ADVANCE

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from South African patent application no. 2018/03572, filed on 30 May 2018, which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a system and method for the provision and recovery of a network usage advance, such as an airtime or mobile bundle advance, to a prepaid mobile subscriber.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

A“prepaid mobile subscriber”, or simply“subscriber”, may be any user of a prepaid mobile communication service hosted on a mobile telephone network. The prepaid mobile subscriber may have a mobile handset with which the prepaid mobile subscriber may be able to conduct telephonic transactions such as making phone calls, sending short messaging service (SMS) messages, using mobile data and the like. The conducting of transactions over a mobile telephone network incurs charges for the subscriber. These charges may be recorded against an account associated with the subscriber. Typically, on prepaid accounts, the prepaid services require the balance of the subscriber’s account to be positive for the subscriber to be able to conduct telephonic transactions. The positive balance of a prepaid subscriber’s account is typically colloquially referred to as“airtime” against which transactions are recorded.

Airtime and mobile bundle advance systems are known in the art. Such systems enable airtime or mobile bundles to be advanced to prepaid mobile subscribers in advance of payment, i.e. on credit. Such systems enable subscribers who have depleted airtime and/or mobile bundle balances to continue to transact on a mobile telephone network, for example by making phone calls, exchanging data messages, sending SMS messages or the like.

The understanding of course is that the subscriber having accepted or made use of an airtime or mobile bundle advance will repay the advance, and in some cases a fee as well, in due course by purchasing more airtime. A simple implementation of an airtime advance system may for example deduct a monetary value associated with the airtime advance from an airtime account (termed a“main account” herein) against which the subscriber’s use of the mobile telephone network is normally charged. The amount of airtime advanced is then recorded in a separate account (termed a“dedicated account” herein) against which further use of the mobile telephone network may be charged. As airtime advances are typically provided when the balance of the main account of the subscriber is low or even zero, the deduction of the monetary value associated with the airtime advance may cause the balance of the main account to go negative.

However, some mobile network operators (MNOs) may configure their charging systems to prevent or prohibit the balance of a subscriber’s main account from being negative. Such configuration may be to prevent revenue leaks which could potentially be detrimental to the business of the MNO.

Such configuration of the charging system may make it technically challenging to implement an airtime advance service while still providing adequate protection against revenue leaks. It may also be that the relevant MNOs are not inclined to permit changes to such configurations in order to protect their revenue streams. There is accordingly a need for a technical solution which overcomes these challenges, at least to some extent.

The preceding discussion of the background to the invention is intended only to facilitate an understanding of the present invention. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgment or admission that any of the material referred to was part of the common general knowledge in the art as at the priority date of the application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an aspect of the invention there is provided a computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a network usage advance request, the network usage advance request including a subscriber identifier and a first amount associated with a network usage advance, wherein a network usage advance enables network usage in advance of received payment; recording the first amount or an associated amount against a tracking field, the tracking field being maintained by an intelligent network (IN) of a mobile telephone network and being associated with the subscriber identifier, wherein a non-zero balance of the tracking field indicates an outstanding network usage advance; and, provisioning the first amount to a transaction field maintained by the IN and being associated with the subscriber identifier, wherein further usage of the mobile telephone network by a mobile handset associated with the subscriber identifier is recorded against the transaction field, and wherein the tracking field is configured for querying by the IN in response to a subscriber top-up event to determine whether a third amount associated with the top-up event is to be applied for partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network usage advance.

Further features provide for the fields to represent accounts; for provisioning the first amount to the transaction account to include increasing a balance of the transaction account by the first amount; for the tracking account to include a first tracking account and a second tracking account; and for one or both of the first and second tracking accounts to be configured to be queried by the IN in response to a subscriber top-up event.

A further feature provides for recording the first amount against the tracking account to include provisioning the first amount to the first tracking account to increase the balance of the first tracking account by the first amount.

Further features provide for the method to include provisioning a second amount, associated with the first amount, to the second tracking account to increase a balance of the second tracking account by the second amount, wherein the second amount is a fee associated with the network usage advance.

Further features provide for the method to include: in response to a subscriber top-up event associated with the third amount and the subscriber identifier, querying the balance of the tracking account; and, if the balance of the tracking account is non-zero, applying the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance.

Further features provide for querying the balance of the tracking account to include: querying the balance of a second tracking account and querying the balance of a first tracking account, wherein the tracking account has a non-zero balance if either or both of the first and second tracking accounts have non-zero balances.

Further features provide for applying the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance to include: using the third amount to recover a second amount associated with the first amount; if a portion of the third amount remains after recovery of the second amount, using the remaining portion to recover the first amount associated with the network usage amount; and, if a portion of the third amount remains after recovery of the first amount, provisioning the remaining portion of the third amount to the transaction account.

