AU2023100036A4 - A system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance, the system comprising: a financial institution server comprising: a plurality of software modules comprising: a digital receipts enrolment module; a digital receipts enrolment update module; a database storing: a plurality of client IDs; a plurality of account IDs stored in relation to the client IDs; and digital receipt settings relating the client IDs and the account IDs; and a digital receipts server in operable communication with the financial institution server, the digital receipts server comprising: a plurality of software modules comprising: an enrolment update receiving module; and a positive routing module; a merchant point of sale system in operable communication with the digital receipts server; wherein, in use: the financial institution server digital receipts enrolment module is configured for receiving, from a client terminal, a digital receipts enrolment request for a client having a client ID and an account ID and updating the digital receipt settings using the client ID and the account ID; the financial institution server digital receipts enrolment update module is configured for sending, to the digital receipts server, enrolment update data comprising the account ID and a financial institution ID associated with the financial institution server; the digital receipts server is configured for receiving a point of sale transaction data from the merchant point of sale system, the point of sale transaction data comprising an account ID and receipt data; the digital receipts server POS data routing module is configured for resolving the financial institution ID in accordance with the account ID; the digital receipts server is configured for sending the receipt data and the account ID to the financial institution server; the financial institution server is configured for identifying the client ID in accordance with the account ID; and the financial institution server is configured for sending the receipt data to the client terminal. N co) m~ LO CN 0o co) Nn cv C/)) r-_c CL u a) _0U a)-U c ____E__ mE 0 2u cn -0 C: D> U- Cc/ con 00 m M) CU .2 C/ C o OCu oLu m m CL co: U) On) : U= 0 ) ~0 Ena a- 0a0 0 0o 0) Cv)D cmO oc U)y Co 07 z m cu cL. Cuu 0 ). o a) CN CD mv co) co

Description

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A system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance

Field of the Invention

[1] The present invention relates to a system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance.

Background of the Invention

[2] Existing digital receipt platforms implement point-of-sale side enrolment which seek to enrol customers when making retail purchases. In accordance with these prior art embodiments, the customer is asked at the checkout whether the customer wishes to enrol in a digital receipt platform program which comprises provision of an email address, and other information.

[31 However, such a process is time-consuming especially for fast paced checkouts. Furthermore, the customer may not have all of the relevant information on hand or wish to provide certain information, such a sensitive contact information.

[41 Furthermore, such a process is error prone wherein, for example, email addresses are recorded incorrectly and the like.

[5] Yet further, such a process is merchant specific wherein the customer would need to enrol separately with separate merchants.

[6] The present invention seeks to provide a system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance, which will overcome or substantially ameliorate at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art, or to at least provide an alternative.

[7] It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

Summary of the Disclosure

[8] In the embodiments described herein, there is provided a system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance. As will become apparent from the ensuing description, the system, in embodiments, is distinguished from prior art digital receipt platforms, in embodiments, in relation to the enrolment process and in further embodiments in relation to the exchange of data.

[9] Specifically, certain embodiments provided herein allow for a customer enrolment process wherein, for those customers so enrolled, the platform is able to subsequently manage the data exchange between the various computing actors, such as between the merchant terminals, financial institution servers and the like. Furthermore, in embodiments, such data exchange may allow for the provision of data to the merchant which has hitherto been unavailable, including customer information, including anonymized customer information.

[10] In this manner, the system provided herein, in embodiments, can be thought of as a data exchange platform that allows the sharing of information between the customer, merchant an issuer in a fair and controllable manner.

[11] According to one aspect, there is provided a system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance, the system comprising: a financial institution server comprising: a plurality of software modules comprising: a digital receipts enrolment module; a digital receipts enrolment update module; a database storing: a plurality of client IDs; a plurality of account IDs stored in relation to the client IDs; and digital receipt settings relating the client IDs and the account IDs; and a digital receipts server in operable communication with the financial institution server, the digital receipts server comprising: a plurality of software modules comprising: an enrolment update receiving module; and a positive routing module; a merchant point of sale system in operable communication with the digital receipts server; wherein, in use: the financial institution server digital receipts enrolment module is configured for receiving, from a client terminal, a digital receipts enrolment request for a client having a client ID and an account ID and updating the digital receipt settings using the client ID and the account ID; the financial institution server digital receipts enrolment update module is configured for sending, to the digital receipts server, enrolment update data comprising the account ID and a financial institution ID associated with the financial institution server; the digital receipts server is configured for receiving a point of sale transaction data from the merchant point of sale system, the point of sale transaction data comprising an account ID and receipt data; the digital receipts server POS data routing module is configured for resolving the financial institution ID in accordance with the account ID; the digital receipts server is configured for sending the receipt data and the account ID to the financial institution server; the financial institution server is configured for identifying the client ID in accordance with the account ID; and the financial institution server is configured for sending the receipt data to the client terminal.

