Mobile transaction device enabling dynamic electronic checkins

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017193491-A1
Application number	US-201514984187-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 30, 2015
Priority date	Dec 30, 2015
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A mobile transaction device may present nearby event or location related merchants to a user and allow the user to check in at the event or location. The mobile transaction device may then present merchants who are associated with the event or location to the user. Thus, the user may quickly find relevant merchants with whom the user wishes to conduct mobile transactions. For example, merchants associated with an event, such as merchants in a farmer's market, food trucks along the same street, or the like, may be grouped together into a merchant group associated with an event/location. A name/picture/icon of the event/location may be presented to the user on the mobile transaction app of the user device. Thus, the user may select the event/location to check in at the event or location. The merchants associated with the event or location may be quickly located for transactions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A mobile transaction device comprising:
a display device configured to present visual information; a user input device configured to receive user instructions; a location detection device configured to detect a location of the mobile transaction device; a non-transitory memory storing information about a user account of a user; and one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the mobile transaction device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the user input device, a request from the user to view nearby merchants for conducting mobile transactions;
detecting, by the location detection device, a location of the mobile transaction device;
communicating the request and the location to a payment provider server;
receiving one or more merchant groups and individual merchants associated with the location from the payment provider server; and
presenting, by the display device, the one or more merchant groups and the individual merchants to the user for the user to select and check in at the one or more merchant groups.

2 . The mobile transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more merchant groups and individual merchants are associated with an event at the location.

3 . The mobile transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the merchant groups are presented in a format different from the individual merchants.

4 . The mobile transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the merchant groups are presented earlier on a list of nearby merchants than the individual merchants.

5 . The mobile transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to cause the mobile transaction device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the user input device, a selection of a merchant group from the one or more merchant groups; and checking the user in at merchants associated with the selected merchant group to facilitate mobile transactions with the merchants.

6 . The mobile transaction device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to cause the mobile transaction device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the user input device, a selection of a merchant group from the one or more merchant groups; and presenting, by the display device, merchants associated with the selected merchant group to the user.

7 . A merchant device comprising:
a display device configured to present visual information; a user input device configured to receive user instructions; a location detection device configured to detect a location of the mobile transaction device; a non-transitory memory storing information about a user account of a merchant user; and one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the merchant device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the user input device, a request from the merchant user to join a merchant group;
detecting, by the location detection device, a location of the merchant device;
communicating the request and the location to a payment provider server;
receiving one or more merchant groups associated with the location from the payment provider server; and
presenting, by the display device, the one or more merchant groups to the merchant user;
receiving, by the user input device, a selection from the merchant user selecting a merchant group from the one or more merchant groups to join; and
communicating the selection to the payment provider server to add the merchant user into the selected merchant group.

8 . The merchant device of claim 7 , wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to cause the merchant device to perform operations comprising:
determining that the selected merchant group requires a passcode for joining; receiving, by the user input device, a passcode from the merchant user; and communicate the passcode input by the merchant user to the payment provider server to be verified by the payment provider server for adding the merchant user into the merchant group.

9 . The merchant device of claim 7 , wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to cause the merchant device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by the user input device, information from the merchant user for creating a new merchant group, the information comprising one or more of a name, time, location, and description of the new merchant group; and communicating the information to the payment provider server for creating and publishing the new merchant group for users to check in.

10 . The merchant device of claim 9 , wherein the new merchant group is created temporarily for spontaneous gathering of merchants.

11 . A method comprising:
receiving a location and a request from a mobile transaction device requesting to view nearby merchants for conducting mobile transactions; searching a merchant database for one or more merchant groups associated with the location of the mobile transaction device; and communicating information of the one or more merchant groups associated with the location to the mobile transaction device for display on the mobile transaction device.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, from the mobile transaction device, a request to check in at the one or more merchant groups; and checking a user associated with the mobile transaction device in at the one or more merchant groups for conducting mobile transactions with merchants of the one or more merchant groups.

13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, from the mobile transaction device, a request to join the one or more merchant groups; adding a merchant associated with the mobile transaction device into the one or more merchant groups; and publishing the merchant with the one or more merchant groups such that the merchant is discoverable along with the one or more merchant groups for conducting mobile transactions with customers.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
determining that the one or more merchant groups require a passcode for joining; receiving a passcode from the mobile transaction device provided by the merchant; verifying the passcode; adding the merchant into the one or more merchant groups when the passcode is verified.

15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving from the mobile transaction device information for creating a new merchant group, the information comprising one or more of a name, time, location, and description of the new merchant group; creating the new merchant group; and publishing the new merchant group such that the new merchant group is available for customer check in to conduct mobile transactions with merchants associated with the new merchant group.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the new merchant group is a personalized merchant group of a customer including merchants selected by the customer.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the new merchant group is created ad hoc for a spontaneous meeting of merchants.

18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
analyzing transaction history and location history of merchants; and determining a new merchant group based on the transaction history and location history of the merchants.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
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Assignees

• Paypal Inc

Inventors

• Phipps Meghan Elizabeth

Classifications

• G06Q20/322

  Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices] · CPC title

• H04W4/02

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• G06Q30/0631

  Recommending goods or services · CPC title

• H04W4/21

  for social networking applications · CPC title