HK1126882A - M-commerce virtual cash system, method, and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A virtual cash system, method, and apparatus has an account record containing a record of money amounts associated with a wireless device and a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting to the wireless device predetermined information from the account record. Cash amounts can be spent from the account record directly from the wireless device via information derived from the wireless device via a bar code on the display, a short range radio signal, a light beam, or the like. A different security code is generated for each account transaction for verification.

Description

Virtual cash system, method and equipment for mobile electronic commerce

Technical Field

Background

The term "mobile e-commerce" stems from the intention to find solutions similar to "e-commerce" in a wireless mobile communication environment. An increasing number of mobile e-commerce solutions are emerging in which wireless devices may be used to conduct certain commercial transactions, such as simple financial transactions (like store coupons), credit card transactions, Automated Clearing House (ACH) funds transfer transactions like using checks with bank routing information, and the like.

The term "wireless device" means herein a cellular, cordless, Personal Communication System (PCS) or other type of wireless telephony device, a pager, a wireless personal digital assistant, a notebook computer or any other wireless device with wireless access, a two-way radio, a walkie-talkie, or other type of communication transceiver, or a Mobile Station (MS), whether or not it has a valid Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or UTMS Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) identifier. Wireless devices are becoming so ubiquitous, with an estimated 17 billion mobile phone subscribers around the world by 2007. In fact, more recently, even wireless devices with limited telephone capabilities have been made available to pupils at an elementary school level.

At the same time, it is found that card-like devices (referred to herein simply as "cards") are being increasingly used to make it easier for individuals and merchants to live in increasingly larger mobile societies. Cards come in many forms, such as those having strips of magnetic material formed on a plastic substrate or substrate, those having embedded integrated circuits with memory capabilities, and the like. Examples of commonly used cards include credit cards, debit cards, phone cards, cash cards, and gift or general shopping cards, some of which are commonly used at particular stores and some of which are now sold at newssts, grocery stores and used at various other stores elsewhere (e.g., hardware stores, electronics stores, florists, etc.).

Because of the convenience of cards, merchants often prefer to use cards as a means of receiving service and payment for goods. In some cases, in fact, the card is even preferred to receive cash payments for a number of reasons. The card often results in automatic payment directly into the merchant's account without the need to deal with cash and the attendant problems associated therewith. By using a card, the merchant need not provide as high a level of security as would be required if a large amount of cash were held in the house. The use of cards also increases the accuracy of record keeping, reduces errors due to changes, and reduces the time required to process cash transactions where current card infrastructure is installed. The use of a card also simplifies the record keeping requirements of most commercial transactions.

In these environments, there is a need to extend mobile e-commerce applications that use card technology and infrastructure, and more specifically, to extend mobile e-commerce technology to handle or replace cash and card transactions.

Disclosure of Invention

A virtual cash system is described having an account record containing a record of a money amount associated with a wireless device. A transmitter wirelessly transmits to the wireless device predetermined information from the record, the predetermined information representing an amount of cash that may be spent from the record directly from the wireless device. The system may include a security code checking apparatus that may verify a different security code received from the wireless device for each transaction with respect to the account record.

Additionally, a wireless device is described having a display screen and a receiver for wirelessly receiving account information indicative of a cash amount that may be spent. A display device is provided for displaying available cash information on the display screen sufficient to enable spending at least a portion of the cash amount. According to one embodiment, the information on the display screen comprises a barcode.

A virtual cash system is also described for use with a wireless device having a display screen and a receiver for wirelessly receiving account information representing a cash amount that may be spent directly from the wireless device. The system comprises: an account record specifying a cash amount that can be spent associated with the wireless device; a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting the account information to the wireless device to enable a user-determined portion of the cash to be spent directly from the wireless device. An apparatus is provided for receiving spending information from the wireless device indicating a user determined portion of the cash amount to be debited from the account record. At least some of the account information may be displayed on the display screen in a bar code, and the device for receiving spending information may be a bar code reader.

A method for operating a virtual cash system is also described. The method includes wirelessly transmitting information regarding a balance of funds in a money account to a wireless device to enable a user to designate a portion of the funds to be spent as cash directly from the wireless device. Reading information from the wireless device that enables identification of the money account, debiting the money account for the specified portion of the funds balance, and wirelessly updating information about the balance in the wireless device. The information read from the wireless device may include a barcode on a display of the wireless device that enables identification of the monetary account. The information may also include a security code that enables verification of the balance of funds in the account.

A method for operating a virtual cash system is also disclosed. The method includes maintaining a money account containing funds specified by a user of a mobile device and wirelessly transmitting information regarding the funds to the wireless device. Receiving an indication from a merchant to debit a specified amount of money from the funds, the indication containing information identifying the money account received from the wireless device. Debiting the specified amount from the funds and crediting it to the merchant's account. The information identifying the monetary account received from the wireless device may be information received from a barcode scanned by the merchant from a display of the wireless device.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a financial transaction system having a wireless device through which cash payments may be made or through which indicia providing virtual cash equivalents may be displayed.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the interrelationship among the various actions taken by a customer bank, customer, merchant, and processing center conducting a mobile e-commerce cash or virtual cash transaction.

In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components.

Detailed Description

According to a broad aspect of one embodiment of the systems, methods and apparatus described herein, there is provided a wireless device by which cash payments may be made or by which indicia providing virtual cash equivalents may be displayed for making cash payments without the attendant problems described above of handling cash itself.

Because there is some overlap in the definitions, for ease of description, the words "money," "currency," and "cash" are used herein in the following sense.

Money means something that is generally acceptable as an exchange medium, value measure, or payment means. Money is used herein synonymously with funds. Examples of money include the following basic concepts: a value represented by dollars and cents, pounds and pions, day circles, bisque, etc., and an account book or ledger entry representing a value of a financial transaction that can be effected by a corresponding debit or credit in the currency mentioned above. Further included are means by which payment may be required, such as a check or the like.

Currency means something that is in circulation as a medium of money exchange. For example, currency includes physical one, ten, one hundred, etc. dollar bills, one, five, ten, fifty, one hundred yen coins, and so forth.

Cash means ready money or ready currency. For example, cash includes checks and currency currently in hand.

Additionally, the term "virtual cash" means herein indicia (like a bar code), radio or spectral signals, or other machine readable entities or forms that represent cash in a transaction in which money is exchanged for goods, services, or other purposes, or that can be directly used and accepted in place of cash in the transaction. Virtual cash does not include credit cards or other forms of transactions in which goods, services or other purposes are exchanged for a contract to be paid or redeemed in the future. Virtual cash is not intended to imply the money represented and is therefore unrealistic or imaginary; however, the money represented by the virtual cash is not actually in physical form or is currently at hand.

Most, if not all, of the infrastructure required to implement at least some embodiments of such a virtual cash system using wireless means is currently in place and only specific application software needs to be added to enable the specifically required features of such a system to be implemented in a variety of ways. In one embodiment, a scannable bar code 16 may be provided on the display screen 14 of the wireless device 12, shown in FIG. 1. As described below, the bar code 16 provides information that may replace the actual cash use or cost. In another embodiment, a direct cash transfer may be initiated via a user interface, such as the keypad 18 or writable surface (not shown) of the wireless device 12. In yet another embodiment, 802.11, Bluetooth, LAN capability, or other short-range radio signal technology may be used for the wireless device 12 and suitably equipped receiving equipment (not shown). Likewise, Infrared (IR) or other modulated light signal technology may be used for the wireless device 12 and suitably equipped receiving equipment (not shown).

Referring now to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the systems, methods, and apparatus described herein is shown. The system 10 includes a point-of-sale (POS) location 20 for a merchant 22. The POS location 20 may include a checkout station 24 having typical existing equipment, such as a bar code scanner 26 and control and display device 28 associated therewith. The point of sale equipment may also include a server 30 through which the checkout station 24 and other checkout stations (not shown) at the POS 20, or other POS (not shown) that may also be present, may be operated.

The barcode system is described in the embodiment shown in fig. 1, as most wireless devices include a display that can be used, directly or with minor modifications, to display scannable barcode information, as described below. In addition, most POS equipment has the ability to read bar codes. Thus, existing infrastructure may be used without the need for new equipment to facilitate the data exchange required to complete cash transactions of the type described herein.

