Patent Issued for Systems and methods for identifying devices as authorized (USPTO 11308500): United Services Automobile Association

2022 MAY 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Bernstein, Steven Michael (San Antonio, TX, US), Luberus, Patrick Michael (San Antonio, TX, US), Meyer, Gregory Brian (San Antonio, TX, US), Russell, Ryan Thomas (The Colony, TX, US), Waters, Jr., David Ira (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on June 30, 2020, was published online on April 19, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11308500 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Financial institutions such as banks, savings and loans, credit unions, investment firms and other types of institutions generally have a strong interest in protecting their customers’ or clients’ financial or other assets. The customers or clients often prefer to conduct their financial business from remote locations using their own personal devices such as their smart phones, tablets, laptops or desktop computers, for example. Financial institutions typically require the customers or clients to protect access to their accounts by entering passwords, for example. However, in some cases malevolent actors intent on defrauding the customer or client may somehow obtain the customer’s or client’s password. Such an actor may then use the password to transfer funds or other assets from the customer’s or client’s account to the malevolent actor’s accounts, for example.

“For these reasons, there is a need for financial institutions to take additional measures when it is practical to do so in order to protect their customers or clients.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Embodiments includes a system for supplementing the authentication of a transaction request submitted to a financial institution that includes a communications device for receiving fund transfer requests from the customers’ computing devices. The communications device also receives identifying data from the computing devices. The system includes an authentication server housed at the financial institution that has a historical database with data relating to the financial institutions’ customers’ computing devices and a rules database populated with rules associated with customers’ accounts at the financial institution. The communications device transmits the fund transfer requests and the identifying data to the authentication server housed at the financial institution. The authentication server also has an analyzer for analyzing the identification data received from the customers’ computing devices and comparing that data to previously stored corresponding historical data. The analyzer is configured to apply the customers’ user rules to determine whether fund transfer requests should be approved.

“In another aspect, embodiments include a method for further authenticating a computing device that submits a transaction request to a financial institution that includes receiving the transaction request from the computing device. The financial institution then requests additional identification data of apps that are installed in the computing device. The financial institution also receives the identification data and compares the received identification data to previously stored identification data. It then determines whether the received identification data is a match to the previously stored identification data, and approves the transaction request if the received identification data is a match to the previously stored identification data.

“Embodiments further include a computing device that includes a financial institution app associated with a financial institution. It also includes a list of additional apps appearing on the display of the computing device. The display also includes a group of apps on the computing device, and at least one folder that contains at least one list of items selected by a user of the computing device. The financial institution app is configured to transmit data relating to at least one of the display of the group of apps, the configuration of apps on the display and the folder that contains a list of items selected by the user of the computing device to a remote server at the financial institution in conjunction with a transaction request relating to an account at the financial institution associated with the user.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system for supplementing the authentication of a transaction request initiated by and submitted by a mobile computing device associated with a customer to an authentication server computing device associated with a financial institution comprising: a communications device configured to receive the transaction request from the customer’s mobile computing device; wherein the communications device is also configured to receive identifying data from the customer’s mobile computing device; the customer’s mobile computing device including a camera therein, and the camera being used by the customer to generate a picture; wherein the identifying data comprises the picture taken with the camera on the mobile computing device; and the identifying data further comprises an arrangement of apps in a group of apps displayed across multiple different screens of the mobile computing device, the arrangement being descriptive of a location of each of the apps in the group of apps on a display of the customer’s mobile computing device and which of the multiple different screens each of the apps in the group of apps are located; wherein the authentication server housed at the financial institution comprises a historical database containing previously stored historical identification data relating to the customer’s mobile computing device; wherein the communications device is configured to transmit the transaction request and the identifying data to the authentication server at the financial institution; wherein the authentication server also comprises a rules database populated with rules associated with an account associated with the customer at the financial institution; wherein the authentication server also comprises analyzer software code blocks containing a plurality of algorithms for analyzing the identifying data received from the customer’s mobile computing device, and comparing that identifying data to the stored historical data in the historical database; wherein the analyzer software code blocks are configured to apply the rules associated with the account associated with the customer in the rules database on the authentication server when comparing the identifying data to the historical data to determine whether the transaction request should be approved or denied; wherein upon determining that the transaction request should be approved, the authentication server is configured to output an approval allowing the financial institution to proceed with the transaction request; and wherein upon determining that the transaction request should be denied, the authentication server is configured to output a denial stopping the financial institution from taking further action with regard to the transaction request.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the identifying data further comprises an arrangement of apps in a home group of apps among one or more apps that are installed in the mobile computing device.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein: the analyzer software code blocks report at least one of a numerical score representative of an extent to which the received identifying data matches the stored historical data and a classification scheme representative of the extent to which the received identifying data matches the stored historical data; and the authentication server outputs an approval when the transaction request falls within a predetermined range of monetary value that is associated with one of the numerical score and the classification scheme according to the rules associated with the customer’s account in the rules database.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the arrangement of apps in the group of apps includes a first set of apps displayed in a first configuration on a home screen of the mobile computing device, a second set of apps displayed in a second configuration on a second screen of the mobile computing device, and a third set of apps displayed in a third configuration on a third screen of the mobile computing device.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the transaction request is a request to transfer funds from an account at the financial institution.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the identifying data further comprises a snapshot of the mobile computing device.

