Drive-in restaurant credit-card transaction system

• US 20050177433A1
• Filed: 09/27/2004
• Published: 08/11/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: America's Drive-In Brand Properties LLC (Mavericks, Inc. (d/b/a Inspire Brands, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: America's Dive-In Corp.
• Inventors: Ewald, Richard, Klearman, William I., Williams, Michael Lee
• Granted Patent: US 7,343,006 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/425 using two different networks, one for transaction and one for security confirmation
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0886 the card reader being portable for interacting with a POS or ECR in realizing a payment transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/145 PLU-management

Abstract

A method for conducting credit card transactions at a business having a plurality of remote customer interfaces includes the steps of electronically transmitting a customer'"'"'s order from one of the plurality of remote customer interfaces to a transaction hub, entering the customer'"'"'s order into the transaction hub, transmitting payment information for the customer'"'"'s order from the transaction hub to a credit card interface at the one of the plurality of remote customer interfaces, electronically transmitting credit card information from the credit card interface to the transaction hub and conducting a credit card approval procedure. A presently preferred apparatus includes a system that includes a remote customer interface and a transaction hub. The remote customer interface preferably includes a credit card interface and a radio client. The transaction hub preferably includes a central server and a radio client.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a credit card transaction at a business having a plurality of remote customer interfaces, the method comprising the steps of:

transmitting a customer'"'"'s order from one of the plurality of remote customer interfaces to an order entry terminal;

entering the customer'"'"'s order into a central server of a transaction hub;

transmitting payment information for the customer'"'"'s order from the transaction hub to a credit card interface in the customer interface;

electronically transmitting credit card information from the customer interface to the transaction hub; and

conducting a credit card approval procedure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting a customer'"'"'s order further comprises electronically transmitting the customer'"'"'s order from the customer interface to the terminal via an intercom.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of electronically transmitting credit card information further comprises transmitting the credit card information from a radio host in the customer interface to a radio server in the transaction hub with a radio signal.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising encoding the credit card information before transmitting the credit card information from the radio host to the radio server with a radio signal.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of confirming the customer'"'"'s order on a visual display at the credit card interface.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing the customer with the option of paying with cash.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the option of paying with cash is automatically selected if no credit card information is transmitted from the customer interface after a predetermined period of time.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of generating an order ticket representative of the customer'"'"'s order, wherein the order ticket includes a unique identification number, payment information and information about the location of the customer.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the credit card information is matched with the order ticket according to the location of the customer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the order ticket further reflects whether the customer has paid for the customer'"'"'s order and the real-time status of the customer'"'"'s order.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the order ticket is displayed at operational peripherals to optimize the service provided to the customer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of conducting a credit card approval procedure further comprises transmitting credit card information and payment information from the transaction hub to an external credit card approval network.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of receiving credit card approval information from the external credit card approval network and electronically transmitting the credit card approval information to the customer interface from the transaction hub.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the credit card is a gift card and the step of conducting a credit card approval procedure further comprises the step of transmitting gift card and payment information from the transaction hub to an external gift card approval network.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

generating an order ticket representative of the customer'"'"'s order in the central server;

dividing the order ticket to reflect multiple orders; and

transmitting payment information from the transaction hub to the customer interface for each of the multiple orders.

16. A system for conducting an electronic payment transaction at a business having a plurality of remote customer interfaces and a central transaction hub, the system comprising:

a credit card interface and a radio client on each of the plurality of customer interfaces; and

a central server and a radio server in the transaction hub.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the transaction hub further includes an intercom host.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the customer interface further includes an intercom client configured to transmit a customer order from the remote customer interface to the intercom host.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the transaction hub includes an external communication device configured to the central server with an external credit card transaction network.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the transaction system further comprises a plurality of operational peripheral devices connected to the central server.

21. A method of conducting a credit card transaction at a quick-serve restaurant having a building and at least one remote customer interface located exterior to the building, the method comprising:

taking an order from the at least one remote customer interface using a first means of communication;

entering the order into a central server in the building;

generating an electronic order ticket in the central server representative of the order;

transmitting payment information associated with the order ticket to the at least one remote customer interface using a second means of communication;

transmitting credit card information from the remote customer interface to the central server using the second means of communication;

transmitting the credit card information and the payment information to a credit card approval network using a third means of communication.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the first, second and third means of communication are different.