WO2016007999A1

WO2016007999A1 - System and method of providing value added services (vas) transactions

Info

Publication number: WO2016007999A1
Application number: PCT/AU2015/000421
Authority: WO
Inventors: Simon Sorockyj; Steven Gary McRAE
Original assignee: Vast Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2014-07-18
Filing date: 2015-07-20
Publication date: 2016-01-21

Abstract

A system for providing value added services (VAS) in standard financial transaction messages, the system including one or more computers, a memory storing machine readable instructions, which when executed by the one or more computers, causes the one or more computers to perform operations including creating a VAS message, storing the VAS message in one or more fields of the standard financial transaction message, and processing the financial transaction message which in itself includes extracting the VAS message from the financial transaction message and performing operations in accordance with the data in the VAS message, thereby allowing actions in accordance with the VAS message to be effected during the processing of the financial transaction message

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROVIDING VALUE ADDED SERVICES (VAS)

TRANSACTIONS

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method of providing value added services (VAS) transactions and in particular, a system and method that provides VAS transactions within an internationally recognised transaction format to create and perform VAS transactions that may be used without requiring the substantial integration and implementation costs that would otherwise arise. The invention also relates to computer instruction code that, when implemented, cause computer processors to effect the method of the invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Payment transactions (i.e. purchasers paying for the purchase of goods and services from a merchant through a point of sale, whether in-store, online or via mobile) are presently provided whereby any vendor and purchaser can facilitate a transaction via a merchant using global, uniform messaging standards for authorization and settlement of such transactions. For example, ISO 8583-1 :2003 specifies a common interface by which financial transaction card originated messages may be interchanged between acquirers and card.

[0003] However, there is presently no international standard exists which facilitates non-financial transaction card originated messages in support of transactions or additional services such as promotions, offers, coupons, rewards, loyalty, license verification, age verification, bill payment, account top-up, or other value add services (Value Added Services or VAS).

[0004] Instead, issuers, acquirers, merchants, promoter and financial institutions such as banks currently each use their own technical standards to authorize and settle VAS transactions. Accordingly, existing VAS programs require each participant to use proprietary or "closed" transaction messaging depending on which participant they are dealing with to provide the service to a database of consumers. [0005] Therefore, companies provide their own standards for issuer, acquirer, merchant, promoter and consumer participation. For example, Australia's Qantas Frequent Flyer, Fly Buys and Myer 1 each involve isolated transactional messaging for each separate program in accordance with their own proprietary rules and procedures. Integration into point of sale requires different messaging from different sources. Some companies such as Groupon® have attempted to provide a standard, but these systems still fail to provide integration into the point of sale.

[0006] Some companies have attempted to receive messaging from existing payments networks subsequent to the purchase transaction (Visa, MasterCard, Eftpos), however, this necessitates VAS transaction processing after the purchase (authorization and settlement) and as a result, only total transaction data (and not product or line item data) can be seen. Also, this type of messaging is not supported by an international standard and therefore integration of such an arrangement with existing systems is costly and inefficient.

[0007] Furthermore, some companies issue their own identification device such as a card to "see" the transaction at the time the card is used but this requires the party to achieve their own distribution and uptake of the identification device, to act as a bank (in the instance of debit and credit offered in association with the device), or use pre-paid where achieving initial "load" becomes a problem since there needs to be a separate act and reason for a consumer to load or use that particular payment method as compared with using their usual payment method. However, no product or line item data can be viewed with card based programs as the data is not collected from the point of sale, but rather from the card issuer.

[0008] Presently, the ability to provide value added services to consumers is substantially monopolized by banks (issuer of financial transaction cards) and merchants (retailers). The inability of manufacturers and/or service providers to directly offer VAS to consumers (arising from their inability to "connect" with the point of sale) restricts those seeking to provide VAS transactions to consumers and hence, reduces innovation and competition in the provision of value added services to consumers.