Further features provide for using the third amount or portions thereof to recover one or both of the second amount and first amount to include: deducting the third amount or a portion thereof from a second tracking account to reduce the balance thereof towards or to zero; and, if the balance of the second tracking account is reduced to zero and if a portion of the third amount remains, applying the remaining portion of the third amount to a first tracking account by deducting the remaining portion of the third amount from the balance of the first tracking account to reduce the balance of the third account towards or to zero.

Further features provide for the method to be conducted at a service provider platform; and for the service provider platform to interface with the IN to instruct provisioning and recording of the amounts to or against the fields

Further features provide for the method to include receiving a top-up notification from the IN in response to a top-up event, the top-up notification including the third amount associated with the top-up event and the subscriber identifier; to include applying the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance by instructing the IN to apply the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance; and for the top-up notification to be received from the IN via a web service call or FITTP request.

A further feature provide for the method to be conducted by the IN of the mobile telephone network.

Further features provide for the network usage advance request to relate to a request for an amount of airtime in advance; for the first amount to be a monetary value associated with the amount of airtime to be advanced; and for querying the tracking field in response to the subscriber top-up event to enable immediate partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network usage advance.

Further features provide for the fields to be implemented as fields of a high-throughput database, for the database to be configured for real-time updating of the fields in response to network usage or top-up events; for the high-throughput database to include multiple fields for each of a plurality of subscriber identifiers, and for the high-throughput database to form a part of a charging system of a mobile network operator platform.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a system comprising: a processor and a memory configured to provide computer program instructions to the processor to execute functions of components; a network usage advance request receiving component for receiving a network usage advance request, the network usage advance request including a subscriber identifier and a first amount associated with a network usage advance, wherein a network usage advance enables network usage in advance of received payment; a tracking field recording component for recording the first amount or an associated amount against a tracking field, the tracking field being maintained by an intelligent network (IN) of a mobile telephone network and being associated with the subscriber identifier, wherein a non-zero balance of the tracking field indicates an outstanding network usage advance; and, a transaction field provisioning component for provisioning the first amount to a transaction field maintained by the IN and being associated with the subscriber identifier, wherein further usage of the mobile telephone network by a mobile handset associated with the subscriber identifier is recorded against the transaction field, and wherein the tracking field is configured for querying by the IN in response to a subscriber top-up event to determine whether a third amount associated with the top-up event is to be applied for partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network usage advance.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program code for performing the steps of: receiving a network usage advance request, the network usage advance request including a subscriber identifier and a first amount associated with a network usage advance, wherein a network usage advance enables network usage in advance of received payment; recording the first amount or an associated amount against a tracking field, the tracking field being maintained by an intelligent network (IN) of a mobile telephone network and being associated with the subscriber identifier, wherein a non-zero balance of the tracking field indicates an outstanding network usage advance; and, provisioning the first amount to a transaction field maintained by the IN and being associated with the subscriber identifier, wherein further usage of the mobile telephone network by a mobile handset associated with the subscriber identifier is recorded against the transaction field, and wherein the tracking field is configured for querying by the IN in response to a subscriber top-up event to determine whether a third amount associated with the top-up event is to be applied for partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network usage advance.

Further features provide for the computer-readable medium to be a non-transitory computer- readable medium and for the computer-readable program code to be executable by a processing circuit.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram which illustrates an exemplary system for the provision and recovery of network usage advances according to aspects of the present disclosure;

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary data structure which may be maintained by a charging system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

Figure 3 is a swim-lane flow diagram which illustrates an exemplary method for the provision and recovery of network usage advances;

Figure 4 is a block diagram which illustrates exemplary components which may be provided by a system for the provision and recovery of network usage advances; and

Figure 5 illustrates an example of a computing device in which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed towards airtime and mobile bundle (collectively “network usage”) advance systems and methods in which a service provider may maintain a service provider platform which provides a network usage advance service to participating mobile network operators (MNOs). A network usage advance may be a provision of services before payment has been received or in advance of payment in a prepaid model. A network usage advance may for example enable mobile telephone network usage by an associated prepaid subscriber in advance of received payment.

In particular, aspects of the present disclosure are directed towards the provisioning of network usage advances in such a way that outstanding loan amounts associated with the network usage advances can be recovered immediately upon top-up or other injection of funds initiated by or on behalf of the relevant subscriber. Immediate recovery of network usage advances may thus be effected automatically and without human intervention.

