Abstract:
A PIN server system interacts with one or more financial institutions to authenticate a mobile phone and-or a user thereof. The PIN server provides to the mobile phone one or more PIN numbers to use in financial transactions involving the one or more financial institutions, and also provides the one or more PIN numbers to the financial institutions in a manner that results in the one or more PIN numbers being associated with one or more accounts of the mobile phone user with the one or more financial institutions.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM  
       [0001]     This application claims priority as a utility patent application corresponding to subject matter of U.S. provisional application 60/752,419, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     Bank cards are convenient mechanisms for accessing and transferring funds. This very convenience has opened doors to fraud and theft of funds, using bank cards and/or bank card codes.  
         [0003]     One manner of protecting bank card transactions is through the use of authorization codes, also known as PIN codes. One problem with PIN codes is that they are static (difficult to change) and hence tend to be used over and over again over many transactions. As a result, PIN codes are subject to being discovered by others, compromising the security of the funds available via the bank card.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     The following summary is intended to highlight and introduce some aspects of the disclosed embodiments, but not to limit the scope of the claims. Thereafter, a detailed description of illustrated embodiments is presented, which will permit one skilled in the relevant art to make and use various embodiments.  
         [0005]     A PIN server system interacts with one or more financial institutions to authenticate a mobile phone and-or a user thereof. The PIN server provides to the mobile phone one or more PIN numbers to use in financial transactions involving the one or more financial institutions, and also provides the one or more PIN numbers to the financial institutions in a manner that results in the one or more PIN numbers being associated with one or more accounts of the mobile phone user with the one or more financial institutions. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile device interacting with a PIN server.  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of an embodiment of a process of a mobile device obtaining PIN numbers from a PIN server.  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of an embodiment of a process of a mobile device providing PIN numbers at a point of sale. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0009]     References to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although they may.  
         [0010]     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or plural number also include the plural or singular number respectively. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similar import, when used in this application, refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. When the claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or more items, that word covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and any combination of the items in the list.  
         [0011]     “Logic” refers to signals and/or information that may be applied to influence the operation of a device. Software, hardware, and firmware are examples of logic. Hardware logic may be embodied in circuits. In general, logic may comprise combinations of software, hardware, and/or firmware. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that logic to carry out particular techniques described herein may be dispersed throughout one or more devices, and thus may not lend itself to discrete illustration in the drawings, but may nonetheless be considered as elements of the one or more devices. For example, a mobile phone may comprise logic to carry out acts described herein, as may a PIN server and devices (such as computers) controlled by financial institutions.  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of a mobile phone  200 . Information is presented on the screen  201  and through the speaker(s)  203 . A data bus  206  communicatively couples various elements within the phone. The mobile phone embodiment  200  also comprises processor  207  and random access memory  208  and persistent memory  209  (which could be re-writeable FLASH memory).  
         [0013]     The phone  200  comprises a radio  210  to communicate via a medium range (up to many kilometers) microwave link  225  with cellular wireless voice and data network base stations  214  through their associated mobile phone carrier  215  and onward, either though a phone network  217  or through a gateway  216  to a public or private data network  218  such as the Internet. The radio  210  can send and receive both Short Message Service (SMS) messages  228  through the phone network(s)  215   217  to other phones identified by their phone numbers and send and receive a variety of data  229  protocols (UDP, TCP, SMTP, HTTP, etc) through the data network  218 .  
         [0014]     In data communication with the data network  218  is a server complex  231  that enables a download of executable code and data files to the phone  200 . In data communication with the server complex  231  is a financial institution  232 , communicating either directly or via the network  218 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  illustrates an embodiment of an initiation process between a user device and a financial institution. A user device downloads an application from a server at block  301 . The server may be, for example, a PIN server that provides one or more PIN numbers to the device. At a block  303 , the downloaded application initiates an authentication process with the server and the financial institution. This authentication process serves to authenticate (e.g. verify the identity of) the device and/or the user of the device with the server and the financial institution. The financial institution may access an account corresponding to the device-supplied information. At a block  304 , the server matches user device information (such as the device&#39;s phone number, unique hardware code, or unique user code such as may be obtained from a Subscriber Identity Module) against data supplied by the financial institution. At a block  305 , the server matches user entered information against data supplied by the financial institution, e.g. a password corresponding to the user&#39;s account. For example, in addition to verifying the user&#39;s phone number, device id, or SIM id, the server may also perform a challenge/response authentication process with the device, such as requiring a password. At a block  305 , the server supplies list of personal identification numbers (PINs) to the user device (block  306 ) and to the financial institution. The list may comprise a single PIN or multiple PINs.  
         [0016]     The PINs may be generated dynamically by the server, or they may be obtained from a PIN “pool”. The PINs may be limited in use to a single transaction, a number of transactions, or may be limited to use for an interval of time.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  illustrates an embodiment of a point of purchase transaction performed after the authentication performed in  FIG. 2 . At a block  501 , the user initiates a purchase of a product at a retailer device. At a block  502 , the retailer device requests that the provider of a bank card provide a PIN. At a block  503 , the user activates an application on the user&#39;s mobile device that displays a PIN to use for this transaction. The PIN could be generated dynamically by the PIN server and provided to the device, or it may be one or one or more PINs previously generated by the PIN server and stored by the device. For example, the PIN could be one of the list of pins that were supplied at block  305  of  FIG. 2  (see block  504 ). The user provides the displayed PIN at the retailer device. At a block  505 , the retailer device transmits the entered PIN to the financial institution at a block  505 . The financial institution determines if the correct PIN has been entered at a block  506 . If the financial institution determines that the correct PIN has not been entered, the transaction is denied (block  507 ) and the denial is reported to the retailer. If the financial institution determines that the correct PIN has been entered, the transaction is approved (block  507 ) and the approval is reported to the retailer for completion of the transaction.  
         [0018]     The transaction need not even involve a bank card, in some instances. Rather, a PIN supplied to the mobile device, along with identification of the corresponding bank account, may provide sufficient authentication for purposes of the transaction, without requiring the user to supply a bank card. In other instances, the mobile device may communicate account information of the user to the point of sale equipment (e.g. via short-range wireless technology such as Bluetooth).  
         [0019]     While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. Instead, the invention may be delimited by reference to the claims that follow.