Check writing point of sale system

• US 6,283,366 B1
• Filed: 05/01/2000
• Issued: 09/04/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: LML Patent Corporation (Danube Private Holdings II, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Chequemark Patent Incorporated
• Inventors: Nichols, Henry R., Hills, Robert R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pitts, Harold I.
• Application Number:
  US09/562,303
• Time in Patent Office: 491 Days
• Field of Search: 235/379, 235/380
• US Class Current: 235/379
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/26 Debit schemes, e.g. "pay now"
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/12 electronically operated digital data processing aspects G06Q20/00

Abstract

A point of sale system designed to read information from a consumer'"'"'s check, credit card, or manual input with a subsequent debiting of a consumer'"'"'s account and crediting merchant'"'"'s account for the goods or services provided. Point of sale terminals are designed to accept a form of credit card with a consumer'"'"'s bank account information encoded thereon or in the alternative to read the MICR number from a consumer'"'"'s check in order to verify that a consumer has an appropriate balance to conduct the transaction with a given merchant. Thereafter the transaction of that information is transmitted to a central computer system which verifies the consumer'"'"'s credit worthiness and stores the transaction event information for subsequent bank reconciliation via the ACH or other competing network. The invention eliminates the need for paper checks with all bank reconciliation being accomplished electronically. The present invention also includes fraud protection provisions such as velocity controls, social security checks, and scans. The present invention has the further flexibility to differentiate between “first time” consumer usage and those limits otherwise assigned to “known” consumer accounts. Additionally, there is not need for the present system to retain the consumer'"'"'s check after verification.

Claims

1. A checkwriting point of sale system comprising:

a point of sale terminal adapted to receive payer bank account information from any bank check;

a central computer system;

first communications means integral to said point of sale terminal for electronically communicating with the central computer system;

memory means integral to said point of sale terminal for temporarily storing the payer bank account information;

the central computer system having second communication means for receiving information from a plurality of said point of sale terminals; and

the central computer system second communication means enabling said central computer system to communicate with external databases for performing a payer bank account status search and further enabling communication with an electronic funds transfer system for transferring funds without using the bank check as a negotiable instrument.

2. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1 wherein the pont of sale terminal is further adapted to print activity reports of transaction events occurring at the point of sale terminal.

3. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1 wherein the point of sale terminal is further adapted to annotate the bank check that is used at the point of sale terminal to provide the payer bank account information.

4. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1 wherein the payer is selected from the group consisting of consumers and businesses.

5. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1 further comprising means for service subscriber activation.

6. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 5 wherein the service subscriber activation means is a personal computer.

7. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 5 wherein the service subscriber activation means is an electronic cash register.

8. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1 further comprising means for biometrically verifying the identify of the payer connected to the point of sale terminal.

9. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1 further comprising a reader selected from the group consisting of MICR readers, OCR readers, magnetic stripe debit card readers, and smart card readers connected to the point of sale terminal for input of the payer'"'"'s bank account information from a check or card.

19. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1, wherein the electronic fund transfer occurs online or offline.

20. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 19, wherein the electronic fund transfer is by ACH or Federal Reserve system.

21. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 1, further comprising printing means associated with said point of sale terminal for printing a transaction event slip authorizing the debit of funds from payer'"'"'s bank account for payer execution.

10. A checkwriting point of sale process comprising:

presenting a check to a point of sale terminal located at a merchant or service provider;

reading a magnetic ink character recognition number information on the check for the sole purpose of obtaining consumer bank account information, without using the check as a negotiable instrument;

storing payer bank account information obtained from the check

providing transaction event information to the point of sale terminal;

transmitting the transaction event information and payer bank account information to a central computer system;

storing the transaction event information and payer banking account information; and

transmitting the transaction event information to a bank for electronic funds transfer from the payer bank account of funds sufficient for the transaction event.

11. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 10 further comprising disposition of the check by one of the group consisting of:

returning a blank check to the payer returning an incomplete check to the payer, returning a completed and voided check to the payer, retaining an incomplete and voided check and retaining a completed and voided check.

12. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 10 further comprising:

receiving and retaining a paver'"'"'s social security number or federal tax I.D. number.

13. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 10 wherein the payer is selected from the group consisting of consumers and businesses.

14. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 12 further comprising cross-searching a known checkwriter database to verify the status of all of the payer'"'"'s banking accounts.

15. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 14 further comprising sending an approval message to the point of sale terminal if the payer'"'"'s banking account status is approved for the transaction.

16. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 15 further comprising by-passing the approval process;

capturing and logging the transaction event; and

electronically settling the transaction.

17. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 14 wherein the cross-searching further comprises conducting a “

velocity check”

of the payer'"'"'s expenditure to avoid fraud.

18. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 10 further comprising performing a “

velocity check”

on the merchant'"'"'s or service provider'"'"'s sales activity to avoid fraud.

22. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 10, wherein the electronic fund transfer occurs online or offline.

23. The checkwriting point of sale system of claim 22, wherein the electronic fund transfer is by ACH or Federal Reserve system.

24. A checkwriting point of sale process comprising:

a payer completing a check for a transaction with a merchant or service provider;

using a point of sale terminal associated with said merchant or service provider to read MICR information on the check to obtain payer bank account information;

inputting transaction information, including at least a transaction amount, into the point of sale terminal;

printing an authorization to debit the payer bank account by the transaction amount for the payer to sign;

the payer signing the authorization;

returning a copy of the signed authorization and the check to the payer; and

electronically debiting said payer bank account by said transaction amount based on the signed authorization, without using the check as a negotiable instrument.

25. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 24, further comprising voiding the completed check prior to returning it to the payer.

26. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 24, wherein the inputting of transaction information is provided by an electronic cash register.

27. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 24, further comprising checking payer and/or account information on a database for an approval prior to printing the authorization;

and

proceeding with the transaction only upon an approval.

28. The checkwriting point of sale process of claim 24, wherein the electronic debiting is performed by an electronic fund transfer accomplish by ACH or Federal Reserve system.