Abstract:
A method for facilitating the purchase of fuel from a fuel pump, by a driver using a credit instrument to make a request for fuel, for a vehicle forming part of a fleet of vehicles owned by a fleet owner having fleet management software, comprising causing the driver to be prompted to submit vehicle information and driver information via the fuel pump, responsive to a credit request to purchase fuel for a vehicle using the credit instrument, ensuring the credit instrument has the required credit, confirming the vehicle information and the driver information, and if the ensuring and confirming are affirmed: authorizing the dispensing of fuel by the fuel pump; and if the ensuring or the confirming are denied: declining the dispensing of fuel by the fuel pump.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This is a non-provisional of pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/804,859, filed Mar. 25, 2013, the entirety of which application is expressly incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
       [0002]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Typically fuel is one of the largest expenses an owner of a fleet of vehicles (referred to herein as Fleet Owners) may face. Owners of fleets of vehicles (referred to herein as Fleet Owners) often use various credit instruments to allow drivers of their vehicles to purchase fuel. 
         [0004]    Due to its cost, it is desirable for Fleet Owners to control and monitor their fuel purchasing and consumption—for example based on rules relating to drivers, vehicle use, and the like. 
         [0005]    At present, although monitoring can occur, there is considerable time lag between the purchasing of fuel and the availability to monitor the purchasing—and when available it is often in a different system than the system of record. Due to this time lag, there is reduced ability to control purchasing, especially in real-time. As such there is a need a simple and cost-effective way to enable mobile payments with realtime authorization and near realtime reporting. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In one aspect there is a method for facilitating the purchase of fuel from a fuel pump, by a driver using a credit instrument to make a request for fuel, for a vehicle forming part of a fleet of vehicles owned by a fleet owner having fleet management software, comprising: causing the driver to be prompted to submit vehicle information and driver information via the fuel pump, responsive to a credit request to purchase fuel for a vehicle using the credit instrument, ensuring the credit instrument has the required credit, confirming the vehicle information and the driver information, and if the credit instrument has the required credit and the vehicle and driver information is confirmed: authorizing the dispensing of fuel by the fuel pump; if the credit instrument has insufficient credit or one or both of the vehicle information and the driver information cannot be confirmed: declining the dispensing of fuel by the fuel pump. 
         [0007]    The vehicle information may comprise a vehicle identifier and an odometer value and the driver information may comprise a driver identifier. 
         [0008]    The confirming may further comprise: checking whether one or more vehicle information fuel dispensing rules have been complied with, and ascertaining whether one or more driver information fuel dispensing rules have been complied with. 
         [0009]    The vehicle information dispensing rules may comprise: is the odometer value for the vehicle sufficiently higher than an odometer reading at a last request for fuel for the vehicle or is the odometer value accurate, where the odometer value may be accurate if it is within an acceptable range of an odometer reading from the vehicle. 
         [0010]    Confirming may further comprise receiving one or more of an odometer reading and the odometer reading at a last request for fuel for the vehicle. 
         [0011]    The receiving may be from a fleet management software that is configured to communicate vehicle information with the vehicle and store the vehicle information. 
         [0012]    The driver information dispensing rules may comprise: is the driver identifier authorized to fuel the vehicle, and is the driver identifier authorized to use the credit instrument. 
