SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CAPTURING TOKEN DATA WITH A PORTABLE COMPUTING DEVICE

• US 20120099780A1
• Filed: 03/15/2011
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Dessert, Robert L., SMITH, Steven M.
• Granted Patent: US 9,349,063 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/136
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3274 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being displayed on the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3276 using a pictured code, e.g. barcode or QR-code, being read by the M-device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/34 using cards, e.g. integrated circuit [IC] cards or magnetic cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/363 with the personal data of a user
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/142 using hand-held instruments; Constructional details of the instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1448 based on markings or identifiers characterising the document or the area

Abstract

A system and method for collecting and managing information taken from tokens, like credit cards and gift cards, includes a portable computing device (PCD). The PCD may support a token recognizer that may comprise hardware and/or software that may reside in memory of the PCD. The token recognizer may work in combination with a camera. The token recognizer may comprise a broad recognizer module and an optical character recognition (“OCR”) module. The camera of the PCD may capture images of one or more physical tokens. These captured images of the physical tokens may be processed by the token recognizer so that digital images as well as data provided by the physical tokens may be maintained in memory of the PCD for later presentation to the user. These later presentations on the PCD may be used for account management and for conducting transactions, such as making payment at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

Claims

1. A method for capturing information from physical tokens with a portable computing device:

creating an image of a first side of a token with a portable computing device;

identifying a position of the token contained within the image;

conducting a broad recognition scan of the token;

identifying a source associated with token based on the broad recognition scan of the token; and

conducting optical character recognition of the first side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the source comprises at least one of a name of a merchant, a vendor, and a service provider.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving a relative position of one or more fields of interest for the token, the relative position corresponding to a match in a database for the source of the token.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a first image comprising a first side of the token and storing a second image comprising a second side in a file of the token if the source of a token cannot be identified.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising transferring the file from the portable computing device to a server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising conducting optical character recognition of a second side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

7. A method for managing information captured from physical tokens with a server, comprising:

receiving a file containing unrecognized token information;

storing the file in a first memory area;

conducting a robust scan of the first file containing the unrecognized token information;

if the token information cannot be recognized, then comparing the unrecognized token information with other unrecognized token information stored in a second memory area; and

if there is a matched between the unrecognized token information, then storing these match results in a third memory area.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising displaying an alert if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the alert comprises an indication that a source of a new token has been identified.

11. A computer system for capturing information from physical tokens with a portable computing device, the system comprising:

a processor operable for;

creating an image of a first side of a token with a portable computing device;

identifying a position of the token contained within the image;

conducting a broad recognition scan of the token;

identifying a source associated with token based on the broad recognition scan of the token; and

conducting optical character recognition of the first side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the source comprises at least one of a name of a merchant, a vendor, and a service provider.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operable for retrieving a relative position of one or more fields of interest for the token, the relative position corresponding to a match in a database for the source of the token.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operable for storing a first image comprising a first side of the token and storing a second image comprising a second side in a file of the token if the source of a token cannot be identified.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further operable for transferring the file from the portable computing device to a server.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operable for conducting optical character recognition of a second side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

17. A computer system for managing information captured from physical tokens with a server, the system comprising:

a processor operable for;

receiving a file containing unrecognized token information;

storing the file in a first memory area;

conducting a robust scan of the first file containing the unrecognized token information;

comparing the unrecognized token information with other unrecognized token information stored in a second memory area if the token information cannot be recognized; and

storing these match results in a third memory area if there is a matched between the unrecognized token information.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is further operable for determining if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the processor is further operable for displaying an alert if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the alert comprises an indication that a source of a new token has been identified.

21. A computer system for capturing information from physical tokens with a portable computing device, the system comprising:

means for creating an image of a first side of a token with a portable computing device;

means for identifying a position of the token contained within the image;

means for conducting a broad recognition scan of the token;

means for identifying a source associated with token based on the broad recognition scan of the token; and

means for conducting optical character recognition of the first side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the source comprises at least one of a name of a merchant, a vendor, and a service provider.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for retrieving a relative position of one or more fields of interest for the token, the relative position corresponding to a match in a database for the source of the token.

24. The system of claim 21, further comprising means for storing a first image comprising a first side of the token and storing a second image comprising a second side in a file of the token if the source of a token cannot be identified.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising means for transferring the file from the portable computing device to a server.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising means for conducting optical character recognition of a second side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

27. A computer system for managing information captured from physical tokens with a server, the system comprising:

means for receiving a file containing unrecognized token information;

means for storing the file in a first memory area;

means for conducting a robust scan of the first file containing the unrecognized token information;

means for comparing the unrecognized token information with other unrecognized token information stored in a second memory area if the token information cannot be recognized; and

means for storing these match results in a third memory if there is a matched between the unrecognized token information.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising means for determining if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

29. The system of claim 28, further comprising means for displaying an alert if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the alert comprises an indication that a source of a new token has been identified.

31. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for capturing information from physical tokens with a portable computing device, said method comprising:

creating an image of a first side of a token with a portable computing device;

identifying a position of the token contained within the image;

conducting a broad recognition scan of the token;

identifying a source associated with token based on the broad recognition scan of the token; and

conducting optical character recognition of the first side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the source comprises at least one of a name of a merchant, a vendor, and a service provider.

33. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises retrieving a relative position of one or more fields of interest for the token, the relative position corresponding to a match in a database for the source of the token.

34. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises storing a first image comprising a first side of the token and storing a second image comprising a second side in a file of the token if the source of a token cannot be identified.

35. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises transferring the file from the portable computing device to a server.

36. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises conducting optical character recognition of a second side of the token to retrieve consumer information based on the source identified for the token.

37. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for managing information captured from physical tokens with a server, said method comprising:

receiving a file containing unrecognized token information;

storing the file in a first memory area;

conducting a robust scan of the first file containing the unrecognized token information;

if the token information cannot be recognized, then comparing the unrecognized token information with other unrecognized token information stored in a second memory area; and

if there is a matched between the unrecognized token information, then storing these match results in a third memory area.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises determining if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the program code implementing the method further comprises displaying an alert if the match results have reached a predetermined threshold for a number of matches.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the alert comprises an indication that a source of a new token has been identified.