Consumers today manage more accounts across various platforms than ever before, and a payment account reference (PAR) number could be the solution to linking them all seamlessly, according to a report from the U.S. Payments Forum.
Tokens are issued when consumers use digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay, or input payment information while creating an account at an online retailer. With PAR, organizations in the payment ecosystem can link all of these disparate transactions, including tokenized transactions and reissued card numbers, to a single account.
“The interesting thing about this is that it can potentially solve one of the current fragmentation issues in digital mobile payments,” said Christopher Miller, Lead Emerging Payments Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “Right now, payments made with different devices are stuck with those different devices, particularly in the context of a digital wallet.”
“For example, payments made on an Apple iPhone and Apple Watch that use the same underlying card are not combined in the Apple Wallet,” he said. “This limits the promise of a Wallet as a coherent overview. The flip side is that recombining data makes it easier for those who have that data to derive and act on insights; this may or may not be of benefit to the consumer, depending on what the insights are and how they are used.”
A Fuller Understanding
According to the U.S. Payments Forum, a key use case for personal account reference numbers is simplifying returns when a purchase is made using a token but the return is processed with a physical card or a different token.
PAR can also help businesses gain a fuller understanding of an account holder’s activities. For example, it can track when a consumer is taking advantage of a promotional offer or enrolls in a loyalty program. Both merchants and consumers could use PAR to identify fraud across a multitude of accounts.
Managing the Lifecycle
PAR numbers are not new innovations—they were developed nearly nine years ago. A PAR is composed of 29 alphanumeric characters, four of which are a Bank Identification Number (BIN) Controller Identifier.
While PAR numbers can’t be used to initiate transactions, they can be issued by payment networks and used during the transaction authorization request and response processes. Acquirers can obtain a PAR from authorization response messages and transmit the number to the merchant, who can then capture and store PAR for their customers. Issuers are responsible for storing and managing PAR, as well as overseeing their lifecycle.
Though PAR hasn’t gained significant traction yet, broader industry implementation could provide substantial benefits. As more consumers adopt emerging payment methods like digital wallets, contactless payments, and tokenization, PAR could be the link between a primary account and all its associated card numbers and tokens.
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