| 摘要 |
<p>A system and method for point of sale purchase of pre-paid communication services using existing point of sale equipment. A customer desiring to purchase prepaid communication services goes to a merchant having a point of sale terminal. The merchant accesses a secure host processor that has access to telephone numbers and unique PINS which are assigned to the transaction. The customer pays for the desired services and the merchant dials the secure host and specifies the type of services to be purchased (add air time, cellular activation, calling card, internet access). The customer pays for the desired services and receives a receipt specifying a unique PIN associated with the transaction. The customer can then use the PIN when dialing for long distance and for adding further time to the customer account later if desired. The secure host aggregates transactions for the day and settles the merchant account via batch processing over the ACH network, allocating funds to service providers and merchants according to agreement. The invention thus converts the merchants existing POS terminal into a multifaceted prepaid Communication/Product Storefront.</p> |