[12] The digital receipts server may be configured for updating a database in accordance with the digital receipts enrolment update data.

[13] The database may be a distributed database.

[14] The distributed database may be a distributed block chain.

[15] The point-of-sale terminal may be configured for updating the distributed block chain and wherein the digital receipts server may be configured for receiving the point of-sale transaction data from the point-of-sale terminal by way of updates to the distributed block chain.

[16] The digital receipts server POS data routing module may be configured for matching an account ID of the merchant data with an account ID of the enrolment update data.

[17] The account ID may comprise a pan number.

[18] The system may further comprise at least one digital receipts platform in operable communication with the distributed block chain.

[19] The at least one digital receipts platform may comprise digital receipts platform receipt settings and wherein the at least one digital receipts platforms may be configured to update the digital receipts platform receipt settings in accordance with receipt settings of the enrolment update data.

[20] The digital receipt settings comprise a minimum financial transaction amount for the receipt of a digital receipt.

[21] The digital receipt settings comprise a digital receipt message type.

[22] The message type may comprise at least one of SMS, email and push notification.

[23] The financial institution server may be configured for hosting a banking portal and wherein the banking portal may comprise a receipt enrolment form configured for allowing the client to implement the digital receipts enrolment request.

[24] The financial institution server may be configured for hosting a banking portal interface and wherein the digital receipt data may be displayed within the banking portal interface.

[25] The banking portal interface may be configured for displaying a plurality of merchant transactions and wherein at least a subset of the merchant transactions may be configured for displaying the digital receipt data associated with the respective merchant transaction.

[26] The receipt data may comprise markup format.

[27] The receipt data may comprise XML.

[28] The receipt data may comprise product ID data.

[29] The product ID data may comprise merchant SKU data.

[30] The receipt data may comprise product name data.

[31] The receipt data may comprise product price data.

[32] Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[331 Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[34] Figure 1 shows a system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Description of Embodiments

[35] For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the disclosure.

[36] Before the structures, systems and associated methods relating to the system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular configurations, process steps, and materials disclosed herein as such may vary somewhat. It is also to be understood that the terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting since the scope of the disclosure will be limited only by the claims and equivalents thereof.

[37] In describing and claiming the subject matter of the disclosure, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set out below.

[38] It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[39] As used herein, the terms "comprising," "including," "containing,"

"characterised by," and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.

[40] It should be noted in the following description that like or the same reference numerals in different embodiments denote the same or similar features.

[411 Turning now to figure 1, there is shown a system 1 for digital receipts enrolment and issuance. As will be appreciated from the ensuing description, the system 1 facilitates financial institution side digital receipts enrolments negating the need for point-of-sale side enrolment.

[42] Specifically, as can be seen, the system 1 comprises a digital receipts server 13. The digital receipts server comprises a plurality of software modules 14 as will be described in further detail below.

[431 Furthermore, the digital receipts server 13 is in operable communication with a plurality of financial institution servers 28, each operated by a financial institution. As can be seen, each financial institution server 28 similarly comprises a plurality of software modules 27 and a database 5 which will also be described in further detail below. As alluded to above, the digital receipts enrolment process in accordance with the embodiments described herein is initiated at the financial institution server side.

[44] As is also shown in figure 1, the system 1 further comprises a plurality of merchants 3. Each merchant 3 may operate a point-of-sale system 10 which may act in unison with a point-of-sale terminal 4 for the purposes of receiving payments, such as from bank cards 6.

[45] Furthermore, the system comprises a database 20 for storing various data in the manner described in further detail below. In an embodiment, the database 20 takes the form of a distributed database which, in a further embodiment, may take the form of a distributed block chain 20. In this manner, various actors may contribute to the transactions and settings stored within the distributed block chain 20 so as to provide the system 1 with decentralised authority, redundancy and other advantages. It should be noted that in alternative embodiments, as opposed to utilising a distributed block chain 20 ledger, the requisite data may be stored and managed by the centralised digital receipts server 13 which may expose appropriate APIs for the various system actors.

[46] Now, having generally describe the above technical architecture, there will now be described an exemplary process for utilising the system 1 for the enrolment and issuance of digital receipts. It should be noted that this exemplary process is provided primarily for illustrative purposes of the features and functionality of the system 1 in accordance with a particular embodiment and that no technical limitation should necessarily be imputed to all embodiment of the system 1 accordingly.

[47] As alluded to above, the system 1 is firstly configured for an enrolment process whereafter digital receipts may be issued. As mentioned above, the enrolment process is performed at the instance of the financial institution as opposed to conventional point of-sale side enrolments.

[48] Now, as will be described in further detail below, the system 1 is configured for allowing consumers to enrol for digital receipts at the instance of their financial institution so as to be able to receive digital receipts from all participating merchants in a seamless and convenient manner.

[49] Specifically, as can be seen from figure 1, the software modules 27 of the financial institution server 28 comprises an enrolment module 23. Furthermore, the financial institution server 28 is configured for serving a banking portal 33 through which the client may conduct online banking in the normal manner using a client terminal 32.

[50] Now, in accordance with present embodiments, the banking portal 33 is modified by the financial institution server 28 to provide a receipts enrolment form 34 allowing the client to enrol for the receipt of digital receipts. Specifically, a pop-up, advertising or the like may be provided on the clients banking portal interface wherein, once selected by the client, is configured for allowing the user to enrol for digital receipts and configure various settings.

[511 Now, specifically, the client may have a number of accounts with the financial institution, such as a debit card, credit card and the like. Each account is stored in the financial institution server database 5 in an accounts table 30. As can also be seen, the accounts table 30 is stored in relation to the clients table 29 so as to record each client potentially having a plurality of accounts with the financial institution.

[52] As such, using the receipt enrolment form 34, the client may select which of the accounts are to be enrolled for the receipt of digital receipts such as savings accounts, credit accounts and the like. For example, the client may elect that the client wishes to receive digital receipts for all credit card transactions or alternatively elect to receive digital receipts for all accounts held by the financial institution.

[53] The receipt enrolment form 34 may, in embodiments, provide a listing of the participating merchants.

[54] When enrolling, the client may configure various digital receipts settings to configure the handling of the issuance of the digital receipts.

[55] For example, the client may specify a minimum threshold for the receipt of a digital receipt such that the system 1 is configured for sending digital receipts to the client for point-of-sale transactions exceeding the threshold, such as $10.

[56] Additionally, the client may specify the manner in which digital receipts are received, such as by being sent by SMS text message, email, push notification or the like.

[57] Additionally or alternatively, digital receipts may be stored by the financial institution in relation to each card transaction providing the client with drill down functionality. As such, for each financial transaction of each card held by the client displayed in the conventional manner using the banking portal interface 33, the client may select each of the financial transactions so as to view the associated digital receipts.

[58] For example, whereas a conventional financial transaction record displayed by the banking portal 33 may simply display "Bunnings - $260.33", such a transaction record displayed by the banking portal 33 in accordance with the present embodiments may further comprise a hyperlink for digital receipts drill down functionality which, when selected, is configured to display the digital receipt received from Bunnings indicating, for example, that the user had bought a chainsaw for $200.33 and protective gloves for $60.

[59] Now, during the enrolment process, having received the enrolment request from the client via the enrolment module 23, the financial institution server 28 is configured for updating the receipts settings 31 in relation to the clients 29 and the accounts 30.

[60] For example, the client requesting the digital receipts enrolment will have an assigned client ID and each account held by the client will similarly have an associated account ID. As such, the financial institution server enrolment module 23 is configured for updating the receipts settings 31 to relate the client ID and the account ID for the client such that digital receipts subsequently received may be appropriately handled.

[61] In embodiments, the account ID utilised by the system 1 is a primary account number (PAN). The utilisation of the PAN is advantageous in that such is borne by the bank card 6 when making payment. As such, the system 1 is configured for matching the PAN 2 borne by the bank card 6 for the purposes of identifying the appropriate client ID in the manner described in further detail below.

