System and method for personalizing electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services

Abstract

A system and method for personalising the content of a customer’s 20 restricted area or account of an electronic payment website comprises a user device 12 preparing a user identifier (ID) with a refe

Description

Technical Field This invention concerns a system and method for customizing electronic payment systems and / or access to additional digital services that are particularly, though not exclusively, useful and practical in the context of electronic payments made using payment cards, such as credit cards, debit cards, or reloadable prepaid cards. Background As is well known, electronic payments differ from traditional payment systems in that they do not require the physical transfer of cash, which is replaced by electronic money (electronic currency or e-money). For example, an electronic payment can be defined as in the American Education E- Payment Definition (2008): an electronic payment (e-payment) occurs when monetary value is transferred electronically or digitally between two entities (e.g., banks or individual consumers). Various types of electronic payments are known nowadays, including payments through credit cards, debit cards, or reloadable prepaid cards. Commonly, these electronic payments are made through well-known payment circuits, such as VISA®, Mastercard®, Maestro®, PayPal®, etc. In everyday practice, electronic card payments are made by connecting an identifying element, consisting of a card commonly referred to as a "card" (credit, debit, or prepaid), in the possession of the user making the electronic payment, to an electronic payment terminal commonly referred to as a POS (an acronym for "point of sale") that is normally connected with a remote processing centre of a bank or company offering the service. Following appropriate checks, the remote processing centre authorizes the execution of the electronic payment, said transaction, i.e., the transfer of electronic currency from the bank account or virtual wallet of the cardholder's payment card user electronic to the bank account or virtual wallet of the beneficiary entity. With reference to Figure 2, electronic payment systems 14 are known to provide access 30 to a user area, via a website or mobile application, through a processing device 12 associated with the cardholder (or more generally the instrument) electronic payment user and operated by the same user. User computing device 12 can be a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, or a fixed device, such as a desktop computer or notebook computer. Access to the user's restricted area in the electronic payment system 14 occurs when the user receives 31 at least one unique user identifier (user ID), preferably accompanied by one or more other data held by the same user, such as a password, date of birth, biometric data, etc. Once logged in, in this restricted area the user has the ability to manage their card (or more generally of their instrument) of electronic payment, monitor related transactions, etc. Currently, in this restricted area, the user enjoys a predefined context / graphical appearance, and thus the electronic payment system 14 displays 32 a plurality of predefined data and content. For example, this predefined data and content may include a predefined static electronic payment card image (Card Layout), predefined text, predefined graphic elements in the form of colours, fonts, images, etc. However, known electronic payment systems, and in particular their user restricted areas, are not without their drawbacks, among which is the fact that these known restricted areas are overly standardized and monotonous, and they do not differ in any way from one user to another and / or from one card (or more generally from one instrument) of electronic payment to another. Summary The primary task of the present disclosure is to overcome the limitations of the known art set forth above by devising a system and method for customizing electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services that enable better effects than can be achieved with known solutions and / or similar effects at lower cost and higher performance. As part of this task, one purpose of the present disclosure is to devise a system and method for the customization of electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services that would allow these systems to be tailored to the needs of individual users, e.g., holders of respective cards (or more generally of respective electronic payment instruments). Another purpose of the present disclosure is to devise a system and method for the customization of electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services that enable the restricted areas of these systems to be tailored to the needs of individual users, e.g., holders of respective cards (or more generally of respective electronic payment instruments). A further purpose of the present disclosure is to devise a system and method for the customization of systems by electronic payment, particularly through cards by payment, and / or access to additional digital services that make it possible to adapt the context / graphical appearance of the restricted areas of these systems to the needs of individual users, e.g., holders of respective cards (or more generally of respective electronic payment instruments). Not the least purpose of this disclosure is to realize a system and