The present invention relates to a system for managing payments, in particular a system for performing and verifying the payment of parking fees.

In urban or densely populated regions there are areas where it is possible to park one's motor vehicle subject to payment of a preset fee. This operation is often long and complicated. In fact the driver first parks his or her vehicle in an area delimited by stripes, then finds the nearest parking meter, makes an estimate of the time he or she will stay in the area, brings with him or her a sufficient amount of money, inserts it into the parking meter to perform payment, takes the receipt and displays it on his or her vehicle. This approach involves a considerable waste of time, exposes the driver to the danger of being fined during the walk toward the parking meter, forces him or her to carry cash, often in the form of inconvenient coins to be kept in a wallet and requires him or her to return to the vehicle in order to display the receipt printed by the parking meter.

In the attempt to overcome these problems, alternative payment methods have been promulgated such as the use of prepaid vouchers. Naturally in this case too the user has to have first bought a sufficient quantity of vouchers, bring them with him or her and display them in a position where they can be seen by parking wardens.

In any case if the driver of the vehicle should be unexpectedly delayed or should decide to extend the stay, he or she has no alternative but to return to the car park, perform a new payment and display the new receipt. For their part, parking wardens have to identify the receipt, which is often displayed in inconvenient positions by hurried drivers, read the date on it, verify the content and in the event of an infraction issue an exact (to prevent challenges) report which contains the identification details of the vehicle. It is clear that this approach is inconvenient both for the driver and for the parking wardens and it involves a considerable waste of time.

The aim of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of the known art by providing a new system that is capable of performing the payment of parking fees in a both quick and effective manner.

Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to adapt the existing technologies and use them in a synergistic and efficient manner.

This aim and these and other objects which will become more apparent hereinafter are all achieved by a system according to claim 1.

This aim and these and other objects which will become more apparent hereinafter are also achieved by a method according to claim 10.

Advantageously, the system uses devices which are not dedicated and are widely available on the market.

Conveniently, the system is easy to use and does not require special skills.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description that follows, given in the form of a non-limiting example, in which Figure 1 is a block diagram of the system according to the present invention.

Figure 1 comprises a service management unit 100, a plurality of first mobile devices 110, 110', 110", each one of which is associated with a user, and at least one second mobile device 120 which is associated with an inspector.

The service management unit 100 is a known system of the server type, preferably a web server, which comprises means for interfacing with the mobile devices of users and of inspectors. The service management unit 100 comprises or has access to storage means, not shown, which can comprise for example a database or any data structure that is adapted to store information permanently. The web site can be implemented as a software application written in the PHP language and further comprises means for managing relational databases, such as for example MySQL®.

In one aspect the web site is organized in modular form and comprises an informational section and a system for registration and operation of the system.

The informational section comprises means for the creation of dynamic sections in which text, photographs, video and data can be entered which are suitable for integration with social networks.

The system for registration and operation of the system comprises means adapted to perform the registration of a new subscriber, which is associated with each one of the users and comprises at least one personal page of the user and means for receiving the data of that user. The user registration includes a vehicle registration form; such vehicle can be linked to one or more users. Such information is organized in the form of profiles, one associated with the user containing information such as details of the physical individual, of a company pertaining to the user, and a second profile corresponding to the data of the vehicle. Such user profile can be associated with one or more vehicle profiles. The user information also comprises the identification details of an account of a payment system belonging to the user. In one embodiment, such identification details correspond to the email address supplied by the user when registering with the system 100, which is possibly connected to a PayPal® account associated with the user.

The person skilled in the art will understand effortlessly that the service management unit 100 can perform financial transactions on behalf of the user provided the user supplies the password associated with the account of the payment system.

The identifier codes 130 and 140, respectively defined as user code and control code, are conventional supports which are adapted to store information. The information encoded in the codes 130 and 140 can be read by still cameras or readers of cellular phones or smartphones.

The information encoded can be textual, URLs or other types of data. Such codes are made for example in the form of QR codes, each one uniquely associated with the user. Typically the user code 130 is arranged in the passenger compartment of the vehicle so that it can be easily read, via a still camera, by the mobile device 110, 110', 110". The control code 140 is arranged outside the passenger compartment so that it can be easily read, via a still camera, by the second mobile device 120.

The mobile device 110, 110', 110" is any device that is configured to communicate with the service management unit 100 and/or for example a personal computer, a tablet computer or a smartphone. The mobile device 110, 110', 110" likewise comprises means of acquisition, via a still camera, of identifier codes, or hardware/software means that are adapted to detect, interpret and process the information encoded in the user code 130. For example it can be implemented with an iPhone® or an iPad® and such scanning means can comprise the still camera of the device and an adapted application. The same considerations apply for equivalent devices running Android® for example.

Recognition by the mobile device 110, 110', 110" of the user code 130 constitutes a credential for accessing the service management unit 100, which enables the activation and configuration of the user profile. In a typical situation, the user has already created his or her profile on the service management unit 100 by way of the registration system. Once the vehicle has been parked, the user acquires the user code 130 via a still camera using the mobile device 110, 110', 110".

The mobile device reads such information, interprets it and transmits it to the service management unit 100 which responds by providing access to the personal area of the user.

Once access has been obtained to his or her profile, the user selects the duration of parking and the fee due and sends the password associated with his or her payment account, such as for example PayPal®, or payment via credit card.

The payment can be on demand or prepaid, with topping-up of the pre-paid account via credit card or PayPal® and this amount can be used to pay in advance for a number X of hours, i.e. the system 100 makes it possible to start payment at a specific time and stop it at another specific time.

The service management unit 100 is now in possession of all the data necessary for performing the payment of the parking fee. Contrary to what occurs when a financial transaction is made, the user does not have to enter the reason for the transaction, or the amount, because this information, which was previously stored in the profile of the user, is supplied and obtainable directly by the service management unit 100.

The mobile device 120 is equivalent to the mobile device 110, 110', 110", but is adapted to recognize the control code 140 and constitutes a credential for accessing a dedicated page for the inspector, hosted in the service management unit 100. This page makes it possible to verify that the transaction mentioned above has been executed. In a typical case, a parking warden scans the control code 140 displayed outside the passenger compartment of the vehicle parked in a paid parking zone.

Consequently the service management unit sends a dedicated page displayed on the mobile device 120 which makes it possible to verify whether the parking fee has been paid. If it has not been paid, the parking warden can report an infraction by pressing an adapted button present on the dedicated page.

The service management unit 100, the first devices 110, 110' and 110" and the second device 120, all previously described, are connected over a data communications network: such network can be the cellular mobile network, but it can also be any network that is adapted to implement a communications protocol of the client-server type. In practice it has been found that the method and the system described fully achieve the intended aim and objects. In particular, it has been shown that the system thus conceived makes it possible to overcome the qualitative drawbacks of the known art.

Clearly, numerous modifications are evident and can be readily executed by the person skilled in the art without going beyond the scope of protection of the present invention.

Hence, the scope of protection of the claims shall not be limited by the explanations or by the preferred embodiments illustrated in the description by way of examples, but rather the claims shall comprise all the patentable characteristics of novelty that reside in the present invention, including all the characteristics that would be considered as equivalent by the person skilled in the art.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. ΜΓ2012Α001237 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.