text:
Patent References
Money transfer device keyboard terminal
Financial data processing system
Check dispensing terminal
Funds transfer system using optically coupled, portable modules
Terminal device for making payments for credit transactions
Electronic cash register
Electronic cash register capable of performing cash-dispensing
transactions Inventors Assignee ApplicationNo. 10444111 filed on 05/21/2003 US Classes:705/74, Anonymous user system 705/14, Distribution or redemption of coupon, or incentive or promotion program 705/16, Including point of sale terminal or electronic cash register 705/26, Electronic shopping (e.g., remote ordering) 705/34, Bill preparation 705/35, Finance (e.g., banking, investment or credit) 705/39, Including funds transfer or credit transaction 705/40, Bill distribution or payment 705/41, Having programming of a portable memory device (e.g., IC card, "electronic purse") 705/42, Remote banking (e.g., home banking) 705/43, Including Automatic Teller Machine (i.e., ATM) 705/44, Requiring authorization or authentication 705/45, With paper check handling 705/65, Including intelligent token (e.g., electronic purse) 705/66, Intelligent token initializing or reloading 705/67, Including authentication 705/75, Transaction verification 705/76, Electronic credential 705/77, Including remote charge determination or related payment system 705/78, Including third party 235/375, SYSTEMS CONTROLLED BY DATA BEARING RECORDS 235/376, Operations analysis 235/377, Time analysis 235/378, Price determination 235/379, Banking systems 235/380, Credit or identification card systems 235/381 With vending ExaminersPrimary: Reagan, James A Attorney, Agent or Firm Foreign Patent References
International ClassG06F 17/60 DescriptionBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to financial transaction systems and methodologies, and in particular to methods and systems for making payments and consummating staged transactions based on a consumer or transaction identification. A wide variety of payment methods are available to consumers of goods and services. In addition to currency, consumers are often able to use their credit in making purchases. A common system for making credit purchases involves the use of acredit card provided by a credit card issuer, such as a commercial bank or other financial institution. Non-credit transactions can be handled by debit cards, which utilize funds already deposited by the consumer for payment purposes. Many types of payment methodologies are dependent upon consumers having relationships with financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, etc. However, a substantial percentage of consumers do not use such conventional financialinstitutions. These consumers are often referred to as "unbanked" because they do not maintain accounts with such institutions. Unbanked consumers are often inconvenienced in making financial transactions. For example, without bank accounts, theyexperience difficulty and inconvenience in obtaining negotiable instruments, making purchases on credit, etc. Other consumers may not feel comfortable providing or sending personal information, such as credit card numbers, over the telephone or internet. Such consumers may desire an alternative method of rendering payment. Still other consumers mayhave had an attempted payment denied, such as by attempting to render payment using a credit card that is at or over the maximum limit available to the consumer, or the like. To assist consumers in these situations, as well as others, an alternativepayment scheme(s) may be desired. Recently there have been a variety of new products which provide at least partial solutions to the problems of the unbanked and other consumers. For example, "prepay" cards allow consumers to pre-purchase various goods and services. Animportant example relates to the use of telecommunications services, which are available through prepaid "calling cards." Many consumers prepay on a monthly basis for "dial tone" service. Prepaid cards can also be reloadable whereby additional value canbe added by consumers for using their cards indefinitely. Another system involves the use of a service provider making payments on behalf of consumers over the Internet global computer network or by negotiable instrument. While these solutions addresssome of the needs of the unbanked, there remain other needs that have not been addressed. Therefore, there is a need in the art for solutions to address problems incurred by the unbanked and other consumers. Hence, among a number of other advantages apparent from the following description, the present invention provides systems andmethods for addressing such problems. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides systems and methods for accepting payments for goods and services provided by a goods or service provider. The methods can include associating consumers and merchants with a payment provider. The payment providercan receive payments destined for the merchant, associate the payments with one or more identifiers, and transfer at least portions of the received payments to the merchant. Further, the present invention provides systems and methods for enrollingconsumers in such payment acceptance systems. The present invention still further includes systems and methods for staging transactions initiated by a merchant, a consumer, a beneficiary, or another third party. The systems can include a point-of-sale device configured to accept payments from consumers on behalf of merchants. In some cases, the systems include a plurality of such point-of-sale devices in communication with a payment provider control. The payment provider control can be in communication with one or more merchant controls. Using such systems, a consumer can enroll to make payments via a payment provider and make payments via the payment provider by accessing any of a number ofpoint-of-sale devices associated with the payment provider control. The consumer alternatively may be able to enroll through the merchant or other third party. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for accepting payments from a consumer for a good or service provided by a merchant comprises receiving a transaction request from the merchant, receiving a payment from the consumer,associating the payment with the transaction request, and sending at least a portion of the payment to the merchant. In this manner, the merchant stages the transaction, and the consumer completes the transaction by making the payment. In one aspect,method is performed by a payment provider system. In another aspect, the method is performed by a point of service (POS) device. In still another aspect, the method is performed partly by the payment provider system and partly by the POS device. In one aspect, the method includes storing a record of the payment and the associated transaction request in a database. Typically, the merchant desires to know when payment has been made prior to rendering the service or shipping the goods. Hence, in one aspect, the method includes receiving an inquiry from the merchant as to whether the payment was made by the consumer, and sending a reply to the merchant in response to the inquiry. Alternatively, the method includes providing anindication to the merchant that the payment was made by the consumer. This may occur, for example, prior to being prompted by the merchant. The method further may include electronically sending at least a portion of the payment to an account of themerchant. Another portion of the payment may include a fee or surcharge for the staged transaction service. The transaction request may take a variety of forms within the scope of the present invention. For example, in one aspect the transaction request includes a consumer profile. In this embodiment, the method may further include verifying aconsumer identify against the consumer profile. Alternatively, the consumer may remain anonymous. In another aspect, the transaction request includes a time limit. In this embodiment, the payment may be accepted if received within the time limit, andoptionally rejected if not received within the time limit. If the payment is rejected, in one embodiment the rejection is reported to the merchant to help ensure the service or goods are not provided to the customer. The transaction request also mayinclude a short or detailed description of the good(s) and/or service(s) to be provided the consumer. The transaction request also includes, in some embodiments, the amount to be paid by the consumer. In one aspect, the method includes providing the merchant with a transaction identifier that corresponds to the transaction request. The method may further include receiving the payment if the customer provides the transaction identifier thatcorresponds to the transaction request. The transaction identifier may include, in one embodiment, an alpha-numeric string of characters. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to provide the customer with a confirmation that payment has been made. This confirmation may take many forms, including a confirmation number and/or a printed receipt. In one aspect, the confirmationincludes a certificate. The certificate may comprise a wide range of certificates, including a gift certificate, an electronic ticket such as for use with a transportation company, an award, a redeemable coupon, and the like. Thus, in some embodiments,the good(s) and/or service(s) is rendered upon payment. In still other embodiments, the processor of the payment transfer, such as the payment provider, may guarantee the funds. This may be useful, for example, when the goods or services are to be provided to the consumer upon the consumer renderingpayment to the payment provider, but prior to transfer of the funds from the payment provider to the merchant. Other uses and reasons for guaranteed funds also fall within the scope of the present invention. The present invention further includes systems for receiving payments from consumers. In one embodiment, the system includes a processor and a storage medium, with the storage medium having instructions executable by the processor to performsome or all of the described methods. In a particular embodiment, the storage medium contains executable instructions to receive a transaction request from the merchant, receive a payment entry from the consumer, associate the payment entry with thetransaction request, and send at least a portion of the payment to the merchant. In one aspect, the storage medium further includes instructions executable by the processor to compare a payment time limit to a time of the payment entry, and reporting a result to the merchant. The system may further include a printer adaptedfor printing a confirmation of the payment entry. In another aspect, the storage medium includes executable instructions to provide a first transaction identifier to the merchant, and wherein the receive payment process further comprises receiving thefirst transaction identifier. In one embodiment, the processor and storage medium are included in a payment provider. This system further includes, in one aspect, a POS device coupled to the payment provider and adapted to transmit the transaction request to the paymentprovider. In another aspect, the payment provider includes a payment system having a database, and wherein the payment system is configured to permit the transaction request to be input and processed, and to send a transaction identifier to the merchantupon receipt of the transaction request. In alternative embodiments, the transactions are requested and/or staged by the consumer. In this manner, the consumer can initiate a transaction with a merchant. In still other embodiments, a designated recipient is identified to receiveeither the goods, the services, and or the payment. In this manner, the transaction may be staged for the benefit of a number of entities or individuals, including the consumer. In one embodiment, a method for accepting payments include receiving a transaction request, reporting the transaction request, and associating a transaction identifier with the transaction request. The method includes receiving a paymentassociated with the transaction identifier, and reporting the payment. In one embodiment, the payments are accepted on behalf of a merchant. In this embodiment, the transaction request and the payment are reported to the merchant. In some aspects, the"merchant" is an individual, such as an individual who is to receive funds through a staged transaction. In other aspects, the transaction request is received from a third party, from