To achieve this, an intelligent network (IN) of a mobile telephone network provided by the MNO may be configured to use one or more tracking accounts (e.g. a loan tracking account and a fee tracking account) associated with a subscriber identifier, which are monitored by the IN. The IN may accordingly be aware of any outstanding network usage advances and may be configured to apply or divert airtime top-ups (or other inflows of funds) into a main account associated with the subscriber identifier towards the recovery of the outstanding network usage advance (e.g. loan amount and/or fee amount).

In some implementations, a real-time notification recovery functionality is provided in terms of which the MNO platform is configured to make a web service call to the service provider platform when the main account associated with the subscriber identifier is being positively adjusted (e.g. because of a recharge event or a balance transfer event), thus triggering recovery of the outstanding network usage advance (or a portion thereof). The notification may be transmitted to the service provider platform which may then initiate recovery of the outstanding network usage advance. The amount recovered may be less than or equal to the mount of the airtime recharge, depending on the various balances.

In other implementations, the MNO platform may perform recovery of the outstanding network usage advance itself, without needing to notify the service provider platform.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram which illustrates an exemplary system (100) for the provision and recovery of network usage advances. The system (100) may include a service provider platform (102) and an MNO platform (104). The service provider platform may be provided by a third party service provider which provides network usage advance services to the MNO and its prepaid subscribers. In other implementations, the functionality of the service provider platform may be built-in or integrated with the MNO platform (without the need for a third party service provider). The system may further include mobile handsets (106) associated with prepaid mobile subscribers who typically purchase airtime and mobile bundle advances to make use of a mobile telephone network (1 10) provided by the MNO.

The service provider platform (102) may be provided by any suitable computing device. The service provider platform (102) may be configured to interface with the MNO platform (104). For example, the service provider platform may be configured to interface with an intelligent network (IN) and/or charging system of the MNO platform via an appropriate IN integration component. Interfacing with the IN and/or charging system may enable the service provider platform to access and update selected data records stored therein.

The service provider platform (102) may be in communication with the mobile handsets (106) via the mobile telephone network (1 10) via which data and/or messages may be transmitted to and received from the respective mobile handsets. The service provider platform may for example be configured to receive network usage advance requests from the mobile handsets and to transmit notifications relating to network usage advance requests to the mobile handsets.

The MNO platform (104) and mobile telephone network (1 10) may collectively provide the infrastructure by way of which mobile handsets can communicate with each other and the broader public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet. The mobile telephone network may for example include one or more base station subsystems while the MNO platform may provide back-end systems such as a USSD/GPRS gateway and associated components (VLR, HLR, etc.).

The MNO platform (104) may include an IN (1 14) and a charging system (1 16). The IN (1 14) may be implemented according to any suitable network architecture (e.g. that specified in the ITU-T Q.1200 series recommendations, or the like). The IN (1 14) may allow the MNO to provide various value-added services, such as network usage advance services, in addition to the standard telecom services such as PSTN, GSM, etc. The IN may include one or more network nodes on the service layer, distinct from the switching layer of the core network, as opposed to solutions based on intelligence in the core switches or equipment. The IN may be supported by the Signalling System #7 (SS7) protocol between network switching centers and other network nodes owned by network operators. The charging system (1 16) may be implemented as a node within the IN (1 14) that is responsible for collecting data on service usage and to generate reports thereon for billing, either on demand or automatically. The charging system (1 16) may be implemented as a high-throughput database that maintains multiple accounts for each subscriber. The purpose, type and usage of the accounts may be defined by the MNO.

According to aspects of the present disclosure, each subscriber may be associated with one or more of: a main account, a dedicated loan account, a loan tracking account, a fee tracking account and a service class. Airtime top-ups may be provisioned to the main account and usage of the mobile telephone network (1 10) may be charged against the main account. Airtime advances may be provisioned either to the main account or, in some implementations, to a separate, dedicated loan account and, once provisioned, further use of the mobile telephone network may be charged against the main account or dedicated loan account, as the case may be (until the balance thereof has been depleted). The tracking accounts may be used to keep track of amounts owed by subscribers in respect of network usage advances that the subscribers have requested and received. A non-zero balance of one or both of the tracking accounts may indicate an outstanding network usage advance. The value or amount of balance may indicate the amount in respect of which the network usage advance owed by the subscriber.

The accounts described herein may thus be implemented fields of a high-throughput database. The fields may be associated with a subscriber identifier and can be updated or modified in real time in response to network usage or top-up events. Different fields of the database may represent different accounts associated with a particular subscriber.

The charging system may maintain a data structure in which rows are associated with subscribers (identified by way of a subscriber identifier, such as an MSISDN) and columns are associated with accounts. An exemplary data structure (200) which may be maintained by the charging system (1 16) is illustrated in Figure 2 and includes: a subscriber identifier column (202); a main account column (204); a dedicated account column (206); a loan tracking account column (208); and a fee tracking account column (210). Rows (212, 214, 216) of the table relate to individual subscribers, identified by their subscriber identifier (being an MSISDN in the illustrated embodiment). While the exemplary data structure of Figure 2 includes a dedicated account column (206), it should be appreciated that other implementations may not require a dedicated loan account and network usage advances may be provisioned to the main account. The service class may be one of the fields stored in a subscriber profile linked to the subscriber identifier. Other fields stored in the subscriber profile may include: an activation date, an expiration date, a first call flag and the like. The service class may be used by the operator to group the subscribers and assign tariffs, services, etc.

The charging system (1 16) may include a front-end API (1 16A) by way of which the service provider platform (102) may interface with the charging system (1 16) and adjust (or instruct the adjustment of) one or more accounts of the data structure (200).

In some implementations, the charging system may be configured to prevent or prohibit the balance from the main account (and possibly the other accounts) of the data structure from being negative.

As will be explained in greater detail below, the charging system (1 16) may be configured to query one or both of the loan tracking account and fee tracking account upon a subscriber top-up event (i.e. upon the inflow of a positive balance into the main account) and to divert some or all of the amount associated with the top up to one or both of the tracking accounts in order to effect partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network usage advance represented by these accounts.

The system (100) described above may implement a method for the provision and recovery of network usage advances. An exemplary method for the provision and recovery of network usage advances is illustrated in the swim-lane flow diagram of Figure 3 in which respective swim-lanes delineate steps, operations or procedures performed by respective entities or devices.

The method may commence with the provisioning of one or more tracking accounts in association with each subscriber identifier. The tracking accounts may be provisioned for the allocation of amounts which represent network usage advances and associated fees issued to subscribers associated with the relevant subscriber identifier. Provisioning of the tracking accounts may include configuring the charging system (1 16) to include the tracking accounts. For example, the data structure may be updated to include columns for a loan tracking account and a fee tracking account. Additionally, in some implementations a dedicated loan account (termed a dedicated account) may be provisioned, although this may not be required in other implementations. As mentioned, the accounts may be implemented as fields of a high-throughput database which are associated with a particular subscriber identifier. In the described embodiment which follows, the service provider platform (102) acts as a gateway between the subscriber and the MNO platform (in so far as network usage advances are concerned), although in other implementations the functionality of the service provider platform may be implemented by the MNO platform.

The service provider platform (102) may receive (302) a network usage advance request. The network usage advance request may include or be associated with a subscriber identifier (e.g. an MSISDN, IMSI or the like) and a first amount associated with the network usage advance requested.

In some cases, the network usage advance request may be received from a mobile handset (106) of a prepaid subscriber. For example, the network usage advance request may be received via one of: a SMS message, a USSD message or an IVR message. The request may be initiated by the subscriber sending a predefined message to an SMS short code (e.g. sending“ADVANCE ZAR 10” to the number 12345), dialling a USSD short code and selecting an amount, being the first amount, offered as an advance or the like.

In other cases, the network usage advance request may be received from the MNO platform or may be generated internally by the service provider platform as a part of an automated network usage advance service that is for example triggered should the balance of a main account associated with the subscriber identifier drop below a predetermined threshold, should the subscriber attempt a transaction for which the balance of his/her main account is insufficient, or the like.

It should be appreciated that various steps or operations may precede the receiving of the network usage advance request, such as a determination and/or selection of the first amount, verification of subscriber eligibility by the service provider platform (e.g. credit scoring, etc.) and the like.

In the described embodiment, the network usage advance request may relate to a request for an amount of airtime in advance, in which case the first amount may be the amount of airtime to be advanced (e.g. ZAR10).

It should however be appreciated that in other embodiments, the network usage advance request may relate to a request for a particular category of mobile telephone network utilisation in advance, for example one of: an SMS bundle advance request; a data bundle advance request; and, a voice minutes bundle advance request. In such a case, the first amount may be a usage limit in respect of the particular category of mobile telephone network utilisation, for example being one of: a number of SMS messages which may be transmitted from the subscriber’s mobile handset; a number of bytes which may be exchanged between the mobile handset and a data communication network; and, a duration of telephone calls that may be initiated from the mobile handset.

The service provider platform (102) may provision (304) the first amount to a transaction account maintained by the IN (1 14) and being associated with the subscriber identifier. In the described embodiment, the“transaction account” refers to the main account (204) in the data structure (200) maintained by the charging system (1 16) of the MNO platform. In other implementations, however, the transaction account may refer to the dedicated loan account (206). The first amount may be a monetary value associated with the requested airtime advance. In cases where the amount of airtime is designated in a local currency, the first amount and value may be the same.

