System and method for utilizing a universal prepaid card

• US 10,068,225 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2015
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Expensify Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Espensify Incorporated
• Inventors: Barrett, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Obaid, Fateh M
• Application Number:
  US14/730,139
• Publication Number:
  US 20150269560A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,189 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/347 Passive cards

Abstract

A network service operates to initialize and link a card instrument to a merchant or merchant location, so that the merchant can receive funds the service. One or more requests are detected to use the card instrument for one or more transactions, where each transaction involves a corresponding customer who has registered a customer funding account with the network service. For each of the transactions, a merchant account is funded using a funding account of the card instrument.

Claims

1. A computer system implementing a network transaction service, the computer system comprising:

a network communication interface being remotely connected, over one or more networks, to mobile computing devices of customers of a merchant;

a set of memory resources storing instructions;

one or more processors executing the instructions, wherein execution of the instructions by the one or more processors causes the computer system to;

activate a universal prepaid card for use at a merchant location of the merchant, the universal prepaid card physically residing at the merchant location;

maintain a list of users of the network transaction service who are authorized to use the universal prepaid card as customers of the merchant, each user being associated with a customer funding account;

link the universal prepaid card to a merchant account associated with the merchant;

receive, via the network communication interface, position data from the mobile computing device of a given user of the network transaction service to determine that the given user is located at the merchant location;

receive, via the network communication interface, request data from the mobile computing device of the given user, the request data identifying the given user and comprising a transaction request from the given user to use the universal prepaid card at the merchant location;

based on the position data indicating that the given user is located at the merchant location, determine the merchant account of the merchant;

based on the request data, transfer funds from a shared fund account, associated with the network transaction service, to the merchant account to fulfill the transaction request from the given user; and

transfer funds from the customer funding account of the given user to the shared fund account in an amount corresponding to the transaction request.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the computer system to:

transmit, via the network communication interface, a notification to the mobile computing device of the given user in response to determining that the given user is located at the merchant location, the notification informing the given user that the universal prepaid card is available for use at the merchant location.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the network communication interface further remotely connects the computer system to a point-of-sale terminal of the merchant, and wherein the executed instructions further cause the computer system to:

transmit, via the network communication interface, a message to the point-of-sale terminal of the merchant, the message indicating that the given user is using the universal prepaid card.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the executed instructions further cause the computer system to:

based on transmitting the message, receive, from the point-of-sale terminal of the merchant via the network communication interface, a confirmation that the merchant will use the universal prepaid card to fulfill the transaction request from the given user; and

based on the confirmation, transmit, via the network communication interface, a notification to the mobile computing device of the given user, the notification notifying that the given user can leave the merchant location.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the computer system to:

transmit, via the network communication interface, an electronic receipt to the mobile computing device of the given user after transferring the funds from the customer funding account of the given user to the shared fund account.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions further cause the computer system to:

receive, via the network communication interface, a pre-authorization from a financial entity corresponding to the customer funding account for the amount of the transaction request;

wherein the executed instructions cause the computer system to transfer the funds from the customer funding account to the shared fund account based on the pre-authorization.

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein computer system processes the transaction request from the given user without the given user and the merchant communicating directly with one another.

8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the network transaction service comprises multiple merchants each utilizing a corresponding universal prepaid card, and wherein the executed instructions further cause the computer system to:

transmit, to the mobile computing device of the given user via the network communication interface, a notification indicating that the network transaction service is available when the user is in a given vicinity to a corresponding merchant location of each of the multiple merchants.

9. The computer system of claim 4, wherein the executed instructions cause the computer system to link the universal prepaid card with the shared fund account in response to the universal prepaid card being utilized at the point-of-sale terminal.

10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the universal prepaid card is linked with the point-of sale terminal of the merchant.

11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the executed instructions cause the computer system to transfer the funds from the customer funding account to the shared fund account of the network transaction service based on detecting, from the position data received from the mobile computing device of the given user, the given user leaving the merchant location.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of computer system implementing a network transaction service, cause the one or more processors to:

activate a universal prepaid card for use at a merchant location of a merchant, the universal prepaid card physically residing at the merchant location;

maintain a list of users of the network transaction service who are authorized to use the universal prepaid card as customers of the merchant, each user being associated with a customer funding account;

link the universal prepaid card to a merchant account associated with the merchant;

receive, via a network communication interface, position data from a mobile computing device of a given user of the network transaction service to determine that the given user is located at the merchant location;

receive, via the network communication interface, request data from the mobile computing device of the given user, the request data identifying the given user and comprising a transaction request from the given user to use the universal prepaid card at the merchant location;

based on the position data indicating that the given user is located at the merchant location, determine the merchant account of the merchant;

based on the request data, transfer funds from a shared fund account, associated with the network transaction service, to the merchant account to fulfill the transaction request from the given user; and

transfer funds from the customer funding account of the given user to the shared fund account in an amount corresponding to the transaction request.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

transmit, via the network communication interface, a notification to the mobile computing device of the given user in response to determining that the given user is located at the merchant location, the notification informing the given user that the universal prepaid card is available for use at the merchant location.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the network communication interface further remotely connects the computer system to a point-of-sale terminal of the merchant, and wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

transmit, via the network communication interface, a message to the point-of-sale terminal of the merchant, the message indicating that the given user is using the universal prepaid card.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

based on transmitting the message, receive, from the point-of-sale terminal of the merchant via the network communication interface, a confirmation that the merchant will use the universal prepaid card to fulfill the transaction request from the given user; and

based on the confirmation, transmit, via the network communication interface, a notification to the mobile computing device of the given user, the notification notifying that the given user can leave the merchant location.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

transmit, via the network communication interface, an electronic receipt to the mobile computing device of the given user after transferring the funds from the customer funding account of the given user to the shared fund account.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

receive, via the network communication interface, a pre-authorization from a financial entity corresponding to the customer funding account for the amount of the transaction request;

wherein the executed instructions cause the computer system to transfer the funds from the customer funding account to the shared fund account based on the pre-authorization.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors process the transaction request from the given user without the given user and the merchant communicating directly with one another.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the network transaction service comprises multiple merchants each utilizing a corresponding universal prepaid card, and wherein the executed instructions further cause the one or more processors to:

transmit, to the mobile computing device of the given user via the network communication interface, a notification indicating that the network transaction service is available when the user is in a given vicinity to a corresponding merchant location of each of the multiple merchants.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the executed instructions cause the one or more processors to transfer the funds from the customer funding account to the shared fund account of the network transaction service based on detecting, from the position data received from the mobile computing device of the given user, the given user leaving the merchant location.