Email payment gateway for donations

• US 9,704,184 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2013
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Swoop IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: @Pay IP Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Killoran, John P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kira
• Application Number:
  US13/758,552
• Publication Number:
  US 20140032438A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,618 Days
• Field of Search: 705329, 705 39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/027 involving a payment switch or gateway
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/386 using messaging services or messaging apps using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS G06Q20/3255
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0279 Fundraising management

Abstract

An email payment gateway may be configured to send emails to potential donors. The emails may include mailto hyperlinks. Each mailto hyperlink may be associated with one or more fundraising campaigns, and each mailto hyperlink describes an email message that may be generated when that hyperlink is selected. When a mailto hyperlink is selected, the generated email message may include one or more parameters related to the fundraising campaign associated with the hyperlink, such as an identifier of the fundraising campaign, donor identity or donation amount. The generated email message may then be transmitted to the email payment gateway. The email payment gateway may receive the message and, based on the parameters in the received message, process the donation on behalf of the donor.

Claims

1. An email payment gateway configured to utilize simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) and an exchange of SMTP emails, the email payment gateway comprising:

a database configured to store a plurality of identifiers including an identifier of a donor;

an email address of a donor and an identifier of a fundraising campaign;

a security module for generating a plurality of universal unique identifiers (UUIDs);

the security module associating one of said plurality of UUIDs with each of said plurality of identifiers;

at least one processor configured to generate a first SMTP email message addressed to the email address and associated with the fundraising campaign;

the first SMTP email message including a visible SMTP mailto link, wherein the visible SMTP mailto link includes;

non-visible information including a destination address field that includes an email address of the email payment gateway, a first UUID being associated with a donation amount, a second UUID being associated with the identification of the donor, and a body field that includes the identifier of the donor and the identifier of the fundraising campaign, and the visible SMTP mailto link, upon selection, generates a second SMTP email message that includes said first and second UUIDs; and

a visible indicia of a donation amount;

a network interface configured to transmit the first SMTP email message to the donor;

a receiver configured to receive the second email message from the donor, the second SMTP email message including said first and second UUIDs;

wherein the second SMTP email message is automatically generated in response to the donor client device executing the visible SMTP mailto link of the first SMTP email message; and

the processor is further configured to process said first UUID to derive the donation amount and said second UUID to derive the identification of the donor, and to process the donation amount on behalf of the donor, only if the first and second UUIDs are valid, on a condition of receiving the second SMTP email message.

2. The email payment gateway of claim 1, wherein the first SMTP email message includes a plurality of visible SMTP mailto links corresponding to a plurality of donation amounts.

3. The email payment gateway of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of visible SMTP mailto hyperlinks includes a non-visible unique universal identifier (UUID).

4. The email payment gateway of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to look up said first UUID stored on its database and being associated with the UUID associated with the executed visible SMTP mailto hyperlink to determine a donation amount, and is configured to look up said second UUID stored within a database and being associated with the UUID associated with the executed visible SMTP mailto link to determine the identity of the donor.

5. The email payment gateway of claim 1 further comprising a donor recognition fulfillment system.

6. The email payment gateway of claim 5, wherein the donor recognition fulfillment system is configured to generate an electronic notice in recognition of the donation amount of the donor.

7. The email payment gateway of claim 6, wherein the electronic notice is at least one of an SMTP email blast, message sent using at least on of Facebook or Twitter, and posting on a website associated with the email payment gateway.