More particularly, normal POS card transactions may be handled through a service center operable by credit/debit/bankcard companies (e.g., mastercard, visa credit card, american express, or the like). The service center may be, for example, a network service that would typically be used to authorize credit card transactions. Typically, the service center also serves as a clearing and settlement service that will typically transfer payment information between the merchant bank 32 and the customer bank 36.

Card transactions are typically processed in two stages. The first phase is an approval phase in which the cardholder (not shown) presents the card to the merchant 22 to pay for the purchase. The merchant 22 then swipes the card and enters the dollar amount of the purchase. The authorization request is then transmitted to the merchant bank 32 (sometimes referred to as the "acquirer"). The acquirer is a financial institution or merchant bank that enters into a card acceptance contract with the merchant 22 and effects card payment from the customer.

In the case of a credit card transaction, the acquirer sends an authorization request to network 34, and network 34 routes the authorization request to customer bank 36 (sometimes referred to as the "issuer"). The issuer is the financial institution that issues the card and maintains a redemption contract with the cardholder.

The issuer 36 then approves or denies the authorization request and sends an approval or denial response back to the acquirer 32 over the network 34. The acquirer 32 then sends an approval or decline response back to the merchant 22 if authorization is approved, the allowing process proceeds to the second phase for clearing and settlement.

During the clearing and settlement phase, the merchant 22 deposits a transaction receipt with the acquirer 32. The transaction may be deposited using paper copies, but may be transmitted electronically for automatic settlement. The acquirer 32 then credits the merchant's account and electronically submits the transaction to the network service 34 for settlement. Existing network services 34 may, for example, act as authorization services for card transactions as described above, but also as clearing and settlement services for transferring payment information between parties. Typically, the network service 34 pays the acquirer 32 and debits the issuer account, then sends the transaction to the issuer 36. The issuer 36 then posts the transaction to the cardholder's account.

Although the virtual cash system, method, and apparatus 10 described herein may be used in this credit/debit card environment, according to one embodiment, the wireless device 30 may be used as follows: cash payments may be made through the wireless device 30 or indicia providing virtual cash equivalents may be displayed through the wireless device 30 for making direct cash payments. In this embodiment, a substantial portion of the authorization phase previously employed in the credit/debit card transactions described above may be minimized or eliminated.

For this purpose, a pre-established cash purchase amount is used. The pre-established cash purchase amount may be held in an account record 38, the account record 38 associating a predetermined cash balance with the particular wireless device 12. The account record may be maintained by the transaction processing center 40, and the transaction processing center 40 may be operated in a manner similar to existing purchase card processing centers. An example of the operations performed by such a shopping card processing center can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,999,569, which is incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, the actual account record may be maintained in the memory of the wireless device itself or elsewhere; however, where account records are managed by a separate processing center under the control of a trusted financial institution, security can be more easily monitored and maintained, as described herein.

Unlike a purchase card, the wireless device 12 has a display 14, and the available cash information may be displayed on the display 14 in the form of bar code information 16 (readable by the merchant's scanner equipment 26). As mentioned, existing equipment may be utilized with appropriate software modifications. For example, the wireless device 12 may be equipped with an appropriate Application Programming Interface (API) to configure the wireless device 12 to save available cash information in its memory and display the desired bar code information 16 on its display 14.

Alternatively, the equipment of the merchant 22 may be modified by appropriate software to recognize the transaction as a cash payment transaction. This embodiment enables the use of the transaction processing centre 40 to operate in a similar manner to a shopping card transaction, allowing the first stage credit card authorisation process described above to be bypassed.

More particularly, the barcode information 14 may generally contain, for example, account identification information, a security code, an available cash amount, or a combination thereof. The account identification information may be, for example, a PIN number selected by the user, a telephone number of the wireless device, some form of Mobile Identification Number (MIN), an Electronic Serial Number (ESN), identification information obtained from the Mobile Identification Number (MIN) and the Electronic Serial Number (ESN), a real account number, or some other identification information by which an account of the wireless device through which the transaction is conducted may be associated with the account record 38.

