Proxy Email Management for Transaction Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
E-commerce merchants often store customer email addresses for sending advertisements, leading to unwanted emails and security concerns due to potential data breaches, necessitating effective custodial email management and transaction verification systems.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a processor and memory with computer program code that receives and parses emails for receipt information, forwards relevant emails to primary accounts, and discards non-receipt emails, utilizing a proxy email address to manage multiple account-holders' emails, and matches receipt information with transaction data stored on a transaction server.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If merchants store customer email addresses for sending advertisements, then they can send promotional information to customers, but customers receive unwanted emails that clutter their inbox and security concerns arise from potential data breaches
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments email addresses into two categories: primary email addresses (stored securely by the financial institution) and proxy email addresses (used by merchants). This segmentation allows merchants to send promotional emails through the proxy address without accessing or storing the customer's primary email, thus reducing security risks and unwanted email clutter while maintaining advertising capability
Solution Approach 2:
The proxy email address acts as an intermediary between merchants and customers. Merchants send emails to the proxy address, which then forwards only relevant emails (such as receipts) to the customer's primary inbox. This intermediary mechanism enables promotional communication while filtering out unwanted emails and protecting the customer's primary email from exposure
2Ease of operation
If merchants store customer email addresses, then they can send receipt information to customers, but security breaches may result in customer information being stolen
Solution Approach 1:
The proxy email address serves as a secure intermediary that allows merchants to deliver receipt information without accessing or storing the customer's primary email address. The financial institution's system receives emails at the proxy address, verifies their legitimacy, and forwards them to the customer, thereby maintaining ease of receipt delivery while enhancing data security by never exposing the primary email
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts the email delivery function from the primary email address and relocates it to a proxy email address managed by the financial institution. This extraction separates the receipt delivery capability from the sensitive primary email, allowing merchants to send receipts without compromising security
3Loss of information
If the system forwards all emails to primary email addresses, then customers receive complete email history, but inbox clutter increases with non-receipt emails
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts receipt information from forwarded emails and separates it from other email content. Only emails containing relevant receipt information are forwarded to the customer's primary inbox, while non-receipt emails are discarded. This extraction process retains essential transaction information while eliminating inbox clutter from promotional and other unwanted emails
Data Source
AI summary
A proxy email account management system configured to identify emails comprising receipt information and match the identified emails to respective transactions. The proxy email account management system may comprise a custodial email management system associated with a proxy email address. The custodial email management system may parse emails for receipt information and account-holder information, identify receipt information and account-holder information, determine if the emails correspond to a purchase made by an account-holder, and forward the email to a primary email address associated with the account-holder.