be practiced. The advantages and features of the application are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist in understanding and teach the claimed principles. It should be understood that they are not representative of all claimed inventions. As such, certain aspects of the disclosure have not been discussed herein. That alternate embodiments may not have been presented for a specific portion of the invention or that further undescribed alternate embodiments may be available for a portion is not to be considered a disclaimer of those alternate embodiments. It will be appreciated that many of those undescribed embodiments incorporate the same principles of the invention and others are equivalent. Thus, it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and functional, logical, organizational, structural and/or topological modifications may be made without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the disclosure. As such, all examples and/or embodiments are deemed to be non-limiting throughout this disclosure. Also, no inference should be drawn regarding those embodiments discussed herein relative to those not discussed herein other than it is as such for purposes of reducing space and repetition. For instance, it is to be understood that the logical and/or topological structure of any combination of any program components (a component collection), other components and/or any present feature sets as described in the figures and/or throughout are not limited to a fixed operating order and/or arrangement, but rather, any disclosed order is exemplary and all equivalents, regardless of order, are contemplated by the disclosure. Furthermore, it is to be understood that such features are not limited to serial execution, but rather, any number of threads, processes, services, servers, and/or the like that may execute asynchronously, concurrently, in parallel, simultaneously, synchronously, and/or the like are contemplated by the disclosure. As such, some of these features may be mutually contradictory, in that they cannot be simultaneously present in a single embodiment. Similarly, some features are applicable to one aspect of the invention, and inapplicable to others. In addition, the disclosure includes other inventions not presently claimed. Applicant reserves all rights in those presently unclaimed inventions including the right to claim such inventions, file additional applications, continuations, continuations in part, divisions, and/or the like thereof. As such, it should be understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, functional, features, logical, organizational, structural, topological, and/or other aspects of the disclosure are not to be considered limitations on the disclosure as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims. It is to be understood that, depending on the particular needs and/or characteristics of a SNPA individual and/or enterprise user, database configuration and/or relational model, data type, data transmission and/or network framework, syntax structure, and/or the like, various embodiments of the SNPA may be implemented that enable a great deal of flexibility and customization. For example, aspects of the SNPA may be adapted for any systems for secure access, fraud detection, identity verification, and/or the like. While various embodiments and discussions of the SNPA have been directed to payment processing, however, it is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may be readily configured and/or customized for a wide variety of other applications and/or implementations.

Claims

CLAI MS What is claimed is:

l. A computer-implemented method for a graduated security protocol authentication network optimization, using social network, comprising:

receiving, via a user interface implemented on a computing device, an authentication request for a purchase transaction;

extracting, via a processor, card account data related to the authentication request;

providing an indication for a user to authenticate via logging into a social networking service associated with a social networking server;

providing the card account data related to the authentication request to the social networking server;

calculating a quantitative transaction risk level associated with the authentication request.

obtaining an indication from the social networking server that the user is authenticated; and

initiating completion of the purchase transaction in response to obtaining the indication that the user is authenticated.

2. A computer-implemented method for a graduated security protocol authentication infrastructure optimization, using social network, comprising:

obtaining an authentication request for a purchase transaction; extracting, via a processor, card account data related to the authentication request;

providing an indication for a user to authenticate via logging into a social networking service associated with a social networking server without necessitating a merchant to employ duplicate infrastructure to provide authentication requests;

providing the card account data related to the authentication request to the social networking server; determining a transaction risk level associated with the authentication request;

3. A social network payment authentication processor-implemented method, comprising:

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

providing the card account data related to the authentication request to the social networking server.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining a transaction risk level associated with the authentication request.

6. The method of claim 5 whereby the transaction risk level is determined based on the user's prior social network activity.

7. The method of claim 6 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's social network associations.

8. The method of claim 6 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's advertisement viewing.

9. The method of claim 6 whereby the prior social networking activity is the user's previous payments via the social network using the card account data.

10. A social network payment authentication processor -implemented system, comprising:

means to obtain an authentication request for a purchase transaction; means to extract, via a processor, card account data related to the authentication request;

means to provide an indication for a user to authenticate via logging into a social networking service associated with a social networking server;

means to obtain an indication from the social networking server that the user is authenticated; and

means to initiate completion of the purchase transaction in response to obtaining the indication that the user is authenticated.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising:

means to provide the card account data related to the authentication request to the social networking server.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

means to determine a transaction risk level associated with the authentication request.

