REPROGRAMMABLE POINT-OF-SALE TRANSACTION FLOWS

• US 20180032985A1
• Filed: 07/29/2016
• Published: 02/01/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wolter, Jonathan Andrew, Ricau, Pierre-Yves, Dickerson, Rob
• Granted Patent: US 10,496,973 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Techniques and arrangements for allowing modification of transaction flows, user interfaces (UIs), receipt configuration and control of buyer-facing displays associated with transactions between a payment service, a merchant and a buyer are provided. Payment service payment functionality is exposed by the payment service via one or more application programming interfaces (API)s, software development kits (SDKs), or some other web-based communication technique (e.g., a uniform resource locator). The payment service payment functionality exposed by the payment service allows a merchant to customize one or more steps of a transaction between a user and a merchant. A merchant can use the exposed payment service payment functionality to configure and modify the look and feel and/or the steps within a transaction flow. The merchant can also modify a receipt to include other information from the information that is included in a default receipt.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more computing devices associated with a payment service that processes transactions for multiple merchants, the one or more computing devices programmed to perform acts including;

generating a first digital receipt for a first transaction between a merchant and a first buyer, the first digital receipt including a first set of elements that are arranged on the first digital receipt according to a standard receipt configuration;

receiving, from a point-of-sale (POS) device of a merchant, transaction information associated with a second transaction between the merchant and a second buyer;

determining that the transaction information associated with the second transaction satisfies at least one condition associated with receipt reconfiguration;

determining, at least partly in response to determining that the transaction information satisfies that at least one condition, a second receipt configuration based, at least in part, on receipt reconfiguration information specified by one or more of the merchant or the payment service;

generating a second digital receipt based at least in part on the second receipt configuration, wherein the second digital receipt includes a second set of elements that are arranged on the second digital receipt according to the second receipt configuration, wherein the second receipt configuration is different than the first receipt configuration; and

sending, to at least one of the POS device of the merchant or a buyer device associated with the second buyer, data that causes the at least one of the POS device or the buyer device to present, at least partly via a display, the second digital receipt.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the second receipt configuration is based at least in part on one or more of:

a merchant profile associated with the merchant;

a buyer profile associated with the second buyer;

receipt configuration information received from the POS device of the merchant;

or

receipt configuration information received from a third party server.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the second receipt configuration is specified, at least in part, by the merchant.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the acts further comprise receiving, from the merchant, data indicating an arrangement of at least a portion of the second set of elements on the second receipt.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the acts further comprise exposing, to the POS merchant device, an application programming interface (API) that includes functionality for modifying the standard receipt configuration.

6. A payment service comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts including;

receiving, from a point-of-sale (POS) device of a merchant, transaction information associated with a transaction between a merchant and a buyer;

determining, based at least in part on the transaction information, to utilize a modified receipt configuration;

generating a digital receipt based at least in part on the modified receipt configuration, wherein the modified receipt configuration is different from a standard receipt configuration; and

providing, to at least one of the POS device of the merchant or a buyer device associated with the buyer, data associated with the digital receipt.

7. The payment service of claim 6, wherein generating the digital receipt comprises including one or more additional elements on the digital receipt, wherein the one or more additional elements are not specified by the standard receipt configuration.

8. The payment service of claim 6, wherein the modified receipt configuration is specified, at least in part, by the merchant.

9. The payment service of claim 6, the acts further comprising exposing, to one or more computing devices of the merchant, an application programming interface (API) that includes functionality for specifying the modified receipt configuration.

10. The payment service of claim 9, wherein the API comprises first functionality for modifying an appearance of one or more elements of the standard receipt configuration, second functionality for specifying a layout of one or more elements of the standard receipt configuration, third functionality for adding an element to the standard receipt configuration, and fourth functionality for deleting one or more elements of the standard receipt configuration.

11. The payment service of claim 9, wherein determining, based at least in part on the transaction information, to utilize the modified receipt configuration comprises determining that a merchant application has specified, via the API, to utilize the modified receipt configuration for the transaction including the buyer.

12. The payment service of claim 6, wherein determining, based at least in part on the transaction information, to utilize the modified receipt configuration comprises determining that one or more of a merchant profile associated with the merchant or a buyer profile associated with the buyer indicates to utilize the modified receipt configuration for the transaction.

13. The payment service of claim 6, wherein generating the digital receipt based at least in part on the modified receipt configuration comprises accessing the modified receipt configuration based at least in part on information associated with one or more of the merchant or the buyer.

14. A method comprising:

receiving, from a point-of-sale (POS) device of a merchant, transaction information associated with a transaction between a merchant and a buyer;

determining, based at least in part on the transaction information, to utilize a modified receipt configuration;

generating a digital receipt based at least in part on the modified receipt configuration, wherein the modified receipt configuration is different than a standard receipt configuration; and

providing, to at least one of the POS device of the merchant or a buyer device associated with the buyer, data associated with the digital receipt.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein generating the digital receipt comprises including one or more additional elements on the digital receipt, wherein the one or more additional elements are not specified by the standard receipt configuration.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the modified receipt configuration is specified, at least in part, by the merchant.

17. The method of claim 14, the acts further comprising exposing, to one or more computing devices of the merchant, an application programming interface (API) that includes functionality for specifying the modified receipt configuration.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the API comprises functionality for:

modifying an appearance of one or more elements of the standard receipt configuration; and

specifying a layout of one or more elements of the standard receipt configuration.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein determining, based at least in part on the transaction information, to utilize the modified receipt configuration comprises determining that a merchant application has specified, via the API, to utilize the modified receipt configuration for the transaction including the buyer.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein determining, based at least in part on the transaction information, to utilize the modified receipt configuration comprises determining that one or more of a merchant profile associated with the merchant or a buyer profile associated with the buyer indicates to utilize the modified receipt configuration for the transaction.