This disclosure is related to telecommunication messaging and top-up systems (e.g., mobile real time replenishment (RTR) systems). This system uses computing logics programmed in a computing system to send eGfits, top-up, recharge, add, transfer telephone minutes or money to a phone user account, and/or provide electronic messaging that rewards users for staying connected with other users.
Top-up systems for phone services having a portal web interface exist today in commerce. Phone users typically provide several information about a phone number in order to top-up, recharge, add, and/or transfer telephone minutes or money. The information includes a telephone number, the country that the telephone number is used in, and the mobile telephone service company that the telephone number is associated with.
Phone services typically include telecommunication messaging system in which many pho prefer to use over voice calls. In fact, telecommunication messaging system can be used to register voters, such as in Libya, parcel-delivery alerts, real-time notification of credit-debit card purchase confirmation to protect against fraud, and appointment confirmations. The telecommunication messaging system includes text messaging and chatting.
Desirable in the art is an improved telecommunication messaging and top-up system for phone services that would improve upon the conventional telecommunication messaging and top-up system.
Methods and systems for top-up are provided. A representative telecommunication messaging and real-time replenishment (TMRTR) system includes a user interface that receives a user input and transmits the user input that includes chat message and a recipient phone number associated with a phone user's account; and a real-time replenishment (RTR) gateway that receives and transmits chat messages and the phone number from the user interface and requests for a telephone service company associated with the phone number to a home location register (HLR) look up service. The RTR gateway tops up phone minutes and/or balance of money of the phone user's account associated with the phone number based on the phone number of the received user input, and the determined telephone service company from the HLR look up service.
The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, as well as other information pertinent to the disclosure, in which:
FIG, 24 is a TMRTR distributor/retailer network having overriding level in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
FIG, 27 is a TMRTR distributor/retailer network having overriding level in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
Exemplary systems are first discussed with reference to the figures. Although these systems are described in detail, they are provided for purposes of illustration only and various modifications are feasible. After the exemplary systems are described, examples of flow diagrams of the systems are provided to explain the manner in which a phone user provides the phone number and the improved telecommunication messaging and real-time replenishment system can process the eGifts, top-up, recharge, addition, and/or transfer of telephone minutes or money.
Referring to
The top-up server 120 establishes phone calls based on how many minutes and/or how much money a user has in the phone user's account. The top-up server 120 includes a top up application 130 that enables a phone user to top-up phone minutes and/or money on the phone user's account or another phone user's account. The top up application 130 also enables the phone user to transfer phone minutes and money from the phone user's account to another phone user's account. It should be appreciated that although the top up application 130 is shown at the top-up server 120, the top up application 130 entirely or partially can be located anywhere in the top-up system 100, such as that shown in
It should also be appreciated that the top up application 130 can facilitate processing a top-up and/or a money transfer in at least the following systems: a top-up system 100 using an interactive voice response OR) system, and a pin and fixed denomination platform, which will be described further in connection to
At line 207, the top up application 130 communicates with an interactive voice response (IVR) system 240 to initiate an application programming interface (API) 210 that facilitates topping up and/or transferring phone minutes and/or money to a phone user's account. At line 213, the API 210 requests and provides the inputted phone number to a top-up gateway 215 to top-up and/or transfer phone minutes and/or money. At lines 217, 218, 226, 227, the top-up gateway 215 communicates with a home location register (HLR) look up service 225 to determine the telephone service company (e.g., MobiFone™, Telcel™, etc. that provides phone service and/or the geographical location Vietnam, Mexico, etc. , respectively, associated with the inputted phone number. A mobile (or any telephone service) operator 220 can communicated with the top-up gateway 215 to determine whether how many minutes and/or how much money a user has in the phone user's account. If the user's phone account has minutes and money, the mobile operator 220 provides phone service to phone user's telecommunication device (e.g., smartphone, cellular phone, etc.) that is registered with the phone number associated with the phone user's account.
The top-up gateway 215 verifies whether e phone user's account is a valid phone number having phone minutes and/or amount of money that can be top-up, recharge, add, and/or transfer the phone minutes and/or money into the phone user's account. The phone user can also top-up, recharge, add, and/or transfer the phone minutes and/or money from a purchased pin-based card into the phone user's account. Responsive to the top-up gateway 215 verifying that the phone user's account and/or the purchased pin-based card having a valid number of phone minutes and/or amount of money and obtaining information from the HLR lookup service 225 based on the inputted phone number, the top-up gateway 215 at lines 227, 232 tops up, recharges, adds, and/or transfers the phone minutes and/or money to a phone user's account associated with the inputted phone number and stores this information at a database 230 based on the phone number, and determined telephone service company.
The top up of phone minutes and/or money to the phone user's account can be accomplished by way of credit card, transfer of balance from one phone user's account to another phone user's account and pin-based calling card, among others. The top-up gateway 215 provides confirmation of the top-up, recharge, addition, and/or transfer of the phone minutes and/or money to the phone user via the API 210 and block 205 through lines 233, 234.
Alternatively or additionally, the top-up application 130 can notify the phone user whether the inputted phone number is new or previously inputted based on the phone user's historical inputted phone numbers. Alternatively or additionally, the top-up gateway 215 at lines 227, 232 tops up, recharges, adds, and/or transfers the phone minutes and/or money to a phone user's account associated with the inputted phone number and stores this information at a database 230 based on the phone number, determined telephone service company, and determined geographical location.
At blocks 315 and 320, the phone user inputs the pin number of the purchased pin-based calling card and the recipient's phone number, respectively. At block 325, the phone user 305 confirms the inputted information with the IVR system 310. At block 330, the IVR system 310 receives the submission from the phone user 305, confirms the pin number of the pin-based calling card, and processes the top-up that were previously described in connection to
Responsive to verifying the pin number to be correct, the TYR system 310 request the phone user 305 to input the recipient's phone number with the country code that the phone user wish to top-up. At block 440 in FIG, 4B, the phone user 30 enters the recipient's phone number. At block 445, the IVR system 310 confirms the inputted information with the phone user 305 by playing an audio confirmation message. For example, during a telephone IVR session, the IVR system 310 can request the user to press the number 1 on his phone responsive to the playback of the recipient's phone number is correct. Responsive to the phone user 305 pressing number 2 on his phone, the top-up process repeats blocks 435, 440, and 445.
Responsive to the phone user 305 pressing number 1 on his phone, the phone user 305 submits a number of phone minutes or a monetary amount to the IVR system 310 to be topped up at the recipient's phone number. The IVR system 310 processes the top-up that were previously described in connection to
If the top-up process is unsuccessful, the IVR system 310 at block 465 can notify the phone user 305 of the unsuccessful top-up via an audio message over the telephone and request for re-retry of the recipient's phone number or press “*” to connect to a customer service representative for further support. At block 470, the IVR system 310 determines whether the phone user 305 presses “*” or the recipient's phone number. Responsive to the phone user 305 pressing the recipient's phone number, the top-up process repeats blocks 440, 445, 450, 455, and 460. Responsive to the phone user 305 pressing “*” on his phone, the IVR system 310 connects the phone user 305 to a customer service representative at blocks 475 and 480.
