System and method for locking and unlocking a financial account card
First Claim
1. A system for locking and unlocking a financial account accessed by a card, comprising:
- a card processor implemented in a computer system, coupled to a delivery channel, and adapted to(a) receive card in information via the delivery channel, a request to perform a lock operation via the delivery channel to prevent the card from being used to access the account, and a request to perform an unlock operation via the delivery channel to allow the card to be used to access the account;
(b) authenticate the card identifying information;
(c) in response to a request to perform a lock operation to(i) verify that the card to have its use locked currently has an operable;
status wherein it may be used to access the account;
(ii) save the operable status of the card;
(iii) lock the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to a locked status whereby use of the card to access the account is prevented;
(d) in response to a request to perform an unlock operation to(iv) verify that the card to have its use unlocked currently has a locked status wherein it may not used to access the account;
(v) retrieve the saved operable status of the card;
(vi) unlock the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to the retrieved saved operable status of the card whereby use of the card to access the account is allowed; and
(e) send a response message via the delivery channel indicating that the request to perform a lock operation or the request to perform an unlock operation has been received.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method whereby a holder of a financial account card, such as a credit card or debit card, is able to disable and re-enable use of the card by locking and unlocking the card repeatedly. A request to lock or unlock a card may be provided by a variety of delivery channels, e.g., telephone, automated teller machine, or online, to a card processor. For a locking transaction the card processor saves the current operable status of the card and changes the status to locked. For an unlocking transaction the saved operable status of the card is restored. The changed locked or unlocked status of the card is reported by the card processor to companion systems and an audit record created.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A system for locking and unlocking a financial account accessed by a card, comprising:
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a card processor implemented in a computer system, coupled to a delivery channel, and adapted to (a) receive card in information via the delivery channel, a request to perform a lock operation via the delivery channel to prevent the card from being used to access the account, and a request to perform an unlock operation via the delivery channel to allow the card to be used to access the account; (b) authenticate the card identifying information; (c) in response to a request to perform a lock operation to (i) verify that the card to have its use locked currently has an operable;
status wherein it may be used to access the account;(ii) save the operable status of the card; (iii) lock the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to a locked status whereby use of the card to access the account is prevented; (d) in response to a request to perform an unlock operation to (iv) verify that the card to have its use unlocked currently has a locked status wherein it may not used to access the account; (v) retrieve the saved operable status of the card; (vi) unlock the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to the retrieved saved operable status of the card whereby use of the card to access the account is allowed; and (e) send a response message via the delivery channel indicating that the request to perform a lock operation or the request to perform an unlock operation has been received. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method implemented in a computer system of locking and unlocking a financial account accessed by a card, comprising:
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(a) receiving card identifying information and a request to perform a lock operation to prevent the card from being used to access the account or a request to perform an unlock operation to allow the card to be used to access the account via a delivery channel; (b) authenticating the card identifying information; (c) in response to a request to perform a lock operation (i) verifying that the card to have its use locked currently has an operable;
status wherein it may be used to access the account;(ii) saving the operable status of the card; (iii) locking the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to a locked status whereby use of the card to access the account is prevented; (d) in response to a request to perform an unlock operation (iv) verifying that the card to have its use unlocked currently has a locked status wherein it may not be used to access the account; (v) retrieving the saved operable status of the card; (vi) unlocking the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to the retrieved saved operable status of the card whereby use of the card to access the account is allowed; and (e) sending a response message via the delivery channel indicating that the request to perform a lock operation or the request to perform an unlock operation has been received. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of locking and unlocking a financial account accessed by a card, comprising:
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(a) providing a card processor implemented in a computer system, coupled to a delivery channel, and adapted to receive card identifying information via the delivery channel, a request to perform a lock operation via the delivery channel to prevent the card from being used to access the account, and a request to perform an unlock operation via the delivery channel to allow the card to be used to access the account, wherein the card processor authenticates the card identifying information; and wherein, in response to a request to perform a lock operation, the card processor (i) verifies that the card to have its use locked currently has an operable;
status wherein it may be used to access the account;(ii) saves the operable status of the card; (iii) locks the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to a locked status whereby use of the card to access the account is prevented; and wherein, in response to a request to perform an unlock operation, the card processor (iv) verifies that the card to have its use unlocked currently has a locked status wherein it may not be used to access the account; (v) retrieves the saved operable status of the card; (vi) unlocks the use of the card by changing the current status of the card to the retrieved saved operable status of the card whereby use of the card to access the account is allowed; (b) requesting via a delivery channel that a lock operation be performed by the card processor for an account associated with a particular identified card; (c) requesting via a delivery channel that an unlock operation be performed by the card processor for an account associated with the particular identified card; and (d) making the requests of (b) and (c) in sequence repeatedly a plurality of times. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification