WO2017009636A2

WO2017009636A2 - A computer-implemented method and system to facilitate processing of transactions

Info

Publication number: WO2017009636A2
Application number: PCT/GB2016/052106
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jamal Y A M ALTARKAIT
Original assignee: Altarkait Jamal Y A M
Priority date: 2015-07-13
Filing date: 2016-07-12
Publication date: 2017-01-19
Also published as: GB201512198D0; WO2017009636A3

Abstract

The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method to facilitate a multi-party transaction. The method includes the steps of a first party receiving a transaction code from a payee at a first device; wherein the transaction code is associated with a transaction comprising a transaction payment amount; sharing information associated with the transaction from the first device with one or more further parties' devices; a server receiving confirmation from at least one of the further parties' devices in relation to payment sharing of the transaction; the server actuating a first payment from an account of the first party to an account of the payee; and the server actuating a further payment from an account of each confirmed further parties to the account of the payee. A method to facilitate multi-account transactions is also disclosed along with systems to facilitate transaction processing.

Description

A Computer-Implemented Method and System to Facilitate Processing of Transactions

Field of Invention

The present invention is in the field of transaction processing. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to multiparty/account transaction processing. Background

A number of electronic payment mechanisms exist to enable individuals to pay for charges issued by merchants without using physical cash. In face-to-face transactions, such as individuals within stores or restaurants, the individual can pay for goods or services using a credit/debit card and a swipe or chip-and-pin device, or an NFC (Near-Field-Communication) payment solution such as Apple Pay. In online transactions, an individual can pay for goods or services using a payment gateway which may utilise pre-stored information about the individual's payment cards, or via an intermediary payment solution such as Paypal. There are no solutions that provide for seamless payment of transactions by multiple parties or from multiple accounts. To pay for a transaction by multiple parties or accounts, the merchant is required to split the transaction up into multiple transactions which are then separately paid by the individual and/or others who are sharing payment of the transaction. There is a desire for an easy-to-use system where an individual can control division of the payment amount and which administers full payment of the transaction amongst multiple parties/accounts. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for facilitating transactions which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least provides a useful alternative.

Summary of Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a computer- implemented method to facilitate a multi-party transaction, including:

A first party receiving a transaction code from a payee at a first device; wherein the transaction code is associated with a transaction comprising a transaction payment amount;

Sharing information associated with the transaction from the first device with one or more further parties' devices;

A server receiving confirmation from at least one of the further parties' devices in relation to payment sharing of the transaction;

The server actuating a first payment from an account of the first party to an account of the payee; and

The server actuating a further payment from an account of each confirmed further parties to the account of the payee. The payee may be a merchant.

The first party and the further parties may be individuals.

The first party may receive the transaction code at a mobile device.

The information shared with the one or more further parties' devices may include, at least, a total amount for the transaction. The information shared with the one or more further parties' devices may include a suggested payment amount for the receiving further parties. The information shared with the one or more further parties' devices may include a fixed payment amount for the receiving further parties.

The total amount of the first payment and the further payments to the account of the payee may comprise the transaction payment amount excluding a transaction fee.

The confirmation received from each of the further parties' devices may include the amount of the payment to be transferred from the account of each further party to the account of the payee.

The transaction code may be received by the first device via any one of a camera, an NFC reader, a LE Bluetooth component, or a user input.

The first device may communicate with a server to retrieve transaction information using the transaction code.

The first party may defines one or more groups, each group comprising a plurality of individuals. The method may further include the step of the first party selecting one or more groups at the first device to share the payment with such that information is then shared with the devices of the parties within the selected group or groups. The method further include, prior to the step of sharing information associated with the transactions, providing a structured two-way communications channel between the first device and devices for a plurality of individuals such that information relating to a potential transaction can be shared. The one or more further parties may be a sub-set of the plurality of individuals. The first party may select the one or more further parties from the sub-set of the plurality of individuals. The information shared over the communications channel may include photographs. The communications channel may be a chat-room.

