System, method, and apparatus to authorize a payment transaction using a token credential

Abstract

A novel system and methodology for conducting financial and other transactions using a wireless device. Credentials may be selectively issued by issuers such as credit card companies, banks, and merchants to consumers permitting the specific consumer to conduct a transaction according to the authorization given as reflected by the credential or set of credentials. The preferred mechanism for controlling and distributing credentials according to the present invention is through one or more publicly accessible networks such as the Internet wherein the system design and operating characteristics are in conformance with the standards and other specific requirements of the chosen network or set of networks. Credentials are ultimately supplied to a handheld device such as a mobile telephone via a wireless network. The user holding the credential may then use the handheld device to conduct the authorized transaction or set of transactions via, for example, a short range wireless link with a point-of-sale terminal.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system to process requests to authorize a payment transaction using a token credential, the system comprising:
 a merchant point-of-sale (POS) system to capture payment token data from a payment device, send a payment transaction authorization request that includes the payment token data to an acquirer system coupled to the merchant POS system, and to receive a transaction authorization response from the acquirer system; and   a payment network system to receive a payment transaction authorization request from the acquirer system, submit a request to receive a payment account number that is linked to a token account number corresponding to a token account from an applicable token management system that is associated with the payment token data contained in the payment transaction authorization request, receive the linked payment account number, route the payment transaction authorization request containing the linked payment account number to an issuer card management system coupled to the payment network system and associated with the linked payment account number, receive a transaction authorization response including at least an approval or decline message from the issuer card management system, and respond to the acquirer system with the received transaction authorization response.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the token account number is within a Bank Identification Number (BIN) range corresponding to at least one of a particular payment card issuer and a particular payment network. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the particular payment network is one of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diners. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the payment account number linked to the token account number within the token management system corresponds to one of a credit account, a debit account, and a stored value account. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the payment token data and data within a payment account corresponding to the linked payment account number each comprises at least one of an account number, an expiration date, and credential security information. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the linked payment account number is within a Bank Identification Number (BIN) range corresponding to at least one of a particular payment card issuer and a particular payment network. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the particular payment network is one of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diners. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the linked payment account number is retrieved by the payment network system from the token management system in real-time in response to the payment network system receiving the payment transaction authorization request from the acquirer system containing the token account number. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the payment network system approves transaction authorization requests based on at least one of a state of the token account and a received authorization response associated with the linked payment account number that is received from the applicable issuer card management system. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the payment device comprises at least one of a wireless device, a computing device, a magnetic-stripe card, a chip card, and a bar-coded device. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein when the payment device comprises the wireless device, the wireless device comprises:
 a memory device to store the token credential; and   a near field communication (NFC) interface to transmit the token credential to an RF reader device connected to the merchant POS system.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein when the payment device comprises the computing device, the computing device comprises:
 a memory device to store the token credential; and   an interface to transmit the token credential to the merchant POS system over the Internet.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein when the payment device comprises the magnetic-stripe card, the token credential is encoded within the magnetic-stripe. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein when the payment device comprises the chip card, the token credential is encoded within the chip. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein when the payment device comprises the bar-coded device, the token credential is encoded within the bar code. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the merchant POS system comprises at least one of an apparatus to capture the payment token data from the payment device via at least one of a wired connection, wireless interface, bar code scanner, magnetic stripe reader, or chip card reader. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the acquirer system receives a plurality of payment transaction authorization requests generated by a plurality of merchants and routes the plurality of authorization requests to various payment networks to which it is coupled, receives transaction authorization responses from the various payment networks, and routes the authorization responses to the various merchants. 
     
     
         18 . A method of processing requests to authorize a payment transaction using a token credential, the method comprising:
 capturing, within a merchant point-of-sale (POS) system, payment token data from a payment device;   sending a payment transaction authorization request that includes the payment token data from the merchant POS system to an acquirer system;   receiving a payment transaction authorization request within the acquirer system;   receiving, within a payment network system, a payment transaction authorization request from the acquirer system;   submitting a request to receive a payment account number that is linked to a token account number corresponding to a token account from an applicable token management system that is associated with the payment token data contained in the payment transaction authorization request;   receiving the linked payment account number within the payment network system;   routing the payment transaction authorization request containing the linked payment account number from the payment network system to an issuer card management system associated with the linked payment account number;   receiving a payment transaction authorization response including at least an approval or decline message from the issuer card management system within the payment network system; and   sending the payment transaction authorization response from the payment network system, to the acquirer system, and to the merchant POS system.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 retrieving the linked payment account number by the payment network system from the token management system in real-time in response to the payment network system receiving the payment transaction authorization request from the acquirer system containing the token account number.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 approving, within the payment network system, payment transaction authorization requests based on at least one of a state of the token account and a received payment transaction authorization response associated with the linked payment account number that is received from the applicable issuer card management system.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 storing the payment token data in the payment device; and   conveying the payment token data to the merchant POS system via at least one of a wired connection, wireless interface, bar code scanner, magnetic stripe reader, or chip card reader.   
     
     
         22 . An apparatus to process requests to retrieve a payment account linked to a token credential during payment transaction authorization processing, the apparatus comprising:
 a storage device to store a database including a plurality of token accounts that each contain a mapping between at least one token account number corresponding to a token account and at least one linked payment account number corresponding to a payment account;   a communications interface to receive a request from a payment network system for at least one linked payment account number associated with the at least one token account number where the request includes the at least one token account number and to transmit a response to the payment network system containing the at least one linked payment account number associated with the received at least one token account number; and   a processor to perform a lookup within the database using the received at least one token account number, retrieve the at least one linked payment account number, and submit the retrieved at least one linked payment account number to the communications interface for transmission to the payment network system in response to the received request.   
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the at least one payment account number linked to the at least one token account number corresponds to one of a credit account, a debit account, and a stored value account. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein payment token data and data within a payment account corresponding to the linked payment account number each comprises at least one of an account number, an expiration date, and credential security information. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the linked payment account number is retrieved by the payment network system from the apparatus in real-time in response to the payment network system receiving the transaction authorization request containing the at least one token account number. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the payment network system approves transaction authorization requests based on at least one of a state of the token account and a received payment transaction authorization response associated with the at least one linked payment account number that is received from an applicable issuer card management system. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the plurality of token accounts are updated within the database. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein the updating of the token accounts includes updating at least one of the at least one token account number and the at least one linked payment account number. 
     
     
         29 . The apparatus of  claim 27 , wherein the updating comprises at least one of adding information to the token accounts, deleting information from the token accounts, and changing information within the token accounts. 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus of  claim 22 , wherein the processor retrieves the at least one linked payment account number in response to the received request containing the at least one token account number via the communications interface.