Staged transactions systems and methods

• US 20040030647A1
• Filed: 05/21/2003
• Published: 02/12/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Western Union
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Algiene, Kenneth, Sayor, Thomas B., Hansen, Kurt L., Vialpando, Sharon K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,184,989 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/085 involving remote charge determination or related payment systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0855 involving a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3433 the counter having monetary units
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/367 involving electronic purses or money safes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3672 initialising or reloading thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/383 Anonymous user system
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 : using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 : Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 : Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 : Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 : Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 : Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 : Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 : Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/02 : by keys or other credit registering devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/025 : by means, e.g. cards, providing billing information at the time of purchase, e.g. identification of seller or purchaser, quantity of goods delivered or to be delivered

Abstract

Systems and methods for accepting payments for goods and services provided by a merchant. In one embodiment, a method for accepting payments from a consumer for a good or service provided by a merchant comprises receiving a transaction request from the merchant, receiving a payment from the consumer, associating the payment with the transaction request, and sending at least a portion of the payment to the merchant. In this manner, the merchant stages the transaction, and the consumer completes the transaction by making the payment. An optional time limit feature also may be used, and the transaction may be staged by the consumer, or others.

Claims

1. A method for accepting payments from a consumer for a good or service provided by a merchant, the method comprising:

receiving a transaction request from the merchant;

receiving a payment from the consumer;

associating the payment with the transaction request; and

sending at least a portion of the payment to the merchant.

2. The method as in claim 1 further comprising storing a record of the payment and the associated transaction request in a database.

3. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an inquiry from the merchant as to whether the payment was made by the consumer; and

sending a reply to the merchant in response to the inquiry.

4. The method as in claim 1 further comprising providing an indication to the merchant that the payment was made by the consumer.

5. The method as in claim 1 wherein sending at least the portion of the payment to the merchant comprises electronically sending at least the portion of the payment to an account of the merchant.

6. The method as in claim 1 wherein the transaction request comprises a consumer profile.

8. The method as in claim 1 wherein the transaction request comprises a time limit, and wherein associating the payment with the transaction request comprises:

accepting the payment if receiving the payment occurs within the time limit; and

;

rejecting the payment if receiving the payment does not occur within the time limit.

9. The method as in claim 1 further comprising providing the merchant with a transaction identifier that corresponds to the transaction request;

10. The method as in claim 1 wherein receiving the payment comprises receiving the payment if the customer provides a transaction identifier that corresponds to the transaction request.

11. The method as in claim 1 further comprising providing a confirmation to the consumer after the receiving the payment.

12. The method as in claim 11 wherein the confirmation comprises a receipt.

13. The method as in claim 1 further comprising providing the good to the consumer on behalf of the merchant.

14. The method as in claim 13 wherein the good comprises a data package.

15. The method as in claim 1 further comprising providing the consumer with a location of at least one payment location.

7. The method as 6 further comprising verifying a consumer identity against the consumer profile.

16. A method for accepting payments from a consumer for a good or service provided by a merchant, the method comprising:

receiving a transaction request from the merchant, the transaction request comprising a time limit;

providing the merchant with a transaction identifier corresponding to the transaction request;

receiving a payment attempt from the consumer; and

accepting the payment if the payment attempt is within the time limit.

17. The method as in claim 16 further comprising receiving the transaction identifier from the consumer and associating the payment attempt with the transaction identifier to determine if receiving the payment attempt is within the time limit.

18. The method as in claim 16 further comprising providing a confirmation to the merchant to confirm the accepting the payment.

19. The method as in claim 16 further comprising rejecting the payment if the payment attempt is not within the time limit.

20. The method as in claim 19 further comprising reporting the rejecting the payment to the merchant.

21. The method as in claim 16 further comprising rejecting the payment if the payment attempt comprises an insufficient payment amount.

22. The method as in claim 21 further comprising reporting the rejecting the payment to the merchant.

23. The method as in claim 16 further comprising reporting an expiration of the time limit if the payment attempt was not made within the time limit.

24. The method as in claim 16 wherein the transaction request comprises a consumer profile and a goods or services profile.

25. The method as in claim 16 further comprising providing the consumer a confirmation.

26. The method as in claim 16 further comprising transferring at least a portion of the payment to the merchant.

27. The method as in claim 16 wherein the transaction request comprises the time limit and a payment amount.

28. The method as in claim 16 wherein the transaction request comprises the time limit, a payment amount and a consumer profile.

29. The method as in claim 16 wherein the transaction request comprises the time limit, a payment amount, and a goods or services detail.

30. The method as in claim 16 further comprising providing the goods to the consumer on behalf of the merchant if the accepting is within the time limit.

31. A system for receiving payments from consumers that are associated with goods and/or services supplied by a merchant, the system comprising:

a processor and a storage medium, wherein the storage medium includes instructions executable by the processor to;

receive a transaction request from the merchant;

receive a payment entry from the consumer;

associate the payment entry with the transaction request; and

send at least a portion of the payment to the merchant.

32. The system as in claim 31 wherein the transaction request further comprises a time limit, the storage medium further comprising instructions executable by the processor to compare the time limit to a time of the payment entry and reporting a result to the merchant.

33. The system as in claim 31 further comprising a printer adapted for printing a confirmation of the payment entry.

34. The system as in claim 31 wherein the storage medium further comprises instructions executable by the processor to provide a first transaction identifier to the merchant, and wherein the receive the payment entry further comprises receiving the first transaction identifier.

35. The system as in claim 31 further comprising:

a payment provider comprising the processor and the storage medium; and

a point of sale device coupled to the payment provider, the point of sale device adapted to transmit the transaction request to the payment provider.

36. The system as in claim 35 wherein the payment provider further comprises a payment system having a database, and wherein the payment system is configured to permit the transaction request to be input and processed, and to send a transaction identifier to the merchant upon receipt of the transaction request.

37. A method for accepting payments from a consumer for a good or service provided by a merchant, the method comprising:

receiving a transaction request from the consumer;

reporting the transaction request to the merchant;

obtaining a transaction identifier;

receiving a payment from the consumer, the payment associated with the transaction identifier; and

reporting the payment to the merchant.

38. The method as in claim 37 wherein the transaction identifier comprises a payment amount.

39. The method as in claim 37 wherein obtaining the transaction identifier comprises obtaining the transaction identifier from the merchant.

40. The method as in claim 37 wherein the transaction identifier comprises a time limit, and the receiving the payment occurs within the time limit.

41. The method as in claim 37 wherein the merchant comprises a utility company.

42. The method as in claim 37 further comprising providing the customer with a location of at least one payment location.

43. A method for accepting payments on behalf of a merchant, the method comprising:

receiving a transaction request;

reporting the transaction request to the merchant;

associating a transaction identifier with the transaction request;

receiving a payment associated with the transaction identifier; and

reporting the payment to the merchant.

44. The method as in claim 43 wherein receiving the transaction request comprises receiving the transaction request from a beneficiary of the transaction.

45. The method as in claim 43 wherein receiving the transaction request comprises receiving the transaction request from a third party.

46. The method as in claim 43 wherein receiving the payment comprises receiving the payment from a third party.

47. The method as in claim 43 wherein the merchant is adapted to provide a good or service to a beneficiary of the transaction upon receiving the reporting of the payment.