Content-based prioritizing of deposits

• US 7,982,610 B1
• Filed: 10/31/2008
• Issued: 07/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Waggoner, Mark, Nichols, Michelle, Atwood, Todd, Heddleson, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Trieu; Van T.
• Application Number:
  US12/262,472
• Time in Patent Office: 991 Days
• Field of Search: 340/572.1, 340/572.4, 340/571, 340/568.1, 340/568.7, 340/5.54, 340/5.92, 340/10.1, 340/10.4, 235/375, 235/379, 235/384, 235/385
• US Class Current: 340/572.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/08 by opening, e.g. of door, of window, of drawer, of shutter, of curtain, of blind
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1481 with optical detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2402 Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS], i.e. systems using tags for detecting removal of a tagged item from a secure area, e.g. tags for detecting shoplifting mechanical aspects of the tags, e.g. related to locking E05B73/0017; RFID readers G06K7/00; RFID tags G06K19/00; access control systems G07C9/00; anti-theft control in point of sale systems G07G3/003; security seals G09F3/03

Abstract

As deposit bags containing monetary packages arrive at a cash handling facility contents of the deposit bags are inspected and assigned to a teller for processing. An automatic identification system may detect the presence of the deposit bag, the monetary packages, and/or the personnel handling the cash at various custody points at the cash handling facility. Such information may be used to determine the priority at which the monetary package may be processed. Further, a plurality of tellers may be assigned to process the monetary package in the cash handling facility. Each teller'"'"'s workflow may be tracked based on the presence of monetary packages that are already being processed at the teller'"'"'s station. Therefore, the monetary packages may be prioritized and may be assigned to a teller that is capable of handling the processing of the monetary package.

Claims

1. A method of cash supply chain management, comprising the steps of:

automatically identifying a monetary package at a first custody point along a cash supply chain;

determining contents of the monetary package at the first custody point;

assigning a priority to the monetary package at the first custody point based at least in part on the contents of the cash;

storing information relating to the contents of the monetary package and the priority;

distributing the contents of the monetary package to a second custody point along the cash supply chain based at least in part on at least one of the contents and the priority.

2. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the step of automatically identifying the monetary package further comprises identifying the monetary package based on an identifier transmitted by a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag attached to the monetary package.

3. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the monetary package is a deposit bag containing a plurality of cash bags, wherein the cash bags contain at least one of cash and negotiable instruments.

4. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the monetary package is a cash strap.

5. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the first custody point and the second custody point are located within a cash handling facility.

6. The method recited in claim 1, wherein the first custody point is a first teller station within the cash handling facility and the second custody point is a second teller station within the cash handling facility.

7. The method recited in claim 6, further comprising the steps of determining a first workflow at the first teller station and determining a second workflow at the second teller station, and wherein the step of distributing the contents of the monetary package to the second custody point is based upon at least one of the first workflow and the second workflow.

8. The method recited in claim 7, wherein the step of storing the information relating to the contents of the monetary package and the priority is stored on a memory in a computing system.

9. A method of managing workflow within a cash handling facility, including the steps of:

attaching an RFID tag to a deposit bag containing a plurality of monetary packages;

receiving the deposit bag at a receiving point of the cash handling facility;

detecting the physical presence of the deposit bag at the receiving point, wherein the receiving point includes an RFID scanner that is configured to receive an electronic signal from the RFID tag, the electronic signal containing information that identifies the deposit bag;

determining an amount of cash associated with each of the monetary packages;

determining a workload of each of a plurality of tellers;

assigning each of the monetary packages to at least one of the tellers based at least in part on the determined workload of each of the tellers; and

distributing each of the monetary packages to at least one teller for analysis.

10. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the step of determining the amount of cash associated with each of the monetary packages includes counting physical cash contained in each of the monetary packages.

11. The method recited in claim 10, further comprising assigning a priority to at least one of the monetary packages.

12. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the step of determining the amount of cash associated with each of the monetary packages includes weighing the monetary packages.

13. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the step of determining the amount of cash associated with each of the monetary packages is performed by a smart cart, a man trap, a smart tray, a smart table, and/or a teller.

14. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the step of determining the amount of cash associated with each of the monetary packages includes manually counting the cash in the monetary packages.

15. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the workload is determined at least in part on the estimated amount of time required by the teller to analyze the monetary package.

16. The method recited in claim 9, wherein the plurality of tellers includes a first teller having a low workload and a second teller having a high workload, wherein the monetary package is assigned to the first teller based in part on the first teller'"'"'s low workload.

17. The method recited in claim 9, further comprising receiving a request for a first denomination of cash, wherein a first monetary package in the plurality of monetary packages includes the first denomination of cash, and wherein the first monetary package is assigned a priority status.

18. The method recited in claim 17, wherein the first monetary package is assigned to a first teller having a low workload.

19. The method of claim 9, wherein the assigning is further based on the determined amounts of cash associated with each of the monetary packages.

20. A system for prioritizing deposits at a cash handling facility, comprising:

a plurality of custody points at a cash handling facility;

a plurality of teller stations for processing contents of a monetary package;

a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system comprising at least one RFID tag and at least one RFID scanner that is configured to detect the presence of the at least one RFID tag, wherein the RFID tag is attached to the monetary package;

a computing system, comprising;

a receiver configured to receive identifying information about at least one of the monetary package and the contents of the monetary package,

a memory configured to store the information about the identity of the at least one of the monetary package packages and the contents of the monetary package, and

a processor configured to prioritize the order in which the monetary package is assigned to a teller station for processing based at least in part on the contents of the monetary package, and to assign a priority to each of the monetary packages based at least in part on the contents of the monetary package.

21. A method comprising:

identifying a monetary package at a first custody point along a cash supply chain;

determining contents of the monetary package at the first custody point;

assigning a priority based at least in part on the determined contents of the cash;

storing, in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, data representing the determined contents and the assigned priority of the monetary package; and

sending the contents of the monetary package to a second custody point along the cash supply chain, wherein the second custody point depends upon the determined contents and the assigned priority.