Abstract:
The invention provides improved security for stored-value instruments. For example, an instrument-authority system may receive a first identifier for an instrument and may thereupon authenticate the instrument, but the system may wait before activating the instrument, such that the instrument may be unusable for a period of time to allow for cancellation of activation if payment is not received for the stored-value instrument.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60/680,379, filed May 11, 2005 by Kenneth E. Jennings, Jr. and entitled “Security Systems for a Payment Instrument,” the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0002]     This application also claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional U.S. Application No. 60/757,946, filed Jan. 10, 2006 by Kenneth E. Jennings, Jr. and entitled “Security Systems for a Payment Instrument.” the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     This application relates generally to stored-value instruments. More specifically, this application relates to methods and systems for processing stored-value instruments.  
         [0004]     In recent years, stored-value cards have become increasingly popular among consumers. The steadily increasing demand for such cards, in the form of prepaid gift cards and other types of stored-value cards, has resulted in an increased number of merchants offering stored-value cards for sale. This success in marketing stored-value cards has, however, spawned a variety of fraudulent practices related to these cards.  
         [0005]     There is, accordingly, a general need in the art for methods and systems to provide more security for stored-value instruments.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The invention provides improved security for stored-value instruments. For example, an instrument-authority system may receive a first identifier for an instrument and may thereupon authenticate the instrument, but the system may wait for confirmation that payment for the instrument has been received before activating the instrument, such that the instrument may be unusable until payment has been confirmed and the instrument has been activated. Additionally and/or alternatively, the system may wait for a period of time before activating the instrument, allowing a certain period of time for the system to be notified not to activate the instrument. The system may place the instrument in an inactive state in response to such request. An instrument in an inactive state may be re-authenticated and/or activated at some time in the future. The instrument-authority system may periodically review instruments in an inactive state and may activate, cancel, and/or do nothing to such instruments.  
         [0007]     Various embodiments of the invention, then, may provide methods, systems and/or software for processing stored value instruments. A set of embodiments, for example provides methods for processing stored-value instruments. An exemplary method may comprise receiving at a point-of-sale device (which might be a cash register, point-of-sale terminal, etc.) an identifier identifying a stored-value instrument. In a particular embodiment, for example, the instrument may comprise a magnetic stripe and/or receiving the identifier comprise a clerk (and/or another) swiping the magnetic stripe through a magnetic stripe reader. The method may further comprise transmitting from the point-of-sale device a request for authentication of the stored-value instrument. The method might further comprise authenticating the stored-value instrument, perhaps in response to the request for authentication.  
         [0008]     In some embodiments, the method further comprises confirming (e.g., at the point-of-sale device) that payment for the stored-value instrument has been received. This confirmation may include, merely by way of example, receiving input from a clerk indicating that payment has been tendered, processing a credit card or debit card transaction related to a purchase of the stored-value instrument, and/or the like. Additionally and/or alternatively, confirmation may automatically occur after a certain period of time unless payment is not received.  
         [0009]     The method may further comprise transmitting from the point-of-sale device a confirmation that payment for the stored value instrument has been received. The stored-value instrument may then be activated, perhaps in response to the confirmation. In a particular set of embodiments, authenticating the stored-value instrument may comprise placing an account associated with the stored-value instrument in a frozen state, such that no funds associated with the account may be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument, and/or activating the stored-value instrument may comprise placing the account in an unfrozen state, such that funds associated with the stored-value instrument can be accessed by the user of the stored-value instrument.  
         [0010]     Another exemplary method of processing a stored-value instrument may comprise receiving at an instrument-authority system an authentication request from a point-of-sale device; the request for authentication may comprise a request to authenticate a stored-value instrument. The method, then, may further comprise authenticating at the instrument-authority system the stored-value instrument, perhaps in response to the authentication request received from the point-of-sale device. The stored-value instrument may be placed in a frozen state, such that funds in an account associated with the stored-value instrument cannot be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument.  
