IP Library Granted Patent US 12705613
Granted Patent B2
US 12705613 · App. 17/479,885 · Granted Aug 11, 2026

Systems and methods for pre-processing network messages to optimize routing

Inventors: Dana J. Lorberg (Creve Coeur, MO); Sandeep Malhotra (Stamford, CT)
Assignee: MASTERCARD INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED
G06Q20/40G06Q10/06G06Q20/00G06Q20/382G06Q30/06H04L45/14
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12705613
App. No.
17/479,885
Granted
Aug 11, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A message routing and pre-processing (MRP) computing device is described herein. The MRP computing device is configured to receive an authorization request message associated with a transaction initiated by a cardholder with a merchant, the authorization request message including authorization parameters of the transaction, and retrieve a plurality of potential authorization routes for the authorization request message. Each potential authorization route includes routing parameters and is associated with a respective transaction processing network (TPN). The MRP computing device is also configured to compare the authorization parameters to the routing parameters of each potential authorization route to determine an optimized authorization route for the authorization request message. The optimized authorization route includes routing parameters that most closely match the authorization parameters. The optimized authorization route is associated with a first TPN. The MRP computing device is further configured to route the authorization request message to the first TPN for authorization processing.

Claims (59)

1 . A message routing and pre-processing (MRP) computing device, said MRP computing device interposed in networked communication downstream of an initiating computing device and upstream of a plurality of transaction processing networks (TPNs), the initiating computing device not directly connected in networked communication with a subset of the plurality of TPNs, said MRP computing device comprising at least one processor in communication with a memory, said at least one processor configured to:

receive, from the initiating computing device, a first electronic message corresponding to an electronic transaction and including i) identifier data of an initiator of the first electronic message, the initiator associated with the initiating computing device, and ii) authorization parameter data indicating a priority designation of two or more authorization routing parameters from among a plurality of authorization routing parameters for routing the first electronic message to one of the plurality of TPNs, the plurality of authorization routing parameters including at least one of network processing speed and network security, the priority designation set by the initiator, the first electronic message being in a proprietary format used for sending electronic financial messages and being received at the MRP computing device via an Application Programming Interface (API) of the MRP computing device before being routed to any TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

in response to receiving the first electronic message, execute a pre-process operation on the received first electronic message prior to routing the first electronic message to one of the plurality of TPNs, the pre-process operation including (i) retrieving update data associated with the plurality of TPNs from an update server that stores the most current routing data for each TPN of the plurality of TPNs, (ii) processing the update data to extract the most current TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPNs, and (iii) selecting, from the extracted most current TPN routing parameters, a plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters, each candidate set of TPN routing parameters representing, respectively, the most current TPN routing parameters for any available TPN of the plurality of TPNs, the combination of the respective most current TPN routing parameters for each TPN of the plurality of TPNs indicating a respective message processing functionality of each respective TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

compare, via executing parameter comparison instructions stored in said memory, respective most current TPN routing parameters of each set of the retrieved plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters to the two or more authorization routing parameters;

identify and select, based on an output associated with the executed parameter comparison instructions, one set of the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters that has two or more TPN routing parameters that correlate most closely with the two or more authorization routing parameters, the one set of the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters having a message processing functionality that is (i) based at least in part on the two or more TPN routing parameters and (ii) determined from the comparison to most closely correspond to the two or more authorization routing parameters associated with the priority designation identified in the first electronic message as compared to any other candidate set of TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPN routing parameters for any other TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

select, as an optimized route for the first electronic message, a route associated with the one set of TPN routing parameters, the optimized route being associated with a first TPN of the plurality of TPNs, wherein the initiating computing device is not directly connected in networked communication with the first TPN;

generate routing instructions that include data corresponding to the optimized route and identifying the first TPN;

transmit the routing instructions to a router party such that the router executes the routing instructions to route the first electronic message along the optimized route to the first TPN on behalf of the initiating computing device to establish indirect networked communication between the initiating computing device and the first TPN and initiate further processing of the first electronic message by the first TPN according to the message processing functionality of the first TPN, thereby causing the first TPN to process the first electronic message according to the further processing in association with processing of the electronic transaction; and

store optimized route data corresponding to the optimized route as an optimized route record for the electronic transaction in said memory and as part of a plurality of stored optimized route records stored in said memory, wherein the stored optimized route records are usable as part of a clearing process for transactions that have been routed via application of the pre-process operation to the transactions, such that each transaction is routed and cleared based on the most current data available in said memory and subsequent transactions avoid being routed to a stagnant TPN that has outdated TPN routing parameters.

2 . The MRP computing device of claim 1 ,

wherein the optimized route record includes an identifier of the first TPN, the one set of TPN routing parameters associated with the optimized route, and an identifier of the first electronic message routed to the first TPN.

