System and methods for financing merchant business needs
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving, over a first period of time, by one or more processors of a payment system, from a point-of-sale (POS) computing device of a merchant, transaction data for a plurality of first financial transactions corresponding to purchases by a plurality of customers of a plurality of first items from an inventory of the merchant, the transaction data including payment data to enable the one or more processors to process payments for each first financial transaction, the transaction data further including an itemized listing of the first items and other items purchased from the merchant for each first financial transaction;
maintaining, by the one or more processors, based on the received transaction data, a data structure of the inventory of the merchant, the data structure including information about items available for purchase from the merchant, including a quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory of the merchant;
determining, by the one or more processors, a current quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory of the merchant by subtracting from the data structure the first items purchased from the merchant as indicated in the received transaction data;
utilizing, by the one or more processors, one or more application programming interfaces to access one or more social media resources to obtain social media data that describes a popularity of the merchant;
determining, by the one or more processors, based on the obtained social media data indicating that the merchant is gaining popularity, that the merchant will be receiving more customersdetermining, by the one or more processors, from the data structure, a historical quantity of the first item sold during a prior time period corresponding to an upcoming time period;
based on the historical quantity determined from the data structure, the current quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory determined from the data structure, and further based on determining from the social media data that the merchant will be receiving more customers, determining, by the one or more processors, for the upcoming time period, a quantity of the first item for the merchant to purchase to replenish the inventory for the upcoming time period;
determining, by the one or more processors, based at least partially on the transaction data received from the POS merchant computing device over the first period of time, a cash advance amount for enabling the merchant to purchase at least a portion of the quantity of the first item for replenishing the first item in the inventory;
sending, by the one or more processors, a notification to the POS merchant computing device of the merchant to cause a merchant application on the POS computing device to display an inventory interface concurrently with a transaction interface, the inventory interface presenting a message indicating the quantity of the first item for replenishing the inventory and further presenting an offer for the cash advance, wherein the inventory interface includes at least one control for accepting the cash advance, wherein transaction interface on the POS computing device is used to conduct the first financial transactions between the merchant and the customers of the merchant;
receiving, by the one or more processors, via the at least one control included in the inventory interface presented on the POS computing device, an acceptance of the offer for the cash advance from the POS computing device of the merchant;
providing, by the one or more processors, the cash advance to a financial account of the merchant, wherein the financial account of the merchant is maintained by a financial institution that is a separate entity from the payment system;
processing, by the one or more processors, at least one second financial transaction conducted between the merchant and at least one customer of the merchant using the POS computing device of the merchant;
determining, by the one or more processors, that the merchant has not repaid the cash advance and a fee for the cash advance; and
apportioning, by the one or more processors, a respective portion of funds from the at least one second financial transaction to a separate financial account of the payment system.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A payment system can determine when a business need for a merchant is expected to occur for a particular time period. The payment system can also determine whether a merchant is eligible for a cash advance for a particular amount, along with a fee for the cash advance. Once a determination is made that the merchant is eligible for the cash advance, the payment system can send the merchant a notification describing the expected business need for the particular time period along with an offer for the cash advance. The merchant can accept the offer for the cash advance by sending an acceptance to the payment system. Upon accepting the offer, the merchant is provided the cash advance for the particular amount, for example, in the form of an electronic deposit in a financial account of the merchant.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving, over a first period of time, by one or more processors of a payment system, from a point-of-sale (POS) computing device of a merchant, transaction data for a plurality of first financial transactions corresponding to purchases by a plurality of customers of a plurality of first items from an inventory of the merchant, the transaction data including payment data to enable the one or more processors to process payments for each first financial transaction, the transaction data further including an itemized listing of the first items and other items purchased from the merchant for each first financial transaction; maintaining, by the one or more processors, based on the received transaction data, a data structure of the inventory of the merchant, the data structure including information about items available for purchase from the merchant, including a quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory of the merchant; determining, by the one or more processors, a current quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory of the merchant by subtracting from the data structure the first items purchased from the merchant as indicated in the received transaction data; utilizing, by the one or more processors, one or more application programming interfaces to access one or more social media resources to obtain social media data that describes a popularity of the merchant; determining, by the one or more processors, based on the obtained social media data indicating that the merchant is gaining popularity, that the merchant will be receiving more customers determining, by the one or more processors, from the data structure, a historical quantity of the first item sold during a prior time period corresponding to an upcoming time period; based on the historical quantity determined from the data structure, the current quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory determined from the data structure, and further based on determining from the social media data that the merchant will be receiving more customers, determining, by the one or more processors, for the upcoming time period, a quantity of the first item for the merchant to purchase to replenish the inventory for the upcoming time period; determining, by the one or more processors, based at least partially on the transaction data received from the POS merchant computing device over the first period of time, a cash advance amount for enabling the merchant to purchase at least a portion of the quantity of the first item for replenishing the first item in the inventory; sending, by the one or more processors, a notification to the POS merchant computing device of the merchant to cause a merchant application on the POS computing device to display an inventory interface concurrently with a transaction interface, the inventory interface presenting a message indicating the quantity of the first item for replenishing the inventory and further presenting an offer for the cash advance, wherein the inventory interface includes at least one control for accepting the cash advance, wherein transaction interface on the POS computing device is used to conduct the first financial transactions between the merchant and the customers of the merchant; receiving, by the one or more processors, via the at least one control included in the inventory interface presented on the POS computing device, an acceptance of the offer for the cash advance from the POS computing device of the merchant; providing, by the one or more processors, the cash advance to a financial account of the merchant, wherein the financial account of the merchant is maintained by a financial institution that is a separate entity from the payment system; processing, by the one or more processors, at least one second financial transaction conducted between the merchant and at least one customer of the merchant using the POS computing device of the merchant; determining, by the one or more processors, that the merchant has not repaid the cash advance and a fee for the cash advance; and apportioning, by the one or more processors, a respective portion of funds from the at least one second financial transaction to a separate financial account of the payment system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A payment system comprising:
