Ephemeral Virtual Card Provisioning for Secure PII-Limited Transactions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Transmission of personal identifiable information (PII) over public networks is vulnerable to interception and tampering, exacerbating security and privacy risks, especially in multiple transactions with different online destinations.

Innovation Solution

Generation of ephemeral virtual cards from secure proxy accounts within a provisioning server, which handles and transmits user information securely, using data obfuscation to protect PII, and only sharing it for order fulfillment, thereby reducing network exposure.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If users transmit PII directly to multiple merchants over public networks, then transaction convenience is improved, but security and privacy risks worsen due to interception and tampering vulnerabilities

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransaction convenienceVSAvoidsecurity and privacy risks

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a secure element (SE) as an intermediary component within the payment terminal that securely stores PII and generates tokenized representations. This SE acts as a mediator between the user's stored information and the merchants, preventing direct exposure of sensitive data over public networks while maintaining transaction functionality across multiple platforms

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates tokenized copies of sensitive PII that can be transmitted to merchants without exposing the actual sensitive data. These token representations contain sufficient information to complete transactions but cannot be used to reconstruct the original PII, thus protecting against interception and misuse while enabling convenient multi-merchant transactions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

2Adaptability or versatility

If users engage in multiple transactions with different merchants, then transaction versatility is improved, but exposure to bad faith third parties increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransaction versatilityVSAvoidexposure to bad faith third parties

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the PII storage and transmission process by keeping sensitive data isolated in the secure element while allowing tokenized representations to be shared across multiple merchants. This segmentation enables versatile transactions with different merchants while limiting the exposure of actual sensitive data to any single party or potential interceptor

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs disposable tokenized representations that are generated for specific transactions and become invalid after use. These short-lived tokens enable versatile multi-merchant transactions while minimizing long-term exposure risks, as each token can only be used once and cannot be reused or stolen for future transactions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

3Adaptability or versatility

If PII is stored and transmitted across multiple electronic platforms, then service accessibility is improved, but the opportunity for information interception increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice accessibilityVSAvoidinformation interception opportunity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The secure element serves as a trusted intermediary that manages PII storage and token generation, allowing the payment terminal to access service functionality across multiple electronic platforms without the terminal itself needing to store or directly transmit sensitive PII. This intermediary architecture enables broad service accessibility while concentrating security controls in a dedicated component

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent generates platform-specific tokenized copies of PII that can be transmitted to different electronic platforms for service access. These tokens provide the necessary authentication and authorization information for each platform while preventing exposure of the actual sensitive data, thus enabling versatile service access across multiple platforms without proportionally increasing interception opportunities

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS12608699B2Secure product provisioning systems and methods for preventing electronic fraud by generation of ephemeral virtual cards for injection from secure proxy accounts into electronic provisioning networks

Publication Date: 2026.04.21 PROCTER & GAMBLE CO

AI summary

Secure product provisioning systems and methods are described for preventing electronic fraud by generation of ephemeral virtual cards for injection from secure proxy accounts into electronic provisioning networks. A provisioning server receives a provisioning request from a provisioning application (app) that indicates a product selected from one or more products and a merchant selected from one or more merchants. The server generates an ephemeral virtual card comprising a unique ephemeral code and a payment amount, each injected from a secure proxy account accessible only by the provisioning server. The ephemeral virtual card virtually emulates a physical or electronic card acceptable by the electronic provisioning network of the merchant. The provisioning server submits the ephemeral virtual card to the electronic provisioning network of the merchant. The receipt of the ephemeral virtual card causes initiation of a transaction between a user and the merchant for the product.