Real-Time Donation Processing System with Token Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for online donations to charities often face delays in transferring funds and lack mechanisms for real-time authentication of charity status, which can lead to fraud concerns and hinder the immediate availability of donations.
Innovation Solution
A system that enables real-time processing of donations by using tokens associated with donor and donee accounts, facilitating immediate debit and credit through financial institutions, and includes a charity vetting process to authenticate tax-exempt status, ensuring secure and transparent transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional credit card, debit card, e-check, or wire transfer methods are used for online donations, then the transaction appears real-time to donors, but the funds take days to be transferred to the charity's bank account
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a payment processor as an intermediary between the donor's financial institution and the charity's financial institution. This intermediary enables real-time or near-real-time fund transfers by coordinating directly with both banks, eliminating the multi-day delay inherent in traditional wire transfer methods while maintaining transaction reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical fund transfer mechanisms (wire transfers, checks) with an electronic digital payment system that uses token-based authentication and direct bank connectivity. This substitution enables real-time processing by eliminating the physical clearing and settlement steps required in traditional methods.
2Productivity
If charities operate and maintain their own websites for receiving online donations, then they can accept donations directly, but underfunded charities and individual fundraisers cannot always afford the labor costs and maintenance requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal payment processing platform that serves multiple functions: it provides the technical infrastructure for online donations, handles authentication, processes transactions, and manages fund transfers. This multi-functional system eliminates the need for individual charities to maintain separate websites, as the platform serves all charities through a single unified interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables charities to donate without requiring them to build or maintain their own technical infrastructure. The system automatically handles authentication, payment processing, and fund transfers, allowing charities to simply provide their bank account information and receive donations through the automated platform.
3Reliability
If charities do not have real-time authentication mechanisms, then they can process donations quickly, but donors remain concerned about charity fraud and legitimacy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs charity authentication and verification actions before the donation transaction is completed. The system checks whether the charity is authorized to receive donations and verifies its legitimacy in advance, so that when a donor makes a contribution, the authentication is already complete and the donor can proceed with confidence.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent provides real-time feedback to donors about the authentication status of charities during the donation process. The system displays information about whether the charity has been verified and its legitimacy status, giving donors immediate feedback about the safety of their contribution while maintaining quick processing speeds.
Data Source
AI summary
A method implemented via execution of computing instructions configured to run at one or more processors and stored at one or more non-transitory computer-readable media. The method can include receiving, in real-time and through a computer network, a donation authorization from a donor via a donor user interface executed on a donor device. The donation authorization can include a donor token for the donor and a donee first token for a donee. The method further can include after receiving the donation authorization, facilitating, through the computer network, a sender financial institution to settle a donation amount with a receiver financial institution. A settlement time of when the sender financial institution settles the donation amount with the receiver financial institution can be independent from a posting time of when the receiver financial institution posts the donation amount to a donee account for the donee. Other embodiments are disclosed.