HK1108591A - Methods and apparatus for facilitating a currency exchange transaction - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for facilitating currency conversion transactions

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for facilitating currency conversion transactions.

Background

An international traveler, such as a tourist, a businessman, etc., may arrive in a foreign country and obtain local currency and use it to conduct shopping transactions, such as purchasing food, traveling, paying hotel accommodations, etc. After completing their business and/or recreational activities, the international traveler may arrive at an airport, train station, and/or seaport and wish to exchange the local currency, particularly coins, remaining from their visit.

Unfortunately, the international traveler has limited options for exchanging the local currency for his or her home currency. Indeed, the long queues and inconveniences associated with manual currency exchange kiosks are a common occurrence. In addition, international travelers are often prohibited from exchanging coins. Further, the types of currency, i.e., cash, that travelers receive are also limited.

Thus, there is a need in the art for new methods and apparatus that facilitate currency conversion that are more convenient, permit the exchange of coins, and/or permit the traveler to select the type of currency he or she receives.

Disclosure of Invention

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention, the redemption method and apparatus provides the visitor or traveler with the ability to redeem his/her remaining coins and/or notes before they leave a country.

The kiosks are preferably located at international airports, seaports, and train stations for use by visitors/travelers. Using such kiosks, a user may exchange local currency (banknotes and/or coins) for currency of another country.

For example, the kiosk may obtain information about the user (via a debit card, etc.) and display instructional information about the use of the kiosk in the appropriate language. The user may insert local currency, automatically perform the exchange, and present a receipt. The receipt may be a cash bearer instrument. The kiosk may send data regarding the transaction (e.g., information about the user, the amount redeemed, etc.) to a central computer located locally in another country, or to a distributed system. The central computer preferably sorts the collected data and then sends it to a computer in the user's home country. Next, a central computer in the user's home country may perform money transfers to the user's bank account or other accounts (credit account, debit account, electronic money account, etc.). The user may then proceed with a cash withdrawal (or other debit activity) to obtain the funds. In one or more embodiments, the issued receipt may be used to withdraw cash at the user's bank. In one or more embodiments, this may be accomplished by having the receipt be a cash bearer instrument, and using the receipt to obtain cash at the user's bank or another bank willing to cash the instrument.

Preferably, the user can check the status of the transaction by accessing a Web site using the Internet.

In accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention, a method and apparatus provide the following functions: prompting a user to present currency of a first country including at least one of notes and coins to a foreign currency kiosk; applying one or more currency exchange rates to the total entered currency to calculate a converted currency amount for a second country; and remittance by a third party based on the converted money amount.

The method and apparatus may also provide the following functions: defaulting that the first country corresponds to a location of the kiosk; and/or prompting the user to select the first country using an input device of the kiosk.

The method and apparatus may also provide the ability to read card information from a card swiped through the kiosk to determine a language in the kiosk in which to display the information. The method and apparatus may also provide the following functions: defaulting the second country to correspond to the determined language; and/or prompting the user to select the second country using an input device of the kiosk.

The method and apparatus may also provide at least one of the following functions: displaying the total amount of the entered currency on a display screen of the kiosk; and prompts the user to confirm the total amount of money entered.

The method and apparatus may also provide at least one of the following functions: displaying at least one exchange rate on a display screen of the kiosk; and prompting the user to confirm acceptance of the at least one exchange rate. The method and apparatus may also provide for displaying a first exchange rate associated with the banknotes and a second exchange rate associated with the coins.

The method and apparatus may also provide at least one of the following functions: displaying one or more currency types to which the user may convert the entered currency; and prompting the user to select one of the currency types. The one or more currency types may include at least one of cash, a credit card account, a direct deposit account, and electronic currency.

The method and apparatus may also provide at least one of the following functions: displaying a transaction fee on a display screen of the kiosk; and prompting the user to confirm acceptance of the transaction fee.

The method and apparatus may also provide one of the following functions: transmitting transaction information to a processing center via a communications network, the transaction information including at least one of a currency entered, a first country, a second country, a currency type, information relating to a third party, and a transaction fee; and performing a money transfer to the third party based on the converted money amount.

The method and apparatus may also provide the ability to update a Web site in communication with the processing center so that a user may obtain status information about the transaction by accessing the Web site.

According to one or more further aspects of the present invention, an apparatus comprises: a processor operable to perform actions in response to program instructions; a display operatively connected to the processor and adapted to display indicia to a user in accordance with the processor; a hard currency input device operable to receive hard currency input by a user and to store the received hard currency in the apparatus; and a network interface operable to transmit and receive messages over a communications network, wherein the processor is further operable to: (i) displaying a prompt to a user on the display, the prompt prompting the user to present currency of a first country including at least one of notes and coins to the hard currency input device; and (ii) applying one or more currency exchange rates to the total entered currency to calculate a converted currency amount in the second country.

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description herein taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

For purposes of explanation, the drawings illustrate the presently preferred form, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities described herein.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a currency conversion system adapted to facilitate currency conversion in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a currency exchange kiosk of the system of FIG. 1 in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating process steps that may be performed by one or more elements of the system of FIG. 1 in accordance with one or more further aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating further process steps that may be performed by one or more elements of the system of FIG. 1 in accordance with one or more further aspects of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating further process steps that may be performed by one or more elements of the system of fig. 1 in accordance with one or more further aspects of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is depicted in FIG. 1 a lowest-level configuration portion of a currency exchange system 100 that may be adapted to implement one or more features of the present invention. For the sake of brevity and clarity, the block diagram of FIG. 1 will be referred to and described herein as illustrating an apparatus 100, although it will be appreciated that this description may readily be applied to aspects of a method as well.

The system 100 includes a plurality of kiosks 102, a processing center 106, one or more banks 108A, 108B, etc., and a network 104 (e.g., the Internet) interconnecting these components. The kiosks 102 are foreign currency exchange devices that may be used to permit a user to exchange his or her currency for another country's currency. The kiosk 102 is preferably located in an area frequented by international travelers, including international airports, seaports, train stations, etc. The processing center 106 may be located anywhere in the world and may be a single or distributed system by which corresponding transactions are processed and completed at the kiosk 102 for one or more banks 108.

In use, an international traveler, such as a tourist, a businessman, etc., may arrive in a foreign country and obtain local currency and use it to conduct shopping transactions, such as purchasing food, traveling, paying for hotel accommodations, etc. After completing their business and/or recreational activities, the international traveler may arrive at an airport, train station, and/or seaport and wish to exchange the local currency, particularly coins, remaining from their visit. The international traveler may utilize a kiosk 102 located at an airport, train station, and/or seaport to make such currency exchanges.

Referring now to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred configuration of the kiosk 102. The kiosk 102 preferably includes a display 110, an input device 112, a card reader 114, a processor 116, a note/coin input device 118, a memory unit 120, a receipt printing unit 122, and a network interface 124.

The display may use any known technology, such as Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology, plasma display technology, etc. The input device 112 is preferably operable to receive information from a user of the kiosk 102, such as through a keypad, audio sensing circuitry, and the like. Note that the input device 112 may include touch screen technology, which, as is known in the art, may be integrated with the display 110. Although not depicted in fig. 2, the kiosk 102 may also include suitable audio circuitry to supplement any indicia (indicia) provided on the display 110 or to supplement the input device 112.

The card reader 114 is preferably operable to receive information from any known card technology, such as credit cards, ATM cards, debit cards, smart cards, and the like. The card reader circuit 114 is adapted to read information from a card input by a user and to submit such information to the processor 116 to facilitate a currency conversion transaction, as will be described in greater detail below.

The processor 116 may be implemented using known technologies that are capable of retrieving data from various input devices and/or memory 120 and manipulating the data to achieve a desired result. For example, the processor 116 may be implemented using any known microprocessor capable of executing software and/or firmware, including standard microprocessors, distributed microprocessors, and the like.

The note/coin input device 118 is preferably operable to receive currency in the form of notes and/or coins, store such currency in the kiosk 102, and provide signals indicative of the amount of currency received to the processor 116 and/or memory unit 120. Note that the note/coin input device 118 may be used to receive currency from only one country, or may be used to receive currency from different countries, as is well known in the art. It should be appreciated that the technology used by the note/coin input device 118 is capable of sensing the denomination of the input currency and generating a signal indicative of such denomination.

The memory unit 120 may be a single memory circuit or may be distributed throughout one or more other components of the kiosk 102. The memory unit 120 preferably includes a Random Access Memory (RAM) portion that is operatively interconnected with the processor 116 to achieve a desired computational power. The memory unit 120 may also include one or more Read Only Memory (ROM) portions that include one or more software programs suitable for execution by the processor 116 and/or other components of the kiosk 102 to implement the functionality described herein.

The receipt printing unit 122 is preferably operable to generate hard copy receipts that record various aspects of the currency conversion transaction that are useful to the user in accordance with instructions from the processor 116. In one or more embodiments, the issued receipt may be a cash bearer instrument.

The network interface 124 is preferably operable to interconnect one or more elements of the kiosk 102 with the network 104 to enable communication with at least the processing center 106, as described in more detail below.

The functionality and interoperability of the elements of the kiosk 102 may be better understood with reference to fig. 3-5, which are flow charts illustrating the actions performed by the kiosk 102 and/or other elements of the system 100 to achieve the currency transaction capabilities of the present invention. At act 200, the user is prompted to swipe his or her card through the card reader 114 of the kiosk 102. This may cause indicia to be displayed on the display 110 that provides such a prompt to the user. Since the user's nationality is likely unknown to the kiosk 102, the indicia may be displayed in a variety of languages, including one or more international languages, such as english or french. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the user may be prompted to select a language in which to perform the transaction as opposed to swiping a card through the card reader 114. In this embodiment, a user may select a language by manipulating an input device 112 (e.g., via a keypad or touch screen).

