Patent Application
20170053268
This complete specification is filed in pursuance of the provisional Indian patent application numbered 1041/DEL/2014 filed at India Patent Office on 16 Apr. 2014.
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of wireless electronic transactions, and more particularly, to systems and methods for implementing electronic transactions using wireless digital wallets.
There has been a tremendous increase in the demand of cashless transactions in recent years. There is a fast moving trend towards developing systems and methods which facilitate cashless transactions as a preferred way of financial transactions as compared to cash based transactions. It is envisaged that such cashless transaction has tremendous benefits and convenience and can save huge costs to exchequer by reducing or eliminating the dependence on paper or currency based transactions. More and more people prefer electronic transactions over conventional transactions.
One of the first forms of cashless transactions started with credit cards that are widely accepted by merchants through transaction terminals, Point of Sale (POS) terminals, vending machines, ticketing machines, and the like. In this technology, users can swipe their card and carry out the financial transaction after providing certain authorization information, such as Personal Identification Number, signature, biometrics, and the like. Various other cards, such as debit cards, are more widely used in economies where access to credit is unavailable.
However, all these conventional systems involve a transaction between a user on one side and a merchant terminal on the other side. The merchant terminal is connected to the payment server, bank or some other server at the back end. These conventional systems do not allow peer-to-peer transaction or transactions without the involvement of the some financial institution. Therefore, such conventional systems are highly limited in providing a substitute of paper currency transaction.
The next form of cashless transactions uses contactless technology, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Near Field Communication (NFC) to effect transactions, usually between a POS and a customer. The transaction is initiated when the users brings their wireless enabled card in close proximity to a POS terminal or by touching the card to the POS terminal. The card stores information, such as electronic money pre-loaded in the card, and other customer details, and the POS terminal has means for reading the card information and updating information as per the transaction. However, such technology also has various limitations, as it only allows vendor to customer transactions, and further requires the customers to pre-load their cards with money for performing any transaction. Such solutions are also referred to as Pre Paid Financial Instruments. Moreover, such conventional systems generally need an uninterrupted connection to network backbone for facilitating transactions. This is a severe limitation in regions where connectivity to network backbone is marred with problems.
More specifically, both these forms of cashless transaction as mentioned above, attempt to replace cash based transactions with electronic transactions. This allows the users to carry less cash in their physical wallets. However, the users would still need to do cash based transactions in scenarios where they have to pay money to another user (wallet to wallet payment) or in remote areas where the POS cannot be installed due to various reasons including lack of network connectivity, lack of a power source, and other connectivity related issues or where real-time connectivity to the backend (through Wide Area Network (WAN)) is absent.
There have been some solutions developed in recent years to facilitate peer to peer electronic transactions. For example, in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0078471 (Lin et al.), discloses peer-to-peer financial transactions using one or more electronic devices such as a mobile device. The device includes one or more input interfaces, including a camera, image processing software, and communication interfaces to retrieve transaction information from a payment instrument, such as a check, transmit payment information to a financial server and/or another electronic device or conduct a transaction. However, Lin et al does not provide a solution to overcome the problem of implementing the financial transactions using one or more electronic devices such as a mobile device without internet backbone. For example, whenever a user wants to perform financial transaction in a situation of no Internet connectivity, the users are required to wait until he or she gets connected to the internet for enabling the financial transaction. In the above situation, the above system fails to implement financial transactions between various users in an offline efficient and economical manner, taking into consideration the limitations of coverage of Wide Area Network, such as the internet.
In another application, WIPO Patent Publication No. PCT/PT2013/000005 by Fernandes, discloses “Portable device for electronic payments” or “Electronic wallet calculator for cashless transactions”. The system disclosed relates to a combined system of conversion, calculation and transmission of processed data for immediate and present payments and revenues, through portable or fixed devices of close but contactless communication, which, in most models, is similar to a wallet calculator or a mobile phone. These calculators enable basic functions of arithmetic operations designed to be subtraction (debit) or addition (credit), whenever two similar or compatible devices establish a link of connectivity and synchronization of the processed, encoded and encrypted data between themselves, in a secure and off-line way, using infrared, radio frequency of short distance, or other forms of “contactless” transmission. However, the system as disclosed in this solution is limited only to the basic functions of arithmetic operations designed to be subtraction (debit) or addition (credit), and is severely disabled in operation. Further, the system disclosed is incapable of carrying and reconciling large volume of transactions with financial servers taking into consideration the limitations of coverage of Wide Area Network, such as the internet. Further, the systems as disclosed in prior art does not provide means for conducting transaction simultaneously with multiple digital wallets, wherein different wallets are in different stages of transaction, including but not limited to, power on, discovery, connection, encryption/decryption, transaction and completion.
In nutshell, these solutions as described above require a POS terminal to always be connected to the Wide Area network (WAN) all the time for at least two purposes. The first purpose is authorization of the transaction and the second purpose is synchronization of the credit/debit information with the financial institutions database. For example, debit card systems almost always require real time connection to the financial institution, since wallet balance information is maintained with the backend databases. This requirement severely limits the capability of transactions in situation of connectivity downtimes. Accordingly, the aforesaid solutions are severely limited in carrying high volumes of transactions keeping into mind the limitations regarding penetration of Wide Area Networks (WANs) in the present day and age.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the prior-art and the needs as mentioned above, the general purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a system and method for carrying electronic transactions that is configured to include all advantages of the prior art and to overcome the drawbacks inherent in the prior art offering some added advantages.
To achieve the above objectives and to fulfill the identified needs, in one aspect, the present disclosure provides a digital wallet for carrying electronic transactions between various users. Specifically, the digital wallet enables carrying electronic transactions in an offline manner or mode, i.e., without the need of an omnipresent and uninterrupted connectivity to a network backbone. The digital wallet includes a communication interface adapted to send and receive data, a processor and a memory. The memory includes a transaction module adapted to carry an electronic transaction in an offline manner and synchronize the carried electronic transaction when the digital wallet gets communicably coupled to a wide area network, such as the internet. Further, the memory is adapted to store financial and personal information securely.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a system for implementing electronic transactions between various users. The system includes a server for storing financial and personal information of the users. Further, the system includes at least one transaction terminal capable of connecting to the server via a wide area network. The system further includes one or more digital wallets capable of communicating with each other and with the transaction terminal. Each of the one or more digital wallets includes a communication interface adapted to send and receive data, a processor, a memory having a transaction module adapted to carry an electronic transaction in an offline manner and synchronize the carried electronic transaction when the digital wallet gets communicably coupled to at least one transaction terminal.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a system for implementing electronic transactions between various users. The system includes a server for storing financial and personal information of the users. Further, the system includes one or more digital wallets capable of communicating with each other. Each of the one or more digital wallets includes a communication interface adapted to send and receive data, a processor, and a memory having a transaction module adapted to carry an electronic transaction in an offline manner and synchronize the carried electronic transaction when the digital wallet gets communicably coupled to the at least one transaction terminal.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for implementing electronic transactions between various users, each of the users carrying a digital wallet as described above. The method includes enabling a first digital wallet. After enabling the first digital wallet, the method includes selecting one of the one or more digital wallets to transact with, and sending an electronic transaction request to the selected digital wallets from the first digital wallet via a communication means. Further, the method includes carrying the electronic transaction between the first digital wallet and the selected digital wallets in an offline manner, wherein the electronic transaction gets synchronized with a server when either of the first digital wallet or the selected digital wallet gets communicably coupled through the terminal to the wide area network, such as the internet.
