EMV Transaction Authorization Without Secure Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic payment systems face challenges in providing secure payment card functionality on user devices without a secure element, such as mobile phones, which may not have the necessary hardware or access to secure elements, and require modifications to EMV infrastructure or POS hardware.
Innovation Solution
A method for authorizing EMV transactions on user devices by generating and verifying a certificate with a hash based on an application expiration date parameter, allowing the certificate to expire on a specific day, and using session keys derived from an ICC Master Key held by the issuing bank, reducing the risk of attacks by limiting the validity period and usage of payment credentials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If payment applications are deployed on user devices without secure elements, then accessibility and ease of operation are improved, but security and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing certificate chains and hash verification mechanisms before transactions occur. The issuing bank pre-generates certificates with embedded expiration dates and hash values, and the terminal pre-loads trusted root certificates, creating a security framework in advance that operates without secure elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the parameter of certificate validity by incorporating expiration dates directly into the certificate structure. This temporal parameter change allows credentials to automatically become invalid after a specified period, providing time-based security control without requiring hardware enforcement.
2Reliability
If certificate expiration is enforced with day-level precision, then security against prolonged credential misuse is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a simplified copy of the expiration verification process by embedding hash values directly in the certificate. Instead of complex temporal validation logic, the terminal verifies certificates by comparing hash values, which are computationally simple to calculate and compare, reducing verification complexity while maintaining day-level precision.
3Reliability
If session keys are derived from ICC Master Key held by issuing bank, then control over credential usage is improved, but communication and coordination requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the master key management function from the terminal and concentrates it solely in the issuing bank. The ICC Master Key remains exclusively at the issuing bank, and only derived session keys are transmitted to terminals. This extraction simplifies the terminal's role to key reception and usage, while the issuing bank maintains centralized control through key derivation.
4Measurement precision
If hash verification is performed on certificate expiration dates, then authentication accuracy is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs partial verification by checking only the hash value corresponding to the expiration date portion of the certificate, rather than verifying the entire certificate structure. This partial action approach maintains authentication accuracy for the critical expiration parameter while reducing overall processing time by skipping redundant verification steps.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatus and computer software are provided for authorizing an EMV transaction between a user device and a point of sale terminal, particularly, but not exclusively, in situations where a secure element is not made available for the deployment of a payment application on the user device. The payment application is instead deployed to a processing environment that is outside of any secure element on the user device. The payment application is associated with a certificate and a corresponding hash. The hash is adapted to be generated on the basis of an application expiration date parameter, which is adapted to comprise data indicative of an expiration date of day level granularity associated with the certificate. During processing of the EMV transaction, the point-of-sale terminal verifies the hash, thereby establishing the authenticity of the application expiration date, and hence the validity of the certificate.