Patent Application
20150324771
The present invention relates to systems and methods to facilitate fast and safe cash payments that overcome many of the difficulties of the current systems. Specifically, presented herein are systems and methods in which a service provider system generates an optimized payment location for a customer by: storing geolocation information for a plurality of points-of-service; receiving customer information including geolocation information for the customer of the bill provider from the bill provider; determining an optimized payment location for the customer by comparing the stored point-of-service geolocation information to the customer geolocation information; generating a token that is a reference to the customer information; and transmitting with the service provider system the optimized payment location and the token to the bill provider.
Together with this written description, the figures further serve to explain the principles of, and to enable a person skilled in the relevant art, to make and use the claimed systems and methods.
Advancements in technology are increasingly changing the way consumers pay for goods and services, including the way customers pay their bills. For bill payments, many customers are turning to electronic payments instead of cash. Moreover, many bill providers such as utilities encourage their customers to use electronic payments to improve security and reduce paperwork. Several forms of electronic payment have been developed and are in use. For example, many customers use credit cards or electronic checks (e.g., e-checks) to pay bills. In the case of a credit card payment, the purchaser typically provides a credit card number and security code associated with an account to be charged. In the case of payment via an electronic check, a purchaser typically provides an American Bankers Association (ABA) routing number, and account number associated with an account to be charged. These methods of electronic payment are typically backed by a financial institution, such as a bank, that pays the retailer and extends credit to the purchaser or debits a monetary amount from the purchaser's account. Thus, the billing company secures payment from the financial institution prior to providing an item, and the purchaser is obligated to reimburse the financial institution. Alternatively, many customers pay bills using personal checks or with on-line bill payment services. These services are also typically provided by a financial institution such as a bank.
Electronic payments, checks, and on-line bill payments are often provided without any face-to-face interaction between the retailer and the customer. And although electronic payments, checks, and on-line bill payments may be available to some customers, other customers may not have access to these forms of payment. For example, individuals with no credit-cards or bank accounts may not be able to provide these forms of payment. Further, some people may not trust the available forms of electronic payments, checks, or on-line bill payments for fear of fraud, identity theft, or the like. A customer who does not have access to, or does not trust the traditional forms of bill payment, may rely on other forms of payment, such as mailing in cash or a money order or traveling to the nearest office for the billing company.
But many billing companies discourage cash payments. And traveling to the nearest office of the billing company is often impractical or very difficult and time-consuming. In addition to causing problems for bill payers, these issues may discourage prompt and full payment of bills by customers who would otherwise have paid if given a more-convenient payment method. And the delay caused by mailing a payment or traveling to an office of a billing company can cause late payments with accompanying accounting problems for the billing company and late charges for the customer.
The present invention relates to systems and methods to facilitate fast and safe cash payments that overcome many of the difficulties of the current systems. Specifically, the present invention provides systems and methods for generating an optimized payment location for a customer of a billing company, or bill provider. The optimized payment location may provide a customer with a more-convenient, closer, and/or safer payment location. The following is a description of one or more embodiments of the present invention, with reference to
In a scenario consistent with
In one embodiment, to generate an optimized payment location for a customer 108, the service provider system 102 stores geolocation information for a plurality of points-of-service 106. The points-of-service 106 may include establishments local to the customer 108 that are equipped to accept cash payments. The points-of-service 106 presented to the customer 108 may include specific locations (e.g., individual stores) and may include general store information (e.g., a retail chain name). The points-of-service 106 may include retail establishments such as convenience stores, grocery stores, gas stations, and department stores. The points-of-service 106 may also include automated equipment such as automatic teller machines (“ATMs”). The presentation of the points-of-service 106 to the customer 108 may be based on the customer's information. For example, if the customer's information includes an address, the service provider system may 102 may present an address for a point-of-service 106 close to the customer's address. The geolocation information may include latitude and longitude, address information, coordinates, and the like.
Next the service provider system 102 receives customer information including geolocation information for the customer of the bill provider 104 from the bill provider. As with the geolocation information stored in the service provider system 102, this geolocation information may include latitude and longitude, address information, coordinates, and the like. The customer geolocation information could be the customer's home or business address or a preferred payment location. The service provider system 102 then determines an optimized payment location for the customer by comparing the stored point-of-service geolocation information to the customer geolocation information. The optimized payment location is the location of one of the plurality of points-of-service 106 stored in the service provider system that the service provider system 102 determines should be presented to the customer.
