G06Q 20/00 - Definition 
Definition statement
This subclass covers:
Data processing systems or processes specially adapted to implement procedures for fulfilling a financial obligation or debt.
Complete systems involving payment protocols, e.g.
- electronic money systems;
- payment protocols relating to electronic shopping systems;
- payment protocols involving point-of-sale devices (POS);
- payment protocols involving a telephone service provider;
- payment protocols involving a billing system;
- payment protocols involving IC cards, magnetic cards, electronic wallets, or electronic money safe;
- payment protocols involving wireless devices, e.g. mobile phones;
- payment aspects of banking applications;
- complete pre-payment systems;
- secured payment transactions.
Relationship between large subject matter areas
This group covers "payment protocols" with the meaning explained in the Glossary below.
It does not cover then generic network protocols, e.g. internet protocols, which are instead classified in H04L 29/06, but it covers those network/secure protocols specially adapted for payments, which may be of lower layer or be security oriented.
References relevant to classification in this subclass
This subclass does not cover:
Billing, shopping or e-commerce per se | G06Q 30/00 |
Electronic finance, e.g. home-banking, online-banking, electronic funds transfer (EFT) systems per se | G06Q 40/00 |
Automatic teller machines (ATMs) | G07F 19/00 |
Protocols for controlled communication | H04L 29/06 |
Billing or payment related to telephone services | H04M 15/00 |
Billing or payment related to wireless services | H04W 4/24 |
Informative references
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Mechanisms actuated by coded identity card, credit card or IC card | G07F 7/08 |
Electronic cash registers (ECR) | G07G 1/12 |
Secure communication, e.g. by cryptography | H04L 9/00 |
Special rules of classification
When classifying in groups G06Q 10/00-G06Q 40/00, systems or methods that are specially adapted for a specific business sector must also be classified in group G06Q 50/00, when the special adaptation is determined to be novel and non-obvious. By way of example, a method for billing which involves significant data processing and is specially adapted in a non-obvious way to the electricity-supply sector, should be classified in both G06Q 30/00 and G06Q 50/00.
Glossary of terms
In this subclass, the following terms or expressions are used with the meaning indicated:
| Payment protocol | A procedure that allows executing a payment between a merchant, a bank, a user and sometimes a third party; the procedure usually including authorization and authentication of all parties involved. |
| Electronic wallet | A software application managing all kind of personal information, e.g. data for completing online forms. This term is often used to indicate an electronic purse (see below). |
| Electronic purse | A software application managing electronic currency. |
Synonyms and Keywords
In patent documents the expression/word "tokens, virtual money, electronic money" is often used instead of "electronic currency" which is used in the classification scheme of this subclass.