Patent ID: 7702916

Claim:
A secure passcode authentication system, the system comprising: an Access Control Server (ACS) configured to receive a request for passcode authentication of a Primary Account Number (PAN) from a merchant server, and configured to request a passcode corresponding to the PAN from a cardholder device, wherein the ACS is associated with an issuer of the PAN; a front end Hardware Security Module (HSM) coupled to the ACS, and configured to receive the passcode in an encrypted format and generate an encrypted passcode using a local encryption key; and a back end HSM configured to receive the encrypted passcode from the front end HSM and further configured to recover a clear form of the passcode, generate a back end encrypted passcode, and communicate the back end encrypted passcode to an authentication network, wherein the system authenticates the passcode, wherein the ACS is further configured to receive an authentication message from the authentication network.