In the case of the provision of a mobile bundle in advance, the transaction account may be an account associated with a particular category of network utilisation (e.g. an SMS bundle account, mobile data account or the like). The first amount may be a usage limit associated with the requested mobile bundle advance (e.g. 30 SMS messages, 1 GB of data, etc.).

Provisioning (304) the first amount to the transaction account may have the effect of increasing the balance of the transaction account by the first amount. Provisioning may therefore be a credit operation which increases the balance of the transaction account by the first amount.

Any further usage of the mobile telephone network by a mobile handset associated with the subscriber identifier may be charged against the transaction account. In particular, the positive balance in the transaction account may be used by a subscriber associated with the subscriber identifier to transact on the mobile telephone network using the subscribers mobile handset (106), for example by making telephone calls, sending SMS messages, exchanging data packets and the like. Such transactions may be deducted from the transaction account according to agreed terms (e.g. ZAR1 per minute of a phone call, ZAR1 per megabyte of data downloaded or uploaded, etc.). In the case of a mobile bundle advance request, the transactions on the network may be limited to those transactions to which the mobile bundle relates (e.g. sending SMS messages, if an SMS bundle is provisioned). Provisioning the first amount to the transaction account may include the service provider platform instructing the MNO platform to provision the first amount to the transaction account via the front- end API (1 16A) of the charging system (1 16).

The service provider platform (102) may record (306) the first amount or an associated amount against a tracking account maintained by the IN (1 14) and being associated with the subscriber identifier. As mentioned, the tracking account is configured to be queried by the IN (1 14) in response to a subscriber top-up event to determine whether a third amount associated with the top-up event is to be applied for partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network advance.

In the illustrated embodiment, the tracking account includes a first tracking account, in the form of a loan tracking account (208), and a second tracking account, in the form of a fee tracking account (210). One or both of these tracking accounts are configured to be queried by the IN in response to a subscriber top-up event.

Recording (306) the first amount against the tracking account includes provisioning (308) the first amount (ZAR10 in the described embodiment) to the loan tracking account (208) to increase the balance of the first tracking account by the first amount. Provisioning of the first amount may thus be a credit operation which increases the balance of the loan tracking account. As mentioned, a non-zero balance of the tracking account indicates an outstanding network usage advance (i.e. a network usage advance which the subscriber is still obliged to repay, partially or in full).

Recording (306) the first amount against the tracking account includes provisioning (310) a second amount, which is associated with the first amount, to the fee tracking account (210) to increase a balance of the fee tracking account by the second amount. The second amount may be a fee associated with the network usage advance, in the illustrated embodiment being 10% of the first amount. Provisioning of the second amount may thus be a credit operation which increases the balance of the fee tracking account. As mentioned, a non-zero balance of the tracking account indicates an outstanding network usage advance.

As the IN (1 14) of the MNO platform (104) is configured to monitor the tracking accounts, or to query them upon the occurrence of a subscriber top-up event, and as the tracking accounts are configured to track amounts associated with outstanding network usage advances, the MNO platform may be able to automatically, and immediately (as far as technologically practical) to recover these amounts upon subscriber top-up events occurring.

The IN (1 14) may then perform call detail record (CDR) operations or adjustments. CDRs may be used to capture usage information summaries for the subscribers and may facilitate the determination of a subscriber’s eligibility for mobile telephone network usage advances based on the usage accumulated, the last time the subscriber used the mobile telephone network, active period of the subscriber and the like.

The adjusted CDRs may be shared with the service provider platform (102) which may in turn update its ledgers and accounts. The service provider platform (102) may then send a notification to the prepaid subscriber updating the subscriber on the status of the network usage advance (e.g. amount advanced, associated fees, repayment conditions, etc.).

As mentioned, while the main account (or dedicated loan account, in some implementations) has a positive balance, the subscriber may continue to transact on the mobile telephone network.

At some stage, in some cases after depletion of the main account (or dedicated account), a top- up or other injection of funds may be initiated by or on behalf of the relevant subscriber. This may be effected by way of an airtime recharge of any type (e.g. scratch card, electronic recharge, etc.) or by other methods (e.g. person-to-person (p2p) monetary transfers among subscribers or the like). The subscriber top-up event may be associated with the subscriber identifier and a third amount, being the amount associated with the top-up event (e.g. ZAR15).

