Patent Abstract:
Uniquely identified chips on portable payment devices can categorize customer transactions under universal sets of expenditure categories for household and business use based on certain characteristics of card readers that process payments. The expansive storage on the payment cards allows holders to upload batched transaction data derived from prior payment transactions by interfacing the cards into on-site and off-site ATMs that are linked to their card issuer or financial institution. Similarly, those same cards can use the properly linked ATM to download from the institution categorized payments data onto the storage medium inside the cards. This data would then be transferred through a card reader into the holder&#39;s own maintained transaction databases residing in a PC, laptop or other enabling appliance in her possession. To facilitate unique global addressing of card, card readers, and holders themselves, each component of the extended payment network all the way to the payer is identified with a unique global network addresses. This enhances overall security within the economy as well as efficient flow and assignment of categorization labels to payment transactions.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    Not Applicable  
         FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
         [0002]    Not Applicable  
         SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM  
         [0003]    Not Applicable  
         37 C.F.R. 1.71 AUTHORIZATION  
         [0004]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.  
         BACKGROUND  
         [0005]    1. Field of Invention  
           [0006]    The present invention relates to a system and method of uniquely identified payment devices to universally categorize payments and exchange transaction data between payment devices and financial institutions through ATM networks.  
           [0007]    2. Description of Prior Art  
           [0008]    For purposes of this description, “chip” is any integrated circuit microchip that can store and process data affecting a payment initiator. A “card” includes any portable, embossed device free of any physically attached connector that contains in its substrate a means, including a chip, to electronically store and process information. An ATM is an automated teller machine or automated transaction machine that is designed to accept and read an electronic chip or card and operates by design without any human intervention other than by the carrier.  
           [0009]    Prior art to the present invention covers two principal areas, the automatic teller machine (ATM), and a card with an embedded integrated circuit chip, known as the smart card or the chip card. ATMs are nearly ubiquitous in many countries. Cards throughout the world are reaching monumental proportions.  
           [0010]    ATM Usage and Functions  
           [0011]    In the U.S., approximately 324,000 ATMs now bring banking closer to the customer. With interbank access among ATMs, holders of an access card can bank and transact from almost anywhere. Annually, there are about 1.3 billion ATM transactions. Research shows that most customers use an ATM anywhere from two to four times per month. Online bankers use the ATM roughly 11 times each month, partly because online bankers from home cannot make deposits and withdrawals for paper-based items.  
           [0012]    Traditional functions of ATMs are cash withdrawals, deposits, fund transfers and balance queries. Those remain as powerful reasons to bypass teller lines during business hours or to transact 24×7 whenever convenient for the customer. Still, the principal convenience of an ATM to a customer remains as the easy, secure access to currency. Witness the recent conversion of Western European currencies into the euro. On Jan. 1, 2002, these market economies converted to the euro, and ATMs reached an all-time high in single day usage as economic units rushed to obtain the new euro bills.  
           [0013]    ATMs have expanded their functionality to create greater profitability for ATM owners, which include both retail and banking firms. In the push for more versatility, banks have Web-enabled ATMs to promote goods and offer services, such as postage stamps and downloaded music. Self-service machines run in cost anywhere from $5,000 for a cash-only ATM all the way to $50,000 for a state-of-the-art ATM. Although these newer ATMs resemble PCs in functionality, banks realize that extended waiting time in the ATM line burdens their customer. This would otherwise defeat the mantra of the ATM&#39;s goal of speed to transact and withdraw money.  
           [0014]    To date, ATMs have a myriad of patents that address multifunctionality. U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,887 issued to Korman, et al., in 2001 anticipates the use of nearly unlimited “standard” and proprietary protocols and certain sensors so that the transaction machine network can process all kinds of transactions. The claims do not cover the use of smart card sensors for any purpose in an interface with the ATM. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20010014881 of Drummond et al. published on Aug. 16, 2001 contains two claims relevant to prior art. One covers a method to use an ATM with a card interface to change the stored value on a smart card and a second is an ATM that reads an account number from a card. However, these claims do not extend to uploading to the institution operating the ATM or to downloading onto the card itself generalized transaction histories of the cardholder. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20010013551 of Ramachandran published on Aug. 16, 2001 claims a portable device to transfer and import cardholder information onto a single card. This includes a device to operate an ATM and transfer stored values on smart cards. The claimed apparatus related to smart cards is dedicated to adjusting stored values only.  
           [0015]    Many banking functions are now available through personal ATMs. VeriFone Personal ATM™ is one such device. With a serial port connecting a reader with a consumer device or appliance, the owner uses a chip card (smart card) to initiate a wide variety of transactions. Multiple applications include electronic cash withdrawals, bill payment, stored value (electronic purses), retail purchases, fund transfers, electronic commerce, portfolio management and other user-authenticated transactions. As long as there is connectivity, the consumer can freely transact at home, at the office, in a public location, at a kiosk, or at a merchant&#39;s place of business.  
           [0016]    The merchant point-of-sale (POS) terminal can perform bank-like ATM functions. U.S. Pat. No.  5 , 992 , 570  issued to Walter, et al. in 1999 is a self-service POS ATM unit. The claimed apparatus allows a user purchasing items at a merchant to independently scan and pay for items without store assistance. The POS unit also performs a variety of bank-like ATM functions, including cash withdrawals, cash deposits, interaccount transfers and balance queries. Although the preferred embodiment includes use of a chip card for payment, the novelty does not extend to upload of payment categorization data to the bank or download of the same onto the chip card.  
           [0017]    Thus, nearly all prior art on ATM design and usage focuses on one-way transmission of traditional banking information. When money is tendered, the ATM dispenses a desired good or service as the customer executes an authenticated instruction (e.g., password protection). In fact, the universal upload of card information from the read-only memory (ROM) is typically limited to the card identity, holder identity and some means of authentication. Beyond this information, the card may upload a remaining balance for stored value balances, otherwise known as an electronic purse. Normally, financial institutions do not use their ATM networks to capture card transaction histories, except for cash withdrawals and debits. One-way channel delivery strategy forces the Internet banking customer to download critical banking information into their own stationary or portable computer device or system. The chip card can change all that.  
           [0018]    Chip Card Usage and Components  
           [0019]    Smart or chip cards throughout the world offer features affecting nearly every facet of commerce. Cards are used for secured access, identification, mass transit, and payment transactions within a closed or semi-closed environment. Accordingly, prior art on chip cards is enormous. Chip cards boast tremendous storage and processing power in view of their cost and compact size. The embedded microchip allows cards to operate in a variety of networking environments. In theory, this technical capability allows a card processing infrastructure to sharply curtail the number of cards an economic unit needs to carry.  
           [0020]    Countries, such as France and Venezuela, have made the chip card nearly universal for their citizenry. The total number of chip cards manufactured for use within the United States and Canada rose from approximately 20 million in 1999 to about 28 million in 2000—a 37% growth. The fastest growing market segment was circulation in the financial market sector, with a 244% growth rate. Still, this amounts only to chip cards with chips in circulation, as opposed to actual demand for and usage of data on that embedded chip. As the case is in the U.S., reduction of fraud and other benefits related to payments are achieved only when a sufficient mass of networked readers can accept and read the chip card.  
           [0021]    Chip cards appear in two versions for technical functionality. The basic version contains a microcontroller semiconductor device that performs computations, secured data storage, encryption and decision making. A microcontroller acts much like a PC&#39;s central processing unit, with a microprocessor, memory, and other functional hardware elements. A very smart card has a battery that charges and retains power when connected with a terminal device.  
           [0022]    The weakness in prior art for electronically driven payments is demonstrated by tracing the emergence of technology in the payments process. The primary dual functions of payments are authentication and transmission of value. Only one payment form dispenses with both functions instantaneously—the delivery of currency (absent counterfeiting needs no authentication of the holder and the transmission of value is simply the currency&#39;s face value. The magnetically-encoded stripe card then arrived. This card authenticates the holder, but verification is limited to efforts at POS. Verification includes signatures, Personal Identification Numbers (PINs), and biometric methods. Magnetic strip cards already are vulnerable to extensive fraud. Now, with online commerce, authentication creates a new fraud exposure  
           [0023]    Chip cards can enhance safety for their authorized holders and merchant-payees. No matter what type of card is presented, there must be an electronic reader. Chip card readers are now not only prevalent among merchants at POS, but are installed within ATMs owned by banks and stationed either on-site or off-site. To enable consumers and businesses to transact independent of personal merchant participation, chip cards can now be read by holder-managed devices, including PC-connected readers, mobile phones, phones, and other consumer appliances.  
           [0024]    The opportunity among prior art for chip cards and chip card readers is not readily discerned. Chip cards are only one of many choices for payment authentication, but they do offer greater security and privacy. Even the use of a card for authentication in payments is now in question, at least in online transactions. Single use “credit card” numbers are now available for authentication, with the initial log-in done with the chip card. The singular advantage of the chip card is dynamic exchange and storage of data, which occurs as soon as the card is accepted by the reader. As the cost of chip cards continues to fall, multiple applications become more promising. However, this cost is directly dependent on the amount of storage capacity required by the chip card manufacturer to perform the desired functions and applications.  
