HK1113420B - Secure cards and methods - Google Patents

Description

Privacy card and method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to credit cards and debit cards. More particularly, the present invention relates to security methods and techniques that can be used with credit cards, debit cards, and the like, in order to prevent unauthorized use.

Background

Credit cards, including debit and credit cards and other financial transaction cards, are well known and have been used successfully for many years to conduct business transactions as well as authentication. Credit cards are typically made of durable materials and are rectangular in shape. Credit cards often contain specific information related to the identity of the cardholder or financial information. This information may be embossed on the card or contained in a magnetic tape on the card. The information may consist of alphanumeric characters corresponding to a personal account number, an identified PIN number or other personal data. Each type of card typically carries unique data for a particular financial institution, retail loyalty program, etc.

Today, many consumers use this type of card when making payment transactions at grocery stores, gas stations, and other retail stores. These cards may be in the form of credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards (loyalty cards), or check cards (check cards), for example. In many cases, individuals utilize various payment methods, and there may be several payment cards at any given time. For example, a person may carry a credit card that is actually usable anywhere, but may also carry a credit card that is usable only at a particular retail store, such as a department store or a consumer electronics store. When individuals use these credit cards, they must select the card for payment and give it to a clerk behind the counter or swipe it through a card reader. In any given transaction, the individual's financial information, e.g., account number, Personal Identification Number (PIN), and personal information, may be exposed to several different people, who may be clerks behind the counter, service personnel receiving menus, or others who may view such information at a location. This is because account numbers and other sensitive information are typically printed on the surface of such cards. In addition, such information is sometimes visible on display screens and paper receipts. All of these contact scenarios can lead to exposure and potential fraud, as well as illegal use of confidential information.

With the increase of fraud and identity thieves, financial institutions and individuals must pay for the losses incurred by such thieves, thereby requiring increased privacy and security to the devices that can provide financial and information transactions. There is a need to minimize the exposure of such information to unauthorized individuals, which becomes a key to increasing the security of this type of transaction. Managing the numerous financial transaction cards that individuals often carry becomes cumbersome, increasing the risk due to thieves and loss.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is therefore capable of providing the transaction capabilities of one or more cards in a single secure and usable format. For example, information relating to the transaction capabilities of such cards is preferably encoded indicia, such as a bar code or binary two-dimensional matrix, which may be printed or otherwise formed on a single card. Thus, a single card may functionally contain multiple transaction technologies based on multiple separate transaction cards that may be accessed and used separately. Advantageously, cards having such multiple transaction technologies can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and provide a high degree of security.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a highly secure transaction card in which information relating to one or more financial account numbers, as well as any other information, such as identification or authentication information, forms coded indicia, such as a bar code or two-dimensional binary symbol printed or otherwise formed on the card. The coded indicia can be read and decoded, which provides secure functional access to any financial account or other information.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a system that can functionally provide the transactional capabilities of one or more cards onto a single secure card, such as a financial transaction card, so that the transactional capabilities of each of the one or more cards can be accessed and used. The system preferably includes software that encodes information relating to the transaction capabilities of each individual card into a single two-dimensional matrix and hardware that prints or otherwise forms two-dimensional symbols onto a single secure card. For example, an individual may need to combine the transaction capabilities of multiple credit cards into a single secure transaction card. All information needed to complete a transaction for each of a plurality of credit cards may be encoded into a two-dimensional matrix using software and printed on a single card. According to the invention, the card can be used in such devices with a card reader and can read and decode two-dimensional symbols. Once the card is read, the two-dimensional symbol is decoded and preferably confirms the identity of the cardholder, and the associated screen may display all of the credit card icons provided by the card functions. Any confidential or private information, such as credit card numbers, PIN numbers or expiration dates, may remain hidden from view and allow individuals to choose the type of payment to be used. After the payment method is selected, the transaction process may proceed using the current method.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a privacy card, the method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of independently functioning financial transaction cards, each financial transaction card being associated with a financial account number; providing an encoded two-dimensional indicia comprising functional information relating to each independently functional financial transaction card on a surface of the card, wherein the encoded two-dimensional indicia comprises one or more of information encoded into Reed-Solomon blocks, information encoded with error detection and correction, and compressed information, and wherein the encoded two-dimensional indicia is capable of being read and decoded to enable completion of a financial transaction with any one financial account number of each of the plurality of transaction cards.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of using a privacy card, the method comprising the steps of: providing a privacy card provided with an encoded two-dimensional indicia comprising functional information relating to a plurality of independently functional financial transaction cards on a surface of the card, wherein the encoded two-dimensional indicia comprises one or more of information encoded as Reed-Solomon blocks, information encoded with error detection and correction, and compressed information; reading and decoding the encoded two-dimensional mark; selecting a financial account number of each transaction card of the plurality of transaction cards; and completing the financial transaction with the selected financial account number.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for conducting financial transactions based on the use of transaction cards, the system comprising: a reader configured to read and decode an encoded two-dimensional mark, wherein the encoded two-dimensional mark comprises one or more of information encoded into Reed-Solomon blocks, information encoded with error detection and correction, and compressed information; a display for displaying selection information derived from the transaction card, the selection information including information relating to a plurality of different financial transaction account numbers; a control system for selectively completing a financial transaction involving contact with an authority managing a financial transaction account to grant access to data relating to one of a plurality of financial transaction account numbers using information selected from the display and additional information relating to the selected financial transaction account number obtained from the two-dimensional indicia.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a privacy card, the method comprising the steps of: providing information to be encoded, the encoded information including account or identification information relating to a plurality of different transaction account numbers; encoding the information, including encoding the information into Reed-Solomon blocks; generating an encoding flag from the encoded information; and coded indicia providing coded information on the surface of the card.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a privacy card, the method comprising the steps of: providing information to be encoded, the encoded information including account or identification information relating to a plurality of different transaction account numbers; encoding the information, including encoding with error detection and correction; generating an encoding flag from the encoded information; and coded indicia providing coded information on the surface of the card.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. A brief description of these figures is as follows:

FIG. 1 shows examples of the types of credit cards, loyalty cards, and check cards that an individual may carry at any given time;

FIG. 2 shows a privacy card in accordance with the present invention that encodes financial data for a plurality of cards into a two-dimensional matrix in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing how an individual may combine multiple transaction cards with fingerprint and authentication data and encode it into a two-dimensional matrix and print it, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing how an individual may enter a shopping process using a privacy card, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a process that may be used to combine multiple cards into a single card in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram in accordance with the present invention that may be used in a shopping process that includes confirming the identity of a user.

Detailed Description

Currently, individuals may own multiple cards that they use to make purchases, as shown in FIG. 1. They often fit these cards into a wallet or purse. The number and type of cards may vary and may include financial transaction cards, loyalty cards, check cards, phone cards, identification cards, drivers licenses, and the like. The present invention allows an individual to provide all of the required data and load one or more cards of information into a secure coded indicia, such as a bar code or two-dimensional matrix, and store it on a single card, for example, in the exemplary manner shown in FIG. 2.

In general terms, the exemplary schematic diagram of FIG. 3 illustrates the flow chart of FIG. 5, which illustrates a process for making a privacy card in accordance with the present invention, preferably including the following steps; the method includes obtaining data from a data source, encoding the data, generating a matrix of digital data from the encoded data, and storing the data. However, additional steps are also contemplated, such as data processing steps for manipulating, converting, editing, or otherwise acting upon or processing the data in a desired manner.

The initial steps of the process preferably include obtaining data from a data source. Such data may include any data that needs to be formed into a secure and encrypted form. Such data may include data from one or more financial transaction cards 330, personal or biometric data, such as fingerprint data 310, account-based information, such as access numbers 320, etc., or any other information. The invention is particularly applicable to data that needs to be transferred, for example data carried by an individual. Such data may be in any form, for example, alphanumeric, graphical, or image-based. Personal data may include personal information, such as a person's name, address, account number, bank code, and the like. The biometric data may be fingerprint recognition, facial feature recognition, eye feature recognition, facial images, electronic signature recognition, or other means for specifically identifying an individual. In any event, such data preferably comprises storable data which needs to be stored in a secure encrypted form and printed onto a card in a secure form.

After identifying the data, an encoding step is preferably used to encode the data. This encoding is used to put the data into digital form and may include the steps of: storing data in memory, typing data on a keyboard or the like, reading data from a magnetic tape on a card, creating an image or graphic, and scanning a thumbprint or an eye or other biometric based data. Preferably using a software encoding process, such software encoding of data may be accomplished using any desired technique. For example, data to be encoded may be converted into binary streams of 1's and 0's. The binary information may then be further encrypted, allowing error detection and correction (EDAC). Reed-Solomon error correction, which is now used by almost all 2D barcodes, is a byte correction scheme that is widely used in digital storage applications such as in the field of telecommunications. With this technique, the included Reed-Solomon error correcting codewords form a composite message with the data codewords. Techniques for region symbologies and electronically encoded data are well known, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,612,524, U.S. Pat. No.5,331,176, U.S. Pat. No.4,972,475, and U.S. Pat. No.4,924,078, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Other techniques for Encoding and Decoding Information are also disclosed in the applicant's co-pending US Patent Application No.60/567,761, entitled "Methods for Encoding and Decoding Information", filed on 5/3 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In addition, a Security Card utilizing two-dimensional indicia and methods of making and using such a Card are also disclosed in applicant's co-pending U.S. Patent Application No.10/713,247, filed on 13/11/2003, entitled "High-Security Card and System," which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Preferably, the digital data matrix 340 in the form of symbols or indicia is derived from the encoded data. Any symbol or indicia, such as a bar code or two-dimensional code, may be used. The digital data matrix may be formed by printing or may be formed on an electronic chip or device. For example, the encrypted binary stream may be distributed into a two-dimensional symbology, e.g., a matrix array. The regional symbology used herein is commercially available under the trade name VeriCode^TMOr VScode^TMThe symbology of (1), which employs a matrix of data cells. As an example, the encoded data can be used to build a matrix of Vericode cells. This can be done by digitizing the encoded data into binary bit form and processing with software algorithms to produce the code. Such techniques, which are well known in the art, are described in the above-mentioned US patents.

Preferably, the digital data momentsArray 340 (e.g., VSCode)^TMMatrix) is stored on the print card 350. Preferably, the digital data matrix 340 is in the form of a print that can be printed on a typical card and placed in a wallet or purse. However, to do so, it is necessary to reduce the size or compress the data matrix. This may be done by controlling the size of the elements and the number of dots per element during printing, thereby allowing the symbol to be decoded using a predetermined card reader.

The cardholder may use a privacy card 410 having a two-dimensional matrix printed, e.g., coded indicia, to conduct transactions at the point of sale, as shown in the schematic diagram of fig. 4 and the flow diagram of fig. 6. The required steps are as follows: first, a privacy card 410 having a two-dimensional matrix is placed in a card reader 420 for reading and decoding the two-dimensional matrix. If the fingerprint authentication is encoded as a two-dimensional matrix, the cardholder places his finger on a nearby fingerprint reader 430. The reader 430 generates an accurate set of small dots and compares them with the dots encoded into a two-dimensional matrix using decoding software. Once the comparison is complete and a positive confirmation is obtained, a graphic depicting all payment types appears on the card reader screen 440, which is provided by the privacy card 410. This graphic preferably represents only an icon of the payment method. All relevant data, such as account number, credit card number, age, and PIN number, are preferably hidden from the screen. This increases the security that information is not revealed to third parties.

It is contemplated that any type of authentication may also be used. The photographic images of one or more legitimate cardholders may be contained in a two-dimensional matrix. Store personnel can access the image and can use the image to properly identify legitimate users. Once the cardholder's identity is verified by a clerk, the clerk can authorize access to the payment method provided by the privacy card. In this way, numerous individuals may be authorized to use the same privacy card, e.g., spouses, who may collectively access a particular financial account number. Other information that identifies an authorized user may also be used, for example, information relating to the user's physical condition. Furthermore, access codes and the like may be used to restrict access to legitimate users.

Once the icon is presented, the cardholder may select the type of payment method they wish to use. Once selected, the system returns to the two-dimensional matrix 410 and utilizes the account numbers and data required to conduct standard transactions with a financial institution or bank 450. Preferably, this transaction step continues to remain private and hidden in the process, thereby not exposing any relevant data and keeping all data from third party viewing. When the system contacts the financial institution, the process continues to completion.

The invention has been described with reference to several embodiments. The foregoing detailed description has been given for clarity of understanding. Other persons will recognize that changes may be made to this embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the exact details and structures described herein.

Claims (8)

1. A method of making a privacy card, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of independently functioning financial transaction cards, each financial transaction card being associated with a financial account number;

providing an encoded two-dimensional indicia comprising functional information relating to each independently functional financial transaction card on a surface of the privacy card, wherein the encoded two-dimensional indicia comprises one or more of information encoded into Reed-Solomon blocks, information encoded with error detection and correction, and compressed information, and wherein the encoded two-dimensional indicia is capable of being read and decoded to enable completion of a financial transaction with any one financial account number of each of the plurality of financial transaction cards.

2. A method of using a privacy card, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a privacy card provided with an encoded two-dimensional indicia comprising functional information relating to a plurality of independently functional financial transaction cards on a surface of the card, wherein the encoded two-dimensional indicia comprises one or more of information encoded as Reed-Solomon blocks, information encoded with error detection and correction, and compressed information;

reading and decoding the encoded two-dimensional mark;

selecting a financial account number of each financial transaction card of the plurality of financial transaction cards; and

and finishing the financial transaction with the selected financial account number.

3. A system for conducting financial transactions based on the use of transaction cards, the system comprising:

a reader configured to read and decode an encoded two-dimensional mark, wherein the encoded two-dimensional mark comprises one or more of information encoded into Reed-Solomon blocks, information encoded with error detection and correction, and compressed information;

a display for displaying selection information derived from the transaction card, the selection information including information relating to a plurality of different financial transaction account numbers;

a control system for selectively completing a financial transaction involving contact with an authority managing a financial transaction account to grant access to data relating to one of a plurality of financial transaction account numbers using information selected from the display and additional information relating to the selected financial transaction account number obtained from the two-dimensional indicia.

4. A system according to claim 3, further comprising reading biometric information from a cardholder in communication with the control system, the control system further providing a function of comparing the biometric information read from the card reader with encoded information read from the two-dimensional indicia to verify the identity of the cardholder.

5. A method of making a privacy card, the method comprising the steps of:

providing information to be encoded, the information to be encoded including account or identification information relating to a plurality of different transaction account numbers;

encoding the information to be encoded, including encoding with error detection and correction;

generating an encoding tag from the encoded information, wherein generating the encoding tag from the encoded information comprises compressing the information to be encoded; and

providing said coded indicia of the coded information on the surface of the card.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said information to be encoded comprises one or more of the following information: alphanumeric information, graphical information, and biometric information.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the information to be encoded comprises: functional account information relating to a plurality of financial transaction cards.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of generating the coded mark comprises: a matrix of data cells is generated.