a beneficiary of the transaction, or the like. In still anotheraspect, the payment is received from a third party. The summary provides only a general outline of the embodiments according to the present invention. Many other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, theappended claims and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the figures which are described in remaining portions of the specification. In the figures, like reference numerals are used throughoutseveral figures to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sub-label consisting of a lower case letter is associated with a reference numeral to denote one of multiple similar components. When reference is made to a reference numeral withoutspecification to an existing sub-label, it is intended to refer to all such multiple similar components. FIGS. 1A 1B are schematic diagrams of payment service and/or enrollment systems in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a logical diagram of a payment service and/or enrollment system similar to the systems illustrated in FIG. 1; FIGS. 3A 3B are flow diagrams for processing payments in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating one method in accordance with the present invention for paying for a good or service; FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a service activation method according to the invention; and FIGS. 6 9 are flow diagrams illustrating additional embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Various detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specificstructural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailedstructure. Among other things, the present invention provides systems and methods for accepting payments for goods and/or services offered by a third party provider. In some embodiments, the present invention provides systems and methods for enrollingconsumers in goods and/or services provided by a third party provider. As further discussed below, such third party providers of goods and/or services are referred to herein as "merchants" and those accepting payments and providing enrollment servicesare referred to as "payment providers." Referring to FIG. 1A, an enrollment and payment system 100 is illustrated that may be used to facilitate payments made to purchase goods or services, and/or provide enrollment services in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. System 100 includes a point-of-sale ("POS") device 110 in communication with a payment provider control 130 via a communication network 120. In addition, payment provider control 130 is communicably coupled to one or more merchant controls 140 viacommunication network 120. Payment provider control 130 is associated with a payment provider database 135 and merchant controls 140 are associated with merchant databases 145. As will be evident from the proceeding discussion, system 100 can includeany number of POS devices 110 and merchant controls 140 in accordance with the various embodiments of the present invention. POS device 110 can be any device disposed at the point-of-sale. Thus, POS device 110 can be one such as is described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/634,901, entitled "POINT OF SALE PAYMENT SYSTEM," filed Aug. 9, 2000 andU.S. Prov. Appl. No. 60/147,899, entitled "INTEGRATED POINT OF SALE DEVICE," filed Aug. 9, 1999, both of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Based on the description provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize other devices capable of operating as POS device 110. For example, POS device 110 can be a personal computer ("PC"), a personal digital assistant ("PDA"), other wired or wireless devices, and the like. As used herein, a merchant is any individual, group of individuals, or entity that offers or has provided goods and/or services to consumers. Further, such merchants may use merchant controls 140 to maintain accounts and other informationrelated to the consumers that they serve. Such merchant controls 140 can be any type of computer capable of communicating with other types of communication devices or computers. For example, merchant control 140 can be a mainframe computer, such asthose available from Tandem, a server computer, a personal computer, a PDA, other wired or wireless devices, hand held devices, and the like. In some cases, merchants are incapable of, or choose not to accept payments directly from consumers, or a particular group of consumers. These payments may be fixed payments, or variable payments, within the scope of the present invention. Thus, in some instances, a merchant may desire to outsource payment services to a payment provider. Alternatively, a merchant may accept payments from consumers with good credit, while it may desire to outsource payment acceptance for consumers withpoor credit to a payment provider. As yet another alternative, a merchant may accept non-cash payments directly, while deferring cash collections to be handled via a payment provider. Some examples of merchants include, but are not limited to, a phonecompany, an electric company, a credit card company, a televised shopping network, an airline or other transportation company, a retail store, and the like. In other cases, the merchant is an individual. For example, the individual-merchant may be a seller using an on-line auction web site to sell an item, or a large number of items. In this embodiment, the consumer is a buyer or "high bidder" thatmay be directed to a payment location near them to facilitate rapid payment. Other examples involving an individual as a merchant also exist within the scope of the present invention, including individuals selling item(s) or product(s) via on-line orprint classified advertisements, or the like. Thus, for whatever reason, a merchant may choose to utilize a payment provider to collect payments and/or enroll consumers on its behalf. Thus, as used herein, a payment provider is any entity that is capable of accepting payments from consumersand/or enrolling consumers, and crediting the accepted payments to the appropriate merchant. In some cases, a payment provider is an entity that provides both POS device 110 and payment provider control 130. In other cases, a payment provider is anentity that provides payment provider control 130, and accepts inputs from POS devices 110 operated by third parties. In yet other cases, a payment provider is an entity that provides POS device 110 that interacts directly with merchant controls 140without utilizing payment provider control 130. Further, in some cases a payment provider can also be an enrollment provider, where the payment provider not only accepts payments destined for the merchant, but also enrolls consumers in the goods and/orservices of the merchant. In yet other instances, a payment provider can provide only enrollment and not payment acceptance services. In some embodiments of the present invention, merchants 140 issue unique identifiers which are associated with a good or service that are electronically transmitted to payment provider 130, where they can be stored in database 135. Theseidentifiers may be associated with specific consumers. For example, when requesting a good or service, the merchant may create an account, an identifier is then associated with the account and issued to the consumer. Alternatively, the identifiers maybe associated with a good or service, but not to any given consumer. For example, the identifiers may be associated with some type of stored value, such as phone time, dollars and the like. This value may be redeemed simply by presenting the identifierto the merchant. The identifiers also may be associated with a particular transaction of goods or services between a merchant, and a specific consumer as further detailed below. Communication network 120 can be any network capable of transmitting and receiving information in relation to POS device 110, merchant controls 140, and payment provider controls 130. For example, communication network 120 can comprise a TCP/IPcompliant virtual private network ("VPN"), the Internet, a local area network ("LAN"), a wide area network ("WAN"), a telephone network, a cellular telephone network, an optical network, a wireless network, or any other similar communication network. In some embodiments, communication network 120 is a combination of a variety of network types. For example, in one embodiment, communication network comprises the Internet for communicating between POS device 110 and payment provider control130, and a dial-up network for communicating between payment provider control 130 and merchant controls 140. In light of this document, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a number of other network types and/or combinations thereof that arecapable of facilitating communications between the various components of system 100. Referring to FIG. 1B, a logical diagram of system 100 of FIG. 1A is illustrated. Central to system 100 is payment provider control 130. In particular embodiments, payment provider control 130 is comprised of a host computer capable of accessingone or more databases 135. Further, payment provider control 130 facilitates data transfer between one or more merchants 140 and one or more POS devices 110, or other computer terminals. Payment provider control 130 can be any type of computer capableof communicating with other types of communication devices or computers. For example, payment provider 130 can be a mainframe computer, such as those available from Tandem, a server computer, or the like. POS devices 110 communicate with payment provider control 130 in order to facilitate transactions. For example, when ready to make a payment, a consumer may enter their consumer identifier or a transaction identifier into POS device 110. Thisinformation is transmitted to payment provider control 130 where any relevant information regarding the required payment is transmitted back to POS device 110. For instance, POS devices 110 may present a screen with the identifier and the amount ofpayment required to receive a good or service from merchant 140. In some cases, the consumer may not yet have an identifier and may simply request to purchase a good or service from a merchant 140. For instance, the consumer may wish to purchase phonetime from a certain phone company. In such cases, the consumer makes a request to purchase phone time from a certain merchant 140. This information is entered into POS device 110. POS device 110 may then display payment options for that provider asreceived from payment provider control 130. For example, payment in increments of $5, $10, $25 and $50 may be accepted. Upon receipt of payment, an identifier is issued to the consumer. Conveniently, a printer 110 may print a receipt with theidentifier. At the time of payment, other funds may also be collected. For example, the payment provider may charge and collect a fee for its services. As another example, applicable taxes may be calculated and collected. These taxes may be calculated bypayment provider control 130 in combination with database 135 and may include tax tables for various locations throughout the country. When tendering payment, the consumer may provide information on his residential address, such as a zip code. Thisinformation is transmitted to payment provider control 130 that performs a look-up in database 135 to determine the appropriate tax rate. Payment provider control 130 then computes the tax and sends the tax information to POS 110. The payment amount,taxes, and any service fees may then be displayed to the consumer on a display screen. Alternatively, the taxes may be computed directly by POS device 110 and based on the location of POS device 110, or in part by POS device 110 and in part by paymentprovider control 130. Upon tendering payment, an electronic record of the payment along with the associated identifier is transmitted to payment provider control 130 where it may be stored in database 135. This payment information may also be transmitted to merchantcontrol 140 so that the good or service may be provided to the consumer. If the services relate to telecommunications or other utilities, the payment information may also be sent from payment provider control 130 to a switch 150 to permit thecommunications service or utility to be promptly provided. For example, if the consumer purchased cell phone time, the merchant's switch would receive the payment information and add time to the phone, typically before the consumer leaves the locationwhere payment is made. Of course, the instructions to the switch could also be sent