Compact Single Barcode for Temporary Payment Instruments
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing merchant-sponsored payment card systems generate large, encrypted barcodes for account numbers and expiration dates, requiring two barcodes due to the size of the encrypted or encoded sequence, which is inefficient for temporary payment instruments.
Innovation Solution
A method to create a temporary payment instrument with a single barcode by converting account numbers and expiration dates into a 4-bit binary payload, encrypting it, and encoding it for printing on a target material, such as receipt paper, allowing a consumer to make purchases until a permanent card is issued.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the account number and expiration date are converted to a binary sequence and encrypted, then the data is securely protected, but the barcode size becomes large requiring two barcodes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of data representation by converting the account number and expiration date into a compact 4-bit binary payload format before encryption. This parameter transformation reduces the data size significantly, allowing the encrypted barcode to be less than three inches wide while maintaining security through encryption of the compact payload.
2Reliability
If the binary sequence is encrypted to protect consumer information, then security is improved, but the barcode becomes too large to fit on a single temporary payment instrument
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds the encrypted payload within a compact barcode structure that fits on a single temporary payment instrument. The 4-bit binary payload is efficiently encoded and encrypted, then nested within a barcode format that maintains both security and compactness, eliminating the need for multiple separate barcodes.
Solution Approach 2:
By changing the data representation parameter to a compact 4-bit binary format before encryption, the system achieves both information protection and barcode compactness. This parameter transformation is key to fitting the encrypted data within a single barcode that is less than three inches wide.
3Reliability
If standard encryption methods are used on the account number and expiration date, then data security is ensured, but the resulting barcode is inefficient for temporary payment instruments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the data representation parameter by using a compact 4-bit binary payload format that is then encrypted. This parameter change improves productivity by enabling single-barcode generation while maintaining security, making the temporary payment instrument more efficient to process and use.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are systems and methods that provide a temporary payment instrument having a barcode with an encrypted account number and expiration date assigned to a consumer. For example, such systems and methods screen a consumer to determine whether he or she meets credit eligibility requirements established by a merchant card provider. If the candidate meets the credit eligibility, such systems and methods may assign a payment card account number and expiration date to the consumer, encrypt the payment card account number and expiration date, and generate a barcode that includes the payment card and account number embedded therein.