Field of the Invention
[001] The present invention relates to implementing electronic payment transactions. In
particular, the invention provides methods, systems and computer program products that enable
contactless payment at a point of sale terminal within an electronic payment system that is
configured to enable payment card based transactions between a payment transferor and a
payment transferee through a trusted intermediary that implements a virtual payment address
based payment system.
Background
[002] Figure 1A illustrates a typical payment card based transaction system 100A of a type
known in the prior art - involving payment flow between a cardholder 101, a merchant point-ofsale
(POS) terminal 103, a merchant’s acquirer network 105, a payment network 107 and a card
issuer network 109. The card issuer network 109 is typically a bank network infrastructure which
is associated with a payment network – which facilitates the cardholder's use of a payment card
to pay for goods or services based on the cardholder's promise to repay the card issuer for the
purchase. Examples of payment networks include Mastercard, Visa, American Express etc. The
card issuer issues a payment card 111 (which is associated with a payment network 107), to the
cardholder 101 – and the issuer network 109 comprises an infrastructure network maintained by
the issuer and comprising one or more processors or servers 109a, one or more communication
interfaces 109b and one or more databases 109c.
[003] To effect a purchase or payment, the cardholder 101 provides card information to a
merchant). Ordinarily, this is achieved at a merchant location by swiping a payment card 111
using a magnetic stripe card reader device built into or coupled with a POS terminal 103. The
POS terminal sends the payment request, including the card details, to acquirer network 105. The
acquirer network 105 is an infrastructure network maintained by an acquirer – the acquirer being
an organization that collects payment-authorization requests from merchants and facilitates the
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payment transaction with the payment network on behalf of the merchants. In the embodiment
of Figure 1, the acquirer network 105 comprises an infrastructure network maintained by the
acquirer and comprising one or more processors or servers 105a, one or more communication
interfaces 105b and one or more databases 105c.
[004] Upon receiving instructions for executing a payment transaction based on payment card
information corresponding to a payment card 111 from POS terminal 103, the acquirer network
105 submits the payment transaction request to payment network 107. Payment network 107
receives the payment transaction request, and forwards said payment transaction request to issuer
network 109 for payment authorization. Issuer network 109 receives the payment transaction
request, and checks the transaction details for validity. This includes checking the payment card
number, the expiration date, the card limit, etc., and optionally performing an identity
authentication check. The issuer network 109 thereafter responds to the acquirer network 105
with an appropriate payment authorisation code (e.g. approved or declined response, transaction
identification number, etc.) via payment network 107. The acquirer network 105 forwards the
response to POS terminal 103 – and the merchant may subsequently share the payment
authorisation results with the cardholder 101.
[005] Electronic payment environments are however rapidly evolving from physical token
based systems (e.g. credit card, debit card, or other payment card based environments) to systems
that electronic or virtual token based systems – wherein electronic payment can be made between
a transferor bank account and a transferee bank account simply by having access to the transferor
and transferee banking information, and by implementing one or more mechanisms for identity
authentication (for example password, OTP or biometric based identity authentication). A
significant reason for this evolution is the increased footprint of electronic payment transactions
– and a consequent need to make sure transactions are convenient, simple and require fewer
compliances on the part of both the transferor and transferee.
[006] It has additionally been found that there is a need for securing confidentiality of the
transferor and transferee banking information, and to simultaneously reduce the amount of
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information that a party requesting an electronic payment transaction requires to input for
executing the transaction for an improved user experience.
[007] Virtual payment addresses (or virtual payment identifiers) issued by a trusted intermediary
have been found to provide a solution to the above requirements. An entity or individual seeking
to enable electronic payment transactions to or from a bank account enrolls with a trusted
intermediary that is capable of and configured to generate a unique virtual payment address
corresponding to each enrolled entity or individual. A virtual payment address may comprise any
unique address or identifier, and in various embodiments may comprise any of an alphanumeric
string, a numeric string, a text string, an alphanumeric, numeric or text string containing special
characters or any other identifier that can be used to uniquely identify the corresponding enrolled
entity or individual.
[008] The trusted intermediary generates a data record mapping each enrolled entity’s or
individual’s virtual payment address with banking details corresponding to such entity or
individual – which banking details can be used to effect an electronic payment to or from said
entity’s or individual’s bank account. Thereafter, for the purposes of executing a payment
transaction to or from the enrolled entity’s or individual’s bank account, said entity or individual
no longer requires to input or share with a third party, her / his banking information, and simply
requires to share her / his virtual payment address.
[009] The virtual payment address may be used by an underlying payment network or other
third party intermediary (that is being used to implement the electronic payment transaction) to
obtain the entity’s or individual’s banking information – by (i) querying the trusted intermediary
that has generated the virtual payment address and (ii) retrieving from said trusted intermediary
the entity’s or individual’s banking information that has been mapped to the virtual payment
address. This banking information is thereafter used by the payment network or third party
intermediary for the purposes of implementing the electronic payment transaction.
[0010] A specific digital payment system has been developed in India to implement virtual
payment address based payments based on a unified payment interface – which allows users to
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simply and conveniently perform electronic payment transactions between a payor and a payee
based on unique virtual payment addresses that have been respectively allocated to the payor and
payee.
[0011] Figure 1B (prior art) summarily illustrates key components required to implement
payments through a system environment 100B configured to effect virtual payment address based
electronic payments through the unified payment interface as implemented in India.
[0012] System environment 100B comprises one or more terminal devices 102 (102a, 102b or
102c), unified payment interface 104, settlement platform 106, payment service providers 108 and
110, the payor bank 112 and payee bank 114 - each configured for network communication
through network 116. In various embodiments of the invention, terminal devices 102 may
communicate through network 116 with unified payment interface 104 – which is a trusted
intermediary that serves as an interface between client terminals 102 on the one side and other
entities within system environment 100B on the other.
[0013] Each terminal device 102 comprises at least one processor and a network communication
interface. Each payment service provider 108, 110 within system environment 100B is a service
provider configured to register users for payment transactions using a virtual payment address.
Each payment service provider 108, 110 comprises at least one server. During enrolment or
registration of a user with a payment service provider, said payment service provider generates a
virtual payment address uniquely corresponding to said registrant and stores user information
related to said registrant within a database accessible by the payment service provider server.
[0014] In an embodiment, stored information corresponding to a registrant (that is stored by a
payment service provider) includes a virtual payment address assigned to said registrant, banking
information corresponding to said registrant, and optionally other non-financial details of a
registrant (which details may for example, be used to facilitate authentication of said registrant).
[0015] Figure 2B illustrates an exemplary data record schema 200B of a type that is known in the
prior art for use by a payment service provider for storing information corresponding to a
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registrant. In the illustrated embodiment, each data record corresponds to a registrant enrolled
with the payment service provider, and includes data fields for storing information corresponding
to one or more of the registrant’s (i) virtual payment address, (ii) bank name and / or bank
identification number, (iii) bank account number, (iv) name of the holder of the bank account,
(v) bank IFSC code / SWIFT code / ABA number, and (vi) other information identifying or
corresponding to the registrant (for example, personal information or biometric information
corresponding to the registrant – which can be used for the purpose of authenticating the
registrant).
