Patent Application
20170243222
This non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Indian Patent Application No. 201631006083 titled “SYSTEM FOR USE OF SECURE DATA FROM A PROCESS DATA NETWORK AS SECURED ACCESS BY USERS”, filed with the Indian Patent Office on Feb. 22, 2016.
Financial institution misappropriation of identity costs financial institutions and consumers billions of dollars each year. With the advancement of technology, misappropriation of identity is a growing concern. Conventional misappropriation of identity detection systems generally analyzes each transaction (or types of transactions) in the same manner. As such, gaps in conventional misappropriation of identity detection techniques have been exploited leading to the processing of misappropriated transactions. As such, a need currently exists for an improved system for use of secure data by detecting and countering data tampering in a process data network.
The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments of the present invention, in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments of the present invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
In one aspect, a system operatively connected with a block chain distributed network and for using the block chain distributed network for detection and countering data tampering in a process data network is presented. The system comprising: a memory device storing logic and rules for the block chain; and a processing device operatively coupled to the memory device, wherein the processing device is configured to execute computer-readable program code to: determine that an entity is associated with a triggering event associated with management of resources; aggregate information associated with past actions associated with the management of resources executed by the entity; create a block chain of information based on at least the aggregated information associated with past actions; initiate a request to receive information associated with transfer of resources executed by the entity; receive information associated with the transfer of resources based on at least the initiated request, wherein the transfer of resources is associated with a resource type; and update the block chain of transaction information with the transfer of resources executed by the entity.
In some embodiments, the processing device is configured to execute computer-readable program code further to: determine that the entity is associated with a triggering event, wherein the triggering event is associated with a misappropriate activity, wherein the entity is associated with a financial institution; aggregate information associated with past actions associated with the management of resources executed by the entity, wherein the past actions comprises past transactions executed by the entity; create a block chain of transaction information based on at least the aggregated information associated with past transactions; initiate a request to receive information associated with transfer of resources, where in the transfer of resources comprises transaction activity executed by the entity with the financial institution; receive information associated with the transaction activity based on at least the initiated request, wherein the transaction activity is associated with a transaction type; and update the block chain of transaction information with the transaction activity executed by the entity with the financial institution
In some embodiments, the processing device is configured to execute computer-readable program code further to: receive a request from one or more financial institutions to access the block chain to update the block chain with information associated with transaction activity of the entity, wherein the entity is associated with the one or more financial institutions; determine that the one or more financial institutions is a member institution, wherein a member institution has authorized access to the block chain; enable the one or more financial institutions to access the block chain; receive information associated with past transactions associated with the entity from one or more financial institutions, wherein the one or more financial institutions has authorized access to the block chain; and update the block chain with the information received from the one or more financial institutions.
In some embodiments, the processing device is configured to execute computer-readable program code further to: receive one or more authentication credentials from the one or more financial institutions to enable the one or more financial institutions to access the block chain; validate the one or more authentication credentials; and enable the one or more financial institutions to access the block chain in response to validating the one or more authentication credentials.
In some embodiments, the processing device is configured to execute computer-readable program code further to: initiate a request to receive information associated with transaction activity of the entity with one or more member institutions having access to the block chain; receive information associated with the transaction activity of the entity with the one or more member institutions based on at least the initiated request; and update the block chain of transaction information with the transaction activity executed by the entity.
In some embodiments, the processing device is configured to execute computer-readable program code further to: initiate a request to receive information associated with transaction activity of the entity with one or more member institutions having access to the block chain based on at least one or more specific transaction types; receive information associated with the transaction activity of the entity with the one or more member institutions based on at least the initiated request, wherein the transaction activity is associated with a transaction type; and update the block chain of transaction information with the transaction activity of the entity associated with the one or more specific transaction types executed by the entity with the one or more member institutions.
In some embodiments, the processing device is configured to execute computer-readable program code further to: update the block chain of transaction information with the transaction activity executed by the entity with the financial institution; transmit a request to the one or more member institutions to validate the transaction activity based on the logic and rules for the block chain; and post validated transaction activity to distributed memory of the block chain.
The method comprising: determining that an entity is associated with a triggering event associated with management of resources; aggregating information associated with past actions associated with the management of resources executed by the entity; creating a block chain of information based on at least the aggregated information associated with past actions; initiating a request to receive information associated with transfer of resources executed by the entity; receiving information associated with the transfer of resources based on at least the initiated request, wherein the transfer of resources is associated with a resource type; and updating the block chain of transaction information with the transfer of resources executed by the entity.
