System and method for processing vehicle transactions

• US 9,792,632 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2009
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Epona LLC
• Original Assignee: Epona LLC
• Inventors: Betancourt, Ernest Blas, Betancourt, Deborah Anne, Kadakia, Kokesh P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Garg, Yogesh C
• Application Number:
  US12/573,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20100088127A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,934 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261, 235379, 235380, 235382, 235449, 235381
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A method and system for processing a transaction request prior to a vehicle arriving at a service station is provided. Upon entering a wireless service area of a back office system associated with a service station, a driver and/or truck may request certain transactions. The back office system may communicate with a carrier information system associated with the driver and/or truck to validate and authorize the transaction. If the transaction is authorized, the back office system may send authorization to the service station. Once the driver and/or truck arrives at the point of sale, they may proceed directly to performing the requested transaction. A receipt may be automatically generated at the point of sale and transmitted to the carrier information system through the back office.

Claims

1. A method for processing vehicle transactions, the method comprising:

prior to a vehicle entering a vehicle service station, receiving, from a communication device in the vehicle by at least one computing device remote from the vehicle service station, a transaction request for a prospective transaction associated with the vehicle and a driver of the vehicle at the vehicle service station, wherein the transaction request comprises a unique vehicle identification associated with the vehicle and originating from an engine control module installed in the vehicle;

determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the transaction request is authorized based on the unique vehicle identification associated with the vehicle;

in response to determining that the transaction request is authorized, generating, by the at least one computing device, a first transaction authorization code configured to activate a service system at the vehicle service station, the first transaction authorization code being specific to the transaction request and authorized by a carrier information system;

transmitting, by the at least one computing device, the first transaction authorization code to the vehicle;

detecting that the vehicle has entered a predefined service area within the vehicle service station by a sensor associated with the vehicle service station;

in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the predefined service area, determining, by the at least one computing device, a location of the vehicle using location information determined from a Radio-frequency identification chip of the vehicle and received by a scanner associated with the vehicle service station from the communication device of the vehicle, wherein the location information is electronically signed by the communication device of the vehicle and further includes a second transaction authorization code;

transmitting a prompt to the vehicle service station for a—

the second transaction authorization code;

receiving, by the at least one computing device, the second transaction authorization code in response to the prompt, wherein the second transaction authorization code is collected at the vehicle service station from at least one of the vehicle and the driver;

determining, by the at least one computing device, that the second transaction authorization code matches the first transaction authorization code;

in response to determining that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match, notifying the vehicle service station that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match;

in response to determining that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match, initiating a transaction and activating a fuel pump at the vehicle service station to dispense fuel for a fueling transaction; and

upon detecting that the vehicle has left the predefined service station area, automatically shutting off the fuel pump and ending the transaction.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the at least one computing device, the first transaction authorization code to the vehicle service station.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the at least one computing device, a request for transaction approval information from the vehicle service station, wherein the request includes identification information for the at least one of the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle; and

transmitting, by the at least one computing device, the first transaction authorization code and authorized transaction types to the vehicle service station in response to the request.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising transmitting, by the at least one computing device, a confirmation message to at least one of the vehicle and a device associated with the driver of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle service station has received the first transaction authorization code and the authorized transaction types.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the authorized transaction types comprise transactions for at least one of a product purchase, cash advance, and a shower reservation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a transmission including the transaction request further includes one or more additional transaction requests, wherein the one or more additional transaction requests includes at least one of a product purchase request, cash advance and a shower reservation request.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether the transaction request is authorized includes determining whether a carrier organization associated with the vehicle has sufficient funds to complete the requested transaction prior to the vehicle entering the vehicle service station.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the second transaction authorization code includes receiving identification information of the at least one of the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle, wherein the identification information of the vehicle is received from the engine control module and the identification information of the driver is received from a communication device of the driver.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring the transaction after the vehicle arrives at the vehicle service station;

determining whether the transaction has exceeded a pre-approved monetary limit; and

in response to determining that the transaction has exceeded the pre-approved monetary limit, notifying the driver of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

based on the determination, requesting deactivation of the fuel pump at the vehicle service station being used for the fueling transaction.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining that the vehicle has moved out of the predefined service area; and

in response to determining that the vehicle has moved out of the predefined service area, ending the transaction.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by at least one service station device, that the vehicle has entered the vehicle service station using a first set of sensors; and

in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the service station, automatically retrieving, by the at least one service station device, at least one of vehicle identification and driver identification of the vehicle and the second transaction authorization code via a wireless connection with the vehicle and validating the at least one of the vehicle identification and the driver identification and the second transaction authorization code.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising detecting, by the at least one service station device, that the vehicle has entered a predefined service area within the vehicle service station using a second set of sensors different from the first set of sensors, wherein the predefined service area is smaller than an area of the vehicle service station.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the predefined service area comprises a fuel lane corresponding to a fuel pump.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first transaction authorization code is valid for an amount of time based on an estimated amount of time needed for the vehicle to enter the vehicle service station and is invalid after the amount of time has passed.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique vehicle identification received by the at least one computing device is digitally signed by the engine control module for authenticity, and wherein determining whether the transaction is authorized comprises:

determining whether the received digitally signed unique vehicle identification is authentic.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring, by the at least one computing device, the fueling transaction after activating the fuel pump;

determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the fueling transaction has met or exceeded a pre-approved monetary limit; and

in response to determining that the transaction has met or exceeded the pre-approved monetary limit, deactivating, by the at least one computing device, the fuel pump and causing, by the at least one computing device, display of a notification message on a display of the fuel pump.

