Currency recycler reconcilement activity

• US 8,047,427 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2008
• Issued: 11/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Johnson, Shane Anthony, Folk, Amy Baker, Sanders, William Thomas, Bohen, Daniel Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Labaze; Edwyn
• Application Number:
  US12/277,980
• Publication Number:
  US 20100127070A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,071 Days
• Field of Search: 235/379, 235/375, 235/487, 235/381, 705/43, 705/45, 902 7- 15
• US Class Current: 235/379
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/202 Depositing operations within ATMs depositing in general G07D11/00

Abstract

A currency handling system, for example, a currency recycler or depository machine, may be configured to process currency transactions, including receiving one or more currency deposits. The currency recycler may attempt to accept and validate the currency received in the deposits, organizing and storing some validated currency while designating one or more other units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable. The currency recycler may also generate and transmit reconcilement reports summarizing a set of currency transactions, including data corresponding to the validated currency and temporarily unreconcilable currency. Reconcilement reports may be output to users or transmitted to corporate offices for business purposes, or may be transmitted to financial institutions for crediting bank accounts, and currency that could not be validated may be stored securely to allow a business to receive provisional credit.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

processing at a currency handling device a set of one or more transactions, wherein each transaction is associated with at least one of a user and a point of sale, and wherein the transactions comprise one or more currency deposits;

internally validating one or more units of currency received as part of the one or more currency deposits;

identifying as temporarily unreconcilable one or more different units of currency which are part of the one or more currency deposits;

receiving user input identifying one or more currency amounts corresponding to the temporarily unreconcilable units of currency; and

generating and outputting via the currency handling device a reconcilement report comprising data summarizing the set of one or more transactions, said data including at least an amount corresponding to the internally validated units of currency, and at least an amount corresponding to the temporarily unreconcilable units of currency, the reconcilement report further comprising;

a number corresponding to a net transaction balance for the set of transactions;

a number corresponding to a balance of temporarily unreconcilable units of currency for the set of transactions; and

a number corresponding to a balance of internally validated units of currency for the set of transactions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of transactions summarized in the reconcilement report comprises at least one of:

all of the currency transactions processed at the currency handling device over a period of time that are associated with a specific user identified in the report, and

all of the currency transactions processed at the currency handling device over a period of time that are associated with a specific point of sale system identified in the report.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable comprises:

receiving one or more currency notes via an input slot of the currency handling device;

scanning the one or more currency notes using a scanning unit configured to detect at least one of defective notes, counterfeit notes, currency note denomination, and currency note type; and

determining based on the scanning that the one or more currency notes are temporarily unreconcilable by the currency handling device; and

outputting the one or more currency notes determined as temporarily unreconcilable.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable comprises:

identifying one or more coins as part of a currency deposit transaction; and

determining that the currency handling device is not configured to perform at least one of receiving, validating, and storing the identified one or more coins; and

determining that the one or more coins are temporarily unreconcilable by the currency handling device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable, providing a user interface to accept input of an amount corresponding to the value of the temporarily unreconcilable currency, and wherein the reconcilement report includes the input amount.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

transmitting the reconcilement report to a cash recycler service in a data center of a financial institution that has agreed to update a direct deposit account (DDA) balance based on the amount of internally validated currency included in the reconcilement report and has agreed to update a provisional credit account balance based on the amount of temporarily unreconcilable currency included in the reconcilement report.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable, storing the temporarily unreconcilable currency in one or more designated storage units within the currency handling device,

wherein the temporarily unreconcilable currency is stored separately from the internally validated currency within the currency handling device.

8. A device comprising:

a processor; and

memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the device to perform a method comprising;

processing a set of one or more transactions, wherein each transaction is associated with at least one of a user and a point of sale, and wherein the transactions comprise one or more currency deposits;

internally validating one or more units of currency received as part of the one or more currency deposits;

identifying as temporarily unreconcilable one or more different units of currency which are part of the one or more currency deposits;

receiving user input identifying one or more currency amounts corresponding to the temporarily unreconcilable units of currency; and

generating and outputting a reconcilement report comprising data summarizing the set of one or more transactions, said data including at least an amount corresponding to the internally validated units of currency, and at least an amount corresponding to the temporarily unreconcilable units of currency, the reconcilement report further comprising;

a number corresponding to a net transaction balance for the set of transactions;

a number corresponding to a balance of temporarily unreconcilable units of currency for the set of transactions; and

a number corresponding to a balance of internally validated units of currency for the set of transactions.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the set of transactions summarized in the reconcilement report comprises at least one of:

all of the currency transactions processed at the device over a period of time that are associated with a specific user identified in the report, and

all of the currency transactions processed at the device over a period of time that are associated with a specific point of sale system identified in the report.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable comprises:

receiving one or more currency notes via an input slot of the device;

scanning the one or more currency notes using a scanning unit configured to detect at least one of defective notes, counterfeit notes, currency note denomination, and currency note type; and

determining based on the scanning that the one or more currency notes are temporarily unreconcilable by the device; and

outputting the one or more currency notes determined as temporarily unreconcilable.

11. The device of claim 8, wherein identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable comprises:

identifying one or more coins as part of a currency deposit transaction; and

determining that the device is not configured to perform at least one of receiving, validating, and storing the identified one or more coins; and

determining that the one or more coins are temporarily unreconcilable by the device.

12. The device of claim 8, further comprising:

after identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable, providing a user interface to accept input of an amount corresponding to the value of the temporarily unreconcilable currency, and wherein the reconcilement report includes the input amount.

13. The device of claim 12, further comprising:

transmitting the reconcilement report to a cash recycler service in a data center of a financial institution that has agreed to update a direct deposit account (DDA) balance based on the amount of internally validated currency included in the reconcilement report and has agreed to update a provisional credit account balance based on the amount of temporarily unreconcilable currency included in the reconcilement report.

14. The device of claim 8, further comprising:

after identifying the one or more different units of currency as temporarily unreconcilable, storing the temporarily unreconcilable currency in one or more designated storage units within the device,

wherein the temporarily unreconcilable currency is stored separately from the internally validated currency within the device.

15. A method comprising:

receiving at a financial institution a reconcilement report corresponding to one or more transactions processed at a currency handling device associated with a retail location, wherein the reconcilement report comprises data including at least a first value corresponding to an amount of validated currency received by the currency handling device and a second value corresponding to an amount of unvalidated currency identified as part of the one or more transactions;

identifying one or more financial accounts at the financial institution associated with the retail location;

crediting a first account with real credit based on the first value corresponding to the amount of validated currency received by the currency handling device; and

crediting a second account with provisional credit based on the second value corresponding to the amount of unvalidated currency identified as part of the one or more transactions.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first account and the second account correspond to the same account at the financial institution.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the reconcilement report summarizes a set of transactions processed by the currency handling device at the associated retail location over a specific period of time identified in the report.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the second value corresponds to a sum of one or more notes of currency identified as temporarily unreconcilable by the currency handling device, and a sum of one or more coins unsupported by the currency handling device.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

transmitting a confirmation message indicating that the first account has been credited with real credit and the second account has been credited with provisional credit based on the received reconcilement report, wherein the confirmation message is transmitting to at least one of the currency handling device and a corporate office associated with the retail location.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the reconcilement report received at the financial institution summarizes a set of transactions processed at the currency handling device, the reconcilement report comprising:

a number corresponding to a net transaction balance for the set of transactions;

a number corresponding to a balance of unvalidated units of currency for the set of transactions; and

a number corresponding to a balance of validated units of currency for the set of transactions.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the first account and the second account correspond to different accounts at the financial institution.

22. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to perform a method comprising;

receiving at a reconcilement report corresponding to one or more transactions processed at a currency handling device associated with a retail location, wherein the reconcilement report comprises data including at least a first value corresponding to an amount of validated currency received by the currency handling device and a second value corresponding to an amount of unvalidated currency identified as part of the one or more transactions;

identifying one or more financial accounts associated with the retail location;

crediting a first account with real credit based on the first value corresponding to the amount of validated currency received by the currency handling device; and

crediting a second account with provisional credit based on the second value corresponding to the amount of unvalidated currency identified as part of the one or more transactions.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the reconcilement report summarizes a set of transactions processed by the currency handling device at the associated retail location over a specific period of time identified in the report.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the second value corresponds to a sum of one or more notes of currency identified as temporarily unreconcilable by the currency handling device, and a sum of one or more coins unsupported by the currency handling device.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

transmitting a confirmation message indicating that the first account has been credited with real credit and the second account has been credited with provisional credit based on the received reconcilement report, wherein the confirmation message is transmitting to at least one of the currency handling device and a corporate office associated with the retail location.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the received reconcilement report summarizes a set of transactions processed at the currency handling device, the reconcilement report comprising:

a number corresponding to a net transaction balance for the set of transactions;

a number corresponding to a balance of unvalidated units of currency for the set of transactions; and

a number corresponding to a balance of validated units of currency for the set of transactions.

27. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first account and the second account correspond to different accounts at the financial institution.