Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
<br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR POINT-OF-SALE PROCESSING OF A<br/>LOYALTY TRANSACTION<br/>FIELD<br/>[0001] The present description relates generally to point-of-sale transactions <br/>using <br/>a contactless device, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for <br/>point-of-<br/>sale processing of a loyalty transaction within a standard financial <br/>transaction <br/>through a contactless interface.<br/>BACKGROUND<br/>[0002] A new paradigm is emerging for the payment of merchant goods and <br/>services and for administering merchant loyalty programs. Conventionally, a <br/>consumer will utilize a plurality of physical credit and/or debit cards to pay <br/>for goods <br/>and services, and physical loyalty cards, rewards card, points card, etc., <br/>which are <br/>visually similar to credit and debit cards, for collecting or redeeming <br/>loyalty points at <br/>a merchant. These physical cards may be carried in a physical wallet, purse or <br/>pocket, and are consequently susceptible to accidental loss, theft, etc.<br/>[0003] The use of mobile payment services is therefore increasing in <br/>popularity as <br/>consumers eschew traditional payment methods such as cash, credit and debit <br/>cards in favour of electronic accounts held on mobile devices, such as smart <br/>phones. Such mobile devices include an integrated circuit (IC) that allow the <br/>mobile <br/>devices to be used for contactless payment by storing information associated <br/>with <br/>consumer payment card accounts and for communicating with merchant point-of-<br/>sale (POS) terminals. Contactless payment is typically implemented using Near <br/>Field Communication (NFC), which is a set of standards for smart phones and <br/>similar devices to establish wireless communication with each other by <br/>touching <br/>them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few <br/>inches.<br/>[0004] In a typical mobile payment scenario, a consumer initiates a <br/>transaction by <br/>visiting a retail store operated by the merchant, selects goods for purchase, <br/>and <br/>presents the goods to a cashier. The cashier enters transaction data for <br/>causing <br/>the POS terminal to be readied to accept payment. Then, instead of tapping or<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>I<br/>t<br/>swiping a credit or debit card at the POS terminal, the consumer waves or taps <br/>his/her NEC-enabled mobile device near/on a proximity reader associated with <br/>the <br/>POS terminal to initiate the payment transaction, such as deducting payment <br/>for a <br/>purchase from a debit account or charging payment to a credit card account. <br/>The <br/>POS terminal then transmits an authorization request that includes the payment <br/>card account number and the amount of the transaction to a payment service <br/>provider. A series of secure messages are exchanged between the payment <br/>service provider, the issuer financial institution that issued the customer's <br/>payment <br/>card account, a payment system for routing transactions from acquirers to <br/>issuers, <br/>and an acquirer financial institution that issued the merchant's account, in <br/>order to <br/>verify, authorize and complete the financial transaction.<br/>[0005] In addition to systems for allowing consumers to use mobile devices to <br/>complete transactions, systems have been developed to permit collection and <br/>redemption of loyalty points and for applying coupon discounts to transactions <br/>using mobile devices instead of physical loyalty cards and physical discount <br/>coupons. However, the relatively short time period within which to complete a <br/>contactless transaction using NEC communications presents challenges to the <br/>inclusion of value-added services such as loyalty redemption or coupon <br/>discounting simultaneously with mobile payment. For example, US 2013/0046643 <br/>(Wall et al.) sets forth a system that uses NFC for an initial secure <br/>connection <br/>between a mobile device and a POS reader. Keys are exchanged between the <br/>mobile device and reader in order to set up a secondary secure communication <br/>channel between the mobile device and reader for providing value-added <br/>services <br/>such as loyalty and coupons. The secondary secure communication channel may <br/>use Bluetooth, WiFi or other wireless communication channel suitable for <br/>secure <br/>persistent communication with the reader from outside of the reader's NEC <br/>range <br/>of communication.<br/>SUMMARY<br/>[0006] As set forth in greater detail below, a method and apparatus are <br/>provided<br/>2<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>for point-of-sale processing of a loyalty transaction within a standard <br/>financial <br/>transaction through a contactless interface using contactless NFC <br/>communications.