3 . The MRP computing device of claim 2 , wherein said at least one processor is further configured to:

receive, from the initiating computing device, a second electronic message including additional data associated with the first electronic message;

retrieve, in response to the second electronic message, the optimized route record from said memory;

parse, from the optimized route record, the identifier of the first TPN; and

cause, based on the identifier, the second electronic message to be routed to the first TPN.

4 . The MRP computing device of claim 1 , wherein said at least one processor is further configured to retrieve the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters for the first electronic message by accessing each of the plurality of TPNs via a respective API connection to identify the respective TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPN routing parameters for each respective TPN.

5 . The MRP computing device of claim 1 , wherein the router is a gateway TPN of the plurality of TPNs, and wherein said at least one processor is further configured to route the first electronic message to the first TPN by transmitting, to the gateway TPN of the plurality of TPNs, the first electronic message along with the routing instructions.

6 . A computer-implemented method for routing messages to a plurality of transaction processing networks (TPNs) using a message routing and pre-processing (MRP) computing device, wherein the MRP computing device is interposed in networked communication downstream of an initiating computing device and upstream of a plurality of TPNs, the initiating computing device not directly connected in networked communication with a subset of the plurality of TPNs, and the MRP computing device includes at least one processor in communication with a memory, said computer-implemented method comprising steps performed by the at least one processor of:

receiving, from the initiating computing device, a first electronic message corresponding to an electronic transaction and including i) identifier data of an initiator of the first electronic message, the initiator associated with the initiating computing device, and ii) authorization parameter data indicating a priority designation of two or more authorization routing parameters from among a plurality of authorization routing parameters for routing the first electronic message to one of the plurality of TPNs, the plurality of authorization routing parameters including at least one of network processing speed and network security, the priority designation set by the initiator, the first electronic message being in a proprietary format used for sending electronic financial messages and being received at the MRP computing device via an Application Programming Interface (API) of the MRP computing device before being routed to any TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

in response to receiving the first electronic message, execute a pre-process operation on the received first electronic message prior to routing the first electronic message to one of the plurality of TPNs, the pre-process operation including (i) retrieving update data associated with the plurality of TPNs from an update server that stores the most current routing data for each TPN of the plurality of TPNs, (ii) processing the update data to extract the most current TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPNs, and (iii) selecting, from the extracted most current TPN routing parameters, a plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters, each candidate set of TPN routing parameters representing, respectively, the most current TPN routing parameters for any available TPN of the plurality of TPNs, the combination of the respective most current TPN routing parameters for each TPN of the plurality of TPNs indicating a respective message processing functionality of each respective TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

comparing, via executing parameter comparison instructions stored in the memory, respective TPN routing parameters of each set of the retrieved plurality of sets of TPN routing parameters to the two or more authorization routing parameters;

identifying and selecting, based on an output associated with the executed parameter comparison instructions, one set of the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters that has two or more TPN routing parameters that correlate most closely with the two or more authorization routing parameters, the one set of the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters having a message processing functionality that is (i) based at least in part on the two or more TPN routing parameters and (ii) determined from the comparison to most closely correspond to the two or more authorization routing parameters associated with the priority designation identified in the first electronic message as compared to any other candidate set of TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPN routing parameters for any other TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

selecting, as an optimized route for the first electronic message, a route associated with the one set of TPN routing parameters, the optimized route being associated with a first TPN of the plurality of TPNs, wherein the initiating computing device is not directly connected in networked communication with the first TPN;

generating routing instructions that include data corresponding to the optimized route and identifying the first TPN;

transmitting the routing instructions to a router such that the router executes the routing instructions to route the first electronic message along the optimized route to the first TPN on behalf of the initiating computing device to establish indirect networked communication between the initiating computing device and the first TPN and initiate further processing of the first electronic message by the first TPN according to the message processing functionality of the first TPN, thereby causing the first TPN to process the first electronic message according to the further processing in association with processing of the electronic transaction; and

storing optimized route data corresponding to the optimized route as an optimized route record for the electronic transaction in the memory and as part of a plurality of stored optimized route records stored in the memory, wherein the stored optimized route records are usable as part of a clearing process for transactions that have been routed via application of the pre-process operation to the transactions, such that each transaction is routed and cleared based on the most current data available in the memory and subsequent transactions avoid being routed to a stagnant TPN that has outdated TPN routing parameters.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 ,

wherein the optimized route record includes an identifier of the first TPN, the one set of TPN routing parameters associated with the optimized route, and an identifier of the first electronic message routed to the first TPN.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising steps performed by the at least one processor of:

receiving, from the initiating computing device, a second electronic message including additional data associated with the first electronic message;

retrieving, in response to the second electronic message, the optimized route record from the memory;

parsing, from the optimized route record, the identifier of the first TPN; and

causing, based on the identifier, the second electronic message to be routed to the first TPN.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein said retrieving the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters for the first electronic message comprises accessing each of the plurality of TPNs via a respective API connection to identify the respective TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPN routing parameters for each respective TPN.

