Methods and Apparatus for Unified Inventory and Financial Transaction Management

• US 20160026987A1
• Filed: 07/24/2015
• Published: 01/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Worldpay US Incorporated (Fidelity National Information Services Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Worldpay US Incorporated (Fidelity National Information Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: Modi, Nish, Cowsar, George, Skutarenko, Alex
• Granted Patent: US 10,115,095 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/027 involving a payment switch or gateway
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping 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 20/203 Inventory monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3226 Use of secure elements separate from M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

In some embodiments, a system includes one or more computers configured to implement by executing instructions on one or more processors a platform-agnostic transaction-related communication system. The transaction-related communication system includes one or more receiving modules for receiving a first item of financial transaction information from a customer-facing interface, and receiving a second item of financial transaction information from a merchant-facing point-of-sale interface. In some embodiments, the transaction-related communication system includes a point of sale server for rendering in a common internal format the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and rendering in the common internal format the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface. In some embodiments, the transaction-related communication system includes a payment processing module for rendering in a second format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by a first external financial party.

Claims

1. A system for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, the system comprising:

one or more computers configured to implement by executing instructions on one or more processors a platform-agnostic transaction-related communication system, wherein the transaction-related communication system comprises;

one or more receiving modules for

receiving a first item of financial transaction information from a customer-facing interface, and

receiving a second item of financial transaction information from a merchant-facing point-of-sale interface,

a point of sale server for

rendering in a common internal format the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and

rendering in the common internal format the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface,

a payment processing module for

rendering in a second format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by a first external financial party, and

rendering in a third format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by a second external financial party, and

a transaction execution module for

transmitting in the second format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by the first external financial party, and

transmitting in the third format the second item of financial transaction information for payment processing by the second external financial party.

2. The system of claim 1 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the common internal format is a common intake transaction ticket format,

the one or more receiving modules comprise a single stack application program interface residing on one of the one or more servers,

the receiving the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface further comprises receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format over the network from a mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and

the receiving the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface further comprises receiving over the network in the common intake transaction ticket format the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface.

3. The system of claim 1 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the common internal format is a common intake transaction ticket format,

the system further comprises a first translation module on a mobile computing device for

receiving from a customer facing application comprising the customer-facing interface on the mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information, and

translating to a common intake transaction ticket format the first item of financial transaction information, and

the system further comprises a second translation module on a merchant-facing point of sale device for

receiving from a merchant facing application comprising the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface on a merchant point of sale device the second item of financial transaction information, and

translating to the common intake transaction ticket format the second item of financial transaction information.

4. The system of claim 3 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the one or more receiving modules comprise a single stack application program interface residing on one of the one or more servers,

the server communicates remotely with the mobile computing device over a wireless network,

the server communicates remotely with the merchant-facing point of sale device over a second network,

the receiving the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface further comprises receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format at the single stack application interface from the mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and

the receiving the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface further comprises receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format at the single stack application interface the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface.

5. The system of claim 1 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the transaction execution module is further configured for receiving on the one or more servers a transaction authorization confirmation from the first external financial party, and

the point of sale server is further configured for transmitting to the customer-facing interface an indication of the transaction authorization confirmation.

6. The system of claim 1 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein the payment processing module comprises a payment processing gateway for communicating with servers of external financial processors using encrypted links over a network.

7. The system of claim 1 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising:

a business intelligence analytics module for providing business intelligence based at least in part on the first item of financial transaction information.

8. The system of claim 1 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising:

an inventory coordination module for providing transaction fulfillment information based at least in part on the first item of financial transaction information.

9. A method for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, the method comprising:

one or more computers executing instructions on one or more processors a platform-agnostic transaction-related communication system to perform

receiving a first item of financial transaction information from a customer-facing interface;

receiving a second item of financial transaction information from a merchant-facing point-of-sale interface;

rendering in a common internal format the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface;

rendering in the common internal format the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface;

rendering in a second format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by a first external financial party;

rendering in a third format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by a second external financial party;

transmitting in the second format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by the first external financial party; and

transmitting in the third format the second item of financial transaction information for payment processing by the second external financial party.

10. The method of claim 9 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the common internal format is a common intake transaction ticket format,

the receiving the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface further comprises receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format over the network from a mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and

the receiving the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface further comprises receiving over the network in the common intake transaction ticket format the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface.

11. The method of claim 9 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the common internal format is a common intake transaction ticket format, and

the method further comprises:

receiving from a customer facing application comprising the customer-facing interface on the mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information,

translating to a common intake transaction ticket format the first item of financial transaction information, and

receiving from a merchant facing application comprising the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface on a merchant point of sale device the second item of financial transaction information, and

translating to the common intake transaction ticket format the second item of financial transaction information.

12. The method of claim 11 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the receiving the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface further comprises receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format at a single stack application interface from the mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and

the receiving the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface further comprises receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format at the single stack application interface the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface.

13. The method of claim 9 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising

receiving on the one or more servers a transaction authorization confirmation from the first external financial party, and

transmitting to the customer-facing interface an indication of the transaction authorization confirmation.

14. The method of claim 9 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein the method further comprises a payment processing gateway communicating with servers of external financial processors using encrypted links over a network.

15. The method of claim 9 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising:

a business intelligence analytics module providing business intelligence based at least in part on the first item of financial transaction information.

16. The method of claim 9 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising:

an inventory coordination module providing transaction fulfillment information based at least in part on the first item of financial transaction information.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

receiving a first item of financial transaction information from a customer-facing interface;

receiving a second item of financial transaction information from a merchant-facing point-of-sale interface;

rendering in a common internal format the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface;

rendering in the common internal format the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface;

transmitting in a second format the first item of financial transaction information for payment processing by the first external financial party; and

transmitting in a third format the second item of financial transaction information for payment processing by the second external financial party.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions of claim 17 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the common internal format is a common intake transaction ticket format,

the program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface further comprise program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format over the network from a mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and

the program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface further comprise program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving over the network in the common intake transaction ticket format the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions of claim 17 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the common internal format is a common intake transaction ticket format, and

the program instructions computer-executable to implement further comprise:

program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving from a customer facing application comprising the customer-facing interface on the mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information,

program instructions computer-executable to implement translating to a common intake transaction ticket format the first item of financial transaction information, and

program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving from a merchant facing application comprising the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface on a merchant point of sale device the second item of financial transaction information, and

program instructions computer-executable to implement translating to the common intake transaction ticket format the second item of financial transaction information.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions of claim 19 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, wherein

the one or more receiving modules comprise a single stack application program interface residing on one of the one or more servers,

the program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface further comprise program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format at the single stack application interface from the mobile computing device the first item of financial transaction information from the customer-facing interface, and

the program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface further comprise program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving in the common intake transaction ticket format at the single stack application interface the second item of financial transaction information from the merchant-facing point-of-sale interface.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions of claim 17 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising

program instructions computer-executable to implement receiving on the one or more servers a transaction authorization confirmation from the first external financial party, and

program instructions computer-executable to implement transmitting to the customer-facing interface an indication of the transaction authorization confirmation.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions of claim 17 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising program instructions computer-executable to implement a payment processing gateway for communicating with servers of external financial processors using encrypted links over a network.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions of claim 17 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising:

program instructions computer-executable to implement a business intelligence analytics module for providing business intelligence based at least in part on the first item of financial transaction information.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions of claim 17 for providing payment processing services from a plurality of disparate payment processors to a plurality of disparate transaction intake platforms, further comprising:

program instructions computer-executable to implement an inventory coordination module for transaction fulfillment information based at least in part on the first item of financial transaction information.