SYSTEMS, METHODS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR PERFORMING MASS TRANSIT MERCHANT TRANSACTIONS

• US 20090164375A1
• Filed: 11/19/2008
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Oh, John J., Saunders, Peter D., Chuang, I-Hsin, Leggatt, Lesley
• Granted Patent: US 8,117,129 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/44
• 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 20/352 Contactless payments by cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• 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 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for enabling access to mass transit systems using a financial transaction instrument including reading an identifier including financial payment information from the financial transaction instrument and determining whether the identifier is stored in a database. Access to a holder of the financial transaction instrument is provided based on the determining.

Claims

1. A method for enabling access to a mass transit system using a financial transaction instrument, said method comprising the steps of:

reading an identifier including financial payment information from the financial transaction instrument;

determining whether the identifier is stored in a database; and

providing access to a holder of the financial transaction instrument based on the determining.

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

generating a transaction request corresponding to a mass transit transaction;

routing the transaction request to a transaction processor;

performing an authorization service on the transaction request; and

storing at least one of an approval and denial value associated with the identifier of the financial transaction instrument in the database based on the result of the authorization service.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a funding settlement request for a distribution of funds.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the database with at least one of an approval and denial value associated with the identifier prior to the reading.

5. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

reading an identifier including financial payment information from a financial transaction instrument;

determining whether the identifier is stored in a database; and

providing access to a holder of the financial transaction instrument based on the determining.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, further including a sequence of instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

generating a transaction request corresponding to a mass transit transaction;

routing the transaction request to a transaction processor;

performing an authorization service on the transaction request; and

storing at least one of an approval and denial value associated with the identifier of the financial transaction instrument in the database based on the result of the authorization service.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, further including a sequence of instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

generating a funding settlement request for a distribution of funds.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, further including a sequence of instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

updating the database with at least one of an approval and denial value associated with the identifier prior to the reading.

9. A system including a processor for enabling access to a mass transit system using a financial transaction instrument, comprising:

a reader configured to read an identifier including financial payment information from the financial transaction instrument;

an access module configured to determine whether the identifier is stored in a database; and

a request module configured to generate a transaction request including the identifier, transmit the request to a transaction processor, and

store at least one of an approval and a denial value associated with the financial transaction instrument in the database based on the result of an authorization service executed by the transaction processor.

10. A method for registering a financial instrument for use at a mass transit agency, comprising the steps of:

requesting an identifier;

translating the identifier to an alias account number; and

associating the alias account number to a mass transit registration account.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the mass transit registration account is at least one of (i) single ride registration account, and (ii) a multi-ride ticket/pass.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting a registration message indicating a status of registration associated with the alias account number.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the identifier is a visual device identifier.

14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the steps of:

requesting a status of the alias account from at least one of a financial transaction account issuer and a financial transaction account processor;

receiving the status from the at least one of the financial transaction account issuer and financial transaction account processor; and

storing the status in a table.

15. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

requesting an identifier;

translating the identifier to an alias account number; and

associating the alias account number to a mass transit registration account.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the mass transit registration account is at least one of (i) single ride registration account, and (ii) a multi-ride ticket/pass.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further including a sequence of instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

transmitting a registration message indicating a status of registration associated with the alias account number.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the identifier is a visual device identifier.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, further including a sequence of instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

requesting a status of the alias account from at least one of a financial transaction account issuer and a financial transaction account processor;

receiving the status from the at least one of the financial transaction account issuer and financial transaction account processor; and

storing the status in a table.

20. A system including a processor for registering a financial instrument for use at a mass transit agency, comprising:

an interface configured to request an identifier of the financial transaction instrument;

a translator module configured to translate the identifier to an alias account number;

an association module configured to associate the alias account number to a mass transit registration account.

21. The system method of claim 20, wherein the mass transit registration account is at least one of (i) single ride registration account, and (ii) a multi-ride ticket/pass.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a transaction module configured to communicate a registration message indicating a status of registration associated with the alias account number.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the identifier is a visual device identifier.

24. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

an enquiry module configured to generate a request for a status of an alias account from at least one of a financial transaction account issuer and a financial transaction account processor, receive the status from at least one of the financial transaction account issuer and the financial transaction account processor, and a store the status in a table.

25. A method for processing a request, from a mass transit fare collector, to provide an account status for one or more mass transit registration accounts, the steps comprising:

transmitting a status request for the status of the one or more mass transit registration accounts to at least one of a financial transaction account issuer and a financial transaction account processor;

determining, by at least one of the financial transaction account issuer and the financial transaction account processor a status for each mass transit registration account associated with the status request; and

storing the status based on the determining.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the request is a batch request for the status of a plurality of mass transit registration accounts.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of:

removing a mass transit registration account based on the determining.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of:

updating each mass transit registration account status based on the determining.

29. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

transmitting a status request for a status of the one or more mass transit registration accounts to at least one of a financial transaction account issuer and a financial transaction account processor;

determining, by at least one of the financial transaction account issuer and the financial transaction account processor a status for each mass transit registration account associated with the status request; and

storing the status based on the determining.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein the request is a batch request for the status of a plurality of mass transit registration accounts.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, further including a sequence of instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

removing a mass transit registration account based on the determining.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, further including a sequence of instructions which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

updating each mass transit registration account status based on the determining.

33. A system including a processor for processing a request from a mass transit fare collector to provide an account status for one or more mass transit registration accounts, comprising:

a status module configured to determine a status for each mass transit registration account associated to a respective one of a plurality of registered users; and

a database constructed to store the status determined by the status module.