Automatic tab payment from a user device

• US 8,626,597 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2010
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Underwood, Rosa M.
• Primary Examiner(s): HAQ, NAEEM U
• Application Number:
  US12/955,965
• Publication Number:
  US 20120136754A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,134 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26.1, 705/26.2, 705/26.25, 705/26.3, 705/26.35, 705/26.4, 705 2641- 2644, 705/26.5, 705 2661- 2664, 705/26.7, 705/26.8, 705/26.81, 705/26.82, 705/26.9, 705/27.1, 705/27.2
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0617 Representative agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

A method includes receiving a menu of items offered for sale by a merchant, where the menu of items permits a user, of a user device, to place an order with an attendant, associated with the merchant, that includes an item of the menu of items; receiving information associated with the order that was placed with the attendant, where the information associated with the order includes the item and a price associated with the item; receiving an instruction to pay for the order; retrieving, in response to the instruction, payment information to be used to pay the price associated with the item; sending, to a server device, the payment information to permit the server device to process the payment information to pay for the order, where the sending is performed in a manner that does not permit the attendant to access the payment information; and receiving an indication that the payment information was processed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a connection, by a user device, to a server device associated with a merchant, where the connection is established via a private network associated with the server device;

sending, by the user device and to the server device via the connection, information regarding a location, within a premises associated with the merchant, that the user device is located that enables the server device to create an order associated with the location;

receiving, by the user device and from the server device, information associated with a plurality of products or services that are offered for sale by the merchant;

receiving, by the user device and from the user, selection of a product or service of the plurality of products or services;

sending, by the user device and to the server device, information, associated with the selection of the product or service, that is to be included in the order;

receiving, by the user device and from the server device, information associated with the order that includes a price associated with the order, where receiving the information associated with the order further includes;

presenting the information associated with the order for display via a payment user interface,

receiving, via the payment user interface, a value associated with a quantity of gratuity associated with the order, and

calculating a total price associated with the order based on a sum of the price associated with the selection of the product or service, a quantity of tax that corresponds to the price associated with the selection of the product or service, and the value associated with the quantity of gratuity;

retrieving payment information from a memory associated with the user device, where the payment information is to be used to pay the total price associated with the order;

sending, by the user device and to another server that processes payment information, the payment information associated with the order, where the payment information is sent in a manner that is not accessible by the merchant; and

receiving, by the user device and from the server device, a receipt that indicates that the payment information was processed.

2. The method of claim 1, where connecting to the server device further includes:

scanning an item, associated with the location within the premises, that enables the information regarding the location to be obtained by the user device.

3. The method of claim 2, where the item includes bar code information or radio frequency identification (RFID) information.

4. The method of claim 1, where receiving the information, associated with the plurality of products or services, further includes:

presenting the information associated with the plurality of products or services for display via a menu user interface, where the menu user interface includes at least one of;

the information regarding the location within the premises,

a list of the plurality of products or services, or

a respective price that corresponds to each of the plurality of products or services.

5. The method of claim 4, where receiving the selection of the product or service, includes:

receiving, via the menu user interface, an instruction to associate the selection of the product or service with the order.

6. The method of claim 1, where retrieving the payment information, further includes:

receiving an instruction to pay the total price associated with the order, where the instruction is received when the user;

selects a particular button on the payment user interface, or

selects an icon, associated with the payment information, that is displayed on the user device and moves the icon to a location that is within one or more borders associated with the payment user interface.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, to another server device, a request to download an application that enables the user device to perform a point-of-sale transaction while located within the premises associated with the server device;

receiving, from the other server device and in response to the request, the application;

displaying, using the application, a set up user interface on the user device, where the set up user interface enables the user to enter the payment information;

receiving, via the set up user interface, the payment information entered into the set up user interface; and

storing, in the memory, the payment information in a manner that does not permit the payment information to be accessed or changed by someone other than the user.

8. The method of claim 7, where storing the payment information further includes:

generating an icon associated with the application, where the icon permits the user to;

access the payment information when the user selects the icon, or

move the selected icon to a location on a display associated with the user device that corresponds to a payment user interface in order to pay for another order.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, via the set up user interface, an address associated with a financial entity at which the user has an account from which funds are to be drawn to pay for an order; and

communicating with a further server device, associated with the financial entity, to obtain information associated with the account.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, to the server device, the payment information associated with another order that enables the server device to process the payment information, where the payment information is sent in a manner that is not accessible by an attendant, associated with the merchant, that provides services to the user.

11. A user device, comprising:

a memory to store payment information that enables a user, of the user device, to pay for a product or service using a credit card, a debit card, or a bank account, where the payment information is stored securely, so as not to be accessible to another user of another user device; and

a processor to;

communicate with a server device associated with a merchant and via a network associated with the server device, when the user device is located within a premises associated with the merchant,

present, for display on the user device, a menu user interface (UI) that includes information, associated with a menu of items sold by the merchant, received from the server device as a result of the communication, where the menu UI permits the user to place an order with a service attendant associated with the merchant based on a selection of one or more items from the menu of items,

present, for display on the user device, a payment UI based on information associated with the order, where the payment UI includes;

the selection of the one or more items and a respective price associated with each of the selected one or more items,

a field to receive user input for a value associated with a quantity of gratuity associated with the order, and

a total price, associated with the order, that is calculated based on a sum of the price associated with the selection of the one or more items, a quantity of tax that corresponds to the price associated with the selection of the one or more items, and the value associated with the quantity of gratuity,

where the payment UI enables payment for the order to be processed in a manner that the payment information is not accessible by the merchant, and

present, for display on the user device, a receipt UI based on a notification, received from the server device, indicating that the payment information was processed.

