U.S. patent application number 11/612254 was filed with the patent office on 2007-04-26 for systems and methods of rules-based database access for account authentication.
Invention is credited to Paul J. Lyda, Peter Moenickheim.
Application Number | 20070094151 11/612254 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 30770242 |
Filed Date | 2007-04-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070094151 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Moenickheim; Peter ; et
al. |
April 26, 2007 |
Systems and Methods of Rules-Based Database Access For Account
Authentication
Abstract
Systems and methods for authenticating a customer association
with a particular deposit account used when conducting financial
transactions on behalf of the customer. The system receives
identity information and routing and transit number or account
number (RTN/DDA) information, where at least a portion of identity
information identifies an account holder and at least a portion of
the RTN/DDA information identifies a deposit account. A selection
of numerous databases used to authenticate an association between
the deposit account and the account holder is made based on one or
more criteria. A database is then accessed according to the
selection; and an association between the deposit account and the
account holder is authenticated using the received identity
information and RTN/DDA information and the selected database.
Inventors: |
Moenickheim; Peter; (Dublin,
OH) ; Lyda; Paul J.; (Powell, OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SUTHERLAND ASBILL & BRENNAN LLP
999 PEACHTREE STREET, N.E.
ATLANTA
GA
30309
US
|
Family ID: |
30770242 |
Appl. No.: |
11/612254 |
Filed: |
December 18, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10206239 |
Jul 29, 2002 |
7177846 |
|
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11612254 |
Dec 18, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/64 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 40/02 20130101;
G06Q 20/401 20130101; G06Q 20/4012 20130101; G06Q 20/0855 20130101;
G06Q 20/382 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/064 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 99/00 20060101
G06Q099/00; H04L 9/00 20060101 H04L009/00; H04K 1/00 20060101
H04K001/00 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving identity information and routing
and transit number or account number (RTN/DDA) information, wherein
at least a portion of identity information identifies an account
holder and at least a portion of the RTN/DDA information identifies
a deposit account; selecting at least one database of a plurality
of databases to authenticate an association between the deposit
account and the account holder, wherein the selection is based on
at least one criterion; accessing the at least one database of the
plurality of databases; and authenticating an association between
the deposit account and the account holder using the received
identity information and RTN/DDA information and the at least one
database.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identity information includes
identifying information selected from the group consisting of a
name, drivers license number, and social security number.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one criterion is
selected from a group consisting of (i) the RTN portion of the
RTN/DDA information, (ii) a geographic location associated with the
account holder, (iii) a geographic location associated with the
financial institution associated with the first deposit account,
(iv) a cost associated with accessing the at least one database,
(v) a success rate associated with using the at least one database
to authenticate associations between deposit accounts and account
holders and (vi) historical information stored in a historical
database.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of
databases is an external database.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein authenticating an association
between the deposit account and the account holder is conducted in
real time during an on-line enrollment session.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prior to selecting at
least one database of a plurality of databases to authenticate an
association between the deposit account and the account holder,
processing the identifying information to determine whether a
historical database contains historical information upon which a
positive authentication between the deposit account and the account
holder may be based; and wherein the at least one database of the
plurality of databases is selected to authenticate an association
between the deposit account and the account holder if the
historical database cannot be used to positively authenticate the
association between the first deposit account and the account
holder.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the historical database is an
internal database.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: subsequent to
authenticating an association between the deposit account and the
account holder, registering the account holder to use a
service.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein registering the account holder
includes informing the account holder that registration has been
successful.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to accessing
the at least one database, determining an order to access more than
one of the plurality of databases to authenticate an association
between the deposit account and the account holder.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: processing the
received identity information and RTN/DDA information to identify a
first database and a second database of the plurality of databases;
and wherein determining an order to access more than one of the
plurality of databases to authenticate an association between the
deposit account and the account holder includes determining an
order in which to access the first database and the second
database.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the order identifies the first
database as the first to be accessed.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: upon failing to
authenticate the association between the deposit account and the
account holder using the first database, accessing the second
database using the received identity information and RTN/DDA
information for authentication.
14. A system comprising: at least one communication interface,
wherein the at least one communication interface receives at least
one of identity information and routing and transit number or
account number (RTN/DDA) information, wherein at least a portion of
identity information identifies an account holder and at least a
portion of the RTN/DDA information identifies a deposit account;
and a processor, in communication with the at least one
communication interface, wherein the processor contains programmed
logic to execute software instructions for: receiving the at least
one identity information and RTN/DDA information from the
communication interface, selecting at least one database of a
plurality of databases to authenticate an association between the
deposit account and the account holder, wherein the selection is
based on at least one criterion; accessing the at least one
database of the plurality of databases; and authenticating an
association between the deposit account and the account holder
using the received identity information and RTN/DDA information and
the at least one database.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the identity information
includes identifying information selected from the group consisting
of a name, drivers license number, and social security number.
16. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one criterion is
selected from a group consisting of (i) the RTN portion of the
RTN/DDA information, (ii) a geographic location associated with the
account holder, (iii) a geographic location associated with the
financial institution associated with the first deposit account,
(iv) a cost associated with accessing the at least one database,
(v) a success rate associated with using the at least one database
to authenticate associations between deposit accounts and account
holders and (vi) historical information stored in a historical
database.
17. The system of claim 14, wherein one or more of the plurality of
databases is an external database.
18. The system of claim 14, wherein the external database belongs
to one or more entities selected from the group consisting of check
printing services, check verification services, check guarantee
services, and financial institutions.
19. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor contains
programmed logic to execute software instructions for
authenticating an association between the deposit account and the
account holder in real time during an on-line enrollment
session.
20. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor contains
programmed logic to execute software instructions for: prior to
selecting at least one database of a plurality of databases to
authenticate an association between the deposit account and the
account holders processing the identifying information to determine
whether a historical database contains historical information upon
which a positive authentication between the deposit account and the
account holder may be based; and wherein the at least one database
of the plurality of databases is selected to authenticate an
association between the deposit account and the account holder if
the historical database cannot be used to positively authenticate
the association between the first deposit account and the account
holder.
21. The system of claim 20, wherein the historical database is an
internal database.
22. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor contains
programmed logic to execute software instructions for: subsequent
to authenticating an association between the deposit account and
the account holder, registering the account holder to use a
service.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the software instructions for
registering the account holder include software instruction for
informing the account holder that registration has been
successful.
24. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor contains
programmed logic to execute software instructions for: prior to
accessing the at least one database, determining an order to access
more than one of the plurality of databases to authenticate an
association between the deposit account and the account holder.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein the processor contains
programmed logic to execute software instructions for: processing
the received identity information and RTN/DDA information to
identify a first database and a second database of the plurality of
databases; and wherein determining an order to access more than one
of the plurality of databases to authenticate an association
between the deposit account and the account holder includes
determining an order in which to access the first database and the
second database.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein the order identifies the first
database as the first to be accessed.
27. The system of claim 26, wherein the processor contains
programmed logic to execute software instructions for: upon failing
to authenticate the association between the deposit account and the
account holder using the first database, accessing the second
database using the received identity information and RTN/DDA
information for authentication.
28. A system comprising: means for receiving identity information
and routing and transit number or account number (RTN/DDA)
information, wherein at least a portion of identity information
identifies an account holder and at least a portion of the RTN/DDA
information identifies a deposit account; means for selecting at
least one database of a plurality of databases to authenticate an
association between the deposit account and the account holder,
wherein the selection is based on at least one criterion; means for
accessing the at least one database of the plurality of databases;
and means for authenticating an association between the deposit
account and the account holder using the received identity
information and RTN/DDA information and the at least one database.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of pending U.S.
application Ser. No. 10/206,239, filed Jul. 29, 2002, entitled
"Technique For Account Authentication," the disclosure of which is
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to electronic commerce, and
more particularly to authentication of deposit account
information.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] On-line payment service providers make payments on behalf of
payors to payees. In making a payment on behalf of a payor, an
on-line payment service provider debits a deposit account belonging
to the payor and issues a credit to the payee, either
electronically, by check drawn on an account belonging to the
on-line service provider, or by draft drawn from the payor's
deposit account. It will be understood by one skilled in the art
that drafts serve as both the debit and the credit vehicle.