At block 520, the SMS system 507 can determine whether the top-up format is correct or wrong. At block 515, responsive to the SMS system 507 determining that the top-up format is wrong, the SMS system 507 notifies the user that the SMS format is wrong, requests the customer 505 to check the SMS format and try again, At block 530, responsive to determining that the SMS format is correct, the SMS system 507 can determine whether the top-up transaction was successful or not is correct or wrong. At block 525, responsive to the SMS system 507 determining that the top-up transaction failed, the SMS system 507 notifies the user that the top-up transaction has failed and requests the customer 505 to try again or call customer service for further support, such as that shown in block 525. At block 535, the SMS system 507 processes the top-up that were previously described in connection to
At block 625, the terminal 610 can prompt the phone user 305 to input a recipient's phone number with a country code in accordance to an E.164 format. At block 630, the terminal 610 can display a confirmation screen displaying the selected denomination and the inputted recipient's phone number so that the phone user 605 can confirm that the information is correct. At block 635, responsive to the phone user 605 confirming that the information is correct, the terminal 610 receives the submission from the phone user 605 and processes the top-up that were previously described in connection to
The phone user 705 at block 720 can select any denomination (e.g., $1-$500) that the phone user 705 wishes to top-up. The interactive application 710 at block 725 can display a confirmation screen displaying the selected denomination and the inputted recipient's phone number so that the phone user 705 can confirm that the information is correct. Responsive to the phone user 705 confirming that the information is correct, the interactive application 710 at block 730 receives the submission from the phone user 605 and processes the top-up that were previously described in connection to
Responsive to the phone user 805 selecting the option of recharging a recipient's phone number, the IVR system at blocks 850 and 855 requests the phone user 805 to enter the recipient's phone number and chooses a denomination that the phone user 805 wishes to top-up. The IVR system at block 860 confirms with the phone user 805 the submitted information associated with the top-up transaction. Responsive to the phone user 805 confirming that the information is correct, the IVR system at block 865 receives the submission from the phone user 805 and processes the top-up that were previously described in connection to
Responsive to the IVR system confirming that the pin number is correct, the IVR system at block 926 provides a balance amount on the mobile wallet and at block 929 requests for transaction commands, such as enter a destination phone number, press “1” to recharge a recipient's phone number, press “2” to recharge the phone user's mobile wallet or press “0” for customer service. At block 933, the IVR system determines the selected transaction commands. Responsive to selecting customer service, the IVR system at blocks 936 and 939 connects the phone user to a customer service representative. Responsive to selecting the option of calling a phone number, the phone user 805 at block 943 inputs a destination phone number to the IVR system. At block 946, the IVR system verifies whether the phone number is valid. Responsive to verifying that the phone number is invalid, the IVR system notifies the phone user of the invalid destination phone number at block 949 and repeats blocks 943 and 946. Responsive to verifying that the phone number is valid, the IVR system provides the number of phone minutes remaining on the ANI account, and connects the phone user 805 to the destination phone number at blocks 956 and 959.
Responsive to the phone user 805 selecting the option of recharging a recipient's phone number, the IVR system at block 963 requests the phone user to enter the recipient's phone number. At block 969, the phone user inputs the recipient's phone number into the IVR system. At block 973, the IVR system confirms the inputted recipient's phone number with the phone user, such as that shown in blocks 973 and 976. At block 979, the phone user submits a denomination that the phone user 805 wishes to top-up. At block 983, the IVR system receives the submission from the phone user 805 and processes the top-up that were previously described in connection to
The one or more user interface devices 1020 comprise those components with which the user (e.g., administrator) can interact with the generic computer 1000. Where the generic computer 1000 comprises a server computer or similar device, these components can comprise those typically used in conjunction h a PC such as a keyboard, mouse, keypad, and terminal.
The one or more I/O devices 1030 comprise components used to facilitate connection of the generic computer 1000 to other devices and therefore, for instance, comprise one or more serial, parallel, small system interface (SCSI), universal serial bus (USB), or IEEE 1394 (e.g., Firewire™) connection elements. The networking devices 1040 comprise the various components used to transmit and/or receive data over networks 150, where provided. By way of example, the networking; devices 1040 include a device that can communicate both inputs and outputs, for instance, a modulator/demodulator (e.g., modem), a radio frequency (RF) or infrared (IR) transceiver, a telephonic interface, a bridge, a router, as well as a network card, etc.
The memory 1015 normally comprises various programs software and/or firmware) including an operating system (O/S). The O/S controls the execution of programs, and provides scheduling, input/output control, file and data management, memory management, and communication control and related services. The memory 1015 further includes a calling setup application 225 that facilitates setting up an assigned number to call a calling number.
Referring to
The mobile application 1145 provides functionalities on a mobile device that enables a user to text, call, video call, and earn rewards as well as send eGift and recharge prepaid mobile (yours someone else's) through a chat feature. e-gifts can include, but not limited to, eGift cards, electronic music and video contents, electronic books, electronic tickets (e.g., shows, museums, sporting events, movies, etc.), and any other online gifts. The media server 1110 facilitates processing requests from the mobile application 1145 relating to the voice communications and video communications. The media server 1110 facilitates establishing video/voice communications (e.g., voice and video calls), preferably through the Internet, based on how many minutes a user has bought.
The API gateway 1115 facilitates processing requests from the mobile application 1145 relating to the following: orders, user's account, rewards (V-coins), products (top up, eGift top up, voice calls), payments, HLR lookup and notification. The API gateway 1115 can track and apply reward points such as v-coins (further described below). The API gateway 1115 is further described in
At line 1207, the mobile application 1145 initiates communication with the API gateway 1115 to facilitate processing orders, user's account, rewards (V-coins), products (top up, eGift top up, voice calls), payments, HLR lookup and notification via respectively an order API 1205, user's account API 1210, rewards API 1215, products API 1220, payments API 1225, HLR lookup API 1230 and notification API 1235, all of which communicates with the database 1240 at line 1213 to store their respective data. The order API 1205 facilitates processing orders in connection with eGift and top up. The user's account API 1210 creates ser's account, business entities (e.g., distributors and retailers), user networks, and distributor/retailer networks, and updates existing user's accounts, business entities, user networks, and distributor/retailer networks.
The rewards API 1215 tracks, awards, and applies V-coins, for example, to a user's account and business entities (e.g., distributors and retailers). The products API 1220 facilitates processing products, such as top up, eGift top up, and voice calls, requested by the mobile application 1145 (
Beginning with line 1307, the mobile application 1145 communicates with the API gateway 1115 that enables the processing of top up and e-gifts via products API 1220 (
The RTR API 1305 can communicate with -Gift providers and mobile phone service providers through their APIs. The mobile phone service providers can include, but not limited to, MobiFone™, Telcel™, USACELL™, Nextel™, Unefon™, etc. Responsive to the mobile phone service providers verifying that a phone user's account having a valid number of phone minutes and/or amount of money, the mobile phone service providers top up, recharge, add, and/or transfer the phone minutes and/or money to a phone user's account associated with a desired phone number at a database 1315.
e-Gift providers can include, but not limited to, Amazon, Adidas, Aeropolstale, AMC Theaters, Baby Gap, Banana Republic, Responsive to the eGift providers verifying that an eGift is valid and/or amount of money, the eGift providers send the eGift to the desired phone user's account via the RTR API 1305 and the database 1315.
Regarding processing top ups, the API gateway 1115 can use HLR lookup API 1230 to communicate with a third party HLR provide 1405 via line 1407 using, for example, the Internet, to determine a telephone service company (e.g., MobiFone™, Telcel™, etc.) of a desired telephone number and the geographical location (e.g., Vietnam, Mexico, etc), respectively, based on the desired phone number. Responsive to the determining the telephone service company and the geographical location, the API gateway 1115 can use the product API 1220 to list and obtain details related to topping up a desired phone user's account. The details of the top up can include listing the amount of money and reward coins.
