Payment equipment management system and method

Abstract

The invention provides a payment equipment management system and method, the system comprises a global management server and area node servers, and the global management server is in remote communication connection with at least two area node servers; the global management server is used for dividing at least two management areas based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, and the area node servers are in one-to-one correspondence with the management areas; configuring a global management strategy and sending the global management strategy to the regional node server; and the regional node server is used for adjusting the global management strategy according to the real-time state to obtain a regional management strategy, and issuing the regional management strategy to the payment equipment. According to the method and the device, the regional node server controls the payment equipment in the corresponding management region according to the global management strategy and the regional management strategy, and the global management strategy and the regional management strategy are matched, so that generality and personality are considered, and different payment equipment can be flexibly adapted.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of payment technology, and in particular to a payment device management system and method. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of the global payment market, the number of POS devices has surged and they are widely distributed, covering different countries and regions.

[0003] In related technologies, POS management systems cannot flexibly adapt to different countries and regions; while distributed architectures make it difficult to achieve unified global monitoring and configuration. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by this invention is to provide a payment device management system and method that can achieve unified global monitoring and configuration while reducing the risk of single point of failure and taking into account flexibility.

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: A payment device management system includes a global management server and regional node servers, wherein the global management server is remotely connected to at least two of the regional node servers. The global management server is used to divide at least two management regions based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, and the regional node servers correspond one-to-one with the management regions; configure global management policies and send the global management policies to the regional node servers; The regional node server is used to adjust the global management strategy according to the real-time status to obtain the regional management strategy, and then distribute the regional management strategy to the payment device.

[0006] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, another technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: A payment device management method, applied to the aforementioned payment device management system, includes: The global management server divides the distribution environment information of all payment devices into at least two management regions, and each region node server corresponds one-to-one with the management region; it configures a global management policy and sends the global management policy to the region node server; The regional node server adjusts the global management strategy based on the real-time status to obtain the regional management strategy, and then distributes the regional management strategy to the payment device.

[0007] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: It provides a payment device management system and method, which, based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, divides the system into at least two management areas. Each management area has a corresponding regional node server. Through the cooperation of the global management server, regional node servers, and management areas, a distributed management system is formed, achieving unified global monitoring and configuration while reducing the risk of single points of failure. The global management server monitors each regional node server, enabling the regional node server to manage all payment devices within its corresponding management area. Simultaneously, it creates a global management policy adapted to all payment devices and a regional management policy corresponding to each management area. This allows the regional node server to control the payment devices within its corresponding management area according to the global and regional management policies. By combining global and regional management policies, both commonalities and individual characteristics are considered, allowing for flexible adaptation to different payment devices. Attached Figure Description

[0008] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a payment device management system provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating the steps of a payment device management method provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 This is another structural diagram of a payment device management system provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0009] To make the technical problems, technical solutions, and beneficial effects to be solved by this application clearer, the following detailed description is provided in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of this application.

[0010] In the following description, specific details such as particular system architectures and techniques are set forth for illustrative purposes and not for limitation, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of this application. However, those skilled in the art will understand that this application may also be implemented in other embodiments without these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, apparatuses, circuits, and methods have been omitted so as not to obscure the description of this application with unnecessary detail.

[0011] It should be understood that, when used in this application specification and the appended claims, the term "comprising" indicates the presence of the described features, integrals, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integrals, steps, operations, elements, components and / or a collection thereof.

