Patent Issued for Dual wearable device method and system for authenticating financial transactions (USPTO 11762971): United Services Automobile Association

2023 OCT 09 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States) has been issued patent number 11762971, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Baker, Kelly Q. (San Antonio, TX, US), Buentello, Andre Rene (San Antonio, TX, US), Croak, Michelle Susan (Chicago, IL, US), Culbertson, II, William Preston (Plant City, FL, US), Guerra, Oscar (San Antonio, TX, US), Hansen, Gregory David (San Antonio, TX, US), Huggar, Stacy Callaway (San Antonio, TX, US), Maestas, Jerry John (Trophy Club, TX, US), Maldonado, Ana (San Antonio, TX, US), Maney, Jr., Will Kerns (San Antonio, TX, US), Meyer, Gregory Brian (San Antonio, TX, US), Romero, Jr., Jose L. (San Antonio, TX, US).

This patent was filed on August 28, 2020 and was published online on September 19, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “The present embodiments related to electronic financial transactions in general, and more particularly, to methods and systems for authenticating a user for electronic financial transactions.

“Electronic payments are moving away from conventional magnetic stripe cards, such as credit cards or debit cards, to a variety of different contactless or near-field-communication (NFC) enabled devices. These contactless or NFC-enabled devices use short distance communications between the NFC-enabled device and a point-of-sale (POS) terminal or other similar payment receiving device that are physically separated to authenticate an electronic financial transaction. However, the availability of personal and financial information on these NFC-enabled devices makes them a target for being stolen or hacked, allowing a criminal to make purchases that are charged to the owner of the stolen or hacked device.

“Accordingly, many NFC-enabled device owners may be hesitant to use their device to its fullest capabilities. Additionally, some merchants may be reluctant to accept these types of electronic financial transactions out of concerns that they may not be legitimate. There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses these shortcomings discussed above.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a method for approving an electronic financial transaction using at least two wearable smart devices is provided. The method includes providing a first wearable smart device that is designated as a payment device for conducting electronic financial transactions. The method also includes providing a second wearable smart device that is designated as a confirmation device for confirming the electronic financial transactions by the first wearable smart device. The method includes initiating, by the first wearable smart device, an electronic financial transaction, and, approving, by the second wearable smart device, the electronic financial transaction initiated by the first wearable smart device. The method further includes authenticating the first wearable smart device to complete the electronic financial transaction.

“In another aspect, a method for conducting an electronic financial transaction using a dual wearable device system is provided. The method includes selecting a first wearable smart device from a plurality of wearable smart devices as a payment device and selecting a second wearable smart device from the plurality of wearable smart device as a confirmation device. The second wearable smart device is different from the first wearable smart device. The method also includes authenticating, by the second wearable smart device, the first wearable smart device for conducting an electronic financial transaction. The method further includes using the first wearable smart device to conduct the electronic financial transaction, where the first wearable smart device is de-authenticated upon completion of the electronic financial transaction.

“In another aspect, a dual wearable device system for conducting an electronic financial transaction is provided. The system includes a first wearable smart device including a short-range communication sensor and at least one of a near-field communication (NFC) sensor or a radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor. The system also includes a second wearable smart device including at least a short-range communication sensor. The first wearable smart device and the second wearable smart device are in communication using respective short-range communication sensors. The second wearable smart device is configured to confirm an electronic financial transaction initiated by the first wearable smart device.

“Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description and this summary, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for approving an electronic financial transaction using at least two wearable smart devices, the method comprising: providing a first wearable smart device that is designated as a payment device for conducting electronic financial transactions; providing a second wearable smart device that is designated as a confirmation device for confirming the electronic financial transactions by the first wearable smart device; initiating, by the first wearable smart device, an electronic financial transaction; approving, by the second wearable smart device, the electronic financial transaction initiated by the first wearable smart device; and authenticating the first wearable smart device to complete the electronic financial transaction.

“2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first wearable smart device is in communication with the second wearable smart device using a short-range wireless communication technology.

“3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first wearable smart device and the second wearable smart device are in communication with a mobile device using a short-range wireless communication technology.

“4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: designating the second wearable smart device as the confirmation device using the mobile device.

“5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising authenticating the second wearable device as the confirmation device using authentication information associated with a user of the second wearable device received from the mobile device.

“6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the authentication information associated with the user includes at least one of a fingerprint scan, a vein scan, a facial recognition scan, an iris recognition scan, a password, a PIN, a pattern or sequence based code, voice recognition, or a gesture-based authentication.

“7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first wearable smart device and the second wearable smart device are physically separated from each other on a user or the user’s clothing.

“8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first wearable smart device is configured to be worn on a hand or finger of the user; and wherein the second wearable smart device is configured to be worn on clothing of the user.

“9. A method for conducting an electronic financial transaction using a dual wearable device system, the method comprising: selecting a first wearable smart device from a plurality of wearable smart devices as a payment device; selecting a second wearable smart device from the plurality of wearable smart device as a confirmation device, wherein the second wearable smart device is different from the first wearable smart device; authenticating, by the second wearable smart device, the first wearable smart device for conducting an electronic financial transaction; using the first wearable smart device to conduct the electronic financial transaction; and wherein the first wearable smart device is de-authenticated upon completion of the electronic financial transaction.

“10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the second wearable smart device includes a biometric sensor; and wherein authenticating the first wearable smart device includes reading biometric information associated with a user by the second wearable smart device.

“11. The method according to claim 9, wherein selecting the second wearable smart device includes using a mobile device to designate the second wearable smart device as the confirmation device.

“12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first wearable smart device is in communication with the second wearable smart device using a short-range wireless communication technology.

“13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first wearable smart device and the second wearable smart device are in communication with a mobile device using a short-range wireless communication technology.

“14. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: changing a selection of at least one of the payment device or the confirmation device to a third wearable smart device.

“15. The method according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of wearable smart devices includes two or more smart devices configured to be worn on a user’s body or a user’s clothing.

“16. A dual wearable device system for conducting an electronic financial transaction, the system comprising: a first wearable smart device including a short-range communication sensor and at least one of a near-field communication (NFC) sensor or a radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor; a second wearable smart device including at least a short-range communication sensor; wherein the first wearable smart device and the second wearable smart device are in communication using respective short-range communication sensors; and wherein the second wearable smart device is configured to confirm an electronic financial transaction initiated by the first wearable smart device.

“17. The system according to claim 16, further comprising: a mobile device including a communication module configured to permit the mobile device to communicate with the short-range communication sensor of the first wearable smart device and/or the short-range communication sensor of the second wearable smart device; wherein the mobile device is configured to receive authentication information associated with a user of the dual wearable device system to authenticate the second wearable smart device to be a confirmation device for confirming the electronic financial transaction initiated by the first wearable smart device.

“18. The system according to claim 16, wherein authentication information associated with a user is received by the second wearable smart device to confirm the electronic financial transaction initiated by the first wearable smart device.

“19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the second wearable smart device includes a biometric sensor; and wherein the authentication information associated with the user is biometric information received from the biometric sensor of the second wearable smart device.

“20. The system according to claim 16, wherein the first wearable smart device and the second wearable smart device are physically separated from each other on a user or the user’s clothing.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Baker, Kelly Q. Dual wearable device method and system for authenticating financial transactions. U.S. Patent Number 11762971, filed August 28, 2020, and published online on September 19, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11762971)&db=USPAT&type=ids

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)