The transaction may relate to a periodic bill. The method may include a step of transmitting to the first device a reminder in relation to the transaction. The first and further payments may be actuated via a payment gateway. Each of the further payments may be authorised at the payment gateway once confirmation is received from the associated further party. All of the further payments may be captured at the payment gateway once confirmation is received from all further parties.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a system for facilitating multi-party transactions, including:

A first device configured for receiving a transaction code from a payee, for sharing information associated with the transaction from the first device with one or more further user devices, and for receiving confirmation from at least one of the further user devices in relation to payment sharing of the transaction;

wherein the transaction code is associated with a transaction comprising a transaction payment amount;

A plurality of user devices, each configured for receiving information associated with the transaction from the first device and for receiving confirmation of payment sharing from a user of the user device;

A server configured for associated a transaction code with a transaction and for transmitting information associated with the transaction to the first device; and

A payment gateway configured for actuating payment from the account of the user of the first device to an account of the payee and for actuating payment from an account for each confirming user of the user devices to an account of the payee.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a computer- implemented method to facilitate a multi-account transaction, including:

A first party receiving a transaction code from a payee at a device; wherein the transaction code is associated with a transaction comprising a transaction payment amount;

Receiving selection of a plurality of accounts for the first party at the device; Receiving allocation of an amount of the transaction for each of the plurality of accounts at the device; and

Actuating payment from each of the plurality of accounts for the allocated amount to an account of the payee. The payee may be a merchant.

The first party may be an individual.

The first party may receive the transaction code at a mobile device.

The transaction may relate to a periodic bill. The method may include a step of transmitting to the first device a reminder in relation to the transaction. According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a system for facilitating multi-account transactions, including: A device configured for receiving a transaction code from a payee, for receiving selection of a plurality of accounts for the first party at the device, for receiving allocation of an amount of the transaction for each of the plurality of accounts at the device; wherein the transaction code is associated with a transaction comprising a transaction payment amount;

A server configured for associated a transaction code with a transaction and for transmitting information associated with the transaction to the device; and A payment gateway configured for actuating payment from each of the plurality of accounts for the allocated amount to an account of the payee.

Other aspects of the invention are described within the claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 : shows a block diagram illustrating a system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2: shows a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 3: shows a flow diagram illustrating another method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4: shows a sequence diagram illustrating a method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 5: shows a sequence diagram illustrating another method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figures 6 to 14:

show user interfaces on user devices illustrating elements of methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

The present invention provides a method and system for facilitating transactions. In Figure 1 , a system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown.

The system 100 includes a first device 101 , such as a computing device (i.e. a desktop or laptop computer) or mobile computing device (i.e. a smart-phone or tablet computer) for use by a first individual.

The first device 101 may include a processor 102 connected (for example, via a communications bus) to a display 103, an input 104, a communications module 105, a capture module 106, and a memory 107.

The display 103 may be an electronic display such as an OLED or LED screen. The input 104 may be a one or more of a keyboard, pointer device (such as a mouse or trackpad), or a near-touch or touch input. In one embodiment, the display 103 and input 104 together comprise a touch-screen.

It will be appreciated that other inputs may be envisioned such as a microphone with a command/voice recognition module.

The capture module 106 may be a camera for capturing information by photographing a code (such as a 2D or 3D barcode), or a short-range communications module such as Bluetooth LE or NFC for capturing information from a transmitting device over a wireless protocol. The system 100 may also include a plurality of user devices 108, such as computing devices (i.e. a desktop or laptop computer) or mobile computing devices (i.e. a smart-phone or tablet computer), for use by other individuals.

The system 100 also includes a server 109. The server 109 may include a processor 1 10, a memory 1 1 1 , and a communications module 1 12.

The system 100 may also include a merchant device 1 13. In other embodiments, the merchant device 1 13 may be a payee device 1 13.

The first device 101 is configured to receive a transaction code from a merchant. The input 104 may be configured to receive the transaction code from the user of the device 101 by entering the code as a string of numeric, alphabetic, alphanumeric digits, or other symbols. In one embodiment, the capture module 106 is configured to capture the transaction code from a visual representation of the transaction code (such as a 2D or 3D barcode - for example, a QR code). In one embodiment, the capture module 106 is configured to capture the transaction code as a wireless signal from a transmitting device.

In one embodiment, the merchant device 1 13 is configured to display the transaction code as a visual representation for capture by the capture module 106 or for verbal communication by the user of the merchant device 1 13 to the user of the device 101 , for example, on a display at the merchant device 1 13. In another embodiment, the merchant device 1 13 is configured to transmit the transaction code via a short-range transmission protocol (such as Bluetooth LE, NFC, or any other wireless protocol including audio) for capture by the capture module 106.

In one embodiment, the merchant device 1 13 may be configured to request a transaction code from the server 109. Transaction information (such as amount and details of the transaction) may be provided by the merchant device 1 13 to the server 109 within the request. The server 109 may be configured to store the transaction information and transmit the transaction code to the merchant device 1 13.