18. A method, comprising:

receiving, by at least one computing device of a carrier organization remote from a vehicle service station, a transaction request from a vehicle associated with the carrier organization for a prospective transaction associated with the vehicle and a driver of the vehicle at a vehicle service station prior to the vehicle entering the vehicle service station, wherein the transaction request comprises identification information of at least one of the vehicle and the driver;

determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the transaction request is authorized, wherein the determining comprises;

determining whether the identification information is valid by using the identification information to verify identities of the vehicle and the driver with the carrier organization based on stored identification data associated with the carrier organization; and

in response to determining that the identification information is valid, determining whether to authorize the prospective transaction;

in response to determining to authorize the prospective transaction, authorizing the prospective transaction and generating, by the at least one computing device, a first transaction authorization code configured to activate a service system at the vehicle service station specific to the transaction request and authorized by a carrier information system;

transmitting, by the at least one computing device, the first transaction authorization code to the vehicle;

detecting that the vehicle has entered a predefined service area within the vehicle service station by a sensor associated with the vehicle service station;

in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the predefined service area, determining, by the at least one computing device, a location of the vehicle using location information determined from a radio-frequency identification chip of the vehicle and received by a scanner associated with the vehicle service station from a communication device of the vehicle, wherein the location information is electronically signed by the communication device of the vehicle and further includes a second transaction authorization code;

transmitting a prompt to the vehicle service station for a—

the second transaction authorization code;

receiving the second transaction authorization code in response to the prompt, wherein the second transaction authorization code is collected at the vehicle service station from at least one of the vehicle and the driver;

determining that the second transaction authorization code matches the first transaction authorization code;

in response to determining that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match, notifying the vehicle service station that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match;

in response to determining that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match, initiating a transaction and activating a fuel pump at the vehicle service station to dispense fuel for a fueling transaction; and

upon detecting that the vehicle has left the predefined service station area, automatically shutting off the fuel pump and ending the transaction.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a request for transaction approval information from the vehicle service station, wherein the request includes identification information for the at least one of the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle; and

transmitting the first transaction authorization code to the vehicle service station in response to the request.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein receiving the second transaction authorization code includes receiving identification information of the at least one of the vehicle and the driver of the vehicle.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

monitoring the transaction after the vehicle arrives at the vehicle service station;

determining whether the transaction has met or exceeded a pre-approved monetary limit; and

in response to determining that the transaction has met or exceeded the pre-approved monetary limit, notifying the driver of the vehicle and deactivating the fuel pump used for the fueling transaction.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the transaction request comprises identification information of the vehicle and the driver, and wherein determining whether the identification information is valid comprises:

verifying the identities of the vehicle and the driver by determining whether the identification information of the driver corresponds to the identification information of the vehicle based on stored identification information.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the transaction request includes a request for at least one of goods and services, and wherein the method further comprises:

associating, by the at least one computing device, the first transaction authorization code with the requested at least one of goods and services, wherein the first transaction authorization code is further configured to activate the service system at the vehicle service station for purchase of the associated at least one of goods and services.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein determining whether to authorize the prospective transaction comprises:

determining whether to authorize the prospective transaction based on at least one of a number of allowable service requests, a cost of a service request, and an allowable frequency of service requests.

25. A method for processing vehicle transactions, the method comprising:

prior to a vehicle associated with a carrier organization entering a vehicle service station, receiving, from a communication device in the vehicle by at least one computing device of the carrier organization remote from the vehicle service station, a transaction request for a prospective transaction associated with the vehicle and a driver of the vehicle at the vehicle service station, wherein the transaction request comprises a unique vehicle identification associated with the vehicle and originating from an engine control module installed in the vehicle;

prior to the vehicle entering the vehicle service station, determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the transaction request is authorized based on the unique vehicle identification associated with vehicle including determining whether the carrier organization has sufficient funds to complete the transaction request;

prior to the vehicle entering the vehicle service station, transmitting, by the at least one computing device to the vehicle, a first transaction authorization code configured to activate a service system at the vehicle service station specific to the transaction request and authorized by a carrier information system;

detecting that the vehicle has entered a predefined service area within the vehicle service station by a sensor associated with the vehicle service station;

