Patent ID: 7014108

Claim:
A method for use by an electronic commerce kiosk for selling prepaid telephone service, the method comprising: providing an electronic commerce kiosk in a publicly accessible location; displaying one or more purchase options to a user at the kiosk corresponding to one or more types of telephone usage; receiving a purchase selection from the user at the kiosk corresponding to at least one of the displayed purchase options; determining an amount due from the user in response to receiving the purchase selection; receiving a plurality of randomly oriented coins substantially simultaneously in a coin input region of the kiosk to at least partially pay for the selected purchase; subtracting the amount due from a sum of the received coins to determine a difference; when the difference is greater than zero, automatically dispensing a voucher to the user at the kiosk in the absence of dispensing monetary currency to the user, wherein the voucher is at least redeemable for additional purchases selected at the kiosk; when the user desires to cancel the purchase selection after receiving the coins, receiving a user input indicating that the user wishes to cancel the purchase selection; and in response to receiving the user input canceling the purchase selection, dispensing a voucher to the user, wherein the voucher is redeemable for a value related to the sum of the received coins.