           [0025]    The Problem of Multiple Cards for Holders  
           [0026]    In today&#39;s payment environment, a frequent card payer is challenged to sensibly manage card-generated payment transaction data from numerous cards. The holder has multiple cards—credit cards, debit and ATM cards, phone cards, transit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards, and merchant cards. Transactions at POS sometimes print a statement, sometimes they do not. The holder can attempt to maintain tedious records, but she must comb through monthly mailed or electronically transmitted statements to her PC with the mass of slips accumulated at POS. If she is an active Internet shopper, printers typically generate letter-sized paper and not the typical register receipt or charge slip. Each month, proper data capture must emerge from paper receipts from a multitude of readers, printers, appliances, and devices, in addition to electronically processed, paperless transactions.  
           [0027]    The proliferation of multiple cards with multiple functions is an ongoing burden to the economic unit. In the magnetic stripe market, prior art attempts to consolidate the replication of cards. In the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,787 issued to Dorf in 2001, the prior art is the creation of multifunctional cards. This invention, however, is limited to the magnetically-encoded striped card and does not contemplate chip cards. Further, it does not give any issuer or merchant an incentive to surrender loyalty benefits of a dedicated card and separate branding.  
           [0028]    Prior art on smart cards emphasize the combination of multiple applications, including payment, onto one card. Without government mandate, merchants and card issuers as well as vendors on competing platforms find few advantages in collapsing the branding and purchasing power on the same card. The proliferation of smart card readers has no clear benefit to the economic unit unless it can either use multiple applications and/or capture transaction data in a standardized format for financial management. Transaction, loyalty, payment, credit and debit, and ATM cards all compete for space in the wallet. These cards fall in cost of production for the issuer as long as the data storage capacity is as low as possible. Issuers find few advantages in allowing other merchant data to occupy the card. This leaves the economic unit without a universal merchant-issuer card that is interoperable for transaction data capture.  
           [0029]    Chip Card Data Capture  
           [0030]    Prior art allows smart cards to capture and present transactional data to the holder, but no universal system of indexing and categorization exists to benefit the holder. Three patents are relevant on recording transactional data onto smart cards. None remove the laborious task of initially categorizing such data. U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,118 issued to Carlisle et al. in 1997 provides for consolidating transactional capability with multiple merchants onto a single card carrying suitable firewall security on the same chip. This does not provide for movement of all transactional data to a single merchant or bank for further processing or analysis for the benefit of the holder. U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,274 issued to Suzuki in 2000 presents a novel means to have the chip card capture transactional data at POS. This data is downloaded to the holder&#39;s PC but not uploaded to an institution.  
           [0031]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,419 issued to Wynn in 1999 intends to consolidate multiple account transaction activity with a single chip card. This prior art recommends the use of categories for the convenience of the cardholder. However, assignment of a category to a transaction or payment is purely discretionary and left to the holder to use their PC or other device. This task is not delegated up to their financial institution, card issuer, or merchant.  
           [0032]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,313 issued to Claus, et al. in 1996 comes the closest in concept to the present invention. The chip card tracks individual purchased items and categorizes them with a series of translation tables. There is no card reader-centric categorization code that assists in the translation. The holder&#39;s PC extracts transaction data in tabular format for further use and presentation to the holder. However, there is no upload of that data to the holder&#39;s bank or card issuer for processing and subsequent return of a report to the holder.  
           [0033]    Even if the chip card captures spending data at point-of-payment, the holder still must download that data and use personal financial management (PFM) software. If the holder decides to shift that burden to the financial institution, that channel requires active use of a PC or other Internet device requiring either time-consuming connection step or the more expensive, always-on connection. A more efficient, electronically seamless channel must exist, and a financial institution could assume that task for the economic unit/cardholder. This would unify the capture and presentation of payment data, particularly if the financial institution is a trusted source and prepared to leverage the opportunity.  
           [0034]    Expenditure Tracking by Cards  
           [0035]    Expenditure tracking for households and businesses is achieved through a variety of patented and non-patented PFM tools. PFM tools include Pocket Quicken® that runs on a Palm Pilot. The stylus is faster to enter transactional data than the manual method. However, this solution does not electronically connect the POS terminal with the handheld PDA. A proper solution would remove any manual movement or involvement by the customer other than presenting the chip card for payment processing.  
           [0036]    Online access devices such as credit cards and debit cards authorize payment with an embossed account number on one side and a magnetic stripe containing account information in machine-readable form on the other side. Debit cards deduct funds directly from the end user&#39;s bank account using an ATM or POS terminal. With either type of card, the merchant handling the transaction has a relationship with the bank and card association. Credit card associations have traditionally offered expenditure classification for cardholders. The production of such card data relies solely on the merchant&#39;s identity, i.e., its standard industry classification (SIC) code.  
           [0037]    Credit card associations and providers, such as Visa, MasterCard, and American Express all provide periodic classification of charges on a periodic basis for individual and corporate cardholders. However, those summaries are incomplete in two key aspects. First categorization is forced upon the cardholder based on the identity of the merchant, which may sell multiple types of goods and services. The more critical problem is that the only categorized transactions are those processed by the network. Average Americans carry at least five, sometimes even 10 charge cards. Therefore, only manual or keyed-in consolidation of categorized expenditure is available. Categories are not universal among various card products. Nor are card payments automatically consolidated.  