Responsive to receiving the details of the top up, the API gateway 1115 can use the payment API 1225 to list payment methods and obtain payment information from the user. The API gateway 1115 can use the order API 1205 to obtain the payment information and verify the financial transaction based on the obtained payment information. Responsive to verifying that the financial transaction in connection to the eGift is successful, the order API 1205 communicates with the RTR third party providers 1310 via the RTR gateway 1120 to top up the desired phone user's account. Responsive to topping up the desired phone user's account, the API gateway 1115 can use the notification API 1235 to notify the user using a chat feature on the mobile application 1145 via a messaging server 1135 that the desired users account is topped up. A sequence diagram in
Regarding processing e-gifts, the API gateway 1115 can use the product API 1220 to list and obtain details related to the e-gifts. The details of the e-gifts can include listing the amount of money, eGift providers, and reward coins. Responsive to receiving the details related to the e-gifts, the API gateway 1115 can use the payment API 1225 to list payment methods and obtain payment information from the user. The API gateway 1115 can use the order API 1205 to obtain the payment information and verify the financial transaction based on the obtained payment information. Responsive to verifying that the financial transaction in connection to the eGift is successful, the order API 1205 communicates with the RTR third party providers 1310 via the RTR gateway 1120 to send the eGift to the desired phone user's account. The API gateway 1115 can use the e notification API 1235 to notify the user through a chat feature on the mobile application 1145 via the messaging server 1135 that the desired user's account has received the eGift. A sequence diagram in
At block 530, a list of product amount and reward coins appears on the screen from the mobile application 1145. Upon selecting an item on the list of the product amount and reward coins, the mobile application 1145 can gather information related to the select item via a get product detail API 1220 at block 1535. At blocks 1540 and 1445, a list of payment methods is presented on the screen through the mobile application 1145 via a list payment API 1225. At blocks 1550 and 1555, a user inputs financial information to make an order in which the Order API 1205 processes. Upon approval/validation of the financial transaction, the phone user's account is topped up by a RTR third party provider 1310 via the RTR gateway 1120 at blocks 1560 and 1565, respectively. At blocks 1570 and 1575, the Order API 1205 shows the result of the financial transaction on the chat feature of the mobile application 1145 and possibly gives out reward coins and multi-level coins. At blocks 1580 and 1585, a notification of the reward coins and multi-level coins can be sent via the notification API 1235 and the notification GW (XMPP). At block 1590, the top-up transaction is shown as a message on the chat feature of the mobile application 1145.
At block 1625, a list of product amount and reward coins appears on the screen from the mobile application 1145. Upon selecting an item on the list of the product amount and reward coins, the mobile application 1145 can gather information related to the selected item via a get product detail API 1220 at block 1630. At blocks 1635 and 1640, a list of payment methods is presented on the screen of the mobile application 1145 via a list payment API 1225. At blocks 1645 and 1650, a user inputs financial information to make an order in which the Order API 1205 processes. Upon approval/validation of the financial transaction, the mobile application 1145 sends an eGift request by a RTR third party provider 310 via the RTR gateway 1120 at blocks 1655 and 1660, respectively. At blocks 1665 and 1670, the Order API 1205 shows the result of the financial transaction on the chat feature of the mobile application 1145 and possibly gives out reward coins and multi-level coins. At blocks 1575 c 1580, a notification of the reward coins and multi-level coins can be sent via a notification API 1235 and the notification GW (XMPP). At block 1690, an eGift transaction is shown as a message on a chat feature of the mobile application 1145.
The text message is sent to and handled by the Text Processing Module 1702 at step 1720, If the text message has been processed before by the magic word processing as indicated at step 1725, then the message is displayed in the mobile application 1145 with identified words in contrasting colored text or bolded text, such as that shown at step 1750. A user can tap on the contrasting colored hyperlinked text o bolded hyperlinked text, such as that shown at step 1755, which opens an Internet webpage associated with the hyperlink (step 1760) showing results from an Internet search of the related term conducted by a search engine such as Google, Amazon, YouTube, Twitter, Four Square, or Food2Fork, such as that shown at step 1765.
