Patent Publication Number: US-2005129207-A1

Title: Provision of financial information

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a system and method for providing financial information to a user of a self-service machine, such as a point of sales terminal or an automated teller machine (ATM).  
      At present users of self-service terminals such as ATMs generally can only be provided with financial information when actually using the terminal and via the ATM network. There is however a drive to allow users to be provided with information via other communication channels, such as mobile devices, for example mobile telephones or PDAs. Whilst this can be advantageous, a problem is the cost of sending such messages over external networks.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising: identifying a user at a self service terminal; identifying an electronic or telecommunications address of a device, such as a mobile telephone, associated with the user; receiving a user request for information via the self service terminal, and sending the requested information to the user&#39;s device address, together with advertising material.  
      To offset the cost of sending the requested information, in practice, the provider of the advertising material would pay at least in part for the costs associated with sending the data. This means that the user does not have to pay for the information to be sent to their device.  
      Preferably, the method further comprises selecting the advertising material for directing to the user. The advertising material may be derived from a customer relationship management system. The advertising material may be specifically targeted for the user.  
      The method may further comprise monitoring which adverts are sent to which addresses and billing the advertisers accordingly.  
      The step of sending the requested information may be done remotely from the self service terminal. The step of sending the requested information may be done by the self service terminal.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that is configured to: identify a user at a self service terminal; identify an electronic or telecommunications address of a device, such as a mobile telephone, associated with the user; receive a user request for information via the self service terminal, and send the requested information to the user&#39;s device address, together with advertising material.  
      The system may be configured to send the requested information to the user&#39;s device from the self-service terminal. Alternatively, the system may be configured to send the requested information to the user&#39;s device from a device located remotely from the self-service terminal.  
      The system may include a plurality of different communication means for allowing information to be sent to the user&#39;s device. For example, the system may include a mobile telephone transmitter for transmitting messages to mobile telephones.  
      According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program, preferably on a data carrier or a computer readable medium, the computer program having code or instructions for: identifying a user at a self service terminal; identifying an electronic or telecommunications address of a device, such as a mobile telephone, associated with the user; receiving a user request for information via the self service terminal, and sending the requested information to the user&#39;s device address, together with advertising material. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Various aspects of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:  
       FIG. 1  is block diagram of a system for providing targeted information to a user;  
       FIG. 2  is a flow diagram of a method for providing information using the system of  FIG. 1 , and  FIG. 3  is block diagram of another system for providing targeted information. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       FIG. 1  shows an ATM  10  that is connected to a host terminal  12 . Included in the ATM  10  is a control application  14  that is operable to control internal ATM functionality, such as processing user inputs. The control application  14  can additionally initiate communications with a service application  16  in the host  12 . The service application  16  is operable to identify the current user from an ATM start transaction message, verify that user typically using information read from the user&#39;s bankcard and then effect any financial transactions in response to user inputs. The service application  16  is also able to send information relating to the financial transaction to a pre-determined device, typically a mobile device  18 , specified by the user. To allow for this, a record of the user&#39;s selected device  18  is stored at the host  12 , together with a unique user identifier, such as the user&#39;s unique banking identifier, so that as and when desired the host  12  can retrieve that information.  
      The capability of the user&#39;s personal device  18  affects the format of the data that can be sent, for example for standard mobile phone SMS could be used to provide a basic text message. In contrast for Java mobile telephones, Java applications or files that can be read by Java applications could be sent. The capability of the user&#39;s mobile device  18  also determines how the information is delivered; some examples of delivery mechanisms include GSM, GPRS. This delivery information is stored in association with the user&#39;s mobile details, and used by the host to determine how to deliver the message. In order to maximize the scope of the system, the host  12 ,is typically provided with a plurality of different communication mechanisms (not shown). For example, the host  12  may include mobile telephone communication means to allow SMS messages to be sent or a facility for connecting to the internet and sending, for example, e-mails. In any case, the host  12  is able to identify the user&#39;s device address and send information directly to it.  
      In addition to communicating with the ATM  10  and the user&#39;s mobile device  18 , the host service application  16  can also communicate with a customer relationship management server (CRM)  20 . This is provided in order to identify advertising material associated with specific customers. To this end the CRM  20  maintains a database of customers that includes personalized information for each customer, such as spending patterns, preferred shops etc. This information can be provided to the CRM  20  via any suitable channel, such as by telephone, using a call centre, or the internet. As is known in the field, by using personalized CRM information it is possible to target advertising material to specific users.  
      In order to offset the cost of sending financial information to the user, advertising material may be derived from the CRM  20 , and sent to the user&#39;s specified terminal  18  with the financial information, with the advertiser bearing at least some, preferably all, of the communication costs. To this end, when a customer is conducting a session at the ATM  10 , the host  12  is operable to notify the CRM  20  of the user&#39;s identity, receive specific targeted user information from the CRM  20 , for example advertising, and include this in the message that is sent to the user. The host  12  is also operable to maintain a record of what information is sent to which customer for use when billing.  
       FIG. 2  shows some of the steps that are taken in a typical user interaction with the ATM  10 . Before this, however, a user has to firstly register their mobile device  18  of choice with their bank, together with the address or telephone number associated with the device. This information is stored in association with the user&#39;s unique identification number and is made available to the host  12 . The user also has to be registered with the CRM  20 . When the user subsequently uses the ATM  10 , they put their card into the machine  10  as is standard. Information on the card is then read and a signal is sent to the host  12  to confirm the identity of the user. In the event that the user is authorized, he can carry out any selected transactions. At any stage of the transaction, the ATM  10  may give the user the option of receiving information at their specified mobile device  18 . If this option is selected, a signal indicative of this is sent to the host  12 .  
      In response to the ATM signal requesting that data be sent via an external communication channel, the host  12  gathers the information requested by the user and interrogates the CRM  20  for user specific advertising material. This causes the CRM  20  to search its records and identify the relevant material and send it to the host  12 . Then the host determines the nature of the user&#39;s selected device and its address, constructs a message that includes the CRM sourced material as well as the transaction information and uses the appropriate communication channel to send the information to the user&#39;s device  18 .  
      As an example of the type of message that may be sent, if the user specified device is a standard mobile telephone a text message could be sent as follows: “Current Account Balance: £1500 brought to you by NCR, for further info visit www.ncr.com”, this message including both financial and advertising information. For Java enabled telephones, the message could be a full application for first time users or situations where it is felt the application is small enough to justify creating a separate one for each transaction. Alternatively for consumers who already have an application on their phone, application files could be sent to view information such as a receipt, a statement or a snapshot view of the consumer&#39;s financial information at that moment in time. In this case, the campaign information can be included in the application/file for example using a splash screen, i.e. a time delayed pop-up that includes campaign information. In any event once the message is sent, a record is kept of the CRM material, so that the communication event can be charged to the source of the advertising material.  
      The system and method in which the invention is embodied provides information to an ATM user by advantageously offering them the opportunity to receive that information via a communication channel that is separate from the ATM network. In the event that this option is selected, an electronic or telecommunications address of a device, such as a mobile telephone, associated with the user is identified and the requested information is sent to that address, together with advertising material. Including advertising material in the messages provides a mechanism for offsetting the cost of sending it.  
      A skilled person will appreciate that variations of the disclosed arrangements are possible without departing from the invention. For example, whilst a conventional bank card is described as being the means for identifying the user at the ATM  10 , any other suitable means could be used, such as an RFID tag or a key fob. Of course, in these cases, the ATM would have to be provided with a suitable reader mechanism.  
      Furthermore, although the invention has been described primarily with reference to a system in which the host constructs the message and sends it to the user over a predetermined channel, instead this could be done at the ATM  10 .  FIG. 3  shows a system in which CRM information is sent from the CRM server  20  via the service application in the host to the control application  14  in the ATM  10 . In this case, the control application  14  is able to create the message and the ATM  10  is able to communicate directly with the mobile device  18 . The communication could be done using any suitable channel, but may for example via a relatively low range wireless link, such as Bluetooth or an IR link. Of course, this arrangement could be used as an add-on to the system of  FIG. 1  or in place thereof.  
      Accordingly, the above description of a specific embodiment is made by way of example only and not for the purposes of limitations. It will be clear to the skilled person that minor modifications may be made without significant changes to the operation described.