Tip processing at a point-of-sale system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- receiving, at a first module in a point-of-sale (POS) system of a merchant, a message sent by a remote payment service system via a network, the message indicating a tip amount related to an electronic payment transaction between a consumer and the merchant, the message having been transmitted to the POS system by the remote payment service system in response to the consumer having input the tip amount into a personal communication device; and
in response to the message, communicating the tip amount from the first module in the POS system to a second module in the POS system, wherein said communicating includes, without user input locally at the POS system;
simulating, by the first module, a first sequence of user inputs and a second sequence of user inputs by invoking an application programming interface (API) of an input device of the POS system;
transmitting, by the first module to the second module, data indicating the first sequence of user inputs, the transmitting causing the second module to enter a state appropriate for receiving the tip amount; and
transmitting, by the first module to the second module, data indicating the second sequence of user inputs, the second sequence of user inputs representing the tip amount that the consumer input into the personal communication device; and
updating, by the second module, data of the electronic payment transaction to reflect the tip amount.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are method and apparatus that enable a cardless payment transaction to be executed from a merchant point-of-sale (POS) system. A user is enabled to check in at a merchant by using a mobile device of the user and then to pay by simply appearing at the merchant and mentioning his name. By emulating card read events and intercepting receipt printer outputs, the technique cleanly integrates into a conventional merchant POS system, without the need for customized software or hardware to accommodate individual POS vendor-proprietary application programming interfaces (APIs).
83 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving, at a first module in a point-of-sale (POS) system of a merchant, a message sent by a remote payment service system via a network, the message indicating a tip amount related to an electronic payment transaction between a consumer and the merchant, the message having been transmitted to the POS system by the remote payment service system in response to the consumer having input the tip amount into a personal communication device; and in response to the message, communicating the tip amount from the first module in the POS system to a second module in the POS system, wherein said communicating includes, without user input locally at the POS system; simulating, by the first module, a first sequence of user inputs and a second sequence of user inputs by invoking an application programming interface (API) of an input device of the POS system; transmitting, by the first module to the second module, data indicating the first sequence of user inputs, the transmitting causing the second module to enter a state appropriate for receiving the tip amount; and transmitting, by the first module to the second module, data indicating the second sequence of user inputs, the second sequence of user inputs representing the tip amount that the consumer input into the personal communication device; and updating, by the second module, data of the electronic payment transaction to reflect the tip amount. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method comprising:
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causing a user interface of a point-of-sale (POS) system of a merchant to display first information that identifies a plurality of persons who occupy customer-service roles on behalf of the merchant; receiving, at the POS system, a message sent by a remote payment service system via a network, the message indicating a tip amount associated with an electronic payment transaction between a consumer and the merchant, the message having been transmitted to the POS system by the remote payment service system in response to the consumer having input the tip amount into a personal communication device; in response to the message, communicating the tip amount from a first module in the POS system to a second module in the POS system, wherein said communicating includes, without user input locally at the POS system; simulating, by the first module, a first sequence of user inputs and a second sequence of user inputs by invoking an application programming interface (API) of an input device of the POS system; transmitting, by the first module to the second module, data indicating the first sequence of user inputs, the transmitting causing the second module to enter a state appropriate for receiving the tip amount; transmitting, by the first module to the second module, data indicating the second sequence of user inputs, the second sequence of user inputs representing the tip amount that the consumer input into the personal communication device; and causing the second module to update data of the electronic payment transaction to reflect the tip amount; causing the user interface of the POS system to display second information about the electronic payment transaction, the second information including the tip amount, and further causing the user interface to display a prompt to select one of the plurality of persons as a person to whom the tip amount should be credited; receiving a user input at the user interface selecting one of the plurality of persons as the person to whom the tip amount should be credited; and in response to the user input, causing a message to be sent from the POS system via a network to the remote payment service system, to prompt the remote payment service system to initiate an electronic transfer of funds corresponding to the tip amount to an account of the person to whom the tip amount should be credited. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. A method comprising:
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receiving, at a point-of-sale (POS) system, a message from a remote processing system, the message being related to an electronic payment transaction that has been authorized between a consumer and a merchant, the message indicating a tip amount specified by the consumer for the electronic payment transaction, the message having been transmitted to the POS system by the remote processing system in response to the consumer having input the tip amount into a personal communication device; in response to receiving the message, causing data representing the tip amount to be communicated to a receiving entity at the POS system to cause the receiving entity at the POS system to update data of the electronic payment transaction to reflect the tip amount, wherein said communicating includes, without user input locally at the POS system; simulating, by a module of the POS system, a first sequence of user inputs and a second sequence of user inputs by invoking an application programming interface (API) of an input device of the POS system; transmitting, by the module of the POS system to a primary POS application of the POS system, data indicating the first sequence of user inputs, the transmitting causing the primary POS application to enter a state appropriate for receiving the tip amount; and transmitting, by the module of the POS system to the primary POS application, data indicating the second sequence of user inputs, the second sequence of user inputs representing the tip amount that the consumer input into the personal communication device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing code that, when executed by a processor in a point-of-sale (POS) system of a merchant, causes the POS system to perform operations comprising:
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detecting that a message has been received by the POS system from a remote payment service system, the message indicative of a payment transaction that has been authorized between a consumer and the merchant, the message indicating a tip amount specified by the consumer for the payment transaction, the tip amount having been input by the consumer into a communication device associated with the consumer; and in response to detecting the message, causing data representing the tip amount to be communicated to a receiving entity at the POS system, wherein said communicating includes, without user input locally at the POS system, the communicating comprising; simulating, by a module of the POS system, a first sequence of user inputs and a second sequence of user inputs by invoking an application programming interface (API) of an input device of the POS system; transmitting, by the module of the POS system to a primary POS application, data indicating the first sequence of user inputs, the transmitting causing the primary POS application to enter a state appropriate for receiving the tip amount; and transmitting, by the module of the POS system to the primary POS application, data indicating the second sequence of user inputs, the second sequence of user inputs representing the tip amount that the consumer input into the communication device; and causing the receiving entity at the POS system to update data of the payment transaction to reflect the tip amount. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A point-of-sale (POS) system comprising:
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a processor; a communication interface, coupled to the processor, through which to receive a message sent over a network from a remote processing system, the message being related to a payment transaction that has been authorized between a consumer and a merchant, the message indicating a tip amount for the payment transaction, the tip amount having been specified by the consumer; and a storage device coupled to the processor and storing a primary POS application executable by the processor, the primary POS application configured to process payment transactions, including to receive card data resulting from card read events from a card reader and to cause the card data to be sent to a remote authorization entity over a network in response to the card read events; the storage device further storing code which, when executed by the processor, enables the POS system to respond to the message by causing data representing the tip amount to be communicated to a receiving entity at the POS system, wherein said communicating includes, without user input locally at the POS system; simulating, by a module of the POS system, a first sequence of user inputs and a second sequence of user inputs by invoking an application programming interface (API) of an input device of the POS system; transmitting, by the module of the POS system to a primary POS application, data indicating the first sequence of user inputs, the transmitting causing the primary POS application to enter a state appropriate for receiving the tip amount; transmitting, by the module of the POS system to the primary POS application, data indicating the second sequence of user inputs, the second sequence of user inputs representing the tip amount specified by the consumer; and causing the receiving entity at the POS system to update data of the payment transaction to reflect the tip amount. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification