CN108475374B

CN108475374B - Payment device with multiple modes for conducting financial transactions

Info

Publication number: CN108475374B
Application number: CN201680060587.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 米勒·托马斯·阿贝尔; 肯尼思·马格斯
Original assignee: Transworld Holdings Pcc Ltd (s1 Technology Cell)
Current assignee: Transworld Holdings Pcc Ltd (s1 Technology Cell)
Priority date: 2015-08-17
Filing date: 2016-08-17
Publication date: 2022-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 2036-08-17
Also published as: EP3338230A4; EP3338230A1; CN108475374A

Abstract

The present invention provides a payment card, and a system and method for securely managing financial transactions using the payment card. In one embodiment, the payment card includes a first component incorporated into the plastic substrate, wherein the first component is configured to provide details of a first alternate account associated with a valid credential of a cardholder. The payment card further includes at least one additional component incorporated into the plastic substrate. Each additional component is configured to provide details of at least one additional alternate account associated with the cardholder's valid credentials. Each alternative account includes details that are different from the details of each other alternative account. And, providing the at least one alternate account to the merchant for use in conducting a financial transaction with the merchant.

Description

Payment device with multiple modes for conducting financial transactions

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.62/282,991 filed on 8/17/2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to financial services, and more particularly to payment devices and systems for processing financial transactions.

Background

At the end of the twentieth forty years, the united states introduced a plastic payment card, such as a credit card, as a way that banks most trust customers to pay for meals and travel without carrying large amounts of cash. Since then, hundreds of thousands of banks have issued billions of payment cards.

However, the security of conventional payment card systems is threatened by several illegal actions. Identity theft, impersonation, fraud, unauthorized access to accounts, and other illegal activities threaten the entire system. Conventional payment cards, as well as networks for authorizing and processing card transactions, are readily widely available to identity thieves and other criminals. One of the main forms of payment account fraud is unauthorized use of details of a payment account in conducting electronic commerce. Another major form of payment account fraud is the manufacture of counterfeit cards and use on a point-of-sale (POS) device of a merchant. These forms of fraud are themselves caused by the way the payment card itself is manufactured. In particular, credit card numbers and other payment account details printed or embossed on conventional plastic cards are easily copied or stolen. Additionally, the magnetic stripe of a credit card can also be counterfeited. In fact, the losses to banks, merchants, and consumers from payment card fraud are growing rapidly. The annual loss from payment card fraud in the industry is nearly $ 200 million.

To prevent counterfeiting and fraud, which is a major source of financial risk to banks and payment brands, major card issuing networks have adopted new technologies to ensure that only legitimate cards can be used at the physical point of sale. These technologies developed by the payment card industry and the card issuing network association (EMVCo) add to plastic cards tamper-resistant computer microchips with confidential storage and computing capabilities. EMVCo is a payment industry consortium named EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa (EuroPay, MasterCard and Visa are the original creators of the organization), but now also includes American Express, Discover, JCB and Union Pay as equity partners.

Such microchips confidentially store the information and programs needed to generate unique cryptographic signatures when conducting transactions at merchant POS devices. The calculation process is performed securely and confidentially inside the embedded microchip at each transaction and the results are sent to the card issuing bank over the existing payment network along with the payment account data, where the results are verified using the same information stored in the card. The stored information is not disclosed by the issuer nor can it be extracted from the microchip by any practical means. The microchip embedded card then provides a one-time code for each card transaction performed by the physical point of sale. If all merchants use this new mechanism, the risk of counterfeiting the card by misappropriating account data is largely eliminated.

Another way for card issuers to prevent fraud is to provide cards with Near Field Communication (NFC) features. Cards with NFC components allow a user to swipe or present the card within about 10cm of the NFC reader proximity.

However, microchip embedded cards (also known as EMV cards or smart cards) and NFC enabled cards must also work in an environment where new standards have not been popularized yet. Many merchants have not employed EMV-enabled terminals that can activate the microchip card and read the password, or have not employed NFC readers that can read wireless communication signals. To ensure that payment cards are accepted worldwide, card issuers include a conventional magnetic stripe on the back of the card.

Additionally, to enable electronic and telephone commerce, issuers print payment account numbers on cards and/or embossed on plastic. In this way, not only can financial transactions be conducted using the microchip or NFC component, but also financial transactions using a magnetic stripe or telephone, or internet transactions using a POS swipe operation can be used with an account number. The method for communicating account information from the card to the merchant terminal is referred to as a mode. In other words, the microchip card can be used in at least four different financial transaction modes, including, for example, a magnetic stripe swipe mode, various modes using EMV chips, an NFC mode, and a manual card number entry mode. The microchip may implement other modes as well, which is why there may be more than four different financial transaction modes.

If a thief encounters one of the new EMV or NFC payment cards, it can easily steal sensitive data of the payment account without having to worry about embedded chips and NFC components, even if the card is controlled for only a short moment. This can be done by reading the payment data from the magnetic stripe, thereby counterfeiting the card. Thieves can also steal data for fraudulent electronic commerce by taking a picture of the card and capturing the card number. It should be noted that neither the magnetic stripe data nor the print data is protected by digital security measures such as passwords. The stolen data is then used in less secure retail stores that have not adopted the EMV system, or the thief will go online for e-commerce transactions.

Therefore, there is a need for more secure payment cards. To prevent the above problems, and at the same time to improve consumer satisfaction and to improve the governing experience of payment cards, the present invention introduces several innovative elements for the authorization and processing of payment cards, financial networks, and financial transactions.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure describes payment cards, systems, and methods directed to securely managing financial transactions using payment cards. The payment card may take the form of, for example: plastic payment cards, virtual cards, portable commerce devices, one or more components embedded in a mobile device, applications running on a mobile device or computer, and other forms of payment credentials. According to one embodiment, a payment card includes a first component incorporated into a plastic substrate configured to provide details of a first alternate account associated with a cardholder's primary financial account.

The payment card may also include additional components incorporated into the plastic substrate. The add-on component is configured to provide details of an additional alternate account associated with the cardholder's valid credentials. The first alternative account includes details that are different from the details of the second alternative account and different from all of the additional alternative accounts. At least one of the first, second, or additional substitute accounts is provided to the merchant for conducting a financial transaction with the merchant.

According to another embodiment, the account association device includes at least one network interface configured to communicate with a plurality of merchant terminals via a first network and to communicate with a financial institution via a secure network. The account association device also includes a transaction authentication module configured to authenticate a first financial transaction for a first merchant terminal of the plurality of merchant terminals based on a first set of details of a first alternate account obtained by the first merchant terminal in association with a payment card owned by the cardholder. The transaction verification module is further configured to authenticate additional financial transactions for additional merchant terminals of the plurality of merchant terminals based on another, different set of details of additional alternative accounts associated with the cardholder-owned payment card obtained by the additional merchant terminals.

According to yet another embodiment, a system for providing security for a payment card is provided. The system includes a first merchant terminal and an additional merchant terminal each connected to a network. The first merchant terminal is configured to obtain details of the first alternate account from a first set of information associated with a payment card owned by the cardholder. The additional merchant terminal is configured to obtain details of the additional alternate account from another set of information associated with the payment card. The system also includes an account association device connected to the network. The account association device is configured to receive details of the first alternate account and the additional alternate account from the first merchant terminal and the additional merchant terminal, respectively. The account association device is further configured to associate the first alternate account and the additional alternate account with valid credentials belonging to the cardholder. In addition, the account association device manages financial transactions between the financial institution where the cardholder maintains valid credentials and the first and additional merchant terminals. The first set of information is different from the other sets of information.

The various embodiments described in this disclosure may include additional systems, methods, features and advantages that may not necessarily be explicitly disclosed herein, but will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this disclosure, be protected by the following claims.

Drawings

The features and elements shown in the following figures are provided to emphasize the general principles of the invention and are not necessarily drawn to scale. Corresponding features and components are designated with matching reference numerals throughout the figures for consistency and clarity.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a payment card system in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention;

fig. 2A and 2B are views showing a front view and a rear view, respectively, of a first payment card according to various embodiments of the present invention;

figures 3A and 3B are views showing a front view and a back view, respectively, of a second payment card in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an account association device as shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the user account module shown in FIG. 4 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention relates to payment devices, hereinafter payment cards, such as plastic payment cards, virtual cards, wearable commerce devices, components embedded in mobile devices, applications running on mobile devices or computers, and other payment credentials. The invention also relates to a system and method for conducting financial transactions using a payment device. The present invention may include commercially viable computing services, mobile applications, and websites, and may be implemented in connection with financial institutions that use payment cards or other payment devices as described herein. The present invention introduces several innovative elements that can be used with existing cards and valid credential issuers to prevent various forms of fraud. The term "valid voucher" as used herein refers to a valid funds scheduling tool that may be, but is not limited to, a credit card, debit card, direct deposit account, savings account, checking account, loyalty card, gift card, or other card or device.

The present invention includes a multi-mode payment device that can be used in different modes for different types of financial transactions. For example, the payment cards described herein may include multiple modes for completing a transaction. Some modes may include: those involving microchips embedded in cards, those involving Near Field Communication (NFC) components, those involving magnetic stripes, those involving entry of card numbers and card security verification values (CVVs) in online transactions, and/or other modes. The present invention includes a novel fraud reduction feature, a cell phone application, and a corresponding website for controlling the novel fraud reduction feature. Further, the computing service may be used in an authorization and processing network that provides services for online merchants and retail merchants.

Current payment card issuance practices include cardholder unique Primary Account Number (PAN) details that directly correspond to the actual valid credentials of the cardholder in all different modes of the payment card (i.e., including magnetic stripe, EMV chip, NFC, etc.). However, as described herein, an account association device may be interposed between the merchant and the issuer to increase the security of the transaction by using a substitute account number or token in place of the Primary Account Number (PAN), or the account association device may be invoked by the issuer as part of the payment processing process. The payment device system described herein securely replaces cardholder PAN details in the network prior to transaction authorization and processing. This prevents the cardholder PAN details from being revealed to the merchant.

The present invention uses multiple sets of different, anonymous and unpredictable alternative account details for each payment device. In examples using an actual payment card, one set of alternate account details may be associated with one or more modes of the EMV chip, another set of alternate account details may be associated with another mode of the EMV chip, yet another set of alternate account details may be associated with the NFC component, yet another set of alternate account details is for a magnetic stripe, yet another set of alternate account details is for use in electronic commerce, yet another set is for manual entry. Employing multiple sets of different substitute account details can prevent cross-mode payment fraud.

Current practice is that the PAN contained in the EMV chip is the same as the PAN contained in the magnetic stripe and printed on the card. In this manner, financial transactions are accepted in the presence of any of a variety of modes, which provides conditions for cross-mode fraud. For example, a thief may intercept EMV card details and then make a fake magnetic stripe card. As another example, a thief may employ a card data reader to steal both EMV and magnetic stripe account details and then conduct an unauthorized e-commerce transaction. However, the invention is not limited to employing the same PAN for all modes. Rather, the present invention employs a different set of alternate account details corresponding to a plurality of valid credentials, where each alternate account may be associated with a different schema. In this way cross-mode payment fraud can be prevented.

It should be noted that the payment devices described herein may be implemented as credit cards, debit cards, virtual cards, wearable devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, components and/or applications embedded in mobile devices, and/or other financial credentials. In other embodiments, the payment devices described herein may be adapted for use with non-payment devices used in payment environments other than commercial environments. For example, non-payment devices (e.g., loyalty cards, mobile devices, and other non-financial instruments) may be adapted for other functions as follows: for use as a proxy certificate instead of electronic authentication identification (e.g., for medical insurance purposes, for driver license purposes, etc.), for gaining access to a security point, for providing photographic identification to a cardholder, and for other purposes. Further, the valid credentials associated with the substitute account details may be payment credentials and/or non-payment credentials, such as point credentials, medical insurance credentials, and other financial or non-financial credentials.

The block diagram of FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a payment card system 10 in which a financial institution 28 issues a payment card, such as a credit or debit card, to a customer. In other embodiments, the customer may use other types of proxy credentials that are not payment cards, such as a mobile device. According to the embodiment of fig. 1, the payment card system 10 includes a public network 12, one or more user devices 14, one or more merchant terminals 16, one or more wireless communication antennas 18, one or more mobile devices 20, and an account association device 24.

The term "merchant terminal" is used to describe a physical terminal, website, or other means for providing functionality through a merchant that initiates a payment. The merchant terminal may be embedded in the POS device and may be "virtual" as in e-commerce website processing. Additionally, the merchant terminal may be a backend device that does not involve a card, customer, merchant, or merchandise, such as when a repeat payment is initiated due to a service. "merchant terminal" may represent a POS device, a merchant online system, and other mechanisms owned/controlled by the merchant for conducting various purchasing modes. The merchant terminal may include any merchant system used in different payment modes employing one or more technologies (e.g., EMV chip, magnetic stripe, NFC, e-commerce, etc.).

Network 12 may include a wide area network, the internet, a private network, and/or other publicly accessible network. Further, network 12 may include local area networks associated with different merchants. The network 12 may also be in communication with one or more cellular networks connected to the antenna 18.

User device 14, merchant terminal 16, and antenna 18 may be connected to network 12 by one or more wired or wireless connections to enable electronic communication between the various components. Wireless communication antenna 18 may include one or more cellular towers, orbiting satellites, or other wireless communication hubs for communicating with mobile device 20.

The account-associating device 24 may be a server, a web server, software running on a server, a hardware device, or any intermediate computing device or means suitable for providing various transaction services. The account association device 24 is also connected to a secure network 26, the secure network 26 also being connected by wired or wireless connections to one or more financial institutions 28 and one or more databases 30. Secure network 26 may be a private network, a local area network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), or a highly encrypted public network. The account association device 24 may be configured to store information in the database 30 for directing one or more alternate accounts to real accounts owned by a cardholder or customer at the financial institution 28.

In a purchase operation, a customer who has issued a payment card may use the payment card to pay for goods or services. The payment card may be presented to the merchant at one of the merchant terminals 16. It should be noted that multiple merchant terminals 16 may be associated with the same merchant to obtain account information through different modes. In fact, multiple merchant terminals 16 may be associated with a single device used by the merchant to obtain information on a single POS device. Accordingly, the POS device may obtain information from the payment card by using a first mode of embedding a chip in the card, or by another mode involving the use of an NFC component or a magnetic stripe on the card. In other transactions, such as online transactions or telephone transactions, a card number printed and/or embossed on a card may be entered electronically or by a merchant order taker representative.

According to other embodiments, the payment card system 10 may instead be configured as a system for performing non-payment activities. Instead of performing various functions related to financial accounts as disclosed herein, the non-payment system may also process other types of credentials for business entities that are not financial institutions.

The account association device 24 uses the database 30 to associate any alternate account data values with the cardholder's valid credential details. Any alternative account data values and valid credential details may be provided by the cardholder customer at the time of registration of the service provided by the account association device 24. In one embodiment, the cardholder customer may use one of the mobile applications on the mobile device 20 or a web service provided by the user device 14 (which may be a conventional computer or web browser) through the account-associating device 24 to change the valid credential details associated with the alternate account at any time. The account association device 24 associates a plurality of valid credentials with a plurality of alternate accounts. The valid credentials may be financial or non-financial credentials. In one embodiment, the account association device 24 associates valid credentials from the issuing financial institution 28 with a plurality of alternate accounts. In one embodiment, the account association device 24 associates valid credentials from the issuing financial institution 28 and other financial or non-financial institutions with multiple alternative accounts.

The account association device 24 is disposed in the payment card system 10 such that the account association device 24 receives all transactions presented by the merchant through one of the merchant terminals 16 that require authorization to one of a plurality of alternate accounts representing each card. The account association device 24 associates a plurality of substitute accounts with one or more customer valid credentials using a customizable rules engine that is sensitive to one or more facts including, but not limited to, current transaction data. The current transaction data may include, for example, but is not limited to, a merchant category code, a merchant ID, a transaction amount, an alternate account number, a service code, a card security code, and the like.

The account association device 24 may also access data through the database 30 including, but not limited to, prior transactions presented for a particular alternate account, prior transactions presented for another alternate account associated with the same cardholder customer, prior transactions presented for the same merchant or the same merchant location, the geographic location of the cardholder customer's primary mobile phone when the transactions are presented. The geographic location may be determined by, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS), a short-range radio signal (such as Wi-Fi)^TM、Bluetooth^TMBluetooth low-power beacon and Zigbee^TM、Z-wave^TMOr a combination thereof) and other location-sensitive factors. The alternate account, which may be associated with valid credentials, does not have a balance or established credit itself and cannot be used to settle any transaction.

The payment card system 10 may be used to provide security for the use of payment cards. The payment card system 10 may include a first merchant terminal 16 connected to the public network 12, wherein the first merchant terminal 16 is configured to obtain details of the first alternate account from a first set of information associated with a payment card owned by a cardholder. The payment card system 10 may include a second merchant terminal 16 connected to the public network 12, wherein the second merchant terminal 16 is configured to obtain details of the second alternate account from a second set of information associated with the payment card. In this embodiment, the payment card system 10 further comprises an account association device 24 connected to the public network. The account association device 24 is configured to receive details of the first and second alternative accounts from the first and second merchant terminals 16, respectively. The account association device 24 is further configured to associate the first and second alternate accounts with valid credentials belonging to the cardholder. The account association device 24 also manages financial transactions between a financial institution 28, from which financial institution 28 the cardholder obtains valid credentials, and the first and second merchant terminals 16. Furthermore, it should be noted that the first set of information is preferably different from the second set of information.

The payment card system 10 may further include a third merchant terminal 16 connected to the public network 12, wherein the third merchant terminal 16 may be configured to obtain details of a third alternate account from a third, and preferably a different, third set of information associated with the payment card. In some embodiments, the first set of information is obtained from a microchip on the payment card, the second set of information is obtained from an NFC component embedded in the payment card, the third set of information is obtained from a magnetic stripe on the payment card, and the fourth set of information is obtained from a card number printed and/or embossed on the payment card. Additional sets of information obtained from other different modalities now known or later developed may also be obtained. The first set of information, the second set of information, the third set of information, the fourth set of information, and other sets of information may be generated by a financial institution. Some of these sets of information may be manually entered.

Alternative embodiments include a payment card system 10 in which the payment card has no printed and/or embossed account numbers. Likewise, the payment card may not have a magnetic stripe, or one of the other modes. In this case, the cardholder may use only the magnetic stripe and/or NFC component, or a pattern retained on the card, when the merchant terminal uses the payment card.

A different set of account details may also be communicated to the cardholder for use in conducting an online or telephone transaction. The set of different account details may be sent to the cardholder by computer (e.g., user device 14) and/or by mail, email, or short message through mobile device 20.

In some embodiments, a mobile device 20 associated with a cardholder may be incorporated into the system 10. One of the merchant terminals 16 may be an online merchant device configured to conduct online transactions, and the mobile device 20 may be configured to store and retrieve the dynamic verification value (d-CVV) generated from the account-associating device 24 or to calculate a dynamic verification value that is sent to or manually entered into the online merchant device. In some cases, one or more merchant terminals 16 may be embedded in a point of sale (POS) device.

The user device 14 associated with the cardholder is configured to enable the cardholder to manage the alternate account and valid credentials through the account-associating device 24. The account association device 24 is configured to enable the cardholder to enter registration information, monitor the activity of alternate accounts, enable or disable one or more modes of transactions conducted with the payment card, report loss when the payment card is lost or stolen, and provide information relating to various valid credentials. For example, the account-associated device 24 may provide a website that includes one or more web pages that enable a cardholder to navigate to the website using the user device 14.

Fig. 2A and 2B illustrate a first type of payment card 36 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 2A shows the front 38 of the payment card 36 and fig. 2B shows the back 40 of the payment card 36. The payment card 36 may include a financial institution 28 name 42, a microchip 44, a card number 46, a customer name 48, and an expiration date 50 on the front side 38 of the payment card 36. In some embodiments, the card number 46 may be embossed on the payment card 36. In addition, the back of the payment card 36 may include a magnetic stripe 52, a signature block 54, and a Card Verification Value (CVV) 56. The payment card 36 may further include an NFC component that may be embedded below the surface of the payment card 36 for enabling contactless transactions.

In one embodiment, the payment card 36 may be a plastic EMV microchip card that is issued by a card issuing bank according to an issuance rule established for one of several global branded payment card networks. The payment card 36 includes pre-configuration and personalization so that it can be used with any EMV-enabled merchant POS.

However, the account details contained in microchip 44 are not account details of the primary card holder, but are arbitrary values generated by the card issuer. The account details herein may be referred to as "substitute account details". The substitute account details are used as a substitute for valid credentials, but are not used to identify any particular customer. Instead, the substitute account details relate to a substitute account generated by the card issuing bank but not associated with any particular valid credential.

