IMPLEMENTING SECURE, ANONYMOUS CUSTOMER INFORMATION EXCHANGE IN ONE OR MORE VENDING MACHINES THROUGH TOKENIZED CUSTOMER IDENTIFIERS GENERATED USING A ONE-WAY HASH FUNCTION

摘要

A unique, anonymous, tokenized customer identifier is derived by a one-way hash function from a credit/debit account number each time a customer provides the same credit/debit card information at a vending machine (100). The customer identifier thus repeatedly generated at each of the vending machines (100) is then used to track the customer's purchase history and preferences for customer-focused programs, such as a loyalty rewards program. The customer need not carry a separate token bearing the customer identifier, but instead can automatically participate in the customer-focused programs as part of paying for a purchase. The customer may optionally remain anonymous in each program.