Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
  • G06Q20/381—Currency conversion
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
  • G06Q30/0283—Price estimation or determination

Definitions

• the present invention relates to sale and purchase of goods and services over a network, and systems and methods for altering the currency of the purchase.
• the present invention is directed to allowing this sale and purchase to occur in a default currency, or any one of a number of currencies chosen by the purchaser or set from the purchaser's location.
• a purchaser may want to pay in currency different to the server location, or network, the goods and services are offered on.
• a purchaser of goods located in Australia may want to pay Australian dollars for products offered from a website that is located in Europe.
• the purchaser may wish to elect a currency that is different to that of their home location or the server or network location.
• Multi-Currency Pricing is defined to be a financial service which allows businesses to price goods and services in a variety of foreign currencies, while continuing to receive settlement and reporting in their home currency.
• MCP Multi-Currency Pricing
• merchants can sell the same item to US customers in US Dollars, French customers in Euros, and Japanese customers in Japanese Yen.
• MCP allows cardholders to shop, view prices and pay in the currency of their choice while merchants receive their settlements in their accounting currency.
• this was a complex process, and merchants only had the ability to price their goods in a handful of currencies.
• ecommerce merchants can price their wares in a range of currencies, can receive and update multi-currency pricing information in real time, and the clients have the ability to make a choice with relative ease.
• the Payment Card Number can be employed for example, such as is used for Point of Sale terminal currency conversion.
• this method requires insertion of the card number and therefore further waiting.
• the present invention consists in a method of multi-currency pricing over a network, comprising or including the steps of,
• said identifying data is any one or more of the following,
• said information includes at least one product or service for sale for said price.
• Preferably said information is provided over said network from a second said computer device in at least one second said geographic location.
• said first computer device or a user thereof can override said first currency and set it to a second currency of their choosing.
• said first currency is the same as said second currency when said first geographic location and said second geographic location are the same.
• said first computer device or a user thereof purchases said at least one product or service in said first or second currency ("session currency").
• said first computer device or user thereof is billed in said session currency for said purchase.
• said second computer device enables payment of a seller or merchant of said at least one product or service in a third currency.
• said payment in said third currency is based on an equivalent to said price in said third currency.
• said third currency is based on a location of said seller or merchant or is a chosen currency of said seller or merchant.
• said step of detecting said first geographic location involves decoding, reverse coding, matching or looking up said identifying data in a database to obtain said first geographic location.
• said identifying data is said Global Positioning System coordinates or said Latitude and longitude, these are reverse geocoded to obtain said first geographic location.
• Preferably said step of choosing said first currency involves looking up the local currency of said first geographic location.
• the steps of calculating an equivalent to said price involve looking up the exchange rate for that currency.
• the present invention consists in a computer implemented method of multi-currency pricing over a network, comprising or including the steps of,
• the present invention consists in a computer operated program adapted to run on a second computer device connected to a network, comprising or including the steps of,
• the present invention consists in a computer device, said computer device ("second computer device”) operatively connected to a network and located in a second geographic location, to carry out the following steps,
• the present invention consists in a system for multi-currency pricing, adapted to run on a second computer device operatively connected to a network and located in a second geographic location, to carry out the following steps,
• the present invention consists in a method of multi-currency pricing over a network, comprising or including the steps of,
• said information provided to said first computer device is in said first currency, which is the local currency of said first geographic location.
• said information includes at least one product or service for sale for said price.
• Preferably said information is provided over said network from a second said computer device in at least one second said location.
• said first currency is the same as said second currency when said first geographic location and said second location are the same.
• said locations are countries.
• said first computer device or a user thereof can override said first currency and set it to a second currency of their choosing.
• said first computer device or a user thereof purchases said at least one product or service in said first or second currency ("session currency").
• said first computer device or user thereof is billed in said session currency for said purchase.
• said second computer device enables payment of a seller or merchant of said at least one product or service in a third currency.
• said payment in said third currency is based on an equivalent to said price in said third currency.
• said third currency is based on a location of said seller or merchant or is a chosen currency of said seller or merchant.
• said step of detecting said first geographic location involves looking up said internet protocol address (or equivalent) in an internet protocol address (or equivalent) database to obtain said first geographic location.
• Preferably said step of choosing said first currency involves looking up the local currency of said first geographic location.
• steps of calculating an equivalent to said price involve looking up the exchange rate for that currency.
• the present invention consists in a computer implemented method of multi-currency pricing over a network, comprising or including the steps of,
• said information provided to said first computer device is in said first currency, which is the local currency of said first geographic location.
• the present invention consists in a computer operated program adapted to run on a second computer device connected to a network, comprising or including the steps of
• said information provided to said first computer device is in said first currency, which is the local currency of said first geographic location.
• the present invention consists in a computer device, said computer device ("second computer device”) operatively connected to a network and located in a second location, to carry out the following steps,
• said information provided to said first computer device is in said first currency, which is the local currency of said first geographic location.
