NZ704281A - System and method to process transactions at retail fueling facilities - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to processing of transactions and, in certain embodiments, to transactions at retail fueling facilities that occur via electronic commerce and/or via electronic systems configured to settle transactions. Fueling facilities offer various products to end users and complete transactions at automated or semi-automated fuel dispensers. Conventional fuel dispensers can receive payment information (e.g., a swiped debit card) and dispense fuel. These fuel dispensers communicate with a point-of-sale (POS) system to process credit-card transactions by preauthorizing the card before fueling and charging the appropriate amount to the card after fueling. The fuel dispensers can also prompt the user to purchase other products, e.g., a car wash. Any additional purchases or special offers are included in the final amount charged to the card. To complete the transaction, the payment terminal in the fuel dispenser can send this final amount to the POS, which communicates with a payment network to process and complete the transaction. An increasing number of payment options are available, such as mobile-telephone payment systems (sometimes called “electronic wallets”). Examples of such systems are those based on the EMV standard, e.g., PAYPASS® by MASTERCARD®. However, these systems generally deal with purchase transactions for a fixed amount. Therefore, even if a mobile device is used for payment, the end user must still interact with the payment terminal on the dispenser for any function other than charging the final amount. To address one or more issues with the existing technology, or to at least provide a useful alternative, described herein is a method for completing a mobile payment transaction for a purchase at a retail fueling facility, comprising: at a transaction gateway component remote from the retail fueling facility and having access to a processor and a memory: receiving, from a payment processing component remote from the retail fueling facility, a first input with data that relates to a fueling point identifier that the payment processing component received from a mobile device to initiate a mobile payment transaction for fuel; generating a first output with site data that identifies the retail fueling facility in accordance with the fueling point identifier; communicating the first output to the payment processing component; after communicating the first output to the payment processing component, receiving, from the payment processing component in response to the payment processing component’s receipt of the first output, a second input with data to initiate the transaction; generating a second output in response to the second input, the second output having data to enable operation of a fuel dispenser at the retail fueling facility; communicating the second output to a forecourt system that operates the fuel dispenser at the retail fueling facility to enable the fuel dispenser to dispense fuel; receiving, from the forecourt system in response to the forecourt system’s receipt of the second output and the dispensing of the fuel, a third input with data to complete the transaction; in response to the receipt of the third input, generating a third output with data that reflects the transaction is complete; and communicating the third output to the payment processing component for transmission to the mobile device to finalize the mobile payment transaction.