           [0038]    Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,908 issued to Yu in 1998, tracks expenditures made with credit cards and debit cards and sends the data through the network, but does not contemplate a card carrying multiple merchant data capture capability to store categorized data on a single card.  
           [0039]    Individual economic units cannot accurately track their spending without PC use or extraordinary manual effort to sort and aggregate transactions with cash, checks, credit cards, debit cards, smart cards and electronic devices. Even if individualized payment management through PFM software is reliable, no efficient channel exists to collect data that resides on home PCs and laptop computers.  
           [0040]    The prior art carries no effective and uniform means to uniquely identify cards. U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,787, issued to Dorf in 2001, proposes various types of cards, each with a unique identification number approved for use by the American Banking Association. The restrictions on utility are obvious. The numbering system may not provide a unique, universal address recognized globally. Further, the address might not be readily convertible or usable within an Internet environment where communication must be rapid and targeted.  
           [0041]    Overall, the prior art does not give economic units paying by card a standardized, user-friendly categorization tool resting within a single, uniquely addressed card that can efficiently and conveniently send that data for management by the holder&#39;s financial institution or to the holder&#39;s own managed database.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0042]    It is an object of the present invention to establish a pervasive global network addressing system for all essential components of the card payment network beginning with the payment device carried by its holder to the networked electronic junctions to the terminal destination where transaction data resides within an institution.  
           [0043]    It is a further object of the present invention to logically assign within a card network to each and every ATM/POS reader a universal expenditure (UEX) code within a numerical range of the UEX code assignments. The logical mapping for each and every such ATM/POS reader is achieved via a telecommunications network programming the internal operating system of each ATM/POS reader.  
           [0044]    It is still another object to enable merchant-managed chip card readers and cardholder-managed chip card readers with assigned UEX codes to automatically categorize card payment transactions during the time of interface between the merchant and the cardholder. Another object of the invention is to utilize a multi-application chip card to record and store card payment transaction data when payments are made at merchant POS terminals or user-managed computer device-connected card terminals.  
           [0045]    An additional object of the invention is to allow a holder to carry a single chip card independent of all other cards to record and store payment transaction data that is categorized according to UEX codes.  
           [0046]    A further object of the invention is to upload card payment transaction data through ATMs to the cardholder&#39;s financial institution.  
           [0047]    A further object is to allow ATMs to download categorized payment transaction data maintained by a financial institution onto a cardholder&#39;s chip card, which can then download such data onto one&#39;s own computer device for further processing and reporting.  
           [0048]    In addition, the present invention uses ATMs to print out a summary of categorized payment transactions initiated by the cardholder. 
       
    
    
     DRAWINGS  
       [0049]    In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 1 displays the card payment network layout to assign and maintain global network addresses for various components of the network.  
         [0051]    [0051]FIG. 2 is a dynamic presentation of how data components of a card change when a transaction is processed by a card reader to assign a UEX code.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the upload and download of categorized transaction data through a chip card when inserted into a cash-dispensing ATM connected to the card holder&#39;s financial institution.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 4 is a diagram of prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,313, where a cardholder downloads categorized payment transaction data from a chip card to a holder-managed computer device.  
         [0054]    [0054]FIG. 5 shows how global network addresses are assigned to various components of a card payment network, beginning with the card, cardholder, POS terminal, ATM, and user-managed card reader. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0055]    The Figures depict preferred embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.  
         [0056]    [0056]FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the network to assign and maintain unique global network addresses to components of the network. Card readers  102 ,  104  and  106  are able to accept cards for reading, writing and payment processing. Card reader  102  may be a merchant&#39;s POS terminal that processes credit card transactions. Card reader  104  is a PC-connected device at cardholder&#39;s home. Card reader  106  is located inside a kiosk on a college campus. Through network  120 , and wired/wireless connection  130 , terminal database server  140  is able to monitor the location of card readers  102 ,  104 , and  106  within the entire network. Through connection  150 , terminal ID table  160  maintains a specific unique global network address for each of card readers  102 ,  104  and  106 . Table  160  also contains a UEX code assignment program  210 a from FIG. 2 for each card reader in the entire network. Through connection  170 , terminal database server  140  accesses Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) table  180 . Next, terminal database server  140  assigns a UEX code for card readers  102 ,  104 , and  106 . Table  180  assigns unique global IPv6 addresses to each of the card readers and other essential components of network  120 . For IPv6 address assignment in FIG. 1, database server  160  assigns and uniquely identifies card readers  102 ,  104 , and  106 . Card reader  102  might have an IPv6 network address of AA01:9090:1111:1212:0192:0168:0123:0101. Card reader  104  might be assigned an IPv6 network address of AA01:9090:1111:1212:0192:0168:0123:0203. Similarly, card reader  106  might be assigned a network address of AA01:9090:1111:1212:0192:0168:0123:0222. Each physical card reader requires only one unique address.  
