Patent Issued for Systems and methods for ghost card creation via a browser extension (USPTO 11443300): United Services Automobile Association

2022 SEP 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Jones, Darrius M. (San Antonio, TX, US), Roberts, Lonnie B. (San Antonio, TX, US), Smith, Valmore M. (San Antonio, TX, US), Valles, Alejandra (El Paso, TX, US), Wu, Huihui (Grapevine, TX, US), filed on February 12, 2021, was published online on September 13, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11443300 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Multiple issues can arise with online purchases. First, security breaches by retailers and service providers have become a near-everyday event. Data compromised in such breaches can include payment card data, email addresses, and other personal information, requiring customers and payment card issuers to take steps to remedy the situation. For example, if payment card information is compromised, the payment card issuer will cancel the payment card and send a new payment card to the customer. Second, when making an online purchase, many customers select a payment card without knowing the balance of the payment card or how the purchase may affect their budget instead of logging onto the payment card issuer’s website to verify balances.

“The present technology overcomes these and other limitations of current systems and provides other benefits that will become clearer to those skilled in the art from the following description.

“The techniques introduced here may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Embodiments described herein provide systems and methods for creation of a ghost (i.e., secure) card via a browser extension. Online shopping can pose challenges that are addressed by the present technology. First, payment card data in the hands of retailers or service providers can easily be compromised. Second, payment card information, budget information, and other financial information is often not readily available to the user when the user is shopping online. Instead, if the user needs to access such information, the user must open a separate tab or window, provide access credentials, and locate the relevant information. Most users will skip these steps in hopes that they are making purchases within their means, selecting the payment instrument that provides the most benefits, and staying on track with their budget, but without knowing. Methods and systems disclosed herein address both of these issues with a single solution.

“In some embodiments, a user can download a browser extension that identifies when a user is accessing a website of a retailer or service provider. In some embodiments, the user is required to provide authentication credentials to the browser and/or the browser extension before the browser extension provides user-specific information. The browser extension can identify the retailer or service provider website in various ways such as a predefined list, a category of website (e.g., top level domain), or historical transaction information, or in some cases, the user can enable (e.g., right click and select an option) the browser extension for a website. Once the browser extension is enabled, the system can cause an interactive window or icon to be displayed on the user’s device. The interactive window can include personalized information such as a listing of payment cards or account balances, budget information, alerts to other deals, or other information. For example, the user can ask “How much have I spent on clothing this month?”, and the system can provide a response via the interactive window. In some embodiments, the browser extension can detect that the user has certain items in the shopping cart of the retailer or service provider and then tailor the information to the user. For example, the interactive window can state, “If you purchase the $100 jacket in your shopping cart, you will be $5.00 over your clothing budget this month,” or the interactive window can recommend that a particular payment instrument be used.

“In some embodiments, the browser extension can detect that the user is accessing a payment webpage associated with the retailer or service provider website, and in response, can generate a selectable list of payment instruments. In some embodiments, only the eligible payment instruments (i.e., payment instruments that are not expired and have a sufficient limit or funds remaining) can appear in the window. In other embodiments, all payment instruments can appear with the ineligible payment instruments greyed out or not available for selection. In some embodiments, the list can appear in the interactive window or near the payment information when the user clicks in a field to provide the payment information. In other embodiments, the browser extension can cause a payment icon to appear (e.g., near the payment information on the payment webpage) and can generate and display the list when the user selects the payment icon. In some embodiments, the browser extension can automatically insert payment instrument information based on factors such as user preferences, historical transactions at the retailer or service provider, or category of purchase.

“In some embodiments, the browser extension can receive a selection of a payment instrument and can, upon request or automatically, create an electronic ghost card that is linked to a selected payment instrument. The browser extension can enter the information associated with the electronic ghost card into the payment section of the payment webpage. The electronic ghost card can be a secure card in that it has no intrinsic value in itself and it is temporary.

“To create the electronic ghost card, the system can generate a set of numbers including a payment card number, expiration date, and CVV or other verification code and link these numbers to the selected payment instrument. When the retailer or service provider sends an authorization request for a transaction with these numbers, the system can determine which payment card was linked and prior to authorizing the transaction, determine whether the transaction is authorized based on the linked payment instrument. In some embodiments, authorization for the transaction is made when the system creates the ghost card based on the amount of the transaction and the selected payment card. In this way, if the retailer or service provider had a data breach, the user’s payment card information would not be compromised.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computing system for creating an electronic ghost card for electronic purchases, the computing system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to: detect, via code executing in a web browser, that a user is accessing a payment webpage associated with a retailer or service provider that includes a virtual cart; generate a list of one or more selectable payment instruments, associated with the user, that have not expired, wherein the list includes a recommendation to use one of the payment instruments; place, via the code executing in the web browser, an icon that, when selected by the user, displays the list of one or more selectable payment instruments; receive an indication of a payment instrument, from the list of selectable payment instruments, that was selected by the user; receive, from the user, ghost card parameters that include a credit limit, wherein the credit limit is bounded by a credit limit of the selected payment instrument, wherein the electronic ghost card is created, based on the ghost card parameters, and linked to the selected payment instrument; and automatically enter, in the payment webpage, information associated with the electronic ghost card, wherein the automatically entered information associated with the electronic ghost card is submitted as a transaction request for purchase of items in the virtual cart.

“2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computing system to display an account balance of at least one of the one or more selectable payment instruments.

“3. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the received ghost card parameters include a value, specified by the user, that defines an expiration date for the electronic ghost card.

“4. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computing system to: identify that the user is accessing the payment webpage a second time; and automatically enter the information associated with the electronic ghost card when the user accesses the payment webpage.

“5. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the electronic ghost card is a one-time use payment card.

“6. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computing system to enable an interactive window that includes budget information associated with the user.

“7. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the received ghost card parameters include a value, specified by the user, that defines whether the electronic ghost card is a one-time use payment card or a multiple-use payment card.

“8. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computing system to: enable an interactive window that includes personalized information; receive, via the interactive window, a question related to the items in the virtual cart; and cause one or more answers, to the question, to be displayed.

“9. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the computing system to: enable an interactive window that includes personalized information; wherein the list of selectable payment instruments is displayed in the interactive window.

“10. The computing system of claim 1, wherein, in response to a transaction request from the retailer using the electronic ghost card, the selected payment instrument, linked to the electronic ghost card, is charged for the transaction.

“11. A computerized method for creating an electronic ghost card for electronic purchases, the method comprising: detecting, via code executing in a web browser, that a user is accessing a payment webpage associated with a retailer or service provider that includes a virtual cart; generating a list of one or more selectable payment instruments, associated with the user, wherein the list includes a recommendation to use one of the payment instruments; placing, via the code executing in the web browser, an icon that, when selected by the user, displays the list of one or more selectable payment instruments; receiving an indication of a payment instrument, from the list of selectable payment instruments, that was selected by the user; receiving ghost card parameters that include a credit limit, wherein the credit limit is bounded by a credit limit of the selected payment instrument, wherein the electronic ghost card is created, based on the ghost card parameters, and linked to the selected payment instrument; and automatically entering, in the payment webpage, information associated with the electronic ghost card, wherein the automatically entered information associated with the electronic ghost card is submitted as a transaction request for purchase of items in the virtual cart.

“12. The computerized method of claim 11, wherein the received ghost card parameters include a value, specified by the user, that defines an expiration date for the electronic ghost card.

“13. The computerized method of claim 11 further comprising: identifying that the user is accessing the payment webpage a second time; and automatically entering the information associated with the electronic ghost card when the user accesses the payment webpage.

“14. The computerized method of claim 11, wherein the electronic ghost card is a one-time use payment card.

“15. The computerized method of claim 11 further comprising displaying an account balance of at least one of the one or more selectable payment instruments.

“16. The computerized method of claim 11 further comprising: receiving a question related to the items in the virtual cart; and cause one or more answers, to the question, to be displayed.

“17. The computerized method of claim 11 further comprising: displaying an interactive window that includes personalized information; wherein the list of selectable payment instruments is displayed in the interactive window.

“18. The computerized method of claim 11, wherein, in response to a transaction request from the retailer using the electronic ghost card, the selected payment instrument, linked to the electronic ghost card, is charged for the transaction.

“19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a process for creating an electronic ghost card for electronic purchases, the process comprising: detecting, via code executing in a web browser, that a user is accessing a payment webpage associated with a retailer or service provider that includes a virtual cart; generating a list of one or more selectable payment instruments, associated with the user, wherein the list includes a recommendation to use one of the payment instruments; placing, via the code executing in the web browser, an icon that, when selected by the user, displays the list of one or more selectable payment instruments; receiving an indication of a payment instrument, from the list of selectable payment instruments, that was selected by the user; receiving ghost card parameters that include a credit limit, wherein the credit limit is bounded by a credit limit of the selected payment instrument, wherein the electronic ghost card is created, based on the ghost card parameters, and linked to the selected payment instrument; and automatically entering, in the payment webpage, information associated with the electronic ghost card, wherein the automatically entered information associated with the electronic ghost card is submitted as a transaction request for purchase of items in the virtual cart.

“20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the process further comprises: identifying that the user is accessing another webpage; and automatically entering the information associated with the electronic ghost card when the user accesses the other webpage.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Jones, Darrius M. Systems and methods for ghost card creation via a browser extension. U.S. Patent Number 11443300, filed February 12, 2021, and published online on September 13, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11443300.PN.&OS=PN/11443300RS=PN/11443300

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