System and Method for Mobile Payments in a Vehicle

• US 20160063459A1
• Filed: 10/28/2015
• Published: 03/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Li, Zhiyun, Zheng, Pei
• Granted Patent: US 10,152,698 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 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/308 using the Internet of Things
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/321 using wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A payment server configured to share payments among occupants of a vehicle. The payment server receives a payment request comprising a payment amount and a vehicle identification, accesses a database record associated with the vehicle identification, the record including an identification and seat position of each vehicle occupant as determined from a mobile device of each occupant, and identifies the vehicle driver. The server transmits to an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system a first billing message associated with the payment request, the IVI system displaying the first billing message on a screen of an IVI head unit. The first billing message offers the driver an option to share the payment amount with a second occupant of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A payment server configured to share payments among occupants of a vehicle, wherein the payment server is configured to:

receive from a payment station a payment request comprising a payment amount and a vehicle identification;

access in a database associated with the payment server a record associated with the vehicle identification, wherein the record includes an identification and seat position of each occupant of the vehicle, wherein the identification and the seat position of each occupant are determined from a mobile device associated with each occupant;

identify from the record a driver of the vehicle; and

transmit to an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system in the vehicle a first billing message associated with the payment request, the IVI system displaying the first billing message on a screen of an IVI head unit in the vehicle.

2. The payment server as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first billing message offers the driver of the vehicle an option to share the payment amount with a second occupant of the vehicle.

3. The payment server as set forth in claim 2, wherein if the driver decides to share the payment amount with a second occupant of the vehicle, the payment server is further configured to transmit a second billing message to a mobile device associated with the second occupant.

4. The payment server as set forth in claim 3, wherein the second billing message allows the second occupant of the vehicle to agree to pay a portion of the payment amount.

5. The payment server as set forth in claim 3, wherein the second billing message allows the second occupant of the vehicle to select a purchased item for which the second occupant is responsible.

6. The payment server as set forth in claim 1, wherein the vehicle identification comprises a license plate number of the vehicle.

7. The payment server as set forth in claim 6, wherein the vehicle identification further comprises an identifier of at least one radio-frequency (RF) beacon in the vehicle.

8. The payment server as set forth in claim 7, wherein the at least one RF beacon comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon.

9. A method of sharing payments among occupants of a vehicle, the method comprising:

in a payment server, receiving from a payment station a payment request comprising a payment amount and a vehicle identification;

accessing in a database associated with the payment server a record associated with the vehicle identification, wherein the record includes an identification and seat position of each occupant of the vehicle, wherein the identification and the seat position of each occupant are determined from a mobile device associated with each occupant;

identifying from the record a driver of the vehicle; and

transmitting to an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system in the vehicle a first billing message associated with the payment request, the IVI system displaying the first billing message on a screen of an IVI head unit in the vehicle.

10. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the first billing message offers the driver of the vehicle an option to share the payment amount with a second occupant of the vehicle.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:

if the driver decides to share the payment amount with a second occupant of the vehicle, transmitting a second billing message to a mobile device associated with the second occupant.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the second billing message allows the second occupant of the vehicle to agree to pay a portion of the payment amount.

13. The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the second billing message allows the second occupant of the vehicle to select a purchased item for which the second occupant is responsible.

14. The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the vehicle identification comprises a license plate number of the vehicle.

15. The method as set forth in claim 14, wherein the vehicle identification further comprises an identifier of at least one radio-frequency (RF) beacon in the vehicle.

16. The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the at least one RF beacon comprises a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:

if the driver decides to share the payment amount with a second occupant of the vehicle, transmitting a second billing message to a mobile device associated with the second occupant.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium as set forth in claim 11, wherein the second billing message allows the second occupant of the vehicle to agree to pay a portion of the payment amount.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium configured to control a processor to perform a method of sharing payments among occupants of a vehicle, the method comprising:

in a payment server, receiving from a payment station a payment request comprising a payment amount and a vehicle identification;

accessing in a database associated with the payment server a record associated with the vehicle identification, wherein the record includes an identification and seat position of each occupant of the vehicle, wherein the identification and the seat position of each occupant are determined from a mobile device associated with each occupant;

identifying from the record a driver of the vehicle; and

transmitting to an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system in the vehicle a first billing message associated with the payment request, the IVI system displaying the first billing message on a screen of an IVI head unit in the vehicle.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium as set forth in claim 17, wherein the first billing message offers the driver of the vehicle an option to share the payment amount with a second occupant of the vehicle.