1. Field of the Inventions
The field of the invention relates generally to the generation and provisioning of account numbers and more particularly to the generation and provisioning of credit card account numbers.
2. Background Information
Internet purchases have become more and more common. In a typical Internet transaction, a consumer finds an item they wish to purchase on a merchant's web page. The consumer then initiates a transaction and is asked to provide a credit card number to complete the purchase. Unfortunately, as anyone can attest, it is very difficult to remember a credit card number. Therefore, the consumer must have the card present when they are trying to make an “online” purchase of this type in order to provide the credit card number. Often, such online transactions are not consummated, i.e., they are terminated by the user. One likely reason for cancelled transaction is the fact that consumers do not have their cards present and cannot remember their credit card number.
Credit card numbers are difficult to remember, because they are long, and they are not based on anything known to the consumer. For example, there are several numbers most consumers are familiar with and that they tend to remember, e.g., telephone numbers, driver's license number, social security number, etc. These number tend to be somewhat shorter and somewhat more constant, whereas conventional credit card numbers tend to be longer and less constant. In other words, when a consumer gets a new card, upgrades accounts, or losses their card, etc., their credit card number changes. Thus, a typical credit card number is just not as indelible to the consumer as some other types of numbers.