Returning to step 1730, if the text message has not been processed before, then the text message is placed in queued for processing at the messaging server 1135. At step 1735, the text message is processed at the messaging server 1135 by detecting words in the message that are associated with goods and services that could result in the user making a financial transaction, such as making a reservation, buying tickets for an event, finding a nearby restaurant or a restaurant offering a specific type of food, buying a product online from a vender like Amazon, and sending an eGift to a recipient at block. The messaging server 1135 returns the results to the Text Messaging Module 1702 where the detected words are saved locally on a storage device of a mobile device, which has the mobile application 1145. The processed message goes to steps 1750, 1755, 1760, and 1765 as mentioned above.
Steps 1835, 1840, 1845, 1850, 1855, and 1860 is similar to steps 1805, 1810, 1815, 1820, 1825, and 1830, which are described above. An optional feature within the chat message is to offer as part of the user interface an undo button that allows the user to undo any translations that have occurred, thereby displaying the users own base language, such as that shown at step 1870.
Responsive to the mobile user selecting an eGift indicia 2012, the chat application displays an eGift card screen shot 2016, which includes a list of brands, such as Adidas 2019A, Aeropostale 2019B, Amazon 2019C, Banana Republic 2019D and so on, Responsive to selecting Banana Republic 2019D, the chat application displays screen shot 2021, which provides an option of selecting an amount of money (e.g., 10 USD and 5 v-coins, totaling 15 USD) to charge on an eGift card. Responsive to selecting the next button 2023, a confirmation information screen shot 2026 appears displaying the payment amount to a recipient at a phone number with a delivery method of SMS. Responsive to selecting the confirm button 2029, a payment method screen shot 2031 appears displaying the payment amount and various methods of payments, such as visa credit card, PayPal, v-coin points 2033, and MasterCard, among others.
Responsive to selecting the payment method of v-coin points 2033, redeem points screen shot 2036 appears displaying payment amount, convenience fee, total payment amount, and options of paying the full amount or partial amount with v-coin points. In this example, partial payment using v-coin points is selected and responsive to selecting the confirm button 2040, the redeem points screen shot 2041 appears displaying options to input the amount of v-coin points 2043 (e.g., 350 points) using an on-screen number pad 2046. The inputted v-coin points are converted to dollar amounts and subtracted from the total payment amount, resulting in the remaining payment amount (e.g., 12 USD).
Responsive to selecting the confirm button 2049, the eGift cards screen shot 2051 appears displaying the payment amount, redeem v-coin points (e.g., 350 points which are valued to be $3.5 USD), the remaining payment amount (e.g., $11.5 USD), a list of recent used payment methods, such as Visa credit card 2053, MasterCard, and list of new payment methods. Responsive to selecting Visa credit card 2053, the eGift card screen shot 2056 appears displaying the remaining payment (e.g., 12 USD), convenience fee(e.g., $0.5 USD), and a list of stored Visa credit cards. Responsive to selecting a stored Visa credit card 2059, the eGift Card screen shot 2061 appears displaying the remaining payment (e.g., $12 USD), convenience fee (e.g., $0.5 USD), the remaining total payment (e.g., $12.5 USD), the Visa Credit card 2059, a number pad 2069, and a CVV code input bar 2071 (e.g., inputted the number 350).
Responsive to selecting submit payment button 2070, the eGift Card screen shot 2073 appears displaying a success message with a transaction ID number. Responsive to selecting a “Go Back to Chat” button 2076, a chat screen shot 2079 appears displaying a eGift card receipt 2081 in the chat session between the mobile user and the chat user 2003B.
The eGift card receipt 2081 also includes an “open now” button 2083 and responsive to the chat user 2003B selecting the button 2083, the My eGift cards screen shot 2086 appears on the chat user's mobile application displaying a list of received eGifts that includes the eGift 2089 (e.g., a credit amount of $10 USD for any items purchased at Banana Republic), Responsive to selecting the eGift 2089, the passcode screen shot 2091 appears displaying a number pad 2093 that can be used to input a four number code. Responsive to inputting a valid passcode, a redemption screen shot 2096 appears displaying a credit amount of $10 USD that can be used at a participating retailer (e.g., Banana Republic) along with a redemption bar code, redemption number, pin number and redemption instructions. The chat user 2003B can use the redemption information at the participating retailer to redeem the received $10 USD from the mobile user.
