U.S. patent application number 13/193282 was filed with the patent office on 2013-01-31 for systems and methods for generating and using a digital pass.
This patent application is currently assigned to American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Dilip Aidasani, Kimberly Alderfer, Kate T. King, Anup Anil Parekh, Abbas-Ali Hassan Rajwanit, Stuart Rolinson. Invention is credited to Dilip Aidasani, Kimberly Alderfer, Kate T. King, Anup Anil Parekh, Abbas-Ali Hassan Rajwanit, Stuart Rolinson.
Application Number | 20130030904 13/193282 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47598001 |
Filed Date | 2013-01-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130030904 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Aidasani; Dilip ; et
al. |
January 31, 2013 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING AND USING A DIGITAL PASS
Abstract
A system, method, and article of manufacture for generating a
digital pass is disclosed. The method may comprise retrieving a
plurality of identity attributes, and grouping a subset of identity
attributes in the plurality of identity attributes to generate at
least one digital pass. The method may further comprise grouping a
subset of static identity attributes and a subset of dynamic
identity attributes to generate a digital pass.
Inventors: |
Aidasani; Dilip; (Brooklyn,
NY) ; Alderfer; Kimberly; (Hoboken, NJ) ;
King; Kate T.; (Seaford, GB) ; Parekh; Anup Anil;
(Woodindean, GB) ; Rajwanit; Abbas-Ali Hassan;
(Worthing, GB) ; Rolinson; Stuart; (US) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Aidasani; Dilip
Alderfer; Kimberly
King; Kate T.
Parekh; Anup Anil
Rajwanit; Abbas-Ali Hassan
Rolinson; Stuart |
Brooklyn
Hoboken
Seaford
Woodindean
Worthing |
NY
NJ |
US
US
GB
GB
GB
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
American Express Travel Related
Services Company, Inc.
New York
NY
|
Family ID: |
47598001 |
Appl. No.: |
13/193282 |
Filed: |
July 28, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.39 ;
705/44; 726/6 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0609 20130101;
G06Q 20/40 20130101; G07B 15/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/14.39 ;
726/6; 705/44 |
International
Class: |
H04L 9/32 20060101
H04L009/32; G06Q 40/00 20060101 G06Q040/00 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: retrieving, by a computer-based system for
generating a digital pass, a plurality of identity attributes; and
grouping, by the computer-based system, a subset of the identity
attributes in the plurality of identity attributes to generate a
digital pass.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating, by the
computer-based system, a privacy setting with the subset of the
identity attributes in the plurality of identity attributes.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising grouping, by the
computer-based system, a subset of static identity attributes and a
subset of dynamic identity attributes to generate a digital
pass.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising linking, by the
computer-based system, a first digital pass to a second digital
pass based upon a familial relationship.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising transferring funds, by
the computer-based system, from a transaction account associated
with the first digital pass to a second transaction account
associated with the second digital pass.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising transmitting, by the
computer-based system, an offer from a merchant to at least one of:
a user of the first digital pass and a user of the second digital
pass based upon an expenditure of funds by the user of the second
digital pass.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising inferring, by the
computer-based system, a preference based upon an identity
attribute.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising linking, by the
computer-based system, a first digital pass to a second digital
pass based upon at least one of: a shared identity attribute and a
shared preference.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising inferring, by the
computer-based system, a preference of a user of the digital pass
based upon at least one of: an identity attribute and a preference
of a user of a different digital pass.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
computer-based system, an identity attribute to a second system in
order to log a user of the digital pass into the second system.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the
computer-based system, item information associated with a
transaction request; retrieving, by the computer-based system,
transaction account information associated with a user of the
digital pass; approving, by the computer-based system and based
upon the transaction account information, the transaction request;
and transmitting, by the computer-based system, only a shipping
address of the user to a merchant.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising organizing, by the
computer-based system, a plurality of purchase receipts associated
with the digital pass.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the
computer-based system, at least one of a location of a user of the
digital pass and biometric data associated with the user of the
digital pass.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting, by the
computer-based system, an offer to the user of the digital pass
based upon at least one of: the location and the biometric
data.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting, by the
computer-based system, at least one of: an identity attribute and a
preference to a merchant based upon at least one of: the location
and the biometric data.
16. The method of claim 13, further comprising processing, by the
computer-based system, a transaction based upon at least one of:
the location and the biometric data.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the identity attribute comprises
at least one of: a transaction account code and a shipping
address.
18. The method of claim 8, wherein the shared identity attribute
comprises at least one of: an employer and a social network.
19. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
computer-based system, an identity attribute comprising an
employee's login information to an employer's system, such that the
employee is logged into the employer's system.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising transferring, by the
computer-based system, funds from a first digital pass user to a
second digital pass user.
21. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible
computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that,
in response to execution by a computer-based system for generating
a digital pass, cause the computer-based system to perform
operations comprising: retrieving, by the computer-based system, a
plurality of identity attributes; and grouping, by the
computer-based system, a subset of identity attributes in the
plurality of identity attributes to generate a digital pass.
22. A system comprising: a tangible, non-transitory memory
communicating with a processor for generating a digital pass, the
tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon
that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the
processor to perform operations comprising: retrieving, by the
processor, a plurality of identity attributes; and grouping, by the
processor, a subset of identity attributes in the plurality of
identity attributes to generate a digital pass.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to a digital
pass.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Although online (or web-based) purchasing has gained
popularity in recent years, certain shortcomings have hampered the
growth of the web-based economy from its inception. For example,
consumers are currently required to provide a variety of personal
information to any merchant from which they wish to purchase a good
or service. However, consumers are frequently reluctant to share
personal information with unknown or vaguely known merchants.
Further, consumers must trust that the merchant's website
sufficiently encrypts the required personal information before
passing it over the interne to the merchant's payment processing
system. Further still, assuming a consumer is willing to accept
these risks, the consumer is required (each time the consumer makes
a purchase) to enter his personal information. Thus, a consumer's
risk of fraud and identity theft increases in proportion to the
number of online transactions in which a consumer participates. By
some estimates, these factors encourage 25% (Forrester Research) to
75% (shop.org) of consumers to drop out of the purchasing process
at the point of checkout.
[0005] In addition to these problems, a great wealth of information
is lost each day. For instance, the large variety of merchant
websites makes it difficult, if not impossible, to aggregate data
about which products and services a consumer likes. Indeed,
merchants often regard such data as proprietary. Although consumers
might benefit from insights based upon their purchasing habits,
currently these insights are isolated between merchants.
[0006] Several prior art systems have attempted to solve one or
more of these problems. For example, Google has developed Google
checkout, a tool with which an individual completing a purchase
online may trust Google to process a transaction. Google may
transfer payment to the appropriate merchant. Similarly, Amazon has
developed a 1-click ordering tool that permits an Amazon customer
to make purchases online with a single button click. Amazon 1-click
ordering is limited to Amazon customers. With respect to the loss
of data resulting from disparate merchant systems, certain data
aggregators (e.g., RapLeaf) have attempted to target marketing to
consumers based upon social networking information associated with
each consumer. Likewise, Facebook offers a variety of social
plugins (e.g., a login button) which merchant developers may add to
their websites, and which consumers having Facebook accounts may
use to login from a merchant's website.
[0007] Although a variety of solutions or partial solutions have
been developed in response to some of the problems described above,
consumers are still unable to make purchases online in a relaxed
and effortless manner. Further, many merchants are reluctant to
hand over data about their customers' purchasing habits and
interests to a third party (e.g., Google), as doing so may hamper
their ability to target marketing and offer discounts to their
loyal customers. Thus, what is needed is a system with which
consumers may safely and quickly conduct online transactions and
which merchants are encouraged to adopt and support.
SUMMARY
[0008] The present disclosure includes a system, method, and
article of manufacture for generating a digital pass. The method
may comprise retrieving a plurality of identity attributes, and
grouping one or more identity attributes in the plurality of
identity attributes to generate at least one digital pass. The
method may further comprise associating a privacy setting with one
or more of the identity attributes in the plurality of identity
attributes, grouping one or more static identity attributes and one
or more dynamic identity attributes to generate at least one
digital pass, linking a first digital pass to a second digital pass
based upon a familial relationship, a shared identity attribute,
and/or a shared preference.
