Payment Tokenization With Supplemental Data for Installment Authorization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face limitations due to fixed communication protocols and size constraints, which hinder the integration of new functionalities such as installment plans in payment transactions, requiring significant updates to multiple computers and risking non-compliance if acquirer banks fail to update their systems.
Innovation Solution
A token service computer provides tokens linked to supplemental data identifiers, allowing installment plan selections to be integrated into authorization requests without modifying existing systems, using tokens that are de-tokenized to retrieve the original credential for authorization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If new functionality (e.g., installment plans) is added to existing communication protocols, then system functionality is improved, but device complexity and required updates increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a token service computer as an intermediary between the resource provider and authorizing entity. This mediator handles the complex tokenization and de-tokenization processes, allowing new functionality to be added without modifying existing communication protocols between other system components. The token service acts as a bridge that manages protocol complexity centrally.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the functionality by separating token management operations from the core authorization flow. The token service computer handles tokenization, storage, and de-tokenization as distinct operations, while the resource provider and authorizing entity maintain simpler, unchanged interfaces. This segmentation allows incremental addition of features without system-wide complexity increases.
2Adaptability or versatility
If existing communication protocols are modified to include new functionality, then system versatility is improved, but the risk of non-compliance and system instability increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary tokenization of credentials and supplemental data before they are used in authorization requests. By pre-processing and storing tokens in the token service computer, the system ensures that when authorization occurs, the data is already prepared in the correct format, eliminating compliance risks associated with protocol modifications during active transactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses tokens as copies or representations of original credentials and supplemental data. Instead of modifying protocols to handle new data types directly, the system creates token copies that can be exchanged through existing protocols. These tokens represent the underlying data without requiring changes to the communication protocol itself, thereby maintaining system stability and compliance.
3Ease of operation
If credentials and supplemental data are transmitted directly in authorization requests, then ease of operation is maintained, but security against hacking and man-in-the-middle attacks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The token service computer serves as a security intermediary that receives credentials and supplemental data, tokenizes them, and returns tokens to the resource provider. This mediator ensures that sensitive data never traverses the network in plaintext during authorization transactions, protecting against hacking and man-in-the-middle attacks while maintaining operational simplicity through automated token handling.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts sensitive credential information from the authorization request flow and stores it securely in the token service computer. By taking out the actual credentials and replacing them with non-sensitive tokens in the authorization communication, the system eliminates security vulnerabilities associated with transmitting sensitive data over networks while preserving the functionality of the transaction.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed. The method includes receiving, from a resource provider computer, a token request message comprising a credential, after a user provides the credential to the resource provider computer. The method also includes transmitting, to the resource provider computer, a token response message comprising one or more supplemental data identifiers and one or more tokens associated with the one or more supplemental data identifiers. The one or more tokens are linked to the credential. Then, a user selects a supplemental data identifier. The method also comprises receiving, from the resource provider computer, an authorization request message comprising a token of the one or more tokens, the token linked to the selected supplemental data identifier, and a value, determining the credential using the token; and transmitting, to an authorizing entity computer, a modified authorization request message comprising the credential, the value, and the supplemental data identifier.