Verifying proximity during payment transactions

• US 9,940,616 B1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Morgan, Timothy Ben, Slavich, Vanessa Erica, Rajkovich, Brielle Alyse, Wilson, Mathew
• Primary Examiner(s): Madamba, Clifford B
• Application Number:
  US13/829,658
• Time in Patent Office: 1,853 Days
• Field of Search: 705 65
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices

Abstract

Method, systems, and apparatus for processing a transaction for a customer using a first device and a second device, comprising: receiving a notification from the first device, where the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase, where the notification includes an identifier, and where the identifier uniquely identifies both the customer and a second device; determining that the second device is in proximity to the first device as an authentication measure; in response to the determining, sending the determination to the second device, where the second device displays details regarding the selection of the one or more items for purchase; receiving, from the second device, user input indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items; submitting, to a payment processor, the details for authentication.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors of a payment service system, a notification of a transaction from a first application executing on a first device, wherein the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase from a merchant, wherein the notification further includes an identifier that uniquely identifies both a customer and a second device associated with the customer, wherein the second device is a mobile device, and wherein the selection is received via a first user interface presented by the first application on the first device;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from the first application on the first device, an indication of a location of the first device based on Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates transmitted to the one or more processors by the first device;

sending, by the one or more processors, to the second device, based on the received identifier, an indication of the transaction;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from a second application executing on the second device, in response to the indication of the transaction, an indication of a location of the second device based on GPS coordinates transmitted by the second application to the one or more processors;

comparing, by the one or more processors, the GPS coordinates of the first device and the GPS coordinates of the second device to determine that the second device is in proximity to the first device;

in response to determining the second device is in proximity to the first device, sending, by the one or more processors, to the second application executing on the second device, details regarding the selection of the one or more items to cause the second application to present a second user interface on the second device displaying the details regarding the selection for review by the customer, where the second application is associated with the payment service system;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from the second application executing on the second device, a user input entered via the second user interface indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items; and

submitting, by the one or more processors, to a payment processor associated with the payment service system, a determination that the second device is in proximity to the first device and the details for authentication, wherein the payment processor determines to approve the transaction based at least on the determination that the second device is in proximity to the first device.

2. The method of claim 1, where determining that the second device is in proximity to the first device comprises

determining that the distance between the location of the first device and the location of the second device is within a predetermined distance by the comparing the GPS coordinates of the first device and the GPS coordinates of the second device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, to both the first and second devices, confirmation of the authentication from the payment processor.

4. The method of claim 1, where the details include, for each of the one or more items, a respective description and a respective price.

5. The method of claim 1, where the unique identifier is one of the following:

a phone number, a pay phrase, or a password.

6. The method of claim 1, where receiving the user input comprises receiving a swipe to a touchscreen virtual control presented in the second user interface on the second device, wherein the swipe indicates confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items.

7. A method comprising:

receiving, via a first user interface presented by a first application executing on a first device, a first user input to select one or more items for purchase for a transaction;

receiving, via the first user interface presented on the first device, an indication of an identifier that uniquely identifies both a customer and a second device associated with the customer;

sending, by the first application, from the first device to the second device, based on the indication of the identifier, a notification of the one or more items selected for purchase;

determining, by the first application on the first device, that the second device is in proximity to the first device by detecting through a short range communication protocol that the second device is executing a second application and is within proximity to the first device;

in response to determining the second device is in proximity to the first device, sending, by the first application, to the second device, an indication that the second device is in proximity to the first device to cause the second application on the second device to display in a second user interface presented by the second application, details regarding the one or more items selected for purchase;

receiving, via the second user interface presented on the second device, a second user input to confirm the purchase of the one or more items; and

submitting, by at least one of the second application or the first application, to a payment processor, for authentication of the transaction, an indication that the second device is determined to be in proximity to the first device and an indication of receipt of the second user input to the second user interface to confirm the purchase.

