Method and system for providing multiple services via a point-of-sale portal architecture

• US 20080195465A1
• Filed: 05/14/2002
• Published: 08/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Huang, Jean, Redmond, Eric, Heisinger, Pete
• Granted Patent: US 8,190,530 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.23
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/027 involving a payment switch or gateway
• 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 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0268 at point-of-sale [POS]

Abstract

A secure point-of-sale (POS) portal architecture for delivering multiple services is provided. According to one exemplary aspect of the architecture, a number of services offered by various parties are integrated for delivery to merchants. The parties offering the services include, for example, payment processors and merchant acquirers and other external value-added service providers. The integrated services, in turn, are offered to merchants and/or their respective customers via one or more POS devices and its supporting system infrastructure at the merchant locations. The integrated services include, for example, acceptance of multiple payment instruments, payment processing, user dialog management, sales promotion and customer support, loyalty programs, back office processing, receipt capture, employee training, risk management, dispute resolution, system security, system administration etc. Moreover, these integrated services may be customized based on a merchant'"'"'s particular requirements to provide a specific environment for delivering these services.

Claims

1-62. -62. (canceled)

63. A secure point-of-sale system for providing multiple services, comprising:

at least one point of sale (POS) device operable to conduct a business transaction at a store;

a services syndication hub programmed to integrate a plurality of web services from third party service providers; and

an appliance server programmed to manage a subscription to at least one of the plurality of web services for each POS device, the appliance server including;

a code module for determining a hardware configuration of a respective POS device;

a code module for determining any customization or preference settings relating to at least one of the respective POS device and a user of the respective POS device; and

a code module for delivering and configuring a presentation of each web service having a subscription managed on the respective POS device based on the managed subscription, the determined hardware configuration, and any said customization or preference settings,

wherein configuring the presentation includes generating a specific interactive dialog for a user of the respective POS device integrating each web service according to a desired transaction flow.

65. The system of claim 63, wherein the appliance server is further programmed to collect and analyze transaction patterns for risk management.

66. The system of claim 63, wherein interactions of each POS device with the plurality of web services are secure.

67. The system of claim 63, wherein one of the plurality of web services includes a loyalty application configured to monitor the usage of at least one of the plurality of web services in order to award specific usage.

68. The system of claim 63, wherein the plurality of web services includes specific customized services requested by a subscriber.

69. The system of claim 63, wherein the appliance server is further programmed to configure the presentation of each web service of a subscription for a subscriber depending on at least one factor selected from the group consisting of subscriber business needs, subscriber system requirements, and subscriber application requirements.

70. The system of claim 63, wherein the appliance server is further programmed to distribute content of the plurality of web services based on customization requirements of a subscriber.

71. The system of claim 63, wherein the services syndication hub is further programmed to enforce service agreements, operating policies, rules, and regulations among participating parties in the POS system.

72. The system of claim 63, wherein the services syndication hub includes a suite of applications that provide aggregation, personalization, dynamic distribution of content, and connectivity to the web services.

73. The system of claim 63, wherein at least one of the plurality of web services for a subscriber is to be accessed by customers of the subscriber.

74. The system of claim 73, wherein the presentation of at least one of the plurality of web services to a customer is determined based on past activities of the customer.

75. The system of claim 73, wherein the subscriber is a merchant.

76. The system of claim 63, wherein the plurality of web services are integrated and delivered to the appliance server in accordance with a set of operating regulations.

77. The system of claim 63, wherein the plurality of web services includes a payment processing service, a receipt capture service, a certificate management service, and an advertising service.

64. (canceled)

78-88. -88. (canceled)

89. A secure point-of-sale system for delivering multiple services, comprising:

a services syndication hub programmed to integrate a plurality of web services from third party service providers;

a plurality of point of sale (POS) devices each operable to conduct a business transaction at a store; and

a plurality of appliance servers, each appliance server being programmed to manage a subscription to at least one of the plurality of web services for each POS device, the appliance server including;

a code module for determining a hardware configuration of a respective POS device;

a code module for determining any customization or preference settings relating to at least one of the respective POS device and a user of the respective POS device; and

a code module for delivering and configuring a presentation of each web service having a subscription managed on the respective POS device based on the managed subscription, the determined hardware configuration, and any said customization or preference settings,

wherein configuring the presentation includes generating a specific interactive dialog for a user of the respective POS device integrating each web service according to a desired transaction flow.

91. The system of claim 89, wherein each appliance server is further programmed to collect and analyze transaction patterns for risk management.

92. The system of claim 89, wherein interactions of each POS device with the subscribed web services are secure.

93. The system of claim 89, wherein one of the plurality of web services includes a loyalty application configured to monitor the usage of each subscribed service in order to award specific usage.

94. The system of claim 89, wherein the plurality of web services includes specific customized services requested by a subscriber.

95. The system of claim 89, wherein each appliance server is further programmed to configure the presentation of each web service of the subscription for a subscriber depending on at least one factor selected from the group comprising subscriber business needs, subscriber system requirements, and subscriber application requirements.

96. The system of claim 89, wherein each appliance server is further programmed to distribute content of the plurality of web services based on customization requirements of a subscriber.

97. The system of claim 89, wherein the services syndication hub includes a suite of applications that provide aggregation, personalization, dynamic distribution of content, and connectivity to the plurality of web services.

98. The system of claim 89, wherein the presentation of a web service to a customer is determined based on past activities of the customer.

90. (canceled)