The merchant device 1 13 may be configured to communicate with the server 109 via a communications system 1 14. The communications system may be network or combination of networks, such as a wireless network, LAN, WAN, Internet and/or cellular networks.

The first device 101 may also be configured to communicate with the server 109 via the communications system 1 14. The first device 101 may be configured to transmit the transaction code to the server 109 along with information about sharing or splitting the transaction amount across multiple individuals or multiple accounts. The sharing information may include the payment amount desired from each individual or account.

The server 109 may be further configured to communicate with user devices 108 of individuals with whom the payment is desired to be shared to request confirmation of payment.

The user devices 108 may be configured to confirm, modify or decline payment of the amount desired. The server 109 may be further configured to communicate with a payment gateway 1 15 to authorise payment from the accounts of the confirmed individuals or from the multiple accounts of the individual using device 101 .

It will be appreciated that the accounts may not be specifically the accounts owned by the individuals but may be accounts under the control of those individuals (for example, the account of a business). Referring to Figure 2, a method 200 for facilitating payment of transactions by multiple parties in accordance with an embodiment of the invention will be described. A transaction code corresponding to a transaction between a first party and a payee (i.e. a merchant) is received by the first device 101 in step 201 . The first party may be the user of the first device 101 or the user of the first device 101 may be representing the first party. The transaction code may be received directly from the merchant device 1 13 (for example, via NFC, Bluetooth LE, audio, or video), from a code displayed on the merchant device 1 13 or printed and entered by the user of the first device 101 on the first device 101 as shown in Figure 7, or captured by a camera 106 at the first device 101 from a printed visual code (i.e. a QR code or barcode) as shown in Figure 6. In one embodiment, the transaction code is requested by the merchant device 1 13 from the server 109. The merchant device 1 13 may provide details of the transaction to the server 109, and the server 109 may generate a transaction code for the transaction, map the transaction code to the transaction, and return the transaction code to the merchant device 1 13.

In one embodiment, prior to step 202, the first device 101 may construct a two-way communication channel between the first device 101 and one or more user devices 108 for further parties with whom the user wishes to share the payment. The user may select the further parties individually or by selecting a group comprising the other parties. The communications channel may be a chat-room or forum. Information can be shared over the communications channel, including text, or photographs.

In step 202, information relating to the transaction may be shared with one or more user devices 108 associated with further parties. The first device 101 may receive an indication from the user to share the transaction with those one or more other parties as shown in Figure 8. The indication may be individual selection of each party as shown in Figure 9 or selection of a group comprised of the parties as shown in Figure 10. The first device 101 may also receive an indication or indications from the user on how much each further party is requested to pay of the transaction amount as shown in Figure 12. Information relating to the transaction may be obtained from the server 109 using the received transaction code.

In step 203, the server 109 receives confirmation from the devices 108 of at least some of the further parties in relation to payment sharing of the transaction. Confirmation may comprise concurrence with a requested payment amount, or substitution of an alternative payment amount for that further party. Each of the devices 108 may display to their users a user interface to enable each user to confirm payment as requested or to modify the request payment as shown in Figure 13.

In one embodiment, the server 109 authorises payment via the payment gateway 1 15 once a confirmation is received.

In step 204, the server 109 actuates payment of a first payment from an account of the first party to an account of the payee.

In step 205, the server 109 actuates payment of further payments from an account of each confirmed further parties to an account of the payee. In one embodiment, the first and further payments are actuated via the payment gateway 1 15. Furthermore, the payments may be first authorised once confirmation is received from the device 101 or 108 of a party and then captured (finalised) once confirmations totalling the full payment amount have been received.

In one embodiment, the transaction relates to a periodic bill and reminders are transmitted to the first device 101 in relation to the transaction. Referring to Figure 3, a method 300 for facilitating payment of transactions from multiple accounts for a party in accordance with an embodiment of the invention will be described.

A transaction code corresponding to a transaction between a first party and a payee (i.e. a merchant) is received by the first device 101 in step 301 . The first party may be the user of the first device 101 or be represented by that user. The transaction code may be received directly from the merchant device 1 13 (for example, via NFC, Bluetooth LE, audio, or video), from a code displayed on the merchant device 1 13 or printed and entered by the user of the first device 101 on the first device 101 , or captured by a camera at the first device from a printed visual code (i.e. a QR code or barcode). In one embodiment, the transaction code is requested by the merchant device 1 13 from the server 109. The merchant device 1 13 may provide details of the transaction to the server 109, and the server 109 may generate a transaction code for the transaction, map the transaction code to the transaction, and return the transaction code to the merchant device 1 13.

