Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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AUTOMATED TRANSACTION EXECUTION SYSTEM WITH A,PLURALITY OF USER INTERFACES
The present invention relates to transaction execution systems.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Banks and similar financial institutions have used automated teller machines,
otherwise known as ATMs, for many years. Initially, each traditional
institution installed its
own ATMs (captive ATMs) at bank branches and other locations. These captive
ATMs
1o initially varied in level of functionality, but over time evolved to
provide more services at
lower costs, greater convenience, and greater access to the customers. The
services typically
offered by captive ATMs include cash withdrawals, limited transfers between
some customer
accounts, the ability to deposit items of value such as cash or cheques, and
checking of
account balances in accordance to the generating parameters of a single
financial institution.
One disadvantage of this ATM system is that each institution has only a
limited number of
physical ATM locations with which to service a broad customer base.
Institutions have also begun to use captive ATMs to obtain data on customer
habits,
and to customize the behavior or options offered by a captive ATM based on how
the
2o institution wishes to treat a selected customer group or specific customer.
A key to offering
these value added and/or differentiating services has been the ability of the
traditional
financial institutional to control the behavior of the captive ATMs used by
its customers. The
control is typically accomplished by the financial institution owning and/or
operating, and
defining many or all aspects of the logic, presentation, communications,
performance,
appearance, electronic transactions, paper transactions, cash type,
denominations, and many
other aspects of the captive ATM operation. The disadvantage of this system is
the limited
coverage of a customer base, dependent on the number and location of the ATMs,
with the
associated costs of establishing and maintaining a network of captive ATMs.
3o As ATM usage grew, so certain traditional institutions saw advantages in
providing
their customers with access to additional ATMs not owned by themselves.
Regional or
national consortia were created amongst cooperating traditional institutions,
as well as
amongst independent providers, to provide user access to each other's ATMs by
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respective customers. Because of the need for technical simplicity and
compatibility, these
cooperative ventures tended to be based on the lowest common denominator of
ATM
capability, typically cash withdrawal from one or a limited number of
generically defined
account types, typically "savings" and "chequing". Additional features
included balance
inquiry and/or inter-account transfers for similar generically defined
accounts. Examples of
these consortia are "Interac", "Visa Plus Network", "MasterCard Cirrus
Network", and
"Star/Honor" systems. These particular networks were primarily interested in
the basic
functionality of cash withdrawal in local currency, by using internationally
recognized credit
or bank cards in a large number of locations. Unfortunately, the full
complement of
l0 transactions ordinarily provided by captive ATMs are not typically
accessible by customers
using the ATMs not owned by a customer's institution. Another disadvantage of
the
consortium branch system is that ATMs are always driven by one "host"
institution, whereby
the transactions to other "guest" institutions are controlled. Accordingly,
this ownership
model may not give "guest" institutions adequate control on how the captive
ATMs provide
services to their customers.
As the usage of ATMs grew and the networks used to exchange ATM transaction
information between traditional institutions became more widely accessible, so
an
opportunity arose for ATMs not owned by any single financial institution,
commonly known
2o in the industry as "White Label" ATMs. White Label ATMs were attractive to
retail
merchants and similar enterprises, whereby customers able to withdraw cash on
the
merchant's premises would be more likely to enter the premises and or spend
more money
while on the premises if they made a cash withdrawal. One disadvantage is that
these White
Label ATMs have only a limited functionality, as compared to captive ATMs
controlled by
single institutions.
Presently in the art, there is a proliferation of limited service ATMs. Full
service is
only available from captive ATMs, controlled by the traditional institution
issuing the access
means such as a transaction card. Very limited services at White Label ATMs
are available
3o at a very large number of other locations by means of the many
interconnected financial
transaction networks.
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While the importance and numbers of both full service and White Label ATMs
have
been growing, the importance and desirability of traditional bricks-and-mortar
bank branches
has been declining. New virtual banks have been created that are based on a
very limited
traditional branch network, sometimes with no physical branch network at all.
These virtual
banks typically use the Internet, a telephone call center, and/or a telephone
interactive voice
response system to conduct transactions with their customers. However, for any
transaction
requiring physical interaction between the virtual banks and their customers,
such as the
withdrawal of cash, the virtual banks have had to rely on the general ATM
network. The
access of virtual institutions to the established ATM network is through the
lowest common
1o denominator functionality, which is owned by traditional institution
competitors, or by White
Label ATM providers and/or operators. These virtual banks would like to
position
themselves as leaders in technology, convenience, and low cost transactions,
but existing
access to current networks' ATM is restricted in terms of the transaction
types permitted to
customers of "foreign" institutions. These available transaction types are
typically fixed by
the operator of the network, by which the ATM is controlled. Furthermore,
there is very little
in the way of providing these virtual banks with any control over the
interface during their
customers' interaction with existing systems. The virtual banks have to rely
on the visual
presentation and transaction capabilities provided by the general ATM network.
For additional transaction types, such as the issuance of a certified cheque,
or the
deposit of funds via cheque or other negotiable paper instruments, the virtual
institution is
typically restricted to using the post mail system, or using the premises or
facilities of another
more traditional bank. Examples of this practice are PC Financial offering
additional
transaction types through CIBC terminals, and MBanx making similar
arrangements
available through the terminals of the Bank of Montreal. This procedure can be
costly,
cumbersome, and slow compared to the service level such virtual banks wish to
provide, and
which their customers should expect. These virtual banks are able to control
the remote
interface and interaction with their customers when dealing with the customers
by telephone
or by the Internet, but must subject their customers to the image and
advertising of competing
3o traditional institutions when their customers use the ATMs controlled by a
single traditional
institution. When their customers use White Label ATMs, those customers are
typically
provided with less functionality, such as cash withdrawal, and with no
opportunity available
to those institutions to control presentation of the transaction with those
customers.
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ATM networks are increasingly enabled to provide user access across foreign
networked ATM devices. In the current paradigm of single ownership institution
control
over network ATM functionality, and inter-network co-operation by consortia of
ATM-
owners, there is limited adaptability except by prior arrangement and
agreement and with the
performance of some technical work between each network of ATMs for inter-
network
operability of additional transaction types. Thus, if one institution adds a
function, such as to
provide mortgage balances, no foreign institution can access that function,
except by separate
arrangements, agreements, and the performance of additional technical work
with respect to
l0 data, protocol, transaction message formats, meaning and dialog, and the
like. As well, when
a foreign institution desires to provide capability not currently provided by
the ATM
operating institution, it is not possible to implement save with such specific
prior
arrangements and agreements and technical system change work to also implement
protocol,
transaction message formats and content meaning and dialog and the like.
In addition, for an institution that may want to attract customers over a
large
geographic area, an adequately large network of ATMs that may be required to
obtain this
goal is not economically feasible. Furthermore, there are a limited number of
desirable
locations in which to situate ATMs and therefore an insufficient number of
suitable physical
2o locations to permit the creation of independent, distinctive ATM networks
for every
institution.
SPECIFIC DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART
Internet En ing Bering Task Force Request for Comments Re: Card-based numbers:
IETF materials published on the world wide web beginning in August 1998,
authored
by Donald E. Eastlake 3rd for IBM under the title "ISO 7812/7816 Based Card
Numbers and
the Domain Name System (DNS)" with file name "draft-eastlake-card-map-OX.txt"
(where X
3o is the version), propose to utilize the DNS standard for providing for
lookup of IP addresses
based upon information derived from the ISO standard bank-card and smart-card
numbering
schemes and the card number. This proposed scheme relates a portion of the
card or smart-
card number to the IP address which could provide utility to the card-issuer,
which includes
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by the examples given in the proposal the provision of access to security
authentication keys
(e.g. The SET system of card authentication provided by agreement amongst
VISA,
MasterCard and others) and other similar information. It may be possible to
provide ".gif
(USA 1948110 TM CompuServe Incorporated Corporation) image files of logos at
an
extension to such a derived IP address, if the proposal were implemented and
the various
banking institutions and card-issuers in turn implemented the scheme into
appropriate DNS
servers and their web content server devices and if some standard protocol
were built and
embedded in the "seeking" device. The scheme deals only with a proposal to
provide a
means of deriving a card-issuer-related IP address from the card's number.
This only
l0 provides for indirect addressing means and may require adoption of the
proposed standard by
a significant number of unrelated third parties to be useful in the
marketplace. The IETF
materials leaves the problem of the provision of a complete addressing means
to refer a
customer to his home institution's interface unanswered, and does not address
other above-
mentioned problems related to existing ATM systems.
Huntin~ton Bancshares US Patent Nos. 5,787,403 and 5,899,982 entitled "Bank-
centric
Service Platform, Network and System":
A number of US patents have issued for Huntington Bancshares, notably US
Patent
No. 5,787,403 ('403), which discusses the shortcomings in the art prior to
that invention
caused by a proliferation of financial and non-financial services available to
a bank's
customers through electronic means, which erodes the ability of a bank to
perform its
transactions with its own customers while maintaining its own image with those
customers.
The solution provided by the Bancshares '403 patent is to insert the financial
institution's
identity into each interface or screen provided to the user, in transactions
electronically done
with the bank, and to the user at each interface provided to deal with other
service providers
accessed by the user during contiguous or related transactions in a
transaction session. The
'403 patent proposes adding a gateway to the bank's main computer systems to
provide a
bank-centric communications method to the bank's customers, enabling that
bank's identity
3o to be inserted and maintained over the course of a user's transaction
session, which session
might also include transactions with other service providers, thus ensuring a
link to the bank
in the customer's mind associated with the provision of the bank's services.
Although this
invention deals with bank-centric identification, it deals only with SINGLE-
bank-centric
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solutions. This invention points to a difficulty in the prior art of
maintaining a bank's identity
during a transaction with its own customers through electronic means, such as,
it is presumed,
by White Label ATMs and by personal computer. The teachings of the '403 patent
try to
resolve the presentation issue on a bank-by-bank basis, with a scalable single-
bank solution,
but leaves unanswered the problems related to available numbers of ATMs at
large numbers
of locations, logo'd with the user's home institution's trade-mark elements.
The '403 patent
does not address the above discussed disadvantages of limited physical ATM
location,
limited transaction types on "host" institution owned ATMs to foreign
institution customers,
limited transaction capabilities between accounts held at different
institutions, adaptability of
1o institution owned ATM networks, and the above discussed needs of virtual
banks.
Citicorp US Patent No. 5 933 816 entitled "System and Method for Delivering
Financial
Services":
US Patent No. 5,933,816 ('816) by Citicorp Development Center, Inc. relates to
the
provision with a single banking institution's many international branches of
location-specific
and customer-specific interfaces. Generally, the '816 patent teaches a
delivery system for
financial services capable of providing uniformity across the various remote
devices which
might be used to access a single bank's system in a variety of locales, in a
way that the
2o customer is presented with a consistent and familiar interface. These
interfaces are provided
by re-useable segmented scalable computer coding means, rules based upon
locale of bank
branch or customer (relating to banking regulations, currency denominations,
rules with
respect to deposits and withdrawals limits, and the like), and rules based
upon local language
with the ability to interconnect ATMs and other transaction devices (including
legacy
systems) to a variety of the single bank's computers in a variety of different
locales to
provide a growing variety of financial services to the bank's customers. By
providing re-
usable common application code bases for remote devices, the '816 proposes to
decrease
time-to-implement, testing time, and errors. Again, these teachings are single-
bank-centric
similar to the '403 system, and provide a modular software approach to support
a variety of
computing devices with interfaces with which the single bank's customer has
some
familiarity. The '816 system does not address many of the above discussed
disadvantages of
the '403 patent.
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Discussion of Diebold, Incorporated family of HTML-enabled ATM s stY ems:
There is some discussion in the prior art, in particular within a family of
ATM
applications made by Diebold ( Canadian Patent Nos. 2,271,209 /210 /212-216
/218-220
/222-224 /394 and 686). The disclosures of these patents teach integrating
legacy captive
ATM systems into a modern network of ATM and similar transaction machines
operating
over TCP/Il'. These systems provide means of interacting with legacy driver
computer
systems and legacy ATMs interposing a translation system between the legacy
and the
modern elements of the network. These applications provide a user-centric
system for
incorporation into legacy or traditional captive ATM systems to provide for
personalization
of the user experience with a single institution.
Legacy or traditional captive ATM systems operate on the basis of a network of
ATM
machines which are made to behave like dumb terminals with attached
peripherals and
sensors, connected to a driver computer which controls the presentation,
transaction logic and
sequence, peripheral functionality, and transaction authorizations, and
records ATM activity
for later accounting purposes. Typically, such captive systems utilize
proprietary
communications languages and techniques such as Diebold 911/912. One
disadvantage with
this system is that typically no institution other than the single ATM
controlling institution
2o has any direct control over the ATM, and communications with so-called
foreign institutions
are done through a transaction protocol previously agreed to. These almost
always follow a
paradigm of "request/response" in a sequential manner, with a multiplicity of
small
communications in the captive ATM's intranet and between the ATM driver
computer and
the foreign institution. The subject-matter of these transactions deal only
with the financial
aspects of the transactions, and not with the look and feel of the interface
between the
customer and the ATM during the transaction. The protocols, languages, and the
structure of
the system impose many of the limitations in cross-institutional functionality
as discussed
above.
3o In one disclosure (Diebold '218), the legacy ATM driver computer issues and
receives instructions and information in proprietary format. An http server
machine is
interposed between the legacy driver computer and the target ATM (which is a
web-enabled
ATM), and the interposed server machine incorporates a database lookup
translation means
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and communicates translated driver computer information and instructions to
the web-
enabled ATM over http. In another variant (Diebold '224), a legacy-enabled ATM
receives
and transmits information via legacy protocols in formats designed to be
accepted and acted
upon from a legacy driver computer, and responsive thereto. The ATM refers to
a further
http server to obtain graphical user interface elements particular to that
user and from there to
that user's preferences. In Diebold '686 there is reference to an HTML-enabled
ATM in
operative connection with a "home http server", which takes the place of the
legacy driver
computer and provides connection with the home institution's back-office
operations or with
"foreign" institutions.
However, in all Diebold information management systems provided, the ATM
obtains
the user identity, goes to a user-related home address to pull information
with respect to the
user and the user's preferences, and provides a user-centric, personalized
interface and logic
at the ATM during the user's transaction session. These Diebold systems focus
on providing
a user-centric interface which has similar cross-institutional functionality
deficiencies as
discussed above, pertaining to the bank-centric models. In addition, these
Diebold systems
uses a large number of user information "pages" and "addresses", which can
generate a great
deal of traffic over the network, which typically requires relatively large
amounts of secure
and accessible storage to accomplish, and as well could result in difficulties
providing
institution-specific branding where there may be multiple institutions related
somehow to one
user identity and address.
A divisional application (Diebold '214) and continuance describes a method of
responding to a user's card information to lookup user profile and preferences
which may
include affiliations, and to then provide a user-customized interface at the
ATM with which
the user is interacting, all over modern networks using http, TCP/IP, and HTML
(or similar
variant document-based languages), where the user information is stored at an
address to
provide for personalization of the user experience.
3o In the Bank-centric and user-centric models discussed above, a user is
usually only
provided with means of dealing with one institution at a time on an ATM, which
does not
address a need for performing inter-institutional transactions by a customer.
The above
systems may provide these transactions as a part of the single ATM-controlling
institution's
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functionality, but this is limited to its captive ATMs. The provision
throughout the Diebold
descriptions of user-centric data and communications models have numerous
disadvantages,
which include the need to keep a large number of addresses and volume of
information
current, accessible, and secure within the system in order that the user-
centric locations are
useful. Additionally, the systems disclosed are "chatty" and require a large
number of inter-
component communications steps which could be problematic on low-bandwidth or
high-
latency communications links or processing machines. As well, the paradigm of
user-
centricity may provide for personalization of certain transaction types but
could limit the
utility of the entire system.
to
It is apparent from the above that there is a need for a transaction execution
system
that enables financial institutions to provide branded ATM services to their
customers with a
broad geographic coverage, which may not be economically feasible or
technically possible
without sharing the implementation costs of the ATM deployment amongst a
number of
1 s institutions for any but the largest institutions. There is also a
disadvantage of prior ATM
systems arising from the limited number of full service ATM locations
available to any one
financial institution.
ATMs not part of any particular "captive ATM network", such as "White Label"
2o ATMs, cannot provide the "full service" capability available on a captive
system ATM to a
member institution's customers. This situation is undesirable and less than
optimal for
operators of non-captive ATMs, since fewer transactions can be conducted at
their terminals,
thus reducing their utility and derived revenue.
2s There is a need to provide to "virtual banks" a means of interacting with
their
customers by issuing and receiving physical value items (such as coupons, bank
drafts,
certification process, deposits) as well as their more usual "electronic
banking by PC or
phone" services at a multiplicity of ATM locations
3o It is apparent from the prior art and practice that there is limited cross-
institutional
functionality in any ATM which limitations are dictated by the structure of
the traditional
ATM network and inter-network consortia systems of operation (e.g. Interac's
hobbled sub-
set of transaction types) and the protocols and paradigms they employ.
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Further, there are limitations in permitted functionality of ATMs caused by
incidental
ownership or control over the physical ownership of the ATM or the network or
system of
which the ATM is a part (during a transaction with a customer) such that
fuller use of an
ATM may in some cases be restricted to the owner of the ATM.
It is an object of this invention to provide a transaction execution system,
method,
apparatus and business method, in which the above shortcomings and
disadvantages are
obviated or mitigated, or in which the above-described needs are addressed.
1o
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There appears to be a need, which is unfulfilled by the discussed prior art,
to provide
multi-personality branded transaction machines on networks in a manner which
focuses on
and utilizes member institution branding as a focus, rather than user-centre
profile or bank-
centric models.
According to the present invention, there is provided a dynamically branded
transaction execution system including at least two member institutions, at
least one shared
2o TEM, and a processing and routing system to connect and process a plurality
of information
between a member institution and a user of one of the shared TEMs. The shared
TEMs are
configured to be responsive to user-provided information to include branding
elements
appropriate to the TEM under the control of a selected one of the member
institutions.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
method for
dynamically branding a TEM, the method comprising the steps of:
a. initiating at the TEM a session between a user and a selected institution
from a
plurality of institutions, the selected institution including a predetermined
branding
element;
3o b. coupling the TEM to the selected institution in response to
identification information
supplied by the user; and
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c. configuring the TEM in accordance with the predetermined branding elements
of the
selected institution, thereby dynamically branding the TEM with an identity
and
fiznctionality of the selected institution.
Accordingly to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
method
for dynamically branding a TEM, the method comprising the steps of:
a. maintaining the TEM in an idle or wait state;
b. providing information to the TEM by a user to initiate a transaction
session;
c. operatively coupling the TEM with a selected institution based upon the
information,
the selected institution including a predetermined set of branding elements;
d. configuring the TEM with the predetermined branding elements of the
selected
institution appropriate to capabilities of the TEM;
e. allowing the user to conduct the transaction session with the selected
institution;
f. reverting the TEM to its idle or wait state after conclusion of the
transaction session.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided
a
transaction execution system comprising:
a. a TEM for facilitating a transaction session between a user and a selected
institution
from a plurality of institutions, the selected institution including
predetermined
branding elements;
b. a communications system responsive to information provided by the user for
operatively coupling the TEM to the selected institution; and
c. a configuration system for configuring the TEM in accordance with a
plurality of
branding information for the selected institution, thereby dynamically
branding the
TEM with an identity and functionality of the selected institution.
In another embodiment of this invention is provided a dynamically branded
transaction execution system comprising:
a. a plurality of member institutions, each of the plurality of member
institutions
including predetermined branding elements;
b. at least one shared TEM; and
c. at least one routing and processing system to connect and process
information
between a selected one of the plurality of member institutions and the shared
TEM;
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wherein the shared TEM is configured such that when a customer provides
information to the
shared TEM, the shared TEM comes under the control of the selected one of the
plurality of
member institutions, and the shared TEM is branded using the predetermined
branding
elements to provide an identity and functionality of the selected institution.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a
dynamically brandable TEM for use in a transaction execution system
comprising:
a. a communications system operatively connectable to the TEM responsive to
user-
provided information for coupling the TEM to a selected institution from a
plurality
of institutions, the plurality of institutions including predetermined
branding elements;
and
b. a configuration system for configuring the TEM in accordance with the
selected
institution, thereby facilitating dynamic branding said TEM with the
predetermined
branding elements of the selected institution.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
system for
providing a user with an interaction session that is dynamically branded, the
system
comprising:
a. a TEM for facilitating the interaction session between the user and a
selected
institution from a plurality of institutions, the selected institution
including
predetermined branding elements;
b. a communications system for operatively coupling the TEM with the
predetermined
branding elements of the selected institution;
c. a configuration system for configuring the TEM in accordance with the
desired
predetermined branding elements, thereby dynamically branding the TEM; and
d. a revenue stream generated as a result of the interaction session between
the user and
the TEM; wherein a portion of the revenue stream is distributed to a
participant of the
system.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a
computer-readable media for use in providing a dynamically branded transaction
execution
system comprising:
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a) at least one TEM for facilitating sessions between a user and a selected
institution
from a plurality of institutions, the selected institution including a
predetermined
branding element;
b) a communication system responsive to information provided by the user for
operatively coupling one of the TEMs to the selected institution; and
c) a configuration system for configuring the TEM in accordance with the
predetermined
branding element, thereby dynamically branding the TEM with an identity and
functionality of the selected institution.
1o BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the preferred embodiments of the invention will
become
more apparent in the following detailed description in which reference is made
to the
appended drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a schematic of a dynamically branded transaction execution system;
Figure 2 is a transaction execution machine (TEM) of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a user interface of the TEM of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an alternative embodiment of Figure 1;
2o Figure 5 is an alternative embodiment of Figure 1;
Figure 6 is an alternative embodiment of Figure 1; and
Figure 7 is a schematic representation of a TEM display of Figure 2 emulating
hard-
wired buttons.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An embodiment of the present invention generally provides a method and system
for
dynamically branding a transaction terminal, also known as a transaction
execution machine
(TEM), by a particular institution selected from a plurality of institutions.
The TEMs can be
3o incorporated into a transaction execution system that connects the TEMs by
a routing and
processing system to the institutions. The TEMs can assume "multiple
personalities"
responsive to dynamic branding, which is determined by predetermined
specifications (or
branding elements) of a customer selected institution during a transaction
session. The
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execution system provides for the TEM apparatus and for a system that includes
such
dynamically branded TEMs.
A TEM is a machine with a purpose of effecting a transaction between a user of
the
machine and an institution, where the TEM interacts with the user through
input/output sub-
components. The TEM and the institution are coupled by the communication and
configuration systems. The TEM is capable of being configured to include the
branding of at
least one desired institution during the transaction session with the user.
to A TEM can include a variety of known devices, predictable devices, and
those which
may arise in future. Known devices which are capable of being TEMs when
properly
configured as part of the system disclosed include (by example and not by
limitation) the
following: ATMs; personal computers with browsers and web access; web-TV (TM
Microsoft
Corporation) and similar devices; browser-enabled cell-phones, PDAs; various
automated
bank machines, two-way pagers; portable computers with wired or wireless web
or
communications access; kiosks such as touch-screen/interactive information-
displaying
kiosks with communications means; any of the above, either with or without
printing, sheet
dispensing, scanning, or depository or other similar "legacy ATM" typical
capabilities. The
TEMs could also be a variety of automated cash machines, automated bank
machines, point
of purchase devices, kiosks, and other devices with a means to received ID
from or of a user
and to subsequently present an institution's branded content to the user. When
used herein,
"TEM" or Transaction Execution Machine, shall have this meaning.
The TEMs can include a browser, and the configuration spoken of including
branding,
which is accomplished by supplying to the browser system in the TEM
instructions and data
in forms like documents with embedded tags, but which are in fact anything
capable of being
handled by a browser, including by example and not by way of limitation,
applets, data and
instructions capable of being handled by plug-ins to a browser, and the like.