<br/>BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS<br/>[0007] Features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the <br/>detailed description which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying <br/>drawings, which together illustrate, by way of example, features of the <br/>invention; <br/>and, wherein:<br/>[0008] FIG. 1 is an illustration of a block diagram of a system for point-of-<br/>sale <br/>processing of a loyalty transaction within a standard financial transaction <br/>through a <br/>contactless interface, using contactless NFC communications, in accordance <br/>with <br/>an embodiment;<br/>[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart depicting a method for point-of-sale <br/>processing of a loyalty transaction within a standard financial transaction <br/>through a <br/>contactless interface, using contactless NFC communications, according to the <br/>embodiment of FIG. 1;<br/>[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) for selecting a <br/>payment <br/>and a loyalty card using a wallet application on a mobile device in the system <br/>of <br/>FIG. 1;<br/>[0011] FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) for initiating a <br/>payment <br/>transaction using a wallet application on a mobile device in the system of <br/>FIG. 1;<br/>[0012] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart depicting a user interface startup <br/>sequence of <br/>the method illustrated in FIG. 2; and<br/>[0013] FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart depicting a loyalty transaction <br/>sequence of the <br/>method illustrated in FIG. 2.<br/>[0014] Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, <br/>and <br/>specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will <br/>nevertheless be <br/>understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby <br/>intended.<br/>3<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>r<br/>I<br/>DETAILED DESCRIPTION<br/>[0015] It is to be understood that the embodiment set forth herein is not <br/>limited to <br/>the particular structures or process steps disclosed herein, but is extended <br/>to <br/>equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those ordinarily skilled in the <br/>relevant arts. It should also be understood that terminology employed herein <br/>is <br/>used for the purpose of describing the particular embodiment only and is not <br/>intended to be limiting.<br/>[0016] It should be understood that many of the functional units described in <br/>this <br/>specification have been labeled as modules, in order to more particularly <br/>emphasize their implementation independence. For example, a module may be <br/>implemented as a hardware circuit comprising custom VLSI circuits or gate <br/>arrays, <br/>off-the-shelf semiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other <br/>discrete <br/>components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware <br/>devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, <br/>programmable logic devices or the like.<br/>[0017] Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by various <br/>types of processors. An identified module of executable code may, for <br/>instance, <br/>comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, <br/>which <br/>may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, or function. <br/>Nevertheless, <br/>the executables of an identified module need not be physically located <br/>together, but <br/>may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when <br/>joined <br/>logically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the <br/>module.<br/>[0018] Indeed, a module of executable code may be a single instruction, or <br/>many <br/>instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code <br/>segments, <br/>among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, <br/>operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within modules, and <br/>may <br/>be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of <br/>data<br/>4<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>,<br/>I<br/>structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may <br/>be <br/>distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, <br/>and <br/>may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or <br/>network. <br/>The modules may be passive or active, including agents operable to perform <br/>desired functions.<br/>[0019] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an <br/>embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic <br/>described <br/>in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of <br/>the <br/>present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in <br/>an <br/>embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not <br/>necessarily all <br/>referring to the same embodiment.<br/>[0020] With reference to FIG. 1, a system is illustrated for point-of-sale <br/>processing <br/>of a loyalty transaction within a standard financial transaction through a <br/>contactless <br/>interface, using contactless NFC communications, in accordance with an <br/>embodiment.