[62] It should be noted that in certain embodiments, the POS 10 does not have access to the full PAN. In further certain embodiments, a PAN is not utilised, such as where a non-card model is utilised, such as where the consumer utilises a mobile phone device payment framework implementation. In such embodiments, a hashed account ID is utilised.

[631 Specifically, in a first embodiment where the PAN 2 is available, the PAN 2 would be hashed and salted for security. Digital receipt transactions and account IDs may be matched by matching similarly hashed and salted data received from the POS 10.

[64] In embodiments where a truncated PAN 2 is utilised, such as comprising only the first four or six digits and the last four digits, additional or alternative data may be utilised for the hash such as the name on the card, the card expiry date.

[65] In further embodiments where no PAN 2 is available, appropriate other data may be utilised for the hash, such as, for example, that which is readily ascertainable from a mobile phone device payment framework. For example, for mobile phone device payment frameworks, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Wallet and the like a payment framework token would be utilised for hashing.

[66] It should be noted that, in embodiments, the utilisation of hashes may result in account/client ID collisions. For example, collisions may occur for customers having the same name and the same truncated PAN number.

[67] As such, for collision avoidance, in a first embodiment, upon each receipt of digital receipt data by the digital receipts server 13, to confirm the client enrolment, the digital receipts server 13 may send a query to the financial institution server 28 to confirm the client ID. For example, customer details and other transaction information, which could include the RRN, STAN, Auth Code, UN, TID, MCC, Transaction Date, Amount of the like, would be sent to the issuer/financial institution in 28 for verification and according response.

[68] In a second embodiment, and so as to avoid the data query round-trip, the issuer/financial institution 28 would perform customer record collision detection and, for those customers having been identified as potentially colliding, a "collision flag" would be appended to the customer enrolment data. As such, for those customers so flagged, upon receipt of digital receipt data by the digital receipts server 13, the digital receipts server 13 may send the aforementioned data to confirm the client ID and whereas, alternatively, for those customers not so flagged, the digital receipts server 13 need not send such a clarification data request to the issuer/financial institution 28.

[691 In either of the above two embodiments, an acquirer token or other ID would be used to uniquely map that customer for subsequent transactions with that merchant processing account. If this token or ID is not available, the digital receipts server 13 would perform the roundtrip data request each time the card is used.

[70] Now, having received the enrolment request, the financial institution server 28 is configured for sending enrolment update data to the digital receipts server 13. As can be seen, the digital receipts server software modules 14 comprise an enrolment receiver module 35 configured for receiving these periodic enrolment updates from the various financial institution servers 28.

[71] The enrolment update data sent to the digital receipts server 21 may comprise at least the account ID (such as the PAN number) and the financial institution ID number representing a financial institution associated with the financial institution server 28. These two numbers will allow the appropriate financial institution to be identified later in the manner described below.

[72] Now, in embodiments, and as alluded to above, the digital receipts enrolment data may be stored within a distributed block chain 20 so as to provide decentralisation, redundancy and other advantages for the system 1.

[73] As such, the digital receipts server 13 will update its associated database with the account ID and a financial institution ID which is then propagated to the other databases forming part of the distributed block chain 20.

[74] As can be seen from figure 1, the distributed block chain is configured for storing the account IDs 8 and the financial institution IDs 7 associated with the digital receipts enrolments.

[75] It should be noted that, in embodiments, as opposed to the financial institutions communicating directly with the digital receipts server 13, the financial institutions may themselves maintain a database of the distributed block chain 20 so as to be able to update the distributed block chain 20 directly in the manner described herein.

[76] In embodiments, other information may be stored within the distributed block chain 20, such as the digital receipts settings 9. In this embodiment, for example, the digital receipts settings 9 stored within the distributed block chain 20 may be configured for facilitating the issuance of digital receipts by the system 1 wherein, for example, the system 1 may elect whether or not to send a receipt in accordance with a minimum transaction amount threshold specified by a client. In alternative or additional embodiments, all or a subset of the digital receipts settings may be stored within the database 5 of the financial institution server 28 such as, for example, the type of digital receipts notification which is applicable to the financial institution server 28 where the financial institution server 28 is configured for sending the digital receipts itself.

[77] Now, having store the enrolment data within the distributed block chain 20, the system 1 is now configured for issuing digital receipts for the client.

