SEAMLESSLY CAPTURING TRANSACTIONAL DATA AT THE MERCHANT'S POINT OF SALE ENVIRONMENT AND CREATING ELECTRONIC RECEIPTS, ALL IN REAL-TIME

SAISIE TRANSPARENTE DE DONNEES TRANSACTIONNELLES DANS L'ENVIRONNEMENT D'UN POINT DE VENTE DE MARCHAND ET CREATION DE RECUS ELECTRONIQUES, TOUTES EN TEMPS REEL

English Abstract

Series of processes and methods designed to seamlessly capture detailed
transactional data from
merchants' Point of Sale environments and generate final presentments of
electronic receipts for
both consumers and merchants, is accessible from their destination accounts,
all in real time.
Objectives are to: migrate all printed paper receipts to electronic forms;
enable customer facing
post-sales management capabilities; increase self serve; create new shopping
and post-shopping
experiences and satisfaction rates; significantly reduce administrative and
storage requirements
and costs, and provide more time for work productivity. Customers and
merchants are able to
create various reports and are able to directly submit them from their
destination accounts for:
expenditure accounting and tax purposes, payment processing, and for other
company expenses.
Further capabilities include creating: supplementary accounts; spend alerts;
merchant driven
targeted profile marketing initiatives, and business directory listings with
mapping capabilities.

Claims

1
Claims:

1. The method of creating computer-related inventions, will comprise of
software and
hardware platforms, remote electronic data storage environments; related
platforms
and/or devices and business methods, which will seamlessly capture and receive
all
embodiments and pluralities of a transactional data, all in real-time.

2. The method of Claim 1, further comprising of downloading, integrating and
installing the
computer-related inventions and related software and hardware platforms within
the
subscribing merchant's Point of Sale (POS) environments, for both physical
retail locations
and all e-commerce environments.

3. The method of Claim 1 and 2, further comprising of the initiation for
engaging and
employing the downloaded, integrated and installed computer-related inventions
and its
related software and hardware platforms, to automatically and seamlessly
execute the
detection, capture, identification and verification of the customer's
qualification, eligibility
and destination account for having their transactional data captured. This
will be triggered
upon the direct engagement between a subscribing customer and a subscribing
merchant
during the payment process in a sales transaction that is being processed
through the
subscribing merchant's POS environments, all in real-time.

4. The method of any preceding Claims, further comprising of the computer-
related
inventions and related software and hardware platforms will seamlessly detect,
capture,
identify and verify the different market segments of subscribing customers for
their
qualification, eligibility and destination account, of which transactional
data will be
automatically captured at the subscribing merchant's POS environments, all in
real-time.
Such data will include personal consumers; business managers and their
assigned
employees; merchants and others.


2
5. The method of Claim 4, further comprising of the computer-related
inventions and related
software and hardware platforms include securely and seamlessly routing the
transmission
of the captured transactional data from the subscribing merchant's POS
environments, to
the remote electronic data storage environments, platforms and or devices, all
in real-time.

6. The method of Claim 5, further comprising of enabling the remote electronic
data storage
environments, platforms and or devices to securely receive each transmission
of
transactional data in real-time, and archive each generated transactional data
consecutively
for at least ten (10) years, from the time and date each transactional data
was received
within the process of the inventions.

7. The method of Claim 6, further comprising of securely transmitting each
transactional data
from the remote electronic data storage environments, platforms and or devices
to data
processing platforms, which will generate, format and prepare the presentment
of
electronic receipt(s) for the respective subscribing customer and subscribing
merchant who
were involved in the sales transaction, all in real-time.

8. The method of Claim 7, further comprising that all subscribing customers
and subscribing
merchants will each receive electronic receipt(s), in their respective
destination account,
relative to each sales transaction made at the subscribing merchant's POS
environment, via
their hypermedia interfaces, all in real-time.

9. The method of Claim 7 and Claim 8, further comprises of creating unique
mobile
applications, barcodes and data fields that represent an electronic form of
the subscribing
customer's electronic receipt(s), which will be seamlessly delivered to the
subscribing
customers' mobile hypermedia interfaces, in addition to their destination
account, all in
real-time.

10. The method of Claim 9, further comprising of enabling subscribing
merchants to employ
and engage the downloaded, integrated and installed computer-related
inventions and


3
related software and hardware platforms within their POS environment to read,
scan and
identify the presentment of electronic receipt(s), via the subscribing
customers' mobile
hypermedia interfaces, all in real time.

11. The method of any preceding claims, further comprising of sending real-
time notifications
to the subscribing customers' and subscribing merchants' hypermedia interfaces
and
destination accounts, will advise them of the generation of their electronic
receipt(s) and its
immediate availability to access via their hypermedia interfaces.

12. The method of any preceding claims, further comprising of presenting and
enabling
availability and accessibility of electronic receipt(s), via the subscribing
customers'
destination account and also the subscribing merchants' destination account,
via their
hypermedia interfaces, in real time.

13. The method of any preceding claims, further comprising of the captured
transactional data
will contain all embodiments and pluralities of the sales transaction that is
greater than
'Level 1 Merchant Data', and will include the following:

Subscribing Buyer's Name and Account information; Subscribing Buyer's Billing
Address
& Postal/Zip Code; Purchase Invoice Number; Merchant Name; Merchant ID #;
Merchant Details (including Merchant Address & Postal Code, Merchant Telephone
&
URL address where applicable, Server Name, Table # where applicable, Check #
where
applicable, POS Terminal #); Date & Time; Charge/Refund; Method of Payment and
Expiry Date where applicable (including Credit Card, Charge Card, Debit Card,
Smart
Card, Contactless Payment, Mobile Payment, Biometric Payment, Gift Card, Store
Credit, Others); Method of Payment Data and (or) Account Data; Name registered
on
method of payment; Retrieval #; Trace/Reference #; Approval #; Authorization
#;
Transaction amount details; Sub Total; Tax Amount (and or Alternate Tax
Amount);
Tip/gratuity Amount; Total Amount; Customer Code (where applicable); Tax
Identification; Merchant Minority Code; Merchant Provincial/State Code; Item
Product
Code; Item/Service Description; Detailed Line Description of Items/Services
Purchased;


4
Item/Services Quantity; Item/Services Unit of Measure; Item/Services Extended
Amount; Item/Service; Net/Gross Indicator; Item/Service Tax Amount;
Item/Service Tax
Rate; Item/Service Tax Identifier; Item/Service Discount Indicator; Ship from
Postal
Code Freight Amount; Customs Tax and Duty Amount; Destination Postal Code;
Destination Country Code; Other(s)

14. The method of any preceding claims, further comprising of:
At the time of setting up a subscription account, in order to receive
electronic receipt(s),
the prospect subscribing customer is required to provide key data elements
relating to
their credit, debit and or fund account(s) from where the payment and or funds
will
derive from for their transactions, so that they can qualify, become eligible
and have a
destination account for their transactional data to be seamlessly captured and
delivered
in the form of an electronic receipt from the subscribing merchants' POS
environment(s), all in real time; and

At the time of setting up a subscription account, the prospect subscribing
merchant is
required to provide key data elements directly relating to their POS
environment(s), so
they can qualify for acquiring, downloading, integrating and installing the
software
platforms and hardware platforms within their POS environments. This will
enable
merchants to seamlessly execute the detection, capture, identification and
verification
of the customer's qualification, eligibility and destination account for
automatically
having their transactional data captured during the payment process, all in
real-time.

15. The method of any preceding claims, further comprising of enabling and
allowing
subscribing personal consumers to securely access, search, view, print and
download static
electronic receipt(s) and other information from their destination account,
via their
hypermedia interfaces.

16. The method of any preceding claims, further comprising of enabling and
allowing
subscribing business managers to securely access, search, view, print and
download



5

electronic receipt(s) and other information, from their destination account,
via their
hypermedia interfaces.

17. The method of claim 15 and 16, further comprising of enabling and allowing
all
supplementary accountholders to securely access, search, view, print and
download
electronic receipt(s) and other information from their destination account,
via their
hypermedia interfaces.

18. The method of any preceding claims, further comprising of enabling and
allowing
subscribing merchants to securely access, search, view, print and download
electronic
receipt(s) and other information, from their destination account, via their
hypermedia
interfaces.

19. The method of Claim 15, Claim 16, Claim 17 and Claim 18, wherein further
comprising the
use of fields, parameters and values to search and locate specific electronic
receipt(s) and
other information from their destination account/s, via the hypermedia
interfaces.

20. The method of Claim 15, wherein the step further includes capabilities and
generation of
static reports based on calendar cycles to be created, printed and downloaded
from their
destination accounts, via their hypermedia interfaces.

21. The method of Claim 15, Claim 16, Claim 17 and Claim 18, wherein further
includes:
The generation of customizable reporting formats which can be created by all
subscribing customers and subscribing merchants from the respective
destination
accounts;
Shall be further generated by the use of fields, parameters, values and other
information, as comprising of Claim 19;

All via their hypermedia interfaces



6
22. The method of Claim 21, further enabling all customizable reporting
formats to be viewed,
printed, downloaded and emailed via all subscribing customers' and subscribing
merchants'
destination accounts, through their hypermedia interfaces.

23. The method comprising of allowing subscribing customers to create and
assign
supplementary accounts to their designated assignees, from their destination
accounts, via
their hypermedia interfaces. The computer-related inventions will identify and
match all
supplementary accounts back to the hierarchal primary account structure.

24. The method of Claim 23, further comprising of when all designated
supplementary
accountholders are setting up their subscription accounts for receiving
electronic receipt(s),
they are required to provide key data elements relating to their credit, debit
and or fund
account(s) from where the payment and or funds will derive from for payment of
their
transactions, so that they can qualify, become eligible and have a destination
account for
their transactional data to be seamlessly captured, from the subscribing
merchants' POS
environments, all in real time.

25. The method comprising the initiation of engaging and employing the
downloaded,
integrated and installed the computer-related inventions and its related
software and
hardware platforms to automatically and seamlessly execute the detection,
capture,
identification and verification of the supplementary accountholders'
qualification, eligibility
and destination account for having their transactional data captured. This
will be triggered
upon the direct engagement between the supplementary accountholder and the
subscribing merchant during the payment process in a sales transaction that is
being
processed through the subscribing merchant's POS environments; all in real-
time.

26. The method of Claim 12, further comprising for all supplementary
accountholders to
securely access, search, view, print and download static electronic
receipt(s), via their
hypermedia interfaces, which they have created as a result of their own sales
transaction
with a subscribing merchant.


7
27. The method comprising for allowing all subscribing customers and
supplementary
accountholders to create alert notifications from their destination account,
to automatically
trigger when assigned spend levels, behaviour, patterns and assigned
parameters have
been met.

28. The method of Claim 27, further comprising of subscribing customers and
supplementary
accountholders to automatically receive alert notifications, in real-time, via
their
hypermedia interfaces and their destination account(s) once their assigned
spend levels,
behaviour, patterns and assigned parameters have been met.

29. The method comprising of enabling subscribing customers and supplementary
accountholders to receive from subscribing merchants, virtual shopping:
coupons;
discounts; offers and promotions in their destination accounts, which they can
access
through their hypermedia interfaces.

30. The method of Claim 29, further comprising that all subscribing merchants
will be able to
identify target profile marketing customer segments to create target profile
marketing
initiatives, through submitting a request to create a target list for each of
their target
profile marketing campaigns.

31. The method of Claim 30, further comprising of the target list will be
identified from the list
of subscribing customer data contained on the remote electronic data storage
environments, platforms and or devices.

32. The method of Claim 29, further comprising of allowing and enabling all
subscribing
customers and supplementary accountholders to electronically exchange their
offers with
other subscribing customers and supplementary accountholders via their
destination
accounts, which can be accessed via their hypermedia interfaces, all in real
time.


8
33. The method comprising for enabling all subscribing customers, subscribing
merchants and
supplementary accountholders to access and view a business to business
directory listing
and also a business to consumer directory listing from their destination
account, via their
hypermedia interfaces, all in real time.

34. The method of Claim 33, further comprising of enabling all subscribing
customers,
subscribing merchants and supplementary accountholders to create their own
custom
listings of business directory lists on their destination accounts, via their
hypermedia
interfaces.

35. The method of providing all subscribing customers and supplementary
accountholders the
capabilities of inserting textual comments and ratings of their experiences
with subscribing
merchants, which can be executed from their destination accounts, via their
hypermedia
interfaces.

36. The method of Claim 3, further comprising for engaging and employing the
downloaded,
integrated and installed the computer-related inventions and its related
software and
hardware platforms to automatically and seamlessly detect non-subscribing
customers at
the subscribing merchants' POS environments, during the sales transaction and
payment
process all in real time.

37. The method of Claim 36, further comprising of seeking the non-subscribing
customer's
consent to acquire their key data elements from the sales transaction and
payment
process.

Description

CA 02684434 2009-11-16
1
Description:

Title -
Seamlessly capturing transactional data at the merchant's Point of Sale
environment and creating
electronic receipts, all in real-time.

Technical Field -
The inventions will address the retail Point of Sale (POS) environment,
comprising of the
technological and computer platforms related development to capture
transactional data and then
to create electronic receipts. The core objective is to seamlessly create real-
time electronic
receipts directly from the Point of Sale, leveraging the use of electronic
transactional data that is
greater than Level 1 Merchant Data, providing very detailed transactional
information.

The inventions will involve ongoing software and hardware platform
developments; including
keeping current with state of the art technologies to provide highly secured
access and storage of
electronic and transactional data, as well as the means of enabling real-time
transmissions and
conversions of electronic and transactional data and electronic receipts to
the intended locations
and account destinations.

Background -
In today's commerce environment, everytime a transaction takes place between a
consumer (a
buyer) and a merchant (seller of goods and/or services); the consumer
typically receives a paper
receipt to show and act as a proof of payment and ownership. In order to
provide printed paper
receipts with every sales transaction, merchants need a Point of Sale (POS)
terminal system,
terminal printer, paper receipt rolls and printer ink cartridges; merchants
also need to ensure that
they have ample stock of paper receipt rolls and ink cartridges.

Through the development and introduction of credit cards into the market,
receipts have migrated
from being handwritten to now being printed. Having printed paper receipts at
the Point of Sale


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
2

provides thorough key transaction details that need to be captured. Receipts
are the very fabric of
everyday commerce transactions, as they provide different functions for both
consumers and
merchants. For 'Personal Consumers', receipts are:

= A proof of payment for the exchange of goods and (or) services rendered by
the seller to
the buyer.

= The titles of ownership for the property obtained in the exchange of
transaction.

= The means of allowing an unsatisfied customer to exercise a return of goods
and (or)
complain about services rendered. In return and in accordance to the
merchants' Return
Policy, they will either be issued with a full monetary value refund, receive
an exchange of
goods and or services, or receive a credit for future purchases.

= A proof of warranty/guarantee for the goods and (or) services purchased.

Paper receipts serve additional functions for 'Small Medium Enterprises
(SME's) and Corporations
and their Business Managers':
= Receipts allow business managers, businesses and companies to keep track of
their
company related expenses, helping them to better manage and monitor their
company
expenses and budgets.
= Employees are mandated to retain their company expense receipts for all of
their
transactions, so that they can submit these expenses with their employee
expense reports.
= Employee expense reports containing receipts allow business managers,
businesses and
companies to identify and monitor employee expenses; and to also enable great
accountability between the employer and the employee.
= With the generation of receipts and submission of the expense reports,
companies can also
manage and calculate their tax reconciliations against the expenses.
= Receipts play a vital role in business and tax audits. During audit
sessions, auditors and
accountants typically check through all business documents, reports and
statements,
including receipts, to ensure that the company's finances are in order and
that all expenses,
profits and losses are accounted for.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
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Receipts entail a unique set of requirements and functions for merchants.
Everytime a merchant
participates in a sales transaction they have to:

= Provide a receipt to the customer to show completion of the sales
transaction.

= Receipts are proof of exchanging titles of ownership from the merchant to
the consumer
through the act of a sales transaction.

= Ensure there is sufficient available stock of printer rolls and ink
cartridges, so that they can
produce a receipt for every transaction at a physical POS terminal location.
The cost of
buying printer supplies will vary depending on foot-traffic to the merchant's
business.
= If the method of payment is cash, merchants only print of one copy of the
receipt, which is
given to the customer. If the method of payment is via a credit or debit card,
merchants
typically print of two copies of the receipt; one copy will go to the customer
and the other
copy will remain with the merchant. Typically at the end of each business day,
merchants
will use these copies of receipts to do their daily sales reconciliations and
to submit their
request for credit and debit card payments. The purpose of reconciling is to
separate each
card plastic payment receipt so that they can process all payments relative to
Amex,
MasterCard, Visa and Debit cards, prior to sending off for batch payment
processing/
requests.

= Merchants need all receipts to calculate the taxes applicable to the sales
of their goods and
or services, so that they can submit the correct amount of taxes.

= Merchants are also required to keep all receipts: (i) In the event they have
to deal with a
credit card payment dispute (otherwise referred to as a chargeback); (ii) For
purposes of
preparing for a business and or tax audit, back dating 7 years.

Although receipts prove to be quite important, there nevertheless are
challenges too that are
associated with them. Business managers, employees, merchants and companies
have to
manually prepare and process the submission of reports and other types of
requests using actual
or copies of the paper receipts; they also have to safely keep and store paper
receipts for up to 7
years. Merchants have to bear the burden of costs to ensure that there are
sufficient stocks of
printer receipts supplies. Furthermore, heavily associated with this are
impact to costs relating to
administration and storage, as well as impacts to work productivity. Also,
there are always risks


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
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associated with data entry errors, which can occur from the manual submission
of the employee
expense reports. This can cause allot of issues in the long-run as final
calculations may likely get
skewed and lead to inaccurate reporting. Businesses and merchants are also
required to keep all
documents, statements and receipts related to company expenses for up to 7
years, so that they
may be able to prepare for business and tax auditing purposes. If these
receipts get lost in the
process then the company has no official record of expenses made.

