OBTAINING INSTANT CREDIT AT A POS WITH LIMITED INFORMATION

• US 20130218693A1
• Filed: 02/16/2012
• Published: 08/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Zito, Sean
• Granted Patent: US 9,672,504 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

A consumer at a POS is able to obtain instant credit from a third party payment provider by providing identification information, such as from a driver'"'"'s license, through a sales associate at the POS and by providing directly the last four digits of the consumer'"'"'s social security number (SSN). When the consumer wants to make subsequent purchases through the payment provider, the sales associate need only enter the consumer'"'"'s last name, zip code, and date of birth for the payment provider to locate and retrieve the consumer'"'"'s account. The consumer may then enter the last four digits of the consumer'"'"'s social security number, such as into a PIN pad at the POS, and have the information processed by the payment provider.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a computer storage storing account information for a plurality of users and a plurality of merchants, wherein the information for at least one of the users comprises a user name, a user zip code, a user date of birth, and at least last four digits of a user'"'"'s social security number; and

a processor coupled to the computer storage operable to;

receive a payment request from a transaction device at a merchant point of sale (POS);

receive identification information for a user, wherein the identification information comprises a last name, a zip code, and a date of birth of the user;

access an account of the user based on the received identification information;

receive, by a payment provider, last four digits of a social security number (SSN) of the user; and

process the payment request.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the identification information is received from the transaction device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the identification information is entered into the transaction device by a sales associate from a user ID.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the last four digits of the SSN are received from a merchant personal identification number (PIN) device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the last four digits of the SSN are entered into the PIN device by the user.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to present a plurality of matching results to a sales associate if the received identification information returns more than one user account.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is further operable to receive a selected user from the matching results.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the selected user is selected by the sales associate.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to open an account for the user if the user does not have an existing account with the payment provider.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the account is opened with a user name, a user address, a user zip code, a user phone number, a user date of birth, and last four digits of a user SSN.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to notify a sales associate and the user when the payment request is approved or denied.

12. A method, comprising:

receiving, electronically by a processor of a payment provider, a payment request from a transaction device at a merchant point of sale (POS);

receiving, electronically by the processor, identification information for a user, wherein the identification information comprises a last name, a zip code, and a date of birth of the user;

accessing, electronically by the processor, an account of the user based on the received identification information;

receiving, electronically by the processor, last four digits of a social security number (SSN) of the user; and

processing the payment request.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the identification information is entered into the transaction device by a sales associate from a user ID.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the last four digits of the SSN are received from a merchant personal identification number (PIN) device, wherein the last four digits of the SSN are entered into the PIN device by the user.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

presenting a plurality of matching results to a sales associate if the received identification information returns more than one user account; and

receiving a selected user from the matching results, wherein the selected user is selected by the sales associate.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising opening an account for the user if the user does not have an existing account with the payment provider, wherein the account is opened with a user name, a user address, a user zip code, a user phone number, a user date of birth, and last four digits of a user SSN.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions which when executed by one or more processors of a server are adapted to cause the server to perform a method comprising:

receiving, by a payment provider, a payment request from a transaction device at a merchant point of sale (POS);

receiving identification information for a user, wherein the identification information comprises a last name, a zip code, and a date of birth of the user;

accessing an account of the user based on the received identification information;

receiving last four digits of a social security number (SSN) of the user; and

processing the payment request.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the identification information is entered into the transaction device by a sales associate from a user ID.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the last four digits of the SSN are received from a merchant personal identification number (PIN) device, wherein the last four digits of the SSN are entered into the PIN device by the user.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

presenting a plurality of matching results to a sales associate if the received identification information returns more than one user account; and

receiving a selected user from the matching results, wherein the selected user is selected by the sales associate.

21. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises opening an account for the user if the user does not have an existing account with the payment provider, wherein the account is opened with a user name, a user address, a user zip code, a user phone number, a user date of birth, and last four digits of a user SSN.