SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONIC PREPAID ACCOUNT REPLENISHMENT

• US 20070047703A1
• Filed: 10/25/2006
• Published: 03/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EWI Holdings Inc. (Albertsons Cos., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EWI Holdings Inc. (Albertsons Cos., Inc.)
• Inventors: Paschini, Miles, Rose, Marshall
• Granted Patent: US 7,909,242 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/112.10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/346 Cards serving only as information carrier of service
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/349 Rechargeable cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/363 with the personal data of a user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3672 initialising or reloading thereof
• 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: G07F 7/0866 by active credit-cards adapted therefor G07F7/1008 takes precedence
• 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: H04M 17/00 Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems using a coded card to authorise calls from a telephone set H04M1/675
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/20 with provision for recharging the prepaid account or card, or for credit establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/204 on-line recharging, e.g. cashless
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2017/24 with on-line recharging of an account or card, e.g. cashless

Abstract

A method for crediting a customer account maintained by a vendor of services in response to payment received from a customer is disclosed herein. The method includes issuing, to the customer, a membership account number associated with at least the customer account. A membership account number and a payment corresponding to a requested amount of a service offered by the vendor are received from the customer at a point-of-sale. The method further includes generating, at the point-of-sale, an authorization message including at least the membership account number and embedded transaction information identifying the service offered by the vendor and the requested amount. The embedded transaction information is then communicated from the point-of-sale to a database server. The customer account is credited, in response to the embedded transaction information, based upon an amount of the payment. The method also includes electronically transferring funds based upon the amount of the payment from a first account associated with the point-of-sale to a second account associated with the vendor.

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56. A method for crediting a customer account maintained by a vendor of services in response to payment received from a customer at a point-of-sale, the method comprising:

receiving, at a transaction processor, transaction information from an issuing processor associated with an account number corresponding to the customer account wherein the transaction information specifies an offered service and a requested amount corresponding to the payment;

crediting, in response to the transaction information, the customer account based upon an amount of the payment; and

transmitting a response from the transaction processor to the point-of-sale.

57. The method of claim 56 further including verifying, at the transaction processor, that the transaction information defines a valid transaction prior to transmitting the response.

58. The method of claim 57 wherein the response indicates transaction failure if the transaction information is determined to not define a valid transaction.

59. The method of claim 57 wherein the response indicates successful transaction completion if the transaction information is determined to define a valid transaction and confirmation is received at the transaction processor that the customer account has been credited.

60. The method of claim 57 further including maintaining, within a database of the transaction processor, an association between the account number and a customer record identifying prepaid services used by the customer.

61. The method of claim 60 further including verifying that the requested amount of the service corresponds to one of the prepaid services identified within the customer record.

62. The method of claim 56 further including maintaining, within a database of the transaction processor, an association between a merchant account number applicable to the point-of-sale and a list of approved prepaid services authorized to be purchased at the point-of-sale.

63. A method for crediting a customer account maintained by a vendor of services in response to payment received from a customer at a point-of-sale, the method comprising:

receiving, at a transaction processor, transaction information from the point-of-sale wherein the transaction information includes an account number corresponding to the customer account and a virtual payment amount;

identifying, based upon the virtual payment amount, the vendor of services from among multiple vendors; and

issuing, to the vendor of service, a request to credit the customer account by an amount based upon the virtual payment amount.

64. The method of claim 63 further including transmitting a response from the transaction processor to the point-of-sale.

65. The method of claim 63 wherein the virtual payment amount contains information relating to a type and denomination of a purchased service.

66. The method of claim 63 further including establishing a database relating virtual payment amounts to corresponding denominations of plural types of prepaid services.

67. The method of claim 63 further including maintaining, within a database of the transaction processor, an association between the account number and a customer record identifying prepaid services used by the customer.

68. The method of claim 63 further including maintaining, within a database of the transaction processor, an association between a merchant account number applicable to the point-of-sale and a list of approved prepaid services authorized to be purchased at the point-of-sale.

69. A method for providing authorization to credit a customer account maintained by a vendor of services in response to payment received from a customer, the method comprising:

receiving, from the customer at a point-of-sale, a payment corresponding to a requested amount of a service offered by the vendor;

generating, at the point-of-sale, an authorization message including at least an account number associated with the customer account and transaction information identifying both the service offered by the vendor and the requested amount of the service; and

transmitting, from the point-of-sale, the authorization message over a network.

70. The method of claim 69 further including receiving, at the point-of-sale, a response indicating that the transaction information defines a valid transaction.

71. The method of claim 70 wherein the response indicates transaction failure if the transaction information is determined to not define a valid transaction.

72. The method of claim 69 further including entering a virtual payment amount included into a terminal of the point-of-sale wherein the virtual payment amount is included within the authorization message and encodes the transaction information.