         [0013]    The method may further comprise: if the ensuring and confirming are affirmed: obtaining, from the fuel pump, transaction information, and providing the transaction information to the fleet management software. 
         [0014]    In another aspect there is a system for making a decision to dispense fuel from a fuel pump, responsive to a vehicle driver desiring to purchase fuel for a vehicle using a credit instrument owned by a vehicle owner, the system comprising a credit instrument, configured to cause a fuel pump to receive and communicate purchase parameters, and a first set of vehicle information, to a credit instrument issuer system, before seeking a credit decision and a fuel dispensing decision, and a credit instrument issuer system, configured to receive the purchase parameters and the first set of vehicle information from the fuel pump, make a credit decision and a fuel dispensing decision, provide the credit decision and the fuel dispensing decision to the fuel pump, and record a transaction information received from the fuel pump. 
         [0015]    The credit instrument may be a credit card, the purchase parameters may include a date, a credit card number and a driver identifier of the vehicle driver and the first set of vehicle information comprises a vehicle number and a current odometer value from the vehicle. 
         [0016]    The credit instrument issuer system may further comprises a rules storage, where the rules storage may be configured to store credit decision rules and fuel dispensing rules for the credit instrument and the fuel dispensing decision is affirmative if all credit decision rules and fuel dispensing rules are adhered to for the credit card. 
         [0017]    The credit decision rules for the credit card may comprise: the vehicle driver is permitted to use the credit card, to purchase fuel for the vehicle, and the credit card has a balance that is below an acceptable balance. 
         [0018]    The fuel dispensing rules for the credit card may comprise: the vehicle driver is permitted to use the credit card, to purchase fuel for the vehicle. 
         [0019]    The system may further comprise a fleet owner configured to receive the transaction information from the credit instrument issuer system via a fleet management system. The fleet owner may be further configured to prevent unauthorized driver actions via the fleet management system. 
         [0020]    In yet another aspect there is a method for facilitating the purchase of fuel from a fuel pump, by a driver using a credit instrument to make a request for fuel, for a vehicle forming part of a fleet of vehicles owned by a fleet owner, comprising: receiving, from a credit instrument issuer, vehicle information and driver information, obtained from a driver that was prompted to submit vehicle information and driver information via the fuel pump, responsive to a credit request to purchase fuel for a vehicle using the credit instrument, and confirming the vehicle information and the driver information, and if the confirming is affirmed: indicating, to the credit instrument issuer, the affirmation, and if the ensuring or the confirming are denied: indicating, to the credit instrument issuer, the denial. 
         [0021]    The vehicle information may comprise a vehicle identifier and an odometer value and the driver information may comprise a driver identifier. 
         [0022]    The confirming may further comprise: checking whether one or more vehicle information fuel dispensing rules have been complied with, and ascertaining whether one or more driver information fuel dispensing rules have been complied with. 
         [0023]    The vehicle information dispensing rules may comprise: is the odometer value for the vehicle sufficiently higher than an odometer reading at a last request for fuel for the vehicle and/or is the odometer value accurate, where the odometer value is accurate if it is within an acceptable range of an odometer reading from the vehicle. 
         [0024]    The driver information dispensing rules may comprise: is the driver identifier authorized to fuel the vehicle, and is the driver identifier authorized to use the credit instrument. 
         [0025]    The method may further comprise: if the confirming is affirmed: receiving, from the credit instrument issuer, transaction information relating to the purchase of fuel from the fuel pump. 
         [0026]    The fleet management system may be further configured to: if the confirming is affirmed: allowing a fleet owner to prevent unauthorized driver actions. 