In the embodiment of fig. 2, the microchip 44 and magnetic stripe 52 contain different payment account numbers, expiration dates, and other token account details for two different alternative accounts. In short, the microchip 44 and magnetic stripe 52 appear to represent disparate payment accounts. A transaction conducted with microchip 44 at an EMV-enabled merchant will contain different account details than a transaction conducted at the merchant using magnetic stripe 52 on the same card 36. Likewise, NFC transactions may employ payment account details other than those in EMV-enabled and magnetic stripe modes.

In one embodiment, the financial institution 28 provides the customer with alternate account details for the e-commerce or e-commerce transaction such that the details are different from the details of the alternate account for the microchip 44 or magnetic stripe 52. It should be understood that fax, email, and other forms of electronic and telephonic communication may also be used. It should also be understood that alternative account details may be recorded on the purchase order for transactions made by post. The e-commerce substitute account details may not be printed or embossed on the payment card 36, but may be provided to the customer separately, or may be printed or embossed on the payment card, depending on the embodiment.

Fig. 3A and 3B show a second type of payment card 60 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 3A shows a front 62 of the payment card 60 and fig. 3B shows a back 64 of the payment card 60. The payment card 60 may include a financial institution name 66 and a microchip 68 located on the front side of the payment card 60. It should be noted that the payment card 60 does not have the card number and customer name that would normally be present on a conventional payment card. The back 64 of the payment card 60 may be blank or may simply include the name and address of the financial institution. The back 64 is therefore free of a conventional magnetic strip and CVV code. The payment card 60 does not have a pre-printed card number, embossed account data, expiration data, cardholder name, or other account data. By making the card anonymous and not including a human readable account number, conventional theft of account data from the front and back of the card can be prevented.

At present, Visa^TMAnd MasterCard^TMIncluding rules made for credit and debit cards that require the cardholder's name and account number to be displayed on the card. Thus, the embodiment of FIG. 3 does not comply with these current rules.However, the payment card 60 described in the present invention can be carried publicly without the risk of loss or theft because the cardholder name and account number cannot be obtained by visual inspection. For online, mail order, telephone, and other similar transactions, a separate card or electronic document may be securely stored in the cardholder's home.

In some embodiments, the

payment cards

36, 60 may be made of a plastic substrate. The first component (e.g., microchip 44) may be incorporated inside the plastic substrate of the card shown in fig. 2 and 3. The first component may be configured to provide details of a first alternate account associated with valid credentials of a cardholder. The payment card 36 of fig. 2 may also include additional components incorporated into the plastic substrate. These additional components are configured to provide details of additional alternate accounts associated with the cardholder's valid credentials. The first alternate account includes details that are different from the details of the second alternate account and different from all of the additional alternate accounts. At least one of the first alternate account, the second alternate account, or the additional alternate account is provisioned (e.g., using the merchant terminal 16) to the merchant for conducting a financial transaction with the merchant.

The merchant is configured to communicate details of the at least one alternate account to the account association device 24 via the network 12. The account association device 24 is configured to associate at least one of the alternate accounts with one of the cardholder's valid credentials, wherein the account association device 24 is further configured to manage financial transactions between a financial institution 28 associated with the cardholder's primary financial account and a merchant terminal 16 associated with the merchant.

According to some embodiments, the payment card 36 of fig. 2 may further include additional components (e.g., the card number 46) incorporated into the plastic substrate. The card number may be printed and/or embossed on the plastic substrate. In alternative embodiments, a payment card (e.g., payment card 60) may be devoid of at least one of a printed or embossed card number, magnetic stripe, and/or other pattern.

The first alternate account, the second alternate account, and the additional alternate account may be read from the first part, the second part, and the additional part by a point of sale (POS) device, such as the merchant terminal 16. To conduct a financial transaction, some embodiments may include the use of a mobile device 20 associated with the cardholder.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the account association device 24 shown in FIG. 1. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the account association device 24 includes a security module 74, one or more web pages 76, a user account module 78, one or more network interfaces 80, and a transaction authentication module 82. The one or more network interfaces 80 are configured to enable communications over the first public network 12 and also to enable communications over the secure network 26. The user account module 78 allows a user or customer to perform many different actions with respect to financial accounts and with respect to how the

payment cards

36, 60 are used. The user account module 78 is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 5.

The security module 74 may include a random number generator for generating a temporary dynamic card verification value (d-CVV). The d-CVV may be sent to the mobile device. Additionally, security module 74 may include an encryption engine for encrypting data transmitted via public network 12. The account association device 24 may be configured as a web server that allows one or more users to access information from the web page 76 and to establish a secure connection to enable the transfer of sensitive information such as customer information, card numbers, and the like. The transaction authentication module 82 is configured to authenticate financial transactions using the

payment card

36, 60.

In one embodiment, the token account details are cryptographically protected using a key, which may be provided by the security module 74. In one embodiment, the key is derived from a password created by the customer. In another embodiment, the key may instead depend on other data, including but not limited to the identity of the mobile device 20, the identity number of the card holder client known to the security module 74 of the account-associating device 24, the country in which the card holder client is registered for computer service, a universal key controlled by biometric authentication (e.g., fingerprint, iris scan, facial or voice recognition) of the card holder, or a biorhythmic pattern matching one or more body rhythms, including but not limited to pulse rate, epidermal conductivity, iris size, blink rate, brain photography, electrocardiography, and other factors considered individually or jointly as individual biomarkers.

