Abstract:
An apparatus and methods securely activate a credit or debit card for a single purchase, a predetermined amount of time, or a predetermined amount of purchases in a predetermined amount of time, while utilizing a portable phone, especially a cell phone, having a card reader. Only transactions using the electronic telephone number and electronic serial number of the cell phone being used, along with preselected information identifying the owner of a swiped card will be authorized to perform credit and debit card transactions, thus providing secured transactions. Current card magnetic strips and possibly magnetic or other type of strips that are smaller in size and closer to the edge of the credit or debit card are serviced.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), from the U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/140,234, filed Dec. 23, 2008, for Method and Apparatus for Securely Activating a Credit Card For a Limited Period of Time. Application Ser. No. 61/140,234 is pending at the time of filing the present application. Application Ser. No. 61/140,234 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to the field of credit or debit card security. More particularly, the present invention relates to a simplified method for providing credit card or debit card security. Most particularly, the present invention relates to a credit card or debit card having identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner or holder of the credit card or debit card, and a cell phone having identifying information specific to the cell phone. When it is desired to make a purchase, the cardholders credit or debit card is swiped through the cell phone, which transmits the identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner, together with identifying information specific to the cell phone, to the credit card or debit card issuer or designee. The credit card or debit card issuer or designee will determine what the identifying information specific to the cell phone of the owner is, and compare it to the identifying information specific to the cell phone which transmitted the information, and if they are the same, the owner&#39;s card was swiped in the owner&#39;s phone, and a purchase will be authorized. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Credit cards, and more recently debit cards, have been in use in the United States and around the world. The unauthorized or fraudulent use of such credit or debit cards for goods and services has been with the credit card and bankcard industry ever since the inception of the credit or debit card. Much of the problem of fraudulent use of such cards is due to the fact that all the information on the front of the credit card or debit card has also been contained on a magnetic stripe on the back of the card having one or more, but typically three, tracks for storing all the personal and credit card information. 
         [0006]    This is convenient for present day card reading systems, but can be decoded rather easily by one wishing to practice credit card fraud. Consequently, it is easy to use this information to create illegally any number of credit cards containing the user&#39;s personal information. Many solutions have been offered to solve the problem of credit card and bankcard fraud and theft, and all of them are becoming more and more complicated, and require completely revamping or replacing existing magnetic card readers. 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,816 to Pavlov, et al. shows a unitary self-contained card which does not require interaction with a fixed terminal device to prevent monitoring of confidential information contained with the card personal identification number (“PIN”). The unitary self-contained card has the ability to verify a PIN, which is entered directly into the card by way of a keyboard. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,376 to Lessin, et al., shows an intelligent, portable, interactive personal data system having a microprocessor with memory contained in the credit card or debit card housing. An alphanumeric keypad and display is located on a surface of the housing. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,416 to Grant, et al., shows an authorization card, such as a credit card or debit card, having a security feature. The authorization card generally has two operational states, a disabled state and enabled state. In the disabled state, which is the default mode of operation, access to confidential information stored on the card is denied. The card remains in the disabled state until a PIN code is entered on a keypad provided on the card. Once the card is enabled, access to the confidential information is permitted for a predetermined period of time. 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,486 B1 to Tiecher, et al., shows a smart card having a microprocessor contained within the card, with the user&#39;s PIN entered directly into the smart card and authenticated directly by the smart card itself, and not propagated outside the smart card. 
         [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,082 B2 to Wong describes a novel bridge device to link the world of smart cards to that of magnetic finance cards. 
         [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,816,058 B2 to MacGregor, et al. shows a card where a biometric sensor device is integrated into the credit card or debit card. 
         [0013]    All of the above devices decrease the possibility of fraudulent debit or credit card use, but certainly do not eliminate it, because they all use electronic devices which can be decoded by one who is intent on credit card fraud. They are also relatively expensive. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,486 B1 discusses in detail the security problems of so-called “smart” cards. 
