BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, the majority of transactions between customers and merchants are processed over an Electronic Payment Network (EPN) where merchants have access to a Point Of Sale (POS) terminal that they use to conduct and process transactions with customers. The EPN used by merchants will generally accept payment from customers seeking to pay for goods and/or services using a range of payment methods. For example, until recently, customers regularly paid for goods and/or services by use of a credit card wherein the customer's bank or financial institution affords the customers a line of credit and this line of credit may be used by the customers to purchase goods and/or services from merchants. When seeking to purchase goods and/or services using a credit card including a magnetic strip, the customers presents their credit card to the merchant who processes the credit card by "swiping" it through the POS terminal thus obtaining the necessary details of the customer's credit card in order to process and settle the transaction. More recently, customers are electing to use alternative payment methods such as debit cards or pre-paid cards. However, irrespective of the type of payment card selected by a customer, the process and procedure for effecting payment for goods and/or services received from a merchant are substantially the same.

Upon settlement of the transaction, the customers receives a receipt (sometimes referred to as a tax invoice, or invoice/statement etc) which evidences the settlement of the transaction with the merchant and it is incumbent upon the customers to save and store any receipts in the event that a copy of a receipt is required in the future. For example, customer protection legislation usually affords the customers a mandatory period of warranty for goods and/or services provided although, in the event that a customer seeks to avail themselves of the warranty protection, the customers is generally required to provide evidence of the date of purchase of the goods and/or services to prove that they remain within the warranty period relevant to the particular purchase. Further examples of the need to save and store receipts for possible future use include taxation purposes where the customers may be required to provide receipts to their accountant or to their taxation office to prove the purchase of goods and/or services for which they are claiming a taxation deduction.

Another example where customers are regularly required to save and store receipts is to satisfy internal organisational procedures for claiming reimbursement for expenses such as travel, accommodation and other expenses in relation to their employment.

A further complicating factor in relation to the requirements upon customers to save and store receipts is the increasing use of on-line facilities for the purchase of goods and/or services for which a receipt is generally transmitted to the customer's e-mail address. The transmission of receipts to the e-mail address of a customer tempts the customer to simply store the receipts in an e-mail account for possible future use and in the event of a loss of data from the customer's e-mail account or their computer, all electronic receipts received and stored in this manner may be irretrievably lost.

In addition to the inconvenience associated with the requirement to save and store receipts in respect of goods and/or services purchased, customers also find that the variety of receipt formats used by merchants is confusing and inconvenient when attempting to collect and report a range of purchases over a period of time to summarise costs associated with purchases for which receipts evidence the individual purchases.

Whilst previous attempts to solve this problem have been suggested, they generally include the requirement for a customer to enter into a commercial arrangement with a party that collects and records receipt data for subsequent access by the customer. However, these prior suggested arrangements also require the party offering the service to the customer to enter into separate commercial arrangements with individual merchants from which the customer may purchase goods and / or services. As a result, the established commercial arrangements generally limit the extent to which customers may be confident that their receipt data is being collected and stored as the separate commercial arrangements may only apply to particular payment methods effected with particular third parties. In any event, the requirement to enter into separate commercial arrangements with merchants, credit card suppliers or financial institutions leads to significant complexity and hence cost associated with offering customers a service that will collect and record their receipt data for future reference.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for collecting receipt data of purchases made by customers and presenting details of that receipt data in a preferred format for future reference by the customer irrespective of the mode of payment or the precise details regarding how the transaction is processed and settled between the merchant and customer that may be offered as a service and without the requirement to enter into commercial arrangements with any party other than the customer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of collecting electronic receipt data for a transaction between a customer and a merchant where the merchant processes the transaction request over an electronic data communications network, including, receiving account identification details for the customer and payment account details from the customer to process the transaction, associating the account identification details with the payment account details and monitoring the electronic data communications network for a settlement message with the associated account identification detail and copying and transmitting the settlement message to a database for future reference by the customer.

Preferably, where the transaction is a face to face transaction and the purchase request is conducted over an Electronic Payment Network (EPN), the network is monitored by a computer system external to the Electronic Payment Network for the purpose of identifying qualifying transactions (ie those identified with an account identification details associated with a customer) and copying those transactions for subsequent transmission to a receipt database. Of course, the invention is applicable to all types of purchase arrangements including on-line purchases where the electronic data communication network is likely to be the internet.

The account identification details may of course be entered at various points of in the data communications network, likewise the settlement message may be monitored at various points in the data communications network and subsequently transmitted to the receipt database.

Having extracted the transaction details in the external computer system the receipt details are preferably saved for future reference by the customer and may be presented to the customer in a preferred format in accordance with the purpose for which the customer requires the details of the transaction.

Of course, the payment account details may be any type of payment card including a credit card, a debit card, a pre-paid card or a gift card with stored value. Further, the payment account details may include on-line payment arrangements such as SecurePay and PayPal and in the event that a customer prefers to pay for any goods and/or services with cash, the customers may identify the cash transaction with the same account identification details as for other payment arrangement. In an embodiment, the customer's account identification details are embodied in a card similar to a customer loyalty card (referred to hereinafter as a PAYGLE account card) that may be processed by the merchant in a manner similar to processing transactions with a credit card or debit card. In the instance of a cash transaction, the PAYGLE account card causes a transaction to occur across an electronic data communications network with a zero transaction amount (as the merchant receives cash for the goods and/or services provided) and the message containing the details of the cash purchase is identified as for other payment arrangements. The processing of a PAYGLE account card is similar to the processing of a merchant loyalty card which is generally "swiped" after processing the customer's credit or debit card.

In relation to face to face transactions, a payment interface device may be provided in the form of an EFTPOS terminal or a CIRRUS terminal connected directly to an Electronic Payment Network. Alternatively, the payment interface device may be a POS terminal connected directly to a data communications network such as the internet. In any event, the merchant causes the payment card details to be obtained by the payment interface device and those details may include a range of details relating to the customer for identification of the customer and to associate settled transactions with the customer. The manner in which the merchant causes payment card details to be obtained by a payment interface device depends upon the manner in which the transaction is effected. For example, in the instance of an EFTPOS terminal the merchant may "swipe" the payment card or may hold the payment card in close proximity to the EFTPOS terminal where the payment card is a smart card and the EFTPOS terminal is equipped with the necessary hardware to detect and obtain details from a payment card held in close proximity to the terminal.

Of course, alternative presentation arrangements for payment cards are envisaged including arrangements wherein customers store their payment cards as images in a portable electronic device (sometimes referred to as "virtual cards"). One example of such an arrangement is that proposed by Google Inc. wherein customers may store the details of their payment cards in a "Google Wallet".

In the case of on-line purchases, the merchant may receive payment card details and customer PAYGLE account details on-line directly from the customer entering those details from a keyboard or other data entry device.

Once a transaction is authorised by a receiving bank or credit agency, a settlement message is transmitted to the merchant and the goods and/or services are then exchanged by the merchant for the payment from the customer. The receipt message contains the receipt data that is identified in the data network traffic by use of the PAYGLE account detail associated with the message and is transmitted (along with the PAYGLE account detail) to a receipt database.

Monitoring the transmitted settlement message containing receipt data preferably does not interfere with the normal operation of the transaction or the normal generation of a receipt and preferably, this step of the method solely monitors the transmitted settlement messages and captures and records a copy of the message storage and extraction of the receipt data in an external computer system for subsequent analysis of the details of the transaction. Preferably, the receipt data is subsequently analysed and manipulated to report same in a format preferred by the customer.

The customer is preferably provided with an interface to the external computer system hosting a receipt database thus enabling them to access and view receipts pertaining to their transactions and preferably enables the customer to view their receipts in a preferred format, and to effect other useful operations such as the preparation of reports for transactions falling within a prescribed period of time or relating to purchases or transactions pertaining to particular goods and/or services from the merchants or from particular merchants. In any event, once receipt data has been captured and stored in an external computer system, customers avoid the need to personally and individually save and store their receipts for future reference and are able to format and select receipt data to satisfy various requirements including the reporting requirements for taxation purposes or to satisfy internal organisational requirements.