from the merchant as well. Receipt of payment information may also trigger the providing of other services, such as service activation, shipping of order goods, and thelike. In some cases, the service may not be activated or the ordered good not provided until the consumer contacts the merchant and gives the issued identifier. For example, phone time may be purchased, but not activated until the phone company iscontacted and given the identifier. When the good is a stored value, this record may be stored in database 135 and transmitted to merchant control 140. When a good or service is ordered from a merchant, the identifier is presented to the merchantcontrol 140 associated with the merchant and the stored value account is debited for the purchase price. In another embodiment, the merchant or other third party initiates the transaction with the consumer. The merchant may obtain some or all required information from the consumer, and input that information into a POS device 110 linked to paymentprovider control 130. The merchant may also input information on the goods or services to be provided, and obtain a transaction identifier to provide to the customer. The customer contacts the payment provider control 130 to effectuate payment. Payment may occur in a variety of ways, including without limitation, by cash, check, credit card, stored value card or account, money order, ACH, and the like. The merchant then ships or otherwise provides the goods or services when notified that theconsumer has paid. The merchant may be notified, for example, by payment provider control 130. Payment provider control 130 may also be used to electronically transfer the payment along with any collected taxes to the merchant. This may conveniently occur by an ACH transfer of funds into a bank account 160 of the merchant. This may occurupon receipt of the payment information by payment provider control 130 or by batch mode at specified times. A record of the deposit may separately be transmitted to merchant control 140. Payment provider control 130 is configured to communicate with aseparate ACH system that debits the account of the consumer and credits the account of the merchant as is known in the art. In some embodiments, payment provider control 130 maintains credit information about consumers, or has the ability to access such credit information from other sources including, but not limited to, merchant control 140. Thus, for example, aparticular consumer may have very poor credit or no credit, in which case the merchant may require full payment prior to supplying the good or service. Hence, system 100 provides consumers with an easy way to purchase goods or services. Further, such goods and services are provided in an efficient manner and provides rapid payment to the merchant. Another feature of system 100 is that themerchant may also be provided with access to payment provider control 130. In this way, the merchant may do a look-up to see if a payment was posted correctly, to see the status of a payment or the like. Further, regular updates may be sent frommerchant control 140 to payment provider control 130 so that consumer accounts may be kept current. In yet other instances, system 100 can be used to enroll consumers in products and/or services offered by one or more merchants. In such a situation, POS device 110 can display product offerings associated with one or more merchants. Suchinformation can be obtained from payment provider control 130. Further, POS device 110 can gather enrollment information and payments for enrollment, and based on information provided by payment provider control 130, can provide consumers with activatedaccounts for goods and services provided from a particular merchant. These and other features of system 100 are discussed in greater detail below. Referring to FIG. 2, another embodiment of system 100 is illustrated including discussion of additional elements. As shown, system 100 includes payment provider control 130 for facilitating payment from a consumer 190 to one or more merchantsrepresented by merchant controls 140. Each consumer 190 has a unique identifier or ID 180, which can comprise any suitable identifier. Conventional identifiers such as name, social security number, PIN, etc. are acceptable. Moreover, system 100 can accommodate anonymous consumers190. Such consumers 190 can maintain their anonymity by creating their own IDs 180. ID 180 can also comprise the consumer's telephone number. Thus, system 100 can be used for paying for telephone services using only the telephone number of consumer190 for identification purposes. Consumer 190 in this embodiment does not even have to provide an address or any other personal information. Similar identification arrangements could be used with other merchants (e.g., accepting payments on accountswith the consumers identified by their respective account numbers). Consumer 190 interfaces with payment provider control 130 through an interface 12. Interface 12 can comprise any suitable form or device for communications, including telephone (whichcan incorporate voice recognition (VR)), worldwide web (Internet), mail, in-person, a point-of-sale (POS) terminal with a card reader, e-mail or any other suitable interface. As with the previous embodiments, interface 12 can be a POS device 110. Further, in some embodiments, POS device 110 can be installed at a retail outlet unrelated to any of various merchant controls 140 and/or payment provider controls 130 accessible via system 100. In this particular embodiment, payment provider control 130 includes an agent network 160, where agents in the network provide POS devices 110 at locations accessible to consumer 190. Payment provider control 130 maintains merchant accounts 175which can correspond to the various merchants represented by merchant controls 140. Each merchant control 140 can have associated therewith a database 145 containing pertinent information regarding the consumers 190 and their respective accounts. Thedesignation of accounts, sub-accounts, master accounts, etc. can vary from merchant to merchant. Thus, as used herein the terms account, sub-account and similar terms can designate either the entire account base of a particular merchant control 140, orthe individual account of consumer(s) 190. In one embodiment, agent network 160 comprises a host computer (not shown) that may be accessed by a variety of remote computers or other devices, such as those described in connection with interface 12. For example, the host computer maycomprise a mainframe computer, a server computer, or the like. A database may also be associated with the host computer. In this way, information from consumer databases 145 may be transmitted to the host computer and stored in the database. When aconsumer 190 contacts agent network 160, it may be through the host computer. Hence, with this configuration, a consumer may proceed with a transaction using interface 12 which contacts the host computer of agent network 160 to receive consumerinformation, such as the unique identifier, and to transmit payment information back to the host computer. The host computer may also serve to coordinate a wire transfer of the payment to a bank account of the merchant as well as to transmit paymentinformation to merchant control 140. Electronic funds transfers may conveniently be made through an automated clearing house (ACH) system that is contacted by the host computer. ACH transfers are well known within the art and will not be describedfurther. It should be recognized that in some embodiments, a card 170 can be issued to consumer 190 and include various information relevant to consumer transactions. Card 170 can be used to facilitate payments via POS device 110. More particularly,card 170 can include a magnetic stripe that can be swiped through a card reader associated with POS device 110 and used to identify consumer 190 to system 100. Either alternatively or in addition, card 170 can comprise a reloadable/stored value card, acredit card, a debit card, or the like. Thus, any suitable card configuration can be utilized. For example, preprinted cards with concealed consumer IDs 180 can be inventoried with the agent network 160 for distribution upon enrollment of consumers190. However, system 100 can function without any cards whatsoever. In such embodiments, system 100 can function by assigning unique consumer IDs 180 for purposes of conducting all payment transactions. In some embodiments of the present invention, consumers are enrolled to purchase goods and/or services offered by a merchant. Such a service can include purchase of a money order, payment of a utility bill, effectuating a money transfer, paymentfor a good or service offered by the merchant, or the like. With the consumer interacting with POS device 110, it is predictively determined what type of goods and/or services to market to the consumer. Such a predictive determination can include identifying goods or services related to the transactionpreviously performed using POS device 110. For example, the consumer may be purchasing a cell phone, in which case POS device 110 can advertise a cell phone charger to the consumer or cell phone service offered by one or more merchants. As anotherexample, where a consumer is setting up service with an electric company, POS device 110 can surmise that the consumer recently moved. In such a circumstance POS device 110 may advertise other services useful to a person that recently moved. Forexample, POS device 110 can advertise voter registration, enrollment with other utility companies, applications for a driver's license, new license plates, and other similar goods and services. Alternatively, or in addition, POS device 110 and/or payment provider control 130 may maintain a historical record of transactions performed in relation to a particular consumer. This historical information can be analyzed to determine whichgoods or services that the consumer would be most likely receptive. Further, the information can be analyzed to determine goods and services for which the consumer is qualified. For example, it may be determined that a consumer consistently purchases agood that is offered in a larger quantity directly from a merchant at a reduced price. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate a number of other analysis that may be used to predict goods or services to be marketed to a particular consumer. Where a request to enroll in a particular good or service is received, POS device 110 displays a request to the consumer for required enrollment information. Such enrollment information can be similar and gathered in similar fashion to thatdiscussed in the preceding embodiment. As an example, such enrollment information can include the name, address, and telephone number of a consumer desiring to set up an account with an electric company. It will be appreciated that any level ofinformation can be requested depending upon the type of goods or services requested. Some embodiments of the methods include an additional step of creating a client database. Such a client database can be the database used by a particular merchant to account for services and/or products provided in relation to consumers. Further, such a database can include identifiers unique to each of the consumers within the database as well as account balances and credit histories of each of the consumers. Such a database can be formatted for transfer to payment provider control130. By transferring at least a portion of the information on the database to payment provider control 130, consumers in the merchant's database can automatically be enrolled with the payment provider. The consumers can also be notified of theenrollment and directed to the nearest payment provider location(s) at which they can make payments. Additional details on enrollment methods and systems are provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/112,258, the complete disclosure of which hasbeen previously incorporated herein by reference. FIGS. 3 8 illustrate a variety of methods in accordance with the present invention and to which embodiments of system 100 can be applied. Turning to FIGS. 3A 3B, embodiments of the present invention can be used, either additionally orexclusively, to accept and process payments in relation to various goods and services provided by merchants. Referring to FIG. 3A, a flow diagram 300 illustrates one method of accepting payments in accordance with the present invention. Following flowdiagram 300, information about the consumer desiring to make a payment is input to POS device 110 (block 302). Such information