         [0014]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,210,621 B2 to Woronec shows a method and apparatus for providing a secure credit card which involves generating random questions which must be answered by the card holder based on the position of certain information on the credit card or debit card. 
         [0015]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,363,252 B2 shows the use of a portable telephone having a barcode reader to make a purchase by reading a barcode on a product and entering a password on the keypad. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    In order to solve the above described problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a method of securely activating a credit card or debit card for a single purchase, a predetermined amount of time, or a predetermined amount of purchases in a predetermined amount of time. 
         [0017]    In one embodiment of the present invention there is provided a method of securely activating a credit card or debit card for a limited period of time comprising the steps of:
       a) swiping an inactive credit card or debit card through a cell phone having a credit card or debit card reader and identifying information specific to the cell phone;   b) having the credit card or debit card reader read preselected information identifying the owner of the swiped card from at least one magnetic stripe provided on the credit card or debit card;   c) having the card reader cause the cell phone to transmit at least a portion of the preselected information, and the specific identifying information, to the credit card or debit card issuer or its designee;   d) determining from the at least a portion of the preselected information the identity of the card owner;   e) determining what the specific identifying information of the card owner&#39;s cell phone should be;   f) matching the specific identifying information transmitted by the cell phone with the specific identifying information of the card owner&#39;s cell phone;   g) activating the swiped credit card if the specific identifying information transmitted by the cell phone matches the specific identifying information of the card owner&#39;s cell phone.       
 
         [0025]    In another embodiment of the present invention there is provided a method of securely activating a credit card or debit card for a limited period of time comprising the steps of:
       a) providing a cell phone having a credit card or debit card reading capability;   b) swiping a credit card or debit card through a cell phone having a credit card or debit card reader;   c) having the credit card or debit card reader read preselected information identifying the owner of the swiped card from at least one magnetic stripe provided on the credit card or debit card;   d) having the card reader cause the cell phone to transmit at least a portion of the preselected information to the credit card or debit card issuer or its designee, together with identifying information specific to the cell phone;   e) determining from the at least a portion of the preselected information the identity of the card owner;   f) determining what the identifying information specific to the card owner&#39;s cell phone should be;   g) matching the identifying information specific to the cell phone transmitted by the cell phone with the identifying information specific to the card owner&#39;s cell phone; and   h) activating the inactive credit card or debit card for a set period of time if the identifying information specific to the cell phone transmitted by the cell phone matches the electronic serial number of the card owner&#39;s cell phone.       
 
         [0034]    In a still further embodiment of the present invention there is shown a method of securely activating a credit card or debit card comprising the steps of:
       a) providing an inactive credit card or debit card;   b) providing a cell phone having a credit card or debit card reading capability and identifying information specific to the cell phone;   c) swiping the inactive credit card or debit card through the cell phone having a credit card or debit card reading capability;   d) having the cell phone having a credit card or debit card reading capability read preselected information identifying the owner of the swiped card from at least one magnetic stripe provided on the credit card or debit card;   e) having the cell phone having a credit card or debit card reading capability transmit at least a portion of the selected information and identifying information specific to the cell phone to the credit card or debit card issuer or its designee;   f) determining from the at least a portion of the selected information the identity of the card owner;   g) determining what the identifying information specific to the cell phone of the card owner&#39;s cell phone should be;   h) matching the identifying information specific to the cell phone transmitted by the cell phone with the identifying information specific to the cell phone of the card owner&#39;s cell phone; and   i) activating the swiped credit card or debit card if the identifying information specific to the cell phone transmitted by the cell phone matches the identifying information specific to the cell phone of the card owner&#39;s cell phone.       
 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0044]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a construction embodying the present invention. 
           [0045]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating a method embodying the present invention. 
           [0046]      FIG. 3A  is a flow chart illustrating a method embodying a modification of the present invention. 
           [0047]      FIG. 3B  is a flow chart illustrating a method embodying a further modification of the present invention. 
