Patent Issued for Systems and methods for user authentication via mobile device (USPTO 11216822): United Services Automobile Association

2022 JAN 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Billman, Bradly Jay (Pocatello, ID, US), Courtright, Christopher Paul (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on September 26, 2019, was published online on January 4, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11216822 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “An automated teller machine (ATM) is a computerized telecommunications device that provides a user with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a human clerk or bank teller. An ATM may be placed anywhere, such as, for example, near or inside the premises of a bank or in a location such as a shopping center, an airport, a grocery store, a gas station, a restaurant, or any place people may gather. Using an ATM, users can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals (or credit card cash advances) and check their account balances, for example.

“Typically, the user is identified at an ATM by inserting a financial card, such as an ATM card, a credit card, or a debit card, into the ATM. The financial card may be a plastic card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smartcard with a chip and contains a unique card number and information such as an expiration date and/or a card security code (also known as a card verification value). Authentication of the user is provided by the user entering a personal identification number (PIN) into a keypad of the ATM.

“There are incidents of fraud where perpetrators attach fake keypads or card readers to existing ATMs and well as other point of sale (POS) terminals. Cameras are often deployed in conjunction with the fake keypads and card readers. These “skimming” devices are used to record users’ PINs and financial card information in order to gain unauthorized access to the users’ accounts.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “A user may provide a financial card to an automated teller machine (ATM) or point of sale (POS) terminal and may be authenticated by providing a gesture via a mobile device to the ATM or the POS. The gesture may be provided using a touchscreen of the mobile device. The gesture provided by the user via the mobile device may be compared to a stored gesture provided by the user during an earlier registration of the financial card. If there is a match between the gesture provided by the user via the mobile device and the previously stored gesture, then the user is authenticated and may access an account associated with the financial card.

“In an implementation, the user may select an image via the mobile device and the selected image may be used in conjunction with a gesture to authenticate the user at the ATM or the POS.

“In an implementation, the user may provide a gesture and/or an image via the mobile device in order to be authenticated to perform a particular transaction with the ATM or the POS.

“This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions for user authentication, said computer-readable instructions comprising instructions executable by an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) to cause the ATM to interact with a mobile device of a user to perform operations comprising: receiving information of a financial card of the user; transmitting user interface data to the mobile device of the user that, when received by the mobile device, causes the mobile device to display on a display device of the mobile device a prompt for the user to provide a first freeform input, the first freeform input comprising a first freeform gesture over a first image; parsing image data generated on the mobile device representing the first freeform input; determining that the first freeform input matches a second freeform input of the user based on data representing the second freeform input, the data representing the second freeform input being previously stored in a data store, and the second freeform input comprising a second freeform gesture over a second image; and in response to a determination that the first freeform input matches the second freeform input, authenticating the user to access an account of the financial card.

“2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the image data generated on the mobile device comprises encrypted image data, the operations further comprising decrypting the encrypted image data.

“3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, the operations further comprising, prior to receiving the information of the financial card, receiving the data representing the second freeform input from the mobile device.

“4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the data store comprises a data store of a system of a financial institution associated with the financial card.

“5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the second freeform input comprises a written communication made with an input device on a touchscreen of the mobile device.

“6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the financial card comprises one or more of: a credit card, a debit card, or an ATM card.

“7. An Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) comprising: at least one processor; and memory resources coupled to the at least one processor and configured to direct the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving information of a financial card of a user; transmitting user interface data to a mobile device of the user that, when received by the mobile device, causes the mobile device to display on a display device of the mobile device a prompt for the user to provide a first freeform input, the first freeform input comprising a first freeform gesture over a first image; parsing image data generated on the mobile device representing the first freeform input; determining that the first freeform input matches a second freeform input of the user based on data representing the second freeform input, the data representing the second freeform input being previously stored in a data store, and the second freeform input comprising a second freeform gesture over a second image; and in response to a determination that the first freeform input matches the second freeform input, authenticating the user to access an account of the financial card.

