Patent Application
20080017704
In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.
The following description provides preferred exemplary embodiment(s) only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the preferred exemplary embodiment(s) will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing a preferred exemplary embodiment. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope as set forth in the appended claims.
A simple contactless electronic wallet is disclosed. The device, in one embodiment of the invention, may be used solely for storing one or more financial accounts and transferring account information to a radio frequency point of sale device. The contactless electronic wallet may be unencumbered by a combination of features unrelated to electronic transactions and/or payments. The contactless electronic wallet may also receive account information from a computer.
Referring first to
The contactless electronic wallet 100 may enclose circuitry within the outer casing 120. For example, the contactless electronic wallet may include a battery, RFID chip or chips, an antenna, memory, a processor, a video chip, RFID chip, a display controller, a speaker, etc. The outer casing 120 is sized to fit comfortably within a users hand and is easily stored in a user's purse, bag or pocket. The outer casing may comprise molded plastic.
The display 130 is part of a contactless electronic wallet user interface. The display 130 presents information to the user. The display 130 may present one or more accounts to the user. For example, the display may be an LCD display.
The display 130 may also be a touch display according to one embodiment of the invention. Accordingly, the display not only presents information to a user, but also receives information from the user. The display 130 may present one or more icons, each representing a stored financial account. The user may select a financial account by touching an icon on the touch display. The financial account may be communicated to a radio frequency-enabled terminal to complete a financial transaction. The display 130 may also ask the user to enter a pass code or PIN prior to accessing payment information.
The switch 110 may be included in embodiments of a contactless electronic wallet 100. The switch 110 may prevent fraudulent activity by a sniffing device. A radio frequency-enabled communication device with enough power or within close enough proximity to the contactless electronic wallet 100 may read account information from the contactless electronic wallet for fraudulent uses. To protect the account information from such fraudulent activity, the switch 110 prevents communication with a radio frequency-enabled communication device unless the switch 110 is switched to the “ON” position. If the switch is in the “OFF” position, the contactless electronic wallet is incapable of communicating account or other information. Other types of switches may be used, for example, a heat-activated switch, a biometric switch, a variety of mechanical switches, etc. The switch 110 may be placed anywhere on the outer casing 120. The switch may also be used to turn the touch display “ON” and “OFF”, according to one embodiment of the invention.
The contactless electronic wallet 100 may also include a button 150, a series of buttons, and/or a click wheel. A button 150 or buttons may be included on the outer casing for input from the user. For example, the user may use the button 150 or buttons to select an account from one or more payment options presented on the display 130. In another embodiment, the button may change settings on the display, for example, to adjust the brightness of the display or illuminating the display with a backlight. The button 150 or buttons may be used for any number of purposes to input information by the user. Buttons may also be used by a user to enter pass codes or PINs.
The contactless electronic wallet 100 may also include a key chain 160 according to one embodiment of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention may include a contactless electronic wallet without a keychain. Other embodiments may also include a clip.
The contactless electronic wallet 100 may also include a communications interface 140 according to one embodiment of the invention. The communications interface 140 may be used to receive account information from a computer 200 as shown in
The computer 210, as shown in
Once a contactless electronic wallet 100 is connected to the computer 200 either wirelessly or with a wire, the computer may upload and/or delete account information from the contactless electronic wallet 100. Information from a plurality of bank accounts, credit card accounts, stored value accounts, debit card accounts, loyalty accounts, or ATM accounts may be stored on the contactless electronic wallet 100. Account numbers and the appropriate RFID information may be transmitted to the contactless electronic wallet 100 and stored in memory within the contactless electronic wallet 100.
As shown in
In other embodiments of the invention a default account may be preset by the user. In such embodiments, the user may simple place the contactless electronic wallet near a radio frequency-enabled device and the default account information is communicated as tender for a transaction.
The user interface 640 interacts with the user. The user interface 640 may include a display and/or buttons. The display may be a touch screen. Through the user interface, the user may request that the contactless electronic wallet display a list of accounts. The user may scroll through available accounts or be presented with a list or graphical grouping of accounts at the user interface. The user may choose an account from the list or grouping of accounts for use in a financial transaction. The processor will then pull the appropriate account information stored in memory and send the account information to the RF antenna for transmission to a radio frequency-enabled point of sale device. The processor may have to format the data to fit the needs of the radio frequency point of sale device. In some embodiments, the account information may be encrypted; the processor may then decrypt the account information prior to transmission to a point of sale device.
A number of variations and modifications of the disclosed embodiments can also be used. For example, the contactless electronic wallet may also contain loyalty card information, rental card information, activity card information, etc.
The contactless electronic wallet may be used to communicate tender or other information from a consumer to a merchant according to one embodiment of the invention. For example, a consumer at a grocery store may have access to various account and loyalty card information stored within the electronic wallet. When the user is prepared to tender payment, the contactless electronic wallet can present the user with a variety of icons representing loyalty cards, memberships, and/or accounts. For example, the user may first select a loyalty card account through the display and transmit loyalty card information to a point of sale device equipped with a radio frequency-enabled communication device. Following this step, the user may select a financial account, for example, a credit card account, and transmit credit card information to the point of sale device equipped with a radio frequency-enabled communication device.
Another embodiment of the invention includes account management software on the computer 200 according to one embodiment of the invention. The software may manage various accounts downloaded from account provider web pages, accounts that are manually entered into by the user, or an account sent via email. A listing of accounts and their properties may be presented by the account management software. For example, the account management software may present an account number, an expiration date, an account provider name, an icon, a description of account, an available balance, an available credit, etc. The account management software may then transfer accounts to the contactless electronic wallet. The account management software may also allow the user to select which accounts to transfer to the contactless electronic wallet. The user may choose, for example, to transfer information regarding a credit card account and loyalty card account, but not transfer information regarding a debit card account and a stored value account. The account management software may also include functionality to create rules whereby specific account types are automatically transferred to the contactless electronic wallet. The account management software may automatically synchronize account information when the contactless electronic device is connected to the computer, either wirelessly or wired. The account management software may synchronize account information only when the user requests synchronization. Multiple user profiles may be included in the software. The account management software may also enable the user to select a default account for the contactless electronic wallet.
Another embodiment of the invention includes a contactless electronic device that holds coupons for use at specific retailers or merchants. The user, instead of carrying paper coupons, may download coupons on the computer and transfer coupons to the contactless electronic wallet. The coupons may be redeemed by selecting the coupon on the contactless electronic device whereby the coupon is transferred to a point of sale device and the coupon is applied to a transaction.
Specific details are given in the above description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. However, it is understood that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
Implementation of the techniques, blocks, steps and means described above may be done in various ways. For example, these techniques, blocks, steps and means may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units may be implemented within one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described above and/or a combination thereof.
Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, scripting languages, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages and/or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, scripting language and/or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine readable medium, such as a storage medium. A code segment or machine-executable instruction may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a script, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures and/or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters and/or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.
For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methodologies described herein. For example, software codes may be stored in a memory. Memory may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor. As used herein the term “memory” refers to any type of long term, short term, volatile, nonvolatile, or other storage medium and is not to be limited to any particular type of memory or number of memories, or type of media upon which memory is stored.
Moreover, as disclosed herein, the term “storage medium” may represent one or more devices for storing data, including read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic RAM, core memory, magnetic disk storage mediums, optical storage mediums, flash memory devices and/or other machine readable mediums for storing information. The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wireless channels and/or various other mediums capable of storing, containing or carrying instruction(s) and/or data.
While the principles of the disclosure have been described above in connection with specific apparatuses and methods, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as limitation on the scope of the disclosure.
This application claims the benefit, and is a non-provisional application, of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/833,022, filed on Jul. 24, 2006, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60833022 | Jul 2006 | US |