Content may be
rendered by the browser to provide an interface to the user at the TEM by
being converted
into a display and interface, while the TEM may be controlled by data and
instructions sent to
it which are otherwise handled by the browser or its plug-in applications or
mini-apps or
applets or the like, such as instructions to permit recognition of a touch-
screen input device,
means of accomplishing the dispensing of cash and the consequent recording of
machine
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states and events or transactions, the operation or engagement of peripheral
devices at the
TEM, the communication of TEM states, and the like. Thus, the user interface
provided by
the configured TEM is anything renderable by at least one browser, including
but not limited
to faceless browsers or a browser with no skin, streaming audio or video, or
other data-type
plug-ins, players or components such as Quicklime (TM Apple Computers),
Shockwave
(TM Macromedia), Flash (TM), Realaudio (TM Real Corp), and the like.
The logic, presentation and appearance of a user interface of the TEM,
including
transactions executed at the TEM which may be an ATM, are collectively
referred to here as
"branding" elements, and when variably provided by the system of this
invention, as
components of "dynamic branding".
Some sample elements of branding may include:
- logo
- type style, color scheme, layout
- display layout, trade dress, trade marks, look and feel
- functionality, advertising space, advertising copy, special features and
functions
- transaction ordering and sequencing capability
- types of transactions permitted, encouraged, degree of difficulty or ease in
accessing one type over another, steps of query/response or page/action
required or provided during the transaction session; number and type of
accounts available, interface with other information (which may be simply
informative, or may be tied somehow to user identity or preference, TEM
location, time of day, date, historical use, other)
- degree of personalization to end-user (identity, name, preferences chosen or
by statistical analysis or otherwise)
There are three variants of the "branding" of a TEM, namely: 1) when the
member
institution controls the TEM directly through the communications and
configuration means of
the system; 2) when the member institution uses a legacy or traditional
authorization network
service provider (an example is the Interac consortium system) to provide
transaction
services, but desires the transaction to be partially branded from the user's
point of view; and
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3) when a user interacts at a TEM which is part of the system where the
institution with
which the user wishes to deal is not a member institution, in which case the
transaction
authorization, logic, and sequencing might be required to conform to the
requirements
controlled by Interac or another legacy or traditional transaction service,
the other elements of
"branding" would be controlled by the router/switch element of the
communications and
configuration systems of the invention, and could include advertising leading
a user away
from the user's preferred but foreign institution to a member institution or
otherwise. Non-
member institutions may not necessarily be enabled to provide configuration of
the TEM,
which may be configured in accordance with the system's "generic" mode, and
such that the
l0 non-member's users may not see the non-member's branding, but may be able
to carry out
generic types of transactions (much like Interac or Cirrus or Star locations
can do now) with
content and interface elements provided by this system to the specifications
of the member
institutions and the router/switch operator, the TEM owners, and the other
stake-holders in
the system. While the screens and other branding information in the generic
mode may not be
specific to an individual institution, the generic mode can still utilize the
fundamental aspects
of the dynamic branding system to increase the utility of the transaction. In
one example, an
ATM deployer, merchant or the operator of the system could enable a user to
express a
language preference from a range of available choices, and the system can
display all the
'generic' functionality in the language of that user's selected choice.
Further, the system can
2o record the preferences expressed by the user as entered either at the TEM
or through some
other means or at some other time, and recall those preferences to modify. The
type and
number of branding elements can be predetermined by the associated
institutions, and/or the
TEM customers, during setup and operation of the system or during particular
stages of a
transaction session.
Some institutions when initially becoming members of this system may find it
useful
or desirable to put only the trade-mark and trade-dress, logo, color scheme
and appearance
portion of the branding into the control of the system, while maintaining the
transactional
control at an existing system site or provider location. This arrangement
might be a
3o permanent arrangement or might be part of a transition to allow early entry
into the entire
system of multi-personality TEMs provided through this system with at least
the trade-mark
style of branding elements being provided.
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When the word "branding" is used, it is meant in the broadest possible sense,
and not
merely to provide the name of the institution and its logo. "Branding" as used
herein
includes all aspects of branding which may include, by example:
the overall style and motif presented; logos; type styles; color schemes;
layout;
trade dress; trademarks; look and feel; style of language used; dialect and/or
national language used; presence or absence of advertising space; advertising
copy; types of transactions permitted or encouraged; degree of difficulty or
ease
in accessing one transaction type over another; steps of query/response or
to page/action required or provided during the transaction session; number and
type of accounts available; interface with other information (which may be
simply informative, or may be tied somehow to user identity or preference,
TEM location, time of day, date, historical use, or other information).
When we discuss "predetermined" branding elements, we include branding
elements
which have been designed or the calculation or instructions for the assembly
or building of
which have been designed, and are stored or accessible at the time.
In order to use the system of the multi-personality TEMS, the institution with
which
2o the user wishes to interact must be determined. In order to determine the
desired institution,
some information must be provided. This information can take any of several
very distinct
forms:
a. physical machine readable indicia presented by the user. This would
include, but not
be limited to, smart or other cards and cheques;
b. biometric information about the user. This could include (without
limitation)
measurable physiological identifiers such as voice-print, fingerprint, iris
scans and the
like; or
c. some indicia transmitted, such as by infrared, RF, phone (call a number on
the TEM)
or otherwise to the TEM at the user's direction or on the user's behalf.
It is also possible for a user to begin using the system by allowing the user
to make a
selection using the user interface provided by the TEM such as by a choice on
its wait state
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interface. This would usually be by making selections on a touch screen on the
TEM, or by
using a keypad, keyboard or buttons on the TEM.
Physical indicia presented by a user would at this date most commonly be a
card such
as a credit card or bank issued card. Such a card can have either a magnetic
strip that carnes
the necessary information or it can be a chip card or smart card, which has on-
card storage
that contains within it the necessary information, or alternatively or
additionally, the card
might contain a bar code or other machine-readable information. In some cases
a single card
may contain or carry information in several forms such as both on a magnetic
strip or bar
to code and within the storage of a chip on the card. In such a case the
source of information
read will depend upon the capabilities of the TEM. For example a card may have
both a
magnetic strip and a bar code, and when the card is used in a TEM that is part
of the system
described herein, the magnetic strip may be read. When that same card is used
at a point-of
sale checkout of a merchant the bar code on the card may be read by an optical
scanner at the
till.
For brevity, where we use the words "smart card" it shall be taken to mean
either a
memory-only chip card or a chip card that has both memory and computing
capability, as
either can work for the system, methods and apparatus described herein.
Where the indicia is physical, the user presents it to the TEM. Usually this
involves
inserting a card into a card reader on the TEM. Such card readers can take
several forms:
where the user swipes the card through a reader, motorized readers that
retract the card inside
the machine to read them, or ones where the user manually inserts the card and
it stays
accessible to the user. All of these types of readers are suitable for
magnetic cards while only
the last two are suitable for reading chip or smart cards. The motorized
readers are common
in full function automated bank machines and high end kiosks, while the swipe
and manual
insert schemes are more common in low end ATMs, cash dispensers, smart display
phones,
most kiosks and portable devices.
Once the user has presented the card, some or all of the information on the
card is
read in order to determine the institution with which the user desires to
interact. This
information can take a variety of forms including a URL, a BIN, a IIN or a
unique number or
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string. The information may actually be two or more pieces of information
which when taken
together are unique for purposes of identifying the institution, and may be
provided in one or
more steps.
For example, if the operator of a system, as described herein, were to assign
unique
numbers to its member institutions on a country by country basis, and member
institutions
issued their members items which had both this number and the country code in
the form of a
bar code on the item, then the member institutions could provide for their
users to use the
system by using the bar coded item to provide a unique reference to a member
institution, at
least within the context of that particular system.
If the customer's desired member institution is identified by the customer
presenting a
smart card to the TEM where said card contains identifiers for several
institutions, then the
user is first presented with and makes a selection from a branded display of
all institutions
represented on the card that are members of the said transaction system.
Another way that a user can obtain the branded interface of the desired
institution is to
make a selection from the wait state TEM interface indicating a wish to
manually select an
institution. The user could be prompted using a variety of approaches to
arrive at a desired
unique institution. This could be through a series of narrowing questions, a
search by name,
a series of selections from a series of more and more zoomed-in topic maps or
geographic
maps, or by manually entering institution identification numbers such as its
BIN, IIN or
routing number. The branding of that desired institution would then be
presented assuming
such institution was a member of the system. Typically, the user would then be
required by
the institution to provide further information for identity and
authentication.
In a transaction execution system as defined herein, some or all of the TEMs
may
include a user identification system for automatically identifying said user's
desired
institution by a method that first involves biometric identification of the
user. The biometric
information about the user will be captured at the TEM and will then be
compared with
entries in the biometric databases of each member institution that supports
such method of
identification of a user. For example if the biometric identification method
is an iris scan,
then the user's iris scan only needs to be searched in institutions that have
iris scans for some
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of their customers. In this example, to speed the matching it may be desirable
to scan every
institution's iris databases in parallel. If only one match is found then the
branding of the
institution in whose database the match was found will be presented. If more
than one match
is found, then the system could present to the user on the display of the TEM
a pick list of all
the matching institutions from which the user could make a selection to
proceed. Where
there are several possible institutions for a particular user, of a subset of
the matching
institutions' essential branding elements of those institutions could be
displayed, such as a
small logo and color scheme, in order to assist the user in making a choice.
Having selected
the desired institution, the branding of that institution would be presented.
The relating of
institution to branding location and the presentation of that branding would
be done using
methods and systems previously described.
It may be desirable to improve the performance of biometric matching by having
a
consolidated set of biometric databases maintained at a single location
accessible by the TEM
directly or through some intermediary system.
The dynamically branded transaction execution system described herein can be
operatively connected to one or more traditional or legacy transaction
networks, so that when
users presents indicia that indicates a desired institution which is not a
member institution of
2o the system, the user's transactions can be supported to the extent possible
by operatively
communicating with the desired non-member institution over traditional
transaction
networks. In this case, the transaction would not be branded and the available
transaction
types would be limited to those supported by the particular traditional
transaction network
(such as Interac, Cirrus or Honor/Star).
In other cases an institution may be a member or participant in the system but
only
connected via a traditional transaction network. In this case, a session can
be branded using
content created by or for the member and served from any o~ the TEM;
communications and
routing systems; or a service provider on behalf of the institution.
In the dynamically branded transaction execution system described herein, the
user
interface of the TEM can include the ability for a user to communicate
directly with a
representative of a desired member institution from said TEM. This direct
interaction can
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begin at a point in the session when the institution requires human
interaction for reasons of
authenticity related to loss control, for customer service reasons, to deal
with complex
requests or direct interaction. This can be done with audio conferencing or
direct interaction
audio and video conferencing. The display of the TEM can be used, if suitable,
to display the
image of the customer service representative. The use of the audio
conferencing simply
requires that the TEM contain a suitable microphone and speaker.
This representative can be situated as part of said processing and routing
system, at a
location of said member institution or at a location of a service provider
acting on behalf of
the said member institution.
By allowing each transaction execution machine to control its own peripherals
such as
printers, currency dispensers, depositories, keyboards, screens, and the like
responsive to
programming embedded in documents provided for or routed by a router/switch,
and to report
activities and states back through the same router/switch, it is provided, in
addition to
"dynamic branding", functionality on the network, preferably at the
router/switch, which
provides for translation and buffering and interpretation services which allow
operability of
the TEMs which use and expect information and programming via XML over TCP/IP,
and
legacy transaction authorization systems which use and expect responses via
proprietary
message formats and protocols such as Diebold 911/912.
Conversely, by routing state information from legacy ATMs to the
router/switch,
functionality on the network, preferably at the router/switch, provides for
the translation and
buffering and interpretation services which allow operation of the legacy ATMs
which use
and expect communications and instructions via proprietary message formats and
protocols
such as Diebold 911/912 by either legacy transaction authorization systems or
by more
modern transaction authorization and accounting systems which use and expect
information
and content via XML.
By providing the interpretation, buffering, and translation services for
communication
between legacy authorization and control systems, legacy ATMs, modern web-
enabled TEMs
and modern web-enabled institutions at the router/switch, translation,
buffering, interpretation
and emulation databases, and the required processing and data co-ordination
may occur at a
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more powerful and capable computer site than at a limited capacity TEM, and it
also becomes
possible to provide dynamic branding with legacy transaction authorization
instructions
without problems which occur co-ordinating branding information with
transaction
information if those two disparate types of things are provided directly to
the TEM in their
own formats to and from different sources.