[0012] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" as described in this specification mean that one or more embodiments of this application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," "in still other embodiments," etc., appearing in different parts of this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more, but not all, embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and variations thereof mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0013] With the rapid development of the global payment market, especially electronic payment, the number of payment devices has also increased significantly. Moreover, payment devices are widely distributed, and payment devices from the same supplier may be used in different countries and regions. Existing technologies usually adopt centralized or decentralized architectures to manage these devices. However, centralized architectures have a high risk of single point of failure and the problem that business is difficult to continue when the network is interrupted; while decentralized architectures are difficult to achieve globally unified monitoring and configuration. It can be seen that the management of payment devices in existing technologies has the problems of high management difficulty and high cost. In summary, in related technologies, the management system corresponding to payment devices usually simply adopts a centralized or decentralized architecture, which has the following shortcomings: (1) centralized architecture has a high risk of single point of failure and business is difficult to continue when the network is interrupted; (2) decentralized management is difficult to achieve globally unified monitoring and configuration; (3) the network conditions, policies and regulations and business needs of each region are very different, making it difficult to adapt flexibly; (4) the system has insufficient scalability, the deployment of new regions is complicated, and the operation and maintenance costs are high.

[0014] To address the aforementioned problems, this application provides a payment device management system and method. The following is a detailed description of the payment device management system of this application, in which a global management server and regional node servers work together to manage payment devices, such as POS machines and cash registers.

[0015] Please refer to Figure 1 The payment device management system 1 of this application includes a global management server 2 and regional node servers 3, and the global management server 2 is remotely connected to at least two regional node servers 3.

[0016] Global Management Server 2 is used to divide at least two management regions based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, with each regional node server corresponding to a management region; it configures global management policies and sends the global management policies to the regional node servers.

[0017] As can be seen, the global management server is responsible for formulating global general policies, such as transaction risk control policies, unified device security authentication standards, and core business function configurations. Core business functions include remote upgrades of general modules and standard log formats. Furthermore, the registration management, unified authentication and authorization, data aggregation and analysis, network-wide monitoring, and unified configuration publishing processes for payment devices are all completed within the global management server. In other words, the global management server maintains comprehensive information storage for payment devices. In addition to the aforementioned general policies, the global management policies also include policy templates. General policies are those that payment devices can directly execute and do not change due to changes in the management region where the payment device is located. Policy templates are policies whose specific parameters can be adjusted by each management region according to its own characteristics, such as network conditions, compliance requirements, and business models.

[0018] The regional node server is used to adjust the global management policy based on the real-time status to obtain the regional management policy, and then distribute the regional management policy to the payment device.

[0019] As can be seen, regional node servers are deployed in their corresponding management regions and, in conjunction with the local business scenarios, network environment, and regulatory requirements of those regions, perform functions such as local payment device access, business processing, data storage, and security protection. A management region can be, for example, an administrative division such as a country / region. Regional node servers support adjusting global management policies issued by the global management server, such as adjusting policy templates within global management policies. For example, configuring protocols or payment gateway interfaces for different management regions; adjusting parameters in policy templates to match the requirements of different management regions, such as transaction limits, sensitive field encryption, and message formats, to achieve customized processing that matches the management region; and dynamically adjusting risk parameters, including transaction thresholds and blacklist synchronization strategies.

[0020] In this way, the global management server divides management areas based on the distributed environment information, and each management area is configured with a separate regional node server. Furthermore, the global management server sets global management policies, which are abstractions of specific management methods. For example, they may provide options for setting limits and encrypting sensitive fields for payment devices. The specific limit numbers and the sensitive fields to be encrypted can be adjusted by the regional node servers based on real-time status to obtain a suitable regional management policy for their respective management areas. Thus, the global management server can uniformly configure the parameters required for payment devices, while the specific parameter values ​​can be configured on the regional node servers. Each regional node server manages the payment devices within its corresponding management area. This method of the global management server managing the regional node servers reduces the burden on the global management server and allows it to independently manage the payment devices within its management area. Even when unable to connect to the global management server, the regional node servers can still independently complete the management tasks for the payment devices, ensuring system stability.

[0021] In one embodiment of this application, the regional node server is also used to receive a device access request from a payment device and access the payment device after the payment device's authentication is successful.

