SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING MERCHANT-STORED PAYMENT CREDENTIALS

Systems and methods for managing merchant-stored payment credentials are disclosed. In one embodiment, in a financial institution backend comprising at least one computer processor, a method for managing merchant-stored payment credentials may include: (1) receiving, from a customer and in a first user interface, a selection of a merchant that is eligible for financial instrument pushing; (2) opening a second user interface with the selected merchant, wherein the login credentials for the merchant are received from the customer in the second user interface; (3) receiving, from the customer and in the first user interface, a selection of a financial instrument to push; and (4) providing, to an aggregator, financial instrument data for the selected financial instrument. The aggregator pushes the financial instrument data to the merchant.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for managing merchant-stored payment credentials.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

It is commonplace for a customer to save a payment instrument, such as a credit or debit card, with a merchant for recurring payment. For example, customers save cards with online merchants, online subscription services, etc. to avoid having to enter card data for every transaction. If a card is reported as lost or stolen and the customer has a new card number issued, the customer has to go back through past statements to determine which merchants need to have payment information updated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods for managing merchant-stored payment credentials are disclosed. In one embodiment, in a financial institution backend comprising at least one computer processor, a method for managing merchant-stored payment credentials may include: (1) receiving, from a customer and in a first user interface, a selection of a merchant that is eligible for financial instrument pushing; (2) opening a second user interface with the selected merchant, wherein the login credentials for the merchant are received from the customer in the second user interface; (3) receiving, from the customer and in the first user interface, a selection of a financial instrument to push; and (4) providing, to an aggregator, financial instrument data for the selected financial instrument. The aggregator pushes the financial instrument data to the merchant.

In one embodiment, the method may further include: reviewing customer transaction data with a plurality of merchants; and identifying the merchant from the customer transaction data based on a plurality of transactions with the merchant.

In one embodiment, the financial instrument data may include at least one of a customer name, a financial instrument number, an expiration date, a CVV, a billing zip code, etc.

In one embodiment, the method may further include requesting a session identifier for the customer from the aggregator. The session identifier is provided to the aggregator with the financial instrument data for the selected financial instrument. The session identifier may include a token having an expiration.

In one embodiment, the second user interface may include a lightbox.

According to another embodiment, in a financial institution backend comprising at least one computer processor, and in response to an event in which a financial instrument number issued to a customer changes, a method for managing merchant-stored payment credentials may include: (1) identifying at least one merchant to which the financial instrument has been pushed by an aggregator; (2) receiving, from the customer, approval to provide replacement financial instrument data to the aggregator; and (3) providing the replacement financial instrument data to the aggregator, wherein the aggregator pushes the replacement financial instrument data to the at least one merchant.

In one embodiment, the financial institution backend may request the financial instrument that has been pushed by the aggregator from the aggregator.

In one embodiment, the method may further include receiving approval from the customer to provide the replacement financial instrument data to the aggregator.

In one embodiment, the financial instrument may be reported as lost or stolen.

In one embodiment, the request for the identification of at least one merchant to which the financial instrument has been pushed may include a customer identifier.

According to another embodiment, in a financial institution backend comprising at least one computer processor, a method for cancelling payment using a pushed payment instrument may include: (1) retrieving, from a first aggregator, an identification of at least one merchant to which a financial institution issued to a customer has been pushed; (2) presenting, to the customer, the identification of the at least one merchant; (3) receiving, from the customer, request to cancel a recurring payment with at least one of the merchants; and (4) communicating, to a second aggregator, financial information for the financial instrument with a request to cancel the recurring payment. The second aggregator may cancel the recurring payment with the merchant.

In one embodiment, the method may further include determining, based on customer transaction data with the merchant, that the recurring payments were conducted with the merchant. The determination may be based on a transaction flag in a plurality of transactions with the merchant, a timing of a plurality of transactions with the merchant, etc.

In one embodiment, the first aggregator and the second aggregator may be the same.

In one embodiment, the method may further include receiving, from the customer, customer account information to identify a customer account with the merchant for the recurring payment. The customer account information may be provided to the second aggregator with the request to cancel.

In one embodiment, the merchant account information may include a customer email address associated with the customer account.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments are generally directed to systems and methods for managing merchant-stored payment credentials.

Referring toFIG. 1, a system for managing merchant-stored payment credentials is disclosed. System100may include financial institution backend110that may execute computer program or application115for managing merchant-stored payment credentials. Financial institution backend110may include any suitable electronic device, including servers (physical and/or cloud-based), computers, etc.

