W-CONNECTOR Tokenization for Secure Multi-Merchant Payments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital wallet systems face challenges in providing a seamless and secure multi-directional connectivity between consumers, issuers, and merchants, leading to friction in payment transactions and account management.
Innovation Solution
The W-CONNECTOR system enables multi-directional wallet connector apparatuses, methods, and systems by facilitating the creation of virtual wallet accounts, frictionless enrollment of payment accounts, and management of reference transaction links, allowing for persistent and re-assignable connections between consumers and merchants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If consumers provide account numbers to merchants for future transactions, then payment convenience is improved, but security risk increases and account expiration causes transaction failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the payment authentication process into multiple components: digital wallet application, merchant application, authentication server, and tokenization service. This segmentation allows account information to be stored securely in the digital wallet while merchants only receive temporary tokens, resolving the contradiction between payment convenience and transaction reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary authentication server and tokenization mechanism between the consumer's account and the merchant. The server issues time-limited authentication tokens that replace direct account number sharing, enabling convenient payments while ensuring transaction success even if the original account expires or is compromised.
2Adaptability or versatility
If consumers share account information with multiple merchants, then payment versatility is improved, but security exposure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy mechanism where the consumer's account information is tokenized - a representative copy is stored in the digital wallet that contains all necessary payment information except the actual sensitive account details. This allows versatile payments across multiple merchants while protecting the original account information from exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the account information parameters by replacing static account numbers with dynamic, time-limited authentication tokens. This parameter change allows the same payment method to work across multiple merchants (versatility) while the tokens expire after use, preventing long-term security exposure.
3Speed
If account information is stored with merchants for future transactions, then transaction speed is improved, but data breach risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts sensitive account information from the merchant's storage requirements entirely. Instead of merchants storing account data, the system extracts only non-sensitive authentication tokens that are valid for single-use or time-limited periods, enabling fast transactions without creating data breach risks at the merchant level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses disposable, short-lived authentication tokens instead of permanent account storage. These tokens are inexpensive to generate, have limited validity periods, and are discarded after use, providing fast transaction processing while eliminating the security risk associated with long-term data retention at merchants.
Data Source
AI summary
The W-CONNECTOR (“W-CONNECTOR”) facilitates the enrollment of payment accounts in a consumer's virtual wallet. The consumer may be logged into their payment account issuer's web site and designate one or more payment accounts for enrollment in a virtual wallet. The issuer may then share account, billing and/or other relevant information with the virtual wallet provider to facilitate the enrollment of the designated payment accounts in the virtual wallet. The W-CONNECTOR may also be configured to facilitate the creation and funding of pre-paid accounts in a consumer's virtual wallet.