[0009] The method may further comprise transmitting an identity
attribute to a second system in order to log a user of the digital
pass into the second system. The method may further comprise
receiving item information associated with a transaction request,
retrieving transaction account information associated with a user
of the digital pass, approving, based upon the transaction account
information, the transaction request, and transmitting only a
shipping address of the user to a merchant. Further still, the
method may comprise receiving a location of a user of the digital
pass and/or biometric data associated with the user of the digital
pass, and transmitting an offer to the user of the digital pass
and/or transmitting an identity attribute to a merchant, based upon
one of the location and/or biometric data.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The features and advantages of the present disclosure will
become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below
when taken in conjunction with the drawings. The left-most digit of
a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference
number first appears.
[0011] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system diagram in accordance with
an embodiment.
[0012] FIG. 2 shows a flowchart depicting an exemplary process for
generating a digital pass.
[0013] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart depicting an exemplary process for
linking digital pass users.
[0014] FIG. 4 shows a flowchart depicting an exemplary process for
processing a transaction request using a digital pass.
[0015] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart depicting an exemplary process for
assigning a preference to a digital pass user based upon a
relationships identity attribute.
[0016] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart depicting an exemplary process for
paying a fee based upon a digital pass and a location and/or
biometric associated with a user of the digital pass.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein
makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which show the
exemplary embodiments by way of illustration and their best mode.
While these exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient
detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the
disclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may be
realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be made
without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Thus, the detailed description herein is presented for purposes of
illustration only and not of limitation. For example, the steps
recited in any of the method or process descriptions may be
executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented.
Moreover, any of the functions or steps may be outsourced to or
performed by one or more third parties. Furthermore, any reference
to singular includes plural embodiments, and any reference to more
than one component may include a singular embodiment.
[0018] Phrases and terms similar to "financial institution,"
"transaction account issuer," and "payment processor" may include
any person, entity, software and/or hardware that offers
transaction account services. Although often referred to as a
"financial institution," the financial institution may represent
any type of bank, lender or other type of account issuing
institution, such as credit card companies, card sponsoring
companies, or third party issuers under contract with financial
institutions. It is further noted that other participants may be
involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediary
settlement institution.
[0019] Phrases and terms similar to "business", "merchant",
"supplier" or "seller" may be used interchangeably with each other
and shall mean any person, entity, distributor system, software
and/or hardware that is a provider, broker and/or any other entity
in the distribution chain of goods or services and/or that receives
payment or other consideration. For example, a merchant may be a
grocery store, a retail store, a travel agency, a service provider,
an on-line merchant or the like. For example, a supplier may
request payment for goods sold to a buyer who holds an account with
a transaction account issuer.
[0020] The terms "payment vehicle," "financial transaction
instrument," "transaction instrument," or "transaction account
product" may be used interchangeably throughout to refer to a
financial instrument. As used herein, an account code may or may
not be associated with a physical financial instrument.
[0021] Phrases and terms similar to a "buyer," "participant",
"consumer," and "user" may include any person, entity, software
and/or hardware that receives items in exchange for consideration
(e.g. financial payment). For example, a buyer may purchase, lease,
rent, barter or otherwise obtain items from a supplier and pay the
supplier using a transaction account.
[0022] Phrases and terms similar to an "item" may include any good,
service, information, experience, reward, points, coupons, credits,
monetary equivalent, anything of value, something of minimal or no
value, etc.
[0023] As used herein, a biometric may include a user's voice,
fingerprint, facial, ear, signature, vascular patterns, DNA
sampling, hand geometry, sound, olfactory, keystroke/typing, iris,
retinal or any other biometric relating to recognition based upon
any body part, function, system, attribute and/or other
characteristic, or any portion thereof.
[0024] Phrases or terms similar to a "processor" (such as a payment
processor) may include a company (e.g., a third party) appointed
(e.g., by a merchant) to handle transactions for merchant banks.
Processors may be broken down into two types: front-end and
back-end. Front-end processors have connections to various
transaction accounts and supply authorization and settlement
services to the merchant banks' merchants. Back-end processors
accept settlements from front-end processors and, via The Federal
Reserve Bank, move money from an issuing bank to the merchant bank.
In an operation that will usually take a few seconds, the payment
processor will both check the details received by forwarding the
details to the respective account's issuing bank or card
association for verification, and may carry out a series of
anti-fraud measures against the transaction. Additional parameters,
including the account's country of issue and its previous payment
history, may be used to gauge the probability of the transaction
being approved. In response to the payment processor receiving
confirmation that the transaction account details have been
verified, the information may be relayed back to the merchant, who
will then complete the payment transaction. In response to the
verification being denied, the payment processor relays the
information to the merchant, who may then decline the
transaction.
[0025] Phrases or terms similar to a "payment gateway" or "gateway"
may include an application service provider that authorizes
payments for e-businesses, online retailers, and/or traditional
brick and mortar merchants. A payment gateway may protect
transaction account details by encrypting sensitive information,
such as transaction account numbers, to ensure that information
passes securely between the customer and the merchant and also
between merchant and payment processor.
[0026] As used herein, "transmit" may include sending electronic
data from one system component to another over a network
connection. Additionally, as used herein, "data" may include
encompassing information such as commands, queries, files, data for
storage, and the like in digital or any other form.
[0027] As used herein, "issue a debit", "debit" or "debiting"
refers to either causing the debiting of a stored value or prepaid
card-type financial account, or causing the charging of a credit or
charge card-type financial account, as applicable.
[0028] Phrases or terms similar to "transaction account" may
include any account that may be used to facilitate a financial
transaction. A "transaction account" as used herein refers to an
account associated with an open account or a closed account system
(as described herein). The transaction account may exist in a
physical or non-physical embodiment. For example, a transaction
account may be distributed in non-physical embodiments such as an
account number, frequent-flyer account, and telephone calling
account or the like. Furthermore, a physical embodiment of a
transaction account may be distributed as a financial
instrument.
[0029] In general, transaction accounts may be used for
transactions between the user and merchant through any suitable
communication means, such as, for example, a telephone network,
intranet, the global, public Internet, a point of interaction
device (e.g., a point of sale (POS) device, personal digital
assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, kiosk, etc.), online
communications, off-line communications, wireless communications,
and/or the like.
[0030] An "account", "account code", or "account number", as used
herein, may include any device, code, number, letter, symbol,
digital certificate, smart chip, digital signal, analog signal,
biometric or other identifier/indicia suitably configured to allow
the consumer to access, interact with or communicate with the
system (e.g., one or more of an authorization/access code, personal
identification number (PIN), Internet code, other identification
code, and/or the like). The account number may optionally be
located on or associated with a rewards card, charge card, credit
card, debit card, prepaid card, telephone card, embossed card,
smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card, transponder, radio
frequency card or an associated account. The system may include or
interface with any of the foregoing cards or devices, or a
transponder and RFID reader in RF communication with the
transponder (which may include a fob). Typical devices may include,
for example, a key ring, tag, card, cell phone, wristwatch or any
such form capable of being presented for interrogation.
[0031] Moreover, the system, computing unit or device discussed
herein may include a "pervasive computing device," which may
include a traditionally non-computerized device that is embedded
with a computing unit. Examples can include watches, Internet
enabled kitchen appliances, restaurant tables embedded with RF
readers, wallets or purses with imbedded transponders, etc.
[0032] The account code may be distributed and stored in any form
of plastic, electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio
and/or optical device capable of transmitting or downloading data
from itself to a second device. A customer account code may be, for
example, a sixteen-digit transaction account code, although each
transaction account provider has its own numbering system, such as
the fifteen-digit numbering system used by American Express. Each
company's transaction account codes comply with that company's
standardized format such that the company using a fifteen-digit
format will generally use three-spaced sets of numbers, as
represented by the number "0000 000000 00000". The first five to
seven digits are reserved for processing purposes and identify the
issuing bank, card type, etc. In this example, the last (fifteenth)
digit is used as a sum check for the fifteen digit number. The
intermediary eight-to-eleven digits are used to uniquely identify
the customer. A merchant account code may be, for example, any
number or alpha-numeric characters that identify a particular
merchant for purposes of card acceptance, account reconciliation,
reporting, or the like.
[0033] It should be noted that the transfer of information in
accordance with the present disclosure, may be completed in a
format recognizable by a merchant system or account issuer. In that
regard, by way of example, the information may be transmitted from
an RFID device to an RFID reader or from the RFID reader to the
merchant system in magnetic stripe or multi-track magnetic stripe
format.
[0034] In one exemplary embodiment, a system, method and/or
computer program product for generating a digital pass is
disclosed. As used herein, a digital pass may include all or part
of a consumer's personal information. A digital pass may be based
upon, derived from and/or include, for example, a consumer's name,
address, ethnicity, gender, other background information, spend
history, interests, relationships, preferences, hobbies, social
networks, mobile device information, transaction account
information, and the like. A digital pass may confer a variety of
benefits upon a consumer and/or upon a merchant. For example, a
digital pass may permit a consumer to make a purchase from a
merchant's website securely and without releasing personal
information to the merchant over the interne. Likewise, a digital
pass may increase a merchant's online sales, as it may encourage
consumers to purchase more freely online.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 100 for generating
and using a digital pass is shown. System 100 may comprise a
web-client 102, a network 104, a digital pass server system 106, a
merchant server system 108, a digital sign 110, a transaction
processing system 112, and/or a vehicle 114.
[0036] A web-client 102 may include any device (e.g., personal
computer/mobile communication device) which communicates via any
network 104. A web-client 104 may be associated with and/or used by
a consumer, a merchant, or both. A web-client 102 may comprise a
variety of browsing software or browser applications (e.g.,
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple
Safari, or any other of the myriad software packages available for
browsing the internet). Such browser applications may comprise
Internet browsing software installed within a computing unit or a
system to conduct online transactions and/or communications. These
computing units or systems may take the form of a computer or
processor, or a set of computers/processors, although other types
of computing units or systems may be used, including laptops,
notebooks, hand held computers, personal digital assistants,
cellular phones, smart phones (e.g., iPhone.RTM., BlackBerry.RTM.,
Droid.RTM., etc.) set-top boxes, workstations, computer-servers,
main frame computers, mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive
computers, network sets of computers, personal computers, such as
iPads, iMACs, and MacBooks, kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS)
devices and/or terminals, televisions, or any other device capable
of receiving data over a network 104.
[0037] As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web-client
102 may include an operating system (e.g., Windows NT,
95/98/2000/CE/Mobile, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, PalmOS,
etc.) as well as various conventional support software and drivers
typically associated with computers. A web-client 102 may implement
security protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport
Layer Security (TLS). A web-client 102 may implement one or more
application layer protocols, including, for example, http, https,
ftp, and sftp. Transactions originating at a web client may pass
through a firewall (not shown; see below) in order to prevent
unauthorized access from users of other networks.
[0038] A network 104 may comprise any electronic communications
system or method which incorporates software and/or hardware
components. Communication may be accomplished through any suitable
communication channels, such as, for example, a telephone network,
an extranet, an intranet, Internet, point of interaction device
(point of sale device, personal digital assistant, smart phone,
cellular phone (e.g., iPhone.RTM., Palm Pilot.RTM.,
Blackberry.RTM.), kiosk, etc.), online communications, satellite
communications, off-line communications, wireless communications,
transponder communications, local area network (LAN), wide area
network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networked or linked
devices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication or data
input modality. Moreover, although a network 104 may be described
herein as being implemented with TCP/IP communications protocols,
the network 104 may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6,
NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or any
number of existing or future protocols. If the network 104 is in
the nature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may be
advantageous to presume the network 104 to be insecure and open to
eavesdroppers. Specific information related to the protocols,
standards, and application software utilized in connection with the
Internet is generally known to those skilled in the art and, as
such, need not be detailed herein. See, for example, DILIP NAIK,
INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2 COMPLETE, various
authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY, MASTERING HTML 4.0
(1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997) and DAVID
GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002), the
contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
[0039] The various system components described herein may be
independently, separately or collectively coupled to the network
104 via one or more data links including, for example, a connection
to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) over a local loop as is
typically used in connection with standard modem communication,
cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or
various wireless communication methods, see, e.g., GILBERT HELD,
UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which is hereby
incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network 104 may be
implemented variously. For example, network 104 may be implemented
as an interactive television (ITV) network. The systems and methods
disclosed herein contemplate the use, sale and/or distribution of
any goods, services or information over any network having
functionality similar to that described above with reference to
network 104.
[0040] Digital pass server system ("DPS") 106 may comprise any type
of hardware and/or software (e.g., a computer server) configured or
configurable to generate and maintain a digital pass. Typically,
such a server comprises a rack mountable server appliance running a
suitable server application (e.g., IIS).
[0041] Transaction processing system ("TPS") 112 may comprise any
type of hardware and/or software configured or configurable to
process a transaction. Typically, a transaction processing system
112 comprises one or more servers, where the one or more servers
may receive a transaction request from a merchant or consumer and
approve or deny the request based upon the consumer's account
balance, available credit, and the like.
[0042] A DPS 106 and/or a TPS 112 may comprise, individually or in
combination, a "backend" system. A backend system may further
comprise one or more web servers (not shown) and/or one or more
payment gateways (not shown, described above). A web server may
comprise hardware of software configured or configurable to host a
website. A backend system may be owned/operated by a transaction
account issuer, e.g., American Express.
[0043] Merchant server system 108 may comprise any type of hardware
and/or software (e.g., a computer server) configured or
configurable to receive data associated with a consumer's digital
pass. Typically, such a server comprises a rack mountable server
appliance running a suitable server application (e.g., IIS).
[0044] Vehicle 114 may comprise any hardware and/or software
suitably configured to cause movement. Vehicle 114 may be of any
make or manufacture, provided it is sufficiently networked--whether
at the factory or via retrofit--such that it may communicate
(wirelessly) with digital pass server system 106.
[0045] Digital sign 110 may comprise any software and/or hardware
suitably configured for any type of interactive digital display.
Digital sign 110 may be enabled to communicate with digital pass
server system 106. For example, digital sign 110 may comprise a
digital display or directory similar to those frequently
encountered in shopping malls.
[0046] With reference to FIG. 2, an exemplary process 200 for
generating/regenerating a digital pass is disclosed. For
simplicity, and as used herein, the term generate may apply to both
generation and regeneration of a digital pass. Thus, in an
embodiment, a backend system may generate a digital pass in
response to a request from a merchant and/or a consumer (step 202).
A request may comprise a transaction request (i.e., a request to
process a transaction/sale of an item), a login request (i.e., a
request to login to a customer and/or merchant account), and the
like. In an embodiment, a backend system may not receive a request;
rather, a backend system may periodically and/or spontaneously
generate a digital pass. A backend system may generate a digital
pass on a periodic and/or spontaneous basis to capture
changes/updates made to a consumer's identity attributes (see
below).
[0047] A backend system may, in response to receiving a request
(and/or periodically/spontaneously), retrieve one or more identity
attributes associated with a consumer/digital pass user (step 204).
A backend system may retrieve identity attributes from one or more
databases or files (not shown). These databases or files may reside
on DPS 106 or on a database or fileserver coupled to DPS 106 (not
shown). Identity attribute data may be entered by a consumer (i.e.,
a digital pass user may enter his attribute data so that it is
available for generation of his digital pass), and/or the data may
be populated from data already known/collected about the consumer
(e.g., a purchase history/transaction account code/phone
number/etc. associated with the consumer). In this regard, a
consumer may enter his attribute data during a digital pass account
setup process. For instance, a consumer may visit a digital pass
account setup website (not shown), with which the consumer may
enter his attribute data. Similarly, a consumer may visit a digital
pass account management website (not shown), with which the
consumer may update and/or edit his attribute data.
