Mobile point-of-sale crowdfunding
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving, by a payment processing system, from a mobile computing device associated with a merchant, transaction information for a plurality of transactions conducted between the merchant and a plurality of customers, wherein the mobile computing device has a register application installed thereon, which, when executed, configures the mobile computing device as a point-of-sale (POS) terminal to receive an input indicating a product or service for purchase by an individual customer, the register application further configuring the POS terminal to receive payment card information from a payment card reader coupled with the mobile computing device to enable a transfer of funds from the individual customer to the merchant, the register application further configuring the POS terminal to communicate corresponding transaction information over a network to the payment processing system;
generating, by the payment processing system, a data structure including attribute information of the plurality of customers of the merchant, wherein the attribute information is determined, at least partially, from aggregated transaction information received from the POS terminal of the merchant;
receiving, by the payment processing system, from the register application on the POS terminal, a request from the merchant to establish a crowdfunding project, the request including an amount of funding requested and one or more defined criteria for potential investors;
calculating, by the payment processing system, crowdfunding terms based on the amount of funding requested and a transaction history for the merchant, the crowdfunding terms including an approved funding amount, and repayment terms providing for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to one or more investors, the repayment terms including a portion of each transaction processed for the merchant by the payment processing system to withhold for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to the one or more investors;
receiving, by the payment processing system, from the register application on the POS terminal, a request to process a financial payment transaction conducted between the merchant and a first customer of the plurality of customers using the POS terminal;
accessing, by the payment processing system, the data structure to determine attributes of the first customer for determining that the first customer is a potential investor based on comparing the determined attributes of the first customer with the one or more defined criteria from the merchant;
in response to determining, by the payment processing system, that the first customer is a potential investor, sending crowdfunding information to the POS terminal to cause the register application to configure the POS terminal to present on a display associated with the POS terminal an offer for enabling the first customer to invest in the crowdfunding project, the offer including crowdfunding terms and an investment amount;
receiving, by the payment processing system, an acceptance of the offer including the crowdfunding terms, wherein the register application configures the POS terminal to receive the acceptance from the first customer and send the acceptance to the payment processing system;
processing, by the payment processing system, payment card information from the first customer to fund the investment amount, wherein the register application configures the POS terminal to receive the payment card information from the card reader and send the payment card information to the payment processing system;
withholding, by the payment processing system, the portion of each transaction processed via the POS terminal for the merchant by the payment processing system for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to the one or more investors, wherein the first customer is one of the one or more investors;
apportioning, by the payment processing system, the portion of each transaction processed for the merchant by the payment processing system amongst the one or more investors; and
transmitting, by the payment processing system, the apportioned amount to a respective account associated with each investor of the one or more investors.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for calculating crowdfunding terms based on a financial history of a merchant is described. The crowdfunding terms include an approved funding amount and repayment terms including a portion of transactions processed for the merchant by the payment processing system to withhold for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to investors. The a payment processing system may withhold the portion of the transactions processed for the merchant by the payment processing system for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to the investors, apportion the portion of the transactions processed for the merchant by the payment processing system amongst the investors, and transmit, by the payment processor system, the apportioned amount to each investor.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving, by a payment processing system, from a mobile computing device associated with a merchant, transaction information for a plurality of transactions conducted between the merchant and a plurality of customers, wherein the mobile computing device has a register application installed thereon, which, when executed, configures the mobile computing device as a point-of-sale (POS) terminal to receive an input indicating a product or service for purchase by an individual customer, the register application further configuring the POS terminal to receive payment card information from a payment card reader coupled with the mobile computing device to enable a transfer of funds from the individual customer to the merchant, the register application further configuring the POS terminal to communicate corresponding transaction information over a network to the payment processing system; generating, by the payment processing system, a data structure including attribute information of the plurality of customers of the merchant, wherein the attribute information is determined, at least partially, from aggregated transaction information received from the POS terminal of the merchant; receiving, by the payment processing system, from the register application on the POS terminal, a request from the merchant to establish a crowdfunding project, the request including an amount of funding requested and one or more defined criteria for potential investors; calculating, by the payment processing system, crowdfunding terms based on the amount of funding requested and a transaction history for the merchant, the crowdfunding terms including an approved funding amount, and repayment terms providing for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to one or more investors, the repayment terms including a portion of each transaction processed for the merchant by the payment processing system to withhold for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to the one or more investors; receiving, by the payment processing system, from the register application on the POS terminal, a request to process a financial payment transaction conducted between the merchant and a first customer of the plurality of customers using the POS terminal; accessing, by the payment processing system, the data structure to determine attributes of the first customer for determining that the first customer is a potential investor based on comparing the determined attributes of the first customer with the one or more defined criteria from the merchant; in response to determining, by the payment processing system, that the first customer is a potential investor, sending crowdfunding information to the POS terminal to cause the register application to configure the POS terminal to present on a display associated with the POS terminal an offer for enabling the first customer to invest in the crowdfunding project, the offer including crowdfunding terms and an investment amount; receiving, by the payment processing system, an acceptance of the offer including the crowdfunding terms, wherein the register application configures the POS terminal to receive the acceptance from the first customer and send the acceptance to the payment processing system; processing, by the payment processing system, payment card information from the first customer to fund the investment amount, wherein the register application configures the POS terminal to receive the payment card information from the card reader and send the payment card information to the payment processing system; withholding, by the payment processing system, the portion of each transaction