Integrated merchant purchase inquiry and dispute resolution system
When an account holder contacts the issuer of the account to dispute a transaction conducted with a merchant using the account, the issuer may request additional transaction details, such as purchased item level details, from the merchant via the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform. A real-time purchase inquiry sent to the merchant may request purchase information or transaction information (e.g. purchased item details, order information, order history, shipping and delivery information, etc.) associated with the transaction. The merchant may send a real-time response to the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform which may forward all or a portion of the received information to the issuer in real-time. The entire communication between the issuer, the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform and the merchant may be a sessionless (or stateless) communication, i.e. all communication among the parties may occur in a single session which may last 10 seconds or less.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a processor of a merchant integrated dispute resolution platform, a transaction inquiry message for a transaction from an issuer, wherein the transaction inquiry message includes transaction information received from an account holder, wherein receiving the transaction inquiry message starts a communication session;
analyzing, by the processor of the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform, the transaction information to identify a merchant associated with the transaction;
identifying, by the processor of the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform, the merchant associated with the transaction based on the analyzing;
automatically generating, by the processor of the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform, a real-time purchase inquiry message;
establishing, by the processor of the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform, a secure communication channel with the merchant;
sending, by the processor of the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform, the real-time purchase inquiry message to the merchant via the secure communication channel using an application programming interface for the merchant; and
receiving, by the processor of the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform, a real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session started with receipt of the transaction inquiry message, wherein the real-time response includes purchase details associated with the transaction.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the real-time response includes dispute resolution instructions.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
formatting the real-time purchase inquiry message according to a schema prior to sending the real-time purchase inquiry message to the merchant.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
formatting the real-time response according to a schema, the formatted real-time response including dispute resolution actions taken by the merchant; and
sending the formatted real-time response to the issuer.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying further comprises:
determining a merchant identifier among the transaction information based on the analyzing;
searching a registered merchant database storing identifying information about a plurality of merchants registered with the merchant integrated dispute resolution platform;
determining a match for the merchant identifier in the registered merchant database;
retrieving credentials associated with the merchant based on the match; and
establishing the secure communication channel with the merchant by providing the credentials.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction information in the transaction inquiry message are received from the account holder of an account used for payment for the transaction.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the purchase details include delivery information.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after receiving the real-time response from the merchant:
receiving a notification from the issuer identifying the transaction as a fraudulent transaction;
generating a real-time fraudulent transaction notification;
sending the real-time fraudulent transaction notification to the merchant; and
receiving a subsequent real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session, the real-time response indicating steps taken by the merchant in connection with the fraudulent transaction.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after receiving the real-time response from the merchant:
receiving a real-time notification from the issuer indicating account holder intent to dispute the transaction;
generating a real-time dispute intent notification;
sending the real-time dispute intent notification to the merchant; and
receiving a subsequent real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session, the real-time response indicating dispute resolution options.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after receiving the real-time response from the merchant:
receiving a real-time notification from the issuer identifying the transaction as an exception event;
generating a real-time exception event notification;
sending the real-time exception event notification to the merchant; and
receiving a subsequent real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session, the real-time response indicating steps taken by the merchant in connection with the real-time exception event notification.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the real-time exception event notification includes one or more of an exception file listing including a list of payment account numbers that have been compromised, an instruction to stop recurring payments and updated payment account details.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication session takes 10 seconds or less.
13. A server computer comprising:
a processor; and
a computer readable medium coupled to the processor, the computer readable medium comprising code, executable by the processor, to implement a method comprising:
receiving a transaction inquiry message for a transaction from an issuer, wherein the transaction inquiry message includes transaction information received from an account holder, wherein receiving the transaction inquiry message starts a communication session;
analyzing the transaction information to identify a merchant associated with the transaction;
identifying the merchant associated with the transaction based on the analyzing;
automatically generating a real-time purchase inquiry message;
establishing a secure communication channel with the merchant;
sending the real-time purchase inquiry message to the merchant via the secure communication channel using an application programming interface for the merchant; and
receiving a real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session started with receipt of the transaction inquiry message, wherein the real-time response includes purchase details associated with the transaction.
14. The server computer of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises, after receiving the real-time response from the merchant:
receiving a notification from the issuer identifying the transaction as a fraudulent transaction;
generating a real-time fraudulent transaction notification;
sending the real-time fraudulent transaction notification to the merchant; and
receiving a subsequent real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session, the real-time response indicating steps taken by the merchant in connection with the fraudulent transaction.
15. The server computer of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises, after receiving the real-time response from the merchant:
receiving a real-time notification from the issuer indicating account holder intent to dispute the transaction;
generating a real-time dispute intent notification;
sending the real-time dispute intent notification to the merchant; and
receiving a subsequent real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session, the real-time response indicating dispute resolution options.
16. The server computer of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises, after receiving the real-time response from the merchant:
receiving a real-time notification from the issuer identifying the transaction as an exception event;
generating a real-time exception event notification;
sending the real-time exception event notification to the merchant; and
receiving a subsequent real-time response from the merchant as part of the communication session, the real-time response indicating steps taken by the merchant in connection with the real-time exception event notification.