WO2018167545A1

WO2018167545A1 - Call credit (airtime) ticket system with hand held reader validation devices

Info

Publication number: WO2018167545A1
Application number: PCT/IB2017/053345
Authority: WO
Inventors: Adeniyi OLUTAYO
Original assignee: Nultan Nigeria Limited
Priority date: 2017-03-17
Filing date: 2017-06-07
Publication date: 2018-09-20

Abstract

A payment-for-access service provider (for example, a road transporter, airline, rail line, cinema operator etc) is equipped with a hand held reader device (1) capable of reading information on contactless card or system (2) funded by prospective user of such service with call credit (airtime) (3) and determine if the card or system is sufficiently funded or not and return immediate information on whether access should be allowed or not to user. The card or system (2) is requested by user by sending basic information as a text on their mobile phones to a short code and picked up at designated locations. The card or system (2) is then funded by user with call credit (airtime) balance on their phone service as provided by mobile phone operators (3) by sending basic information as a text on their mobile phones to a short code. The hand held device (1) is able to read information on the card or system to determine available funds and access through a highly secured chip on the card or system over the internet with its RFID capabilities.

Description

Call Credit (Airtime) Ticket System with Hand Held Reader Validation Devices

This invention enables service providers to admit only users who have validly paid for such service through a cashless, secure tickets in the form of card or systems previously funded with call credit (airtime) by the user and validated by a staff of the service provider (for example conductor, box office officer etc.) using an hand held RFID reader device.

This invention is a process and application that enables the following devices and events and transforms them into a system of call credit (airtime) funded Ticket System validated with hand-held Reader Devices:

RFID capable Hand Held Reader Devices: This refers to a device that can be held and operated by hand with capacity to read highly encrypted information on contactless card or systems for the purpose of validating if the card or systems are adequately funded to grant access.

High Security Contactless Card or Systems: This refers to contactless card or systems containing highly encrypted information on funding done by the user using call credits (airtime) for the purpose of validating that if the card or systems are adequately funded to grant access.

Card or System Funding with Call Credit (Airtime): This is a value added telecommunication service that is implemented in conjunction with mobile phone operators that allows mobile subscribers fund their highly secured contactless card or systems by sending as a text, the amount by which they would like to fund the card or system by, to a designated short code.

Card or System Validation Application: This is the main control and access activity enabled by software as well as the RFID capable hand-held Reader Device whereby the service provider points the device to the contactless card or system and gets notified instantly of the validity of the ticket for admission of the user or otherwise.

In areas with inadequate or nonexistent payment infrastructure to fund travel card or systems (most developing countries), it can be of great benefit to have a ticketing system that can be funded by a non-cash and non electronic form of money that is available to everyone irrespective of their status and location: that is call credit (airtime).

Also, in areas with inadequate or nonexistent infrastructure resulting in mobile staffs being required, in many locations requiring access validation, to physically validate access (most developing countries), it can be beneficial to have a ticket system that can be validated by hand held devices in such designated locations or on the go. For example, due to inadequate infrastructure in sub-Sahara Africa, mini buses carrying passengers each require a staff (conductor) to ensure that only passengers with valid tickets or cash can get on the mini-buses. A hand-held validating device would facilitate a convenient, secure and cashless access validation in this and may other similar scenarios.

Areas with a combination of the above challenges have resorted to validating access through a paper ticket issued every time after cash receipts, a process that is fraught with wastages, revenue leakages, high cost of tickets printing and waste of time for both the service providers and the users.

A cashless, secure tickets in the form of card or systems previously funded with call credit (airtime) by the user and validated by a staff of the service provider (for example conductor, box office officer etc.) using an hand held RFID reader device.

Attempt at electronic ticket system in the areas described above have failed because most users neither have access to nor are interested in the electronic banking system required to fund those card or systems. Those with access and interest to electronic banking are turned off by the extra banking charges and minimum amounts that are required to be funded at a time.

It is the main objective of this invention to solve the problem of cash based ticketing system and its numerous challenges by addressing the root causes of payment and validation using call credit (airtime) and hand-held reader devices. This is the uniqueness of this invention.

This invention can be of great advantage to both service providers (for example, a road transporter, airline, rail line, cinema operator etc) and users (for example bus passengers, movie goers etc.) through fast, secure ticket payment and admission process hence the application for this patent protection.

Below are brief descriptions of drawings.

Fig.1

illustrates the architecture of and work flow of service initiation.

Fig.2

illustrates the architecture of and work flow of card or system funding requests.

Fig.3

illustrates the architecture of and work flow of ticket validation.

Claims

A Ticket system that uses a card or system funded with call credit (airtime).
A system that determines a ticket's validity by using hand-held reader devices to read a contactless card or system funded with call credit (airtime).
A method where service providers admit users who have validly paid for such service through a cashless, secure contactless card or system previously funded with call credit (airtime) by the user and validated by a staff of the service provider (for example conductor, box office officer etc.) using an hand-held reader device.