In another aspect, the present invention provides another method for implementing electronic transactions between various users, wherein each of the users is carrying a digital wallet. Besides this at least one transaction terminal is present. The method includes enabling at least one transaction terminal. Thereafter, the method includes selecting one of the one or more digital wallets and sending an electronic transaction to the selected digital wallet from at least one transaction terminal via a communication means. The method further includes carrying the electronic transaction between at least one transaction terminal and the selected digital wallet in an offline manner, wherein the electronic transaction gets synchronized with a server when either of the selected digital wallet gets communicably coupled to a wide area network. In one embodiment, the selected digital wallet gets couple to the wide area network through the transaction terminal.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product with executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors provides the functionality of digital wallet. The computer program product allows enabling of a digital wallet and selects one of the one or more of the digital wallets to transact with. Thereafter, the computer program product sends an electronic transaction request to the selected digital wallet via a communication means. The computer program product further includes carrying the electronic transaction in an offline manner, wherein the electronic transaction gets synchronized with a server when one of the one or more digital wallets gets communicably coupled to a wide area network. In one embodiment, one of the one or more digital wallets gets couple to the wide area network through the transaction terminal.
Further, it should be understood that the transaction between two digital wallets is adapted to take place in an offline manner without the need of any device for synchronization of the transaction at the time when the transaction is taking place.
In various embodiments, the digital wallet further has the ability to back-up its data to a person's mobile phone memory or computer memory so that this data can be retrieved by the individual if their wallet is lost or stolen.
In another embodiment, the digital wallet is provided with a communication means for receiving and displaying financial or other information, or advertisements.
This together with the other aspects of the present invention along with the various features of novelty that characterize the present disclosure is pointed out with particularity in claims annexed hereto and forms a part of the present invention. For better understanding of the present disclosure, its operating advantages, and the specified objective attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying descriptive matter in which there are illustrated exemplary embodiments of the present invention.
The advantages and features of the present disclosure will become better understood with reference to the following detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:
Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the present disclosure.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The exemplary embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
The term ‘cash’ or ‘currency’ do not denote a limitation to physical currency, money or its equivalent; but rather denotes any accruable, tradable, transferrable financial instrument, object or record.
The terms “a” and “an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.
The terms “having”, “comprising”, “including”, and variations thereof signify the presence of a component.
The present invention provides a digital wallet for carrying electronic transaction. The digital wallet and its usage are described with reference to
Referring to
Further, the digital wallet 100 includes a Wireless Antennae 124. The wireless antenna 124 is adapted to connect the digital wallet 100 wirelessly with other devices, such as transaction terminals and other digital wallets.
Furthermore, the digital wallet 100 includes a processor or a microprocessor 110 for executing instructions, and a memory 114 storing some instructions. Specifically, the memory 114 includes a storage means for storing financial or user's personal information. Examples of information includes, but are not limited to, transaction information, various currency types, Unique Identification (UIADI) including Biometrics information, Social Security Number (SSN), Aadhar number, Driver's License (DL) Number, loyalty points information, frequent flyer miles information, club membership information, location information, and the like, for one or more users using the digital wallet 100.
In various embodiments, the memory 114, also includes an applet module 114b. This module 114b may contain various secure applets, adapted to perform intended function. In one embodiment, the secure applet could be used for validation of a person, driver license, and the like. In another embodiment, it could be used as a payment instrument for local transportations.
In various embodiments, the memory 114 could be in one or more physical manifestation. Furthermore, the memory 114 includes a transaction module 114a adapted to carry an electronic transaction in an offline manner. The transaction module 114a may be a software application having computer readable instruction, computer program and the like. In one embodiment, the transaction module 114a may be downloadable in the memory 114 of the digital wallet 100. Particularly, the transaction module 114a may be downloadable from any network or storage source, for example, but not limited to, Internet, CD ROM, USB and the like. For example, a user of the digital wallet 100 may download the transaction module 114a from the internet and install the said transaction module 114a on the digital wallet 100. Further, the memory 114 may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), and FLASH memory and the like.
Further, the transaction module 114a is adapted to perform various functions. In one embodiment, the transaction module 114a is adapted to validate the carried electronic transaction in the offline manner, as per the invention. However, such function of the transaction module 114a should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention. Accordingly, the transaction module 114a may be capable of performing other functions in the digital wallet 100.
