POS Receipt Routing via Payment Provider Wallet
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Solution Overview
Problem
Physical receipts are cumbersome to manage and often lost, while digital receipts at point of sale (POS) are inconvenient due to the need for consumers to provide email addresses and potential accessibility issues with email changes or unavailability.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system where payment providers generate and send electronic receipts to their own email addresses, which are then uploaded to the consumer's mobile wallet using a payer ID and authorization number, allowing easy access without requiring consumers to provide their email to merchants or access email accounts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical receipts are used at POS, then consumers can receive immediate proof of purchase, but the receipts are cumbersome to manage and easily lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of the physical receipt and stores it in the consumer's mobile device. The POS system captures receipt data and transmits it to the consumer's smartphone, where it is stored in a secure digital wallet or application. This digital copy eliminates the need for physical paper receipts while providing the same proof of purchase functionality, thereby solving both the retention and management issues.
2Ease of operation
If electronic receipts are sent to consumer's email, then consumers can organize receipts digitally, but consumers must provide email address to merchant and may lose access if email changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a mobile device with a dedicated receipt management application as an intermediary between the POS system and the consumer. Instead of sending receipts to email addresses, the system transmits receipt data directly to the mobile application, which then stores and manages the receipts. This intermediary solution eliminates the need for consumers to share email addresses with merchants while providing secure, organized storage that persists across email changes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If consumers provide email address to merchant for electronic receipt, then electronic receipt can be delivered, but it is time-consuming and inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a system where the consumer's mobile device automatically receives and stores receipt information without requiring the consumer to manually provide an email address. The POS system captures the receipt data and automatically transmits it to the consumer's device using pre-established communication channels or device identifiers. This self-service approach eliminates the time-consuming step of email address provision while maintaining electronic receipt delivery capability.
Data Source
AI summary
When a consumer makes a purchase at a POS using a payment provider, the payment provider provides, to the merchant, a consumer identification (ID) and an authorization number, along with the payment approval. After receiving the information from the payment provider, the POS device sends a generated digital or electronic receipt to an email address of the payment provider. The email contains information about the payer and the authorization. Upon receipt, the payment provider may upload the electronic receipt into the consumer's mobile wallet or account using the payer ID and authorization number. As a result, the consumer can easily locate and access a receipt on the consumer's mobile device, such as by accessing the user's mobile wallet or the user's payment provider account on the mobile device, e.g., through a mobile app.