           [0048]      FIG. 3C  is a flow chart illustrating a method embodying a still further modification of the present invention. 
           [0049]      FIG. 4A  is a top plan view of a construction embodying the present invention. 
           [0050]      FIG. 4B  is a top plan view of a construction embodying a modification of the present invention. 
           [0051]      FIG. 5A  is a block diagram illustrating one way of performing the verification step of  FIGS. 2A-2C . 
           [0052]      FIG. 5B  is a view similar in part to  FIG. 5A , but showing a modification of the verification step of  FIGS. 2A-2C . 
           [0053]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing optional steps (OS) which may be used in the methods shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  3 A,  3 B and  3 C. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0054]    The following definitions of terms will apply throughout the specification and claims of the present application. 
         [0055]    “Inactive Card” means a credit card or debit card which, when swiped in a traditional credit authorization system, will not be able to make a purchase. 
         [0056]    “Active Card” means a credit card or debit card which, when swiped in a traditional credit authorization system, will be able to make a purchase. 
         [0057]    “To Activate A Previously Inactive Card” means to change an “inactive card” to an “active card”. 
         [0058]    “Traditional Credit Authorization System” means” a credit card or debit card authorization system such as used in department stores, gas stations, and the like, at the time of the invention. 
         [0059]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a portable phone  20  having a novel credit card and/or debit card reader  22 A. Throughout the instant invention, such a portable phone will be designated as a cell phone  20 , but may be embodied as any portable telephone, like a portable phone that is used in conjunction with a telephone land line. Such a present day portable phone may be such as those manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co., Limited, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., LG Electronics Inc., Arima Communications Corporation, Curitel Communications, Inc, Seimens Aktiengesellschaft, which is modified to have the novel credit card or debit card reader  22 A with the provision of a card slot  22 , programmed to read credit and debit cards in the manner that they are read when swiped through present day card readers such as those manufactured by Magtek, Verifone, Exadigm, and which are found in restaurants, gas stations, department stores and the like. It is well within the skill of those in the art to provide the cell phone  20  with card slot  22 , and card reader  22 A, and to program them to operate in the manner described below. 
         [0060]    When the cardholder desires to make a purchase, an inactive card  25  is swiped through the slot  22  provided in the cell phone  20 . Since, physically there is no difference between an “inactive card” and an “active card”, the numeral  25  will be used for both. 
         [0061]    However, the exact form of the card  25  may differ. Therefore, for the description of the card in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the prefixes  25 A &amp;  25 B will be used. First, referring to  FIG. 4A , the rear or back side of a conventional credit or debit card is illustrated. The card body  27  may be of any substrate  29  used to produce the first type credit or debit card  25 A. The existing magnetic strip  31  may be identical to that found in present day credit or debit cards. Typically, the magnetic strip  31  runs the length of the card  25 A and is located 0.223 inches (5.66 mm) from the edge of the card, and is 0.375 inches (9.52 mm) wide, while containing three tracks, each 0.110 inches (2.79 mm) wide. 
         [0062]    Since the present invention involves swiping a credit or debit card through a slot provided in a cell phone, and many, if not all, cell phones will not be able to accommodate a slot deep enough to enable reading of the existing magnetic strip or stripe  31 , it may be desirable to provide a second magnetic strip, stripe or media  33  on the card  25 A which could be read in a much shallower slot which would be less than 0.223 inches (5.66 mm) from the edge of the card and may be less than 0.375 inches (9.52 mm) wide, while being parallel to the existing magnetic strip or stripe  31 . The information needed to practice the present invention, i.e., the identifying of pre-selected information  35  identifying the owner, which will be described in more detail below, would be contained in a second magnetic strip  33 , instead of the existing strip  31 . 
