ATM-Based Electronic Payment Funding System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic payment systems are limited in their ability to facilitate funding of pending payments, often requiring users to link bank accounts, provide sensitive information, or interact with human representatives during restricted hours, and do not allow funding with physical currency at ATMs.
Innovation Solution
An ATM-based electronic payment funding system that enables users to fund pending payments using physical currency at ATMs, without the need for a linked bank account or sensitive information, by integrating an ATM with an electronic payment system and a payment funding system, allowing users to select funding options and input transaction identifiers to complete the payment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional electronic payment systems require users to link bank accounts and provide sensitive information, then payment processing can be completed, but user privacy is compromised and accessibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system comprising the ATM and payment funding system that mediates between the user and the electronic payment system. The ATM accepts physical currency and transaction identifiers, then communicates with the payment funding system to complete funding without requiring users to directly provide sensitive banking information to the payment system, thus protecting user privacy while enabling payment funding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the sensitive information requirement from the payment funding process. By allowing funding through ATM using only transaction identifiers and physical currency, the system separates the funding mechanism from the need for bank account linking and sensitive information, thereby improving accessibility without compromising security.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional ATMs provide only basic transactions for bank account holders, then system simplicity is maintained, but functionality and versatility are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the ATM multi-functional by enabling it to perform both traditional basic transactions (withdrawals, deposits) and the new function of funding electronic payments. The ATM interface presents unified options that include electronic payment funding alongside traditional transactions, allowing a single device to serve multiple purposes without requiring separate systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the electronic payment funding capability with the existing ATM infrastructure. The payment funding system integrates with the ATM's existing transaction processing, account verification, and currency handling mechanisms, combining multiple functions into a unified system that leverages existing resources rather than creating separate complex systems.
3Ease of operation
If electronic payment systems operate during restricted hours with human representatives, then service quality can be maintained, but accessibility and convenience are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service functionality where users can independently fund electronic payments through the ATM without requiring human representative assistance. The system automatically processes transaction identifiers, verifies accounts, handles currency, and completes funding transactions, enabling users to access payment services at any time the ATM is operational rather than being constrained by human representative schedules.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows users to obtain transaction identifiers in advance from the electronic payment system, and then fund payments at their convenience through the ATM. This preliminary action separates the payment initiation from the funding step, allowing users to prepare transactions ahead of time and complete funding whenever convenient, eliminating the need for immediate human representative assistance.
Data Source
AI summary
An exemplary system includes at least one physical computing device that is communicatively coupled, by way of a network, to an automated teller machine (ATM), and that receives a transaction identifier from the ATM, uses the transaction identifier to query an electronic payment system, receives, from the electronic payment system in response to the query, data representative of a pending electronic payment that is associated with the transaction identifier and is awaiting funding, sends data representative of information about the pending electronic payment to the ATM, the information indicating an amount to fund the pending electronic payment, receives, from the ATM, a confirmation that the ATM has received the amount to fund the pending electronic payment, and notifies the electronic payment system that the pending electronic payment has been funded.