Method of paying for a service
First Claim
1. A method of paying for a service with a ticket, said ticket comprising storage and communication means, the method comprising the steps of:
- maintaining a shadow account on said ticket;
determining a provisional tariff for said service;
posting said provisional tariff to said shadow account thereby generating an updated shadow account balance, said posting being in response to a registration for said service;
generating a first data field comprising indication of said registration and ticket identification;
transmitting said data field to a computer, said computer including storage means having ticket associated records, said records including a second data field comprising indication of an actual account; and
posting an actual tariff to said actual account thereby generating an updated actual account balance. transmitting third data fields from a transceiver to said ticket, said third data fields comprising identification of said service and said provisional tariff;
storing said third data fields in storage means of said ticket;
transmitting fourth data fields from said ticket to said transceiver, said fourth data fields comprising identification of service location and said ticket identity;
adding date and time information to said fourth data fields so as to generate modified fourth data fields storing said modified fourth data fields in a storage means associated with said transceiver transmitting said modified fourth data fields from said transceiver to said remote computer;
calculating an actual cost based upon at least said actual tariff, service, and service location;
booking said actual cost to said actual account; and
saving said updated actual account balance associated with said ticket in a storage medium.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
When registering electronic tickets by means of a transmitter/receiver unit located in a railway carriage, for charging purposes data is created in a remote computer system which yields a movement profile for the persons using such tickets. For the anonymous prepaid registration of tickets it is proposed that a shadow account be maintained on the tickets to which postings are made using provisional tariff units contained in transmitted information units. In the remote computer system, a booking or posting is made to an account assigned to the respective ticket, using definitive tariff units contained in tariff tables. When a prepayment is made or at certain points in time the balance of the shadow account is synchronized with the balance on the remote computer system. As a result of the fact that the value of the provisional tariff unit is greater than that of the definitive tariff unit and/or that a discounting scheme can be implemented on the account on the remote computer system, a safety measure of excess balance is present on the ticket account balance.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method of paying for a service with a ticket, said ticket comprising storage and communication means, the method comprising the steps of:
-
maintaining a shadow account on said ticket;
determining a provisional tariff for said service;
posting said provisional tariff to said shadow account thereby generating an updated shadow account balance, said posting being in response to a registration for said service;
generating a first data field comprising indication of said registration and ticket identification;
transmitting said data field to a computer, said computer including storage means having ticket associated records, said records including a second data field comprising indication of an actual account; and
posting an actual tariff to said actual account thereby generating an updated actual account balance. transmitting third data fields from a transceiver to said ticket, said third data fields comprising identification of said service and said provisional tariff;
storing said third data fields in storage means of said ticket;
transmitting fourth data fields from said ticket to said transceiver, said fourth data fields comprising identification of service location and said ticket identity;
adding date and time information to said fourth data fields so as to generate modified fourth data fields storing said modified fourth data fields in a storage means associated with said transceiver transmitting said modified fourth data fields from said transceiver to said remote computer;
calculating an actual cost based upon at least said actual tariff, service, and service location;
booking said actual cost to said actual account; and
saving said updated actual account balance associated with said ticket in a storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification