METHOD FOR CREATING RANDOM IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS AND A FORM THEREFOR

Abstract: A method for generating random identification numbers described herein enables the delivery of confidential codes needed in various kinds of debit card systems and automatic services to customers when they are registered as users of the system or service. The customer is informed of the random identification number as part of the form he uses for registering into the system or service. The currently used method for printing and delivering personal identification numbers printed into PIN mailers is thereby not needed. The confidential code is delivered to the customer such that the code is created and printed in advance onto the form to be sent to the customer. The personal identification number (5) and the form code (4) are covered in the form such that it is impossible to link them with the customer who is to receive the form. When filing in the part (1) of the form which is to be returned, the customer detaches the part (2) containing the PIN. This part (1) which remains in his keeping allows the customer to find out his personal identification number (5) by removing the cover concealing the printed field. The customer returns the part (1) of the form he has filled in, and by the aid of the form code (4) contained therein, the data system can establish the personal identification number (5) delivered to the customer.

Description: METHOD FOR CREATING RANDOM IDENTD ICATION NUMBERS AND A FORM THEREFOR The invention relates to a method for issuing a personal identification number (PIN) to a customer, and to a form implementation for carrying out the method. A secret personal identification number is today a part of numerous debit card and service applications where the PIN is used for automatically identifying the customer. Such applications include for instance cash withdrawals from a cash dispenser using a debit card as well as paying for products or services by means of a payment terminal. In order to obtain a debit card and the associated identification number, the customer usually fills in a card application form which is then returned to the card issuer. When the card application form has entered the card issuer's system, the customer's creditworthiness is checked, his personal details are entered into the system and he is sent a debit card and, as a separate delivery, the associated identification number. The most widely used concept for creating a PIN and for conveying it to the customer is based on processing performed on a computer in a secure environment, whereby the PIN is created and printed inside a sealed envelope formed of copy paper. After the finishing step of the envelope it is not possible to find out the PIN printed inside it without opening the envelope. An unopened PIN envelope tells the customer that no other person can have knowledge of his PIN. The envelopes containing the personal identification numbers are often sent to customers by mail whereby the postal charge forms a major part of the cost of a personal identification number. Alternative ways of sending the PIN envelopes, e.g., via service locations of the card issuing company, also entail additional costs caused by the cost of transport, secure places of safekeeping, and the increased work load at customer service points. Disadvantages hampering the above-described solution include: - the risk of the PIN and the card ending up in the wrong hands where an outsider has access to the customer's incoming deliveries, and - the costs incurred due to the mailing or other distribution of the identification numbers. When mail dispatches are used, a further disadvantage may lie in the delay in taking the card to use because the card and the identification number are usually dispatched on different days for security reasons. The present invention aims at eliminating the above-cited disadvantages by making the separate PLN envelope and the dispatching thereof redundant. In order to reach this aim, the generation of identification numbers and the conveying thereof to customers are performed by means of the form and the method defined in the annexed claims. The invention is based on the concept that the card issuer incorporates a random personal identification number and a form code sealed in the card application form, whereby the PIN can be formed on the basis of the form code. Once the customer has the personal identification number in the card application form in his possession, he fills in the application form and returns the form code corresponding to his PIN to the card issuer together with the form. It is then possible for the card issuer to calculate in their data system the PIN conveyed to the customer and to furnish the card intended for him with the information required for checking the PLN. Separate PIN envelopes are thus no longer needed. In more detail the form according to the invention is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of Claim 1 and the method according to the invention is characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of Claim 6. The invention provides the benefit of cost savings because, as regards postal dispatches, one dispatch per each delivered personal identification number becomes redundant and because forms can advantageously be printed in larger series. Furthermore, the invention makes it possible to reduce the risk of misuse related to personal identification numbers because it is no longer possible for criminals to intercept PIN dispatches sent to customers by mail. In the following, the method according to the invention and the associated form implementation replacing the separate PLN envelope are described in closer detail with reference to the annexed figures. Fig. 1 depicts a widely used prior-art method by which a customer is registered into a card system. Fig. 2 illustrates the dispatches between the card issuer and the customer when the method according to the invention is used. Fig. 3 depicts a form implementation according to the invention. In the method according to the invention a card application form is used for ordering, e.g., a payment card and delivering the personal identification number, the form consisting of a first part 1 and a second part 2 which are easily detachable at the division area 3 between the parts 1 and 2. Such a division area 3 can be implemented by, e.g., a perforation or a sticker. The