Referring to
In one embodiment, the digital wallet 100 includes an authentication module 122 coupled to the transaction module 114a. The authentication module 122 is adapted to authenticate the user of the digital wallet 100. It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that security is paramount for these digital wallets, such as digital wallet 100. In one embodiment, the authentication module 122 may be a secure chip or a biometric type authentication module. In this case, the authentication module 122 further includes a Biometric Input unit 122a which may be adapted to provide additional support for biometric identification like finger print, retina, voice or facial detection. It enhances the overall security of the digital wallet 100. In addition, in various embodiments of the present invention, the digital wallet 100 may include multiple biometric units, for example camera, iris scanner, retina scanner, DNA identification device and the like which may strengthen the user authentication for accessing the digital wallet 100. However, such example of the biometric type authentication should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention. Accordingly, in another embodiment, the authentication module 122 may be any other authentication module, such as Person Identification Number (PIN) or signature based authentication module.
The digital wallet 100 further includes a secure element 126 for providing enhanced security to the digital wallet 100. It includes security keys and cyphers that are used to establish the identity of the device, functionality to encrypt and decrypt all communication that happens with other devices on the wireless network and functionality to store the sensitive information on the device in a secure manner. The encryption of the communication is highly essential in maintaining the security of the digital wallet 100. The secure element 126 also provides for information storage, preparation of payment and verification of payment between digital wallets, such as digital wallet 100.
Referring to
In one embodiment of the present invention, the power module 116 includes powering unit 116a (such as a rechargeable battery source), an auxiliary powering unit 116b, which may include one or more solar panel units, and a power controller unit 116c. The power controller 116c is adapted to cease power of the digital wallet 100 in one or more predefined situations.
In one embodiment, the power controller 116c is adapted to control the power supply in one or more predefined situations. The predefined situations includes a situation where the power controller 116c automatically turns off or reduce power consumed by the digital wallet 100 after the completion of the electronic transaction or in a situation where the digital wallet 100 is inoperable for predetermined duration of time, for example 5-10 seconds. This assists the digital wallet 100 to save power, a key requirement for operating in remote area.
Referring to
In one embodiment, the audio/visual unit 118 includes a display 118a, an audio Input 118b, an Audio Output 118c and a Visual alert device 118d, are optional features of the present invention. The Audio Input 118b may be adapted to provide biometric identification of the user of the digital wallet 100 by voice recognition method. Further, the Audio Output 118c is adapted to provide audio feedback to the user. This audio output functionality is extremely beneficial for impaired or less educated or illiterate users.
Further, the digital wallet 100 includes a user Input unit 120. The user Input unit 120 is an essential interface between the digital wallet 100 and the user thereof. The Input unit 120 could be through a touch interface in lieu of a physical button. The user Input unit 120 uses iconic or alphanumeric based input. Accordingly, the Input unit 120 may include one or more keys for allowing the user to enter the input. However, such examples of the Input unit 120 should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention. Accordingly, the Input unit 120 may also be a gesture based, or a voice based input unit, or any other type of Input unit 120 which allows a seamless interfacing between the user and the digital wallet 100.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the digital wallet 100 may be implemented entirely at a software level. In such scenario, the digital wallet 100 may be in form of a software module 500 (as shown in
In one embodiment of the present invention, the digital wallet 100 may be built into a form factor that can attach into a Smartphone or tablet, either externally or internally. For example, the digital wallet 100 may fit into the Smartphone into the USB, Audio, SIM card or SD card slot.
A reference made to
Referring to
Referring to
Further, the server 800 includes a database 801 for storing financial and user specific information, such as loyalty points, frequent flyer miles, and club membership information, financial and personal information of the users. The server 800 may be a bank server, merchant server, financial institution server, any third party server and the like.
The transaction terminal 300 may be a kiosk, a point of sale (POS), an automated teller machine (ATM), a synchronization pod, a transaction terminal or a merchant machine and the like, and is capable of connecting to the server 800 via the wide area network (WAN) interface 200 or with any wired or wireless network.
The digital wallets 100 are capable of communicating with each other and with a Point of Sale (POS) or transaction terminal 300 via low power short communication 400 for facilitating transactions in an offline manner without the need to be connected to the Wide Area Network, such as the internet. In other words, the digital wallets 100 may be operable and capable of carrying numerous transactions without connecting to the server 800. When the carried electronic transactions are required to be reconciled, the digital wallets 100 may come in communication with the server 800 via the WAN interface 200.
However as per various embodiments of the present invention, the digital wallet 100 may be able to carry the electronic transactions without the need of reconciliation with the server 800. In other words, various digital wallets, such as the digital wallet 100, may be adapted to transact with each other without any of the digital wallets reconciling with the server 800. The digital wallets 100 may reconcile with the server 800 only in limited situations. In one situation, the reconciliation is required to be done only when the digital wallet 100 may be out of currency or user wants to update his/her transactions at his/her own will.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the digital wallets 100 are capable of communicating with transaction terminal 300 after connecting via low power short communication 400. Further, the transaction terminal 300 is adapted to store all the information including electronic transaction information of the digital wallets 100 during synchronization. After synchronization, the electronic transaction information is updated for reconciliation to the server database 801 whenever the transaction terminal 300 gets connected to the server 800 via World Wide Web (WWW) through the WAN interface 200.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the digital wallets 100 are capable of connecting the World Wide Web (WWW) through wireless network or WAN interface 200 and update all the carried electronic transaction information to the server 800 automatically or manually without the need to connect to the transaction terminal 300 or any third party device.
The operation of the digital wallets, such as the digital wallet 100, for carrying out electronic transactions with each other and with transaction terminal, such as transaction terminal 300 will now be explained. The entire process of conciliation and reconciliation of electronic transactions will also be explained. Reference is made from
Furthermore,
The multiple digital wallets 100, 102 are in communication with the transaction terminal 300 for facilitating the electronic transactions in an offline manner without the need to be connected to the Wide Area Network 200, via a communication medium 400. This stored transaction gets synchronized whenever either of the first digital wallet 100 or the second digital wallet 102 and the transaction terminal 300 gets communicably coupled to the server 800 via the WAN interface 200 (shown in
Thereafter, the request is received by the server 800, which relays the request for the digital wallet 100a, as shown by arrow labeled 200a to the receiver transaction terminal 300a. In case the transaction terminal 300a does not have network access, then it can receive the transfer instruction whenever it gets connected to the World Wide Web (WWW). The receiver transaction terminal 300a thereafter stores the information till transacting with the intended digital wallet 100a (hard wallet) or digital wallet 102 (soft) connects with the transaction terminal 300a over a communication medium 400 for completing the transaction request.
In this case, the digital wallet 100 that wants to remit money to a remote user (software digital wallet 102), sends a transaction request to a transaction terminal 300 over a wireless communication medium 400. The transaction terminal 300 thereafter accepts the transaction request and passes the transaction request through the World Wide Web (WWW) for further processing and reconciliation with the server 800 (not shown) via a WAN interface 200. In case the transaction terminal 300 does not have network access then the transaction terminal 300 may be adapted to store the details of the transaction request and provide the transaction request to the server 800 (not shown) whenever it gets connected to the WAN interface 200 (not shown).
More specifically, as shown in
The information so responded is thereafter stored in the transaction terminal 300 for future reference, thereby saving time when next time the digital wallet 100 comes in contact with the transaction terminal 300. Since this information is now stored in the transaction terminal 300, the transaction terminal 300 does not need to be online, whenever the same wallet comes in proximity of the transaction terminal 300 the next time. This is useful in the scenario shown in
Further,
Further, all the users may share the same balance; however, there might be a different transaction limit for each of the users. For example if the digital wallet 100 is shared by various family members, all of the family members will be able to share the balance in the wallet, however, the children may have a lower transaction limit as compared to the parents. This will allow different users to have different limits over the same digital wallet 100. Another use case could be a set of roommates living together and using a common digital wallet for all household expenses. So any of the roommates may use the digital wallet for grocery or utilities expenses instead of each person having a separate digital wallet.
In one embodiment, the communication medium, as mentioned in figures, such as communication medium 400, is a Wireless Medium over which the communication takes place. Suitable examples of the Wireless Medium include, but are not limited to, Bluetooth, Infrared and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Near Field Communication (NFC), WiFi, ANT, or ZigBee, and other radio links. However, such examples of the communication medium should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention. Accordingly, any other communication mediums, whether wired or wireless may be employed in various embodiments of the present invention.
