OFFLINE ACCESS OF A NETWORK BASED APPLICATION

• US 20150262174A1
• Filed: 09/04/2014
• Published: 09/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Starbucks Corporation
• Original Assignee: Starbucks Corporation
• Inventors: Mongillo, Lincoln C. III, Barrows, Christopher J., Parker, Todd M., Toland, Patricia A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,836,742 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/351 Virtual cards
• 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 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an interactive computing system configured to provide a network-based application that can provide offline functionality. A user computing device, such as a mobile device, access a network-based application through an interactive computing system. The network-based application can be configured to provide transaction information sufficient to conduct a transaction with a point-of-sale terminal when the network application is not in communication with the interactive computing system.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a data store configured to store user account information associated with a plurality of user accounts;

an application module configured to provide network-based access for a user device to a network-based application,

the network-based application configured to;

receive and store user account information in an application cache of the user device in an online mode, wherein in the online mode the network application is in communication with the interactive computing system; and

provide a computer readable code configured to communicate transaction information associated with one of the plurality of user accounts to a point-of-sale terminal in an offline mode, wherein the transaction information is based, at least in part on the user account information stored in the application cache, wherein in the offline mode the network application is not in communication with the interactive computing system;

a user account module configured to;

receive the transaction information from the point of sale terminal requesting authorization for a transaction;

determine whether to authorize the transaction based, at least in part, on user account information associated with the user account indentified by the transaction information; and

provide a response to the point of sale terminal based on the determination.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction information comprises a card identifier associated with a financial account stored within the user account.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer readable code is an optically readable code.

5. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a network-based application, user account information from an interactive computing system associated with a user account, wherein the network-based application is operating within a browser on a user device, wherein the network-based application is in communication with the interactive computing system over a network;

storing the user information in an application cache of the browser;

receiving, by the network-based application, user input requesting a computer readable code associated with the user information, wherein the network-based application is not in communication with the interactive computing system when the user input is received; and

providing, by the network-based application, the computer readable code for communication to a point-of-sale terminal, wherein the computer readable code comprises user information associated with the user account, wherein the point-of-sale terminal is configured to communicate with the interactive computing system to authorize the transaction based, at least in part, on the user information.

4. The method of claim 5, wherein the transaction is a purchase at a food service establishment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the computer readable code is an optically readable code.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the computer readable code is a radio frequency code.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising transmitting the computer readable code to the point-of-sale terminal.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the user information comprises a card identifier.

10. The method of claim 5 further comprising receiving confirmation from the point-of-sale terminal that the transaction is successful and updating the user information within the network-based application.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the transaction is a purchase at a food service establishment.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the user information is associated with a virtual card having a monetary balance.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the user information is associated with a virtual card having a non-monetary account balance.

14. The method of claim 5 further comprising generating the computer generated code based, at least in part, on the user information stored in the application cache.

15. The method of claim 5, wherein the point-of-sale terminal is configured to request authorization for the transaction from the interactive computing system.

16. A computer-readable, non-transitory storage medium storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by a browser operating on one or more computing devices, configure the browser to execute modules comprising:

a network-based application module configured to operate in an online mode and an offline mode, wherein the network-based application module is configured to be in the online mode when the network-based application module is in communication with an interactive computing system over a network, and wherein the network-based application module is configured to be in the offline mode when the network-based application module is not in communication with the interactive computing system;

in the online mode the network-based application module is configured to;

receive user account information from the interactive computing system associated with a user account;

store the user account information in an application cache of the browser;

in the offline mode the network-based application is configured to;

receive a request to provide a computer readable code based, at least in part, on the user information; and

provide the computer readable code configured to communicate transaction information to a point-of-sale terminal such that it can authorize a transaction, wherein the transaction information comprises, at least a portion of, the user account information.

17. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the computer readable code is an optically readable code.

18. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the computer readable code is a radio frequency code.

19. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the transaction information comprises a card identifier.

20. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the network application module is further configured to receive confirmation from the point-of-sale terminal that the transaction is successful and update the user information within the network-based application.

21. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the transaction is a purchase at a food service establishment.

22. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the transaction information is associated with a virtual card having a monetary balance.

23. The storage medium of claim 16, wherein the transaction information is associated with a virtual card having a non-monetary balance.