System100may further include aggregator120which may have a relationship with one or more merchant140. For example, each merchant140may be registered with aggregator120, and may have a public-private key relationship.

In one embodiment, aggregator120may abstract different API contracts that it has for one or more merchant140. It may provide a uniform experience for customer130.

Merchants140may be any suitable type of merchant, including on-line, physical, etc. with which customer130may maintain an account. In one embodiment, merchant140may repeatedly (e.g., periodically, on demand, etc.) provide a good or service to customer130for which the customer may wish to avoid entering payment information for. Examples may include retailers, entertainment providers (e.g., streaming services, music subscription services), Internet service providers, cell phone providers, utility providers, restaurants, health care providers, etc. Any suitable merchant140may be included as is necessary and/or desired.

Customer130may be a customer of the financial instrument associated with financial institution backend110and/or computer program or application115. In one embodiment, customer130may access financial institution backend110using one or more electronic device135, including smartphones, computers (e.g., desktop, laptop, notebook, etc.), Internet of Thing (“IoT”) appliances, terminals, kiosks, etc. For example, customer130may access financial institution backend110and/or computer program or application115using a browser, an application or program, etc.

Referring toFIG. 2, a method for managing merchant-stored payment credentials is provided according to one embodiment.

In step205, a customer of a financial institution may log into the financial institution's website or application.

In step210, the customer may be presented with an option to push a card to a merchant for recurring payments. In one embodiment, the merchant may include any entity with which the customer may have, or may expect to have, recurring payments, with.

In step215, the financial institution backend may provide the customer with a list of merchants to which the customer may push a financial instrument. For example, the backend may present the most popular merchants, may present merchant categories and the customer may explore each category to find the desired merchant, may make recommendations based on transaction history, etc.

In one embodiment, the customer may be provided with a list of repeating and non-repeating transactions where the customer's payment instrument (e.g., a credit card) was not physically present. For example, if the customer makes non-repeating payments to an online retailer, and has not yet pushed a credit card to the online retailer, the online retailer may be identified to the customer.

In one embodiment, merchants to which the customer has pushed the payment instrument to may be included as is necessary and/or desired.

In one embodiment, the backend may retrieve a list of available merchants from an aggregator, and may present only merchants with which the aggregator has a relationship may be selected.

In step220, the customer may select the merchant to push the selected financial instrument to, and in step225, the financial institution backend may request a session identifier for the active customer session with an aggregator from the aggregator. This implies that the customer is logged in to the financial institution and has been validated.

In one embodiment, the aggregator may create an alias to the financial institution customer id/identifier on the aggregator side (e.g., on the first access) to track the financial instruments that have been pushed to merchants and their statuses (e.g., success or failed). In one embodiment, the session identifier may be created each time the financial institution has validated the customer and wants to allow the customer to push or update card on merchant via the aggregator.

In one embodiment, the aggregator may have relationships with a plurality of merchants.

In step230, the aggregator may return the session identifier to the financial institution backend. In one embodiment, the session identifier may comprise a token. In one embodiment, the token may have an expiration in order to increase security. For example, the token may expire after 15 minutes.

In one embodiment, the aggregator may generate a customer identifier for the customer, and may store an association between the customer identifier and the customer.

In step235, the customer may select a financial instrument to push to a merchant. In one embodiment, the customer may be presented with a list of available financial instruments that may be pushed. In another embodiment, the customer may select a financial instrument from a wallet. Any suitable manner of identifying a financial instrument may be used as is necessary and/or desired.

In step240, a window, such as a lightbox, may be opened with the selected merchant, and in step245, the customer may enter login credentials for the selected merchant in the window. In step250, the aggregator may validate the credentials with the merchant. If the customer's login fails, the process may stop.

In step255, the financial institution backend may push details for the selected financial instrument to the aggregator. For example, the financial institution backend may provide a cardholder name, a card number, an expiration date, a CVV, a billing zip code, etc. In one embodiment, the session identifier may be provided.

Other information, including shipping information, may be provided as is necessary and/or desired.

In step260, the aggregator may provide the card to the selected merchant.

In step265, a list of financial instruments and with the merchants with which each financial instrument has been pushed may be available to the customer.

Referring toFIG. 3, a method for managing merchant-stored payment credentials is provided according to another embodiment.