         [0057]    Terminal ID table  160  and IPv6 table  180  are components of a relational database. The logical key of this database is the logical terminal address. Since network  120  is made up of routers, switches and computers, the table lookup is done with a structured query language command known as a table join. For performance reasons and physical memory constraints, it is advisable to split a database into smaller manageable tables. In IPv6 table  180  there are two columns. One column is the primary key of the table that is the terminal ID address. The other column are the values of the IPv6 addresses. Within the 128-bit address, there is ample room for logically identifying latitude, longitude coordinates, store ID, country code, province, and department code. The nomenclature of the IPv6 address is 8 groups of 4 hexadecimal numbers. The eight groups are separated by seven colons altogether. The colons mean nothing to a computer or router, except to serve as a visual aid. As a shorthand notation, because of the expansiveness of the address one colon may substitute for one or more groups of 4 hexadecimal zeroes. For example, card reader  102  can have an IPv6 address of FFAE::090F. Card reader  104  can have address of BBBB::000C. Both of these addresses would appear as an entry in IPv6 table  180 . Double colons are used between groups when there are one or more groups of consecutive sets of hexadecimal zeros. Further, double colons only appear once in an IPv6 address.  
         [0058]    IPv6 is the most recent international data network addressing scheme being promulgated and logically augmented by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The IETF is composed principally of high technology firms such as Sun Microsystems and Cisco Systems. Other key members include Nokia, ATT and NTT of Japan. The IETF is responsible for laying down the networking Internet protocols (IP) such as FTP, POP, and SMNP so that computer systems around the work can communicate over the Internet. Without such fundamental standards in place, the World Wide Web is impossible. IP is the bedrock networking foundation based on an open set of standards that any computer vendor can choose to follow. In the late 1900&#39;s, proprietary networking protocols such as IBM&#39;s Systems Network Architecture (SNA) and Digital Equipment&#39;s DECNET made it possible for monolithic computer networks to be from one vendor only. As personal computers and LANs exploded in complexity and in network topologies and companies were consolidated and sold off, IT managers had to merge disparate networks and computer systems. This phenomenon, with the growth of Websites, led to the gradual exhaustion of IPv4 addresses, which in turn led to the birth of IPv6 addressing.  
         [0059]    From the network perspective, if there is no common protocol between two different and geographically distinct data centers, there can be no efficient means of transferring accurately and swiftly other than bulk data transfer from magnetic tapes. For transaction-intensive computer systems, this is clearly unfeasible. IP allows overnight transfers of hundreds of thousands of transaction records into a corporate database. However, the proliferation and rapid ascendancy of the open IP standard known as IPv4 has caused a serious and potentially worldwide problem for government and corporate network planners. The IPv4 protocol is predicated on the well-known 32-bit addressing scheme. Based upon the binary arithmetic, 2 to the 32 nd  power is exactly 4,294,967,294 unique host addresses. However, population growth and worldwide acceptance of mobile devices is quickly exhausting unique addresses. There are now an estimated one billion mobile phones in use. Since these and other electronic devices have no native intelligence, network architects demand that the next generation of Internet addresses accommodate the global requirement of uniqueness. Thus, the IETF has proposed a new set of Internet addresses known as the IPv6 . Technically, IPv4 despite its incumbency is the current Internet networking standard. Numerically, the IPv4 is a  48 -bit addressing scheme. IPv6 addressing encompasses 6 bytes as opposed to the 4-byte IPv4 scheme. To give a relative magnitude of IPv4 addresses versus the proposed IPv6 addresses, the Ipv4 addressing scheme can barely handle the present day worldwide Internet addresses today. IPv6 can handle over 4 billion present day Internet IPv4 addressing schemes. Another more poignant mathematical analogy is that for each square meter of planet Earth, IPv6 can accommodate 1500 unique and distinct IPv6 addresses. Thus it is obvious that the present invention allows for generous IPv6 addressing of readers and cards to no matter what future growth may affect global payments environments.  