13. The system of claim 12 whereby the transaction risk level is determined based on the user's prior social network activity.

14. The system of claim 13 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's social network associations.

15. The system of claim 13 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's advertisement viewing.

16. The system of claim 13 whereby the prior social networking activity is the user's previous payments via the social network using the card account data.

17. A social network payment authentication apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

a processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to issue a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor issues instructions to:

obtain an authentication request for a purchase transaction;

extract card account data related to the authentication request; provide an indication for a user to authenticate via logging into a social networking service associated with a social networking server;

obtain an indication from the social networking server that the user is authenticated; and

initiate completion of the purchase transaction in response to obtaining the indication that the user is authenticated.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising instructions to:

provide the card account data related to the authentication request to the social networking server.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising instructions to:

determine a transaction risk level associated with the authentication request.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 whereby the transaction risk level is determined based on the user's prior social network activity.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's social network associations.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's advertisement viewing.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 whereby the prior social networking activity is the user's previous payments via the social network using the card account data.

24. A non-transitory medium storing social network payment authentication instructions to:

obtain an authentication request for a purchase transaction; extract, via a processor, card account data related to the authentication request;

provide an indication for a user to authenticate via logging into a social networking service associated with a social networking server;

25. The medium of claim 24 further comprising instructions to:

26. The medium of claim 24, further comprising instructions to:

determine a transaction risk level associated with the authentication request.

27. The medium of claim 26 whereby the transaction risk level is determined based on the user's prior social network activity.

28. The medium of claim 27 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's social network associations.

29. The medium of claim 27 whereby the prior social network activity is a historical record of the user's advertisement viewing.

30. The medium of claim 27 whereby the prior social networking activity is the user's previous payments via the social network using the card account data.

31. A social network payment authentication processor -implemented method, comprising:

receiving a social network authentication request containing card account data;

comparing the card account data to data stored in a user's social networking profile;

requesting login credentials for the user associated with the social networking profile;

receiving login credentials;

verifying the login credentials match login credentials associated with the social networking profile; and

responding to the social network authentication request with an indication that the user has been authenticated.

32. The method of claim 31 further comprising:

requesting heightened login credentials based on an indication that the transaction is a higher risk transaction.

33. The method of claim 32, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of images associated with a social networking profile.

34. The method of claim 32, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of personal associations connected with a social networking profile.

35. A social network payment authentication processor-implemented system, comprising:

means to receive a social network authentication request containing card account data;

means to compare the card account data to data stored in a user's social networking profile;

means to request login credentials for the user associated with the social networking profile;

means to receive login credentials;

means to verify the login credentials match login credentials associated with the social networking profile; and

means to respond to the social network authentication request with an indication that the user has been authenticated.

36. The system of claim 35 further comprising:

means to request heightened login credentials based on an indication that the transaction is a higher risk transaction.

37. The system of claim 36, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of images associated with a social networking profile.

38. The system of claim 36, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of personal associations connected with a social networking profile.

39. A social network payment authentication apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

receive a social network authentication request containing card account data; compare the card account data to data stored in a user's social networking profile;

request login credentials for the user associated with the social networking profile;

receive login credentials;

verify the login credentials match login credentials associated with the social networking profile; and

respond to the social network authentication request with an indication that the user has been authenticated.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 further comprising instructions to:

request heightened login credentials based on an indication that the transaction is a higher risk transaction.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of images associated with a social networking profile.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of personal associations connected with a social networking profile. 43· A non-transitory medium storing processor-issuable social network payment authentication instructions to:

receive a social network authentication request containing card account data;

compare the card account data to data stored in a user's social networking profile;

receive login credentials;

verify the login credentials match login credentials associated with the social networking profile; and respond to the social network authentication request with an indication that the user has been authenticated. 44. The medium of claim 43 further comprising:

requesting heightened login credentials based on an indication that the transaction is a higher risk transaction. 45. The medium of claim 44, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of images associated with a social networking profile. 46. The medium of claim 44, whereby the heightened login credentials require the identification of personal associations connected with a social networking profile.