Payment Network Intermediary for Merchant Acquirer Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Merchants face financial and technical difficulties in adapting their systems to meet the diverse requirements of multiple acquirers for payment processing, as they need to establish connections and format messages according to each acquirer's specific guidelines, which is resource-intensive and complex.
Innovation Solution
A payment processing network system that processes and transmits transaction data to multiple payment networks and debit gateways on behalf of merchants, allowing for direct communication without interacting with individual acquirer computers, and formats messages in a common data format such as XML for efficient processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If merchants adapt their systems to meet diverse acquirer requirements, then transaction processing capability is improved, but device complexity and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a payment processing network as an intermediary between the merchant and multiple acquirers. This intermediary handles the complexity of format conversion and communication protocols, allowing the merchant to interact with a single standardized interface while the network translates requests to match each acquirer's specific requirements. This resolves the contradiction by centralizing adaptation complexity in the network rather than requiring the merchant to adapt to each acquirer individually.
Solution Approach 2:
The payment processing network provides universal functionality by accepting transactions from merchants in a standardized format and automatically adapting to multiple different acquirer formats. The network performs multiple functions including format conversion, routing, and protocol translation, enabling a single merchant system to work with diverse acquirers without each merchant needing separate adaptation logic for each acquirer.
2Adaptability or versatility
If merchants establish connections with multiple acquirers, then payment processing versatility is improved, but loss of time and resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The payment processing network performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing connections with multiple acquirers and pre-configuring format conversion rules. When a merchant sends a transaction request, the network has already prepared the appropriate formatting and routing for each acquirer, eliminating the need for the merchant to perform time-consuming adaptation actions for each acquirer individually.
Solution Approach 2:
By positioning the payment processing network as an intermediary, the patent eliminates the direct time-consuming adaptation process between merchants and multiple acquirers. The network handles all connection management and format translation in advance, allowing merchants to focus only on the initial standardized connection establishment.
3Reliability
If merchants format messages according to each acquirer's specifications, then transaction compatibility is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The payment processing network serves as an intermediary that handles all message format conversion. The merchant sends messages in a single standardized format, and the network automatically translates them to match each acquirer's specific specifications. This eliminates the need for merchants to manually format messages differently for each acquirer while maintaining full compatibility with all acquirer requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The network dynamically changes message parameters (format, structure, encoding) based on the target acquirer's requirements. When a transaction request needs to be sent to different acquirers, the network modifies the message parameters automatically to match each acquirer's expected format, while the merchant continues to use a consistent, simplified message format.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention are directed to passing a plurality of communications directly from a merchant to a payment processing network. A first communication may include payment information in an authorization request, while a second transaction may include non-payment transaction data. The communications may be linked with a transaction identifier. In other embodiments, a capture file process is disclosed where capture files are generated by the payment processing network, and transactions are subsequently cleared and settled.