The subscriber top-up event may be triggered or detected (312) at the MNO platform. In the illustrated embodiment, upon occurrence of the subscriber top-up event, the MNO platform may query (314) the balance of the tracking account. Querying the balance of the tracking accounts may include querying the balance of second tracking account and querying the balance of the first tracking account, where either of these accounts having a non-zero balance indicates an outstanding network usage advance. If the balance of one of the tracking accounts is non-zero, a recovery process may be initiated to apply or divert the third amount for use in partially or completely recovering the outstanding network usage advance.

The recovery process may include the MNO platform transmitting (315) a top-up notification to the service provider platform. The top-up notification may include the top-up amount (the third amount) and the subscriber identifier. The top-up notification may be transmitted to the service provider platform via a web service call or HTTP request. Transmission of the notification may be triggered automatically upon occurrence of the top-up event and in some cases may be preceded by querying the tracking accounts to establish whether or not there is an outstanding network usage advance amount associated with the subscriber identifier.

The service provider platform (102) may receive (316) the top-up notification from the MNO platform (104).

In response to the top-up event, the service provider platform may apply (318) the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance. Applying (318) the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance may include the service provider platform instructing the IN (1 14) to apply the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance.

Applying (318) the third amount to partially or completely recover the outstanding network usage advance may include firstly using (320) the third amount to recover the second amount. This may include deducting the third amount or a portion thereof from the fee tracking account. If the balance of the fee tracking account is greater than the third amount, then the whole of the third amount is deducted from the fee tracking account to reduce the balance thereof to a value closer to (or equal to) zero. If the balance of the fee tracking account is less than the third amount, then that portion of the third amount which is the same as the balance of the fee tracking account is deducted from the fee tracking account to reduce the balance thereof to zero.

The service provider platform may use (322) this remaining portion of the third amount to recover the first amount associated with the network usage amount (i.e. being the amount of airtime loaned, in this example scenario). This may include deducting the remaining portion of the third amount or a portion thereof from the loan tracking account. If the balance of the loan tracking account is greater than or equal to the remaining portion of the third amount, then the whole of this remaining portion is deducted from the loan tracking account to reduce the balance thereof to a value closer to (or equal to) zero. If the balance of the loan tracking account is less than the remaining portion of the third amount, then that part of the remaining portion which is the same as the balance of the loan tracking account is deducted from the loan tracking account to reduce the balance thereof to zero.

The service provider platform (102) may then provision (324) that part of the remaining portion of the third amount which remains to the transaction account. Provisioning the remainder of the third amount (after recovery of the first and second amounts) may increase the balance of the main account (or dedicated account).

Any top-up amount may therefore be applied firstly for the recovery of outstanding fees (the second amount), then for the recovery of the amount loaned (the first amount) and finally, should the amount associated with the top-up (the third amount) have been sufficient, that which remains after recovery of the second and first amounts may be provisioned to the main account for further use of the mobile telephone network.

It should be appreciated that in other embodiments, the MNO platform may perform the recovery operations (318-324) described above itself and without notifying the service provider platform of the top-up event. In either case, providing the tracking accounts which are used to indicate the existence and quantity or value of outstanding network usage advances and configuring the IN (1 14) and/or charging system (1 16) to query these accounts upon the occurrence of a subscriber top-up event may enable immediate and automatic partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network usage advance.

The IN (1 14) may then perform call detail record (CDR) operations or adjustments. CDRs may be used to capture usage information summaries for the subscribers and may facilitate the determination of a subscriber’s eligibility for mobile telephone network usage advances based on the usage accumulated, the last time the subscriber used the mobile telephone network, active period of the subscriber and the like.

The adjusted CDRs may be shared with the service provider platform (102) which may in turn update its ledgers and accounts. The service provider platform (102) may then send a notification to the prepaid subscriber updating the subscriber on the status of the network usage advance (e.g. partially or completely recovered).

The following two tables illustrate exemplary operations for provisioning and recovery of a network usage advance according to aspects of the present disclosure. The first table illustrates full recovery, with recovery operations being performed by the service provider platform, while the second table illustrates partial recovery, with the recovery operations being performed by the MNO platform.

Example 1 : Full recovery of the loan, recovery performed by the service provider platform

Example 2: Partial recovery followed by a full recovery of a loan, recovery performed by the MNO platform

Various components may be provided for implementing the method described above with reference to Figure 3. Figure 4 is a block diagram which illustrates exemplary components which may be provided by a system for the provision and recovery of network usage advances. The system may include a service provider platform (102). In some implementations, the service provider platform may be provided by an independent service provider providing network usage advance services or functionality to an MNO. In other implementations, however, the functionality of the service provider platform may be built into or otherwise provided by an MNO platform, without the need for the services of an independent service provider.

