Abstract:
The present invention provides a method for managing an account for an unidentified individual by communicating with the unidentified individual who is using a device to communicate which transmits an identifier associated with the origin of the communication, obtaining from the unidentified individual a group of characters associated with the unidentified individual&#39;s personal information, comparing the group of characters to a database including a plurality of personal information associated with a plurality of individuals, identifying from the plurality of individuals one individual whose plurality of personal information includes the group of characters associated with the unidentified individual, and managing an account for the identified individual in an account database.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to identity verification systems and more particularly to identity verification systems associated with user account management. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Generally consumers who wish to purchase merchandise or services on credit must present one of several kinds of credit cards. For persons who have poor credit and therefore are unable to obtain a credit card or for persons who do not wish to have credit cards issued in their names, purchasing products or services is inconvenient and in some cases impossible. The problem is even greater when a consumer wishes to purchase a product remotely, e.g. online, and must use credit cards which the remote vendors accept. Even if the consumer has a particular type of credit card, that particular credit card may not be accepted by the remote vendor. In numerous circumstances, e.g. when a credit card company has raised their rates, vendors stop accepting that credit card. The only choice the consumer has in such a circumstance is to purchase using another credit card. Therefore, even having a credit card issued to a consumer does not alleviate issues related to purchasing products or services remotely. 
   Also, local vendors (e.g. restaurants) may as a policy not take credit cards. Inconvenience can elevate to embarrassment when the consumer, after having consumed a product, is informed by the vendor they only accept cash and the consumer has no cash to pay for the consumed product. 
   In cases where the vendors are willing to let the consumer obtain a new credit card account at the time of purchase of products or services and where the charges for the desired products or services are to be billed to the newly created credit card, consumers are often frustrated at the amount of time it takes to complete the required process. Additionally, a large number of security-sensitive questions are asked requiring the consumer to respond to these questions in public. 
   The reason for the requirement to acquire a large variety of personal information is to prevent unauthorized credit account creation. For example, creating a new credit card account would be easier if all a system required of the consumer was the consumer&#39;s social security number. However, social security numbers of consumers are often stolen in what is known as identity theft. Therefore, convenience of providing a small amount of data, e.g. social security number alone, is not practical when creating a new credit account. 
   Yet another frustrating situation is where the consumer wishes to obtain a remote service such as make a collect call to a recipient having a nontraditional telephone number. For example, an incarcerated person who in most cases has no access to a credit card cannot make a collect call to a cellular telephone, voice over IP (hereinafter VOIP), e.g. cable line phone, etc., since there is currently no way for the telephone companies to charge the recipient of the call with the collect call bill. 
   In some or all of the above situations a consistent obstacle is that of verifying identity of the unidentified individual. That is, a newly created credit account based on the information an unidentified person has provided is only as accurate as the information provided by that individual. If the unidentified individual has stolen a series of personal information from another person, the unidentified individual may be able to create a new credit account and falsely charge against that account. Only after the rightful owner of the personal information is made aware of the charges, will this identity theft situation become clear. This situation has plagued the credit card industry. 
   There is therefore a need for a third party system which by obtaining a small amount of personal information from an unidentified person communicating remotely using a communications device is capable of quickly checking and verifying the identity of that person, creating a new account or update an existing account for that person, and to extend credit on behalf of that person. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A method is provided for managing an account for an unidentified individual by communicating with the unidentified individual who is using a device to communicate which transmits an identifier associated with the origin of the communication, obtaining from the unidentified individual a group of characters associated with the unidentified individual&#39;s personal information, comparing the group of characters to a database including a plurality of personal information associated with a plurality of individuals, and identifying from the plurality of individuals one individual whose personal information includes the group of characters associated with the unidentified individual, and managing an account of the identified individual in an account database. 
   In one form of the invention, the group of characters includes no more than 11 digits consisting of the last four digits of the social security number associated with the unidentified individual, the last two digits of the year of birth associated with the unidentified individual, and the postal zip code associated with the residence of the unidentified individual. 
   In certain embodiments, managing an account comprises extending credit to a third party on behalf of the identified individual 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     The above-mentioned and other advantages of the present invention and the manner of obtaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a partial schematic view of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a partial schematic view of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a partial schematic view of the present invention; and 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   The embodiments of the present invention described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present invention. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , an identification and account management system (hereinafter, IAMS) according to the present invention is shown along with other blocks representing other participants in the operation of the system. The flow arrows, e.g. S 1 , shown in  FIG. 1  and other figures are intended to assist the reader to follow the flow of the information exchange between different system entities. Also, portions of  FIG. 1  are described in detail in association with other figures. 