[78] As such, the client, having enrolled using the banking portal 33, subsequently visits a merchant 3 (Bunnings warehouse) and purchases a chainsaw and a pair of protective gloves.

[79] When making payment, the client utilises the clients credit card 6 which comprises the PAN 2. The client swipes (or, in embodiments, taps or inserts) the card 6 across the POS terminal 4 which reads the PAN number 2 from the card 6.

[80] The PAN number received by the terminal 4 is conveyed to the point of sale system 10 of the merchant 3 for completing the sale. In this regard, the point of sale system 10 performs the sale in the conventional manner comprising the step of sending the PAN number to the acquirer. Other information may be sent to the acquirer including other transaction information including the RRN, STAN etc.

[81] However, in accordance with present embodiment, the point of sale system 10 is configured for additionally sending point-of-sale data to the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13.

[82] In embodiments, the POS 10 and/or terminal 4 may be modified by way of software module or the like for the purposes of communicating with the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13.

[831 Specifically, in embodiments, such as for those where a PED device (PIN entry device) is used (such as the AlbertTM PED device provided by the Australian Commonwealth Bank), the PED device may be modified with an appropriate software module such that the software module may bundle the receipt data and the transaction data and transmit such to the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13.

[84] In further embodiments, the POS 10 would be modified wherein, for example, the merchant 3 would modify their POS software to gather transaction and receipts data for sending to the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13.

[85] In furthering embodiments, data intercept may be utilised wherein, for example, software module (e.g. data tunnel) or hardware module (such as a printer serial port dongle) may intercept transaction and receipt data, such as that which is sent to a printer queue.

[86] In a further embodiment, the system 1 may accommodate existing digital receipts platforms 11 already having relationships with existing merchants 3.

[87] In this embodiment, the digital receipt platforms 11 bridge the POS 10 and the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13 allowing the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13 to receive data directly from the digital receipt platforms 11 as opposed to receiving the data from the merchant 3, or requiring modification of the POS 10. As such, the existing digital receipt platforms 11 convey the point-of-sale data to the distributed block chain 20 or to the digital receipts server 13. As can be seen, the system 1 may interface with a plurality of existing digital receipt platforms and each digital receipt platform 11 may interface with a plurality of merchants 3.

[88] In this embodiment, the receipt platforms 11 may expose an API through which the data is conveyed to or fetched by the digital receipts server 13. In embodiments, the software implemented by the receipt platforms 11 may be modified to allow the transmission of the receipt and transaction data.

[89] However, in either manner, either the point-of-sale system 10 or the digital receipts platforms 11 send the POS data to the distributed block chain 20.

[90] In a further embodiment, the POS 10 may comprise middleware 36 configured to send the necessary data to the distributed block chain 20 or digital receipts server 13. Such middleware 35 may be provided by middleware providers such as PC Eftpos TM

POS Gate TM and the like.

[91] Such middleware 36 executes within the POS 10 (or PED) and may be so configured so as to gather and send the requisite merchant data 18 and receipts data 19 to the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13.

[92] Now, the POS data 17 sent to the distributed block chain 20 may comprise merchant data 18 and receipt data 19. In general terms, the merchant data 18 can be thought of as the conventional merchant data sent to financial institutions representing, for example, a merchant ID and a payment amount.

[93] However, additionally, the POS data 17 comprises receipt data 19 representing the items purchased, being the chainsaw and the pair of gloves utilising the present illustrative example. The receipt data may be represented in differing manners, such as by utilising merchant SKU, global product number (such as an Australian product number) or the like. Additional information may be included also, such as product names, product categories and the like.

[94] In embodiments, other relevant receipts data may be sent via the merchant 3 to the block chain 20 or receipts server 13, such as warranty information, upgrade information, product information, instruction manuals, downloads and the like. In alternative embodiments, the receipts server 13 may ascertain such information from an appropriate repository utilising the product as a reference.

[95] Furthermore, the digital receipts data may be conveyed to the distributed block chain 20 in differing manners. However, in a preferred embodiment, the digital receipts data is sent in structured data types format such as in JSON, XML format or the like.

[96] Now, as can be seen, the digital receipts server 13 comprises a POS data routing module 16. In general terms, the POS data routing module 16 is configured for routing the POS data 17 to the appropriate financial institution server 28 for further processing.

