Facilitating payment with smartphone, at point of sale, of amount owed plus automatically calculated gratuity

Abstract

A method includes receiving a payment object for payment of a certain amount owed by a first party to a second party. The payment object carries sufficient account information for the payment from an account associated with the payment object. The second party communicates the account information from the payment object and an identification of the second party for receipt by a third party; and receives in return data that is indicative of a gratuity to be charged against the account. The second party prints a document that includes the certain amount owed and the gratuity, as indicated by the data received by the second party, and presents the document for signature by the first party. The printed document preferably includes the total of the amount owed and the gratuity. The payment object may be a credit card, charge card, debit card, rebate card, or stored-value card.

1 - 163 . (canceled) 
     
     
         164 . A method for facilitating payment with a payment object, at a point of sale, of an amount owed to a first party for goods or services plus an automatically calculated gratuity, comprising the steps of:
 (a) maintaining, in a computer database, account information carried by a payment object in association with data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object;   (b) electronically receiving, from a point of sale (POS) terminal, over a network by a computer, the account information acquired from the payment object;   (c) electronically accessing, from the computer database, data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against the account associated with the payment object; and   (d) electronically communicating, back to the POS terminal, data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against the account associated with the payment object for displaying a gratuity amount for confirmation prior to charging against the account the amount owed to the first party for the goods or services plus the gratuity amount.   
     
     
         165 . The method of  claim 164 , wherein data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object that is maintained in the computer database comprises a percentage that is applied to an amount owed when determining a gratuity to be charged for a particular electronic financial transaction. 
     
     
         165 . The method of  claim 164 , further comprising electronically receiving, from the POS terminal over the network, the amount owed to the first party; and
 wherein the data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object that is electronically communicated back to the POS terminal comprises an amount calculated as a percentage of the amount that is owed to the first party.   
     
     
         166 . The method of  claim 164 , further comprising electronically receiving, from the POS terminal over the network, the amount owed to the first party; and wherein the data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object that is electronically communicated back to the POS terminal comprises an amount calculated as a percentage of the amount that is owed to the first party and rounded to the nearest whole dollar. 
     
     
         167 . The method of  claim 164 , further comprising electronically receiving, from the POS terminal over the network, the amount owed to the first party; and wherein the data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object that is electronically communicated back to the POS terminal comprises an amount calculated as a percentage of the amount that is owed to the first party and rounded to the nearest whole or half dollar. 
     
     
         168 . The method of  claim 164 , further comprising electronically receiving, from the POS terminal over the network, the amount owed to the first party; and wherein the data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object that is electronically communicated back to the POS terminal comprises an amount calculated as a percentage of the amount that is owed to the first party and rounded to a predetermined penny amount. 
     
     
         169 . The method of  claim 168 , wherein the predetermined penny amount is specified by an algorithm that also is maintained in the computer database in association with the account information, and wherein the algorithm comprises incrementing by a cent the penny amount of a previous gratuity paid, such that transactions with gratuities that are paid with the payment object can be sequentially counted on statements for the account. 
     
     
         170 . (canceled) 
     
     
         171 . The method of  claim 164 , wherein the account information is wirelessly communicated from the payment object to the POS terminal. 
     
     
         172 . The method of  claim 164 , wherein the payment object comprises a smartphone. 
     
     
         173 . The method of  claim 164 , wherein the payment object is a credit card, debit card, charge card, or stored-value card. 
     
     
         174 . The method of  claim 164 , wherein the payment object comprises a consumer electronic device that generates digital signatures and performs encryption. 
     
     
         175 . The method of  claim 164 , wherein the payment object comprises a consumer electronic device that securely contains encryption keys and private keys of public-private key pairs. 
     
     
         176 . A method for facilitating payment with a payment object, at a point of sale, of an amount owed to a first party for goods or services plus an automatically calculated gratuity, comprising the steps of:
 (a) maintaining, in a computer database, account information carried by a payment object in association with data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object;   (b) electronically receiving, from a point of sale (POS) terminal, over a network by a computer, the account information acquired from the payment object;   (c) electronically accessing from the computer database, data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against the account associated with the payment object;   (d) electronically communicating back to the first POS terminal the data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against the account associated with the payment object;   (e) calculating a gratuity amount based on the data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against the account associated with the payment object; and   (f) displaying the gratuity amount for confirmation before charging against the account the gratuity amount and the amount owed to the first party for the goods or services.   
     
     
         177 . The method of  claim 176 , wherein the account information is wirelessly communicated from the payment object to the POS terminal. 
     
     
         178 . The method of  claim 176 , wherein the payment object comprises a smartphone. 
     
     
         179 . The method of  claim 176 , wherein the payment object is a credit card, debit card, charge card, or stored-value card. 
     
     
         180 . A method for facilitating payment with a payment object, at a point of sale, of an amount owed to a first party for goods or services plus an automatically calculated gratuity, comprising the steps of:
 (a) maintaining, in a computer database, account information carried by a payment object in association with data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against an account associated with the payment object;   (b) electronically receiving, from a point of sale (POS) terminal, over a network by a computer, the account information acquired from the payment object and the amount that is owed to the first party;   (c) electronically accessing from the computer database, data indicative of a gratuity to be charged against the account associated with the payment object and calculating a gratuity amount based thereon and on the amount that is owed to the first party;   (d) electronically communicating back to the first POS terminal the gratuity amount; and   (e) displaying the gratuity amount for confirmation before charging against the account the gratuity amount and the amount owed to the first party for the goods or services.   
     
     
         181 . The method of  claim 180 , wherein the account information is wirelessly communicated from the payment object to the POS terminal. 
     
     
         182 . The method of  claim 180 , wherein the payment object comprises a smartphone. 
     
     
         183 . The method of  claim 180 , wherein the payment object is a credit card, debit card, charge card, or stored-value card.