Systems and methods for providing lottery game play through an unmanned terminal

Abstract

A game play system comprises a banking system that includes at least one terminal configured for financial transactions and an acquirer transaction server coupled with the terminal, the acquirer transaction server configured to provide game plays to a user through the terminal. The game play system further comprises a game play authority in communication with the acquirer transaction server, the game play authority configured to receive game play requests from the acquirer transaction server and game play information from one or more authorities associated with various game plays.

1 . A method for providing games through terminal configured for financial transactions, comprising:
 in response to the initiation of a financial transaction via the terminal, determining whether game plays are available;   when it is determined that game plays are available, then determining what game type of game plays are available;   once the type of game plays is determined, presenting game play options via the terminal;   in response to a game play selection of one of the options, authenticating a user;   obtaining the game play information from a an authority associated with the game play selection; and   Presenting the game play information to the authenticated user via the terminal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the terminal is a Automatic Teller Machine (ATM). 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the authority is a lottery authority, and wherein at least one of the game play options is a lottery game play option. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein authenticating the user comprises authenticating the user's identity. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein authenticating the user's identity comprises receiving an identity verification from an issuing bank authority associated with the financial transaction. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein authentication the user comprises authenticating the user's age. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein authenticating the user's age comprises receiving age verification information from an issuing bank authority associated with the financial transaction. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein authenticating the user comprises receiving information associated with the user from an issuing bank authority associated with the financial transaction and verifying game play eligibility with the authority associated with the game lay selection. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving game play fee information from the terminal and processing the game play fee through an issuing bank authority associated with the financial transaction. 
     
     
         10 . A game play system, comprising:
 a banking system, the banking system comprising:
 at least one terminal configured for financial transactions, and 
 an acquirer transaction server coupled with the terminal, the acquirer transaction server configured to provide game plays to a user through the terminal; and 
   a game play authority in communication with the acquirer transaction server, the game play authority configured to receive game play requests from the acquirer transaction server and game play information from one or more authorities associated with various game plays.   
     
     
         11 . The game play system of  claim 10 , wherein the terminal is an ATM. 
     
     
         12 . The game play system of  claim 10 , wherein the terminal is configured to process a financial transaction initiated by the user. 
     
     
         13 . The game play system of  claim 12 , wherein a financial transaction is initiated via insertion of a card into the terminal. 
     
     
         14 . The game play system of  claim 12 , wherein the acquirer transaction server is configured to pull information regarding the user form the terminal and from an issuing bank authority associated with the financial transaction. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the acquirer transaction server is configured to generate a play request based on the pulled information and to forward the play request to the game play authority. 
     
     
         16 . The game play system of  claim 15 , wherein the acquirer transaction server is configured to receive a play ticket from the from the game play authority and to pass the game play ticket to the terminal, and wherein the terminal is configured to present options related to the game play ticket to a user. 
     
     
         17 . The game play authority of  claim 16 , wherein the game play authority is configured to receive the play request from the acquirer transaction authority and compare information contained in the game play request with certain game play criteria. 
     
     
         18 . The game play system of  claim 17 , wherein the game play authority is configured to generate the play ticket if it is determined that game play is possible based on the information contained in the game play request. 
     
     
         19 . The game play system of  claim 12 , wherein the terminal is configured to receive a game play purchase request. 
     
     
         20 . The game play system of  claim 19 , wherein the terminal is configured to process the financial transaction initiated by the user along with a fee associated with the game play purchase request. 
     
     
         21 . The game play system of  claim 19 , wherein the terminal is configured to present the user with the option to input game play information, use previously input game play information, or use stored game play information. 
     
     
         22 . The game play system of  claim 12 , wherein the acquirer transaction server is configured to receive the game play purchase request, match it with a previous play request, and complete an eligible play ticket based on information contained in the previous play request and the game play purchase request. 
     
     
         23 . The game play system of  claim 22 , wherein the acquirer transaction server is further configured to log the completed eligible play ticket and forward the completed eligible play ticket to the game play authority. 
     
     
         24 . The game play system of  claim 23 , wherein the game play authority is configured to receive an eligible play ticket from the acquirer transaction server and to process a game play purchase with an appropriate authority associated with the game play purchase. 
     
     
         25 . The game play system of  claim 24 , wherein the game play authority is configured to generate a game play ticket upon successful processing of the game play purchase with the appropriate authority. 
     
     
         26 . The game play system of  claim 25 , wherein the game play authority is configured to associate the game play ticket with a user account based on the eligible play ticket and to store the lottery ticket. 
     
     
         27 . The game play system of  claim 26 , wherein the acquirer transaction server is configured to receive the game play ticket from the game play authority, tag the game play ticket as successful, and pass the game play ticket to the terminal. 
     
     
         28 . The game play system of  claim 27 , wherein the terminal is configured to display and print the game play ticket. 
     
     
         29 . The game play authority of  claim 12 , wherein the terminal is configured to prompt the user for the user's PIN and to forward the PIN to an issuing bank authority for authentication. 
     
     
         30 . The game play authority of  claim 29 , wherein the terminal is configured to continue processing the financial transaction if the PIN is authenticated and to prompt the user for a game play selection.