Whenever a merchant processes a plastic payment card (Credit and or Debit)
during a buyer and
seller transaction process, depending on the technical capabilities of their
POS terminal device
(combination of hardware and software) they are able to capture, identify and
transmit certain
sets of unique transactional information to the Acquirer. In the payment
industry this is often
referred to as Merchant Level Data. Presently in the industry, there are 3
levels of merchant data.
Level 1 Merchant Data is the basic level and Level 3 Merchant Data currently
contains the most
detailed list of transactional information:

= Level 1 data contains: Credit Card Number & Expiry Date, Billing Address,
Postal/Zip Code,
Invoice Number, Merchant Name, Transaction Amount and Date/Time.

= Level 2 data contains: Credit Card Number & Expiry Date, Billing Address,
Postal/Zip Code,
Invoice Number, Merchant Name, Transaction amount, Date, Tax Amount, Customer
Code,
Merchant Postal Code, Tax Identification, Merchant Minority Code and Merchant
State
Code

= Level 3 Data contains: Credit Card Number & Expiry Date, Billing Address,
Postal/Zip Code,
Invoice Number, Merchant Name, Transaction amount, Date, Tax Amount, Customer
Code,
Merchant Postal Code, Tax Identification, Merchant Minority Code, Merchant
State Code,
Item Product Code, Item Description, Item Quantity, Item Unit of Measure, Item
Extended
Amount, Item Net/Gross Indicator, Item Tax Amount, Item Tax Rate, Item Tax
Identifier,
Item Discount Indicator, Ship from Postal Code, Freight Amount, Duty Amount,
Destination
Postal Code, Destination Country Code and Alternate Tax Amount


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
Prior Art -
These are prior patents that address the area of electronic receipts and have
been cited and
referenced:

= Title -"Electronic Receipt Card System", Patent Number - 2605944
This invention pertains to an "Electronic Receipt Card System consisting of a
debit or credit
card linked to a secure online website". "Swiping a debit or credit card
linked to the ERCS
at all points of sale will send electronic copies of receipts to a central
server".

This patent does not address or disclose any method of how the debit or credit
card will be
'linked' to the ERCS environment or what the role of the Cardholders or the
merchant will
be in the allowing such a 'link' to be possible. Furthermore the way the
invention presents
itself; it appears that the invention can only link the credit or debit card
and not both. The
invention makes no reference to any Merchant Level Data or any other
electronic
transactional data. Nor does the invention mention creating electronic
receipts in a real-
time, and is unknown how long it will take for the electronic receipts to be
made available
for the customer to access. It is unclear if the invention is made possible
through either an
add-on hardware instalment that is compatible with the pre-existing POS
terminal device
and or if the invention is software based. As the technical processes and
methodologies
are unclear, the invention does not mention nor explain how the merchant will
identify an
ERCS linked debit or credit card(s), especially amongst non-ERCS linked cards,
nor does the
invention address any e-Commerce environment or any other payment method such
as
mobile and contactiess payments. Also, the invention does not have tax
calculating
capabilities (only mentions importing to tax preparation softwares), or any
other reporting
capabilities such as expense management or sales management. This invention
only speaks
to the consumer market, as there is no mention of any services, benefits or
features to the
merchant community, other than cost savings. There is no mention about if
merchants can
access any electronic receipts or how this invention will impact their post
sales
management of receipts, especially when they are required to submit their sale
for
payment to the acquirer banks. This invention does not mention any merchant
driven
marketing promotional programs that can be developed as a direct result of
having a


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
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wealth of customer data through the electronic receipts, or how the discounts
offers are
redeemed at the POS environment.

This invention is also a 'Dead Application', as off 2009-06-29.

= Title -"Electronic Transaction Receipt System and Method"; Patent Number -
2399101
This patent is strictly addressing the means of embedding a hyperlink for
allowing
secondary purchases within an electronic receipt that has been generated.
The hyperlink can be associated with an inducement to make a secondary
purchase of an
item commercially related to the primary purchase, such as accessories, items
used in the
same field, manuals and other items.

This patent focuses on a consumer facing only solution by generating and
embedding
hyperlinks for secondary purchases and offers within primary electronic
receipts that have
been created from the e-commerce environment. This invention does not directly
address
the generation of electronic receipts from physical retail POS terminal
locations, nor does it
focus on or offer any merchant solutions. This invention does not even
reference if the
electronic receipts with hyperlinked embedded (secondary) offers will be
offered in real-
time or seamlessly. There is no reference if there are notification
capabilities to the
consumer notifying either or both subscribing consumers or merchants for the
arrival and
or delivery of their respective electronic receipts. This invention does not
even offer
supplementary accounts with the primary account structure, nor does it make
any
reference to spend alert capabilities. The invention does not contain any
business to
business directory capabilities, or blogging capabilities for consumers to
use. Furthermore
the invention does not address the means of new customer acquisition at the
POS.

This invention is a 'Dead Application' as off 2008-02-04.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
7

= Title - "Point of Sale Electronic Receipt Generation"; Patent Number -
2524062
This patent refers to the means and process of receiving instructions for
receipt generation
and receipt destination prior to actually generating electronic receipts
directly from the
Point of Sale (POS) and transmitting the electronic receipts to a receipt
destination. The
invention also includes the means of a primary key to act as a unique
transaction identifier.
The invention also proposes to includes a method of collecting tax data from
the electronic
receipts

Although the patent addresses the means of generating electronic receipts, it
is still very
vague and unclear. The invention strongly suggests a heavy dependency upon
receiving a
command of receipt instructions, including receipt destination, but it is
unclear from where
these elements will derive from. This invention does not mention the
generation of
electronic receipts in Real-time; the seamless creation of electronic
receipts; or specifically
using Merchant Level Data that is passed between the merchant and acquirer in
order to
fully extrapolate transactional data. The invention only references a limited
range of
payment methods. The invention refers to the electronic receipt containing
images of the
buyer's method of payment (such as face of credit card, cash or cheque); it is
not clear if
the invention includes an image capturing device at the POS. Furthermore the
invention
does not include the creation of supplementary accounts within the primary
account
structure. The invention does not capabilities to allow merchants to offer
target profiling
marketing offers to consumers. The invention does not include or mention any
spend alert
trigger capabilities. Also, this invention does not offer or mention
capabilities to create
business to business directories (both static and customizable). The invention
does not
offer the means of allowing new customer acquisition to take place at the POS
environments. There are no means of allowing the customers to have blogging
capabilities.
The invention does not provide real-time notifications for when the electronic
receipts are
made. Lastly, the invention does not reference merchants having access to the
electronic
receipts for reconciling the daily sale with; it is very unclear that through
this invention,
how merchants will manage their post sales process and tracking if there are
no means of
having access to electronic receipts.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
8

Description of how invention addresses technical problem -
The invention will address the technical issues as the design and focus is to
seamlessly capture
transactional data in real-time, directly from subscribing merchants' Point of
Sale (POS)
environments, formatting it in to electronic receipts, then making it
immediately available to
access in the destination accounts belonging to both subscribing customer and
subscribing
merchant. Simultaneously to delivering the formatted electronic receipts will
the delivery of
notifications to the subscribing customer; all in real-time.

For all customers who wish to receive electronic receipts and for those
merchants who wish to
issue electronic receipts, the prerequisites are for them to each create an
online destination
account on the company website. Within this prerequisite stage, customers and
merchants will be
required to provide personal background information and additional pre-
determined key data
elements that will allow for payment of funds deriving from their credit
account, debit account
and/or funds account. Once the destination account has been established
subscribing customers
will be able to seamlessly receive electronic receipts in real-time from
subscribing merchants.
During the account setup stage, subscribing merchants will be able to
download, integrate and
install the computer-related invention and related software and hardware
platforms within their
Point of Sale (POS) environments, for both physical retail locations and all e-
commerce
environments, which will allow them the means of ultimately participating on
the process of
providing subscribing customers with electronic receipts.

The seamless process will begin with an initial direct engagement of the
subscribing customer
making and completing a sales transaction payment process with a subscribing
merchant at the
merchant's POS environment. The computer related invention, along with its
software and
hardware platforms, remote electronic data storage environments and related
platforms and/or
devices and business methods will seamlessly execute the detection, capture,
identification and
verification of the customer's qualification, eligibility and destination
account; all in real-time.
Immediateiy upon execution, transactional data will be captured at the
subscribing merchant's POS


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environments, in real-time and securely transmitted to a remote secured
central repository
database where it will then be transmitted to a data processing platform to
prepare, format and
create the presentment of electronic receipts and be securely delivered in
real-time to the
respective subscribing customer's and subscribing merchant's destination
account. In addition to
the delivery of electronic receipts to the aforementioned destination
accounts, the respective
subscribing customer will receive notifications advising them of the
generation and the immediate
availability to access the electronic receipts from their accounts.

As stated in the journey above, the objective to for this process to be
seamless to all subscribing
customers and subscribing merchants, and for the electronic receipts to be
made available from
the POS environments to the destination accounts in real-time. In this
invention, neither customer
nor merchant will ever have to initiate any step or act in the initial stages
of engaging in each sales
transaction or payment process. In addition to all subscribing customers
receiving electronic
receipts, all subscribing merchants will also receive copies of electronic
receipts made relative to
their daily sales transactions. Each subscribing customer will be able to
access their electronic
receipts through their destination account, which they can securely access
using a unique identifier
and password. Subscribing merchants will also be able to access their daily
generated electronic
receipts through the same method of having a unique identifier and password
for their destination
account. Electronic receipts will be safely stored in the remote central
repository database, and
made accessible for up to 10 years rolling; allowing subscribing business
managers, business
owners, companies and merchants to access their electronic receipts so that
they can prepare for a
business and (or) tax audit

The target audience of this invention are (i) Customers who comprise of:

= Personal consumers - Who are seeking convenience and new post saies
experiences.
= Business managers; business owners; and corporations - Who make business
related
expenses and wish to have a better receipt management process and system.

= Merchants of all sizes - Who wish to streamline their receipt management
processes and
systems, post sales administrative procedures and storage and to save on the
costs of
buying printer supplies.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16

For payment methods that are not directly associated or connected to the
subscribing customers'
credit account, debit account (and) or funds account, the subscribing customer
can use a hardware
token device at the subscribing merchant's POS retail location. The token
device will contain their
subscription identification, eligibility and destination account details,
which provide the means and
process of having their transactional data captured and electronic receipts
generated in the same
fashion as mentioned above. The token device would be identified to the
subscribing merchant's
POS terminal device in one fashion or another. Suffice to say this will not be
a seamless generation
of electronic receipts.

Furthermore, this invention will deliver a 360 degree benefit to all:
= Electronic receipts created seamiessly and in real-time.

= Neither subscribing customers nor subscribing merchants will ever have to
implement any
steps, methods or procedures in a sales transactions involving an electronic
bill payment
that leads to funds deriving from credit account, debit account and (or) funds
account.

= Creation of Supplementary Accounts; within the primary subscribing customer
account
structure.

= Subscribing customers and supplementary accountholders can opt to receive
additional
versions of their electronic receipts via their cellular or smart phone SMS
text channel; all in
real-time.

= For every sales transaction, simultaneous and real-time delivery of
electronic receipts to
both subscribing customer's and subscribing merchant's destination accounts.
In the event
that supplementary accountholders generate the electronic receipts, they and
the primary
accountholder would receive a copy the electronic receipt. Furthermore the
primary
accountholder will receive notifications via their SMS text channel, an email
and a message
in their destination account.
= The invention will securely store each transactional data and electronic
receipt for 10 (ten)
years rolling each time a single transactional data and electronic receipt is
created; allowing
the subscribers to access their receipts anytime they wish too.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
11

= Creation of sales management reporting capabilities, aimed to help
subscribing merchants
effectively and efficiently conduct their daily card sales reconciliations -
allowing them to
allocate more time to their business and reduce administrative costs.

= Creation of tax management reporting capabilities, where subscribing
customers and
subscribing merchants can identify their respective tax calculations
pertaining to their good
and (or) services they either purchased or sold.

= Creation of expense management reporting capabilities, where subscribing
customers can
view both dashboard level expenses and conduct detailed dynamic reports and
searches on
electronic receipts under their account structure. Employees who have been
assigned a
supplementary account can create and submit employee expense reports on their
business
related expenses, as well as conduct dynamic searches only with their own
supplementary
account. Subscribing personal consumers will only be able to view static
expense reports
based on calendar cycles.

= Creation of spend alerts, informing subscribing customers that their spend
threshold limit
has been reached. Notifications would be sent out immediately once the alert
has been
triggered. The spend alerts will be created using multiple fields by
subscribing customers.

= Creation of spend centric programs, where the invention will allow
subscribing merchants
to implement target profile marketing initiatives (merchant discount offers),
to ultimately
create stronger traction for customer loyalty and higher sales revenues.

= Creation of real-time notifications to be sent out to each subscribing
customer for the
generation and available access for each of their electronic receipt to their
destination
account. This will be done through the following channels: a message posted to
the
destination account; an email sent to their personal email inbox; and (or) via
SMS text
messaging (if they've opted for this feature). Also, subscribing customers
will also receive
further notifications through the above mentioned channels if they have been
targeted by
subscribing merchants with target profile marketing initiatives. Additionally,
subscribing
customers who have created spend alert triggers will also receive
notifications through the
same aforementioned channels.
= Creation of trading capabilities to allow and enable all subscribing
customers to
trade/exchange/swap their received merchant discount offers with other
subscribers.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
12

= Creation of an online business to business directory listings and business
to consumer
directory listing; with virtual mapping capabilities. Designed for merchants
to sign-up and
benefit from the listing. This will be made available on the subscribing
customers' home
account page.

= Subscribing customers will also be able to create their own customized
business to business
directory listings and business to consumer directory listings, within their
destination
account.

= Subscribing customers will also be able to post textual comments and ratings
on a
shared/common area on the website, about their most recent experience at a
subscribing
merchant. This will be seen by all subsribers.

= As electronic receipts are created in real-time and immediately followed by
notifications to
the subscriber (also in real-time), the invention has the means of becoming a
real-time
fraud detection tool. In the event that a subscribing customer's credit
account, debit
account and (or) fund account has been compromised, they will receive an
electronic
receipt with trigger notifications. Once the subscribing customer receives the
notification(s) they can act on contacting their bank(s) immediately to put a
freeze on their
account(s); giving the subscribing customer a great sense of control.

Lastly, the invention will also identify non-subscribing customers at the
subscribing merchants' POS
location(s). This will drive the opportunity growing new acquisition of
subscribing customers,
directly from the frontline. Whenever the invention does not identify a
subscriber, it will
automatically assume that the person is a non-subscriber and will prompt the
person through a
message via the POS terminal or via the e-Commerce platforms if they would
like to receive
electronic receipts. If the prospect would like to begin receiving electronic
receipts, they will
follow some basic steps directed on the POS environment/platform to show
acknowledgment and
to provide their consent in allowing the invention to collect some key data
elements from their
method of payment/ EBPP (Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment). By
retrieving their data
elements the invention would engage in steps to create and set-up an account
for the new
customer.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
13
Detailed Description of Invention -

To aid the detailed description of the invention: the embodiments of the
invention will be
referenced in the following drawings:

= Fig 1. Steps in generating electronic receipts

= Fig 2. Consumers' Payment via Credit and or Debit Account

= Fig 3. Consumers' Payment via Cash, Cheque, Gift Cards and Store Credits
= Fig 4: Business Managers' Payment via Credit and Debit Account

= Fig 5. Business Managers' Payment via Cash, Cheque, Gift Cards, and Store
Credits
= Fig 6. Merchants' environment

= Fig 7. Electronic Receipts: Search Fields
= Fig 8. Creating Reports

= Fig 9. Customer Acquisition at the POS environment

For clarity, the following will be referenced in the body of the detailed
description:
= 'Subscribing Customers' (ABM) will be inclusive of:

o Personal Consumers (A).
o Business Managers (BM).
o Business Owners (BM).

o Small Medium Enterprises (SME's) (BM).
o Corporations (BM).

o Personal Supplementary Accountholders (SOSA2)
o Business Supplementary Accountholders (SOSA3)
= There will be instances where the above reference will be further
differentiated as:
o 'Personal Consumers' (A) and 'Business Managers' (BM).

o'Business Managers' (BM) will be inclusive of Business Managers, Business
Owners,
SME's and Corporations.

= Subscribing Merchants (M) will refer to merchants of all sizes.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
14

The aim and intention of this invention is to eventually replace and migrate
all receipts from paper
to electronic. The invention will be composed of a computer-related invention,
comprising of
software and hardware platforms (52) that will seamlessly detect, capture,
identify and verify the
subscribing customer's (ABM) qualification, eligibility and destination
account, and capture
transactional data (S3) from the Point of Sales (POS) environment (B BT); all
in real-time.
Immediately upon capturing the transactional data, the invention will transmit
the transactional
data (S4) to the remote electronic data storage environments and related
platforms and/or devices
(CRDB1); all in real-time. Once the transactional data has been received, the
information will be
immediately transmitted to data processing platforms to generate, format and
prepare the
presentment of electronic receipts (ERDB1); all in real-time. Immediately upon
the generation of
electronic receipts, the subscribing customer (ABM) will receive real-time
notifications, as well as
the electronic receipts being delivered (SS) to the destination accounts
(CPA1/BMPA1/SOSA2/SOSA3/MPA1) belonging to the respective subscribing customer
(ABM) and
subscribing merchant (M); all in real-time.

Electronic receipts (ER1 ER2) will be created seamlessly in real-time directly
from the POS
environment (B BT), whether it via merchants' (M) e-Commerce site pages or
their POS terminal
device(s) within the store location(s). The invention of electronic receipts
(ERI 2) will be targeted
towards 'Personal Consumers' (A),'Business Managers' (BM) and 'Merchants' (M)
of all sizes.
Electronic receipts (ER1 ER2) will contain a detailed list of transactional
data and elements that is
typically passed from the merchant (M) to the Acquirer. The invention will
capture transactional
data (B3 BT3) that is greater than Level 1 Merchant Data directly from
subscribing merchants' (M)
POS environments (B BT), during the payment process of the sales transaction.
All transactional
data (B3 BT3) and electronic receipts (ERI ER2) will include the following
fields and will expand on
further fields as the payment industry emerges:

= Subscriber's Name and Account information
= Subscriber's Billing Address & Postal/Zip Code
= Purchase Invoice Number
= Merchant Name
= Merchant ID #


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
= Merchant Details
o Merchant Address and Postal Code
o Merchant Telephone (and URL address where applicable)
o Server Name
o Table # (where applicable)
o Check # (where applicable)
o POS Terminal #
= Date & Time
= Charge/Refund
= Method of Payment and Expiry Date (where applicable)
o Credit Card
o Charge Card
o Debit Card
o Smart Card
o Contactless Payment
o Mobile Payment
o Biometric Payment
o Gift Card
o Store Credit
o Other
o Method of Payment Data and (or) Account Data
o Name registered on method of payment
= Retrieval #
= Trace/Reference #
= Approval #
= Authorization #
= Transaction amount details
o Sub Total
o Tax Amount (and or Alternate Tax Amount)
o Tip/gratuity Amount
o Total Amount
= Customer Code (where applicable)
= Tax Identification
= Merchant Minority Code
= Merchant Provincial/State Code
= Item Product Code
= Item/Service Description
o Detailed Line Description of Items/Services Purchased
o Item/Services Quantity


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
16
o Item/Services Unit of Measure
o Item/Services Extended Amount
o Item/Service Net/Gross Indicator
o Item/Service Tax Amount
o Item/Service Tax Rate
o Item/Service Tax Identifier
o Item/Service Discount Indicator
= Ship from Postal Code Freight Amount
= Customs Tax and Duty Amount
= Destination Postal Code
= Destination Country Code
= Other(s)

The process of creating electronic receipts (ERI ER2) will be seamless within
the transaction
process to both the subscribing merchants (M) and subscribing customers (ABM).
All electronic
receipts (ER1 ER2) will be delivered to the subscribing customers (ABM) and
subscribing
merchants (M) in real-time. All references of seamless processes will be
associated with payments
being made at the subscribing merchants' (M) POS Environments (e) with funds
linked back to the
subscribing customers' Credit Accounts, Debit Accounts and (or) Fund Accounts
(A1). Any
references to method of payments made with cash, cheque, gift card, store
credit or others (C1-
C5) will not be seamless as the subscribing customer will present a hardware
token at the
subscribing merchants' (M) POS environment, which will be read by the computer-
related
inventions, comprising of software and hardware platforms. When personal
consumers (A) and
business managers (BM) sign up for the services of receiving electronic
receipts, they will be
required to provide key data elements within their account profile to complete
the account setup.
These data elements will be associated to their credit account, debit account
and (or) fund
account(s) (Al) from where the payment and (or) funds will derive from, for
the purchase of their
transactions. They will also be required to provide personal information about
themselves within
their account profile.

The process will begin with the direct engagement in the form of a payment
process (81 BT1) for a
sales transaction between the subscribing customer (ABM) and the subscribing
merchant (M), at


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
17

the POS environments (B BT). During the payment process, the computer-related
inventions,
comprising of software and hardware platforms - which will be embedded within
the merchants'
(M) POS platform B BT) - will automatically and seamlessly execute the
detection, capture,
identification and verification of the subscribing customer's (ABM)
qualification, eligibility and
destination account for having their transactional data captured (B2 BT2).
During this process, key
data elements will be detected, identified, captured and tracked from the
subscribing customer's
method of payment, via the computer-related inventions. Method of payments (A2-
9, C1-C4, &
AMP1) will include cash, credit cards, charge cards, cheques, debit cards,
gift cards, purchasing
cards, store credits, smart cards and all new emerging payment technologies
including Mobile
Payments, Contactless Payments and or Biometric Payments, and others. The
during the process
the computer-related inventions, comprising of software and hardware
platforms, will also detect
if the subscribing customer is either a personal consumer (A), a business
manager (BM) or
supplementary accountholders (SOSA21SOSA3).

Once the subscribing customer's (ABM) transactional data has been captured (B3
BT3) in real-time
at the subscribing merchants (M) POS environment (B BT) the transactional data
is immediately
transmitted (B4 BT4) to the remote electronic data storage environments,
platforms and or
devices (hereafter referred to as the Central Repository Database) (CRDB1).
Immediately
thereafter, the transactional data is transmitted from the central repository
database (CRDB1) to
the data processing platforms (hereafter referred to as Electronic Receipt
Database) (ERDBI) to
initiate the generation, formation and preparation of presentment of
electronic receipts (ERI ER2)
for the respective subscribing customer (A) and subscribing merchant (M) who
were involved in
the sales transaction; all in real-time. Once the electronic receipts (ERI
ER2) have been created
(ERBD1), these will be securely transmitted to the subscribing customers (ABM)
which they can
then securely access via their destination accounts
(CPA1/BMPA1/SOSA2/SOSA3/MPA1), on the
company's website. Again, reinforcing the fact that within the entire journey
of a payment process
where the method of payments (Al) lead to the subscribing customers' (ABM)
credit account;
debit account; and (or) their funds account, neither merchant (M) and or
subscribing customer
(ABM) will ever have to implement any steps or procedures to contribute to the
capture of
transactional data (B3 BT3) and creation of electronic receipts (ER1 ER2).
Each electronic receipt


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
18

(ERI ER2) will be stored for up to 10 (ten) years rolling (ERD81), in order to
meet the preparation
and requirements for business and tax audits.

As the creation of electronic receipts (ERI ER2) will consequently impact 3
market segments, it is
important to understand how the inventions will create each of their customer
journeys and add
enable new capabilities:

(i) Personal Consumers (A) who are everyday shoppers making personal
consumption of goods
and (or) services.

= As a direct result of the inventions, personal consumers (A) will never ever
need to keep
and store their paper receipts again. Transactional data will be seamlessly
created in
real-time(83 BT3), directly from the subscribing merchants' (M) POS terminal
device and
or e-Commerce platform(s) (B BT) and transmitted (84 BT4), to the company's
proprietary central repository database (CRD81). From the central repository
database
(CRD81), the transactional data is transmitted in real-time to the electronic
receipts
database (ERD81) where the generation, preparation and presentment of
electronic
receipts (ER1) will be executed, in real-time, and then immediately
transmitted to
destination accounts (CPA1/SOSA2) belonging to personal consumers (A).
Simultaneously to the delivery of electronic receipts (ER) to the personal
consumers' (A)
destination accounts (CPA1/SOSA2), notifications (S5a-c) will be sent out in
real-time to
the personal consumers (A), advising them of the creation and immediate
availability of
their electronic receipts (ER1). If personal consumers (A) have opted to
receive SMS Text
messages, they will also receive additional formatted copies of their
electronic receipts
directly to their cell/smart phone, in real-time (S5a). Note: All subscribing
merchants
(M) will also receive copies of every electronic receipt (ER1) that is created
through their
sales; for every electronic receipt (ER1) created, one copy will go to the
consumer (A)
and the other to them.

= Each subscribing consumer (A) will receive an online membership account
(CPA1) on the
company's website where they can access and view all (and any) of the
electronic
receipts (ER1) that has been created as a result of their purchase from a
subscribing
merchant (M). The inventions will securely store each electronic receipt (ER1)
for 10


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
19

years rolling from the time and date each receipt was created, all within the
repository
database, allowing personal consumers (A) to access their electronic receipts
(ERI)
anytime via their online account (CPA1/SOSA2).

= Personal consumers (A) and supplementary accountholders (SOSA2) will be able
to
access; search; view; print and download static electronic receipts (ERI) from
their user
identification and password protected destination account (CPA1/SOSA2).

= Electronic receipts (ER1) will contain transactional data that is greater
than Level 1
Merchant data.

= Consumers (A) will be able to create supplementary accounts (SOSA1) under
their
primary account. As each supplementary accountholder (SOSA2) creates
electronic
receipts (ER1), it will be sent to the remote electronic platforms and (or)
devices
(CRD81/ERD81) and registered under the primary account (the grandfather
account)
and made accessible to both the primary and supplementary accountholders
(CPA1/SOSA2). The primary account (CPA1) will always remain the hierarchal
account
and controller (the grandfather account).

= Consumers (A) and supplementary accountholders (SOSA2) will be able to view
static,
expense reports (ER1) covering set calendar cycles.

= If in the event a consumer (A) or supplementary accountholders (SOSA2) has
become
dissatisfied with the product or service rendered to them, they can simply
access the
respective electronic receipt (ER1) related to that product or service, print
it and return
back to the store to exercise the merchant's Customer Return Policy.

= The inventions will facilitate the means of allowing consumers (A) and
supplementary
accountholders (SOSA2) to view a business directory list of subscribing
merchants
(828D1), and also build a customizable business directory list (B2BD2) of
subscribing
merchants (M) that they've recently or normally shop at. This list will be
created and
made available to access on their destination account (CPA1/SOSA2). Within
this
function, the inventions will also offer some alternative merchant
recommendations
along with mapping capabilities via the hypermedia interfaces.

= The inventions will allow subscribing consumers (A) and supplementary
accountholders
(SOSA2) to post their ratings and opinions on the company website about their
most


CA 02684434 2009-11-16

recent visit and experience at a subscribing merchant (M). This will be seen
by fellow
subscribing customers (ABM) all via the company website and their hypermedia
interfaces.

= Through the inventions, subscribing personal consumers (A) will also have
the option of
setting up 'Spend Alerts' (SA1) on either their own overall account (CPA1) and
or on each
supplementary account (SOSA2), allowing notifications (S5a b c) to be sent in
real-time
once spend thresholds have been reached. The spend thresholds will be
determined by
the personal consumer (A). Spend alerts (SA1) can be set by: Calendar time;
merchant
name; merchant category; geographic location; expense amount; method of
payment;
by overall spend threshold amounts at the primary account level and by spend
threshold
amounts on overall supplementary accounts (SOSA2).

= The inventions will allow subscribing merchants (M) to create target profile
marketing
campaigns to target subscribing consumers (A) and supplementary accountholders
(SOSA2) with incented discounted offers, enticing them to return back for more
business. Targeted subscribing personal consumers (A) and supplementary
accountholders (SOSA2) will receive notifications (S5a-c) informing them of a
newly
arrived offer (MOI).

= The inventions will also allow subscribing consumers (A) and supplementary
accountholders (SOSA2) to trade their offers (TMO1) with other subscribing
customers
(ABM), all via their destination account and hypermedia interfaces.

= As electronic receipts (ER1) are created in real-time and immediately
followed by
notifications (S5a b c d) to the subscriber (also in real-time), the
inventions has the
means of becoming a real-time fraud detection tool. In the event that a
subscriber's
credit, debit and or fund accounts (AI) is/are being compromised, once the
subscriber
receives the notification(s) they can act on contacting their bank(s)
immediately to put a
freeze on their account(s).

= The inventions will also enable personal consumers (A) and supplementary
accountholders (SOSA2) to create other (OT1) new features and capabilities.

= This invention will bring new experiences to buyers (ABM), most especially
in the post
sales period.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
21
(ii) Business Managers (BM):

= As a direct result of the inventions, business manager (BM) will never ever
need to keep
and store their paper receipts again. Transactional data will be seamiessly
created in
real-time(63 BT3), directly from the subscribing merchants' (M) POS terminal
device and
or e-Commerce platform(s) (B BT) and transmitted (B4 BT4), to the company's
proprietary central repository database (CRDBI). From the central repository
database
(CRDB1), the transactional data is transmitted in real-time to the electronic
receipts
database (ERDB1) where the generation, preparation and presentment of
electronic
receipts (ER2) will be executed, in real-time, and then immediately
transmitted to
destination accounts (BMPA1/SOSA3) belonging to business managers (BM) and
supplementary accountholders (SOSA3). Simultaneously to the delivery of
electronic
receipts (ER2) to the business managers' (BM) destination accounts
(BMPA1/SOSA3),
notifications (S5a-c) will be sent out in real-time to the business managers
(BM), advising
them of the creation and immediate availability of their electronic receipts
(ER2). If
business managers (BM) have opted to receive SMS Text messages, they will also
receive
additional formatted copies of their electronic receipts directly to their
cell/smart phone,
in real-time (SRa). Note: All subscribing merchants (M) will also receive
copies of every
electronic receipt (ER2) that is created through their sales; for every
electronic receipt
(ER2) created, one copy will go to the business manager (BM) and the other to
them.

= Each subscribing business manager (BM) will receive a primary online account
(BMPA1).
They will also have the ability to create and assign online supplementary
accounts
(SOSA1) to each of their employees. As each employee generates electronic
receipts
(ER2), it will be sent to the remote electronic platforms and (or) devices
(CRDB1/ERDB1)
and registered under the primary account (the grandfather account) and made
accessible to both the primary and supplementary accountholders (BMPA1/SOSA3).
The
primary account (BMPA1) will always remain the hierarchal account and
controller (the
grandfather account).
= Electronic receipts (ER2) will contain transactional data that is greater
than Level 1
Merchant data, as aforementioned.


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
22

= Through the creation of electronic receipts (ER2), employees will be able to
safely access
their company expensed related receipts anytime through their supplementary
accounts
(SOSA3) on the company's website. This will mitigate any risk of losing paper
receipts.
The inventions will securely store each electronic receipt for 10 (ten) years
rolling as
each receipt is being created. These receipts will be securely stored within
the central
repository database (CRD81), allowing business managers (BM) and supplementary
accountholders (SOSA3) to access their electronic receipts (ER2) anytime via
their
destination account(s), especially in the event being audited for business and
(or) tax
purposes.

= The inventions will allow primary and secondary accountholders (BMPA1/SOSA3)
to
view, download and print each desired electronic receipt (ER2) from their
secured
destination account. If in the event they have become dissatisfied with the
product or
service rendered to them, they can simply access the respective electronic
receipt (ER2)
related to that product or service, print it and return back to the store to
exercise the
merchant's Customer Return Policy.

= Each time supplementary accountholders (SOSA3) create electronic receipts
(ER2) they
are sent to the primary and supplementary accountholders (BMPA1/SOSA3).
Simultaneously to the aforementioned, both levels of accounts will receive
real-time
notifications (S5a-c) informing them that an electronic receipt (ER2) has been
generated
via their registered method of payment(s) (Al) and that is immediately
available to
access. The primary account will be the 'grandfather account' and subsequently
will
receive notifications (S5a-c) for each generation of electronic receipt. These
notifications will be delivered through hypermedia interface channels.
Notifications
(S5a-d) to both the primary and supplementary accounts will create immediate
and
transparency and accountability between the employee and the employer (and the
company).
= Through the inventions, subscribing business managers (BM) will also have
the option of
setting up 'Spend Alerts' (SA1) on either their own overall account (BMPA1)
and or on
each supplementary account (SOSA3), allowing notifications (SSa b c) to be
sent in real-
time once spend thresholds have been reached. The spend thresholds will be


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
23

determined by each employer (BM). Spend alerts (SA1) can be set by: Calendar
time;
merchant name; merchant category; geographic location; expense amount; method
of
payment; by overall spend threshold amounts at the primary account level and
by spend
threshold amounts on overall supplementary accounts (SOSA3).

= Business Managers (BMPA1) will be able to create customized 'hierarchal'
reports -
Expense and Tax (EMR1/TMR1) - allowing them to get a very clear overview of
their
entire company related business expenses and taxation accounts. Reports can be
created by using one or a combination of the following fields (ERSF1): Time
(TF1);
Merchant name (MN1); Merchant category/SIC Code (MCCl); Geographic location
(GL1);
Payment method (PM1); Account level (AL1); Tax Breakout and calculations
(TBC1);
Dollar amount (DA1); Tagging (TG1) and Other (OT1). Reports (EMR1/TMR1) will
be able
to provide great detailed search results, as well as provide a graphic
illustrated
dashboard overview. These reports (EMR1/TMR1) can be printed, sent as an
attachment and or downloaded to the desktop or a computer device.

= As the inventions creates and stores electronic receipts (CRDBI),
supplementary
accountholders (SOSA3) will be able to create employee expense management
reports
(EEMR1), removing the need of collecting and submitting paper receipts. The
inventions
will reduce time for creating and submitting these reports and provide more
opportunity
to allow employees to be highly productive, while saving on administrative
costs.

= The inventions will allow subscribing companies to perform faster and
accurate tax
reconciliation reports, as each transactional data will capture detailed tax
amounts and
breakouts. Through the creation of the tax management reports (TMR1), Business
managers and supplementary accountholders (BIVI SOSA3) will be able to have
their tax
amounts identified from each electronic receipt, populated and then have a
total tax
amount determined for any criteria of time. The inventions will also allow
business
managers (BM) to directly submit these tax amounts and dues to the Government
Tax
Revenue Agency (TSI), from their destination accounts.

= The inventions will also allow business managers (BM) and supplementary
accountholders (SOSA3) create any formatted report generations (OTR1) they so
desire


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
24

by using search fields (ERSF1), all via their destination accounts which can
be accessed
through their hypermedia interfaces.

= The inventions will facilitate the means of allowing all primary and
secondary
accountholders (BMPA1/SOSA3) to view a business directory (B26D1), and to
build a
customizable business directory list of subscribing merchants (B2BD2) that
they've
recently or normally shop at. The directory list will be created and made
available to
access on their destination account. Within this function, the inventions will
also offer
some alternative merchant (M) recommendations along with mapping capabilities,
via
the business managers and supplementary accountholders (BMPA1/SOSA3)
hypermedia
interfaces.

= The inventions will allow primary and secondary accountholders (BMPA1/SOSA3)
to
view blogs and post their ratings and opinions on a dedicated area on company
website
(MV1/AMV1), so that they can share their most recent experience at a
subscribing
merchant. This will be seen by fellow subscribing business managers and
supplementary
accountholders (BM SOSA3) via the company website and hypermedia interfaces.

= The inventions will allow subscribing merchants (M) to create target profile
marketing
campaigns to target business managers (BM) and supplementary accountholders
(SOSA3) with incented discounted offers, enticing them to return back for more
business. Targeted subscribing business managers (BM) and supplementary
accountholders (SOSA3) will receive notifications (S5a-c) informing them of a
newly
arrived offer (MO1).

= The inventions will also allow business managers (BM) and their
supplementary
accountholders (SOSA3) the means to trade their offers (TMOI), provided by
subscribing
merchants (M), with other subscribing customers (ABM), all via their
destination
account and hypermedia interfaces.
= As electronic receipts (ER2) are created in real-time and immediately
followed by
notifications (S5a b c d) to the subscriber (also in real-time), the
inventions has the
means of becoming a real-time fraud detection tool. In the event that a
subscriber's
credit, debit and or fund accounts (Al) is/are being compromised, once the
business


CA 02684434 2009-11-16

manager (BM) and/or supplementary accountholder (SOSA3) receives the
notification(s)
they can act on contacting their bank(s) immediately to put a freeze on their
account(s).
= The inventions will also enable business managers (A) and supplementary
accountholders (SOSA3) to create other (OT1) new features and capabilities.