[0016] System 100B shown in Figure 1B includes for the purpose of the illustration, two separate
payment service providers – namely a payee payment service provider 108 (i.e. a payment service
provider with which a transaction transferee / payee has been enrolled and that has issued a
virtual payment address to said transaction transferee / payee) and a payor payment service
provider 110 (i.e. a payment service provider with which the a transaction transferor / payor has
been enrolled and that has issued a virtual payment address to said transaction transferor / payor)
110. It would be understood that each payment service provider may include one or more servers,
communication interfaces and databases configured to implement the operational functionality
of said payment service provider.
[0017] Unified payment interface 104 includes one or more servers 1042 and one or more
communication interfaces 1044 that enable communication between the unified payment
interface and other entities within system environment 100B – and performs as a trusted third
party intermediate that can be used to map virtual payment addresses respectively corresponding
to a payor and to a payee to be matched to corresponding banking information, retrieve said
banking information and then provide said banking information to a settlement platform 106 to
enable said settlement platform 106 to implement a payment transaction between the payor’s
bank 112 and the payee’s bank 114.
[0018] Settlement platform 106 as illustrated in Figure 1B is communicatively coupled with
unified payment interface 104 and comprises one or more servers 1062 and one or more
communication interfaces 1064. Settlement server 106 is configured to implement payment
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settlements between payor and payee banks and specific bank accounts therewithin – in response
to receiving instructions for implementing a payment transaction through unified payment
interface 104. In embodiments of system 100B as implemented within India, settlement server
106 comprises settlement servers being maintained and operated by the National Payments
Corporation of India.
[0019] In operation, instructions for execution of a payment transaction may be received through
a client terminal 102 – and in certain embodiments through a software application made available
by a payment service provider within system environment 100B. Said instructions for execution
of a payment transaction may include a payor’s virtual payment address, a payee’s virtual payment
address and a transaction amount. Client terminal 102 or the software application on client
terminal 102 is configured to facilitate generation and receipt of payment instructions from
entities registered with payment service provider(s) within system environment 100B.
[0020] The generated payment instructions are forwarded through network 116 to unified
payment interface 104. Said unified payment interface 104 communicates with the payment
service providers that have respectively issued the virtual payment addresses assigned to the payor
and the payee (i.e. with payor payment service provider 110 and with payee payment service
provider 108) and retrieves the banking information corresponding to the payor and payee from
their respective payment service providers. Thereafter, this banking information and the
transaction amount is forwarded by unified payment interface 104 to settlement platform 106 –
which settlement platform debits the transaction amount from the payor’s bank account
(maintained at payor bank 112) and credits said amount to the payee’s bank account (maintained
at payee bank 114).
[0021] In certain implementations, to enable making or receiving of payments through system
environment 100B, both the payor and payee require to have previously registered themselves
with payment service providers for payment by linking their respective bank accounts with a
virtual payment address that has been allocated to and associated to each such entity or individual
by a corresponding payment service provider.
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[0022] Figure 2A illustrates an exemplary method (known within the prior art) for implementing
a payment transaction within a system environment 100B of the kind illustrated in Figure 1B.
[0023] Step 202 comprises initiating a payment transaction at a client terminal 102, by specifying
at least a payee virtual payment address (VPA) and a transaction amount.
[0024] Step 204 comprises retrieving a payor virtual payment address from the client terminal
102 – and in an embodiment may comprise retrieving a payor virtual payment address from a
software application or a digital wallet application stored on or accessible through said client
terminal 102. In another embodiment the payor virtual payment address may be received as part
of the payment transaction initiation instructions input at client terminal 202.
[0025] At step 206, the payor payment service provider 110 receives the payor virtual payment
address (which may be routed to the payor payment service provider 110 through unified payment
interface 104) and validates payor details and the payor identity (for example by comparing one
or more information items received from client terminal 102 against information mapped to the
payor virtual payment address in data records generated and maintained by payor payment service
provider 110).
[0026] Thereafer at step 208, unified payment interface 106 requests and receives:
 payor bank information from payor payment service provider 110 – which bank
information is identified and retrieved by payor payment service provider 110 based on
the payor virtual payment address, and
 payee bank information from payee payment service provider 108 – which bank
information is identified and retrieved by payee payment service provider 108 based on
the payee virtual payment address
[0027] At step 210, based on the transaction amount received at step 202 and the payor and
payee bank information received at step 208, settlement platform 106 executes the payment
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transaction by debiting the transaction amount from the payor’s bank account and crediting it to
the payee’s bank account, wherein identification of the payor and payee banks and bank accounts
is achieved based on the bank information respectively retrieved from payor payment service
provider 110 and payee payment service provider 108.
[0028] In view of the above movement towards virtual payment address based transactions, it
has been found that conventional POS terminals have a serious drawback to the extent while use
of such terminals is widespread and established, they do not provide mechanisms for making
payments through a customer’s mobile device. Additionally, even where such POS terminals have
wireless communication capabilities of a kind that would enable wireless communication with a
customer’s mobile device, the large majority of available POS terminals are configured to execute
transactions based on payment card information, and are unable to execute any non-payment
card based transactions. This is particularly a problem in payment environments that are moving
towards electronic payment account based transactions, electronic wallet based transactions and
unified payment interfaces that implement payments using virtual payment addresses instead of
physical tokens such as payment cards.
[0029] The present invention provides solutions that enable conventional POS terminals to
execute virtual payment address based payment transactions.
Summary
[0030] The present invention provides methods, systems and computer program products that
enable contactless payment at a point of sale terminal within an electronic payment system that
is configured to enable payment card based transactions between a payment transferor and a
payment transferee through a trusted intermediary that implements a virtual payment address
based payment system.
[0031] In an embodiment, the invention comprises a method for implementing a virtual payment
address based payment transaction through a point-of-sale terminal. The method comprises (i)
receiving from a point of sale terminal (a) information identifying a virtual payment card
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associated with a payor’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a first payment
service provider and is uniquely associated with the payor, and (b) a transaction amount – wherein
said information identifying the virtual payment card and the transaction amount has been
received at the point-of-sale terminal through wireless communication with a client terminal, (ii)
receiving information identifying an issuer bank associated with said virtual payment card,
wherein the issuer bank is identified based on the identified virtual payment card, (iii) receiving
the payor’s virtual payment address, wherein the payor’s virtual payment address is retrieved from
a server associated with said issuer bank, and wherein said retrieval is based on an association
between with the identified virtual payment card and the payor’s virtual payment address that is
recorded at the server associated with the issuer bank, and (iv) transmitting to a unified payment
interface (c) the payor’s virtual payment address, (d) a merchant’s virtual payment address that
has been generated by a second payment service provider and that is uniquely associated with the
merchant, and (e) the transaction amount.
[0032] In an embodiment of the method, the unified payment interface is configured to (i)
retrieve from a server associated with the first payment service provider, payor bank account
information identifying a payor bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association
between the payor’s virtual payment address and the payor bank account information that is
recorded at the server associated with the first payment service provider, (ii) retrieve from a server
associated with the second payment service provider, merchant bank account information
identifying a merchant bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between
the merchant’s virtual payment address and the merchant bank account information that is
recorded at the server associated with the second payment service provider, and (iii) implement
payment of the transaction amount through a settlement platform, wherein implementing said
payment of the transaction amount comprises debiting the transaction amount from the payor
bank account and crediting the transaction amount to the merchant bank account.
