Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of point of sale terminals. More
specifically, the
present invention relates to a wireless point of sale terminal using a
distributed software
architecture and software agents to provide customized transactions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Point of sale (POS) terminals are common in the retail environment. Most
modern POS
terminals include a cash register, bar code scanner andlor other input device,
a display screen
and a card reader device to handle debit and credit card transactions.
Typically the POS terminal
requires a modem and a telephone line to connect to an outside financial
services provider, such
as a bank, acquirer agency or credit card company to approve credit card or
debit card
transactions.
When a retail clerk swipes a credit or debit card, the customer's account
number and
purchase amount are transmitted to the financial services provider. The
magnetic stripe on the
back of the card stores relevant information such as the financial
institution, account number
and expiry date according to ISO standard 7811. The financial services
provider checks its own
records to see if the customer's account has sufficient funds or credit to
cover the cost of the
purchase.
Presently, most POS terminals employ no better than a 14.4kbaud modem which
typically adds at least eight seconds to the time required to complete a
transaction, giving
customers a period of tension about the outcome. Each POS terminal requires
its own telephone
line and the setup generally prevents flexibility for retailers who wish to
deploy extra POS
terminals during peak periods or at specific locations in the store. The
functionality of
conventional POS terminals is limited to authorizing/declining transactions,
and provides little
in the way of customization.
Authorization security in these such transactions is also relatively limited.
For the
customer, debit card security comes from inputting a PIN number for
verification with the
financial services provider. For credit card purchases, a signature is
typically required when
making a purchase in person. However, signatures provide security only after
the fact - a
customer can refuse to pay for a purchase when there is no receipt with a
signature - but this
arrangement does not protect the customer before his or her bill is received
(a customer's credit
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limit can be exceeded unexpectedly), and creates aggravation for the customer.
Additionally, the
retailer will suffer an economic loss if a valid signature was not obtained
andlor confirmed.
More advanced security systems, such as the use of biometric devices, are
known but are
not widely implemented due to limitations of computational and bandwidth
resources in POS
terminals. Furthermore, it is difficult to implement these newer systems and
integrate them with
existing legacy equipment.
For the retailer, while debit purchases are reasonably secure, credit card
purchases are
typically secure only against insufficient funds and not against fraud, etc.
These problems are
even worse when dealing with online transactions such as e-commerce activities
over the
Internet. Customers are often leery to give out their credit card numbers over
the Internet and
retailers can stand to lose revenue if a customer falsely claims fraudulent
use of his or her
account number, typically referred to as repudiation.
It is therefore desired to have a system, apparatus and method to provide
financial
transactions that are rapid, customizable, and secure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel system, apparatus
and method
of performing financial transactions and the like which obviates or mitigates
at least one of the
above-identified disadvantages of the prior art.
In an embodiment of the invention, there is provided a financial transaction
system
operable to manage purchases of at least one of goods and services,
comprising:
a customer identifier that is operable to uniquely identify an account to
which the
purchases are being charged;
a financial services provider operable to provide and maintain at least one of
a debit and
credit account to which the purchases are being charged;
a plurality of point-of-sale (POS) terminals in communication with the
financial services
provider via an intermediary node, where the point of sale terminals are
operable to gather
purchase information, customer identification and authorization information,
and display
information provided from a financial services provider; and
a plurality of software agents distributed within the financial transaction
system, each
software agent operable to negotiate rules and behaviors for the purchase of
goods and services.
In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a point of sale
terminal
operable to enact sales of at least one of goods and services to a customer,
involving a financial
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services provider, comprising:
input means to collect purchase information for the sales of at least one of
goods and
seances;
input means to collect customer account information from the customer
purchasing the
at least one of goods and services;
communication means to transmit the purchase information and the customer
account
information to a financial services provider via an intermediary node and to
receive information
and authorization from the financial services provider;
processing means;
input means to collect authorization from the customer; and
display means to display instructions and results of the sale of at least one
of goods and
services to a customer.
In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method for
enacting a
purchase of at least one of goods and services between a customer and a
retailer involving a
financial services provider comprising:
gathering information about the purchase of at least one of goods and
services;
gathering information about customer making the purchase of at least one of
goods and
services;
retrieving software agents that are relevant to the purchase of at least one
of goods and
services;
negotiating rules and behaviors for the purchase of at least one of goods and
services
between the software agents;
enacting the rules and behaviors for the purchase of at least one of goods and
services;
gathering authorizations from the customer, retailer and financial services
provider for
the purchase of at least one of goods and services;
completing the purchase of at least one of goods and services; and
generating records of the purchase of at least one of goods and services.
