SELF-SERVICE TERMINAL

• US 20110288997A1
• Filed: 05/21/2010
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Original Assignee: NCR Corporation
• Inventors: McBride, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 10,430,871 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A method of executing a transaction for a user at a self-service terminal is described. The method comprises: (a) sensing a stroke gesture delineated by the user on a touch-sensitive panel; (b) recognizing the delineated stroke gesture; and (c) matching the delineated stroke gesture to one of a plurality of defined transaction strokes, each defined transaction stroke being associated with a specific transaction. The method further comprises (d) executing the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke.

Claims

1. A method of executing a transaction for a user at a self-service terminal, the method comprising:

(a) sensing a stroke gesture delineated by the user on a touch-sensitive panel;

(b) recognizing the delineated stroke gesture;

(c) matching the delineated stroke gesture to one of a plurality of defined transaction strokes, each defined transaction stroke being associated with a specific transaction; and

(d) executing the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the further steps of:

(c+1) informing the user of the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke;

(c+2) requesting the user to confirm that the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke is the transaction that the user would like to execute;

(c+3) executing step (d) only in response to detecting the user'"'"'s confirmation that the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke is the transaction that the user would like to execute.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the further steps of:

(c+1) informing the user of the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke;

(c+2) informing the user that the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke will be executed within a defined time period unless the user cancels the transaction;

(c+3) executing step (d) when the defined time period elapses without the user cancelling the transaction.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the defined time period comprises a defined unit of time.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the defined time period comprises how long it takes the terminal to pre-stage the specific transaction associated with the matched transaction stroke.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of sensing a stroke gesture delineated by the user on a touch-sensitive panel includes converting the sensed stroke gesture to a sequence of points.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the step of recognizing the delineated stroke gesture includes the sub-step of converting the sequence of points to one or more characters.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the step of matching the delineated stroke gesture to one of a plurality of defined transaction strokes includes matching the one or more characters from the converted sequence of points to one or more characters in a list of transaction character entries, each transaction character entry in the list being (i) unique, and (ii) associated with a predefined transaction.

9. A computer program comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor, implement the steps of the method of claim 1.

10. A computer program according to claim 9, wherein the computer program is stored in a computer memory.

11. A self-service terminal comprising:

a touch-sensitive panel operable to detect contact by a user as the user delineates a stroke gesture on the panel;

a stroke recognition engine arranged to

(i) convert a sequence of points received from the touch-sensitive panel and corresponding to each stroke gesture delineated by the user to a character,

(ii) match the converted characters to one of a plurality of transaction entries, each transaction entry being (a) unique, and (b) associated with a predefined transaction, and

(iii) identify a specific transaction associated with the matched transaction entry; and

a transaction execution component arranged to execute the specific transaction.

12. A terminal according to claim 11, wherein the transaction execution component comprises a transaction application program executing on a controller in the self-service terminal.

13. A terminal according to claim 11, wherein the stroke recognition engine stores a table of transactions and corresponding characters identifying those transactions.

14. A terminal according to claim 11, wherein the self-service terminal further comprises a token reader to identify the user.

15. A terminal according to claim 11, wherein the self-service terminal includes a banknote dispenser.