GB2519284A

GB2519284A - Charitable donation payment collection system

Info

Publication number: GB2519284A
Application number: GB1315287.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Anthony Devlin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-08-28
Filing date: 2013-08-28
Publication date: 2015-04-22
Also published as: GB201315287D0

Abstract

A charitable donation payment collection system, comprising at least one payment collection unit (2) adapted to receive cash and electronic payments from a donor. The units also comprise means for identifying the donor, such as a short range wireless device which interrogates a tag or mobile associated with the user as they donate, or shortly before or after. In one embodiment, the donor carries a mobile phone equipped with a near field communication (NFC) tag, which can be active, for two way communication, or passive, which is identified by an NFC device 18. Alternatively, the donor identification means comprises an RFID reader, which identifies an RFID tag associated with the donator. The unit communicates with a server to store information relating the donor and their donation, and a customer profile can be built. The unit also comprises a control panel and means to identify and count donated coins 14.

Description

Charitable Donation Payment Collection System This invention relates to charitable donation payment collection system for receiving cash or electronic payments from a donor.

Traditionally, charitable donations have been received using coin collection boxes either carried by charity collectors or located at convenient locations, such as on counters adjacent shop tills. A problem with known coin collection boxes is that the box is at risk from theft or fraud and provides no means for identifying the donor or allowing the donor to specify the recipient of the donation. It is becoming more common for donors to make charitable donations via electronic payments, typically by persuading the donor to set up a standing order with their bank to make regular payments to a selected charity. Street collectors are often employed to sign up donors to such payment schemes. However, many donors are offended by the perceived "hard sell" tactics of such street collectors.

It is therefore desirable to provide an improved charitable donation payment collection system that provides a convenient way for donors to make cash and/or electronic payments to a selected charity or other recipient, with reduced risk or fraud or theft and greater accountability.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a charitable donation payment collection system comprising at least one payment collection unit adapted to receive cash and electronic payments from a donor, said payment collection unit including donor identification means for uniquely identifying the donor.

The payment collection unit may be adapted to receive coins and/or bank notes and may incorporate means to identify and count the coins and/or bank notes received.

The payment collection unit may include a coin collection container for receiving coins. The coin collection container may be adapted to be removed or opened to permit emptying thereof.

Preferably the donor identification means is adapted to wirelessly interrogate a device associated with the donor to uniquely identify the donor. Preferably said donor identification means comprises a short range wireless device, such as a transceiver, adapted to communicate with an adjacent mobile device or tag associated with a donor. In one embodiment, said donor identification means comprises a near field communication device, a mobile device associated with the donor being equipped with a near field communication tag. Said tag may comprise a passive near field communication tag or an active tag adapted for two way data communication with the near field communication device. The donor identification means may comprise an REID reader identifying an REID tag uniquely associated with the donor.

The use of a donor identification means, preferably a short range wireless device such as a near field communication apparatus, enables the payment collection unit to identify a specific donor before or shortly after receiving a donation.

The system may allow a donor to make a coin donation and/or an electronic donation, preferably using a Near Field Communication tag, card or sticker linked to a customer profile associated with the donor.

The system may be adapted to enable the donor to select the amount to be donated and the recipient or recipients of the donation. The payment collection unit may be provided with a control panel to enable the donor to select the amount to be donated and/or the recipient or recipients of the donation. Thus the donor may select particular charities to receive a payment from the amount received by the collection device.

The system may comprise a plurality of payment collection units adapted to communicated with a server. The plurality of payment collection units may communicate with the server via the Internet, or via a local area network or Intranet.

A customer profile relating to each donor may be stored on the server, containing information such as the name and address of the donor, payment information, such as bank details, and/or chosen charities or other chosen recipients of donations and/or the allocation criteria for donations (for example x% to charity A, y% to charity B etc., or a first predetermined amount in any given time period to got to charity A, the next amount up to a further predetermined figure to charity B, etc. A charitable donation payment collection system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a payment collection unit of a charitable donation payment collection system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the payment collection unit of Figure 1 showing removal of the coin collection container; Figure 3 is a detailed view of the control panel of the payment collection unit of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a schematic view of a coin detection mechanism of the payment collection unit of Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a schematic view of an alternative coin detection mechanism.