<br/>[0021] A mobile device 100 may be provided with a software application, <br/>referred to <br/>herein as a "wallet application", for storing and managing consumer credit <br/>and/or <br/>debit account information as well as loyalty information and coupon or <br/>discount <br/>information. Mobile device 100 may also be provided with a UICC (Universal <br/>Integrated Circuit Card) having an embedded secure element (SE) for storing <br/>subscriber details ¨ such as credit card account numbers, transit accounts, <br/>and <br/>mobile phone details ¨ and keeps these details separate and secure. UICC is <br/>used <br/>in mobile terminals within GSM and UMTS networks, as defined by ETSI Project <br/>Smart Card Platform. According to one aspect, the SE contains a loyalty <br/>applet, <br/>payment applet and a Contactless Registry Service (CRS) applet that controls <br/>what <br/>applets are available in the contactless interface (when the consumer selects <br/>the <br/>Pay Now button on the mobile device, as discussed in greater detail below with <br/>reference to FIG. 4)<br/>[0022] The wallet application running on mobile device 100 includes a GUI<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>,<br/>(graphical user interface) for interacting with the various credit/debit <br/>accounts, <br/>loyalty programs and coupons, as discussed in greater detail below with <br/>reference <br/>to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. In one embodiment, the consumer selects payment and <br/>loyalty cards for a transaction (either with or without password/ mobile PIN <br/>authentication in the secure element), checks loyalty points available from <br/>membership in a loyalty program, and indicates an amount of loyalty points to <br/>redeem against the purchase.<br/>[0023] The consumer then positions the mobile device 100 within the RF field <br/>of the <br/>NFC contactless reader 110. The reader obtains the consumer's payment and <br/>loyalty card details from the UICC via NFC, and the POS terminal 120 processes <br/>the loyalty point redemption to reduce the total transaction amount to be <br/>charged <br/>against the selected payment method and processes the transaction using <br/>information received from the mobile device 100. More particularly, the POS <br/>terminal 120 communicates with a payment service provider 160 (i.e. financial <br/>organization) using the same secure process as is used for conventional credit <br/>or <br/>debit card transactions, and in return the consumer receives an electronic <br/>receipt <br/>that can be stored in the mobile device 100.<br/>[0024] In one embodiment, the consumer downloads the wallet application and <br/>manually enters his/her own card details to the application. In another <br/>embodiment <br/>the consumer taps a contactless card that contain an embedded secure area such <br/>as an EMV chip (embedded microprocessor chip that encrypts transaction data) <br/>to <br/>the mobile device 100, whereupon the payment card account/loyalty numbers are <br/>automatically read by the wallet application. The wallet application in the <br/>mobile <br/>device 100 generates an 'add mobile credential' request to a hub 150 (via <br/>wallet <br/>server 130 and integration bridge 140). The hub 150 receives the add mobile <br/>credential message and requests the issuer host 175 to generate the mobile <br/>card <br/>credentials to hub 150 for processing and further enriching by SCMS 152. The <br/>hub <br/>then 150 sends the enriched mobile card credential to the wallet server 130 <br/>(via <br/>integration bridge 140) for generating the provision request to the SP TSM 142 <br/>and<br/>6<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>finally provisioning card credential to the UICC (in the mobile device 100 <br/>that <br/>initiated the 'add mobile credential request') via OTA (over the air).<br/>[0025] Wallet server 130 receives notifications/requests from either the <br/>wallet <br/>application installed on mobile device 100 or from a service provider ¨ <br/>trusted <br/>service manager (SP TSM) via integration bridge 140. SP TSM 142 is a trusted <br/>third party that has access to the relevant cryptographic keys allowing access <br/>to <br/>the service provider's payment domain within the Secure Element (SE) in order <br/>to <br/>provision a payment application and a mobile card credential, or to update the <br/>life <br/>cycle of a mobile credential via OTA (over the air) on behalf of the payment <br/>service <br/>provider 160.The communication protocol between the mobile device 100 and the <br/>wallet server 130 may be HTTPS (either JSON or REST-full web services) or <br/>other <br/>secure communication protocol. The communication protocol between the SP <br/>TSM 142 (via integration bridge 140) and the wallet server 130 may, for <br/>example, <br/>be WebService. In response to receiving a notification/request from the mobile <br/>device 100 or SP TSM 142 (via integration bridge 140), wallet server 130 <br/>composes and sends to hub 150 a message which, in an embodiment, is a well <br/>formed XML request message. The communication protocol between the wallet <br/>server 130 and the hub 150 can, for example, be WebService.<br/>[0026] Integration bridge 140 provides connection between mobile device 100, <br/>wallet server 130, hub 150 and payment service provider 160 (i.e. financial <br/>institution). All notifications initiated by the mobile device 100 are <br/>transmitted by the <br/>wallet server 130 through the integration bridge 140 to hub 150 for <br/>processing. The <br/>wallet server 130 and integration bridge 140 may be isolated via a first <br/>firewall 155, <br/>the integration bridge 140 and hub 150 may be isolated via a second firewall <br/>157, <br/>and the integration bridge 140 and SP-TSM 142 may be isolated via a third <br/>firewall <br/>159, in a conventional manner.