[0033] In a particular embodiment, the merchant’s virtual payment address may be transmitted
to the unified payment interface from the point-of-sale terminal. Further, the information
identifying the virtual payment card may include at least a payment card number.
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[0034] The identification of the issuer bank is in an embodiment based on the payment card
number.
[0035] In an embodiment of the method, retrieving the payor’s virtual payment address from the
server associated with said issuer bank comprises querying said server associated with the issuer
bank through a lookup server that is in network communication with one of the point-of-sale
terminal or an acquirer server that is communicably coupled with the point-of-sale terminal.
[0036] The invention additionally provides a system for implementing a virtual payment address
based payment transaction through a point-of-sale terminal having payment card based
transaction implementation capabilities. The system comprises (i) an acquirer server
communicably coupled to the point-of-sale terminal and configured to (a) receive from the point
of sale terminal (1) information identifying a virtual payment card associated with a payor’s virtual
payment address that has been generated by a first payment service provider and is uniquely
associated with the payor, (2) a merchant’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a
second payment service provider and is uniquely associated with the merchant, and (3) a
transaction amount – wherein said information identifying the virtual payment card and the
transaction amount are received at the point-of-sale terminal through wireless communication
with a client terminal, (b) receive information identifying an issuer bank associated with said
virtual payment card, wherein the issuer bank is identified based on the identified virtual payment
card, (c) receive the payor’s virtual payment address, wherein the payor’s virtual payment address
is retrieved from a server associated with said issuer bank, and wherein said retrieval is based on
an association between with the identified virtual payment card and the payor’s virtual payment
address that is recorded at the server associated with the issuer bank, and (d) transmit to a unified
payment interface (4) the payor’s virtual payment address, (5) the merchant’s virtual payment
address, and (6) the transaction amount.
[0037] In a system embodiment, the unified payment interface may be configured to (i) retrieve
from a server associated with the first payment service provider, payor bank account information
identifying a payor bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the
payor’s virtual payment address and the payor bank account information that is recorded at the
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server associated with the first payment service provider, (ii) retrieve from a server associated
with the second payment service provider, merchant bank account information identifying a
merchant bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the merchant’s
virtual payment address and the merchant bank account information that is recorded at the server
associated with the second payment service provider, and (iii) implement payment of the
transaction amount through a settlement platform, wherein implementing said payment of the
transaction amount comprises debiting the transaction amount from the payor bank account and
crediting the transaction amount to the merchant bank account.
[0038] In a particular system embodiment, the merchant’s virtual payment address that is
transmitted to the acquirer server is retrieved from data repository within the point-of-sale
terminal. The information identifying the virtual payment card may in an embodiment include at
least a payment card number.
[0039] In a particular embodiment, the identification of the issuer bank is based on the payment
card number.
[0040] The acquirer server may be configured to initiate retrieval of the payor’s virtual payment
address from the server associated with the issuer bank, by querying the server associated with
the issuer bank through a lookup server that is in network communication with the acquirer
server.
[0041] The invention additionally comprises a computer program product for implementing a
virtual payment address based payment transaction through a point-of-sale terminal having
payment card based transaction implementation capabilities. The computer program product
comprises a non-transitory computer usable medium having computer readable program code
embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising instructions for (i) receiving
from a point of sale terminal (a) information identifying a virtual payment card associated with a
payor’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a first payment service provider and
is uniquely associated with the payor, and (b) a transaction amount – wherein said information
identifying the virtual payment card and the transaction amount has been received at the point13
of-sale terminal through wireless communication with a client terminal, (ii) receiving information
identifying an issuer bank associated with said virtual payment card, wherein the issuer bank is
identified based on the identified virtual payment card, (iii) receiving the payor’s virtual payment
address, wherein the payor’s virtual payment address is retrieved from a server associated with
said issuer bank, and wherein said retrieval is based on an association between with the identified
virtual payment card and the payor’s virtual payment address that is recorded at the server
associated with the issuer bank, and (iv) transmitting to a unified payment interface (c) the payor’s
virtual payment address, (d) a merchant’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a
second payment service provider and that is uniquely associated with the merchant, and (e) the
transaction amount.
[0042] In an embodiment of the computer program product, the unified payment interface is
configured to (i) retrieve from a server associated with the first payment service provider, payor
bank account information identifying a payor bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an
association between the payor’s virtual payment address and the payor bank account information
that is recorded at the server associated with the first payment service provider, (ii) retrieve from
a server associated with the second payment service provider, merchant bank account
information identifying a merchant bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association
between the merchant’s virtual payment address and the merchant bank account information that
is recorded at the server associated with the second payment service provider, and (iii) implement
payment of the transaction amount through a settlement platform, wherein implementing said
payment of the transaction amount comprises debiting the transaction amount from the payor
bank account and crediting the transaction amount to the merchant bank account.
Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings
[0043] Figure 1A illustrates a conventional payment card based transaction system.
[0044] Figure 1B illustrates a system configured to enable virtual payment address based payment
transactions through a unified payment interface.
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[0045] Figure 2A illustrates a method of implementing a payment transaction through the system
of Figure 1B.
[0046] Figure 2B illustrates an exemplary data record of a type that may be used by payment
service providers within the system of Figure 1B.
[0047] Figure 3 illustrates a system 300 configured to implement the steps of registering users
for payment transactions using a virtual payment address and / or generating a virtual payment
card.
[0048] Figure 4 illustrates components of a virtual card server of a type used in the system of
Figure 3.
[0049] Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart corresponding to a method of generating a virtual payment
card associated with a virtual payment address of a type used in the system of Figure 3.
[0050] Figure 6 is a sequence flow diagram representing communication flow in implementing
the method of Figure 5.
[0051] Figure 7A illustrates components of a payment service provider server of a kind
implemented within the system of Figure 3.
[0052] Figure 7B illustrates an exemplary data record of a type that may be used for recording
virtual payment card information associated with virtual payment cards that have been generated
and associated with virtual payment addresses.
[0053] Figure 8 illustrates a system configured to use virtual payment cards generated within the
system of Figure 3 for integrating POS terminal based payments into a system configured for
virtual payment address based payment transactions.
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[0054] Figure 9 illustrates components of a lookup server of the kind implemented within the
system of Figure 8.
[0055] Figure 10 illustrates components of a client terminal of the type that can be used for
interfacing with a POS terminal of the kind implemented within the system of Figure 8.
[0056] Figure 11 illustrates a method of implementing virtual payment card based payments
through a POS terminal within a system configured for virtual payment address based payment
transactions.
[0057] Figure 12 is a sequence flow diagram representing communication flow in implementing
the method of Figure 11.
[0058] Figure 13 is an exemplary computer system according to which various embodiments of
the present invention may be implemented.