         [0027]    In yet a further aspect there is a system for facilitating the purchase of fuel from a fuel pump, by a driver using a credit instrument to make a request for fuel, for a vehicle forming part of a fleet of vehicles owned by a fleet owner, comprising: a fleet management system, configured for: receiving, from a credit instrument issuer, vehicle information and driver information, obtained from a driver that was prompted to submit vehicle information and driver information via the fuel pump, responsive to a credit request to purchase fuel for a vehicle using the credit instrument, and confirming the vehicle information and the driver information, and if the confirming is affirmed: indicating, to the credit instrument issuer, the affirmation, and if the ensuring or the confirming are denied: indicating, to the credit instrument issuer, the denial. 
         [0028]    The vehicle information may comprise a vehicle identifier and an odometer value and the driver information comprises a driver identifier. 
         [0029]    The confirming may further comprise: checking whether one or more vehicle information fuel dispensing rules have been complied with, and ascertaining whether one or more driver information fuel dispensing rules have been complied with. 
         [0030]    The vehicle information dispensing rules comprise: is the odometer value for the vehicle sufficiently higher than an odometer reading at a last request for fuel for the vehicle and/or is the odometer value accurate, where the odometer value is accurate if it is within an acceptable range of an odometer reading from the vehicle. 
         [0031]    The driver information dispensing rules may comprise: is the driver identifier authorized to fuel the vehicle, and is the driver identifier authorized to use the credit instrument. 
         [0032]    The fleet management system may be further configured to: obtain, from a mobile data terminal on the vehicle, vehicle information, and store the obtained vehicle information. 
         [0033]    The fleet management system may be further configured to: if the confirming is affirmed: receiving, from the credit instrument issuer, transaction information relating to the purchase of fuel from the fuel pump. 
         [0034]    The fleet management system may be further configured to: if the confirming is affirmed: allowing a fleet owner to prevent unauthorized driver actions. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0035]    The invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which like references are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which: 
           [0036]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a system for odometer-based fuel dispensing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0037]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting a prior art method for fuel dispensing; and 
           [0038]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting a method for fuel dispensing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0039]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a system  10  for odometer-based fuel dispensing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention comprising credit instrument issuer  12  further comprising credit databases  14   a / 14   b,  one or more fuel dispensing locations  20  further comprising fuel pump  24  which may further comprise credit instrument reader  26 , and credit instrument  28 , and vehicle  22   a / 22   b  which may further comprise mobile data terminal (MDT)  23 , communication network  40  and fleet owner  30 , which may further comprise fleet management software  32 . 
         [0040]    Credit instrument issuer  12  may be any credit card issuer or other issuer of credit that may facilitate the purchase of fuel. Credit instrument issuer  12  may have many different systems, including computer systems, to perform approvals of credit-based transactions, and may also have one or more credit databases  14   a / 14   b  (that may also be, or include, rules storage) that may each relate to one or more credit instruments or owners of the credit instrument and store information about the vehicles, credit instruments, and transactions (including various transaction data) relating to the vehicles  22  and credit instruments  28 . Credit instrument issuer  12  may be able to communicate with communication network  40 . 