         [0060]    Prior art network addressing schemes such as those based upon satellite radio frequency are inferior because they are analog by design. Technically, the radio transmission frequencies must be unique and the integrated circuits must translate a series of sinusoidal waves subject to unpredictable atmospheric conditions into a logically coherent binary stream. Witness the present day problems with cellular networks and the frequency of dropped calls for no apparent reason. Similarly, computer companies such as Microsoft have come up with a proprietary nomenclature of tagging computers. This may be fine within a computer network built exclusively around Microsoft operating systems, but this naming convention is ill-equipped for tagging computer devices, portable devices, and cards all connected via the Internet. The present invention avoids ambiguity and incompatibility of network address schemes and answers the crucial threshold of interoperability across borders.  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 2 is a visual layout of the architecture of card reader  102 . Its card slot  240  is where the cardholder inserts card  200   a  prior to the specific transaction. The internal components of card reader  102  include uniform expenditure (UEX) assigned code  210   a , merchant ID  210   b , network operating system  210   c , IPv6 address  210   d , and UEX assignment program  210   e . Network OS  210   c  reads card  200   a  during the authorization process to read the cardholder&#39;s account and approve the transaction. For card reader  102 , its UEX assignment program  210   e  accepts a single uniform expenditure classification for all transactions processed by card reader  102 , unless and until it is re-programmed with a different UEX code. Terminal ID table  160  from FIG. 1 uses network  120  and network links  130  and  112  to pre-program card reader  102  with a single category selected from a set of UEX categories. One universal set is used for economic units that are households. Another universal set is used for business entities.  
         [0062]    In the preferred embodiment, card  200   a  is a plastic, paper, polymer, or other non-metallic wallet-sized card that contains a read-write electronic component. Magnetically encoded stripe  202  on card  200   a  processes legacy transactions. Since magnetically-encoded stripes lack read-write programmability, a common choice is a card with an inserted programmable integrated circuit chip  218 , also known as a microcontroller. Microcontroller chip  218  includes microprocessor  220 , random access memory (RAM)  222 , read-only memory (ROM)  224 , non-volatile memory  226 , and a card reader interface  228 . Other elements of microcontroller  218  may include a clock, a random number generator, interrupt control, control logic, a charge pump, and power connections. Card reader interface  228  allows the card to communicate with various electronic devices. Microprocessor  220  is the CPU of card  200   a . RAM  222  stores calculated results as stack memory. ROM  224  has the card&#39;s operating system, fixed data, standard routines, and look up tables. Non-volatile memory  226  (such as EPROM or EEPROM) retains information that is not lost when the card is not receiving current through card reader  102 . Such information typically is changeable based on the card or other events, such as a card identification number, a personal identification number, authorization levels, cash balances, credit limits, etc. Card reader interface  228  includes the software and hardware necessary for communication with the outside world.  
         [0063]    The preferred embodiment reaches into ROM  224  to add transaction field software logic  224   a , UEX table  224   b , and a permanent, unique and specific IPv6 global network address in IPv6  224   c . With prior art, holder of cards carries many types of credit cards, loyalty cards, and membership cards in her wallet. Without promoting or discouraging the evolution of multifunctional smart cards, cardholder may use card  200   a  to record transactional and payments data, even if the card is not used for actual payment. In this sense, card  200   a  may act as an electronic register of all transactions conducted with any type of card, as long as card reader  102  can read and write onto card  200   a . Nonvolatile memory  226  records and stores all such transactions. Later, in FIG. 3, such data is either uploaded or downloaded, which depends on cardholder&#39;s needs, and her financial institution&#39;s capabilities.  
         [0064]    The present invention also acknowledges the practicality of wireless communications used between card  200   a  and card reader  102 . Contact communications require that the cardholder or merchant slide card  200   a  into the physical slot  240  found in reader  102 . This type of contact technology is found prevalent in PCMCIA type 2 and type 3 card slots in millions of laptops. Manufacturing tolerances allow for a snug and secure fit for transferring electrical signals between the card and the remaining circuit board. The short range, low power antenna  250  provides a contactless and wireless solution between card  200   a  and card reader  102 . By using available surface mount technology and CMOS (complementary metallic semiconductor technology as a part of the physical makeup of chip  218 , wireless communications can be performed without exorbitant signal loss. Sophisticated error correction algorithms can be borne by the card reader  102 , as opposed to chip  218 , to provide an asymmetric, yet reliable communications between the card  102  and the wireless antenna  250 . Industry initiatives such as the Bluetooth 4 meter transmission range and the most robust WIFI 802.11 standards for wireless Ethernet demonstrate that wireless communications augment mobility, flexibility and timely convenience for the end user, merchant, and customer. Further advances of the contactless communications can be extrapolated to watches, calculators, PDAs, cell phones and practically any device that is lightweight, portable and requires relatively small amounts of electrical power to perform the necessary communications and calculations on behalf of the user or customer.  
         [0065]    As technology advances, an alternative embodiment for microcontroller chip  218  in card  200   a dispenses with the use of an integrated circuit chip. Instead, storage would lie in the card  200   a &#39;s substrate as a structural logical arrangement of molecular and atomic structures. This would provide even smaller and cheaper means for processing and storing data.  
         [0066]    In an alternative embodiment, chips containing the suitable memory and processing power for payment transactions do not even need to reside on a card. As long as the chip is retained and managed by the payment initiator, it can reside on or within any other non-metallic medium under the possession and control of the initiator. It could lie in a key ring attachment, token, or piece of jewelry. As discussed above, card reader  102  need not have a physical slot as long as an optical beam can read the contents of the chip. Typically card payments initiated at POS allow convenience to the initiator when she surrenders card  200   a  briefly to the merchant for authorization through reader  102 . Still, if the merchant carries a wireless chip reader, the alternative embodiment can reduce fraud because the payment initiator authenticate with the scan and immediately view the merchant&#39;s screen details of the actual authorized payment. In prior art, card swiping by the merchant outside of the presence of the payment initiator allows the merchant to save the carbon slip or record the card number for a future, unauthorized payment transaction.  
         [0067]    The embodiment of card  200   a  can be an additional feature of a multiapplication chip card, particularly if issuance of the card becomes universal among a large population. Or, even if multiple cards do not, independent of this invention, consolidate into a single-card solution, card  200   a  may be totally independent and separately manufactured and circulated. This type of recording card  200   a  may be inserted immediately after the primary payment device has been used or presented by the payment initiator, whether by cash, check, payment card, etc. This embodiment can serve the dedicated use of an electronic payment register for the holder as an economic unit. Card  200   a  becomes a universal tool for payment data capture with a single requirement. The point-of-payment allows card  200   b  to record a UEX code, regardless if the payment channel was cash, check, wireless or other tool or medium for payment.  
         [0068]    With a universal card network platform, special attributes can be attached to all transactions that are processed with the card and even those processed by the issuing bank on behalf of the holder in other bank payment channels used by the same holder. Returning to FIG. 2, after card  200   a  is inserted into card slot  240  and accepted by card reader  102 , UEX code assignment  210   a  sends a signal to card transaction journal  226   a  for the particular uniform expenditure code for the specific transaction. Card  200   b  now contains in its non-volatile memory  266   b  the card transaction data that includes the expenditure code for the transaction.  
         [0069]    With respect to each outstanding card  200   a , non-volatile memory  226  stores and maintains card transaction journal  226   a . If circulation of card  200   a  is limited to a single card for identification and payment purposes by its holder, card  200   a  may also serve as a unique and personal identification device for individuals worldwide.  
         [0070]    In FIG. 3A, card  200   b  contains card transactions data residing in transaction journal  266   a  accumulated over a period of time. Holder of card  200   b  has a demand deposit account with financial institution  302 , which has issued to holder card  200   b . This card has ATM capability and houses chip  218  with a configuration according to FIG. 2. Non-volatile memory  266  in card  200   b  has a series of payment transactions, categorized according to UEX table  224   b.    
         [0071]    Holder of card  200   b  now has three choices to release categorized payment transaction data to a secure site for further processing. First, she may present card  200   b  to merchant  310  that has a POS terminal with smart card reader. Prior art includes merchant managed processing or self-service processing of the card transaction. Through telecommunications link  312 , card  200   b  may be able to transmit the contents of transaction journal  266   a . However, this embodiment may not be preferable, particular where merchant  310  does not perceive the need to assist holder&#39;s financial institution. Where holder chooses to undertake the work with a self-service checkout device under prior art (U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,570), the device does not contemplate uploading multiple transactions data to the bank. The communication is limited to authorization to access credit or payment for a single transaction in question, not for prior transactions.  
         [0072]    The second choice also contemplates prior art. Card  200   b  is inserted inside a portable or customer-managed chip card reader  400  that can read smart cards. FIG. 4 contains a partial layout of U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,313 issued to Claus et al. in 1996. Stored expenditure classifications associated with specific items purchased are available as data is passed into holder&#39;s PC, laptop, PDA or other consumer appliance. Holder uses personal financial management software to process and analyze such data and generate reports.  
         [0073]    The third and final choice demonstrates the novelty and utility of the present invention. Financial institution  302  owns and maintains a multiapplication ATM that can read smart cards and more particularly, card  200   b . Holder of card  200   b  seeks, more often than not, currency from ATM  320 . ATM  320  can perform basic banking functions for holder of card  200   b , who selects key  320   a  for deposits,  320   b  for withdrawals, and  320   c  for account balance inquiries. The key for  320   d  allows holder to conduct a variety of retail functions, such as purchasing stamps, entertainment tickets, and transportation cards.  
         [0074]    By frequenting one of financial institution&#39;s ATMs for cash at least monthly, if not weekly, holder of card  200   b  is assured that with each trip to the ATM, the batched payment transactions data in payment transaction journal  226   c  are uploaded to her financial institution through upload process  324 . If multi-purpose ATM  320  opens its data channel, this circumvents the time-consuming and tedious task of using holder&#39;s home PC to make an Internet connection to upload transaction data to the institution. Of course, the customer still retains the option of uploading through a device at home than can read transaction data off card  200   b.    
