GB2432702A

GB2432702A - Electronic vouchers

Info

Publication number: GB2432702A
Application number: GB0524053A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Tymm
Original assignee: MOVO Ltd I
Current assignee: MOVO Ltd I
Priority date: 2005-11-25
Filing date: 2005-11-25
Publication date: 2007-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 2025-11-25
Also published as: ZA200804281B; GB0524053D0; GB2432702B

Abstract

Electronic cash value vouchers are described which can be used at existing pointer sales (POS) terminals made up of a credit card like code (16 digit alphanumeric code) which includes an identifier code (4 digits) which identifies the issuer of the voucher and a voucher code which relates to the value of the voucher. The voucher code can be provided to the use of SMS to a mobile telephone. The voucher can then be used together with the issue a code carried on a card (magnetic or chip) at a pointer sales terminal. The issuer and voucher codes are concatenated and forwarded to an acquirer for further processing. In an alternative embodiment the issuer code and voucher code are received by the user as a single combined code.

Description

Electronic Vouchers The invention relates to a method of redeeming cash

value vouchers in particular, but not exclusively, vouchers distributed via portable electronic devices, such as mobile telephones.

There is a long history of consumer oriented businesses using cash value vouchers as a promotional tool to attract new customers and retain existing customers. The most widely established form of voucher is a printed voucher which can be redeemed at the point of sale in a shop. Typically, these will have a bar code printed on them, which can then be scanned in the same manner as conventional bar code and the use of bar codes helps to eliminate fraud and reduce the transaction costs for the retailer.

Whilst such paper based vouchers have been a successful promotional tool for many years, they suffer from a high up-front cost in producing the vouchers and as they are a paper based transaction also suffer from high handling costs. Due to these constraints, voucher schemes tend to have to be quite large to recoup the fixed costs.

Consumers increasingly dislike carrying paper vouchers with them and as a consequence, redemption rates of paper coupons can be very low unless they are of high value. Paper vouchers of high face-value carry a significant financial risk as advances in copying technology has made it easier to reproduce vouchers fraudulently.

There have been a number of proposals to address these problems by using mobile telephones or the internet as the distribution means for an electronic voucher. In principle, the distribution costs can be kept much lower than with a paper based system, in particular for small scale voucher distributions and since the voucher is redeemed electronically, it reduces the risk of fraud or over-redemption.

However, to be able to function effectively such an e voucher scheme has to be able to work with existing point of sale equipment, otherwise few retailers would be prepared to accept the vouchers. Existing systems involve sending a bar code image to the mobile phone, which can then be scanned in the same way as an ordinary product bar code. This system suffers from the problem that many simpler mobile phones do not support the graphics required and also in practice the bar code scanner often do not read the bar code on the mobile phone display successfully. There is also no industry standard for graphical display and so the make and model of the handset must be identified before sending a bar code to a mobile phone. This is time-consuming and expensive and in practice, many customers are unwilling to engage in such a convoluted process. An additional problem with such bar code solutions is the risk of multiple redemptions as a bar code itself does not provide any means of validating if the voucher has been used before.

A further solution has been proposed in GB2397684 (Smart Voucher) in which a 19 digit payment card number is sent to a mobile phone together with the value of the voucher to be redeemed. The redemption can be carried out by keying in the data via a dedicated terminal. This approach suffers from a number of problems as it is underpinned by the notion of an "account" and a "balance". This proposes fairly high infrastructure costs to allow credit to be applied to the "account" by a participating retailer and existing legislation may requires operators to implement a KYC ("Know Your Customer") process to prevent such "accounts" and "balances" to be used for money-laundering purposes. KYC processes are onerous, expensive and time-consuming to implement and are unpopular with retailers and customers alike. The prevailing geo-political climate indicates such processes and scrutiny will intensify going forward. Additionally, the provision of the voucher value together with the voucher represents a potential security hole.

The present invention therefore seeks to provide a method of distributing and redeeming cash value vouchers via portable electronic vouchers which obviates the issues of acceptability to many retailers inherent in the known systems.

According to the invention there is provided a method for redeeming cash value vouchers using an ISO/IEC 78 12-1 and/or ANSI X4.13 compliant POS terminal comprising the steps of providing a cash value voucher comprising an alphanumeric number and having a cash value, which cash value is not related to the number, entering said number at an ISO/IEC 78 12-1 and/or ANSI X4.13 compliant POS terminal, the P05 terminal forming a concatenated string comprising said number, P05 terminal identifier and an issuer identification number and sending the string to an acquirer, which acquirer after validating the string sends the string to the issuer, wherein the issuer authenticates the voucher number and amends the string such that the string now comprises the cash value, POS terminal identifier and an issuer identification number, which amended string authorises payment for the value of the cash value, the amended string being transmitted via the acquirer to the POS terminal to authorise the redemption of the voucher for the cash value.

The solution according to the invention obviates the inherent problems in the known solutions by using existing point of sale equipment to validate and redeem the voucher. The use of existing equipment and standard processes developed by card payment schemes not only reduces the cost of adopting the voucher scheme for the retailer but as the existing equipment is familiar and trusted, there is consequently a much lower cost in terms of retailer training and also a greater trust and therefore acceptance than for a solution requiring new equipment.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the examples.

The electronic funds transfer network is one of the most widely adopted point of sale equipment and is now found in even most small retail stores and businesses. The electronic funds transfer network operates in compliance with international standards, specifically ISO/IEC 78 121:2000 and ANSI X4.13 and these standards apply to both standalone payment terminals and also integrated electronic point of sale equipment, in which the payment terminal is integrated with a cash register. According to these standards any payment card will be given a sixteen digit number, the first six digits of which identifier the issuer and product type with the next 9 digits forming the customer or card identifier and the final digit being a check digit.

