Secure electronic cash-less payment systems and methods
AssigneeForward Pay Systems, Inc.
InventorsVerne Severson, David Stark
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods to provide and maintain secure financial transaction conducted with a credit card or other cashless payment mechanism at a vending machine or other potentially unattended vending or point of sale device. Encapsulated card readers providing end-to-end encryption capabilities encrypt transaction data for secure transmission to a transaction host or server. Pre-authorization transaction data checking maintains account numbers in a secure encrypted format further enhancing security. Protection mechanisms that guard against, and provide warnings of equipment tampering, while also providing a visual indication to customers regarding the security of the system.
Claims21
A secure reader for use with a cashless transaction system for an unattended vending machine having a network access controller coupled over a network to a financial transaction processing server, the secure reader comprising:
- a read head configured to read data from a cashless transaction device presented by a user;
- a display configured to present payment status information to the user;
- a tamper detector configured to detect tampering with the secure reader;
- a microcontroller securely coupled to the read head, the display, the tamper detector and the network access controller, the microcontroller configured to:
- present warning information to the user via the display in response to the tamper detector;
- transmit transaction information other than account information from the data from the cashless transaction device for use by the network access controller to validate the cashless transaction device;
- and,
- initiate a financial transaction with the financial transaction processing server over an encryption session, encrypt financial information that includes the account information from the data from the cashless transaction device for secure communication without decryption by the network access controller to the financial transaction processing server.
A secure transaction encryption apparatus for use with a cashless transaction system for an unattended vending machine having a read head configured to read data from a cashless transaction device presented by a user, the apparatus comprising:
- a network access controller configured to be coupled over a network to a financial transaction processing server;
- and
- a microcontroller coupled to the read head and the network access controller, the microcontroller configured to:
- transmit transaction information other than account information from the data from the cashless transaction device for use by the network access controller to initiate a financial transaction with the financial transaction processing server;
- and,
- in response to an encryption key provided by the financial transaction processing server for the financial transaction, encrypt financial information that includes the account information from the data from the cashless transaction device for secure communication without decryption by the network access controller to the financial transaction processing server.
A secure reader for use with a cashless transaction system for an unattended vending machine, the secure reader comprising:
- a read head configured to read data from a cashless transaction device presented by a user;
- a network access controller configured to be coupled over a network to a financial transaction processing server;
- and
- a microcontroller securely coupled to the read head and the network access controller, the microcontroller configured to:
- transmit transaction information other than account information from the data from the cashless transaction device for use by the network access controller to initiate a financial transaction with the financial transaction processing server;
- and,
- in response to an encrypted session negotiated with the financial transaction processing server for the financial transaction, encrypt financial information that includes the account information from the data from the cashless transaction device for secure communication without decryption by the network access controller to the financial transaction processing server.
A method of installing a secure cashless reading on an existing vending machine comprising:
- providing a secure encapsulated reader including:
- a read head configured to read data from a cashless transaction device presented by a user;
- a network access controller configured to be coupled over a network to a financial transaction processing server;
- and a microcontroller securely coupled to the read head and the network access controller;
- installing the secure reading in the existing vending machine;
- and
- causing the vending machine to be capable of encrypting the data read from the cashless transaction device presented by the user, and transmitting a communication packet to the financial transaction processing server over an encrypted session negotiated with the financial transaction processing server for completion of the cashless transaction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.