In various of the traditional ATMs provided by a number of suppliers, there is
provided in an array at points around the display screen of the ATM a number
of hard-wired
buttons. The display is variable to indicate the functionality of each of said
buttons, which
1o may be different at different stages during a series of transaction steps
during a user's session
interacting with the ATM.
When a TEM is provided with suitable touch-screen video display as a
peripheral,
said display may be configured by a portion of the information (for example by
way of
HTML documents, tags, applets, or the like) by means of which the TEM is
configured, such
that a portion of said screen is made to emulate the hard-wired buttons on a
traditional ATM,
in order that a member institution's pre-existing branding information having
to do with the
way it deals with its captive traditional ATM may be emulated, using an
embodiment of this
invention as an example, at a web-enabled, browser-competent TEM connected via
the
routing and switching means to said institution and to branding.
In order to facilitate the operation of the TEM, the instructions for
operation of certain
devices or capabilities of the TEM can be contained within the same document
set that
contains the branding of the institution. These instructions facilitate one or
more of the
following functions or their like: printing information on a printer in the
TEM; printing
coupons including with barcodes; dynamically printing an item of value such as
an event
ticket, Internet postage, a negotiable instrument, draft, or cheque, a
transportation ticket, a gift
certificate, a lottery ticket, a license or permit, or scrip; requesting the
dispense of a pre-
existing item of value such as currency, prepaid phone cards, conventional
postage stamps,
3o coins, tokens, gift certificates; accepting into a provided depository
paper items including
signed forms, applications, negotiable items, and currency; triggering the
capture of the users
image or some biometric data; triggering the capture of a signature on
signature pad or touch
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screen; triggering the capture of a scanned image of a bill, invoice sheet,
cheque or other
document provided by the user.
Device capabilities of the operative TEM within a session can be previously
known
by the institution or sent at the beginning of each session, in order to
tailor the user interface
and branding elements presented by the TEM to the capability, screen size,
peripheral
enablement, consumable supply, machines state and the like provided at the
TEM.
At or near a transaction session's start, a TEM could communicate to the
system and
its participants, its capabilities and optionally, the state of its
consumables, to permit optimum
dynamic branding. The institution can query the TEM at any time during a
connection in a
session, to obtain device capabilities or status, status of consumable
supplies on hand at
TEM, data collected by or at the TEM, or the like, as desired. Additionally,
the branding
content documents supplied by the institution to control its branding can
access status
information regarding the TEM, including items such as the status of
consumables. In both
cases the institution can respond dynamically to the capabilities in existence
at each TEM at
an point in time in a user session involving that institution's branding and
control.
During operation of the transaction execution system, the TEM could be waiting
in a
mode that can be called an idle or wait state. In this state no user is
directly using the TEM.
A user wishing to make use of the TEM would first provide information to the
TEM that
would then be used to determine the institution with which the user wished to
interact. The
TEM would then be operatively coupled with that institution so that the user
could conduct a
transaction session with the institution, and should the institution happen to
be a subscriber to
the system, the branding and configuration of that desired institution would
be presented on
the TEM. The user would conduct a transaction session with that institution
where
throughout the session the content displayed to the user was content specific
to that institution
and was complete with all aspects of the brand of that institution appropriate
to the
capabilities and location of that TEM. At the end of the session the TEM would
return to the
3o idle state where it would await another user. A next user could conduct a
session with a
different institution and would then experience an entirely different set of
content and
branding. The TEMs preferably have an open and flexible system of presenting
content, and
facilitate providing a variety of branded content of a plurality of
institutions.
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When initiating a transaction session of the TEM with a selected institution,
the term
"operatively coupled" could include, for example:
- the identification and the provision of communications facilities, direct or
indirect, between them or between one of them and an agent of the other of
them, with or without a persistent physical circuit; and
- coupling might in some circumstances involve identification and
1o communication provision between or amongst more than two entities; and
- coupling may be between the user of a TEM and some component of a desired
institution's branding elements, however provided; and
- coupling may mean the system acting as if a coupling described above had
actually taken place.
The TEMs would be coupled via any means that can provide or be made to provide
reliable data transmission over a network. The network would connect the TEMs
with the
desired member institution, service providers acting on behalf of
institutions, and with
authorities responsible for accounting for items of value within the TEMs and
with
organizations responsible for the operation and maintenance of the TEM.
Institutions that could be coupled to the TEMs and thereby make use of the
dynamically branded system described herein include; all manner of financial
institutions,
merchants that wish to develop relationships with their customers particularly
by way of
loyalty systems, government organizations that issue identification or permits
or licenses, and
any other organization that wishes to provide a means of interacting with its
customers or
members at a variety of access points in a way that the institution would have
control over the
image and functionality presented to the user. So, throughout this document,
where the term
"institution" is used, it shall be taken to mean any such type of
organization, institution,
company, government agency, merchant and the like, including for example,
banks, credit
unions, savings and loan companies, finance companies, insurance providers and
brokers,
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credit card issuers, securities brokerage firms, trust companies, mutual fund
companies,
wealth management companies, lottery organizations, motor vehicle agencies,
mortgage
companies, government licensing bodies, airlines, cooperatives, associations,
charities, and as
well any type of financial institution, merchant, service provider or
retailer.
It is also to be understood that in a multi-institution system such as
described in this
document as part of the invention, there are more institutions than those
subscribing to the
branding service provided for, thus those subscribing institutions are
referred to as member
institutions. It is also to be understood that subscriptions to said service
may be in a variety
to of levels of involvement or participation in the transaction execution
system.
While the institutions are coupled to the TEMs, the execution system may
process
forms of documents which include tags or instructions embedded therein. The
most common
current types of tag-based documents are referred to as HTML ("Hypertext
Markup
Language"), which is a variant of a more generic type of Standardized General
Markup
Language ("SGML"). SGML includes other variants such as XML (eXtensible Markup
Language). XML has been developed primarily focused on the transmission of
inter-
computer understandable data and data structures, with some capability of
description of
presentation elements.
In software implementations of systems using current 'web' technology,
collections
of images, branding elements, machine instructions and data are often referred
to as
'documents'. Documents tend to represent a logical subdivision of a larger set
of related
instructions or data, and frequently include the capability to reference data
in other
documents or pass control to instructions in other documents. These documents
are more
specifically files containing elements in some standardized arrangement such
that the file
elements can be interpreted and the instructions implicit in the file contents
can be acted upon
by the interpreter to set or control the appearance, data, transaction flow
and many other
elements. In the context of dynamic branding, a 'document' may indeed be such
a collection
3o conforming to widely utilized document standards such as HTML. However, it
will be
readily understood by those skilled in the art that these collections may be
of some less
common type or may even be unique to a specific implementation of the system,
and that the
'document' may not necessarily contain directly human-interpretable elements
such as text,
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but that a 'document; can consist of any set of instructions, data or any
combination thereof,
including elements such as software routines, directly executable computer
code,
transportable or platform independent code, data elements, tokens, variables,
and any other
item used in the control of a software process, such that the contents of all
or part of the
'document' can be interpreted, read or executed by the system such that the
system may act
upon them to control, configure or influence its operation, capabilities or
appearance. The
term 'documents' in the context of this system description may be conveniently
considered to
include all conventional and widely standardized collections commonly called
documents,
such as HTML files containing or referencing java code, in order to aid in the
understanding
1o of the system using widely familiar paradigms. However, the term as it
applies to the present
transaction execution system includes, as well the broadest range of any
arrangement,
sequence or collection of instructions, data or code that forms a logical
subdivision of the
intended system behaviour. While this example assumes the conventional usage
of the term
URL, it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art using the term URL
as defined in the
context of the dynamic branding system that the URL could be any form of
reference or
pointer to the instructions, code or data or any other representation of
initial set of branding
information to be acted upon by the TEM.
XML provides means of describing data through data type definitions, which
while
2o human-readable, also lend themselves to be machine-processed. XML data
descriptions
begin to represent data types in a model useful to understanding and being
dealt with in a
particular type of business. XML documents may be thought of as "data-driven"
and not
"transaction-driven", and in essence are themselves "self describing data".
XML formatted
documents are very useful in providing device-independent machine-to-machine
data
communications with hyper-linking capability, and thus XML is currently the
most useful of
the tag-based languages for TEMs. It is to be understood, however, that
reference herein to
and of the terms HTML, XML, or SGML or to documents with embedded instructions
or tags
is to be considered as a reference to each applicable member of that general
group, and as
such are interchangeable where to do so would be sensible and apparent to one
skilled in the
art.
Http and TCP, when its use is implied or assumed, are to be understood as
including
other similar or functionally equivalent transport and document delivery
protocols, such as
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but not limited to Wireless Access Protocol, or WAP, and said terms may be
interchanged
when to do so would be sensible to one skilled in the art. Likewise, Wireless
Markup
Language, or WML, is to be interchangeable with XML (as elsewhere defined),
where to do
so would be similarly sensible.
A user's card may contain an actual reference to a document. A well-
standardized
scheme exists for specifying the document, location of the document, and the
protocol for
accessing the document. This scheme is called a Uniform Resource Locator or
URL. An
example of the form of a URL is:
http://brand.autobranch.com:80/startingpoint.html
Where the "http://" portion specifies the protocol for accessing the
information, which
in this example is the "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol" commonly used for
transferring web
documents such as HTML and XML. The "brand.autobranch.com" segment is the name
of
the logical location of the computer that is accessed. That name is converted
into an actual IP
address by using the domain name system (DNS) which provides translation of
names to IP
addresses on the world wide web. The "startingpoint.html" in this example is
the name of
document that is to be retrieved. The ":80" portion of our example is the port
to be used on
the computer being accessed. As many protocols have a default port, this
portion can be and
is often omitted from a URL. So in our example, if a user presented a card
that contained the
above example URL, the TEM would look up the address for the domain
"brand.autobranch.com" and then use the "http" protocol to send an http
request to that
address using the port number specified, "80". The request would ask for the
document
"startingpoint.html". To provide for dynamic branding, that document would
contain various
elements of the branding of the institution that provided the indicia that
pointed to that URL.
The branding elements would be in the set of documents of the starting
document along with
all related documents and files referable from that first document.
While "URL" (Uniform Resource Locator), as described by the Internet
Engineering
Task Force in the document RFC 1738, is the common term for expressing a
complete
reference to a net-based resource, those skilled in the art will appreciate
that this could also
be a "URI" (Uniform Resource Identifier) as described in RFC 2396 or a "URN"
(Uniform
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Resource Name) as described in RFC 2141 and therefore throughout this document
where the
term "URL" is used it is to be taken to mean any one of these or similar terms
that describe a
similarly complete reference to a resource.
In addition to embodiments relying upon URL standard addressing means to
locate
branding and other elements of this invention, it will be apparent that "URL"
can as easily be
replaced, were to do so would be sensible, with words such as "location",
"stored source",
"pointer", "starting point", "reference", "entry point" or other words, where
such infers a
complete reference useful for access, retrieval, or a starting point reference
to a collection of
machine interpretable instructions, code, or data in any form.
An organization that has never issued cards before may find the actual
provision of a
URL as part of the information stored on its new user cards to be a desirable
approach.
While having a URL on each card makes access to the starting point for the
branding of that
institution straightforward, the drawbacks are several, particularly for
institutions and
organizations that have previously issued cards. There are an enormous number
of existing
cards in use by consumers which do not currently have URLs on them. The cost
of reissuing
or recoding cards can be significant. Another drawback is that there is no
well-accepted
standardized location for storing a URL on a smart card or on a magnetic card
nor even for
indicating that one is present. Also, a URL can be a significant size in
comparison to the total
amount of data storage possible on a magnetic strip or bar-codable surface
area of a card. So,
while it would be possible to construct a system that could use URLs stored on
indicia, many
aspects of such a system could be proprietary to that system, and there are
some
disadvantages or impediments to its implementation.
The indicia may alternatively contain a numeric representation which can be
manipulated to become or refer to a URL which references desired branding
information of a
member institution.
3o A more desired way of determining the starting point for the dynamic
branding of the
TEM is to use some information that already exists on common indicia such as
magnetic
cards or smart cards, and then to relate that existing information to the
starting point for the
dynamic branding configuration or coupling step.
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Cards issued by financial institutions routinely and almost universally
contain a Bank
Identification Number (B1N). A table can be maintained that contains BINS and
the URL
associated with each particular BIN. This table can be stored within the TEM
itself or can be
accessible for lookup over a network connection. When the table is stored at
the TEM, the
copy on each TEM must be updated from time-to-time as new member institutions
are added
or the URL for a particular BIN is changed. Where the table is not stored on
the TEM but is
accessible for a lookup over a network, then responses to frequently used BINS
might be
cached in a variety of fashions on the TEM or in the system in order to
improve system
performance.
A more general approach than using a BIN would be to use the Issuer
Identification
Number (IIN) as described in ISO 7812 for magnetic cards and ISO 7816 for
smart cards.
These specifications describe the format used for almost all magnetic cards
issued worldwide
and for many smart cards. The specifications and related policy and system of
registration
bodies provide a method of having the Issuer Identification Numbers assigned
in a way that
each is unique on a worldwide basis. The IIN therefore provides an ideal key
for a lookup
table or other similar mechanism for relating a user-provided IIN to an
associated URL
pointing to branding elements.
Other forms of physical ID that the user could provide that could include the
necessary information include:
- a bar code attached to an a item such as a tag on a key chain;
- a proximity device such as are frequently used to control building
access;
- some other form of token or identification capable of being machine
3o read or recognized by the TEM.
Any of these could contain or represent an IIN and optionally additional
useful information.
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Another way that a user could provide useful instantiating information to a
dynamic
branding system is to enter a cheque or other MICR-encoded material of the
desired
institution into the TEM ("MICR" means Magnetic Ink Character Recognition).
This would
require that the TEM had the ability to read the machine readable coding on
the cheque. This
coding includes a bank routing number that is unique at least over large
regions. Since such a
system is likely to be deployed on a global basis, the bank routing codes may
not be unique.
If that were the case for a particular routing code on a user cheque, then the
system could
present to that user on the display of the TEM a selection of all the
institutions matching that
cheque's routing code and the user could make a selection from that list
before proceeding.
A subset of the branding elements of those matching institutions could be
displayed, such as a
small version of a logo and color scheme, in order to assist such user choice.
In the vast
majority of cases this intermediate step that requires the user to pick the
institution from a list
would not be necessary, and the user would be taken directly to the opening
screen branded
for the desired institution. The cheque or other MICR-encoded material so
presented to the
TEM could either be returned to the user or kept in the TEM for later secure
disposal.
Another way that necessary identification information to dynamically brand the
TEM
can be provided to the TEM is by sending the information from a portable
device that is in
the user's possession to the TEM. When the portable device is in close
proximity to the TEM
2o it can be temporarily operatively connected to the TEM to provide the
identification
information which indicates the desired institution.
Such portable device would have the identification information within it
because it
contained a smart card chip with the information, or it had a card reader of
its own and a user
has inserted a card, or the portable device itself had previously been
provided by the desired
institution with the information pre-stored in it, or the information might at
some time have
been manually or otherwise entered into the device, or entered into the device
by some other
means.
3o The operative connection between the portable device and TEM might be
provided by
means of a short distance infrared connection. Infrared capabilities are now
common in
portable devices such as hand-held computers, personal digital assistants,
cell phones, PCS
phones and other wireless phones and devices.
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The operative connection could also be provided by a short distance radio
frequency
connection between the portable device and the TEM, such as Apple Computer's
"Airport"
(TM) or Lucent Technologies' similar 802.11 "orinoco" (TM) wireless networking
systems or
by a technology known as "Bluetooth" ("Bluetooth" is a TM of
TelefonaktieboLaget L M
Ericsson, Sweden).
In a further embodiment, TEMs can be used as access points for general web
browsing by portable devices that are in the near vicinity. Since some TEMs
will be
to equipped with suitable connections to the public Internet these TEMs, when
also equipped
with wireless means, such as Bluetooth, can support users with portable device
that simply
need an Internet access point to perform such activities as email sending and
receiving, and
general web surfing. This capability would preferably only be deployed on TEMs
that have
sufficient network capacity that they can support such additional users
without degrading the
performance experienced by users who are using the TEM to conduct transaction
sessions
with their institution. The TEM should preferably limit the number of such
sessions that it
will allow to be conducted simultaneously to be appropriate for the capacity
of its network
connection. The payment facilities of the system can be used to allow these
users to be
charged for such uses of the TEM as an access point. When the portable user
first connects
2o to the TEM in this fashion, the TEM or the routing and processing portion
of the system, will
present a screen where the user will be advised of the charges for such
general web use and
will be asked to provide a means of payment before proceeding. The means of
payment can
be a credit card, bank debit card, transfer of value electronically or any
other means of
payment supported by the system that the TEM is connected to and that the user
has.
Payment means can also include the user first conducting a transaction session
with their
institution in order to pre-authorize a transfer for the use of the general
browsing capabilities
enabled through the wireless access to the TEM. At conclusion of the user's
web session
being conducted through the TEM, the payment means previously indicated by the
user will
be charged for the session. Optionally an electronic receipt for the session
can be provided to
3o the user, by email or otherwise. Users that wish to use such facilities
frequently can enroll
with the system to speed the logon and payment setup process by prepaying into
an account
that will be debited with each such session as they use it. In an alternate
payment model such
use of a TEM as an access point could be supported by advertisement that users
could agree
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to see as the bargain for being able to receive this free wireless Internet
access. The system
can increase the value to advertisers by providing information on the location
of the TEM
that user is using. Advertisements appropriate for the demographic served by
the
establishment where the TEM is located would be presented. Further, where
appropriate and
the user has provided necessary consent with respect to local privacy laws,
the system can use
its knowledge about the user to further assist advertisers in presenting
advertisements and
offerings that will most likely be of interest to the user.
Based on one of the variety of means that the desired member institution can
be
1o identified, the branding for that institution would be located. This is
best done by having a
table that relates the institution identification in the form of an ISO 7812
Issuer Identification
Number to a URL where the branding information is located.
The URL may include a "file" reference to a document stored within the
operative
TEM. An example of such a URL would be:
"file://c:\brands\ca\examplebank\startingpoint.xml"
If some or all of that content were so stored within the TEM, then when the
institution wished
to update or change its content, and the portions stored in the TEM were to be
modified, the
replacement content could be pushed out to each TEM (downloaded at the
server's initiation).
This would be done by the communication and routing system. While this example
assumes
the conventional usage of the term URL, it will be readily apparent to one
skilled in the art
using the term URL as defined in the context of the dynamic branding system
that the LTRL
could be any form of reference or pointer to the instructions, code or data or
any other
representation of initial set of branding information to be acted upon by the
TEM.
Similarly the starting URL might include an "http" reference where the
referenced
document is stored within the TEM. This could entail the TEM running a web
server to serve
content to itself. This approach would increase the resource requirements of
the TEM
somewhat, but is within the operating means of modern computer-based TEMs, and
having a
TEM also operating a web server might be desirable for other functionality.
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The starting URL could alternatively also include an "http" reference where
the
referenced document is stored within one of: a subpart of the communications
and routing
system on behalf of the desired member institution; any servers of the desired
member
institution accessible over a network; within servers, or accessible over a
network, of a
service provider on behalf of the desired member institution. It could also be
a document
generated by any of these upon receipt of the request. An example of such a
URL would be:
http://examplebank.dynamicbrand.com/startingpoint.cgi?AccountNumber=31264&Dev
iceAcceptsCheques=False
to
Where a document is so generated, it can be done through a server-executable
program or script which may take parameters from the query and/or perform
processing
operations including but not limited to generating content from a database,
and give to the
TEM a tagged document of the standard format.
The table containing the IINs and related URLs could be stored in a variety of
ways in
a variety of places and lookup could be done in a variety of ways to make the
system
described herein operative. These include using middleware, a light-weight
directory access
protocol (LDAP) server or an extended or modified DNS server, any of which in
response to
2o a query providing a particular IIN or a manipulation of an IIN, could
return the starting URL
for the corresponding institution.
An example of a lookup table is:
IIN URL
451601 http://examplebank.dynamicbrand.com/startingpoint.html
552001 http://552001.dynamicbrand.com
37**** http://brand.abcxinstitution.com:88
749318 http://brand.j oesgascompany.net:8301 /start.xml
Having retrieved the starting branding content from the source identified in
the lookup
table, the TEM could then present the branded content to the user. While any
number of
schemes exist for the format for storing and encoding the content and
presenting that content,
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the most desirable is for the content to be "web content", particularly XML,
and the
presentation to be done by a browser or browser object that will render,
format and process it
as necessary and present it to the user. Current standard browsers can format
and render most
of the required content to enable dynamic branding. TEM functions not
currently performed
in a browser may require that additional software assist the browser by
providing calls or
entry points, or additionally intercepting and acting upon branding content
that is non-
standard to that browser. In this way the branding that a particular
institution wants to
provide on a TEM can be developed using largely the same tools, techniques and
staff used to
create the web sites of that institution. Also in this way the institution can
reuse many
1o elements of branding that it has already developed.
Any valid web content including by example (and not by limitation): XML, HTML,
WML, gif, jpegs, and applets; could be supported in this scheme. Even content
that is
supported by a plug-in program for a browser could be supported in this
manner. This could
include such content forms as Shockwave and Flash from Macromedia Corp, Real
Audio and
Real Video from Real Corp, PDF document format from Adobe Systems Inc., and
the like.
For brevity, as previously discussed, when the term "XML" is used it shall be
taken to
include or to be any one of, or all of as appropriate, and which would be
understood by
2o someone skilled in the art, HTML, XML, WML, SGML or any other similar
"document and
tag" based language including, where appropriate, further content types
including portable
code that these documents can refer to or contain.
An example list of traditional transactions which can be implemented in this
system
between a user and an institution could include actions such as:
- account balance and history queries and reports;
- deposit of cheques or money, issue of receipts, addition to user account
balance;
- cash withdrawal, receipt issue, deduction from user account balance;
3o - inter-account transfers and bill payments;
- receipt issue, corresponding account balance adjustments; and
- like transactions.
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In regards to general applications of the multi-personality system, the group
of parties
capable of being "institutions" is growing, and thus the identity of the
"user" grows
commensurately to also include those new institutions' customers or those with
whom those
old and new institutions will transact. The number of available types of
transactions also
grows commensurate with the addition of new types of parties, but as well with
the addition
and invention of new types of interactions between users and institutions and
the invention
and introduction of new types of enablements of TEM capabilities. It is
therefore to be
inferred here that "transactions" include all such interactions between such
users and such
institutions as would be understood or inferable by one skilled in the art and
possessed of the
to common general knowledge and information in this area of social or
commercial interaction.
Some examples of new "transaction" types might be:
- transfer of loyalty points inter-party;
- redemption of air miles or other non-currency value items for goods and
services;
- bids, offers and acceptance of novel contract formations, including as well,
reverse auction methods;
- on-line catalogue purchasing;
- on-line fund or value transfers and donations,
2o - information browsing, query, search, and provision;
- on-line advertisements or survey;
- interactive storytelling;
- ICQ and chat between parties or groups;
and the like.
Desirably, the system also permits the institution defining the branding
experience to
determine other elements that may not be directly visible to the user and are
more
traditionally part of the systems engineering, design and protocols, message
and data formats
which can be customized by each member institution. For example, the dynamic
branding
3o content, and any data of any form that is specific to the member
institution, and any data of
any form that is specific to an individual customer or group of customers of
the member
institution, can under the control of the institution be stored and recalled
from within the
TEM itself, from within any point or points within the routing and
configuration system, or
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from within any system under the control of holding data belonging to the
member
institution, or further to store, retrieve or communicate to any of these
points at any location
within the system, or in any combination of such locations; and further that
the institution
may define whether and how during the storage or transmission of such data is
encrypted,
translated, or otherwise protected or transformed.
Preferably, the institution permits as complete control of the TEM and the
connection
between the TEM and institution or the agents of the institution as though the
institution
defined, engineered and implemented the system. This is generally the default
case where a
single institution deploys captive ATMs. The transaction execution system
disclosed herein
provides this type of control on the part of the institution even though the
TEMs are not
captive, while importantly preserving the segregation, co-operation and inter-
institution
security and confidentiality of the branding, control and content specific to
each participating
institution.
Due in part to the potential number and variety of institutions that can
interact with
the multi-personality transaction system, there are many techniques familiar
to those skilled
in the art for caching the branding information or at least the most
frequently used branding
information which could be employed to improve overall system performance and
2o particularly the refresh rate at the user interface.
When the indicia was first read at the interface, likely only a portion of the
indicia
was used to identify the institution. The balance of the indicia would also
have been read and
could have been saved and later made available to the desired identified
institution. This can
be done in several ways. When the URL of the desired institution is accessed
the additional
information available from the indicia can be transmitted as part of the
request for that first
document. This can allow the first document and/or subsequent documents
returned by the
institution to be variably modified based on the additional data that was sent
with the request.
3o The additional data from the indicia might also or alternatively be made
available to
software in the TEM in the form of variables that can be substituted into a
document that is
received or can be used to guide the processing of a document received. Such
variable
processing of the document could be accomplished with JavaScript, Java
applets, vb script
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[NOTE: "Java" is a trade-mark of Sun Microsystems Inc. and "vb" is a short-
form of "Visual
Basic" a trade-mark of Microsoft Corporation] or other such portable languages
or scripts, or
some combination of these and other similar techniques. This making available
of additional
indicia data to the content of the browser is a capability useful in
personalizing the content to
be specific to the user or class of user, and in improving performance of the
system as
experienced by the user, and to assist the institution in presenting branding
in the manner
which it desires. Some examples of the use of this additional data when so
made available
are: presentation in a preferred language and/or dialect; presentation in a
way that assists
users with particular conditions such as very poor or non-existent vision; an
identification of
1o the user by name or number; an indication of some group that the user is
part of, such as a
gold card club; provision of particular currency information.
In one embodiment, the TEM may capture and cache a user's personal preferences
at
that machine to speed transactions at that machine at a next session (caching
most current
branding and user interaction information) and, depending upon local storage
and machine
enablement, may temporarily or semi-permanently store certain user preference
or other user
related information to speed transactions from a user perspective while
maintaining the
institutions' branding aspect (this is responsive to statistical analysis of
user behavior known
to those skilled in the art that suggest that users of ATMs utilize 2 or at
most 3 ATMs for the
2o vast majority of their transactions).
Caching may take place systematically as well, if desired, providing for
system-wide
date capture for system performance monitoring and management, as well as
other uses
which will be apparent to the skilled reader in this art.
Having reached the first page of the institution's branding, one of the first
things that
an institution may then do is to authenticate the user. This could be done so
that the
institution has the confidence that it is truly the user that is present at
the TEM and not just
someone who has found their indicia. In order to do this the institution may
request a user id
and password from the user. If the supposed identity of the user was contained
in the
additional data on the indicia then the user may simply be asked for a
password. In the case
of banks and other financial institutions, the user would often be asked to,
at some early stage
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in the branded transaction session, provide a Personal Identification Number
(Pile which is
simply a short numeric password.
One of the advantages of the system described herein is that the timing within
the
session when user authentication takes place, or if it takes place at all, is
preferably under the
control of the selected institution. Selected institutions may authenticate at
the beginning of
the transaction, or only when the user first attempts to access certain
information, or only
when the user is requesting to do some transaction of value. Further, for
particularly
important or high value transactions, the institution might seek additional
information to
assure itself of the authenticity of the user and to prevent repudiation. The
institution could
also choose to require that for certain transaction types, or for high value
transactions, the
user use a TEM with particular capabilities such as one equipped with a camera
or signature
pad, or biometric measuring devices.
A number of techniques well known to those skilled in the art are available
for
encryption of passwords or of other session information, or of both, to be
transmitted across
the network connected to the TEM, or to be stored on the TEM or the
server/router to which
the TEM's connected. Similarly well known techniques such as with a public key
and private
key encryption infrastructure can also be applied to encrypting all
information that flows to or
2o from the TEM or such parts as are desirable. Such techniques can be
variably employed
during parts of a session between a user and an institution, at the control of
the branding
institution, or alternatively, as required by the system operator or in co-
operation between the
systems' various participants.
It may be required in some jurisdictions by regulation or law or simply by
convention
or requirement of the owner of the TEM or simply desirable to the institution
or system
operator, that when an institution wishes to dispense from that TEM one or
more pre-existing
items of value such as currency, prepaid phone cards, conventional postage
stamps, coins,
tokens, and the like, such a request must first be authorized via an
authorizing authority.
The authorizing authority would typically be the organization responsible for
accounting for, tracking, and replenishing these items of value at that
particular TEM (or a
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group of such TEMs). In systems of traditional bank ATMs and White Label ATMs,
this
would often be called the party that was "driving" the ATM, or the "ATM
driver".
When a request for such a dispense of an item of value is received at such a
TEM, the TEM
will transmit this request to an authorizing authority responsible for that
TEM. Within this
system there may be multiple authorizing authorities but a particular TEM
would preferably
only have one authorizing authority associated with its dispense functions.
That authorizing
authority would likely further communicate the request to an institution that
must agree to
ultimately approve and fund the requested transaction. That ultimate approver
is typically the
to institution that holds the account that will be charged for the dispense
about to be performed.
It is possible that another organization may be allowed to approve such
requests on behalf of
that ultimate approver. One type of such alternate approval is referred to as
"stand-in"
approval and may be conducted by the authorizing authority or automatically by
prior
arrangement, typically in circumstances where the authorizing network is down
or the
authorizing institution cannot be reached. It is to be understood that this
discussion holds for
the receipt at a depository provided at the TEM and managed and accounted for
by the
TEM's authorizing authority, which will follow a similar logical transaction
series, for
example instead of changing a user's account, adding to it to deal with said
deposit in
accordance with the institution's rules.
The format of the dispense request from the authorizing authority to the
ultimate
approver might be in any one of a variety of formats or mechanisms that may
have been
established between the authorizing authority and the ultimate approver. That
format may be
different from the format in which that authorizing authority received the
request from the
TEM, and it would in that case be the responsibility of the authorizing
authority to translate
as necessary between the different formats and schemes.
The common scheme in use to obtain authorization from the ultimate approver
varies
from industry to industry and even by institution within an industry. Within
the banking
community, for example, requests for authorization and approval is often done
using a
derivative of the ISO 8583 standard.
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It is preferable for the TEM to transmit authorization requests to the
authorizing
authority in the form of ISO 8583 messages. One approach is for the
authorization requests
and related responses to be sent between the TEM and authorizing authority in
a form where
the message numbers, fields within messages, field contents and the meaning of
all these are
in compliance with or similar to the ISO 8583 standard but the encoding,
representation and
other aspects of the form and format of the data is in a document conforming
to the XML
standard. Such documents can be exchanged between the TEM and authorizing
authority
using the http or secure http (https) protocol, or any other communications
protocol that can
be made to work.
to
If the request is authorized, then one document is next accessed by the
browser, and if
the request is declined then an alternate document is accessed by the browser.
The appropriate document to be accessed, based upon the response to the
request for
authorization, may have been communicated to the TEM within a prior document
accessed
by the browser as part of its configuration.
Further, there can be multiple documents that could be accessed, where the one
next
accessed is dependant upon a results code contained in the response to said
dispense
2o authorization request. Additionally, the results code and other information
contained in such
a response can be made available to browser software on the TEM in a way that
it can be
substituted into the next page to be displayed, or used in processing the next
page.
If the TEM fails to receive a response to a request for authorization within a
certain
period of time, then the software in the TEM can cause the browser to load a
document where
the URL of said document was supplied in a previous document. Again, a
variable indicating
that this "timeout" has occurred will be made available in the browser to
control desired
subsequent parts of that user transaction session.
3o In addition to or in replacement of authorization requests, it may be
required in some
jurisdictions by regulation or law or simply by convention, at least in
certain circumstances,
that the institution must be the owner of the TEM. This could occur when an
institution
wishes to use a TEM to conduct transactions, or possibly only when it wishes
to conduct
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transactions involving items of value such as currency, prepaid phone cards,
conventional
postage stamps, coins, tokens, and the like.
This potential requirement could be accomplished by substantially
simultaneously
with the initiation of connection to the institution, leasing the said TEM to
the said desired
institution for the duration of the transaction session with said user, and
substantially
simultaneously with end of the session, terminating the said lease.
Alternatively, substantially simultaneously with the initiation of connection
to the
1o institution the said TEM is sold to the said desired institution, and
substantially
simultaneously with the reversion to wait state at the end of the session is
repurchased by the
prior owner.
In the case where the sale or lease is from the owner to the operator and then
subleased or resold to the institution or a third party and then back from
that institution or
third party back to the operator and then back to the original owner, such
arrangements might
be accomplished by agency contracts or power of attorney relationships,
options (puts and
calls) to deal with various changes in control and/or ownership, or other well-
known legal
mechanisms available in various jurisdictions.
Since in a dynamically branded transaction execution system, there are a
multitude of
member institutions and a multitude of TEM owners, it is preferable to charge
fees to the
member institution based upon the use of TEMs by their customers. The system
of this
invention could track usage and account for and charge for use. If TEMs were
to be leased to
institutions for the duration of sessions, they could be charged a lease fee.
Where a TEM is purchased and resold for a session, the repurchase price could
be
calculated as the acquisition price less an amount equal to the charge for the
transactions)
conducted during said session, for example, rather than a "lease" charge of
similar amount.
The revenue from the various fees, including the difference on sale and
repurchase,
could be distributed amongst the providers of the system and some or all of:
the operator of
the communication systems; the entity on whose premises the TEM is located;
the entity that
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owns the TEM; the entity responsible for the maintenance of the TEM; and the
operat of
the routing and switching means.
The system can be made to track the usage of consumable items within the TEM
including such items as paper, currency, coupons, general usage counters, ink,
toner and the
like, as well as other resource utilization such as screen display time,
number of transactions,
communications usage by time or volume, or otherwise, for billing, audit and
maintenance
purposes including predictive maintenance. One method of doing this is for the
TEM to track
its usage during each session and then at the end of the session transmit this
information to
to the servers of the organization responsible for billing for the use of the
system. This
information could also be sent practically simultaneously to all properly
interested parties so
that they can perform their own reconciliation, audit and billing and other
functions using that
information. These other interested parties would include at least one of the
owner of the
TEM, the institution that conducted a transaction, the system's billing
organization, the
operator of the routing and switching means, and the operator of the TEM.
Subsets of the
information could be provided as appropriate to preserve commercial
confidentiality and user
privacy. For example the maintenance operator for a TEM could be interested in
knowing
the total paper usage within a TEM so equipped but may not have a need to know
which
institutions accounted for what usage, or which users transacted with the TEM.
Alternatively, usage information could be stored in the TEM or elsewhere in
the
system for a period of time and then, periodically or upon request,
communicated to the
appropriate parties.
The system can differentially charge or credit its participants for each
service
provided, or can allocate various priority uses to TEMs at various times or
locations.
Additionally, the system may reallocate resources or may re-configure
available TEM
capabilities, or otherwise tailor the available transaction sets to balance
resource utilization
by Institutions and their users, and further, can differentially charge for
its actions and
3o services based upon usage, location, time, resource utilization and
otherwise.
In addition, the system can accomplish or encourage optimum TEM and system
utilization without restricting the branding performed by an institution by
making information
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about the charges associated with any particular branding actions at any
particular time and
location available to the branding content (provided by the institution)
immediately in
advance of the content causing the configuration of the TEM, and at multiple
and repeated
points during the session whenever the branding content requests the then-
current status,
including causing some branding element to displayed, such that the branding
content may
make certain transaction types, data or options available only to selected
users at selected
times or locations, based upon that information and the branding content's
embedded
instructions dealing with that subject-matter.
1o The system may charge differently for various permutations of services and
benefits
provided, such as (but not limited to) the encryption and logging of certain
types of
transaction data, which might bear a higher charge than unencrypted or un-
logged
transactions or data.
It should be noted in the context of this disclosure that "lease", "leased",
"sold", and
"purchased" are to be understood in both the legalistic "ownership", "title"
and "right to
possession and use" sense as well as in the technical "temporary but exclusive
use" sense.