[0004] A payor must register with an on-line payment service
provider to access services offered by the on-line payment service
provider. The registration process, which can be either on-line,
typically via the World Wide Web, or by paper forms, includes the
payor (registering customer) providing information identifying a
demand deposit account, such as a checking account, belonging to
the payor to the on-line payment service provider. This identifying
information includes a unique routing and transit number (RTN),
which identifies the financial institution at which the deposit
account is maintained, as well as a unique account number (DDA)
identifying the payor's deposit account maintained at the financial
institution. Together, this information is known as RTN/DDA
information, and alternatively RT/DDA information.
[0005] For both on-line and paper registration, the registering
customer has conventionally been required to supply the on-line
payment service provider a voided check from the deposit account.
This voided check is used as a fraud prevention measure to
authenticate the association between the registering customer and
the deposit account. Thus, in conventional enrollment, a
registering customer has not been able to immediately direct an
on-line payment service provider to make payments on his or her
behalf, as the voided check must physically be delivered to the
on-line payment service provider, and then the voided check must be
authenticated by a customer service representative of the on-line
payment service provider.
[0006] Recently, new completely on-line and real-time registration
techniques have been introduced. In one, a trusted agent, typically
a consumer service provider (CSP), guarantees to indemnify an
on-line payment service provider against fraud committed by a
registering customer that the CSP represents. No attempt is made by
the on-line service provider to authenticate the association
between the registering customer and that registering customer's
deposit account.
[0007] In another completely on-line and real-time registration
technique, the registering customer's identity is verified, by
leveraging one or more commercial databases, while the registering
customer is participating in an on-line registration session. While
the registering customer's identity is verified, an association
between the registering customers deposit account and the
registering customer is not authenticated. At most, the on-line
payment service provider can be assured that the registering
customer is who he or she purports to be. Based upon a verified
identity, on-line payment service providers have found that there
is less chance of the registering customer providing fraudulent
information identifying a deposit account. These two techniques
each allow a registering customer the convenience of immediately
directing payments.
[0008] In both of these completely on-line and real-time
techniques, a registering customer is required to enter RTN/DDA
information. As the registering customer is not required to supply
a voided check, the sole source of this information is the
registering customer. On-line payment services have found that
registering customers often make mistakes in entering these
numbers. On-line payment services, in rectifying these
unintentional mistakes, incur customer service costs. In addition,
fraudulent deposit account identifying information is also still
received under both completely online registration techniques. Even
when a CSP indemnifies an on-line payment service, costs are still
associated with the fraud.
[0009] Other new registration techniques have also been introduced.
These techniques are not completely on-line or real-time. In one
technique, a financial institution at which a customer's account is
maintained supplies RTN/DDA information. While an association
between a customer and an account is authenticated because the
financial institution itself supplies RTN/DDA information, this
does not occur during an on-line and real-time enrollment session
with a customer. In another technique, a registering customer
provides RTN/DDA information during an on-line session. Subsequent
to the session, a service provider makes one or more small debits
and/or credits, via electronic funds transfer, from/to the
customer's account. The customer then determines the amount(s) and
initiates another on-line session with the service provider and
identifies the amount(s) to the service provider. If the customer
supplied amount(s) is/are correct, the service provider has a high
level of confidence that the account is actually associated with
the registering customer. However, the enrollment process can not
be completed fully in a single session, as the consumer must take
some action (determining the amount(s)) subsequent to an initial
registration session.
[0010] Accordingly, a need exists for an on-line and real-time
technique to authenticate an association between a registering
customer and a demand deposit account which mitigates occurrence of
both incorrect entry of RTN/DDA information and fraud.
[0011] Some on-line payment services access more than one
commercial database in the registration process in attempting to
locate information used to authenticate a registering customer's
identity (not to authenticate an association between a customer and
a deposit account). Often an on-line service provider must access
multiple commercial databases before useful information is found.
These commercial databases charge for access, making this an
expensive process.
[0012] Accordingly a need exists for a technique for registration
for electronic commerce service which minimizes costs associated
with utilizing information belonging to an entity other than an
electronic commerce service provider.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the present
invention, reference is now made to the appended drawings. These
drawings should not be construed as limiting the present invention,
but are intended to be exemplary only.
[0014] FIG. 1 depicts a computing system maintained by an
electronic commerce service provider.
