SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING RECEIPTS AND OTHER RECORDS OF USERS

• US 20130129218A1
• Filed: 05/10/2012
• Published: 05/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Expensify Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Expensify Incorporated
• Inventors: Barrett, David M., Kuchta, Kevin Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,861,861 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/182
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/045 using payment protocols involving tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/98 Detection or correction of errors, e.g. by rescanning the pattern or by human intervention; Evaluation of the quality of the acquired patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/224 of printed characters having additional code marks or containing code marks
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/413 Classification of content, e.g. text, photographs or tables

Abstract

A service can perform optical character recognition (OCR) on an image of a record to determine a first set of information items about the record. A second set of information items can be identified that are likely part of the record but not determinable from performing OCR on the image. Another resource can be utilized to determine the second set of information items. A classification for the record can be determined based on first and second sets of information items. The record can be associated with a financial resource of the user based at least in part on the classification.

Claims

1. A method for determining record information, the method being implemented by one or more processors and comprising the steps of:

receiving a low quality image of a record from a user;

performing optical character recognition on the image to determine a first set of information items about the record;

identifying a second set of information items that are likely part of the record but not determinable from performing optical character recognition on the image;

utilizing another resource to determine the second set of information items;

determining a classification for the record based on first and second sets of information items; and

associating the record with a financial resource of the user based at least in part on the classification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing another resource includes:

(i) scanning a plurality of transactions recorded with one or more financial accounts of the user;

(ii) identifying at least a first transaction that is relevant to the record, based on the first set of information items; and

(iii) identifying the second set of information items from information provided with the at least first transaction.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second set of information items includes one or more of a merchant, a transaction value, or a date of a transaction from scanning the plurality of transactions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing another resource includes querying a merchant or entity database using information that is determined from the first set of information items.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the image to a human resource in order to determine the second set of information items.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein communicating the image to the human resource includes receiving information from a first human operator about the record, receiving information from a second human operator about the record, then programmatically comparing the information received from the first human operator and the second human operator in order to determine the first set of information items.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein communicating the image to the human resource includes receiving information from a third human operator in response to the information from the first human operator and the second human operator being in conflict.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the image of the record corresponds to an image of a financial receipt or an image of an odometer reading.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the classification includes determining that the record is either the financial receipt or the odometer reading.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the classification includes determining that the record is a particular type of financial receipt.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the record with a financial resource includes associating the record with a financial account of the user.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein associating the record with a financial resource includes identifying the record as being a cash transaction.

13. A computer implemented method for tracking one or more financial transactions or events, the method being implemented by one or more processors and comprising the steps of:

obtaining data corresponding to one or more financial transactions or events, wherein the data is obtained from a user submission;

assigning two or more persons a task to determine information about the financial transaction from the received data, including a classification of the financial transaction;

identifying one or more matching transactions from a transaction database based on the determined information; and

crediting or debiting an account associated with the user that submitted the data.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the data corresponding to the one or more financial transactions is one or more of (i) image data, (ii) audio data, or (iii) video data.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising generating an expense report based on the determined information.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising comparing the determined information from each of the two or more persons to determine a similarity of the determined information.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the account associated with the user that submitted the data is credited or debited based on the classification of the financial transaction.

18. A computer-readable medium for determining record information, the computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving a low quality image of a record from a user;

performing optical character recognition on the image to determine a first set of information items about the record;

identifying a second set of information items that are likely part of the record but not determinable from performing optical character recognition on the image;

utilizing another resource to determine the second set of information items;

determining a classification for the record based on first and second sets of information items; and

associating the record with a financial resource of the user based at least in part on the classification.