US 2024/0202698 A1Published application

Electronic sales method

OwnerThomas W. Heeterinventor

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Abstract

A method is presented for facilitating sales transactions by electronic media. A barcode or other design containing merchant seller information is attached to a decal, label or stamp sheet to enable electronic payment to a merchant seller's account. The decal sheet is made with an adhesive sufficient to allow the decal label once printed, to be attached to a personal object during the period of time for which a financial transaction might occur. The decal label is then removed from the decal label sheet and applied to the personal object provided by the merchant. Before the sales transaction can be consummated, the decal label information is scanned by the buyer's smartphone. Characteristics about the decal label are compared to characteristics about the decal label's information digitally stored on a computer database in question in order to validate the identity of the merchant seller. Once seller merchant's information is validated, the seller may be authorized to debit (or cause a charge) the buyer's electronic account in order to consummate the transaction or transactions. The seller's electronic merchant bank account may be similarly updated.

A method for conducting an electronic payment making use of a sticker, stamp or decal containing a seller bar code encoding information to enable electronic payment to a merchant seller's account, said merchant seller's account belonging to an intended recipient of the electronic payment,

a buyer's smart-phone with a camera function for scanning or capturing an image of the seller's bar code and a keypad for entering a payment amount,
a remote electronic payment center for maintaining a buyer's account and making electronic payments from the buyer's account,
a wireless communication system for transmitting data, including data representative of the seller's bar code image, and the payment amount,
to the remote electronic payment center, and applications present on the smart-phone and at the remote payment center to enable data transmission of the data over the wireless communication system from the buyer's smart-phone to the remote electronic payment center using a send command and to authorize the remote electronic payment center to electronically transfer funds from a buyer's account associated with the buyer's smart-phone to the seller's account,
said method comprising
providing an image of the seller bar code at a point of sale for goods or services,
scanning or capturing an image of the seller bar code with the camera function of the smart phone,
processing the image with the smart-phone application to form a wirelessly transmittable seller data file,
wirelessly transmitting the seller data file from the smart-phone to the electronic payment center,
wirelessly transmitting a payment data file representative of a payment amount from the smart-phone to the electronic payment center,
electronically debiting the buyer's account by the payment amount,
electronically crediting the seller's account by the payment amount, and
transmitting data representative of the crediting of the seller's account to the seller.

10 more elements

Facts

Application

18/285,826Filed 6 Apr 2022

Priority

6 Apr 2021

Published

20 Jun 2024

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification20 codes

G06Q 20/3276
Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices: using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being read by the M-device
G06Q 20/045
Payment circuits: using payment protocols involving tickets
G06Q 20/10
Payment architectures: specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
G06Q 20/1085
Remote banking, e.g. home banking: involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]

Abstract

Claims11