Universal contactless gateway for point of sale terminal
First Claim
1. A method for conducting a purchase transaction at a point of sale terminal, comprising the steps of:
- contactlessly receiving at a gateway associated with the point of sale terminal, and in a collision-avoiding manner, account data from each of a plurality of individual transaction cards simultaneously placed in proximity to the gateway, each of the plurality of the individual transaction cards having an antenna for communication of the account data therefrom;
loading the account data received from each of the plurality of transaction cards into a memory associated with the gateway;
presenting payment-options, corresponding to the plurality of individual transaction cards that have been contactlessly received at the gateway, on a display associated with the gateway;
receiving a selection of a payment option through a user interface associated with the gateway;
forwarding account information associated with the selected payment option from the gateway to the point of sale terminal for use in the purchase transaction; and
clearing the memory of account data from each of a plurality of individual transaction cards in advance of a next purchase transaction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Gateway for contactless purchase transactions identifies plural transaction cards held by a customer at a point of sale terminal and loads account information into a memory. The customer'"'"'s payment options are presented and a selection is received through a user interface. Account information associated with the selected card is forwarded to the point of sale terminal for use in the purchase transaction. The memory is cleared of the account data in advance of a next purchase transaction. Optionally, payment options can be displayed concurrently for selection, and one or more of the payment options can be highlighted to encourage its selection, and other messages, offers, and incentives can be displayed to the customer.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for conducting a purchase transaction at a point of sale terminal, comprising the steps of:
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contactlessly receiving at a gateway associated with the point of sale terminal, and in a collision-avoiding manner, account data from each of a plurality of individual transaction cards simultaneously placed in proximity to the gateway, each of the plurality of the individual transaction cards having an antenna for communication of the account data therefrom; loading the account data received from each of the plurality of transaction cards into a memory associated with the gateway; presenting payment-options, corresponding to the plurality of individual transaction cards that have been contactlessly received at the gateway, on a display associated with the gateway; receiving a selection of a payment option through a user interface associated with the gateway; forwarding account information associated with the selected payment option from the gateway to the point of sale terminal for use in the purchase transaction; and
clearing the memory of account data from each of a plurality of individual transaction cards in advance of a next purchase transaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for conducting a purchase transaction at a gateway connected to a point of sale terminal, comprising the steps of:
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interrogating, in a collision-avoiding manner, a plurality of individual transaction cards simultaneously placed in proximity to a wireless radio frequency (RF) reader, each of the plurality of transaction cards having an antenna for communicating account data therefrom; loading account data associated with each of the transaction cards into a memory associated with the gateway; presenting at least a portion of the loaded account data concerning at least two of the transaction cards to a user on a display as selectable accounts; receiving a selection of one of the selectable accounts; completing the purchase transaction by charging the selected account in an amount determined at the point of sale terminal for the purchase transaction; and clearing the memory associated with the gateway of account data in advance of a next purchase transaction.
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21. A method for conducting a purchase transaction with a customer during a single session at a point of sale terminal (POS), comprising the step of:
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providing a gateway that comprises a processor, code executing in the processor, a local memory, a touch-screen display, an interface to communicate information to and from the touch-screen display under control of the code, a network card for communication with the POS, and circuitry to receive data transmitted from transaction cards over a range of radio frequencies (RF), wherein the code configures the processor and is operative to; (a) interrogate at least two transaction cards that have been simultaneously placed in proximity to a wireless RF interface that is connected to the POS during the course of the purchase transaction, each of the transaction cards having an antenna for communicating account data therefrom; (b) concurrently bring the interrogated transaction cards into a ready state for communication in a collision-avoiding manner; (c) load account data associated with at least two of the transaction cards into the local memory; (d) process account data within the local memory in accordance with a rule base used by the processor; (e) arrange a presentation to the customer of selectable accounts concerning at least two of the transaction cards on the touch-screen display of the gateway in response to step (d); (f) receive a selection of one of the selectable accounts; (g) communicate at least a portion of the account data of the selected account to the POS for use in the purchase transaction; and (h) clear the local memory of the loaded account data in advance of a next purchase transaction, wherein the code comprises firmware or software.
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Specification