In yet another aspect, a computer program product for execution on a system operatively connected with the block chain distributed network is presented. The computer program product for using the block chain distributed network for detection and countering data tampering in a process data network, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising, the system comprising: an executable portion configured to determine that an entity is associated with a triggering event associated with management of resources; an executable portion configured to aggregate information associated with past actions associated with the management of resources executed by the entity; an executable portion configured to create a block chain of information based on at least the aggregated information associated with past actions; an executable portion configured to initiate a request to receive information associated with transfer of resources executed by the entity; an executable portion configured to receive information associated with the transfer of resources based on at least the initiated request, wherein the transfer of resources is associated with a resource type; and an executable portion configured to update the block chain of transaction information with the transfer of resources executed by the entity.
Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, where:
Embodiments of the invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident; however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
The environment 100 also may include a mobile device 200 and a personal computing device 300 for use by the first user 110 and second user 120, respectively. The personal computing device 300 may be any device that employs a processor and memory and can perform computing functions, such as a personal computer or a mobile device. As used herein, a “mobile device” 200 is any mobile communication device, such as a cellular telecommunications device (i.e., a cell phone or mobile phone), personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile Internet accessing device, or other mobile device.
The mobile device 200 and the personal computing device 300 are configured to communicate over a network 150 with a financial institution system(s) 400 and, in some cases, one or more other financial institution systems 170 and with the blockchain, as represented by the block chain distributed network systems 500. The first user's mobile device 200, the second user's personal computing device 300, the financial institution system(s) 400, the block chain distributed network systems 500, and any other participating financial institution systems 170 are each described in greater detail below with reference to
In general, a mobile device 200 is configured to connect with the network 150 to log the first user 110 into a block chain interface 492 of the financial institution system(s) 400 and/or the block chain distributed network systems 500 (i.e., “block chain systems 500). A user, in order to access the first user's account(s), online banking application and/or mobile banking application on the financial institution system(s) 400 must authenticate with the financial institution system(s) 400 and/or another system. Similarly, in some embodiments, in order to access the distributed ledger(s) of the block chain systems 500, a user must authenticate with the financial institution system(s) 400 and/or another system, such as one of the block chain systems 500. For example, logging into the financial institution system(s) 400 generally requires that the first user 110 authenticate his/her identity using a user name, a passcode, a cookie, a biometric identifier, a private key, a token, and/or another authentication mechanism that is provided by the first user 110 to the financial institution system(s) 400 via the mobile device 200.
The financial institution system(s) 400 are in network communication with other devices, such as other financial institutions' transaction/banking systems 170, block chain systems 500, and a personal computing device 300 that is configured to communicate with the network 150 to log a second user 120 into the financial institution system(s) 400. In one embodiment, the invention may provide an application download server such that software applications that support the financial institution system(s) 400 can be downloaded to the mobile device 200.
In some embodiments of the invention, the application download server is configured to be controlled and managed by one or more third-party data providers (not shown in
In some embodiments of the invention, the block chain systems 500 are configured to be controlled and managed by one or more third-party data providers (not shown), financial institutions or other entities over the network 150. In other embodiments, the block chain systems 500 are configured to be controlled and managed over the network 150 by the same entity that maintains the financial institution system(s) 400.
Some embodiments of the mobile device 200 include a processor 210 communicably coupled to such devices as a memory 220, user output devices 236, user input devices 240, a network interface 260, a power source 215, a clock or other timer 250, a camera 280, and a positioning system device 275. The processor 210, and other processors described herein, generally include circuitry for implementing communication and/or logic functions of the mobile device 200. For example, the processor 210 may include a digital signal processor device, a microprocessor device, and various analog to digital converters, digital to analog converters, and/or other support circuits. Control and signal processing functions of the mobile device 200 are allocated between these devices according to their respective capabilities. The processor 210 thus may also include the functionality to encode and interleave messages and data prior to modulation and transmission. The processor 210 can additionally include an internal data modem. Further, the processor 210 may include functionality to operate one or more software programs, which may be stored in the memory 220. For example, the processor 210 may be capable of operating a connectivity program, such as a web browser application 222. The web browser application 222 may then allow the mobile device 200 to transmit and receive web content, such as, for example, location-based content and/or other web page content, according to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and/or the like.
The processor 210 is configured to use the network interface 260 to communicate with one or more other devices on the network 150. In this regard, the network interface 260 includes an antenna 276 operatively coupled to a transmitter 274 and a receiver 272 (together a “transceiver”). The processor 210 is configured to provide signals to and receive signals from the transmitter 274 and receiver 272, respectively. The signals may include signaling information in accordance with the air interface standard of the applicable cellular system of the wireless telephone network 152. In this regard, the mobile device 200 may be configured to operate with one or more air interface standards, communication protocols, modulation types, and access types. By way of illustration, the mobile device 200 may be configured to operate in accordance with any of a number of first, second, third, and/or fourth-generation communication protocols and/or the like. For example, the mobile device 200 may be configured to operate in accordance with second-generation (2G) wireless communication protocols IS-136 (time division multiple access (TDMA)), GSM (global system for mobile communication), and/or IS-95 (code division multiple access (CDMA)), or with third-generation (3G) wireless communication protocols, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), CDMA2000, wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and/or time division-synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA), with fourth-generation (4G) wireless communication protocols, with LTE protocols, with 3GPP protocols and/or the like. The mobile device 200 may also be configured to operate in accordance with non-cellular communication mechanisms, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) or other communication/data networks.
The network interface 260 may also include a block chain network interface 270. The block chain network interface 270 may include software, such as encryption software, and hardware, such as a modem, for communicating information to and/or from one or more devices on a network 150 and connected with or that are part of the block chain systems 500. For example, the mobile device may 200 wirelessly communicate encrypted activity information to a terminal of the network 150 or the block chain systems 500.
As described above, the mobile device 200 has a user interface that is, like other user interfaces described herein, made up of user output devices 236 and/or user input devices 240. The user output devices 236 include a display 230 (e.g., a liquid crystal display or the like) and a speaker 232 or other audio device, which are operatively coupled to the processor 210. The user input devices 240, which allow the mobile device 200 to receive data from a user such as the first user 110, may include any of a number of devices allowing the mobile device 200 to receive data from a user, such as a keypad, keyboard, touch-screen, touchpad, microphone, mouse, joystick, other pointer device, button, soft key, and/or other input device(s). The user interface may also include a camera 280, such as a digital camera.
The mobile device 200 may also include a positioning system device 275 that is configured to be used by a positioning system to determine a location of the mobile device 200. For example, the positioning system device 275 may include a GPS transceiver. In some embodiments, the positioning system device 275 is at least partially made up of the antenna 276, transmitter 274, and receiver 272 described above. For example, in one embodiment, triangulation of cellular signals may be used to identify the approximate location of the mobile device 200. In other embodiments, the positioning system device 275 includes a proximity sensor or transmitter, such as an RFID tag, that can sense or be sensed by devices known to be located proximate a merchant or other location to determine that the mobile device 200 is located proximate these known devices. Such information may be used by embodiments of the invention in order to demonstrate completion or partial completion of one or more activities associated with a smart contract.
The mobile device 200 further includes a power source 215, such as a battery, for powering various circuits and other devices that are used to operate the mobile device 200. Embodiments of the mobile device 200 may also include a clock or other timer 250 configured to determine and, in some cases, communicate actual or relative time to the processor 210 or one or more other devices.
The mobile device 200 also includes a memory 220 operatively coupled to the processor 210. As used herein, memory includes any computer readable medium (as defined herein below) configured to store data, code, or other information. The memory 220 may include volatile memory, such as volatile Random Access Memory (RAM) including a cache area for the temporary storage of data. The memory 220 may also include non-volatile memory, which can be embedded and/or may be removable. The non-volatile memory can additionally or alternatively include an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or the like.
The memory 220 can store any of a number of applications which comprise computer-executable instructions/code executed by the processor 210 to implement the functions of the mobile device 200 and/or one or more of the process/method steps described herein. For example, the memory 220 may include such applications as a conventional web browser application 222 and/or a client application 221. These applications also typically provide a graphical user interface (GUI) on the display 230 that allows the first user 110 to communicate with the mobile device 200, the financial institution system(s) 400, and/or other devices or systems. In one embodiment of the invention, when the first user 110 decides to enroll in the transaction program, the first user 110 downloads or otherwise obtains the client application 221 from the financial institution system(s) 400, from the block chain systems 500 or from a distinct application server. In other embodiments of the invention, the first user 110 interacts with the financial institution system(s) 400 or the block chain systems 500 via the web browser application 222 in addition to, or instead of, the client application 221.
The memory 220 can also store any of a number of pieces of information, and data, used by the mobile device 200 and the applications and devices that make up the mobile device 200 or are in communication with the mobile device 200 to implement the functions of the mobile device 200 and/or the other systems described herein. For example, the memory 220 may include such data as user authentication information, etc.
Referring now to
As used herein, “smart contracts” are computer processes that facilitate, verify and/or enforce negotiation and/or performance of a contract between parties. One fundamental purpose of smart contracts is to integrate the practice of contract law and related business practices with electronic commerce protocols between people on the Internet. Smart contracts may leverage a user interface that provides one or more parties or administrators access, which may be restricted at varying levels for different people, to the terms and logic of the contract. Smart contracts typically include logic that emulates contractual clauses that are partially or fully self-executing and/or self-enforcing. Examples of smart contracts are digital rights management (DRM) used for protecting copyrighted works, financial cryptography schemes for financial contracts, admission control schemes, token bucket algorithms, other quality of service mechanisms for assistance in facilitating network service level agreements, person-to-person network mechanisms for ensuring fair contributions of users, and others.
Smart contract infrastructure can be implemented by replicated asset registries and contract execution using cryptographic hash chains and Byzantine fault tolerant replication. For example, each node in a peer-to-peer network or blockchain distributed network may act as a title registry and escrow, thereby executing changes of ownership and implementing sets of predetermined rules that govern transactions on the network. Each node may also check the work of other nodes and in some cases, as noted above, function as miners or validators. In some embodiments, the nodes in the block chain maybe entity such as financial institutions that function as gateways for other entities.
As used herein, “transaction information” may include both monetary and non-monetary transaction information and records. Non-monetary transaction information or records means historical transaction information such as account balances, account activity, misappropriation activity, purchase activity, payment activity and the like and is distinguished from the underlying monetary transactions such as settling of accounts, payments, debits, credits, fund transfers and the like.
As used herein, a “processing device,” such as the processing device 320, generally refers to a device or combination of devices having circuitry used for implementing the communication and/or logic functions of a particular system. For example, a processing device 320 may include a digital signal processor device, a microprocessor device, and various analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, and other support circuits and/or combinations of the foregoing. Control and signal processing functions of the system are allocated between these processing devices according to their respective capabilities. The processing device 320 may further include functionality to operate one or more software programs based on computer-executable program code thereof, which may be stored in a memory. As the phrase is used herein, a processing device 320 may be “configured to” perform a certain function in a variety of ways, including, for example, by having one or more general-purpose circuits perform the function by executing particular computer-executable program code embodied in computer-readable medium, and/or by having one or more application-specific circuits perform the function.
As used herein, a “user interface” 330 generally includes a plurality of interface devices and/or software that allow a customer to input commands and data to direct the processing device to execute instructions. For example, the user interface 330 presented in
As used herein, a “memory device” 350 generally refers to a device or combination of devices that store one or more forms of computer-readable media for storing data and/or computer-executable program code/instructions. Computer-readable media is defined in greater detail below. For example, in one embodiment, the memory device 350 includes any computer memory that provides an actual or virtual space to temporarily or permanently store data and/or commands provided to the processing device 320 when it carries out its functions described herein.
It should be understood that the memory device 450 may include one or more databases or other data structures/repositories. The memory device 450 also includes computer-executable program code that instructs the processing device 420 to operate the network communication interface 410 to perform certain communication functions of the financial institution system(s) 400 described herein. For example, in one embodiment of the financial institution system(s) 400, the memory device 450 includes, but is not limited to, a network server application 470, an authentication application 460, a customer account data repository 480 which includes customer authentication data 480 and customer account information 484, a mobile banking application 490 which includes a block chain interface 492, a mobile web server application 493, a downloadable transaction application 494 and other computer-executable instructions or other data. The computer-executable program code of the network server application 470, the authentication application 460, or the mobile banking application 490 may instruct the processing device 420 to perform certain logic, data-processing, and data-storing functions of the financial institution system(s) 400 described herein, as well as communication functions of the financial institution system(s) 400.
In one embodiment, the customer account data repository 480 includes customer authentication data 482 and customer account information 484. The network server application 470, the authentication application 460, and the mobile banking application 490 are configured to invoke or use the customer account information 484, the customer authentication data 482, and the block chain interface 492 when authenticating a user to the financial institution system(s) 400 and/or the block chain systems 500.
As used herein, a “communication interface” generally includes a modem, server, transceiver, and/or other device for communicating with other devices on a network, and/or a user interface for communicating with one or more customers. Referring again to
As illustrated in
The network communication interface 510 is a communication interface having one or more communication devices configured to communicate with one or more other devices on the network 150. The processing device 520 is configured to use the network communication interface 510 to receive information from and/or provide information and commands to a mobile device 200, a personal computing device 300, other financial institution systems 170, other block chain network systems 500, the financial institution system(s) 400 and/or other devices via the network 150. In some embodiments, the processing device 520 also uses the network communication interface 510 to access other devices on the network 150, such as one or more web servers of one or more third-party data providers. In some embodiments, one or more of the devices described herein may be operated by a second entity so that the second entity controls the various functions involving the block chain network systems 500. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, although the financial institution system(s) 400 are operated by a first entity (e.g., a financial institution), a second entity operates one or more of the block chain network systems 500 that store various copies of the distributed ledger 570.
As described above, the processing device 520 is configured to use the network communication interface 510 to gather data, such as data corresponding to transactions, blocks or other updates to the distributed ledger 570 from various data sources such as other block chain network systems 500. The processing device 520 stores the data that it receives in its copy of the distributed ledger 570 stored in the memory device 550.
As discussed above, in some embodiments of the invention, an application server or application download server (not shown) might be provided. The application download server may include a network communication interface, a processing device, and a memory device. The network communication interface and processing device are similar to the previously described network communication interface 410 and the processing device 420 previously described. For example, the processing device is operatively coupled to the network communication interface and the memory device. In one embodiment of the application download server, the memory device includes a network browsing application having computer-executable program code that instructs the processing device to operate the network communication interface to perform certain communication functions of the application download server described herein. In some embodiments of the invention, the application download server provides applications that are to be downloaded to a qualified user's mobile device or personal computing device.
Rather than utilizing a centralized database of aliases as discussed with reference to some embodiments above and as shown in
A block chain or blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a list of data records, the security of which is enhanced by the distributed nature of the block chain. A block chain typically includes several nodes, which may be one or more systems, machines, computers, databases, data stores or the like operably connected with one another. In some cases, each of the nodes or multiple nodes are maintained by different entities. A block chain typically works without a central repository or single administrator. One well-known application of a block chain is the public ledger of transactions for cryptocurrencies such as used in bitcoin. The data records recorded in the block chain are enforced cryptographically and stored on the nodes of the block chain.
A block chain provides numerous advantages over traditional databases. A large number of nodes of a block chain may reach a consensus regarding the validity of a transaction contained on the transaction ledger.
The block chain typically has two primary types of records. The first type is the transaction type, which consists of the actual data stored in the block chain. The second type is the block type, which are records that confirm when and in what sequence certain transactions became recorded as part of the block chain. Transactions are created by participants using the block chain in its normal course of business, for example, when someone sends cryptocurrency to another person), and blocks are created by users known as “miners” who use specialized software/equipment to create blocks. In some embodiments, the block chain system disclosed, SS the number of miners in the current system are known and the system comprises primary sponsors that generate and create the new blocks of the system. As such, any block may be worked on by a primary sponsor. Users of the block chain create transactions that are passed around to various nodes of the block chain. A “valid” transaction is one that can be validated based on a set of rules that are defined by the particular system implementing the block chain. For example, in the case of cryptocurrencies, a valid transaction is one that is digitally signed, spent from a valid digital wallet and, in some cases, that meets other criteria.
As mentioned above and referring to
Various other specific-purpose implementations of block chains have been developed. These include distributed domain name management, decentralized crowd-funding, synchronous/asynchronous communication, decentralized real-time ride sharing and even a general purpose deployment of decentralized applications. In some embodiments, a block chain may be characterized as a public block chain, a consortium block chain, or a private block chain. In this regard, the public block chain is a block chain that anyone in the world can read, anyone in the world can send transactions to and expect to see them included if they are valid, and anyone in the world can participate in the consensus process. The consensus process is a process for determining which of the blocks get added to the chain and what the current state each block is. Typically, public block chains are secured by crypto economics-the combination of economic incentives and cryptographic verification using mechanisms such as proof of work, following a general principle that the degree to which someone can have an influence in the consensus process is proportional to the quantity of economic resources that they can bring to bear. A public block chain is generally considered to be fully decentralized.
In some embodiments, a consortium block chain is a block chain where the consensus process is controlled by a pre-selected set of nodes; for example, a block chain may be associated with a number of member institutions (say 15), each of which operate in such a way that the at least 10 members must sign every block in order for the block to be valid. The right to read such a block chain may be public, or restricted to the participants. These block chains may be considered partially decentralized.
In still other embodiments, fully private block chains is a block chain whereby permissions are kept centralized with one entity. The permissions may be public or restricted to an arbitrary extent.
In a particular implementation, the block chain configuration may allow financial institutions to exchange non-monetary transaction information (e.g. misappropriation data) with one another without a central source. The block chain can place transaction information onto a block chain “closed-loop” such that member financial institutions of the closed-loop block chain may access the transactional information of other members of the closed-loop block chain. The block chain is used to share historical transaction information such as a user's transaction record rather than to effectuate the actual monetary transaction. In some cases, the financial institution and/or third parties can validate information using a key or authentication signature.
For any given financial institution a number of users, and in a typical case a very large number of users, may complete a wide variety of transactions with that financial institution that are made of record with that financial institution to create a historical transaction record. For example, a user may be a customer of the financial institution and that customer may engage in banking transactions such as an account holder, loans, credit/debit card transactions, lines of credit or the like. The customer may be a relatively small individual client or a large institutional client. Moreover, the user of one financial institution may also be a user of multiple unrelated financial institutions such that the complete transaction record for the user is held by a number of independent financial institutions where the user can only obtain a the complete transaction record by accessing the transaction record of every financial institution with which that user has a relationship. In the system of the invention all member financial institutions may be part of the block chain such that the complete transaction record of a user of any of the member financial institutions may be made available to that user by the user accessing any one of the financial institutions.
