Mobile-To-Mobile Payment System and Method

Abstract

A mobile-to-mobile payment method and system are presented. One or more payor messages are received at a payment server from a mobile device associated with a payor. The one or more payor messages include an identifier of a payee and an amount. The identifier of the payee is associated with a payee account, and the mobile device is associated with a payor account. The payment server executes a transfer of funds of the amount from the payor account to the payee account.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A mobile-to-mobile payment method comprising:
 receiving at a payment server one or more payment messages from a mobile device associated with a payor, the one or more payment messages including a code for transmitting the one or more payment messages to the payment server;   sending a prompt from the payment server to the mobile device associated with the payor to enter an identifier of a mobile device associated with a payee;   receiving at the payment server from the mobile device associated with the payor a message including the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee;   sending a prompt from the payment server to the mobile device associated with the payor to enter an amount to be paid to the payee;   receiving at the payment server from the mobile device associated with the payor a message including the amount to be paid to the payee;   in response to the message received from the mobile device associated with the payor including the amount to be paid to the payee, sending a message from the payment server to the mobile device associated with the payor confirming the amount to be paid to the payee;   receiving at the payment server from the mobile device associated with the payor an acknowledgement message confirming that funds should be transferred by the payment server from an account associated with the payor to an account associated with the payee.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the payment server generating a confirmation message indicating that the transferring of funds has been completed. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , further comprising transmitting the confirmation message to the mobile device associated with the payor. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more payment messages are short messaging service messages. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more payment messages are generated by a client application on the mobile device associated with the payor. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee is a cell phone number of the mobile device. 
     
     
         27 . A mobile-to-mobile payment system comprising:
 a communications network having at least one wireless link to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices; and   a payment server adapted to:
 receive one or more payment messages from a payor's mobile device, the one or more payment messages including a code for transmitting the one or more payment messages to the payment server; 
 send a prompt to the payor's mobile device to enter an identifier of a mobile device associated with a payee; 
 receive a message from the payor's mobile device including the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee; 
 send a prompt to the payor's mobile device to enter an amount to be paid to the payee; 
 receiving at the payment server from the mobile device associated with the payor message including the amount to be paid to the payee; 
 in response to the message from the payor's mobile device including the amount to be paid to the payee, send a message to the payor's mobile device confirming the amount to be paid to the payee; 
 receive an acknowledgement message from the payor's mobile device confirming that funds should be transferred from an account associated with the payor to an account associated with the payee. 
   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein payment server is further adapted to generate a confirmation message indicating that the transferring of funds has been completed. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the payment server is further adapted to transmit the confirmation message to the payor's mobile device. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the one or more payment messages are short messaging service messages. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the one or more payment messages are generated by a client application on the payor's mobile device. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee is a cell phone number of the mobile device. 
     
     
         33 . A mobile device comprising:
 a user interface for receiving instruction data for a mobile-to-mobile payment process;   a translator to translate the instruction data to one or more payment messages to control a payment server that executes the mobile-to-mobile payment process, wherein:
 the payment messages include an identifier of a mobile device associated with a payee, an amount of a payment to be paid to the payee and a code for transmitting the one or more payment messages to the payment server, and 
 the mobile-to-mobile payment process includes:
 sending a prompt from the payment server to a mobile device associated with a payor to enter the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee; 
 receiving at the payment server from the mobile device associated with the payor message including the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee; 
 sending a prompt from the payment server to the mobile device associated with the payor to enter amount to be paid to the payee; 
 receiving at the payment server from the mobile device associated with the payor a message including the amount to be paid to the payee; 
 in response to the message received from the mobile device associated with the payor including the amount to be paid to the payee, sending a message from the payment server to the mobile device associated with the payor confirming the amount to be paid to the payee; 
 receiving at the payment server from the mobile device associated with the payor an acknowledgement message confirming that funds should be transferred by the payment server from an account associated with the payor to an account associated with the payee; and 
 
   a messaging service adapted to transmit the one or more payment messages to the payment server via a communications network having at least one wireless link.   
     
     
         34 . The mobile device of  claim 33 , further comprising a display for displaying confirmation messages received from the payment server. 
     
     
         35 . A mobile messaging service thr enabling mobile-to-mobile payments, the service comprising:
 a messaging component operating on a mobile device, wherein the messaging component:
 sends one or more payment messages to a payment server, the one or more payment messages including a code for transmitting the one or more payment messages to the payment server; 
 receives a prompt from the payment server to enter an identifier of a mobile device associated with a payee; 
 sends to the payment server a message including the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee; 
 receives a prompt from the payment server to enter an amount to be paid to the payee; 
 send to the payment server a message including the amount to be paid to the payee; 
 in response to the message sent to the payment server including the amount to be paid to the payee, receives a message from the payment server confirming the amount to be paid to the payee; 
 sends an acknowledgement message to the payment server confirming that funds should be transferred from an account associated with the payor to an account associated with the payee; and 
 receives a confirmation message from the payment server indicating that the funds have been transferred from the account associated with the payor to the account associated with the payee. 
   
     
     
         36 . The mobile messaging service of  claim 35 , wherein the messaging component includes a short messaging service. 
     
     
         37 . The mobile messaging service of  claim 35 , further comprising a translation component for translating the single prompt, the message confirming the identifier of the mobile device associated with the payee and the amount to be paid to the payee, or the confirmation message indicating that the funds have been transferred from the account associated with the payor to the account associated with the payee from the payment server from text-based messages to graphical elements. 
     
     
         38 . The mobile messaging service of  claim 37 , wherein the translation component is further adapted to translate the one or more payment messages into text-based messages.