         [0075]    Similarly, card  200   a  with read-write capability will, when inserted into ATM  320 , accept bank transaction data during download process  334 , similar in purpose to process  324 . Now holder of card  320  as an updated transaction file with which she may transfer it to card reader  400  attached to her PC or other holder-managed device.  
         [0076]    [0076]FIG. 3B shows why uploading transaction data through the financial institution&#39;s ATM network is perhaps superior to using one&#39;s own Internet connection. An ATM data upload relies on the financial institution&#39;s own high-speed connection  335  (T-1 or higher) to transmit data. Upload process  324  in FIG. 3A is instantaneous and concurrent during a standard ATM transaction. In FIG. 3B, server  330  of financial institution directs data flow. Server  330  posts all card-uploaded transactions through link  345  into Demand Deposit Account Payment/Debit transaction database  340 . If financial institution  302  is also the customer&#39;s card issuer, credit card transaction data inside the institution in database  360  can be returned to holder of card  200   a  during download process  334  while she conducts a transaction through ATM  320 .  
         [0077]    All the typical steps of transferring data into one&#39;s PC for these transactions are common prior art. Bank customer database  350  provides the logical link between the demand deposit account transaction database  340  and credit card transaction database  360 . Upload process  324  and download process  334  in FIG. 3A are immediately commenced upon insertion of card  200   a  into card reader  310 , as server  330 &#39;s software interrogates customer account database  350  in order to retrieve the timely DDA transaction database  340  and debit/credit card database  360 . This enables proper execution of download process  334  and upload process  324 , which is for all intents and purposes simultaneous for the customer while she is engaged at the ATM.  
         [0078]    Financial institution  302  may also use upload process  324  to capture all transaction data stored on card  200   b , even for transactions not actually processed by the institution. The card  200   a  and ATM  320  interface allows the transfer of such data onto universal customer payment database  370  through link  375 . This database sweeps in all payment transactions of customer, whether or not processed by institution  302 , as long as a UEX code  266   a  has been assigned by server  330 . Under prior art in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09965100 filed by Yu, et al. in 2001, server  330  can apply a post-processing filter for payment transactions under universal expenditure categories for household and for business purposes. As transaction data is properly channeled inside financial institution  302  can use server  330  can assemble targeting marketing profiles to enhance their services to customers.  
         [0079]    [0079]FIG. 4 is the prior art where card  200   b  is a smart card with tables on its chip for categorized payment transactions. Holder of card  200   b  inserts the card is process  380  into PC-attached card reader  400 . Cable  405  connects the reader to customer&#39;s PC  410 . U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,313 issued to Claus et al. in 1999 captures smart card classified payments and transfers the data into PC  410  for processing and analysis with PFM software, such as Money® or Quicken®. Personal printer  420 , which is connected by printer cable  415  to PC  410  can generate printed summaries of categorized payments.  
         [0080]    [0080]FIG. 5 shows the hardware and software components of the IPv6 addressing scheme as applied to the network of cards and devices within the present invention. Server  180  is the IPv6 address allocator and master repository of all IPv6 addresses used in the payment system. There will be a pool of available addresses to assign to each set of newly minted card  200   a . For example, an arbitrary Ipv6 address might be CC00:0002:1111:5555:0222:0001:767A:2222. Once this address is assigned, server  180  will keep a separate database table for assigned IPv6 addresses for smart cards. IDE (Integrated Development Environment)  730  is readily available from Gemplus, Hypercom and VeriFone. The newly manufactured card  200   a  before a card customer uses it, will have burned into the non-volatile memory  226   a  the unique IPv6 address of BB.09.09.11.22.01. Similarly, IDE  140  may be from Hypercom, Ingenico (Fr) and VeriFone. The IDE  730  will download IPv6 address CC00:0002:1111:5555:0222:0001:767A:2222 onto non-volatile memory  224   c  on card  200   a . This is done before the card from the cardholder&#39;s financial institution is sent for personal or business use. Globe  1000  contains the universe of assigned unique IPv6 network addresses. Conceivably, there can be several IPv6 addresses for each person, business establishment, legal entity, and economic unit, with an immutable IPv6 address for device and card they own and carry.  
         [0081]    Wherever there is a human being as an economic unit, a single, uniquely addressed chip card may be assigned by a bank or government entity or ministry within each jurisdiction. Under the embodiment of the present invention, the security advantages to government and business of unique addresses for every person will need to be balanced against the legitimate privacy concerns of the individual.  
         [0082]    This invention embodies using the uniqueness and extensibility of the IPv6 address as also a bona fide database key into a banking payment system. As described above, the Ipv6 address provides ample logical space to identify individual physical smart cards  200   a  and use the same key as a logical view port of the UEX tables for payment classification.  
         [0083]    While the card system described herein is the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the claimed invention is not limited to the precise description in any way, and that changes may be made to the embodiment without limiting the scope of the invention as described in the claims that follow.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6