Electronic transaction processing systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11182772-B2
Application number	US-201816609154-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 27, 2018
Priority date	Apr 28, 2017
Publication date	Nov 23, 2021
Grant date	Nov 23, 2021

Abstract

The invention relates generally to the processing of electronic payments that involve an payment instrument. A payment instrument reading device is paired with a payment initiating device to allow transaction information generated by the payment initiating device to be automatically transmitted to its associated payment instrument reading device. This means that rekeying of transaction information is not required. In some embodiments one or more beacons are provided in a premises, to allow the location of a mobile payment initiating device to be determined. This location is used to either direct the payment initiating device to a payment instrument reading device, or vice versa. Transaction data generated by the payment initiating device is automatically transmitted to the payment instrument reading device. A pairing module is also provided, which is configured to pair a payment instrument reading device with a payment initiating device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A router of a system for processing transactions involving a payment instrument, the router comprising:
a communication controller configured to communicate with one or more payment initiating devices and one or more payment instrument reading devices in communication with the communication controller, the one or more payment instrument reading devices being configured to read payment instruments including the payment instrument, wherein the communication controller is configured to:
receive a transaction request from a first payment initiating device that is one of the one or more payment initiating devices in communication with the communication controller;
query a mapping table to identify a first payment instrument reading device from the one or more payment instrument reading devices in communication with the communication controller, wherein the first payment instrument reading device is associated with the first payment initiating device in the mapping table;
identify a location of the first payment instrument reading device based on a signal received from a plurality of beacons communicatively coupled to the first payment initiating device, the plurality of beacons comprising a mobile beacon and a stationary beacon;
determine when to initiate a payment by the first payment initiating device based at least on a proximity location of the mobile beacon to the first payment initiating device;
and
transmit the transaction request from the communication controller to the first payment instrument reading device based on the identified location.

2. The router of claim 1 , further comprising:
a conversion module,
wherein the router is further configured to use the conversion module to convert the transaction request into a converted transaction request and to transmit the converted transaction request to the first payment instrument reading device, the converted transaction request including instructions that cause the first payment instrument reading device to initiate a transaction involving the payment instrument.

3. The router of claim 1 , wherein the router is communicatively coupleable to a plurality of payment initiating devices and a plurality of payment instrument reading devices, the plurality of payment initiating devices including the first payment initiating device and the plurality of payment instrument reading devices including the first payment instrument reading device, and
wherein the router is further configured to:
a) poll a selected one of the plurality of payment instrument reading devices;
b) receive a unique identifier corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of payment initiating devices;
c) store the unique identifier in the mapping table such that the mapping table associates the selected one of the plurality of payment initiating devices with the selected one of the payment instrument reading device; and
d) repeat steps a) to c) for each of the plurality of payment instrument reading devices.

4. The router of claim 1 , wherein the router is further configured to:
receive a first unique identifier corresponding to a selected one of the one or more payment initiating devices;
receive a second unique identifier corresponding to a selected one of the one or more payment instrument reading device; and
store the first and second unique identifiers in the mapping table such that the mapping table associates the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier.

5. The router of claim 1 , wherein the transaction request includes a unique identifier associated with a selected one of the one or more payment initiating devices, and
wherein as part of the query the router is further configured to:
find the unique identifier in the mapping table; and
retrieve an associated unique identifier from the mapping table, the associated unique identifier corresponding to a selected one of the one or more payment instrument reading devices.

6. The router of claim 1 , wherein the router is further configured to:
receive a mapping table update request that identifies a selected one of the one or more payment instrument reading devices; and
in response to the mapping table update request, remove from the mapping table a unique identifier corresponding to the selected one of the one or more payment instrument reading devices as identified in the mapping table update request.

7. A computer-implemented method of processing transactions involving a payment instrument, comprising:
receiving, at a router, a transaction request from a first payment initiating device, the first payment initiating device being part of a payment initiating device group of at least one payment initiating device;
querying a mapping table to identify a first payment instrument reading device that is associated with the first payment initiating device, the first payment instrument reading device being part of a payment instrument reading device group of at least one payment instrument reading device;
identifying a location of the first payment instrument reading device based on a signal received from a plurality of beacons communicatively coupled to the first payment initiating device, the plurality of beacons comprising a mobile beacon and a stationary beacon;
determining when to initiate a payment by the first payment initiating device based at least on a proximity location of the mobile beacon to the first payment initiating device; and
transmitting, via the router, the transaction request to the first payment instrument reading device based on the identified location.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the payment instrument reading device group comprises a plurality of payment instrument reading devices communicatively coupled to the router, the method further comprising selecting the first payment instrument reading device from the payment instrument reading device group based on the results of the mapping table query.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the payment initiating device group comprises a plurality of payment instrument reading devices.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:
converting the transaction request into a converted transaction request; and
transmitting the converted transaction request to the first payment instrument reading device, the converted transaction request including instructions that cause the first payment instrument reading device to initiate a transaction involving the payment instrument.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:
a) polling, using the router, a selected payment instrument reading device from the payment instrument reading device group;
b) receiving, at the router, a unique identifier corresponding to a selected payment initiating device from the payment initiating device group;
c) storing the unique identifier in the mapping table such that the mapping table associates the selected payment initiating device with the selected payment instrument reading device; and
d) repeat steps a) to c) for each payment instrument reading device in the payment instrument reading device group.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:
receiving a first unique identifier corresponding to a selected payment initiating device from the payment initiating device group;
receiving a second unique identifier corresponding to a selected payment instrument reading device from the payment instrument reading device group; and
storing the first and second unique identifiers in the mapping table such that the mapping table associates the first unique identifier wi

Assignees

• Worldpay Ltd

Inventors

• Burdsall Ben
• Vokes Jonathan

Classifications

• G07G1/14

  Systems including one or more distant stations co-operating with a central processing unit · CPC title

• G06Q20/202 Primary

  Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR · CPC title

• G07G1/0081

  the reader being a portable scanner or data reader (G07G1/009 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06Q20/352

  Contactless payments by cards · CPC title

• G06Q20/3278 Primary

  RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices · CPC title