         [0011]     In some embodiments, the method may further comprise receiving at the instrument-authority system a confirmation from the point-of-sale device that payment for the stored value has been received and/or activating the stored-value instrument. Hence, finds in the account associated with the stored-value instrument may possibly be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument. Additionally and/or alternatively, the method may comprise receiving at the instrument-authority system a notification from the point-of-sale device that payment for the stored value has not been received within a certain period of time. Hence, in these embodiments, after such notification is received, funds in the account associated with the stored-value instrument may be permanently and/or temporarily deactivated, such that they may not be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument. The method may place the instrument in an inactive state in response to such notification.  
         [0012]     Another set of embodiments provides systems for processing stored-value instruments, including without limitation systems configured to perform methods of the invention. An exemplary system comprises a point-of-sale device and an instrument-authority system. The point of sale device may be configured to receive an identifier identifying a stored-value instrument and/or to transmit a request for authentication of the stored value instrument. In some embodiments, the point-of-sale device may be further configured to confirm that payment for the stored-value instrument has been received and/or to transmit a confirmation that payment for the stored value instrument has been received.  
         [0013]     The instrument-authority system, which may be in communication with the point-of-sale device, may comprise a communications system, a processor in communication with the communications system, and/or a memory coupled with the processor. The memory may comprise a computer-readable storage medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of the instrument-authority system. The computer-readable program may comprise instructions for receiving the request for authentication and/or instructions for authenticating the stored-value instrument in response to the request for authentication. The program may further comprise instructions for receiving the confirmation that payment for the stored value instrument has been received and/or instructions for activating the stored-value instrument, perhaps in response to the confirmation that payment has been received and/or perhaps after a certain period of time has passed.  
         [0014]     Another exemplary system may comprise a communications system, a storage device, a processor in communication with the communications system and the storage device, and/or a memory coupled with the processor. The memory may comprise a computer-readable storage medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of the system. The computer-readable program may comprise instructions for receiving an authentication request from a point-of-sale device; the request for authentication may comprise a request to authenticate a stored-value instrument.  
         [0015]     The program may further comprise instructions for authenticating the stored-value instrument, perhaps in response to the authentication request received from the point-of-sale device and/or instructions for placing the stored-value instrument into a frozen state, such that funds in an account associated with the stored-value instrument cannot be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument. In particular embodiments, the program may further comprise instructions for receiving a confirmation from the point-of-sale device that payment for the stored value has been received and/or instructions for activating the stored-value instrument, such that, e.g., funds in the account associated with the stored-value instrument can be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument. Additionally and/or alternatively, the program may comprise instructions for activating the stored-value instrument after a certain period of time has passed unless notification is received that no payment was tendered for the instrument. The program may place the instrument in an inactive state in response to such a notification.  
         [0016]     Yet another set of embodiments provides software programs, including without limitation programs comprising instructions for implementing methods of the invention. An exemplary program, which may be embodied on at least one computer readable medium, may comprise instructions for receiving an authentication request from a point-of-sale device; the request for authentication may comprise a request to authenticate a stored-value instrument.  
         [0017]     The program may further comprise instructions for authenticating the stored-value instrument, perhaps in response to the authentication request received from the point-of-sale device and/or instructions for placing the stored-value instrument into a frozen state, such that funds in an account associated with the stored-value instrument cannot be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument. In particular embodiments, the program may further comprise instructions for receiving a confirmation from the point-of-sale device that payment for the stored value has been received and/or instructions for activating the stored-value instrument, such that, e.g., funds in the account associated with the stored-value instrument can be accessed by a user of the stored-value instrument. Additionally and/or alternatively, the program may comprise instructions for activating the stored-value instrument after a certain period of time has passed unless notification is received that no payment was tendered for the instrument. The program may place the instrument in an inactive state in response to such a notification. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]     A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the several drawings to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sublabel is associated with a reference numeral and follows a hyphen to denote one of multiple similar components. When reference is made to a reference numeral without specification to an existing sublabel, it is intended to refer to all such multiple similar components.  