The invention relates to a financial transaction system consisting of POS
terminals
connected to a financial services provider such as a credit card agency or
bank via an
intermediary base station. The POS terminal combines an always-on high-speed
modem
(typically wireless) and the terminal contains various interfaces to connect
with telephones,
computer LANs, and other devices. The POS terminal is customized with the
addition of card-
swipe and smart-card readers and a cash-register interface, and perhaps with
other hardware
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such as a camera, display monitor, fingerprint scanner, speaker phone or built-
in telephone
handset. Utilizing distributed software agents with the terminal, customizable
rules and
behaviors for the transaction are possible. Each party involved in the
transaction (the customer,
retailer, financial services provider, etc) has an agent with its own
customized rules and
behaviors. These agents negotiate and then enact the rules and behaviors of
the transaction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way
of
example only, with reference to the attached Figures, wherein
Figure 1 shows a diagram of a network in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention;
Figure 2 shows a diagram of a POS terminal for a retail environment in
accordance with
an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 3 shows a diagram of an intermediary base station in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention;
Figure 4 shows a diagram of a software negotiation in accordance with an
embodiment
of the invention;
Figure 5 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with an embodiment of the
invention;
Figure 6 shows a flowchart of a method of negotiating between software agents
in
accordance with an aspect of the invention;
Figure 7 shows a diagram of another point of sale terminal for a residential
environment
in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;
Figure 8 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with another embodiment
of the
invention; and
Figure 9 shows a diagram of a network in accordance with another embodiment of
the
mvenrion.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Refernng now to Figure 1, a financial transaction system is generally
indicated at 20.
Financial transaction system 20 includes at least one credit identifier 22 and
a plurality of POS
terminals 24. Credit identifier 22 is operable to uniquely identify an account
26 (stored within
financial services provider 36, described below) which is to be debited or
credited in the
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financial transaction. Account 26 can be any financial account which can be
accessed to pay for
purchases either through debit or credit means. In the present embodiment of
the invention,
credit identifier 22 is a credit card or debit card. As known to those of
skill in the art, credit
cards and debit cards have account information printed on the front of the
card and a magnetic
strip on the back of the card which contains account information in an
electronically readable
format. The format of credit identifier 22 is not particularly limited and can
also include smart
cards, specially-programmed microchips (often implanted into key chains or the
like), or any
other secure means to identify account 26 . Other formats of credit identifier
22 will occur to
those of skill in the art.
POS terminal 24 is operable to receive account 26 information from credit
identifier 22
and transmit this account 26 information to an intermediary node, such as a
base station 28
across a communications link 32. In turn, base station 28 is connected to a
financial services
provider 36. Financial services provider 36 can include the servers, networks
and databases used
by banking institutions, credit card companies, acquirer agencies and other
parties that are
involved in the financial aspects of the transaction. As known to those of
skill in the art, the
hardware and software configurations of financial services provider 36 are not
particularly
limited and can vary considerably in their implementation. Financial services
provider 36 can
include the systems of multiple institutions that are operable to exchange
information between
each other.
The connection between base station 28 and financial services provider 36 is
provided
by backhaul 40, which can effected be across many diverse networks such as the
Internet,
private data networks, the PSTN, and private leased-line networks. Also
connected to backhaul
40 are retailer systems 44, which can include ERP systems, customer loyalty
databases, etc. that
handle records of the retailer, and third-party systems 46 that handle records
of other parties
involved with any non-financial aspects of the transaction. As known to those
of skill in the art,
the hardware and software configurations of retail systems 44 and third-party
systems 46 are not
particularly limited and can vary considerably in their implementation. Retail
systems 44 and
third-party systems 46 can include the systems of multiple institutions that
are operable to
exchange information between each other.
In the illustrated embodiment, communications link 32 is established between
base
station 28 and each POS terminal 24 via radio. Communications link 32 can
carry voice and
data information between base station 28 and respective terminals 24.
Communications link 32
can be implemented with networks using a variety of multiple access
techniques, including
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TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, OFDM or hybrid systems such as GSM, etc. Furthermore,
communications link 32 can transmit different channels multiplexed together.
In a present embodiment, data transmitted over communications link 32 is
transmitted
over a packet-based protocol such as TCP/IP. Other packet-based protocols will
occur to those
of skill in the art, and communications link 32 is operable to transmit
different packet types as is
appropriate. Communications link 32 can also include support for various
Quality-of-Service
standards (QoS), such as RSVP. Other QoS standards and protocols will occur to
those of skill
in the art.
Referring now to Figure 2, an embodiment of a POS terminal 24 for a retail
environment
is shown in greater detail. POS terminal 24 comprises an antenna 60, or
antennas, for receiving
and transmitting radio-communications over communications link 32. In turn,
antenna 60 is
connected to a radio 64 and a modem 68, which in turn is connected to a
microprocessor-
assembly 72. Microprocessor-assembly 72 can include, for example, a StrongARM
processor
manufactured by Intel, that performs a variety of functions, including
implementing A/D-D/A
conversion, filters, encoders, decoders, data compressors, de-compressors
and/or packet
disassembly.
As seen in Figure 2, microprocessor-assembly 72 interconnects modem 68 and one
or
more ports 76, for connecting POS terminal 24 to one or more telephony devices
80 and one or
more data devices 84. An example of a telephony device 80 would be a telephone
handset,
speaker phone or the like, which is operable to receive voice received over
communications link
32. Examples of a data devices 84 include personal computers, bar code
readers, magnetic card
swipe readers, cash registers, receipt printers and keyboards. Other data
devices 84 will occur to
those of skill in the art. At least one data device 84 is an authentication
device 88, typically a
card swipe reader and is operable to collect a customer identifier as to
determine the account 26
to be charged. At least one other data device is display device 92. Display
device 92 is operable
to display relevant information, including the amount of the purchase and to
indicate whether or
not the transaction is approved. The hardware used for display device 92 is
not particularly
limited and can include LCD and CRT monitors. Other types of display device 92
are within the
scope of the invention.