<br/>[0027] Smart Card management system (SCMS) 152 is a software system that <br/>manages smart cards and mobile credentials, for issuing and enriching smart <br/>card/mobile credential data and managing the life cycle of smart card/mobile<br/>7<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>=<br/>credentials in the SE (UICC).<br/>[0028] Hub 150 communicates with loyalty system 170 for obtaining loyalty <br/>points <br/>balance information, as discussed in greater detail below.<br/>[0029] Turning to FIG. 2, a flowchart is illustrated of a method for point-of-<br/>sale <br/>processing of a loyalty transaction within a standard financial transaction <br/>through a <br/>contactless interface, using contactless NFC communications, according to the <br/>embodiment of FIG. 1.<br/>[0030] At step 200, upon launching the wallet application, the consumer <br/>selects the <br/>desired payment card and optionally the loyalty program from a card 'carousel' <br/>depicted in FIG. 3. As discussed in greater detail below with reference to <br/>FIG. 5, a <br/>loyalty point balance transaction then occurs between the mobile device 100 <br/>and <br/>loyalty system (CRM) 170 in response to which the device sets the available <br/>loyalty <br/>points in the UICC. If the consumer wishes to redeem points, then the consumer <br/>uses the wallet application GUI to select points for redemption and selects a <br/>"Pay <br/>Now" button (see FIG. 4).<br/>[0031] In one embodiment, the merchant cashier enters the transaction amount <br/>in <br/>POS terminal 120 and, at step 210 the consumer positions mobile device 100 in <br/>the RF field of reader 110 in response to which POS terminal 120 initiates a <br/>staged <br/>transaction, including loyalty points earning, points redemption and payment, <br/>resulting in an adjusted transaction amount, as discussed in greater detail <br/>below <br/>with reference to FIG. 6. This represents a departure from traditional <br/>merchandise <br/>checkout where the cashier first selects a loyalty transaction and then <br/>selects a <br/>payment transaction. Therefore, the total transaction time for the consumer at <br/>the <br/>cashier checkout is reduced when compared to traditional merchandise checkout, <br/>as a result of conducting the loyalty point balance transaction prior to <br/>payment.<br/>[0032] A person of skill in the art will understand that if the consumer is <br/>using a self-<br/>serve checkout terminal, entry of the transaction amount will be done <br/>automatically, <br/>for example in response to the consumer passing merchandise under the laser<br/>8<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>,<br/>,<br/>beam of a bar code scanner associated with the self-serve checkout terminal, <br/>after <br/>which the consumer selects a combined loyalty/payment transaction payment <br/>button from the self-serve checkout terminal.<br/>[0033] At step 220, upon completion of the loyalty transaction with loyalty <br/>system <br/>170, the POS terminal 120 sends commands to the payment applet in the secure <br/>element (selected via Proximity Payment Systems Environment (PPSE)) and <br/>performs a contactless payment transaction with the adjusted transaction <br/>amount. <br/>The issuer host 175 also authorizes the payment transaction authorization <br/>request <br/>(via the payment service provider 160) on behalf of the issuer (e.g. financial <br/>institution) when the consumer positions the mobile device 100 in the RF field <br/>of <br/>the reader 110 of POS terminal 120, as discussed in further detail below.<br/>[0034] At this stage, the wallet application deactivates the CRS applet and <br/>displays <br/>messages on the GUI display with wording such as: "Payment Info Read, see <br/>terminal for more information", and "Loyalty Points Earned".<br/>[0035] At step 230, once the payment transaction has been completed (i.e. <br/>approved or declined), the payment service provider 160 formats and sends a <br/>transaction verification message to the POS terminal 120 which, in turn <br/>finalizes <br/>the transaction and returns an acknowledgement to the payment service provider <br/>160. Finally, if the transaction is approved and is subject to loyalty reward, <br/>the POS <br/>terminal 120 sends a command to loyalty CRM system 170 for crediting the <br/>consumer's loyalty point balance. Otherwise, if the transaction is timed out, <br/>the <br/>wallet application deactivates the CRS and displays an appropriate message <br/>such <br/>as: "Transaction Did Not Complete".<br/>[0036] In parallel, the POS terminal 120 continues its process in a well-known <br/>manner. If points have been redeemed, the receipt shows the redemption points <br/>used, redemption dollar amount, and the reduced transaction amount.