[0048] An identity attribute may be static and/or dynamic, and a
digital pass may comprise a collection or group of identity
attributes. A consumer's static identity attributes may comprise
attributes that never change or that rarely change. For example, a
consumer's static identity attributes may comprise one or more of
the following: a name, a billing address, a phone number, a date of
birth, a shipping address, an email address, a gender, an
ethnicity, one or more biometrics, educational data, a photograph
of the consumer, one or more transaction accounts (e.g., American
Express/Visa/ Mastercard/bank accounts), information associated
with a web-client 102 (e.g., a number or identifier associated with
a mobile communication device), and the like. A backend system may
further retrieve one or more dynamic identity attributes associated
with a consumer (step 206). A consumer's dynamic identity
attributes may comprise attributes that change frequently. For
example, a consumer's dynamic identity attributes may comprise a
spend history, a location, one or more interests, one or more group
affiliations, one or more relationships, one or more preferences,
one or more hobbies, one or more employers, one or more social
networks, and the like.
[0049] An attribute may be variously categorized/re-categorized as
a static and/or dynamic identity attribute. The categorization or
re-categorization may depend upon how often the attribute changes.
For example, a consumer's billing address may change on such a
frequent basis that it is regarded as a dynamic identity attribute.
On the other hand, a consumer's billing address may remain
unchanged for such an extended period of time that the attribute is
regarded as a static attribute. A variety of inferences may be made
based upon the status (i.e., static or dynamic) associated with an
attribute. For example, a billing address that changes more than a
specified number of times during a specified period (e.g., more
than once a year) may give rise to the inference that the consumer
is unstable or experiencing financial difficulty. Likewise, a
billing address that does not change for many years may give rise
to the inference that a consumer is financially stable. The same
may be said of a consumer's phone number, shipping address,
educational information, location, group affiliations, interests,
relationships, employers, and social networks, and the like.
[0050] In an embodiment, a consumer may use a digital pass account
setup/management website to setup and/or manage a variety of
privacy controls. For example, a consumer may specify merchants
with which he agrees to do business. If a merchant is not on a
consumer's list of approved merchants, TPS 112 may decline to
process a request by the merchant. A consumer may further specify
which of his identity attributes are private and which attributes,
if any, he wishes to expose to the public. A public attribute may
be visible to other consumers/digital pass users and/or merchants.
For example, a consumer may indicate that his photograph is a
public attribute, in which case, other digital pass
users/consumers/ merchants may gain access to the consumer's
photograph. Likewise, a consumer may indicate that his shipping
address is a private attribute, in which case the consumer's
shipping address will not be shared by the backend system except,
of course, to permit shipping of a purchased item to the
consumer.
[0051] Thus, DPS 106 may generate a digital pass by grouping one or
more static and/or dynamic identity attributes associated with a
consumer. DPS 106 may generate for a consumer a variety of digital
passes. For example, DPS 106 may generate a full digital pass for a
consumer. A full digital pass may comprise the entire collection of
identity attributes that are available to DPS 106 for a consumer.
Likewise, DPS 106 may generate one or more partial or filtered
digital passes for a consumer. A partial or filtered digital pass
may comprise less than the entire collection of identity attributes
available to DPS 106 for a consumer. A partial/filtered digital
pass may be generated based upon privacy settings entered by the
consumer (see above). A partial/filtered digital pass may also be
generated such that it comprises the minimum number of attributes
necessary to fulfill a request.
[0052] A digital pass may be used for a large variety of purposes,
many of which are described below. Each of these may confer a
variety of benefits on a digital pass user and/or a merchant with
which the user interacts. For example, a digital pass may add a
great deal of security to online and offline (i.e., in store)
transactions. Moreover, a digital pass may simplify a transaction
request process (e.g., a digital pass may eliminate the necessity
of filling out an online merchant form). In addition, a digital
pass may enable a variety of social networking and/or augmented
reality functions. Any of these benefits may be achieved in a way
that encourages merchant participation.
[0053] A Digital Pass May Link Consumers
[0054] With reference to FIG. 3, a process 300 for linking a
digital pass user to another digital pass user is described. A
digital pass user ("user A") may be linked to another digital pass
user ("user B"). User A may be linked to user B for a variety of
reasons. For example, user A may be linked to user B at either user
A or user B's request. The non-requesting user may be queried by
system 100 as to whether the non-requesting user wishes to accept
the requested linkage--i.e., system 100 may inquire (e.g., by
sending an electronic message/inquiry/query) into whether the
non-requesting user wishes to accept the requesting user's request.
If the non-requesting user agrees, the linkage may be established,
in which case, DPS 106 may add a link between user A and user B to
each of user A's and user B's identity attributes.
[0055] In one instance, user B may comprise a beneficiary of user
A. A beneficiary may be a child (receiving an allowance),
grandparent, gift recipient, and the like. Thus, for example, user
A may wish to transfer a certain amount of funds from a transaction
account (i.e., an identity attribute) linked to his digital pass to
a transaction account linked to the digital pass of user B (step
304). Where user A does not wish to transfer funds to user B, of
course, the process 300 may terminate (step 306). Where user A in
fact wishes to transfer funds to user B, however, user A may
indicate by way of web-client 102 that he wishes to transfer funds
in a specific amount, and from a specific transaction account, to
user B (step 304). DPS 106 may facilitate the transfer of funds
from user A to user B. On receipt of these funds, user B may redeem
all or a portion of the funds at a merchant (step 308). For
example, where user B is a child of user A, user B may redeem all
or a portion of her allowance, which has been transferred into her
transaction account (e.g., a prepaid transaction account) by way of
her digital pass, with a merchant in the mall, e.g., a Claire's
jewelry store (step 308). Claire's may receive payment from user B
by way of her digital pass, through which user B may select the
transaction account that holds her allowance (see below). Perhaps
as an incentive to continue shopping with Claire's, Claire's (or
another merchant), may provide a discount and/or an offer to one or
both of user A and user B (step 310). For example, a merchant may
provide a beneficiary digital pass user a 10% off coupon in
response to a purchase processed through a digital pass of the
beneficiary user. Likewise, a merchant may provide a donor account
holder (e.g., user A) with a 10% off coupon towards a merchant
selected by DPS 106 (because user A, who is user B's father, does
not like to shop at Claire's). DPS 106 may select a merchant from
which to offer user A a coupon or discount based upon all or a
portion of user A's identity attributes. For example, DPS 106 may
offer user A a coupon at a sporting goods store based upon identity
attributes (e.g., hobbies, recent purchases, and the like)
indicating or suggesting that user A is a soccer player.
[0056] In an embodiment, a merchant may leverage a digital pass
user's relationships with other digital pass users and/or
attributes that are common to a group of users to target marketing
offers and/or discounts to groups of users. For example, a group of
digital pass users may share a particular identity attribute (e.g.,
a hobby or an association like an employer). Similarly, a group of
users may be linked, as described above--i.e., two or more users
may opt in to a group, such as parent-child, etc. Where either of
the foregoing are true, and provided a user's privacy preferences
will allow it, DPS 106 may permit a merchant to target
offers/discounts to all or a portion of grouped/linked users. A
merchant may target offers to the group based upon a variety of
criteria. For example, a merchant may target members of a group
based upon a recent purchase from the merchant by a member.