The service provider platform (102) may include a processor (402) for executing the functions of components described below, which may be provided by hardware or by software units executing on the service provider platform (102). The software units may be stored in a memory component (404) and instructions may be provided to the processor (402) to carry out the functionality of the described components.

The service provider platform (102) may include a network usage advance request receiving component (406) which is arranged to receive a network usage advance request. The network usage advance request may include a subscriber identifier and a first amount associated with the network usage advance. The network usage advance request may be received from a mobile handset of the subscriber or may be auto-generated at the service provider platform or an IN platform in response to one or more predefined conditions being met (e.g. low or insufficient balance).

The service provider platform (102) may include a tracking field recording component (408) arranged to record the first amount or an associated amount against a tracking field. The tracking field may be maintained by the IN (1 14) of the mobile telephone network and may be associated with the subscriber identifier. A non-zero balance of the tracking field may indicate an outstanding network usage advance. The tracking field may be configured to be queried by the IN in response to a subscriber top-up event to determine whether a third amount associated with the top-up event is to be applied for partial or complete recovery of the outstanding network advance.

The service provider platform (102) may include a transaction field provisioning component (410) arranged to provision the first amount to a transaction field maintained by the IN and being associated with the subscriber identifier. Usage of the mobile telephone network by the mobile handset associated with the subscriber identifier may be charged against the transaction field. Aspects of the present disclosure provide real-time recovery systems and methods where an MNO platform is either configured to make a web service call when a subscriber’s transaction account is being positively adjusted or is configured to perform the recovery operations itself. Positive adjustment of the transaction account can be because of a recharge event or a balance transfer event.

In the case of the notification implantation, the service provider platform is configured to perform the recovery in response to the web service call. When service provider platform receives a web service call for a subscriber with one or more open loans, the service provider platform may attempt to recover the outstanding network usage advance (including loan amount and fees), provided the subscriber’s current balance permits. The amount requested for recovery will be less or equal to the recharge amount.

Aspects of the present application may therefore require configuration of an MNO’s charging system to make a web service call or to send an HTTP request to the service provider platform for one of the following events: any type of recharge; or any type of balance transfer to the subscriber’s accounts. The notification may include the subscriber identifier (MSISDN), a timestamp and a third amount representing the recharge amount or amount of balance transferred.

Aspects of the present disclosure may relate to the provisioning of a new charging account, termed a dedicated account or dedicated loan account, in the charging system/IN for each subscriber which will receive the loan amount. Aspects of the present disclosure may relate to the provision of a T racking Account in the charging system/IN for each subscriber to track the principal loan amount (DA TrackPrincipal). This account is not a charging account; it is just for tracking the principal amount of the loans. Aspects of the present disclosure may relate to the provisioning of a Tracking Dedicated Account (DA) in the charging system/IN for each subscriber to track the service fees of the loans (D A T rack Fee). This account is not a charging account; it is just for tracking the service fee of the loans.

In an exemplary network usage advance flow, the subscriber may request a network usage advance from the service provider platform. The service provider platform may query the IN for balance and an IN profile. The service provider platform may run eligibility checks to decide whether the subscriber can obtain the loan. The service provider platform may request the loan advance to the IN. The loan amount may be credited to the subscriber’s transaction account (being the main account or dedicated loan account). The principal loan amount (excl. fee) is credited to the subscriber’s loan tracking account. The service fee amount of the loan is credited to the subscriber's fee tracking account. The IN generates CDRs of all the accounts’ adjustments and the service provider platform sends an SMS notification to the subscriber for the provision of the loan.

In an exemplary network usage recovery flow, where the service provider platform performs the recovery operations, a subscriber top-up event may occur (either being a recharge of any type (scratch card, electronic recharge etc.) or an increased by other methods (e.g. p2p monetary transfers among subscribers)). In any case, the amount Y is added to the transaction account (the main account). The IN may make a web service call to the service provider platform notifying of the top-up event. The service provider platform may trigger recovery using the recharge amount (Y) by adjustment of subscriber’s accounts. Adjustment may include the following (and if any adjustment fails, all should fail): if the amount of DA TrackFee account is X, the DA TrackFee account is debited with either X or Y amount, whichever is smaller, to recover the fee; and, if the amount of DA TrackPrincipal is Z, the DA TrackPrincipal account is debited with either Z or Y-X amount, whichever is smaller, to recover the loan principal. If any amount left from the recharged Y amount, after the above steps, the remainder is credited to subscriber’s main account. The service provider platform may send an SMS notification to the subscriber confirming the (full or partial) loan repayment. The IN may generate adjustment CDRs.

