GENERATION, MANAGEMENT AND USAGE OF ON-DEMAND PAYMENT IDS

• US 20110057025A1
• Filed: 09/04/2009
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Paycode Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Paycode Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Denzer, Karl, Young, William D.
• Application Number:
  US12/554,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20110057025A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

There is disclosed a method, computer program and system that support purchase transactions at merchants via a Payment ID generated on-demand and funded with a specific consumer-requested amount. The Payment ID, which could include but is not limited to a gift card ID, is then leveraged to complete a transaction at a merchant'"'"'s point of sale (POS) system via the existing methods and processes inherent in the POS system. Also disclosed are related mechanisms to manage a secure database of Payment IDs and dynamically adjust the value tied to Payment IDs to account for any value due the customer from the merchant or other involved party.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a central processing system, a request for a payment ID from a consumer;

retrieving a closed-loop, merchant-specific payment ID from a payment ID database;

activating the payment ID; and

funding the payment ID on-demand with a specific, consumer-requested amount.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the closed-loop payment ID is sourced directly from an entity responsible for processing a specific merchant'"'"'s closed-loop payment transactions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the closed-loop payment ID is sourced from a secure database within the central processing system, which houses an inventory of inactive, closed-loop payment IDs that had been previously provided to the central processing system by the merchant or the entity responsible for processing the merchant'"'"'s closed-loop payment transactions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the closed-loop payment ID is sourced from a secure database within the central processing system that houses an inventory of previously used, but reloadable, payment IDs and payment IDs previously purchased and provided by the consumer.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

validating, by the central processing system, that the consumer has a sufficient balance to fund the payment ID in the requested amount prior to retrieving a payment ID.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

pulling, by the central processing system, funds from an existing consumer account to fund a payment ID in the requested amount after the payment ID has been retrieved.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer authorizes funds to be pulled in real time from an external account to fund a payment ID in the requested amount.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer loads funds into a secure account by providing account IDs to the central processing system from which funds can be drawn and wherein the secure account comprises one or more of a funded closed-loop gift card account, an open-loop prepaid/debit card accound, and a bank routing number.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the account is one of (i) merchant-specific and (ii) for use across multiple merchants.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving an active, closed-loop payment ID from a central processing system; and

using the active, closed-loop payment ID to complete a payment transaction with a merchant during an active tender process through the merchant'"'"'s point of sale system by leveraging the existing integration between the merchant and an entity that processes that merchant'"'"'s closed-loop payment transactions.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the active, closed-loop payment ID is received at a communication device held and operated by a consumer, the method further comprising:

rendering, on the communication device, the funded, closed-loop payment ID.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the funded, closed-loop payment ID is visibly rendered on a user interface of the communication device as at least one of a barcode and a set of viewable digits.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

communicating the rendered payment ID from the communication device to the point of service system such that it can be processed by the point of service system to complete a payment transaction.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the payment ID is rendered as a barcode in a format that is recognizable by the specific merchant'"'"'s point of service system.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the funded, closed-loop payment ID is rendered a human-readable code such that it can be manually input into the merchant'"'"'s point of service system and processed to complete a payment transaction.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting, by the central processing system, the funded closed-loop payment ID to the merchant'"'"'s point of service system such that it can be processed to complete a payment transaction.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the funded closed-loop payment ID transmitted to the merchant point of service system includes a unique consumer or transaction identifier and wherein a consumer also enters a unique consumer or transaction identifier at the merchant point of service system for comparison against the unique consumer or transaction identifier provided in the funded, closed-loop payment ID to validate the payment transaction.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting the funded, closed-loop payment ID to a communication device held by a consumer that has the ability to communicate wirelessly with the merchant'"'"'s point of service system (e.g., via near-field communication, or NFC, technology), and

transmitting the funded, closed-loop payment ID wirelessly from the communication device to the merchant'"'"'s point of service system to complete a payment transaction.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the funded, closed-loop payment ID is input into and processed by a merchant'"'"'s website to complete an online, ecommerce transaction.

20. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving a set of rules which govern a merchant'"'"'s ability or desire to provide a consumer incentive that includes at least one of promotional offers, coupons, discounts, consumer-relevant messages, and price adjustments;

delivering the consumer incentive to the consumer;

receiving a funded, closed-loop payment ID from the consumer at the merchant'"'"'s point of service system, wherein the payment ID was at least partially funded with the consumer incentive and wherein a payment value associated with the payment ID represents a total funding amount requested by the consumer less the consumer incentive.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein a central processing system applies the business rules to an active transaction and pulls a corresponding message from a secure database for transmission and presentation to the consumer or merchant along with the transmission and presentation of the funded, closed-loop payment ID.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein a central processing system applies business rules to an active transaction, which result in the dynamic adjustment of the funded value of a closed-loop payment ID, and also results in the dynamic adjustment of the funds pulled from the consumer'"'"'s account to reflect the newly adjusted amount attached to the closed-loop payment ID.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein a message presented to the consumer contains a human or machine-readable element which is processable by the merchant POS system during an active tender process to adjust the payment amount due from the consumer.