Encrypted Transaction Chain for Gift Card Marketplace Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
The inefficiencies in the use and resale of gift cards due to the lack of a standardized numbering system and the financial loss incurred when they go unused, coupled with the inability to efficiently facilitate their exchange in a digital marketplace.
Innovation Solution
A virtual exchange item marketplace network that verifies and digitizes gift cards and other exchange items, allowing them to be sold and purchased securely through a standardized digital representation, processed through a marketplace server, and managed within a database, ensuring valid transactions and efficient financial handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If gift cards are issued with non-standardized numbering systems, then each gift card can be customized for specific brands and uses, but the inability to standardize makes resale and exchange inefficient and difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The gift card data is segmented into multiple components: brand identifier, card number, PIN, expiration date, and balance information. This segmentation allows the system to handle customized cards while creating a standardized digital representation that can be universally exchanged in the marketplace, resolving the contradiction between customization and resale efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy or representation of the physical gift card that captures all essential information (brand, number, balance, expiration). This digital copy serves as a standardized intermediary that enables efficient exchange in the marketplace while preserving the original card's customization attributes, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and productivity.
2Reliability
If gift cards are not resold or exchanged, then they remain valid for their original use, but financial loss occurs when they go unused
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback mechanisms where buyers can verify gift card validity through the marketplace platform before purchase. The marketplace server communicates with brand servers to verify card status, balance, and expiration information, ensuring reliability while enabling resale to prevent financial loss from unused cards.
Solution Approach 2:
The marketplace server acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers, verifying gift card authenticity and status before transactions are completed. This intermediary function ensures that only valid cards are exchanged, preventing financial loss while maintaining reliability through centralized verification.
3Productivity
If a digital marketplace is created for gift card exchange, then resale efficiency improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The marketplace server is designed with multi-functionality, handling verification, listing, purchasing, and balance updates through a unified system. This universal approach improves exchange efficiency while managing complexity by consolidating multiple functions into a single platform rather than requiring separate systems for each operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the state of gift card information from physical to digital parameters, storing and transmitting data in standardized digital formats. This parameter transformation enables efficient digital exchange while managing system complexity through structured data representation and standardized communication protocols between marketplace and brand servers.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for execution by one or more computing devices of an exchange item marketplace network includes generating, by an exchange item origination entity, an origination block of an exchange item transactions chain associated with an exchange item, where a portion of the origination block is encrypted. The method further includes receiving, from a computing device of the exchange item marketplace network, an acquisition request regarding the exchange item. The method further includes generating a first block of the exchange item transactions chain, where the first block includes information regarding the exchange item, the computing device, and the acquisition request, where a first portion of the first block is encrypted, and where the first block is chained to the origination block in accordance with a security approach.