<br/>[0037] If the payment transaction is declined for any reason, the consumer is <br/>presented with an option to select another method of payment (cash, credit or<br/>9<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>,<br/>,<br/>debit) without using the wallet application and mobile device 100, in order to <br/>pay for <br/>the remainder of the transaction balance. If the consumer does not have <br/>another <br/>method of payment, he/she can be provided with a refund of the redeemed <br/>loyalty <br/>points in the form of a gift card or other form of loyalty credit.<br/>[0038] Turning to FIG. 5, a flow chart is provided depicting details of the <br/>user <br/>interface startup sequence 200 of the method illustrated in FIG. 2. Upon <br/>selecting <br/>the desired payment and loyalty cards to be used for a transaction, the wallet <br/>application sends a web service call to loyalty CRM system 170 requesting the <br/>consumer's available points balance in response to which the loyalty CRM <br/>system <br/>170 responds with the requested point balance (step 500). According to an <br/>embodiment, the wallet application then causes mobile device 100 to display <br/>the <br/>available points as illustrated in FIG. 4, along with a prompt to tap the GUI <br/>display <br/>for points redemption (step 510).<br/>[0039] Upon selecting the desired points to redeem, the wallet application <br/>sends a<br/>command for setting the redemption points into the SE secure storage area <br/>associated with the selected loyalty card (step 520).<br/>[0040] In response to the consumer pressing the "Pay Now" button (see FIG. 4), <br/>the <br/>wallet application activates a payment applet and loyalty applet in the UICC <br/>SE <br/>(step 530).<br/>[0041] Turning to FIG. 6, a flow chart is provided depicting details of the <br/>loyalty <br/>transaction sequence 210 of the method illustrated in FIG. 2. Once the <br/>merchant <br/>cashier has selected an amount for the transaction and the type of payment (or <br/>the <br/>consumer passes merchandise under the bar code scanner laser beam of a self-<br/>serve checkout terminal, as discussed above), the consumer positions mobile <br/>device 100 within the RE field of the terminal reader 110 (step 600).<br/>[0042] The terminal reader 110 initiates a loyalty transaction prior to the <br/>payment <br/>transaction by first sending a command to the loyalty applet in the SE using <br/>an <br/>application identifier (AID) (step 610). If the AID is not found, terminal <br/>reader 110<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>,<br/>,<br/>sends a command to the payment applet in the SE using a payment applet AID <br/>(selected via Proximity Payment Systems Environment (PPSE)) and performs a <br/>standard contactless payment transaction using, for example, a payment <br/>transaction flow that is the same as a standard PayWave /PayPass contactless <br/>card transaction.<br/>[0043] If the loyalty applet is successfully selected, at step 620 the <br/>terminal reader <br/>110 sends a command for retrieving the loyalty ID field and redemption points <br/>(Loyalty Proprietary field) from the SE. Based on the input parameters, the <br/>loyalty <br/>applet matches the stored loyalty ID within the SE, and responds with the <br/>loyalty <br/>ID and user pre-set redemption points (Loyalty Proprietary Field).<br/>[0044] Once read, the terminal reader 110 sends an update loyalty transaction <br/>command to the UICC SE to allow the wallet application to determine if the <br/>points <br/>have been read by the terminal reader 110 (step 630).<br/>[0045] The POS terminal 120 then sends a web service call with the loyalty ID <br/>and <br/>the requested points to the loyalty CRM system 170 for authorization (step <br/>640).<br/>[0046] The loyalty CRM system 170 then verifies the loyalty ID and authorizes <br/>the <br/>requested redemption points. If authorized, the loyalty CRM system 170 <br/>responds <br/>with response data indicating one of either success, error code, and <br/>MaxPointAllowed (same as points requested if success, if not enough, then max <br/>points allowed).<br/>[0047] The POS terminal 120 then adjusts the final transaction amount by the <br/>available points for redemption (step 650).<br/>[0048] Otherwise, if the authorization fails, due to a decline/critical <br/>error/timeout, <br/>the POS terminal 120 aborts the loyalty transaction, and does not adjust <br/>transaction amount, in which case the full transaction amount is charged to <br/>the <br/>selected payment credential. An error message can also be shown on the <br/>cashier's <br/>or self-serve checkout terminal screen.<br/>[0049] Finally, the wallet application resets the default position for loyalty<br/>11<br/><br/>CA 02842922 2014-02-14<br/>,<br/>credentials/cards in the carousel (FIG. 3).<br/>[0050] While the forgoing examples are illustrative of the principles of the <br/>present <br/>invention in one or more particular applications, it will be apparent to those <br/>of <br/>ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications in form, usage and <br/>details of <br/>implementation can be made without the exercise of inventive faculty, and <br/>without <br/>departing from the principles and concepts of the invention. Accordingly, it <br/>is not <br/>intended that the invention be limited, except as by the claims set forth <br/>below.<br/>12<br/>