         [0019]      FIG. 1A  provides a block diagram representation of a system arrangement used for implementing embodiments of the invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 1B  provides a schematic illustration of a flow of information through the system of  FIG. 1A  according to embodiments of the invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram that summarizes methods of the invention in certain embodiments;  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a point-of-sale terminal that may be used with the system of  FIG. 1A ; and  
         [0023]      FIG. 4  is a schematic illustration of a computer system on which methods of the invention may be embodied.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0024]     Embodiments of the invention permit retailers to continue to use traditional methods of displaying and selling stored-value presentation instruments, while providing enhanced security to prevent unauthorized and/or fraudulent use of unpurchased cards. A stored-value presentation instrument can be any instrument (tangible or intangible) that may be associated with a debit account and/or may otherwise be presented for payment for goods and/or services, used to transfer money, etc. Particular embodiments of stored-value instruments comprise stored-value cards, which may have a form factor similar to that of credit cards, etc. In a set of embodiments, stored-value instruments, such as cards may be packaged in a manner described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/665,984, filed Sep. 19, 2003 by McGee et al. and entitled “Financial Presentation Instruments with Integrated Holder and Methods for Use,” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0025]     In many cases, a stored-value instrument may comprise some form of identifier, which may be sufficient to uniquely identify the stored-value instrument. Merely by way of example, an instrument may comprise a magnetic stripe, memory chip, RFID tag, bar code and/or any other device known in the art for storing card information. The identifier, which might be a serial number and/or other string of text and/or numbers, then, might be encoded onto and/or stored in the magnetic stripe, chip, RFID tag, etc. and/or represented by the bar code. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the variety of methods that can be used to encode/decode a magnetic stripe and/or translate a bar code.  
         [0026]     A set of embodiments provides systems for processing stored-value instruments. An system in accordance with some embodiments may have components similar to those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/405,043, filed Sep. 26, 2003 by McGee et al. and entitled “Methods and Systems for Processing Unrestricted Stored-Value Instruments,” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Other structural systems may be used as well.  
         [0027]     Merely by way of example, an overview of a structural system that may be used to implement methods of the invention is illustrated schematically in  FIG. 1A . The stored-value instruments may be purchased by a purchaser  104  at a merchant location  112 . Each merchant location  112  may include one or more point-of-sale terminals  108  having a capacity for reading information from the stored-value instrument. Each point-of-sale terminal  108  may be configured for interacting with an instrument-authority system  120 , perhaps through a host system  116  configured to interface directly with each of the point-of-sale terminals  108  at a particular merchant location  112 . The instrument-authority system  120  may be adapted to manage the authentication and use of the stored-value instruments as described in further detail below. (In some embodiments, the host system  116  may be configured to perform the functions attributed herein to the instrument-authority system. In other embodiments, the host system  116  may be omitted and/or the instrument-authority system  120  may be configured to communicate directly with the point-of-sale terminals  108 ).  
         [0028]     The manner in which the structural system illustrated in  FIG. 1A  may be used to implement embodiments of the invention is illustrated simultaneously with the schematic diagram of  FIG. 1B  and the flow diagram of  FIG. 2 , which illustrates a method  200  in accordance with embodiments of the invention. While  FIG. 2  uses blocks to indicate functions that may be performed in implementing methods of the invention in some embodiments,  FIG. 1B  uses arrows to illustrate a corresponding flow of information through the system in  FIG. 1A  as those functions are performed. Thus, at block  204 , a purchaser  104  selects an instrument for purchase at a merchant location  112 . Typically, the instrument is chosen from a plurality of instruments at a merchant display, with different instruments being associated with different value amounts. In some instances, the instruments may not be associated with any particular value amount, and/or a value may be assigned to a particular instrument at the time of authentication and/or activation of the instrument, as described in more detail below.  
         [0029]     After one of the instruments is selected for purchase, it may be presented to a clerk at the merchant location  112  with payment, such as in the form of a credit card, debit card, cash, check, or the like. At block  208 , the clerk (and/or the purchaser  104  or another) provides an instrument identifier for the instrument to a point-of-sale terminal  108 , such as by swiping a card through a magnetic stripe reader so that an encoded identifier may be extracted from a magnetic strip affixed to the card. In alternative embodiments, other techniques may be used to obtain the identifier, including through optical scanning, bar-code scanning, and the like. In some embodiments, as described above, the identifier may be embossed and/or printed on the card, and providing the instrument identifier may comprise the clerk (and/or another) typing the identifier into a keypad associated with the point-of sale terminal. Hence, the point-of-sale terminal  108  receives the identifier. After receiving the identifier, the instrument information is transmitted by the point-of-sale terminal  108  to a host system  116  at block  212 , and transmitted from the host system  116  to the instrument-authority system  120  at block  216 . The instrument information may include the identifier and/or any other appropriate information. In a particular set of embodiments (for example, when the instrument is not associated with any particular pre-determined value), the instrument information may include a value of the instrument, perhaps based on the purchase price of the instrument.  
         [0030]     The instrument-authority system  120  acts at block  220  to authenticate the instrument by validating the received identifier as corresponding to a previously unauthenticated instrument. The authentication may also comprise creating an account associated with the instrument, and/or crediting that account with an amount of finds associated with the instrument. This amount may be pre-determined and/or based on a value paid for the instrument (which may, as noted above, be communicated by the point of sale terminal  108  to the instrument-authority system). It is noted that the authentication performed at block  220  may not result in full activation of an unrestricted instrument. In particular, the account may be placed in a locked and/or “frozen” state during the authentication process. In other words, the account may be designated inactive, such that it may not be used (i.e., funds associated with the account may not be accessed by a user of the instrument). In this way, the system can insulate the instrument from fraud.  
         [0031]     Optionally, the instrument-authority system  120  may provide a confirmation to the point-of-sale terminal  108  (e.g., via the host  116 ) that the instrument has been authenticated (block  224 ). This confirmation might (but need not necessarily) include a transaction and/or confirmation number. At block  228 , the purchaser  104  pays for the instrument. Payment may be tendered in any acceptable format, and/or in any of several known methods. Merely by way of example, the purchaser  104  may tender cash for the instrument. Alternatively and/or in addition, a credit and/or debit card payment may be processed, perhaps using the point-of-sale terminal  108 . Other forms of payment, including checks, direct debit, etc. may be used as well. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in many cases, items additional to a stored-value instrument may be purchased along with the instrument, and/or payment for some or all of the additional items may be tendered along with payment for the instrument, perhaps as part of a single transaction (cash payment, credit card authorization, etc.)  
         [0032]     The point-of-sale terminal  108  then, confirms that payment has been received (block  232 ). In some cases, the point-of-sale terminal  108  may be used to process the payment (such as, for instance, when the point-of sale terminal  108  is used to process a credit/debit card payment, and/or when the point of sale terminal  108  also serves as a cash register, such that the clerk enters the amount of payment into the terminal  108  to finalize the sale transaction), and/or confirmation thus may be implicit in the terminal&#39;s processing of the payment. In other cases, the clerk (and/or another) may indicate (for instance, through keypad input) that payment has been received. In a particular set of embodiments, for example, the terminal  108  may prompt the clerk to provide confirmation that payment has been received, and/or the clerk may press a designated key (or set of keys), with or without prompting from the terminal  108 , to indicate the instrument has been paid for.  
