Intelligent division of funds across merchant accounts
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system comprising:
- one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising;
receiving, from a plurality of point-of-sale (POS) devices respectively associated with a plurality of merchants, transaction information associated with a plurality of transactions;
storing first information associated with a first merchant of the plurality of merchants, the first information including at least revenue from past sales made by the first merchant, wherein the first merchant is in a first line of business;
storing second information associated with at least a second merchant of the plurality of merchants, the second information including at least revenue from past sales made by the second merchant, wherein the second merchant is in a second line of business designated as similar to the first line of business;
determining that the first merchant should save a specified amount of revenue from future sales made by the first merchant to purchase an item, wherein determining that the first merchant should save the specified amount to purchase the item is based at least in part on a purchase of the item by the second merchant;
recommending that the first merchant save the specified amount of the revenue from the future sales made by the first merchant, using a POS device associated with the first merchant, in a savings account of the first merchant;
calculating a percentage of the revenue from the future sales to save in order to save the specified amount, wherein calculating the percentage is based at least in part on the revenue from the past sales made by the first merchant;
after calculating the percentage, receiving, from the POS device, via the network, a request to authorize a transaction between the first merchant and a customer, wherein the transaction is associated with (i) payment information from a payment instrument read by a card reader, and (ii) a cost of the transaction;
authorizing, by communicating with one or more computing devices associated with one or more card payment networks, the payment instrument for the cost of the transaction;
calculating a fee to charge the first merchant for authorizing the payment instrument;
calculating a saved amount of the cost of the transaction to allocate to the savings account, the saved amount comprising the percentage times the cost of the transaction;
sending an amount associated with the fee to an account of the payment service;
sending the saved amount of funds to the savings account;
sending a remaining amount of funds to a business account of the first merchant, the remaining amount of funds comprising the cost of the transaction less the fee and less the saved amount; and
based at least in part on funds from the savings account reaching the specified amount, purchasing the item on behalf of the first merchant using at least a portion of the funds from the saving account.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Merchants may desire to save for a variety of reasons, such as to purchase a new piece of equipment for use at the merchant, to pay vendors for services provided to the merchant, to set up a “rainy-day fund”, or the like. As such, described herein are techniques and arrangements for helping a merchant reach its savings goals by automatically saving, for the merchant, a portion of each transaction made by the merchant at a point-of-sale (POS) device of the merchant.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A system comprising:
-
one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising; receiving, from a plurality of point-of-sale (POS) devices respectively associated with a plurality of merchants, transaction information associated with a plurality of transactions; storing first information associated with a first merchant of the plurality of merchants, the first information including at least revenue from past sales made by the first merchant, wherein the first merchant is in a first line of business; storing second information associated with at least a second merchant of the plurality of merchants, the second information including at least revenue from past sales made by the second merchant, wherein the second merchant is in a second line of business designated as similar to the first line of business; determining that the first merchant should save a specified amount of revenue from future sales made by the first merchant to purchase an item, wherein determining that the first merchant should save the specified amount to purchase the item is based at least in part on a purchase of the item by the second merchant; recommending that the first merchant save the specified amount of the revenue from the future sales made by the first merchant, using a POS device associated with the first merchant, in a savings account of the first merchant; calculating a percentage of the revenue from the future sales to save in order to save the specified amount, wherein calculating the percentage is based at least in part on the revenue from the past sales made by the first merchant; after calculating the percentage, receiving, from the POS device, via the network, a request to authorize a transaction between the first merchant and a customer, wherein the transaction is associated with (i) payment information from a payment instrument read by a card reader, and (ii) a cost of the transaction; authorizing, by communicating with one or more computing devices associated with one or more card payment networks, the payment instrument for the cost of the transaction; calculating a fee to charge the first merchant for authorizing the payment instrument; calculating a saved amount of the cost of the transaction to allocate to the savings account, the saved amount comprising the percentage times the cost of the transaction; sending an amount associated with the fee to an account of the payment service; sending the saved amount of funds to the savings account; sending a remaining amount of funds to a business account of the first merchant, the remaining amount of funds comprising the cost of the transaction less the fee and less the saved amount; and based at least in part on funds from the savings account reaching the specified amount, purchasing the item on behalf of the first merchant using at least a portion of the funds from the saving account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
