VIRTUAL POINT OF SALE PROCESSING USING GATEWAY-INITIATED MESSAGES

Secure transmission of data is provided between a plurality of computer systems over a public communication system, such as the Internet. For example, secure transmission of data is provided between a merchant server and an acquirer gateway using Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) compliant messages. However, gateway-initiated messages are not SET compliant. Accordingly, secure transmission of data using additional messages that are not SET compliant is provided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, a method for virtual point of sale processing using gateway-initiated messages, includes establishing a first communication link (e.g., operating under the Internet Protocol) between an acquirer gateway and a merchant server, the first communication link being initiated by the acquirer gateway, and transmitting a gateway-initiated message (e.g., a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions(MIME) -encapsulated PKCS-7 message that includes a request for management information base data of the merchant server) via the first communication link from the acquirer gateway to the merchant server. The method also includes establishing a second communication link (e.g., operating under the Internet Protocol) between the acquirer gateway and the merchant server, the second communication link being initiated by the merchant server, and transmitting a Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) message via the second communication link from the merchant server to the acquirer gateway.