Using incentives at transaction devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11238418-B2
Application number	US-201916565861-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2019
Priority date	Jun 18, 2013
Publication date	Feb 1, 2022
Grant date	Feb 1, 2022

Abstract

A method and system for using incentives at transaction devices are discussed. The method includes receiving a transaction request for processing by a transaction device. The method includes obtaining incentive information associated with incentives from payment instruments for the transaction. The method includes comparing the incentive information to incentive terms offered by financial service providers to determine possible financial service providers able to process the transaction, the incentive terms accessed from remotely located computing devices. The method includes selecting, based on comparing, a preferred payment instrument from the payment instruments and a particular financial service provider from the possible financial service providers for transaction processing. The method includes submitting, according to a protocol used by the particular financial service provider, information related to the transaction and the preferred payment instrument to the particular financial service provider.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing system associated with a transaction device, the computing system comprising:
a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and
one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving a transaction request associated with a transaction for processing by the transaction device;
in response to receiving the transaction request, obtaining incentive information associated with a plurality of incentives offered by a plurality of payment instruments for use in the transaction;
determining, from a plurality of third-party financial service providers, a plurality of possible third-party financial service providers that are able to process the transaction using any one of the plurality of payment instruments;
comparing the incentive information of the plurality of payment instruments to respective incentive terms offered for processing of transactions by each of the plurality of possible third-party financial service providers, the incentive terms accessed from a plurality of remotely located computing devices;
selecting, based on the comparing, a particular payment instrument from the plurality of payment instruments for use in the transaction and a particular third-party financial service provider from the plurality of possible third-party financial service providers for processing the transaction using the particular payment instrument;
obtaining funding source information associated with the particular payment instrument via the transaction device; and
submitting, according to a protocol used by the particular third-party financial service provider, information related to the transaction and the funding source information to the particular third-party financial service provider.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
identifying, from the plurality of incentives, an incentive that is determined by a merchant associated with the transaction device, the incentive determined based on service provider information regarding the plurality of third-party financial service providers.

3. The computing system of claim 2 , wherein the service provider information includes one or more benefits associated with the respective ones of the plurality of third-party financial service providers.

4. The computing system of claim 3 , wherein the one or more benefits comprise at least one of a rebate, a reward, a promotion, an advertisement, one or more points, a membership, a discounted rate, cash back, or one or more samples.

5. The computing system of claim 3 , wherein the selecting the particular third-party financial service provider is further based on the one or more benefits.

6. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving, via a user interface, an input from a merchant associated with the transaction device, wherein the particular payment instrument is determined further based on the input.

7. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of incentives comprises at least one of a free item, a discount, a rebate, cash back, points, bonus miles, an extended warranty, an extended period for returning merchandise, price protection, or a reduced transaction fee.

8. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
in response to receiving the transaction request, obtaining previous incentive information associated with an incentive of a payment instrument used in a previous transaction; and
indicating, via a graphical user interface of the computing system, the previous incentive information.

9. A method for using incentives at transaction devices, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more hardware processors, a transaction request associated with a transaction for processing by a transaction device;
in response to receiving the transaction request, obtaining, by the one or more hardware processors, first incentive information associated a first payment instrument for the transaction, the first payment instrument associated with a customer selection;
obtaining second incentive information associated with an incentive of a second payment instrument for the transaction;
indicating, by the one or more hardware processors via a graphical user interface of a computing device, a change from using the first payment instrument to using the second payment instrument for the transaction based on the first incentive information and the second incentive information;
determining, by the one or more hardware processors from a plurality of third-party financial service providers, a plurality of possible third-party financial service providers that are able to process the transaction using the second payment instrument;
comparing, by the one or more hardware processors, the second incentive information to respective incentive terms offered for processing of transactions by each of the plurality of possible third-party financial service providers, the incentive terms accessed from a plurality of remotely located computing devices associated with the plurality of third-party financial service providers;
selecting, by the one or more hardware processors based on the comparing, a particular third-party financial service provider from the plurality of possible third-party financial service providers for processing the transaction;
obtaining, by the one or more hardware processors, funding source information associated with the second payment instrument via the transaction device; and
submitting, by the one or more hardware processors, according to a protocol used by the particular third-party financial service provider, information related to the transaction and the funding source information to the particular third-party financial service provider for processing the transaction.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the computing device comprises the transaction device, and wherein the customer selection is received at the transaction device.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the computing device is associated with a customer, and wherein the customer selection is received at the computing device.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining, from a plurality of payment instruments, the second instrument for use in the transaction based on one or more benefits associated with the plurality of payment instruments.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more benefits comprise at least one of a rebate, a reward, a promotion, an advertisement, one or more points, a membership, a discounted rate, cash back, or one or more samples.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the incentive comprises at least one of a free item, a discount, a rebate, cash back, points, bonus miles, an extended warranty, an extended period to return merchandise, price protection, or a reduced transaction fee.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
receiving a transaction request associated with a point of sale (POS) transaction for processing by a transaction device;
in response to receiving the transaction request, obtaining incentive information associated with a plurality of incentives of a plurality of payment instruments usable for the POS transaction;
determining, from a plurality of third-party financial service providers, a plurality of possible third-party financial service providers that are able to process the POS transaction using any

Assignees

• Paypal Inc

Inventors

• Tikku Anup

Classifications

• G06Q20/027 Primary

  involving a payment switch or gateway · CPC title

• G06Q20/227

  characterised in that multiple accounts are available, e.g. to the payer · CPC title

• G06Q20/202

  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