[0009] It is therefore an object of the present invention to ameliorate at least some of the aforementioned problems or to provide the public with a useful alternative. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] According to one aspect, the present invention provides a system for providing value added services (VAS) in standard financial transaction messages, the system including one or more computers, a memory storing machine readable instructions, which when executed by the one or more computers, causes the one or more computers to perform operations including creating a VAS message, storing the VAS message in one or more fields of the standard financial transaction message, and processing the financial transaction message which in itself includes extracting the VAS message from the financial transaction message and performing operations in accordance with the data in the VAS message, thereby allowing actions in accordance with the VAS message to be effected during the processing of the financial transaction message.

[0011] According to another aspect, the present invention provides a computer- implemented method of providing value added services (VAS) in a standard financial transaction message including forming a VAS message, and storing the VAS message in one or more fields of the standard financial transaction message, and transmitting the financial transaction message, thereby allowing the VAS data to be used in real time during processing of the financial transaction message.

[0012] In an embodiment, the VAS message included in one or more fields of the standard financial transaction message are included in one or more of the issuer data fields of the financial transaction message.

[0013] In another embodiment, the transaction message is constructed by terminal payment software using a bank implementation of the standard financial message. The system reviews the payment transaction message fields that are already in use and determines any available fields, or partially available fields, that may be used. According to the availability within the payment transaction message, the system creates one or more message blocks that are allocated to data fields, or partial data fields. In one particular embodiment, if the inclusion of additional fields are required, the system modifies the instruction field of the initial payment message. The payment message is then reconstructed with the VAS message included and at this point in time, the message is ready for submission and processing. [0014] Of course, the value added service that can be offered to consumers is effectively without limit and will likely evolve over time to accommodate the preferences of consumers. However, in one embodiment, the VAS provides services to consumers that include:

Coupons;

Coupon Id's;

Loyalty Points;

License Verification;

Age Verification;

Application for, and issuance of, credit; Application for, and issuance of, fishing licences;

Proprietary stored value exchange (examples include store cards, gift cards, prepaid store cards);

Dynamic currency conversion exchange; Lottery ticket issuance and verification; Bill payment; and

Application of credit to Mobile phone account.

[0015] In the instance of Coupons, many electronic forms of coupons are electronic identifiers used by host systems to identify the coupon. However, most paper based coupons contain the required information relating to how Point of Sale systems should process the coupon in real time. The present invention allows the use of coupon id's and/or the use of coupon information for immediate local processing of the coupon.

[0016] In one particular embodiment, the VAS message includes both a coupon id and coupon information which thereby allows the coupon to be processed immediately at the point of sale and further reconciliation subsequent to the transaction. Of course, this provides the benefit of speed of processing the coupon for the consumer at the point of sale (thereby reducing the time required to acknowledge the consumer's coupon) whilst also allowing the post-processing of the coupon subsequent to the transaction to reconcile any additional information that is required to fully process the coupon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention. In the drawings:

Fig 1 . Is a diagrammatic representation of a financial transaction message;

Fig 2. is a diagrammatic representation providing greater detail of elements of a financial transaction message including the Transaction Protocol Data Unit (TPDU) and sub-elements thereof, and the Payload;

Fig 3. is a diagrammatic representation of elements of a financial transaction message including the MTI, and sub-elements thereof, and the Bitmap;

Fig 4. is a diagrammatic representation of elements of a financial transaction message according to the ISO 8583 standard and the inclusion of a VAS message according to an embodiment of the invention; and

Fig 5. is a diagrammatic representation of a VAS message in the form of a coupon detailing the components of the Payload and the Purchased ltem(s).

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the embodiments and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.

[0019] Although the invention relates to any type of value added service (VAS), the specific example that is described below relates to coupons that are issued to a consumer that represent value to the consumer when the coupon is redeemed.

