Intermediation Server for Real-Time Policy-Based Payment Allocation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reimbursement processes for organizational expenses are retrospective, time-consuming, and prone to errors, making it difficult to enforce expense policies and detect fraud.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for real-time transaction intermediation that includes an intermediation server to process invoice data, allocate payments between customers and payers, and generate payment data for immediate execution, utilizing vendor, customer, and payer computing devices, along with a payment subsystem to facilitate transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual reimbursement processes are used, then flexibility in handling expenses is maintained, but processing time increases and error rates rise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediation server as a mediator between the customer device and vendor system. This server automatically processes transaction data, applies expense policies, and determines payment allocation without requiring manual intervention. The intermediary handles the complexity of policy enforcement and fraud detection while maintaining a simple user experience for customers and vendors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by allowing the intermediation server to automatically process reimbursement transactions based on pre-configured expense policies. The server autonomously validates transactions, determines eligible expenses, allocates payments between customers and organizations, and generates payment instructions without human intervention, thereby increasing processing speed and reducing errors.
2Reliability
If retrospective reimbursement is used, then employees have autonomy in expense spending, but fraud detection and policy enforcement become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by establishing expense policies and payment allocation rules before transactions occur. The intermediation server applies these pre-configured policies in real-time as transactions are processed, automatically determining which expenses are eligible for reimbursement and how payments should be allocated. This prevents fraudulent expenses from being processed while maintaining employee autonomy in legitimate spending.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the intermediation server continuously monitors transactions against expense policies and provides real-time validation. When transactions are submitted, the server immediately checks them against established rules, providing feedback on compliance and automatically adjusting payment allocation accordingly. This real-time feedback loop ensures policy enforcement without delaying reimbursement.
3Reliability
If real-time transaction processing is implemented, then fraud risk is reduced and policy compliance improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the transaction processing system into distinct functional components: the customer device for initiating transactions, the intermediation server for processing and policy enforcement, and the vendor system for receiving payments. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific tasks, improving transaction accuracy while managing complexity through modular architecture. The intermediation server further segments processing into separate modules for validation, policy checking, payment allocation, and fraud detection.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of intermediating transactions includes, at an intermediation server: receiving invoice data defining a price payable to a vendor for supplying a product to a customer; extracting, from the invoice data, a vendor identifier corresponding to the vendor; determining, in association with the invoice data, a customer identifier corresponding to the customer; retrieving a payer identifier corresponding to a payer associated with the customer; retrieving, based on at least the payer identifier, a transaction policy; according to the retrieved transaction policy, allocating an eligible portion of the price to the payer identifier, and allocating a remaining portion of the price to the customer identifier; and generating and transmitting payment data for initiating a payment of the eligible portion from the payer to the vendor.