Patent ID: 8434133

Claim:
A method for using multiple channels to authenticate an unauthenticated user in an electronic session, the method comprising: receiving, by an authentication system, a first authentication parameter from the unauthenticated user only over a first electronic communication channel from a first device; initiating, by the authentication system, the session by creating an electronic session record for the unauthenticated user; assigning, by the authentication system, a token value to the session record, wherein the token value comprises a unique identifier of the session; setting, by the authentication system, an authentication status value corresponding to the session record to indicate that authentication for the unauthenticated user in the session is in progress; transmitting, by the authentication system, the token value to the unauthenticated user only over the first channel; receiving, by the authentication system, the token value and a second authentication parameter from the unauthenticated user only over a second electronic communication channel from a second device, wherein the authentication system receives the token value and the second authentication parameter without prior knowledge of the second device being associated with the second channel and wherein the second authentication parameter is different from the first authentication parameter; retrieving, by the authentication system, the session record of the session initiated on the first channel based on the token value received from the unauthenticated user over the second channel, wherein the token value associates the first authentication parameter received over the first channel to the second authentication parameter received over the second channel; authenticating, by the authentication system, the unauthenticated user referenced by the session record of the session based on the first authentication parameter received only over the first channel and the second authentication parameter received only over the second channel, wherein the session remains open during the authenticating; updating, by the authentication system, the authentication status value to indicate that the unauthenticated user is authenticated; and upgrading, by the authentication system, the session record after authentication to allow the authenticated user to continue the session on at least the first or second channel.