Systems and methods for the sale of age-restricted merchandise

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11734737-B2
Application number	US-201916574279-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2019
Priority date	Sep 20, 2018
Publication date	Aug 22, 2023
Grant date	Aug 22, 2023

Abstract

There are provided systems and methods for the purchase of age-restricted merchandise without requiring the transmission of biometric information. In one form, the system includes: age-restricted merchandise items offered for sale to customers, a server that receives orders from customer devices, and a customer database containing a plurality of customer records. The system further includes: a control circuit that queries a customer whether the customer opts in to the use of local biometric authentication to enable the purchase of age-restricted merchandise items; receives customer identification proof documentation; associates a unique identifier corresponding to the customer device; stores the customer's opt in agreement, the customer's identification proof documentation, and the unique identifier associated with the customer device; receives an order for the purchase of an age-restricted merchandise item and the unique identifier; confirms local biometric authentication; verifies the customer's identity and age; and authorizes completion of the purchase transaction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for the sale of age-restricted merchandise without transmission of biometric information, the system comprising:
a plurality of age-restricted merchandise items offered for sale to customers, the age-restricted merchandise items each being restricted from purchase by individuals below a predetermined minimum age;
a server configured to receive orders for the purchase of merchandise items from customer devices;
a customer database containing a plurality of customer records;
a merchandise purchase application to facilitate purchase of merchandise items, the merchandise purchase application configured to be executed locally at a customer device;
a control circuit communicatively coupled to the merchandise purchase application, the server, and the customer database, the control circuit configured to:
receive customer identification proof documentation including age information from the customer device;
associate a unique identifier corresponding to the customer device with the customer;
store in the customer database a customer's agreement to permit local biometric authentication to enable the purchase of age-restricted merchandise items, the customer's identification proof documentation, and the unique identifier associated with the customer device;
receive an online order for the purchase of one or more merchandise items from the customer device and receive the unique identifier corresponding to the customer device transmitting the purchase order;
determine that at least one of the one or more merchandise items in the online order is an age-restricted merchandise item requiring a predetermined minimum age for purchase;
receive confirmation that local biometric authentication was performed at the customer device transmitting the purchase order, the local biometric authentication being performed without transmission of biometric information between the customer device and the server, without calculation of an identity verification score based on non-biometric considerations, the server being remote from the customer device;
verify the customer's identity and the local biometric authentication by matching the unique identifier received with the purchase order with the unique identifier for the customer device stored in the customer database;
verify the customer's age based on the customer's identification proof documentation meeting or exceeding the predetermined minimum age required for the age-restricted merchandise item; and
authorize completion of the purchase of the age-restricted merchandise item by the customer based on receipt of confirmation that local biometric authentication was performed at the customer device and based on matching the unique identifier received with the unique identifier stored in the customer database.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identifier is a universally unique identifier (UUID) comprising a 128-bit number.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer device is a smartphone and the local biometric authentication is performed entirely at the smartphone.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the biometric authentication performed locally at the smartphone is fingerprint authentication, iris scan authentication, facial recognition, voice authentication, or palm vein recognition.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the merchandise purchase application is configured to be downloaded to the smartphone.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the unique identifier is associated with the smartphone and accessible to the merchandise purchase application after download of the application to the smartphone.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the application is configured to prompt the customer for biometric verification when the customer logs onto the application.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
store the customer's address in the customer's record in the customer database; and
transmit instructions for a delivery service to deliver the age-restricted merchandise item ordered by the customer to the customer's address.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
instruct a shopping facility to make the age-restricted merchandise item available for pick up by the customer.

10. A method for the sale of age-restricted merchandise without transmission of biometric information, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of age-restricted merchandise items offered for sale to customers, the age-restricted merchandise items each being restricted from purchase by individuals below a predetermined minimum age;
receiving orders for the purchase of merchandise items from customer devices and associating a unique identifier with each customer device;
storing a plurality of customer records in a customer database;
providing a merchandise purchase application to facilitate purchase of merchandise items, the merchandise purchase application configured to be executed locally at a customer device;
by a control circuit:
receiving customer identification proof documentation including age information from the customer device;
associating a unique identifier corresponding to the customer device with the customer;
storing in the customer database a customer's agreement to permit local biometric authentication to enable the purchase of age-restricted merchandise items, the customer's identification proof documentation, and the unique identifier associated with the customer device;
receiving an online order for the purchase of one or more merchandise items from the customer device and receiving the unique identifier corresponding to the customer device transmitting the purchase order;
determining that at least one of the one or more merchandise items in the online order is an age-restricted merchandise item requiring a predetermined minimum age for purchase;
receiving confirmation that local biometric authentication was performed at the customer device transmitting the purchase order, the local biometric authentication being performed without transmission of biometric information between the customer device and the server, without calculation of an identity verification score based on non-biometric considerations, the server being remote from the customer device;
verifying the customer's identity and the local biometric authentication by matching the unique identifier received with the purchase order with the unique identifier for the customer device stored in the customer database;
verifying the customer's age based on the customer's identification proof documentation meets or exceeds the predetermined minimum age required for the age-restricted merchandise item; and
authorizing completion of the purchase of the age-restricted merchandise item by the customer based on receipt of confirmation that local biometric authentication was performed at the customer device and based on matching the unique identifier received with the unique identifier stored in the customer database.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the unique identifier is a universally unique identifier (UUID) comprising a 128-bit number.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the customer device is a smartphone and the local biometric authentication is performed entirely at the smartphone.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the biometric authentication performed locally at the smartphone is fingerprint authentication, iris scan authentication, facial recognition, voice authentication, or palm vein recognition.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising, by the server, downloading the merchandise purchase appl

Assignees

• Walmart Apollo Llc

Inventors

• Agarwal Nidhi
• Setia Anika
• Jain Sakshi

Classifications

• G06Q30/0607 Primary

  Regulating the sale of restricted items, e.g. alcohol · CPC title

• G06Q20/3223

  Realising banking transactions through M-devices · CPC title

• G06Q20/3227

  using secure elements embedded in M-devices · CPC title

• G06Q20/40145

  Biometric identity checks · CPC title

• G06Q20/40

  Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists · CPC title