In step305, a card lifecycle event may occur in which the card number and the card expiry date change. For example, the card may be reported as lost or stolen by the customer.

In step310, the financial institution backend may identify merchant(s) to which the financial instrument has been pushed. In one embodiment, the financial institution backend may retrieve this information from its records. In another embodiment, the financial institution may request this information from an aggregator, and the aggregator may return the merchant(s) to the financial institution backend to which the financial instrument has been pushed.

In step315, the customer may be provided with the merchant(s) to which the financial instrument has been pushed and may authorize the financial institution backend to push the replacement financial instrument details to the merchant(s). For example, the financial institution backend may send a message to the customer (e.g., SMS message, email, in-application message, etc.) for the customer to approve the push. In one embodiment, the customer may not be required to log-in or otherwise authenticate to the financial institution to approve the push.

In step320, the financial institution may provide replacement financial instrument details to the aggregator.

In step325, the aggregator may provide the replacement financial instrument details to the merchant(s) identified in step310. This may be similar to step260.

In step330, a list of financial instruments and with the merchants with which each financial instrument has been pushed may be available to the customer.

Referring toFIG. 4, a method for cancelling recurring payment using a pushed payment instrument is provided according to one embodiment. For example, a customer may have pushed a card to a merchant for recurring payments, and may later decide to cancel the recurring payments.

In step405, a customer of a financial institution may log into the financial institution's website or application.

In one embodiment, the customer may select an option to cancel merchant-stored financial instruments.

In step410, the financial institution backend may retrieve merchants to which the financial instrument has been pushed from an aggregator. In one embodiment, the financial institution backend may provide the aggregator with a customer identifier.

In step415, the aggregator may return the list of merchants to the financial institution backend.

In step420, the financial institution backend may identify whether the merchant(s) have recurring payments, indicating a subscription, or payments for customer-directed transactions. In one embodiment, the financial institution backend may review transactions for a flag (e.g., a card not present indicator), the amount of the transaction (e.g., the same amount), the timing of the payments (e.g., the same day each month), whether a CVV was entered, transactions other customers may have with the merchant, etc., in order to determine whether the transactions are recurring transactions.

In one embodiment, machine learning may be used to determine whether the transactions are recurring or not.

In step425, the customer may be presented with the list of merchant-stored financial instrument(s) and the merchant(s) with which the financial instrument(s) are stored. In one embodiment, the customer may be presented with an indication as to whether the customer has recurring payments with each merchant.

In one embodiment, the financial institution backend may provide additional information, such as whether there are any out-of-pattern transaction (e.g., a transaction that does not fit the customer's normal spending pattern), unexpected transactions (e.g., a transaction with a merchant with which there has not been a transaction for some time), etc.

In step430, the customer may request cancellation of a recurring payment with a merchant. In one embodiment, the customer may be required to provide certain information in order to process the cancellation. For example, the customer may be required to enter one or more of the customer's date of birth, billing zip code, last four digits of the financial instrument account number, email address used for the subscription, etc.

In one embodiment, the information required may depend on the merchant.

In step435, the financial institution backend may communicate the request to the aggregator. In one embodiment, the financial institution backend may communicate the credit card number and the account identifying information to the merchant.

In step440, the aggregator may cancel the recurring payment with the merchant. In one embodiment, the merchant may confirm cancellation.

It should be recognized that although several different embodiments are disclosed, these embodiments are not exclusive. Thus, although certain features may be disclosed in the context of one embodiment, the features may be used any embodiment as is necessary and/or desired.

Hereinafter, general aspects of implementation of the systems and methods of the embodiments will be described.

The processing machine used to implement the embodiments may utilize a suitable operating system. Thus, embodiments may include a processing machine running the iOS operating system, the OS X operating system, the Android operating system, the Microsoft Windows™ operating systems, the Unix operating system, the Linux operating system, the Xenix operating system, the IBM AIX™ operating system, the Hewlett-Packard UX™ operating system, the Novell Netware™ operating system, the Sun Microsystems Solaris™ operating system, the OS/2™ operating system, the BeOS™ operating system, the Macintosh operating system, the Apache operating system, an OpenStep™ operating system or another operating system or platform.

It will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present embodiments are susceptible to broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present embodiments and foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the invention.

Accordingly, while the present exemplary embodiments have been described here in detail, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary and is made to provide an enabling disclosure of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure is not intended to be construed or to limit the present embodiments or otherwise to exclude any other such embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications or equivalent arrangements.