can be very minimal, such as, an auction number and payment amount where the consumer desires to remain anonymous. Alternatively, the information can be an identifier previously provided by the merchant to identify payments made by the consumer. In other situations, the information can be quite extensive including, but not limited to, the consumer's name, address,telephone number and account number for the account of the merchant to which a payment is to be applied. Based on this disclosure, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the information that can be collected from a consumer to make a paymenton a particular account. In some embodiments, the information can be provided to POS device 110 automatically. For example, the information can be entered using a magnetic stripe card reader associated with POS device 110. Alternatively, a small amount of informationabout the consumer can be entered via a keyboard associated with POS device 130 and the remainder of the information about the consumer automatically populated from database 135 via payment provider 130. Once the consumer information has been provided, the information is used to identify and verify the consumer (block 304). In some embodiments, this includes displaying the received information via a display associated with POS device 110. Theconsumer is then expected to review the information for accuracy, and press a key indicating that the information is complete. In other embodiments, identifying and verifying the consumer includes accessing payment provider control 130, and comparingthe identification information received from the consumer against information maintained on database 135. The information maintained on database 135 can include account balances for the consumer related to one or more merchants, as well as otherinformation. In one particular embodiment, the consumer is identified and in addition provides a merchant identification via POS device 110. This information is transferred to payment provider control 130 via network 120. Payment provider control 130accesses the account information associated with the consumer and transfers the account information to POS device 110 where it is displayed to the consumer via a display and/or a printed receipt. Thus, in some embodiments, it is possible for a consumerto obtain account information related to one or more merchants from a payment provider. After the consumer is identified and verified, the consumer tenders payment to the payment provider (block 306). This can be done by handing cash to a merchant operating POS device 110, by swiping a credit card through a magnetic stripe cardreader associated with POS device 110, by authorizing a bank transfer using POS device 110, or any other method of tendering payment. Once the payment is received, POS device 110 transfers an indication that payment was received and the amount ofreceived payment to payment provider control 130 via network 120. In some embodiments, payment provider control 130 responds via network 120 with an indication that the payment was received. POS device 110 also prints a receipt for the consumer (block308). The receipt can include a variety of information, such as, the account for which payment was received, the amount of the payment, and even advertisements. In embodiments where payment provider control 130 maintains information related to the consumer's account, the amount of the received payment is credited to the account. Payment provider control 130 credits the payment to the associated merchant(block 310). This can be done by wire transfer from the payment provider to a bank account associated with the merchant. Other methods may also be used to effectuate such a transfer. In addition, payment provider control 130 provides a notification ofpayments and associated accounts to merchant control 140 via network 120 (block 312). In turn, merchant control 140 updates the account balance of the consumer from which the payment was received. In particular embodiments, the processes listed in block 310 are performed sometime after the processes listed in block 312. Thus, for example, a consumer may make a payment, and shortly thereafter the payment is reflected on their account withthe merchant. Then, sometime later, the funds associated with the payment are actually transferred to the merchant. In an alternative embodiment, the payment is reflected in the merchant account in real-time, upon the customer making the payment. Inanother embodiment, the funds transfer to the merchant account occurs in real-time, or through some other physical or electronic means. As will be appreciated from the foregoing discussion, such an approach to accepting and processing payments provides a number of advantages. As just one of the advantages, an unbanked consumer can make cash payments on an account with a merchantremote from the consumer. Thus, a consumer no longer needs to send cash through the mail. As yet another advantage, a consumer that promises payment but ultimately fails to pay can instead be directed to a payment provider location near them to makethe necessary payment. Thus, the aforementioned systems and methods can avoid "the check is in the mail" syndrome or similar broken promises to pay. Further, a consumer that desires to purchase goods, but would like to remain anonymous, can tender acash payment via the payment provider, and thus avoid being traced by credit card or check information. Such methods also can be used to make multiple payments across multiple merchants. Thus, a consumer need only enter a single transaction to pay anumber of bills. Yet further, a consumer that is nearly late in paying can go to a local payment provider, tender payment, and have the payment immediately credited to their account, thus avoiding any late fees. More particularly, a consumer with acredit card bill due the next day can avoid late fees, or the necessity of sending payment via an overnight express service, by using a payment provider where the credit card company is affiliated with and accepts payment via the payment provider. Basedon the disclosure herein, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a myriad of other advantages associated with the systems and methods disclosed herein. Referring to FIG. 3B, a flow diagram 301 illustrates another method of accepting payments in accordance with the present invention. Following flow diagram 301, information about the consumer desiring to make a payment is input to POS device 110(block 303). As with the previous embodiment, the information obtained from the consumer depends upon the transaction being completed and can be determined by the merchant and/or the payment provider. Once the consumer information has been provided, the information is used to identify and verify the consumer (block 305). This identification and verification is similar to that discussed in relation to FIG. 3A. After the consumer is identifiedand verified, the consumer tenders payment to the payment provider (block 306), again, similar to the manner discussed in relation to FIG. 3A. Once the payment is received, POS device 110 transfers an indication that payment was received and the amount of received payment to payment provider control 130 via network 120. In some embodiments, payment provider control 130 responds vianetwork 120 with an indication that the payment was received. Payment provider control 130 credits the received payment to the merchant (block 315), and provides an identifier, or PIN, to the consumer (block 317). The PIN is unique to the payment. Thus, a block of funds can be transferred to the merchants, with portions of the funds being associated with various PINs. In some embodiments, at this point in the method, the merchant is not aware of which consumers the funds are attributable. POS device 110 also prints a receipt for the consumer (block 309). The receipt can include a variety of information, such as, the account for which payment was received, the amount of the payment, and even advertisements. In particularembodiments, the receipt includes an identification number, or PIN, that is unique to the received payment. The consumer can then contact the merchant directly and provide the PIN (block 311). With this information, the merchant can verify that the PIN is valid and that a payment was received in association with the PIN. The amount of the paymentassociated with the PIN can then be credited to the consumer's account (block 313). Referring to FIG. 4, a method for pre-paying for a good or service according to the present invention is described in relation to flow diagram 400. As illustrated by flow diagram 400, a consumer enrolls with a merchant to order a good or aservice (block 420). For example, services that may be ordered include phone service, including phone minutes, a stored value service, and the like. Goods that may be purchased include essentially any type of good including retail items, clothing,furniture, sporting goods, cosmetics, toiletries, durable goods, vehicles and the like. When such an enrollment is requested, the merchant creates an electronic account to maintain a record of payments and supplied goods and/or services provided to the consumer. Such an account can be maintained in database 145 of the merchantcontrol 140 associated with the particular merchant. The account may also include a historical record of the consumer's behavior, and any other relevant information. In some instances, an enrollment may only be for one particular purchase, while inother cases an enrollment may be intended for a longer period and anticipate multiple or ongoing purchases. In addition, a unique identifier is also associated with the account and included in the record to uniquely identify the request. This identifier may be any type of identifier as previously described, including phone numbers, order numbers,credit card numbers, social security numbers and the like. In some instances where only a one-time purchase is to be recorded, the identifier is specific to the single transaction. However, in other instances, the identifier can be intended todesignate the consumer in any number of future transactions. In yet other instances, the identifier can designate both the consumer in ongoing transactions and designate a particular transaction. Thus, for example, the identifier may include a portionunique the consumer and reused across multiple transactions, and another portion designating a particular transaction. The identifier is provided to the consumer along with instructions as to where a payment may be made. The instructions indicate a location of a POS device 110 associated with a payment provider control 130 capable of accepting payments for theparticular merchant. In some embodiments, the merchant may access an affiliated payment provider control 130 via its merchant control 140 to request location information for a POS device 110 that is convenient to the consumer. In one particularembodiment, the consumer's address is provided along with the request for location information. Based on this address information, payment provider control 130 identifies the nearest one or several (e.g., five) POS devices 110 and provides thisinformation to merchant control 140. In turn, the received location information is shared with the consumer. After the consumer is enrolled (block 420), the identifier is electronically sent from merchant control 140 to payment provider control 130 where it is stored in database 135 (block 422). Relevant account information is also provided to paymentprovider control 130, such that a consumer's account may be properly debited and/or credited by payment provider control 130. When ready to make the payment, the consumer goes to one of the previously indicated locations (or another location if theconsumer so desires) and provides the identifier via the POS device 110 at the location (block 424). After entry of the identifier, POS device 110 transmits the identifier to payment provider control 130. Payment provider control 130 accesses theconsumer's account based on the identifier, determines the amount to be tendered from the consumer, and returns this determined amount to POS device 110. The amount is then displayed on POS device 110 where it can be viewed by either or both of amerchant and the consumer. The determined amount can be displayed along with any other fees associated with the transaction. In some embodiments, payment provider control 130 calculates additional charges to be collected on behalf of the merchant. The additional charges may include, for example, federal, state and local sales taxes, shipping and handling charges,insurance, and the like. In another embodiment, the merchant has pre-calculated the necessary additional charges. Thus, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the reference to tax calculation and tax information in FIG. 4 represents anembodiment of the present invention, but the invention is not so limited. The consumer then tenders payment to the merchant, or automatically via POS device 110 where such capability is provided. Upon tendering of payment (block 424), the amount of payment tendered is provided to payment provider control 130 via POSdevice 110. This payment information is used to create an electronic record of the payment (block 426). This payment information is then sent to merchant 140 associated with the merchant (block 428). In the case of a communications service, thisinformation may also be sent to a switch (block 430). This information can then be used by the switch to immediately add time to a cell phone account or provide other telecommunications features rendered by the switch. A sum equal to the payment (and in some cases less a transaction fee charged to the merchant) is electronically wired to a bank account of the merchant (block 432). In some instances, the merchant proceeds to fulfill the purchase of the consumerprior to receipt of the wire transfer. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the merchant is notified that the payment has been received by payment provider control 130, upon which the merchant continues to fulfill the consumer's purchase. Some timelater, the wire transfer is completed. To fulfill the consumer's purchase, an ordered good may be pulled from inventory and shipped to the consumer or other recipient. Alternatively, a stored value account may be credited upon notification of payment. In particular embodiments, the payment is not transferred from payment provider control 130 to the merchant until consumer 190 receives purchased goods. Thus, in some instances, the present embodiment can be used as an escrow service. In suchembodiments, consumer 190 can be given a limited period after requesting goods using the identifier to dispute the transaction and request return of the payment. If such a dispute is not lodged within a predetermined time frame, the payment istransferred from payment provider control 130 to the merchant. If such a dispute is lodged, the payment may be returned to consumer 190 where sufficient evidence exists that the goods were either not received or returned. Various embodiments of the present invention also provide for activating a service, such as phone service, utility service, newspaper deliver, or the like. One example of such a process is illustrated as flow diagram 500 of FIG. 5. Asillustrated in flow diagram 500, a consumer contacts a merchant to request a service (block 546). An account is set up with the merchant and a record is created containing the information needed to provide the service requested by the consumer. In someembodiments, the account is maintained in database 145 and accessible to the merchant control 140 associated with the merchant. To pay for the service, the consumer is instructed by the merchant to contact a payment provider. At least some of this account information is transferred from merchant control 140 to payment provider control 130 (block 548). The transferred account information can include the amount of payment needed to have the requested service activatedand may be maintained in database 135 associated with payment provider control 130. The consumer then contacts the payment provider, tenders payment, and requests that the payment be forwarded to the merchant (block 550). Payment may be tendered to a merchant associated with the payment provider. Further, in some cases,payment may be facilitated by accessing POS device 110 located at a merchant location and in communication with payment provider control 130. Additionally, POS device 110 can be used to access the account information maintained in database 135. Adisplay screen on POS device 110 may display the appropriate account information along with the required payment and any service fee. The consumer then makes the payment as provided on the display, and an identifier is issued to the consumer (block552). For example, a receipt may be printed by a printer in communication with POS device 110 that includes the identifier. Conveniently, the identifier may be assigned to the account by the merchant when the account is created. The payment received from the consumer is then electronically transferred from the payment provider to a bank account of the merchant. This may be an ACH transfer processed under control of payment provider control 130. In addition, the paymentinformation along with the identifier, is electronically transferred from payment provider control 130 to merchant control 140 (block 556). Upon receiving an indication that the payment has been received by the payment provider, the merchant may thenactivate the requested service. Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated as flow diagram 600 of FIG. 6. As illustrated in diagram 600, a consumer agrees to purchase services and/or goods from a merchant (block 610). The merchant collects consumer informationto enter into the payment provider control (612). Information to be collected may include a wide range of consumer information including, among other things, the consumer name, address, telephone number, social security number, and the like. Some ofthe information may be entered into payment provider control 130. The merchant also may enter additional transaction related information, such as a description of the goods or services and the price, including taxes and shipping costs if applicable. The information entered into payment provider control 130, in one embodiment, defines a transaction request. Entry of information, data, or a transaction request into payment provider control 130 may occur in a variety of ways through any interface 12 (FIG. 2). For example, entry may be made by entering into POS device 110, with or without a cardreader, which is coupled to payment provider control 130. Alternatively, the merchant enters the transaction request through merchant control 140, which is linked to payment provider control 130 via communication network 120 (as shown in FIG. 1A). In one embodiment, the merchant then provides the consumer with a transaction identifier and one or more payment provider locations (block 614). In a particular embodiment, the transaction identifier is provided to the merchant by paymentprovider control 130, such as in response to the transaction request. Alternatively, the merchant creates or defines the transaction identifier and provides the transaction identifier to both the consumer and the payment provider. In such cases, theidentifier may include a receipt number, an invoice number, an order number, or the like, each with a variety of alpha-numeric and/or other characters. The consumer then provides a payment to payment provider 130 using the transaction identifier (block 616). This may involve, for example, the consumer physically entering the business establishment or location where payment provider control 130is located, and tendering payment to payment provider control 130 or an operator who operates payment provider control 130. In some embodiments, the consumer must provide identification that matches that contained in the transaction request. This maybe particularly important, for example, when the goods being purchased have a legally defined age requirement (e.g., tobacco products, alcohol, firearms, or the like). In some embodiments, the merchant holds the consumer information in merchant database 145. In such a case, the merchant may provide the transaction identifier to the consumer and payment provider control 140. This may be particularly useful forconsumers who wish to remain anonymous with respect to the payment provider. In this embodiment, the consumer provides the transaction identifier to payment provider control 130. Payment provider control 130 associates the transaction identifier withthe merchant's transaction request to determine the amount the consumer must tender. In this manner, the consumer identity and/or the goods and services being provided need not be known to the payment provider. The payment provider database indicatesthat someone with a particular transaction identifier must pay a specified sum of money. Once the consumer has provided the payment associated with the transaction identifier, the merchant is notified that payment has been made (block 618). This notification may occur in a variety of ways, including for example, by an electronicnotification from payment provider control 130 to merchant control 140. This notification may require an inquiry from merchant prior to notification, or alternatively occur without a merchant inquiry. The merchant, upon being notified that payment hasbeen made, is available to provide the service and/or goods to the consumer (block 620). In accordance with the methods described in conjunction with FIG. 6, consumers, including unbanked consumers have a method for making payment for goods or services in a timely manner. For example, the entire transaction shown in flow diagram 600may take only a few minutes or hours to complete. Further, the consumer may have multiple payment provider locations at which they can conveniently make payment. For example, if the consumer has limited mobility, or means of transportation, a paymentprovider location in close proximity to the consumer's residence or place of business would be desired. Further, the merchant stages a transaction as shown in blocks 612 and 614, which facilitates the ease of payment by the consumer upon the consumer'sarrival at the payment provider location. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 6 will find a wide range of uses in the private and commercial sector. By way of example, the consumer may be viewing a televised shopping network (TSN) program or info-mercial having an item the consumer desiresto purchase. Typically in these scenarios, the consumer contacts the TSN by telephone to order the product. If the consumer has a credit card, the shopping network accepts a credit card payment via the telephone and, upon confirmation from the creditcard company or ACH, ships the goods to the consumer. For consumers who do not have a credit card or desire another form of payment, the shopping network must wait for payment to arrive physically by check, money order, cash or the like. Payment from such consumers may arrive several days after thetelevised broadcast or info-mercial promoting the good. For transactions which proceed without complication, this may be an acceptable form of payment for the TSN. However, the likelihood the consumer may have "buyer's remorse" can increase the longerit takes for the consumer to pay for the good. Hence, it may be desirable for the merchant to provide a more expedient means of consumer payment. In the above example, the TSN would collect the consumer's information, such as by telephone. The TSN then enters a transaction request into payment provider control 130. Again, the transaction request may comprise some or all of the consumerinformation collected, a name or description of the good purchased, and a price to be paid. In some aspects, the consumer remains anonymous. Entry of the transaction request into payment provider control 130 may occur, for example, by entering therequest into POS device 110 as previously described. The TSN then provides the consumer with a transaction identifier, and one or more payment locations. The consumer would make payment at the payment provider location. The payment provider controlthen notifies the TSN that payment has been received and the consumer may take possession or receive the purchased goods. In a particular embodiment more fully detailed below, the transaction request also may include a time limit by which the consumer must make payment. The transaction request would include this time limit so payment provider control 130 coulddetermine if the consumer timely paid. Another example of the usefulness of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 will now be described. In some circumstances, unscrupulous consumers have been known to order the same item from multiple merchants or sources, all to be shipped to the consumerand paid for in a collect-on-delivery (COD) fashion. The consumer then pays the merchant who first provides the requested good or service. The later arriving goods or services are rejected by the consumer