Method and system for processing electronic payment transactions

• US 20050203842A1
• Filed: 03/12/2004
• Published: 09/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated), Western Union
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated), Western Union
• Inventors: Nguyen, Trung, Palermo, Michael, Sanchez, Douglas J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,577,599 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/023 the neutral party being a clearing house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• 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 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for processing transactions, and more specifically for receiving, processing and transmitting electronic payment transaction information. The system and method accesses a transaction software engine that effectuates the authorization of electronic payment requests and the settlement of authorized electronic payments. The transaction software engine, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, resides at a merchant'"'"'s site and more specifically within the merchant'"'"'s server or computer which is in communication with one or more network terminals. With such a system, authorization requests may be sent by a terminal as each transaction occurs. Batches of settlement requests are processed after a predetermined time, although the transactions are processed on a transaction-by-transaction basis. In addition, the software engine enables the transmission of data over the Internet. As a result, the amount of time to process payment authorization and settlement is reduced as compared with the exclusive use of traditional telephone lines. Moreover, the transaction software engine is capable of accepting data of varying formats and re-encoding such data so that it can be processed by the transaction software engine. As a result, the transaction software engine can process data that is received from and sent to a variety of terminals as well as data that is sent to and received from a variety of data transaction providers host.

Claims

1. A method for processing an electronic payment transaction, comprising:

receiving a request for processing the electronic payment transaction from a payment terminal, the request including a format type;

determining the format type of the request;

identifying a host computer configured to process the determined format type; and

transmitting the request to the identified host computer.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the request is approved.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the request contains an error message.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

sending the notification to the payment terminal.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

sending the notification to the payment terminal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises data packets having header information.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising encoding the header information to enable communication of the request between the payment terminal and the host computer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the header information is encoded using an Extensible Markup Language.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for processing the electronic payment transaction relates to authorizing the transaction.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for processing the electronic payment transaction relates to settling the transaction.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the settlement generates an error message.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

sending the notification to the payment terminal.

11. A method for settling a plurality of electronic payments, comprising:

requesting from a terminal information relating to settlement of the plurality of electronic payments;

receiving at least one respective data packet having settlement information for each payment of said plurality of electronic payments;

determining the format type of each respective data packet;

identifying a host computer configured to process the determined format type of each respective data packet; and

transmitting each respective data packet to the identified host computer, wherein the identified host computer is configured to process the format type of said each respective data packet.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the settlement is processed.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

sending the notification to the payment terminal.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the request comprises data packets having header information.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising encoding the header information to enable communication of the request between the payment terminal and the host computer.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the header information is encoded using an Extensible Markup Language.

19. A system for processing an electronic payment transaction, comprising:

an interface for receiving a request for processing the electronic payment transaction from a payment terminal, the request including a format type; and

a processor for;

determining the format type of the request;

identifying a host computer configured to process the determined format type; and

transmitting the request to the identified host computer.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the processor is further configured for receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the request is approved.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the interface is further configured for receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the request contains an error message.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured for sending the notification to the payment terminal.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured for sending the notification to the payment terminal.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the request comprises data packets having header information.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured for encoding the header information to enable communication of the request between the payment terminal and the host computer.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein, the header information is encoded using an Extensible Markup Language.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein the request for processing the electronic payment transaction relates to authorizing the transaction.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein the request for processing the electronic payment transaction relates to settling the transaction.

40. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor transmits the request to the host computer over the Internet.

41. The system of claim. 19, wherein the processor transmits the request to the host computer by modem.

29. A system for settling a plurality of electronic payments, comprising:

an interface for receiving at least one respective data packet having settlement information for each payment of said plurality of electronic payments; and

a processor for;

determining the format type of each respective data packet;

identifying a host computer configured to process the determined format type of each respective data packet; and

transmitting each respective data packet to the identified host computer, wherein the identified host computer is configured to process the format type of said each respective data packet.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the interface is further configured for receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the settlement is processed.

31. The system of claim 29 wherein the interface is further configured for receiving a notification from the identified host indicating whether the settlement generates an error message.

32. The system of claim 30 wherein the processor is further configured for sending the notification to the payment terminal.

33. The system of claim 31 wherein the processor is further configured for sending the notification to the payment terminal.

34. The system of claim 29 wherein the request comprises data packets having header information.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the processor is further configured for encoding the header information to enable communication of the request between the payment terminal and the host computer.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the header information is encoded using an Extensible Markup Language.

37. The system of claim 29 wherein the request for processing the electronic payment transaction is received from the payment terminal by a serial connection.

38. The system of claim 29 wherein the request for processing the electronic payment transaction is received from the payment terminal by a an Internet protocol connection.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the Internet protocol connection comprises a TCP/IP connection.