Validating financial accounts

• US 7,761,353 B1
• Filed: 12/07/2005
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Silverman, Alexander E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell; James P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Malhotra; Sanjeev
• Application Number:
  US11/296,095
• Time in Patent Office: 1,686 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34, 705/40, 705/43, 705/66, 273/139, 455/415, 707/100, 713/155
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3672 initialising or reloading thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Techniques are described related to validating financial accounts, such as before allowing the use of the financial accounts in making payments or otherwise being used as part of transactions. In some situations, the validating of a financial account includes corroborating that a user who desires to use the financial account is the account holder for the account or is otherwise authorized to use the account, such as by confirming that the user has access to information about transactions involving the account and that the user has access to at least one physical item that is delivered to an address or other location associated with the user. This abstract is provided to comply with rules requiring an abstract, and it is submitted with the intention that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving an indication of a financial account of a user for use with financial transactions involving the user; and

automatically validating use of the financial account by,

initiating one or more deposits to the financial account for use in validating the financial account, each deposit being of a determined amount, the initiating of the one or more deposits being performed by one or more programmed computing systems;

initiating physical delivery of an item to a location associated with the user, the item having multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates for the account such that each of the multiple account validation identifier candidates is identifiable from the item using one or more numerical amounts, at least one of the multiple account validation identifier candidates being identifiable using the determined amounts of the one or more deposits;

providing instructions for identifying one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates from the delivered item by using amounts of the initiated one or more deposits, the providing of the instructions being performed by the one or more programmed computing systems; and

after receiving from the user indications of one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates and determining that the indicated one or more account validation identifier candidates are the at least one account validation identifier candidates, validating use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user, the validating of the use of the financial account being performed by the one or more programmed computing systems.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, before the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user, generating the item for use in the validating for the financial account.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating of the item includes determining the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates and printing the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates on the item.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating of the item includes reproducing a previously existing item and selecting the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates from information present on the previously existing item.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating of the item includes receiving an indication from the user of an indicated type of item and generating an item of the indicated type.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating of the item includes receiving an indication from the user of one of multiple item options and generating the indicated option.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the item is a book, and wherein words of the book are the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the item is a physical card on which is printed the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the item is a scratch card such that at least some of the printed account validation identifier candidates on the card are each obscured by a material that the user can remove via scratching.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the item includes a detachable portion for return after the user indicates one or more of the account validation identifier candidates on the portion.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the item includes the instructions and wherein the providing of the instructions occurs as part of the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the item exists prior to the receiving of the indication of the financial account, and wherein the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates are each a piece of information that is perceivable from the item.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising prompting the user to select the item from multiple options before the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user occurs prior to the receiving of the indication of the financial account.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the location associated with the user is a street address, and wherein the steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user includes shipping the item to the street address.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the steps for the physical delivery of the item includes sending information to the location associated with the user to prompt the user to physically retrieve the item from an indicated location.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one account validation identifier candidates each include multiple alphanumeric characters.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the at least one account validation identifier candidates in such a manner as to hinder those account validation identifier candidates from being guessed.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the at least one account validation identifier candidates in such a manner as to hinder the determined amounts of the one or more deposits from being determined from the at least one account validation identifier candidates.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the determining of the at least one account validation identifier candidates includes calculating each of those account validation identifier candidates using a one-way hash function whose input is based at least in part on one or more of the determined amounts of the one or more deposits.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the determining of the at least one account validation identifier candidates includes generating each of those account validation identifier candidates in a manner that is not based on the determined amounts of the one or more deposits.

22. The method of claim 19 further comprising discarding all information about the determined amounts of the one or more deposits before the receiving of the indications of the one or more account validation identifier candidates.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising, after the validating of the use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user, using the financial account to provide and/or receive payments on behalf of the user.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if the one or more initiated deposits to the financial account do not succeed, preventing the validating of the use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user.

25. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if the indicated one or more account validation identifier candidates are not determined to include the at least one account validation identifier candidates, preventing the validating of the use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the validating of the use of the financial account includes providing compensation to the user.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the indicated financial account is a checking account provided by a bank, and wherein the provided instructions for using amounts of one or more indicated deposits include an indication of the initiated one or more deposits and include an indication to use transaction information provided by the bank to identify the amounts of the one or more indicated deposits.

