Location based transactions

• US 9,721,283 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2010
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mansoor, Mehryar, Tanaka, Ray Hideki, Nandiraju, Srikanth
• Primary Examiner(s): HAQ, NAEEM U
• Application Number:
  US12/895,409
• Publication Number:
  US 20120084177A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,497 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261, 705 262, 705 2625, 705 263, 705 2635, 705 264, 705 2641- 2644, 705 265, 705 2661- 2664, 705 267, 705 268, 705 2681, 705 2682, 705 269, 705 271, 705 272
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted

Abstract

A user'"'"'s location is determined by location information communicated by a user device, such as a smart phone. Merchants near the user location are determined and selected. Merchant payment information is transmitted to the user device so that the user can easily make a payment to the merchant through the user device. Merchant offerings may also be sent to the user device for purchase and subsequent payment, where the merchant offerings may be specifically selected for the user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a hardware processor of a server coupled to a user mobile device via a network interface component and a network, location information of a user from the user mobile device;

determining, by the hardware processor, a location of the user based on the location information;

automatically adjusting, by the hardware processor a threshold distance based on an attribute of an area corresponding to the location of the user;

determining, by the hardware processor, one or more merchants that are within the threshold distance of the location of the user;

transmitting, by the hardware processor via the network interface component and the network and after determining the one or more merchants, merchant information of each of the one or more determined merchants to the user mobile device;

receiving, by the hardware processor via the network interface component and the network, a selection of one of the merchants by the user from among the determined merchants;

determining, by the hardware processor, one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants in response to receiving the selection; and

transmitting, by the hardware processor via the network interface component and the network, the one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants to the user mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a list of the merchants to the user mobile device when more than one merchant is within the threshold distance of the location of the user.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

transmitting payment information of the selected one of the merchants to the user mobile device via the network interface component and the network, the payment information comprises data for use by the user mobile device in populating a payment request form.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises GPS coordinates.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the server is managed by a payment provider.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the merchant information identifies an account of the selected one of the merchants to the payment provider.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected one of the merchants has offerings within the threshold distance of the location of the user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants comprises a time-based specific offering with the selected one of the merchants based on a purchase history of the user.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the hardware processor via the network interface component and the network, a next selection of at least one of the one or more offerings by the user;

receiving, by the hardware processor via the network interface component and the network, a payment request for the next selection by the user;

automatically populating, by the hardware processor, the next selection and associated payment information into a checkout process without the user having to enter the payment information on the user mobile device; and

processing, by the hardware processor, the payment request based on the payment information.

10. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a user device coupled via a network interface component and a network to the machine, location information of a user;

determining a location of the user based on the location information;

automatically adjusting a threshold distance based on the location of the user by increasing the threshold distance when the location of the user is in a rural area and decreasing the threshold distance when the location of the user is in a populated shopping area;

determining one or more merchants that are within the threshold distance of the location of the user;

transmitting, via the network interface component and the network after determining the one or more merchants, merchant information of each of the one or more determined merchants to the user device;

receiving, from the user device via the network interface component and the network, a selection of one of the merchants by the user from among the determined merchants;

determining one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants in response to receiving the selection; and

transmitting via the network interface component and the network, the one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants to the user device.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a list of the merchants to the user device when more than one merchant is within the threshold distance of the location of the user.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations are performed by a payment provider.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the merchant information identifies an account of the selected one of the merchants to the payment provider.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the selected one of the merchants has offerings within the threshold distance of the location of the user.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants comprises a time-based specific offering with the selected one of the merchants based on a purchase history of the user.

16. A system comprising:

a network interface component;

a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and

one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read the instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operations comprising;

storing account information in the non-transitory memory, wherein the account information comprises merchant account identifiers and merchant location information;

continuously receiving, via the network interface component and a network, location information of a user from a user device;

determining a location of the user based on the location information;

automatically adjusting a threshold distance based on an attribute of an area corresponding to the location of the user;

determining one or more merchants that are within the threshold distance of the location of the user;

transmitting, via the network interface component and the network after determining the one or more merchants, merchant information of each of the one or more determined merchants;

receiving, via the network interface component and the network, a selection of one of the merchants by the user from among the determined merchants;

determining one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants in response to receiving the selection; and

transmitting, via the network interface component and the network, the one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants to the user device.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more offerings of the selected one of the merchants comprises a time-based specific offering with the selected one of the merchants based on a purchase history of the user.