[0057] A Digital Pass May Comprise a Universal Login
[0058] A digital pass may store identity attributes associated with
one or more websites requiring login. For example, a digital pass
may store identity attributes associated with a user's email
addresses/accounts, a user's transaction accounts, a user's
accounts with one or more merchants, etc. Thus, a user may login,
or be authenticated, to his digital pass account in lieu of logging
into, or being authenticated to, one or more other accounts. DPS
106 may thereupon transmit one or more identity attributes (e.g.,
an account identifier, a login name and password, etc.) to a second
system (e.g., a merchant system, an email system, etc.) such that
the user is not required to enter this information. A button or
other similar option may be provided on a webpage or login page
associated with the second system, the selection of which may cause
DPS 106 to send the user's login data to the appropriate second
system. That is, the button or other option may trigger
transmission, by the second system, of a uniform resource locator
associated with the second system to DPS 106, which may enable DPS
106 to transmit a user's login information to an appropriate server
associated with the second system. The second system may use this
information to authenticate the user to the user's account on, or
hosted by, the second system. Further, a website or webpage may be
personalized or modified based upon a user's digital pass/the
public identity attributes associated with his digital pass. More
specifically, where a digital pass user is logged into his digital
pass account (e.g., through a merchant webpage) the merchant
webpage may be customized based upon the digital pass user's
identity attributes. Thus, for example, a merchant webpage may be
modified to display items in which a digital pass user may hold an
interest, such as items of clothing in the digital pass user's
correct size and/or items that are associated with a hobby or
interest of the digital pass user.
[0059] A Digital Pass May Simplify and Safeguard Payment
[0060] With reference to FIG. 4, a process 400 for making a payment
to a merchant is described. In an embodiment, a digital pass user
may login to his digital pass account (step 402). The login may
include an interface provided on a merchant's website (e.g., a
button may be provided that invites the user to login to his
digital pass account). In another embodiment, the system may
interface with a web browser to store the digital pass. In this
regard, instead of the user typing the digital pass login info
directly, the digital pass information may be stored in the
browser, and the browser may communicate with the website. Instead
of using a login form associated with a website, the system may
allow a user to log in and log out of websites directly through the
browser. The system may also incorporate a new button or menu item
in the toolbar that enables the user to pick a login to use at any
visited webpage. The system stores logins that the user already
established and/or the system may suggest a login that may be
applicable to a particular webpage. To increase login security, the
system may also generate and/or retain random passwords.
[0061] A user may additionally select one or more items from the
merchant's website that he wishes to purchase. Having selected one
or more items for purchase, a merchant and/consumer may transmit
data associated with these items (e.g., a transaction request) to a
backend system (step 404). A transaction request may further
include a uniform resource locator ("URL") associated with the
merchant (e.g., an address for the merchant's webpage). A backend
system may process the transaction request based upon the
consumer's available credit (step 406); and a backend system may
have the ability to look up/retrieve/review/obtain a consumer's
available credit by virtue of the fact that the consumer is logged
into his digital pass account. U.S. application Ser. No.
13/107,069, filed May 13, 2011, and entitled CLOUD ENABLED PAYMENT
PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD, which is hereby incorporated by
reference, describes an embodiment of a transaction processing
system.
[0062] Furthermore, where a consumer has more than one transaction
account, the consumer may select, via web-client 102, which
transaction account the consumer wishes to use to make the
requested purchase. If the consumer has sufficient credit, a
backend system may approve the transaction request, in which case,
the merchant may receive confirmation and/or payment in the
appropriate amount (step 408). On the other hand, if the consumer
has insufficient credit, a backend system may deny the transaction
request, in which case, the merchant system may not receive
confirmation and/or payment (or a communication indicating that a
transaction request has not been approved) for the requested items.
Confirmation and/or payment and/or a communication to the contrary
may be received by way of the URL included in the transaction
request. In an embodiment, and where a consumer has greater than a
single transaction account, a consumer may select a different
transaction account for processing a requested transaction. This
may occur, for example, in the event that a first selected
transaction account is insufficiently funded for the requested
transaction, or where a consumer merely prefers one account to
another.
[0063] Where a transaction request is approved, a consumer's
shipping information may be transmitted to a merchant/merchant
system. Thus, system 100 may eliminate the requirement that a
consumer provide a variety of personal information to a merchant,
including his transaction account information and shipping and
billing addresses. Rather, system 100 may shield a consumer's
personal information such that the consumer is confident in making
purchases online. The consumer may also be saved the trouble of
entering his personal information (e.g., his shipping address), as
DPS 106 may supply this data to a merchant/merchant system
automatically on approval of a transaction request.
[0064] A digital pass user may further review an organized
list/partial list/group of his purchase receipts by way of his
digital pass account. Conveniently, a digital pass user is not
limited to reviewing receipts associated with a particular
merchant, although a user's receipts may be grouped or organized by
DPS 106 by merchant. Thus, for example, a digital pass user may
login to his digital pass account to review his receipts for the
day, week, month, year, merchant, etc. DPS 106 therefore provides a
digital pass user the added advantage of consolidated receipt
management.
[0065] A merchant may likewise benefit from interacting with
consumers who have digital passes. For example, a merchant may be
provided with access to a merchant interface (not shown), which the
merchant may access by way of a web-client 102. A merchant
interface may comprise a variety of software (e.g., a website or
web-based system). A merchant interface may provide a merchant with
access to a variety of information. For example, a merchant
interface may provide a merchant with access to (and organize)
information about the types of consumers who shop at their stores,
the types of items each consumer purchases, the types of items
groups or social networks of consumers purchase, and the like. In
brief, a merchant report may provide a variety of insights to a
merchant based upon one or more identity attributes and/or
preferences associated with the digital pass users who have shopped
with the merchant. A merchant may further configure a merchant
interface to display one or more reports based upon the data in
which the merchant is interested.
[0066] A Digital Pass May Illustrate Preferences and Trends
[0067] A digital pass may be associated with one or more
preferences of a digital pass user. A preference may comprise an
inference or conclusion based upon one or more identity attributes
and/or one or more other preferences. Thus, for example, a digital
pass user's purchase history may show that the digital pass user
shops at a particular merchant or purchases a particular item or
type of item on a regular or semi-regular basis. Likewise, a
digital pass user's identity attributes may contain information
related to a hobby, or an association with a team or league. This
information, in turn, may suggest that a user is interested in
certain merchants, items, types of items, activities, etc. Thus,
DPS 106 may analyze a digital pass user's identity attributes in
order to generate one or more preferences and/or one or more
possible or likely preferences of the user. A user's preferences
may comprise a large variety of information. For example, DPS 106
may determine that a user has a preference for sports or a certain
sport, or that a user likes food and music based upon an attribute
indicating one or more purchases at a sporting goods store and/or a
restaurant or record store. Thus, in general, DPS 106 may assign a
variety of preferences to a user based upon the user's identity
attributes.
[0068] With reference to FIG. 5, a process 500 whereby DPS 106 may
further assign a preference to a digital pass user based upon a
user's relationships attribute is shown. That is, DPS 106 may
assign a preference to a digital pass user based upon a user's
linked relationships (see above) and/or a user's shared attribute
or attributes with one or more other users (see above). For
example, DPS 106 may analyze a first user's identity attributes, at
which point DPS 106 may determine that the first user is interested
in one or more items in a category or class of items (step 502).
For example, DPS 106 may determine that the first user is
interested in the category of music, and within that category, DPS
106 may determine that the first user is specifically interested in
the following artists: Bob Dylan, Keane, and Dr. Dre. DPS 106 may
search a database of (similar) digital pass users for users having
one or more interests in common with the first user, or a
second/similar user may make a purchase or update his digital pass
attributes to reflect an interest in one or more of the foregoing
artists and/or categories. In response to one or more of these
actions, DPS 106 may determine/infer that the similar user may have
some interest in one or more of the other artists in which the
first user is interested (step 504). Similarly, DPS 106 may
determine/infer that the similar user is interested in a category
of music (e.g., folk, rock, hip hop) based upon the similar user's
resemblance to the first user (step 506). DPS 106 may therefore
assign the similar user a preference (e.g., an interest in folk,
rock, hip hop, or one of the above mentioned artists) based upon
the discovered similarity (step 506). DPS 106 may further target
marketing (e.g., offers and discounts) to one or more of the users
based upon these inferences.
[0069] In some instances, DPS 106 may determine that a similar user
is interested in an item or category in which only a first user is
apparently interested (i.e., DPS 106 may make a seemingly invalid
inference). With regard to the foregoing example, DPS 106 may infer
that the similar user, like the first user, may find Dr. Dre
appealing, although the similar user's identity attributes would
otherwise recommend against such a conclusion (e.g., the similar
user's identity attributes show an interest in rock music only).