         [0033]     In accordance with some embodiments, the point-of-sale terminal  108  may transmit a confirmation to the host system  116  that payment for the instrument has been received (block  236 ). In some embodiments, confirmatory details about the payment transaction (e.g., form of payment, credit card authorization number, etc.) may be provided as part of the transmitted confirmation. In other embodiments, however, the terminal  108  may simply send a confirmation (without additional details) that payment has been received. The host  116  may then transmit the confirmation to the instrument-authority system  120  (block  240 ). (In some cases, as noted above, the host  116  may perform the functions of the instrument-authority system  120 , so this step may be unnecessary). In other embodiments, in addition to, or instead of, the point-of-sale terminal  108  transmitting a confirmation, the instrument-authority system  120  may be configured to wait for a certain period of time to pass (block  242 ), before activating the instrument (block  244 ). Merely by way of example, the instrument-authority system  120  may wait 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 12 hours, 1 day or any other appropriate time before activating the instrument (block  244 ). In another example, the instrument authority system may request a period of time parameter from a database, and after receiving such parameter, wait for the period of time specified by the parameter before activating the instrument (block  244 ). In another example, the point-of-sale terminal, or other device, may notify the instrument-authority system that the instrument should not be activated, for instance, if payment has not been received for the instrument. In such an example, the instrument-authority system may transmit a notice to the point-of-sale device that the instrument will not be activated (e.g. a transaction declination, a denial message, etc.). The instrument-authority system may also place the instrument in an inactive state in response to the notification that the instrument should not be activated. An instrument in an inactive state may be re-authenticated and/or activated at some time in the future. The instrument-authority system may periodically review instruments in an inactive state and may activate, cancel, and/or do nothing to such instruments.  
         [0034]     At block  244 , the instrument-authority system  120  activates the instrument (and/or an account associated with the instrument). In a set of embodiments, this activation enables the use of the instrument. As noted above, the instrument (and/or an account associated therewith) may be placed in a “frozen” status upon authentication (i.e., at block  220 ), such that funds associated with the instrument cannot be used until the instrument and/or account is unfrozen. At this point, payment for the instrument has been confirmed, so the instrument and/or account can be unfrozen and/or placed in an active state, such that the instrument can be used for purchases, cash withdrawals, money transfers, etc. Optionally, activating the instrument may comprise verifying any details of a payment confirmation (such as verifying that the point-of-sale terminal  108  actually processed a credit card authorization, if the transmitted confirmation indicates that a credit card was used to pay for the instrument).  
         [0035]     In some embodiments, the instrument-authority system  120  may provide a confirmation to the point-of-sale terminal  108  (e.g., via the host  116 ) that the instrument (and/or an account associated therewith) has been activated (block  248 ). Accordingly, if desired, the terminal  108  may display a confirmation of the activation, and/or the terminal  108  and/or the clerk may notify the customer that the instrument has been activated (block  252 ).  
         [0036]     Since transmission of information related to the stored-value instrument may form only a part of the transaction, the point-of-sale terminal  108  may additionally be employed to capture information needed also to complete the remainder of the transaction. Accordingly, the point-of-sale terminal  108  may include or be in communication with associated equipment or devices used for capturing such information, such as bar-code information identifying an item that forms part of the full transaction. Furthermore, the point-of-sale terminal  108  may include other components that facilitate execution of a transaction, such as payment-information-entry components, signature-capture components, keypads, keyboards, display screens, biometric-data-capture components, speakers, printers, processors, software, memory, communication devices, and the like. Examples of suitable point-of-sale devices that include multiple capabilities are provided in the following commonly assigned applications, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes: U.S. Prov. Pat. Appl. No. 60/147,889, entitled “INTEGRATED POINT OF SALE DEVICE,” filed Aug. 9, 1999 by Randy J. Templeton et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/634,901, entitled “POINT OF SALE PAYMENT SYSTEM,” filed Aug. 9, 2000 by Randy J. Templeton et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/116,689, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING TRANSACTIONS AT A POINT-OF-SALE,” filed Apr. 3, 2002 by Earney Stoutenburg et al; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/116,733, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DEPLOYING A POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEM,” filed Apr. 3, 2002 by Earney Stoutenburg et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/116,686, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UTILIZING A POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEM,” filed Apr. 3, 2002 by Earney Stoutenburg et al.; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/116,735, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONFIGURING A POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEM,” filed Apr. 3, 2002 by Earney Stoutenburg.  
         [0037]     One specific example of how a point-of-sale terminal  108  may be constructed is illustrated in  FIG. 3 . In this embodiment, the point-of-sale terminal  108  comprises a housing  304  having a keypad  316  for entering various types of information. The keys of the keypad  316  may permit the entry of numbers or letters, or may be function keys for performing various predefined functions. The terminal  108  further includes a display screen  308  for displaying information relating to a transaction. A card reader  312  is also provided for reading information from cards, such as from a magnetic stripe included on instruments that have the form of cards. The card reader  312  may thus read payment information, identification information, and the like from encoding on the cards. In some instances, the point-of-sale terminal  108  may be connected to an attached printer, such as an FDX- 400  printer available from AXIOHM.  
