A
system loads, authenticates and uses a virtual
smart card for
payment of goods and / or services purchased on-line over
the Internet. An online purchase and load (OPAL)
server includes a virtual
smart card data base that has a
record of information for each
smart card that it represents for a user at the behest of an issuer. The
server includes a smart card emulator that emulates a smart card by using the card data base and a
hardware security module. The emulator interacts with a pseudo
card reader module in the
server that imitates a physical
card reader. The server also includes a
client code module that interacts with the pseudo
card reader and a remote
payment or load server. A pass-through
client terminal presents a
user interface and passes information between the OPAL server and a merchant server, and between the OPAL server and a
bank server.
The Internet provides the routing functionality between the
client terminal and the various servers. A merchant advertises goods on a
web site. A user uses the client terminal to purchase goods and / or services from the remote merchant server. The
payment server processes, confirms and replies to the merchant server. The payment server is also used to authenticate the holder of a virtual card who wishes to redeem loyalty points from a merchant. To load value, the client terminal requests a load from a user account at the
bank server. The load server processes, confirms and replies to the
bank server.