= The inventions will create new POS, post sales, new business expense
management
experience and allow for significant cost savings and ROI's.

(i) Merchants (M): Of all sizes.

= As a direct result of the inventions, subscribing merchants (M) will
eventually never
ever have to issue paper based receipts, as this computer-related inventions
comprising
of software and hardware platforms will capture transactional data(B3/BT3)
each time
a sales transaction takes place, with a subscribing customer (AMB), directly
at their POS
environment(s) (B BT), both seamlessly and in real-time. Immediately
thereafter, the
transactional data is securely transmitted (B4 BT4) to the remote electronic
storage
environments, platform and (or) devices (CRDB1); hereafter referred to as
proprietary
central repository database. From the central repository database (CRDB1), the
transactional data is transmitted in real-time to the electronic receipts
database
(ERDB1) where the generation, preparation and presentment of electronic
receipts
(ERI ER2) will be executed, in real-time, and then immediately transmitted to
destination accounts (CPA1/BMPA1/SOSA2/SOSA3/MPA1) belonging to subscribing
customers (ABM). Simultaneously to the delivery of electronic receipts (ERl
ER2) to
the destination accounts (CPAIBMPAI/SOSA2/SOSA3/MPA1), notifications (S5a-c)
will
be sent out in real-time to the subscribing customer (ABM), advising them of
the
creation and immediate availability of their electronic receipts (ER1 ER2). If
the
subscribing customer (ABM) has opted to receive SMS Text messages, they will
also
receive additional formatted copies of their electronic receipts directly to
their
cell/smart phone, in real-time (S5a). Note: All subscribing merchants (M) will
also
receive copies of every electronic receipt (ER1 ER2) that is created through
their sales;


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
26

for every electronic receipt (ER1 ER2) created, one copy will go to the
subscribing
customer (ABM) and the other to them.

= Each subscribing merchant (M) will receive an destination account (MPA1),
where they
can access, search, view, print and download all (and any) of the electronic
receipts
(ER1 ER2) that has been created as a result of their sales.

= Electronic receipts (ERI ER2) will contain transactional data that is
greater than Level 1
Merchant data, as aforementioned.

= The inventions will securely store each electronic receipt for 10 (ten)
years rolling as
each receipt is being created. These receipts will be securely stored within
the central
repository database (CRD81), which means merchants (M) will never have to deal
with
psychical administrative management of paper based receipts or absorb costs
associated
with storing actual sales receipts/slips.

= Depending on the scale of the merchant (M) they may likely have to
physically reconcile
and calculate daily sales generated by payment type (A1-A9/C1-C4), and this
involves
them separating and calculating sales generated by each plastic payment card
type (e.g. -
Amex, Discover Card, Diners CIub,1CB Cards, MasterCard and Visa). These
computer-
related inventions will enable subscribing merchants (M) to effectively manage
their
daily sales reconciliations, by allowing them to create sales reconciliation
reports
(SMR1). Through these daily generated reports, sales reconciliations will be
automatically reconciled and calculated by all payment method type. Merchants
(M) will
be able to spend more time and effort on their business sales and less time
and costs on
the administration.

= Through the computer-related inventions, further encompassing of software
and
hardware platforms, subscribing merchants (M) will significantly save on costs
for not
ever having to pay for printer supplies (printer rolls and ink cartridges), as
the inventions
will eventually replace paper receipts and the means of producing them.

= As businesses are required to keep receipts and other sales related
documents for 7
years rolling, in the case of having a business/tax audit, the inventions will
keep and
securely store the merchants' sales (electronic receipts) for this duration


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
27

(CRDB1 ERDB1). Subscribing merchants (M) will be able to access this data on
their
destination account (MPA1) at anytime.

= The inventions will simplify and streamline the process of addressing
chargeback
disputes, as electronic receipts will be easily identified, tracked and
electronically
transmitted to the Acquiring Bank, versus enduring the current paper trail and
postage
system, which is very time consuming. Merchants (M) will be able to reconcile
their
sales quicker and inexpensively by addressing the charge in question through
accessing
and quickly identifying the electronic receipt (ERI ER2) via their destination
account
(MPA1).

= Through the computer-related inventions, subscribing merchants (M) will be
able to
separate and calculate tax amounts that they owe to the Government Tax Revenue
Agencies on the products and services they've sold. Merchants (M) will be able
to create
tax management reports (TMR1), which will automatically calculate tax
breakouts and
amounts of their sales. The inventions will also allow merchants (M) to submit
these tax
amounts and dues directly to the Government Tax Revenue Agency (TS1).

= The inventions will also allow subscribing merchants (M) to create any
formatted report
generations (OTR1) they so desire by using search fields (ERSF1), all via
their destination
accounts which can be accessed through their hypermedia interfaces.
= Subscribing merchants (M) will be able to be featured on the company's
online business
directory (B2BD1). The online business directory will be available to all
subscribing
customers (ABM) to view and will only feature the subscribing merchants' (M)
contact
details, such as name, address, telephone number(s)s, fax number(s) and
internet
address. Furthermore the online business directory will categorize the
listings by
merchant categories, geographic locations, and will also provide mapping
capabilities for
listed merchants (M).
= The inventions will allow and create environments and platforms where
subscribing
merchants can create target profile marketing initiatives to target specific
subscribing
customers (ABM) with incented discounted offers (MO1). These offers will be
sent to
the targeted subscribing customers (ABM) through the company's proprietary


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
28

notification channels (SSa b c), as well as their destination account
(CPA1/BMPA1/SOSA2/SOSA3).

= The inventions will create new POS, post sales and merchant (M) experience,
as well as
allow for cost savings and ROI's.

If the in the event the computer-related inventions - comprising of software
and hardware
platforms - does not recognize the subscribing customer (ABM), it will
automatically assume the
customer is a non-subscriber. The sequence of steps for new customer
acquisition is referenced in
Fig. 10. If the computer-related inventions, comprising of software and
hardware platforms,
detects that the customer is not a subscriber (P2b), it will begin the process
of asking if the
prospect would like to apply (P2c). If the prospect provides a response
claiming "No" (P2d), then
the computer-related inventions and processes would lead to an end (S3). If
the prospect provides
a response claiming "Yes" (P2e), then the computer-related inventions -
comprising of software
and hardware platforms - would lead to capturing key data elements from the
prospect's EBPP
(P4). Upon capturing, the data will then be transmitted to a secure database
(PS), in real-time.
The information in the database will be used to reach out to the prospects to
guide them in
completing their account setup (P6). If in the event the customer is
identified as a subscriber
(P2a), the computer-related inventions, comprising of software and hardware
platforms, will
continue the 'business as usual' procedures (P3) of seamlessly capturing
transactional data in real-
time and following the processes to ultimately deliver electronic receipts
(ER1 ER2) to the
destination accounts (CPA1/BMPA1/SOSA2/SOSA3).

There are several components in making the inventions possible, as referenced
in Fig. 1 - 11:

= The first component is focused on the means of using the computer-related
inventions,
comprising of software and hardware platforms, which will be embedded within
the POS
environments, to seamlessly capture, identify, verify the subscribing
customers'
qualification, eligibility and destination account for having their
transactional data
captured, all in real-time. The process will be initiated with the direct
engagement of the


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
29

subscribing customer participating and using their method of payment in the
sales
transaction, with the subscribing merchant -S2.

= Once the customer has been identified along with their qualification,
eligibility and
destination account, the second component is focused on the means of capturing
key
transactional data that is greater than Level 1 Merchant Data (as
aforementioned-S3.

= The third component is directed at allowing the means of securely
transmitting the
electronic transactional data to the secure remote electronic data storage
environments
and related platforms and/or devices, all in real-time, immediately after the
payment
process has been executed - S4.

= The fourth component is focused on the journey of the transactional data
being securely
received by the remote electronic data storage environments and related
platforms
and/or devices and then transmitted to the data processing platform to
prepare,
generate, format the presentment of electronic receipts -S5.

= The fifth component is focused on sending real-time notifications to the
subscribing
customers hypermedia interfaces, to inform them their electronic receipt(s) is
available to
access - all in real-time -S6.

= The sixth component is focused at securely transmitting the electronic
receipt(s) to the
destination accounts belonging to the respective subscribing customers and
also the
respective subscribing merchants, which shall be accessed using unique
identifiers and
passwords - S7.

= The seventh component is to allow all subscribing customers to view, search,
print and
download electronic receipts within their respective online membership
accounts -
ER1 ER2.

= The eighth component is focused on the means of conducting data analysis
from the
central repository database, to create and develop electronic and non-
electronic target
profile marketing campaigns and driving these campaigns through the marketing
channels
- MOI.
= The ninth component is to enable all subscribing consumers, SME's and
corporations to
trade their recently received offers with other subscribing customers -,


CA 02684434 2009-11-16

= The tenth component is to allow report management capabilities for all
subscribing
customers - EEMR1/EMRI/SMR1/TMR1.
= The eleventh component is focused on creating an online business directory
services for
subscribing merchant to list their business, also allowing all subscribing
customers to view.
Within this component, there will be mapping capabilities for each listed
merchant. Also
to enable all subscribing customers to create their own custom business
directories with
mapping capabilities - 828D1/828D2.