Detailed Description
[0059] The present invention provides improved systems for virtual payment address based
payment transactions to enable transactions to be executed by wireless communication between
a client terminal having wireless communication capabilities and a POS terminal having wireless
communication capabilities. The invention achieves this objective through systems configured
for generating virtual payment cards associated with virtual payment addresses that have been
assigned to entities or individuals enrolled for virtual payment address based electronic
transactions within a unified payment interface based system environment. The invention
additionally modifies conventional virtual payment address based payment system environments
to enable execution of payment instructions that are based on such virtual payment cards.
[0060] Figure 3 illustrates a system 300 configured to implement the present invention,
comprising payment service provider server 306, virtual card server 308 and an issuer bank server
310, which together operate to issue or generate virtual payment cards capable of being used for
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implementing the present invention. Payment service provider server 306 comprises a server
configured to register users for payment transactions using a virtual payment address – and
additionally configured to associate a virtual payment card with said virtual payment address, so
as to enable an individual or entity that has a virtual payment address registered with said payment
service provider server 306 to carry out virtual payment address based transactions through POS
terminals that are configured for implementing payment card based transactions, and which in a
specific embodiment, lack the capability for implementing a payment transaction based on virtual
payment addresses of a payor and / or payee. In an embodiment of the invention, payment service
provider server 306 may comprise a server operated by or on behalf of a payment network such
as Mastercard®, Visa® or American Express® - and which operates as an intermediate entity
configured to enable payment transactions between accounts respectively maintained at an
acquirer bank and an issuer bank. In another embodiment of the invention, payment service
provider server 306 may comprise a server operated by or on behalf of a bank or entity with
which an individual or entity has a bank account or payment account, or by any independent third
party entity that provides a service of generating virtual payment addresses that can be associated
with a bank account or payment account.
[0061] Specifically, upon receiving a request for enrolment or registration of a user at the
corresponding payment service provider, said payment service provider server 306 generates a
virtual payment address, and further communicates a request for generating a virtual payment
card (corresponding to said virtual payment address) to virtual card server 308. In another
embodiment, a user may already have a virtual payment address, and may request a payment
service provider server 306 (corresponding to said payment service provider) to generate a virtual
payment card for use with said virtual payment address – which request may trigger an instruction
to virtual card server 308 to generate a virtual payment card.
[0062] Virtual card server 308 comprises a server configured to generate a virtual payment card
in response to a request for generating a virtual payment card that is received from payment
service provider server 306. Subsequent to generating a virtual payment card virtual card server
308 communicates information corresponding to said virtual payment card back to payment
service provider server 306 – which payment service provider server 306 associates said virtual
17
payment card information with the virtual payment address already generated for the individual
/ entity seeking enrolment. Generation of a virtual payment card may comprise generation of at
least a unique payment card number / permanent account number (PAN) corresponding the
virtual payment card, and optionally may include generation of one or more essential tags
associated with the virtual payment card (e.g. expiry date, CVC / CVV number, transaction limits
etc.). Virtual card server 308 may in various embodiments comprise (i) a server operated by or on
behalf of a payment network such as Mastercard®, Visa® or American Express® , or (ii) a server
operated by or on behalf of a bank or entity with which an individual or entity has a bank account
or payment account, or (iii) a server operated by or on behalf of any independent third party
entity that provides a service of generating virtual payment cards that can be associated with a
bank account or payment account or with a virtual payment address.
[0063] In an embodiment, the virtual payment card generated by virtual card server 308 may be
a virtual payment card associated with an issuer bank 310 with which the registrant maintains a
bank account that has been linked to said registrant’s virtual payment address. In such
embodiments, virtual card server 308 or payment service provider server 306 communicates
details of the generated virtual payment card and of the corresponding registrant (i.e. individual
/ entity associated with said virtual payment card), to the issuer bank 310 – and issuer bank 310
may thereafter associate or otherwise link said received information with the registrant’s bank
account at issuer bank 310.
[0064] Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram illustrating components of virtual card server 308. In
an embodiment according to the illustration of Figure 4, virtual card server comprises (i) virtual
card server processor 3082, comprising one or more processors configured to process data and
execute functions of virtual card server 308, (ii) virtual card generation request handler 3084
configured to receive requests for virtual card generation from payment service provider 306 and
to queue requests for generation of virtual payment cards, (iii) issuer bank identification controller
3086 configured to identify an issuer bank that maintain a bank account that is linked to a
registrant’s virtual payment address, (iv) card range identification controller 3090 configured to
identify a range of payment card numbers that are associated with the issuer bank, and (v) virtual
card generation controller 3088 configured to generate a virtual payment card corresponding to
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a registrant’s virtual payment address – which virtual payment card may have an associated
payment card number / permanent account number selected from the identified range of
payment card numbers that are associated with the issuer bank.
[0065] Figure 5 illustrates a method of generating a virtual payment card in accordance with the
present invention – which method may be performed by a payment service provider 306 of the
type illustrated in Figure 3.
[0066] Step 502 comprises receiving a request from a payment service provider registrant (i.e. an
individual / entity that has registered or seeks registration with a payment service provider for
the purposes of obtaining a virtual payment address from said payment service provider) for
generation of a virtual payment card associated with said registrant’s virtual payment address. In
an embodiment, said request may be received from said registrant through a unified payment
interface – which unified payment interface comprises a computer or server enabled network
gateway or network interface that has been configured to enable electronic payment transactions
between a payor and a payee based on unique virtual payment addresses that have been
respectively allocated to the payor and payee. In other embodiments, said request may be received
directly at a payment service provider server.
[0067] Step 504 comprises identifying a payment service provider that is associated with the
registrant’s virtual payment address (i.e. the payment service provider that is responsible for
generation of the registrant’s virtual payment address). Step 506 comprises transmitting the
request for generation of a virtual payment card to a virtual card server 308.
[0068] Step 508 comprises identifying an issuer bank that has issued a bank account to the
registrant – and which bank account is linked with the registrant’s virtual payment address. Based
on said identification, step 510 comprises identifying a set or range of virtual payment card
numbers that are associated with the identified issuing bank, and that are available for use for
generating virtual payment cards. Step 512 comprises selecting an available payment card number
from the identified set of available virtual payment card numbers.
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[0069] At step 514, the selected virtual payment card number is associated with one or more
essential data parameters necessary for enabling payment through a virtual payment card. In an
embodiment, said essential data parameters may include one or more of an expiry date, a CVC /
CVV number, and / or one or more transaction limits corresponding to a virtual payment card.
[0070] Step 516 comprises generating a virtual payment card based on the selected virtual
payment card number and the associated one or more essential data parameters. Step 518
thereafter comprises associating the generated virtual payment card, card number and / or
essential data parameters with the registrant’s virtual payment address at a data repository
accessible by a payment service provider server. At step 520, said association between the virtual
payment card information and the registrant’s virtual payment address may additionally be
recorded at a server corresponding to the issuer bank.
[0071] Figure 6 illustrates a sequential flow diagram 600 representing communication flow
between system entities in implementing the method of Figure 5.
