Auto-Pause Recurring Payments via Merchant Closure Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems lack an efficient method for dynamically verifying and managing recurring payment transactions, particularly in the context of merchant loyalty programs, which require real-time location-based validation and user engagement.
Innovation Solution
A method that utilizes GPS data from mobile devices to determine a user's location and trigger automated verification of their loyalty status with merchants. This involves API calls to merchant databases, notification generation for registration, and the creation of digital loyalty accounts upon user confirmation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual loyalty enrollment processes are used, then system complexity is reduced, but productivity and user engagement are decreased
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically detects user presence at merchant locations using GPS data, verifies loyalty status through API calls to merchant databases, and enrolls users in loyalty programs without manual intervention. The mobile device autonomously performs location monitoring, verification requests, and enrollment confirmation, eliminating the need for manual enrollment processes while maintaining system simplicity through automated workflows.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary verification of user loyalty status by sending API calls to merchant databases before completing the enrollment process. This preliminary action allows the system to check existing loyalty accounts and prepare enrollment data in advance, streamlining the overall enrollment process and improving efficiency without adding significant complexity.
2Measurement precision
If real-time location monitoring is implemented, then measurement precision of user location is improved, but use of energy by mobile device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system monitors GPS location data at periodic intervals rather than continuously, checking user location at specific moments during the enrollment process. This periodic monitoring approach maintains sufficient location accuracy for determining whether the user is at the merchant location while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous GPS tracking.
3Productivity
If automated verification processes are used, then productivity of loyalty management is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses API calls as an intermediary mechanism to communicate with merchant databases for loyalty verification. This standardized interface layer simplifies the complexity by providing a uniform method for data exchange between the mobile device and various merchant systems, allowing automated verification to proceed efficiently without requiring the device to handle complex database protocols directly.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for implementing an auto-pause functionality for recurring payment transactions that continue to be charged, despite being associated with an unavailable merchant service as mandated by a public closure restriction. One operational aspect of the disclosed system/method is active detection of a possible closure condition based on monitoring a ratio of on-line (Card Not Present) to in-person (Card Present) transactions, internally computed over several time windows. The outcome of the ratio test falling below a predefined value is indicative of a possible public closure condition. There is an external verification step based on externally provided information associated with a published closure notification. Disclosed process further involves an indexing operation for parsing and tracking of recurring transaction string data to facilitate the identification of invalid recurring transaction strings, once a public closure condition is verified.