Verifying proximity during payment transactions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9940616-B1
Application number	US-201313829658-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 14, 2013
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

Method, systems, and apparatus for processing a transaction for a customer using a first device and a second device, comprising: receiving a notification from the first device, where the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase, where the notification includes an identifier, and where the identifier uniquely identifies both the customer and a second device; determining that the second device is in proximity to the first device as an authentication measure; in response to the determining, sending the determination to the second device, where the second device displays details regarding the selection of the one or more items for purchase; receiving, from the second device, user input indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items; submitting, to a payment processor, the details for authentication.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors of a payment service system, a notification of a transaction from a first application executing on a first device, wherein the notification includes a selection of one or more items for purchase from a merchant, wherein the notification further includes an identifier that uniquely identifies both a customer and a second device associated with the customer, wherein the second device is a mobile device, and wherein the selection is received via a first user interface presented by the first application on the first device;
receiving, by the one or more processors, from the first application on the first device, an indication of a location of the first device based on Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates transmitted to the one or more processors by the first device;
sending, by the one or more processors, to the second device, based on the received identifier, an indication of the transaction;
receiving, by the one or more processors, from a second application executing on the second device, in response to the indication of the transaction, an indication of a location of the second device based on GPS coordinates transmitted by the second application to the one or more processors;
comparing, by the one or more processors, the GPS coordinates of the first device and the GPS coordinates of the second device to determine that the second device is in proximity to the first device;
in response to determining the second device is in proximity to the first device, sending, by the one or more processors, to the second application executing on the second device, details regarding the selection of the one or more items to cause the second application to present a second user interface on the second device displaying the details regarding the selection for review by the customer, where the second application is associated with the payment service system;
receiving, by the one or more processors, from the second application executing on the second device, a user input entered via the second user interface indicating a confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items; and
submitting, by the one or more processors, to a payment processor associated with the payment service system, a determination that the second device is in proximity to the first device and the details for authentication, wherein the payment processor determines to approve the transaction based at least on the determination that the second device is in proximity to the first device.

2. The method of claim 1 , where determining that the second device is in proximity to the first device comprises
determining that the distance between the location of the first device and the location of the second device is within a predetermined distance by the comparing the GPS coordinates of the first device and the GPS coordinates of the second device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, to both the first and second devices, confirmation of the authentication from the payment processor.

4. The method of claim 1 , where the details include, for each of the one or more items, a respective description and a respective price.

5. The method of claim 1 , where the unique identifier is one of the following: a phone number, a pay phrase, or a password.

6. The method of claim 1 , where receiving the user input comprises receiving a swipe to a touchscreen virtual control presented in the second user interface on the second device, wherein the swipe indicates confirmation of the purchase of the one or more items.

7. A method comprising:
receiving, via a first user interface presented by a first application executing on a first device, a first user input to select one or more items for purchase for a transaction;
receiving, via the first user interface presented on the first device, an indication of an identifier that uniquely identifies both a customer and a second device associated with the customer;
sending, by the first application, from the first device to the second device, based on the indication of the identifier, a notification of the one or more items selected for purchase;
determining, by the first application on the first device, that the second device is in proximity to the first device by detecting through a short range communication protocol that the second device is executing a second application and is within proximity to the first device;
in response to determining the second device is in proximity to the first device, sending, by the first application, to the second device, an indication that the second device is in proximity to the first device to cause the second application on the second device to display in a second user interface presented by the second application, details regarding the one or more items selected for purchase;
receiving, via the second user interface presented on the second device, a second user input to confirm the purchase of the one or more items; and
submitting, by at least one of the second application or the first application, to a payment processor, for authentication of the transaction, an indication that the second device is determined to be in proximity to the first device and an indication of receipt of the second user input to the second user interface to confirm the purchase.

8. The method of claim 7 , where sending the notification to the second device comprises broadcasting the notification to the second device using the short range communication protocol.

9. The method of claim 7 , where the short range communication protocol is one of the following: Near Field Communication, Bluetooth, or sound.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising receiving, at both the first and second devices, confirmation of the authentication from the payment processor and displaying the confirmation.

11. The method of claim 7 , where the details include, for each of the one or more items, a respective description and a respective price.

12. The method of claim 7 , where receiving the indication of the unique identifier comprises:
displaying, by the first application, in the first user interface, an input field at the first device; and
receiving, through the input field in the first user interface, the unique identifier based on input of the customer received via the first user interface.

13. The method of claim 7 , where the customer is logged into the first device using an account, and where receiving the indication of the unique identifier comprises accessing the unique identifier from the account of the customer.

14. The method of claim 7 , where the unique identifier is one of the following: a phone number, a pay phrase, or a password.

15. The method of claim 7 , where receiving the second user input comprises receiving, via a virtual control presented by the second application in the second user interface on a touchscreen of the second device, a swipe of the virtual control that confirms the purchase of the one or more items.

16. A system comprising:
a first device executing a first application that configures the first device to present a first user interface on which a customer initiates a transaction by selecting one or more items for purchase, where the first application configures the first device to receive a first user input via the first user interface that specifies the one or more items for sale to be purchased, and where the first application further configures the first device to receive an indication of an identifier for the customer;
a second device that is associated with the customer, where t

Assignees

• Square Inc

Inventors

• Morgan Timothy Ben
• Slavich Vanessa Erica
• Rajkovich Brielle Alyse
• Wilson Mathew

Classifications

• G06Q20/327 Primary

  Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices · CPC title

• G06Q20/322

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

• G06Q20/3224

  Transactions dependent on location of M-devices · CPC title