Payments Patent Wrap: PayPal Seeks One Honest Room

Our weekly look at the most interesting--or perplexing--Patents or Patents Pending from the payments industry. PayPal on Thursday (Feb. 4) applied for a patent that would determine the security level of a set of coordinates and remember it, allowing for less stringent authentication and security when making a purchase that place.

Also, EBay on Feb. 4 (Thursday) filed for a Patent on a way for truck fleets and consumers to more intelligently purchase fuel. And MasterCard on Thursday (Feb. 4) filed for a patent application that would look at non-compliant merchants and track activities to find other naughty players. The card brand is operating on the rationale that thieves tend to hang out together--and that shoppers who buy from one illegal store will likely go to another disreputable merchant if the first one is shut down.