As shown in block 702, the process flow includes determining that an entity is associated with misappropriate activity. Typically, the entity associated with a financial institution. In some embodiments, the entity may be involved in multiple transactions or transfer of resources with the financial institution. In some embodiments, the resources may include but is not limited to, capitals, loan, mortgage, lien, income, possessions, properties, funds, assets, and/or the like. Exemplary transactions include, but are not limited to: purchasing, renting, selling, and/or leasing one or more goods and/or services (e.g., merchandise, groceries, tickets, and the like); withdrawing cash; making deposits; making payments to creditors (e.g., paying bills, paying taxes, and the like); sending remittances; transferring funds; loading money onto stored value cards; and/or the like. In addition, the transaction information can be any information that identifies, defines, describes, and/or is otherwise associated with the transaction. Exemplary transaction information includes, but is not limited to, the party(ies) involved in the transaction, the date and/or time of the transaction, the account(s) involved in the transaction, the transaction amount(s) associated with the transaction, the good(s) and/or service(s) involved in the transaction, a description of the transaction (which, itself, can include any transaction information, e.g., the description may describe the transaction status, the goods and/or services involved in the transaction, and the like), and/or the like.
Next, as shown in block 704, the process flow includes aggregating information associated with past transactions executed by the entity. In this regard, the system may be configured to access one or more financial institution accounts associated with the entity and retrieve information associated with past transactions conducted by the entity. In some embodiments, the system may be configured to retrieve past transactions conducted by the entity within a predetermined time period. In some other embodiments, the system may be configured to retrieve every transaction conducted by the entity with the financial institution in the past. In some embodiments, the system may be configured to retrieve past transactions conducted by the entity based on at least one or more conditions including but not limited to a transaction type, transaction amount, merchant, a time of day, or the like.
Next, as shown in block 706, the process flow includes creating a block chain of transaction information based on at least the aggregated information associated with past transactions. Typically, the financial institution that creates or has initial access to the block chain network is considered the “host institution” and the systems of the host institution may be referred to as “host systems”. A “source institution” is a financial institution other than the host institution that has transaction activity records of a user and the systems of the source institution may be referred to as “source systems”. Financial institutions may function as both source institutions and host institutions depending on whether the financial institution has access to the block chain. Typically, each time an entity transacts with a first financial institution, the first financial institution creates a transaction activity record which it may maintain in a proprietary system accessible only to that first financial institution. Similarly, when the entity transacts with a second financial institution, the second financial institution creates a transaction activity record which it may maintain in a proprietary system accessible only to the second financial institution. The entity may perform transactions with any additional number of financial institutions and each of the additional financial institutions may create transaction activity records which may be maintained in individual proprietary systems. Instead, the financial institution according to the present invention may create a block chain distributed network with information associated with past transactions executed by the entity. In addition, the financial institution may request one or more other financial institutions also associated with the entity to record information associated with transactions executed by the entity with the other financial institutions such that the block chain may provide a comprehensive view of the entities transaction activity. The other financial institutions, otherwise termed as member institutions of the block chain, may have a complete or partial copy of the entire ledger or set of transaction information records and/or blocks on the block chain. Each transaction information is validated based on logic/rules of a smart contract associated with the financial institution or entered into an agreed-upon by member institutions. The block chain in these circumstances may either be a consortium block chain or a private block chain where access to read and/or write into the block chain may be restricted and accessible only to member institutions involved in the exchange of transaction information.
Next, as shown in block 708, process flow includes initiating a request to receive information associated with transaction activity executed by the entity with the financial institution. In this regard, the system may be configured to request information associated with any transaction executed by the entity now or any transaction to be executed by the entity in the future. In some embodiments, the transaction information may be first aggregated by each individual financial institution and then transmitted in response to the request. For example, the process flow includes a batch processing apparatus associated with each financial institution configured to receive the transaction information associated with any transaction conducted by the entity with that particular financial institution by receiving a batch job having that transaction information stored therein.
As shown in block 710, the process flow includes receiving information associated with the transaction activity based on at least be initiated request. In this regard, the system can be configured to receive the transaction information in any way. For example, in some embodiments, the apparatus is configured to receive an authorization request associated with the transaction. In some embodiments, the apparatus is provided, serviced, operated, controlled, managed, and/or maintained (collectively referred to herein as “maintained” for simplicity) by a financial institution, and the apparatus is configured to approve and/or decline authorization requests for debit transactions, ATM transactions, POS device transactions, and/or one or more other types of transactions that involve one or more accounts maintained by the financial institution. As another example, in some embodiments, the process flow includes a transaction machine (e.g., POS device, ATM, and the like) configured to initiate, perform, complete, and/or otherwise facilitate one or more transactions, and thus receives transaction information when the transaction machine is used to conduct a transaction.
In some other embodiments, the transaction information may be received either directly or indirectly from the source of the transaction. For example, in some embodiments, where the transaction involves a transaction machine (e.g., ATM, POS device, personal computer, and the like), the apparatus is located remotely from the transaction machine but is operatively connected to the transaction machine via a network. As another example, in some embodiments, where the transaction involves a transaction machine, the apparatus may include the transaction machine. For example, where the transaction involves a cash withdrawal at an ATM, the system may be embodied as the ATM.
Next, as shown in block 712, the process flow includes updating the block chain of transaction information with the transaction activity executed by the entity with the financial institution. In this regard, the system may be configured to transmit a request to the one or more member institutions to validate the transaction activity based on at least logic and rules for the block chain. In some embodiments, the validation step may be performed by the source institution prior to adding the transaction information to the block chain based on the logic and rules from the source institution's distributed ledger. The source institution posts the validated transaction information record to the block chain with an authentication key or signature that is recognized by other members of the block chain. The validation may also be performed by one or more of the member financial institutions other than the source institution. For example, in a block chain certain institutions may be designated as validation institutions that in addition to being potential source and/or host institutions operate as validation institutions for all members of the block chain. In such an arrangement, the transaction information record of the source institution (i.e. the financial institution through which the transaction was originally made with the entity) is first sent by the source institution to the validation institution and the request is validated using information provided with the request to the validation institution based on the logic and rules from the block chain's distributed ledger. The validated transaction information record may then be posted to the block chain by the validation institution with a signature or authentication key indicating that the transaction is validated. In other embodiments, the transaction information record is first sent by the source institution to the validation institution, and the request is validated based on information provided with the transaction information record at the validation institution. The validation institution may transmit the signature or authentication key to the source institution, and the source institution may post the validated transaction information record to the block chain. In some embodiments the validation institutions may comprise an entity that is not a member financial institution and that does not function as a host or source institution. In such an embodiment the validation institution does not access, maintain or control any entity transaction information records and only functions to validate the transaction information record. Once the transaction information record is validated the validation institutions may provide an authentication key or signature to the source institution that is used by the source institution to post the validated device record to the block chain.
In various embodiments, the block chain may be configured with a set of rules to dictate when and how transactions are validated and other details about how the network communicates data and the like. In some embodiments, the rules dictate that a source institution must validate all transaction information records. In some embodiments, the rules dictate that some or all transaction information records may be approved by one or more validation institutions. A validation institution may be one or more of the financial institutions on the block chain that validate transactions for other financial institutions on the block chain. In some such cases, the rules dictate that the transaction information record created by a source institution, also includes additional information that is useful in determining whether requests associated with the transaction information record should be approved. In other embodiments, the validation institution must reach out to the host institution in certain situations as dictated by the rules. In some embodiments, more than one institution must validate a transaction before it may be posted to the block chain as a validated transaction information record.
In some embodiments, the system may be configured to receive a request from one or more financial institutions to access the block chain to update the block chain with information associated with transaction activity at the entity. In response, the system may be configured to determine that the one or more financial institutions is a member institution that has authorized access to the block. The system may then enable the one or more financial institutions to access the block chain. In some embodiments, the system may be configured to receive information associated with past transactions associated with the entity from one or more financial institutions, wherein the one or more financial institutions has authorized access to the block chain. In response to receiving the information, the system may then update the block chain with the information received from the one or more financial institutions.
In some embodiments, the system may be configured to receive one or more authentication credentials from the one or more financial institutions to enable the one or more financial institutions to access the block chain. In response, the authentication credentials may be validated prior to enabling the one or more financial institutions to access the block chain.
In some embodiments, the system initiate a request to receive information associated with transaction activity of the entity with one or more member institutions having access to the block chain based on at least one or more specific transaction types. The typical example, a transaction type may include a check deposit. When an entity deposits a check with a financial institution, financial institution places the check deposit on hold to ensure clearance of the check before providing the entity with access to the checks funds. Typically, the hold time may depend on a number of factors including but not limited to a type of account, frequency of account use, age of the account, or the like. In some instances, a misappropriate entity may deposit the check with multiple financial institutions in an attempt to access funds from multiple sources inappropriately. The present invention provides the functional benefit of receiving information associated with the transaction activity of the entity (e.g. in this case, a check deposit) with the one or more member institutions and updating the information in the block chain such that any subsequent deposit by a misappropriate entity may be easily identified by providing member institutions access to the block chain. In some embodiments, the system may receive information associated with the transaction activity of the entity regardless of the transaction type an update the block chain of transaction information with the transaction activity.
In some embodiments, the entity may be associated with an alias that maps the entity back to one or more financial institution account associated with the entity. Typically, the obvious is a unique identifier other than the entity's account number. For example, an alias may be a mobile number, a nickname, an email address, a social networking ID, an account ID, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the financial institution, the member institutions, or a third-party that maintains a database of aliases associated with the entity may send a communication to the entity using the alias and require the customer to confirm access to the alias by responding to the notice in some way. Once the alias information is verified, then the alias is linked to one or more of the customer's financial institution accounts in a data repository.
By determining misappropriate activity and recording past transactions executed by the entity, the block chain of information created may also include aliases associated with each financial institution account held by the entity with the financial institution and/or the one or more member institutions. In this way, if the entity executes a misappropriate transaction in the future, the system may be configured to associate the misappropriate activity with not only each financial institution associated with the entity but also each financial institution account associated with the entity and its corresponding alias.
In some embodiments, the system may be configured to determine that the entity is associated with misappropriate activity and in response begin analyzing past transactions executed by the entity to determine whether any of the executed pass transactions was misappropriate.
Although many embodiments of the present invention have just been described above, the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Also, it will be understood that, where possible, any of the advantages, features, functions, devices, and/or operational aspects of any of the embodiments of the present invention described and/or contemplated herein may be included in any of the other embodiments of the present invention described and/or contemplated herein, and/or vice versa. In addition, where possible, any terms expressed in the singular form herein are meant to also include the plural form and/or vice versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Accordingly, the terms “a” and/or “an” shall mean “one or more,” even though the phrase “one or more” is also used herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art in view of this disclosure, the present invention may include and/or be embodied as an apparatus (including, for example, a system, machine, device, computer program product, and/or the like), as a method (including, for example, a business method, computer-implemented process, and/or the like), or as any combination of the foregoing. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely business method embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, stored procedures in a database, or the like), an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining business method, software, and hardware aspects that may generally be referred to herein as a “system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product that includes a computer-readable storage medium having one or more computer-executable program code portions stored therein. As used herein, a processor, which may include one or more processors, may be “configured to” perform a certain function in a variety of ways, including, for example, by having one or more general-purpose circuits perform the function by executing one or more computer-executable program code portions embodied in a computer-readable medium, and/or by having one or more application-specific circuits perform the function.
It will be understood that any suitable computer-readable medium may be utilized. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a tangible electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, and/or semiconductor system, device, and/or other apparatus. For example, in some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable medium includes a tangible medium such as a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), and/or some other tangible optical and/or magnetic storage device. In other embodiments of the present invention, however, the computer-readable medium may be transitory, such as, for example, a propagation signal including computer-executable program code portions embodied therein.
One or more computer-executable program code portions for carrying out operations of the present invention may include object-oriented, scripted, and/or unscripted programming languages, such as, for example, Java, Perl, Smalltalk, C++, SAS, SQL, Python, Objective C, JavaScript, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more computer-executable program code portions for carrying out operations of embodiments of the present invention are written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming languages and/or similar programming languages. The computer program code may alternatively or additionally be written in one or more multi-paradigm programming languages, such as, for example, F#.
Some embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of apparatus and/or methods. It will be understood that each block included in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and/or combinations of blocks included in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by one or more computer-executable program code portions. These one or more computer-executable program code portions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, and/or some other programmable data processing apparatus in order to produce a particular machine, such that the one or more computer-executable program code portions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, create mechanisms for implementing the steps and/or functions represented by the flowchart(s) and/or block diagram block(s).
The one or more computer-executable program code portions may be stored in a transitory and/or non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g. a memory) that can direct, instruct, and/or cause a computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the computer-executable program code portions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction mechanisms which implement the steps and/or functions specified in the flowchart(s) and/or block diagram block(s).
The one or more computer-executable program code portions may also be loaded onto a computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer and/or other programmable apparatus. In some embodiments, this produces a computer-implemented process such that the one or more computer-executable program code portions which execute on the computer and/or other programmable apparatus provide operational steps to implement the steps specified in the flowchart(s) and/or the functions specified in the block diagram block(s). Alternatively, computer-implemented steps may be combined with, and/or replaced with, operator- and/or human-implemented steps in order to carry out an embodiment of the present invention.
While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other changes, combinations, omissions, modifications and substitutions, in addition to those set forth in the above paragraphs, are possible. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations, modifications, and combinations of the just described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
To supplement the present disclosure, this application further incorporates entirely by reference the following commonly assigned patent applications:
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201631006083 | Feb 2016 | IN | national |