As shown in the drawings, a charitable donation payment collection system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises a plurality of payment collection units 2 that may be located at convenient locations for receiving donations. Each payment collection unit 2 comprises a housing incorporating a coin collection container. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, in one embodiment the unit may comprise a cylindrical housing 4 mounted in a stand 5, a control panel 6 being located on an upper end of the cylindrical housing 4. As shown in Figure 2, a cylindrical coin collection container 8 may be slidingly received within the cylindrical housing 4 of the unit 2 in telescopic manner such that the housing 4 can be lifted off the coin collection container 8 to permit the coin collection container 8 to be emptied. A lock mechanism may be provided to selectively preventing separation of the housing 4 from the coin collection container 8, as will be described in more detail below.

As shown in Figure 3, the control panel 6 may comprise a display 10 for displaying information to the user, such as the amount donated and/or the selected recipient of the donation, a series of buttons 12 for enabling the user to select the amount to be donated electronically and/or to select the recipient or recipients of a donation, a coin slot 14 communicating with a coin detection and counter device for passing coins to the coin collection chamber 8 and for recognising and counting the coins inserted therein, a sounder 16 for issuing audible communication to the user and a Near Field Communication receiver or "tap" area 18 against which the user may place a Near Field Communication tag 20 issued to the user to enable identification of the user.

The payment collection unit 2 may incorporate one or more transmitters or transceivers or other wired or wireless communication device permitting communication between the unit 2 and a central server, preferably via a suitable wifi Internet connection. Alternatively the unit 2 may be adapted to communicate wirelessly with a user's mobile phone or other mobile device to thereby communicate with the central server.

The server may contain a database containing customer profiles of all registered donors. The server may receive data from each payment collection unit 2, such as the identification of each donor using the unit, the donor's selected recipient(s) and the donation made, which may comprise a cash donation (received via the coin slot), electronic payment (entered by the user and subsequently processed by a back office/server using the bank data stored in the donor's customer profile) or a combination of cash and electronic payments.

In use, a donor may initially register on the system, preferably online through a website, to create a customer profile, stored on the central server. In this registration process the user may provide:- -personal information, such as name and address; -personal banking details (preferably directly sent to an external secure entity, such as a secure server, for storage); -preferred charities (which may be permanently linked to the customer profile); -donor's preferred allocation criteria and/or priority to determined allocation of donations between selected charities; -the choice of Near Field Communication tag, for example a sticker or card or NFC enabled mobile device: -choice of methods for receiving notifications (e.g. text, email, custom app) when donations are received. This may be used as a security feature and/or may be used to advertise partner's products/services; -create virtual groups to whom the user wishes to aggregate his/her account to (e.g. family groups, friends groups, workplace groups); The latter may enable the users within a group to compare donations, to incentivise good-hearted competition between members of a group. This may also enable the system to create targets and competitions to be achieved by individuals and/or groups. The system may allocate prizes to persons and/or groups who donate the most in a given period. The charities themselves may use the data stored by the system to allocate/distribute prizes or other incentives.

When the donor wishes to make a charitable donation the donor may interact with a selected payment collection unit 2.

The donor can make one of three types of donations, namely coin, electronic or mixed (i.e. part coin payment and part electronic payment).

A coin donation may be made simply by inserting the coins in the coin slot 14 of the control panel 6 of the payment collection unit 2. This type of donation may not be logged to any particular donor. However, the control panel 6 of the payment collection unit may be used to select the recipient or recipients of the donation.

Additionally the donor may tap their unique NFC tag 20 on the tap area 18 of the control panel 6 such that the unit may identify the donor and may log the cash donation to the particular donor and/or to the donor's selected recipient.

If the donor logs onto the system by using their Near Field Communication tag 20, such that the unit 2 identifies the donor, the unit can access the donor's customer profile, enabling the unit to log the donor's donations and enabling the donor to make electronic payments. The donor may make a cash donation and/or may select an amount for electronic donation, for example by pressing one or more of the buttons 12 provided on the control panel 6. Such buttons 12 may represent fixed amounts and/or may comprise a numeric key pad to enable the donor to select the amount of the desired electronic payment.

