Description of the function

The load function allows the cardholder to transfer money from the account associated to the card and to load it as electronic money in card’s purse. This transaction requires an on-line authorisation by the BANKSYS systems. The cardholder confirms his identity by his Personal Identification Number. The code is verified locally by the card.

It might be required, in preparation of the load, to reset the card in an operational state . Load devices will also support this reset_purse function (see below).

Personal devices over PSTN

The cardholder accesses the on-line authorisation system over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), using a device on his personal premises. For this function, this devices requires no additional cryptographic processor (e.g. CSM).

To communicate with the BANKSYS systems, a BANKSYS proprietary protocol is used, based on the asynchronous version of LAPB. 

Description of the function

In a local transaction the cardholder can authorise the transfer of electronic money from the card’s purse to a temporary storage under the control of the terminal’s security module (also called Secure Application Module or SAM). A trace of every transaction is kept in an electronic journal. There is no cardholder verification.

 At regular intervals the merchant, operating the terminal, will transfer the stored transaction to the BANKSYS systems using an on-line dialogue. During this dialogue (settlement process) the BANKSYS systems might also request the update of operational parameters stored on the terminal.

 In some configuration, managers of a pool of terminals can prefer to collect the terminal’s transactions on an intermediary storage device and conduct the settlement process from a central facility connecting to the BANKSYS systems.

 It might be required, in preparation of the payment, to reset the card in an operational state . PROTON payment terminals will also support this reset_purse function (see below). If, for this purpose an on-line connection is required, on-line terminals providing this on-line link for other purposes (like e.g. BC/MC payment) will be requested to support these functions.

POS terminals equipped with a CSM

These terminals are installed in a merchant’s environment. Each terminal is equipped with a CSM and the payment transaction is processed locally in the device. They operate in an attended (POS) or unattended (vending) environment.

For the merchants settlement process (collection) the POS terminal system will connect either over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN-ATEA or ISDN-TCP/IP) or the BANKSYS proprietary transport network (BANKNET-TCP/IP). The application process is BANKSYS proprietary.

Personal devices (Smartphone, Payphone, Internet PC smart card reader …) 

For these terminals the Proton payment is operated by the on-line interaction between the cardholder unit, located on the cardholder’s premises and the remote merchant’s device. A CSM is integrated in this remote device. The remote system manages the merchant functions as described above.

The overall PROTON specifications remain valid. The vendor will demonstrate he took the necessary precautions to secure the communication between the cardholder unit and the merchant’s device.

The merchant’s system accesses the BANKSYS systems using a BANKSYS proprietary protocol.

Chip management functions

Reset_purse

Card usage can lead to situations where the status of the card is undetermined. In some cases, the applications in the terminals are instructed to temporarily lock the card, until an on-line control with the BANKSYS systems allows to resolve the ambiguity and restore the card back to the normal operational state.

Another example is the successive introduction of erroneous PINs by the cardholder until the number of trials is exhausted. Only the BANKSYS systems can decide to reset the number of PIN trials.

Displaying the e-purse balance

In a local interaction between the card’s chip and the terminal, the local application can retrieve the purse balance and limited journal information.