   In one implementation of the system, unidentified consumer  10   a  contacts a point of sale of a product or service, designated by POS in  FIG. 1  bearing reference numeral  14 . Unidentified consumer  10   a  contacts POS  14  via channel  12  which could be walking up to a cash register, contacting POS using a phone, or contacting POS via the internet for online shopping. Unidentified consumer  10   a  seeks to purchase a product or service from POS  14  by passing certain information to POS  14  as indicated by information flow arrow S 1 . In one example of the above implementation, unidentified consumer  10   a  is the initiator of a collect call and POS  14  is the telecommunication company. Information flow arrow S 1  constitutes unidentified consumer  10   a  name and phone number, and the recipient&#39;s telephone number. POS  14 , in this example, using available databases checks the recipient&#39;s telephone number. If the intended recipient&#39;s telephone number is associated with one of cellular, VOIP or other forms of non-traditional telephone lines, POS  14  makes credit-extending service, e.g. IAMS available to the intended recipient. The credit-extending service may or may not have any previous relationship with unidentified consumer  10   a  or the intended recipient. 
   In another example of the above implementation, unidentified consumer  10   a  is at a merchant&#39;s physical store, POS  14 , and wishes to purchase a product or service. In this example, unidentified consumer  10   a  cannot or wishes not to produce an accepted credit card to purchase the product or service, or POS  14  accepts no credit cards. Information flow arrow S 1  in this example may include the name of unidentified consumer  10   a , identification of product or service sought to be purchased, and selection of an option that indicates to POS  14  a desire on the part of unidentified consumer  10   a  to purchase the product or service by using a credit-extending service, e.g. IAMS. The credit-extending service may or may not have any previous relationship with unidentified consumer  10   a.    
   In yet another example of the above implementation, unidentified consumer  10   a  is at a virtual store shopping for a product or service online. Upon selecting the items to be purchased, unidentified consumer  10   a  makes the choice of charging the purchase or using a credit-extending service, e.g. IAMS to obtain credit for the purchase. The credit-extending service may or may not have any previous relationship with unidentified consumer  10   a.    
   In another implementation, IAMS can be used with another system for identity verification and account management purposes. For example, IAMS can be used in advance to verify the identification of unidentified consumer  10   a  and for purchasing tickets to be picked up and redeemed at a movie theater. IAMS generates a personal identification number (PIN), and communicates the PIN to both identified consumer  10   a  and a companion system at the movie theater. Identified consumer  10   a  enters the PIN at a kiosk and receives the tickets. 
   More detail of the interface between unidentified consumer  10   a  and POS  14  is shown in  FIG. 2 . The communication link between unidentified consumer  10   a  and POS  14  is shown as channel  12  which can be any combination of land telephone line, cellular telephone, VOIP, Ethernet, wireless communication, satellite communication, or any other communication channel which are known to those skilled in the art that transmits an identifier associated with the origin of the communication. Once POS  14  receives a request by unidentified consumer  10   a  to purchase a product or service using IAMS, POS  14  tests the information obtained from unidentified consumer  10   a  against its internal database. This is shown as IAMS criteria block  18 . POS  14  relays product/service and consumer related information to IAMS criteria block  18  by way of IAMS criteria block input data  16  and POS  14  receives instruction by way of IAMS criteria block output data  20 . If the test at IAMS criteria block  18  is affirmative, POS  14  contacts IAMS  24  by transferring information to IAMS  24  as designated by the POS-IAMS transfer  22  and by flow arrow S 2 . POS-IAMS transfer  22  may include name of unidentified consumer  10   a , POS ID, product ID, product price, reason for using IAMS, POS internal data on unidentified consumer  10   a , etc., as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , IAMS  24  initiates communication with unidentified consumer  10   a  to obtain information. In the collect call implementation, described above, IAMS  24  contacts the intended recipient of the collect call, unidentified consumer  10   b . Although in other implementations unidentified consumers  10   a  and  10   b  may be the same entity, in collect call cases or other implementations where one consumer wishes to charge another consumer with purchases of products or services, unidentified consumers  10   a  and  10   b  are different entities. Whether unidentified consumers  10   a  and  10   b  are the same entity, IAMS  24  in response to purchase request in one of the above described manners, initiates communication with unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  using any one combination of the available channels, e.g. land telephone line, cellular telephone, VOIP, Ethernet, wireless communication, satellite communication, or any other communication channel which are known to those skilled in the art that transmits an identifier associated with the origin of the communication. IAMS  24  detects an identifier associated with the communication channel, e.g. land telephone line number, cellular telephone number, IP address, etc. In addition IAMS  24  requests a small amount of data (numbers or characters) from unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . This information exchange is shown with reference numerals  26   a  and  28   a  associated with unidentified consumer  10   a , or  26   b  and  28   b  associated with unidentified consumer  10   b . In one embodiment, the data required is no more than 11 digits, e.g. last four digits of social security number (hereinafter, SSN), last 2 digits of year of birth (hereinafter, YOB), and postal zip code. This information along with the communication identifier associated with the origin of the communication is confirmed against IAMS  24  internal database to determine whether consumer  10   a  or  10   b  is an existing client, as shown by reference numerals  30  and  34 , client criteria block  32 , and flow arrow S 4 . If the internal database of IAMS  24  indicates consumer  10   a  or  10   b  is an existing client, the client criteria block  32  determines whether IAMS  24  should contact optional identification verification databases to further verify the identity of consumer  10   a  or  10   b . Further, client criteria block  32  determines whether IAMS  24  should contact an optional credit checking database to determine creditworthiness of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b.    
