CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to the following co-pending U.S. Patent Applications, each of which has a common assignee and common inventors, the entireties of which are herein incorporated by reference.

SERIALFILINGNUMBERDATETITLE17/122,224Dec. 15, 2020POINT-OF-SALE TERMINAL FORTRANSACTION HANDOFF ANDCOMPLETION EMPLOYINGEPHEMERAL TOKEN17/122,270Dec. 15, 2020SERVER FOR TRANSACTIONHANDOFF AND COMPLETIONEMPLOYING EPHEMERAL TOKEN17/122,299Dec. 15, 2020SYSTEM AND METHOD FORTRANSACTION HANDOFF ANDCOMPLETION EMPLOYINGINDIRECT TOKEN17/122,322Dec. 15, 2020POINT-OF-SALE TERMINAL FORTRANSACTION HANDOFF ANDCOMPLETION EMPLOYINGINDIRECT TOKEN17/122,356Dec. 15, 2020SERVER FOR TRANSACTIONHANDOFF AND COMPLETIONEMPLOYING INDIRECT TOKEN

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to the field of retail operations, and more specifically to methods and apparatus for improved transaction processing.

Description of the Related Art

It is rare these days to walk into a retail store or restaurant that has a manually operated cash register along with manual (i.e., paper and pencil) order entry. Rather, it is more common to find one or more electronic point-of-sale terminals through which a guest may order goods and/or services. Whether the terminals are employed in a fixed position (such as a self-serve or attended kiosk) or hand carried by wait staff, the advantages over prior manual entry mechanisms are pronounced and include more accurate presentation of goods and services, accurate and up to date pricing, customized loyalty presentations, automated transmission of orders for fulfillment, and automated payment processing.

Yet, as one skilled in the art will appreciate, it is often the payment step of a transaction that becomes a service bottleneck, and this disclosure is provided to address several limitations of present-day payment techniques which are most notably associated with the use of electronic devices for payment processing. Whereas in the past wait staff would provide a printed ticket to a guest and would leave the guest in solitude to judge the service, indicate a tip amount, provide comments (if any), sign the check, and leave, such solitude is not provided for when electronic devices are employed for transaction processing. Rather, a staff member presents the electronic device to the guest and then waits for the guest to enter a tip amount, feedback, and electronic signature on the device before returning it to the staff member. As one skilled in the art will also appreciate, such hovering about the service area is both awkward at best and does not provide an atmosphere that is conducive to productive feedback.

Another issue with the transfer of electronic devices to guests is cleanliness, especially during periods of disaster or pandemic. While a guest might not mind passing a credit card to a staff member for payment, he/she may be very disinclined to handle a device that may have been handled by, say, fifty previous guests.

Therefore, what is needed is a method and apparatus that enables a guest to complete a transaction in a retail establishment that does not require the guest to handle or manipulate an electronic point-of-sale terminal.

What is also needed is a technique for handing off completion of a transaction from a point-of-sale terminal to a smart device that belongs to a guest who initiated a corresponding order.

What is further needed is a system for handing off completion of a transaction from a point-of-sale terminal to a guest's smart device that is initiated by presentation of an authorization instrument other than a credit card or loyalty card.

What is moreover needed is a technique for providing a guest with an ephemeral authorization token that may be employed for a prescribed time period to authorize payment of one or more transactions and/or hand off completion of the one or more transactions from a point-of-sale terminal to a smart device that belongs to the guest.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, among other applications, is directed to solving the above-noted problems and addresses other problems, disadvantages, and limitations of the prior art by providing a superior technique for managing payments for goods and services in a retail establishment. In one embodiment, a method for handoff of a transaction for completion is provided, the method including: registering a payment instrument with a server, associating the payment instrument with ephemeral transaction authorization tokens, and storing a payment token that associates the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens with the payment instrument in a payment token database record; storing a push notification device identifier that corresponds to the payment token in the payment token database record; via a smart device, requesting and receiving one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens from the server; via a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, scanning the one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens, and transmitting the one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens via the internet cloud to the server, where the server is not collocated with the POS terminal, and where communications between the POS terminal and the server are transmitted and received through a gateway device that is collocated with the POS terminal; via the server, using the payment token to access the push notification device identifier and transmitting a push notification to a smart device that corresponds to the push notification device identifier; upon acceptance of the push notification, executing a proprietary application on the smart device and simultaneously displaying details for the transaction on both the smart device and POS terminal; receiving transaction completion data that is entered via the smart device and transmitting the transaction completion data to the server; and completing the transaction at the server and notifying the POS terminal and the smart device that the transaction is complete.

One aspect of the present invention contemplates a computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for handoff of a transaction for completion, the method including: registering a payment instrument with a server, associating the payment instrument with ephemeral transaction authorization tokens, and storing a payment token that associates the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens with the payment instrument in a payment token database record; storing a push notification device identifier that corresponds to the payment token in the payment token database record; via a smart device, requesting and receiving one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens from the server; via a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, scanning the one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens, and transmitting the one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens via the internet cloud to the server, where the server is not collocated with the POS terminal, and where communications between the POS terminal and the server are transmitted and received through a gateway device that is collocated with the POS terminal; via the server, using the payment token to access the push notification device identifier and transmitting a push notification to a smart device that corresponds to the push notification device identifier; upon acceptance of the push notification, executing a proprietary application on the smart device and simultaneously displaying details for the transaction on both the smart device and POS terminal; receiving transaction completion data that is entered via the smart device and transmitting the transaction completion data to the server; and completing the transaction at the server and notifying the POS terminal and the smart device that the transaction is complete.

Another aspect of the present invention comprehends a system for handoff of a transaction for completion, the system including: a server, configured to receive payment instrument, and configured to store a payment token that represents the payment instrument and associates the payment instrument with ephemeral transaction authorization tokens in a payment token database record, and configured to store a push notification device identifier that corresponds to the payment token in the payment token database record, and, when a request is received from a smart device that corresponds to the push notification identifier, configured to transmit one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens to the smart device; and a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, configured to read the one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens that is presented for authorization of the transaction, and configured to transmit the one of the ephemeral transaction authorization tokens via the internet cloud to the server, where the server is not collocated with the POS terminal, and where communications between the POS terminal and the server are transmitted and received through a gateway device that is collocated with the POS terminal; where the server uses the payment token to access the push notification device identifier, and where the server transmits a push notification to the smart; where, upon acceptance of the push notification, the smart device executes a proprietary application, and where details for the transaction are simultaneously displayed details on both the smart device and the POS terminal; where, the smart device receives transaction completion data that is entered and transmits the transaction completion data to the server; and where the server completes the transaction and notifies the POS terminal and the smart device that the transaction is complete.

