Single Swipe System for Concurrent Payment and Loyalty Processing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems require separate transaction steps for financial and non-financial operations using a financial card, such as loyalty rewards, which is inefficient and inconvenient for users.

Innovation Solution

A single swipe system that allows a financial card to concurrently process payment and non-payment transactions, integrating loyalty benefits and discounts into the payment processing system using a single ID mechanism, enabling access to multiple databases for rewards and discounts during a single transaction.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If separate transaction steps are used for financial and non-financial operations, then transaction processing reliability is maintained, but user convenience and transaction efficiency deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser convenienceVSAvoidtransaction efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines separate financial transaction processing and non-financial transaction processing into a single integrated system. The payment processing system now handles both payment authorization and loyalty program processing concurrently through a single card swipe, eliminating the need for separate transaction steps and improving both user convenience and transaction efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The financial card is enhanced to serve multiple functions simultaneously. It acts as both a payment instrument and a loyalty program identifier, allowing the single card to trigger both financial and non-financial processing streams without requiring separate cards or multiple swipes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Reliability

If multiple card swipes are required for different transaction types, then transaction accuracy is improved, but transaction time and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetransaction accuracyVSAvoidtransaction time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary setup by establishing multiple processing streams that are simultaneously activated by a single card swipe. The payment processing and loyalty processing streams are both initiated concurrently from the first swipe action, eliminating sequential waiting time while maintaining the accuracy of separate processing through dedicated streams.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system maintains continuous processing by running payment authorization and loyalty program processing in parallel without interruption. Both processing streams operate simultaneously and continuously from the moment of card swipe until both transactions are complete, minimizing total transaction time while preserving the accuracy of each independent process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentUS8939357B1System and method for combining disparate commercial transactions under a single identification mechanism

Publication Date: 2015.01.27 PDI TECHNOLOGIES INC

AI summary

A single swipe system is constructed that allows a person to use a single financial card to receive loyalty benefits (or conduct other non-payment operations) concurrently with a payment transaction. In one embodiment, the user simply swipes his/her financial card and the processing system then concurrently processes a non-payment transaction along with a payment transaction. In some situations, the non-payment transaction can be blended into the payment transaction to allow for discounts and other awards from one or more databases other than the payment processing database. In one embodiment, a single swipe of a financial card connects the consumer with one or more loyalty systems and the consumer can select from the ones desired during the course of payment processing. Discounts and other advantages can be applied to the payment transaction, all based upon a single entry of the consumer's ID.