[0022] In this way, the regional node server directly connects to the payment device, and the payment device accesses the regional node server corresponding to its own management area, which improves communication efficiency. Furthermore, the payment device can only be connected and added to the management after being verified by the regional node server, thereby preventing the regional node server from connecting to payment devices of unknown identity and ensuring system security.

[0023] In one embodiment of this application, the regional node server is further configured to create a temporary management policy and send the temporary management policy to the global management server; the global management server is further configured to verify the temporary management policy and then add the temporary management policy to the global management policy.

[0024] In this way, the global management server can directly add the temporary management policies created by the regional node servers to the global management policies after verification. This way, when the regional nodes need to configure temporary management policies in the future, there is no need to verify with the global management server. Furthermore, the global management server can also learn the temporary management policies from the regional node servers to update its own global management policies, thereby achieving automatic optimization of the global management policies.

[0025] In one embodiment of this application, a payment device connected to a regional node server is also included. The payment device can match a corresponding management region based on its current geographical location and establish a connection with the regional node server corresponding to that management region. The payment device can apply to switch management regions, but this requires authentication by the global management server before the regional management server can complete the switching process. The payment device has network connectivity, enabling it to remotely receive data from the regional node server for remote upgrades, status monitoring, and fault alarms. Furthermore, it maintains efficient communication with the regional node server to ensure stable operation of the payment device.

[0026] Reference Figure 3This document provides another example diagram of a payment device management system according to this application. The global management server distributes global management policies to the regional node servers through a connection between the global management server and the regional node servers. Data synchronization between the global management server and the regional node servers ensures that the global management server can obtain the latest information from each regional node server in a timely manner. The regional node servers are connected to payment devices; taking a POS device as an example, after connecting, the regional node servers manage the POS device's access information, process business requests sent by the POS device, control the reporting interval of the POS device, receive the reported data from the POS device, and control the network recovery operation of the POS device, thus forming a three-level control architecture.

[0027] In summary, the payment device management system of this application can be used to implement the following payment device management method: a distributed asynchronous synchronization mechanism is adopted between the global management server and the regional node servers, using incremental synchronization and conflict resolution algorithms to ensure the consistency and real-time performance of data in the global management server and the regional node servers; the regional management server supports regional differentiated configuration management, and the regional node servers can customize regional management strategies according to network environment, regulations and policies, and business needs to achieve differentiated local configuration and management strategies for different management regions; at the same time, the overall system operation security is ensured through multi-layer control methods such as identity authentication, node access control, data encryption, and operation auditing; if a new management region is added, only the corresponding regional management server needs to be configured, and it can quickly intervene by obtaining the global management strategy from the global management server, automatically completing the device registration and configuration distribution process, and realizing a highly available rapid expansion mechanism; for each regional node server, it does not completely depend on the global management server for operation, but achieves autonomy for each regional node server, each regional node server is independently managed, can operate automatically after network disconnection, and is configured with data caching and recovery mechanisms to improve the overall robustness of the system.

[0028] This application also provides a payment device management method, which can be used in the aforementioned payment device management system. The payment device in this application can be an electronic device capable of completing a payment process, such as a POS machine or cash register.

[0029] The following describes in detail a payment device management method of the present invention, with reference to the appendix. Figure 3 This includes steps 110 to 120.

[0030] Step 110: The global management server divides at least two management regions based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, with each regional node server corresponding to a management region; configures the global management policy and sends the global management policy to the regional node server.

[0031] A business-scenario-based policy template is configured in the global management server, including parameters such as transaction limits, upgrade frequency, and log reporting cycle. This template is then distributed to regional node servers as part of the global management policy. Furthermore, dynamic template distribution can be configured for each regional node server; for example, regional node server A can receive only a policy template including transaction limits and upgrade frequency, while regional node server B can receive only a template including upgrade frequency and log reporting cycle. The policy templates are defined in a structured model, such as using a TLV (Type-length-value) format. Version numbers can be added to record different versions of the policy template, facilitating maintenance. Each policy template includes parameter definitions, adjustable parameter ranges, and signature verification.