At act 202, it is determined whether the user has swiped the card in the card reader 114. If the determination is positive, the information obtained by the card reader 114 is preferably provided to the processor 116. The processor 116 is preferably operable to sense the likely transaction language from the information obtained from the card. For example, if the user has swiped a card in the card reader 114, some information about the card may include information indicating which country the card and/or user came from, the processor 116 may sense the country of origin and establish a language for the transaction (act 204).

In any case, once a language for the transaction is established, the user is preferably prompted to select a currency country using the input device 112. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the country in which the kiosk 102 is located may be the default currency country, and the note/coin input device 118 may be specifically adapted to receive local currency for deposit into the kiosk 102 (act 206).

At act 208, the user is preferably prompted to enter currency, which may include notes and/or coins, into the note/coin input device 118 of the kiosk 102. The note/coin input device 118 preferably senses the respective denomination of the entered currency and generates a signal for sensing the total amount of entered currency (act 210). More specifically, the banknote/coin input device 118 itself or a cooperative effort between the device and the processor 116 may be established to be able to sense the total amount of currency presented to the kiosk 102. The total amount of money that is entered is preferably displayed on the display 110 so that the user can confirm the amount using an input device 112 (e.g., keypad, touch screen technology, audio perception technology, etc.).

At act 212, the user is preferably prompted (e.g., via the display 110 and/or audio device) to select a currency exchange country. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the currency exchange country may be established by default to correspond to the selected language. For example, when the user selects japanese, the processor 116 automatically selects the currency exchange country to be japan. However, it is preferred that the user be provided with an opportunity to confirm the default currency exchange country via the input device 112.

At act 214, at least one exchange rate is preferably displayed on the display 110 of the kiosk 102, wherein the exchange rate corresponds to a currency exchange between the local currency being exchanged and a currency of the selected currency exchange country. In a preferred embodiment, two exchange rates are shown, one exchange rate for banknotes and the other exchange rate for coins. The user is preferably provided with an opportunity to confirm the exchange rate, such as by submitting an "affirmative" reply via the input device 112. Also, at act 214, the processor 116 is preferably operable to calculate the amount of currency converted by the currency exchange country by applying one or more currency exchange rates to the total entered currency. The converted currency amount is preferably displayed on the display 110 and the user is provided with an opportunity to confirm the amount via the input device 112.

At act 216, the user is preferably prompted by the display 110 to select a currency type, such as cash, direct deposit, electronic currency, and the like. The user is preferably provided with an opportunity to select a currency type via the input device 112. This may result in prompting the user to enter banking information. For example, when the user wishes to obtain cash, the user is preferably prompted to provide information about a bank 108 in the currency exchange country that the user may later access to withdraw cash. Banking information may include the name of a bank, account name, account number, etc.

In one or more embodiments, the receipt printing device 122 may issue a receipt that may be used to make a cash withdrawal at the user's bank or any bank willing to redeem the receipt. This may be accomplished in one or more embodiments by making the receipt a cash bearer instrument and using the receipt to obtain cash at the user's bank or at another bank willing to cash the instrument.

Alternatively, the user may be prompted to enter a credit card number and/or swipe a credit card through the card reader 114 to provide the kiosk 102 with the necessary information to complete the transfer of funds to a credit card account. Similarly, the user may be prompted to enter information regarding direct deposits and/or electronic money transfers if the user wishes to have a bank deposit for these types of accounts.

At act 218, the transaction using the kiosk 102 is preferably completed, which may result in the collection of a management fee. When a management fee is scheduled, such fee is preferably displayed on the display 110 and the user is provided with an opportunity to confirm the fee via the input device 112. The processor 116 preferably instructs the receipt printing device 122 to print a receipt that records at least some parameters of the currency conversion transaction.

At act 220, the kiosk 102 preferably transmits the transaction information to the processing center 106 via the network 104. This preferably causes the processor 116 to collect and package transaction information and transmit such information via the network interface 124 for transmission over the network 104. The transaction information may include one or more of the entered currency, the local country, the currency conversion country, the currency type, information related to the third party recipient, such as a credit card account, a direct deposit account, an electronic money account, etc., and a transaction fee.

The processing center 106 may be located in the same country as the kiosk 102 utilized by the traveler, may be located in any other country, and/or may be a distributed system. When a distributed system, the processing center may also be present in the redemption country and may transmit transaction information from the local country thereto for further processing. The processing center 106 preferably validates the transaction information and/or records the transaction information in a database for reconciliation (act 222). Next, processing center 106 preferably performs a money transfer with the selected third party, such as a bank, credit card company, e-money account, etc., over network 104 to complete the transaction. Note that the money transfer need not be made over network 104 (although it is preferred), and may be accomplished using virtually any mechanism between processing center 106 and a third party.