In another aspect, the present invention provides an electronic receipt collection system operable to identify, copy and transmit electronic settlement messages pertaining to a transaction between a merchant and a customer, including, an electronic data communications network operably connected to a merchant transaction system for settling purchase transactions and a computer system operably connected to the electronic data communications network executing computer instruction code to monitor purchase transactions and to identify settlement messages associated with a customer by identification of an associated customer account with the message, copying the settlement message and transmitting the settlement message to a receipt database along with the associated customer account data.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides computer instruction code which, when executed, performs any one or more of the methods described in this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numbers refer to identical elements. The drawings are provided by way of example only, wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the basic elements of an electronic payment processing system; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting a transaction where the Payment Interface Device (PID) is connected to both an EPN and the internet;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting a transaction where the POS and PID are connected to the internet and an EPN respectively;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting a transaction where the POS is connected to the internet;

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting a transaction where the POS is only connected to the PID which in turn is only connected to an EPN;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting a transaction where the Payment Interface Device (PID) is connected to both an EPN and the internet and the transaction between the POS and PID uses a Supplementary Transaction Card (PAYGLE card);

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting a transaction where the POS is only connected to the PID which is turn is only connected to an EPN and the Payment card details are linked to an account in a receipt database; Figure 8 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to the merchant system and upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from the merchant online system to a receipt database; Figure 9 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to the merchant system and upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from an on-line payment facility provider to a receipt database; Figure 10 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to an on-line payment facility and upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from the on-line payment facil ity provider to a receipt database;

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to an on-line payment facility and upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from the merchant system to a receipt database;

Figure 12 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to an on-line payment facility and upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from an internet gateway to a receipt database;

Figure 13 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to the merchant system and upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from an internet gateway to a receipt database;

Figure 14 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to the merchant system by the customer sending account details to the merchant and settlement is effected by the merchant and a receipt is sent to a receipt database;

Figure 15 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to an on-line payment facility and upon settlement, a receipt is sent from the merchant on-line system to a receipt database; Figure 16 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to an on-line payment facility and upon settlement, a receipt is sent from the on-line payment facility to a receipt database; and

Figure 17 is a diagrammatic representation of an embodiment of a system effecting an on-line transaction where identification of the account from which funds will be provided is supplied to an on-line payment facility and upon settlement, a receipt is sent from an internet gateway to a receipt database;

Skilled readers will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to a system, method and apparatus for collecting electronic receipt data pertaining to a settled transaction between a merchant and a customer. However, it should be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention may be configured differently to suit the specific requirements of any particular electronic data communications network including the particular requirements of an Electronic Payment Network (EPN) or alternatively a particular payment method. Accordingly, it will be appreciated by skilled readers that variations may need to be made as required to suit specific circumstances although it will also be appreciated that these variations do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In embodiments, the POS terminal may include a CIRRUS terminal or other form of interface between a merchant and the EPN. Increasingly, merchants are connecting their POS terminal to the internet and as such, the EPN may include a data communications connection to other data communication networks such as the internet. With reference to Figure 1 , ordinarily, where a customer seeks to make a payment for goods and/or services to a merchant, they may present an electronic payment card to the merchant who processes payment via the electronic payment card by processing same with their EFTPOS terminal (12). The request for payment is transmitted from the EFTPOS terminal (12) to the Electronic Payment Network (14) and ultimately the request for payment is transmitted to the customer's payment card issuing bank (16). The payment card issuing bank (16) determines whether the customer has sufficient credit and/or funds to settle the transaction with the merchant and transmits a settlement message to the merchant's EFTPOS terminal (12) via the Electronic Payment Network (14). As a result of receipt of the settlement message at the EFTPOS terminal (12) the merchant is advised that the transaction has been settled and provides the goods and/or services to the customer and also provides a receipt to the customer confirming details of the transaction. Eventually, a transfer of funds is effected from the customer's account to the merchant.

With respect to embodiments of the invention, associating a customer's PAYGLE account number with a transaction allows "PAYGLE transactions" to be identified in electronic network traffic and upon receipt of an authorisation for the transaction to be completed (ie the message confirming settlement of the transaction), the message can be identified and a copy sent to the receipt database and associated with the repository of receipt data saved in respect of the particular PAYGLE account.

Entering the customer's PAYGLE account number and associating it with a transaction may occur in different parts of the data communications network. Similarly, monitoring of the data communications network for settlement details may occur in different parts of the data communications network and may be effected by different components that form part of the network. These components are operably connected to the network and the connection may be a physical connection or wireless such as POS devices that operate either by a physical wired connection or a wirelessly connected POS terminal.

In the various illustrated embodiments (identified as Figures 2 to 17), the precise point in the network at which settled purchase transactions (referred to herein as "PAYGLE transactions") are identified is different but effectively, any one or more points in a data communications network that carries transaction requests and authorisations may be used to identify settled PAYGLE transactions thus enabling a duplicate of the transaction to be generated and separately transmitted to a receipt database (PAYGLE Website database). It is the data in a settled "PAYGLE transaction" that is referred to as "receipt" or "receipt data" in the description of the embodiments.

With reference to Figure 2, a diagrammatic representation of an electronic receipt collection system is provided wherein a POS is connected to a PID which in turn is connected to an EPN and the internet. The EPN is connected to a Bank and a receipt database is operably connected to the internet.

In the embodiment of Figure 2, a customer presents any payment card (i.e. debit or credit card) and the details are provided to the POS by scanning, swiping or tapping the card. The payment card details may also be provided electronically by the customer from a smart-phone or other Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that may store the customer's "virtual cards". Information is transmitted from the Point of Sale (POS) to the Payment Interface Device (PID) providing details of the transaction and the payment card details. The PID sends the information to the Bank associated with the payment card with a request through the EPN and upon approving the transaction, the Bank sends an authorisation message to the PID by use of the EPN.

At this point, the PID transmits the transaction details to the receipt database (Paygle) for storage and subsequent access by the customer. The customer may then access their receipt information by accessing the web-site to which the receipt database is operably connected.

With reference to Figure 3, the customer presents a PAYGLE card (i.e. payment identification card) which also identifies an account in the receipt database belonging to the customer. The PAYGLE card is scanned or the details thereof is typed into the POS device and the customer then attends to settling the transaction via the PID by providing details of a payment card. Again, the PID transmits a request to the Bank associated with the payment card through the connection there between by the EPN. Again, the Bank will consider whether to approve the transaction and upon confirmation that the customer has sufficient credit or available funds, an authorisation message (or settlement message) is transmitted back to the PID through the connection with the EPN. Receipt information is then transmitted to the external online website which is representative of an online receipting data warehouse (i.e. PAYGLE website) via the POS machine. The customer may then access their receipt information via a customer interface to the website.

With reference to Figure 4, the customer presents a PAYGLE card (i.e. payment identification card) which also identifies an account in the receipt database belonging to the customer. The details of the PAYGLE card is scanned or typed into the POS device and the customer then settles the transaction with CASH. Receipt information is then transmitted to the external online website which is representative of an online receipting data warehouse (i.e. PAYGLE website) via the POS machine. The customer may then access their receipt information via a customer interface to the website.

With reference to Figure 5, the customer presents a PAYGLE card (i.e. payment identification card) which also identifies an account in the receipt database belonging to the customer. The details of the PAYGLE card is scanned or typed into the POS device or PID and the details are then transmitted to the EPN. The customer attends to settlement of the transaction using any payment card, the details of which are provided to the PID and subsequently transmitted via the EPN to the Bank associated with the payment card and is also transmitted via the EPN to the external online website which is representative of an online receipting data warehouse (i.e. PAYGLE website). The customer may then access their receipt information via a customer interface to the website.

With reference to Figure 6, the customer presents a PAYGLE card (i.e. payment identification card) which also identifies an account in the receipt database belonging to the customer. The PAYGLE card is scanned or typed into the POS or the PID which is then transmitted to the EPN. The customer elects to settle the transaction with a payment card which is either scanned or swiped etc. The payment card details are transmitted via the PID to the external online website which is representative of an online receipting database (i.e. PAYGLE website). The customer can then access their receipt data via a customer interface to the website.