In use, when a customer or retailer wishes to validate a transaction request, the card is read either via the magnetic strip or via the chip. The POS terminal generates a concatenated string including an identifier corresponding to the card number and also a string corresponding to the sum for which validation has been requested. The string also includes further parameters including time and date of request, the transaction type and an identifier for the particular terminal. The POS then calls an acquirer, which checks that the data is in the correct format and the acquirer then passes the request to the card issuer. The card issuer then either authorises or refuses the requested charge back to the acquirer, which then transmits the resultant authorisation or refusal to the POS terminal.

In a first example relating to a promotion on wine, participating retailers are provided with a swipe card having the same physical size and properties as a standards compliant credit card. The card is provided with a 16 digit number comprising four digits 6337 as the Issuer's identification number or uN followed by 12 zeros.

The promoter sends a standard SMS message to the mobile telephone of a potential customer consisting of a six digit code, which code represents a cash value electronic voucher worth, say, 5.99. As modern chip and pin P05 terminals support alphanumeric characters, the number may consist of digits and/or letters, although for simplicity digits will most be used.

When the customers wishes to redeem the voucher, the retailer swipes the swipe card through their standard EFTPOS terminal and when prompted for the value of the authorisation request keys in the voucher code and hits return. The EFTPOS terminal then forms the concatenated string required by the acquirer's validation check in the conventional manner and in this case the acquirer regards the voucher code to be a monetary sum.

The acquirer then seeks authorisation from the issuer. The issuer recognises from the card number that the request relates to an electronic voucher. The voucher number is then authenticated. If the voucher number is valid, then the issuer authorises a payment corresponding to the voucher value, in this case 5.99 and then cancels the vouchers. If the voucher number is invalid, then the issuer returns a standard refusal message. In the case of an authorised payment, the acquirer then returns the voucher authorisation to POS for the sum of 5.99 together with a redemption reference code.

This is then printed by the POS terminal to provide a paper trail for the retailer and issuer in the same manner as for a credit card and the retailer will be re-imbursed through the same mechanisms as for credit card payments.

Although in the example a six character code is used, it would be possible to use code lengths of different lengths up to a maximum often digits. It would also be possible to enter the sixteen digit number manually.

In a second example, also relating to a wine promotion, the promotion is not restricted to participating retailers. in this example, the promoter sends a standard SMS message to the mobile telephone of a potential customer consisting of a sixteen digit code, which code represents a cash value electronic voucher worth, say, 5.99. The code in this case comprises the same four digits relating to the issuer, say 6337, followed by 01 to denote a different product followed by a further ten digits.

To redeem the voucher, the retailer or customer simply keys in the 16 digit number into the EFTPOS terminal when prompted for the card number. When prompted for the transaction value, a zero sum is entered. The EFTPOS terminal then forms the concatenated string required by the acquirer's validation check in the conventional manner.

The acquirer then seeks authorisation from the issuer. The issuer recognises from the card number that the request relates to an electronic voucher. The "card" or voucher number is then authenticated. If the "card" or voucher number is valid, then the issuer authorises a payment corresponding to the voucher value, in this case 5.99 and then cancels the vouchers. If the voucher number is invalid, then the issuer returns a standard refusal message. In the case of an authorised payment, the acquirer then returns the voucher authorisation to POS for the sum of 5.99 together with a redemption reference code. As with the previous example this is then printed by the POS terminal to provide a paper trail for the retailer and issuer in the same manner as for a credit card and the retailer will be re-imbursed through the same mechanisms as for credit card payments.

in both examples the electronic voucher emulates a standard payment card authorisation request from the point of view of the retailer and acquirer and thus takes advantage of the existing infrastructure in place in shops. in contrast to known systems the authorised redemption sum is generally not the same as the figure assumed to be the sum for which authorisation is requested by the acquirer.

It is also possible for some EFTPOS terminals to emulate some of the steps alluded to above as a software program invoked by a single keystroke or function request obviating the need for either a plastic card or manual entry of the voucher number. It would also be possible to distribute the vouchers via e-mail, television, radio, post or the Internet

Claims

Claims 1. A method for redeeming cash value vouchers using an ISO/IEC

7812-1 and/or ANSI X4. 13 compliant PUS terminal comprising the steps of providing a cash value voucher comprising an alphanumeric number and having a cash value, which cash value is not related to the number, entering said number at an ISO/IEC 7812-1 and/or ANSI X4.13 compliant PUS terminal, the POS terminal forming a concatenated string comprising said number, PUS terminal identifier and an issuer identification number and sending the string to an acquirer, which acquirer after validating the string sends the string to the issuer, wherein the issuer authenticates the voucher number and amends the string such that the string now comprises the cash value, PUS terminal identifier and an issuer identification number, which amended string authorises payment for the value of the cash value, the amended string being transmitted via the acquirer to the PUS terminal to authorise the redemption of the voucher for the cash value.

2. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the cash value voucher is distributed to a customer via a portable electronic device.

3. A method according to Claim 2, wherein the device is a mobile telephone.

4. A method according to any one of Claims I to 3, wherein a sixteen digit number is entered at the PUS terminal, the first four digits of which comprise the issuer identification number.

5. A method according to Claim 4, wherein in a subsequent step the voucher number is entered at the PUS terminal.

6. A method according to Claim 4, wherein the sixteen digit number further comprises the voucher number and a zero value is entered at the POS terminal in a subsequent step.