   If internal database of IAMS  24  indicates unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  is not an existing client, IAMS  24  contacts a primary identification verification database with the information obtained from unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b , as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 4 , IAMS  24  communicates with a primary identification verification database  38 , as indicated by reference numerals  36  and  40  and flow arrow S 5 , transferring information associated with unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b , e.g. last four digits of SSN, last two digits of YOB, and postal zip code. Primary identification verification database  38  checks its internal database in order to identify unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . If a match is found, primary identification verification database  38  returns information associated with identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b , e.g. first five digits of SSN, street address, telephone number, and an optional confidence score as the confidence that the person identified is the unidentified individual. Based on client criteria block  32 , shown in  FIG. 3 , and the optional confidence score, IAMS  24  may decide to communicate with an optional identification verification database  44 , indicated in  FIG. 4  by reference numerals  42  and  46  and flow arrow Sn. Optional Identification verification database  44  can be the same as a primary identification verification database  38  or different. Additionally, as indicated in  FIG. 4 , IAMS  24  may contact multiple optional identification verification databases. IAMS  24  sends to optional identification verification database  44  information associated with unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b , e.g. SSN, street address, telephone number. In return, optional identification verification database  44  provides challenge questions to IAMS  24  to be communicated to unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . Answers to the challenge questions are of the sorts that are only known by the rightful consumer, e.g. address of last residence, state in which consumer&#39;s social security card was issued, number of cars in consumer&#39;s household, etc. IAMS  24  presents the challenge questions to unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  and communicates the supplied answers to optional identification verification database  44 . The latter is accomplished by IAMS  24  initiating a new communication with unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  or by continuing the initial communication. The challenge questions are provided to and the answers provided by unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  are relayed to optional identification verification database  44 . The latter examines the answers against its internal database and provides an optional confidence score as to the identity of consumer  10   a  or  10   b.    
   Regardless of whether an optional identification verification database is used, IAMS  24 , based on available data examined in client criteria block  32 , may decide to contact a credit checking database, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4  by reference numerals  48 ,  50 ,  52 , and flow arrow Sm. IAMS  24  communicates identification data associated with identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  to optional credit checking database  50 . In return, a credit score is provided to IAMS  24  which is used in determining whether to extend credit to identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b.    
   IAMS  24  also verifies whether identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  wants to accept a credit for which a bill will be sent to the address supplied by primary identification verification database  38 . If the answer to this question is affirmative and other conditions in client criteria block  32  have been satisfied, IAMS  24  informs POS  14  of a willingness to lend credit for the purchase of the product or service on behalf of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b , as indicated by reference numeral  56  and flow arrow Sf. Upon accepting the offer to extend credit by IAMS  24  on behalf of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b , POS  14  sells the requested product or service. Once the sale is complete, POS  14  provides a bill to IAMS  24 . This bill is processed and sent to identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  for payment with applicable service charges. 
   Additionally, IAMS records the communication identifier associated with the origin of the communication and associates the communication identifier with the remainder of the personal information of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . The recorded communication identifier is then used in future communications with identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  as part of the identification verification process. For example, when IAMS  24  communicates with unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  and recognizes the recorded communication identifier, IAMS  24  may decide to ask additional questions based on the personal information IAMS  24  has on file in order to verify the identity. 