upon delivery. As a result, one or moremerchants who are not the first merchant to provide the good or service do not receive payment. These merchants also typically have incurred expenses related to packaging, shipping, and/or insuring the shipped item. The method as shown in FIG. 6 will reduce or alleviate this concern for merchants, and may be particularly useful for merchants that transact business via the telephone, the internet, and the like. As shown in FIG. 6, the good or service is notprovided by the merchant until the merchant receives a confirmation that payment has been received by the payment provider. Another embodiment of the present invention is depicted in FIG. 7 as method 700. In this embodiment, the consumer agrees to purchase a service(s) and/or a good(s) from a merchant (block 710). The merchant stages the transaction using POS device110 and obtains a transaction unique identifier (ID) (block 712). In one embodiment, this transaction is staged in a similar fashion as described in conjunction with prior Figures. In one embodiment, the merchant obtains desired information from theconsumer, possibly for entry into payment provider control 130 or merchant control 140. The merchant provides the consumer with the transaction unique ID and one or more payment locations (block 714). The merchant may, but need not, obtain thetransaction ID from payment provider control 130. The consumer then effectuates payment at the payment location of choice. Payment is associated with the transaction unique ID which the consumer, in one embodiment, provides at the payment location(block 716). In this manner, payment provider control 130 associates the payment with the transaction unique ID. The transaction unique ID may have a transaction profile associated with it containing necessary information, such as a description of thegoods or service to be provided by the merchant. In one embodiment, a portion or all of the transaction ID corresponds to a particular consumer. For example, in one embodiment a first portion of the transaction ID identifies or is unique to a particular consumer, and a second portion of the IDchanges from transaction to transaction. The merchant, payment provider system, and/or the consumer may view or have access to data, including historical data related to the consumer. Such data may include, for example, prior payments made; pasttransactions executed by the consumer, grouped either globally, by merchant, or the like; future payment schedules, such as may be required for installment purchases; information on late payments, non-payments or other defaults; and a myriad of otherdata. In this manner, the merchant, payment provider system and/or the consumer may track, view or search transaction data associated with the consumer, based at least in part on the transaction ID. It will be realized by those skilled in the art thatthe consumer portion of the transaction ID also may be a separate identifier, and may be required to effectuate a transaction which in turn is identified by a transaction unique identifier. Method 700 includes a notification to the merchant that payment has been made (block 718). Alternatively, a portion or all of the payment may be transferred to the merchant, such as by electronic transfer to a merchant account. The consumer, inone embodiment, receives a receipt or confirmation (block 720) associated with the goods or services. In this manner, the consumer has a physical document or other payment confirmation which may be used in other embodiments of the present invention. The method as described in FIG. 7 will have a wide range of uses. In one embodiment, the merchant is an airline, or other transportation company. In this embodiment, the airline merchant stages a transaction for an airline ticket consumer orcustomer. The customer makes payment at the payment location (block 716) and receives the receipt or confirmation (block 720). In this embodiment, the receipt or confirmation may comprise an electronic ticket or e-ticket. The electronic ticket maythen be returned to the airline at the departure airport on the day the consumer is scheduled to fly. In this manner, the merchant or airline stages the transaction with an airline customer without the need for an intermediary, such as a travel agent. Further, the customer can be a customer who does not have a credit card and must make payment via cash, check or by some other means. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the customer, in this and other examples, may also pay bycredit card, debit card or the like at the payment provider location. This may be desired from a customer view point, for example, if the customer needs additional time after scheduling the flight prior to making payment. It will also be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that this particular embodiment is equally applicable to alternative transportation companies as well as a wide range of other businesses. For example, train travel, cruises, bus travel and the like all may be effectuated usingmethod 700. In another embodiment, the merchant is a member of the lodging industry, such as a hotel, motel, resort, or the like. For example, a ski resort can reserve lodging and/or other activities for a consumer who contacts the resort, or a reservationservice, by telephone or the internet. The reservation is placed, and the consumer is provided with one or more locations at which to make payment. Again, this may occur at a payment provider location, or at a POS device location. Once the consumereffectuates payment; the resort is notified and the reservation is finalized. This may involve, for example, sending the consumer an itinerary or confirmation by fax, email, mail and/or telephone. The resort also may place a time limit on the payment,giving the consumer a specified period of time by which to pay for the reservation. If payment is not made within the specified time, the merchant may decide to accept partial payment, may cancel the reservation, or the like. In another embodiment, the consumer receives the designated good(s) or service(s) in block 720. This may occur, for example, in the event the good purchased by the consumer includes or consists entirely of information or data. For example, thegood may be a description of how to solve a problem, instructions desired by the consumer, a paper or other voucher redeemable for a future good or service, other data packages, or the like. In such cases, the POS device and/or payment provider controlmay immediately provide the good, service, voucher, or the like, upon confirmation payment has been received. Still another embodiment of the present invention is described in conjunction with FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, method 800 includes the consumer agreeing to purchase a service or goods from the merchant (block 810). The merchant enters a transactionrequest into payment provider control 130 in order to stage the transaction. Again, the transaction request may contain some or all of the consumer information, information related to the goods and/or services, the merchant, and the like. Entry of thetransaction request into payment provider control 130 may be effectuated by entry into POS device 110, merchant control 140, directly into payment provider control 130, and the like. In this embodiment, the merchant desires to place a time limit on the transaction by which the consumer must pay for the goods or service. This time limit preferably is entered into payment provider control 130 (block 812). The merchant thenprovides the consumer with a transaction identifier unique to the transaction request, consumer, requested goods or services, time limit, or the like. The merchant or payment provider control 130 further provides the consumer with one or more paymentprovider locations (block 814). The consumer attempts to make payment (block 816) at some later point in time at one of the payment provider locations. Payment may be attempted, for example, when the consumer provides payment provider control 130 with the transactionidentifier previously received from the merchant. In this embodiment, payment provider control 130 determines whether the consumer's attempted payment has been made within the time limit (block 818). If the consumer has not made payment within thespecified time limit, the payment, in one embodiment, is rejected and the transaction is terminated prior to completion (block 820). The merchant is notified that the transaction has not been completed. In some aspects, the reason(s) why thetransaction has been terminated is provided to the merchant (e.g., time limit expired before payment attempt, payment attempt with insufficient funds, no payment attempted, correct transaction identifier not provided, and the like). In this embodiment,the consumer will need to recontact the merchant so that the merchant, if desired, can restage the transaction in order to provide the consumer with additional time to tender payment. If the initial payment attempt by the consumer is within the time limit, payment provider control 130 accepts the payment (block 822). Payment provider control 130 also may notify the merchant, and/or transfer part or all of the payment to themerchant or a merchant account. In one aspect, the payment provider control 130 contacts the merchant if the consumer attempts to pay only a portion of the requested payment. In this manner, the merchant can decide if they will accept a partialpayment. The embodiment depicted in FIG. 8 will have multiple benefits, particularly for merchants selling time critical goods or services. For example, the airline example described in conjunction with FIG. 7 may involve an airline which requirespayment by the end of the same calendar day on which the consumer agrees to purchase the ticket. If the consumer does not attempt payment at one of the payment provider locations by the end of the day, the seat held for the consumer is released to thegeneral buying public. The consumer then must recontact the airline merchant to restage the transaction. Another example of the benefit of FIG. 8 relates to the televised shopping network example described in conjunction with FIG. 6. For example, the TSN may want to sell a limited number of a particular item during the TSN broadcast. Most of theitems may be sold by telephone to consumers having credit card information which is immediately provided during the TSN broadcast or rebroadcast. For unbanked customers, customers without credit cards, customers who desire an alternative payment method,and the like, the TSN can stage the transaction as shown in FIG. 8. In this case, the TSN can require that the consumer attempt payment at the payment provider location in a very short period of time, perhaps within a matter of hours or even minutes. By placing a payment time limit on the TSN consumer, the TSN may reduce or eliminate occurrences of buyer's remorse. The time limit also may assist the TSN in ensuring that all of the particular items are sold during the broadcast. For example, if theTSN intends to sell 100 identical items, 98 of which are sold to credit card customers during the televised program, the two remaining items may be sold in accordance with FIG. 8. In this manner, the consumer may be required to pay for the item at apayment provider location prior to the end of the televised program. In the event the consumer does not complete the transaction by making the necessary payment at the payment provider location, the TSN can resell the two remaining items without theneed for a separate broadcast. Another example of the benefit of the present invention involves the use of the methods of FIGS. 6 8 for a utility company. For example, a utility such as an electric company, may have a delinquent customer one or more months behind in paymentfor electrical or gas service. A utility company official, meter reader, or the like may contact the customer by telephone, in person at the customer's residence, or the like, to inform the customer that service will be terminated unless payment isimmediately rendered. The utility personnel then stages the payment transaction, such as shown in FIG. 8, and provides the delinquent customer with a transaction identifier. The customer then can make payment at the payment provider location within thetime limit. Alternatively, the utility official can stage the transaction using POS 110, and accept payment. If the customer is unable or unwilling to do so, the utility may terminate service or take other appropriate action. In a similar manner, the methods described in conjunction with FIGS. 6 8 