Automatically adding gratuity to amount charged in electronic transaction

#All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in official governmental records but, otherwise, all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved.

#The present invention generally relates to methods, systems and apparatus for facilitating gratuities when payments for services are charged to accounts in electronic transactions.

#When a customer makes payment to a service provider for a service for which a gratuity customarily is given, often a lull occurs when paying with a card. Exemplary such service providers include, but are not limited to, restaurants, massage parlors, taxi companies, bars, spas, nail salons, and hair salons. The service provider (sometimes called a merchant in this context) must authorize the original amount for the service and present to the customer a printed document bearing the amount to be charged for the service for the customer's approval by way of the customer's signature. At this stage, the customer makes a gratuity calculation and adds the gratuity to the document and totals the amount to be charged to the customer's card. It is believed that upon receiving the signed document with the total amount to be charged, the merchant reauthorizes the new amount and the new amount thereafter is charged to the customer's card. As will be appreciated, this process can be characterized as inefficient for requiring an undue amount of time, and can cause dissatisfaction and stress to the customer if the customer is in a hurry. Moreover, having to calculate a gratuity and then add the gratuity to the amount being charged for the services can cause delay and result in stress and dissatisfaction with the payment process. In the context of a restaurant, it is indeed inconvenient for a customer to have to perform mathematical calculations after a relaxing meal, especially after having consumed alcohol. Calculating the gratuity and then adding the gratuity to the amount charged for the services also can lead to errors, resulting in overpayment or underpayment of the gratuity that is intended to be left.

#One or more preferred embodiments of the present invention now will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same elements are referred to with the same reference numerals, and wherein:

#FIG. 1 is an illustration of a sales receipt for restaurant services bearing a “Quick Guide” table for leaving a gratuity that is specific to the amount of the restaurant services set forth on the sales receipt.

#FIG. 2 is an illustration of a credit card slip for payment of the restaurant services of the sales receipt of FIG. 1, which also bears the same “Quick Guide” table for leaving a gratuity that is specific to the amount of the restaurant services being paid.

#As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art (“Ordinary Artisan”) that the present invention has broad utility and application. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure of the present invention. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present invention.

#Accordingly, while the present invention is described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present invention, and is made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the present invention. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself.

#Thus, for example, any sequence(s) and/or temporal order of steps of various processes or methods that are described herein are illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, it should be understood that, although steps of various processes or methods may be shown and described as being in a sequence or temporal order, the steps of any such processes or methods are not limited to being carried out in any particular sequence or order, absent an indication otherwise. Indeed, the steps in such processes or methods generally may be carried out in various different sequences and orders while still falling within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection afforded the present invention is to be defined by the appended claims rather than the description set forth herein.