   Referring to  FIG. 5 , a flow chart is shown to demonstrate the relationship between action and decision blocks. Block  100  shows unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  entering the IAMS system by way of communicating with the system. As explained above the communication channel can be any combination of land telephone line, cellular telephone, VOIP, Ethernet, wireless communication, satellite communication or any other communication channel which are known to those skilled in the art that transmits an identifier associated with the origin of the communication. In block  102  IAMS obtains data from unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  and in block  104  checks whether billing information already exists, i.e., whether unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  is an existing client. If no billing information exists, IAMS contacts a primary identification verification database as shown by block  120 . IAMS communicates data obtained from unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  in block  102  to block  120 . If a match is made with the data, a series of personal information is returned as shown in block  122  with an optional confidence score representing the confidence that the identified person is the unidentified consumer. If no match is made a flag indicating no match is communicated to IAMS or instead no response is communicated which again indicates there were no matches. Based on the information available to IAMS, at block  106  followed by decision block  108 , IAMS may decide to not extend credit, block  112 , followed by exiting IAMS, block  116 . Alternatively, IAMS may decide to extend credit on behalf of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  to a third party and thereby record the credit for billing purposes, block  110 , process the credit, block  114 , and exit IAMS, block  116 . 
   As explained above, IAMS records the communication identifier associated with the origin of the communication and associates the communication identifier with the remainder of the personal information of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . The recorded communication identifier is then used in future communications with identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  as part of the identification verification process in the manner described above. 
   When determining whether to extend credit, at block  106 , IAMS may want to obtain additional data in order to build a higher confidence level for extending credit. This is done by contacting additional optional databases, blocks  126  and  130 . There may be several reasons for contacting these databases. For example, the optional confidence score communicated from the primary identification verification database, block  122 , may indicated a low score. In one example, if the optional confidence score from the primary identification verification database is below 80 from a scale of 100, IAMS considers that to be too low and thereby initiates contact with optional databases. The reason for a low confidence score may be because multiple persons were identified by the primary identification verification database matching all or part of the information it was supplied by IAMS. Another reason for contacting the optional databases is if the internal client criteria testing, block  106 , determines a low confidence score in the available data. This may occur if, for example, one of the many fields of personal information returned from the primary identification verification database, block  122 , fails to match the same field in the internal database of IAMS. Another example is if the client had delayed paying a previous bill, prompting IAMS to produce a low creditworthiness score. In this case, IAMS may decide to contact an optional database to obtain the most recent credit score for identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . In any of these cases, optional credit checking database, block  130 , returns a credit score, block  132 . 
   A first type of optional database IAMS may want to communicate with is another identification verification database, block  126 . IAMS communicates personal data which IAMS knows about unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . In return challenge questions are provided to IAMS, block  128 , based on data the optional identification verification database has on unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b . IAMS communicates these challenge questions to unidentified consumer  10   a  or  10   b , as indicated by arrow  124 , and the answers are checked for accuracy. 
   A second type of optional database IAMS may want to communicate with is a credit checking service. IAMS communicates personal information of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  to an optional credit checking database, block  130 , and in return a credit score indicating creditworthiness of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  is returned to IAMS. As already mentioned, IAMS uses all of the above described data to decide whether to extend credit on behalf of identified consumer  10   a  or  10   b  to a third party. 
   In other applications, the present invention may also be used to verify the identity of unidentified consumer  10   a . For example, POS  14  verifies information about unidentified consumer  10   a  prior to entering that information in its internal database as a new entry. An example of this implementation is identity verification of a new perspective employee by an employer. This scheme allows POS  14  to retain and maintain full sets of identifiers consisting of, e.g. name, SSN, address, phone number, etc. Alternatively, POS  14  can minimize the amount of information it needs to assuredly identify unidentified consumer  10   a  on a return visit. In other words, once the identity has been verified on an initial visit, POS  14  assigns a unique identifier to identified consumer  10   a  based on minimal amount of information, e.g. name. Each time identified consumer  10   a  returns, POS  14  either accesses its large-data internal database or contacts IAMS to verify the identity. 
   In yet another application, IAMS can be used to quickly verify identity and age of unidentified consumer  10   a  who wishes to purchase age-restricted products or services, and for cases where unidentified consumer  10   a  wishes to enter age-restricted establishments. For example, POS  14  can use IAMS to check the identify and age when unidentified consumer  10   a  wants to purchase alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, products with adult content, enter a night club, view an age-restricted rated movie at a movie theater, and rent an age-restricted movie at a movie rental facility. 
   While exemplary embodiments incorporating the principles of the present invention have been disclosed hereinabove, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.