Serial number based currency-owner identification

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016247018-A1
Application number	US-201514630940-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 25, 2015
Priority date	Feb 25, 2015
Publication date	Aug 25, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Individuals are protected from monetary loss, due to fraudulent banknotes and faulty record-keeping, through the use of currency-ownership identification based on banknote serial numbers. Individuals transacting in banknotes receive a receipt showing the serial numbers, as a string of text, of some or all banknotes involved in the transaction as proof of ownership and source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
locating a set of serial numbers corresponding to a set of banknotes; scanning, by an optical character recognition process, the set of serial numbers corresponding to the set of banknotes as a string of text, wherein the string of text is not an image; generating a receipt that includes the string of text; and transmitting the receipt; wherein:
at least the scanning step is performed by computer software running on computer hardware.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting step includes transmission by SMS protocol.

3 . (canceled)

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the locating step is performed based on a known location of the set of serial numbers.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
assigning temporary ownership to the set of banknotes.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
deciding whether the set of banknotes is valid.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a denomination corresponding to the set of banknotes.

8 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon:
first program instructions programmed to locate a serial number of a banknote; second program instructions programmed to scan the serial number as a string of text; third program instructions programmed to generate a receipt that includes the string of text; and fourth program instructions programmed to transmit the receipt.

9 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the fourth program instructions further include transmitting the receipt by SMS protocol.

10 . The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the second program instructions further include scanning the serial number as a string of text using an optical character recognition process.

11 . The computer program product of claim 8 , further comprising:
fifth program instructions programmed to assign temporary ownership to the banknote.

12 . The computer program product of claim 8 , further comprising:
fifth program instructions programmed to decide whether the banknote is valid.

13 . The computer program product of claim 8 , further comprising:
fifth program instructions programmed to determine a denomination of the banknote.

14 . A computer system comprising:
a processor(s) set; and a computer readable storage medium; wherein:
the processor(s) set is structured, located, connected, and/or programmed to run program instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium; and
the program instructions include:
first program instructions programmed to locate a serial number of a banknote;
second program instructions programmed to scan the serial number as a string of text;
third program instructions programmed to generate a receipt that includes the string of text; and
fourth program instructions programmed to transmit the receipt by SMS protocol.

15 . (canceled)

16 . The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the second program instructions further include scanning the serial number as a string of text using an optical character recognition process.

17 . The computer system of claim 16 , wherein the first program instructions further include locating a serial number of a banknote based on a known location of the serial number.

18 . The computer system of claim 14 , further comprising:
fifth program instructions programmed to assign temporary ownership to the banknote.

19 . The computer system of claim 14 , further comprising:
fifth program instructions programmed to decide whether the banknote is valid.

20 . The computer system of claim 14 , further comprising:
fifth program instructions programmed to determine a denomination of the banknote.

21 . The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the first program instructions further include locating a serial number of a banknote based on a known location of the serial number.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Srivastava Vinod K
• Yadav Rekha

Classifications

• G06Q20/047

  using payment protocols involving electronic receipts · CPC title

• G06V30/40

  Document-oriented image-based pattern recognition · CPC title

• G06Q40/02 Primary

  Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance (credit or loans G06Q40/03) · CPC title

• G06V30/10

  Character recognition · CPC title

• G06Q20/0453

  Physics · mapped topic