Host-managed gift card program

• US 8,662,387 B1
• Filed: 12/23/2010
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Williams, Brian R., Geller, Michal J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Ahshik
• Application Number:
  US12/978,331
• Time in Patent Office: 1,167 Days
• Field of Search: 235/380, 235/381, 235/382, 705/17, 705/64
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/347 Passive cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A host-managed gift card program may enable merchants to offer and redeem gift cards without integrating a gift card program with a point of sale (POS) system used by the merchant. The merchant may rely on a host, at least in part, to issue gift cards, manage a ledger, assist in redemption of gift cards when the cards are redeemed at the merchant'"'"'s location, and perform other gift card-related tasks for the merchant.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of processing gift cards, the method comprising:

under control of a computing device configured with executable instructions,

receiving credentials of a merchant to enable the merchant to access an application to redeem a gift card; and

determining that the credentials of the merchant are correct and, in response to the determining that the credentials of the merchant are correct;

determining an identifier of the gift card by at least one of scanning a machine-readable code or recording an image of the machine-readable code;

receiving a transaction amount to deduct from the gift card;

transmitting a secure request to a host that includes the identifier and the transaction amount; and

receiving from the host a response that includes at least one of a confirmation of an availability of the transaction amount or a balance of the gift card that is an amount less than the transaction amount.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising transmitting a redemption request to the host to redeem the transaction amount or the balance of the gift card.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the transmitting the secure request further includes transmitting to the host a point of sale (POS) transaction number of a transaction associated with use of the gift card.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising generating a ledger for the gift card that includes the identifier, an amount of the redemption request, the POS transaction number, and a date.

5. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising receiving an electronic payment from the host to pay an amount of the redemption request through a POS system.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the electronic payment is associated with a payment account that is controlled by the merchant that receives funds from the host.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining, prior to determining the identifier, that parameters are satisfied, the parameters based at least in part on one of a current time or a location of the computing device, wherein the parameters are satisfied when one of the current time is within a predetermined time range or the location of the computing device is within a predetermined location.

8. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, performs acts comprising:

recording an image of at least a portion of a gift card;

receiving credentials of a merchant, the credentials to enable redemption of the gift card using a merchant device; and

determining that the credentials of the merchant are correct and, in response to the determining that the credentials of the merchant are correct;

determining an identifier from an analysis of the image;

in response to receiving a transaction amount to deduct from the gift card, transmitting, by the merchant device, a secure request to a host that includes the identifier and the transaction amount; and

in response to receiving from the host a response that includes an availability of the transaction amount or a balance of the gift card that is an amount less than the transaction amount, transmitting a redemption request to the host to redeem the transaction amount or the balance of the gift card.

9. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the transmitting the secure request further includes transmitting to the host a point of sale (POS) transaction number of a transaction associated with use of the gift card.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the acts further comprise receiving information for an electronic payment from the host to pay an amount of the redemption request.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the acts further comprise determining, prior to determining the identifier, that parameters are satisfied, the parameters based at least in part on one of the credentials of the merchant, a current time, or a location of the merchant device.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the parameters are satisfied when the parameters indicate that the merchant device is located within a predetermined location associated with the merchant that redeems gift cards.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 11, wherein the parameters are satisfied when the parameters indicate that the merchant device is accessed within a predetermined time range that coincides with operating hours of a store.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the acts further comprise receiving an indication of a pending balance of the gift card from the host.

15. A method of facilitating merchant issuance of gift cards, the method comprising:

under control of one or more computing devices configured with executable instructions,

activating a gift card account for a merchant;

associating a payment account of the merchant with the gift card account, the payment account to receive funds from a host when the host sells gift cards on behalf of the merchant; and

designating redemption credentials and parameters that, when authenticated and satisfied, enable the merchant to redeem the gift cards in a physical location using a computing device that accesses the gift card account provided by the host, the parameters being based at least in part on a location of the computing device or a time of use of the computing device.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a request from the merchant during a redemption of a gift card, the request including a gift card identifier and a transaction amount; and

determining a balance of the gift card from the gift card account based at least in part on the gift card identifier.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising transmitting at least one of an available balance of the gift card or a confirmation of the transaction amount to the merchant.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising transmitting an electronic payment to the merchant for at least one of an available balance of the gift card or the transaction amount.

19. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising transmitting an application to the merchant that facilitates redemption of the gift cards using a mobile telephone.

20. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, performs acts comprising:

in response to receiving, from a merchant device, a redemption request including a gift card identifier and an amount, determining whether a balance associated with the gift card identifier is equal to or greater than the amount, wherein the redemption request relates to a gift card issued by a host on behalf of a merchant;

transmitting a confirmation of the amount to the merchant device when the gift card identifier has associated therewith a balance of at least the amount;

transmitting an indication of the balance associated with the gift card identifier when the gift card identifier has associated therewith a balance of less than the amount; and

in response to receiving transaction data from the merchant device, transmitting funds from the host to a payment account that is controlled by the merchant and updating the balance associated with the gift card identifier.

21. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the acts further comprise:

in response to receiving a payment request for an electronic payment from the merchant device for at least one of the balance or the amount, transmitting information for the electronic payment to the merchant device.

22. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the acts further comprise transmitting a report to the merchant device that includes the updated balance of the gift card.

23. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the receiving the transaction data includes receiving a point of sale (POS) transaction identifier (ID) from the merchant device and wherein the acts further comprise recording the POS transaction ID in association with activity of the gift card.