[0072] Step 6022 of Figure 6 comprises receiving at terminal device 602 an instruction for
generating a virtual payment card corresponding to an individual’s / entity’s virtual payment
address. A payment service provider associated with said virtual payment address is identified and
step 6024 comprises transmission of the request for generating a virtual payment card to a server
604 corresponding to the identified payment service provider– and which request is transmitted
onward at step 6026 from payment service provider server 604 to virtual card server 606. Virtual
card server 606 generates the virtual payment card and information corresponding to the
generated virtual payment card is transmitted at step 6028 from virtual card server 606 to payment
service provider server 604.
[0073] At step 6030, information corresponding to the generated virtual payment card is
transmitted from payment service provider server 604 back to terminal device 602 – and at step
6032, said information corresponding to the generated virtual payment card is additionally
transmitted from payment service provider server 604 to a bank server 608 corresponding to an
issuer bank associated with a bank account linked with the registrant’s virtual payment address.
20
[0074] Figure 7 illustrates components of a payment service provider server 706 of a kind
implemented within the system of Figure 3.
[0075] As shown in Figure 7A, payment service provider server 706 comprises (i) payment
service provider processor 7062 configured to process requests for enrolment of registrants,
generation of virtual payment addresses and returning of banking information corresponding to
virtual payment addresses generated by a payment service provider, (ii) communication interface
7064 comprising a processor implemented interface configured for enabling network
communication to and from said payment service provider server 706, (iii) database or repository
7066 comprising a repository of virtual payment addresses generated by or maintained with the
payment service provider and (iv) database or repository 7068 comprising a repository of virtual
payment card information associated with each virtual payment card that has been generated
corresponding to virtual payment addresses generated by or maintained at said payment service
provider server.
[0076] Figure 7B illustrates an exemplary data record / data record schema 700B of a type that
may be implemented in database or repository 7068 for recording virtual payment card
information associated with virtual payment cards that have been generated and associated with
virtual payment addresses. As illustrated the data record / data record schema 700B may include
data fields to store and associate for each virtual payment card, some or all of (i) a virtual payment
card number, (ii) a virtual payment address with which the virtual payment card has been
associated, (iii) name of a card holder name associated with the virtual payment card, (iv) expiry
date associated with the virtual payment card, (v) CVV / CVC number associated with the virtual
payment card, and (vi) any other relevant information / data parameters associated with the
virtual payment card (for example, transaction limits or transaction policies associated with the
virtual payment card).
[0077] Figure 8 illustrates a system 800 for implementing virtual payment address based
payments through a point-of-sale (POS) terminal configured for implementing payment card
based electronic transactions.
21
[0078] System 800 comprises POS terminal 802 associated with a merchant and having wireless
communication capabilities and configured to (i) receive data parameters identifying a payment
card and (ii) execute a transaction using the identified payment card using a payment card network
(e.g. the Mastercard ® or VISA ® payment networks).
[0079] Said POS terminal 802 is communicatively coupled through network 816 with unified
payment interface 804 which in turn is connected with settlement platform 806, payor and payee
payment service providers 808 and 810, the payor bank 812 and payee bank 814. For the purposes
of the illustrated system:
 Unified payment interface 804 comprises a computer or server enabled network gateway
or network interface that has been configured to enable electronic payment transactions
between a payor and a payee based on unique virtual payment addresses that have been
respectively allocated to the payor and payee
 Settlement platform 806 comprises one or more servers configured to implement
settlements between payor and payee banks and specific bank accounts therewithin – in
response to receiving instructions for implementing a payment transaction between said
bank accounts
 Payor and payee payment service providers 808 and 810 each comprise one or more
servers configured to register users for payment transactions using a virtual payment
address – and optionally configured to associate a virtual payment card with said virtual
payment address, so as to enable an individual or entity that has a virtual payment address
registered with said payment service provider server to carry out virtual payment address
based transactions through POS terminals that are configured for implementing payment
card based transactions.
[0080] POS terminal 802 is additionally communicatively coupled with an acquirer server 820 –
consisting of one or more servers associated with an acquirer (i.e. a financial institution or a
22
merchant bank that contracts with a merchant to coordinate with an issuer network of a
customer’s payment card or payment account). Acquirer server 820 is in turn communicatively
linked with lookup server 822 – which lookup server 822 is configured to query and receive
information from payor’s bank 812. It may be understood that in various embodiments acquirer
server 820 and lookup server 822 may be integrated into a single server or may comprise a plurality
of servers. It would further be understood that lookup server may in some embodiments
comprise part of an acquirer network, while in other embodiments may be outside of the acquirer
network. Further details regarding functionality and operations of acquirer server 820 and lookup
server 822 are provided below. In addition to the above, as illustrated in Figure 8, system 800
includes client terminal 818 having wireless communication capabilities, and which client terminal
818 can be used to wirelessly transmit virtual payment card information to POS terminal 802 for
the purposes of implementing a payment transaction using a virtual payment card.
[0081] Acquirer server 820 is a server made available by an acquirer to enable electronic payments
from payment accounts associated with customers / payors into payment account(s) associated
with a merchant. In embodiments in accordance with the present invention, Acquirer server 820
is configured to receive information identifying a virtual payment card being used by client
terminal 818 for the purposes of implementing a transaction payment through POS terminal 802.
In the illustrated embodiment, client terminal 818 wirelessly transmits to POS terminal 802 a
payment instruction comprising at least a transaction amount and information identifying a virtual
payment card associated with the user of client terminal 818. In an exemplary embodiment, said
information identifying the virtual payment card may include any one or more of the data
parameters illustrated in Figure 7B.
[0082] In the system 800 of Figure 8, lookup server 822 is configured to (i) receive information
identifying a virtual payment card being used for transaction execution (which information may
be received from acquirer server 820), (ii) identify an issuer bank (i.e. the payor bank) associated
with said virtual payment card, (iii) query said issuer bank and (iv) retrieve from said issuer bank
records, a virtual payment address linked or associated with said virtual payment card. The
retrieved virtual payment address may thereafter be used to effect a transaction payment using
the unified payment interface 804 and the settlement platform 806 of Figure 8.
23
[0083] Figure 9 illustrates components of a lookup server 822 within system 800 of Figure 8.
[0084] As shown in Figure 9, lookup server 822 comprises (i) lookup server processor 8222
configured to provide data processing capability, (ii) virtual payment address lookup request
handler 8224 configured to received lookup requests and to queue such requests for processing
by lookup server processor 8222, (iii) communication interface 8226 configured for enabling
network communication to and from said lookup server 822, (iv) issuer bank identification
controller 8228 configured to identify an issuer bank associated with a virtual payment card and
(v) virtual payment address lookup controller 8230 configured to control and implement the
lookup functionality of the lookup server 822 through lookup server processor 8222. In
operation, virtual payment address lookup controller 8230, is configured to identify an issuer bank
(associated with a virtual payment card) based on virtual payment card information (for example
based on the content or format of virtual payment card information) received from acquirer
server 820, query the identified issuer bank, and receive from said issuer bank information
identifying a virtual payment address associated with the received virtual payment card
information in the data records of the issuer bank (for example in the data records created based
on data received by the issuer bank at step 520 of Figure 5). Said received information may
thereafter be transmitted through communication interface 8226 back to acquirer server 820 or
directly to unified payment interface 804.
[0085] Figure 10 illustrates components of a client terminal 818 having wireless communication
capability, which may be used for effecting a virtual payment card based transaction through POS
terminal 802 within system 800 of Figure 8.