- one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the payment system to perform operations comprising;receiving, over a first period of time, from a point-of-sale (POS) computing device of a merchant, transaction data for a plurality of first financial transactions corresponding to purchases by a plurality of customers of a plurality of first items from an inventory of the merchant, the transaction data including payment data used by the one or more processors to process payments for each first financial transaction, the transaction data further including an itemized listing of the first items and other items purchased from the merchant for each first financial transaction; maintaining, based on the received transaction data, a data structure of the inventory of the merchant, the data structure including information about items available for purchase from the merchant, including a quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory of the merchant; determining a current quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory of the merchant by subtracting from the data structure the first items purchased from the merchant as indicated in the received transaction data; utilizing one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) to access one or more social media resources to obtain social media data that describes a popularity of the merchant; determining based on the obtained social media data indicating that the merchant is gaining popularity, that the merchant will be receiving more customers; determining from the data structure, a historical quantity of the first item sold during a prior time period corresponding to an upcoming time period; based on the historical quantity determined from the data structure, the current quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory determined from the data structure, and further based on determining from the social media data that the merchant will be receiving more customers, determining for the upcoming time period, a quantity of the first item for the merchant to purchase to replenish the inventory for the upcoming time period; determining, based in part on the quantity of the first item for the merchant to purchase to replenish the inventory, a business expense that is expected to occur for the merchant for the upcoming time period; determining, based on the business expense and based at least partially on the transaction data received from the POS merchant computing device over the first period of time, a cash advance amount for enabling the merchant to purchase at least a portion of the quantity of the first item for replenishing the first item in the inventory; sending a notification to the POS merchant computing device of the merchant to cause a merchant application on the POS computing device to display an inventory interface concurrently with a transaction interface, the inventory interface presenting a message indicating the quantity of the first item for replenishing the inventory and further presenting an offer for the cash advance, wherein the inventory interface includes at least one control for accepting the cash advance, wherein the transaction interface on the POS computing device is used to conduct the first financial transactions between the merchant and the customers of the merchant; receiving via the at least one control included in the inventory interface presented on the POS computing device, an acceptance of the offer for the cash advance from the POS computing device of the merchant; and providing the cash advance to a financial account of the merchant, wherein the financial account of the merchant is maintained by a financial institution that is a separate entity from the payment system. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
- one or more processors; and
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18. A computer-implemented method of providing an inventory notification and an offer for a cash advance to a merchant, the method comprising:
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sending, over a first period of time, to a payment system, by a point-of-sale (POS) computing device of a merchant, transaction data for a plurality of first financial transactions corresponding to purchases by a plurality of customers of a plurality of first items from an inventory of the merchant, the transaction data including payment data to enable the payment system to process payments for each first financial transaction, the transaction data further including an itemized listing of the first items and other items purchased from the merchant for each first financial transaction, wherein the payment system maintains, based on the received transaction data, a data structure of the inventory of the merchant, including a quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory of the merchant; receiving, by POS computing device of the merchant, from the payment system, the inventory notification and the offer for the cash advance, wherein the inventory notification includes a quantity of the first item for the merchant to purchase to replenish the inventory, the quantity determined based on; a historical quantity of the first item sold by the merchant during a prior time period corresponding to an upcoming time period, a current quantity of the first item remaining in the inventory determined from the data structure, and a prediction determined from social media data that the merchant will be receiving more customers for the upcoming time period; displaying, on a display of the POS computing device, the inventory notification and the offer for the cash advance, wherein a merchant application on the POS computing device configures the POS computing device to display an inventory interface concurrently with a transaction interface, the inventory interface presenting the inventory notification indicating the quantity of the first item for replenishing the inventory and further presenting the offer for the cash advance, wherein the inventory interface includes at least one control for accepting the cash advance, wherein the transaction interface presented on the display of the POS computing device is used to conduct the first financial transactions between the merchant and the customers of the merchant; receiving, by the POS computing device, selection of the at least one control included in the inventory interface to indicate an acceptance of the offer for the cash advance; sending, by the POS computing device, to the payment system, data describing the acceptance of the offer for the cash advance; receiving, by the POS computing device, from the payment system, an indication that the cash advance from the payment system has been sent to a financial account of the merchant; processing by the POS computing device, at least one second financial transaction conducted by the merchant with at least one customer; wherein, if the merchant has not repaid the cash advance and a fee for the cash advance, a portion of funds from the at least one second financial transaction is apportioned to a separate financial account of the payment system. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification