Patent Application
20190333061
The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of this invention relate generally to automated teller machine systems, methods, devices, and computer programs, and more specifically, relate to systems and processes using automated teller machines implementing a graphic user interface enabling a user to purchase and transmit electronic stored-value instruments via an ATM.
This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
The following abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined as follows:
ATM automated teller machine
API application program interface
GPR general purpose reloadable
GUI graphic user interface
PIN personal identification number
SMS short message service
MMS multimedia messaging service
URL uniform resource locator
Common types of financial instruments include credit cards, debit cards, and stored-value instruments. A stored-value instrument is a financial instrument, usually structured as a means for payment, in which funds are associated with the instrument and not necessarily associated with any individual. Gift cards, pre-paid cards, and pre-paid cellular phone minutes or data plans cards are a common form of stored-value instrument. The following discussion related to “gift cards” is equally applicable to other forms of store-value instruments for purposes of this application. Gift cards in particular have become extremely popular in recent years. Gift cards essentially relieve the donor of the burden of selecting a specific and individually appropriate gift for the recipient, instead allowing the recipient to choose, from the range of products sold by the issuer, the actual goods or services he or she wishes upon redemption. Most gift cards resemble credit cards in size and composition, although increasingly gift cards are becoming virtualized for delivery and redemption across digital networks. Gift cards also tend to display a specific theme that corresponds to the issuer of the card. Although gift cards are typically identified by a specific number or code, gift cards are typically not associated with an individual name or account. Thus, gifts cards can be used by anybody. In order to support gift cards, an issuer of gift cards maintains (directly or indirectly) an on-line electronic system for authorization and accounting of gift cards issued by the issuer. Some gift cards can be “reloaded” with additional monetary value. Thus, the funds associated with such gift cards can be depleted and replenished multiple times.
A closed-loop stored-value instrument (or simply “closed-loop instrument”) is typically sold by an individual retailer, serviced by the retailer (or its agents), and is accepted for purchases only at that particular retailer's locations or websites. Another characteristic of a closed-loop instrument is that such an instrument is issued by an entity and liability is incurred by the same entity. For example, a merchant (such as Company X) issues a gift card with a positive balance and, upon issuance, incurs liability to offer goods or services in exchange for the monetary value reflected by the balance on the gift card. The gift card may only be used to purchase goods or services from that particular merchant.
An “open-loop” stored-value instrument is an instrument that is issued by a bank or other financial institution that has a banking license. A banking license requires its holder to comply with general banking regulations to which issuers of closed-loop instruments need not comply. Open-loop instruments, unlike closed-loop instruments, also may operate over debit or credit networks, carry a network logo (e.g., Visa®), and can be used at any retail location that accepts the payment form. Common open-loop instruments include debit cards that are issued by banks and credit cards that are issued by Visa®, MasterCard®, American Express® or Discover®. When a customer with an open-loop instrument completes a purchase from a merchant using the open-loop instrument, the customer incurs liability to pay the issuing bank while the issuer of the open-loop instrument authorizes and settles against the liability.
Some stored-value instruments may be considered “semi-open” in that they may be accepted by a limited number of different merchants. An example of such an instrument is a “mall card” that is accepted by multiple (or all) merchants in a particular mall. Another example of such an instrument is a “university card” that is accepted by multiple (or all) merchants located on or around a particular university's campus. These “semi-open” instruments are considered closed-loop because the issuer is not a financial institution that is required to have a banking license and the merchants that accept the instruments are limited to those designated by the issuer of the instrument.
It should be appreciated that the various embodiments of the present invention described in more detail herein can interchangeably use one or more of the above-described closed-loop, open-loop, or semi-open stored-value instruments.
The present invention relates to ATMs capable of handling currencies and interacting with bank and credit cards to withdraw funds from a cardholder's account. The ATMs allow a bank card cardholder to check their bank account balances and withdraw, transfer, or deposit funds in the typical manner of transaction known in the art.
The present invention enables a process for remote or local updating of the ATMs. The present invention enables a process for dynamic updating of the ATM GUI to allow up-to-date services and products to be depicted and offered to the ATM user or a bystander that would potentially use the ATM. The present invention also enables the purchasing and transmission of electronic stored-value instruments, such as gift cards (or other closed-loop instruments) or open-loop instruments, or direct transfer of value (e.g. donations), via the upgraded ATM GUI. The present invention also enables the viewing and redemption of the aforementioned stored-value instruments via SMS, MMS, or electronic mail on the recipient's device.
The present invention provides apparatuses, methods, and systems for updating ATMs to enable and provide users with value-added services such as the selection, purchasing, and transmission of electronic stored-value instruments to a recipient via SMS and/or other messaging service.
These objectives are illustrative in nature. Additional advantages and applications for the present invention will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art upon a review of the invention and the disclosures contained herein.
The drawings referenced below are included so that the features and advantages of the presently disclosed invention may be better understood. It should be noted, however, that the attached drawings are meant only to be illustrative of particular embodiments of the invention and should not be considered limiting of its scope. The invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when read in conjunction with the attached drawings, which are summarized below:
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention.
Several techniques are described herein for extending the capabilities of ATMs to provide additional value-added services or to create additional revenue streams for the owners and operators of the ATMs. Although many examples that shall be given hereafter are in the context of closed-loop stored-value instruments (such as gift cards), the techniques described herein may be applied to other stored-value instruments or direct transfer of value.
ATMs are networked to banking institutions either through direct wired connections, wireless connections, the Internet, or the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), or through other connections known in the art. Other ATMs may not be directly networked to a banking institution and may instead be a terminal that processes credit or debit card transactions.
The ATMs which are connected to the Internet or other wired or wireless network may be upgraded, in manners known in the art, with software or firmware implementing the processes and methods described herein. ATMs which are not capable of being upgraded over a network connection can be have their software or firmware upgraded using a manual installation method at the physical location of the ATM in a typical manner known in the art.
The ATM user can typically use the ATM to withdraw, deposit, or check their bank account balances using the visual display and configuration of physical buttons and numerical keypad.
Other alternative embodiments of the ATM idle or welcome screen can be implemented using a sponsored or paid advertising methodology to display the sponsoring entities' name, logo, branding, or other advertisement. In any embodiment, it should be appreciated that the ATM idle or welcome screen may be updated dynamically by the ATM operator through the ATM GUI or through a web portal, FTP, or similar interface, which then executes the appropriate processes to transmit and install the idle or welcome screens or videos.
The typical ATM GUI can be updated to include a selection button on one or more transaction menus to invite the user to purchase and transmit an electronic stored-value instrument at any stage during their usage of the ATM, e.g. before, during, or after their typical banking transaction. The selection of the button to purchase of the stored-value instrument may cancel the user's current typical ATM transaction or invoke a function to begin the store-value instrument purchase only after the user completes his or her typical ATM transaction. Of course, the user may also begin the selection and purchase of the electronic stored-value instrument without first conducting a banking transaction.
It should be appreciated that the inclusion of the value-added services to an ATM may also include “wireless top-up,” e.g. pre-paid cellular phone minutes or data plans, donations, gift card exchanges (e.g., exchanging a stored-value instrument for a first retailer with a stored-value instrument for a second retailer), general purpose reloadable cards, direct value transfer and/or bill pay options.
It should be appreciated that small and medium-sized merchants may use the provided API to create, offer, and sell private label gift cards or other stored-value instruments through the ATM GUI allowing these merchants access to a wider consumer audience than was available to them before.
Additional and further embodiments include the use of schemes to allow the ATM owner/operator to set various values and conditions with an API that controls one or more ATMs. ATMs may be grouped by various distinguishing characteristics such as geographic location, recorded user traffic, nearby amenities, or other such characteristics. The grouping of ATMs allows the owner/operator to perform maintenance on a plurality of ATMs with a single action using a scheme. Such schemes include viewing, updating, and/or modifying the offered stored-value instruments, values, brands, fees, wireless carriers, fulfillment priorities, greetings, messages, GUI components, and the like as discussed herein. The ATM owner/operator may also use the API to view, update, or modify the fulfillment priority by assigning a higher or lower value to a particular stored-value instrument provider based on various characteristics, such as fees, costs, availability, or the like.
Additional and further embodiments include the capabilities to allow ATM users to exchange physical gift cards or other stored-value instruments for cash or another stored-value instrument offered through the ATM.
In an embodiment where the ATM user purchases an electronic stored-value instrument for cellular phone minutes or data, or alternatively, directly purchases cellular phone minutes or data for the account associated with recipient's cellular phone number, then once the transaction is confirmed via the payment processing gateway the recipient is sent a notification (via SMS, MMS, or other messaging service or e-mail) that a payment has been applied to the recipient's account. The recipient's cellular phone account is contemporaneously credited with the purchased amount of value in the ATM user's transaction.
It should be appreciated that there may be a convenience fee that varies based on items purchased and that the owner and/or operator of the ATM may modify the service fee or convenience fee value(s) to cover the transaction and opportunity costs associated with the use of the ATM when a user purchases a stored-value instrument using the processes and methods described herein. Additionally, it should also be appreciated that the recipient of the electronic stored-value instrument may be responsible for any SMS, MMS, or other messaging service fees or costs and/or data rates.)
It should be appreciated that the ATM user when purchasing the stored-value instrument may also be presented with the option to include a greeting via a pre-written message (e.g., “Happy Birthday”, “Congratulations!”, “Happy Holidays”, or the like), a static picture (e.g., balloons, cake, wrapped presents, teddy bear, or the like), an animated picture (e.g., a dancing cartoon bear, twinkling stars, a snowing landscape scene, or the like), and/or a video (e.g., a link to a YouTube® video, or the like). Additionally where the ATM supports a touch screen or alphanumeric keyboard, it should be appreciated that the ATM user may be presented with an option from the ATM GUI to input a personalized message or greeting when selecting greetings. It should be further appreciated that the aforementioned options may be presented as a URL to be interacted with by the recipient, which would then open the recipient's browser or appropriate associated application, or it may be inserted directly into the message being sent to the recipient.
It should be further appreciated that the processes and methods described herein may require the ATM user to satisfy a prompt from the ATM GUI certifying that the user has the recipient's consent to send messages to the recipient. This authorization and consent to receive messages associated with the electronic stored-value instrument transaction may be required by some jurisdictions due to consumer protection laws, minor children laws, or other laws or regulations.
Other and further embodiments include the option to enable the ATM user to donate to charitable organizations through the ATM GUI. Additionally, the ATM GUI allows the ATM user to pay utility bills or other payment forms via the ATM GUI.
In general, the various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the exemplary embodiments of this of this invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller, or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.
It should be appreciated that at least some aspects of the exemplary embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit chips and modules, and that the exemplary embodiments of this invention may be realized in an apparatus that is embodied as an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit, or circuits, may comprise circuitry (as well as possibly firmware) for embodying at least one or more of a data processor or data processors, baseband circuitry and radio frequency circuitry that are configurable so as to operate in accordance with the exemplary embodiments of the invention.
Various modifications and adaptations to the foregoing exemplary embodiments of this invention may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, any and all modifications will still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this invention.
Furthermore, some of the features of the various non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this invention may be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features. As such, the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles, teachings, and exemplary embodiments of this invention, and not in limitation thereof.
