Methods and systems for making a payment via a stored value card in a mobile environment

• US 9,911,114 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2006
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Rackley, III, Brady Lee, Porter, Warren Derek, Rickman, Gregory Michael, Cochran, Kyle Leighton
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Eric T
• Assistant Examiner(s): ANDERSON, JOHN A
• Application Number:
  US11/428,860
• Publication Number:
  US 20080040265A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,261 Days
• Field of Search: 705 40, 705 35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/023 the neutral party being a clearing house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/32 using wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3221 Access to banking information through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/325 using wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3255 using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Methods and systems for making a financial payment to a payee via a stored value (SV) card utilizing a mobile device such as a mobile telephone (cellphone) or wireless connected personal digital assistant (PDA). The mobile device communicates wirelessly with a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS) that stores user information and transaction information. A user enters information via the mobile device identifying a payee and indicating a stored value card payment method. The mobile device generates a mobile payment instruction that includes information corresponding to the identified payee and indicating a stored value card payment method. The mobile payment instruction is wirelessly communicated to the MFTS. The MFTS generates an MFTS payment instruction to a payment instruction recipient that can issue a new stored value card and/or reload funds onto a pre-existing stored value card. The MFTS communicates the MFTS payment instruction to the payment instruction recipient, which arranges for payment to the identified payee by issuing a new stored value card or reloading funds onto a pre-existing stored value card.

Claims

1. A method for making a financial payment to a payee via a stored value (SV) card utilizing a mobile device connected for communications via a wireless network, the mobile device being connected via the wireless network with a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS) that is operatively coupled to a payment instruction recipient capable of issuing a SV card to a payee, comprising the steps of:

receiving user input at the mobile device of information identifying the payee to which a payment is to be made;

displaying a plurality of selectable payment methods on the mobile device corresponding to the payment to be made to the identified payee, the plurality of selectable payment methods including a stored value (SV) card payment method;

receiving selection at the mobile device of the SV card payment method;

receiving a SMS message and automatically activating an application in response to receiving the SMS message;

generating, in response to activating the application, a mobile payment instruction comprising information corresponding to the identified payee and indicating the SV card payment method; and

wirelessly communicating the mobile payment instruction from the mobile device to the MFTS, whereby the MFTS communicates a payment instruction to the payment instruction recipient and the payment instruction recipient effects the payment to the identified payee via a stored value card by issuing a new SV card to the identified payee or adding value to a preexisting SV card of the identified payee.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying the payee comprises identifying the payee by selection of one of a plurality of prestored names in the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying the payee comprises identifying the payee by user entry of a mobile number.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of selectable payment methods includes:

a recipient-defined method, an ACH funds transfer, a paper check, and a stored value (SV) card.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment instruction recipient is one of a financial service provider, a billing aggregator, a stored value card issuer, a retail establishment that handles stored value cards.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

storing a cached account balance in the mobile device representative of the a balance in at least one account maintained by a mobile device user at a financial service provider as of a particular date;

receiving updated account balance information for the at least one account; and

in response to receipt of updated account balance information, displaying updated account balance information corresponding to the at least one account via the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving selection of at least one selectable payment source for the payment at the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the selection of the at least one selectable payment source for making the payment includes selection of a financial service provider and selection of a particular account associated with the selected financial service provider for making the payment.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein selection of the at least one selectable payment source causes the MFTS to retrieve current account information from one or more financial service providers and wirelessly communicate the current account information to the mobile device upon receipt of such information from the one or more financial service providers, and

wherein the mobile device is operative to display the current account information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some payee information is input via an Internet-accessible web site accessible for input of payee information and is thereafter wirelessly communicated to the mobile device for display.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a Mobile Wallet application on the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the Mobile Wallet application provides a display on the mobile device of selectable commands including a Pay Anyone command, a Payment Source selection command, and a Payment Method selection command.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein activation of a Payment Source selection command causes the MFTS to retrieve current account information from a selected financial service provider and wirelessly communicate current account information to the mobile device upon receipt of such information from the selected financial service provider.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of receiving selection of a payment source for making the payment in response to display of a Payment Source selection command via the Mobile Wallet.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the selection of a payment source for making the payment includes selection of a financial service provider and selection of a particular account associated with the selected financial service provider for making the payment.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of wirelessly receiving a payment confirmation message at the mobile device from the MFTS in response to receipt of the payment confirmation message from the payment instruction recipient.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card account number for confirmation that the payment is to be made by crediting a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein information corresponding to the payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card is stored in an MFTS database and wirelessly communicated to the mobile device for display and confirmation by user command.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing a data entry screen on the mobile device for entry of a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card account number for purposes of crediting a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card.

20. A mobile device for making a financial payment to a payee via a stored value (SV) card, the mobile device being connected via a wireless network with a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS) that is operatively coupled to a payment instruction recipient capable of issuing a SV card to a payee, comprising:

a display configured for displaying information relating to a plurality of selectable payment methods for effecting a payment to the payee, the plurality of selectable payment methods including a stored value (SV) card payment method;

a user input means for receiving information identifying the payee, and user selection of a payment method from the plurality of selectable payment methods;

a wireless communications component configured for communicating with the MFTS via the wireless network; and

a mobile device processor operative to;

receive via the user input means information identifying the payee to which the payment is to be made;

display the plurality of selectable payment methods on the display corresponding to the payment to be made to the identified payee, the plurality of selectable payment methods including the SV card payment method;

receive via the user input means selection of the SV card payment method;

receiving a SMS message and automatically activating an application in response to receiving the SMS message;

generate, in response to activating the application, a mobile payment instruction comprising information corresponding to the identified payee and indicating the SV card payment method; and

wirelessly communicate via the wireless communications component the mobile payment instruction from the mobile device to the MFTS,

whereby the MFTS communicates a payment instruction to the payment instruction recipient and the payment instruction recipient effects the payment to the identified payee via a stored value card by issuing a new SV card to the identified payee or adding value to a preexisting SV card of the identified payee.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the information identifying the payee comprises identifying the payee by selection of one of a plurality of prestored names in the mobile device.