Figure 5 illustrates an example of a computing device (500) in which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented. The computing device (500) may be embodied as any form of data processing device including a personal computing device (e.g. laptop or desktop computer), a server computer (which may be self-contained, physically distributed over a number of locations), a client computer, or a communication device, such as a mobile phone (e.g. cellular telephone), satellite phone, tablet computer, personal digital assistant or the like. Different embodiments of the computing device may dictate the inclusion or exclusion of various components or subsystems described below.

The computing device (500) may be suitable for storing and executing computer program code. The various participants and elements in the previously described system diagrams may use any suitable number of subsystems or components of the computing device (500) to facilitate the functions described herein. The computing device (500) may include subsystems or components interconnected via a communication infrastructure (505) (for example, a communications bus, a network, etc.)· The computing device (500) may include one or more processors (510) and at least one memory component in the form of computer-readable media. The one or more processors (510) may include one or more of: CPUs, graphical processing units (GPUs), microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and the like. In some configurations, a number of processors may be provided and may be arranged to carry out calculations simultaneously. In some implementations various subsystems or components of the computing device (500) may be distributed over a number of physical locations (e.g. in a distributed, cluster or cloud-based computing configuration) and appropriate software units may be arranged to manage and/or process data on behalf of remote devices.

The memory components may include system memory (515), which may include read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). A basic input/output system (BIOS) may be stored in ROM. System software may be stored in the system memory (515) including operating system software. The memory components may also include secondary memory (520). The secondary memory (520) may include a fixed disk (521 ), such as a hard disk drive, and, optionally, one or more storage interfaces (522) for interfacing with storage components (523), such as removable storage components (e.g. magnetic tape, optical disk, flash memory drive, external hard drive, removable memory chip, etc.), network attached storage components (e.g. NAS drives), remote storage components (e.g. cloud-based storage) or the like.

The computing device (500) may include an external communications interface (530) for operation of the computing device (500) in a networked environment enabling transfer of data between multiple computing devices (500) and/or the Internet. Data transferred via the external communications interface (530) may be in the form of signals, which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, radio, or other types of signal. The external communications interface (530) may enable communication of data between the computing device (500) and other computing devices including servers and external storage facilities. Web services may be accessible by and/or from the computing device (500) via the communications interface (530).

The external communications interface (530) may be configured for connection to wireless communication channels (e.g., a cellular telephone network, wireless local area network (e.g. using Wi-Fi™), satellite-phone network, Satellite Internet Network, etc.) and may include an associated wireless transfer element, such as an antenna and associated circuitry. The external communications interface (530) may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) in the form of an integrated circuit that stores an international mobile subscriber identity and the related key used to identify and authenticate a subscriber using the computing device (500). One or more subscriber identity modules may be removable from or embedded in the computing device (500).

The computer-readable media in the form of the various memory components may provide storage of computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules, software units and other data. A computer program product may be provided by a computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program code executable by the central processor (510). A computer program product may be provided by a non-transient computer-readable medium, or may be provided via a signal or other transient means via the communications interface (530).

Interconnection via the communication infrastructure (505) allows the one or more processors (510) to communicate with each subsystem or component and to control the execution of instructions from the memory components, as well as the exchange of information between subsystems or components. Peripherals (such as printers, scanners, cameras, or the like) and input/output (I/O) devices (such as a mouse, touchpad, keyboard, microphone, touch-sensitive display, input buttons, speakers and the like) may couple to or be integrally formed with the computing device (500) either directly or via an I/O controller (535). One or more displays (545) (which may be touch-sensitive displays) may be coupled to or integrally formed with the computing device (500) via a display (545) or video adapter (540).

The foregoing description has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.

Any of the steps, operations, components or processes described herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software units, alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, a software unit is implemented with a computer program product comprising a non-transient computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which can be executed by a processor for performing any or all of the steps, operations, or processes described. Software units or functions described in this application may be implemented as computer program code using any suitable computer language such as, for example, Java™, C++, or Perl™ using, for example, conventional or object-oriented techniques. The computer program code may be stored as a series of instructions, or commands on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard-drive, or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM. Any such computer-readable medium may also reside on or within a single computational apparatus, and may be present on or within different computational apparatuses within a system or network.

Flowchart illustrations and block diagrams of methods, systems, and computer program products according to embodiments are used herein. Each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may provide functions which may be implemented by computer readable program instructions. In some alternative implementations, the functions identified by the blocks may take place in a different order to that shown in the flowchart illustrations.

The language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

Finally, throughout the specification and claims unless the contents requires otherwise the word ‘comprise’ or variations such as ‘comprises’ or ‘comprising’ will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.