10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the router is a gateway TPN of the plurality of TPNs, and wherein routing the first electronic message to the first TPN comprises transmitting, to the gateway TPN of the plurality of TPNs, the first electronic message along with the routing instructions.

11 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for routing messages to a plurality of transaction processing networks (TPNs), wherein when executed by a message routing and pre-processing (MRP) computing device that is interposed in network communication downstream of an initiating computing device and upstream of the plurality of TPNs, the initiating computing device not directly connected in network communication with a subset of the plurality of TPNs, the MRP computing device including at least one processor in communication with a memory, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

receive, from the initiating computing device, a first electronic message corresponding to an electronic transaction including i) identifier data of an initiator of the first electronic message, the initiator associated with the initiating computing device, and ii) authorization parameter data indicating a priority designation of two or more authorization routing parameters from among a plurality of authorization routing parameters for routing the first electronic message to one of the plurality of TPNs, the plurality of authorization routing parameters including at least one of network processing speed and network security, the priority designation set by the initiator, the first electronic message being in a proprietary format used for sending electronic financial messages and being received at the MRP computing device via an Application Programming Interface (API) of the MRP computing device before being routed to any TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

in response to receiving the first electronic message, execute a pre-process operation on the received first electronic message prior to routing the first electronic message to one of the plurality of TPNs, the pre-process operation including (i) retrieving update data associated with the plurality of TPNs from an update server that stores the most current routing data for each TPN of the plurality of TPNs, (ii) processing the update data to extract the most current TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPNs, and (iii) selecting, from the extracted most current TPN routing parameters, a plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters, each candidate set of TPN routing parameters representing, respectively, the most current TPN routing parameters for any available TPN of the plurality of TPNs, the combination of the respective most current TPN routing parameters for each TPN of the plurality of TPNs indicating a respective message processing functionality of each respective TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

compare, via executing parameter comparison instructions stored in the memory, respective most current TPN routing parameters of each set of the retrieved plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters to the two or more authorization routing parameters;

identify and select, based on an output associated with the executed parameter comparison instructions, one set of the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters that has two or more TPN routing parameters that correlate most closely with the two or more authorization routing parameters, the one set of the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters having a message processing functionality that is (i) based at least in part on the two or more TPN routing parameters and (ii) determined from the comparison to most closely correspond to the two or more authorization routing parameters associated with the priority designation identified in the first electronic message as compared to any other candidate set of TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPN routing parameters for any other TPN of the plurality of TPNs;

select, as an optimized route for the first electronic message, a route associated with the one set of routing parameters, the optimized route being associated with a first TPN of the plurality of TPNs, wherein the initiating computing device is not directly connected in networked communication with the first TPN;

generate routing instructions that include data corresponding to the optimized route and identifying the first TPN;

transmit the routing instruction to a router such that the router executes the routing instructions to route the first electronic message along the optimized route to the first TPN on behalf of the initiating computing device to establish indirect networked communication between the initiating computing device and the first TPN and initiate further processing of the first electronic message by the first TPN according to the message processing functionality of the first TPN, thereby causing the first TPN to process the first electronic message according to the further processing in association with processing of the electronic transaction; and

store optimized route data corresponding to the optimized route as an optimized route record for the electronic transaction in the memory and as part of a plurality of stored optimized route records stored in the memory, wherein the stored optimized route records are usable as part of a clearing process for transactions that have been routed via application of the pre-process operation to the transactions, such that each transaction is routed and cleared based on the most current data available in the memory and subsequent transactions avoid being routed to a stagnant TPN that has outdated TPN routing parameters.

12 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 ,

wherein the optimized route record includes an identifier of the first TPN, the one set of routing parameters associated with the optimized route, and an identifier of the first electronic message routed to the first TPN.

13 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

receive, from the initiating computing device, a second electronic message including additional data associated with the first electronic message;

retrieve, in response to the second electronic message, the optimized route record from the memory;

parse, from the optimized route record, the identifier of the first TPN; and

cause, based on the identifier, the second electronic message to be routed to the first TPN.

14 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to retrieve the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters for the first electronic message by accessing each of the plurality of TPNs via a respective API connection to identify the respective TPN routing parameters of the plurality of TPN routing parameters for each respective TPN.

15 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the router is a gateway TPN of the plurality of TPNs, and wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to route the first electronic message to the first TPN by transmitting, to the gateway TPN of the plurality of TPNs, the first electronic message along with the routing instructions.

16 . The MRP computing device of claim 1 , wherein the respective most current TPN routing parameters are included within update data associated with the plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters, and said at least one processor is further configured to:

receive the update data such that the comparison between the respective most current TPN routing parameters of each set of the retrieved plurality of candidate sets of TPN routing parameters to the two or more authorization routing parameters is based on the update data.

17 . The MRP computing device of claim 16 , wherein said at least one processor is further configured to:

process the update data; and

update prior stored route data with the update data, thereby replacing the prior stored route data with the most current TPN routing parameters included within the update data.