method for customizing electronic payment systems and / or access to additional digital services that are highly reliable, relatively simple to implement, and economically competitive when compared to known technique. This task, as well as these and other purposes that will better appear later, are achieved by a system for personalization of electronic payment systems, as claimed in claim 1. The intended task and purposes are also achieved by a method for the personalization of electronic payment systems, as claimed in claim 7. Brief Description of the Drawings Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will result more from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, form of implementation of the system and method for the customization of electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services as found, illustrated by way of illustration and not limitation with the aid of the attached drawings, in which: Figure lisa block diagram schematically showing one form of system implementation for personalization of electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services according to the present disclosure; Figure 2 is a flowchart schematically showing the operation of an electronic payment system, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services of known types; Figure 3 is a flowchart showing schematically a form of method implementation for customizing electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services according to the present disclosure. Detailed Description of the Drawings With reference to Figures 1 and 3, the system for customizing electronic payment systems and / or access to additional digital services according to this disclosure, referred to collectively as reference number 10, substantially comprises a processing device 12 operated by a user 20 (user device 12 for short), an electronic payment system 14, and a personalization device 16. Advantageously, the system 10 according to the finding further includes a plurality of public information devices 18. The user device 12, the electronic payment system 14, the personalization device 16 and, if any, the plurality of public information devices 18 are connected to each other and in communication through a telematics 22 communication network, such as the Internet. As mentioned above, user device 12 is associated with user 20 who owns the card (or more generally the instrument) of electronic payment and is operated by the same user 20. As mentioned, user device 12 can be a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, or a fixed device, such as a desktop computer or notebook computer. User device 12 is configured to collect 30 at least an identifier unique user 20 identifier (user ID) entered or stored in the user device 12 by the same user 20, and to send 30 the user 20 identifier to the electronic payment system 14, preferably following a send command from the user 20. The user 20 identifier is used to access 30 to a restricted user area 20 in the electronic payment system 14 via a website or mobile application. Preferably, at this login stage, the user 20 identifier is accompanied by one or more other data held by the same user 20, such as a password, date of birth, biometric data, etc. The electronic payment system 14 is configured to receive 31 the user ID 20 from the user device 12, and to authorize 31 access to the restricted area to the user device 12, and then to the same user 20, preferably following appropriate verification of known type. For example, the above verification, preferably performed by the payment system electronic payment system 14 to authorize access to the restricted area for user 20, may include a comparison of user 20's newly received identifier with a list of the identifiers of all users authorized to access their respective restricted areas in the same electronic payment system 14. User device 12 is further configured to collect 33 at least one reference code entered or stored in user device 12 by user 20, and to send 33 the reference code to electronic payment system 14, preferably following a send command from user 20. For example, the reference code held by user 20 may include: an email address, a nickname, a call sign, a tax code, a VAT number, a coupon code, etc. The electronic payment system 14 is further configured to receive 34 the reference code from the user device 12, and to send 34 both the user ID 20 and the reference code, as soon as received, to the personalization device 16. The personalization device 16 is configured to receive 35 both the user ID 20 and the reference code from the electronic payment system 14, associating them with each other. Appropriately, the personalization device 16 is further configured to record both the user ID 20 and the reference code, just received, in a memory of the same device 16. The personalization device 16 is further configured to extract 36, from a memory of the same device 16, a first plurality of distinctive data and content associated with and / or related to both the user identifier 20 and the reference code, as soon as they are received. The personalization device 16 is further configured to define 38 a plurality of personalized data and content by applying an appropriate personalized algorithm for the user identifier 20 based on the first plurality of distinctive data and content, which has just been extracted. Advantageously, the personalization device 16 is further configured to search 37, in the plurality