[0086] As shown in Figure 10, client terminal 818 comprises (i) client terminal processor 8182
configured to provide data processing capability, (ii) user interface controller 8184 configured to
enable one or more client terminal user interfaces through which users can interact with and
control client terminal 818, (iii) display controller 8186 configured to control display and output
of information through a display associated with client terminal 818, (iv) wireless communication
interface 8188, which enables wireless communication between client terminal 818 and POS
24
terminal 802, (v) database or repository 8190 comprising a repository of virtual payment card
addresses and / or virtual payment cards associated with one or more users of said client terminal
818 and (vi) a POS terminal communication controller 8192 configured to control and enable
communication through one or more wireless communication protocols with POS terminal 802.
[0087] Figure 11 illustrates a method of implementing virtual payment card based payments
through a POS terminal within a system 800 as illustrated in Figure 8.
[0088] Step 1102 comprises transmitting virtual payment card information identifying a virtual
payment card associated with a payor and with the payor’s virtual payment address, to a POS
terminal 802. In an embodiment, said information may be transmitted by a client terminal 818
such as a mobile device configured for wireless communication with a POS terminal 802. In an
embodiment, information identifying a virtual payment card associated with a payor may be
stored in a digital wallet software application implemented on the client terminal. In a further
embodiment, the wireless communication between client terminal 818 and POS terminal 802 may
involve any one or more of any of 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, GPRS, EDGE, GPS, cellular, satellite,
wifi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth lite, magnetic secure transaction (MST) or near-field-communication
(NFC) based communication.
[0089] Step 1104 comprises transmitting from POS terminal 802, a request for identifying or
determining a virtual payment address associated with the virtual payment card. In an
embodiment of the invention, the transmitted request may be sent to acquirer server 820, or to a
payment service provider server. Step 1104 may also include transmission of a virtual payment
address associated with a merchant / payee – which virtual payment address may be pre-stored
with the POS terminal 802, and a transaction amount which may have been received at POS
terminal 802 from client terminal 818.
[0090] Step 1106 comprises identifying an issuer bank associated with the virtual payment card
based on the virtual payment card information received from client terminal 818. In an
embodiment, the step of identifying an issuer bank may be carried out by or at acquirer server
820, or by or at a payment service provider server (example payee payment service provider 808).
25
[0091] Step 1108 comprises querying the identified issuer bank for a virtual payment address that
has been linked or associated with the virtual payment card being used by the client terminal 818
for implementing the payment transaction. In an embodiment, the step of querying the identified
issuer bank may be carried out by or at acquirer server 820, or by or at a payment service provider
server (example payee payment service provider 808).
[0092] At step 1110, a payor’s virtual payment address associated with the virtual payment card
is received from the issuer bank. In an embodiment said payor’s virtual payment address may be
transmitted by an issuer bank server to the acquirer server 820 or to a payment service provider
server (example payee payment service provider 808).
[0093] Step 1112 comprises transmitting the payor virtual payment address, payee / merchant
virtual payment address and transaction amount to unified payment interface 804. Said
transmission may occur directly from acquirer server 820 or from POS terminal 802 (subsequent
to POS terminal 802 receiving the payor virtual payment address from unified payment interface
804) or from any other entity that has received all of the above three sets of information. In an
embodiment, the step of transmitting the payor virtual payment address, payee / merchant virtual
payment address and transaction amount to unified payment interface 804 may be carried out by
or at acquirer server 820, or by or at a payment service provider server (example payee payment
service provider 808).
[0094] At step 1114, the payor’s virtual payment address and the payee’s / merchant’s virtual
payment address are used by unified payment interface 804 to retrieve the payor and payee
banking information respectively from the payor and payee / merchant payment service providers
810 and 808.
[0095] Step 1116 comprises executing the payment transaction based on the retrieved payor and
payee virtual payment addresses and the specified transaction amount, through settlement
platform 806.
26
[0096] Figure 12 illustrates a sequential flow diagram 1200 representing communication flow
between system entities in implementing the method of Figure 11.
[0097] Step 12022 of Figure 12 comprises receiving at client terminal 1202 an instruction for a
transaction payment based on a specified virtual payment card. Said instruction may be received
through a wallet application software implemented on said client terminal 1202 and may identify
one or more of a virtual payment card for use in the transaction, POS terminal through which
the transaction is to be implemented and a transaction amount.
[0098] At step 12024, virtual payment card information corresponding to the selected virtual
payment card is wirelessly transmitted from client terminal 1202 to POS terminal 1204.
[0099] Step 12026 comprises transmission of a request for retrieval of a payor’s virtual payment
address from POS terminal 1204 to an acquirer server / lookup server 1206 – which request may
include all or part of the received virtual payment card information. Responsive to obtaining the
payor’s virtual payment address by checking for a virtual payment address linked with the received
virtual payment card information in the records of an issuer bank associated with the virtual
payment card, step 12028 comprises the acquirer server / lookup server 1206 transmitting the
identified payor’s virtual payment address to POS terminal 1204 (or in an embodiment to any
other appropriate entity within the system 800).
[00100] At step 12030, POS terminal transmits (i) payor virtual payment address, (ii)
merchant virtual payment address and (iii) the transaction amount – to unified payment interface
1208.
[00101] Responsive to unified payment interface 1208 obtaining payor and merchant bank
account information by querying the respective payor and merchant payment service providers
based on the received payor and merchant virtual payment addresses – step 12032 comprises
transmission of payor and merchant bank account information and the transaction amount to
settlement platform 1210. Settlement platform 1210 thereafter implements the transaction
27
payment by debiting the amount from the payor bank account and crediting the amount to the
merchant bank account.
[00102] Transaction completion confirmations are thereafter sent to POS terminal 1204
at step 12034 and to client terminal 1202 at step 12036. In an embodiment, transaction
confirmation to POS terminal 1204 may be sent to POS terminal 1204 in the ISO 8583 data
format – so that the POS terminal can interpret the transaction confirmation.
[00103] In a particular embodiment, the invention comprises a method for implementing
a virtual payment address based payment transaction through a point-of-sale terminal having
payment card based transaction implementation capabilities. Said method embodiment comprises
(i) receiving at the point of sale terminal (a) information identifying a virtual payment card
associated with a payor’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a first payment
service provider and is uniquely associated with the payor, and (b) a transaction amount - wherein
said information identifying the virtual payment card and the transaction amount are received at
the point-of-sale terminal through wireless communication with a client terminal, (ii) identifying
an issuer bank associated with said virtual payment card, wherein said identification of the issuer
bank is based on the identified virtual payment card, (iii) retrieving the payor’s virtual payment
address from a server associated with said issuer bank, wherein said retrieval is based on an
association between with the identified virtual payment card and the payor’s virtual payment
address that is recorded at the server associated with the issuer bank, (iv) transmitting to a unified
payment interface (c) the payor’s virtual payment address, (d) a merchant’s virtual payment
address that has been generated by a second payment service provider and that is uniquely
associated with the merchant, and (e) the transaction amount, (v) retrieving from a server
associated with the first payment service provider, payor bank account information identifying a
payor bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the payor’s virtual
payment address and the payor bank account information that is recorded at the server associated
with the first payment service provider, (vi) retrieving from a server associated with the second
payment service provider, merchant bank account information identifying a merchant bank
account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the merchant’s virtual payment
address and the merchant bank account information that is recorded at the server associated with
28
the second payment service provider, and (vii) implementing payment of the transaction amount
through a settlement platform, wherein implementing said payment of the transaction amount
comprises debiting the transaction amount from the payor bank account and crediting the
transaction amount to the merchant bank account.