[0020] Reference herein to a:

• "vendor" or "brand" or "issuer" is intended to mean the original provider of goods to merchants. For example, such as a goods manufacturer or brand owner, i.e. the issuer of an offer on a product, or the coupon that may be redeemed by a consumer;

• "promoter" or "distributor" or "database owner" is intended to mean the entity responsible for distributing the offers to customers stored in a database;

• "merchant" or "retailer" means an entity responsible for the sale of goods on behalf of the vendor to a purchaser, including for example a shopping chain or an online store, i.e. the entity providing a point of acceptance of such an offer via a point of sale;

• "purchaser" or "user" or "customer" means the end customer, i.e. the consumer who benefits from the offer; and

• "financial institution" or "payment acquirer" means a bank or other entity responsible for managing transactions on behalf of, and between, merchants and customers.

[0021] The present invention relates to a system and method of managing value added services (VAS), which according to an embodiment, allows a brand to communicate an offer to a consumer database through distribution by a database owner (such as a merchant), and for such consumer forming part of that database to fulfill that offer through a merchant providing a point of acceptance for such offer. Accordingly, the system may act as the acquirer and processor of such offer as a separate authorization, collection and settlement (clearing house) of the commercial transaction between the issuer, distributor and acceptor, although the system does not involve settlement with the consumer. It is envisaged that the system will allow brands to communicate/retrieve data from any participating consumer database owner.

[0022] This value added services transaction occurs before the payment transaction, and therefore may adjudicate and process the offer to consumers in real time at the point of sale, splitting the payment and VAS transaction into two and therefore adjusting the payment by the VAS, and not as a separate after purchase transaction or reconciliation which is normally achieved via cash back and other value added transaction processing services such as points.

[0023] The system may adjudicate any identification device including but not limited to existing or issued payment or swipe card, mobile NFC, QR code (Bar code) downloaded to mobile phone, and/or manual entry of any designated code (swipe, dip, tap, scan or enter).

[0024] Accordingly, the present system provides a means by which an international standard may be applied to value added services transactions by providing a global uniform VAS network and open messaging standard that may be used by anyone subscribing to the standard, whether a vendor (brand), database, merchant or financial institution. In existing systems known to the Applicant, each party is proposing a unique and different standard to differentiate their VAS program from the next, and there is currently no system which provides open access.

[0025] In addition, payment transactions typically have high standards of security whereas VAS traditionally does not. Convergence of technology has previously not allowed VAS and payments to co-mingle on the same device. For these reasons among others, they have always been implemented separately, which means additional issuance, distribution and acceptance costs for value added services from a technology and payment transaction delivery perspective for brands, databases and merchants. The present system allows brings the abovementioned level of security to VAS and embeds the VAS message inside the payments message, as will be described by way of example further below with reference to Figure 1 .

[0026] The present system further provides that brands pay and distributors and acceptors receive revenue only where adjudication occurs (offer has been redeemed). Therefore the system is cost effective, creates new revenues and provides more extensive and richer data.

[0027] Figure 1 shows, by way of example, transaction data 300 which may be transmitted at a point of sale to a central computer and database (not shown) responsible for management of the VAS transaction prior to the payment transaction. The data structure 300, in embodiments, includes one or more fields, which may include, but are not limited to, a customer identifier field 302, a transaction routing information field 304, and/or a transaction details field 306. The customer ID field 302 may include an identifier for the customer stored in the system database. The customer ID 302 may include a globally unique identifier (GUID) or other identifier that allows the system to recognize the customer stored in the database. The transaction routing information 304 includes information for the point of sale to route the data structure 300 to each of the system of the present invention and, following processing, to the payment acquirer.