of devices public information 18 devices, and extract 37, from the same public information 18 devices, a second plurality of distinctive data and content associated with and / or related to both the user 20 identifier and the reference code, as soon as they are received. Public information 18 devices are public information sources, managed by third parties, available and reachable through the telematics 22 communication network, such as the Internet, through standard communication protocols and / or known techniques, such as API, WS, Crawler, Screen Scraping, etc. Advantageously, within the framework of the definition 38 above, the personalization device 16 is further configured to cross 38 the first plurality of distinctive data and content, extracted from the memory of the same personalization device 16, and the second plurality of distinctive data and content, extracted from the public information devices 18. Advantageously, still within the 38 definition above, the personalization device 16 is further configured to define 38 the plurality of data and content customized, applying the customized algorithm for user identifier 20, based on either the first plurality of data and distinctive content and the second plurality of data and distinctive content, newly extracted, or based on the intersection of the first plurality of data and distinctive content and the second plurality of data and distinctive content, newly extracted. For example, this customized data and content may include a customized static electronic payment card image (Card Layout), customized text, customized graphic elements in the form of colours, fonts, images, etc. The personalization device 16 is further configured to send 38 the newly defined plurality of personalized data and content to the electronic payment system 14. The electronic payment 14 system is further configured to receive 39 the plurality of personalized data and content from the personalization 16 device, and to display 40 the same plurality of customized data and content, just received, thus changing its context / graphical appearance according to what received. Finally, appropriately, the user device 12 shows the plurality of personalized data and content, and thus the personalized context / graphical appearance of the electronic payment system 14, to the user 20. In practice, it was seen how the present disclosure fully fulfils its intended task and purposes. In particular, it has been seen how the system and method for customizing electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services thus devised enable the qualitative limitations of the known art to be overcome, in that they achieve better effects than can be achieved with the known solutions and / or similar effects at lower cost and higher performance. An advantage of the system and method for customizing electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services according to the present finding is that they allow these systems to be tailored to the needs of individual users, e.g. holders of respective payment cards (or more generally of respective payment instruments) electronic. Another advantage of the system and method for customizing electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services according to the present invention is that they allow the restricted areas of these systems to be adapted to the needs of individual users, e.g., holders of respective cards (or more generally of respective instruments) of electronic payment. A further advantage of the system and method for customizing electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services according to the present finding is that they allow the context / graphical appearance of the restricted areas of these systems to be adapted to the needs of individual users, e.g. holders of respective cards (or more generally of respective instruments) of electronic payment. Although the system and method for customizing electronic payment systems and / or access to additional digital services according to the invention were designed specifically to use in the context of electronic payments made through electronic payment cards, such as credit cards, debit cards, or reloadable prepaid cards, they may still be used, more generally, for any type of electronic payment and thus for electronic payments made through any electronic payment instrument, such as through smartphones. The present disclosure thus conceived is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations, all of which fall within the scope of the attached claims. Except where otherwise indicated, the various forms of realization described above may be combined to provide additional and / or alternative forms of realization. In addition, this description covers combinations of variants and preferred forms of realization not explicitly described. In addition, all details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements. In practice, the materials used, as long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the contingent sizes and shapes may be any according to needs and the state of the art. In conclusion, the scope of protection of the claims should not be limited by the preferred figures or forms of embodiment illustrated in the description in the form of examples, but rather the claims should encompass all features of patentable novelty that reside in the present invention, including all features that would be treated as equivalent by the branch engineer.

