Real time account update

• US 7,925,587 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2008
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: DiGioacchino, Laura
• Primary Examiner(s): Apple; Kirsten S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gregg; Mary
• Application Number:
  US12/267,237
• Publication Number:
  US 20090063347A1
• Time in Patent Office: 886 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/407 Cancellation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A method is used in a system that includes a financial service provider coordinating accounts issued by an issuer to cardholders requesting credit from merchants. The method can be performed by a merchant sending a transmission to its acquirer including a request for a transaction against one account to which the merchant receives a denial or prior to receiving such a denial. The merchant then requests information from the financial service provider who responds by sending the requested information, upon which the merchant determines whether to extend the credit. When the method is performed by a financial service provider, in response to the denial received by one merchant or prior to such denial, the financial service provider receives a transmission from the merchant including a request for information about the account. In response, the financial service provider sends the merchant the requested information.

Claims

1. In a system with a transaction handler processing a plurality of transactions each between an account holder and a merchant upon an account issued to the account holder by an issuer, a computer implemented method comprising:

electronically forming, at a merchant computing machine executing software, a merchant transmission destined for an acquirer of a merchant requesting a batch comparison of data about a plurality of said accounts to determine any past changes thereto;

electronically receiving, at the merchant computing machine, an acquirer transmission from the acquirer including the past changes, respectively, to each of the accounts among the plurality of said accounts;

electronically batch updating, at the merchant computing machine, stored information about each of the accounts among the plurality of said accounts with the respective received past changes thereto;

electronically forming, at the merchant computer machine, an authorization request for an issuer to authorize a transaction on one said account among the plurality of said accounts, wherein the authorization request includes at least part of the past changes to the one said account;

electronically receiving, at the merchant computing machine, a denial of the issuer to authorize the transaction that is responsive to the authorization request;

subsequent to receiving the denial, electronically forming, at the merchant computing machine, a request transmission including a request for the transaction handler to send data about recent changes to the one said account that is more current than the past changes received from the acquirer;

electronically receiving, at the merchant computing machine, the data about the recent changes from a database of account records associated with the transaction handler; and

electronically querying, at the merchant computing machine, the received data about the recent changes against a predetermined criterion to determine whether to authorize the transaction on the one said account.

2. The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, wherein:

each said account holder comprises a cardholder;

the transaction handler comprises a financial service provider; and

each said authorization request for authorization upon each said account for each said transaction by a corresponding said account holder comprises a request to extend credit upon the account of the corresponding said cardholder.

3. The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising, the merchant computing machine providing an interactive user interface to render data corresponding to:

the request for the data about the recent changes;

and

the data about the recent changes, wherein merchant computing machine is communicatively connected to the transaction handler.

4. The computer implemented method as defined in claim 1, further comprising providing means for real time access at the merchant computing machine to the transaction handler for:

sending, at the merchant computing machine, the request transmission; and

receiving, at the merchant computing machine, the data about the recent changes.

5. The computer implemented method as defined in claim 4, wherein the means for real time access comprises a browser application for a network of servers.

6. A computer readable medium comprising stored instructions which, when executed by the merchant computing machine, causes the merchant computing machine to perform the computer implemented method of claim 1.

7. In a system with a transaction handler processing a plurality of transactions each between an account holder and a merchant upon an account issued to the account holder by an issuer, a computer implemented method comprising:

electronically forming, at a merchant computing machine executing software, a transmission destined for an acquirer of a merchant requesting a batch comparison of data about a plurality of said accounts to determine any past changes thereto that the acquirer previously received from a transaction handler;

electronically receiving at the merchant computing machine a transmission from the acquirer including the past changes, respectively, to each of the accounts among the plurality of accounts;

electronically batch updating, at the merchant computing machine, stored information about each of the accounts among the plurality of said accounts with the respective received past changes thereto;

electronically forming in real-time, at the merchant computing machine, an authorization request for an issuer to authorize a transaction on one said account among the plurality of said accounts, wherein;

