A practical system and method for the remote distribution of financial services (e.g., home banking and bill-paying) involves distributing portable terminals to a user base. The terminals include a multi-line display, keys “pointing to” lines on the display, and additional keys. Contact is established between the terminals and a central computer operated by a service provider, preferably over a dial-up telephone line and a packet data network. Information exchange between the central computer and the terminal solicits information from the terminal user related to requested financial services (e.g., for billpaying, the user provides payee selection and amount and his bank account PIN number). The central computer then transmits a message over a conventional ATM network debiting the user's bank account in real time, and may pay the specified payees the specified amount electronically or in other ways as appropriate. Payments and transfers may be scheduled in advance or on a periodic basis. Because the central computer interacts with the user's bank as a standard POS or ATM network node, no significant software changes are required at the banks' computers. The terminal interface is extremely user-friendly and incorporates some features of standard ATM user interfaces so as to reduce new user anxiety.

Method and system for remote delivery of retail banking services

An electronic-monetary system having (1) banks or financial institutions that are coupled to a money generator device for generating and issuing to subscribing customers electronic money including electronic currency backed by demand deposits and electronic credit authorizations; (2) correspondent banks that accept and distribute the electronic money; (3) a plurality of transaction devices that are used by subscribers for storing electronic money, for performing money transactions with the on-line systems of the participating banks or for exchanging electronic money with other like transaction devices in off-line transactions; (4) teller devices, associated with the issuing and correspondent banks, for process handling and interfacing the transaction devices to the issuing and correspondent banks, and for interfacing between the issuing and correspondent banks themselves; (5) a clearing bank for balancing the electronic money accounts of the different issuing banks; (6) a data communications network for providing communications services to all components of the system; and (7) a security arrangement for maintaining the integrity of the system, and for detecting counterfeiting and tampering within the system. An embodiment of the invention includes a customer service module which handles lost money claims and links accounts to money modules for providing bank access.

Electronic monetary system

The present invention relates to an improved portable shopping system. The system is provided with improved data presentation system for presenting customer desired data on a portable terminal. The portable terminal includes audio as well as video presentation means which are used to provide customer specific marketing files to promote the sale of identified items.

Method and system for presenting item information using a portable data terminal

A system and method provides universal access to voice-based documents containing information formatted using MIME and HTML standards using customized extensions for voice information access and navigation. These voice documents are linked using HTML hyper-links that are accessible to subscribers using voice commands, touch-tone inputs and other selection means. These voice documents and components in them are addressable using HTML anchors embedding HTML universal resource locators (URLs) rendering them universally accessible over the Internet. This collection of connected documents forms a voice web. The voice web includes subscriber-specific documents including speech training files for speaker dependent speech recognition, voice print files for authenticating the identity of a user and personal preference and attribute files for customizing other aspects of the system in accordance with a specific subscriber.

System and method for providing and using universally accessible voice and speech data files

A method and system for providing incentive programs over a computer network is provided in which a host may provide sponsoring companies with the capability to buy prepackaged or self-built incentive programs, offer such incentive programs to consumers, provide sponsoring companies and retailers with the capability to associate prizes with incentive programs, provide sponsoring companies, retailers and consumers with convenient fulfillment of prizes, and store and manipulate databases regarding all of the foregoing.

System and method for incentive programs and award fulfillment

A system including a portable personal terminal which may be used for handling a wide variety of financial, shopping, and other transactions. The personal terminal is credit-card sized, is intelligent, includes a plurality of transaction totals and is constructed to be user friendly. An interface module is used to couple the terminal to other systems for on line uses.

Portable personal terminal for use in a system for handling transactions

A system including a portable personal terminal which may be used for handling a wide variety of financial, shopping, and other transactions. The personal terminal is credit-card sized, is intelligent, includes a plurality of transaction totals and is constructed to be user-friendly. An interface module is used to couple the terminal to other systems for on-line uses.

System for handling transactions including a portable personal terminal

A method and apparatus for issuing negotiable instruments such as checks from a terminal comprising: first means (identification card reader) for identifying an account number against which a monetary amount of a check to be issued by the terminal is to be charged; second means (handwriting transducer) for inputting into the terminal identification data which will be used in determining whether to accept or reject a user of the terminal as authorized to issue a check against the account number; third means (bank data system) for supplying authorized identification data to the terminal and also for supplying evaluation criteria, such as a current monetary balance, for the account number; entry means (keyboard) for entering check data including the monetary amount; means for comparing (processor) the identification data with the authorized identification data and for generating an accept signal or a reject signal as a result of the comparing; the comparing means also comparing the monetary amount with the evaluation criteria and for generating an issue signal when the associated comparison is favorable; means for transporting (paper strip drive) a record medium to a print station in the terminal; and a printer for printing the account number and the monetary amount on the record medium at the print station in response to the accept signal and the issue signal, whereby the record medium becomes the check which is issued from the terminal.

Check dispensing terminal

A system and method for providing a security check on a credit card. The credit card has first data recorded thereon in the form of optical gratings to provide for card uniqueness and second data recorded thereon in a magnetic track also located on the card. The optical gratings on the card cannot be reproduced by "skimming" or without destroying the card itself. When the magnetic track is recorded by a bank issuing the card, some reference to the first data on the card is included and encrypted on the magnetic track by the bank's encrypting hardware so as to eliminate fraudulent duplication or use of the card. The first data, which is unique to the card, is compared with selected portions of the encrypted second data to provide a security check to determine the validity of the card being used. The optical gratings are embossed on an aluminized plastic strip which is sandwiched between plastic sheets in the credit card to form a non-separable and tamperproof card structure.

System and method for providing a security check on a credit card

A security system and method are disclosed in a network comprised of a plurality of remote terminals in communication with a central processor wherein, before a user can access data from the central processor, that user's assigned terminal must first verify that the user is the proper user of that terminal and then the central processor must verify that the terminal requesting that data is authorized to access that data. In a preferred embodiment, a first memory in the terminal that is assigned to a particular user is initialized by storing therein a file number associated with the particular user, an assigned terminal number of the terminal, an assigned algorithm, and a first number derived from the use in the assigned algorithm of the assigned terminal number and a secret PIN number entered by the particular user into the terminal. The file number of the user and the terminal number and algorithm associated with that file number are also stored in a second memory in the central processor as another part of the initialization procedure. In a subsequent operation, a user enters his secret PIN number and a desired file number into the terminal. That current secret PIN number and the terminal number are used in the assigned algorithm to compute a second number. If the first and second numbers properly compare, the user is verified and the terminal transmits the desired file number to the central processor. In response to this desired file number, the central processor causes a random number to be generated. The terminal uses this random number and its assigned terminal number and algorithm to calculate a third number which is applied to the central processor. At the same time the central processor uses this random number and the terminal number and algorithm which are both associated with the desired file number to calculate a fourth number. If the third and fourth numbers properly compare in the central processor, the terminal is verified and access to the desired file number is allowed.

William Joel Hale

Papers

Portable personal terminal for use in a system for handling transactions

System for handling transactions including a portable personal terminal

Check dispensing terminal

System and method for providing a security check on a credit card

Method and system for providing system security in a remote terminal environment