In step 302, the first device 101 receives selection of a plurality of accounts of the first party from the user.

In step 303, the first device 101 receives allocation of an amount of the transaction for each of the plurality of accounts.

In step 304, payment is actuated by the server 109 from each of the accounts for the allocated amounts to an account of the payee. In one embodiment, the payment is actuated by the server 109 via the payment gateway 1 15. Referring to Figure 4, a method for facilitating payment of transactions by multiple parties in accordance with an embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment, the payee is a merchant. The system of this embodiment will be referred to as ShareNGo.

The merchant selects creation of a new invoice within a user interface. The user interface may be displayed on a merchant device 400 such as a mobile device or computing device within a native app or via the web. The merchant is prompted within the interface to enter items purchased by a party in an invoice form.

The invoice details and a merchant API key (an identifier for the merchant) are sent 401 to the Server 402 using a "Create Invoice API".

The Server 402 generates and sends back, in step 403, an InvoiceCode with QR Code to the merchant (for example, to the merchant device). A user representing a party to the transaction selects a "new transaction" option on a ShareNGo App on their mobile device 404.

The user can enter the InvoiceCode on the App on their mobile device 404 by keyboard, by scanning a displayed QR code or by using an NFC communications module to receive, in step 405, the InvoiceCode from the merchant device.

The App 404 sends, in step 406, the InvoiceCode to the Server 402. The Server 402 sends, in step 407, Invoice Details with Items Purchased and Merchant Information and MaxSharingMember (maximum number of individuals permitted to share the transaction) to the App 404. The App 404 may display the Invoice Details with a "Split Payment" and "Share Payment Option".

If the User selects Shared Payment:

a) A Friends list defined by the User is displayed to the User on the App 404.

b) The User can select the Friends from the list on the App 404 with whom they want to share payments.

c) The User enters the amount payable for himself and each Friend at the App 404.

d) The App 404 displays the User's Own Credit Cards List.

e) The User selects the Credit Card to use for this transaction.

f) The App 404 sends, in step 408, the CreditCardld and Invoice Friends Details and InvoiceCode to the Server 402.

g) The Server 402 retrieves StripeCreditCardld using CreditCardld and StripeCustomerld for the User.

h) The Server 402 retrieves MerchantStripeAccessToken using InvoiceCode.

i) The Server 402 sends StripeCreditCardld, StripeCustomerld and MerchantStripeAccessToken to the Payment Gateway 409 (e.g. Stripe).

j) Stripe 409 sends Tokenld in response, this will be used to charge the

User's Credit Card,

k) The Server sends, in step 409a, the charge details including amount payable by the User, a ShareNGo fee and MerchantStripeAccessToken to Stripe 409.

I) Stripe 409 authenticates the invoice amount payable by the User from the User Credit Card in step 410.

m) Stripe 409 sends confirmation of the charge authentication details including StripeChargeld in response,

n) The Server 402 saves charge details to database. 0) The Server 402 saves Friends invited on the Invoice for Sharing.

p) Server 402 sends notification, in step 41 1 , to the Friends 412 invited to

Invoice for Sharing,

q) The payment taken from the User and Friends will be directly sent to the Vendor's Account and will stay captured until the last payment is transacted. Once the last payment is submitted a notification of success will be generated for all the paying parties along with the vendor/ merchant. When a Friend is invited to share a payment:

a) The Server 402 sends Invoice Sharing Notification, in step 41 1 , including InvoiceCode on Mobile.

b) The Friend clicks on the Notification.

c) The Friend's App 412 sends the InvoiceCode to the Server 402.

d) The Server 402 sends Invoice Details with Items Purchased and Merchant Information and MaxSharingMember to the Friend's App 412. e) The App 412 displays Invoice Details with Payment Accept or Reject option.

f) If the Friend rejects payment the Invoicecode and reject code is sent to the Server 402.

g) If the Friend accepts payment, the App 412 displays the Friend's Credit Cards List.

h) The Friend selects the Credit Card to use for this transaction.

1) The App 412 sends, in step 413, CreditCardld and InvoiceCode to Server 402.

j) The Server 402 retrieves StripeCreditCardld using CreditCardld and

StripeCustomerld for the Friend,

k) The Server retrieves MerchantStripeAccessToken using InvoiceCode. I) The Server sends StripeCreditCardld, StripeCustomerld and MerchantStripeAccessToken to Stripe 409.

m) Stripe 409 sends Tokenld in response, this will be used for to charge the Friend's Credit Card. n) The Server 402 sends, in step 414, charge details including amount payable by the Friend, ShareNGo fee and MerchantStripeAccessToken to Stripe 409.

o) Stripe 409 authorizes, in step 415, the total invoice amount from the

Friend's Credit Card,

p) Stripe 409 sends confirmation of Charge authentication details including StripeChargeld in response,

q) The Server 402 saves charge details to database,

r) The Server 402 checks if this was last Friend for this invoice to pay and rest of Friends have already authorized payment,

s) The Server 402 requests, in step 416, Stripe 409 capture all Charges for the User and Friends,

t) Stripe 409 deducts the application fee from all Charges and transfer rest of amounts directly to Merchant Stripe Account,

u) Stripe 409 sends confirmation of Charge Capture details including

StripeChargeld in response,

v) Server 402 send notification to all Friends invited to Invoice for Sharing.

Referring to Figure 5, a method for facilitating payment of transactions from multiple accounts for a user in accordance with an embodiment of the invention will be described.

In this embodiment, the payee is a merchant. The system of this embodiment will be referred to as ShareNGo.

The merchant selects creation of a new invoice within a user interface. The user interface may be displayed on a merchant device 400 such as a mobile device or computing device within a native app or via the web. The merchant is prompted within the interface to enter items purchased by a party in an invoice form. The invoice details and a merchant API key (an identifier for the merchant) are sent 501 to the Server 502 using a "Create Invoice API".

The Server 502 generates and sends back, in step 503, an InvoiceCode with QR Code to the merchant (for example, to the merchant device).

A user representing a party to the transaction selects a "new transaction" option on a ShareNGo App on their mobile device 504. The user can enter the InvoiceCode on the App on their mobile device 504 by keyboard, by scanning a displayed QR code or by using an NFC communications module to receive, in step 505, the InvoiceCode from the merchant device. The App 504 sends, in step 506, the InvoiceCode to the Server 502.

The Server 502 sends, in step 507, Invoice Details with Items Purchased and Merchant Information to the App 504. The App 504 may display the Invoice Details with a "Split Payment" and "Share Payment Option".

If the User selects Split Payment:

a) The User's list of Credit Cards are displayed at the App 504.

b) The User selects the Credit Cards, at the App 504, to use for this transaction (each Credit Card associated with a CreditCardld).

c) The User enters the amounts payable from each selected Credit Card at the App 504 (Charge Details).

d) The App 504 sends, in step 508 the Charge Details, CreditCardlds and InvoiceCode to the Server 502.

e) The Server 502 retrieves StripeCreditCardlds using CreditCardlds and StripeCustomerld for the User. f) The Server 502 retrieves MerchantStripeAccessToken using InvoiceCode.

g) The Server 502 sends StripeCreditCardlds, StripeCustomerld and MerchantStripeAccessToken to the Payment Gateway 509 (for example, Stripe).

h) Stripe 509 send Token Ids for each StripeCreditCardld in response, this will be used to charge the User's Credit Cards.

i) For each Credit Card, the Server 502 sends, in step 510, Charge Details including charge amount, ShareNGo fee and MerchantStripeAccessToken to Stripe 509.

j) Stripe 509 authorizes, in steps 512 and 513, and captures, in steps 514 and 515, the amount payable from each Credit Card,

k) Stripe 509 deducts an application fee from the total invoice amount and transfers rest of amount directly to the Merchant Stripe Account.

I) Stripe 509 sends charge details including StripeChargelds in response, m) The Server 502 saves charge details to a database.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to Figures 6 to 14.

Figure 6 shows a first device which is receiving the transaction code by scanning a printed or displayed QR code using a camera at the first device.

Figure 7 shows a first device which is receiving the transaction code by a user entering a code using a virtual keyboard at a touchscreen at the first device.

Figure 8 shows a first device displaying an option for the user to share with Friends by group or individually. Figure 9 shows a first device displaying an interface to enable a user to select one or more Friends to share the payment with. Figure 10 shows a first device displaying an interface to enable a user to select a group of Friends to share the payment with.