[97] Specifically, the POS data routing module 16 is configured for matching the account ID of the merchant data 18 with the account ID 8 of the enrolment data. In other words, in one embodiment, the POS data routing module 16 matches the PAN number of the merchant data 18 received from the POS system 10 with the PAN number 8 stored in the enrolments data in the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13. In doing so, the data receipts server 13 may perform such matching upon receipt of each block chain update propagation event. As alluded to herein, the accounts may be matched in other manners as opposed to utilising the PAN number.

[98] Having identified a matching account ID 8 in accordance with the merchant data 18, the POS data routing module 16 is configured for identifying the financial institution ID 7 stored in relation to the account ID 8.

[99] Having identified the financial institution ID 7, the digital receipts server is configured for sending the POS data 17 to the financial institution server 28 associated with the financial institution ID 7.

[100] As can be seen, the software modules 27 of the financial institution server 28 comprises a POS data receiving module 25 with which to receive the POS data 17.

[101] Having received the POS data 17 from the digital receipts server 13, the POS data receiving module 25 is configured for resolving the client ID in accordance with the account ID with reference to the data stored within the database 5.

[102] Having identified the client ID, the financial institution server 28 is configured for issuing a digital receipt in accordance with the receipts settings 31 stored within the database 5.

[103] For example, the client may have elected to receive a push notification to a financial institution software application installed on the client terminal 32. As such, and as can be seen, the software modules 27 comprises a messaging module 35 configured for issuing the digital receipt in the manner elected by the client. As can be appreciated, the messaging module 35 may be configured for issuing the digital receipt in other manners, such as by way of SMS, email and the like. Yet further, the digital receipts may be visible within the banking portal 33 of the client.

[104] In embodiments, the digital receipts server 13 may itself perform messaging for the issuance of digital receipts and may therefore itself comprise a messaging module 15. In such an embodiment, the digital receipts settings conveyed to the distributed block chain 20 or the digital receipts server 13 may comprise client contact information.

[105] In embodiment, the digital receipt platforms 11 may update their respective digital receipts settings upon receiving the enrolments update from the distributed block chain 20. For example, each of the digital receipt platforms 11 may have existing clients stored in relation to various associated merchants 13 and digital receipts settings for the issuance of the digital receipts. However, the digital receipts platforms 11 may update their respective digital receipts settings, such as, for example, the manner in which digital receipts are issued, upon receipt of the enrolment update data via the distributed block chain 20. Furthermore, the system 1 may be adapted to allow for configuration as to whether the existing digital receipt platforms 11 send the digital receipt or alternatively whether such as done by the digital receipts server 13 with the financial institution server 28. In embodiment, the issuance of digital receipts may be shared wherein, for example, the existing digital receipt platforms 11 may send the digital receipts in the conventional manner, such as by email or the like and wherein the financial institution server 28, rather than sending the associated digital receipt, rather makes the associated digital receipt available in the banking portal 33.

Interpretation

Wireless:

[106] The invention may be embodied using devices conforming to other network standards and for other applications, including, for example other WLAN standards and other wireless standards. Applications that can be accommodated include IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs and links, and wireless Ethernet.

[107] In the context of this document, the term "wireless" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. In the context of this document, the term "wired" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices are coupled by electrically conductive wires.

Processes:

[108] Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing", "computing", "calculating", "determining", "analysing" or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities into other data similarly represented as physical quantities.

Processor:

[109] In a similar manner, the term "processor" may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data, e.g., from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that, e.g., may be stored in registers and/or memory. A "computer" or a "computing device" or a "computing machine" or a "computing platform" may include one or more processors.

[110] The methodologies described herein are, in one embodiment, performable by one or more processors that accept computer-readable (also called machine-readable) code containing a set of instructions that when executed by one or more of the processors carry out at least one of the methods described herein. Any processor capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken are included. Thus, one example is a typical processing system that includes one or more processors. The processing system further may include a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM, and/or ROM.

Computer-Readable Medium:

[111] Furthermore, a computer-readable carrier medium may form, or be included in a computer program product. A computer program product can be stored on a computer usable carrier medium, the computer program product comprising a computer readable program means for causing a processor to perform a method as described herein.

Networked or Multiple Processors:

[112] In alternative embodiments, the one or more processors operate as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to other processor(s), in a networked deployment, the one or more processors may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to peer or distributed network environment. The one or more processors may form a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine.