Claims

1. A system (10) for personalization of electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services, comprising a processing device (12) operated by a user (20), an electronic payment system (14), and a personalization device (16), mutually connected and in communication through a telematics communication network (22), characterized by the fact that said user device (12) is configured to:collect at least one identifier of said user (20) to access a restricted area for said user (20) in said electronic payment system (14), and send said identifier of said user (20) to said electronic payment system (14); andcollect at least one reference code, and send said reference code toward said electronic payment system (14);said electronic payment system (14) is configured to:receive said user ID (20), and authorize an access to said restricted area to said user device (12); andreceive said reference code, and send both said user identifier (20) and said reference code toward said personalization device (16);said customization device (16) is configured to:receive both said user's identifier (20) and said reference code, and associating them with each other;extract, from a memory of said personalization device (16), a first plurality of distinctive data and content associated with and / or related to both said user identifier (20) and said reference code;define a plurality of personalized data and content, and applying a personalized algorithm for said user's identifier (20), based on said first plurality of distinctive data and content;send said plurality of personalized data and content to said electronic payment system (14); said electronic payment system (14) is further configured to receive and display said plurality of data and personalized content.

2. The system (10) according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of public information devices(18) reachable through said telematics communication network (22), characterized by the fact that said personalization device (16) is further configured to: search for and extract, in / from said plurality of public information devices (18), a second plurality of distinctive data and content associated with and / or related to both said user identifier (20) both to said reference code; anddefine said plurality of personalized data and content, applying said personalized algorithm for said user identifier (20), based on both said first plurality of distinctive data and content and said second plurality of distinctive data and content.

3. The system (10) according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that said customization device (16) is further configured to:cross-reference said first plurality of distinctive data and contents, extracted from said memory of said personalization device (16), and said second plurality of distinctive data and content extracted from said plurality of public information devices (18); anddefine said plurality of personalized data and content, applying said personalized algorithm for said user identifier (20), based on the intersection of said first plurality of distinctive data and content and said second plurality of distinctive data and content.

4. The system (10) according to any of the preceding claims, where said reference code held by said user (20) includes: an email address, a nickname, a call sign, a tax ID, a VAT number, and / or a coupon code.

5. The system (10) according to any of the preceding claims, where, when accessing said user's (20) restricted area in said electronic payment system (14), said user's (20) identifier is accompanied by one or more other data in the possession of said user (20).

6. The system (10) according to any of the preceding claims, where said user device (12) is a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, or a fixed device, such as a desktop computer or notebook computer.

7. A method for personalization of electronic payment systems, particularly through payment cards, and / or access to additional digital services, by means of a user-operated (12) processing device (20), an electronic payment system (14), and a personalization device (16), mutually connected and in communication through a telematics communication network (22), characterized by the fact that the method includes the steps of:collecting (30) at least one identifier of said user (20) to access (30) a restricted area for said user (20) in said electronic payment system (14), and send (30) said identifier of said user (20) to said electronic payment system (14), through said user device (12);receiving (31) said user ID (20), and authorizing (31) an access to said restricted area to said user device (12), through said electronic payment system (14);collecting (33) at least one reference code, and sending (33) said reference code toward said electronic payment system (14), through said user device (12);receiving (34) said reference code, and send (34) both said identifier of said user(20) both said reference code to said personalization device (16), through said electronic payment system (14);receiving (35) both said user identifier (20) and said reference code, associating them with each other, through said personalization device (16);extracting (36), from a memory of said personalization device (16), a first plurality of distinctive data and content associated with and / or related to both said user identifier (20) both to said reference code, through said personalization device (16);defining (38) a plurality of personalized data and content, applying a personalized algorithm for said user's identifier (20), based on said first plurality of distinctive data and content, and sending (38) said plurality of personalized data and content toward said electronic payment system (14), through said personalization device (16); andreceiving (39) and view (40) said plurality of personalized data and content, through said electronic payment system (14).

8. The method according to claim 7, through further a plurality of public information devices (18) reachable through said telematic communication network (22), characterized by further comprising the steps consisting of:searching and extracting (37), in / from said plurality of public information devices (18), a second plurality of distinctive data and content associated with and / or related to both said user identifier (20) and said reference code, through said personalization device (16);defining (38) said plurality of personalized data and content, applying said personalized algorithm for said user identifier (20), based on both said first plurality of distinctive data and content and said second plurality of distinctive data and content, through said personalization device (16).

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized by the fact that it further includes steps consisting of:crossing (38) said first plurality of distinctive data and content, extracted from said memory of said personalization device (16), and said second plurality of distinctive data and content, extracted from said plurality of public information devices (18), through said personalization device (16); anddefining (38) said plurality of personalized data and content, applying said personalized algorithm for said user identifier (20), based on the intersection of said first plurality of distinctive data and content and said second plurality of distinctive data and content, through said personalization device (16).

10. The method according to any of claims 7 to 9, where said reference code held by said user (20) includes: an email address, a nickname, a call sign, a tax identification number, a VAT number, and / or a coupon code.

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