Multi-network transaction analysis

• US 10,445,754 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2016
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Western Union
• Original Assignee: Western Union
• Inventors: Snider, Elizabeth, Chipps, Teresa, Buxo, Nancy, Clark, Lyndsy, Dimond, Rachel, Winchester, Jeremy
• Primary Examiner(s): Koneru, Sujay
• Application Number:
  US15/265,014
• Publication Number:
  US 20170076306A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,126 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/325 using wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Techniques described herein relate to analyzing location-based transaction systems, based on data from multiple client devices detected and received via multiple communication networks, and providing customized data to client devices associated with particular locations and/or users of the transaction system. The characteristics of a transaction system and/or specific client locations of the transaction system may be determined, based on data received from multiple client devices. A back-end system may receive data from one or more digital kiosk systems associated with particular locations in a transaction system network, various mobile computing devices of users, and client computers within the transaction system. One or more back-end servers may analyze the data to determine various characteristics of the transaction system and/or characteristics of one or more particular locations in the transaction system network.

Claims

1. A multi-network transaction analysis system comprising:

a digital kiosk system operating at a first location, the digital kiosk system comprising;

a processing unit comprising one or more processors;

a cellular network interface configured to transmit and receive cellular data signals;

an input/output (I/O) subsystem configured to output digital content via one or more display screens; and

memory coupled with and readable by the processing unit and storing therein a set of instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, causes the digital kiosk system to;

transmit status data to a back-end system via the cellular network interface, wherein the status data indicates a first mobile computing device of one or more mobile computing devices that was wirelessly connected to a first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system at a first time;

receive digital content from the back-end system via the cellular network interface; and

output the digital content received from the back-end system via the one or more display screens;

the first mobile computing device of the one or more mobile computing devices, comprising;

an internal global positioning system (GPS);

one or more wireless network interfaces configured to wirelessly transmit data from and receive data at the mobile computing device;

a processing unit comprising one or more processors; and

memory coupled with and readable by the processing unit and storing therein a set of instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, causes the mobile computing device to;

determine global positioning data for the mobile computing device via the internal global positioning system, at a time when the mobile computing device is wirelessly connected to the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system; and

transmit mobile location data to the back-end system, the mobile location data comprising the GPS data and an identification of the wirelessly connected first digital kiosk at the first time;

a client computer associated with an Internet-based transaction service, the client computer comprising;

a processing unit comprising one or more processors;

an input/output (I/O) subsystem configured to output digital content via one or more display screens; and

an Internet network interface configured to securely transmit and receive transaction data via the Internet;

memory coupled with and readable by the processing unit and storing therein a set of instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, causes the client computer to;

receive data via the I/O subsystem corresponding to one or more Internet-based transactions; and

transmit data corresponding to the Internet-based transactions via the Internet network interface to at least one server of the back-end system associated with the Internet-based transaction service, wherein the data corresponding to the Internet-based transactions indicates the first mobile computing device of the one or more mobile computing device was wirelessly connected to the client computer at the first location; and

the back-end system, wherein the back-end system comprises one or more computer servers configured to communicate with the digital kiosk system operating at the first location, the one or more mobile computing devices, and the client computer associated with the Internet-based transaction service, wherein the one or more computer servers comprises;

one or more processing units, each processing unit comprising one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices respectively coupled to and readable by the one or more processing units, the memory devices storing therein one or more sets of instructions which, when executed by the processing units, causes one or more computer servers to;

retrieve, from memory associated with the back-end system, stored location data indicating a location of the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system and the client computer being a second location at a second time, the stored location data comprising GPS data;

receive the status data transmitted by the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system operating at the first location;

receive the mobile location data transmitted by the first mobile computing device of the one or more mobile computing devices;

receive and analyze data transmitted by the client computer associated with the Internet-based transaction service, the data corresponding to one or more Internet-based transactions occurring during a first time period including the first time, wherein the first time is subsequent to the second time; and

compare, the GPS data indicated within the mobile location data to the stored location data, to determine that the first location is different from the second location; and

update, based on the GPS data indicated within the mobile location data, the stored location data to indicate the location of the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system and the client computer as being the first location.

2. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

determine that a first user associated with the first mobile computing device initiated a transaction via the Internet-based transaction service, via the client computer during the first time period; and

transmit data to the first mobile computing device to solicit feedback from the first user relating to the transaction.

3. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 2, wherein transmitting the data to the first mobile computing device to solicit feedback from the first user relating to the transaction comprises:

determining a user role associated with the first user;

determining one or more characteristics associated with at least one of the first location or the client computer;

selecting a user feedback interface from a plurality of user feedback interfaces stored at the back-end system, based on the determined user role and the determined one or more characteristics associated with at the first location or the client computer; and

transmitting the user feedback interface to the first mobile computing device.

4. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 2, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

receive feedback data associated with the first user, from the first mobile computing device, relating to the transaction;

determine digital content for the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system, based on the received feedback data associated with the first user; and

transmit the determined digital content to the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system.

5. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 4, wherein determining the digital content for the digital kiosk system comprises:

identifying one or more languages used to provide feedback via the one or more mobile computing devices, the feedback relating to transactions performed by the Internet-based transaction service and initiated by the client computer; and

selecting a language for the determined digital content transmitted to the digital kiosk system, based on the one or more languages used to provide feedback.

6. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

identify a plurality of the mobile computing devices, including the first mobile computing device, that are near the first location at a particular time;

retrieve a plurality of user profile data stored at the back-end system, based on the identified plurality of mobile computing devices;

determine digital content for the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system, based on the retrieved plurality of user profile data; and

transmit the determined digital content to the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system.

7. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

determining a location of the client computer based on the GPS data transmitted by the first mobile computing device.

8. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

determining, based at least in part on the status data, mobile location data, and data transmitted by the client computer, operational hours of a retail store associated with the first location.

9. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

determining that a user associated with the first mobile computing device initiated a transaction via the Internet-based transaction service, based on the data received from the client computer;

determining a third time associated with the transaction initiated by the first user via the Internet-based transaction service;

comparing the first time at which the first mobile computing device was near the first location to the third time associated with the transaction initiated by the first user; and

determine a user wait time for the Internet-based transaction service at the first location, based on the comparison of the first time to the third time.

10. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

receiving data from the first mobile computing device including details of a transaction staged by a user on the first mobile computing device;

comparing the details of the transaction staged on the first mobile computing device to the data from the client computer corresponding to the one or more Internet-based transactions;

identifying a match within the data from the client computer to the transaction staged on the first mobile computing device; and

based on the identification of the match, associating data collected by at least one of the first mobile computing device or the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system operating at the first location, with the client computer.

11. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer servers of the back-end system are further configured to:

receive, from the digital kiosk system operating at the first location, a plurality of unique device identifies, corresponding to a plurality of mobile computing devices that were detected near the first location at a particular time;

retrieve a plurality of user identifier data stored at the back-end system, based on the plurality of unique device identifies; and

transmit the plurality of user identifier data to the digital kiosk system.

12. The multi-network transaction analysis system of claim 11, wherein the digital kiosk system operating at the first location is further configured to:

detect, using a wireless beacon of the digital kiosk system, the plurality of mobile computing devices near the first location at the particular time;

determine an order at which the plurality of mobile computing devices were detected near the first location;

transmit the plurality of unique device identifies to the back-end system;

receive the plurality of user identifier data from the back-end system; and

output the plurality of user identifier data via the one or more display screens, as an ordered list in the determined order at which the plurality of mobile computing devices were detected near the first location.

13. A method of analyzing a multi-network transaction system, comprising:

receiving, by a computer server, status data from a first digital kiosk system operating at a first location, wherein the status data indicates a first mobile computing device that was wirelessly connected to the first digital kiosk system at a first time;

receiving, by the computer server, mobile location data transmitted by the first mobile computing device, the mobile location data comprising global positioning (GPS) data and an identification of the wireless connection to the first digital kiosk system at the first time;

receiving, by the computer server, data from a client terminal associated with an Internet-based transaction service, the data corresponding to one or more Internet-based transactions occurring during a first time period including the first time;

retrieving stored location data indicating the location of the first digital kiosk system and a client computer being a second location at a second time, the stored location data comprising GPS data and wherein the first time is subsequent to the second time;

comparing the GPS data indicated within the mobile location data to the stored location data to determine that the first location is different from the second location; and

updating, based on the GPS data indicated within the mobile location data, the stored location data to indicate the location of the first digital kiosk of the digital kiosk system and the client computer as being the first location.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining that a first user associated with the first mobile computing device initiated a transaction via the Internet-based transaction service, via the client computer during the first time period; and

transmitting data to the first mobile computing device to solicit feedback from the first user relating to the transaction.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the data to the first mobile computing device to solicit feedback from the first user relating to the transaction comprises:

determining a user role associated with the first user;

determining one or more characteristics associated with at least one of the first location or the client computer;

selecting a user feedback interface from a plurality of user feedback interfaces, based on the determined user role and the determined characteristics associated with at the first location or the client computer; and

transmitting the user feedback interface to the first mobile computing device.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving feedback data associated with the first user, from the first mobile computing device, relating to the transaction;

determining digital content for the first digital kiosk system, based on the received feedback data associated with the first user; and

transmitting the determined digital content to the first digital kiosk system.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

identifying a plurality of the mobile computing devices, including the first mobile computing device, that are near the first location at a particular time;

retrieving a plurality of user profile data, based on the identified plurality of mobile computing devices;

determining digital content for the first digital kiosk system, based on the retrieved plurality of user profile data; and

transmitting the determined digital content to the first digital kiosk system.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining a location of the client computer based on the GPS data transmitted by the first mobile computing device.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving data from the first mobile computing device including details of a transaction staged by a user on the first mobile computing device;

comparing the details of the transaction staged on the first mobile computing device to the data from the client computer corresponding to the one or more Internet-based transactions;

identifying a match within the data from the client computer to the transaction staged on the first mobile computing device; and

based on the identification of the match, associating data collected by at least one of the first mobile computing device or the first digital kiosk system operating at the first location, with the client computer.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving, from the first digital kiosk system operating at the first location, a plurality of unique device identifies, corresponding to a plurality of mobile computing devices that were detected near the first location at a particular time;

retrieving a plurality of user identifier data, based on the plurality of unique device identifies; and

transmitting the plurality of user identifier data to the digital kiosk system.