may be particularly useful for individuals moving to a new neighborhood, city, state or country. For example, a college student moving out of state and establishing aresidence on or off campus may have to arrange telephone service or other utility service. Typically, utility service for new customers, particularly customers with a poor credit history or no credit history, requires a deposit prior to serviceactivation. Using the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6-8, the utility can stage a transaction as previously described, and provide the student one or more payment provider locations at which to render payment of the deposit. Once payment has been rendered,the utility service can be activated. Another embodiment of the present invention may be understood with reference to FIG. 9, which depicts a simplified schematic of a method 900. Method 900 includes receiving a transaction request from a consumer (block 910). Method 900 mayoptionally include reporting the transaction request to a merchant (block 920). This reporting may occur, for example, in the event the consumer is initiating or completing a transaction with a merchant for a desired good or service. Method 900 furtherincludes obtaining a transaction identifier (block 930). In alternative embodiments, the transaction identifier is obtained from a merchant, and/or from a payment provider control. In another embodiment, the consumer creates or provides the transactionidentifier. Method 900 further includes receiving payment associated with the transaction identifier (block 940). For embodiments in which the consumer consummates a transaction with a merchant, the payment may be received from the consumer or an agent ofthe consumer. Payment may be received at a POS device, a payment provider control location, via computer or telephone, or other device linked to a payment provider control, or the like, including by additional methods described herein. In otherembodiments, however, the payment is not received from the consumer as further described below. Method 900 still further includes transferring payment to a designated recipient (block 950). In one embodiment, the designated recipient is a merchant, such as may occur if the merchant is providing the consumer with a good or service. Alternatively, the consumer may stage the transaction for an alternative designated recipient. One example of method 900 according to the present invention may involve an individual, such as a college student, who desires a certain amount of money. In this example, the student may stage the transaction as generally outlined in FIG. 9 byinputting a transaction request. This may occur, for example, by inputting the request directly into a POS device, a payment provider control, a computer or other device linked with a payment provider control, or the like. The student obtains atransaction identifier and associates a desired amount of funds with the transaction ID. For example, if the student needs two hundred dollars ($200.00) to purchase textbooks, the student may stage the transaction for this amount. Once the transactionhas been staged, the student then provides the transaction identifier to a parent, guardian, sibling, friend, relative or the like, who the student believes will be receptive to the request for money. Assuming, for example, the parents of the studentwill be providing the funds, the parent(s) proceed to a convenient or designated location, which may include a POS device location, a payment provider control location, or the like. Payment is rendered as indicated in block 940 using the transaction identifier to ensure the payment is matched to the proper transaction. The payment is subsequently transferred to the designated recipient (block 950). In this case, theconsumer (student) has designated themselves as the recipient. In this manner, the student can obtain funds for a desired purpose in a short period of time and with the assistance of the funds provider (e.g., parents). The transfer of funds to thestudent or designated recipient may occur in a number of ways, including by transfer into a student account. Alternatively, the student may obtain the funds at a payment provider control location. In still another embodiment, the student stages thetransaction for the book purchase, and the designated recipient is the merchant (e.g., bookstore). The student then may provide the transaction identifier to the merchant to confirm payment has been transferred and to obtain the textbooks. In an alternative embodiment, a third party stages the transaction. This may occur in the above scenario, for example, if the parent stages the transaction for the student. In this case, the parent may stage the transaction and also renderpayment. The designated beneficiary may be the student, the merchant, or both. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above example is one of a wide range of uses of method 900 within the scope of the present invention. The invention has now been described in detail for purposes of clarity and understanding. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the examples described herein comprise a small subset of the possible uses of the methods inaccordance with the present invention. It also will be appreciated that certain changes and modifications to the systems and methods of the present invention may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. For example, a number of forms ofsystem 100 may be implemented in accordance with the present invention. More particularly, system 100 can include any number of POS devices 110, payment provider controls 130, and/or merchant controls 140. Further, system 100 can be configuredexclusively as an enrollment system, exclusively as a payment system, or as some combination of payment and enrollment system. Further, the functions of the systems and methods of using-such are merely exemplary. Accordingly, it should be recognizedthat many other systems, functions, methods, and combinations thereof are possible in accordance with the present invention. Thus, although the invention is described with reference to specific embodiments and figures thereof, the embodiments andfigures are merely illustrative, and not limiting of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined solely by the appended claims. * * * * * Other References
Field of SearchDistribution or redemption of coupon, or incentive or promotion programIncluding point of sale terminal or electronic cash register Electronic shopping (e.g., remote ordering) Bill preparation Finance (e.g., banking, investment or credit) Time analysis With vending SYSTEMS CONTROLLED BY DATA BEARING RECORDS Credit or identification card systems Banking systems Operations analysis Price determination |


text:
In October, this decision was met with much unhappiness from advocates for free and open-source software (Foss).
It had been decided that schools that offered computer applications technology (CAT) and information technology (IT) would have to use MS Office 2010 and 2013 software from this year.
In addition, it had been decided that the programming language used in IT would be changed from Java to Delphi incrementally in 2015 and 2016.
But the department did an about-turn last month, according to a circular signed by acting director-general
"This circular announced the standardisation of software tools to implement and access Computer Applications Technology (CAT) and Information Technology (IT)," read the circular.
"Circular S9 of 2013 is therefore withdrawn with immediate effect and the status quo will be retained.
"The DBE will institute the necessary processes to address the challenges experienced by the sector with regard to
He gave a presentation at a meeting with the department on
Keats had also said a group should be appointed to review the curriculum of these subjects and how they could be made more attractive to pupils.
He welcomed the department's decision to withdraw the changes.
"This past month or so, a number of us came together as Foss businesses, activists, and concerned citizens to challenge the DBE on the contents of Circular S9.
"It seems that DBE listened," Keats wrote on his blog, dkeats.com.
"We have just learned that the Circular S9 that mandated proprietary technologies exclusively for
"We do not yet know what will come in its place, or what action DBE will take.
"We can only hope that they begin to see that education and freedom are linked in both directions, and that it is time for them to take a leadership role in insuring that this synergy happens."
According to the
Most Popular Stories
- Obama Administration Releases Proposal to Regulate For-Profit Colleges
- Koch Brothers Step up Anti-Obamacare Campaign
- Elizabeth Vargas' Husband Marc Cohn Addresses Rumors
- Keurig Adds Peet's coffee, Alters Starbucks deal
- U.S. to Relinquish Gov't Control Over Internet
- Quiznos Files for Chapter 11
- SoCalGas Reaches Record Spend on Diversity Suppliers
- FDIC Sues Big Banks Over Rate Manipulation
- U.S. Consumer Sentiment Falls in Early March
- Vybz Kartel Convicted of Murder
News Column
Department|backtracks on|software dictate
January 2, 2014
For more stories covering the world of technology, please see HispanicBusiness' Tech Channel
Source: Cape Times (South Africa)
Story Tools

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Items in Cart:
Sell Your Property Today
At R100 for a month, selling your property on bidorbuy makes sense. It is cost-effective, quick and easy so get started now!
Sell Now
Summer Fashion Trends
Which trends are going to look good on you and what do you need to be seen in, this scorching summer season?
Read More
DIY kitchen backsplash
The spectacular spring weather is the perfect time for some do-it-yourself home projects. Here is a creative idea for a simple DIY kitchen improvement project for you to consider...
iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c
In the days of the original iPhone, there was a simple choice to be made when buying a new smartphone - would you buy an iPhone or would you buy a model made by the competition, say an HTC or a Samsung device?
R130.00 22 Jun 21:24 MyLittleShoppe (7185 )
R120.00 22 Jun 20:38 sandringham2006 (1287 )
R110.00 22 Jun 19:17 AbbysAntiquities (324 )
R100.00 22 Jun 12:28 forecast (130 )
R80.00 22 Jun 12:17 jeanette2 (13 )
R50.00 21 Jun 12:26 GoldenOldie (1436 )
R33.00 21 Jun 16:25 acooki (1151 )
R21.00 21 Jun 13:59 cinderella72 (792 )
R1.00 21 Jun 12:06 gypseygirl (1333 )
Winning Bid: R130.00
Min. Bid Increment: R10.00
Closed: 22 Jun 21:31:26
Item Condition: Secondhand
Rating: 100.00% positive ratings
Location: George
Joined: 08 Aug 2007
WELCOME to this CRAZY WEDNESDAY auction of an UNUSUAL Vintage BIRD CAGE Charm!
Items can be combined for one shipping fee, so please also see my other items by clicking here (from Tuesday 12pm):http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/seller/502505/collector_galaxy


text:
I've got a Niterider Moab for my bars and need a little for light to shoot down the trail so I can see the twisty turns. Has anyone had success in mounting the Minewt.X2 Dual to their helmet? Would the single Minewt.X2 do the job for me....or even the Minewt Mini-USB? Thanks.
Results 1 to 10 of 10
Hot DealsContestsEnduro Compare-OLatest Mountain Bike ArticlesMTBR on Facebook |


text:
De Jong keen to stick with City
Nigel De Jong is happy to stay with Premier League champions Manchester City
Nigel de Jong has declared himself happy at Manchester City and believes he is in a "good position" with regards to his contract, which is moving into its final season.
There has been plenty of speculation over the future of the 27-year-old midfielder due to his failure thus far to agree a new deal at the club he joined from Hamburg in 2009 for a fee reported to be around £18million.
But the Holland international has told Dutch magazine NU Sport he wants to remain at the Etihad Stadium. He said: "My contract runs for another year, so I'm in a pretty good position. I would like to stay. I've been at the club for more than three years and I'm enjoying myself."
He continued: "I have won the two biggest trophies in England - the FA Cup and the league title.
"I've seen the club develop from total chaos with the training facilities into a top club, and that's very satisfying to see."
De Jong started only 11 league games last term, having battled an ankle problem early on and then struggled to break back into the side.
However, he played a key role in City's late charge to the title as they overturned Manchester United's eight-point advantage in the final month of the campaign.
