INTEGRATED POINT OF SALE PAYMENT TERMINAL

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a single point of sale terminal generally and more particularly, to an integrated, wireless and handheld point of sale terminal relating to processing credit card and stored-value card transactions that are compliant to both CEPAS and EMV standards. Background Art

[2] The present invention relates to the processing of credit cards and stored-value cards, namely Ez-link card transactions in the field using an integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal. Traditionally, credit cards transactions and stored-value card transactions are accepted separately on payment terminals.

[3] Wireless, handheld payment terminals for accepting credit cards are well known in the art. Generally, there are two forms of credit cards, namely, Magnetic stripe cards and smart cards. A magnetic stripe card is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. The magnetic stripe, sometime called a magstripe, is read by physical contact and swiping past a reading head. A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC), is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits which can process data.

[4] Ez-link card is a stored-value, contactless smartcard based on Sony's Felica smartcard technology, and compliant on the new Singapore Standard for Contactless ePurse Applications Specifications (CEPAS). It is used for payments especially for transportation in Singapore. The Ez-link card is a thin, compact card conforming to ISO/IEC 7816 card dimensions, similar to a credit card.

[5] The Ez-Link card operates on a radio frequency (RF) interface of 13.56 MHz at 212 kbit/s. It employs the Manchester bit coding scheme for noise tolerance against distance fluctuation between the card and the contactless reader, and implements the Triple DES algorithm for security. It allows for communications at distances up to 10 cm. They are often used when transactions must be processed quickly or hands-free, such as on mass transit systems, where smart cards can be used without even removing them from a wallet.

[6] An Ez-link contactless reader is used to perform financial transactions on Ez-Link cards. It is a communication device that reads and writes to a Sony type C contactless card and a CEPAS type B contactless card. It also interfaces with an external controller via a RS232 or a USB interface. The External Controller is required to be integrated to the Ez-link contactless reader/writer using a message Application Programmable Interface (API). Examples of external controller are Point-of-sale terminals, photocopiers and kiosks.

[7] In a sale of goods by a merchant to a consumer, there are various point-of-sale devices available to the merchant which may be utilized to complete the transaction. Earlier method of solving this problem was to integrate the Ez-link contactless reader to the point-of-sale terminal, such as credit card payment terminal. The integration was done by developing a software application for the credit card payment terminal and connection was done via a RS232 serial port. The credit card payment terminal acts as the controller for the CEPAS Ez-link contactless reader. This method of integrating credit cards and stored- value cards create various problems. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[8] One problem is various applications are needed to be developed due to the different platforms used by various credit card payment terminals in order to integrate the stored- value terminal to the credit card terminal. Some common payment terminals are from Hypercom, Verifone, Ingenico and many others. This increases the time and cost of implementation. Furthermore, merchants are required to pay higher cost for two terminals. For merchants on the move, such as taxi drivers, carrying two terminals to process credit card transactions and stored-value card transactions, particularly Ez-link card transactions, becomes bulky and inconvenient. Technical Solution

[9] For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an integrated, wireless and handheld point of sale payment terminal to process both credit cards and ez-link cards in a single payment terminal that overcomes the limitations of the prior art and provides mobility and convenience to the merchant processing such financial transactions.

[10] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an integrated, wireless and handheld point-of-sale payment terminal compliant to EMV standards and CEPAS standards for processing credit cards and stored-value cards preferably including but not limited to payment by debit, payment by credit, payment by smart cards, and payment by ez-link cards. The payment terminal maybe located at the point of sale during use to allow merchant to accept these payment types with a single integrated terminal. The payment terminal comprises a processor disposed in the housing and a memory in communication with the processor.

[11] There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention of an integrated, wireless and handheld point of sale payment terminal comprises a display on the housing and in communication with the processor and a keypad on the housing and in communication with the processor. Further, in a preferred embodiment, the housing comprises a serial port RS-232 and a USB interface in communication with the processor for connecting an external device to the payment terminal.

[12] Further, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention of an integrated, wireless and handheld point of sale payment terminal, the housing comprises a magnetic stripe card reader in communication with the processor, a contact smart card reader or IC card reader in communication with the processor and a radio frequency (RF) contactless smartcard reader in communication with the processor for reading credit cards and stored- value cards respectively.

[13] Further, preferred embodiments of the present invention, the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal include a printing device, a rechargeable battery and a wireless modem in the housing in communication with the processor. Description of Drawings

[14] The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which;

[15] FIG. 1 illustrates a constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a general pictorial illustration of an integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal.

[16] FIG.2 is a block diagram illustrating the cooperation of the various hardware components of the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal of the present invention;

[17] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example of payment and payment terminal operation with an integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal of the present invention;

[18] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an integrated, wireless and handheld terminal of the present invention communicating with a host and communicating with a transaction server seeking real-time financial transaction authorization and approval. Best Mode

[19] In FIG 1, an integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal of the present invention is generally indicated at 10. It is to be appreciated that the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal is preferably the MC-ONE™ payment terminal available from Mobile Credit Payment Pte Ltd, having a place of business in Singapore. Further, it is appreciated that there are many variations for embodiments of the present invention, and the MC-ONE™ is merely the preferred implementation. For example, preferred embodiments of the present invention are constructed to meet the hardware specifications that are specified further herein, but may take many forms that vary physically in shape, size, hardware, and software than MC-ONE™, but are still comprehended by the present invention.

[20] With continuing reference to FIG 1, where a preferred embodiment of the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal 10 is illustrated, comprises a liquid crystal display (LCD) 12, a magnetic stripe card reader 14, a radio frequency card reader 16, a serial port 18, an IC card reader 20, an USB connector 22, a printer 24, a keypad 26 and a housing 28. Integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal 10 preferably uses an ARM9 Samsung S3C2410 Processor with MMU, along with 8MB-32MB Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), and a 16MB-32MB flash memory. A suitable display is a LED backlit graphic liquid crystal display of the chip on glass type, having 128 x 64 pixels. A suitable keypad includes a backlit 21 keys comprises of 3 x 4 alpha-numeric keypad and 9 function keys. Alternatively, this may be replaced with a larger display with a touch screen. Mode for Invention

[21] The integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal preferably includes a bidirectional Magnetic Stripe Card reader 14 conforming to ISO Magnetic Stripe Card Standards. A contactless smartcard Radio Frequency Reader 16 conforming to reading and writing Sony type C contactless smartcard and a CEPAS type B contactless smartcard, which is ISO1443A/B/C cards. A contact IC (Chip Card) smartcard reader 20 is preferably included within the embodiment of this invention, conforming to ISO7816 and EMV 2000 compliant standards.

[22] A rechargeable battery 18 may be recharged using a 12- voltage, 5-ampere DC adapter is preferably included in the integrated, wireless handheld payment terminal 10 . A serial port 22 supporting RS232 communication or an USB connector 22 compatible with USB specification version 1.1 is preferably included in the integrated, wireless handheld payment terminal 10. A thermal printer capable of printing 2' in line printing is preferably included. It has the graphic capability of printing up to 20 lines per second.

[23] Not specifically shown in FIG 1, integrated payment terminal 10 includes two SIM slots in the payment terminal device 10. Even further, preferred embodiments of the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal include a wireless modem having software and hardware that support a wide range of cellular networks such as GSM or CDMA cellular networks. Preferably, the terminal device is configured to be suitable to be handheld by merchants on the move.

[24] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is broadly illustrated in block diagram 40 of FIG. 2 which illustrates a cooperation of various components to provide an integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal conforming to the EMV and CEPAS standards for processing credit cards and Ez-link smart cards. Processor 42 communicates over any suitable communication path such as AHB (Advanced High- performance Bus) or APB Bus with various other components of the terminal device. The other elements include, in the example illustrated, a display 44, a flash memory 46 , wireless modem 48, serial ports 50, USB interface 52, radio frequency smartcard reader 54, IC smartcard reader 56, magnetic stripe card reader 58, a printer, keypad 62, and SDRAM 64.

[25] Further within the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the preferred integrated, wireless and handheld point-of-sale payment terminal is capable of allowing the host to dynamically download any changes of parameters, software or application. Typical Transaction Flow

[26] FIG. 3 illustrates a typical transaction flow at the point of sale using the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal. For example, a merchant may accept a Magnetic Stripe card, an IC smartcard or an Ez-Link Card at the Point of Sale from a customer. The merchant selects the type of cards presented by the customer to be processed as in 210. If it is a Magnetic stripe card, the merchant swipe the credit card at the terminal; if it is an IC smartcard, the merchant inserts the smartcard into the contact smartcard reader; if it is a ez-link card, the merchant taps the card at the RF reader.

[27] The merchant process the payment according to the types of cards presented 212.

After which, the sales amount is input into the terminal to be submitted wirelessly for authorization and approval 214.

[28] If it is a credit card, the Bank host and the credit card back-end infrastructure will process the transaction 216. The Ez-link host and back-end infrastructure will process the ez-link card if it is an ez-link card transaction 216.

[29] The credit card and the ez-link card back-end infrastructure will process, authorize and approve the transaction or reject the transaction respectively 218. Upon approval, the authorization code will be given by the relevant host and the integrated terminal device will print a copy of the transaction for customer's acknowledgement 220. Transaction Process between Integrated POS and the Host

[30] FIG. 4 illustrates the typical transaction process of the integrated, wireless and handheld process of the payment terminal and the host 100. Generally, there are two types of deployment of the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal.

1. Transaction via direct connection with Bank host 120. Once the sales payment was submitted by the merchant at the payment device 110, the transaction was sent directly to the bank's host or ez-link host for processing. The authorization and approval was sent real-time to the payment device 110 for printing.

2. Transaction via Mobile Credit Payment Pte Ltd's Transaction System 130. Once the sales payment was submitted by the merchant at the payment device 110, the transaction was sent to a transaction system 130. Mobile Credit Payment's Transaction System (MC-TS) comprises of a transaction server that communicates with the payment device terminal and the bank host real-time, an administration server that administers the merchant's details and a database server which keeps records of the transaction log. This provides value-added services for merchant using the integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal 110. The transaction server will sent the relevant transaction to the relevant back-end infrastructure depending whether it is a credit card or ez- link card for processing, authorization and approval. The transaction results is then return to the payment device.

[31] It is appreciated that the most preferred implementation of the terminal device is the

MC-ONE™ available from Mobile Credit Payment Pte Ltd. Of course, it is appreciated that implementations of the terminal device may vary in accordance with the broad description given previously.

[32] It is further appreciated that the backend network applications (FIG. 4) may vary substantially in different implementations of the present invention. It is appreciated that the embodiments of the present invention, for the very first time, provide an integrated, wireless and handheld payment terminal for processing credit cards and stored- value cards, comprises of readers compliant to both EMV standards and CEPAS standards all within the same physical device.