NZ201995A - Cashless transaction device and method - Google Patents

Description

•201995 Q 2 6 MAR J984 JjZCEiVFn J NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT, 1953 No.: New-Zealand Provisional Patent Application 201,995 Date: 24 December 1982 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION "AUTOMATION OF COMMERCIAL CREDIT TRANSACTIONS" . -Si _ c I/Wtf? GRAEME WILLIAM SANGER, a New Zealand citizen of 52 A. J. r. « b.

Kenwood Road, RD 2, New Plymouth.

O' hereby declare the invention for which I /jNiec pray that a patent may be granted to me/\xs<; and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- _ 1 - followed by page la •? '.X V../' la p n -f r> n rr ^ w a. «-> v O This Invention relates to a method and apparatus for the automation of commercial credit transactions.

It has been well appreciated by vendors, purchasers 3nd banks alike that there are many advantages In moving to a so called "cash-less society". As between puchaser and vendor credit cards already have wide useage.

Additionally banks have for some time In New Zealand employed electronic fund transfer systems and automatic payments by direct debiting and crediting of accounts. However the present applicant suggests that the full potential of such cash-less transfers has not yet been fully realized. In particular It would be advantageous to: 1. further automate the means of transaction between purchaser and vendor, 2. combine the advangtages of a debit/credit card system with a bank direct debit/credit system, and 3. allow the purchaser to execute the data entry for a transaction as with a cheque and contrary to a conventional card system.

While so-called "Smart Cards" containing a microprocessor and semiconductor memory (see, for example, U.S. Patents 3,971,916 and 4,211,919) go some way to providing these advantages they require separate and cumbersome data entry and display terminals.

A comprehensive credit transaction system as Is envisaged herein, while having general application, has specific application to vendors and their customers where cash paid by customers Is easily stolen. An example Is the milk trade where It Is common for purchasers to leave cash for milk vendors at locations such as letterboxes which are easily accessible to members of the public who Indulge In theft. o It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a credit transaction system which will provide the above mentioned advantages.

In one aspect the invention consists in a method of automating commercial credit transactions whereby: (a) purchasers are provided with communicating portable electronic keypad/display/memory devices corresponding to a bank account of that purchaser, which devices non-erasably store the corresponding account number and purchaser identification data, and are capable of storing erasable transaction data entered therein only upon receipt and validation of the corresponding indentification data at the commencement of the transaction entry process, (b) vendors are provided with device readers which (i) when connected to said devices read and accumulate vendor-specific transaction data contained in said devices and, (ii) when connected to a host processor at a collecting bank are capable of transmitting accumulated transaction data to said collecting bank and (c) banks are provided with host processors which are capable of receiving transaction data from said vendor readers in a form compatible with electronic funds transfer systems for crediting vendors' bank accounts and conveying such data to payee banks for correspondingly debiting purchaser accounts; the complete transactions as between purchaser and vendor being accomplished without the use of cash or other negotiable instruments. -x E • ! t •3 ^ o\\ ' \v 2 5 AUG 1987 // 3 o o - -i. tj One preferred form of the Invention will now be described to illustrate an automated credit purchasing scheme according to the present Invention. The three parties involved In the scheme are: 1. a trader, 2. his customers, and 3. a centralized banking system.

Each customer of the trader Is provided with a portable keyboard/storage device (to be described) by the bank or banks participating in the credit purchasing scheme just as cheque books have been Issued hitherto. Each customer participating in the scheme must operate a bank account and the device provided by the bank allows this account to be utilized In the manner to be described. The device contains in non-erasable form, the customer's bank account number and preferably other customer identification Information such as customer name.

To use the device the customer inserts his account number. An "account payment" key Is then pressed and any other relevant Information Inserted. The device is then electrically connected via a standard data communication Interface to a terminal located with the trader. The traders terminal will have had keyed Into It Information on the goods or service befng supplied to the customer and cost.

