Systems and methods for the synchronization of transaction data

• US 9,934,535 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2014
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Arora, Deepak, Darcelin-Riley, Carline, Ibrahim, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Zare, Scott A
• Application Number:
  US14/206,589
• Publication Number:
  US 20150262309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,483 Days
• Field of Search: 705 30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A method comprising receiving a category of metadata from an accounting software system, receiving a plurality of metadata labels associated with the category of metadata from the accounting software, receiving a ROC, receiving an association of one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC, and/or transmitting the ROC and the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC to the accounting software system. The category of metadata may comprise a card member name, an image of a receipt associated with the ROC, a description, and the like.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a transaction account, wherein the transaction account is managed by the payment processor computer-based system;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a remote accounting software system;

linking, by the payment processor computer-based system and based on the receiving the selections, the payment processor computer-based system to the remote accounting software system;

displaying, by the payment processor computer-based system and on a user interface at the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the linking, a plurality of categories of metadata, wherein the plurality of categories of metadata are associated with the remote accounting software system;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the displaying, a selection of a first category of metadata from the plurality of categories of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a plurality of metadata labels associated with the first category of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the displaying, a selection of a second category of metadata from the plurality of categories of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a plurality of metadata labels associated with the second category of metadata;

importing, by the payment processor computer-based system and from the remote accounting software system and to the payment processor computer-based system, the first category of metadata, the second category of metadata and the plurality of metadata labels;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a record of charge (ROC) for a transaction account from a merchant system associated with a merchant,

notifying, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the receiving the ROC, the user interface about the receiving of the ROC;

providing, by the payment processor computer-based system and to the user interface, a drop down list of the plurality of the metadata labels for selection of one of the plurality of metadata labels to provide an instruction to automatically set the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the providing, the instruction to automatically set the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC, in response to the selection of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels from the drop down list of the plurality of the metadata labels,

displaying, by the payment processor computer-based system, the association of one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC in an online transaction account statement for the transaction account;

including, by the payment processor computer-based system and in the online transaction account statement, a software enabled link to the plurality of metadata labels from the accounting software system; and

transmitting, by the payment processor computer-based system, the ROC and the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC to the accounting software system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises a card member name.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises an image of a receipt associated with the ROC.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises a description and a billable indicator.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, an image of a receipt associated with the ROC and associating the image with the ROC, wherein the image of the receipt is accessible via a software enabled link from the accounting software system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein ROCs stored by the accounting software system are synchronized with ROCs stored by the computer-based system in response to the transmitting.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying, by the computer-based system, a user in response to receiving the ROC.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, from the holder of the transaction account, a selection of the transaction account from a plurality of transaction accounts.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by the payment processor computer-based system, the ROC and the metadata label in a database as ungrouped data elements via a fixed memory offset using a binary large object method with different data sets from different owners with different formats,

tuning, by the payment processor computer-based system, the database to optimize database performance,

wherein the tuning includes placing frequently used files on separate file systems to reduce in and out bottlenecks;

annotating, by the payment processor computer-based system, the ROC and the metadata label with a header, trailer or indicator to convey information for managing the ROC and the metadata label;

annotating, by the payment processor computer-based system, the ROC and the metadata label to include security information establishing access levels;

providing, by the payment processor computer-based system, based on the security access level, access to the ROC and the metadata label;

designating, by the payment processor computer-based system, a type of the ROC and the metadata label as a key field in a plurality of related data tables to speed searching for the data;

linking, by the payment processor computer-based system, the plurality of related data tables based on the type of the ROC and the metadata label in the key fields;

partitioning, by the payment processor computer-based system and using the key field, the database according to a class of objects defined by the key field to speed searching for the ROC and the metadata label;

sorting, by the payment processor computer based system, the ROC and the metadata label according to a known order to simplify the lookup process; and

obtaining, by the payment processor computer-based system, the ROC and the metadata label from the database.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises a card member name.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises an image of a receipt associated with the ROC.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises a description and a billable indicator.

9. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a payment processor computer-based system, cause the payment processor computer-based system to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a transaction account, wherein the transaction account is managed by the payment processor computer-based system;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a remote accounting software system;

linking, by the payment processor computer-based system and based on the receiving the selections, the payment processor computer-based system to the remote accounting software system;

displaying, by the payment processor computer-based system and on a user interface at the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the linking, a plurality of categories of metadata, wherein the plurality of categories of metadata are associated with the remote accounting software system;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the displaying, a selection of a first category of metadata from the plurality of categories of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a plurality of metadata labels associated with the first category of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the displaying, a selection of a second category of metadata from the plurality of categories of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a plurality of metadata labels associated with the second category of metadata;

importing, by the payment processor computer-based system and from the remote accounting software system and to the payment processor computer-based system, the first category of metadata, the second category of metadata and the plurality of metadata labels;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a record of charge (ROC) for a transaction account from a merchant system associated with a merchant,

notifying, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the receiving the ROC, the user interface about the receiving of the ROC;

providing, by the payment processor computer-based system and to the user interface, a drop down list of the plurality of the metadata labels for selection of one of the plurality of metadata labels to provide an instruction to automatically set the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system and in response to the providing, the instruction to automatically set the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC, in response to the selection of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels from the drop down list of the plurality of the metadata labels,

displaying, by the payment processor computer-based system, the association of one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC in an online transaction account statement for the transaction account;

including, by the payment processor computer-based system and in the online transaction account statement, a software enabled link to the plurality of metadata labels from the accounting software system; and

transmitting, by the payment processor computer-based system, the ROC and the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC to the accounting software system.

10. The article of claim 9, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises a card member name.

11. The article of claim 9, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises an image of a receipt associated with the ROC.

12. The article of claim 9, wherein one of the plurality of categories of metadata comprises a description and a billable indicator.

13. The article of claim 9, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, an image of a receipt associated with the ROC and associating the image with the ROC, wherein the image of the receipt is accessible via a software enabled link from the accounting software system.

14. The article of claim 9, wherein ROCs stored by the accounting software are synchronized with ROCs stored by the computer-based system in response to the transmitting.

16. The article of claim 9, further comprising receiving, from the holder of the transaction account, a selection of the transaction account from a plurality of transaction accounts.

17. A system comprising:

a tangible, non-transitory memory communicating with a payment processor configured to synchronize with an accounting software system,

the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the payment processor, cause the payment processor to perform operations;

receiving, by the payment processor, a selection of a transaction account, wherein the transaction account is managed by the payment processor;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a remote accounting software system;

linking, by the payment processor and based on the receiving the selections, the payment processor to the remote accounting software system;

displaying, by the payment processor and on a user interface at the payment processor and in response to the linking, a plurality of categories of metadata, wherein the plurality of categories of metadata are associated with the remote accounting software system;

receiving, by the payment processor and in response to the displaying, a selection of a first category of metadata from the plurality of categories of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor, a selection of a plurality of metadata labels associated with the first category of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor and in response to the displaying, a selection of a second category of metadata from the plurality of categories of metadata;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a selection of a plurality of metadata labels associated with the second category of metadata;

importing, by the payment processor and from the remote accounting software system and to the payment processor computer-based system, the first category of metadata, the second category of metadata and the plurality of metadata labels;

receiving, by the payment processor computer-based system, a record of charge (ROC) for a transaction account from a merchant system associated with a merchant,

notifying, by the payment processor and in response to the receiving the ROC, the user interface about the receiving of the ROC;

providing, by the payment processor and to the user interface, a drop down list of the plurality of the metadata labels for selection of one of the plurality of metadata labels to provide an instruction to automatically set the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC;

receiving, by the payment processor and in response to the providing, the instruction to automatically set the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC, in response to the selection of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels from the drop down list of the plurality of the metadata labels,

displaying, by the payment processor computer-based system, the association of one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC in an online transaction account statement for the transaction account;

including, by the payment processor and in the online transaction account statement, a software enabled link to the plurality of metadata labels from the accounting software system; and

transmitting, by the payment processor computer-based system, the ROC and the association of the one of the plurality of the metadata labels with the ROC to the accounting software system.