FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

Disclosed embodiments are generally directed to systems and methods for real-time account access.

BACKGROUND

Network processing infrastructures, such as EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) network processing, are used to process payments from traditional credit card or debit card transactions. EFT enables provisioning of account information and other related information for debits, credits, account-to-account transfers, purchases, bill payments, and other purposes. For example, when a cardholder seeks to purchase an item at a store, the cardholder will generally hand her card to the merchant and the merchant will swipe the card through a terminal capable of reading magnetic stripe information to read the card information. Card information includes, for example, a card number, expiration date, and cardholder name. Card numbers are typically 13-19 digits long, and uniquely identify the user's credit or debit account.

After the card number is captured by the merchant's terminal, the merchant's terminal sends information about the card and the transaction, such as, for example, the card number, the expiration date, the cardholder name, the transaction price, the transaction date, the transaction time, and the transaction location, to a payment network. The first set of digits in the card number typically identifies the payment company or registration authority that licensed or registered the card prefix to the “issuer” (for example, the financial institution that issued the card). So, for example, a card number beginning with a ‘4,’ e.g., 4000 1234 5678 9012, identifies VISA as the payment company that licensed the card prefix to a particular card issuer. Each financial institution issuer typically has a set of numeric identifiers (card prefixes) that are used on it's the cards that it issues (for example, a number of leading digits in the card number). The payment network routes the information received from the merchant's terminal to the appropriate card issuer based on the card number.

The appropriate issuer (in the case of a card transaction, a financial institution or its contracted transaction authorization processor) will then consult its records to determine the appropriate account and verify whether that account contains sufficient funds or credit available to authorize a transaction (e.g., a purchase). The result of this determination is returned to inform the merchant whether the cardholder is able to purchase the item.

However, this process requires that the cardholder give a potentially untrusted entity (the merchant) a uniquely identifiable card number. A nefarious merchant employee or an unauthorized person intercepting the card data may try to reuse the card number without permission of the cardholder, for example, to purchase items for himself or to obtain cash at an ATM.

Further, in some situations, a card number for accessing a customer's account is not available. For example, if a customer decides to pay by check, the merchant must capture the RTN (Routing Transit Number) for the financial institution that issued the check and the customer's personal account number. The merchant must then use a service provided by a bank or check acceptance provider to access the Automated Clearing House (ACH), request that the check be cleared, and request a credit. The ACH system is batch-driven and thus the process to fund a purchase can take much longer than a card-based transaction. Thus, using checks as payment increases the amount of time for the merchant to acquire the promised funds. ACH use further includes a possibility of accepting payments that are later found to be uncollectable (also known as a “bounced check”). Check guarantee providers can be used by merchants to reduce this risk. However, such providers typically charge a high percentage of the check amount, making this service potentially more expensive than a credit or debit card payment.

Improvements in techniques for processing financial transactions are desirable.

SUMMARY

In one disclosed embodiment, a first method is disclosed for processing financial transactions at a payment network. The method comprises receiving, from an originator device, a transaction request associated with an initiating user and a financial institution account. The transaction request comprises information associated with an identification of the initiating user or the financial institution account. The method further comprises determining an account identifier for the account based on the identification, and transmitting, over a network, a financial services transaction comprising the account identifier associated with the account to a financial institution associate with the account. The method further comprises receiving, from the financial institution, a response to the financial services transaction, and transmitting a response to the transaction request to the originator device.

A system is also disclosed for processing financial transactions. The system comprises a processor system (i.e., one or more electronic processors) and a memory that stores instructions. When executed, the instructions cause the processor system to perform the above first method.

In another disclosed embodiment, a second method is disclosed for associating a financial institution account and an originator account. The method comprises receiving from a user device a request to associate a financial institution account with an originator account. The method further comprises generating an association message including details about the financial institution account, and sending the association message to a payment network. The method comprises receiving an association response, determining whether the association response includes a key associated with the financial account, and if so, storing the received key for use in initiating transaction requests and sending an indication to the user device that the accounts are associated.

A system is also disclosed for associating a financial institution account and an originator account. The system comprises a processor system (i.e., one or more electronic funds transaction processors) and a memory that stores instructions. When executed, the instructions cause the processor system to perform the above method.

In another disclosed embodiment, a third method is disclosed for processing transaction requests. The method comprises receiving a transaction request from an associated device. The transaction request comprises a request to initiate a transaction on behalf of a user and information on a financial account. The transaction request does not include an account number associated with the financial account. The method further comprises incrementing a transaction counter associated with the financial account, determining a key associated with the financial account, and generating a financial services transaction message. The financial services transaction message includes a cryptogram. The cryptogram is based on the determined key, information from the transaction request, and the transaction counter. The method further comprises sending the financial services transaction message to a payment network for processing.

A system is also disclosed for processing financial transactions. The system comprises a processor system (i.e., one or more electronic funds transaction processors) and a memory that stores instructions. When executed, the instructions cause the processor system to perform the above third method.

In another disclosed embodiment, a fourth method is disclosed for processing transaction requests. The method comprises receiving a transaction request from an associated device. The transaction request comprises a request to initiate a transaction on behalf of a user and information on a financial account. The method further comprises incrementing a transaction counter associated with the financial account, determining a key associated with the financial account, and generating a financial services transaction message. The transaction message includes a cryptogram generated based on the determined key, information from the transaction request, and the transaction counter. The method further comprises sending the financial services transaction message to a payment network.

A system is also disclosed for processing financial transactions. The system comprises a processor system (i.e., one or more electronic funds transaction processors) and a memory that stores instructions. When executed, the instructions cause the processor system to perform the above fourth method.

In another disclosed embodiment, a fifth method is disclosed for processing transaction requests. The method comprises receiving a transaction request from an originator. The transaction request includes a cryptogram and does not include an account number of the financial institution account. The method comprises determining a key associated with the financial institution account and validating the cryptogram using the key associated with the financial institution account. The method further comprises determining an account identifier of the financial institution account, generating a transaction request based on information stored in the cryptogram and the determined account identifier, sending the transaction request to a financial institution, and receiving a response. The method further comprises by sending a response to the originator.

A system is also disclosed for processing financial transactions. The system comprises a processor system (i.e., one or more electronic funds transaction processors) and a memory that stores instructions. When executed, the instructions cause the processor system to perform the above fifth method.

Additional aspects related to the embodiments will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the embodiments. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate a variety of embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the embodiments. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