On instruction the trader's terminal reads the account code stored in the customers device and stores this together with the amount of the transaction In non-volatile memory for subsequent recall and transmission to the banking system. This information together with trader account number and transaction data can be transmitted either "on line" via a modem or "off line" via magnetic tape, cassette or disk. The banks will use this Information to directly debit the customers account and credit the traders account. Thus In this described mode the aevice is functioning as an electronic cheque. '7 - V "9* 4- ;20^ ;During the period when the customer device Is connected to the trader terminal details of the transaction are passed from the trader terminal to the customer device and stored. The customer can recall and display on his device the details of the transaction. The device therefore acts as a receipt avoiding the need for the use of any paper In such a transaction. ;The customer's device has battery-protected memory which Is of sufficient capacity to store many transactions for one month. On receipt of a bank statement the customer Is able to perform a reconciliation function by recalling current transactions stored In his device. Through a VDU interface these may conveniently be displayed on his television set. ;In another mode of operation the customer device Is used as a data entry terminal to order purchases either on or off-line. A typical off-line use would be the ordering of milk supplied to the customer's gate by a milk vendor. In one form the device keypad would have "soft" function keys which could be rendered specific to milk orders and accordingly the keys would each correspond to particular products supplied by milk vendors and to the units of milk products required. Thus, in use, the customer would, after entry of his unique Identification number to release the keypad for data entry, key In the product types and their corresponding quantities, each of which would appear on the device display. After locking the keypad against unauthorised use the order-loaded device would then be placed so as to be accessible to the milk vendor. Usually this would be with the customer's milk or letterbox. ;The milk vendor would be provided with a portable device reader which would Include a reading station, a display, some control keys and a memory for accumulating product orders and prices. The customer's device would be electrically connected to the reader and the reader display would Indicate the customer's name or other Identifying Information for that device together with the milk order. All this data would be stored In a transaction memory In the vendor's reader with the total value of the customer's order automatically calculatated during the reading process. ;& 5 ;? 0 -f - r; T ;^ ^ -A- c O ;At the end of a run the milk vendor would have stored In the memory of his reader the account numbers of all customers whom he had supplied during that run together with the amounts owing by the customers for the products they had bought. Depending on memory size other Information such as customer name and possibly the products bought, either in full or code form, would also be stored. This Information would then be available for either Intermediate storage on a floppy disk store or for direct transmission via the telephone network to the participating bank. Thus, either Integral with the reader or as a separate unit there would be a communications unit and modem (or acoustical coupler) for linking the reader memory, or the ancillary floppy disk drive, to the telephone network. ;The participating bank or banks would be provided with an Interface to their data processing system which would accept transactions transmitted to them by the milk vendor, credit the vendor's bank account and debit the customer's bank accounts accordingly. Unless the vendor and all his customers have accounts at the same bank there must be a data transfer system between collecting and payee banks. In New Zealand the trading banks already have establI shed such a system through Data Bank Systems Limited. ;The milk vendor could be provided with a microcomputer and printer to enable him to receive sales anaylses produced by processing accumulated transaction data held on the floppy disk already mentioned. The disk drive and communications gear could be Integrated with the microcomputer. ;6 ;201005 ;In an on-line mode of purchasing the device Is connected to a modem Installed in the customer's house and through the telephone network to one or more vendor on-line purchasing data bases. The customer would key In Identification data then press a "product order" function key. The codes for products required would then be entered selected from a printed qulde supplied by the vendor. This Information would then be transmitted to the vendor by pressing a "transmit" key. The vendor would receive from his own terminal directly or through a vendor shared processing system a printed order to make up for delivery. The vendors terminal or a shared control processing system would transmit transaction details to the bank Tn the manner already described. ;As before the customer's device would retain the transaction details for later verification. ;In a similar way the portable device could be used to provide a terminal for home banking, that Is to Instruct a bank to transfer funds, update balances, and to pay accounts by direct credit. The device could be further used as an Identification and debit authorization for cable T.V. and other time-paid Information and entertainment systems. ;The portable customer device referred to above will now be described In more detlal with reference to Figure 1. The device Is essentially a pocket sized data entry and storage device with Intelligence and an external appearance similar to a conventional electronic calculator. It comprises a central processing unit 1, a keypad 2, a low-current display 3, battery-protected read/write memory 4, read-only memory 5 which stores a control program and a unique identification code and an Input/output port 6 through which data stored in read/write memory 4 may be transmitted to a vendor reader device 7. The remaining essential components are control/decoding circuitry 8 and battery power supply 9. ;The control program stored In ROM 5 causes the central processing unit 1 to allow transaction data to be entered on keypad 2 only upon prior entry of ;*7 p0-i on5; ^ v.' I t/ U an Identification code which matches that stored In ROM 5. Under program control entered transaction data Is displayed on liquid crystal display 2 and stored In read/write memory 4. The contents of this memory or designated locations of It maybe transmitted through the Input/output port 6 to a reader 7 on entry of either a keypad command or on receipt of a command signal from the reader. The device preferably Is directly plugged Into the reader for this data transfer and no interface cable Is used.

Optional features of the device Include further Input/output ports 10, 11 and 12 to enable the device to couple to a modem 13, or a printer 14, or a television set for enlarged data display respectively.

Claims (3)

- 8 - 201995 WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A method of automating commercial credit transactions whereby: (a) purchasers are provided with communicating portable electronic keypad/display/memory devices corresponding to a bank account of that purchaser, which devices non-erasably store the corresponding account number and purchaser identification data, and are capable of storing erasable transaction data entered therein only upon receipt and validation of the corresponding indentification data at the commencement of the transaction entry process, (b) vendors are provided with device readers which (i) when connected to said devices read and accumulate vendor-specific transaction data contained in said devices and, (ii) when connected to a host processor at a collecting bank are capable of transmitting accumulated transaction data to said collecting bank and (c) banks are provided with host processors which are capable of receiving transaction data from said vendor readers in a form compatible with electronic funds transfer systems for crediting vendors' bank accounts and conveying such data to payee banks for correspondingly debiting purchaser accounts; the complete transactions as between purchaser and vendor being accomplished without the use of cash or other negotiable instruments.

2. A method of automating commercial credit transactions substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing. ^.

3. A communicating portable data entry and storage device substantially as * •hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing. Jj ?,y j^K/dieir authorised Agents. <2 J A. J. PARK & SON.