Referring to
There is shown in
At step 28, an operator of the transaction terminal selects the relevant digital wallet based on the information as in step 26. Thereafter, the operator enters an amount of the transaction. The received request is generated and sent to the digital wallet at step 30. Thereafter, for completion of electronic transaction, the confirmation of paid/declined is displayed on the transaction terminal. The transaction terminal may update the balance of the transaction terminal and the digital wallet at the server, at step 142 if it is connected to the network. The method then stops at step 36.
At step 118, the transaction terminal shows a list of digital wallets that are found near to the transaction terminal during scan at step 114. The list of digital wallets is sorted in increasing order of their distance. Further, the list also shows the name of the digital wallet holder. If the user is in the home location, and if the transaction terminal is online, then the transaction terminal may fetch and display additional information like user's age, photo, etc. may be shown. The transaction terminal may also cache the user's information so that it need not be online when the same user comes in vicinity of the transaction terminal the next time.
At step 120, an operator of the transaction terminal selects the relevant digital wallet based on the information as in step 116. In one embodiment the selection could be by way of pairing using NFC. Thereafter, the operator enters an amount of the transaction. The received request is generated and sent to the digital wallet at step 122, and the same amount is displayed to the user by the digital wallet textually and through audio output, at step 124.
The user then approves or declines the transaction at step 128, and a handshake happens between the digital wallet and the transaction terminal. The handshake involves debiting the said amount from the digital wallet and crediting the said amount at the transaction terminal side at steps 130 and 132. All this is carried out in a secure environment by using appropriate security mechanisms using a secure element. Besides this, the transaction is carried out atomically so that if, due to any reason the transaction is not successfully completed, (For example if the transaction terminal or wallet move out of the wireless proximity or the battery goes down), the transaction is voided and the original balance is maintained.
Once the transaction is successful, an alarm (audio and/or visual/haptic) could be sounded to the operator and the user confirming whether the transaction has been approved or declined, at steps 134 and 136. Thereafter, the balance might be updated at step 138 on the digital wallet, and the user may then switch off the device at 140. If the user does not switch off the device, a timer may be used to automatically switch off the device after certain duration. On the other hand, the transaction terminal may update the balance of the transaction terminal and the digital wallet at the server, at step 142 if it is connected to the network. In case it is not connected to the network, it stores the transaction and passes it on to the server at a later time when it gets connected to the network and has access to the server. The method then stops at step 144.
At step 180, the amount credited and debited is displayed on the respective wallets, and at step 182, the balance is displayed to the receiver and the payer. The payer and receiver wallets are thereafter switched off (manually or automatically) at step 184 and the method stops execution at step 186.
Referring to
In another aspect of the present invention, the server 800 further includes local alert filter platform that receives advertisements from the mobile advertisement platform providers (not shown). The local alert filter platform communicates and exchanges information with the server 800 to determine whether to serve an advertisement to a particular POS or transaction terminal 300 via communication 200, which advertisements to serve and at what time to serve the advertisements to that POS or transaction terminal 300. The POS or transaction terminal 300 is further adapted to transfer the 3rd part advertisement to those digital wallets which are in communication with the POS or transaction terminal 300.
In another aspect of the present invention, the transaction terminal or POS 300 is adapted to receive 3rd party advertisements from the server 800 via communication 200. Further, the transaction terminal 300 is adapted to push the 3rd party advertisements to the digital wallets 100 or to the software digital wallet 102 whenever both the software digital wallet 102 and hardware digital wallet 100 gets communicably coupled with the transaction terminal or POS 300 via communication 400.
In another aspect to the present invention, the digital wallets are adapted to share the 3rd party advertisement with other digital wallets via communication 400.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product with executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors. The computer program product enables a digital wallet and selects one of the one or more of the software or hardware based digital wallets to transact with. Thereafter, the computer program product sends an electronic transaction request to the selected digital wallet via a communication means. The computer program product further includes carrying the electronic transaction in an offline manner, wherein the electronic transaction gets synchronized with the server when one of the one or more software or hardware digital wallets gets communicably coupled to a wide area network.