processed via the POS terminal for the merchant by the payment processing system for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to the one or more investors, wherein the first customer is one of the one or more investors; apportioning, by the payment processing system, the portion of each transaction processed for the merchant by the payment processing system amongst the one or more investors; and transmitting, by the payment processing system, the apportioned amount to a respective account associated with each investor of the one or more investors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving, by a payment processing system, from a computing device configured by a register application as a POS terminal, transaction information for a plurality of transactions conducted between a merchant associated with the POS terminal and a plurality of customers; generating, by the payment processing system, a data structure including attribute information of the plurality of customers of the merchant, wherein the attribute information is determined, at least partially, from aggregated transaction information received from the POS terminal; calculating, by the payment processing system, crowdfunding terms based on a financial history of a merchant, the crowdfunding terms including an approved funding amount and repayment terms, the repayment terms including a portion of transactions processed for the merchant by the payment processing system to withhold for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to one or more investors; receiving, by the payment processing system, a request from the register application on the POS terminal to process a financial payment transaction conducted between the merchant and a first customer of the plurality of customers using the POS terminal; accessing, by the payment processing system, the data structure to determine attributes of the first customer for determining that the first customer is a potential investor based on comparing the determined attributes of the first customer with one or more criteria for potential investors; in response to determining, by the payment processing system, that the first customer is a potential investor, sending crowdfunding information to the POS terminal to cause the register application on the POS terminal to present on a display associated with the POS terminal an offer for enabling the first customer to invest in a crowdfunding project, the offer including crowdfunding terms; receiving, by the payment processing system, an acceptance of the offer and an investment amount, wherein the register application configures the POS terminal to receive the acceptance and the investment amount from the first customer and transmit the acceptance and the investment amount to the payment processing system; processing, by the payment processing system, payment card information from the first customer to fund the investment amount, wherein the register application configures the POS terminal to send the payment card information to the payment processing system, and the first customer is one of the one or more investors; and based on receiving from the one or more investors, a threshold amount for the crowdfunding project, sending, by the payment processing system, an instruction to transfer at least a portion of the approved funding amount to an account of the merchant. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A point-of-sale (POS) terminal for processing a plurality of transactions between a plurality of customers and a merchant, the POS terminal comprising:
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a payment instrument reader comprising an interface configured to receive payment information from payment instruments associated with individual ones of the customers; a computing device coupled with the payment instrument reader, the computing device comprising; a display; one or more processors able to communicate with the display; a memory storing instructions for a register application, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to; receive an input from the merchant indicating a purchase; receive payment instrument information from the payment instrument reader for transferring funds from a respective customer to the merchant for the purchase; send corresponding transaction information to a payment processing system, wherein the payment processing system maintains a data structure including attribute information of the plurality of customers aggregated from transaction information of the plurality of transactions conducted by the plurality of customers; receive, from the payment processing system, crowdfunding terms calculated by the payment processing system based on a financial history of the merchant, the crowdfunding terms including an approved funding amount and repayment terms, the repayment terms including a portion of transactions processed by the payment processing system for the merchant to withhold for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to the one or more investors; transmit, to the payment processing system, a request to process a financial payment transaction conducted between the merchant and a first customer of the plurality of customers using the POS terminal, wherein the register application configures the request to include information identifying the first customer useable by the payment processing system for accessing the data structure including the attribute information of the plurality of customers; receive an indication that the customer is a potential investor based on a comparison of attributes of the first customer with the one or more criteria for potential investors; present, on the display, a first graphical interface including an offer to the first customer to invest in the crowdfunding project, the offer including crowdfunding terms; receive, via the first graphical interface presented on the display, an input from the first customer indicating an acceptance of the offer and an investment amount; and transmit, to the payment processing system, payment instrument information from the first customer to fund the investment amount. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer-implemented method performed by a point-of-sale (POS) terminal comprising a payment instrument reader, a computing device coupled to the payment instrument reader, and a register application installed on the computing device that, when executed by the computing device configures the POS terminal to perform operations of the method comprising:
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receiving an input from a merchant indicating a purchase; receiving payment instrument information from the payment instrument reader for transferring funds from a respective customer to the merchant for the purchase; sending corresponding transaction information to a payment processing system, wherein the payment processing system maintains a data structure including attribute information of a plurality of customers aggregated from transaction information of a plurality of transactions conducted by the plurality of customers; receiving, from the payment processing system, crowdfunding terms calculated by the payment processing system based on a financial history of the merchant, the crowdfunding terms including an approved funding amount and repayment terms, the repayment terms including a portion of transactions processed for the merchant by the payment processing system to withhold for repayment of the approved funding amount plus earnings to one or more investors; transmitting, to the payment processing system, a request to process a financial payment transaction conducted between the merchant and a first customer of the plurality of customers using the POS terminal, wherein the register application configures the request to include information identifying the first customer useable by the payment processing system for accessing the data structure including the attribute information of the plurality of customers; receiving, an indication that the customer is a potential investor based on a comparison of attributes of the first customer with one or more criteria for potential investors; presenting, on a display associated with the computing device, a first graphical interface including an offer to the first customer to invest in the crowdfunding project, the offer including crowdfunding terms; receiving, via the first graphical interface presented on the display, an input from the first customer indicating an acceptance of the offer and an investment amount; and transmitting, to the payment processing system, payment instrument information from the first customer to fund the investment amount. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification