# US 2014/0156428 A1 · Clearing house for creating and processing coded payment methods

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- Number: US 2014/0156428 A1
- Document ID: US20140156428A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/691,523
- Filed: 2012-11-30
- Published: 2014-06-05
- Earliest claimed: 2012-11-30
- Assignees: Bank of America Corporation
- Applicants: Bank of America Corporation
- Inventors: David M. Grigg
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140156428A1

## CPC

- G06Q 20/3274: {using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being displayed on the M-device}
- G06Q 20/02: involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
- G06Q 20/023: {the neutral party being a clearing house}
- G06Q 20/06: Private payment circuits, e.g. involving electronic currency used among participants of a common payment scheme
- G06Q 20/0855: {involving a third party}
- G06Q 20/20: Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
- G06Q 20/204: {comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit}
- G06Q 20/3276: {using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being read by the M-device}
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

Embodiments of the invention include systems, methods, and computer-program products for a clearing house for creating and directing readable indicia to/from merchants, users, and/or vendors. As such, merchants, users, and vendors may all be able to recognize, read, and complete transactions using a created universal readable indicia, irrespective of the entities associated with the transaction. The invention may create and provide a universal readable indicia that may be read and/or scanned by any of a user, merchant, or vendor. Subsequently, upon scanning, the system may recognize the appropriate vendor associated with the scan, based on information about the user or merchant derived from the scan. As such, the invention may be able to convert the universal readable indicia to one or more indicia accepted by a vendor that may complete the transaction with the user and/or merchant.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for creating and processing readable indicia for payment codes, the system comprising:
a memory device with computer-readable program code stored thereon;
a communication device;
a processing device operatively coupled to the memory device and the communication device, wherein the processing device is configured to execute the computer-readable program code to:
receive information from one or more vendors, wherein
the one or more vendors authorize transactions to be completed via readable indicia scanning, wherein the received information is associated with a readable indicia supplied by the one or more vendors;
receive an indication of a transaction between a user and a merchant, wherein the user requests to complete the transaction using readable indicia at a point-of-transaction (POT) of the merchant, wherein the user has an account with a vendor of the one or more vendors that authorize the transaction to be completed via readable indicia scanning, wherein the user request to complete the transaction specifies a specific vendor from which the readable indicia should be obtained, and wherein the user specifies the specific vendor by selecting an authorized readable indicia vendor from the one or more vendors;
receive request from the merchant for a universal readable indicia associated with the specific vendor, wherein the universal readable indicia is capable of being read by all indicia readers independent of which of the one or more vendors the user has the account with, wherein the request is received based on the user request to complete the transaction using the readable indicia associated with the specific vendor;
create the universal readable indicia for the transaction between the user and the merchant;
provide the merchant with the universal readable indicia from the specific vendor of the request, such that the universal readable indicia is presented to the user for the transaction;
receive an indication that the user scanned the universal readable indicia;
determine from the scanned universal readable indicia an appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors that authorized the transaction to be completed via readable indicia scanning to direct the transaction; and
direct the transaction to the appropriate vendor such that a communication link between the merchant and the vendor is created to authorize and complete the transaction.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors further comprises a vendor that the user or the merchant has a payment account associated with, such that the transaction can be completed using the payment account associated with the vendor.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to execute the computer-readable program code to:
retrieve available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors; and
store the available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors, information about the vendor, and data associated with the available readable indicia such that the vendor associated with each of the available readable indicia is identifiable based on a partial reading of the available readable indicia.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to execute the computer-readable program code to:
allow for processing of the transaction using the universal readable indicia, such that the appropriate vendor authorizes the transaction; and
create the direct communication link between the appropriate vendor and the merchant of the transaction.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein retrieving available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors comprises continuously monitoring each of the one or more vendors and retrieving newly created available readable indicia from the one or more vendors.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein determining from the scanned universal readable indicia an appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors to direct the transaction further comprises:
determining information related to a user mobile device associated with the scanned universal readable indicia; and
communicating with the one or more vendors to determine if the user is associated with the vendor, wherein determining if the user is associated with the vendor is based at least in part on the information related to the mobile device.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the universal readable indicia comprises a Quick Response (QR) code.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the universal readable indicia is comprised in a tag that transmits information wirelessly.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to execute the computer-readable program code to receive an indication that the user selected the universal readable indicia at a point-of-transaction (POT) of the merchant, wherein the indication that the user selected the universal readable indicia is received from a mobile device that comprises an image-capturing component, and wherein an image of the readable indicia used for the transaction is captured by the mobile device.

### Claim 10

A computer program product for creating and processing readable indicia for payment codes, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:
an executable portion configured for receiving information from one or more vendors, wherein the one or more vendors authorize transactions to be completed via readable indicia scanning, wherein the received information is associated with a readable indicia supplied by the one or more vendors;
an executable portion configured for receiving an indication of a transaction between a user and a merchant, wherein the user requests to complete the transaction using readable indicia at a point-of-transaction (POT) of the merchant, wherein the user has an account with a vendor of the one or more vendors that authorize the transaction to be completed via readable indicia scanning, wherein the user request to complete the transaction specifies a specific vendor from which the readable indicia should be obtained, and wherein the user specifies the specific vendor by selecting an authorized readable indicia vendor from the one or more vendors;
an executable portion configured for receiving request from the merchant for a universal readable indicia associated with the specific vendor, wherein the universal readable indicia is capable of being read by all indicia readers independent of which of the one or more vendors the user has the account with, wherein the request is received based on the user request to complete the transaction using the readable indicia associated with the specific vendor;
an executable portion configured for creating the universal readable indicia for the transaction between the user and the merchant;
an executable portion configured for providing the merchant with the universal readable indicia from the specific vendor of the request, such that the universal readable indicia is presented to the user for the transaction;
an executable portion configured for receiving an indication that the user scanned the universal readable indicia;
an executable portion configured for determining from the scanned universal readable indicia an appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors that authorized the transaction to be completed via readable indicia scanning to direct the transaction; and
an executable portion configured for directing the transaction to the appropriate vendor such that a communication link between the merchant and the vendor is created to authorize and complete the transaction.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors further comprises a vendor that the user or the merchant has a payment account associated with, such that the transaction can be completed using the payment account associated with the vendor.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising:
an executable portion configured for retrieving available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors; and
an executable portion configured for storing the available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors, information about the vendor, and data associated with the available readable indicia such that the vendor associated with each of the available readable indicia is identifiable based on a partial reading of the available readable indicia.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising:
an executable portion configured for allowing for processing of the transaction using the universal readable indicia, such that the appropriate vendor authorizes the transaction; and
an executable portion configured for creating the direct communication link between the appropriate vendor and the merchant of the transaction.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The computer program product of claim 12, wherein retrieving available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors comprises continuously monitoring each of the one or more vendors and retrieving newly created available readable indicia from the one or more vendors.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The computer program product of claim 10, wherein determining from the scanned universal readable indicia an appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors to direct the transaction further comprises:
determining information related to a user mobile device associated with the scanned universal readable indicia; and
communicating with the one or more vendors to determine if the user is associated with the vendor, wherein determining if the user is associated with the vendor is based at least in part on the information related to the mobile device.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the universal readable indicia comprises a Quick Response (QR) code.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the universal readable indicia is comprised in a tag that transmits information wirelessly.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising an executable portion configured for receiving an indication that the user selected the universal readable indicia at a point-of-transaction (POT) of the merchant, wherein the indication that the user selected the universal readable indicia is received from a mobile device that comprises an image-capturing component, and wherein an image of the readable indicia used for the transaction is captured by the mobile device.

### Claim 19

A computer-implemented method for creating and processing readable indicia for payment codes, the method comprising:
receiving information from one or more vendors, wherein the one or more vendors authorize transactions to be completed via readable indicia scanning, wherein the received information is associated with a readable indicia supplied by the one or more vendors;
receiving an indication of a transaction between a user and a merchant, wherein the user requests to complete the transaction using readable indicia at a point-of-transaction (POT) of the merchant, wherein the user has an account with a vendor of the one or more vendors that authorize the transaction to be completed via readable indicia scanning, wherein the user request to complete the transaction specifies a specific vendor from which the readable indicia should be obtained, and wherein the user specifies the specific vendor by selecting an authorized readable indicia vendor from the one or more vendors;
receiving request from the merchant for a universal readable indicia associated with the specific vendor, wherein the universal readable indicia is capable of being read by all indicia readers independent of which of the one or more vendors the user has the account with, wherein the request is received based on the user request to complete the transaction using the readable indicia associated with the specific vendor;
creating, via a computer device processor, the universal readable indicia for the transaction between the user and the merchant;
providing the merchant with the universal readable indicia from the specific vendor of the request, such that the universal readable indicia is presented to the user for the transaction;
receiving an indication that the user scanned the universal readable indicia;
determining from the scanned universal readable indicia an appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors that authorized the transaction to be completed via readable indicia scanning to direct the transaction; and
directing the transaction to the appropriate vendor such that a communication link between the merchant and the vendor is created to authorize and complete the transaction.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The computer implemented method of claim 19, wherein the appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors further comprises a vendor that the user or the merchant has a payment account associated with, such that the transaction can be completed using the payment account associated with the vendor.

### Claim 21 (depends on 19)

The computer implemented method of claim 19 further comprising:
retrieving available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors; and
storing the available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors, information about the vendor, and data associated with the available readable indicia such that the vendor associated with each of the available readable indicia is identifiable based on a partial reading of the available readable indicia.

### Claim 22 (depends on 19)

The computer implemented method of claim 19 further comprising:
allowing for processing of the transaction using the universal readable indicia, such that the appropriate vendor authorizes the transaction; and
creating the direct communication link between the appropriate vendor and the merchant of the transaction.

### Claim 23 (depends on 21)

The computer implemented method of claim 21, wherein retrieving available readable indicia associated with each of the one or more vendors comprises continuously monitoring each of the one or more vendors and retrieving newly created available readable indicia from the one or more vendors.

### Claim 24 (depends on 19)

The computer implemented method of claim 19, wherein determining from the scanned universal readable indicia an appropriate vendor from the one or more vendors to direct the transaction further comprises:
determining information related to a user mobile device associated with the scanned universal readable indicia; and
communicating with the one or more vendors to determine if the user is associated with the vendor, wherein determining if the user is associated with the vendor is based at least in part on the information related to the mobile device.

### Claim 25 (depends on 19)

The computer implemented method of claim 19 further comprising receiving an indication that the user selected the universal readable indicia at a point-of-transaction (POT) of the merchant, wherein the indication that the user selected the universal readable indicia is received from a mobile device that comprises an image-capturing component, and wherein an image of the readable indicia used for the transaction is captured by the mobile device.