Offline payment processing

• US 9,904,934 B1
• Filed: 03/29/2011
• Issued: 02/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kumar, Bharath, Steuer, Jr., Kevin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Frenel, Vanel
• Application Number:
  US13/075,097
• Time in Patent Office: 2,527 Days
• Field of Search: 705 17, 705 75, 705 67, 705 44, 705 21, 235379, 235375, 235380, 455558, 455466
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]

Abstract

This disclosure is directed to techniques and systems to enable customers to make secure electronic payments to entities (e.g., merchants, vending machines, etc.). The entities may be at brick-and-mortar locations or other locations where the entities are “offline” and may not readily receive payments from customers that have payment accounts stored and managed by a host. In various embodiments, a customer may direct the host to transfer a payment to a merchant after the customer and merchant exchange a code that includes a payment instruction. The code may be used in place of usernames, passwords, or other personal information and may be difficult for others (e.g., bystanders, etc.) to intercept. After the exchange of the code, the customer may authorize the host to a transfer payment to the merchant based on the payment instruction.

Claims

1. A system for securely providing payment authorization comprising:

a processor;

a code scanning component configured to read a code via a first communication channel;

a presentation device;

a transceiver; and

a memory storing a secure payment application that, when executed by the processor, causes the system to;

read, using the code scanning component, a code generated at least partly by a merchant device associated with a merchant, the code being a quick response (QR) code or a near field communication (NFC) code, wherein the QR code or the NFC code encodes a payment instruction defining a payment amount and an identification of an account associated with the merchant, and wherein the merchant device is an offline merchant device incapable of current communications with a host device;

transform the code into the payment instruction to enable the payment amount to be received by the account associated with the merchant;

cause, based at least in part on the payment instruction, a request for payment to be transmitted from the system to the host device via the transceiver;

in response to a determination at the host device that the payment requires authorization, receive an authorization request, from the host device and via the transceiver, for security credentials of a user associated with the system;

request that the user enter the security credentials via a user interface of the presentation device;

receive, via the user interface of the presentation device, the security credentials authorizing the host device to cause the payment amount to be transferred to the account associated with the merchant;

generate a command to be transmitted over a short message service (SMS) communication channel, the command generated based on the transformed payment instruction and the command authorizing the payment;

transmit, by the transceiver and via the SMS communication channel that is different than the first communication channel used to read the code, the command from the system to the host device to instruct the host device to cause the payment amount to be transferred from an account associated with the user to the account associated with the merchant; and

receive confirmation, via the SMS communication channel, that the payment amount has been transferred from the account associated with the user to the account associated with the merchant.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the secure payment application further causes the system to receive a user selection specifying at least one of a loyalty card identifier, a membership identifier, contact information associated with the user, or delivery information associated with the user, wherein the authorization response transmitted includes the at least one of the loyalty card identifier, the membership identifier, the contact information associated with the user, or the delivery information associated with the user.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the code comprises the QR code and the reading the QR code comprises capturing an image of the QR code and analyzing the image to identify a machine-readable code and using a decoding algorithm to transform the image of the QR code into the payment instruction.

4. A method comprising:

generating, by a merchant device, a code to be transmitted to a computing device, the code transformable into a payment instruction that specifies (i) a payment amount for a transaction and (ii) a merchant account or a merchant identifier associated with the merchant account designated for receiving the payment amount;

transmitting, from the merchant device to the computing device, the code thereby enabling the computing device to transform the code into the payment instruction and to receive security credentials that authorize a host device to cause the payment amount to be sent to the merchant account; and

receiving, at the merchant device and from the host device, a notification that the payment amount has been caused to be sent to the merchant account at least partly in response to the transmitting of the code to the computing device.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the code comprises a scannable code or a near field communication (NFC) code that is transformed into the payment instruction.

6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the code includes a request for personal information from a user associated with the computing device thereby enabling the computing device to receive the personal information with the security credentials.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the personal information includes at least one of a loyalty card identifier, a membership identifier, contact information, or a coupon.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:

prior to receiving the notification, receiving, at the merchant device and from the host device, the personal information; and

updating the payment amount based at least in part on the personal information, and wherein the payment amount sent to the merchant account comprises the updated payment amount.

9. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising transmitting, from the merchant device to the host device, details of the transaction, the details including at least one of an indication of items or services included in the transaction, a virtual transaction receipt, or information about a return policy of a merchant entity.

10. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the payment instruction provides a message to enable the computing device to provide an instruction to the host device to make an electronic payment to the merchant account.

11. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the code comprises a quick response (QR) code.

12. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the merchant device is an offline merchant device incapable of current communications with the host device.

13. A system for securely providing payment authorization comprising:

a merchant device comprising;

a first processor;

a presentation device; and

a first memory storing first instructions that, when executed by the first processor, causes the merchant device to;

generate a code that is transformable into an account identifier of an account associated with the merchant device and a payment amount;

display the code on the presentation device to enable a code scanning component of a computing device to transform the code into the account identifier of the account associated with the merchant device and the payment amount;

a host device comprising;

a second processor; and

a second memory storing second instructions that, when executed by the second processor, causes the host device to;

receive, from the computing device, a request to issue a payment to the account associated with the merchant device, the request comprising the account identifier and the payment amount;

determine that issuance of the payment to the account associated with the merchant device requires user authorization;

send, to the computing device, a subsequent request for security credentials to authorize the payment to the account associated with the merchant device; and

receive, from the computing device, a message indicating that a user of the computing device has authorized the payment to the account associated with the merchant device.

14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the subsequent request for security credentials to authorize the payment includes a request for personal information of the user.

15. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the message includes at least one of the personal information or an authorization for the host device to disseminate the personal information to a merchant entity associated with the merchant device.

16. The system as recited in claim 14, wherein the personal information comprises a loyalty card identifier or a membership identifier.

17. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the code comprises a near field communication (NFC) code.

18. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the second instructions further cause the host device to process a confirmation that the payment amount has been transferred from an account associated with the user to the account associated with the merchant device.

19. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the code comprises a quick response (QR) code.

20. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, cause one or more merchant computing devices to:

in response to receiving, from a mobile computing device associated with a user, a code including an account identifier, transform the code into a payment request for the user to make a payment to a merchant entity;

cause the payment request to be transmitted to a host device; and

process a notice of deposit of the payment received from the host device at least partly in response to;

the transmitting of the payment request to the host device; and

the mobile device associated with the user providing security credentials to the host device, the security credentials authorizing the host device to cause the payment to be transferred to an account associated with the merchant entity.

21. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more merchant computing devices to generate a text message that includes the payment request.

22. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more merchant computing devices to in response to receiving at least one of a loyalty card identifier or a membership identifier from the host device, update information associated with the loyalty card identifier or the membership identifier based at least in part on the payment.

23. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more merchant computing devices to cause details of a transaction to be transmitted to the host device, wherein the details of the transaction include items or services included in the transaction.

24. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the code comprises at least one of a scannable code or a near field communication (NFC) code.