Electronic Payment System Using Pre-Computed Secret Numbers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Transit authorities face significant operational costs and inefficiencies in managing application-specific payment cards for long transactions, such as monthly passes, which require real-time authentication and verification, leading to delays that are unacceptable in high-traffic scenarios like public transportation.
Innovation Solution
An electronic payment method and system where a central server generates a secret number based on a payment card number, associating it with a transaction, and a remote terminal verifies this identifier to authorize access to services, eliminating the need for storing transaction content on the payment card and reducing authentication delays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If real-time authentication and verification of payment cards is performed, then transaction security is improved, but authentication delays increase making the system unacceptable for high-traffic scenarios
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating secret numbers and associating them with transactions and payment card numbers before the actual transaction occurs. The remote terminal receives and stores these associations in advance, so that during high-traffic periods, authentication can proceed by simply verifying pre-computed identifiers against pre-stored secret numbers, eliminating real-time computational delays while maintaining security
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the authentication verification process from the central server and relocates it to the remote terminal. By storing copies of the association between secret numbers and transactions locally at the remote terminal, the system eliminates the need for continuous real-time communication with the central server during authentication, thereby reducing authentication delays in high-traffic scenarios while maintaining transaction security
2Reliability
If application-specific payment cards are managed for long transactions, then service authorization is improved, but operational costs and management complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a universal payment card solution that can be used across multiple services and transactions. Instead of managing separate application-specific cards for different services, the invention uses a single payment card number that can be associated with multiple transactions and services through the secret number mechanism. This reduces management complexity while maintaining the ability to authorize specific services
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses copying by storing copies of the association between secret numbers and transactions at the remote terminal. This allows the system to verify transactions locally without needing to access the central server or manage physical smart cards, thereby reducing operational costs and management complexity while maintaining service authorization capabilities
3Ease of operation
If smart cards with electronic chips are used for long transactions, then service access is improved, but operational costs and maintenance burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by enabling the remote terminal to independently verify transactions using pre-stored secret numbers and associations. The remote terminal can determine whether service provision is authorized based on the content of the transaction without needing to communicate with the central server or validate physical smart cards, thereby reducing operational costs and maintenance burden while improving ease of service access
Solution Approach 2:
By storing copies of transaction associations locally at the remote terminal, the system eliminates the need for physical smart cards with electronic chips. This copying approach allows users to access services using standard payment cards, reducing the operational costs and maintenance burden associated with managing specialized smart card infrastructure while maintaining improved service access
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to an electronic payment method and to an electronic payment system. A central server generates a secret number based on a payment card number. The central server associates the secret number with a transaction. A copy of the association between the secret number and the transaction is stored at a remote terminal. An access is detected at the remote terminal by acquiring the payment card number at the remote terminal. The remote terminal generates an identifier based on the payment card number. The remote terminal verifies whether the identifier matches the secret number. When the identifier matches the secret number, the remote terminal determines whether a provision of a product or service offered at the remote terminal is authorized based on a content of the transaction.