The optimized payment location can be the point-of-service 106 that is closest to the customer geolocation information, for example the point-of-service 106 that is physically closest to the customer's billing address, work address, or current address. Alternatively, the optimized payment location could be a point-of-service 106 location that has the lowest travel time from the customer geolocation information. In another embodiment, the optimized payment location can be a point-of-service 106 in an area determined by the density of points-of-service within a certain location or radius.
For example,
The service provider system 102 may also use information about the business hours for the points-of-service to determine the optimized payment location. For example, the service provider system 102 may select a point-of-service that farther from the customer's geolocation information but is open twenty-four hours per day over a closer point-of-service that is only open during business hours. Similarly, the service provider system 102 may receive information from the bill provider 104 or the customer 108 regarding the times that the customer prefers to make bill payments. Based on that information, the service provider system 102 may select a point-of-service that is open during the times during which the customer prefers to make bill payments. The service provider system 102 may use other factors such as crime rates in certain areas and traffic patterns as well as any weighted combination of the factors discussed to determine the optimized payment location.
After the service provider system 102 determines the optimized payment location, it generates a token that is a reference to the customer information. The token is formatted for use at the point-of-service determined to be the optimized payment location. The token could be an optical machine-readable representation of data like a linear barcode or geometric or two-dimensional barcode. Also, the token could be a number generated by the service provider system 102 that provides a reference to the customer information. For example, the token could include could a barcode, payment code, customer number, or the like. The token provides sufficient information to correlate a payment made in association with the token to the customer 108 that made the payment or for whom the payment was made.
The service provider system 102 then transmits the optimized payment location and the token to the bill provider 104. The bill provider 104 provides the token and optimized payment location to the customer in a printed bill or a digital bill for example.
In one embodiment, the service provider system 102 selects the payment instructions 302 to be printed on the bill 300 based on the type, location, or other criteria of the point-of-service 106 that the service provider system 102 determined to be the optimized payment location. In this example, the payment instructions 302 are specific to the point-of-service determined to be the optimized payment location. The service provider system 102 then transmits the payment instructions 302 to the bill provider.
The payment instructions that the service provider system 102 transmits to the bill provider 104 may include logos, maps, addresses, directions, hours of operation, instructions for the customer on how to make a payment at the point-of-service, as well as instructions for the clerk at the point-of-service 106 on how to process the payment. The service provider system 102 may transmit the token and payment information to the bill provider 104 as simple data that the bill provider 104 formats and prints on the bill 300. The service provider system 102 may transmit the token and payment instructions to the bill provider 104 as an image file or multiple image files that contain a part or all of the token information 301 and payment information 302 printed on the bill 300.
The customer 108 may receive the token, for example, by mail, on a computer or mobile device. When the customer 108 wants to make a payment to the bill provider 104, the customer 108 takes the token to point-of-service 106 and makes a payment. After the customer 108 presents the token at the point-of-service 106, the point-of-service sends a confirmation that the customer presented the token and a payment having a payment amount at the point-of-service. The payment amount is the amount that the customer 108 presented to the point-of-sale 106 with the token. The service provider system 102 receives the confirmation that the customer 108 presented the token and payment to the point-of-service 106. The service provider system 102 may send information to the point-of-service 106 in response to the information sent from the point-of-service 106, including an authorization to accept payment from the customer 108.
The service provider system 102 also receives a portion of the payment amount received at the point-of-service 104 from the customer 108. The amount received by the service provider system 102 may depend on the agreements between the service provider, the bill provider, and the point-of-service. For example, the amount received by the service provider system 102 may be less than the amount the customer 108 presented to the point-of-service 106 if, for example, the point-of-service 106 retains some of the payment. Alternatively, the amount received by the service provider system 102 may be more than the amount the customer 108 presented to the point-of-service 106 if, for example, the point-of-service 106 pays the service provider to increase traffic to the point-of-service.