[0028] The transaction details field 306 includes one or more fields containing information about the transaction, including the VAS 500. In embodiments, the transaction details 306 further includes at least one of, but is not limited to, an amount field 310, a day field 312, a time field 314, a vendor name field 316, a location field 318, and/or a retailer identifier (RID) field 320. The amount field 310 may include the amount that needs to be paid prior to processing and accounting for VAS to complete the transaction. The day field 312 may include the day the transaction occurred. The time field 314 may include the time the transaction occurred. The vendor name field 316 may include the name of the vendor. The location field 318 may include the location of the retailer and/or the transaction. The RID field 320 may provide an identifier for the retailer or vendor. The RID may be a GUID or other identifier that uniquely identifies the vendor. Alternative embodiments of the transaction details 306 include product details, which may comprise the products selected, the number of products selected, the type of products selected, the price of each product, etc. The product detail may be used to validate the transaction at a merchant processor or to provide transaction level details to the consumer or other appropriate and authorized parties.

[0029] In an embodiment, the transaction details 306 are encrypted and are preserved without tampering to allow the system to compare the information in the transaction details 306 to the stored customer information. In alternative embodiments, the transaction details 306 include one or more unencrypted items that allow the system to verify the transaction. In still other embodiments, the transaction details 306 include both encrypted and unencrypted copies of portions of the transaction details 306.

[0030] In summary, the system and method of the present invention provides a standard for an offer or coupon to be routed and processed which is not currently available as part of the standard payment message between merchants and banks for acquiring and settlement. That is, a standard acquirer of a payment will not currently accept a VAS message and such message therefore there is no current means of adjudication. The present system uses existing fields that reside within the payment message, as described above, that is routed to, and received by, the system to acquire the VAS transaction. These fields may consist of a data bar 350 which is a common coupon identification sequence wrapped in routing information and purchase information associated with the transaction data 300.

[0031] With reference to Figure 2, a diagrammatic representation of elements of a financial transaction message is provided including the transaction protocol data unit 375 and the sub-components of the transaction protocol data unit 375 including, the Protocol-ID 380, the destination address 385, the source address 390 and the payload length 395. The Protocol -ID 380 identifies a particular protocol that is used in relation to the financial transaction message, the destination address 385 identifies the intended destination address of the message, the source address 390 identifies where the message came from and the payload length 395 identifies the length of the message. The financial transaction message also includes the payload 400 which includes all of the data associated with the financial transaction message.

[0032] With reference to Figure 3, a diagrammatic representation of subcomponents of a financial transaction message is provided including the MTI and sub- components thereof in addition to the bitmap. In this regard, the MTI 405 includes subcomponents such as the Version 410, the Class 415, the Function 420 and the Originator 425. The diagrammatic representation of Figure 3 also includes the bitmap 430 of the financial transaction message. With reference to Figure 4, a diagrammatic representation of the elements of a financial transaction message according to the ISO 8583 Standard is provided along with the inclusion of a DAS message according to an embodiment of the invention. In this regard, according to the ISO 8583 Standard, the MTI 405 and the bitmap 430 are followed by issuer data fields 435 and according to an embodiment of the invention, the VAS message is included in one or more of the issuer data fields of the ISO 8583 message. The issuer data fields 435 are available for use and effectively at the discretion of the issuer of the financial transaction message and according to one particular embodiment, the VAS message 440 consists of data that resides within issuer data fields 48, 61 to 63 and 120 to 127 of the issuer data fields 435. The VAS message 440 includes sub-components such as the Value Added Service Protocol Data Unit (VASPDU) 445 and the payload 450. The VASPDU 445 includes sub-components such as the start sentinel 455, the primary payload type indicator 460, the sub-type indicator length 465, the payload sub-type indicator 470, the source and type ID 475, the destination type ID 480, the payload length 485, the spans fields 490, the field MSG Index 495 and the field MSG Length 500.

[0033] In one particular embodiment, the VAS message 440 is distributed across more than one issuer data fields and in the event that more than a single issuer data field is required, the system dynamically allocates fields for the purpose of storing VAS message data without interfering with any other issuer data fields that are already in use at the time of creating the financial transaction message.

[0034] With reference to Figure 5, a diagrammatic representation of a VAS message for the purpose of redeeming a coupon is detailed. In this regard, the VAS message (coupon) 505 consists of a VAS PDU 510 and a payload 515.