However, based upon a similarity between the first user and the
similar user, DPS 106 may nevertheless assign a tentative
preference (or target marketing) to the similar user indicating a
potential interest in the unlikely item/category. For example, with
reference to the foregoing example, DPS 106 may assign a tentative
preference for Dr. Dre and/or hip hop music (the genre to which Dr.
Dre's must most likely belongs) to the similar user, despite the
similar user's apparent interest only in rock music. (step 506).
Thus, DPS 106 may assign a preference to a similar digital pass
user when the interest is categorized in a category of preferences
already associated with the similar digital pass user. In contrast,
DPS 106 may assign a preference to a similar digital pass user
which is not categorized in a category of preferences already
associated with the similar digital pass user.
[0070] A Digital Pass May Facilitate and Enhance a User's
Interaction with the Physical World
[0071] In an embodiment, a merchant may access a digital pass
user's (public) identity attributes and/or preferences in order to
recommend items to the user. For example, a user may log into his
digital pass account (see above) from a merchant website. DPS 106
may make certain information about the user available to the
merchant website. For instance, DPS 106 may transmit a gender, a
clothing size, and/or preference to the merchant website. The
merchant website may use the information provided by DPS 106 about
the user to filter the items displayed for the user by the website
such that the user is only presented with items suited to the user.
For example, where the merchant website sells clothing, the
merchant website may filter the clothing displayed for sale to the
user to that which is currently available in the user's size.
[0072] In an embodiment, a user's digital pass may comprise an
identity attribute associated with a mobile communication device
(i.e., a web-client 102) of the user. Where the user's mobile
communication device 102 comprises a GPS enabled device (or where
the location of the device is otherwise available), DPS 106 may
provide a merchant with a user's location, again, assuming that the
user's location attribute is set to public in the user's privacy
settings.
[0073] A digital pass may be associated with biometric information
(see above) about a consumer. For example, a digital pass may
comprise an image or representation of a consumer's retina and/or a
consumer's facial features. In response to detecting and/or
capturing an image of a consumer's biometric information (e.g.,
perhaps by way of a camera and/or other imaging device mounted in a
merchant location), a merchant may present one or more offers
and/or discounts to a consumer and/or direct a retail attendant to
show the user certain items (e.g., clothing in a certain size). For
example, a consumer, walking in to a merchant location and/or a
mall, may be presented with an offer for 10% off of a purchase from
the merchant. Likewise, a merchant may present an offer and/or
discount for an item in which the consumer may have some interest
(e.g., an item of clothing in the consumer's size and/or based upon
the consumer's gender, preferences, etc.). As described above, a
merchant may make such an offer based upon one or more attributes
and/or preferences associated with a consumer's digital pass. An
offer may be displayed for a consumer by way of any hardware and/or
software configured or configurable to display an image or
otherwise announce the offer. For example, digital sign 110 may
display an offer/discount.
[0074] A merchant may further direct a digital pass user to one or
more items based upon the user's location. Thus, for example, a
digital pass user may upload or generate a grocery or shopping list
prior to entering a merchant location (e.g., a grocery store). As
the user travels up and down the aisles of the store, the user's
mobile communication device (an identity attribute) may be
configured to guide the user to the location of the next item on
the user's list, or the next closest item on the user's list.
[0075] In an embodiment, a digital pass may play a part in an
augmented reality system (not shown). For example, a digital pass
user, while shopping, driving, walking, etc., may wear augmented
reality goggles/spectacles, which may communicate with an augmented
reality system to highlight and/or display information about a
variety of objects and/or items in the digital pass user's field of
vision of physical vicinity. A digital pass user's mobile
communication device/web-client 102 may perform the same function.
Thus, a digital pass user may enter a merchant location, whereupon
he may be presented (through his augmented reality
goggles/spectacles/mobile communication device) with information
about sales items, items in his size, items in which the merchant
believes the user will have some interest (again, based fully or
partly on the user's identity attributes and/or preferences), etc.
A user may further be presented with a digital or virtual wardrobe
based upon a merchant's inventory, the user's identity attributes,
and/or the user's preferences.
[0076] A digital pass may facilitate and simplify a digital pass
user's interaction with a public transit system. For example, a
digital pass user may enter a public transportation system (e.g.,
the Metro which criss-crosses the Washington D.C. metro area)
without swiping a bus pass (e.g., a SmartCard) or entering another
form of payment. Rather, because the digital pass user's biometric
information comprises an identity attribute, an image of the user
may be captured as the user enters the public transportation
system. Likewise, an image of the user may be captured as the user
exits the public transportation system. The public transportation
system may therefore accurately compute a fare for the user, which
the system may forward or submit to a DPS 106 and/or a TPS 112,
which system(s) may supply payment. Thus, a digital pass user's
public transportation experience may be greatly simplified.
[0077] With reference now to FIG. 6, a digital pass may also
facilitate and simplify a digital pass user's interaction with a
fee station in a parking garage, on a turnpike, and the like.
Initially, a backend system may receive a location and/or a
biometric associated with a digital pass user (step 602). Where a
backend system receives a location of a user, the backend system
may generate a query for the user asking whether he wishes to pay
in advance for an upcoming toll or fee (step 604). If the user
confirms his desire to effectuate payment prior to his arrival (or
upon his arrival) at the fee station, a backend system may arrange
for payment as described more generally above (step 606). Where, on
the other hand, a backend system receives a biometric associated
with a user (which, incidentally, an image capture system
associated with a fee station may record), the user's web-client
102 (e.g., his mobile communication device) may present a payment
option. Here as well, if the user confirms his desire to effectuate
payment, the user's may do so prior to or upon his arrival at the
fee station (depending upon the location of the biometric capture
device) (step 606).
[0078] A Digital Pass May be Useful in the Workplace
[0079] In an embodiment, an employee (e.g., a corporate employee)
may simplify or aggregate a variety of work related tasks using his
digital pass. For example, an employee may log in to and/or access
one or more of his employer's systems (e.g., his employer's mail
server) using his digital pass. This might be accomplished by way
of an identity attribute in the employee's digital pass that saves
the employee's username and/or login information for the employer's
system(s). An employee may further log-in via any of his employer's
workstations, which may be provided on a variety of campuses or
scattered across a variety of locations. Thus, an employee may log
in irrespective of his location. Furthermore, a digital pass may
make an employee's location available to one or more other
employees. Thus, irrespective of the workstation selected by an
employee, other employees may easily locate the employee by virtue
of the fact that the employee is logged into the (uniquely located)
workstation. Further still, a digital pass may record an employee's
login time and logout time, which information an employer may use
for a variety of purposes (e.g., to record access data, to fill out
a time slip, etc.) Having logged into his employer's system(s), an
employee may be furnished with his daily calendar and/or the
software and/or data to which he may require access during the day,
based upon his calendared activities.
[0080] An employee may further utilize his digital pass to make
purchases on a corporate account. For example, an employee's
corporate transaction account (issued through his employer) may be
linked to the employee's digital pass; that is, an employee's
corporate transaction account may comprise an identity attribute,
in the same way that his one or more personal transaction accounts
may comprise identity attributes. However, where the employee is
engaged in business on behalf of his employer (e.g., he is
purchasing lunch for a client, he is making travel reservations to
travel to a field office, etc.), the employee may select, instead
of a personal transaction account, his corporate transaction
account. This may be accomplished through the use of a web-client
102, such as the employee's mobile communication device. Having
selected his corporate transaction account, a backend system may
process payment through this account. At this point, an employer,
like a merchant (see above) may have access to an employer
interface (as opposed to a merchant interface, but similar in
purpose), through which the employer may generate a variety of
reports. For instance, an employer may review an employee's time at
work for a particular time period (day, week, month, year, etc.),
an employee's spending history, and the like.