         [0041]    Credit instrument  28  may be a credit card or the like, issued by credit instrument issuer  12 , possibly in conjunction with another party, such as the owner of the fleet management software  32 . 
         [0042]    Fuel pump  24  may be substantially any system for dispensing fuel. Fuel pump  24  may further comprise credit instrument reader  26 , which may accept credit instruments  28 . Fuel pump  24  may dispense fuel if credit instrument  28  is accepted to use for purchasing fuel. Fuel pump  24  may be able to communicate with communication network  40 . 
         [0043]    Vehicle  22   a / 22   b  may be the vehicle that is intended to be filled with fuel from fuel pump  24 . Vehicle  22   a / 22   b  may be substantially any type of vehicle (such as cars, buses, trucks, backhoes and the like) and may use substantially any type of fuel (gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and the like). Vehicle  22   a  and  22   b  may be owned by fleet owner  30 ; fleet owner  30  may own any number of vehicles  22 . 
         [0044]    Vehicle  22   a / 22   b  may further comprise mobile data terminal  23 . MDT  23  may be any computing device that is on-board vehicle  22 . MDT  23  may communicate with other systems of vehicle  22 , such as odometers, sensors, engines, speedometers, passenger load or capacity counters, vehicle signs, or other systems. MDT  23  may be able to communicate with communication network  40  via, for example, an antenna (not shown) MDT  23  may further be configured to communicate with fleet management software (FMS)  32 , for example to provide information about vehicle  22  to FMS  32 . 
         [0045]    Fleet owner  30  may own one or more vehicles for use in their operations. Fleet owners  30  may include rental car businesses, delivery businesses, retailers, and the like, substantially any company that owns vehicles. 
         [0046]    Fleet owner  30  will have FMS  32  (FleetFocus) that assists in managing its fleet, and performing other functions. Exemplary fleet management software may include Asset Works&#39; FleetFocus software. The maker of FMS  32  may be referred to as FMS Owner. 
         [0047]    Communication network  40  may be any one or more communication networks, that may work together or independently, to facilitate communication of the various aspects of system  10 . Communication network  40  may include cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, wired, wireless, private, public, or any form of network or network technology. 
         [0048]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart depicting a prior art method  200  for fuel dispensing. 
         [0049]    Method  200  begins at  202  where a credit instrument is presented to a pump to purchase fuel. 
         [0050]    At  204  a credit request and vehicle information may be sent from fuel pump  24  to credit instrument issuer  12 . The credit request may include information to identify credit instrument  28 , a requested authorization amount, a PIN, and other information that may be read from credit instrument  28  by credit instrument reader  26 . 
         [0051]    As will appreciated by those of skill in the art, each credit instrument  28  may have a profile that is set up, for example by credit instrument issuer  12 , partner/FMS Owner, and/or fleet owner  30 . The profile may specify the information that fuel pump  24  will prompt the user of credit instrument  28  (normally a driver of vehicle  22 ) to enter before requesting a credit check and fuel to be dispensed. Such information may include a PIN, vehicle  22  odometer reading, an employee identification number (of the driver), and other information. Such profile may vary between credit instruments  28  depending on the requirements of the parties involved. 
         [0052]    At  206 , the entered information is received by the credit instrument issuer  12 . This information may be stored by the credit instrument issuer  12 . Credit instrument issuer  12  then makes a credit decision—to confirm or deny dispensing of fuel by fuel pump  24 . The process of making a confirm or deny decision, and the factors upon which the decision may be made, is known by those of skill in the art but exemplary rules (“Credit Decision Fuel Dispensing Rules”) are shown in Table 1 herein. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Credit Decision Fuel Dispensing Rules 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Rule 
                   