first part 1 of the form constitutes the actual card application part which the customer uses to apply for his card and the second part 2 is the personal identification number part kept by the customer. The following data fields are printed on the form: - The identification code 4 of the form (form code) is printed onto the card application part 1. The form code 4 can also be rendered in a suitable machine readable form, e.g., a bar code. The form code 4 is different in each form. - The personal identification number 5 is printed onto the second part 2. The personal identification number 5 is formed in the data system such that it can be reproduced later and linked with the customer by means of the form code 4 in the card application part 1 of his form. This link between the personal identification number 5 and the form code 4 should, however, not be revealed to any outsiders. The personal identification number 5 printed onto the card application form and the form code 4 are covered by a suitable removable cover 6 which may consist of paper or plastic material or a color layer removable by scraping, or a combination thereof. For security reasons the printing of the personal identification numbers 5 should take place in a protected environment and the printed area should be covered in connection with printing or immediately after printing. Once the printed area has been covered, all forms look identical and, accordingly, the personal identification code 5 contained in the form sent to the customer is fully randomly determined, without the possibility of for example the staff preparing postal dispatches knowing or being able to influence the personal identification number 5 contained in each dispatch. The printing of the forms can also be performed directly in a mixed order such that the form codes 4 are not consecutively numbered during printing. When the form comes into the customer's possession and he fills in his personal data, he also detaches the part 2 containing the covered personal identification number 5 and keeps it in his possession. By removing the cover 6 he gains access to the personal identification number 5. One practically feasible implementation may comprise two covers 6 on top of each other. The lower cover which at least covers the personal identification number 5 may be constituted by, e.g., a scraping surface and the top cover may be constituted by e.g. a paper layer adhered onto the form surface, a strip-like part covering both printed fields 4 and 5 being detachable from said layer. The form is often advantageously implemented as a multi-layer form. Such a form comprises, for instance, two sheets of paper on top of one another, the sheets being joined together at their opposite surfaces comprising at least the edge areas of the sheets. In such sheets the personal identification number 5 and the form code 4 can be printed onto the upper surface of the bottom sheet whereafter a second sheet in adhered on its top surface, the application form and other information intended for all form recipients being printed on the top surface of said second sheet. The sheets should be stuck together such that the information printed on the bottom sheet and contained between the two sheets cannot be seen without breaking the form structure. Furthermore, the sheets must not be stuck together at the printed field containing the personal identification number 5 or the form code 4. Even in a multi-layer form, a separate cover can be used over the personal identification number 5.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A form for conveying a secret identification number (5) to a customer, the form comprising a first part ( 1 ) and a second part (2), - a division area (3) connecting the first part ( 1 ) with the second part (2) whereby the first part (1) and the second part (2) can be detached from one another at the division area, and a personal number (5) to be kept secret, written onto the second part (2), characterized in that the personal identification number (5) is covered by a removable cover (6) and - a form code (4) is written in the first part, the personal identification number (5) being derivable therefrom by means of a secret method, whereby the personal identification number (5) in the second part (2) which remains in the customer's keeping after the customer has returned the first part (1) to the issuer can be linked with the customer in the data system of the issuer by means of the form code (4) without any previous connection between the information in the form and the customer in question. 2. The form according to Claim 1, characterized in that the form code (4) in the first part (1) has been printed onto the form in a machine readable form. 3. The form according to Claim lor2, characterized in that it comprises a second removable cover adapted to cover the form code (4) and a first cover (6). 4. The form according to Claim lor2, characterized in that it is a multi-layer form comprising two sheets of paper joined to one another, one on top of the other, at their edges. 5. The form according to Claim 4, characterized in that the personal identification number (5) is written onto that surface of the first sheet of paper against which the second sheet of paper is adhered. 6. A method for delivering a secret personal identification number (5) to a customer and for linking it with the customer or a product to be delivered to said customer, characterized by delivering a randomly selected form to the customer, the form containing in one part (2) thereof the secret personal identification number (5) which can be linked with the customer, and in another part (1) a form code (4), - receiving from the customer said other part (1) of the form, which the customer has completed with his identification data, and linking the personal identification number (5), by means of the form code (4), with the customer or a product ordered by the customer, such as a payment card, whereby the personal identification number (5) can be delivered to the customer, before the customer is registered in the system or service, as secret information contained in said one part (2) of the form and is restorable by the aid of the form code (4).

Inventors: OKSALA PEKKA, OKSALA, PEKKA
Applicants: MIOTEC OY, OKSALA PEKKA, OKSALA PEKKA MAKSUTEKNIIKKA OY, MAKSUTEKNIIKKA PEKKA OKSALA OY, OKSALA, PEKKA
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G09C5
IPC codes: G07F7