Payment Card Offer Encryption for Exclusive Redemption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to provide exclusive offers that can be redeemed only by a specific payment card at multiple merchants, leading to potential misuse and financial losses for merchants, as current methods lack controls on redemption and require consumer registration for loyalty programs.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that encrypts a portion of the payment account number on a payment card to generate an offer identifier, allowing exclusive offers to be redeemed using a specific payment card at any merchant, using an encryption key to validate the offer and apply discounts during transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If offers are distributed to a large customer base to maximize market reach, then the potential customer base increases, but the cost and resources required for distribution increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the customer base by creating consumer-specific offers tied to individual payment card account numbers. Each consumer receives a unique offer identifier linked to their specific card, allowing targeted distribution without needing to resourcefully manage broad campaigns. This segmentation enables efficient resource allocation while reaching multiple consumers through their existing payment infrastructure.
2Reliability
If offers are made exclusive to specific consumers through loyalty programs, then consumer exclusivity is achieved, but consumer registration is required which limits access to first-time consumers
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by automatically linking offers to consumers through their existing payment card account numbers without requiring registration or enrollment in loyalty programs. When a consumer provides their payment card information for a purchase, the system automatically associates the appropriate offer identifier with that card account number, making the process seamless and accessible to all consumers including first-time buyers.
3Adaptability or versatility
If offers with unique identifiers are distributed to multiple merchants, then offer versatility is improved, but control on redemption is lost allowing offers to be passed to other consumers
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-linking each offer identifier to a specific consumer's payment card account number before the redemption occurs. This pre-association ensures that when the consumer presents the offer at any merchant location, the system can verify the link between the offer identifier and the card account number, maintaining redemption control while enabling versatile use across multiple merchants.
4Reliability
If consumers are required to provide proof of loyalty account for offer redemption, then offer exclusivity is maintained, but the redemption process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the offer verification process with the existing payment card transaction process. Instead of requiring separate proof of loyalty account, the system combines the offer identifier validation with the standard card account number verification already performed during payment processing. This integration maintains consumer verification while eliminating additional steps and reducing process complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for generation and distribution of protected user-specific information includes encrypting, by a processing device of a computer system, using a first encryption key of an encryption key pair, predetermined digits of a payment account number, the encryption yielding an encrypted identifier. The processing device of the computer system then generates a machine-readable code that is encoded with the encrypted identifier and additional data. A transmitting device of the computer system transmits, via an electronic communication, the generated machine-readable code to an electronic device of a user and transmits a second encryption key, of the encryption key pair, to a specialized computer system, wherein the second encryption key is associated with the first encryption key used to yield the encrypted identifier.