Figure 1 1 shows a first device displaying a fixed share distribution of payment to a user and selected Friends.

Figure 12 shows a first device displaying an interface to enable a user to allocate payment amounts to the user and selected Friends. Figure 13 shows a user device of a Friend displaying an interface to enable the Friend to confirm or modify the payment amount allocated by the first party.

Figure 14 shows a first device displaying the status of payments confirmed, modified or declined by selected Friends.

It will be appreciated that although the term Friends is used in some embodiments to identify other parties with whom the first party can share payment, that payment can be shared with family members, colleagues, or any other party or individual known to the first party.

Potential advantages of some embodiments of the present invention are that the administration by merchants for multiple payments for transactions is simplified, greater control is provided to purchasers of goods and services to manage payment from multiple sources, and the security of account details for parties for a multi-party payment is improved.

While the present invention has been illustrated by the description of the embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departure from the spirit or scope of applicant's general inventive concept.

Claims

1 . A computer-implemented method to facilitate a multi-party transaction, including:

A server receiving confirmation from at least one of the further parties' devices in relation to payment sharing of the transaction; The server actuating a first payment from an account of the first party to an account of the payee; and

The server actuating a further payment from an account of each confirmed further parties to the account of the payee.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the payee is a merchant.

3. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first party and the further parties are individuals.

4. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first party receives the transaction code at a mobile device. 5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the information shared with the one or more further parties' devices includes, at least, a total amount for the transaction.

A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the

information shared with the one or more further parties' devices

includes a suggested payment amount for the receiving further parties.

7. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the information shared with the one or more further parties' devices includes a fixed payment amount for the receiving further parties.

8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the total amount of the first payment and the further payments to the account of the payee comprises the transaction payment amount excluding a transaction fee.

9. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the confirmation received from each of the further parties' devices includes the amount of the payment to be transferred from the account of each further party to the account of the payee.

10. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transaction code is received by the first device via any one of a camera, an NFC reader, a LE Bluetooth component, or a user input. 1 1 . A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first device communicates with a server to retrieve transaction information using the transaction code.

12. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first party defines one or more groups, each group comprising a plurality of individuals.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, further including the step of the first party selecting one or more groups at the first device to share the payment with; wherein information is then shared with the devices of the parties within the selected group or groups.

14. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further including, prior to the step of sharing information associated with the transactions, providing a structured two-way communications channel between the first device and devices for a plurality of individuals such that information relating to a potential transaction can be shared.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more further

parties are a sub-set of the plurality of individuals. 16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first party selects the one or more further parties from the sub-set of the plurality of individuals.

17. A method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the

information shared over the communications channel includes photographs.

18. A method as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the

communications channel is a chat-room. 19. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transaction relates to a periodic bill.

20. A method as claimed in claim 19, further including a step of transmitting to the first device a reminder in relation to the transaction.

A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first and further payments are actuated via a payment gateway.

22. A method as claimed in claim 21 , wherein each of the further payments is authorised at the payment gateway once confirmation is received from the associated further party. A method as claimed in claim 22, wherein all of the further payments are captured at the payment gateway once confirmation is received from all further parties.

A system for facilitating multi-party transactions, including:

A computer-implemented method to facilitate a multi-account transaction, including:

Actuating payment from each of the plurality of accounts for the allocated amount to an account of the payee.

26. A method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the payee is a merchant.

27. A method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 26, wherein the first party is an individual.

28. A method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 26, wherein the first party receives the transaction code at a mobile device.

29. A method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 26, wherein the

transaction code is received by the first device via any one of a camera, an NFC reader, a LE Bluetooth component, or a user input.

30. A method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 26, wherein the first device communicates with a server to retrieve transaction information using the transaction code.

31 . A method as claimed in any one of claims 25 to 26, wherein the

transaction relates to a periodic bill.

32. A method as claimed in claim 31 , further including a step of transmitting to the first device a reminder in relation to the transaction.

33. A system for facilitating multi-account transactions, including:

A device configured for receiving a transaction code from a payee, for receiving selection of a plurality of accounts for the first party at the device, for receiving allocation of an amount of the transaction for each of the plurality of accounts at the device; wherein the transaction code is associated with a transaction comprising a transaction payment amount;

A server configured for associated a transaction code with a transaction and for transmitting information associated with the transaction to the device; and

A payment gateway configured for actuating payment from each of the plurality of accounts for the allocated amount to an account of the payee.

A method or system for facilitating transactions as herein described with reference to the Figures.