Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Finance
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-17
2001-02-06
Trammell, James P. (Department: 2764)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Finance
C705S077000, C705S044000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06185545
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for making payments for the purchase of goods or services. Specifically, the invention provides for receiving payments in cash or by other means, at any of a number of convenient locations, such as merchant point-of-sale locations, and includes means for electronically crediting a selected end-user account in response to the payment. An intermediate account is provided in between the payment side and the vendor account side, offering advantages in terms of performance, accounting, credit risk allocation, convenience and user anonymity.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Various means are known for paying for goods or services, the most fundamental method being payment in cash at the time and place of the purchase. Credit cards and debit cards are widely used for convenience in making purchases as the user need not carry cash and risk losing it or having it stolen. Credit card accounts also are used to extend credit to a user or cardholder, although card issuers are known to suffer substantial credit losses. One way for vendors of goods or services to avoid credit losses and reduce collection problems is to establish “pre-paid” accounts. A pre-paid account, as the name implies, requires that the user pay for selected goods or services in advance; subsequent delivery of the goods or services is charged against the pre-paid account by debiting the user's balance. The problem here is that adding value to or “recharging” pre-paid vendor accounts is not convenient.
Pre-paid wireless (cell phone) service provides an illustrative example. Pre-paid wireless service enables customers to utilize the convenience of cellular and digital communications by establishing a prepaid account with a wireless telecommunications vendor. Typically, prepaid wireless cards, each card corresponding to a wireless services account, are purchased in preset denominations in a limited number of locations. The cards are issued in fixed value increments, for example, $20, $50 or $100. Each card provides the end-user with a specified amount of wireless calling dollars or minutes. After the initial allocation is exhausted (or before), the user can “recharge” or reload their wireless account usually by calling an 800 number, having a credit card handy, and either talking with a customer service representative (CSR) or using an automated system to charge additional minutes to the credit card. This system is burdensome to both the user and the wireless carrier. Moreover, some users have pre-paid wireless accounts because of credit problems and thus may not have a valid credit card available for this purpose.
A new method for affecting payment for wireless telecommunications services, as well as other goods and services, is needed that enables a customer to purchase variable amounts of value for loading onto the customer's account. A new system should allow making such payments at convenient locations. And a new payment system should allow a user to affect bill payment or otherwise purchase goods and services, for example from a remote vendor, without the need to establish good credit in advance. It is also desirable that a payment system provide anonymity especially for dealing with remote vendors, yet physical separation of purchaser and vendor, the “card holder not present” scenario, is known to contribute to credit card fraud losses. The use of cash addresses some of these problems, but it is not practical for remote vendors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary aspect of the present invention is directed to providing a stored value intermediary account to implement a centralized payment system. The centralized payment system interfaces with merchant points-of-sale where cash payments (or other forms of payments) are received from the end-user (or his agent). The present invention leverages the existing financial network that is used around the world for credit card transactions, but it uses that existing system “backwards” in that payments are received, rather than credit extended, at the merchant point-of-sale. Interfacing to the existing world-wide network, e.g. VisaNet or another card association network, in this new way allows payments to be received at any of literally millions of merchant locations that are coupled to the network, thus providing extraordinary convenience for the end-user. The payments are posted to an intermediary account maintained on the centralized payment system. Thus an important feature of the present invention is the use of a ubiquitous standards-based electronic system for recharging (adding value to) end-user accounts from retail point-of-sale terminals.
Another aspect of the invention focuses on the payment side of the system; namely, effecting an electronic payment from the central intermediary account to a wireless carrier or other vendor on behalf of the end-user. A further advantage in this regard is security and anonymity because no personal information about the end-user, not even the user's name, need be stored in the central intermediary payment system.
Additional objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the detailed description, we use wireless services as an example of goods or services that can be paid for using the new centralized payment system. Wireless services are merely illustrative and are used as a convenient way to describe the invention; it can be used to pay for any goods or services.
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Callanan Matt J.
Resnick David
Hess Richard W.
PreNet Corporation
Stoel Rives LLP
Trammell James P.
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