[0032] Step 120: The regional node server adjusts the global management policy according to the real-time status to obtain the regional management policy, and then distributes the regional management policy to the payment device.

[0033] After receiving the global management policy, the regional node server adjusts the policy template locally based on the local business, compliance requirements, and real-time status of its corresponding management region. For example, it dynamically adjusts the transaction frequency detection parameters to cope with holiday peaks in different management regions, automatically enables local firewall rules to deal with security threats, and adjusts the data reporting interval of payment devices when network jitter occurs in the management region, thereby avoiding channel occupation caused by multiple invalid reports by increasing the reporting interval.

[0034] The following are examples of how regional node servers adjust parameters based on real-time status according to global management strategies: (1) Peak holiday season: dynamically increase the high-frequency transaction detection threshold; (2) Network jitter: temporarily reduce the heartbeat frequency to alleviate network pressure; (3) Security alarm: temporarily enable higher risk control level or blacklist check; (4) Data compliance: dynamically enable de-identification strategy level in different regions.

[0035] In one embodiment of this application, the regional node server records the modifications made to the global management policy and uploads them to the global management server. The global management server can then optimize the current global policy template based on the modifications made to the global management policy by each regional node server.

[0036] In one embodiment of this application, step 110, in which the global management server divides at least two management regions based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, includes dividing regions that share at least two of the following characteristics into the same management region: geographic information, business scenario, network environment, regulatory requirements, and regional agreements.

[0037] In this way, regions that share at least two of the following characteristics—geographic information, business scenarios, network environment, regulatory requirements, and regional agreements—are classified as a single management region. This means that payment devices within a management region have the same management needs and can therefore accept the same or similar regional management strategies. This facilitates the unified configuration of payment devices within the management region. For example, a management region can be a region corresponding to an administrative division.

[0038] In one embodiment of this application, step 130 is also included.

[0039] Step 130: The global management server obtains the temporary management policy from the regional node server and verifies the temporary management policy. If the verification passes, the execution command corresponding to the temporary management policy is sent to the regional node server. That is, if parameters not covered in the global management policy are involved, the regional node server can formulate a temporary management policy based on its current needs. However, to ensure the security of the execution of the temporary management policy, it needs to be confirmed by the global management server before it can be sent to the payment device. This avoids the problem that the global management server cannot fully handle a large number of management areas and ensures that all ultimately executed management policies are certified by the global management server.

[0040] In this way, the temporary management policies configured by the regional node server itself need to be verified by the global management server before they can be issued. This ensures the security of the temporary management policies configured by the regional node server and synchronizes the information between the regional node server and the global management server. That is, the management behavior of the regional node server needs to be backed up on the global management server. The security of the command issuance process is ensured by the verification method of the global management server, and unverified commands are avoided.

[0041] In one embodiment of this application, step 130, verifying the temporary management policy, further includes: if the verification passes, adding the temporary management policy to the global management policy. That is, for the temporary management policy generated by the regional node server according to its needs, the global management server adds it to the global management policy so that other regional node servers can directly use the global management policy to complete the configuration without having to regenerate the temporary management policy.

[0042] In this way, after the temporary management policy is verified, not only is the regional node server allowed to issue the temporary management policy to the payment device, but the temporary management policy is also directly added to the global management policy. In this way, the global management server can automatically learn optimization information for the global management policy from the temporary management policies submitted by the regional node server, thereby achieving self-updating.

[0043] In one embodiment of this application, steps 141 to 142 are also included.

[0044] Step 141: The regional node server receives the regional switching request sent by the payment device and forwards the regional switching request to the global management server.

[0045] Step 142: The global management server verifies the region switching request. If the verification passes, it sends the region switching instruction corresponding to the region switching request to the region node server, instructing the region node server to send the payment device's data to another region node server according to the region switching instruction.