“7. The system of claim 1, wherein the analyzer software code blocks are configured to approve transaction requests when the received identifying data is a partial match to the previously stored historical data, according to rules associated with the customer’s account for partial matches.

“8. A method for further authenticating a mobile computing device that initiates and submits a transaction request to an authentication server associated with a financial institution, by implementing additional measures on the authentication server comprising: receiving the transaction request from the mobile computing device; the mobile computing device including a camera therein, and the camera being used to generate a picture; requesting additional identification data comprising the picture taken with the camera on the mobile computing device; and the additional identification data further comprising an arrangement of apps in a group of apps displayed across multiple different screens of the mobile computing device, the arrangement being descriptive of a location of each of the apps in the group of apps on a display of the customer’s mobile computing device and which of the multiple different screens each of the apps in the group of apps are located; receiving the additional identification data; comparing the received additional identification data to previously stored additional identification data; determining whether the received additional identification data is a match to the previously stored additional identification data; and approving the transaction request received from the mobile computing device if the received additional identification data is a match to the previously stored additional identification data.

“9. The method of claim 8, wherein the additional identification data further comprises an arrangement of apps in a home group of apps among one or more apps that are installed in the mobile computing device.

“10. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining that the received additional identification data is a partial match to the previously stored additional identification data, and checking user rules to determine whether to approve the request.

“11. The method of claim 10, wherein the determination of whether to approve the request includes a calculation of an authentication score.

“12. The method of claim 8, wherein the additional identification data comprises a snapshot of the mobile computing device.

“13. The method of claim 12, further comprising scanning the user’s mobile computing device to identify user-specific information, downloading the user-specific information and selecting at least some of the user-specific information as the stored additional identification data.

“14. The method of claim 8, wherein the arrangement of apps in the group of apps includes a first set of apps displayed in a first configuration on a home screen of the mobile computing device, a second set of apps displayed in a second configuration on a second screen of the mobile computing device, and a third set of apps displayed in a third configuration on a third screen of the mobile computing device.

“15. A mobile computing device comprising: a financial institution app associated with a financial institution, in electronic communication with a remote authentication server associated with the financial institution; additional apps displayed in a particular configuration on a display of the computing device; the display including a group of apps on the computing device; wherein the financial institution app is configured to initiate a transaction request relating to an account at the financial institution associated with the user; wherein the financial institution app is configured to transmit data relating to the picture taken with the camera on the mobile computing device; wherein the financial institution app is further configured to also transmit data relating to an arrangement of apps in a group of apps displayed across multiple different screens of the mobile computing device, the arrangement being descriptive of a location of each of the apps in the group of apps on a display of the customer’s mobile computing device and which of the multiple different screens each of the apps in the group of apps are located; the data transmitted by the financial institution app being transmitted to the authentication server at the financial institution in conjunction with the transaction request relating to the account at the financial institution associated with the user.

“16. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the transmitted data further comprises an arrangement of apps in a home group of apps among one or more apps that are installed in the mobile computing device.

“17. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the transmitted data comprises a snapshot of the mobile computing device.

“18. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the financial institution app is configured to allow the authentication server at the financial institution to scan the mobile computing device and identify data containing user-specific information to transmit as the transmitted data, and download the data containing the user-specific information to the authentication server.

“19. The mobile computing device of claim 18, wherein the data containing user-specific information further comprises an arrangement of apps in a home group of apps among one or more apps that are installed in the mobile computing device.

“20. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the transaction request is a request to transfer funds.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Bernstein, Steven Michael. Systems and methods for identifying devices as authorized. U.S. Patent Number 11308500, filed June 30, 2020, and published online on April 19, 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=11308500.PN.&OS=PN/11308500RS=PN/11308500

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