Patent ID: 6856965

Claim:
A system for automatically cashing a negotiable instrument presented by a user, comprising: a plurality of point of sale (POS) devices configured to: receive a negotiable instrument from a user; collect biometric data relating to the user concurrent with the user presenting the negotiable instrument; store previously collected data relating to the user, including previously collected biometric data and previously collected transaction history data; determine whether to exchange cash for the negotiable instrument based upon a comparison of the collected biometric data with the previously collected biometric data and upon predetermined business rules, wherein the business rules comprise approving a transaction if a negotiable instrument is presented by a user who has previously presented a negotiable instrument from a same payor for a similar amount of money; and a remote service center coupled to the plurality of POS devices, comprising: a storage device that stores previously collected data transmitted from the plurality of POS devices; communication circuitry that allows communication between the remote service center and the plurality of POS devices, including communication of voice data, image data, and transaction history data; a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to exchange cash for the negotiable instrument when one of the POS devices refers a determination to the remote service center, wherein the POS device refers the determination under a plurality of conditions, the plurality of conditions comprising: the POS device fails to identify the user based upon the comparison of the collected biometric data with the previously collected biometric data; and the POS device determines that at least one of the predetermined business rules is violated.