The set of instructions may include various commands that instruct the processing machine to perform specific tasks such as the steps that constitute the method of the disclosed teachings. The set of instructions may be in the form of a software program. The software may be in various forms such as system software or application software. Further, the software might be in the form of a collection of separate programs, a program module with a larger program or a portion of a program module. The software might also include modular programming in the form of object-oriented programming. The software program or programs may be provided as a computer program product, such as in the form of a computer readable medium with the program or programs containing the set of instructions embodied therein. The processing of input data by the processing machine may be in response to user commands or in response to the results of previous processing or in response to a request made by another processing machine.
The present invention provides systems and methods for implementing a wireless digital wallet. More specifically, the present invention provides for an electronic version of a wallet (also interchangeably referred to as “digital wallet”) to replace cash carried by users in their wallets. Accordingly, the digital wallet allows users to imitate various transactions that are usually done with physical currency notes. Suitable examples of such activities may include but are not limited to withdrawing cash from a bank account, storing the cash, taking out cash from the wallet to pay to a vendor, paying cash to another user, depositing cash from the wallet to the bank account, transferring cash to another user, and other similar activities. The present invention further allows carrying out transactions without the need to be connected to a WAN.
The present invention has various advantages. The invention attempts to provide flexibility and convenience of a cash wallet in form of a digital wallet. On the other hand, the present invention does not allow any compromises on security aspects, thereby making transactions carried out by the digital wallets as highly safe, accurate and secure. For example, when compared with open nature of a physical wallet, the authentication mechanisms in the digital wallet provide a highly restrictive protection than physical cash.
The digital wallets of the present invention use ultra-low power wireless technologies for data transfer, which ensures that the wallet can be used for extended periods, in some cases several years, without the need of recharging or replacing batteries. Further, the digital wallets of the present invention assure that once two users are carrying out transactions, they are doing so in close proximity, thereby mimicking a typical cash or card transaction.
The present invention further precludes the need of physically touching or tapping the two devices to effect a transaction but still provides a similar level of security by placing requirements for the devices to be in close vicinity (like a few centimeters) in order to effect transactions. Accordingly, even though the users may not need to touch the digital wallets to Point of Sale (POS) or transaction terminal, they still need to bring it within a few centimeters of the transaction terminal for carrying out transactions. This requirement implies an explicit authentication by requiring physical presence of the digital wallet holder and eliminates the risk of MITM (Man-In-The-Middle) attacks.
The present invention further has additional level of security by keeping the wireless device in off mode most of the time. The digital wallets are switched on only when a transaction is to be done and then the digital wallet may automatically be switched off. Even while the digital wallet is switched on, the digital wallet remains visible only for a very brief period of time. Such action significantly reduces the time span that is available for any malware to attack the digital wallet, thereby significantly enhancing the security aspects of the digital wallet. Besides security, the digital wallet works on mechanism which helps in making the device power efficient and reduces the need of regular recharging or replacement of batteries.
The present invention further allows multi-level security by using a combination of one or more of the following: unique user ID, unique device ID, PIN Code entry and biometrics, for corroboration and authentication. Biometric information, such as finger prints, facial, retina scans, voice, is always unique to each individual. These features preclude the possibility in which users suffer from problems, such as forgetting PIN number, or a hit-and-trial attack on the digital wallet by entering possible PIN numbers. The invention allows for use of one or more biometric validations to create a product range with varied levels of security.
Moreover, the present invention, in one of its embodiment, adds an optional iconic Input/Output for users who have limited literacy or are visually challenged. For such users, the digital wallet uses icons to display currency. More specifically, the digital wallet uses icons of currency of 1, 5, 20, 50 and 100, and the like. Such icons make the digital wallets easy to use by such users. For example, if a user has to enter an amount of 140, the user is required to press the 100 button provided on the digital wallet once, followed by pressing the 20 button two times. In one embodiment, the buttons may have braille markings, thereby allowing visually impaired users to enter amounts conveniently. The digital wallet may additionally play an audio feedback (such as reciting amount that was entered in the local dialect) to indicate and validate the amount entered.