               
               
                 No. 
                 Affirm/confirm dispensing if: 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 1. 
                 Credit instrument&#39;s credit limit has not been reached. 
               
               
                 2. 
                 Owner of credit instrument has been making timely payments. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0053]    This decision is communicated back to, and received by, fuel pump  24  at  208 . At  208  fuel is dispensed if the credit decision was a confirmation. 
         [0054]    Dashed line  210  indicates the passage of time—the amount of time depending on the profile of credit instrument  28  as established above or as determined by fleet owner  30 —often up to 31 days from the date of the transaction. After the passage of time, at  212 , credit and vehicle information are provided to FMS  32 . This may be done via downloading of transaction data for example. At  214  fleet owner  30 , generally using FMS  32 , obtains and stores the credit and vehicle information relating to the transactions for one or more credit instruments  28  and/or vehicles  22  in their fleet. This information can then be used to perform historical analysis of fleet performance. 
         [0055]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting a method  300  for fuel dispensing according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0056]    Method  300 , at  302  and  304  may be substantially similar to method  200  at  202  and  204 . 
         [0057]    Once at  306  credit instrument issuer  12  may begin to make a credit decision. Making a credit decision may involve ensuring that credit decision fuel dispensing rules (such as in Table 1) are followed or complied with in order to authorize or confirm fuel dispensing from a credit decision perspective. These rules may be established by credit instrument issuer  12 , possibly in conjunction with fleet owner  30 . Such rules are preferably stored at, and checked for compliance, by credit instrument issuer. 
         [0058]    Also at  306 , credit instrument issuer  12  may send vehicle information to fleet owner  30  (via FMS  32 ), in real-time or near real-time (such as before fuel is dispensed or fuel dispensing is declined by fuel pump  24 ), for example to enable making a vehicle information dispensing decision and other business decisions. 
         [0059]    Such other business decisions or issues may be made or addressed in real-time or near real-time, and in any event, much more quickly than prior art approaches where such information was only initially obtained occasionally for example, or as fleet owner  30  updates FMS  32  with data from credit instrument issuer  12  (such as credit instrument issuer&#39;s  12  website). Business decisions or issues that may be more effectively and/or accurately made include: contacting a driver to let them know they are in violation of a rule and ensure they rectify the situation before proceeding their vehicle use (and before further errors or damage can be caused), adjusting vehicle/driver/fuel statistics to account for errors made before they are included in any reports, ensuring that fuel pump  24  that is owned by fleet owner  30  is used by driver for the next fuelling and/or checks to ensure that appropriate fuel levels are present the next time vehicle  22  is fuelled at a fuel pump  24  owned by fleet owner  30 . Of course many other business decisions and uses are within the scope of the present invention, including anti-fraud measures, driver training, cash management, and the like. Where a business rule or issue relates to a driver, the system may prevent unauthorized driver actions. 
         [0060]    In some embodiments of the present invention,  308  and  314  may not be required, and all that may be required is for FMS  32  to receive the information and for credit instrument issuer  12  to make a credit decision and communicate that to fuel pump  24 . 
         [0061]    Method  300  may continue to  308  where vehicle and/or driver information is received by fleet owner  30  (such as via FMS  32 ) in near realtime. Vehicle and driver information provided to FMS  32  at  308  may include some or all of the information that the driver was prompted to provide in  304  and may include additional information as well, such as from previous transactions for credit instrument  12  or vehicle  22 . FMS  32  may include one or more databases  34  that may be used to store, among other things, the vehicle and/or driver information received at  308 . 
         [0062]    The information may be communicated to FMS  32  via web services, application programming interfaces (API) or the like. Security and authorization may be implemented, as known to those of skill in the art. Web services, as known to those of skill in the art, provide a standard means of interoperating between different software applications, running on a variety of platforms and/or frameworks—in this case FMS  32  and credit instrument issuer  12  for example. The architecture does not attempt to specify how Web services are implemented, and imposes no restriction on how Web services might be combined, thus allowing flexibility for design and a useful interoperability architecture. 
         [0063]    FMS  32 , at  308 , may compare the information received from credit instrument issuer  12  to various rules to decide whether to provide a “confirm” or “deny” vehicle information decision, such as rules relating to drivers (“Driver Information Fuel Dispending Rules”) and vehicles (“Vehicle Information Fuel Dispending Rules”). Any number and combination of rules is possible, depending on the business decisions of fleet owner  30 , for example. 
         [0064]    These rules may be established by fleet owner  30 , possibly in conjunction with credit instrument issuer  12 . Such rules are preferably stored at, and checked for compliance, by fleet owner  30  (via FMS  32 ). Alternatively of course, these rules may be stored at, and checked for compliance by credit instrument issuer  12 . There may be integration between FMS  32  to alert credit instrument issuer  12  of any changes as FMS  32  is system of record. Where confirming such rules relies on obtaining information from MDT  23  FMS  32  may obtain such information and relay it to credit instrument issuer  12  or MDT  23  may communicate directly with credit instrument issuer  12 . 
         [0065]    Exemplary Driver Information Fuel Dispensing Rules are shown in Table 2. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Driver Information Fuel Dispensing Rules 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Rule 
                   
               
               
                 No. 
                 Affirm/confirm dispensing if: 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 1. 
                 The provided driver identification number is not allowed to 
               
               
                   
                 purchase fuel for the provided vehicle identification number. 
               
               
                 2. 
                 Is the provided driver identification number allowed to 
               
               
                   
                 purchase fuel using the credit instrument? 
               
               
                 3. 
                 Location of driver and/or fuel pump is approved. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Vehicle Information Fuel Dispensing Rules 
               
             
          
           
               
                 Rule 
                   
               
               
                 No. 
                 Affirm/confirm dispensing if: 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 1. 
                 Is the provided odometer reading acceptable for 
               
               
                   
                 fuel dispensing: 
               
               
                   
                 Based on the last odometer reading received from credit 
               
               
                   
                 instrument issuer? 
               
               
                   
                 Based on the odometer reading received from the MDT? 
               
               
                   
                 Noting that being acceptable, or accurate, may occur if the 
               
               
                   
                 values are within an acceptable range. Such range may 
               
               
                   
                 be 10 km, 100 km, or a value based on 
               
               
                   
                 the driver/vehicle/fuel type/etc involved. 
               
               
                 2. 
                 Is the requested authorization amount acceptable: 
               
               
                   
                 Based on the odometer reading received from credit 
               
               
                   
                 instrument issuer? 
               
               
                   
                 Based on the odometer reading received from the MDT? 
               
               
                   
                 Based on the size of the vehicle&#39;s gas tank? 
               
               
                   
                 Based on the cost per liter of the fuel to be purchased? 
               
               
                 3. 
                 Location of vehicle and/or fuel pump is approved. 
               
               
                 4. 
                 Type of fuel selected is approved. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0066]    Having assessed or confirmed the rules at  308 , vehicle and driver information decisions are provided back to credit instrument issuer  12 . This may include a confirmation or denial, or a set of confirmations and/or denials (for example to indicate which rule was not confirmed and thus provide a reason for a denial). 
         [0067]    Method  300  then arrives at  310  (either directly from  306 , or via  308 / 314 , as described herein) where the overall decision to dispense fuel to vehicle  22  at fuel pump  24  is made and then communicated to fuel pump  24 . The overall decision to dispense fuel may be based on each applicable rule being confirmed or complied with, for example, including credit, driver and vehicle rules. 
         [0068]    At  312  fuel pump  12  dispenses fuel if the credit decision and vehicle/driver decision were all confirms, accepted or authorized. 
         [0069]    Once the transaction has completed at  312  then transaction information may be provided to credit instrument issuer  12  at  313 . Such transaction information may include an amount of fuel dispensed, a cost therefore, a date, location, and other transaction information. Transaction information provided from fuel pump  12  at  312  may be combined with information provided at  304 , and other information, for example that credit instrument issuer  12  already has, and may be added to databases  14 . 
         [0070]    At  316  FMS  32 , may compare the information received from credit instrument issuer  12  in near realtime to various rules (such as any of those described herein) to decide whether to flag vehicles for further investigation due to such as rules relating to drivers (“Driver Information Fuel Dispending Rules”) and vehicles (“Vehicle Information Fuel Dispending Rules”). Any number and combination of rules is possible, depending on the business decisions of fleet owner  30 , for example. A wide variety of reports, dashboards and alerts will help client manage this from FMS  32 . 
         [0071]    Method  300  may optionally further include  314 , where MDT  23  provides vehicle and/or driver information or vehicle location (such as via GPS, not shown). Such vehicle and/or driver information may be used to confirm one or more items of data that was received by credit instrument issuer  12  at  306  and/or  316 . This may then allow further rules to be used, involving confirming data from vehicle  22  in real-time (such as confirming that the driver identifier entered at  304  is the same as the driver currently operating vehicle  22  and logged into MDT  23 , or that the odometer value entered at  304  is the same as the odometer value read by MDT  23  from the odometer on vehicle  22 . Whether  314  is used may depend on the rules that are available or activated, as determined by one or more of credit instrument issuer  12  or fleet owner  30 , for example. 
         [0072]    It will be understood that any of the systems or entities that are part of system  10  may have one or more computing devices, such as servers, mobile devices, personal computers and the like, and required network technology, configured to allow the performance of the functionality described herein. Each of such systems or entities, and such computing devices, may have one or more computer-readable storage medium, that may be transitory or non-transitory, that may contain a set of programming instructions that may be executed by the computing devices. 
         [0073]    It will be apparent to one of skill in the art that other configurations, hardware etc may be used in any of the foregoing embodiments of the products, methods, and systems of this invention. It will be understood that the specification is illustrative of the present invention and that other embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. All references cited herein are incorporated by reference.