Systems and methods for real-time validation of check image quality

• US 8,538,124 B1
• Filed: 05/10/2007
• Issued: 09/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Harpel, Greg Alan, Nuggehalli, R. Bharat Prasad, Morris, Michael Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): TUCKER, WESLEY J
• Application Number:
  US11/747,223
• Time in Patent Office: 2,322 Days
• Field of Search: 382/131, 382/137, 382/139, 382/130, 382/173, 705/40, 705/44
• US Class Current: 382/137
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/12 Detection or correction of errors, e.g. by rescanning the pattern
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/2253 Recognition of characters printed with magnetic ink G06V30/2247 takes precedence

Abstract

Systems and methods for real-time validation of check image quality and readability of MICR line data are provided. A check image received by a financial institution can be assessed during a customer on-line session, so that the customer is informed in real-time whether the image is acceptable. Received check images are used to produce images in another format, which are then analyzed for specified requirements.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method for validating that a digital image of a physical check can be used in a deposit transaction before approval of the deposit transaction, comprising:

receiving via a processor, a digital image of a physical check from a financial institution server; and

in response to said receiving, the processor, during a first time interval;

initiating an image validation process to ensure determine whether said digital image of the physical check meets an image requirement;

sending an approval to said financial institution server when said digital image of the physical check meets said image requirement; and

repairing said digital image of said physical check by resolving an error with respect to said digital image when said digital image does not meet said image requirement;

wherein said first time interval is contained within a second time interval, said second time interval corresponding to an online customer session comprising communications between said financial institution server and a customer computer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said digital image of a check is in a Tag Image File Format (TIFF) format.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said digital image of said physical check is initially in a first format, and further comprising converting said digital image of said physical check into a second format, wherein image validation is performed on said second format of said digital image.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said first format comprises a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format, and wherein said second format comprises a Tag Image File Format (TIFF) format.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising, during the first time interval:

converting said repaired digital image to said second format;

re-validating said repaired digital image in said second format; and

sending an approval or an error to said financial institution server based on said re-validation.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying said financial institution server of the error when repairing does not resolve the error.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said image requirement comprises one or more of a TIFF format requirement, a bitonal requirement, a pixel density requirement, a size requirement, an intact corner requirement, and a clarity requirement.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repairing said digital image at least a second time before approval of the deposit transaction during said first time interval to resolve the error or a second error.

23. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

sending said digital image and said repaired digital image to third party electronics for validation and re-validation.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

calling a third party application programming interface with said digital image or repaired digital image to be validated, to send said digital image or repaired digital image to the third party electronics.

8. A system for validating that a digital image of a check can be used in a deposit transaction before approval of the deposit transaction, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor disposed in communication with said memory, and configured to execute a plurality of processing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor executes instructions to, during a first time interval;

receive and store in the memory a digital image of a physical check from a financial institution server;

initiate, in response to said receiving, an image validation process to determine whether said digital image of the physical check meets an image requirement;

determine whether a repair of the digital image of said physical check causes the digital image to meet the image requirement;

send an approval to said financial institution server when the repair causes said digital image of the physical check to meet said image requirement;

wherein said first time interval is contained within a second time interval, said second time interval corresponding to an online customer session comprising communications between said financial institution server and a customer computer.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said digital image of a check is in a Tag Image File Format (TIFF) format.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein said digital image is received in a first format, wherein said first format comprises a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format, and wherein said second format comprises a Tag Image File Format (TIFF) format, further comprising:

a subsystem executable by the processor to convert said digital image from said first format into said second format, wherein image validation is performed on said second format of said image.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor further executes instructions to repair said digital image of said physical check by resolving an error with respect to said digital image when said digital image does not meet said image requirement.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor further executes instructions to, during the first time interval:

re-validate said repaired digital image; and

send an approval or an error to said financial institution server based on said re-validation.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor further executes instructions to notify the financial institution server of an error when no repair causes the digital image to meet the image requirement.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein said image requirement comprises one or more of a TIFF format requirement, a bitonal requirement, a pixel density requirement, a size requirement, an intact corner requirement, and a clarity requirement.

25. The system of claim 8, wherein the instructions to determine whether a repair of the digital image of said physical check causes the digital image to meet the image requirement further comprises instructions to:

provide said digital image to third party electronics, the third party electronics to initiate image validation and to determine whether a repair of the digital image of said physical check causes the digital image to meet the image requirement; and

receive an approval from the third party electronics that the repair caused the digital image to meet the image requirement, or an error that was unresolved by the third party electronics.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the processor further executes instructions to send the approval or the error received from the third party electronics to the financial institution server.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the instructions to provide the digital image of the physical check to third party electronics further comprises instructions executed by the processor to call an application programming interface for a web-enabled application exposed by said third party electronics such that software executed by the third party electronics validates the digital image while the digital image resides in the memory.

15. A computer readable non-transitory medium having stored instructions for validating that a digital image of a check can be used in a deposit transaction before approval of the deposit transaction, the stored instructions executable by a computing device including a processor and memory, comprising:

(i) instructions for receiving a digital image of a physical check from a financial institution server;

(ii) instructions for initiating an image validation process to determine whether said digital image of the physical check meets an image requirement;

(iii) instructions for sending an approval to said financial institution server when said digital image of the physical check meets said image requirement;

(iv) instructions for repairing said digital image of said physical check by resolving an error with respect to said digital image when said digital image does not meet said image requirement; and

(v) instructions for executing (i) through (iv) during a first time interval, wherein said first time interval is contained within a second time interval, said second time interval corresponding to an online customer session comprising communications between said financial institution server and a customer computer.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said digital image of a check is in a Tag Image File Format (TIFF) format.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said digital image of said physical check is initially in a first format, and further comprising instructions for converting said digital image of said physical check into a second format, wherein image validation is performed on said second format of said digital image.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein said first format comprises a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format, and wherein said second format comprises a Tag Image File Format (TIFF) format.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for, during the first time interval:

converting said repaired digital image to said second format;

re-validating said repaired digital image in said second format; and

sending an approval or an error to said financial institution server based on said re-validation.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions for notifying said financial institution server of the error when repairing does not resolve the error.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said image requirement comprises one or more of a TIFF format requirement, a bitonal requirement, a pixel density requirement, a size requirement, an intact corner requirement, and a clarity requirement.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions for repairing said digital image at least a second time before approval of the deposit transaction during said first time interval to resolve the error or a second error.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions for sending said digital image and said repaired digital image to third party electronics for validation and re-validation.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, further comprising instructions for calling a third party application programming interface with said digital image or repaired digital image to be validated, to send said digital image or repaired digital image to the third party electronics.