POS Terminal Pre-authorization Offline Clearing Network
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing online authorization and clearing processes at point-of-sale terminals are hindered by increased latency due to stringent security requirements and data traffic in secure payment networks, which can slow down financial transactions.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a POS terminal with a processor that receives pre-authorization requests, locates associated database records, confirms authorization amounts against offline thresholds, generates confirmation messages, and transmits these as a clearing payload over a computer network, thereby reducing the need for real-time online authorization and minimizing latency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If online authorization and clearing processes are implemented through secure payment networks, then transaction security and reliability are improved, but latency and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authorization actions by storing authorization requests and responses locally in databases at the POS terminal before actual transaction processing. This allows the terminal to have pre-established authorization data ready, eliminating the need for real-time network communication during transactions, thus reducing latency while maintaining security through pre-validated authorization data
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the authorization and clearing processes from the online secure payment network environment and implements them locally at the POS terminal using offline databases. By taking out these critical functions from the network-dependent online process and implementing them locally, the system eliminates network latency while maintaining authorization integrity through local database validation
2Measurement precision
If real-time online authorization is performed for each transaction, then authorization accuracy is improved, but network data traffic and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple individual authorization requests and clearing operations into a single batched offline processing operation. By combining multiple transactions that would otherwise require separate online authorizations into one offline batch process using local databases, the system maintains authorization accuracy through comprehensive validation while dramatically reducing network data traffic by eliminating redundant real-time communications
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary authorization validations and stores authorization data in local databases before transactions occur. This preliminary action allows the POS terminal to verify authorization accuracy offline against pre-stored data, eliminating the need for continuous real-time network authorization requests and thereby reducing network data traffic while maintaining precise authorization control
Data Source
AI summary
A clearing network includes a server, a POS terminal, and a computer network interconnecting the server and the POS terminal. The sever is configured to receive account numbers over the computer network, determine that an occurrence of one of the account numbers in the plurality of account numbers exceeds a maximum limit, and via the computer network update the pre-authorization database with the account number. The POS terminal is configured to receive a pre-authorization request that includes an authorization amount and the account number, query the pre-authorization database with the account number, and after locating the account number in the pre-authorization database from the query (a) confirm that the authorization amount is not greater than an authorization threshold, and (b) without generating an online authorization request, save in a clearing database an authorization confirmation message that includes the account number and the authorization amount.