[00104] In a particular method embodiment, the merchant’s virtual payment address is
transmitted to the unified payment interface from the point-of-sale terminal.
[00105] In another method embodiment, the information identifying the virtual payment
card includes at least a payment card number. In a more specific method embodiment, the step
of identification of the issuer bank is based on the payment card number.
[00106] In one embodiment, retrieving the payor’s virtual payment address from the
server associated with said issuer bank comprises querying said server associated with the issuer
bank through a lookup server that is in network communication with one of the point-of-sale
terminal or an acquirer server that is communicably coupled with the point-of-sale terminal.
[00107] The invention additionally comprises a computer program product for
implementing a virtual payment address based payment transaction through a point-of-sale
terminal having payment card based transaction implementation capabilities. The computer
program product comprises a non-transitory computer usable medium having computer readable
program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising instructions
for (i) receiving at the point of sale terminal (a) information identifying a virtual payment card
associated with a payor’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a first payment
service provider and is uniquely associated with the payor, and (b) a transaction amount - wherein
said information identifying the virtual payment card and the transaction amount are received at
the point-of-sale terminal through wireless communication with a client terminal, (ii) identifying
an issuer bank associated with said virtual payment card, wherein said identification of the issuer
bank is based on the identified virtual payment card, (iii) retrieving the payor’s virtual payment
address from a server associated with said issuer bank, wherein said retrieval is based on an
association between with the identified virtual payment card and the payor’s virtual payment
29
address that is recorded at the server associated with the issuer bank, (iv) transmitting to a unified
payment interface (c) the payor’s virtual payment address, (d) a merchant’s virtual payment
address that has been generated by a second payment service provider and that is uniquely
associated with the merchant, and (e) the transaction amount, (v) retrieving from a server
associated with the first payment service provider, payor bank account information identifying a
payor bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the payor’s virtual
payment address and the payor bank account information that is recorded at the server associated
with the first payment service provider, (vi) retrieving from a server associated with the second
payment service provider, merchant bank account information identifying a merchant bank
account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the merchant’s virtual payment
address and the merchant bank account information that is recorded at the server associated with
the second payment service provider, and (vii) implementing payment of the transaction amount
through a settlement platform, wherein implementing said payment of the transaction amount
comprises debiting the transaction amount from the payor bank account and crediting the
transaction amount to the merchant bank account.
[00108] The invention further provides a system for implementing a virtual payment
address based payment transaction through a point-of-sale terminal having payment card based
transaction implementation capabilities. In an embodiment, the system comprises an acquirer
server that is communicably coupled to the point-of-sale terminal and is configured to (i) receive
from the point of sale terminal (a) information identifying a virtual payment card associated with
a payor’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a first payment service provider and
is uniquely associated with the payor, (b) a merchant’s virtual payment address that has been
generated by a second payment service provider and is uniquely associated with the merchant,
and (c) a transaction amount - wherein said information identifying the virtual payment card and
the transaction amount are received at the point-of-sale terminal through wireless communication
with a client terminal, (ii) initiate identification of an issuer bank associated with said virtual
payment card, wherein said identification of the issuer bank is based on the identified virtual
payment card, (iii) initiate retrieval of the payor’s virtual payment address from a server associated
with said issuer bank, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between with the identified
virtual payment card and the payor’s virtual payment address that is recorded at the server
30
associated with the issuer bank (iv) transmit to a unified payment interface (d) the payor’s virtual
payment address, (e) the merchant’s virtual payment address, and (e) the transaction amount –
wherein the unified payment interface is configured to (1) retrieve from a server associated with
the first payment service provider, payor bank account information identifying a payor bank
account, wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the payor’s virtual payment
address and the payor bank account information that is recorded at the server associated with the
first payment service provider, (2) retrieve from a server associated with the second payment
service provider, merchant bank account information identifying a merchant bank account,
wherein said retrieval is based on an association between the merchant’s virtual payment address
and the merchant bank account information that is recorded at the server associated with the
second payment service provider, and (3) implement payment of the transaction amount through
a settlement platform, wherein implementing said payment of the transaction amount comprises
debiting the transaction amount from the payor bank account and crediting the transaction
amount to the merchant bank account.
[00109] In an embodiment of the above system, the merchant’s virtual payment address
that is transmitted to the acquirer server is retrieved from data repository within the point-of-sale
terminal.
[00110] In a further system embodiment, the information identifying the virtual payment card
includes at least a payment card number.
[00111] In a particular system embodiment, the identification of the issuer bank is based on the
payment card number.
[00112] In a further embodiment, the acquirer server is configured to initiate retrieval of the
payor’s virtual payment address from the server associated with the issuer bank, by querying the
server associated with the issuer bank through a lookup server that is in network communication
with the acquirer server.
31
[00113] Figure 13 illustrates an exemplary computer system 1302 for implementing the present
invention.
[00114] The illustrated system comprises computer system 1302 which in turn comprises one or
more processors 1304 and at least one memory 1306. Processor 1304 is configured to execute
program instructions - and may be a real processor or a virtual processor. It will be understood
that computer system 1302 does not suggest any limitation as to scope of use or functionality of
described embodiments. The computer system 1302 may include, but is not be limited to, one or
more of a general-purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor, a micro-controller, an
integrated circuit, and other devices or arrangements of devices that are capable of implementing
the steps that constitute the method of the present invention. Exemplary embodiments of a
computer system 1302 in accordance with the present invention may include one or more servers,
desktops, laptops, tablets, smart phones, mobile phones, mobile communication devices, tablets,
phablets and personal digital assistants. In an embodiment of the present invention, the memory
1306 may store software for implementing various embodiments of the present invention. The
computer system 1302 may have additional components. For example, the computer system 1302
may include one or more communication channels 1308, one or more input devices 1310, one or
more output devices 1312, and storage 1314. An interconnection mechanism (not shown) such
as a bus, controller, or network, interconnects the components of the computer system 1302. In
various embodiments of the present invention, operating system software (not shown) provides
an operating environment for various softwares executing in the computer system 1302 using a
processor 1304, and manages different functionalities of the components of the computer system
1302.
[00115] The communication channel(s) 1308 allow communication over a communication
medium to various other computing entities. The communication medium provides information
such as program instructions, or other data in a communication media. The communication
media includes, but is not limited to, wired or wireless methodologies implemented with an
electrical, optical, RF, infrared, acoustic, microwave, Bluetooth or other transmission media.
