Check destruction tracking and reconstruction

• US 8,751,340 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2009
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Piedra, Humberto Kenneth, Boyd, Hamilton Tarry, Felse, Mark David, Vanlandingham, Barry Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Vezeris, James A
• Application Number:
  US12/350,669
• Publication Number:
  US 20100174632A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,979 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

A method for check destruction tracking and reconstruction relates to tracking the destruction of financial institution items, such as paper checks. The method includes transferring the financial institution items to a bin for transporting the items to be destroyed. The bin is associated with a bin identifier. The items which are in the bin are identified and the bin is transported for destruction. If the items are safely transported and safely destroyed, a notification of destruction of the items in the bin is sent. If the items are either not safely transported or not safely destroyed, a notification of an incident is sent. Appropriate action may be taken in response to receiving such notification.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

transferring one or more financial institution items to a bin for transporting the items to be destroyed;

associating the bin with a bin identifier comprising placing a seal on the bin, where the seal comprises the bin identifier;

providing an indication of which items are in the bin comprising;

providing one or more groupings of the one or more financial institution items;

creating a label for each of the groupings; and

associating the labels corresponding to the items placed in the bin with the bin identifier;

creating a manifest comprising bin identifiers and items associated with each bin;

allowing the bin to be transported for destruction;

receiving a destruction notification comprising the bin identifier indicating the items in the bin were destroyed in response to safe transport and safe destruction of the items in the bin;

verifying the bin identifiers received in the destruction notification against the manifest in response to receiving the notification of destruction of the items in the bin; and

receiving notification of an incident in response to the bin being compromised.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving notification of an incident in response to the seal being broken prematurely during transportation for destruction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring one or more financial institution items to be destroyed in the bin comprises transferring one or more of the groupings to the bin.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the items are paper checks that are to be destroyed.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring one or more financial institution items to a bin for transporting the items to be destroyed comprises at least one of:

transferring bags of items from an ATM to the bin;

transferring trays of items from a sorter to the bin; and

transferring trays of items from a remote processing site to the bin.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising retaining the labels for future reference.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein in response to receiving the notification of an incident:

receiving information about the incident including the bin identifier of the bin compromised; and

determining if action should be taken.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

in response to determining action should be taken;

determining which items have been compromised;

determining a customer associated with the compromised items; and

notifying the customer of the items compromised.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining at least one of customer account information associated with the compromised items and financial institutions associated with the compromised items in response to determining action should be taken.

10. A method comprising:

providing one or more groupings of one or more financial institution items;

transferring the groupings to a plurality of bins which are each used to transport one or more groupings of items to a site where the items will be destructed;

creating a label for each of the groupings;

associating each label with the bin that contains the groupings of items corresponding to the label;

affixing a seal to each of the bins, wherein each seal comprises a unique identifier for each bin;

creating a manifest comprising bin identifiers and items associated with each bin;

allowing the bins to be transported for destruction;

receiving a destruction notification comprising the bin identifier indicating the items in the bin were destroyed in response to safe transport and safe destruction of the items in the bin;

verifying the bin identifiers received in the destruction notification against the manifest in response to receiving the notification of destruction of the items in the bin; and

receiving notification of an incident in response to any of the bins being compromised.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving notification of an incident in response to a seal being broken prematurely during transportation for destruction.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein in response to receiving the notification of an incident:

receiving information about the incident including the seal numbers of the bins compromised; and

determining if action should be taken.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

in response to determining action should be taken;

determining which items have been compromised;

determining a customer associated with the compromised items; and

notifying the customer of the items compromised.

14. A system comprising:

a bin that receives one or more groupings of financial institution items to be destroyed, the bin having a seal that comprises an identifier, and the groupings of financial institution items each comprising a label associated with the identifier of the bin; and

a processing unit configured to respond to computer instructions to;

create a manifest comprising bin identifiers and items associated with each bin;

receive a destruction notification comprising the bin identifier indicating the items in the holding container were destroyed in response to safe transport and safe destruction of the items in the bin;

verify the bin identifiers received in the destruction notification against the manifest in response to receiving the notification of destruction of the items in the bin; and

receive notification of an incident in response to the bin being compromised.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine the customers associated with any items compromised and notify the customers in response to the incident.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the processing unit is further configured to receive notification of an incident in response to the seal being broken prematurely prior to destruction.