= The twelfth component is focused on creating a dedicated space on the
company website
to enable all subscribers to view, share and add blogging posts of fellow
subscribers'
shopping experiences/comments/recommendations and ideas - MV1/AMV1.
= The thirteenth component is focused on allowing the subscriber to create
alerts that will
be triggered by subscriber-determined fields and parameters -SA1 ERSF1.

= The fourteenth component is to create a new customer acquisition process
everytime a
customer is identified as a non-subscriber.

Example of intended use -
The following an example of intended use of the computer-related inventions.
As the computer-
related inventions is able to serve 3 market segments, the following will be
an example of a
Business Manager:
A small business owner, who has 3 employees, is subscribing to receive
electronic receipts for the
business expenses that go against his company. Through the subscription, he
has an online
account and has created 3 supplementary accounts, one each for his employees.
At the time of
creating the account, he and his 3 employees were prompted to provide key data
elements
pertaining to their payment cards, in order to complete the account setup. The
key data elements
are important as it identifies who they are, their qualification, eligibility
and their account for
seamlessly receiving electronic receipts, in real-time. At the time of the
account set-up, they all
opted to receive SMS text notifications and additional electronic receipts via
their smart phones.
The business owner buys some products from an office supplies merchant who
also is a subscriber
to the electronic receipts service. At the checkout the business owner follows
the normal


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
31

procedures to complete the transaction using his business smart card. He
inserts his business
smart card in to the smart POS device and enters his PIN to proceed with the
payment process.
Once the payment has been authorized and completed, the business owner then
withdraws this
business smart card from the smart POS terminal device, collects his purchased
items and leaves.
During this transaction process, no paper receipt was issued from the merchant
to the business
owner. During the time of completing the transaction, three things
instantaneously took place: (i)
the computer-related inventions (comprising of software and hardware
platforms) detected the
business owner's qualification, eligibility and account in order to capture
his transactional data
relative to the purchase, in real-time; (ii) immediately following the first
event, the transactional
data was captured and instantly sent to the remote electronic storage
environments and data
platforms, where it was converted into an electronic receipt; (iii) the
business owner received a
version of the electronic receipt on his mobile smart phone and was notified
that his electronic
receipt was sent to his online account. Also, the merchant received a copy of
the electronic
receipt in their account. These events took place seamlessly and in real-time.
'Employee # 1' made a purchase, buying an airline ticket for an upcoming
business trip, from an
online travel company named 'Travel XYZ'. She used her supplementary business
smart card to
complete the transaction, online. She followed the normal procedures for
searching her ticket,
continued on to the transaction process and entered her supplementary business
smart card
details on Travel XYZ's e-Commerce web pages. As Travel XYZ is also a
subscribing merchant for
receiving electronic receipts, they have embedded the computer-related
inventions and software
platforms in to their e-commerce platform. During the transaction process, the
computer-related
inventions and software platforms captured, verified and identified that
'Employee # 1' has met
the qualification, eligibility and has an account for having her transactional
data captured and
converted in to an electronic receipt. Furthermore, the computer-related
inventions and software
platforms also identified her as a supplementary accountholder to the
subscribing business owner.
During the time of completing the transaction, three things instantaneously
took place: (i) the
computer-related inventions (comprising of software and hardware platforms)
detected the
supplementary accountholder's qualification, eligibility and account in order
to capture her
transactional data relative to the purchase, in real-time; (ii) immediately
following the first event,
the transactional data was captured and instantly sent to the remote
electronic storage


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
32

environments and data platforms, where it was converted into an electronic
receipt; (iii) the
supplementary accountholder received a version of the electronic receipt on
her mobile smart
phone and was notified that her electronic receipt was sent to her online
account, and the
business owner received a notification stating that Employee # 1 just created
an electronic receipt,
expensing $XXX.XX with a merchant called 'Travel XYZ' within the Travel
category. Also, the
merchant received a copy of the electronic receipt in their account. These
events took place
seamiessly and in real-time

The business owner created a spend alert on 'Employee 2', so that he can
closely monitor his
company's expense budget. He set a spend alert on 'Employee # 2'by setting the
parameters of
$250 expense threshold on gasoline costs, in the Gas & Fuel category for the
duration of August 15t
- August 315Y. During this period, Employee # 2 reached the spend threshold
and the business
owner was immediately notified through SMS text messaging; an email to his
email inbox; and a
message was posted on his account. The notifications, which was triggered by
threshold being
met, informed him that the spend threshold has been reached. Through the spend
alert
notifications, the business owner was able to take swift action, as he so
desires.

Through the invented services, the business owner creates an expense
management report
through his online account. The report allows him to see a dashboard view and
a detailed view of
his business expenses. Additionally, the business owner creates a dynamic
report enabling him to
categorize his expenses by search fields that include: time; merchant category
and by his

supplementary accounts. Through his report generation he can see that 2 months
ago 'Employee #
1' purchased her ticket to destination 'X' for the amount of $XXX.XX, through
the travel company
named 'Travel XZY'; within the travel (merchant) category. He is also able to
see all the
subsequent expenses related to the business trip, such as restaurants and taxi
fares, which went
against the business smart card. In addition to creating expense reports, the
business owner also
examines the each electronic receipt, which contains full transaction line
item details.

At the end of the business day, the office supplies merchant is reconciling
his card payments in
order to process for payment with the Acquirer. As the merchant is a
subscriber, he simply


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
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accesses his online account to view his electronic receipts for the day.
Through the computer-
related inventions, he has the capability of creating dynamic report
generations. He creates his
sales management report for the day and is able to separate and categorize all
transactions made
by each credit and debit card company (e.g. American Express Cards, Discover
Cards, Diners Club
Cards, MasterCard Cards,lCB Cards, Visa Cards, etc...). Once his entire card
payments have been
separated, categorised and the amount totalled, his is able to electronically
submit this to his
Acquirer. This process takes place in a few steps (a few clicks), and
dramatically reduces his
administrative cost and his time. Consequently, he finds the service provides
him a great amount
of convenience and a new level of experience for his business and his
customers. Consequently, he
is able to allocate more productive time to his business. Furthermore, all his
receipts are now
electronically stored on his online account for 10 years rolling.

Travel XYZ wants to target a specific segment of the market with a promotion.
He submits a
request to the 'invented company' containing the description his target
profile segment. The
'Invented company' conducts the necessary data mining and search within
electronic
environments and platforms; identifies and creates the file containing the
target profile list of
subscribing customers. The travel company sends the marketing creative with
the offer to the
'invented company'. The 'Invented company' then executes the delivery of the
target profile
marketing campaign by sending the offer through notifications directly to the
target list of
subscribing customers, via the SMS text channel, email channel and to their
online accounts.
Employee # 3 receives an offer from a subscribing merchant through the
computer-related
inventions, and their online accounts, which she finds is off little
relevance. Employee # 3 posts
her offer on the website associated through her online account, with the
intention of trading her
offer with another subscribing customer. Another subscribing customer sends
Employee # 3 a
message to her online account with a proposition to trade his offer with her,
which he received
from another subscribing merchant. Employee # 3 accepts and electronically
sends the official
merchant offer to the other subscriber and he does the same. The two
subscribers are greatly
satisfied as they both found offers which they deem to be highly relevant for
their needs. Also, the
two subscribing merchants are both satisfied as they met their response rates
and target goals for


CA 02684434 2009-11-16
34

the campaign offer, and also got some valuable insights to their marketing
campaign strategies of
what effectively worked and what didn't.

Tax season has come around. The business owner, the office supplies merchant
and the travel
merchant all have to submit their taxes. As all three businesses are
subscribing to the services to
receive electronic receipts and the added services, they are all able to
access their online accounts
and create their tax reports on the products and services they either bought
or rendered
(respectively). This can be done in a matter of a few clicks on their
accounts. Furthermore, as the
computer-related inventions is registered with the Government Tax Agency,
subscribing businesses
and merchants are able to directly submit their respective business/commercial
taxes for the year,
and any year thereafter. By merely having the electronic receipts stored on
their online account,
these businesses never ever have to physically manage and store paper receipts
again - saving
them on storage costs, nor do they have to incur accounting/book-keeping costs
to have the taxes
managed as this will be calculated through the inventions.

As the computer-related inventions, comprising of software and hardware
platforms, remote
electronic data storage environments and related platforms and/or devices and
business methods
also allows the creation of a business directory and the capability of each
subscribing customer to
create their own custom business directory, the office supplies merchant was
able to post an ad for
his business on the general business directory. Also through the enhancement
of the business
directory feature, the business owner was able to create his own custom
business directory listings
on his online account. The business owner's custom directory consists of
subscribing merchants
that he tagged and placed in his own business directory. In addition to his
own custom business
directory, the computer-related inventions also provided the business owner
with a list of
alternative merchants who offer similar products and services. As an enhanced
service to the
directory service, the inventions also allowed the business owner to post a
rating and a limited text
description regarding the services rendered by the office supplies merchant
and Travel XYZ. These
ratings and text descriptions are available to be seen by other subscribing
customers on the
company website.

Representative Drawing