Text message payment

• US 8,662,384 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2006
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Dodin, Ramy
• Primary Examiner(s): WALSH, DANIEL I
• Application Number:
  US11/364,571
• Publication Number:
  US 20070203836A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,926 Days
• Field of Search: 705 64- 79, 705/26.9, 705/16, 705/15, 235/375, 235/378, 235/379, 235/380, 235/381, 235/449, 235/451, 235/487, 235/492, 235/493
• US Class Current: 235/379
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/223 based on the use of peer-to-peer networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3255 using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of effectuating an electronic on-line payment includes receiving at a computer server system a text message from a payor containing a payment request representing a payment amount sent by a payor device operating independently of the computer server system, determining a payment amount associated with the text message and debiting a payor account for an amount corresponding to the amount of the payment request, and crediting an account of a payee that is independent of the computer server system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of effectuating a payment, comprising:

receiving, by a computer server system, a text message from a payor comprising a payment request that corresponds to a payment intended for one of a plurality of stores that are each associated with an entity, wherein the payment request comprises a payment amount sent by a payor device operating independently of the computer server system and the plurality of stores, and wherein the payment request does not comprise information identifying a target store;

determining, by the computer server system, a target store from among the plurality of stores to which the payment request is directed, wherein the target store is determined based, at least in part, on a location of the payor device when the payment request is submitted; and

causing, by the computer server system, a change in a payor account associated with the payor and a payee account associated with the entity or the target store in response to the payment request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the text message is in the form of an SMS message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising routing a payment confirmation to the target store.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising authenticating identifying information for the payee before authenticating identifying information for the payor.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining payment from a financial institution with which the payor has an account.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a supervisory user associated with the payor is notified by text messaging.

7. A system for managing financial payments, comprising:

a text message interface configured to receive payment requests from remote text messaging devices, wherein each payment request corresponds to a payment intended for one of a plurality of stores that are each associated with an entity, and wherein the payment request does not comprise information identifying a target store;

an accounts database to store information on a plurality of users registered with the system; and

a transaction module in electronic communication with the interface and the accounts database to determine, from among the plurality of stores, a target store to which the payment request is directed, and to transfer funds from a registered user to the entity or the target store in response to a text messaged payment request associated with the first registered user, wherein the transaction module determines the target store based, at least in part, on a location of the remote text messaging device that sent the payment request.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the text message interface comprises one or more servers having message parsers to extract payment commands from received text messages.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising a transaction rules database containing rules that set amount-related limits on transactions.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the text message interface is configured to receive SMS messages.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the text message interface is configured to parse store determinant information from the received payment requests.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the transaction module transfers funds only upon receiving an approval from a supervisory user that is different from the registered user.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the transaction module routes a payment confirmation message to the target store after funds have been transferred.

14. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied therein that when executed by a computer cause the computer to effectuate a payment, the computer-readable program instructions comprising;

computer-readable program instructions for receiving a text message from a payor comprising a payment request that corresponds to a payment intended for one of a plurality of stores that are each associated with an entity, wherein the payment request comprises a payment amount sent by a payor device, and wherein the payment request does not comprise information identifying a target store;

computer-readable program instructions for determining a target store from among the plurality of stores to which the payment request is directed, wherein the target store is determined based, at least in part, on a location of the payor device when the payment request is submitted; and

computer-readable program instructions for causing a change in a payor account associated with the payor and a payee account associated with the entity or the target store in response to the payment request.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the text message is in the form of an SMS message.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising computer-readable program instructions for routing a payment confirmation to the target store.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising computer-readable program instructions for authenticating identifying information for the payee before authenticating identifying information for the payor.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising computer-readable program instructions for obtaining payment from a financial institution with which the payor has an account.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein a supervisory user associated with the payor is notified by text messaging.