32
[00116] The input device(s) 1310 may include, but is not limited to, a touch screen, a keyboard,
mouse, pen, joystick, trackball, a voice device, a scanning device, or any another device that is
capable of providing input to the computer system 1302. In an embodiment of the present
invention, the input device(s) 1310 may be a sound card or similar device that accepts audio input
in analog or digital form. The output device(s) 1312 may include, but not be limited to, a user
interface on CRT, LCD, LED display, or any other display associated with any of servers,
desktops, laptops, tablets, smart phones, mobile phones, mobile communication devices, tablets,
phablets and personal digital assistants, printer, speaker, CD/DVD writer, or any other device
that provides output from the computer system 1302.
[00117] The storage 1314 may include, but not be limited to, magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, CDROMs,
CD-RWs, DVDs, any types of computer memory, magnetic stripes, smart cards, printed
barcodes or any other transitory or non-transitory medium which can be used to store
information and can be accessed by the computer system 1302. In various embodiments of the
present invention, the storage 1314 may contain program instructions for implementing any of
the described embodiments.
[00118] In an embodiment of the present invention, the computer system 1302 is part of a
distributed network or a part of a set of available cloud resources.
[00119] The present invention may be implemented in numerous ways including as a system, a
method, or a computer program product such as a computer readable storage medium or a
computer network wherein programming instructions are communicated from a remote location.
[00120] The present invention may suitably be embodied as a computer program product
for use with the computer system 1302. The method described herein is typically implemented as
a computer program product, comprising a set of program instructions that is executed by the
computer system 1302 or any other similar device. The set of program instructions may be a
series of computer readable codes stored on a tangible medium, such as a computer readable
storage medium (storage 1314), for example, diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, flash drives or hard disk,
or transmittable to the computer system 1302, via a modem or other interface device, over either
33
a tangible medium, including but not limited to optical or analogue communications channel(s)
1308. The implementation of the invention as a computer program product may be in an
intangible form using wireless techniques, including but not limited to microwave, infrared,
Bluetooth or other transmission techniques. These instructions can be preloaded into a system
or recorded on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, or made available for downloading over a
network such as the Internet or a mobile telephone network. The series of computer readable
instructions may embody all or part of the functionality previously described herein.
[00121] Based on the above, it would be apparent that the present invention enables
implementation of virtual payment address based payment transactions through POS terminals
that are configured to enable payment card transactions - while simultaneously maintaining
privacy and confidentiality of both the payor’s and merchant’s virtual payment addresses and their
banking information.
[00122] While the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described and
illustrated herein, it will be appreciated that they are merely illustrative. It will be understood by
those skilled in the art that various modifications in form and detail may be made therein without
departing from or offending the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended
claims. Additionally, the invention illustratively disclose herein suitably may be practiced in the
absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein – and in a particular embodiment
that is specifically contemplated, the invention is intended to be practiced in the absence of any
one or more element which are not specifically disclosed herein.

We claim:
1. A method for implementing a virtual payment address based payment transaction
through a point-of-sale terminal, the method comprising:
receiving from a point of sale terminal:
information identifying a virtual payment card associated with a payor’s virtual
payment address that has been generated by a first payment service provider and is
uniquely associated with the payor; and
a transaction amount;
wherein said information identifying the virtual payment card and the transaction
amount has been received at the point-of-sale terminal through wireless
communication with a client terminal;
receiving information identifying an issuer bank associated with said virtual payment card,
wherein the issuer bank is identified based on the identified virtual payment card;
receiving the payor’s virtual payment address, wherein the payor’s virtual payment address is
retrieved from a server associated with said issuer bank, and wherein said retrieval is based on an
association between with the identified virtual payment card and the payor’s virtual payment
address that is recorded at the server associated with the issuer bank; and
transmitting to a unified payment interface
the payor’s virtual payment address;
a merchant’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a second payment
service provider and that is uniquely associated with the merchant; and
35
the transaction amount;
wherein the unified payment interface is configured to:
retrieve from a server associated with the first payment service provider, payor bank
account information identifying a payor bank account, wherein said retrieval is based on
an association between the payor’s virtual payment address and the payor bank account
information that is recorded at the server associated with the first payment service
provider;
retrieve from a server associated with the second payment service provider, merchant
bank account information identifying a merchant bank account, wherein said retrieval is
based on an association between the merchant’s virtual payment address and the
merchant bank account information that is recorded at the server associated with the
second payment service provider; and
implement payment of the transaction amount through a settlement platform, wherein
implementing said payment of the transaction amount comprises debiting the transaction
amount from the payor bank account and crediting the transaction amount to the
merchant bank account.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the merchant’s virtual payment address is
transmitted to the unified payment interface from the point-of-sale terminal.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information identifying the virtual
payment card includes at least a payment card number.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the identification of the issuer bank is
based on the payment card number.
36
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein retrieving the payor’s virtual payment
address from the server associated with said issuer bank, comprises querying said server
associated with the issuer bank through a lookup server that is in network communication with
one of the point-of-sale terminal or an acquirer server that is communicably coupled with the
point-of-sale terminal.
6. A system for implementing a virtual payment address based payment transaction
through a point-of-sale terminal having payment card based transaction implementation
capabilities, the system comprising:
an acquirer server communicably coupled to the point-of-sale terminal and configured to:
receive from the point of sale terminal:
information identifying a virtual payment card associated with a payor’s virtual
payment address that has been generated by a first payment service provider and is
uniquely associated with the payor;
a merchant’s virtual payment address that has been generated by a second payment
service provider and is uniquely associated with the merchant; and
a transaction amount;
wherein said information identifying the virtual payment card and the transaction
amount are received at the point-of-sale terminal through wireless communication
with a client terminal;
receive information identifying an issuer bank associated with said virtual payment card,
wherein the issuer bank is identified based on the identified virtual payment card;
37
receive the payor’s virtual payment address, wherein the payor’s virtual payment address
is retrieved from a server associated with said issuer bank, and wherein said retrieval is
based on an association between with the identified virtual payment card and the payor’s
virtual payment address that is recorded at the server associated with the issuer bank; and
transmit to a unified payment interface
the payor’s virtual payment address;
the merchant’s virtual payment address; and
the transaction amount;
wherein the unified payment interface is configured to:
retrieve from a server associated with the first payment service provider, payor bank
account information identifying a payor bank account, wherein said retrieval is based
on an association between the payor’s virtual payment address and the payor bank
account information that is recorded at the server associated with the first payment
service provider;
retrieve from a server associated with the second payment service provider, merchant
bank account information identifying a merchant bank account, wherein said retrieval
is based on an association between the merchant’s virtual payment address and the
merchant bank account information that is recorded at the server associated with the
second payment service provider; and
implement payment of the transaction amount through a settlement platform,
wherein implementing said payment of the transaction amount comprises debiting
the transaction amount from the payor bank account and crediting the transaction
amount to the merchant bank account.
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7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the merchant’s virtual payment address
that is transmitted to the acquirer server is retrieved from data repository within the point-of-sale
terminal.
8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the information identifying the virtual
payment card includes at least a payment card number.
9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the identification of the issuer bank is based
on the payment card number.
10. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the acquirer server is configured to initiate
retrieval of the payor’s virtual payment address from the server associated with the issuer bank,
by querying the server associated with the issuer bank through a lookup server that is in network
communication with the acquirer server.