Group peer-to-peer financial transactions
First Claim
1. A method for conducting a group transaction comprising:
- acquiring by an initiator device a group invoice comprising a complete list of a plurality of group invoice items;
forming, by the initiator device, an ad hoc network of customers'"'"' devices, wherein the customers associated with the customers'"'"' devices have a potential payment obligation for a portion of the group invoice, the ad hoc network including the initiator device connected for reconciling the group invoice;
transmitting, by way of the ad hoc network, the group invoice to each of the customers'"'"' devices in the ad hoc network;
receiving an apportionment of the group invoice items to at least a plurality of the customers;
updating the group invoice, wherein updating the group invoice includes listing the identity of the customer assigned to each partial invoice of a plurality of partial invoices, wherein the plurality of partial invoices are determined based on the received apportionment of the group invoice items; and
collecting by the initiator device, a payment for the each of the partial invoices based on payment information received from the respective customer device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various techniques are provided for carrying out peer-to-peer financial transactions using one or more electronic devices. In one embodiment, a request for payment is transmitted from a first device to a second device using a near field communication (NFC) interface. In response to the request, the second device may transmit payment information to the first device. The first device may select a crediting account and, using a suitable communication protocol, may communicate the received payment information and selected crediting account to one or more external financial servers configured to process and determine whether the payment may be authorized. If the payment is authorized, a payment may be credited to the selected crediting account. In a further embodiment, a device may include a camera configured to obtain an image of a payment instrument. The device may further include an application to extract payment information from the acquired image.
146 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for conducting a group transaction comprising:
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acquiring by an initiator device a group invoice comprising a complete list of a plurality of group invoice items; forming, by the initiator device, an ad hoc network of customers'"'"' devices, wherein the customers associated with the customers'"'"' devices have a potential payment obligation for a portion of the group invoice, the ad hoc network including the initiator device connected for reconciling the group invoice; transmitting, by way of the ad hoc network, the group invoice to each of the customers'"'"' devices in the ad hoc network; receiving an apportionment of the group invoice items to at least a plurality of the customers; updating the group invoice, wherein updating the group invoice includes listing the identity of the customer assigned to each partial invoice of a plurality of partial invoices, wherein the plurality of partial invoices are determined based on the received apportionment of the group invoice items; and collecting by the initiator device, a payment for the each of the partial invoices based on payment information received from the respective customer device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for conducting a group transaction, the system comprising an initiating handheld electronic device configured to:
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establish a communication path with a communication interface of a vendor device and to acquire a group invoice from the vendor device through the communication path, wherein the group invoice comprises a complete list of a plurality of items on the group invoice; initiate formation of an ad hoc network of customers'"'"' devices, wherein the customers have a potential payment obligation for a portion of the group invoice, the ad hoc network including the initiating handheld electronic device connected for reconciling the group invoice; transmit, by way of the ad hoc network, the group invoice to each of the customers'"'"' devices; receive an apportionment of the group invoice items to at least a plurality of the customers; update the group invoice, wherein updating the group invoice includes listing the identity of the customer device assigned to each partial invoice of a plurality of partial invoices, wherein the plurality of partial invoices are determined based on the received apportionment of the group invoice items; and collect a payment for each of the partial invoices by receiving payment information for each of respective group members. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A handheld electronic device comprising:
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a processor; at least one communication interface configured to initiate formation of an ad hoc network of customers'"'"' devices; and a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to store a transaction application executable by the processor, wherein the transaction application is configured to; receive from a vendor device, a group invoice including a plurality of individual group invoice items and respective costs, initiate formation of the ad hoc network between the handheld electronic device and a plurality of customers'"'"' devices, wherein the customers have a potential payment obligation for a portion of the group invoice, the ad hoc network of customers'"'"' devices including the electronic device; update, in real time, the group invoice provided to the customers'"'"' devices as the individual group invoice items are apportioned to group members. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification