System & method for distributing stored-value cards
First Claim
1. A method for managing a stored value transaction comprising:
- distributing indicia of an identifier to a merchant for distribution to a customer having a stored value account, the identifier having an associated stored value, the associated stored value being redeemable with at least one of a plurality of providers, and the customer account being associated with a specific one of the plurality of providers;
activating the identifier upon distribution of the indicia to the customer;
receiving a request from the customer to add the associated stored value to the customer account; and
providing to the customer a provider identifier, wherein the provider identifier is effective to add the associated stored value to the customer account.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for supplying communication service value is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes distributing indicia of an identifier to a merchant for distribution to a customer having a customer account. The identifier has an associated service value that is redeemable with a plurality of carriers. The method further includes activating the identifier upon distribution of the indicia to the customer. A central processor may verify whether the merchant is authorized to distribute the indicia to the customer. During distribution to the customer, the merchant may transmit prior transaction information to the central processor, and the central processor may reconcile past billing records based on such prior transaction information. The method also includes receiving a request from the customer to add the associated service value to the customer account and adding the associated service value to the customer account is disclosed. The system and method may be used with any type of stored-value card account, including prepaid emergency road service cards.
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Citations
60 Claims
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1. A method for managing a stored value transaction comprising:
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distributing indicia of an identifier to a merchant for distribution to a customer having a stored value account, the identifier having an associated stored value, the associated stored value being redeemable with at least one of a plurality of providers, and the customer account being associated with a specific one of the plurality of providers;
activating the identifier upon distribution of the indicia to the customer;
receiving a request from the customer to add the associated stored value to the customer account; and
providing to the customer a provider identifier, wherein the provider identifier is effective to add the associated stored value to the customer account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for managing a stored value transaction comprising:
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establishing a set of identifiers at a central system, each identifier having an associated stored value being redeemable with at least one of a plurality of providers;
providing indicia of at least some of the identifiers to a plurality of merchants;
receiving a communication of a first identifier associated with a first indicia from a specific one of the plurality of merchants;
activating the first identifier associated with the first indicia;
receiving a request from a customer to add the associated stored value to a customer account with the specific one of the plurality of providers, the request including the first identifier associated with the first indicia, the customer having received the first indicia from the specific one of the plurality of merchants; and
providing to the customer a provider identifier associated with the specific one of the plurality of providers, wherein the provider identifier is effective to add the associated stored value to the customer account. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computerized method for managing stored-value card data over a communications network between a plurality of terminals and a central processor coupled to a database, each of said terminals being accessible to respective users and located in a respective location generally remote relative to the central processor, the stored-value card data configured to securely process stored-value cards transacted by respective users to enable charging at least one of prepaid services and products to a recipient of the transacted stored-value card, the method comprising:
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storing in the database a plurality of records comprising stored-value card data for each stored-value card;
processing a “
setup”
card assigned to that location through each terminal at that location to capture respective identifiers of each terminal;
associating in each stored record the captured identifiers to uniquely match a respective stored-value card and a respective terminal; and
transmitting a request of stored-value card activation to the central processor from a respective requesting terminal, the central processor configured to accept said activation request based on whether the associated identifiers for the stored-value card to be activated match identifiers actually transmitted by the requesting terminal for that stored-value card and terminal. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A computerized method for managing stored-value card data over a communications network between a plurality of terminals and a central processor, coupled to a database each of said terminals being accessible to respective users and located in a respective location generally remote relative to the central processor, the stored-value card data configured to securely process stored value cards transacted by respective users to enable charging at least one of prepaid services and products to a recipient of the transacted stored-value card, the method comprising:
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storing in the database a plurality of records comprising stored-value card data for each stored-value card;
processing respective identifiers of each terminal;
associating in each stored record the captured terminal identifiers to uniquely match a respective stored-value card and a respective terminal; and
transmitting a request for stored-value card activation to the central processor from a respective requesting terminal, the central processor configured to accept said activation request based on whether the associated identifiers for the stored-value card to be activated match identifiers actually transmitted by the requesting terminal for that stored-value card and terminal, wherein each stored-value card has a predefined value and is pre-associated with a single provider. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A computerized method for securely authorizing and distributing stored-value card data over a communications network, the method comprising:
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storing in a database a plurality of records comprising;
stored-value card data for each stored-value card; and
at least one of information identifying trusted sources for making stored-value card processing requests and information identifying trusted communications networks for carrying or transmitting stored-value card processing requests, receiving a request for changing the status of the stored-value card over a communications network from a requesting terminal;
determining at least one of;
whether the respective requesting terminal is a trusted source of requests; and
whether the communications network is a trusted communications network for carrying or transmitting requests; and
processing the request based on the determining step. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method for reconciling billing information, comprising:
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receiving at a central processor a request to process a current transaction coupled with a prior transaction identifier corresponding to a prior transaction, wherein the current transaction comprises processing a stored value card;
in response to receiving the prior transaction identifier, determining whether the prior transaction is identical to a first transaction based on the prior transaction identifier and amending a first transaction record to indicate that the first transaction is a questionable transaction if the prior transaction is determined to be different from the first transaction. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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Specification