Systems and methods for managing and using prepaid purchasing accounts

• US 20060175396A1
• Filed: 01/18/2006
• Published: 08/10/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ifuel LLC
• Original Assignee: Kristen Call, William Call
• Inventors: Call, William, Call, Kristen
• Granted Patent: US 7,600,692 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/085 involving remote charge determination or related payment systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3678 e-cash details, e.g. blinded, divisible or detecting double spending
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce

Abstract

The present invention extends to managing prepaid purchasing accounts and depositing funds therein. A kiosk and management system are connected over a network. The management system maintains purchasing accounts usable for multiple product or service purchases. To make a deposit, the consumer enters credentials at the kiosk, the credentials identifying a purchasing account. The consumer selects a payment method for making the deposit. For one or more payment methods (e.g., electronic check payment), the consumer selects a method to guarantee the deposit. The consumer also enters a deposit amount which is verified. Cash payments may be verified by an automated cash acceptor or a retail attendant. Credit card or debit card payments may be accepted by a card authorization network. Embodiments of the system also include debiting the purchasing account by a purchase amount. In addition, the purchasing account can be managed to view prior deposits and purchases.

Claims

1. At a kiosk that is network connectable to an account management system, a method for crediting deposits to a prepaid purchasing account, the method comprising:

an act of receiving account credentials corresponding to a purchasing account;

an act of receiving an indicator representative of a deposit amount to be credited to the purchasing account;

an act of verifying the amount to be credited to the purchasing account; and

an act of sending a credit message to an account management system, the credit message indicating that the purchasing account is to be credited by the verified amount.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of verifying the amount to be deposited comprises receiving an acknowledgement of receipt of the deposit amount.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of verifying the amount to be deposited comprises an act of receiving a verification from an attendant.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the attendant verification is received in response to the attendant receiving a payment in the amount to be credited to the deposit account.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of receiving a guarantee for guaranteeing payment of the deposit amount.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the act of receiving a guarantee for guaranteeing payment of the deposit amount includes guaranteeing payment against a credit card.

7. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the act of receiving a guarantee for guaranteeing payment of the deposit amount includes delaying availability of funds until an electronic check clears.

8. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the act of receiving a guarantee for guaranteeing payment of the deposit amount includes guaranteeing the deposit amount against an interest bearing account.

9. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the act of receiving a guarantee for guaranteeing payment of the deposit amount includes obtaining a third party verification.

10. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the act of receiving a guarantee for guaranteeing payment of the deposit amount includes accessing a credit status of the purchasing account.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of receiving account credentials comprises an act of receiving a user-id and password.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of receiving account credentials includes an act of receiving at least one biometric indicator.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the purchasing account has at least one photographic indicator stored therein.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of creating the purchasing account and the account credentials corresponding to the purchasing account.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

an act of receiving a payment type from a consumer, the payment type indicating a method for receiving the deposit amount.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the user selects the type from a group consisting of:

cash, credit card, debit card, paper check, and electronic check.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the act of sending a credit message to the account management system comprises an act of sending the credit message to a network address corresponding to the account management system, such that the credit message is transferred across the Internet.

18. At an account management system that is network connectable to one or more computer systems, the one or more computer systems including one or more kiosks for receiving payments for deposit into a plurality of prepaid purchasing accounts, a method for crediting a deposit to a purchasing account, the method comprising:

an act of receiving account credentials from a computer system, the account credentials corresponding to a purchasing account stored in a database;

an act of identifying the purchasing account corresponding to the received account credentials;

an act of accessing account information for the purchasing account from the database;

an act of receiving a credit message from the computer system, the credit message indicating a deposit amount to be credited to an account balance of the purchasing account; and

in response to receiving the credit message, an act of crediting the purchasing account the deposit amount.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the computer system is a kiosk.

20. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the act of receiving a credit message is performed in response to an attendant at a retail location receiving a cash payment.

21. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the act of receiving a credit message is performed in response to a consumer selecting a deposit type selected from a group consisting of:

electronic check, credit card, and debit card.

22. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the credit message is received from the computer system over the Internet.

23. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

an act of receiving a request for account information corresponding to the purchasing account; and

an act of providing account history information to a user, the account history providing a history of multiple forms of payment.

24. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the account history provides categorized purchase information, the purchase information including at least:

purchase date, purchase location, purchase amount, and one or more of a group consisting of;

items purchased and quantity purchased.

25. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein the act of crediting the purchasing account makes funds almost immediately available to the consumer, while the computer system guarantees payment of the deposit amount.

26. A system for accepting deposits to be credited to a prepaid purchasing account, the system comprising:

a computer system for receiving deposit information from a consumer, the deposit information corresponding to a prepaid purchasing account; and

a management system in network communication with the computer system, the management system comprising;

a sign-up module for creating prepaid purchasing accounts for managing payments made by a plurality of payment methods;

a client management module for facilitating consumer access to purchasing account information; and

a database access module for accessing purchasing accounts stored in a database.

27. A system as recited in claim 26, wherein the database access module associates account credentials with a prepaid purchasing account.

28. A system as recited in claim 26, wherein the computer system is configured to send credit messages and debit messages to the management system, said debit and credit messages corresponding to actions to be taken on at least one prepaid purchasing account.

29. A system as recited in claim 26, further comprising:

a store management module for managing information specific to a retail location accepting payments from the prepaid purchasing accounts.

30. A system as recited in claim 29, wherein the store management module is configured to allow an administrator of the retail location to manage attendant authorization information.

31. A system as recited in claim 26, further comprising:

a station control module for remotely monitoring and controlling one or more retail location components, wherein the retail location accepts payment from the prepaid purchasing accounts.

32. A system as recited in claim 26, wherein the deposit information includes a payment method for paying a deposit amount, the payment method including one or more of a group consisting of:

cash, electronic check, debit card, and credit card.

33. A system as recited in claim 32, wherein the deposit information further includes a consumer guarantee method for guaranteeing payment of the deposit amount, wherein the guarantee method is selected by the consumer or is based on a consumer'"'"'s credit history.