Patent Issued for Secure biometric-based smart card activation method and system (USPTO 11836232): United Services Automobile Association

2023 DEC 25 (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 11836232, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Durairaj, Ravi (San Antonio, TX, US), Huggar, Stacy Callaway (San Antonio, TX, US), Lopez, Mark Anthony (Helotes, TX, US), Lyle, Ruthie D. (Durham, NC, US), Meyer, Gregory Brian (San Antonio, TX, US), Mitchem, Sean Carl (San Antonio, TX, US), Post, Nathan Lee (Rockport, TX, US), Serrao, Nolan (Plano, TX, US), Tijerina, Oscar Roberto (San Antonio, TX, US).

This patent was filed on March 31, 2021 and was published online on December 5, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Financial institutions provide credit cards and debit cards to consumers to enable consumers to access credit and/or money on account. However, fraud and theft are problems associated with such cards. Financial institutions, such as banks and credit card companies, have financed numerous efforts to combat fraud. However, such efforts have had limited success. Identity theft, credit or debit card misuse, fraud and other racketeering schemes cost businesses and individual thousands of dollars in losses. In addition to the money lost to criminals, individuals suffer losses in the form of lost wages and time rectifying the situation and higher interest rates due to credit rating issues that result from the fraud perpetrated in their name. Generally, identity or credit theft refers to a phenomenon where a first party poses as a second party by using information or objects associated with a second party to commit a fraudulent act with a third party. The third party believes that the first party is who they claim to be because they are using information or objects that generally would only be known by the second party. A common solution to preventing identity theft is the use of authentication credentials that prove the identity of the user.

“Some financial institutions have attempted to thwart fraudulent activities through technology, customer awareness, insurance, and the like. For example, efforts employed by financial institutions include safeguards like account PIN numbers and CVV2 numbers on credit cards on the usage side, and detection methods like neural net pattern checking, fraud databases, and the like, on the investigative side. While all these efforts are helpful the fact remains that the pattern of financial crimes continues. These threats affect not only the financial industry, but all aspects of commercial and consumer activities.

“In most scenarios in which an end-user attempts to access a secured resource via one or more of these channels, the end-user will be required to provide some proof of identity, typically associated with an identification card, key-card, fingerprint, or other factor before access is granted. Authentication (i.e., identifying and verifying) of an end-user can be time-consuming for both the end-user and the organization, as well as burdensome for users who are required to carry and present the necessary identification credentials and/or keys, or memorization of passwords or codes. It may be appreciated that many businesses and other organizations would benefit from mechanisms by which to reduce the costs associated with the authentication and authorization of customers. Furthermore, customers will be attracted by an authentication system that reduces or even eliminates the need to carry or offer unique identification factors.

“There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses the 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 of activating a smart card is disclosed. The method includes receiving, via an image sensor of the smart card, first image data corresponding to a first facial signature, and comparing the first facial signature to a first facial model stored in a memory of the smart card. The method further includes determining the first facial signature and the first facial model match, and activating, in response to determining the first facial signature and the first facial model match, the smart card for a first period of time.

“In another aspect, a system for activating a smart card includes a processor and machine-readable media. The machine-readable media include instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive, via an image sensor of the smart card, first image data corresponding to a first facial signature and compare the first facial signature to a first facial model stored in a memory of the smart card. The instructions also cause the processor to determine the first facial signature and the first facial model match, and activate, in response to determining the first facial signature and the first facial model match, the smart card for a first period of time.

“In another aspect, a smart card configured to verify that a user of the smart card is authorized to use the smart card includes a holographic rendering corresponding to a representation of a first facial signature, an integrated circuit chip, at least a first processor configured to detect facial signatures and compare the detected facial signatures to the first facial signature, and a battery.

“Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the disclosure 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 disclosure, and be protected by the following claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method of activating a smart card, the method comprising: receiving, via an image sensor of the smart card, first image data corresponding to a first facial signature; comparing the first facial signature to a first facial model stored in a memory of the smart card; determining the first facial signature and the first facial model match; and activating, in response to determining the first facial signature and the first facial model match, the smart card for a first period of time, wherein activating the smart card comprises closing a circuit, thereby causing power to flow from a battery of the smart card to a control module of the smart card and, after the first period of time, opening the circuit, thereby preventing power from flowing from the battery to the control module.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing, in the memory of the smart card, the first facial model.

“3. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the first facial model during an enrollment session during which the person associated with the first facial model presented identification documents to verify their identity.

“4. The method of claim 1, further comprising deactivating the smart card once the first period of time has passed.

“5. The method of claim 1, further comprising triggering a switch on the smart card to initiate the image capture.

“6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, via the image sensor, second image data corresponding to a second facial signature; comparing the second facial signature to the first facial model; determining the first facial signature and the first facial model fail to match; and transmitting, in response to determining the second facial signature and the first facial model failed to match, a notification to an external monitoring service via a communication module of the smart card indicating a failed attempt to activate the smart card.

“7. A system for activating a smart card, the system comprising a processor and machine-readable media including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive, via an image sensor of the smart card, first image data corresponding to a first facial signature; compare the first facial signature to a first facial model stored in a memory of the smart card; determine the first facial signature and the first facial model match; and activate, in response to determining the first facial signature and the first facial model match, the smart card for a first period of time, wherein activation of the smart card comprises closing a circuit, thereby causing power to flow from a battery of the smart card to a control module of the smart card and, after the first period of time, opening the circuit, thereby preventing power from flowing from the battery to the control module.

“8. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to store, in the memory of the smart card, the first facial model.

“9. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to generate the first facial model during an enrollment session during which the person associated with the first facial model presented identification documents to verify their identity.

“10. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to deactivate the smart card once the first period of time has passed.

“11. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to trigger a switch on the smart card to initiate the image capture.

“12. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: receive, via the image sensor, second image data corresponding to a second facial signature; compare the second facial signature to the first facial model; determine the first facial signature and the first facial model fail to match; and transmit, in response to determining the second facial signature and the first facial model failed to match, a notification to an external monitoring service via a communication module of the smart card indicating a failed attempt to activate the smart card.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Durairaj, Ravi. Secure biometric-based smart card activation method and system. U.S. Patent Number 11836232, filed March 31, 2021, and published online on December 5, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11836232)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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