22. The device of claim 20, wherein the information identifying the payee comprises identifying the payee by user entry of a mobile number.

23. The device of claim 20, wherein the plurality of selectable payment methods includes:

a recipient-defined method, an ACH funds transfer, a paper check, and a stored value (SV) card.

24. The device of claim 20, wherein the payment instruction recipient is one of a financial service provider, a billing aggregator, a stored value card issuer, a retail establishment that handles stored value cards.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the mobile device stores a cached account balance in the mobile device representative of a balance in at least one account maintained by a mobile device user at a financial service provider as of a particular date;

wherein the mobile device processor receives updated account balance information for the at least one account and wirelessly communicates updated account balance information from the MFTS to the mobile device via the wireless communications component; and

wherein in response to receipt of updated account balance information from the MFTS, the mobile device displays updated account balance information via the display corresponding to the account.

26. The device of claim 20, wherein the mobile device processor is further operative to receive selection of at least one selectable payment source for the payment.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the selection of the at least one selectable payment source for making the payment includes selection of a financial service provider and selection of a particular account associated with the selected financial service provider for making the payment.

28. The device of claim 26, wherein selection of the at least one selectable payment source causes the MFTS to retrieve current account information from one or more financial service providers and wirelessly communicate the current account information to the mobile device upon receipt of such information from the one or more financial service providers, and

wherein the mobile device processor is operative to display the current account information via the display.

29. The device of claim 20, wherein at least some payee information is input via an Internet-accessible web site accessible for input of payee information and is thereafter wirelessly communicated to the mobile device via the wireless communications component for display.

30. The device of claim 20, wherein the mobile device processor operates software comprising a Mobile Wallet application.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the Mobile Wallet application provides a display on the mobile device of selectable commands including a Pay Anyone command, a Payment Source selection command, and a Payment Method selection command.

32. The device of claim 31, wherein activation of a Payment Source selection command causes the MFTS to retrieve current account information from a selected financial service provider and wirelessly communicate current account information to the mobile device via the wireless communications component upon receipt of such information from the selected financial service provider.

33. The device of claim 31, wherein the mobile device processor is further operative to receive user input corresponding to selection of a payment source for making the payment in response to display of a Payment Source selection command via the Mobile Wallet.

34. The device of claim 31, wherein the selection of a payment source for making the payment includes selection of a financial service provider and selection of a particular account associated with the selected financial service provider for making the payment.

35. The device of claim 20, wherein the mobile device processor is further operative to wirelessly receive a payment confirmation message at the mobile device from the MFTS via the wireless communications component in response to receipt of the payment confirmation message from the payment instruction recipient.

36. The device of claim 20, wherein the mobile device processor is further operative to display a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card account number for confirmation that the payment is to be made by crediting a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein information corresponding to the payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card is stored in an MFTS database and wirelessly communicated to the mobile device via the wireless communications component for display and confirmation by user command.

38. The device of claim 20, wherein the mobile device processor is further operative to provide an entry screen on the mobile device display for entry of a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card account number for purposes of crediting a payee'"'"'s pre-existing SV card.

39. A mobile device for making a financial payment to a payee via a stored value (SV) card, the mobile device being connected via a wireless network with a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS) that is operatively coupled to a payment instruction recipient capable of issuing a SV card to a payee, comprising:

a means for receiving user input at the mobile device of information identifying the payee to which a payment is to be made;

a mobile device display configured for displaying a plurality of selectable payment methods corresponding to the payment to be made to the identified payee, the plurality of selectable payment methods including a stored value (SV) card payment method;

a means for receiving selection at the mobile device of the SV card payment method;

a means for receiving a SMS message and automatically activating an application in response to receiving the SMS message;

a means for generating, in response to activating the application, a mobile payment instruction comprising information corresponding to the identified payee and indicating the SV card payment method; and

a means for wirelessly communicating the mobile payment instruction from the mobile device to the MFTS,

whereby the MFTS communicates a payment instruction to the payment instruction recipient and the payment instruction recipient effects the payment to the identified payee via a stored value card by issuing a new SV card to the identified payee or adding value to a preexisting SV card of the identified payee.

40. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that is usable by a mobile device, the mobile device being connected via a wireless network with a mobile financial transaction system (MFTS) that is operatively coupled to a payment instruction recipient capable of issuing a SV card to a payee, the computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

receiving user input at the mobile device of information identifying the payee to which a payment is to be made;

displaying a plurality of selectable payment methods on the mobile device corresponding to the payment to be made to the identified payee, the plurality of selectable payment methods including a stored value (SV) card payment method;

receiving selection at the mobile device of the SV card payment method;

receiving a SMS message and automatically activating an application in response to receiving the SMS message;

generating, in response to activating the application, a mobile payment instruction comprising information corresponding to the identified payee and indicating the SV card payment method;

and wirelessly communicating the mobile payment instruction from the mobile device to the MFTS,

whereby the MFTS communicates a payment instruction to the payment instruction recipient and the payment instruction recipient effects the payment to the identified payee via a stored value card by issuing a new SV card to the identified payee or adding value to a preexisting SV card of the identified payee.