Patent Issued for Systems and methods for user authentication via mobile device (USPTO 11798002): United Services Automobile Association

2023 NOV 09 (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 (Celina, TX, US), Courtright, Christopher Paul (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on December 21, 2021, was published online on October 24, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11798002 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 computer implemented security credential registration method comprising: receiving a request to register a financial card of a user; responsive to the request, transmitting user interface data to a computing device of the user that, when received by the computing device, causes the computing device to display, on a display device of the computing device, one or more prompts for the user to select user authentication information, wherein the one or more prompts comprise: a prompt to provide a freeform gesture; and a prompt to select at least one of a plurality of images; receiving, from the computing device, a user-entered freeform gesture and a user-selected image; and storing, in association with an identity of the user and the financial card of the user, the user-entered freeform gesture and the user-selected image as authentication information for the user in a data store.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a request to access an account associated with the financial card; transmitting second user interface data to a prompt for a requesting user to select an authentication image and provide an authentication freeform input; determining that the authentication freeform input matches the user entered freeform gesture and that the authentication image matches the user-selected image; and in response to the determination, authenticating the requesting user to access the account associated with the financial card.

“3. The method of claim 1, the user-entered freeform gesture overlaps the user-selected image.

“4. The method 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 method of claim 1, wherein the user entered freeform gesture comprises a written communication made with an input device on a touchscreen of the computing device.

“6. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial card comprises one or more of: a credit card, a debit card, or an ATM card.

“7. A system comprising: at least one processor; and a data store coupled to the at least one processor having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving a request to register a financial card of a user; responsive to the request, transmitting user interface data to a computing device of the user that, when received by the computing device, causes the computing device to display, on a display device of the computing device, one or more prompts for the user to select user authentication information, wherein the one or more prompts comprise: a prompt to provide a freeform gesture; and a prompt to select at least one of a plurality of images; receiving, from the computing device, a user-entered freeform gesture and a user-selected image; and storing, in association with an identity of the user and the financial card of the user, the user-entered freeform gesture and the user-selected image as authentication information for the user in a data store.

“8. The system of claim 7, further comprising: receiving a request to access an account associated with the financial card; transmitting second user interface data to a prompt for a requesting user to select an authentication image and provide an authentication freeform input; determining that the authentication freeform input matches the user entered freeform gesture and that the authentication image matches the user-selected image; and in response to the determination, authenticating the requesting user to access the account associated with the financial card.

“9. The system of claim 7, the user-entered freeform gesture overlaps the user-selected image.

“10. The system 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 system of claim 7, wherein the user entered freeform gesture comprises a written communication made with an input device on a touchscreen of the computing device.

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

“13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving a request to register a financial card of a user; responsive to the request, transmitting user interface data to a computing device of the user that, when received by the computing device, causes the computing device to display, on a display device of the computing device, one or more prompts for the user to select user authentication information, wherein the one or more prompts comprise: a prompt to provide a freeform gesture; and a prompt to select at least one of a plurality of images; receiving, from the computing device, a user-entered freeform gesture and a user-selected image; and storing, in association with an identity of the user and the financial card of the user, the user-entered freeform gesture and the user-selected image as authentication information for the user in a data store.

“14. The medium of claim 13, further comprising: receiving a request to access an account associated with the financial card; transmitting second user interface data to a prompt for a requesting user to select an authentication image and provide an authentication freeform input; determining that the authentication freeform input matches the user entered freeform gesture and that the authentication image matches the user-selected image; and in response to the determination, authenticating the requesting user to access the account associated with the financial card.

“15. The medium of claim 13, the user-entered freeform gesture overlaps the user-selected image.

“16. The medium of claim 13, wherein the data store comprises a data store of a system of a financial institution associated with the financial card.

“17. The medium of claim 13, wherein the user entered freeform gesture comprises a written communication made with an input device on a touchscreen of the computing device.

“18. The medium of claim 13, wherein the financial card comprise one or more of: a credit card, a debit card, or an ATM card.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Billman, Bradly Jay. Systems and methods for user authentication via mobile device. U.S. Patent Number 11798002, filed December 21, 2021, and published online on October 24, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11798002)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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