A typical plastic card may have only a three or four digit CVV printed on the front or back of the card. The e-commerce site now routinely asks for this value to ensure that the customer is holding the card by itself. But because the CVV is a short number printed on the card, it is easily stolen along with the card account data. Thus, using a dynamic CVV (d-CVV) that can be generated by the security module 74 for only one transaction at the time of the transaction may prevent this form of theft. In some embodiments, instead of using a generated d-CVV for only one transaction, the d-CVV may be applied to multiple transactions associated with a particular merchant or may be used multiple times according to other criteria, such as a range of days, certain days of the week, the merchant's area code, the type of purchase, and so forth. According to some embodiments, a mobile application running on a mobile device 20 associated with a cardholder may be configured to acquire d-CVVs as needed. Alternatively, a website provided by the account-associating device 24 may be used when the mobile device 20 is unavailable. Thus, in this case, the account associating device may generate a d-CVV.

In addition to use during financial transactions, the system 10 may alternatively be applied for non-payment purposes. For example, the system 10 may be used to replace some form of identifier with a token or alternative identifier. Such identifiers may include social security numbers (in the united states), public health identification numbers, loyalty programs, and other forms of account numbers that may be compromised, identity stolen, or otherwise fraudulently risked using a real number.

The account association device 24 may also be used to provide limited transactional access to a protected set of records, such as medical record requests, laboratory results, credit surveys, license licenses, business licenses, and other forms of relying party surveys using government or enterprise issued identification accounts.

The payment card system 10 may also be used for transactions for some non-payment purposes, including driver's licenses, border control documents, building and resource access cards, and gift cards. In this embodiment, the

payment card

30, 60, while using one or more modes for non-payment purposes, also uses one or more modes for payment transactions through separate substitute accounts for the different modes.

In some embodiments, account association device 24 may include at least one network interface 80, network interface 80 configured to communicate with a plurality of merchant terminals over first public network 12 and to communicate with financial institution 28 over secure network 26. For example, the financial institution 28 may be a bank that issues

payment cards

36, 60 to cardholders. The account association device 24 may also include a transaction authentication module 82, the transaction authentication module 82 configured to: a first financial transaction for a first merchant terminal of the plurality of merchant terminals 16 is authenticated based on a first set of details obtained by the first merchant terminal for a first alternate account associated with the

payment card

36, 60 held by the cardholder. The transaction authentication module 82 may be further configured to: the second financial transaction for the second one of the plurality of merchant terminals 16 is authenticated based on a second, different set of details obtained by the second merchant terminal for the second alternate account associated with the

payment card

36, 60 held by the cardholder.

The transaction authentication module 82 may be further configured to determine whether the substitute account corresponds to valid credentials of the cardholder. The transaction authentication module 82 may be further configured to determine whether the received alternate account details correspond to expected alternate account details for the payment card model being used. The transaction authentication module 82 is further configured to manage financial transactions between the financial institution 28 and the first and second merchant terminals 16. The transaction authentication module 82 is still further configured to: additional financial transactions for additional ones of the plurality of merchant terminals 16 are authenticated based on additional group details obtained by additional merchant terminals for additional alternate accounts associated with the primary account of the

payment card

36, 60 held by the cardholder. The first set of details may be obtained from the microchip 44 on the

payment card

36, 60, the second set of details may be obtained from the magnetic stripe 52 on the payment card 36, and the third set of details may be obtained from the card number 46 printed and/or embossed on the payment card 36.

Network interface 80 may be further configured to communicate with remote devices associated with the cardholder, such as user device 14 or mobile device 20, over network 12. The network interface 80 may be further configured to receive instructions from the

remote device

14, 20 to cause the cardholder to manage a primary account associated with the

payment card

36, 60, wherein managing the primary account includes at least one of: entering registration information 86, monitoring 94 activity of the primary account, enabling and disabling 90 one or more modes of transaction with the payment card, reporting 92 loss or theft of the payment card, and providing 88 information about the first and second alternate accounts.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the user accounts module 78 shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the user account module 78 includes a registration module 86, a provisioning module 88, an enabling module 90, a reporting module 92, and a monitoring module 94. The user may access the user account module 78 using a mobile application running on the cardholder's mobile device or by accessing a website provided by the account association device 24 using the cardholder's user device 14.

The user account module 78 enables the card holding customer to establish and manage the rules that are enforced by the account association device 24 on behalf of the card holding customer. Such rules may be sensitive to one or more facts known to the cardholder including, but not limited to, payment value, merchant ID, local time and date encoded in the transaction message, distance of the merchant's registration location from the geographic location of the cardholder's mobile device at the time of the transaction, local currency of the transaction, country where the transaction occurred, country where the merchant was located, whether the transaction is presented as a magnetic stripe transaction, an EMV transaction, or an e-commerce, phone or mail order transaction, and cardholder authentication methods such as, but not limited to, one or more of the following: entering a Personal Identification Number (PIN) code into a merchant POS terminal, signing a receipt, entering a password into a mobile device, and a fingerprint or other biometric method.