the authorization request includes at least part of the stored information about the one said account; and

the authorization request is destined for the acquirer to forward to the transaction handler to forward to the issuer of the one said account;

electronically receiving in real-time from the acquirer, at the merchant computing machine, a denial of the issuer to authorize the transaction that is responsive to the authorization request;

subsequent to receiving the denial, electronically forming in real-time, at the merchant computing machine, a request transmission destined for the transaction handler including a request for the transaction handler to send data about recent changes to the one said account since the last batch update to the plurality of said accounts;

electronically receiving in real-time, at the merchant computing machine, the data about the recent changes from a storage record associated with the transaction handler;

electronically querying in real-time, at the merchant computing machine, the received data about the recent changes against a predetermined criterion to determine whether to authorize the transaction on the one said account.

8. A computer readable medium comprising stored instructions which, when executed by the merchant computing machine, causes the merchant computing machine to perform the computer implemented method of claim 7.

9. In a system with a transaction handler processing a plurality of transactions each between an account holder and a merchant upon an account issued to the account holder by an issuer, a merchant computing machine comprising:

means for forming a merchant transmission destined for an acquirer of a merchant requesting a batch comparison of data about a plurality of accounts for transactions to determine any past changes thereto that the acquirer previously received from a transaction handler;

means for receiving an acquirer transmission from the acquirer including the past changes respectively to each of the accounts among the plurality of accounts;

means for batch updating stored information about the plurality of accounts with the respective received past changes thereto;

means for forming an authorization request for an issuer to authorize a transaction against one said account among the plurality of accounts, wherein;

the authorization request includes at least part of the stored information about the one said account; and

the authorization request is destined for the acquirer to forward to the transaction handler that forwards the authorization request to the issuer of the one said account;

means for receiving from the acquirer a denial of the issuer to authorize the transaction that is responsive to the authorization request;

means for forming, subsequent to receiving the denial, a request transmission destined for the transaction handler including a request for the transaction handler to send data about recent changes to the one said account that is more current than the past changes received from the acquirer;

means for receiving the data about the recent changes to the one said account from a storage record associated with the transaction handler; and

means for querying the received data about the recent changes against a predetermined criterion to determine whether to authorize the transaction against the one said account.

10. The merchant computing machine as defined in claim 9, wherein:

the transaction handler comprises a financial service provider; and

the authorization request for authorization of the transaction for the one said account comprises a real-time request to extend credit upon the account of the corresponding said account holder.

11. The merchant computing machine as defined in claim 9, further comprising means for providing an interactive user interface to contain data corresponding to:

the request for data about the recent changes; and

data about the recent changes.

12. The merchant computing machine as defined in claim 9, further comprising providing means for real time access to the transaction handler for:

sending the request transmission; and

receiving the data about the recent changes.

13. The merchant computing machine as defined in claim 12, wherein the means for real time access comprises a browser application for network of servers.

14. A merchant computer implemented method for conducting a transaction in real time, the method comprising:

electronically receiving, in real time at a merchant computing machine executing software, an initial denial of a initial authorization request for a transaction upon an account wherein the initial authorization request includes information about the account previously stored by the merchant computing machine in an electronic batch operation storing other such information for other said accounts;

subsequent to said electronically receiving the initial denial, electronically receiving, in real time at the merchant computing machine, recent account information about the account from a database of account records associated with a transaction handler;

subsequent to said receiving of the recent account information, electronically submitting, in real time at the merchant computing machine, a subsequent authorization request for the transaction, wherein the subsequent authorization request includes the recent account information; and

after submitting the subsequent authorization request, electronically receiving, in real time at the merchant computing machine, an approval of the subsequent authorization request for the transaction.

15. The computer implemented method as defined in claim 14, further comprising electronically receiving from an acquirer of the merchant, at the merchant computing machine, the information about the account that is stored in the electronic batch operation.