For example, in DHCP servers "leasing" IP addresses to client machines or
network nodes to
provide exclusive but temporary use within the served network of that IP
address to that
machine or node. Here, the meaning is that the TEM and perhaps the "circuit"
(of
operatively connected institution/branding/TEM via the router/switch
communications means
and the configuration means of the invention) may be considered owned or
controlled in
either legal or technical or both senses by agreement, acquiescence, consent,
prior
arrangement, convention, association, inference or other mechanism, such as to
permit the
transaction desired between user and institutions) over the TEM if local laws
or regulations
of competent jurisdiction require that degree of ownership or control in order
that the
transaction be lawful and of enforceable effect. When speaking of "leasing" or
"transferring"
ownership or control, it is to be understood that leasing and transfer of
ownership or control
may be interchanged, where to do so would be sensible given the context and
the
3o understanding of a person skilled in the relevant art.
It was described previously how a portable device in operative connection to
the TEM
could be the source of identifying information necessary to begin a branded
session on the
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TEM with an institution. In a further embodiment of the system the portable
device could
also be used to conduct all or part of the actual session with the
institution, with the portable
device using the TEM as a connection point to make use of the TEM's network
connections
in order to be able to communicate with the desired institution. A user could
use the input
capabilities, typically a set of keys or buttons, on the portable device to
make entries and
indicate selections. The member institution's branding could be displayed on
the portable
device to the extent appropriate to that device and as permitted or desired by
that institution.
All or a part of the branded transaction or provided transaction may be
accomplished on the
portable device or on the portable device and the TEM, dependent upon user
requirements
to and user capabilities. Of course, privacy concerns would be dealt with in
the accessibility or
view-ability of information on these various devices to ensure optional user
experience.
A number of users with portable devices might simultaneously use a TEM in this
fashion. Further, these users of portable devices can be using the TEM
simultaneously with a
user using the TEM directly.
One approach to support conducting transmissions on portable devices, is for
the
TEM to contain one or more browsers where one browser accesses a first XML
document at
the URL associated with said desired member institution as indicated by the
portable user and
2o said document and any documents and files to which said document points
contain the
branding of said desired member institution, and said branding is presented to
the user on the
portable device.
Translation of the content to a format supported at the portable device can be
done in
a variety of ways:
a. the TEM can perform the translation or "clipping";
b. the member institution can provide a set of contents suitable for the
interface of the
portable;
3o c. the member institution can perform the translation or "clipping"; or
d. the processing and routing system can provide a service to do those things
in (a)
through (c) above.
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A second approach to conducting transactions directly on portable devices is
for the
TEM to simply act as a network access point and data muter so that the session
at the
transport level (e.g. TCP or WDP) is taking place between the portable and, as
appropriate,
the processing system and the desired institution. A second TEM with no
network
connection of its own could use wireless means to obtain its operative
connections through
another TEM which does have operative network connections for communication
with
member institutions and authorizing authorities.
A further embodiment of the multi-personality transaction system is in
conjunction
1o with a loyalty system or systems. The system can generate information that
is useful to such
loyalty systems. A user may present a loyalty card or similar indicia as
discussed herein that
will allow them to use the system to interact with the provider of that
loyalty system for a
variety of purposes including: seeing their account status; viewing
transaction history;
viewing points balance; seeing available awards or offers; requesting
particular awards or
merchandise; locating participating merchants.
The system as described herein can make use of Customer Relationship
Management
systems and can generate information that is useful for these systems. The
system can
capture and make data available to data mining applications. These activities
could be
limited to the extent necessary and formed in ways that are in accordance to
the appropriate
legal jurisdiction and in compliance with the agreements with the various
participants.
Also anticipated is that the system may have information about a particular
user that
would be useful to an institution. The information could come from several
sources
including one or more of: a CRM system, a data mining system, history of past
use by the
user, information previously provided by user themselves (for example
information entered
by the user at an associated web site, described herein.), information
obtained from other
sources. This information may be made available to the institution in a way
that allows the
institution to tailor what they present to the user. This information may be
made available in
variables in the TEM in a way that they can be read by the content of the
institution as it is
executing on the TEM. Alternatively, it can be made available such that during
the session
the institution can make a query requesting this information and this
information would be
returned in the response to this query. The technological form of storing this
information,
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querying it and responding to these queries could take many forms that will be
evident to
those skilled in the art. The methods could be by way of example but not
limited to: LDAP,
message queues, Java beans (TM Sun Microsystems Inc.), various middleware or
APIs.
Another embodiment of the multi-personality transaction system is for
advertising or
other informational purposes. During "standby" mode, in a wait site, when the
TEM is not
being utilized by a user to perform a transaction, it will be configured to
display content
which is not necessarily provided by or for a member institution, and which is
not "branding"
content in the sense disclosed here. Rather, in standby mode, the TEM may be
configured in
accordance with instructions provided by means of the router/switch, which may
be stored at
the TEM, at the router/switch, or elsewhere on the system pending its
retrieval by the TEM.
Such standby mode configurations can include, by way of example, advertising
for member
institutions or others, information kiosk-style functionality such as merchant
catalogue
browser, location/map service, product demonstration information, product or
service
specifications, in-store location query and mapping response, coupon or other
value item
dispensing which does not require the identity of the user or of a user
account, direction-
giving, reference to other locations or services, passive or interactive other
displays such as
games, contests, questionnaires or surveys, or the like. From the configured
activities in
standby mode available by operation of a dynamically branded TEM system as
disclosed
2o here, it may be seen that there are a variety of services the revenue from
which the TEM
owner, the member institutions, the router/switch provider and the network
provider can
share or otherwise deal with.
When a system-included TEM is used by a customer of a non-member institution,
screens and other branding information in such a generic mode may not be
specific to an
individual institution, and the generic mode can still utilize the fundamental
aspects of the
dynamic branding system to increase the utility of the transaction session. In
one example,
an ATM deployer, merchant or the operator of the system could enable a user to
express a
language preference from a range of available choices, and the system can
display all the
"generic" functionality (without specific branding) in the language of the
user's choice.
Further, the system can record the preferences expressed by the user as
entered either at the
TEM or through some other means or at some other time, and recall those
preferences to
modify the TEM's configuration.
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The system as described wherein can be used where, without identifying a
desired
institution of the user, said user may use a TEM as an information kiosk. This
is done simply
by making a choice of one of the selections available on the "idle" or standby
screen of the
TEM. The content for the various segments of information or services available
on this kiosk
mode can be stored within the TEM or may be stored on a server accessible over
a network,
as is appropriate for the nature, timeliness and size of the content and or
the capabilities of the
TEM. Some or all of these information kiosk selections can be made unavailable
at times
when the TEM is being heavily used or to otherwise optimize the TEM's use.
In a further embodiment, the multi-personality transaction system could have a
web
site associated with it. The uses of this web site could include one or more
of the following:
- A user enrolling themselves to the web site and related system (this may
have
to be completed at a TEM that provides additional user identification
capabilities such as a signature pad, a camera to capture the users image,
biometric id capability, depending upon the use).
- A user viewing and printing previous transaction conducted at TEMs in the
system.
- A user setting and changing preferences for use when the user is using a TEM
that is part of this system.
- A user placing certain restrictions on their information or its use.
- A user finding the location of publicly accessible TEMs including locating
just
the ones with a particular capability, such as signature pad or depository,
that
the user intends to use.
- A user setting up transactions, including without limitation, purchases,
large
transfers, service cancellations, service enrolment, which require the user to
later complete them by authorizing them when present at a TEM suitably
configured for the level of authorization security needed for the particular
type
of transaction.
In a further embodiment of the system, a portable TEM can be used to setup a
transaction that is meant to be completed at a later time at another TEM which
has more
capabilities. For example, a user may request to receive cash or to deposit an
item when they
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are at a TEM that does not have the ability to dispense cash or receive such
deposit of a
physical item. The user can be provided with a receipt or code or other means
such that later
when the user is at a TEM that did have requisite cash dispensing or deposit
taking capability
they could use this receipt or code or other means to receive the cash or
otherwise complete
the transaction. Another example of why a user may be required to complete a
transaction at
a TEM with additional capability, is that an institution may wish to finalize
a transaction only
when additional means of identification is provided such as by way of
capturing an image of
the user, signing and then depositing a form printed on the TEM, entering a
signature on a
signature pad, authenticating the user by some biometric means, or
authenticating the user by
other means.
Refernng to Figure 1, a dynamically branded transaction execution system 8
includes
a plurality of transaction execution machines, hereafter referred to as TEMs
10, connected to
a processing and routing system 12. The switch system 12 interconnects the
TEMs 10 with a
plurality of member institutions 14, including but not limited to financial
institutions such as
banks and brokerage houses, and non-financial institutions such as merchant
organizations
and individual outlets thereof. A database 13 can be used by the TEMs 10 for
dynamic
branding and other required information. Alternatively, the muter 12 may also
have access to
a database 13a containing the branding information. This however, depends on
the latency
2o and bandwidth of the link to the TEM 10.
The TEM 10, shown in Figure 2, includes an identification device 16
(preferably a
card reader), a user interface 18, and a material device 20 for providing and
optionally
receiving materials to and from a customer (not shown) respectively, such as
but not limited
to cash withdrawals and deposits, cheques, coupons cards or stored value
cards, a plurality of
transactions requiring a proximity of physical media or storage devices to the
system 8,
product information and advertising, plus any other transactions and
communication to the
maximum extent permitted by the technology and capability of the member
institutions 14 to
which the balance of system 8 is ultimately connected. The plurality of
transactions may not
necessarily involve a transfer of a physical entity, for example money could
be transferred to
a stored value card. A data storage module 15 may be used to keep on site
transaction
records and may also be used to store the identity and/or functionality of the
user interface 18
(i.e. dynamic branding elements), defined by the member institutions 14.
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The user interface 18 of the preferred embodiment, shown in Figure 3, is used
to
communicate desired information between the customer using the TEM 10 and any
of the
member institutions 14 sharing the transaction execution system 8. Different
forms of
communication include a display 22 and a keypad, touch pad 24 or touch screen,
or any
combination of user input devices known in the art for the entering of
numerical information,
non-numerical information, and the selection of presented options, including
by measurement
of user biometrics at or available to the TEM. In addition, an audio system
26, a video
system 28, and/or a keyboard 30 may also be included if desired. The user
interface 18
facilitates the dynamic branding of the TEM 10 with the identity and or
functionality defined
by the member institutions 14 or other businesses at any given time. Multiple
displays may
be used in the TEM 10, some of which may be dedicated as a static sign similar
to those in
conventional captive ATMs.
In operation of the transaction execution system 8, the user's desired
institutions, is
first identified based on identification information obtained from the user by
the identification
device 16, which in the case of a card reader is accomplished by entering a
card in the device
16. The TEM 10 uses the identification information to connect by the switch
system 12 to
the member institutions 14 thus coupled. The user interface 18 is subsequently
modified
according to identity and/or functionality to a full service transaction
machine, dynamically
branded such that the TEM 10 behaves as though it were owned by the member
institution 14
for the duration of the customer's transaction. The branded TEM 10 preferably
provides the
full service desired by that institution for its customers. Once the customer
is finished a
transaction session, the TEM 10 can revert to a standby mode, or wait state,
and is ready for
interaction with another customer. During this standby mode a user may, with
or without
providing identification or being identified, use the TEM 10 as an information
kiosk, if
desired.
The selected member institution 14 has control over the behavior (or
functionality)
and presentation of the TEM 10 for the duration of use of the TEM 10 by its
customers. This
is accomplished by the system 8, which is capable of providing for the
duration of the
interaction either a full functionality connection between the selected member
institution 14
responsive to information from the customer, and the TEM 10, or by providing
the desired
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functionality on behalf of the selected member institution 14. In reference to
the above-
mentioned full functionality, it is dependent on whether the participating
member institution
14 chooses to take advantage of all of the available capabilities offered by a
particular TEM
10, or a smaller subset thereof.
In a further embodiment, shown in Figure 4, a plurality of external devices 30
may be
connected to the execution system 8. The devices 30 can include but are not
limited to a
portable TEM such as a cell phone, a lap top, or a personal computing device,
a third party
transaction system, or the like. The overall character of the dynamic branding
of the external
1o device 30, where it is a TEM 10, as well as the type and the number of
possible transactions
thereon is only limited by the capabilities of the user interface 18 of such
device 30. A
connection 32 between the device 30 and system 12 is accomplished preferably
by a modem,
wireless connection, or the like. The connection 32 can also be made via the
Internet, private
intranet, through many associated networks, or any other communications
device, or
combination of devices, capable of facilitating the required data transfer.
This embodiment
allows the user to conduct a plurality of transactions from a location chosen
by the customer
on an interface controlled and branded at the direction of a member
institution 14.
In another embodiment, shown in Figure 5, the execution system 8 contains TEMs
10
2o connected by the muter 12 to a plurality of traditional financial
transaction networks 32. The
networks 32 and device 30 in turn are connected to member financial
institutions 14A. This
arrangement provides for the execution system 8 to be connected to already
existing or newly
established networks 32, rather than directly to individual member
institutions 14A, to effect
dynamically branded transactions on TEMs 10 with selective numbers of such
institutions
14A.
In a further embodiment shown in Figure 6, a number of TEMs 10A, IOB, IOC, lOD
and 10E are operatively connected by the routing and processing system 12 to
member
institutions 14A, 14B and 14C. The TEMs 10A, lOB and lOC are connected to the
routing
3o and processing system 12 by means of a network 40. Additional TEMs l OD and
10E are on a
differently configured network 45 and are preferably connected to the same
routing and
processing system 12. The routing and processing system 12 is further
connected by means
of a third network SO to member institutions 14A and 14B and to member
institution 14C by
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means of the a fourth network 55. The routing and processing system 12 can
perform routing
and, as necessary, translation between TEMs 10A, lOB and lOC on network 40,
where it is
for example a wireless WAP based network, and the member institutions 14A, 14B
and 14C
on network 50 which is for example an IP based intranet. It should be noted
that more than
one muter 12 can be used in the system 8, if desired.
In a separate example, the same Figure 6 can be used to illustrate that if
network 45
were an IP based network and the network 50 were also an IP based network, the
networks
are the same type and data flowing between one TEM 10E and one member
institution 14B
to would merely need to be routed and may not need to be translated. If the
database 13A
contained the table for relating institution identifiers to member institution
branding locators
being URLs, then TEM 10E could provide this data in a request to the routing
and processing
system 12 which would respond with the URL for the branding of member
institution 14B,
which could be at that same member institution 14B. The session between 10E
and 14B
would then proceed where only the packet based routing capability of 12 would
be used
during the session. However, if that same TEM 10E was to begin a session with
member
institution 14C, which can only perform transaction by means of an network 55
of a different
type, by way of example only in a legacy consortium system using ISO 8583
messages over
an X.25 network, its branding could be served by the routing and processing
system l2and
2o the session would proceed as follows. The TEM 10E would send a request to
the routing and
processing system 12 containing the identification for member institution 14C.
The routing
and processing system 12 would respond with a URL, which for member
institution 14C's
branding is in this example located within storage at router 12. The TEM 10E
would then
begin the session with muter 12 and muter 12 would, where necessary, convert
transaction
requests to ISO 8583 and send them via X.25 on network 55 to institution 14C.
Responses
from member institution 14C received over network 55 by system 12 would be
translated to
XML over TCP/IP to be sent over network 45 to TEM 10E.
In order for the operation of the TEM 10 to be integrated with branding
content
supplied by a desired institution 14, there must be a device for the inputs
made by the user on
the TEM 10 to interact with such content. Since many TEMs 10 lack a full
keyboard and
lack a pointing device such as a mouse, additional devices should be
supported. Most TEMs
10 will have a numeric keypad of some sort. Entries made on this keypad can
through
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software be made to appear to a browser operating within the TEM 10 as if they
had been
entered on a regular keyboard. Likewise, touches on the touch screen 22 on the
TEM 10, if it
has one, can through software be made to appear to the browser as if the user
had made a
mouse click at that location.
Where the TEM 10 does not have a numeric keypad but does have a touch screen
22,
an image of a keypad or a full keyboard can variably appear on the touch
screen 22 and the
user's touch over an image of the key or button can cause, in software, the
correct key code to
be sent to the browser as if it had been entered on a conventional keypad or
keyboard of a
1o general purpose computer, if so desired.
Many TEMs 10, particularly ATMs, cash dispensers and other banking machines,
have additional physical buttons installed to assist in conducting
transactions. Often, the use
of these buttons is not fixed, while the location is fixed alongside the
display 22 of the TEM
10, and their variable use is indicated by graphics or text on the display 22,
both of which
variably change in a co-ordinated fashion through the user's session. This
system 8 provides
a method whereby a URL may be associated with each such button at each step
during a
transaction or session. When a user presses the physical button, an associated
URL will be
used as if that URL was a link for the associated graphic or text that was
displayed beside the
button that the user had selected, as if the user had made a mouse click or
touch on a touch
screen 22 to effect that selection.
It may be desirable to relate URLs to physical buttons. The physical buttons
would be
associated with URLs and then used with branding content. Somewhat similarly,
shown in
Figure 7, it may be desirable for an institution to use a display area of the
TEM 10 to emulate
an interface of a particular device. One example use is to use a modern TEM 10
to emulate
an older TEM 10, such as emulating an old style ATM and its physical side
buttons. The
complete TEM 10 contains a touch screen display 22. A portion of the display
22 is used to
form a virtual display 120 and the balance of the display 22 is a skin 130. On
the skin 130
3o are side buttons 140, which are an emulation of buttons on the real device
being mimicked.
The selected institution's content and branding information is displayed
within the virtual
display 120. On the skin 130 may be representations of physical features of
the device being
emulated such as buttons 140. Instructions within an institution's branding
can specify what
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URL is to be associated with a particular area on the skin 130. The
instructions can specify
any number of these areas and for each their associated URL. When that area of
the skin 130
is touched, the document at the associated URL will be processed, thereby
controlling the
flow of the session. Instructions within the branding of the selected
institution 14 are able to
specify that a particular skin 130 is to be used at the beginning or partway
through a session.
Similarly, instructions can turn off the skin 130 so that the entire display
22 is taken up with
the content of the selected institution 14. This method allows the member
institutions 14 to
use the same content on modern touch screen devices that has already been
developed for
older devices with physical buttons.
In a further embodiment, also represented in Figure 5, the execution system 8
is
connected to one or more Authorizing Authorities 31. Each Authorizing
Authority is
responsible for managing the items of value in one or more TEMs 10. A given
type of item
of value (for example cash) in a given TEM 10 is typically managed by the
Authorizing
Authority 31. The TEM 10 can receive authorization for transactions involving
items of
value either by a connection from the Authorizing Authority 31 to the relevant
institution, or
by using the connections that the system muter 12 has with all parties.
The branding content within the TEM 10 initiates a transaction request for the
2o dispensing of an item of value from the TEM 10. The TEM 10 determines that
the
transaction requires approval by an Authorizing Authority 31. The TEM 10
creates a
message based on the transaction request and sends the message to the system
router 12. The
system muter 12 determines which Authorizing Authority 31 is responsible for
approving
transactions of that type from that specific TEM 10. The system muter 12
translates the
message if necessary to a format appropriate to the Authorizing Authority 31,
and sends the
message to the Authorizing Authority 31. The Authorizing Authority 31
determines which
institution 14 with which to authorize the transaction.
The Authorizing Authority 31 can have a direct or indirect connection to the
3o institution 14A, and the Authorizing Authority 31 may translate the request
if necessary to a
message and/or format appropriate to the institution 14A and send the request
to the
institution 14A. The institution 14A determines whether the request will be
accepted,
modified, or denied. The institution 14A sends the response back to the
Authorizing
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Authority 31. The Authorizing Authority translates the response if necessary,
and in turn
accepts, accepts with modifications, or denies the transaction, sending a
response to the
system muter 12. The system router 12 translates the response if necessary,
and sends the
response to the TEM 10.
In yet another example, as shown in Figure 5, instructions within the branding
content
within the TEM 10 can initiate a transaction request for the dispensing of an
item of value
from the TEM 10. The TEM 10 determines that the transaction requires approval
by an
Authorizing Authority 31. The TEM 10 creates a message based on the
transaction request
1o and sends the message to the system router 12. The system router 12
determines which
Authorizing Authority 31 is responsible for approving transactions of that
type from that
specific TEM 10. The system muter 12 translates the message if necessary to a
format
appropriate to the Authorizing Authority 31, and sends the message to the
Authorizing
Authority 31. The Authorizing Authority 31 determines which institution with
which to
authorize the transaction.
The Authorizing Authority 31 translates the request if necessary to a message
and/or
format appropriate to the system router 12, and sends the request to the
system router 12
directed to the institution 14A. The system muter 12 translates the request if
necessary to a
2o message and/or format appropriate to one of the plurality of financial
transaction networks 32
that connect directly or indirectly to the desired institution 14A. The
transaction network 32
routes the request to the institution 14A. The institution 14A determines
whether the request
will be accepted, modified, or denied. The institution 14A sends the response
back to the
financial transaction network 32. The financial transaction network 32 sends
the response to
the system router 12 directed to the Authorizing Authority 31. The system
router 12
translates the response if necessary to a message and/or format appropriate to
the Authorizing
Authority 31. The Authorizing Authority 31 translates the response if
necessary, and in turn
accepts, accepts with modifications, or denies the transaction, sending a
response to the
system router 12 directed to the initiating TEM 10. The system router 12
translates the
response if necessary, and sends the response to the TEM 10. This alternative
provides a way
to reduce or eliminate the multiple connections between many or every of the
plurality of
Authorizing Authorities 31 and the plurality of financial transaction networks
32 and
institutions 14.
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In a further embodiment, the dynamically branded transaction execution system
8 is
used by virtual institutions, such as virtual banks and or merchant
organizations that do not
have traditional brick-and-mortar locations. This allows these virtual
institutions to have, in
effect, multiple TEMs 10 provided by the system 8, tailored to the needs of
the individual
virtual institutions.
The design and behavior of the user interface 18 may be tailored to the needs
of the
customer. This may be done by institutions 14 or also by the routing system 12
or by the
l0 TEM 10. The system 8 may also provide tailoring for generic users in
addition to the
tailoring supplied by member institutions 14. Examples of this additional
system tailoring
include: the case where the system 8 provides information about itself or its
member
institutions, to any person who is not known at that stage to be a customer of
any member
institution 14.
The router system 12 that interconnects the TEMs 10 and the member
institutions 14
can support several ownership models, which may be appropriate in certain
jurisdictions to
meet regulatory requirements. The ownership models supported include by way of
example
only:
a. a selected number of the automated TEMs 10 is owned by an operator and is
made
available to the member institutions 14 on a contractual basis with either a
charge for
time used and/or per transaction;
b. a selected number of the automated TEMs 10 is owned by the operator when
idle and
is sold to the member institution 14 at the time their customer is identified
as being at
the TEM 10 ready to do the transaction. The TEM 10 is then sold back to the
operator at the end of the interaction with that customer;
c. a selected number of the TEMs 10 is owned by the operator when idle and is
leased to
the member institution 14 at the time their customer is identified as being at
the TEM
10 ready to do the transaction. The lease ends at the end of the interaction
with that
customer; and
d. a selected number of the TEMs 10 is owned by a third party, such as a
merchant, and
as in the ownership models 2 and 3 above, is either sold or leased to either
the
operator or the member institution 14 for the duration of the transactions.
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All of the above examples fall under a more generic ownership model of
contractual access to
provide a service, and temporary ownership.
It should be noted that one benefit of the present invention is that member
institutions
14 can provide customer access to full service TEMs 10 over a large shared
network of
dynamically branded TEMs 10, while preserving the ability of each member
institution 14 to
control, brand, and benefit from their customers interaction with the system
8. The system 8,
in addition to financial transactions, can also be used with other types of
transactions
1o including the issuing of royalty coupons, product information, and the
gathering of data for
loyalty or other marketing cross-marketing or commercial purposes. This
customer data,
collected by specific member institutions 14, or by the routing system 12,
could be shared
with other member institutions 14, or others, if desired.
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific
embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled
in the art
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in
the claims
appended hereto.
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