The registration module 86 may be configured to enable the cardholder to register additional alternate accounts and additional valid credentials. The enablement module 90 may be used to enable a cardholder to enable certain patterns or kinds of transactions to be enabled or disabled, or to enable certain transactions to be enabled or disabled themselves, prior to authentication, according to various uses envisioned by the cardholder based on various criteria. The enablement module 90 may be used to enable the cardholder to specify which valid voucher the payment should be deducted from under various possible circumstances and criteria. The reporting module 92 allows the user to report when the

payment card

36, 60 is lost or stolen. One embodiment of the reporting module 92 enables the account-associating device 24 to report relevant information to the user or financial institution 28 in a manual or automated manner, including reporting potential fraudulent activity across alternative account details and/or payment cards. The monitoring module 94 allows the user to view previous transactions to monitor all card activity.

The provisioning module 88 allows the user to individually distinguish between different sets of alternative account details. Conventional card issuance systems assume that certain data elements are shared between the microchip, the magnetic stripe, and the printed/embossed card number. However, in contrast to conventional card issuance systems, the provisioning module 88 allows each of these and other elements to be provisioned using separate data elements. The provisioning module 88 is configured to identify these different sets of alternative account details, respectively, which are stored in a common provisioning data file transmitted during the card provisioning step.

If the cardholder's

payment card

36, 60 is lost or stolen, the cardholder may encounter unauthorized use of their payment card. However, while in some countries a thief may utilize the NFC feature to purchase something below a certain cost value (e.g., $100), typically the thief cannot use the EMV feature without a cardholder PIN code that may be entered during the provisioning process using the provisioning module 88. In addition, stolen cards cannot be used for electronic or telephone commerce because the account details for the independent transaction mode are different.

The pre-configuration module 88 may further include receiving identification information of the cardholder not printed on the

payment card

36, 60. According to some embodiments, the provisioning module 88 may formulate the cardholder usage rules by requiring the cardholder's mobile device 20 and the transaction using the

payment card

36, 60 to be present at the same time. In addition, the mobile application of the mobile device 20 may be used to immediately block transactions from stolen cards that are reported to be stolen by the reporting module 92. The user account module 78 may configure its rules to block magnetic stripe transactions unless the cardholder unlocks these magnetic stripe transactions each time using a mobile application on the mobile device 20. The latter method effectively prevents the use of counterfeit magnetic stripe cards. The user account module 78 may also configure its rules to block transactions from any and all of the different modes, or to block transactions that fall within certain criteria, unless the cardholder unlocks these transactions each time.

In one embodiment, the mobile application is available on the primary mobile device 20 of the cardholder customer. The mobile application may be used by the card holding customer to register an alternate account or valid credential in the user association device 24, controlling the pre-configuration or association between the valid credential and one or more alternate account details pre-configured to the payment card. The mobile application also enables the user to turn on or off authorization of transactions that occur through any alternate account pre-configured to the plastic payment card, report that the payment card has been lost or stolen, and report the payment card as an additional authentication factor for sensitive or high value or high risk transactions.

The mobile device 20 may also store in memory alternative account details that may be associated with "card present" transactions and "card not present" transactions. These alternative account details may be stored in memory and recalled by the customer entering a password and/or another authentication factor into the mobile device 20. As a means of interacting with an e-commerce website, the mobile application securely holds e-commerce substitute account details and displays them to the user based on proper authentication by password, biometric, and/or other factors. In another embodiment, the alternate account details are transmitted by the account-associating device 24 and received by the mobile device 20, and then invoked by the customer entering a password and/or another authentication factor into the mobile device 20.

The embodiments described herein represent a number of possible embodiments and examples, but are not intended to limit the invention to certain specific embodiments. Rather, various modifications may be made to these embodiments as understood by those skilled in the art. Any such modifications are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A payment card, comprising:

a first component incorporated into the plastic base, the first component configured to provide details of a first alternate account associated with a cardholder account; and

at least one additional component incorporated into the plastic substrate, each of the at least one additional component configured to provide details of at least one additional alternate account associated with the cardholder's account;

wherein the payment card stores alternative account identifiers for a plurality of alternative accounts of the cardholder account, each alternative account including details that are different from the details of each other alternative account, each alternative account being associated with a particular one of the components; and is

Wherein the payment card is configured to provide a different alternative account identifier for the cardholder account for each different mode of providing account details from the payment card to a merchant in a financial transaction with the merchant.

2. The payment card of claim 1, wherein the merchant is configured to transmit details of at least one of the alternative accounts to an account association device via a network, wherein the account association device is configured to associate at least one of the alternative accounts with the cardholder account, and wherein the account association device is further configured to manage financial transactions between a financial institution associated with the cardholder account and a merchant terminal associated with the merchant.

3. The payment card of claim 1, wherein the first component is one of a microchip, a Near Field Communication (NFC) device, and a magnetic strip incorporated into or on the plastic substrate, and the at least one additional component is another of the microchip, NFC device, and magnetic strip.

4. The payment card as claimed in claim 3, wherein one of the at least one additional component comprises a card number printed or embossed on the plastic substrate.

5. The payment card as recited in claim 1, wherein the payment card is free of at least one of a printed or embossed account number and a magnetic stripe.

6. The payment card of claim 1, wherein a mobile device associated with the cardholder is used to complete a financial transaction.