[0081] In the detailed description herein, references to "one
embodiment", "an embodiment", "an example embodiment", etc.,
indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular
feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not
necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or
characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily
referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular
feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection
with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge
of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or
characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not
explicitly described. After reading the description, it will be
apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the
disclosure in certain embodiments.
[0082] In various embodiments, the methods described herein are
implemented using the various particular machines described herein.
The methods described herein may be implemented using the
particular machines, and those hereinafter developed, in any
suitable combination, as would be appreciated immediately by one
skilled in the art. Further, as is unambiguous from this
disclosure, the methods described herein may result in various
transformations of certain articles.
[0083] For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking,
application development and other functional aspects of the systems
(and components of the individual operating components of the
systems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, the
connecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein are
intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or
physical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted
that many alternative or additional functional relationships or
physical connections may be present in a practical system.
[0084] The various system components discussed herein may include
one or more of the following: a host server or other computing
systems including a processor for processing digital data; a memory
coupled to the processor for storing digital data; an input
digitizer coupled to the processor for inputting digital data; an
application program stored in the memory and accessible by the
processor for directing processing of digital data by the
processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memory for
displaying information derived from digital data processed by the
processor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used
herein may include: client data; merchant data; financial
institution data; and/or like data useful in the operation of the
system. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, user computer
may include an operating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000, XP,
Vista, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as well as various
conventional support software and drivers typically associated with
computers. A user may include any individual, business, entity,
government organization, software and/or hardware that interact
with a system.
[0085] In an embodiment, various components, modules, and/or
engines of system 100 may be implemented as micro-applications or
micro-apps. Micro-apps are typically deployed in the context of a
mobile operating system, including for example, a Palm mobile
operating system, a Windows mobile operating system, an Android
Operating System, Apple iOS, a Blackberry operating system and the
like. The micro-app may be configured to leverage the resources of
the larger operating system and associated hardware via a set of
predetermined rules which govern the operations of various
operating systems and hardware resources. For example, where a
micro-app desires to communicate with a device or network other
than the mobile device or mobile operating system, the micro-app
may leverage the communication protocol of the operating system and
associated device hardware under the predetermined rules of the
mobile operating system. Moreover, where the micro-app desires an
input from a user, the micro-app may be configured to request a
response from the operating system which monitors various hardware
components and then communicates a detected input from the hardware
to the micro-app.
[0086] The system contemplates uses in association with web
services, utility computing, pervasive and individualized
computing, security and identity solutions, autonomic computing,
cloud computing, commodity computing, mobility and wireless
solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computing and/or mesh
computing.
[0087] Any databases discussed herein may include relational,
hierarchical, graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any
other database configurations. Common database products that may be
used to implement the databases include DB2 by IBM (Armonk, N.Y.),
various database products available from Oracle Corporation
(Redwood Shores, Calif.), Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server
by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB
(Uppsala, Sweden), or any other suitable database product.
Moreover, the databases may be organized in any suitable manner,
for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Each record may be a
single file, a series of files, a linked series of data fields or
any other data structure. Association of certain data may be
accomplished through any desired data association technique such as
those known or practiced in the art. For example, the association
may be accomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic
association techniques may include, for example, a database search,
a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using a key field in the tables
to speed searches, sequential searches through all the tables and
files, sorting records in the file according to a known order to
simplify lookup, and/or the like. The association step may be
accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a
"key field" in pre-selected databases or data sectors. Various
database tuning steps are contemplated to optimize database
performance. For example, frequently used files such as indexes may
be placed on separate file systems to reduce In/Out ("I/O")
bottlenecks.
[0088] More particularly, a "key field" partitions the database
according to the high-level class of objects defined by the key
field. For example, certain types of data may be designated as a
key field in a plurality of related data tables and the data tables
may then be linked on the basis of the type of data in the key
field. The data corresponding to the key field in each of the
linked data tables is preferably the same or of the same type.
However, data tables having similar, though not identical, data in
the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example. In
accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage technique
may be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets
may be stored using any suitable technique, including, for example,
storing individual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure;
implementing a domain whereby a dedicated file is selected that
exposes one or more elementary files containing one or more data
sets; using data sets stored in individual files using a
hierarchical filing system; data sets stored as records in a single
file (including compression, SQL accessible, hashed via one or more
keys, numeric, alphabetical by first tuple, etc.); Binary Large
Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped data elements encoded using
ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungrouped data elements
encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) as in
ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that may
include fractal compression methods, image compression methods,
etc.
[0089] In one exemplary embodiment, the ability to store a wide
variety of information in different formats is facilitated by
storing the information as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can
be stored in a storage space associated with a data set. As
discussed above, the binary information may be stored on the
financial transaction instrument or external to but affiliated with
the financial transaction instrument. The BLOB method may store
data sets as ungrouped data elements formatted as a block of binary
via a fixed memory offset using either fixed storage allocation,
circular queue techniques, or best practices with respect to memory
management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used, etc.). By
using BLOB methods, the ability to store various data sets that
have different formats facilitates the storage of data associated
with the financial transaction instrument by multiple and unrelated
owners of the data sets. For example, a first data set which may be
stored may be provided by a first party, a second data set which
may be stored may be provided by an unrelated second party, and yet
a third data set which may be stored, may be provided by an third
party unrelated to the first and second party. Each of these three
exemplary data sets may contain different information that is
stored using different data storage formats and/or techniques.
Further, each data set may contain subsets of data that also may be
distinct from other subsets.
[0090] As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be
stored without regard to a common format. However, in one exemplary
embodiment, the data set (e.g., BLOB) may be annotated in a
standard manner when provided for manipulating the data onto the
financial transaction instrument. The annotation may comprise a
short header, trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to
each data set that is configured to convey information useful in
managing the various data sets. For example, the annotation may be
called a "condition header", "header", "trailer", or "status",
herein, and may comprise an indication of the status of the data
set or may include an identifier correlated to a specific issuer or
owner of the data. In one example, the first three bytes of each
data set BLOB may be configured or configurable to indicate the
status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED, INITIALIZED,
READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes of data may
be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer, user,
transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each of
these condition annotations are further discussed herein.
[0091] The data set annotation may also be used for other types of
status information as well as various other purposes. For example,
the data set annotation may include security information
establishing access levels. The access levels may, for example, be
configured to permit only certain individuals, levels of employees,
companies, or other entities to access data sets, or to permit
access to specific data sets based on the transaction, merchant,
issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, the security information may
restrict/permit only certain actions such as accessing, modifying,
and/or deleting data sets. In one example, the data set annotation
indicates that only the data set owner or the user are permitted to
delete a data set, various identified users may be permitted to
access the data set for reading, and others are altogether excluded
from accessing the data set. However, other access restriction
parameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a
data set with various permission levels as appropriate.
[0092] The data, including the header or trailer may be received by
a stand alone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify,
or augment the data in accordance with the header or trailer. As
such, in one embodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the
transaction device along with the associated issuer-owned data but
instead the appropriate action may be taken by providing to the
transaction instrument user at the stand alone device, the
appropriate option for the action to be taken. The system may
contemplate a data storage arrangement wherein the header or
trailer, or header or trailer history, of the data is stored on the
transaction instrument in relation to the appropriate data.
[0093] One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for
security reasons, any databases, systems, devices, servers or other
components of the system may consist of any combination thereof at
a single location or at multiple locations, wherein each database
or system includes any of various suitable security features, such
as firewalls, access codes, encryption, decryption, compression,
decompression, and/or the like.
[0094] A firewall may comprise any hardware and/or software
suitably configured to protect system 100 components and/or
enterprise computing resources from users of other networks.
Further, a firewall may be configured to limit or restrict access
to various systems and components behind the firewall for web
clients 102 connecting through a web server. A firewall may reside
in varying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy
based, access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. A
firewall may be integrated within a web server or any other CMS
components or may further reside as a separate entity. A firewall
may implement network address translation ("NAT") and/or network
address port translation ("NAPT"). A firewall may accommodate
various tunneling protocols to facilitate secure communications,
such as those used in virtual private networking. A firewall may
implement a demilitarized zone ("DMZ") to facilitate communications
with a public network such as the Internet. A firewall may be
integrated as software within an Internet server, any other
application server components or may reside within another
computing device or may take the form of a standalone hardware
component.