[0035] The payload 515 in the example of Figure 5 includes a processing code 520, accept all identity 525, accept all end-point identity 530, presentment information 535, GS1 data coupons or GS1 global coupon numbers 540 and details regarding purchased items 545. The field related to purchased items 545 includes further sub-components such as the SKU 550, a list price 555, the price paid 560 and the quality purchased 565. [0036] Incorporating the VAS component in standard financial transaction or payment messages means there is no need to change the current practice of acquirers offering to merchants within their merchant base standard "software" (as part of their payment acquiring services) that accommodate standard payment messages. Across the world, payment acquirers incorporate the software and roll it out to their merchant base and acquire the payment transaction. Accordingly, the present invention enables the acquiring of value added services transactions as part of standard payment messages.

[0037] As the offer is adjudicated in real time, there is no settlement of the offer required as the payment message is adjusted to adjudicate and process the offer before the payment message is settled as part of the payment message by the payment acquirer.

[0038] The present system and method may also provide an International Standard Value Add Service Provider Identification Number (ISVASPIN) for the issuance and processing and routing by brands, acquirers and merchants of offers to consumers via any transaction mechanism. The skilled addressee will readily recognise that this is analogous to a Bank Identification Number for payment transaction authorisation and may be an 1 1 digit code issued under license to a brand to issue their offers. An ISVASPIN may be allocated to any issuer or acquirer of an offer which allows any identification device to be recognized at the point of sale (POS) globally by the POS software, and then use the standard ISVASPIN to issue and process the offer separately from the payment for real time adjudication. Adjudication may include authorization of the VAS transaction locally at the point of sale in real time or remote authorization by a valid acquirer or issuer processor and the message goes back to the host for validation and settlement (in a secure environment).

[0039] The system allows vendors, distributors, and merchants to transact in a multilateral market place for value added services by way of offer and acceptance. An offer may be posted by a vendor issuer as an open offer or a targeted offer and distributors agree to distribute the offer on those terms. Merchants may agree to accept offers that are distributed at their point of sale. Open offers may be transferable and generic for adjudication whereas targeted offers may be secure and encrypted and only adjudicated for those intended. Participants may interact without a direct contractual relationship unless they choose to cross promote under contract in a particular manner.

[0040] The various advantages provided by the system and method of the present invention will be readily recognisable to those skilled in the art. These advantages include, but are not limited to:

- Avoiding any requirement for large scale and costly hardware and software upgrades as part of roll out by payment acquirers as part of their merchant banking solutions, but rather, software may be provided to merchants for use at the point of sale;

- provides real time adjudication by issuance of a card or POS terminal software upgrade, which can be conducted for any offer distributed by any database owner at any merchant which subscribes to the software and network;

- provides identification of product or line item data, as described above, which is the data that brand owners seek to analyse and manipulate to direct consumer behavior;

- all existing VAS programs and technologies require identification and authorisation via a certain payment type or vehicle, and cannot presently use any available method of identification and authorization. The present invention allows any database to participate with their current arrangements without modification and one identifier may be used to allow a consumer to access multiple programs;

- provides a clearing house for the collection and settlement of VAS transactions that reside outside the payments network but are performed at the same time, therefore becoming a switch for VAS between issuers and acquirers of offers, and acting as a VAS acceptance authority at the point of sale;

- provides for the network marketplace to allow free trade of offer issuance, distribution and acceptance via open, targeted or bid/accept transactions governed by a standard set of terms and conditions (scheme rules), to facilitate transactions between network participants without direct contractual relationships between parties. Access to multiple databases by brand owners is thus systemized; - provides an open, global system allowing free communication between all value add participants;

- allows for replacement of manual coupon arrangements by electronic recognition of a VAS transaction which represents considerable cost saving;

- provides for international cross border recognition of offers, and a single brand integration into multiple countries;

- provides for pinned currency which allows international exchange of value between countries;

- allows routing of the VAS message in real time;

- provides the ability to identify rejected offers to ascertain success of promotional content;

- removes barriers to entry to brand owners seeking to offer VAS to consumers;

- enables brand owners to allow stand-in processing and adjudication of their offers;

- provides for accumulation of data in a standard format across systems; and

- enables consumers to "opt in" at the point of sale systematically.

