Systems and methods to use a digital camera to remotely deposit a negotiable instrument

• US 8,320,657 B1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Issued: 11/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Burks, Rickey Dale, Oakes, Charles Lee III, Morlen, Randy Ray, Prasad, Bharat, Morris, Michael Frank, Hua, Xia
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Chan S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bitar, Nancy
• Application Number:
  US11/931,804
• Time in Patent Office: 1,854 Days
• Field of Search: 382/134, 382/140, 382/305, 382/139, 382/274, 382/275, 705/45
• US Class Current: 382/139
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• 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: G06V 10/243 by compensating for image skew or non-uniform image deformations

Abstract

To deposit a negotiable instrument electronically, a digital image may be used. Systems and methods are described herein that facilitate the use of a digital camera to provide the digital image. A user may capture an image of a negotiable instrument to create a digital image. The digital image may be compressed and saved as a digital image file. The user may then transmit the digital image file to a financial institution, such as a bank, to deposit funds drawn from the account of the negotiable instrument into the user'"'"'s account. A financial institution may receive digital image files created by a digital camera from account holders and process a deposit request using the digital image file.

Claims

1. A method of depositing funds of a negotiable instrument, comprising:

receiving a request to deposit the funds of the negotiable instrument;

accessing a digital image of the negotiable instrument, wherein the digital image was created using a digital camera;

warping, using a processor, at least a part of the digital image to remove a distortion by;

applying a filter to remove at least one feature within a body of the digital image, wherein the filter is a convolution filter;

determining, after applying the filter, at least one aspect of the digital image; and

mapping pixels of the digital image into an output image based on the at least one determined aspect; and

transmitting the output image in order to deposit the funds from the negotiable instrument.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the negotiable instrument is a check.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital image is included in a digital image file;

and

wherein the digital image file further comprises magnetic identification character recognition information, an account number, or a routing number.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital image is included in a digital image file;

and

wherein the digital image file further comprises skew information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein mapping the pixels deskews the digital image based upon the skew information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital image is received at a financial institution, a cellular network, or a computer used by a depositor of the negotiable instrument.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one aspect comprises at least one corner of the digital image.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one aspect comprises four corners of the digital image.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein mapping pixels of the digital image into the output image comprises mapping all of the pixels of the digital image into the output image.

7. A system for depositing funds of a negotiable instrument, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to;

receive a request to deposit the funds of the negotiable instrument;

access a digital image of the negotiable instrument, wherein the digital image was created using a digital camera;

warp at least a part of the digital image to remove a distortion by;

applying a filter to remove at least one feature within a body of the digital image, wherein the filter is a convolution filter;

determining, after applying the filter, at least one aspect of the digital image; and

mapping pixels of the digital image into an output image based on the at least one determined aspect; and

transmit the output image in order to deposit the funds from the negotiable instrument.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the negotiable instrument is a check.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the digital image is included in a digital image file;

and

wherein the digital image file further comprises magnetic identification character recognition information, an account number, or a routing number.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the digital image is included in a digital image file;

and

wherein the digital image file further comprises skew information.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising at least one subsystem that deskews the digital image based upon the skew information.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the digital image is received at a financial institution, a cellular network, or a computer used by a depositor of the negotiable instrument.

22. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one aspect comprises at least one corner of the digital image.

23. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to map pixels of the digital image into the output image by mapping all of the pixels of the digital image into the output image.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions for depositing funds of a negotiable instrument, the computer-readable instructions comprising instructions to:

receive a request to deposit the funds of the negotiable instrument;

access a digital image of the negotiable instrument, wherein the digital image was created using a digital camera;

warp at least a part of the digital image to remove a distortion by;

applying a filter to remove at least one feature within a body of the digital image, wherein the filter is a convolution filter;

determining at least one aspect of the digital image; and

mapping pixels of the digital image into an output image based on the at least one determined aspect; and

transmit the output image in order to deposit the funds from the negotiable instrument.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the negotiable instrument is a check.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the digital image is included in a digital image file;

and

wherein the digital image file further comprises magnetic identification character recognition information, an account number, or a routing number.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the digital image is included in a digital image file;

and

wherein the digital image file further comprises skew information.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions to map the pixels includes instructions to deskew the digital image based upon the skew information.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the digital image is received at a financial institution, a cellular network, or a computer used by a depositor of the negotiable instrument.