ATM Mobile Top-Up Transaction Data Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile telephone top-up transactions via ATMs are not optimized for convenience, requiring users to manually input detailed information for each transaction, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming.
Innovation Solution
A system where ATMs communicate with a mobile top-up service provider computer to download previous transaction details, allowing users to select from pre-stored options for mobile carrier and phone number, facilitating easier and quicker top-up transactions by reducing the need for manual data entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If users manually input transaction details for each top-up transaction, then data accuracy can be ensured, but the time required and operational complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system stores transaction details from previous top-up transactions in a database before they are needed again. When a user initiates a new top-up transaction, the system automatically retrieves and presents these pre-stored details for selection, eliminating the need for users to manually re-input the same information repeatedly.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and stores copies of previously used transaction details (mobile carrier, phone number, account information) in a database. These copied records are then retrieved and presented to users for new transactions, allowing them to select from historical data rather than entering information manually each time.
2Ease of operation
If the system stores and retrieves previous transaction details, then user convenience is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component—a server with a database—that acts as a mediator between the ATM and the user's transaction history. This intermediary stores transaction details centrally and handles the retrieval and presentation of historical data to ATMs, which then display it to users for selection. This intermediary architecture manages the complexity by centralizing data storage and retrieval logic.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for operating an automatic teller machine (ATM) to perform a mobile telephone top up. In an embodiment, a card reader associated with an ATM processor reads a card account number and receives, via an input device, an indication from the cardholder to perform a mobile telephone top up transaction. The ATM processor then transmits a request for prior top up transaction data to a service provider computer, receives the requested data, displays it on a display screen, receives a selection by the cardholder of a mobile telephone carrier and a mobile telephone number, and receives an amount of money indication to apply. The ATM processor then transmits a second request to the service provider including the amount of money indication and the selection from the displayed prior top up transaction data.