T-mobile Deutschland Gmbh

Leonhard Schmickler

Patrik Ljungström

Uwe Michel

Michael Langer

Johann Reindl

Walter Mohrs

Peter Brune

Ulrike Feuser

Michel Uwe

Jörg Rass

A method for controlling and operating a vending machine that incorporates a mobile radiocommunication transmit/receive unit and can be called from a user's mobile telephone unit over a mobile telephone network via an abbreviated mobile telephone number affixed on the vending machine. The method includes, upon receipt of a call from the user's mobile telephone unit to the abbreviated mobile telephone number on the vending machine, establishing a connection to a bank and determining if the user has an account at that bank, and if so, whether there are sufficient funds in the user's account, if the user has an account and there are sufficient funds, prompting, via the vending machine, the user to select a merchandise item, after the merchandise item has been dispensed, generating, a billing entry in the vending machine, and settling the billing entry via a payment gateway, the step of settling comprising accessing a mini-payment account the user has opened with a bank, and determining the mini-payment account number based on the user's mobile telephone number.

Method for controlling a machine dispensing good and charging of goods thus dispensed

The invention relates to a method for billing internet transactions via mobile radio telephone service. By using WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), it is possible to select and, optionally, reserve goods and services (information, tickets, CD's, hotel rooms, etc) sold via the internet. When the customer decides to purchase the good or service, he or she conducts a payment transaction from the mobile radio telephone device. According to the invention, the customer data required for conducting a payment transaction is centrally maintained in a database of a payment gateway.

Method for billing internet transactions via mobile radio telephone service

A method is provided for a mobile telephone users to pay small individual fees for certain content when surfing the Internet using a mobile telephone terminal, for example, a WAP-enabled terminal. The method establishes a payment gateway which is accessible by the mobile telephone Internet user via the mobile telephone terminal and by a provider via a provider server. Customer data of the user is held securely in a database of the payment gateway and is not transmitted over the Internet or held in the mobile terminal. A micropayment account opened at a bank is synchronized continuously with the payment gateway. To provide payment of fees for content, a reservation of a certain amount is made in the payment account via the payment gateway and is authorized by the user to the provider allowing the provider to debit amounts against the reservation. Actual charges are transmitted from the provider to the payment gateway and allocated against the reservation debiting the amounts from the micropayment account, crediting the provider and canceling the reserved amount.

Method for charging internet services via a mobile telephone

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Bonn, Germany

Leonhard Schmickler