28. A computer-readable medium whose contents include instructions that when executed configure a computing device to perform a method comprising:

receiving an indication of a financial account of a user for use with financial transactions involving the user; and

automatically validating use of the financial account by,

initiating one or more deposits to the financial account for use in validating the financial account, each deposit having a determined amount, the initiating of the one or more deposits being performed by the configured computing device;

initiating steps for physical delivery of an item to a location associated with the user, the item having multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates for the account such that each of the multiple account validation identifier candidates is identifiable from the item using one or more numerical amounts, at least one of the multiple account validation identifier candidates being identifiable using the determined amounts of the one or more deposits;

providing instructions for identifying one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates of the delivered item by using amounts of one or more indicated deposits; and

after receiving from the user indications of one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates and determining that the indicated one or more account validation identifier candidates are the at least one account validation identifier candidates, validating use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user, the validating of the use of the financial account being performed by the configured computing device.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the method further comprises, before the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user, generating the item for use in the validating for the financial account.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 wherein the generating of the item includes determining the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates and printing the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates on the item.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the item includes a detachable portion for return after the user indicates one or more of the account validation identifier candidates on the portion.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the item includes the instructions, and wherein the providing of the instructions occurs as part of the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the location associated with the user is a street address, and wherein the steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user includes shipping the item to the street address.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the method further comprises, after the validating of the use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user, using the financial account to provide and/or receive payments on behalf of the user.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the indicated financial account is a checking account provided by a bank, and wherein the provided instructions for using amounts of one or more indicated deposits include an indication of the initiated one or more deposits and include an indication to use transaction information provided by the bank to identify the amounts of the one or more indicated deposits.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 28 wherein the computer-readable medium is at least one of a memory of a computing device and a data transmission medium that stores a generated data signal containing the contents.

37. A computing device, comprising:

one or more memories; and

one or more components configured to, when executed using at least one of the one or more memories;

receive an indication of a financial account of a user for use with financial transactions involving the user; and

automatically validate use of the financial account by,

initiating one or more deposits to the financial account for use in validating the financial account, each deposit having an associated monetary amount;

initiating steps for physical delivery of an item to a location associated with the user, the item having multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates for the account such that each of the multiple account validation identifier candidates is identifiable from the item using one or more numerical amounts, at least one of the multiple account validation identifier candidates being identifiable using the associated amounts of the one or more deposits;

providing instructions for identifying one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates of the delivered item by using amounts of the initiated one or more deposits; and

after receiving from the user indications of one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates and determining that the indicated one or more account validation identifier candidates are the at least one account validation identifier candidates, validating use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user.

38. The computing device of claim 37 wherein the one or more components are further configured to, before the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user, generate the item for use in the validating for the financial account, the generating including determining the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates and printing the multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates on the item.

39. The computing device of claim 37 wherein the item includes a detachable portion for return after the user indicates one or more of the account validation identifier candidates on the portion.

40. The computing device of claim 39 wherein the item includes the instructions, and wherein the providing of the instructions occurs as part of the initiating steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user.

41. The computing device of claim 37 wherein the location associated with the user is a street address, and wherein the steps for the physical delivery of the item to a location associated with the user includes shipping the item to the street address.

42. The computing device of claim 37 wherein the one or more components are further configured to, after the validating of the use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user, use the financial account to provide and/or receive payments on behalf of the user.

43. The computing device of claim 37 wherein the indicated financial account is a checking account provided by a bank, and wherein the provided instructions for using amounts of one or more indicated deposits include an indication of the initiated one or more deposits and include an indication to use transaction information provided by the bank to identify the amounts of the one or more indicated deposits.

44. The computing device of claim 37 wherein the one or more components include software instructions for execution in memory of the computing device.

45. The computing device of claim 37 wherein the one or more components consist of a means for receiving an indication of a financial account of a user for use with financial transactions involving the user, and automatically validating use of the financial account, the validating of the use of the financial account including:

initiating one or more deposits to the financial account for use in validating the financial account, each deposit having an associated monetary amount;

initiating steps for physical delivery of an item to a location associated with the user, the item having multiple distinct account validation identifier candidates for the account such that each of the multiple account validation identifier candidates is identifiable from the item using one or more numerical amounts, at least one of the multiple account validation identifier candidates being identifiable using the amounts of the one or more deposits;

providing instructions for identifying one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates of the delivered item by using amounts of the initiated one or more deposits; and

after receiving from the user indications of one or more of the multiple account validation identifier candidates and determining that the indicated one or more account validation identifier candidates are the at least one account validation identifier candidates, validating use of the financial account with financial transactions involving the user.