External Merchant ID for Transaction Correlation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic transaction systems face challenges in accurately correlating merchant identification information used within the system with external merchant data, leading to inefficiencies in processing transactions and providing relevant offers and incentives to consumers.
Innovation Solution
A system is implemented that allows merchants to search and obtain a unique external merchant ID, which is used to tag external merchant data and associate it with transaction records, enabling accurate correlation of merchant information across different communication systems and networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If merchants use internal transaction system identifiers to represent themselves, then transaction processing within the system is efficient, but external merchant data cannot be accurately correlated with internal transaction records
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an external merchant ID as an intermediary identifier that bridges the internal transaction system and external merchant data sources. This intermediary ID is assigned to each merchant and used to tag external data, enabling accurate correlation without requiring direct integration between internal systems and external data providers. The intermediary ID acts as a universal key that both internal transaction records and external merchant information can reference.
2Measurement precision
If the system implements a comprehensive merchant registration system with external ID tagging, then external data correlation accuracy improves, but the complexity of merchant onboarding and system configuration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically generating and assigning external merchant IDs during the merchant onboarding process, before the merchant needs to use them for data correlation. The portal pre-configures the identifier mapping and stores it in the database, so that when external merchant data arrives later, the correlation is already established. This eliminates the need for merchants to manually configure complex identifier mappings.
Solution Approach 2:
The portal provides self-service capabilities that allow merchants to automatically obtain their external merchant IDs and configure their own profiles without extensive manual intervention. The system automatically handles the identifier assignment, storage, and retrieval processes, reducing the operational burden on both merchants and system administrators.
3Reliability
If the system stores and processes extensive merchant identification data and external correlations, then transaction identification accuracy improves, but data processing time and storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential external merchant ID from external merchant data sources and stores it in the database alongside internal transaction identifiers. Rather than storing and processing entire external merchant profiles or complex data structures, the system extracts and stores only the critical identifier needed for correlation. This minimal data extraction approach maintains high correlation accuracy while minimizing storage requirements and processing overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
A user interface to register merchants. The user interface is configured to allow a merchant to search and identify a set of transaction parameters that are used in authorization and/or settlement messages of payment transactions initiated for a store of the merchant and allow the merchant to obtain a store identifier representing the set of transaction parameters. The store identifier, for example, can be used to label offers of the store of the merchant. Thus, whether or not an authorization or settlement message transmitted in the payment processing network for a payment transaction is for the store can be determined based on whether or not the transaction parameters in the message match with the set of transaction parameters represented by the store identifier.