[0015] FIG. 2 depicts the processing to authenticate an association
between a deposit account and a registering customer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT
[0016] FIG. 1 shows an electronic commerce service system 100
maintained by an electronic commerce service provider (hereinafter,
service provider). Included in system 100 is a processor 105 which
is driven by instructions stored in memory 110. Processor 105 could
be multiple processors working either in concert or independently
to provide the functionality described herein. Likewise, memory 110
could be multiple memories. Processor 105 includes a rules engine
107 and a matching engine 108, which will be discussed below. Also
shown is a communications interface 115 for communicating with
registering customers and other entities. Though only one
communications interface 115 is depicted, it should be understood
that multiple communications interfaces could be included in system
100. Memory 110, in addition to storing the above described
instructions, also stores a historical database 150 which stores
information associated with registrations of each of multiple
registering customers, data accumulated during provision of
electronic commerce services, as well as other information used to
determine which external databases (described below) to access
during an on-line and real-time registration session. It will be
appreciated that registration processing could be performed as a
batch process. That is, not in real-time.
[0017] Also depicted in FIG. 1, though not necessarily a part of
system 100, are multiple external databases 160A-160N. These
external databases store information gathered by entities other
than the service provider. Information stored in these external
databases 160A-160N is utilized to authenticate an association
between a registering customer and a deposit account.
[0018] These external databases 160A-160N belong to any one of, or
any combination of, check printing services, check verification
services, check guarantee services, and financial institutions.
Examples of check printing services are Deluxe, Harland, and Clark
American, though other check printing services' databases could
also be accessed. Examples of check verification and/or guarantee
services are Telecheck and Equifax Check Services, though other
check verification and/or guarantee services' databases could also
be accessed. A financial institution maintains deposit accounts on
behalf of depositors, in addition to providing other financial
services. A financial institution, obviously, has knowledge of
associations between accounts that financial institution maintains
and depositors (customers). A financial institution may have
knowledge about associations between accounts and depositors for
accounts that are maintained at other financial institutions.
Information stored in external database 160A-160N is associated
with deposit accounts. Check printing services retain information
associated with each check order printed for an account holder.
This information is typically retained so that a subsequent check
order for the account holder can be printed without all account
holder identifying and account identifying information being
supplied a second time in order to print the second order. Thus,
check printing services maintain information that authenticates an
association between an account holder and an account.
[0019] It should be noted that one or more of the external
databases 160A-160N, though belonging to an entity other than the
service provider, could be hosted by the service provider. In such
a case, a third party such as a check printing, verification, or
guarantee service, would provide information to be stored to the
service provider. The service provider would then access the
service provider hosted external database(s) as necessary.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, a registering customer provides, during
an on-line enrollment session, preferably via a World Wide Web
interface 201, identifying information 105 such as one or more of
name, drivers license number, and social security number to system
100. This information is received by communications interface 115.
Any or all of this identifying information could be provided, in
addition to other forms of identifying information. The registering
customer also provides RTN/DDA information identifying a deposit
account which they are authorizing the service provider to access.
It should be noted that identifying information could be received
from an entity other than a registering customer, such as a
sponsor. Sponsors provide access to electronic commerce services on
behalf of customers.
[0021] This received information is then processed by the rules
engine 107 while the registering customer is still participating in
the on-line enrollment session. The rules engine 107 first
determines if historical database 150 contains information upon
which a positive authentication between the registering customer
and the customer's deposit account can be based. If so, the on-line
registration session can be successfully completed without
accessing commercial databases.
[0022] If the historical database 150 does not contain information
which leads to a successful registration, then based upon logic
derived from historical registration experience and other
information contained in the historical database 150, the rules
engine 107 determines which of external databases 160A-160N to
access to authenticate an association between the registering
customer and a deposit account. Criteria that can be used by the
rules engine 107 in determining which external database to access
includes the registering customer's financial institution's RTN
(ABA) number. This information can be used because, based upon the
historical information stored in the historical database 150, it is
known that certain financial institutions utilize certain check
printing services.
[0023] Other criteria that can be utilized to determine which of
the external databases 160A-160N to access includes geographic
criteria, such as the location of the registering customer and/or
his or her financial institution. Yet another criteria is cost.
That is, fees charged by entities maintaining external databases
160A-160N for accessing different ones of the external databases
160A-160N vary among the external databases. Still another criteria
is a success rate of particular ones of the external databases
160A-160N in providing information useful in the registration
process.