• the present invention consists in a system for multicurrency pricing, adapted to run on a second computer device operatively connected to a network and located in a second location, to carry out the following steps,
• the present invention consists in a method of multi-currency pricing over a network as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings. In yet another aspect still the present invention consists in a computer implemented method of multi-currency pricing over a network as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
• the present invention consists in a computer operated program as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
• the present invention consists in a computer device as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings. In yet another aspect the present invention consists in a system for multi-currency pricing as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
• Figure 1 illustrates shows a flow chart of one preferred method of the present
• Figure 2 shows an illustrative example of screen shot showing a drop down window showing the location based session currency in Australia as AUD, whereby the drop down window allows for over-riding of the location based session currency,
• Figure 3 shows an illustrative example of a screen shot showing the resulting
• Figure 4 shows an illustrative example of a screen shot showing the resulting
• Figure 5 shows a further illustrative example of screen shot showing a drop down window showing the location based session currency in Japan as Yen, whereby the drop down window allows for over-riding of the location based session currency,
• Figure 6 shows a further illustrative example of a screen shot showing the resulting purchase offer to a user, in this case for hotel rooms with the session currency location in Yen,
• Figure 7 shows an illustrative example of a screen shot showing the resulting
• Figure 8 illustrates shows a further flow chart of a preferred method of the present invention
• Figure 9 is a flow chart showing the workflow inside the Foreign Exchange Server of Figure 8.
• MCP Location based multi-currency pricing
• Figure 1 refers to the situation in which the preferred currency (session currency) for a transaction is determined on the basis of the geographic location of the client, that is, the (first) computer device itself the user is on and its geographic location (first geographic location) (3). The location is made found using identifying data of the device.
• the device may be a computer, laptop, or smart device such as a phone, tablet or similar.
• the identifying data of the device of a user can be of a variety of types.
• One convenient choice is using the IP address of the client/shopper.
• the first geographic location (3) is determined from the users IP address (or equivalent identifier) employing a special technique called geographic location identification.
• IP Internet Protocol
• the user/client IP information is present in every IP packet ("Source IP address”), from the first handshake packet to the last goodbye packet.
• the server has to extract this information from the packet and keep it handy for sending the response packet back (where this IP address becomes "Destination IP address”). This occurs within the operating system of the computer device.
• An alternative approach would be to use client's geographical co-ordinates rather than the IP address.
• Geographical location of the cellular wireless network devices like mobile phones or tablets can be established using geocoding technology.
• Applications sitting on a mobile device can be enabled to receive the geographical co-ordinates of the device, and this information can be passed to the ecommerce server application where it is used to establish the location (Reverse-Geocoding), and probable native currency of the user.
• identifying data There are also other possibilities for identifying data.
• location means that geographic location determined from identifying data, such as but not limited to IP address of the user's device, or geographical co-ordinates of the user's device or any other information that can be used to establish the physical location of the client.
• the merchant ecommerce application runs on a server or similar (second computer device (10)), this is located at a second location or locations.
• the second location(s) could be the same country as the first geographic location (3), but often due to the extent and speed of the network will be different.
• the second computer device (10) as a server is enabled to identify the client location (3) from the identifying data, for example its source identifying data such as IP address, of from reverse geocoding, when the communication starts between the two applications (that is on the user's computer device (2) and the server (10)) and on that basis sets the Session Currency (4) for that client.
• Session Currency refers to the currency identified as belonging to the physical geographic location (3) from where the client is found to access the ecommerce application. Thus if the client is identified to be located in Sydney in
• the Session Currency (4) is set to Australian Dollars or AU$, likewise if the client is identified to be located in Osaka, the Session Currency (4) is set to Japanese Yen, or JPY. To guard against the possibility the geographic location may have been misidentified, the client is offered the opportunity to over-ride the identifying data currency determination by presenting him or her with a choice of different payment currencies, and a new overriding Session Currency (6) (also referred to as a third currency) may be set depending on the choice made by the client.
• a new overriding Session Currency (6) also referred to as a third currency
• the invention offers the location identification and conversion service along with both gateway services and forex rate management and treasury services, exactly which service components will be picked up and how they will be deployed would vary across implementations.
• the identifying data of geographic location to Currency conversion is based on Geographic location Technology. For example when IP address based locations is used then compilations of IP to geographic locations are compiled as a database, sometimes by third parties. Since new IP allocations are made all the time, and existing allocations change, the database is updated regularly. IP address and geographic location matchings are held in these geographic location databases. Such databases are available on a subscription basis. Once the geographic location database is procured, it can be installed on the ecommerce server itself, or could become part of the Foreign Exchange Rate Service driven by a standalone Foreign Exchange Rate Server, or the Payment Gateway itself.
• the second computer device (10) (for example a web server) itself could be enabled to run the geographic location identification step, and possibly display purchase value in foreign currency using locally cached forex rate information. That is the second computer device (10) could also contain the forex server (12) and geographic location server (13). This step may or may not require the geographic location database.
• the geographic location identification step could be run on the forex server ( 2) rather than through the payment gateway (1 ). In this instance, the web server (10)
• the forex server (12) and payment gateway (11) could be combined together into one service and offered from a single host.
• One feature of the present invention is the ability to combine both the payment gateway (11) and the forex server (12).