7. The payment card as claimed in claim 1, wherein details of the alternative account are read from the component by a merchant terminal.

8. An account association device, comprising:

at least one network interface configured to communicate with a plurality of merchant terminals via a network and to communicate with a financial institution via the network; and

a transaction authentication module configured to authenticate a financial transaction for a merchant terminal of the plurality of merchant terminals based on a set of details of an alternate account associated with a payment card owned by a cardholder obtained by the merchant terminal and a pattern in which the set of details is obtained by the merchant terminal, the transaction authentication module further configured to determine whether the alternate account corresponds to an expected account identifier for a usage pattern of the transaction, and if the alternate account does not correspond to the usage pattern, reject or suspend the transaction;

wherein the transaction authentication module is further configured to authenticate additional financial transactions for additional merchant terminals of the plurality of merchant terminals based on a further set of different details of additional alternative accounts associated with the payment card owned by the cardholder obtained by the additional merchant terminals and a pattern in which the additional merchant terminals obtain the different details of the additional alternative accounts,

wherein the alternate account and the additional alternate account both correspond to the same cardholder account.

9. The account association device of claim 8, wherein the financial institution dispenses the payment card to the cardholder, and wherein the transaction authentication module is further configured to manage financial transactions between the financial institution and the first and additional merchant terminals and process payments against an account specified in the user account module.

10. The account association device of claim 8, wherein the transaction authentication module is further configured to authenticate additional financial transactions for additional ones of the plurality of merchant terminals based on another, different set of details of additional alternate accounts associated with the payment card owned by the cardholder obtained by the additional merchant terminals.

11. The account association device of claim 10, wherein the first, second and third sets of details are obtained from a microchip, Near Field Communication (NFC) device and magnetic strip on the payment card, and the fourth set of details is obtained from a card number printed or embossed on the payment card, and the further sets of details are obtained by other modes available.

12. The account association device of claim 10, wherein at least one of the merchant terminal and the additional merchant terminal is a point-of-sale (POS) device.

13. The account association device of claim 8, wherein the network interface is further configured to communicate with a remote device associated with the cardholder via a first network.

14. The account association device of claim 13, wherein the network interface is further configured to receive instructions from the remote device to enable the cardholder to manage an account associated with the payment card, wherein managing an account comprises: the method may include the steps of inputting registration information, monitoring activity of the account, enabling and disabling one or more modes of transactions conducted with the payment card, reporting that the payment card has been lost or stolen, and pre-configuring information relating to a plurality of alternative accounts associated with the payment card.

15. The account association device of claim 8, further comprising one or more web pages of a website that enable the cardholder to use a user device to manage the details or navigate to the website.

16. A system for providing security for a payment card, the system comprising:

a first merchant terminal connected to the network, the first merchant terminal configured to obtain details of a first alternate account from a first set of information associated with a payment card owned by a cardholder;

a second merchant terminal connected to the network, the second merchant terminal configured to obtain details of a second alternate account from a second set of information associated with the payment card;

an additional merchant terminal connected to the network, the additional merchant terminal configured to obtain details of an additional alternate account from additional sets of information associated with the payment card, the first alternate account, the second alternate account, and the additional alternate account all associated with the same cardholder account, the additional sets of information including a third set of information and a fourth set of information; and

an account association device connected to the network, the account association device configured to receive details of the first and subsequent alternative accounts from the first and subsequent merchant terminals, respectively, and information indicating respective modes for obtaining the details of the first and subsequent alternative accounts, the account association device further configured to associate the first and subsequent alternative accounts with the cardholder account;

wherein the account association device manages financial transactions between the financial institution holding the account by the cardholder and the first and subsequent merchant terminals, the account association device being further configured to determine whether each alternate account corresponds to an expected account identifier for a respective transaction usage pattern, and if an alternate account does not correspond to a usage pattern, to deny or suspend the transaction; and is

Wherein the first set of information is different from subsequent sets of information.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising an additional merchant terminal connected to the network, the additional merchant terminal configured to obtain details of additional alternative accounts from additional sets of information associated with the payment card.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first, second, and third sets of information are obtained from a magnetic stripe, a microchip, and a Near Field Communication (NFC) device on the payment card, and the fourth set of information is obtained from a card number printed or embossed on the payment card.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the payment card is free of at least one of a printed or embossed account number and a magnetic stripe.

20. The system of claim 16, further comprising a mobile device associated with the cardholder.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the mobile device calculates, stores, or receives a dynamic card verification value, d-CVV, in order to verify a transaction.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the first merchant terminal, second merchant terminal, and additional merchant terminals is an online merchant device configured to conduct an online transaction, and wherein the mobile device or user transmits the d-CVV to the online merchant device through manual input or other methods.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein at least one of the first and second merchant terminals is embedded within a physical point-of-sale (POS) device.

24. The system of claim 16, further comprising a user device associated with the cardholder that enables the cardholder to manage the account via the account-associated device, and wherein the account-associated device is configured to enable the cardholder to enter registration information, monitor activities of the account and associate them with various alternative accounts, enable and disable one or more modes of transactions conducted with the payment card, report that the payment card has been lost or stolen, and provision information relating to first and second alternative accounts.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the account-associated device provides a website including one or more web pages that enable the cardholder to navigate to the website using the user device.