As indicated above, in addition to indicating available cash information, the barcode 16 may include security information. The secure information may be, for example, a form of rolling code that changes with each transaction and is synchronized with a code at the processing center to which the secure information is sent to at least partially validate the point-of-sale transaction. The rolling code may be used as a security measure to protect both the customer and the merchant.

In typical operation, the rolling code may be sent with each transaction, but updated after each transaction so that the rolling code differs from one transaction to the next. The code may be received and decoded by a processing center to verify that the code is the correct code. In this way, if a person in possession of the wireless device attempts to defeat the system by thwarting the rolling code change, a second transaction based on the same rolling code as the earlier transaction will be rejected.

For example, a suitable rolling code may be modified from a rolling code of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,475, which is incorporated herein by reference. For greater security, for example, both fixed and rolling codes may be used, such as a code modified from a code arrangement of the type described in U.S. patent No. 6,980,655, which is incorporated herein by reference. The fixed portion of the security code may be provided by, for example, the customer's bank 36 upon confirmation that the predetermined funds have been deposited under the customer's direction. Of course, it may be equally advantageous to employ other security codes, rolling codes, or other types of security or authentication techniques.

The available cash amount may simply be a barcode indicating the amount of money available for spending contained in the account 38.

In addition, other information may be displayed on the display 14 as desired, depending on the particular application under consideration, the ease of use facilitated, and the space available on the screen. For example, available cash in human readable form may be displayed for verification by the shopper or by the merchant prior to attempting to complete the transaction. Routing information to customer bank 36 may also be displayed if desired. Other information may also be displayed as well.

Thus, some or all of the barcode information may be used by the processing center 40 to validate the transaction, for example, to ensure that a verified security code and sufficient funds exist in the mobile device account to complete the transaction. The verification may take the form of mere indication of "accept" if there is a sufficient amount of money in the account 38 for shopping, or a "reject" indication if the balance is exceeded. Alternatively, the verification may return a number indicating the amount of money available for shopping, giving a balance to be replenished by the shopper.

Although the money balance information will be stored at the processing center, the actual amount will be established by the user. For example, a monetary balance may be established by: authorizing the customer bank 36 to move the money itself to be associated with the account 38 to the processing center 40 or by authorization to draw spent money from the customer bank 36 that is payable to the merchant bank 32 to be credited to the merchant account.

In one embodiment, money may be moved directly into account 38 by a third party device 41 making a direct payment, e.g., third party device 41 paying directly from its own respective wireless device cash account 38' to account 38 associated with wireless device 12. If desired, the account holder may need to maintain a maximum balance in account 38 so that the excess amount deposited into account 38 is redeemed directly into the account holder's account at customer bank 36.

As mentioned above, the wireless device 12 is configured such that cash payments may be made or such that indicia providing virtual cash equivalents may be displayed for making cash payments. Thus, as suggested above, if the wireless device is considered to represent or carry cash itself, one embodiment provides for a situation where identification or other classification of user authentication needs is not required. That is, the actual monetary amount is associated with the wireless device rather than the user. Because of this characteristic, carrying virtual cash represented in a wireless device has some of the same risks as carrying cash itself. Thus, for example, if a wireless device is lost, the person being picked up may be able to spend virtual cash, as would be the case if the actual cash in a lost wallet or purse.

However, some of the risks of carrying cash may be reduced. For example, if a wireless device is lost, there is an opportunity to protect cash value if the issuer 36 is notified before a finder makes a purchase. In such a case, the account record 38 in the processing center may be modified to deny authorization to make a purchase on the account. Additionally, because the account 38 contains only a limited predetermined amount of money, the scope of liability for the lost wireless device is limited to the predetermined amount. The limits may be established, for example, by the owner of the wireless device, who may weigh his own level of risk of reassurance against the amount of money he places in his account, in the same way that he decides how much actual cash he can confidently carry.

Referring additionally now to FIG. 2, one embodiment of a method for conducting cash transactions of the type described is illustrated. After the cash account 38 is set up by the processing center 40, the customer instructs his bank 36 to credit the account with a predetermined amount of money, as shown in box 50. The customer's bank 36 then credits the account 38 associated with the customer's wireless device 12 according to the customer's instructions, shown in block 52. This may be accomplished directly or via instructing the processing center 40 to credit the account with the deposited funds, as shown in block 54.