At the recharge friend mobile screen shot 2111, the mobile number and mobile operator are displayed along with a selection of recharge amounts 2113. In this example, responsive to selecting 50 MXN, the recharge friend mobile screen shot 2116 appears further displaying an option of recharging with v-coin points (e.g., 5 v-coin points). Responsive to selecting the next button 2119, the confirmation information screen shot 2121 appears displaying the chat user, mobile number, mobile operator, the recharge amount (e.g., 50 MXN), and the payment amount (e.g., 5 USD). Responsive to selecting the next button 2123, the recharge friend mobile screen shot 2126 appears displaying a list of payment methods (e.g., recently used and new payment methods). Responsive to selecting a payment method 2129, the recharge friend mobile screen shot 2126 appears displaying the payment amount (e.g., 5 USD), convenience fee (0.5 USD), the total payment amount (e.g., 5.5 USD), and the payment method 2133.
Responsive to selecting a payment method 2133, the recharge friend mobile screen shot 2126 appears further displaying a CVV code input bar 2139. Responsive to selecting the input bar 2139, the recharge friend mobile screen shot 2126 appears further displaying a number pad 2146 for inputting number onto the CVV code input bar 2139. Responsive to selecting the submit payment button 2143, the recharge friend mobile screen shot 2126 appears displaying a success message. Responsive to selecting a “Go Back to Chat” button 2151, a chat screen shot 2153 appears displaying a mobile recharge receipt 2156 in the chat session between the mobile user 2102 and the chat user 2104. The mobile recharge receipt 2156 represents that credits were put into the mobile account of the chat user 2104.
The user can invite others (e.g., User B) to install and use the mobile application 1145 using the referral code. The more others install and use the mobile application 1145 using the referral code, the more reward points the user earns. A first generation network is a network of people who join with the user's referral code. The user can receive reward points responsive to the user's first generation network making purchases.
Responsive to the first generation network reaching a determined number of people, the mobile application 1145 assign User A a second level status, which enables User A to earn reward points through additional generation networks, such as first generation(e.g., User B), second generation (e.g., User C), and so on (e.g., Users D, E, F, G). It is appreciated by those skilled in the art that there can be multiple users at each generation. The additional generation networks are networks of people who join User A's network through the user's generation network rather than with the user's referral code, The user can receive reward points responsive to the user's additional generation network making purchases.
Retailer can sign up under a distributor's network or stand alone on top of the Retailer's network. The distributor's network can have unlimited number of retailers. For example, Retailers A, B, C are signed up under Distributor D1's network and Retailer D is signed up under Distributor D3's network. Retailers A, B, C, and D sign up as a business entity and a provided a referral code to invite unlimited number of users, such as Users A1, B1, C1, D1.
In
This description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed, however, were chosen to illustrate the principles of the disclosure, and its practical application. The disclosure is thus intended to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to use the disclosure, in various embodiments and with various modifications, as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variation are within the scope of this disclosure, as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly and legally entitled.
This application is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. utility application entitled, “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR TOP-UP,” having Ser. No. 15/238,484, filed on Aug. 16, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. utility application entitled, “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR TOP-UP,” having Ser. No. 14/454,668, filed on Aug. 7, 2014, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application entitled, “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR TOP-UP,” having Ser. No. 61/863,407, filed on Aug. 7, 2013, all of which are entirely incorporated herein by reference. This application claims the benefit of co-pending provisional application entitled, “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR TELECOMMUNICATION MESSAGING SYSTEMS,” having Ser. No. 62/267,451, filed on Dec. 15, 2015, which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62267451 | Dec 2015 | US | |
61863407 | Aug 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14454668 | Aug 2014 | US |
Child | 15238484 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15238484 | Aug 2016 | US |
Child | 15379033 | US |