Digital Content Downloading System and Method

Abstract

Systems and methods for accepting payments for goods and services provided by a merchant. In one embodiment a method can be implemented by obtaining digital content; offering said digital content to a wireless telephone user; receiving payment information from said user for purchase of said digital content; processing said payment information so as to confirm payment for said digital content; and then downloading said digital content to said wireless telephone of said wireless telephone user. Optionally, the transaction may be staged by the consumer, or others.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of downloading digital content to a wireless telephone, the method comprising:
 obtaining digital content at a digital content distributor computing system from a content provider, the digital content distributor computing system being an entity different than a wireless telephone carrier under which the wireless telephone operates, wherein the digital content distributor computing system is distinct from the content provider;   generating an offer for the digital content with the digital content distributor computing system to advertise the digital content for the content provider;   transmitting over a cellular telephone network, by the digital content distributor computing system, the offer for the digital content from the digital content distributor computing system to a wireless telephone user by downloading code to the wireless telephone that causes the offer to display on the wireless telephone during operation of the code on the wireless telephone;   receiving a transaction request from the user;   accessing, at the digital content distributor computing system, payment information associated with the user for purchase of the digital content;   electronically transmitting the payment information over a payment processing network to a payment processor;   sending at least a portion of a payment to the content provider; and   downloading the digital content directly from the digital content distributor computing system to the wireless telephone of the wireless telephone user via the cellular telephone network.   
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 electronically verifying an identify of the user prior to accessing the payment information.   
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein:
 accessing the payment data comprises receiving the payment information from the wireless telephone of the user.   
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein:
 accessing the payment data comprises receiving the payment information from a computing device of the user that is distinct from the wireless telephone.   
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein:
 accessing the payment data comprises retrieving stored payment data and causing a payment account of the user to be credited.   
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein:
 sending at least a portion of the payment to the content provider comprises transferring funds across an ATM network to an account of the content provider of the digital content.   
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 confirming payment based on receiving confirmation that the payment for the digital content has been debited from a debit account of the user.   
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a transaction identifier from the user that corresponds to the transaction request;   storing the transaction requests in the consumer database;   associating the payment with the transaction request and transaction identifier and to establish a payment account with the digital content distributor computing system; and   storing the payment account.   
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein:
 the digital content comprises at least one of a ring tone, a digital photograph, or software for a game that is executable on the wireless telephone. 
 
     
     
         10 . A method of downloading digital content to a wireless telephone of a user, the method comprising:
 obtaining digital content at a digital content distributor computing system from a content provider, the digital content distributor computing system being an entity different than a wireless telephone carrier under which the wireless telephone operates, wherein the digital content distributor computing system is distinct from the content provider;   providing software from the digital content distributor computing system that provides communication between the content distributor system and the wireless telephone over a cellular telephone network of the wireless telephone carrier so as to advertise the digital content for the content provider;   generating an offer for the digital content with the digital content distributor computing system to advertise the digital content for the content provider;   transmitting, by the digital content distributor computing system over the cellular telephone network via the software, the offer for the digital content from the digital content distributor computing system to the wireless telephone of the user by downloading code to the wireless telephone that causes the offer to display on the wireless telephone during operation of the code on the wireless telephone;   receiving a transaction request from the user, the transaction request comprising a transaction identifier;   storing the transaction request in a database;   accessing at the digital content distributor computing system payment information associated with the user for purchase of the digital content, including receiving the transaction identifier from the user that corresponds to the transaction request;   electronically transmitting the payment information over a payment processing network to a payment processor;   associating the payment with the transaction request and transaction identifier and to establish a payment account with the digital content distributor computing system;   storing the payment account; and   sending at least a portion of the payment to the content provider; and   downloading via the software, the digital content directly from the content provider to the wireless telephone of the user, wherein the digital content is downloaded via the cellular telephone network.   
     
     
         11 . The method of downloading digital content as claimed in  claim 10  wherein the obtaining digital content comprises:
 contracting with a plurality of digital content providers. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of downloading digital content as claimed in  claim 10  further comprising:
 electronically verifying an identify of the user prior to accessing the payment information. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of downloading digital content as claimed in  claim 10  wherein:
 electronically transmitting the payment information over a payment processing network to a payment processor comprises submitting a primary account number and card verification value of a credit card to a financial institution associated with the credit card. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of downloading digital content as claimed in  claim 10  wherein:
 the transaction request is received from the wireless telephone of the user. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of downloading digital content as claimed in  claim 10  wherein:
 electronically transmitting the payment information over a payment processing network to a payment processor comprises submitting a primary account number associated with a debit card or a bank account of the user to a financial institution associated with the debit card or bank account. 
 
     
     
         16 . A system for downloading digital content, the system comprising:
 a digital content distributor computing system that is different than a wireless telephone carrier under which a wireless telephone of a user operates;   a digital content provider computing system configured to communicate with the digital content distributor computing system, wherein the digital content distributor computing system is distinct from the digital content provider computing system;   wherein the digital content distributor computing system is configured to:
 obtain digital content from the digital content provider computing system; 
 provide software to the wireless telephone carrier, the software providing communication between the digital content distributor computing system and the wireless telephone over a cellular telephone network of the wireless telephone carrier so as to offer the digital content for the digital content provider computing system; 
 generate an offer for the digital content with the digital content distributor computing system to advertise the digital content for the digital content provider computing system; 
 transmit over the cellular telephone network via the software, the offer for the digital content to the wireless telephone by downloading code to the wireless telephone that causes the offer to display on the wireless telephone during operation of the code on the wireless telephone; 
 receive a transaction request from the digital content provider computing system; 
 access payment information associated with the user for purchase of the digital content; 
 electronically transmit the payment information over a payment processing network to a payment processor; 
 send at least a portion of the payment to the first digital content provider computing system; and 
   cause the digital content to download via the software, directly from the digital content distributor computing system to the wireless telephone via the cellular telephone network.   
     
     
         17 . The system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the digital content distributor computing system is further configured to:
 electronically verifying an identify of the user prior to accessing the payment information. 
 
     
     
         18 . The system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein:
 accessing the payment data comprises receiving the payment information from the wireless telephone of the user. 
 
     
     
         19 . The system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein:
 accessing the payment data comprises receiving the payment information from a computing device of the user that is distinct from the wireless telephone. 
 
     
     
         20 . The system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein:
 the payment information is associated with a credit card, debit card, or bank account associated with the user.