• the first step relates to receiving the MCP transactions from the payment gateway (11).
• a payment gateway (11) processes a payment transaction, it forwards this information to the Geneva Space (11).
• the USD Server (12) including the amount of transaction in the base currency (which is the same as the merchant currency), and the amount of the transaction in the customer currency (as determined from the identifying data, also called transaction currency).
• the identifying data also called transaction currency.
• the merchant to whom the ecommerce application belongs is located in Singapore, and the shopper is located in Japan, these values will be respectively in SGD and JPY.
• MCP transactions with different base currencies and transactions are flowing in to the Geneva Server (12) (assuming it is servicing merchants from many countries), and it can aggregate the base currency values for each base currency at any point in time, as in step 2.
• each currency adjusted for any deductions or enhancements, indicate the payment liability against each base currency (step 3).
• the invention can compute cash receivable against each currency (the aggregate of values in transaction currencies). These two will almost never match, there is normally a surplus in some currencies and deficit in others, these correspond to the net positions (step 4).
• a server or owner can then trade the excess amounts in a set of currencies against deficiency in a different set of currencies (step 5).
• the server (or owner) can settle with its forex trade counter parties as per the trades (step 6), and finally settle with merchants as per the computation in step 3 (step 7).
• Example 1 Examples of the user interface produced by the present invention running behind it are discussed in the following examples to explain the user's interaction with the invention.
• Example 1 Examples of the user interface produced by the present invention running behind it are discussed in the following examples to explain the user's interaction with the invention.
• the user accesses the ecommerce application via a first computer device (2) on a network (1) which in turn is connected to at least one second computer device (10), the general architecture of this is shown in Figure 8.
• the application initially sets the Session Currency (4) (also referred to as the first currency) on the basis of the user's device identifying data and the geographic location identification process as outlined above.
• the offer to over-ride the automatically set Session Currency (4) may be made at an appropriate location in the application. Typically it will be inserted at a location where any pricing information is initially displayed, or it's about to be displayed with the next click. In our example we assume the latter. Thus for an Australian customer, the choice box as a drop down window (5) of Figure 2 will be displayed near the point where the client starts exploring the accommodation prices.
• the default session currency (4) based on location is shown at the top and the drop down window (5) thus allows over-riding of the default location based session currency.
• this client Once this client has confirmed the session currency (either by accepting the default one, or overriding it) they can then insert the initial booking details. For example, when, where and for how long, likely acceptable price ranges, and number of people. Then the ecommerce application may be ready to display the accommodation prices, as in Figure 3. In this example, we assume that the geographic location was identified correctly, and the client didn't over-ride it.
• the currency choice dialog box shown in Figure 2 may be included here once more if the client had over-ridden the automatically identified payment currency, thus giving her the opportunity to review how the gross value looks in different currencies. Again the first geographic location (3) of the user or first computer device (2) is displayed. Example 2
• Figures 2, 3 and 4 for a similar session for a visitor whose first geographic location (3) is Japan will look as in Figures 5, 6, and 7, and they would vary likewise for other currencies.
• like integers refer to like features as described in Example 1 , with the exception the first geographic location is now Japan (3), and the session currency (4) is now in yen.
• the merchant default currency let's say Singapore Dollar or SGD assuming the merchant is located in Singapore, would display in a likewise manner for clients or first computer devices (2) identified as local, Singapore in this example.
• the default session currency (4) would be the same as the merchant currency because the two are based in the same country location.
• the different parties in the process and the network (1) between them are shown in Figure 8.
• the second computer device (10) for example a web server running the MCP enabled ecommerce application, needs also access to a foreign exchange (Forex) service and Location Identification Service. These are usually provided by the payment gateway (11) as shown in the Figure 8, which in turn is connected to a forex server (12) and geographic location server (13). These may be on the same server as shown or may be on difference computer devices.
• forex rates are updated at a frequency that can vary from one application to another, in a preferred embodiment this is usually one hour.
• the forex rates and location service may be accessed on a per transaction basis, or bulk information may be downloaded to the payment gateway (11) and onto the MCP enabled second computer device (10), and periodically refreshed.
• the payment gateway (11) will then notify the acquiring bank (14) to debit the users account or card in the first currency and to credit or pay the merchant in the second currency.

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• 2011
  • 2011-11-10 NZ NZ59634611A patent/NZ596346A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2012
  • 2012-11-12 KR KR20147015761A patent/KR20140128293A/ko not_active Ceased
  • 2012-11-12 CN CN201810193420.4A patent/CN108537539A/zh active Pending
  • 2012-11-12 CN CN201280059574.5A patent/CN104040582A/zh active Pending
  • 2012-11-12 AU AU2012335336A patent/AU2012335336A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-11-12 WO PCT/IB2012/002292 patent/WO2013068827A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-11-12 IN IN1206KON2014 patent/IN2014KN01206A/en unknown
  • 2012-11-12 EP EP20120847764 patent/EP2777007A4/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-11-12 US US14/357,599 patent/US20150046308A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-11-12 SG SG11201402159SA patent/SG11201402159SA/en unknown

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