Instead of processing each single transaction on the same day, in order to decrease bank/payment charges, payments may be collected once every few days or weeks in a single transaction, totalling all the donations made by a user in that time frame.

The back-office server may transfer the donor's money to a temporary account from which, applying the same system, once a month (or other time frame of choice) the payment may be made to the charities in lump sums (possibly after taking the agreed percentage of handling fees).

Thus the donor can make anonymous donations by simply inserting coins into the coin slot 14 of the unit 2 in a similar manner to the classic donation boxes, make an account specific donation by tapping the receiver of tap area 18 of the unit 2 with the donor's NFC tag 20 or by tapping the tap area 18 of the unit 2 with the donor's NEC enabled mobile device (e.g. NEC enabled smart phone) to identify the donor and then making account-specific donations by typing or selecting the desired amount or by making cash donations. It is also envisaged that the donor may tap the receiver of the tap area 18 with their NEC tag or device shortly after making a cash donation so as to log the cash donation to the particular donor.

After a donation is received, according to the preference set by the user in their account, notifications might be sent to them via email and/or txt message and/or to the custom mobile app. Such notifications might also contain upselling incentives (such as real-life goods or discounts) to encourage users to round up the donation and/or make another one.

A special NFC sticker/card containing a unique ID, issued only to authorised service or collection personnel, may be used to cause the unit to enter special operating modes, such as general setup/configuration, network pairing, system reset, self diagnostics etc. A special NEC key may also be used to cause the locking mechanism to open to permit removal of the coin collection container 8 to allow money collection. Such NFC "key" can be mapped to an outlet and/or to a user (i.e. service personnel).

Logins can be stored into the device and/or sent to the back office/server so a detailed access log can be kept to track any missing money To keep cost low while also making the unit sufficiently robust for continuous use, the control panel 6 may be provided with touch-type operating buttons, preferably using technologies such as Q-touch and M-touch. This prevents mechanical wear and tear and also makes the unit look modern.

In order to detect the value of the coins being inserted into the coin slot, a low cost coin detection mechanism is required. Because accuracy of detection is not critical while keeping the system cost low is, the value detection may be carried out by measuring the coin diameter.

In one embodiment, as shown in Eigure 4, a coin C may slide downwardly through the coin slot 14 and force a disk B (which pivots eccentrically around point A) to move. Disk B does not need to be a disk, but having a curved (cam-shaped) surface in the area of contact with the coin helps the smooth insertion of the coin. Coupled to the disk and aligned to the rotating axis A is a magnet D (depicted by the small circle) that rotates together with the disk. A rotation-detection magnetic sensor E (represented by the square) is fixed to the enclosure and aligned with the same axis A. When the disk rotates the sensor detects the amount of rotation and the diameter of the coin is detected. The Rotary Position Sensor can be of various types including AMS's A55030 (and other devices of the same family). The rotary magnetic disc could be a disk or a ring with multi-pole magnetization of (or along) its circumference.

Alternatively, as shown in Figure 5, instead of being placed on the rotating axis, the magnet D may be positioned on a protrusion F as far away as possible from the rotating axis A of the disc B. This results into a "lever-effect" which multiplies the displacement of the magnet D, allowing the detection of smaller movements (i.e. finer coin diameter detection) by a more linear (i.e. larger diameter) motion magnetic sensor E. In a further embodiment (not shown), a sliding gate may be used with a sloped coin contacting surface, the gate containing a magnet, whereby the gate moves horizontally when a coin in inserted vertically. The displacement of the gate may then be detected/measured by a magnetic sensor.

The reason for using magnetic sensors is to avoid wear and tear associated with sliding contacts. Alternatively, sliding (spring) contacts with very low load, can be used in a configuration where the contact pads they slide onto are formed by a PCB.

To compensate for the potential (very small) wear of the coin contacting surface across very long time, the system may self-recalibrate every time that it is in the rest position (abutting against a reference surface).

