Patent ID: 8570281

Claim:
Apparatus for enabling a bank customer and a bank staff member at a bank branch to jointly and interactively complete an electronic financial application form during a single financial transaction at the bank branch, the apparatus comprising: a computer; a multi-touch surface in communication with the computer; a sensor unit coupled between the multi-touch surface and the computer and for obtaining a barcode associated with a portable device which has been placed on the multi-touch surface; and a communication facility coupled to the computer and for communicating between the computer and portable devices in the vicinity of the multi-touch surface; wherein the computer includes a financial application arranged to (i) receive data transferred from a bank staff member's second portable device via the multi-touch surface, and (iii) create an electronic financial application form populated with data received from both the bank customer's first portable device and the bank staff member's second portable device during the single financial transaction using the same multi-touch surface; and wherein (i) the communication facility wirelessly communicates with a number of portable devise in the vicinity of the communication facility to receive at a first time unique identifiers associated with the number of portable devices, (ii) the computer ascertains if one of the unique identifiers received at the first time from the number of portable devices in the vicinity of the communication facility matches a barcode obtained by the sensor unit and associated with the bank customer's first portable device, and (iii) the computer presents the bank customer with the electronic financial application form via the multi-touch surface when there is a match between one of the unique identifiers received at the first time from the number of portable devices in the vicinity of the communication facility and the barcode obtained by the sensor unit and associated with the bank customer's first portable device.