Abstract: Customer management for an establishment involves operating a server that hosts system software and interacts with various computing devices over internet and wireless network gateway connections. The server communicates with devices at the establishment and customer computing devices in real-time, providing system performance updates, text messaging communications to the customer regarding table availability and marketing information and synchronizing the information communicated within the system. A computer user interface at the establishment communicates with the server and allows an establishment host to capture and transmit customer information to the server and make of the server processing requests that can include sending text message alert notifications to a customer mobile device informing of an available table and providing marketing messages.

Abstract: A reconfigurable electronic payment device allows for the capture and transmission of customer transaction information captured from the “swipe” of an electronic payment tool, such as a credit or debit card or any such tool that includes a magnetic stripe upon which information can be stored and read from. The device provides a second housing with a reader head guide assembly, including a magnetic card reader adapter, which can be repositioned about a first housing of the electronic payment device. This repositioning capability can enhance the ease of use of the device and efficiency by which the swipe of a credit or debit card can be performed. The repositioning capability further promotes the mounting of the electronic payment device upon many different surfaces.

Abstract: A mobile payment application loaded upon a user device allows a user to perform mobile payment transactions for the purchase of a product and/or service via an unattended terminal over a network. The networked unattended terminal is operationally coupled with a mechanism, such as a vending machine, for delivering the purchased product and/or service to the user.

Abstract: A payment processing system to provide merchant-specific accounts to consumers that are accessed by payment instruments. In one embodiment, the payment processing system can create and provide a variety of payment methodologies for purchases, such as pay-as-you-go, virtual prepaid, virtual subscription, and post-paid purchases. The merchant may, in some embodiments provide consumers with merchant rewards accounts and an opportunity to earn reward points or other loyalty-based currencies through qualifying purchase transactions. The consumer may access their merchant-specific accounts for purchase payment using a preferred payment instrument, such as a credit or debit card.

Abstract: A system and method of aggregating multiple transactions over a network-based electronic payment transaction processing system is provided. The system includes a transport-aggregating clear-text Internet transaction (TACIT) server designed to allow conventional electronic payment transaction processing systems to work over networks which rely on the Internet Protocol, and to still support the fault-tolerance and load balancing. In one embodiment, the system aggregates multiple transmission control protocol sockets into a single socket to a back-end payment processing system in a single application. The transport-aggregating, cleartext Internet transaction (TACIT) server resides on an intermediate system that is positioned between the Internet endpoints and a payment transaction processing system (TPS).

Abstract: Downloading configuration data to program card terminals and providing real-time data of activity occurring at card terminals. A merchant can log on to a system server and enter information to program options for its card terminals such as via a web page on an Internet site. The system server formats the information into a file based upon a communication protocol and programming rules for the card terminal, and downloads the file to it as a data stream. The card terminal programs itself according to the configuration data. A merchant can also view data for activity occurring at its card terminals, possibly in real-time proximate to detection of the activity by the system server. In conjunction with processing transactions or other activity from the card terminals, the system server replicates the records for the activity and makes them available to merchants such as via a web page on an Internet site.