12. The user device of claim 11, where, before communicating with the server device to obtain the information associated with the menu of items, the processor is further to:

establish a connection with the server device via the network associated with the server device, where establishing the connection occurs when the user enters a premises associated with the merchant, and

register with the server device in order to receive the information associated with the menu of items sold by the merchant.

13. The user device of claim 11, where, when presenting the payment UI based on information associated with the order received from the server device, the processor is to:

receive an instruction to pay for the order when the user selects a particular button on the payment UI,

retrieve, from the memory, the payment information, where the retrieving includes decrypting the payment information, and

send, to another server device and via another network, the payment information that enables the order to be paid, where the other server device;

permits access to a service that processes the payment information on behalf of the merchant, and

sends another notification, to the server device, indicating the payment information has been processed.

14. The user device of claim 13, where, the payment information is sent to the other server device in a manner that does not permit a service attendant associated with the merchant to access the payment information.

15. The user device of claim 11, where the processor is further to:

present, for display on the user device, another payment UI based on information associated with another order received from the server device, where the other payment UI includes a selection of one or more other items, and

receive, via the other payment UI, an instruction that the other order needs to be changed, and

send another notification to the server device that indicates that the order needs to be changed.

16. The user device of claim 11, where the processor is further to:

receive another notification that other payment information, associated with another order, could not be processed,

retrieve further payment information from the memory in response to the other notification that the other payment information could not be processed, and

send the further payment information to the server device to be processed in order to pay for the other order.

17. The user device of claim 11, where the processor is further to:

present, for display on the user device, another payment UI based on other information associated with another order received from the server device, where the payment UI includes two or more items of the menu of items associated with the other order,

select a portion of the two or more items, associated with the other order, that was placed on the other order by the user, where an unselected portion of the two or more items, associated with the other order, were placed on the other order by another user, and

send, to the server device, other payment information to be processed in order to pay for the selected portion of the two or more items associated with the other order.

18. A method, comprising:

sending, by a user device and to a first server device, a request to download an application that enables the user device to perform a point-of-sale transaction while located within premises associated with a second server device associated with a merchant;

receiving, by the user device and from the first server device and in response to the request, the application;

displaying, by the user device and using the application, a set up user interface on the user device, where the set up user interface enables a user to enter payment information;

receiving, by the user device and via the set up user interface, the payment information entered into the set up user interface; and

storing, in a memory associated with the user device, the payment information in a manner that does not permit the payment information to be accessed or changed by someone other than the user;

establishing a connection, by the user device, to the second server device, where the connection is established via a private network associated with the second server device;

sending, by the user device and to the second server device via the connection, information regarding a location, within a premises associated with the merchant, that the user device is located that enables the second server device to create an order associated with the location;

receiving, by the user device and from the second server device, information associated with a plurality of products or services that are offered for sale by the merchant;

receiving, by the user device and from the user, selection of a product or service of the plurality of products or services;

sending, by the user device and to the second server device, information, associated with the selection of the product or service, that is to be included in the order;

receiving, by the user device and from the second server device, information associated with the order that includes a price associated with the order;

retrieving payment information from the memory, where the payment information is to be used to pay the price associated with the order;

sending, by the user device and to another server device that processes payment information, the payment information associated with the order, where the payment information is sent in a manner that is not accessible by the merchant; and

receiving, by the user device and from the second server device, a receipt that indicates that the payment information was processed.

19. The method of claim 18, where connecting to the server device further includes:

scanning an item, associated with the location within the premises, that enables the information regarding the location to be obtained by the user device.

20. The method of claim 19, where the item includes bar code information or radio frequency identification (RFID) information.

21. The method of claim 18, where receiving the information, associated with the plurality of products or services, further includes:

presenting the information associated with the plurality of products or services for display via a menu user interface, where the menu user interface includes at least one of;

the information regarding the location within the premises,

a list of the plurality of products or services, or

a respective price that corresponds to each of the plurality of products or services.

22. The method of claim 21, where receiving the selection of the product or service, includes:

receiving, via the menu user interface, an instruction to associate the selection of the product or service with the order.

23. The method of claim 18, where storing the payment information further includes:

generating an icon associated with the application, where the icon permits the user to;

access the payment information when the user selects the icon, or

move the selected icon to a location on a display associated with the user device that corresponds to a payment user interface in order to pay for another order.

24. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, via the set up user interface, an address associated with a financial entity at which the user has an account from which funds are to be drawn to pay for an order; and

communicating with a further server device, associated with the financial entity, to obtain information associated with the account.