At act 226, the processing center 106 is preferably operable to facilitate updating of the Web site of the tracking information so that the user of the kiosk 102 can later access the Web site to determine the status of the transaction. This preferably allows the user to be provided with a unique user ID and/or password that can be established when the user interacts with the kiosk 102. This user ID and/or password may be provided to the user, for example, via a receipt generated by the receipt printing unit 122.

In accordance with at least one further aspect of the present invention, the methods and apparatus described above may be implemented using suitable hardware, such as that illustrated in the various figures. Such hardware may be implemented using any known technology, such as standard digital circuitry, any known processor operable to execute software and/or firmware programs, such as one or more programmable digital devices or systems, such as Programmable Read Only Memories (PROMs), programmable array logic devices (PALs), or the like. In addition, although the devices illustrated in the various figures have been described as being partitioned into functional blocks, such functional blocks may be implemented by separate circuits and/or by combining them into one or more functional units. Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may be implemented via one or more software and/or firmware programs, which may be stored on one or more storage media (e.g., one or more floppy disks, one or more memory chips, etc.), for transmission and/or distribution.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (24)

1. A method, comprising:

prompting a user to enter currency of a first country including at least one of notes and coins into a foreign currency kiosk;

applying one or more currency exchange rates to the total entered currency to calculate a converted currency amount for the second country; and

remittance is made with a third party based on the converted money amount.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

defaulting that the first country corresponds to a location of the kiosk; and

the user is prompted to select a first country using an input device of the kiosk.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the card information is read from a card swiped through the kiosk to determine a language in which to display information in the kiosk.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising at least one of:

defaulting the second country to correspond to the determined language; and

the user is prompted to select the second country using the input device of the kiosk.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

displaying the total amount of the entered currency on a display screen of the kiosk; and

the user is prompted to confirm the total amount of money entered.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

displaying at least one exchange rate on a display screen of the kiosk; and

the user is prompted to confirm acceptance of the at least one exchange rate.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying a first exchange rate associated with the banknote and a second exchange rate associated with the coin.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

displaying that the user can convert the entered currency into one or more currency types; and

the user is prompted to select one of these currency types.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more currency types include at least one of cash, a credit card account, a direct deposit account, and electronic money.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

displaying a transaction fee on a display screen of the kiosk; and

prompting the user to confirm acceptance of the transaction fee.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting transaction information to a processing center via a communication network, the transaction information including at least one of a currency entered, a first country, a second country, a currency type, information related to a third party, and a transaction fee; and

a money transfer to the third party is performed based on the converted money amount.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: a Web site in communication with the processing center is updated so that the user can obtain status information about the transaction by accessing the Web site.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor operable to perform actions in response to program instructions;

a display operatively connected to the processor and adapted to display indicia to a user in accordance with the processor;

a hard currency input device operable to receive hard currency input by a user and to store the received hard currency in the apparatus; and

a network interface operable to transmit and receive messages over a communication network,

wherein the processor is further operable to: (i) displaying a prompt to a user on the display, the prompt prompting the user to present currency of a first country including at least one of notes and coins to the hard currency input device; and (ii) applying one or more currency exchange rates to the total entered currency to calculate a converted currency amount in the second country.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further operable for at least one of:

defaulting that the first country corresponds to a location of the device; and

the user is prompted via the display to select a first country using an input device of the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a card reading device operable to read card information from a card swiped by a user, wherein the processor is further operable to determine a language in the kiosk in which to display the information.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further operable for at least one of:

defaulting the second country to correspond to the determined language; and

the user is prompted via the display to select a second country using an input device of the apparatus.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further operable to at least one of:

displaying the total amount of the entered currency on a display; and

the user is prompted via the display to confirm the total amount of money entered.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable for at least one of:

displaying at least one exchange rate on a display; and

the user is prompted via the display to confirm acceptance of the at least one exchange rate.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor is further operable to display a first exchange rate associated with the banknotes and a second exchange rate associated with the coins.

20. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable for at least one of:

displaying that the user can convert the entered currency into one or more currency types; and

the user is prompted via the display to select one of these currency types.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the one or more currency types include at least one of cash, a credit card account, a direct deposit account, and electronic currency.

22. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further operable to at least one of:

displaying a transaction fee on the display; and

the user is prompted via the display to confirm acceptance of the transaction fee.

23. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processor is further operable to cause the network interface to transmit transaction information to a processing center via the communication network, the transaction information including at least one of the currency submitted, the first country, the second country, the currency type, information related to the third party, and a transaction fee.

24. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processing center is operable to perform a money transfer to a third party based on the converted currency amount.