Universal POS Web Portal for Secure Merchant Transactions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional Point of Sale (POS) systems are costly and burdensome for merchants, often requiring multiple hardware installations and limiting payment options, while mobile apps can be cumbersome and insecure, failing to provide flexible and secure transaction solutions for customers and merchants.
Innovation Solution
A system that connects a transaction support provider's server to a merchant's POS server, enabling customers to conduct electronic transactions through a merchant-specific customer interface, such as a mobile app or website, without requiring merchants to install additional software, allowing customers to pay conveniently on or off premises using their preferred payment method.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple POS registers are installed at a single merchant location, then customer transaction convenience is improved, but hardware cost and system complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal POS register that can serve multiple functions and locations. A single register with a web portal interface can handle transactions for multiple customers and display multiple open tabs simultaneously, eliminating the need for multiple dedicated registers while maintaining transaction convenience across different customer zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a web portal dimension that allows virtual display of multiple customer tabs and transaction options on a single physical register. This adds a layer of virtual organization and customer identification capability without requiring additional physical hardware, resolving the contradiction between serving multiple customers and maintaining single-register simplicity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional mobile payment apps are used, then payment flexibility is improved, but security risks and customer burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a web portal as an intermediary between the customer's mobile device and the payment processing system. The web portal provides a secure, controlled interface that displays customer-specific open tabs and transaction options, mediating the interaction to enhance security while maintaining payment flexibility through the familiar mobile web browser interface.
3Adaptability or versatility
If customers must download and install payment apps, then payment service functionality is improved, but customer time investment and device clutter increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables customers to access payment services through a web portal using their existing mobile web browsers without needing to download or install additional applications. Customers simply check in at the merchant location, and their customer-specific open tabs are automatically displayed, allowing them to complete transactions immediately without any app installation time investment.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of conducting a transaction between a merchant Point of Sale system (POS) and a customer device is presented. The method entails activating a web portal in response to activation of a button on the merchant POS, retrieving a list of open tabs created by customer devices that checked in, each of the open tabs being associated with a customer, receiving, from the merchant POS, a ticket ID of a ticket that is currently open on the merchant POS, presenting the list of open tabs on the merchant POS via the web portal, receiving a customer selection from the merchant POS, the selected customer being one from the list of open tabs, and associating the ticket ID with information for the selected customer.