The service provider, the bill provider, and the point-of-service may use a convenience fee model in which a fee is typically visible to the customer. In a convenience fee model, the customer generally pays any extra costs for the convenience of conducting the transaction. The parties may also use a fixed or variable commission model in which the fee is typically not shown to the customer. In a fixed or variable commission model, costs are typically incurred by the bill provider 104. Variable commission can be established between one or more parties, and dependent on one or more factors. For example, a variable commission structure may call for percentages being paid by/to the bill provider 104 and/or the point-of-service 106.
The service provider system 102 also transmits a portion of the payment amount received and a portion of the customer information to the bill provider 104. The bill provider 104 uses the customer information that the service provider system 102 transmits to correlate the payment it receives with the customer 108. The amount received by the bill provider 104 may depend on the agreements between the service provider, the bill provider, and the point-of-service.
In another embodiment the service provider system 102 determines the optimized payment location based on the location or locations at which the customer 108 has made a payment or payments in the past. In this embodiment, the service provider system 102 receives a confirmation that the customer 108 has presented the token at a point-of-service 106. In addition to reconceiving confirmation that the customer presented the token and a payment at a point-of-service 106, and receiving and transmitting portions of the payment amount, the service provider system also receives geolocation information for the point-of-service at which the customer presented the token. The service provider system 102 then determines a second optimized payment location for the customer by comparing the stored point-of-service geolocation information to the customer geolocation information and to the geolocation information for the point-of-service at which the customer presented the token. Based on this information, the service provider system 102 generates a second token that is also a reference to the customer information and is formatted for use at the point-of-service determined to be the second optimized payment location. The service provider system 102 then transmits the second optimized payment location and the second token to the bill provider.
The service provider system 102 may comprise one or more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. For example,
Service provider system 700 also includes a main memory 708, such as random access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 710. The secondary memory 710 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 712 and/or a removable storage drive 714, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, flash memory device, etc. The removable storage drive 714 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 718. Removable storage unit 718 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, flash memory device, etc., which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 714. The removable storage unit 718 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software, instructions, and/or data.
In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 710 may include other similar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into a service provider system 700. Such devices may include, for example, a removable storage unit 722 and an interface 720. Examples of such may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video bill devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other removable storage units 722 and interfaces 720, which allow computer software, instructions, and/or data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 722 to a service provider system 700.
Service provider system 700 may also include a communications interface 724. Communications interface 724 allows computer software, instructions, and/or data to be transferred between a service provider system 700 and external devices. Examples of communications interface 724 may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface 724 are in the form of signals 728 which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being transmitted or received by communications interface 724. These signals 728 are provided to and from the communications interface 724 via a communications path (e.g., channel) 726. This channel 726 carries signals 728 and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radio frequency (RF) link, a wireless communication link, and other communications channels.
Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) are stored in main memory 708 and/or secondary memory 710. Computer programs may also be received via communications interface 724. Such computer programs, when executed, enable the service provider system 700 to perform the features of the present invention, as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor 704 to perform the features of the presented methods. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the service provider system 700. Where appropriate, the processor 704, associated components, and equivalent systems and sub-systems thus serve as “means for” performing selected operations and functions. Such “means for” performing selected operations and functions also serve to transform a general purpose computer into a special purpose computer programmed to perform said selected operations and functions.
In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into a service provider system 700 using removable storage drive 714, interface 720, hard drive 712, or communications interface 724. The control logic (software), when executed by the processor 704, causes the processor 704 to perform the functions and methods described herein.
In another embodiment, the methods are implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) Implementation of the hardware state machine so as to perform the functions and methods described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). In yet another embodiment, the methods are implemented using a combination of both hardware and software.
Embodiments of the invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by one or more processors. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computing device). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), and others. Further, firmware, software, routines, instructions may be described herein as performing certain actions. However, it should be appreciated that such descriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions in fact result from computing devices, processors, controllers, or other devices executing firmware, software, routines, instructions, etc.
The figures included herein serve as embodiments of the presented systems and methods. Each individual process or sub-process performed within the embodiments described can be performed by one or more parties, as well as one or more computer systems. For example, in one embodiment, some or all of the communications and data transfers between bill provider, service provider system, and point-of-service are performed via an automated computer-based system, such as an application program interface. As such, the embodiments presented in the figures are not intended to be limiting.