4. A system comprising:
-
one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising; receiving, from a plurality of point-of-sale (POS) devices respectively associated with a plurality of merchants, transaction information associated with a plurality of transactions; storing first information associated with a first merchant of the plurality of merchants, the first information including at least an amount of revenue from past sales at the first merchant, wherein the first merchant is in a first line of business; storing second information associated with at least a second merchant of the plurality of merchants, the second information including at least an amount of revenue from past sales made by the second merchant, wherein the second merchant is in a second line of business designated as similar to the first line of business; determining that the first merchant should save a specified amount of revenue from future sales made by the first merchant to purchase an item, wherein determining that the first merchant should save the specified amount to purchase the item is based at least in part on a purchase of the item by the second merchant; recommending that the first merchant save the specified amount of revenue from the future sales made by the first merchant, using a POS device associated with the first merchant, in a savings account of the first merchant; determining, based at least in part on the amount of revenue from the past sales at the first merchant, a percentage of the future sales to allocate to the saving account in order to save the specified amount; after determining the percentage, receiving, from the POS device, a request to authorize a payment instrument for a cost of a transaction between the first merchant and a customer; authorizing, by communicating with one or more computing devices associated with one or more card payment networks, the payment instrument for the cost of the transaction; calculating a fee to charge the first merchant for authorizing the payment instrument; calculating, based at least in part on the percentage, a saved amount of funds from the cost of the transaction to allocate to the savings account; sending an amount associated with the fee to an account of the payment service; sending the saved amount of funds to the savings account; sending a remaining amount of funds to a business account of the first merchant, the remaining amount of funds comprising the cost of the transaction less the fee and less the saved amount of funds; and based at least in part on funds from the savings account reaching the specified amount, causing a purchase of the item on behalf of the first merchant using at least a portion of the funds from the savings account. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method implemented at least in part by a computing device of a payments service, the method comprising:
-
receiving, from a plurality of point-of-sale (POS) devices respectively associated with a plurality of merchants, transaction information associated with a plurality of transactions; storing first information associated with a first merchant of the plurality of merchants, the first information including at least past revenue of the first merchant, wherein the first merchant is in a first line of business; storing second information associated with at least a second merchant of the plurality of merchants, the second information including at least past revenue of the second merchant, wherein the second merchant is in a second line of business designated as similar to the first line of business; determining that the first merchant should save a specified amount of revenue from future sales made by the first merchant to purchase an item, wherein determining that the first merchant should save the specified amount to purchase the item is based at least in part on a purchase of the item by the second merchant; recommending that the first merchant save the specified amount of revenue from the future sales at the first merchant in a savings account of the first merchant; determining, based at least in part on the past revenue of the first merchant, a percentage of the future sales to allocate to the saving account in order to reach the specified amount; after determining the percentage, receiving, from a POS device associated with the first merchant, a request to authorize a payment instrument of a customer for a cost of a transaction between the first merchant and the customer; authorizing, by communicating with one or more computing devices associated with one or more card payment networks, the payment instrument for the cost of the transaction; calculating a fee to charge the first merchant for authorizing the payment instrument; calculating, based at least in part on the percentage, a saved amount of funds of the cost to allocate to the savings account; sending an amount associated with the fee to an account of the payment service; sending the saved amount of funds to the savings account; sending a remaining amount of funds to a business account of the first merchant, the remaining amount of funds comprising the cost less the fee and less the saved amount; and based at least in part on funds from the savings account reaching the specified amount, causing a purchase of the item on behalf of the first merchant using at least a portion of the funds from the savings account. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification