Processor routing number for mobile communication service provider billing

• US 9,672,512 B1
• Filed: 01/02/2014
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Gailloux, Michael A., Smith, Brian T.
• Primary Examiner(s): CRAWLEY, TALIA F
• Application Number:
  US14/146,489
• Time in Patent Office: 1,251 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/027 involving a payment switch or gateway
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0855 involving a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/16 Payments settled via telecommunication 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 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• 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 20/4012 Verifying personal identification numbers [PIN]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 2220/00 Business processing using cryptography postage metering system using cryptography G06Q2250/05

Abstract

A method of billing a payment transaction to a mobile communication service account. The method comprises receiving a request for mobile communication service provider billing approval from a payment processor, wherein the request comprises one of a phone number associated with a mobile communication service account or an equipment identification of a mobile communication device associated with the mobile communication service account, wherein the request comprises a processor routing number, wherein the processor routing number is consistent in format with one of a block of credit card numbers maintained by a mobile communication service provider, and wherein the processor routing number is used by different mobile communication devices associated with different mobile communication service accounts to complete payments. The method further comprises identifying the service account based on one of the phone number or the equipment identification of the mobile communication device, and charging to the mobile communication service account.

Claims

1. A system for payment approval at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal comprising:

a POS terminal for processing a transaction involving a payment;

a mobile communication device in communication with the POS terminal and a service provider server, the mobile communication device comprising;

a near field communication (NFC) transceiver;

a radio transceiver;

a display;

a processor;

a non-transitory memory; and

an application stored in the non-transitory memory of the mobile communication device that, when executed by the processor of the mobile communication device;

in response to receiving a message from the POS terminal, presents a prompt to input identification information on the display,

receives the identification information,

transmits, in response to receiving the identification information, a request for a processor routing number via the radio transceiver to the service provider server, wherein the processor routing number is a non-exclusive account number that is also used by other mobile communication devices that are not associated with a service account corresponding to the mobile communication device;

receives, from the service provider server, the processor routing number via the radio transceiver, and

transmits, to the POS terminal via the near field communication transceiver, the processor routing number and metadata that comprises at least one of a phone number of the mobile communication device or an equipment identification of the mobile communication device;

a payment processor server in communication with the POS terminal and the service provider server, the payment processor server comprising;

a processor;

a non-transitory memory; and

a payment processor application stored in the non-transitory memory of the payment processor server that, upon execution by the processor of the payment processor server;

receives a payment process request from the POS terminal, wherein the payment process request comprises the processor routing number and the metadata,

based on the processor routing number in the payment process request, determines that the processor routing number is not a standard credit card number and is to be processed as a service provider billing transaction with the service provider sever, and

based on the determination, sends a payment authorization request to the service provider server corresponding to the processor routing number; and

the service provider server in communication with the POS terminal and the payment processer server, the service provider server comprising;

a processor;

a non-transitory memory; and

a billing application stored in the non-transitory memory of the service provider server that, when executed by the processor of the service provider server;

receives, from the payment processor server, the payment authorization request, including the processor routing number and the metadata that was transmitted by the mobile communication device comprised in the payment process request,

identifies the service account corresponding to the mobile communication device based on the received metadata,

approves the payment authorization request based on the identified service account being in good standing, and

based on the approval, sends a payment approval message to the payment processor server, wherein the payment processor server sends the payment approval message to the POS terminal and the POS terminal completes the transaction based on the payment approval message.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the processor routing number is consistent in form with one of a block of credit card numbers maintained by a mobile communication service provider associated with the service provider server that provides mobile communication service to the mobile communication device.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the processor routing number is associated with the payment processor server.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein execution of the application further validates an input comprising identification information against user identification information stored in the non-transitory memory of the mobile communication device.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein execution of the application further erases the processor routing number from the mobile communication device after the payment transaction is completed.

19. The mobile communication device of claim 1, wherein responsive to reception of the processor routing number, the non-transitory memory on the mobile communication device is dynamically allocated by the service provider server to store the processor routing number.

20. The mobile communication device of claim 1,

wherein the application further configures the processor of the mobile communication device to hash a seed that is within a predefined range of processor routing numbers for use in transmission to the POS terminal, the transmission of at least the processor routing number to the POS terminal being based on the seed, and

wherein the processor of the mobile communication device unloads a thread associated with execution of the application subsequent to completion of the payment transaction.

6. A method of processing a payment transaction, comprising:

establishing, by a mobile communication device via a radio transmitter coupled to a network, a communication session with a service provider server, wherein the mobile communication device is associated with a service account on the network of a service provider;

transmitting, from the mobile communication device executing a client application, a request for a processor routing number via the communication session to the service provider server;

determining, by the service provider server executing an application stored in non-transitory memory, the processor routing number for use by at least the mobile communication device, wherein the processor routing number is a non-exclusive account number that is also used by other mobile communication devices that are not associated with the service account corresponding to the mobile communication device;

providing, from the service provider server executing the application, the processor routing number to the mobile communication device via the radio transceiver;

receiving, by the mobile communication device via the radio transmitter coupled to the network, the processor routing number from the service provider server;

initiating, by executing the client application on the mobile communication device, a near field communication (NFC) transceiver on the mobile communication device for a purchase transaction;

in response to initiation of the NFC transceiver, providing, from the mobile communication device to a point-of-sale (POS) terminal via the NFC transceiver, the processor routing number and metadata that comprises at least one of a phone number of the mobile communication device or an equipment identification of the mobile communication device;

receiving, by a payment processor server executing a payment processor application stored in non-transitory memory, a payment process request from the POS terminal, wherein the payment process request comprises the processor routing number and the metadata;

based on the processor routing number in the payment process request, determining, by the payment processor server executing the payment processor application, that the payment process request is not a standard credit card number and is to be processed as a service provider billing transaction by the server provider server, wherein the payment processer server identifies and routes to the service provider server based on the processor routing number;

in response to the determination, sending, by the payment processor application of the payment processor server, a payment authorization request for service provider billing approval to the service provider server corresponding to the processor routing number, wherein the payment authorization request for service provider billing approval comprises the processor routing number and the metadata;

receiving, by the service provider server from the payment processor application of the payment processor server, the processor routing number and the metadata comprised in the payment authorization request for service provider billing approval;

identifying, by the service provider server, the service account corresponding to the mobile communication device based on the received metadata;

authenticating, by the service provider server, that the mobile communication service account is in good standing based on the metadata, wherein the payment authorization request is approved based on the authentication;

based on approval, sending, by the service provider server, a payment approval message to the payment processor server;

receiving, by the payment processor application of the payment processor server, approval via the payment approval message to bill the purchase transaction to the service account associated with the mobile communication device from the service provider server; and

in response to receiving approval to bill the purchase transaction to the service account via the payment approval message, transmitting, by the payment processor application of the payment processor server, the payment approval message to the POS terminal, wherein the POS terminal completes the purchase transaction based on the payment approval message.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting the payment approval message to the POS based upon a merchant code, wherein the payment process request further comprises the merchant code.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising sending, by the payment processor application, a message to the mobile communication device via the POS terminal that indicates that a disallowed payment transaction type was attempted.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the payment process request further comprises a merchant code, and wherein sending the payment authorization request for service provider billing approval is further based on the merchant code being one of a taxi-cab merchant code, a vending machine merchant code, or a parking meter merchant code.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the metadata associated with the mobile communication device comprises both the phone number and the equipment identification.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the payment process request further comprises a personal identification number (PIN) associated with a user of the mobile communication device, and wherein the payment authorization request for service provider billing approval further comprises the PIN.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the payment process request further comprises a payment amount, and wherein the payment authorization request for service provider billing further comprises the payment amount.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising checking that a deposit account associated with the service provider contains a balance sufficient to cover the payment amount.

14. A method of billing a payment transaction to a mobile communication service account via a network, comprising:

receiving, by a payment processor server executing a payment processor application on a processor from a non-transitory memory, a payment process request from a point-of-sale (POS) terminal for a purchase transaction initiated by the mobile communication device via an NFC transceiver, the payment process request comprising a processor routing number and metadata that comprises at least one of a phone number of the mobile communication device or an equipment identification of the mobile communication device, wherein the processor routing number is a non-exclusive account number that is also used by other mobile communication devices that are not associated with a service account corresponding to the mobile communication device;

based on the processor routing number, determining, by the payment processor server executing the payment processor application, that the payment process request is not a standard credit card number and is to be processed as a service provider billing transaction by a service provider server of a mobile communication service provider, wherein the payment processer server identifies and routes to the service provider server based on the processor routing number;

in response to the determination, sending, by the payment processor server executing the payment processor application, a payment authorization request for service provider billing approval to the service provider server corresponding to the processor routing number, wherein the payment authorization request for service provider billing approval comprises the processor routing number, the metadata, and a payment amount associated with the purchase transaction;

receiving, by the service provider server executing a billing application stored in a non-transitory memory, the payment authorization request for service provider billing approval from the payment processor server;

identifying, by the billing application of the service provider server, the service account based on one of the phone number or the equipment identification of the mobile communication device;

approving the payment authorization request based on determining, by the service provider server, that the identified service account is in good standing on a mobile communication service provider network;

based on the approval, charging, by the billing application of the service provider server, the payment amount against the service account; and

transmitting, by the billing application of the service provider server, a payment approval message to the payment processor server, wherein the POS terminal completes the purchase transaction based on the payment approval message.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the service provider server executing the billing application, a request for the processor routing number from the mobile communication device;

identifying, by the service provider server executing the billing application, the processor routing number in a pool of numbers maintained on the mobile communication service provider network by the service provider server for the mobile communication service provider;

transmitting, by the service provider server executing the billing application, the processor routing number to the mobile communication device via the mobile communication service provider network.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving, by the service provider server executing the billing application, a request for a processor routing number from a second mobile communication device, wherein the second mobile communication device is different from the mobile communication device and not associated with the service account; and

transmitting, by the service provider server executing the billing application, the processor routing number to the second mobile communication device, whereby the mobile communication device and the second mobile communication device use the same processor routing number to complete payment transactions.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the payment process request further comprises a personal identification number (PIN), and further comprising validating, by the service provider server executing the billing application, the PIN based on comparison with a PIN associated with the mobile communication device stored in a data store maintained by the mobile communication service provider.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising restricting, by the service provider server executing the billing application, a periodic payment charge accumulation to a predefined amount.