[0041] Further advantages and improvements may be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent methods, devices and apparatus.

[0042] In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprising" means "including", i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1 . A system for providing value added services (VAS) in standard financial transaction messages, the system including:

one or more computers;

a memory storing machine readable instructions, which when executed by the one or more computers, causes the one or more computers to perform operations including:

creating a VAS message;

storing the VAS message in one or more fields of the standard financial transaction message; and

processing the financial transaction message which in itself includes:

extracting the VAS message from the financial transaction message and performing operations in accordance with the data in the VAS message;

thereby allowing actions in accordance with the VAS message to be effected during the processing of the financial transaction message.

2. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the VAS message included in one or more fields of the standard financial transaction message are included in one or more of the issuer data fields of the financial transaction message.

3. A system according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein during construction of the financial transaction message, the message is reviewed to determine message fields that are available, or partially available, for use as a VAS message.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein the transaction message is constructed by terminal payment software.

5. A system according to claim 4, wherein the construction of a transaction message by terminal payment software utilises an implementation of a standard financial message.

6. A system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein one or more message blocks are allocated to data fields that have been determined as available, or partially available.

7. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, in the event that additional fields are required to be included in a standard financial transaction message, the instruction field of the standard financial transaction message, is modified to identify the inclusion of the additional fields.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein, upon receipt of a modified financial transaction message including a modified instruction field, the payment message is reconstructed with the VAS message.

9. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the VAS includes information relating to any one or more of the following:

coupons;

coupon identifiers;

loyalty points;

licence verification;

age verification;

application for credit;

acceptance of application for credit;

application for licences;

acceptance of application for licences;

propriety stored value exchange;

dynamic currency conversion exchange;

lottery ticket issuance and verifications;

bill payments; and

application of credit to mobile phone accounts.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein in the instance of a coupon or a coupon identifier, upon extracting the VAS message from the financial transaction message, the coupon and/or the coupon identifier is locally processed at a point-of-sale system to immediately effect the action required by the VAS message.

1 1 . A system according to claim 10, wherein the VAS message includes both a coupon identifier and coupon information thereby allowing the coupon to be processed immediately at the point-of-sale.

12. A computer-implemented method of providing value added services (VAS) in a standard financial transaction message including:

forming a VAS message; and

transmitting the financial transaction message;

thereby allowing the VAS data to be used in real time during processing of the financial transaction message.

13. A computer-implemented method according to claim 12, wherein the VAS message stored in one or more fields of the standard financial transaction message are included in one or more of the issuer data fields of the financial transaction message.

14. A computer-implemented method according to either claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the step of forming a VAS message includes a review to determine message fields that are available, or partially available, for use as a VAS message.

15. A computer-implemented method according to claim 14, including the step of constructing a financial transaction message.

16. A computer-implemented method according to claim 15, wherein the step of constructing the financial transaction message is performed by terminal payment software.

17. A computer-implemented method according to claim 16, wherein the step of constructing a financial transaction message by the terminal payment software utilises an implementation of a standard financial message.

18. A computer-implemented method according to claim 17, wherein the step of forming a VAS message includes allocating message blocks to issuer data fields that have been determined as available, or partially available.

19. A computer-implemented method according to claim 18, wherein the step of forming a VAS message includes determining whether additional fields are required for inclusion in a standard financial transaction message and, in the event that additional fields are required, the instruction field of the standard financial transaction message is modified to identify the inclusion of any additional fields.

20. A computer-implemented method according to claim 19, including the step of receiving a modified financial transaction message including a modified instruction field and upon receipt of a modified financial transaction message the payment message is reconstructed with the VAS message.