Patent Issued for Systems and methods for preventing fraudulent credit card and debit card transactions (USPTO 11568410): United Services Automobile Association

2023 FEB 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Black, Robert Lee (San Antonio, TX, US), Buentello, Andre Rene (San Antonio, TX, US), Chalmers, Timothy Blair (San Antonio, TX, US), Mehra, Samip Dilip (Peoria, AZ, US), Romero, Jr., Jose L. (San Antonio, TX, US), Santacroce, Matthew Ryan (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on August 20, 2020, was published online on January 31, 2023.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 11568410, is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Credit cards and debit cards are sometimes lost or stolen. Credit cards, for example, may subsequently be used by someone to make a fraudulent purchase at a retailer, since retailers do not generally ask for identification when processing a credit card purchase. Furthermore, even though debit cards require entry of a PIN in order to authenticate a transaction, in some cases an unauthorized person may somehow acquire the PIN, possibly by using a skimmer at an ATM, for example. For that reason, even debit cards may be vulnerable to fraudulent activities.

“Nowadays, most credit cards and debit cards include a chip on the cards that must be read by a chip reader in order to approve a transaction. A user inserts the card in the chip reader. The chip reader then obtains information from the chip, and combines the chip information with information from the chip reader to create a token that is unique to the specific transaction. The token is then used to verify that it came from the chip on the user’s card, and the chip reader approves the transaction. Nevertheless, even cards with chips may be vulnerable to fraudulent transactions.

“For these reasons, there is a need for systems and methods that further minimize the likelihood of a fraudulent transaction being approved.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, embodiments include a method for validating a smart card transaction by associating a smart card with a smart phone, transmitting identification information from the smart phone to the smart card, and receiving the identification information at an antenna on the smart card. The received identification information is then provided to a comparator on the smart card. The comparator compares the received identification information to corresponding stored identification information stored on the smart card and enables the smart card if the received information matches the stored information by closing a normally-open switch interposed between the comparator and a digital section. The digital section is configured to be read by a chip reader in order to authorize the transaction.

“In another aspect, embodiments include a smart card that has an antenna for receiving electromagnetic waves carrying identification information. A demodulator receives electromagnetic waves and provides a demodulated signal with the identification information to a comparator. The comparator compares the identification information provided to the comparator to stored identification information stored on the smart card. The smart card includes a digital section configured to be read by a chip reader and a normally-open switch interposed between the demodulator and the digital section. If the identification information provided to the comparator matches the stored identification information, the comparator provides a closing signal to the switch closing the switch for a predetermined time period, thus enabling the smart card for the predetermined time period so that it could be read by a chip reader.

“In yet another aspect, embodiments include a system for preventing fraudulent card transactions using a smart phone and a smart card. The smart phone has an app for enabling a smart card by providing identification data to the smart card by broadcasting electromagnetic waves that carry the identification data to the smart card. The smart card has an antenna for receiving the electromagnetic waves from the smart phone. The antenna is connected to a matching network, which is electrically connected to a demodulator. A comparator receives demodulated signals from the demodulator and compares the identification data received from the smart phone to identification data stored on the smart card. The smart card also has a digital section configured to be read by a chip reader. It also has a switch interposed between the demodulator and the digital section. The switch is normally open such that the demodulated signals are prevented from reaching the digital section. The switch may be closed for a predetermined time period when the comparator determines that the identification data received from the smart phone matches the identification data stored on the smart card and sends a signal to the switch closing the switch.

“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 validating a smart card transaction comprising: associating a smart card with a smart phone; transmitting electromagnetic waves carrying identification information from the smart phone to the smart card; receiving the identification information at an antenna on the smart card and providing a demodulated signal comprising the received identification information from a demodulator for demodulating the electromagnetic waves to a comparator on the smart card; and the comparator comparing the received identification information to corresponding stored identification information stored on the smart card and enabling the smart card if the received identification information matches the stored information by providing a closing signal to a normally-open transistor switch interposed between the comparator and a digital section closing the transistor switch for a predetermined period of time of from one minute to ten minutes, thus enabling the smart card for the predetermined period of time so that it could be read by a chip reader; wherein the digital section is configured to be read by the chip reader in order to authorize the transaction.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the smart card comprises a demodulator connected to the antenna that demodulates electromagnetic waves and provides the received identification information to the comparator.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital section submits at least one of information, queries and instructions back to the smart phone using backscatter modulation.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information includes at least one of a phone number, an IP address, a password and a personal identification number.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information transmitted by the smart phone includes biometric data generated in real time.

“6. The method of claim 5, wherein the biometric data is generated in real time in response to instructions received from the digital section.

“7. The method of claim 1, further comprising alerting a merchant when a smart card was rejected.

“8. A smart card comprising: an antenna for receiving electromagnetic waves carrying identification information; a demodulator for demodulating the electromagnetic waves and providing a demodulated signal comprising the identification information to a comparator, wherein the comparator compares the identification information provided to the comparator to stored identification information stored on the smart card; a digital section configured to be read by a chip reader; a normally-open transistor switch interposed between the demodulator and the digital section; wherein if the identification information provided to the comparator matches the stored identification information, the comparator provides a closing signal to the transistor switch closing the transistor switch for a predetermined time period of from one minute to ten minutes, thus enabling the smart card for the predetermined time period so that it could be read by a chip reader in order to authorize a transaction for the smart card.

“9. The smart card of claim 8, further comprising a backscatter modulator interposed between the digital section and the antenna, for providing at least one of information, queries and instructions to the smart phone.

“10. The smart card of claim 8, wherein after the predetermined time period has expired, the comparator provides an opening signal to the transistor switch thus returning the smart card to its non-enabled state.

“11. The smart card of claim 8, further comprising a matching network that receives the electromagnetic waves from the antenna and provides the electromagnetic waves to a charge pump and voltage regulator unit.

“12. The smart card of claim 8, wherein the identification information includes at least one of a phone number, an IP address, a PIN and a password.

“13. The smart card of claim 8, wherein the identification information includes biometric information that comprises at least one of a fingerprint, voice recognition data and facial recognition data.

“14. The smart card of claim 13, wherein the biometric information is generated in real time.

“15. A system for preventing fraudulent transactions comprising: a smart phone comprising an app for enabling a smart card by providing identification data to the smart card by broadcasting electromagnetic waves that carry the identification data to the smart card; the smart card comprising: an antenna for receiving the electromagnetic waves from the smart phone, wherein the antenna is connected to a matching network, and wherein the matching network is electrically connected to a demodulator; a comparator for receiving demodulated signals carrying the identification data from the demodulator and for comparing the identification data received from the smart phone to identification data stored on the smart card; a digital section configured to be read by a chip reader; and a transistor switch interposed between the demodulator and the digital section; wherein the transistor switch is normally open such that the demodulated signals are prevented from reaching the digital section; and wherein the transistor switch may be closed for a predetermined time period of from one minute to ten minutes when the comparator determines that the identification data received from the smart phone matches the identification data stored on the smart card and sends a signal to the transistor switch closing the transistor switch in order to authorize a transaction for the smart card.

“16. The system of claim 15, wherein the identification data includes at least one of a phone number, an IP address, a personal identification number and a password.

“17. The system of claim 15, wherein the identification data is biometric data that includes at least one of fingerprint data, voice recognition data and facial recognition data.

“18. The system of claim 17, wherein the biometric identification data is generated in real time.

“19. The system of claim 17, wherein the biometric data is generated in real time only if the transaction is larger than a predetermined set amount.

“20. The system of claim 15, further comprising a backscatter modulator connected between the digital section and the antenna for providing at least one of instructions, queries and information back to the smart phone.”

For more information, see this patent: Black, Robert Lee. Systems and methods for preventing fraudulent credit card and debit card transactions. U.S. Patent Number 11568410, filed August 20, 2020, and published online on January 31, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11568410)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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