The customer's bank 36 then sends cash information to the customer's wireless device via the wireless system 45 indicating that the predetermined amount of money has been transferred into the customer's account 38, as shown in block 56. The cash information may be stored, for example, in a memory of the customer's wireless device. As mentioned, as part of the cash information, the customer's bank 36 may also include a bank security code that may be incorporated into the security code, which may be sent by the wireless device 12 to the processing center 40 to verify the spending transaction. Thus, when the processing center 40 updates the customer account information with the deposit information, it may also associate a bank security code, if sent, as shown in block 54.

When a customer wishes to shop, he first configures his wireless device (as shown in block 62) to display on his display screen 14 the bar code 16 that needs to be scanned. For example, the wireless device 12 may be configured by running an API that accesses memory in which cash information has been stored to generate and display an appropriate bar code 16 on the display 14 of the wireless device 12.

If a security code is also sent to help verify the transaction, the barcode 16 may be configured to include the security code in addition to indicating available cash information. The security code may be generated as part of the device configuration process, as shown in block 63.

As described above, while the customer is configuring their wireless device 12 to display the barcode, the merchant 22 enters the amount to be paid by the customer, for example, via the control and display device 28, shown in block 64. The merchant then scans the barcode 16 displayed on the customer's wireless device 12, shown in box 66. The merchant or equipment of the merchant then sends the information obtained from the scanned bar code 16 to the processing center 40 along with the amount to be paid, as shown in block 68, the processing center 40 verifies the bar code 16 information, identifies the customer account 38 to which the purchase amount is to be debited, and verifies the required funds deposited to complete the transaction, as shown in block 70.

The processing center 40 then notifies the merchant 22, for example, of sufficient funds, insufficient funds, or the amount of each fund available for the transaction according to predefined notification rules. The merchant then completes the transaction, shown in block 72.

At the same time, the processing center 40 settles the transaction by debiting the amount to be paid from the customer's account 38 and depositing the amount to be paid in the merchant's account, as shown in block 74. The processing center 40 then notifies the customer's bank 36 of the transaction, as shown in block 76. The customer's bank then wirelessly updates the wireless device information over a wireless network, such as wireless network 45, as shown in block 78. For example, if the amount to be paid is less than the pre-authorized cash amount, the remaining amount in the customer's account is determined, such as by the processing center, and the remaining balance is transmitted to the wireless device for additional spending. If the entire amount has been depleted, the fact is also sent to inform the customer that he needs to transfer additional money to his wireless device account 38 if additional purchases are made.

At this juncture, it should be noted that although only one wireless network 45 is shown, the wireless network is ubiquitous and the wireless device 12 can be located almost anywhere while still being able to communicate with the customer bank 36. Thus, one of the advantages obtained from this embodiment is: the overall use of virtual cash devices and systems of the type described is not geographically limited as long as wireless services are available. Further, while the notification transaction has been described as being conducted by the customer's bank, it should be understood that the notification transaction may be performed by any other entity (e.g., the processing center 40 itself) or other entity that assumes responsibility for account updates.

In addition to making cash purchases at different point-of-sale locations as described above, virtual cash systems of the type described have a number of other advantages. For example, as suggested above, using the keypad 18 or other user interface of the wireless device, the user may transfer money directly into another user's wireless device account. Thus, for example, cash payments may be made directly to a wireless device account of a temporary service provider (e.g., a housekeeper, a temporary baby carrier, or the like). The change may be paid by transferring money directly to an account associated with the child's personal wireless device. In addition, parents may establish pre-authorized spending limits for their child's wireless device accounts; for example, a child's spending may be limited to purchasing food at a school cafeteria, or a purchase at certain authorized merchants for a particular discretionary fee. Other uses will be immediately apparent to those skilled in the art.

It should be noted that although a bar code implementation has been described in detail, the account identification information, security code, and available cash amount indicator may take other forms that may be recognized by the merchant's equipment. For example, in alternative embodiments, one or more of the indicators may be implemented in whole or in part by rfid radio links, which are well known and convey data to nearby readers.