in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the predefined service area, determining, by the at least one computing device, a location of the vehicle using location information determined from a radio-frequency identification chip of the vehicle and received by a scanner associated with the vehicle service station from the communication device of the vehicle, wherein the location information is electronically signed by the communication device of the vehicle and further includes a second transaction authorization code;

transmitting a prompt to the vehicle service station for the second transaction authorization code;

after the vehicle enters the vehicle service station, receiving, by the at least one computing device, the second transaction authorization code provided at the vehicle service station from at least one of the vehicle and the driver in response to the prompt;

after the vehicle enters the vehicle service station, determining, by the at least one computing device, that the second transaction authorization code matches the first transaction authorization code;

after the vehicle enters the vehicle service station, in response to determining that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match, notifying the vehicle service station that the first and second transaction authorization codes match;

after the vehicle enters the vehicle service station, in response to determining that the first and the second transaction authorization codes match, initiating a transaction and activating a fuel pump at the vehicle service station to enable the fuel pump to dispense fuel for a fueling transaction and starting the fueling transaction; and

upon detecting that the vehicle has left the predefined service station area, automatically shutting off the fuel pump and ending the transaction.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

monitoring the transaction after the vehicle enters the vehicle service station;

determining whether the transaction has exceeded a pre-approved monetary limit; and

in response to determining that the transaction has exceeded the pre-approved monetary limit, notifying the driver of the vehicle or ending the fueling transaction.

27. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the predefined service area, automatically retrieving at least one of vehicle identification and driver identification of the vehicle and a second transaction authorization code via a wireless connection and validating the at least one of vehicle identification and driver identification and the second transaction authorization code.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the at least one of vehicle identification and driver identification and a second transaction authorization code are digitally signed by a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

detecting that the vehicle has left a predefined service area of the vehicle service station comprising a fuel lane corresponding to a fuel pump; and

in response to detecting that the vehicle has left the predefined service area, ending the transaction.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the first transaction authorization code is valid for an amount of time based on an estimated amount of time needed for the vehicle to enter the vehicle service station and is invalid after the amount of time has passed.

31. A method for processing vehicle transactions, the method comprising:

detecting, by a first computing system at a service station, that a vehicle has entered the service station;

in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the service station, automatically retrieving, by the first computing system, at least one of a unique vehicle identification and a driver identification from the vehicle and a first transaction authorization code via a wireless connection between the vehicle and the service station, wherein the first transaction authorization code is configured to activate a service system at the service station and is specific to a pre-approved transaction and authorized by a carrier information system, wherein the pre-approved transaction is requested prior to the vehicle entering the service station and pre-approved based on the unique vehicle identification originating from an engine control module installed in the vehicle;

detecting that the vehicle has entered a predefined service area within the vehicle service station by a sensor associated with the vehicle service station;

in response to detecting that the vehicle has entered the predefined service area, determining, by the at least one computing device, a location of the vehicle using location information determined from a radio-frequency identification chip of the vehicle and received by a scanner associated with the vehicle service station from a communication device of the vehicle, wherein the location information is electronically signed by the communication device of the vehicle and further includes a second transaction authorization code;

transmitting, by the first computing system to a second computing system associated with a carrier organization of the vehicle, a request for transaction approval comprising the at least one of vehicle identification and driver identification, the request including a prompt for a-the second transaction authorization code;

responsive to the request, receiving the second transaction authorization code from at least one of the vehicle and the driver, the second transaction authorization code being generated in response to a transaction request before detecting that the vehicle has entered the service station;

determining, by the first computing system, whether the first transaction authorization code matches the second transaction authorization code; and

in response to determining that the first transaction authorization code matches the second transaction authorization code, activating a fuel pump at the service station to dispense fuel for a fueling transaction; and

upon detecting that the vehicle has left the predefined service station area, automatically shutting off the fuel pump and ending the transaction.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the vehicle identification and the driver identification are automatically retrieved via the wireless connection,

wherein the method further comprises:

determining, by the first computing system, whether the retrieved vehicle identification and the retrieved driver identification are associated with the second transaction authorization code; and

wherein in response to determining that the first transaction authorization code matches the second transaction authorization code, activating a fuel pump at the service station to enable the fuel pump to dispense fuel for a fueling transaction comprises;

in response to determining that the first transaction authorization code matches the second transaction authorization code and determining that the retrieved vehicle identification and the retrieved driver identification are associated with the second transaction authorization code, activating the fuel pump at the service station to enable the fuel pump to dispense fuel for a fueling transaction at the service station.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the second transaction authorization code is generated in response to a transaction request before detecting that the vehicle has entered the service station, transaction types approved by the carrier organization associated with the vehicle, and pre-approved amount limits associated with the second transaction authorization code.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein determining whether the vehicle is within the predefined service area comprises:

detecting for the vehicle via a short-range wireless connection; and

determining whether the vehicle is present in a fuel lane corresponding to a fuel pump using weight sensors located at the fuel lane.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

monitoring the presence of the vehicle in the predefined service area; and

in response to determining that the vehicle has left the predefined service area, automatically ending the transaction.