CPC G06Q 30/0222 (2013.01) [H04L 9/0637 (2013.01); H04L 9/0643 (2013.01); H04L 9/3247 (2013.01); H04L 9/50 (2022.05)] | 29 Claims |
1. A central-server-implemented method for authenticating coupons at a retailer point-of-sale, the method comprising the central server:
providing a shared coupon authentication table accessible by a manufacturer and accessible by a retailer;
providing one or more coupon transaction ledgers accessible by the retailer and accessible by the manufacturer, each coupon transaction ledger comprising coupon redemption data;
enabling updating, by the manufacturer, of the shared coupon authentication table based upon coupon authentication data provided by the manufacturer by generating an authentication hash value, an ownership, and a digital signature associated with the coupon authentication data;
enabling authenticating, by the retailer, of a coupon presented by a customer at the point-of-sale using coupon authentication data from the shared coupon authentication table before enabling the coupon to be used;
enabling updating, by the retailer, of the one or more coupon transaction ledgers based upon coupon redemption data provided by the retailer by applying a hashing algorithm to the coupon redemption data to generate a redemption hash value;
recording (i) information pertaining to the updating of the shared coupon authentication tables and (ii) the redemption hash value on a blockchain data structure without recording the corresponding coupon redemption data on the blockchain data structure, wherein the shared coupon authentication table and the one or more coupon transaction ledgers are provided by the central server that resides over the blockchain data structure; and
transmitting, based on a smart contract allowing access to the shared coupon authentication table, information identifying authentic coupons of the shared coupon authentication table from the central server to a computer system of the retailer, wherein the computer system of the retailer is configured to authenticate coupons received at the retailer point-of-sale by comparing coupon information received from the customer at the retailer point-of-sale against the information identifying the authentic coupons; and
enabling a smart contract allowing access to the one or more transaction ledgers to trigger payment from the manufacturer to the retailer for coupon redemptions based upon information in the one or more coupon transaction ledgers.
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