American software maker Intuit was granted a patent for processing payments in bitcoin through SMS text messages. The application for a patent is published on the website of the Office for patents and trademarks (USPTO).
The document describes the system by which users can transfer money to bitcoin by sending SMS from their phones. It is noteworthy that the application was first filed back in 2014 — around the same time when the company has partnered with BitPay to create a service PayByCoin that allows representatives of small and medium size businesses with accounting services of Intuit QuickBooks to send your customers invoices in bitcoin.
“The invention involves a mechanism for receiving by a payment service on mobile payment device of the payer a text message comprising the payment amount and the identifier of the mobile device of the recipient,” reads the application.
In this case confirmation can be used the balance of the virtual account of the payer, which is made on the basis of the payment service. Then, in response to the payment SMS creates a virtual account number tied to the device ID, and the funds are being transferred.
In addition to the interaction between the virtual accounts created for the purposes of system management, the application describes various possible approaches to the confirmation process of the transaction. One of them is based on sending “a voice mail message for a predetermined period of time” after receiving a text message with further matching the mobile device ID taken from the SMS.
Another approach involves the use of a password system, control of which will be implemented through SMS and virtual accounts associated with the identity of each mobile device.
Note, at the end of March this year to test the service, which allows users to make transactions with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) via SMS, began the company Cointext provider payment blockchain solutions.
Overall, the potential of using mobile phones for wide distribution of crypto-currencies researched for several years, often this is seen as the key to solving the problem of lack of access to banking services a huge number of people in many countries, such as Africa. As you know, with all the cryptocurrencies, they remain unavailable for this category due to the high cost of Internet access and computer equipment.
Work in this direction is underway by many companies. We will remind, recently the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer HTC has announced the release of smartphone with built-in cryptocurrency wallet and support games CryptoKitties.
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