Transit card credit authorization

• US 8,181,867 B1
• Filed: 01/06/2009
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Bierbaum, Christopher J., Katzer, Robin Dale, Koellner, Todd N., Zhu, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thien M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Taylor, April
• Application Number:
  US12/349,513
• Time in Patent Office: 1,232 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235380-384, 235/492, 705/13, 705 64- 65
• US Class Current: 235/384
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/363 with the personal data of a user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/04 comprising devices to free a barrier, turnstile, or the like turnstiles with registering means G07C9/10; coin-freed aspects G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/127 in which both online and offline card verification can take place

Abstract

A system is provided for transit card credit authorization. An authorization component on a mobile device determines whether a balance on a transit card application on the mobile device is below a threshold, and determines whether a communication signal is too weak to request an approval for a balance increase from a server in response to a determination that the balance on the transit card application is below the threshold. The authorization component also determines whether credit data on the mobile device authorizes increasing the balance in response to a determination that the communication signal is too weak to request the approval for the balance increase from the server, and authorizes increasing the balance in response to a determination that the credit data authorizes increasing the balance. A fare gate enables access for the mobile device at the fare gate in response to the authorization component authorizing increasing the balance.

Claims

1. A system for transit card credit authorization, comprising:

credit data on a mobile device; and

an authorization component on the mobile device, wherein the authorization component determines whether a balance on a transit card application on the mobile device is below a threshold, determines whether a communication signal is too weak to request an approval for a balance increase from a server in response to a determination that the balance on the transit card application is below the threshold, determines whether the credit data authorizes increasing the balance in response to a determination that the communication signal is too weak to request the approval for the balance increase from the server, and authorizes increasing the balance in response to a determination that the credit data authorizes increasing the balance,

wherein a fare gate enables access for the mobile device at the fare gate in response to the authorization component authorizing increasing the balance.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the authorization component determines whether a predetermined payment source has sufficient value for increasing the balance, requests the predetermined payment source to promote increasing the balance in response to a determination that the predetermined payment source has sufficient value for increasing the balance, and enabling switching from the predetermined payment source to another predetermined payment source in response to a determination that the predetermined payment source does not have sufficient value for increasing the balance.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein a user of the mobile device selects the predetermined payment source and the other predetermined payment source.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the authorization component determines whether the communication signal is too weak to request a predetermined payment source to promote increasing the balance in response to promoting increasing the balance, and requests the predetermined payment source to promote increasing the balance in response to a determination that the communication signal is not too weak to request the predetermined payment source to promote increasing the balance.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the predetermined payment source is at least one of a smart card application on the mobile device, a loyalty card, an identification card, a credit card, a coupon card a security card, a debit card, a bank account, a mobile device service provider bill, a cash card, and another mobile device that has an electronic wallet.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the predetermined payment source charges a first amount to promote increasing the balance, wherein the first amount is based on a second amount for increasing the balance.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the credit data is based on a usage of a transit system, a timeliness of payments, a length of time that a mobile device user is a customer, a credit score associated with the mobile device user, an average payment amount, a frequency of increasing the balance, a report of a cancelled account, and a report of mobile device theft.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the server provides the credit data to the mobile device on a repeated basis, the credit data specifies when the server provided the credit data to the mobile device, and the authorization component determines whether the credit data authorizes increasing the balance credit data based on when the server provided the credit data to the mobile device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is one of a mobile computer, a portable computer, a tablet computer, and a laptop computer.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device has a reduced screen size and is one of a mobile telecommunication device, a mobile handset, a personal digital assistant, a handheld gaming device, a handheld wireless mobile device, a pager, a digital camera, a digital music player, a mobile phone, and a digital calculator.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the credit data specifies an amount for increasing the balance.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the authorization component determines whether the balance on the transit card application is below the threshold in response to one of a fare gate event, a period of time passed, and a request by a user of the mobile device to access information for the transit card application.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device promotes communication with the fare gate via one of a contact communication and a contact-less communication for the transaction, wherein the communication is further defined as one of a radio frequency communication, optical communication, and infra-red communication.

14. A method for transit card credit authorization comprising:

determining, by an authorization component stored on a mobile device and executable by a processor, whether a balance on a transit card application on a mobile device is below a threshold;

determining, by the authorization component, whether a communication signal is too weak to request an approval for a balance increase from a server in response to a determination that the balance on the transit card application is below the threshold;

requesting, by the authorization component, the approval for the balance increase from the server in response to a determination that the communication signal is not too weak to request the approval for the balance increase from the server;

receiving, by the authorization component, the approval for the balance increase from the server in response to requesting the approval for the balance increase from the server;

determining, by the authorization component, whether credit data on the mobile device authorizes to write a secure command to the transit card application in response to a determination that the communication signal is too weak to request the approval for the balance increase from the server;

writing, by the authorization component, a secure command to the transit card application in response to one of a determination that the credit data authorizes to write the secure command to the transit card application and receiving the approval for the balance increase from the server;

increasing the balance in response to the authorization component writing the secure command to the transit card application; and

enabling access for the mobile device at a fare gate.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising displaying at least one of a transit schedule, a fare list, an account number for the transit card application, an account limit for the transit card application, an account balance for the transit card application, and a transaction history for the transit card application on a user interface on the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising informing a user of the mobile device that the balance is below the threshold.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising enabling a user of the mobile device to set at least one of the threshold and a value for the balance increase.

18. A system for transit card credit authorization, comprising:

credit data on a mobile device; and

an authorization component on the mobile device, wherein the authorization component determines whether a balance on a transit card application on the mobile device is below a threshold, determines whether a communication signal is too weak to request an approval for a balance increase from a server in response to a determination that the balance on the transit card application is below the threshold, determines whether the credit data authorizes to write a secure command to the transit card application in response to a determination that the communication signal is too weak to request the approval for the balance increase from the server, and writes a secure command to the transit card application in response to a determination that the credit data authorizes to write the secure command to the transit card application,

wherein a fare gate increases the balance in response to the authorization component writing the secure command to the transit card application, and enables access for the mobile device at the fare gate.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the fare gate sends an invoice to a mobile device service provider associated with the mobile device.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the authorization component determines whether the credit data authorizes to write a secure command to the transit card application based on at least one of a duration of time that the communication signal is too weak to request the approval for the balance increase from the server and a total amount associated with each request for approval for the balance increase from the server while the communication signal is too weak to request the approval for the balance increase from the server.