8. The method of claim 7, where sending the notification to the second device comprises broadcasting the notification to the second device using the short range communication protocol.

9. The method of claim 7, where the short range communication protocol is one of the following:

Near Field Communication, Bluetooth, or sound.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving, at both the first and second devices, confirmation of the authentication from the payment processor and displaying the confirmation.

11. The method of claim 7, where the details include, for each of the one or more items, a respective description and a respective price.

12. The method of claim 7, where receiving the indication of the unique identifier comprises:

displaying, by the first application, in the first user interface, an input field at the first device; and

receiving, through the input field in the first user interface, the unique identifier based on input of the customer received via the first user interface.

13. The method of claim 7, where the customer is logged into the first device using an account, and where receiving the indication of the unique identifier comprises accessing the unique identifier from the account of the customer.

14. The method of claim 7, where the unique identifier is one of the following:

a phone number, a pay phrase, or a password.

15. The method of claim 7, where receiving the second user input comprises receiving, via a virtual control presented by the second application in the second user interface on a touchscreen of the second device, a swipe of the virtual control that confirms the purchase of the one or more items.

16. A system comprising:

a first device executing a first application that configures the first device to present a first user interface on which a customer initiates a transaction by selecting one or more items for purchase, where the first application configures the first device to receive a first user input via the first user interface that specifies the one or more items for sale to be purchased, and where the first application further configures the first device to receive an indication of an identifier for the customer;

a second device that is associated with the customer, where the identifier uniquely identifies both the customer and the second device; and

one or more processors configured as a payment processor, where one of the first device, the second device, or the one or more processors determine that the second device is in proximity to the first device as an authentication measure, and where in response to determining the second device is in proximity to the first device, the second device is configured by a second application executing on the second device to perform operations comprising;

displaying, by the second application in a second user interface on the second device, details regarding the one or more items selected for purchase;

receiving, via the second user interface on the second device, a second user input to confirm the purchase of the one or more items; and

submitting the details for authentication to the payment processor.

17. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more processors of a payment system, a notification of a transaction from a first application executing on a first device, where the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase, and where the notification includes an identifier that uniquely identifies both a customer and a second device;

sending, by the one or more processors, based on the identifier, the notification to a second application executing on the second device, where the second application configures the second device to display a user interface including details regarding the selection of the one or more items for purchase;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from the second application executing on the second device, via the user interface, a user input indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items;

determining, by the one or more processors, a location of the first device using Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates received from the first application executing on the first device;

determining, by the one or more processors, a location of the second device using GPS coordinates received from the second application executing on the second device;

authenticating the customer, by the one or more processors, wherein said authenticating includes determining that the first device is within a specified proximity of the second device by comparing the location of the first device to the location of the second device; and

submitting, by the one or more processors, to a payment processor, the details and the determination of proximity for authentication, where the payment processor determines whether to approve the transaction based at least partially on the determination of proximity.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising sending, to both the first and second devices, confirmation of the authentication by the payment processor.

19. The method of claim 17, where the details include, for each of the one or more items, a respective description and a respective price.

20. The method of claim 17, where the unique identifier is one of the following:

a phone number, a pay phrase, or a password.

21. The method of claim 17, where receiving the user input comprises receiving, via a virtual control presented by the second application in the user interface on a touchscreen of the second device, a swipe of the virtual control, at the second device, that confirms the purchase of the one or more items.