With reference to Figure 7, Payment cards are linked to an account number associated with a receipt database (i.e. a PAYGLE Account Number) and the customer elects to settle the transaction using any payment card which is scanned or swiped etc at the PID. The payment card details are transmitted to the Bank associated with the payment card and to an online website representative of an online receipt database (i.e. PAYGLE website). Customers may then access their receipt data via a customer interface to the receipt data website. The embodiments detailed in Figures 8 to 17 all relate to on-line purchase of goods and / or services. In all the embodiments, a customer's PAYGLE account number is associated with the transaction in one form or another. The customer's PAYGLE account is linked to their repository of receipt data stored in a receipt database. In some embodiments, the customer's PAYGLE account number is linked to an on-line payment account such as SecurePay or PayPal. In these instances, the provision of a PAYGLE account by the customer at the commencement or during a transaction may automatically provide the on- line payment account details (or access thereto) from which the merchant on-line system (Supplier website) can progress the transaction and commence the settlement process. Upon accessing an on-line payment facilitator (such as SecurePay or PayPal), a payment authorisation request is transmitted to a Bank or Card Provider through a Gateway. With reference to Figure 8, an embodiment of a system where a customer initiates and completes an on-line transaction is illustrated. In this embodiment, the customer uses their PAYGLE account for the transaction. Upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from the merchant online system (Supplier website) to a receipt database (ie the PAYGLE website database).

With reference to Figure 9, an alternative embodiment of an on-line purchasing arrangement is illustrated. However, as compared with Figure 8, a receipt is sent directly from the on-line payment facilitator to the receipt database (PAYGLE Website Database). With reference to Figure 10, the customer provides their PAYGLE account number to the on-line payment facilitator. However, all other aspects of the embodiment of Figure 10 remain the same as for Figure 9.

With reference to Figure 1 1 , as for the embodiment of Figure 10, the customer provides their PAYGLE account number to the on-line payment facilitator. However, as compared with Figure 10, the receipt is transmitted to the PAYGLE Website Database from the Supplier Website.

The embodiment of Figure 12 is very similar to that of Figure 1 1 expect, the receipt is transmitted to the PAYGLE Website Database from the Gateway. With reference to the embodiment of Figure 13, the customer makes an on-line purchase by providing their PAYGLE account details to the merchant on-line system (Supplier Website). The embodiment illustrated in Figure 13 is very similar to the embodiment illustrated in Figure 8 except the receipt is transmitted from the Gateway to the PAYGLE Website Database.

With reference to Figure 14, the illustrated embodiment includes an on-line purchase arrangement that effects the transaction in accordance with the detailed embodiment of Figure 3. In particular, the customer provides their PAYGLE account number to the merchant on-line system (Supplier Website) but in order to settle the transaction, the customer sends their payment card details to the supplier by use of an on-line form or facsimile. Once the supplier is in receipt of the customer's payment card details, the supplier completes the transaction and receives settlement for same in accordance with the embodiment of Figure 3.

With reference to Figure 15, the customer initiates an on-line purchase using their payment card supplying details of same to the merchant on-line system (Supplier Website). After the transaction is settled, a receipt is sent to the PAYGLE Website Database from the Supplier Website.

With reference to Figure 16, the customer initiates an on-line purchase and provides their payment card details to an on-line payment facilitator. Upon settlement of the transaction, a receipt is sent from the online payment facilitator to the PAYGLE Website Database. With reference to Figure 17, the customer initiates an on-line purchase using their payment card by providing their payment card details to an on-line payment facilitator. Upon settlement of the on-line transaction, a receipt is sent form the Gateway to the PAYGLE Website Database.

The present invention provides customers with a solution to the long standing problem associated with providing evidence of purchases of goods and/or services for a range of reasons including warranty validation and taxation return records. The collection of receipts and storage of same in a preferred format for subsequent access by a customer significantly improves the prospects of customers being in a position to provide reliable and accurate records in relation to their purchases. Further, in one embodiment, the customers has the facility to selectively share their receipt data with third parties such as their accountant, employer, or government agencies to further reduce the time consuming requirement of providing receipts to such third parties. Throughout the specification, the aim has been to describe the invention without limiting the invention to any one embodiment or specific collection of features. Persons skilled in the relevant field of technology may realise variations from the specific embodiments that will nonetheless fall within the scope of the invention.