In order to detect when the coin collection container is reaching a maximum level in order to alert the personnel responsible to empty the container, a low cost sensor may be implemented.

In one embodiment the coin level sensor may comprise a light source, such as an infrared emitter, adapted to shine light vertically downwards (toward the coins) while a suitable receiver monitors the amount of light bouncing back. The receiver may be positioned next to the emitter and pointing in the same direction. The sensor may be calibrated to activate an alarm when a certain level of light is received (as a result of the coin level being close to the sensor).

Because dirty coins and/or coins positioned at different angles with respect to the receiver may reflect the light in different ways/amounts, such sensor might alarm at slightly different levels. Therefore, a more precise low cost sensor may be provided comprising two metal contacts protruding downward into an upper region of the coin collection container and acting as the two poles of an electrical switch. The two electrodes may then be shorted by the coins when the coins reach a predetermined level.

In order to avoid putting strain on the part of the enclosure supporting the two contacts and/or on the associated electronic board, the two metal contacts may be made of springs or flexible metal/conductive strips.

In an alternative embodiment, to measure the coin level more accurately, a thin long PCB may be mounted vertically inside the coin collection container. Such FCB may contain a number of different exposed pads which form the tap points of a resistor ladder (implemented on the PCB itself -most likely on the back surface so the resistors are protected by the mechanical stress of the dropping coins). As the coin level rises, more pads are shorted by the coins themselves and a microcontroller may detect/measure a different resistance value across the two contacts of the PC B/resistor-ladder.

In order to quickly and easily remove the coins from the coin collection container, the container may be adapted to slide in and out of an outer enclosure of the unit.

In order to prevent accidental/unwanted removal of the coin container, the container may be locked to the outer enclosure of the unit via a latch. The latch may be released manually through a pin inserted in an appropriate pinhole (similar to a SIM card removal tool) and/or through a small electromechanical actuator, such as a solenoid, electric motor or linear motor, which is activated by the microcontroller when an authorised NEC key is tapped onto the control panel of the unit.

Mobile phones and other devices having NFC capabilities may be used in addition to, or in place of, a NFC sticker or card. The advantage of using a NFC enabled device is that there is two-way communication with the device. This opens up possibilities whereby the mobile device may be used for communicating between the unit and a back office/ server, avoiding the need for the unit itself to be provided with such communication means. The unit would just count any coins donated and transfer the information to the back office/server via the mobile device.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described herein but can be S amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A charitable donation payment collection system comprising at least one payment collection unit adapted to receive cash and electronic payments from a donor, said payment collection unit including donor identification means for uniquely identifying the donor.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the payment collection unit is adapted to receive coins and/or bank notes and incorporates means to identify and count the coins and/or bank notes received.
3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the payment collection unit includes a coin collection container for receiving coins.
4. A system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the coin collection container is adapted to be removed or opened to permit emptying thereof.

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5. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the donor identification means is adapted to wirelessly interrogate a device associated with the donor to uniquely identify the donor.
6. A system as claimed in claim 5, wherein said donor identification means comprises a short range wireless device adapted to communicate with an adjacent mobile device or tag associated with a donor.
7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein said wireless device comprises a transceiver.
8. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said donor identification means comprises a near field communication device, a mobile device associated with the donor being equipped with a near field communication tag.
9. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said tag comprises a passive near field communication tag.
10. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein said tag comprises an active tag adapted for two way data communication with the near field communication device.
11. A system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein said donor identification means comprises an REID reader identifying an REID tag uniquely associated with the donor.
12. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a control panel adapted to enable the donor to select the amount to be donated and/or the recipient or recipients of the donation.
13. A system as claimed in any preceding claim comprising a plurality of payment collection units adapted to communicated with a server.
14. A system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the plurality of payment collection units communicates with the server via the Internet, or via a local area network or 0 Intranet.
15. A system as claimed in claim 13 or claim 14, wherein a customer profile relating to each donor is stored on the server.
16. A system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the customer profile for each donor contains one or more of the name and address of the donor, payment information, chosen charities or other chosen recipients of donations, and/or allocation criteria for donations.
17. A charitable donation payment collection system substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.