“8. The ATM of claim 7, wherein the image data generated on the mobile device comprises encrypted image data, the operations further comprising decrypting the encrypted image data.

“9. The ATM of claim 7, the operations further comprising, prior to receiving the information of the financial card, receiving the data representing the second freeform input from the mobile device.

“10. The ATM of claim 7, wherein the data store comprises a data store of a system of a financial institution associated with the financial card.

“11. The ATM of claim 7, wherein the second freeform input comprises a written communication made with an input device on a touchscreen of the mobile device.

“12. The ATM of claim 7, wherein the financial card comprises one or more of: a credit card, a debit card, or an ATM card.

“13. The ATM of claim 7, wherein the display of the mobile device comprises a touchscreen display.

“14. A method performed by an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), comprising: receiving information of a financial card of a user; transmitting user interface data to a mobile device of the user that, when received by the mobile device, causes the mobile device to display on a display device of the mobile device a prompt for the user to provide a first freeform input, the first freeform input comprising a first freeform gesture over a first image; parsing image data generated on the mobile device representing the first freeform input; determining that the first freeform input matches a second freeform input of the user based on data representing the second freeform input, the data representing the second freeform input being previously stored in a data store, and the second freeform input comprising a second freeform gesture over a second image; and in response to a determination that the first freeform input matches the second freeform input, authenticating the user to access an account of the financial card.

“15. The method of claim 14, wherein the image data generated on the mobile device comprises encrypted image data, the method further comprising decrypting the encrypted image data.

“16. The method of claim 14, further comprising, prior to receiving the information of the financial card, receiving the data representing the second freeform input from the mobile device.

“17. The method of claim 14, wherein the second freeform input comprises a written communication made with an input device on a touchscreen of the mobile device.

“18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions for user authentication, said computer-readable instructions comprising instructions executable by an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) to cause the ATM to interact with a mobile device of a user to perform operations comprising: receiving information of a financial card of the user; transmitting user interface data to the mobile device of the user that, when received by the mobile device, causes the mobile device to display on a display device of the mobile device a prompt for the user to provide a first freeform input; parsing image data generated on the mobile device representing the first freeform input, wherein the image data generated on the mobile device comprises encrypted image data; decrypting the encrypted image data; determining that the first freeform input matches a second freeform input of the user based on data representing the second freeform input, the data representing the second freeform input being previously stored in a data store; and in response to a determination that the first freeform input matches the second freeform input, authenticating the user to access an account of the financial card.

“19. An Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) comprising: at least one processor; and memory resources coupled to the at least one processor and configured to direct the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving information of a financial card of a user; transmitting user interface data to a mobile device of the user that, when received by the mobile device, causes the mobile device to display on a display device of the mobile device a prompt for the user to provide a first freeform input; parsing image data generated on the mobile device representing the first freeform input, wherein the image data generated on the mobile device comprises encrypted image data; decrypting the encrypted image data; determining that the first freeform input matches a second freeform input of the user based on data representing the second freeform input, the data representing the second freeform input being previously stored in a data store; and in response to a determination that the first freeform input matches the second freeform input, authenticating the user to access an account of the financial card.

“20. A method performed by an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), comprising: receiving information of a financial card of a user; transmitting user interface data to a mobile device of the user that, when received by the mobile device, causes the mobile device to display on a display device of the mobile device a prompt for the user to provide a first freeform input; parsing image data generated on the mobile device representing the first freeform input, wherein the image data generated on the mobile device comprises encrypted image data; decrypting the encrypted image data; determining that the first freeform input matches a second freeform input of the user based on data representing the second freeform input, the data representing the second freeform input being previously stored in a data store; and in response to a determination that the first freeform input matches the second freeform input, authenticating the user to access an account of the financial card.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Billman, Bradly Jay. Systems and methods for user authentication via mobile device. U.S. Patent Number 11216822, filed September 26, 2019, and published online on January 4, 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=11216822.PN.&OS=PN/11216822RS=PN/11216822

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