Microprocessor-assembly 72 is operable to process data between ports 76 and
modem
68. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, POS terminal 24 is attached to a
combined cash
register and display device 92 and a telephone. However, integrated units that
combine all the
above-described functionality in a single casing are also within the scope of
the invention.
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
_7_
Referring now to Figure 3, an example of base station 28 is shown in greater
detail. Base
station 28 comprises an antenna 100, for receiving and transmitting radio-
communications over
communications link 32. In turn, antenna 100 is connected to a radio 104 and a
modem 108.
Modem 108 is connected to a microprocessor-router assembly 112 such as a
Pentium IIIT"~
processor system manufactured by Intel. It will be understood that
microprocessor-router
assembly 112 can include multiple microprocessors, as desired and/or that the
muter can be
provided as a separate unit, if desired. The router within microprocessor-
muter assembly 112 is
connected to a backhaul 40 in any suitable manner, which in turn connects base
station 28 to
financial network 36, retailer systems 44 and third-party systems 46. Base
station 40 can be
connected to backhaul 40 by a link such as T1, T3, E1, E3, OC3 or other
suitable land line link,
or can be a satellite or other radio or microwave channel link or any other
link suitable for
operation as a backhaul 40 as will occur to those of skill in the art.
Within financial transaction system 20, network services such as transaction
processing
and telephony call processing are all software applications. Software plug-ins
are loaded into the
network dynamically, on demand, as part of the transaction process.
Dynamically loaded
software plug-ins can perform their particular, specialized function on the
data stream. For
example, software can specialize in voice coding or decoding, encryption,
digital signing and/or
verifying, logging, filtering, mixing, IP traffic shaping, IP traffic
policing, or IP content filtering,
etc. Other software plug-ins will occur to those of skill in the art.
Individual POS terminals 24
can be dynamically configured based on customer, retailer, transacrion amount,
and so on-on a
transaction by transaction basis.
Distributed through financial transaction system 20 are a number of software
'agents',
which negotiate the rules and behaviors of the financial transaction. The
software architecture
used in financial transaction system 20 is distributed so that software agents
can operate on
different hardware components of the network such as base stations 28, POS
terminals 24 (as
shown in Figure 2), or financial services provider 36, wherever computational
and bandwidth
resources are available. A method of determining computational and bandwidth
resources is
discussed in Canadian Patent Application 2,300,453, the contents of which are
hereby
incorporated by reference. Other methods of determining computational and
bandwidth
resources will occur to those of skill in the art. Preferably, all the
software agents will be present
on the same hardware component during the transaction in order to save time
and bandwidth,
but this is not a requirement of the invention and software agents can
intercommunicate and
operate through backhaul 40 or other parts of system 20.
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
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In Figure 4, a typical set of particular software agents is shown. In general,
a plurality of
the following software agents will typically be involved in a transaction: a
customer agent 120, a
retailer agent 124, a financial services agent 128, a merchandise agent 132,
and one or more
third-party agents 136. Another agent, negotiation manager 140 may also be
present to facilitate
the negotiations between the other software agents. Other software agents will
occur to those of
skill in the art. It is contemplated that not all these software agents need
be present in every
transaction, especially if one or more entities are not involved in the
transaction. For example,
no third parties may be involved, so no third party agents 136 will be
involved.
In the present embodiment, agents and their behaviors are expressed in Java
code. Other
suitable coding languages, such as C++ are within the scope of the invention
and other suitable
coding languages will occur to those of skill in the art.
Information is exchanged between different agents, as needed, using any
suitable format
such as XML or tab-delimited ASCII text. Other methods of exchanging
information between
agents will occur to those of skill in the art.
In the present embodiment of the invention, software agents are instantiated
created as
needed, based upon data records which can be stored throughout financial
transaction system 20.
Customer agents 120 are created from the data in customer agents records;
retailer agents 124
are created from the data in retailer agents records; financial services
agents 128 are created
from the data in financial services records; merchandise agents 132 are
created from the data in
merchandise agents records; third-party agents 136 are created from the data
in third-party
records; and negotiation managers 124 are created from negotiation manager
schema or records.
Other agent-creating records that are needed for other agents are also within
the scope of the
invention.
As the software architecture in financial transaction system 20 is
distributed, the creation
of software agents is independent of any particular hardware component. For
example, while
customer agents 120 could typically be located at a credit card company's
central server within
financial services provider 36, during a period of heavy network traffic,
customer agents 120 can
be created on base station 28, or on POS terminal 24. Alternatively, instead
of creating software
agents as needed, frequently used software agents can remain in memory within
system 20 for
extended periods of time.
The rules and behaviors employed and determined by the software agents in
system 20
can vary widely. In general, a rule is a required element of the transaction
and a behavior is a
desired element. Examples of rules include the authentication and security
processes used in a
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
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credit card transaction, such as requiring a customer signature for a credit
card purchase is a
rule, as is requiring a PIN number for a debit card purchase. Requiring an
authorization check
for a purchase is a rule. Failing to enact these rules or failing to satisfy
the conditions of the
rules results in the transaction being cancelled. Examples of behaviors would
be asking the
customer if he or she collects air-miles or other loyalty points, or if he or
she would like to be
put on a store's mailing list. Generally, when a behavior is not satisfied,
the transaction can still
proceed.
Customer agents 120 represent the customized rules and behaviors of the
customer
making a purchase, typically via a credit or debit card. Typically, a customer
agent record for
customer agent 120 is stored with financial services provider 36 and is
accessed when the
account 26 number being used for the purchase is received by financial
services provider 36.
Alternatively, the customer agent record can be stored with credit identifier
22, provided credit
identifier 22 posses suitable storage capacity, such as on a smart card. Other
storage locations
for customer agent record are within the scope of the invention.
It is contemplated that customers can set some of their own customer agent
120's rules
and behaviors from a web-page hosted by the credit-card company or banking
institution or via
an IVR system which will then be incorporated into the customer record. For
example, a
customer can specify that they never wish to placed on mailing lists. The
rules and behaviors
that can be negotiated and implemented by customer agent 120 are not
particularly limited.
Examples of rules and behaviors implemented by customer agent 120 can include:
(i) adjusting the account's credit or purchase limits (within the restrictions
set by
financial service provider 36);
(ii) setting privacy preferences allowing the customer to automatically opt in
or out of
providing personal information to the retailer;
(iii) directing payments of small percentages to specified third parties, such
as registered
charities, etc.;
(iv) setting scalable authorization requirements depending on the amount of
purchase,
such as requirement of a PIN or other special method of authentication
(electronic
capture of signature, or biometric security devices such as collecting
thumbprints,
handprints, voiceprints, retinal scans, etc.);
(v) providing a visual image of the customer for authentication, this image
being stored
on credit identifier 22 or downloadable from a database within financial
services
provider 36. This image would appear in display device 92 of the POS terminal
24 used
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by the retailer staff. Alternatively, this portrait might be only accessed
when there is
suspected fraudulent use or a given purchase amount will be exceeded;
(vi) allowing multiple users to use account 26 using the same or different
client
identifiers 22, each with different levels of access, such as allowing the
customer's
children to use credit identifier 22 but requiring parental authorization over
the phone;
(vii) creating restrictions on which retailers credit identifier 22 can be
used with (i.e., the
account 26 owner can create a list of retailers authorized to accept the
card). For
example, an individual could provide his or her children with a 'gas' card, a
credit card
that could only be used at major gas stations;
(viii) determining transaction record formats such as administration of
purchase
expenses by category (personal/business, travel, entertainment, etc.) with
generation and
e-mail of receipts in a preferred format; or
(ix) expression of purchase prices in a home currency, rather than the
currency the price
was expressed in by the retailer. In this case, the appropriate exchange rate
that the
transaction will be completed at can be used to perform the conversion,
allowing the
customer to authorize an exact amount in the home currency.
Other rules and behaviors for client agent 120 will occur to those of skill in
the art. The
options for rules and behaviors available for customer agents are determined
by the financial
services provider that provides account 26, allowing the financial services
provider to provide
differentiated services.
Retailer agent 124 represents the customized rules and behaviors of the
retailer involved
the transaction. Retailer agent 124 typically resides within the POS terminal
24, and is
automatically created at the beginning of the transaction based upon a
retailer agent record
stored within POS terminal 24 or made available form elsewhere by the
retailer. The rules and
behaviors that can be negotiated and implemented by retailer agent 124 are not
particularly
limited and can include:
(i) updating and querying connected interoperable databases within retailer
systems 44
such as ERP databases, customer information or customer loyalty databases;
(ii) displaying a set of script cues for the retailer to be displayed on
display device 92 of
POS terminal 24 ("Congratulations! It's your hundredth purchase from us, and
it's
free!", "Would you like our extended warranty?", etc.;
(iii) customizing telephone service on telephony device 80 at the POS terminal
24, with
custom dialing features (local only, headquarters only, intercom modes, call-
in restricted
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
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to supervisor, etc.);
(iv) monitoring of an individual check out clerk throughput or behavior (if a
microphone, web cam or telephone handset is a device 84 at terminal 24, for
example)
(v) automatically extending credit limits for loyalty members, perhaps in
financial
partnership with credit card issuers or the like;
(vi) customized authorization levels, based upon the amount of purchase,
individual
customer history, and card type. For example, gold-card users can
automatically be
approved of all transactions less than $1000. Authorization could require
signatures,
visual identification, biometric security, etc.;
(vii) storing and then process a number of transactions all at once. Such a
service would
be valuable when dealing with high volumes of customers and a low risk for
declined
cards, such as at a concession stand in a sports stadium;
(viii) gathering personal information about the customers; and
(ix) ensuring that account 26 has sufficient funds or credit to enact the
purchase.
Other rules and behaviors for retailer agent 124 will occur to those of skill
in the art.
Retailers, in conjunction with financial services providers will be able to
develop custom rules
and options for their POS terminals 24.
Financial services agents 128 represent the customized rules and behaviors of
the
financial services provider (i.e., the credit/debit card company). Financial
services agents 128
are created from financial services records, typically stored at financial
services provider 36's
central servers and databases, but can be loaded into base station 28 or POS
terminals 24. The
rules and behaviors that can be negotiated and implemented by financial
services agent 128 are
not particularly limited and can include:
(i) automatically reconciling customer and retailer accounts;
(ii) updating and querying loyalty-card databases;
(iii) customized security levels, based upon the amount of purchase,
individual customer
history, geographical location and card type. For example, a store in an area
known for a
high level of fraudulent activity could require a higher level of security
than one in an
area with lower levels of fraud. Another example would be a request to
authorize a
$1000 purchase in made from a Paris shop for a North American customer without
a
history of traveling to Europe. Based upon these circumstances, the credit
card company
requires a higher level of security to authorize the transaction.
(iv) ensuring sufficient funds or credit in account 26 for the purchase; and
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
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(v) alerting retailer agent 124 or appropriate third-party agent 136 (such as
the police)
about a suspicious purchasing pattern occurring on account 26.
Other rules and behaviors for financial services agent 128 will occur to those
of skill in
the art. Each financial services provider 36 can develop their own rules and
behaviors.
Merchandise agents 132 represent the customized rules and behaviors of the
company
which produces the product or service being purchased. Merchandise agents 132
are created
from merchandise agent records that can reside within financial services
provider 36, base
station 28, POS terminal 24, or a central server within third-party systems
44. The rules and
behaviors that can be negotiated and implemented by merchandise agent 132 are
not particularly
limited and can include:
(i) providing instant customer rebates;
(ii) extended warranties for the purchaser when using the credit card;
(iii) extra frequent flyer or other loyalty points, or the like;
(iv) other special offers made in conjunction with the credit card company,
retailer or
customer (e.g., "Buy 2 XYZ products this month and get the third one at 50%
ofd').
Other merchandise agents 132 will occur to those of skill in the art and can
be crafted by
each merchandiser and/or changed at any time, as desired.
Third-party agents 136 represent the customized rules and behaviors of
relevant third
parties that have an interest in the transaction taking place. Examples of
interested third parties
include the police, the Better Business Bureau, credit rating agencies, trust
service agencies, etc.
Third-party agents 136 are created from third-party agent records that
typically reside within
third-party system 44, and are typically requested by another agent
participating in the
negotiation. The rules and behaviors that can be negotiated and implemented by
third-party
agents 136 are not particularly limited and can include:
(i) updating and querying connected interoperable databases within third-party
systems
44, such as ERP databases, customer information or customer loyalty databases;
and
(ii) providing information about one party involved in the transaction to
another.
Other rules and behaviors for third-party agents 136 will occur to those of
skill in the art.
Negotiation Manager 140 is operable to manage the negotiation of rules and
behaviors
for the transaction. The negotiation manager record can be stored on any
suitable hardware
within financial transaction system 20. Correspondingly, the negotiation of
rules and behaviors
between software agents can occur on any suitable hardware within financial
transaction system
20, although generally for load-balancing reasons it is preferable to
distribute these negotiations
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
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to either base stations 28 or POS terminals 24. Preferably, negotiation
manager 140 is operable
to:
(i) identify all software agents participating in a negotiation;
(ii) organize the rules and behaviors to be negotiated into successful
negotiation stages;
(iii) implement a negotiation discipline which allows each participating
software agent to
consider a rule or behavior and either accept the rule or behavior or amend
the values of
the rule or behavior, and do so in a trusted environment;
(iv) respond to the negotiation being successful in a stage by proceeding to
next stage or
by completing the transaction if all stages have been successfully negotiated;
(v) identify loops, cycles and other anomalies in the negotiations;
(vi) determine whether the negotiation will be successful;
(vii) return audits to the participants identifying the values of rule or
behavior that were
modified, and by whom, from stage to stage;
(viii) detect whether an agent has violated a rule of the negotiation;
(ix) ensure termination within a limited number of stages if the negotiation
has not
achieved success; and
(x) provide forensic information to participants if the negotiation terminates
without
convergence.
Other capabilities of negotiation manager 140 will occur to those of skill in
the art.
Referring now to Figure 5, a flowchart of a method for completing a purchase
is shown.
Beginning at step 200, purchase information is collected. Purchase information
includes the
purchase amount, but can also include identification of the items being
purchased and other
related information. The method of gathering purchase information is not
particularly limited
and can include using different attached data devices 84 to gather
information, such as a bar-
code reader or keyboard input. Other methods of gathering purchase information
will occur to
those of skill in the art.
Once the purchase information has been gathered, the method advances to step
210
where customer information is collected at POS terminal 24 from credit
identifier 22. Customer
information includes the payment type (such as credit charge, debit charge,
etc) and account 26
being charged. The method of collecting customer information is not
particularly limited and
can include different information gathering means such as collecting account
26 information
from credit identifier 22 using an attached data device 84 such as a magnetic
card reader or
keyboard input. Other means of gathering customer information will occur to
those of skill in
CA 02422929 2003-03-20
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the art.
Once the customer information has been gathered, the method advances to step
220
where the software agents to be used in the negotiations are retrieved. These
agents can include
customer agent 120, retailer agent 124, financial services agents 128,
merchandise agents 132,
third-party agents 136 and negotiation manager 140. Not all these agents need
to be retrieved in
order to proceed.
Once the software agents have been retrieved, the method advances to step 230
where
the software agents negotiate the rules and behaviors of the transaction.
Methods of determining
negotiations are described in more detail below.
Once the negotiations are complete, the method advances to step 240 where the
rules and
behaviors successfully negotiated are enacted. The rules and behaviors that
can be enacted are
not particularly limited, nor are the methods of implementing these rules and
behaviors. For
example, a typical rule would be that the account 26 being charged has
sufficient funds or credit
to enable the purchase. Financial services provider 36 would then check its
account 26 records
to confirm that this was true, and financial services agent 128 would report
the outcome of that
query.
The enactment of many of the agreed-upon rules and behaviors by the software
agents
can be invisible to the customer and the sales representative. For example, a
customer goes into
an electronics shop and purchases a video game console with a preferred credit
card. Because
the customer used the preferred credit card, he or she gets an instant
discount in the price. The
manufacturer of the console gives the retail shop a credit to reimburse it for
the lower sale price.
This sequence of events is the result of negotiations between retailer agent
124, financial
services agent 128, and merchandise agent 132.
Once these rules and behaviors have been enacted and their conditions
satisfied, the
method advances to step 250 where the purchase is completed and all relevant
records are
updated and account 26 is charged appropriately and all other accounts are
updated accordingly.
Referring now to Figure 6, a flowchart of a method for handling the
negotiation of rules
and behaviors in accordance with an aspect of the present invention is shown.
As will be
discussed in more detail below, negotiation between software agents preferably
occurs in stages,
each stage having a subset of the set of rules and behaviors to be negotiated,
although it is also
contemplated that negotiations can be performed in a single stage. The process
commences with
the first stage wherein values for one or more rule and/or behavior are
negotiated between the
software agents representing the entities in the transaction at step 300. A
determination is made
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at step 310 as to whether values for all rule and/or behavior being negotiated
in that stage have
been agreed to by the entities. If the values have not been agreed, the
negotiation in step 300
repeats. If values have been agreed for all rules and/or behaviors of a stage,
a determination is
made at step 320 as to whether any more stages exist to be negotiated. If one
or more stages do
exist to still be negotiated, at step 330 the next stage is selected and the
negotiation of step 300
is performed for the rule and/or behavior of that stage. If at step 320 it is
determined that no
more stages exist to be negotiated, the process proceeds to step 340 where the
desired
negotiation is complete, so that the various entities of financial transaction
system 20 can enact
the agreed upon rules and behaviors
The present invention preferably separates negotiation of a transaction into
stages, where
values for smaller sets of rule and/or behavior are negotiated at the
different, successive stages
so that progress towards agreement is logical and steady. This can reduce the
level of
complexity at each stage, so that there are fewer tradeoffs and alternatives
to be considered
during negotiation, and analysis of negotiations which failed or which
produced undesirable
results, are easier to perform.
The invention provides for the "categorization of concerns" of rules and
behaviors, in
that some rules can be more important to overall success ("deal breakers")
and/or some rules
and behaviors are dependent upon others. It does not make sense to negotiate
less important
behaviors if one or more deal breaker rules cannot be agreed upon. For
example, an transaction
may require a guaranteed minimum level of authentication security, and if such
security cannot
be provided, then there is no sense in attempting to continue. Similarly, it
does not make sense
to negotiate a rule or behavior whose relevance or meaning depends from
another rule or
behavior before that other term has been agreed. So, the parameters whose
values are to be
negotiated are arranged in a multilevel hierarchy, each level being negotiated
as a stage. In
practice, however, it is contemplated that a financial services provider would
provide a
programming framework for determining customer agents 120 and retailer agents
124 so that
impasses would be uncommon.
This invention conceives of the negotiation of security as one of scalable
requirements,
with different levels determined by customer agents 120, retailer agents 124
and financial
services agents 128. When these levels differ, generally, the most secure
level will be chosen.
Other methods of resolving impasses are discussed in CDN patent application
2,300,453,
discussed above.
While the above-described POS terminal 24 is contemplated for retail use, it
is also
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contemplated that a POS terminal can reside at a customer's residence vr, if a
wireless device,
with the customer as a portable device such as a personal digital assistant,
etc. in order to enable
and enhance online and/or telephone shopping. Refernng now to Figure 7,
another embodiment
of the invention, residential POS terminal 96, is shown in greater detail.
Residential POS
terminal 96 is operable to transmit data and telephony information to and from
a base station 28
and data and telephony devices attached to residential POS terminal 96.
Additionally, residential
POS terminal 96 is operable to transmit and receive purchase information
directly to and from
base station 28, bypassing any attached data and telephony devices.
Residential POS terminal 96 comprises an antenna 60, or antennas, for
receiving and
transmitting radio-communications over communications link 32. In turn,
antenna 60 is
connected to a radio 64 and a modem 68, which in turn is connected to a
microprocessor-
assembly 72. Microprocessor-assembly 72 can include, for example, a StrongARM
processor
manufactured by Intel, that performs a variety of functions, including
implementing A/D-D/A
conversion, filters, encoders, decoders, data compressors, de-compressors
and/or packet
disassembly.
As seen in Figure 7, microprocessor-assembly 72 interconnects modem 68 and one
or
more ports 76, for connecting residential POS terminal 96 to one or more
telephony devices 80
and one or more data devices 84. An example of a telephony device 80 would be
a telephone, or
the like, which is operable to receive voice received over communications link
32. Examples of
a data devices 84 include personal computers and facsimile machines. Other
data devices will
occur to those of skill in the art Accordingly, microprocessor-assembly 72 is
operable to process
data between ports 76 and modem 68.
Also attached to microprocessor-assembly 72 is an authentication device 88 and
a
display device 92, either or both of which can be implemented in a data device
84, such as an
appropriately equipped personal computer, personal digital assistant, etc.
Authentication device
88 is operable to retrieve account 26 information from credit identifier 22
and to authorize
purchases. The means of retrieving account 26 information from a credit
identifier 22 are not
particularly limited and can include a magnetic strip card reader, an optical
device, an electronic
sensor, a touchpad or a keypad. Other means of retrieving account 26
information from credit
identifier 22 will occur to those of skill in the art. The means of
authorizing purchases are not
particularly limited and can include an implicit authorization based on
swiping the credit or
debit card, entering a PIN number or password into a keypad, or providing an
electronic
signature using a touch pad.
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Display device 92 is operable to display messages. These messages can include
instructions on how to use residential POS terminal 96, purchase amounts,
authorization
requests, account balances and confirmations of successful transactions. Other
messages
displayable by display device 92 will occur to those of skill in the art. In
the present
embodiment, display device 92 is an LCD panel. However, other types of display
device 92 are
within the scope of the invention.
In another embodiment of the invention, a flow-chart of a method for shopping
online
from a residence or other remote location is shown in Figure 8. References
will also be made to
Figure 9, which shows a system layout of the method described in Figure 9.
Beginning at step 300, the customer uses an Internet-capable data device 84
such as a
home computer that is attached to residential POS terminal 96 to visit a
portal website 132
controlled by financial services provider 36. Other Internet-capable data
devices 84 such as
PDAs or web-enabled televisions are also within the scope of the invention.
In this example, the access to the Internet is provided through POS terminal
96 via
communications link 32, base station 28 and backhaul 40. It is also
contemplated that in other
circumstances, Internet access for data device 84 can be provided through a
separate service,
such as a DSL modem, etc.
The customer logs into financial portal website 132, preferably using his or
her credit
identifier 22 with authentication device 88. Alternatively, the customer could
login by entering a
password for an account 26 on an online form. Once the customer has
successfully logged into
financial portal website 400, communication between financial portal website
400 and the
customer on data device 84 is done using a secure application and transport
protocols such as
HTTPS and SSL.
At step 310, from the f'mancial portal website 400, the customer can then
travel to
different e-commerce web sites 404 retrieved from retailer systems 44 and
displayed within a
sub-window 408 generated by financial portal website 400. Within sub-window
408, the
customer browses and shops online normally.
As is known to those of skill in the art, online shopping typically involves a
customer
selecting items (often referred to as placing the items in your "shopping
cart") for purchase and
then purchasing all the selected items at once (proceeding to the "checkout")
At step 320, the retailer's name and the purchase price are displayed on
display device
92 of residential POS terminal 96. This information is provided by e-commerce
web site 404
and retailer systems 44.
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At step 330, to complete the transaction, the customer engages authentication
device 88
with his or her credit identifier 22 (such as by swiping a credit card in the
card reader).
At step 340, authentication device 88 then transmits the authentication
information
across an encrypted secure channel to financial portal website 400, which then
authorizes the
transaction to the retailer by providing a one-time-use number to e-commerce
web site 404 in
sub-window 408. The retailer never sees the customer's real account 26 number.
If software
agents are being used to negotiate the transaction, then the negotiations
occur (as discussed
above) right before the transaction is processed.
At step 360, the purchase is completed. The results of the transaction are
displayed on
display device 92 as well as data device 84. Account 26 is charged
appropriately and all relevant
accounts are updated accordingly.
While the embodiments discussed herein are directed specific implementations
of the
invention, it will be understood that combinations, sub-sets and variations of
the embodiments
are within the scope of the invention. For example, it is contemplated that
the POS terminal 24
may be connected to base station 28 using a cable or DSL modem in lieu of a
wireless radio
modem.
It is contemplated that telephony devices 80 and data devices 84 used in POS
terminal
24 could be fully integrated into a single hardware device.
It is contemplated that, leveraging telephony device 80, POS terminal 24 could
provide a
voice connection to be established between POS terminal 24 and an
Authorization center within
financial services provider 36, rather than just declining the transaction and
asking that the
retailer representative call the authorization center (which they are often
reluctant to do). With a
built-in telephony device 80, the authorization process can be expedited.
It is contemplated that using an appropriate data device 84, POS terminal 24
can provide
other authentication means such as using voice prints, biometric, smart card
and or visual
images of account 26 owner.
It is contemplated that display device 92 could display a visual image of
account 26 's
owner. The visual image could be provided by credit identifier 22 or from a
database within
financial services provider 36 -downloading a picture for visual recognition.
Additionally, if
one of the attached data devices 84 is a web camera, POS terminal 24 could
upload pictures of
the customer to a central registry within financial services provider 36 for
future use.
Alternatively, the retailer could maintain a database of visual records for
their own security.
It is contemplated that POS terminals 24, not requiring a telephone line
connection,
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could be deployed anywhere in the retailer's store and be operable to 'auto-
provision' itself.
Configuring POS terminals 24 could be as simple as turning the device on. POS
terminals 24
would automatically acquire base station 28 and download the appropriate
files. Base station 28
would automatically allocate appropriate resources to support POS terminal 24.
It is further contemplated that the portability and rapid deployment of POS
terminals 24
provides for new possibilities. POS terminals 24 could be moved throughout the
store to take
advantage of sales in particular departments. During peak sales seasons such
as Christmas, the
store could deploy additional POS terminals 24. The rapid deployment of the
device would
make POS terminals 24 suitable for being rented by financial services provider
36 or others, so
that the retailer would not have to own excess units. Such POS terminals 24
would also be of
use for special events such as outdoor concerts.
It is contemplated that customer agents 120 could be stored within the memory
of credit
identifier 22 using 'smart card' technology. As known to those of skill in the
art, smart cards
provide superior data storage capacities to conventional magnetic card strips.
Storing customer
agents 120 within a smart card would reduce the bandwidth and server load
requirements of
financial transaction system 20. Additionally, storing customer agent 120
within the smart card
would ensure that customer agent 120 would always be available to the customer
regardless of
the status of financial transaction system 20. Since the customer would likely
update his or her
customer preferences on a web page or by telephone, there is the possibility
that different
versions of customer agent 20 would exist on system 20. To prevent version
conflicts, financial
server provider 36 could download new versions of customer agent 120 to credit
identifier 22
during the authorization process.
It is further contemplated that utilizing the distributed capabilities of the
operating
system, software agents and transaction negotiations could be pushed to the
'edges' of the
financial transaction system 20. Rather than relying upon a central
authorization services within
financial services provider 36, customer information could be cached at base
stations 28. This
way, if the network was congested or unavailable, then the decision to approve
or decline
customers can be made automatically.
Even if communications link 32 between POS terminals 24 and base station 28
failed,
financial services agents 128 could be available in POS terminal 24, so that
transactions could
still occur. POS terminal 24 would store the transaction records until
communications link 32
was restored.
It is further contemplated that, with a bar-code reader and a
monitor/touchscreen
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attached as data devices 84, POS terminal 24 could serve as a self-serve
kiosk. Leveraging the
broadband capabilities of modem 64, POS terminal 24 could access HTML pages
such as a
catalog or schedule information.
Alternatively, POS terminal 24 could be connected/installed in a vending
machine. For
example, a POS terminal 24 in a commuter train station could sell individual
tickets and
monthly passes. The network connectivity allows the screen to display up-to-
date schedule
information, so that the commuters could order specific tickets.
A POS terminal 24 could be connected to a newspaper vending machine. The price
changes according to the time of day, so that the paper is $1 in the morning,
$0.50 in the
afternoon, and free after 7:00. Dynamic pricing is useful for a wide range of
time-sensitive
products such as airline and concert tickets. Since POS terminal 24 is
remotely linked to a
central server, then prices could be adjusted at the vendor's discretion.
It is further contemplated that financial transaction system 20 could use
small 'micro'
base stations 28 that operate at a lower power level and function within the
retailer's premise. A
micro base station could also use an unlicensed spectrum band.
It is contemplated that should that, during the negotiation phase, the
software agents
reach an impasse, then they could 'appeal' to the person or organization that
they represent, such
as an employee of the financial services agency for financial services agent
128, an employee of
the retailer for retail agent 108, and the customer making the purchase for
customer agent 120.
These individuals could temporarily override the rules and behaviors of their
respective software
agent. For example, a customer has a rule that a signature is always required
for a credit card
purchase. However, at this time the receipt printer attached to the POS
terminal 24 is broken and
a signature cannot be taken and recorded. The customer agrees to override this
rule and instead
provides an alternate security mechanism (such as providing a PIN number or
password).
It is further contemplated that software agents used do not have to be
software programs
but could be simply data that is acted on by negotiation manager 408.
It is further contemplated that software agents used in the program need not
distributed
but can run at specific points within financial transaction system 20.
The examples given above all assume credit or debit card use. However, other
suitable
monetary transaction methods such as cash cards, micropayment schemes, virtual
currencies
(such as PayPal), etc are within the scope of the invention.
The above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to be examples
of the
present invention and alterations and modifications may be effected thereto,
by those of skill in
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the art, without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined
solely by the claims
appended hereto.