[113] Note that while some diagram(s) only show(s) a single processor and a single memory that carries the computer-readable code, those in the art will understand that many of the components described above are included, but not explicitly shown or described in order not to obscure the inventive aspect. For example, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Additional Embodiments:

[114] Thus, one embodiment of each of the methods described herein is in the form of a computer- readable carrier medium carrying a set of instructions, e.g., a computer program that are for execution on one or more processors. Thus, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a method, an apparatus such as a special purpose apparatus, an apparatus such as a data processing system, or a computer-readable carrier medium. The computer-readable carrier medium carries computer readable code including a set of instructions that when executed on one or more processors cause a processor or processors to implement a method. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a method, an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of carrier medium (e.g., a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium) carrying computer-readable program code embodied in the medium.

Carrier Medium:

[115] The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via a network interface device. While the carrier medium is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term "carrier medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term "carrier medium" shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by one or more of the processors and that cause the one or more processors to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.

Implementation:

[116] It will be understood that the steps of methods discussed are performed in one embodiment by an appropriate processor (or processors) of a processing (i.e., computer) system executing instructions (computer-readable code) stored in storage. It will also be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular implementation or programming technique and that the invention may be implemented using any appropriate techniques for implementing the functionality described herein. The invention is not limited to any particular programming language or operating system.

Means For Carrying out a Method or Function

[117] Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as a method or combination of elements of a method that can be implemented by a processor of a processor device, computer system, or by other means of carrying out the function. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for carrying out such a method or element of a method forms a means for carrying out the method or element of a method. Furthermore, an element described herein of an apparatus embodiment is an example of a means for carrying out the function performed by the element for the purpose of carrying out the invention.

Connected

[118] Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term connected, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to direct connections only. Thus, the scope of the expression a device A connected to a device B should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means. "Connected" may mean that two or more elements are either in direct physical or electrical contact, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

Embodiments:

[119] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

[120] Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description of example embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

[121] Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Different Instances of Objects

[122] As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives "first", "second", "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner. Specific Details

[123] In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Terminology

[124] In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar technical purpose. Terms such as "forward", "rearward", "radially", "peripherally", "upwardly", "downwardly", and the like are used as words of convenience to provide reference points and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

Comprising and Including

[125] In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

[126] Any one of the terms: including or which includes or that includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.

Scope of Invention

[127] Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention. For example, any formulas given above are merely representative of procedures that may be used. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention.

[128] Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms. Industrial Applicability

[129] It is apparent from the above, that the arrangements described are applicable to the payment processing industries.

Claims (5)

1. Claims 1. A system for digital receipts enrolment and issuance, the system comprising: a financial institution server comprising: a plurality of software modules comprising: a digital receipts enrolment module; a digital receipts enrolment update module; a database storing: a plurality of client IDs; a plurality of account IDs stored in relation to the client IDs; and digital receipt settings relating the client IDs and the account IDs; and a digital receipts server in operable communication with the financial institution server, the digital receipts server comprising: a plurality of software modules comprising: an enrolment update receiving module; and a positive routing module; a merchant point of sale system in operable communication with the digital receipts server; wherein, in use: the financial institution server digital receipts enrolment module is configured for receiving, from a client terminal, a digital receipts enrolment request for a client having a client ID and an account ID and updating the digital receipt settings using the client ID and the account ID; the financial institution server digital receipts enrolment update module is configured for sending, to the digital receipts server, enrolment update data comprising the account ID and a financial institution ID associated with the financial institution server; the digital receipts server is configured for receiving a point of sale transaction data from the merchant point of sale system, the point of sale transaction data comprising an account ID and receipt data; the digital receipts server POS data routing module is configured for resolving the financial institution ID in accordance with the account ID; the digital receipts server is configured for sending the receipt data and the account ID to the financial institution server; the financial institution server is configured for identifying the client ID in accordance with the account ID; and the financial institution server is configured for sending the receipt data to the client terminal.
2. 2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the digital receipts server is configured for updating a database in accordance with the digital receipts enrolment update data.
3. 3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the database is a distributed database.
4. 4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the distributed database is a distributed block chain.
5. 5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the point-of-sale terminal is configured for updating the distributed block chain and wherein the digital receipts server is configured for receiving the point-of-sale transaction data from the point-of-sale terminal by way of updates to the distributed block chain.

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