Recurrent billing maintenance with radio frequency payment devices

• US 7,725,427 B2
• Filed: 09/28/2004
• Issued: 05/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Xatra Fund MX LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Bishop, Fred, Saunders, Peter D
• Primary Examiner(s): To, Baoquoc N
• Application Number:
  US10/711,613
• Publication Number:
  US 20050149544A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,065 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/10, 707/100
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/29 the pass containing active electronic elements, e.g. smartcards

Abstract

An RF recurrent billing system in which an account number associated with a recurrent billing account is stored within an RF transaction device. The user of the RF transaction device may present the device for completing a transaction, and the transaction, if successfully completed, is billed to the user'"'"'s recurrent billing account. The user is billed for the transaction during a billing cycle, typically occurring on a regular basis according to the recurrent billing account.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, a recurring billing transaction request from a radio frequency (RF) transaction device, wherein the recurring billing transaction request comprises an encrypted RF transaction device identifier and a recurring billing amount;

decrypting, at the RFID reader, the encrypted RF transaction device identifier to produce an RF transaction device identifier;

converting, at the RFID reader, the RF transaction device identifier into a magnetic stripe formatted identifier;

transmitting the magnetic stripe formatted identifier from the RFID reader via a point of sale (POS) device to a merchant server that includes a processor;

requesting, by the RFID reader, a secondary verification in response to a transaction restriction associated with the RF transaction device identifier;

receiving, at the RFID reader, the secondary verification; and

indicating, at the RFID reader, approval of the recurring billing transaction request in response to the receiving the secondary verification, wherein the recurring billing amount is added to the total recurring billing amount in response to the merchant server approving the recurring billing transaction request, to create an updated total recurring billing amount, and wherein the updated total recurring billing amount is submitted via a network interface to a provider system for payment processing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a billing account record comprises a customer transaction account number, a customer merchant account number, and a customer transaction account expiration date.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the recurring billing transaction request is approved in response to the customer transaction account expiration date in a merchant database on the merchant server.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a recurring billing account record that is associated with a total recurring billing amount is stored in a database in the merchant server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the magnetic stripe formatted identifier is associated with the recurring billing account record and the total recurring billing amount.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the recurring billing account record is associated with a recurring billing account in which an account holder receives periodic bills, wherein the recurring billing account is not primarily a credit account, charge account, debit account, checking account, savings account, reward account, loyalty account, or a financial account.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the recurring billing account record is associated with a recurring billing account which provides a regularly recurring bill to an account holder, wherein the recurring billing account is not a credit account, debit account or charge account.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the RF transaction device identifier is associated with at least one of an authorization code, an access code, a personal identification number (PIN), an Internet code, a digital certificate, or biometric data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction restriction comprises at least one of a per purchase spending limit, a time of day restriction, a day of week restriction, or a merchant restriction.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the transaction restriction is assigned by at least one of an RF transaction device user or the provider system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the secondary verification comprises at least one of a PIN or biometric sample data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the secondary verification is associated with the RF transaction device identifier, and wherein a corroborating secondary verification is stored on at least one of the RF transaction device, the RFID reader, or a merchant database.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising comparing the secondary verification to the corroborating secondary verification.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving approval of the recurring billing transaction request in response to the comparing the secondary verification to the corroborating secondary verification.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the updated total recurring billing amount is periodically submitted to the provider system for payment processing over a time period, in response to the updated total recurring billing amount remaining the same over the time period.

16. A method comprising:

receiving, at a network interface of a merchant server that includes a processor, a recurring billing transaction request associated with a radio frequency (RF) transaction device from a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, wherein the recurring billing transaction request comprises a recurring billing amount;

receiving, at the merchant server, a magnetic stripe formatted identifier from a point of sale (POS) device, wherein the magnetic stripe formatted identifier is converted by the RFID reader from a decrypted RF transaction device identifier;

approving, at the merchant server, the recurring billing transaction request in response to a secondary verification, wherein the RFID reader receives the secondary verification in response to a transaction restriction associated with the RF transaction device identifier;

adding, at the merchant server, the recurring billing amount to the total recurring billing amount in response to the approving the recurring billing transaction request, to create an updated total recurring billing amount; and

submitting the updated total recurring billing amount from the merchant server to a provider system for payment processing.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising modifying a merchant system registry file in accordance with a summary report from the provider system by appending a merchant transaction code to at least one of a plurality of recurring billing account records.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the merchant transaction code comprises at least one of an add transaction code, a delete transaction code, or change transaction code.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising periodically transmitting the merchant system registry file at a frequency of at least one of once per day, once per week, or once per month.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising receiving the summary report from the provider system, wherein the summary report comprises a plurality of decision codes associated with the plurality of recurring billing account records transmitted in the merchant system registry file, and wherein the summary report further comprises a rejected records file.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the summary report further comprises a tally of rejected records.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising requesting provider preauthorization of at least one of the plurality of recurring billing account records.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the modifying the merchant system registry file comprises manually modifying the merchant system registry file in accordance with the summary report.

24. The method of claim 16, further comprising associating the magnetic stripe formatted identifier with the recurring billing account record and the total recurring billing amount.

25. A merchant server that includes a processor, the merchant server configured to:

receive, at a network interface of the merchant server, a recurring billing transaction request associated with a radio frequency (RF) transaction device from a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, wherein the recurring billing transaction request comprises a recurring billing amount;

receive, at the merchant server, a magnetic stripe formatted identifier from a point of sale (POS) device, wherein the magnetic stripe formatted identifier is converted by the RFID reader from a decrypted RF transaction device identifier;

approve, at the merchant server, the recurring billing transaction request in response to a secondary verification, wherein the RFID reader receives the secondary verification in response to a transaction restriction associated with the RF transaction device identifier;

add, at the merchant server, the recurring billing amount to the total recurring billing amount in response to the merchant server approving the recurring billing transaction request, to create an updated total recurring billing amount; and

submit the updated total recurring billing amount from the merchant server to a provider system for payment processing.

26. A merchant system, comprising:

a server comprising a processor and a database configured to store a recurring billing account record, wherein the server is configured to submit an updated total recurring billing amount associated with the recurring billing account record to a provider system for payment processing;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader configured to receive a recurring billing transaction request from an RF transaction device, wherein the recurring billing transaction request comprises an encrypted RF transaction device identifier and a recurring billing amount, wherein the RFID reader is configured to decrypt the encrypted RF transaction device identifier to produce an RF transaction device identifier, wherein the RFID reader is further configured to convert the RF transaction device identifier into a magnetic stripe formatted identifier and to transmit the magnetic stripe formatted identifier to a point of sale (POS) device; and

a point of sale (POS) device configured to communicate with the server, wherein the POS device is configured to receive the magnetic stripe formatted identifier from the RFID reader, wherein the POS device is configured to receive a secondary verification in response to a transaction restriction associated with a radio frequency (RF) transaction device identifier, wherein the POS device is configured to transmit the magnetic stripe formatted identifier to the server, and wherein the recurring billing amount is added to a total recurring billing amount in response to an approval of the recurring billing transaction request and the secondary verification, to create the updated total recurring billing amount.