[0095] Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques
now available in the art or which may become available--e.g.,
Twofish, RSA, El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, and
symmetric and asymmetric cryptosystems.
[0096] The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable
website or other Internet-based graphical user interface which is
accessible by users. In one embodiment, the Microsoft Internet
Information Server (IIS), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and
Microsoft SQL Server, are used in conjunction with the Microsoft
operating system, Microsoft NT web server software, a Microsoft SQL
Server database system, and a Microsoft Commerce Server.
Additionally, components such as Access or Microsoft SQL Server,
Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be used to
provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database management
system. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used in
conjunction with a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and
the Perl, PHP, and/or Python programming languages.
[0097] Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or
displays discussed herein may be facilitated through a website
having web pages. The term "web page" as it is used herein is not
meant to limit the type of documents and applications that might be
used to interact with the user. For example, a typical website
might include, in addition to standard HTML documents, various
forms, Java applets, JavaScript, active server pages (ASP), common
gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensible markup language (XML),
dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX (Asynchronous
Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, and the like. A
server may include a web service that receives a request from a web
server, the request including a URL
(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address
(123.56.789.234). The web server retrieves the appropriate web
pages and sends the data or applications for the web pages to the
IP address. Web services are applications that are capable of
interacting with other applications over a communications means,
such as the internet. Web services are typically based on standards
or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDL and UDDI. Web services
methods are well known in the art, and are covered in many standard
texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES: A ROADMAP FOR THE
ENTERPRISE (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.
[0098] Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably
configured to facilitate communications and/or process transactions
between disparate computing systems. Middleware components are
commercially available and known in the art. Middleware may be
implemented through commercially available hardware and/or
software, through custom hardware and/or software components, or
through a combination thereof. Middleware may reside in a variety
of configurations and may exist as a standalone system or may be a
software component residing on the Internet server. Middleware may
be configured to process transactions between the various
components of an application server and any number of internal or
external systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein.
WebSphere MQTM (formerly MQSeries) by IBM, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is
an example of a commercially available middleware product. An
Enterprise Service Bus ("ESB") application is another example of
middleware.
[0099] Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number
of methods for displaying data within a browser-based document.
Data may be represented as standard text or within a fixed list,
scrollable list, drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text
field, pop-up window, and the like. Likewise, there are a number of
methods available for modifying data in a web page such as, for
example, free text entry using a keyboard, selection of menu items,
check boxes, option boxes, and the like.
[0100] The system and method may be described herein in terms of
functional block components, screen shots, optional selections and
various processing steps. It should be appreciated that such
functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/or
software components configured to perform the specified functions.
For example, the system may employ various integrated circuit
components, e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic
elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may carry out a
variety of functions under the control of one or more
microprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the software
elements of the system may be implemented with any programming or
scripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, VBScript,
Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages,
assembly, PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored
Procedures, PL/SQL, any UNIX shell script, and extensible markup
language (XML) with the various algorithms being implemented with
any combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or
other programming elements. Further, it should be noted that the
system may employ any number of conventional techniques for data
transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the
like. Still further, the system could be used to detect or prevent
security issues with a client-side scripting language, such as
JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction of
cryptography and network security, see any of the following
references: (1) "Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And
Source Code In C," by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley &
Sons (second edition, 1995); (2) "Java Cryptography" by Jonathan
Knudson, published by O'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3)
"Cryptography & Network Security: Principles & Practice" by
William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall; all of which are
hereby incorporated by reference.
[0101] As used herein, the term "end user", "consumer", "customer",
"cardmember", "business" or "merchant" may be used interchangeably
with each other, and each shall mean any person, entity, machine,
hardware, software or business. A bank may be part of the system,
but the bank may represent other types of card issuing
institutions, such as credit card companies, card sponsoring
companies, or third party issuers under contract with financial
institutions. It is further noted that other participants may be
involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediary
settlement institution, but these participants are not shown.
[0102] Each participant is equipped with a computing device in
order to interact with the system and facilitate online commerce
transactions. The customer has a computing unit in the form of a
personal computer, although other types of computing units may be
used including laptops, notebooks, hand held computers, set-top
boxes, cellular telephones, touch-tone telephones and the like. The
merchant has a computing unit implemented in the form of a
computer-server, although other implementations are contemplated by
the system. The bank has a computing center shown as a main frame
computer. However, the bank computing center may be implemented in
other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PC server, a network of
computers located in the same of different geographic locations, or
the like. Moreover, the system contemplates the use, sale or
distribution of any goods, services or information over any network
having similar functionality described herein.
[0103] The merchant computer and the bank computer may be
interconnected via a second network, referred to as a payment
network. The payment network which may be part of certain
transactions represents existing proprietary networks that
presently accommodate transactions for credit cards, debit cards,
and other types of financial/banking cards. The payment network is
a closed network that is assumed to be secure from eavesdroppers.
Exemplary transaction networks may include the American
Express.RTM., VisaNet.RTM. and the Veriphone.RTM. networks.
[0104] The electronic commerce system may be implemented at the
customer and issuing bank. In an exemplary implementation, the
electronic commerce system is implemented as computer software
modules loaded onto the customer computer and the banking computing
center. The merchant computer does not require any additional
software to participate in the online commerce transactions
supported by the online commerce system.
[0105] As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art,
the system may be embodied as a customization of an existing
system, an add-on product, upgraded software, a stand alone system,
a distributed system, a method, a data processing system, a device
for data processing, and/or a computer program product.
Accordingly, the system may take the form of an entirely software
embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment
combining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore, the
system may take the form of a computer program product on a
computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program
code means embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable
computer-readable storage medium may be utilized, including hard
disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices,
and/or the like.
[0106] The system and method is described herein with reference to
screen shots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of
methods, apparatus (e.g., systems), and computer program products
according to various embodiments. It will be understood that each
functional block of the block diagrams and the flowchart
illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks in the block
diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be
implemented by computer program instructions.
[0107] These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a
general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other
programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such
that the instructions that execute on the computer or other
programmable data processing apparatus create means for
implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or
blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other
programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular
manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable
memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction
means which implement the function specified in the flowchart block
or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded
onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to
cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer
or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented
process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or
other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the
functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
[0108] Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and
flowchart illustrations support combinations of means for
performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for
performing the specified functions, and program instruction means
for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood
that each functional block of the block diagrams and flowchart
illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks in the block
diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by either
special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the
specified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of special
purpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations
of the process flows and the descriptions thereof may make
reference to user windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts,
etc. Practitioners will appreciate that the illustrated steps
described herein may comprise in any number of configurations
including the use of windows, webpages, web forms, popup windows,
prompts and the like. It should be further appreciated that the
multiple steps as illustrated and described may be combined into
single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded for the sake
of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and described as
single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/or
windows but have been combined for simplicity.
[0109] Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have
been described herein with regard to specific embodiments. However,
the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements
that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or
become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical,
required, or essential features or elements of the disclosure. The
scope of the disclosure is accordingly to be limited by nothing
other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in
the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless
explicitly so stated, but rather "one or more." Moreover, where a
phrase similar to `at least one of A, B, and C` or `at least one of
A, B, or C` is used in the claims or specification, it is intended
that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone may be present
in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, C alone
may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of the
elements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for
example, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the
inventions have been described as a method in certain embodiments,
it is contemplated that it may be embodied as computer program
instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier, such as a
magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. All
structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of
the above-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those
of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by
reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims.
Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address
each and every problem sought to be solved by the present
disclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims.
Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present
disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of
whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly
recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed
under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the
element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for." As used
herein, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variation
thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that
a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of
elements does not include only those elements but may include other
elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,
article, or apparatus.
* * * * *
References