In yet another alternative embodiment, any or all of the account identification information, security code, and available cash amount indicator may be displayed on the display of the wireless device in a recognizable picture format, such as a series of alphanumeric characters that may be manually entered by the merchant as part of a sales transaction.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims (29)

1. A virtual cash system, comprising:

an account record containing a record of a monetary amount associated with the wireless device; and

a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting predetermined information from the record to the wireless device, the predetermined information representing an amount of cash that can be spent from the record directly from the wireless device.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a system for receiving money information to be added to and debited from the account record.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a system wherein money can be added to the account record by wireless indication from a third party.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a security code checking apparatus that can verify a different security code received from the wireless device for each transaction with respect to the account record.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an account record update system for providing account record update information to the transmitter for transmission to the wireless device.

6. A wireless device, comprising:

a display screen;

a receiver for wirelessly receiving account information indicative of an amount of cash that may be spent; and

display means for displaying available cash information on the display screen sufficient to enable spending at least a portion of the cash amount.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the information on the display screen comprises a barcode.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein at least some of the information is displayed on the display screen in the form of a bar code.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein at least some of the information is displayed on the display screen in the form of human-readable information.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the human-readable information includes a number indicating a cash amount available for spending.

11. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the information comprises information limiting spending authorization for shopping at a particular point of sale.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the information further comprises information limiting the spending authorization to a predetermined maximum cash amount.

13. A virtual cash system for use with a wireless device having a display screen and having a receiver for wirelessly receiving account information representing an amount of cash that may be spent directly from the wireless device, the virtual cash system comprising:

an account record specifying a cash amount that can be spent associated with the wireless device;

a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting the account information to the wireless device to enable a user determined portion of the cash amount to be spent directly from the wireless device; and

means for receiving spending information from the wireless device indicating that the user-determined portion of the cash amount is debited from the account record.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein at least some of the account information is displayed on the display screen in a barcode, and wherein the means for receiving spending information is a barcode reader.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein at least some of the account information and amount spent are wirelessly transmitted by the wireless device and wherein the means for receiving expense information is an entity that maintains the account record.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein at least some of the account information is transmitted by an IR transmitter on the wireless device, and wherein the means for receiving expense information is an IR receiver.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein at least some of the account information is transmitted by a short range radio transmitter on the wireless device, and wherein the means for receiving expense information is a short range radio receiver.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the short range radio transmitter and receiver are part of a system selected from the group consisting of 802.11, bluetooth, and LAN systems.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising means for delivering account update information to the transmitter indicating a change in the account record.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the wireless device is another type of sending a rolling security code for each spending transaction with respect to the account record, and further comprising a security code check apparatus that can verify the security code sent by the wireless device.

21. A method for operating a virtual cash system, comprising:

wirelessly transmitting information about a fund balance in a monetary account to a wireless device to enable a user-determined portion of the fund balance to be spent as cash directly from the wireless device;

reading information from the wireless device that enables identification of the monetary account;

determining to partially debit the money account for the user of the fund balance; and

wirelessly updating the information regarding the balance in the wireless device.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the reading comprises scanning a barcode on a display of the wireless device that enables identification of the monetary account.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising reading a security code from the wireless device that enables verification of a balance of funds in the account.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the security code is a rolling security code that changes after each debit transaction.

25. A method for operating a virtual cash system, comprising:

maintaining a monetary account containing funds designated by a user of the mobile device;

wirelessly transmitting information about the funds to the wireless device;

receiving an indication from a merchant to debit a specified amount of money from the funds, the indication containing information identifying the money account received from the wireless device;

debiting the designated amount from the funds; and

crediting the debited specified amount to an account of the merchant.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising wirelessly transmitting updated information about the funds to the wireless device after the specified amount has been debited from the funds.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the information received from the wireless device identifying the monetary account is information received from a barcode scanned by the merchant from a display of the wireless device.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising reading a security code from the wireless device that enables verification of a balance of funds in the account.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the security code is a rolling security code that changes after each debit transaction.