Real Time Payment Data Matching System

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Solution Overview

Problem

Merchants often fail to include necessary coding to identify payment services used during transactions, resulting in shoppers missing out on available awards and credits, especially when card issuers have arrangements for additional values.

Innovation Solution

A real-time matching system that uses specialized hardware, including high-speed buffers and FIFO memories, to match payment service data with transaction processor data, ensuring timely association of purchases with payment service actions and offering relevant rewards.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If merchants do not include necessary coding to identify payment services, then transaction processing is simpler, but shoppers cannot receive awards or credits

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemerchant transaction processing simplicityVSAvoidpayment service identification data

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

A payment service intermediary system is introduced between the merchant and the payment processor. This intermediary captures payment service identification data even when merchants don't include it in their transaction coding, and forwards this information to the payment processor to enable award and credit allocation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of time

If real-time matching of payment service data with transaction data is implemented, then timely presentation of statement credits is achieved, but system complexity and hardware requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetime delay in presenting statement creditsVSAvoidspecialized hardware including high speed buffers and FIFO memories

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

High-speed buffers and FIFO memories are pre-configured in the matching system to receive and hold payment service data and transaction data respectively before the matching process begins. This preliminary preparation enables real-time matching by having data ready in advance, reducing processing delays.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system replaces complex real-time data processing operations with hardware-based buffering and queuing mechanisms. By using specialized hardware (high-speed buffers, FIFO memories) to manage data flow, the system achieves real-time matching without requiring complex software algorithms for every data comparison.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Productivity

If payment service data is matched with transaction data in real-time, then shopper engagement with awards and offers is improved, but processing speed and system resources are consumed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetimely association of purchases with payment service actionsVSAvoidsystem processing resources

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The data matching process is segmented into distinct phases: payment service data is captured and buffered separately, transaction data is processed and buffered separately, and then the buffered data is matched in real-time. This segmentation allows efficient use of processing resources by handling data in manageable chunks rather than processing all data simultaneously.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS20240037521A1Real time cross-matching data

Publication Date: 2024.02.01 VISA INTERNATIONAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION

AI summary

When a merchant fails to provide payment service details, a system matches in real time information from a data processor with data from the payment service to allow matching a request from the payment system to a particular transaction. The matching system may use high speed buffers and hardware logic to rapidly match related data from different sources at speeds of thousands a second or more. This allows characterization of the transaction for recognition of current offers applicable to the transaction as well as generation of future offers.