[0024] The rules engine 107 determines an order in which to access
the external databases 160A-160N. Once the rules engine 107
determines the order in which the external databases 160A-160N
should be accessed, the first determined external database is
accessed in an attempt to locate information upon which to base an
authentication determination.
[0025] If information upon which to base an authentication
determination is not found in the first determined external
database, the second determined external database is accessed. This
process continues until information is found. It should be noted
that if information for successful authentication information is
not found in any database or other data store, the registering
customer could be given the opportunity, on-line and in-session, to
resubmit account identifying information, in view of the chance
that the registering customer may have provided incorrect
identifying information beforehand.
[0026] Once information is found in an external database, all or a
portion of the information gathered via the web interface from the
registering customer is used by the matching engine 108 in
authenticating the RTN/DDA information received from the
registering customer. That is, the matching engine 108 compares the
RTN/DDA information and the identity information received from the
registering customer with data stored in the external database. If
the received data matches that supplied by the registering
customer, the association is successfully authenticated.
[0027] Upon successful authentication, the registering customer is
informed, via the on-line registration session, that registration
is successful. The registering customer becomes a registered
customer. The service provider can immediately and in-session
provide services to the registered customer with confidence that an
authentic association between the registered customer and a deposit
account identified by that customer is in fact authentic.
[0028] In the event that on-line authentication of customer
supplied information is unsuccessful, the registering customer
would be required to complete the registration process by
traditional techniques. This could include, for instance, requiring
the registering customer to supply a voided check to the service
provider, as well as any other known registration technique.
[0029] In a variation of the above-described process, instead of
accessing the external databases 160A-160N in a determined order to
determine if each database includes information which can be used
in the authentication process, each of external databases 160A-160N
are accessed, in the same determined order as above, and an
authentication attempt is made against data stored in each external
database. Thus, the first determined external database is accessed,
and based upon data stored in that database an authentication
attempt is made. If that authentication attempt is unsuccessful,
the second determined external database is accessed and another
authentication attempt is made. This process continues until a
successful authentication is made, or until each database has been
accessed. As above, if on-line authentication is unsuccessful, the
registering customer would have to complete the registration
process in an off-line fashion. In another variation, external
databases 160A-160N could be accessed in a random order.
[0030] In yet another variation of the above-described process, an
entity to whom an external database belongs might not offer direct
access to the information stored in the database. In such a case,
the service provider transmits at least a portion of the received
identifying information as well as the RTN/DDA information to the
entity to whom the external database belongs. That entity then
compares this received information with information contained in
the database.
[0031] That entity then returns a match key to the service
provider. The match key could be one of four types: Account
Found-Full Match, Account Found-No Match, Account Not Found, and
Account Found-Possible Match. If the match key is of the Account
Found-Full Match type, the authentication is successful. If the
match key is of either the Account Found-No Match or Account Not
Found types, the authentication is not successful and conventional,
off-line, authentication techniques could be utilized. If the match
key is of the Account Found-Possible Match type, further on-line
activity can be performed to complete the authentication. This
further activity could include the service provider providing
further received identifying information to the entity to whom the
database belongs, and could include the service provider querying
the registering customer, via the still active on-line session, for
additional identifying information, which would then be transmitted
to the entity to whom the database belongs for further processing.
It will be appreciated that the returned Match Key could be
processed with other information to make the determination that
authentication is successful or not. This other information could
belong to the entity receiving the Match Key, or another entity.
Also, instead of being processed with other information, a returned
Match Key could be just one factor considered when making a
determination as to a successful or unsuccessful
authentication.
[0032] It should be noted that the inventive technique of on-line
authentication of RTN/DDA information could be performed by the
service provider on behalf of an entity other than the service
provider. This authentication process could be performed in
real-time, via perhaps a Web-based interface or a direct connection
between another entity and the service provider, or could be
performed as an asynchronous (e.g. batch file based or
messaging-based) process for another entity. Further, it will be
appreciated that the account authentication technique disclosed
herein can be performed in a batch mode,
[0033] The present invention is not to be limited in scope by the
specific embodiments described herein. Indeed, various
modifications of the present invention in addition to those
described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art
from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Thus,
such modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the
appended claims.
* * * * *