"It is part of the job that I sometimes sit on the bench," De Jong said.
"We have a rotation system. Ideally I would play in every game, but the team comes first and we won the title, so it was all worth it."
related stories on msn
latest football news
Fulham suffered yet another defeat in the Premier League
Jay Rodriguez, right, scored the only goal of the game as Saints returned to winning ways
Jonathan Walters was sent off just minutes after equalising for Stoke
John Terry has enjoyed an excellent season for Chelsea
Jack Wilshere is out with a foot injury
Steve Bruce is eyeing a trip to Wembley
Nigel Clough is eyeing another cup scalp
Manuel Pellegrini is on the hunt for more silverware
Tim Sherwood wants to be given time
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will lead his team into FA Cup action against Wigan on Sunday
Tom Cleverley's England place has come under scrutiny
Jose Mourinho hopes to continue using the technical area during games


text:
Welcome to Audiko, where it's possible to search for the most popular ringtones for your cell phone. Today we have a ringtone of "Smart Went Crazy" by Atmosphere as well as 693 other ringtones by Atmosphere. "Smart Went Crazy" is a hit from the "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having" album that was composed by Atmosphere at their recording studio together with other 7 tracks. You can listen to all 6 Atmosphere – "Smart Went Crazy" ringtone variations available here and download it for free directly to your mobile. You can also find other 95 albums produced by Atmosphere for all time. "Smart Went Crazy" is referred to Hip-Hop, and we can offer you a huge amount of Hip-Hop melodies absolutely for free. And finally, we have collected lyrics for this track and you can view it here as well. So feel free to browse, listen, download ringtones at Audiko.net. Make your phone sound cool!
Atmosphere Smart Went Crazy Ringtone
Similar Ringtones
Browse Genres
Atmosphere Hip-Hop Indie Rap Underground Underground Hip Hop Underground Hip-Hop Underground Rap
Albums by Atmosphere
Top ringtones by Atmosphere
New ringtones
- Spiel mir das lied vom Tod - Lied vom Tod
- - prince royce - Prince Royce - Stand By Me
- 3m8s - Don't You Worry Child - Swedish House Maffia
- Nazar - Sweet 16 feat. Projekt Elias
- Nazar - Pyramiden Hinterm Mond feat. Projekt Elias
- Optiv & CZA - In Too Deep
- Bicycle Horn Sound Effects - Bicycle Horn Sound Effect Ringtone
- Volxsturm - Nur wir 2
- 乧뭬 - 倀漀爀挀攀氀愀椀渀 倀爀椀渀挀攀猀猀ᤠ 倀愀氀愀挀攀
- hey hey - v


text:
567,745 Views
By dibin007
221,505 Views
By joseinazores
812,946 Views
By simplevivi
468,247 Views
By vishal91093
253,280 Views
By mustang75
Very Funny Advert - Romantic Date.
383,230 Views
702,659 Views
By VITMAN51
1,068,758 Views
By demaxio
The Voice - Facing Off With Team Adam Season: 4
71 Views
By hulu
1,323,714 Views
By MohamedSalah25
Con Estos Amigos Pa Ke Kiero Enemigos
438,963 Views
By the.memin
THE Best Ever Goal: Roberto Carlos, Incredible...
1,294,235 Views
By newac
Str 10 Rollover During Burnout!
271,780 Views
By onebradh
285,188 Views
By hawkug
444,616 Views
By StevanHogg
789,879 Views
By xuda
605,799 Views
By surfistacr
Britney Spears - Circus (Official Music Video)
833,973 Views
By Music
The Painful Moments of Football
505,502 Views
By olegator911
1,825,458 Views
By BAD-BOYS
An Unexpected Client Comes for a Manicure
1,019,069 Views
390,864 Views
By olligarh
Magic Trick America's Got Talent
419,618 Views
754,076 Views
By Ciscovid
526,602 Views
By xmyjy
418,788 Views
By el_zar_tk
119,788 Views
By Pro_Muff_Diver
1,382,259 Views
By Bad Seed
485,121 Views
By joser_9
137,043 Views
878,686 Views
By Henry_14
Ok, so I guess you're the only guy on the planet who doesn't own a flashlight or some other male pleasure toy device. That's crazy, but I get it. It's not like us guys really talk about these stuff right. Well if you're new to the world of all these fun, let me tell you about another secret that your buddy probably didn't tell you either. Right now, if you use the Offer Code GOLD11 at the checkout at http://AdamAndEve.com. You can get 50% OFF almost ANY item, FREE Shipping, and some Hot Sexy Old school DVD's and even a FREE Mystery Gift at http://AdamAndEve.com. So check out all the male solo play toy. Check out something for her. Some lube, lingerie, dude they got it all. I personally like the Head Honcho. It's like the flashlight, but way way cheaper. It's under 14 bucks and you get the DVD's, and FREE Discreet Billing and Shipping. It'll take getting off on a totally new direction. Just don't forget to use the Offer Code, GOLD11 at the checkout at http://AamAndEve.com


text:
Avg. Rating:
2 Notes / 1 Rating
- (Click stars to rate)
- Type: Rose wine
- Varietal:Cabernet Sauvignon
- Country: South Africa
- Region: Western Cape
- Winery: Arabella
Winery Story
Located in the great Robertson Valley of the South Western Cape in South Africa lays Arabella Estate. This winery is rich with family hist... (more...)
Tasting Note
"Cherry pink colour with delicious mouth filling flavors of peach, melon and mangoes. Gentle, fruity tannins give a dry finish."
Arabella Pink Panacea - 2007(PARTNER)
Delicious, smoky rose. Smells and tastes like fruity candy.
Average rating:
User rating:
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
This is a surprisingly good rosé. Floral, full, and smokey. It'll even clear your sinuses a bit. Probably my favorite wine from Arabella
Average rating:
User rating:
0 out of 0 people thought this note was helpful.
Showing 1-2
of 2
Upcoming Events
iBev Conference March 14, 2014
Taste of Spring March 19, 2014
Taste Around Town Spring -- Chicago, DC & Denver 2014 March 24, 2014
Featured Video
Wine Knowledge
Top Wine Notes Tags
Sauvignon Blanc Bordeaux fruity Chardonnay napa earthy smooth Malbec cabernet Merlot syrah Rich cabernet sauvignon Pinot Noir Sweet red


text:
Fundraiser supports Waukegan orchestra, chorus
It was music to the ears for those partaking a Sunday breakfast in the clubhouse at Bonnie Brook Golf Course in Waukegan.
Marriage Licenses
The following have applied for marriage licenses at the Lake County clerk's office:
Library Notes
Lake County Astronomical Society's Dobbie, the "kid powered" telescope, will be at Ela Area Library, 275 Mohawk Trail, Lake Zurich, March 12. Details, (847) 438-3840, eapl.org.
The following students has recently graduated from her university:
Barrington dance school still en pointe after 45 years
The girls took their spots on the polished wooden studio floor, some spinning, others practicing kicks as their instructor readied ABBA's "Dancing Queen" to play. It's Bataille Academie of the Danse's 45th anniversary this year, and everyone in the Barrington dance school's many classes is working hard on their part in the annual spring show.
School Notes
The Mundelein High School instrumental music department will present its Spring Concert at 7 p.m. March 12 at the school.
Club Calendar
WEDNESDAY, March 12: Kiwanis Club of Grayslake meets at noon at State Bank of the Lakes, 50 Commerce Drive, Grayslake. Details, (847) 986-2000.
Gym at school in Round Lake Beach is hub of activity
With the arrival of March coming with a foot of snow still on the ground, physical-education teachers like Will Koukal accept the challenge of keeping kids from going stir crazy.
Our House of Hope K-9 Rescue event brings prospective adopters and dogs together
Elena Calderom of Gurnee came with her husband Frank to a dog-adoption fest Saturday in Libertyville looking for a dog to adopt.
Collegiate Choir to perform at Lake Forest church
The Collegiate Choir from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington will present a concert at 8 p.m. March 14 at Church of St. Mary, 175 E. Illinois Road, Lake Forest.
School Notes
The Butterfield Family Association is sponsoring its spring Gently Used Children's Clothing and Toy sale March 14-15 at the school, 1441 W. Lake St., Libertyville.
Mimi is ready to share a home with pets
My mom is a feral cat that got pregnant and had us. Luckily, a kind person took action and so we met people early on and love them.
Club Calendar
Monday, March 10: Gardeners of Central Lake County meets at 7:30 p.m. at CrossLife Evangelical Free Church, 431 W. Austin, Libertyville.
Library Notes
Libertyville District 70 annual art show exhibits selected works by students in grades kindergarten to 8 that will be on view through April 3 at Cook Memorial Library in Libertyville.
Lakes High Winter Guard team brings home title
Multiple state victories won by Lakes Community High School's Winter Guard Team is a good example of how constant practice and striving for perfection pays off.
Library Notes
Join ringmaster Baron Von Roquefort and all the Royal Mousperian circus performers for a whimsical day at the circus at 10:30 a.m. March 15 at Grayslake Area Public Library.