22. A method comprising:

receiving, via a first user interface presented by a first application executing on a first device, a first user input that specifies one or more items selected for purchase by a customer for a transaction;

receiving, via the first user interface presented by the first application executing at the first device, an indication of a unique identifier that identifies both the customer and a second device associated with the customer;

sending, by the first application, from the first device to the second device, based on the received indication of the unique identifier, a notification of the one or more items selected for purchase;

displaying, via a second user interface presented by a second application executing at the second device, details regarding the one or more items selected for purchase;

receiving, via the second user interface presented by the second application executing at the second device, a second user input that confirms the purchase of the one or more items;

receiving, by one or more processors of a payment system, from the first application executing on the first device, first location information indicating a location of the first device;

receiving, by the one or more processors, from the second application executing on the second device, second location information indicating a location of the second device;

determining, by the one or more processors, based on the received first and second location information, that the first device is in proximity to the second device as an authentication measure, where said determining includes comparing the received location of the first device to the received location of the second device; and

submitting, by the one or more processors, to a payment processor, the details and the determination of proximity for authentication, where the payment processor determines whether to approve the transaction based at least on the determination of proximity.

23. The method of claim 22, where sending the notification to the second device comprises:

sending the notification from the first device to a server; and

forwarding the notification from the server to the second device.

24. The method of claim 22, where sending the notification to the second device comprises broadcasting, by the first application executing on the first device, the notification to the second device using a short range communication protocol.

25. The method of claim 24, where the short range communication protocol is one of the following:

Near Field Communication, Bluetooth, or sound.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein:

the first application configures the first device to send first Global Positioning System (GPS) information as the first location information sent to the one or more processors;

the second application configures the second device to send second GPS information as the second location information sent to the one or more processors; and

determining that the first device is in proximity to the second device comprises comparing the first GPS information with the second GPS information.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising receiving, at both the first and second devices, confirmation of the authentication from the payment processor and displaying the confirmation.

28. The method of claim 22, where the details include, for each of the one or more items, a respective description and a respective price.

29. The method of claim 22, where receiving the indication of the unique identifier comprises:

displaying, by the first application in the first user interface, an input field at the first device; and

receiving, through the input field in the first user interface, the unique identifier through input of the customer.

30. The method of claim 22, where the customer is logged into the first device using an account, and where receiving the indication of the unique identifier comprises accessing the unique identifier from the account of the customer.

31. The method of claim 22, where the unique identifier is one of the following:

a phone number, a pay phrase, or a password.

32. The method of claim 22, where receiving the second user input comprises receiving, via a virtual control presented by the second application in the second user interface on a touchscreen of the second device, a swipe of the virtual control that confirms the purchase of the one or more items.

33. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the processor and having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by the processor, a notification from a first device, where the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase by a customer received via a first user interface presented by a first application executing on the first device, and where the notification includes an identifier that uniquely identifies both the customer and a second device associated with the customer;

receiving, by the processor, from the first application executing on the first device, first location information indicating a location of the first device;

receiving, by the processor, based on the received indication of the identifier, from a second application executing on the second device, second location information indicating a location of the second device;

determining, by the processor, based on the received first and second location information, that the second device is in proximity to the first device by comparing the location of the first device to the location of the second device; and

in response to making a determination that the second device is in proximity to the first device,

sending a notice of the determination to the second device to cause the second application executing on the second device to display the notice of the determination of proximity in a user interface on the second device, where the notice includes details regarding the selection of the one or more items for purchase;

receiving, from the second device, via the user interface presented by the second application, a user input indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items; and

submitting, to a payment processor, the details for authentication.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a notification of a transaction from a first device, wherein the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase by a customer, wherein the selection is received via a first user interface presented on the first device by a first application, the notification including an identifier that uniquely identifies both the customer and a second device associated with the customer;

receiving, by the processor, from the first device, an indication of a location of the first device;

sending, by the processor, based on the identifier included in the notification, the notification to the second device to cause a second application on the second device to present a second user interface that displays details regarding the selection of the one or more items for purchase received from the processor;

receiving, by the processor, from the second device, a user input indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items and an indication of a location of the second device;

authenticating, by the processor, the customer, wherein said authenticating includes determining that the first device is in proximity to the second device by comparing the location of the first device to the location of the second device; and

submitting, by the processor, to a payment processor, the details and the determination of proximity for authentication, where the payment processor determines whether to approve the transaction based at least on the determination of proximity.