         [0063]    The second magnetic strip  33  may be of a conventional type, such as the existing strip  31 , or maybe of any type which will produce readable magnetic impulses. It is preferably placed proximate to the bottom of the first card  25 A and parallel to the existing strip  31 , but it is well within the scope of the present invention to have another placement. The identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner  35  is contained in the second magnetic strip  33 . 
         [0064]    With reference to  FIG. 4B , a second card  25 B is illustrated. Again, the rear or backside of the second card  25 B is illustrated. This time the existing strip  31  has been modified by putting the identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner  35  in a preselected position on the existing strip  31 . The additional or special information  35  is preferably placed near one edge of the second card  25 , and is indicated in dotted lines. In this manner, the shorter edge of the card  25 B may be swiped in a shallower slot. 
         [0065]    Because the trends in designing of cell phones  20  are to make them thinner and smaller, the slot  22  through which the card  25  is read may be much shallower than in existing credit card or debit card authorization systems. By placing the special information  35  on a second magnetic strip  33  or in a preselected position  36 , which may be perpendicular to the existing strip  31 , where either the second strip  33  or the preselected position  36  is nearer (i.e., less a 0.223 inches) to the any edge of the card  25 , the present invention may be utilized with much shallower slots  22  of the card reader  22 A in the cell phone  20 . 
         [0066]    The identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner  35  which must be provided on the card  25  to permit the practice of the present invention preferably consists of the minimum information necessary to identify the card holder to the credit card or debit card issuer. This minimum information may include an optional personal identification number (PIN) that the card user would be asked to provide, prior to, during, or after, transmission of the minimum information to the credit card or debit card issuer. The cell phone  20  will then transmit this information to the credit or debit card issuer or its designee, along with identifying information specific to the cell phone which transmitted the information. 
         [0067]    The credit or debit card issuer, or its designee, using the identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner  35 , will determine identifying information specific to the cell phone of the owner. The identifying information specific to the cell phone which transmitted the information will be compared to the identifying information specific to the cell phone of the owner. If the information matches, it is known that the card holder swiped his card through his cell phone, and the previously inactive card will be activated, i.e. a purchase can be authorized through the credit card or debit card issuer&#39;s normal authorization process because the credit card or debit card issuer will make the necessary programming or other changes in its authorization system to permit a purchase to be made. In some applications it may be desirable to have the cell phone  20  additionally transmit the cardholder&#39;s telephone number for comparison purposes. 
         [0068]    The method of the present invention, in its most basic form, is shown in  FIG. 2 . An inactive card  25  is swiped through the slot  22  in the cell phone  20  (Box  80 ), and the information  35  (identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner) on the second strip  33  (see  FIG. 4A ) or in the special position  36  on the existing strip  31  (see  FIG. 4B ) is transmitted to the credit card or debit card company (Box  85 ), along with the identifying information specific to the cell phone which transmitted the information. 
         [0069]    For purposes of illustration, the following examples will refer to the identifying information specific to the cell phone which transmitted the information as the electronic serial number (ESN) of the telephone doing the transmitting, and the identifying information specific to the cell phone of the owner as the electronic serial number of the cardholder&#39;s cell phone (ESNO) as determined by the credit card or debit card issuer or its designee from the identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner  35 . 
         [0070]    Using the identifying or pre-selected information  35  identifying the card owner, which may include a PIN, the credit card or debit card issuer or its designee determines the ESNO of the card holders cell phone. A comparison is then made which compares the ESN of the cardholder&#39;s cell phone with the ESNO of the cell phone which transmitted the information. 
         [0071]    If the electronic serial number of the card holders cell phone matches the electronic serial number of the phone doing the transmitting, the previously inactive credit card or debit card  25  is activated for a predetermined period of time (Box  90 ). During this time, the cardholder may make purchase(s) in the allowed time using a credit card or debit card authorization system already in use (Box  95 ). If the card is not used within the predetermined period of time, the card is deactivated (Box  100 ). 