         [0038]      FIG. 4  provides a schematic illustration of a structure that may be used to implement the instrument-authority system  120 ; a similar structure may be used for implementation of the host system  116 .  FIG. 4  broadly illustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in a separated or more integrated manner. The instrument-authority system  120  is shown comprised of hardware elements that are electrically coupled via bus  426 , including a processor  402 , an input device  404 , an output device  406 , a storage device  408 , a computer-readable storage media reader  410   a , a communications system  414 , a processing acceleration unit  416  such as a DSP or special-purpose processor, and a memory  418 . The computer-readable storage media reader  410   a  is further connected to a computer-readable storage medium  410   b , the combination comprehensively representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing computer-readable information. The communications system  414  may comprise a wired, wireless, modem, and/or other type of interfacing connection and permits data to be exchanged with the host system  116 , point-of-sale terminals  108 , as described in connection with  FIGS. 1A, 1B , and  2 .  
         [0039]     The instrument-authority system  120  also comprises software elements, shown as being currently located within working memory  420 , including an operating system  424  and other code  422 , such as a program designed to implement methods of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.  
         [0040]     It should be noted that the methods, systems and devices discussed above are intended merely to be exemplary in nature. Consequently, various embodiments may omit, substitute and/or add various procedures and/or components as appropriate. For example, it should be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, the methods may be performed in an order different than that described.  
         [0041]     In addition, while an exemplary process for activating a presentation instrument has been described above, embodiments of the invention could be used in any process in which there is a risk of fraud. Merely by way of example, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a customer, rather than purchasing a new card, often will desire to reload or recharge (i.e., add funds to) an existing instrument (or, in some cases, an account associated therewith). Accordingly, in a set of embodiments, instead of selecting an instrument (e.g., at block  204 ), a customer might instead provide a previously-purchased card to a clerk for recharge.  
         [0042]     In such embodiments, the method  200  might proceed as described above, but perhaps with some variations. For instance, in some cases, the instrument may not need to be authenticated, so block  220  might be omitted. (In other cases, however, the instrument, even though previously purchased, might still be authenticated, for example, as described above.) Further, instead of paying for the instrument, at block  228 , the customer generally would provide a payment equal to the “reload” amount (perhaps less some service fee, which could be an absolute fee, a percentage of the reload amount, etc.). Additionally, in some cases, instead of placing the instrument or account in a frozen or locked status (as described above), the system may simply place the reloaded funds into a frozen and/or locked state, such that at block  244 , the system merely activates the amount of funds reloaded onto the instrument (and/or into an account associated therewith).  
         [0043]     Moreover, while the systems and methods described above provide a measure of fraud prevention, other fraud prevention measures may be implemented as well. Merely by way of example, co-pending, commonly-owned provisional U.S. patent application No. ______, filed on a date even herewith by McGee et al. and entitled “Anti-Fraud Presentation Instruments, Methods and Systems” (attorney docket no. 020375-062010US), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes several devices, systems and methods that can be used to further reduce the likelihood of fraud associated with presentation instruments. The anti-fraud measures described in the incorporated application, as well as others, may be implemented as desired with the systems and methods described herein  
         [0044]     It should also be appreciated that the methods described above may be performed by hardware components and/or software programs, and thus may be embodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purpose processor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions, to perform the methods. These machine-executable instructions may be stored on one or more machine readable media, such as CD-ROMs or other type of optical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Merely by way of example, some embodiments of the invention provide software programs, which may be executed on one or more computers, for performing the methods described above. In particular embodiments, for example, there may be a plurality of software components configured to execute on various hardware devices (such as an point-of-sale terminal, host system and/or instrument-authority system). Alternatively, the methods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.  
         [0045]     Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those of skill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined in the following claims.