[0046] In this way, when a payment device needs to switch management servers, confirmation is required from three parties: the regional node server currently connected to the payment device, the regional node server the payment device needs to switch to, and the global management server. This means the payment device cannot change its management region on its own, ensuring that it can be used within a defined scope. If the payment device exceeds its configured scope, an application is required. Since the owner of the payment device is usually a bank, while the actual user is the merchant, the ownership and user are separate. Therefore, for the owner to ensure that the payment device is used within its permitted scope for easy management, switching regional node servers (i.e., switching management regions) requires verification from the global management server, ensuring the security of the payment device's region switching process.

[0047] In one embodiment of this application, steps 151 to 153 are also included.

[0048] Step 151: When the regional node server disconnects from the global management server, it caches local data and event logs. This means that the regional node server can operate independently to ensure local business continuity when the global management server is unavailable or the network is interrupted.

[0049] Step 152: When the regional node server connects to the global management server, it uploads local data and event logs.

[0050] Step 153: The global management server synchronizes local data and event logs via incremental updates. After the connection is restored, the regional node server reconnects with the global management server and synchronizes, ensuring the integrity and consistency of data on both the regional node server and the global management server.

[0051] In this way, when the regional node server disconnects from the global management server, it continues to cache local data and event logs to manage the corresponding payment devices. When reconnecting to the global management server, it uses incremental updates to synchronize data between the global management server and the regional node server. This allows the regional node server to manage independently while simultaneously synchronizing data in the regional node server as a backup, enabling traceability in case of problems.

[0052] In one embodiment of this application, step 120, in which the regional node server adjusts the global management policy according to the real-time status to obtain the regional management policy, includes steps 121 to 123.

[0053] Step 121: The regional node server obtains the parameters in the global management policy, and adjusts the parameters according to the current time characteristics, current network status, security alarm information and regional rules to obtain the regional management policy.

[0054] Step 122: The regional node server sends the regional management policy to the global management server.

[0055] Step 123: The global management server adjusts the global management policy according to the regional management policy.

[0056] In this way, after adjusting the parameters in the global management policy sent by the global management server, the regional node server sends the adjusted regional management policy back to the global management server. In this way, the global management server can directly adjust the global management policy based on the adjustments made by the regional node server compared to the global management policy. The global policy can be adjusted when more than a preset number of unified feedbacks are received. For example, if more than 100 regional node servers change the limit to 200,000, the default limit can be adjusted to 200,000 in the global management policy. After the global management policy is sent to the regional node server, the regional node server does not need to adjust the specific parameters corresponding to the limit, thus improving the efficiency of configuring the regional management policy.

[0057] In summary, this application provides a payment device management system and method. Each regional node server can operate autonomously, achieving unified management of payment devices within its respective management area. Simultaneously, each regional node server is connected to a global management server, enabling unified management of all regional node servers. By connecting multiple regional node servers to a global management server, with each regional node server corresponding to a management area, and by connecting payment devices to regional node servers, this approach, tailored to the payment device management characteristics of different management areas, enhances local business continuity, data integrity, and cross-regional adaptability within each management area while ensuring unified management of all payment devices.

[0058] The above-mentioned payment device management system and method are applied to a real-world scenario, with a globally unified management center configured as the global management server, which connects to multiple regional node servers.

[0059] The Global Unified Management Center is responsible for formulating overall management strategies, which include general strategies and strategy templates.

[0060] The general strategy includes transaction risk control strategies, unified device security authentication standards, and core business function configurations. Core business function configurations include remote upgrade of general modules and log standard formats. In other words, the general strategy is a strategy that can be used regardless of the geographical location of the payment device or the corresponding regional rules. Therefore, for newly added management regions, they can directly obtain the general strategy issued by the global unified management center to quickly complete the access.

