Method and system for providing multiple services via a point-of-sale portal architecture

• US 8,190,530 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2002
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Redmond, Eric, Huang, Jean, Heisinger, Pete
• Primary Examiner(s): KUCAB, JAMIE R
• Application Number:
  US10/146,551
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195465A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,668 Days
• Field of Search: 705/16, 705/17, 705/18, 705/19, 705/20, 705/21, 705/22, 705/23, 705/24, 705/25, 705/26, 705/27
• US Class Current: 705/79
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/027 involving a payment switch or gateway
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0268 at point-of-sale [POS]

Abstract

A secure point-of-sale (POS) portal architecture for delivering multiple services is provided. According to one exemplary aspect of the architecture, a number of services offered by various parties are integrated for delivery to merchants. The parties offering the services include, for example, payment processors and merchant acquirers and other external value-added service providers. The integrated services, in turn, are offered to merchants and/or their respective customers via one or more POS devices and its supporting system infrastructure at the merchant locations. The integrated services include, for example, acceptance of multiple payment instruments, payment processing, user dialog management, sales promotion and customer support, loyalty programs, back office processing, receipt capture, employee training, risk management, dispute resolution, system security, system administration etc. Moreover, these integrated services may be customized based on a merchant'"'"'s particular requirements to provide a specific environment for delivering these services.

Claims

1. A system for providing multiple services to computing devices, the system comprising:

a services syndication hub comprising a plurality of application servers and database servers, and configured to integrate a plurality of services from a plurality of service providers comprising payment processors, and provide different combinations of services to different subscribers according to the subscribers'"'"' customization requirements, wherein the subscribers are merchants, and wherein the plurality of services include authorization services for a variety of payment instruments and the administration of loyalty programs, and wherein the services syndication hub is configured to be in communication with a plurality of appliance servers providing the different combinations of services for the different subscribers and controlling the computing devices using the different combinations of services,

wherein the services syndication hub is configured to receive a payment authorization request from a merchant subscriber, and is configured to choose an appropriate gateway for authorization and returns an appropriate result to the merchant subscriber.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the computing devices include one of the following:

a point-of-sale device, an electronic cash register, a display and a kiosk.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the computing devices are configurable to allow different services to be presented in different configurations.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein presentation and rendering of the different combinations of services at the computing devices used by the subscribers are customized according to preferences of the subscribers'"'"' customers.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of services include a receipt capture service.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the different combinations of services received by the plurality of appliance servers are to be presented and accessed by the subscribers and/or their customers.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein how one or more of the plurality of services received by the appliance server are to be presented and accessed by a customer are determined based on past activities of the customer.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of services to be received by an appliance server in the plurality of appliance services are to be presented based on criteria specified by a subscriber.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the services syndication hub enforces service agreements, operating policies and regulations among the subscribers and the service providers.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of services include a receipt capture service, a certificate management service, and an advertising service.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of services further comprises an advertising service.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the services syndication hub comprises HTTP servers.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of services comprises a certificate management service.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the services syndication hub enforces service agreements, operating policies and rules and regulations among participating parties.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of services comprises processing and analyzing customer survey information.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the services syndication hub comprises a suite of applications that provide aggregation and personalization, and dynamic distribution of content and connectivity between third-party services and payment systems.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the services syndication hub is configured to ensure that the service providers and appliance servers are in compliance with sets of operating policies and regulations.

18. The system of claim 1 further comprising the plurality of appliance servers.