Apportioning shared financial expenses

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015120345-A1
Application number	US-201414229654-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 28, 2014
Priority date	Oct 28, 2013
Publication date	Apr 30, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

A payment system can accept an electronic reservation for a merchant restaurant in response to a reservation request received from a user. The payment system can detect that the user is present at a location associated with the merchant restaurant based at least in part on an indication received from a mobile device associated with the user. The payment system can determine a completion of a service associated with the electronic reservation. The payment system can provide an electronic bill for the service to be displayed on the mobile device of the user. Based on receiving an authorization of the electronic bill from the mobile device of the user, the payment system can charge, through a card-less payment transaction, the user for at least an amount disclosed in the electronic bill.

First claim

1 . A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:
establishing, by a payment system, a user account for a customer, the user account associated with a user application running on a user device, and the user application acquiring information for one or more financial accounts of the customer, the information for one or more financial accounts being stored securely by the payment system in a user database; establishing, by the payment system, a merchant account for a merchant restaurant, the merchant account associated with a merchant application running on a merchant device, and the merchant application acquiring information for one or more financial accounts of the merchant restaurant, the information for the one or more financial accounts of the merchant restaurant being stored securely by the payment system in a merchant database; accepting, by the payment system, an electronic reservation for the customer at the merchant restaurant in response to a reservation request received from the user interacting with the user application running on the user device; detecting, by the payment system, that the user is present at a location associated with the merchant restaurant based at least in part on an indication received, by the payment system, from the user application running on the user device; determining, by the payment system, a completion of a service for the customer at the merchant restaurant associated with the electronic reservation by receiving a confirmation of the completion of the service from at least one of: the user application and the merchant application; receiving, by the payment system and from the merchant application, a list of items purchased during the service at the merchant restaurant; providing, by the payment system, an electronic bill for the service to the user application to be displayed on the mobile device of the user, the electronic bill including the list of items purchased at the merchant restaurant; receiving, by the payment system, an authorization to pay the electronic bill from the user application running on the mobile device of the user; and transferring funds, by the payment system, from the one or more financial accounts of the user to the one or more financial accounts of the merchant account for at least an amount disclosed in the electronic bill.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein based on receiving the authorization of the electronic bill from the mobile device of the user, charging, by the payment system and through a card-less payment transaction, the user for at least an amount disclosed in the electronic bill further comprises:
receiving, by the payment system and from the mobile device of the user, an indication that the user has authorized the card-less payment transaction with the merchant restaurant, the indication specifying a tip amount; and processing, by the payment system, the card-less payment transaction for the amount disclosed in the electronic bill and the specified tip amount using a card-less payment account of the user that is associated with the payment system.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by the payment system, the completion of the service associated with the electronic reservation further comprises:
determining that the mobile device of the user has exited a geofence that defines a geographic perimeter of the merchant restaurant.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the authorization of the electronic bill is based at least in part on determining that the mobile device of the user has exited a geofence that defines a geographic perimeter of the merchant restaurant.

5 . A computing system comprising:
one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform operations, comprising:
establishing, by a payment system, a user account for a customer, the user account associated with a user application running on a user device, and the user application acquiring information for one or more financial accounts of the customer, the information for one or more financial accounts being stored securely by the payment system in a user database;
establishing, by the payment system, a merchant account for a merchant restaurant, the merchant account associated with a merchant application running on a merchant device, and the merchant application acquiring information for one or more financial accounts of the merchant restaurant, the information for the one or more financial accounts of the merchant restaurant being stored securely by the payment system in a merchant database;
determining that a user that created an electronic reservation for a service offered by a merchant is present at a location associated with the merchant;
determining a completion of the service for the customer offered by the merchant at the merchant restaurant associated with the electronic reservation by receiving a confirmation of the completion of the service from at least one of: the user application and the merchant application;
receiving, by the payment system and from the merchant application, a list of items purchased during the service at the merchant restaurant;
sending an electronic bill for the service to the user application to be displayed on the mobile device of the user, the electronic bill including the list of items purchased at the merchant restaurant; and
transferring funds, by the payment system, from the one or more financial accounts of the user to the one or more financial accounts of the merchant account for at least an amount disclosed in the electronic bill.

6 . The computing system of claim 5 , wherein charging the user for at least a portion of an amount disclosed in the electronic bill through a card-less payment transaction further comprises:
receiving, from the mobile device of the user, an indication that the user has authorized the card-less payment transaction with the merchant, the card-less payment transaction to be processed by the computing system; and performing the card-less payment transaction for the amount disclosed in the electronic bill.

7 . The computing system of claim 5 , wherein charging the user for at least a portion of an amount disclosed in the electronic bill through a card-less payment transaction further comprises:
determining that at least one different user is contributing to the electronic bill; generating, for the user, a first apportioned electronic bill for an apportioned amount due for the electronic bill and, for the at least one different user, a second apportioned electronic bill for an apportioned amount due for the electronic bill; sending the first apportioned electronic bill to the mobile device of the user and the second apportioned electronic bill to a mobile device of the at least one different user; and charging the user for an amount disclosed in the first apportioned electronic bill through a card-less payment transaction and the at least one different user for an amount disclosed in the second apportioned electronic bill through a card-less payment transaction.

8 . The computing system of claim 7 , wherein determining that at least one different user is contributing to the electronic bill further comprises:
receiving, from the mobile device of the user, a request to apportion the electronic bill among the user and the at least one different user.

9 . The computing system of claim 7 , wherein determining that at least one different user is contributing to the electronic bill further comprises:
determining that the electronic reservation indicates that the at least one different user is contributing to a payment for the service.

Assignees

• Square Inc

Inventors

• Rose Cody

Classifications

• G06Q30/0631

  Recommending goods or services · CPC title

• G06Q30/0226 Primary

  Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems · CPC title

• G06Q20/20

  Point-of-sale [POS] network systems · CPC title

• G06Q30/04

  Billing or invoicing · CPC title

• G06Q20/3224

  Transactions dependent on location of M-devices · CPC title