[0061] The policy template includes regional characteristic parameters, meaning different management regions will have different parameter values ​​set according to their specific circumstances, such as network conditions, compliance requirements, and business models. The corresponding regional node servers for each management region can configure specific parameters according to their own situations. Meanwhile, the global unified management center provides standardized interfaces to achieve bidirectional communication and data synchronization with the regional node servers. This is equivalent to step 110 above.

[0062] Regional node servers are deployed in their corresponding management regions. For example, if the corresponding management region is country A, then the servers are deployed in country A. This way, the regional node servers are geographically close to their corresponding management regions, and the data transmission efficiency is correspondingly higher.

[0063] After receiving the global management policy, the regional node server can directly deploy the general policies. However, the policy templates need to be adjusted according to the actual situation of the management region where the regional node server is located. For example, if the management region is currently experiencing peak holiday periods, the high-frequency transaction detection threshold needs to be dynamically increased. If network jitter occurs, the heartbeat frequency should be reduced within a preset time period to alleviate network pressure, and a normal heartbeat connection should be established after the network returns to normal. For security alerts, if the management region has different standards for security procedures, a higher risk control level or a blacklist check corresponding to the management region needs to be enabled. In this way, the policy template is personalized to adapt to the specific needs of the management region. This is equivalent to step 120 above.

[0064] The above are merely embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent modifications made based on the content of the present invention's specification and drawings, or direct or indirect applications in related technical fields, are similarly included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A payment device management system, characterized in that, It includes a global management server and regional node servers, wherein the global management server is remotely connected to at least two of the regional node servers; The global management server is used to divide at least two management regions based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, and the regional node servers correspond one-to-one with the management regions; configure global management policies and send the global management policies to the regional node servers; The regional node server is used to adjust the global management strategy according to the real-time status to obtain the regional management strategy, and then distribute the regional management strategy to the payment device.

2. The payment device management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The regional node server is also used to receive the device access request from the payment device, and to access the payment device after the payment device's authentication is successful.

3. The payment device management system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The regional node server is also used to create temporary management policies and send the temporary management policies to the global management server; The global management server is also used to verify the temporary management policy and then add the temporary management policy to the global management policy.

4. A method for managing payment devices, characterized in that, An application to a payment device management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising: The global management server divides the distribution environment information of all payment devices into at least two management regions, and each region node server corresponds one-to-one with the management region; it configures a global management policy and sends the global management policy to the region node server; The regional node server adjusts the global management strategy based on the real-time status to obtain the regional management strategy, and then distributes the regional management strategy to the payment device.

5. The payment device management method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The global management server divides at least two management regions based on the distribution environment information of all payment devices, including: Areas that share at least two of the following characteristics—geographic information, business scenarios, network environment, regulatory requirements, and regional agreements—are classified as the same management area.

6. The payment device management method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Also includes: The global management server obtains the temporary management policy of the regional node server and verifies the temporary management policy. If the verification passes, it sends the execution instruction corresponding to the temporary management policy to the regional node server.

7. The payment device management method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The verification of the temporary management strategy also includes: If the verification passes, the temporary management strategy will be added to the global management strategy.

8. The payment device management method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Also includes: The regional node server receives the regional switching request sent by the payment device and forwards the regional switching request to the global management server; The global management server verifies the region switching request. If the verification passes, it sends a region switching instruction corresponding to the region switching request to the region node server, instructing the region node server to send the data of the payment device to another region node server according to the region switching instruction.

9. A payment device management method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Also includes: When the regional node server disconnects from the global management server, it caches local data and event logs. When the regional node server connects to the global management server, it uploads the local data and event logs. The global management server synchronizes the local data and event logs through incremental updates.

10. A payment device management method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The regional node server adjusts the global management policy based on the real-time status to obtain the regional management policy, which includes: The regional node server obtains the parameters in the global management policy, and adjusts the parameters according to the current time characteristics, current network status, security alarm information and regional rules to obtain the regional management policy; The regional node server sends the regional management policy to the global management server. The global management server adjusts the global management policy according to the regional management policy.

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