Mastercard International Incorporated

Emv Co. LLC

Eddy Lodewijk Hortensia Van De Velde

Duncan Garrett

Patrick Smets

Patrik Smets

David Anthony Roberts

Jagdeep Singh Sahota

Trudy Hill

Carole Oppenlander

Reference equipment including a reference card and a reference reader is provided for testing electronic payment devices such as cards and card readers. The reference equipment includes reference cards and reference readers that respectively can be used to verify compliance of product cards and product readers with product specifications The product specifications may, for example, be the ISO 14443 Standard specifications which are commonly accepted in the electronic payment industry The reference equipment is designed to enhance interoperability of product payment devices whose functional behaviors may vary because of vendor customization of device specifications or due to manufacturing tolerances In some embodiments, the reference equipment includes a reference card for testing card readers The exemplary reference card can comprise a current mirror to permit an electronically adjustable variable load using an external controller The reference card electronic circuit can exhibit variable load conditions.

Method and system for simulating a proximity-based transaction device

A system and method for testing and calibrating electronic contactless payment devices including reference payment cards and readers. The contactless payment devices transmit data by load modulating a subcarrier of an RF carrier signal. The system and method involve use of a common mode rejection (CMR) circuit to demodulate a received load-modulated data signal and to extract the data signal. The CMR circuit also generates a synchronous clock signal, a sample & hold signal and a sample & hold clock signal. Further, the input signal is feed to a zero-crossing detector and digital delay which in combination with an Analog-to-Digital Converter circuit is used to recreate the load (i.e. modulating) signal and to eliminate the large carrier portion of the selected input signal.

An electronic payment system is configured to process both proximity payment card type and magnetic stripe card type transactions. The magnetic stripe card transaction data is communicated between cards, readers, and transactions authorizing or approving parties in common industry ISO 7811 standard data structures or tracks. The proximity payment card transaction data such a dynamic authentication codes are placed in unused space in the same standard formatted data structures. The availability of unused space varies with card issuer or vendor. An issuer-specific bitmap provides an index to the available space in discretionary data fields in magnetic stripe tracks. The bitmap also is stored in the card's discretionary data field.

Method and system using a bitmap for passing contactless payment card transaction variables in standardized data formats

A method of performing a transaction over a contactless interface placing a first device in wireless communication with a second device, selecting the interface over which the first and second device will communicate, selecting the application to be used to approve or disapprove the transaction, communicating to the second device the data necessary for the application to approve of disapprove the transaction.

Methods for performing transactions in a wireless environment

Reference equipment including a reference card and a reference reader is provided for testing electronic payment devices such as cards and card readers. The reference equipment is designed to simulate the external behavior of a variety of payment devices that are currently or expected to be deployed in electronic payment systems. Further, the reference equipment is configured to subject devices under test to extreme behaviors which are expected in field use or which are representative of a large class of payment devices. The external behaviors may relate to functional parameters, for example, power consumption, resonance frequency, Q-factor, modulation depth, noise, and timing. Exemplary reference devices are configured to exhibit representative external behavior, which is an empirically determined average behavior of the product devices in the field. Use of the reference equipment for product specification compliance testing will enhance the interoperability of product payment devices.

Reference equipment for testing contactless payment devices

An electronic payment system for conducting transactions by presenting a contactless payment card to a card reader. The card reader processes transactions when only one card is present in its operating field. The card reader uses collision detection and avoidance algorithms to detect and report instances where multiple cards are present in the operating field. In response to a reported collision, the collision may be cleared by manual intervention, i.e., by physically removing excess cards from the reader's operating field.

Collision detection and avoidance scheme for contactless card payment systems

A contactless payment card reader has a frusto-conical operating volume. The frusto-conical shaped operating volume has defined magnetic field strengths for powering and communicating with proximity payment cards. The reader can serve as a reference reader, which is representative of product readers deployed in contactless payment card systems, to test product contactless payment cards under conditions that simulate field use of the cards.

Contactless payment card reader with a frusto-conical operating volume

A system and method for enhancing functional interoperability of contactless payment devices that are used for conducting electronic payment transactions between consumers and merchants. The contactless payment devices include RFID-embedded cards issued to consumers and proximity coupling devices such as RFID-enabled readers deployed by merchants. The system and method involve use of a reference card and a reference reader to establish acceptable specifications for issued cards and deployed readers, respectively. The reference card and reference reader are cross-calibrated to link the operational specifications for the cards and the readers. A suitable selection of overlapping specification ranges or tolerances for proper card and reader functions, the enhances the interoperability of the issued cards with a deployed reader, and also the interoperability of deployed readers with an issued card.

Method and system for conducting contactless payment card transactions

A reference reader is provided for testing contactless electronic payment cards whose data transmissions are via weak load modulated RF carrier signals. The reference reader includes a reader antenna and a coupled common mode rejection circuit. The common mode rejection circuit is configured to demodulate carrier signals received at the reader antenna to retrieve payment card data signals having low modulation indices.

Growing community of inventors

Leuven, Belgium

Eddy Lodewijk Hortensia Van De Velde