         [0072]    Several variations of the method Illustrated in  FIG. 2  are well within the scope of the present invention, and some are illustrated in  FIG. 3A-3C . Since many of the steps are similar, like steps will be indicated with like box numbers. Referring first to  FIG. 3A , an inactive card  25  is swiped through the slot  22  in the cell phone  20  (Box  150 ). The identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner  35  is transmitted to the credit card or debit card company (Box  160 ). A verification step is then next performed (Box  170 ). 
         [0073]    Referring now to  FIGS. 5A-5B , the verification step  170  will either involve the credit card or debit card company requesting information (Box  220 ) from the phone maker (Box  230 ), or the credit card or debit card company requesting information (Box  220 ) from a database (Box  240 ). 
         [0074]    Returning now to  FIG. 3A , a comparison will be made (Box  180 ) during which it will be determined whether the electronic serial number of the phone doing the transmitting matches the electronic serial number of the cardholder&#39;s phone, as determined by the credit or debit card issuer or its designee. 
         [0075]    If the electronic serial number of the cardholder&#39;s cell phone matches the electronic serial number and or telephone number of the telephone  20  doing the transmitting, the credit card or debit card  25  will be activated for a set period of time (Box  190 ). The method will continuously inquire if the time is up. If the time is up, the previously active card  25  will be deactivated (Box  220 ). If the time is not up, the system will continue inquiring until the time is up. 
         [0076]    The method illustrated in  FIG. 3B  is similar in large part to the method just illustrated in  FIG. 3A . However, instead of the inactive card  25  being activated for a set period of time, the inactive card  25  is activated for a single purchase without regard to time. Steps indicated by the box numbers  150 ,  160 ,  170 ,  180  and  200  in  FIG. 3B  may be substantially identical to the like numbered steps in  FIG. 3A  indicated by the box numbers  150 ,  160 ,  170 ,  180  and  200 . However, once it has been determined that the electronic serial number of the telephone doing the transmitting matches the electronic serial number of the cardholder&#39;s cell phone (Box  180 ) the previously inactive card  25  is activated for a single purchase (Box  195 ) and then the method will continuously inquire if the card has been used once (Box  205 ), and if it has been, the now active card  25  will be de-activated. If the active card  25  has not been used once, the system will continue to loop until the question is answered in the affirmative, at which time the active card  25  will be deactivated. 
         [0077]    The method of the invention illustrated in  FIG. 3C  is a combination of the methods illustrated in  FIGS. 3A and 3B . Again, the steps indicated by the box numbers  150 ,  160 ,  170 ,  180  and  200  are identical. However, once it has been determined that the electronic serial number of the telephone doing the transmitting matches the electronic serial number of the cardholder&#39;s cell phone (box  180 ), this modification of the method of the present invention will activate the previously inactive card  25  for a set period of time (Box  190 ) and the method of the present invention will then inquire, has the activated card  25  been used once (Box  205 )? If it has, the method will then deactivate the card  25  (Box  220 ). However, if the card has not been used once the method will continue to inquire, is the time up (Box  210 )? If the time is not up, the method will continue to loop through boxes  205  and  210  until the card has either been used once, or the time is up, and the previously active card  25  will then be deactivated. 
         [0078]    The method of the present invention, if desired, can be expanded to include the step of providing a cell phone  20  having credit card or debit card reading capabilities (Box  260 ), and the the step of providing the credit card or debit card  25  having identifying or pre-selected information identifying the owner  35  provided either on the existing strip  31 , or on the second magnetic strip  33 , or, in the case of a PIN, to be included with the special information provided by the user of the phone at the time of the transaction (Box  270 ). If the method is so expanded, one, or all, of these steps would simply appear before Box  80  of  FIG. 2  or box  150  of  FIGS. 3A-3C . These steps are illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0079]    By carefully studying the problems associated with providing security for credit card or debit card purchases which does not involve a wholesale replacement of present-day systems I have provided a novel, easy to implement, and very cost effective credit card security system.