Abstract: An electronic payment transaction involves operating a gateway device in an electronic payment system to receive first encrypted transaction data from a merchant device, wherein the first encrypted transaction data is encrypted by means of a merchant device-specific encrypting key. Decrypted transaction data is produced by using a merchant device-specific decrypting key to decrypt the first encrypted transaction data. Second encrypted transaction data is derived from the decrypted transaction data, wherein the second encrypted transaction data is encrypted by means of a gateway device-specific encrypting key. The gateway device communicates the second encrypted transaction data to another electronic payment system server. A key transmission block received from the merchant device includes information that enables the gateway device to derive the merchant device-specific decryption key.

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.