Method for the activation of a payment card, corresponding system and computer program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10573114-B2
Application number	US-201816103542-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2018
Priority date	Jun 9, 2015
Publication date	Feb 25, 2020
Grant date	Feb 25, 2020

Abstract

A method for activation of a payment card includes accessing a remote computer server of a card issuer to input card activation information, storing a unique code in the payment card having a contactless readable interface and in the remote computer server, the unique code corresponding to the payment card, and reading the unique code by a user terminal having a corresponding contactless interface. The method includes sending the unique code from the user terminal to the remote computer server, and upon verification of the unique code at the remote computer server, generating and sending an activation code to the user terminal and supplying access to an activation code input mask corresponding to the payment card. The method includes that upon submission of the activation code through the activation code input mask, comparing the submitted activation code with the generated activation code and, when matching, activating the payment card.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for activation of a payment card, comprising:
receiving, by a computer server from a user terminal, an access request comprising a Universal Resource Locator (URL), wherein the URL in the access request comprises a computer server URL and a unique code, the unique code associated with a payment card number of the payment card;
verifying, by the computer server, that the unique code matches a stored unique code in a database accessible by the computer server and that the payment card number associated with the unique code has not been activated;
generating, by the computer server, a generated activation code associated with an expiration time;
sending, by the computer server to the user terminal, a message with the generated activation code;
after the sending the message with the generated activation code to the user terminal, receiving, by the computer server from the user terminal, a received activation code; and
after the receiving the received activation code, activating, by the computer server, the payment card in response to determining that the received activation code matches the generated activation code and in response to determining that the received activation code was received prior to the expiration time associated with the generated activation code.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the payment card comprises a contactless readable interface, the user terminal comprises a corresponding contactless interface, and the user terminal is configured to read the unique code associated with the payment card and the computer server URL via the contactless readable interface of the payment card.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending, by the computer server to the user terminal, an access to an activation code input field to input the received activation code.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the sending the access to the activation code input field comprises making the activation code input field accessible at a Web page at a unique address.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer server URL comprises a unique address on the computer server specific to the payment card.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the payment card is a dual interface card, and a contactless readable interface of the payment card and a corresponding contactless interface of the user terminal are NFC (Near Field Communication) interfaces.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the payment card comprises payment applications and an application which emulates an NFC Tag, a unique address being stored in the application which emulates the NFC Tag.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the activating the payment card comprises setting an activation status into the database.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generated activation code is a random number associated with o the expiration time.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message with the generated activation code is sent to the user terminal as an SMS (Short Message System) message or an electronic mail message.

11. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer server, cause the computer server to perform operations for activation of a payment card, the operations comprising:
receiving, from a user terminal, an access request comprising a Universal Resource Locator (URL), wherein the URL in the access request comprises a computer server URL and a unique code, the unique code associated with a payment card number of the payment card;
verifying that the unique code matches a stored unique code in a database accessible by the computer server and that the payment card number associated with the unique code has not been activated;
generating a generated activation code associated with an expiration time;
sending, to the user terminal, a message with the generated activation code;
after the sending the message with the generated activation code to the user terminal, receiving, from the user terminal, a received activation code from the user terminal; and
after the receiving the received activation code, activating the payment card in response to determining that the received activation code matches the generated activation code and in response to determining that the received activation code was received prior to the expiration time associated with the generated activation code.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the payment card comprises a contactless readable interface, the user terminal comprises a corresponding contactless interface, and the user terminal is configured to read the unique code associated with the payment card and the computer server URL via the contactless readable interface of the payment card.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , further comprising:
sending, by the computer server to the user terminal, an access to an activation code input field to input the received activation code.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the sending the access to the activation code input field comprises making the activation code input field accessible at a Web page at a unique address.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the computer server URL comprises a unique address on the computer server specific to the payment card.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the payment card is a dual interface card, and a contactless readable interface of the payment card and a corresponding contactless interface of the user terminal are NFC (Near Field Communication) interfaces.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the payment card comprises payment applications and an application which emulates an NFC Tag, a unique address being stored in the application which emulates the NFC Tag.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the activating the payment card comprises setting an activation status into the database.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the generated activation code is a random number associated with the expiration time.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the message with the generated activation code is sent to the user terminal as an SMS (Short Message System) message or an electronic mail message.

21. A method for activation of a payment card, comprising:
reading, by a user terminal, the payment card to retrieve a unique code and a Universal Resource Locator (URL) for a computer server, the URL comprising the unique code and a computer server URL;
after the reading, accessing, by the user terminal, the URL using a navigation application on the user terminal;
receiving, by the user terminal from the computer server, a message with an activation code associated with an expiration time;
receiving, by the user terminal from the computer server, an access to an activation code input field to input the activation code received from the computer server; and
after the receiving the message with the activation code by the user terminal, submitting, by the user terminal, the activation code through the activation code input field, the payment card being configured to be activated after the submitting when the activation code matches a stored activation code in the computer server, and wherein the activation code is received at the computer server within the expiration time associated with the activation code.

Assignees

• St Microelectronics Srl

Inventors

• Miranda Rita
• Cimino Carlo
• Alfarano Marco

Classifications

• G06F16/955

  using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL] · CPC title

• G06Q20/352

  Contactless payments by cards · CPC title

• G06K19/07345

  by activating or deactivating at least a part of the circuit on the record carrier, e.g. ON/OFF switches · CPC title

• G06Q20/3278

  RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices · CPC title

• G07F7/08 Primary

  by coded identity card or credit card {or other personal identification means (without personal verification means G07F7/02)} · CPC title