Electronic device enabled payments

• US 9,996,825 B1
• Filed: 08/20/2009
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Casey, Brandon J., Cressall, Erik, Ryder-Loomis, Dylan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamilton, Lalita M
• Application Number:
  US12/544,935
• Time in Patent Office: 3,218 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices

Abstract

Payment transactions may be initiated by entering payment information, such as an amount, source, and recipient, through a graphical user interface (GUI) of an electronic device. The electronic device may transmit the payment information to a payment processor, such as a third party provider, bank, or the like, that may subsequently transmit an authorization request to an electronic device associated with the recipient. In certain embodiments, the recipient may identify a payment account and transmit the account information with the authorization to the payment processor. Upon receiving the authorization, the payment processor may transmit recipient identification information to the payor'"'"'s electronic device. The payor may then confirm the identity of the payment recipient and confirm payment. Upon receiving the confirmation, the payment processor may process the payment. In other embodiments, certain authorizations and/or confirmations may be omitted, allowing more instantaneous payments to occur.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a server, a payment initiation request from an initiator electronic device of a payer, wherein the payment initiation request specifies contact information for a recipient of a payment;

determining, by the server, an identity of the recipient and an associated recipient electronic device based on the received contact information;

obtaining, by the server, a payment account record of the payer associated with the initiator electronic device;

based on the payment account record of the payer, determining, by the server, that a first payment transaction was completed between the payer and the recipient that involved a verification step, wherein the verification step includes a confirmation of the identity of the recipient from the initiator electronic device;

bypassing the verification step for a second payment transaction based on the determination that the first payment transaction completed between the payer and the recipient involved the verification step to confirm the identity of the recipient, wherein the first payment transaction and the second payment transaction are independent transactions other than the identities of the payer and the recipient; and

transmitting, by the server, a payment notification to the recipient electronic device associated with the identity of the recipient to obtain acceptance of the payment from the recipient without verifying the identity of the recipient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact information comprises a telephone number or an email address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting a payment notification comprises transmitting a request for an account identifier associated with an account for depositing the payment.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the account identifier associated with the account for depositing the payment is acceptance of the payment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of receiving a payment initiation request, transmitting a payment notification, or transmitting the identity to the initiator electronic device is performed through a push notification service.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein bypassing the transaction verification step only occurs when a prior payment transaction and the second payment transaction were completed within a specified time period.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein bypassing the transaction verification step for the second payment transaction is based on the determination that the location of the electronic device is within a payer'"'"'s user preference, the payer'"'"'s user preference being selected from the group consisting of zip code, street address, city, state, and country.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the independent transactions are for paying, at a predefined time interval, the recipient'"'"'s allowance, paying a balance on the recipient'"'"'s credit card, or paying the recipient for gas used during carpooling.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the payment account is a non-financial account.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive, from an initiator electronic device, a payment request specifying a payment from a payer to a recipient, wherein the recipient is specified by contact information included within the payment request;

determine an identity of the recipient based on the contact information received;

obtain a payment account record of the payer associated with the initiator electronic device;

based on the payment account record, determine that a first payment transaction was completed between the payer and the recipient that involved a verification step, wherein the verification step includes a confirmation of the identity of the recipient from the initiator electronic device;

bypassing the verification step for a second payment transaction based on the determination that the first payment transaction completed between the payer and the recipient involved the verification step to confirm the identity of the recipient, wherein the first payment transaction and the second payment transaction are independent transactions other than the identities of the payer and the recipient; and

processing the payment without confirming the identity of the recipient.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions that cause determining an identity of the recipient comprises instructions that cause retrieving the identity from a payment transaction account associated with the contact information.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions that cause determining that a prior payment transaction was completed between the payer and the recipient that involved a verification step to confirm the identity of the recipient comprises instructions that cause determining whether a prior payment transaction has been completed using the initiator electronic device and a recipient electronic device associated with the recipient.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause transmitting a request to a recipient electronic device associated with the contact information, wherein the request prompts the recipient to specify a recipient account to receive the payment.

14. A method for initiating a payment transaction using an electronic device, the method comprising:

displaying on the electronic device a payment transactions screen to facilitate entry of payment transaction information by a payer;

acquiring contact information for a payment recipient from input at the electronic device;

obtaining a payment account record of the payer associated with the electronic device;

based on the payment account record of the payer, receiving from a transaction processing system a determination that a first payment transaction was completed between the payer and the payment recipient, the first payment transaction involving a verification step, wherein the verification step includes a confirmation of the identity of the payment recipient from the electronic device;

bypassing the verification determination for a second payment transaction based on the determination that the first payment transaction completed between the payer and the payment recipient involved the verification step to confirm the identity of the payment recipient, wherein the first payment transaction and the second payment transaction are independent transactions other than the identities of the payer and the payment recipient;

displaying an instant payment selection option on the payment transactions screen based on the determination that the first payment transaction completed between the payer and the payment recipient involved the verification step to confirm the identity of the payment recipient; and

transmitting the second payment transaction information and the contact information to the transaction processing system to process a payment to the payment recipient.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein acquiring contact information comprises retrieving contact information for the payment recipient from an electronic address book stored on the electronic device, on the transaction processing system, and/or on an external server.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein acquiring contact information comprises receiving a unique identifier through a near field communication interface.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein acquiring contact information comprises receiving a unique identifier for an online merchant through a network interface.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the payment transaction information and the contact information comprises determining a location of the electronic device and verifying that the location corresponds to a stored location for conducting payment transactions.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the location of the electronic device is determined via a positioning system of the electronic device, the positioning system being selected from the group consisting of GPS, cell tower positioning, and Wi-Fi location identification.

20. An electronic device, comprising:

an input device configured to receive a user input identifying contact information for a payment recipient;

a display;

a communication interface; and

data processing circuitry configured to;

obtain a payment account record of a payer from the received user input,

receive, from a payment transaction processing system, a determination that a first payment transaction was completed between the payer and the payment recipient that involved a verification step, wherein the verification step includes a confirmation of the identity of the payment recipient from the input device,

bypass the verification determination for a second payment transaction when the first payment transaction completed between the payer and the payment recipient involved the verification step to confirm the identity of the payment recipient, wherein the first payment transaction and the second payment transaction are independent transactions other than the identities of the payer and the payment recipient, and

transmit the contact information received through the input device to the payment transaction processing system through the communication interface to process a payment to the payment recipient.

21. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the input device comprises a touch screen and wherein the communication interface comprises a push notification service interface.

22. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to cause the display to present a graphical user interface that provides graphical elements to facilitate user selection of the contact information.

23. The electronic device of claim 20, further comprising a computer-readable medium that includes a data storage structure storing previously approved contact information, and wherein the data processing circuitry is capable of determining whether the received contact information corresponds to the previously approved contact information.

24. The electronic device of claim 20, comprising a near field communication interface, and wherein the data processing circuitry is capable of receiving the contact information from another electronic device via the near field communication interface.

25. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to determine whether a previous payment has been completed for the payment recipient to determine whether an instant payment option is available for the payment recipient.

26. The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the data processing circuitry is configured to receive an identity of a payment recipient acquired by the payment transaction processing system based on the contact information, and cause the display to display the identity and prompt a user to confirm a payment to the payment recipient based on the displayed identity, in response to determining that an instant payment is not available for the payment recipient.