Patent ID: 8319606

Claim:
A validation device for an access control system, comprising: modular communication interfaces that provide coupling to the access control system; at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable code that is executable by the at least one processor, the computer readable storage medium including: executable code that receives cardholder data in connection with an access request at an access point controlled by the access control system; executable code that validates the cardholder data; executable code that, after validation of the cardholder data, extracts ID information from the validated cardholder data; executable code that sends the extracted ID information to an access decision component of the access control system that determines whether access is granted for a cardholder corresponding to the extracted ID information; and executable code that determines whether to override a decision of the access decision component, wherein, when the access decision component of the access control system determines that access is not granted to the cardholder corresponding to the extracted ID information, the executable code that determines whether to override determines whether an attribute corresponding to the extracted ID information is present that indicates override, and, where the attribute is present, overrides the access decision component and grants access to the cardholder corresponding to the extracted ID information.