REFERENCE TOKEN SERVICE

• US 20110307714A1
• Filed: 05/26/2011
• Published: 12/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Paymetric Incorporated (Fidelity National Information Services Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Paymetric Incorporated (Fidelity National Information Services Incorporated)
• Inventors: COMRIE, Stewart, CARPENTER, Eric, EPPLE, Gary
• Granted Patent: US 8,489,894 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/189
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself

Abstract

A reference token service is herein described. In one embodiment, the reference token service receives raw data strings from trusted source applications associated with merchants or other users. Upon receipt of a given raw data string, the reference token service then identifies one or more reference token pools corresponding to a merchant that sent the raw data string, wherein each reference token pool includes a plurality of reference tokens with comprising formats and data structures compatible with the merchant. The raw data string is then sent to a crypto system for tokenization. The crypto system returns a crypto token to the reference token service, wherein the crypto token may not satisfy the specific formatting or data requirements of the merchant. The crypto token is then associated with a reference token corresponding to the merchant, and the reference token is provided to the merchant. The merchant is then able to use the reference token amongst various applications within the merchant'"'"'s system to enable easy sharing and retrieval of the raw data string.

Claims

1. A method for utilizing reference tokens to enable sharing of sensitive information amongst a plurality of applications associated with one or more merchants, comprising the steps of:

receiving a raw data string at a reference token service, wherein the raw data string is received from a trusted source application associated with a particular merchant;

identifying one or more reference token pools corresponding to the particular merchant, and wherein each reference token pool includes a plurality of reference tokens for the particular merchant;

transmitting the raw data string to a crypto system for tokenization;

receiving a crypto token corresponding to the raw data string at the reference token service from the crypto system;

associating a particular reference token from one of the one or more reference token pools corresponding to the particular merchant with the crypto token received from the crypto system; and

transmitting the particular reference token to the trusted source application, whereby the trusted source application is able to share the particular reference token with other trusted source applications associated with the particular merchant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the raw data string comprises sensitive information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each reference token in the one or more reference token pools satisfies specific formatting or data requirements associated with the particular merchant.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the specific formatting or data requirements are dictated by the particular merchant.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each reference token pool corresponds to a particular data type or data format for the particular merchant.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more reference token pools are stored in a database associated with the reference token service.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of reference tokens are preexisting.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular reference token is generated on-the-fly after the crypto token is received from the crypto system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the crypto-token is merchant agnostic.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of modifying the particular reference token to conform the particular reference token to one or more predetermined attributes.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more predetermined attributes are selected from the group comprising:

including a portion of the raw data string in the particular reference token, including a predetermined identifier in the particular reference token, including a routing number in the particular reference token.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting a masked value to the trusted source application along with the particular reference token.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the masked value comprises one or more characters from the raw data string and one or more masking characters.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of prior to transmitting the raw data string to a crypto system for tokenization, verifying that the trusted source application is a known application associated with a trusted merchant.

15. A method for utilizing reference tokens to enable sharing of sensitive information amongst a plurality of applications, comprising the steps of:

receiving a crypto token associated with a sensitive data string, wherein the sensitive data string was previously provided by a source application associated with a user;

identifying one or more predetermined attributes associated with the user;

retrieving a reference token that satisfies the one or more predetermined attributes associated with the user;

associating the retrieved reference token with the crypto token; and

providing the retrieved reference token to the source application associated with the user for subsequent use.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more predetermined attributes are pre-stored in a database.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more predetermined attributes comprise specific token formatting or data requirements associated with the user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the specific token formatting or data requirements are dictated by the user.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more predetermined attributes are selected from the group comprising:

including a portion of the sensitive data string in the reference token, including a predetermined identifier in the reference token, including a routing number in the reference token.