Moreover, the digital wallet of the present invention is highly secure. It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that as with any financial transaction, security of the transaction is of utmost importance. The present invention provides for several security measures to ensure that the transactions are carried on in a secure manner. In the unfortunate event of the digital wallet being lost, the present invention provides a mechanism to lock and black-list the digital wallet so that no further transactions can be done with that particular digital wallet. In such scenario the remaining money in that digital wallet may be safely transferred to another digital wallet once the digital wallet is locked. This provides a degree of protection not accorded by traditional cards or wallets.
The digital wallet further includes storage capability to keep a record of the cash balance within the digital wallet, and other storage features. This removes the need of the digital wallet always being connected to the WAN to get information about the balance. This assists in several ways, including keeping the cost of digital wallet low, reducing traffic on the WAN, recurring cost in terms of any Internet usage fee and according low power consumption.
Moreover, in various embodiments, the digital wallet uses the transaction terminal as a gateway to synchronize the balance with the server and when needed. This precludes the need of direct connectivity of the digital wallets with the financial institution. In such a case, the digital wallet communicates with the transaction terminal whenever it comes within the communication field of the transaction terminal.
In another embodiment, a hardware based digital wallet is configured to interact with software based digital wallet which in-turn connects to the WAN for conciliation and reconciliation. This allows synchronization between the hardware based wallet and the software based wallet so that the balance of both the hardware based digital wallet and software based digital wallet may be synchronized with the financial institution.
In another embodiment, a POS or transaction terminal 300 and digital wallet 100 are adapted to facilitate electronic transactions simultaneously with multiple digital wallets, wherein different wallets are in different stages of transaction. For example, the transaction terminal 300 and the digital wallet 100 may be configured in a way such that they can transact with each other when the digital wallets are in different stages of transaction, including but not limited to, power on, discovery, connection, encryption/decryption, transaction and completion.
In another embodiment, a hardware based digital wallet is configured to interact with software or personal computing device/tablet for backing up the information stored in the wallet. This precludes the chances of losing critical data if the wallet gets lost or gets stolen.
In yet another embodiment, two software based digital wallets can interact wirelessly and effect a payment or transfer of funds. This is especially useful in economies where cash payment on delivery is preferred means of payment. In one variation the second software based digital wallet can reside as an instance in the backend platform.
Moreover, the digital wallet may have a built-in alert system to provide information about any transactions that are happening on the Bank Account(s) that are linked with the digital wallet. For example, an LED on the digital wallet may turn green to signify that a credit has been made to the linked bank account. This may be the case, for example, when a government subsidy has been deposited into the bank account. Similarly, the LED may turn red when a debit has been made from the linked bank account. For example a loan repayment may be automatically debited on the due date.
Moreover, some limits may be set in the digital wallet in order to protect the users from scenarios like excessive withdrawal, deposit or misuse by someone else. Some examples of these limits are:
Moreover, the digital wallet may not only be used for currency but for other applications as well. Some of the other possible applications are:
Moreover, the digital wallet may not only be used for currency but for other applications as well.
The present invention further allows the storage of multiple currency types; Rupee (INR), Dollar (USD), Euro etc. in one digital wallet.
In another embodiment, the Point of Sale Terminal may be enabled with a positioning mechanism like GPS (Global Positioning System) which can provide the location of the Point of Sale Terminal. The transactions with the Digital Wallet can then be “location stamped” in order to find out the geographical area where the transaction was carried out by the digital wallet. This can be useful in finding out useful information like buying patterns of users, number of users in a given geographical area, location of a stolen digital wallet, and the like.
A location enabled wallet will also have the ability to switch payment into the preferred currency at that location. So if a wallet is in India it will enable INR as the prime means of payment and will automatically change to Euro when in Europe.
Moreover, the Digital Wallet may be used for collecting useful financial and personal user information. This includes information like:
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, and to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but such omissions and substitutions are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1041/DEL/2014 | Apr 2014 | IN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IN2015/000171 | 4/15/2015 | WO | 00 |
