Internet of things (iot) credit card tracking system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017344974-A1
Application number	US-201615167780-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 27, 2016
Priority date	May 27, 2016
Publication date	Nov 30, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system, apparatus and method are described embedding an IoT device within a credit card of a user. For example, one embodiment of an Internet of Things (IoT) credit card system comprises: a plurality of IoT hubs located within stores; an IoT device embedded within a credit card, the IoT device comprising a battery and a secure communication module to communicate with the IoT hubs; an IoT service to receive location data related to the IoT hubs to which the IoT device has connected, the location data usable to determine the stores and/or locations within stores visited by the user; and a database within the IoT service to store an indication of the stores visited by the user and/or the locations within stores visited by the user.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An Internet of Things (IoT) credit card system comprising:
a plurality of IoT hubs located within stores; an IoT device embedded within a credit card, the IoT device comprising a battery and a secure communication module to communicate with the IoT hubs; an IoT service to receive location data related to the IoT hubs to which the IoT device has connected, the location data usable to determine the stores and/or locations within stores visited by the user; and a database within the IoT service to store an indication of the stores visited by the user and/or the locations within stores visited by the user.

2 . The IoT system as in claim 1 wherein the IoT hubs comprise secure communication modules embedded therein to establish secure communication channels with the secure communication module of the IoT device.

3 . The IoT system as in claim 2 wherein a first secure communication channel is established between a secure communication module of a first IoT hub and a secure communication module of the IoT device, the first secure communication channel used to implement a payment transaction allowing the user to submit payment with the credit card.

4 . The IoT system as in claim 3 wherein data associated with the payment transaction is stored within the database.

5 . The IoT system as in claim 3 wherein the IoT service is to establish a communication channel with a credit card service to complete the payment transaction.

6 . The IoT system as in claim 1 further comprising:
an application programming interface (API) exposed by the IoT service over which data from the database is communicated to one or more external services.

7 . The IoT system as in claim 1 wherein the further comprising:
an client device having an IoT app installed thereon, the IoT app to receive targeted content selected based on the indication of the stores visited by the user and/or the locations within stores visited by the user stored in the database.

8 . A method comprising:
positioning one or more IoT hubs at one or more locations within a store; detecting an IoT device embedded within a credit card of a user within the store or at a particular location within the store; transmitting data uniquely identifying the IoT device and location data related to the IoT hubs to which the IoT device has connected, from one or more of the IoT hubs to an IoT service, the location data usable to determine the store and/or locations within store visited by the user; and storing an indication of the stores visited by the user and/or the locations within stores visited by the user within a database on the IoT service.

9 . The method as in claim 8 wherein the IoT hubs comprise secure communication modules embedded therein to establish secure communication channels with a secure communication module of the IoT device.

10 . The method as in claim 9 wherein a first secure communication channel is established between a secure communication module of a first IoT hub and a secure communication module of the IoT device, the first secure communication channel used to implement a payment transaction allowing the user to submit payment with the credit card.

11 . The method as in claim 10 wherein data associated with the payment transaction is stored within the database.

12 . The method as in claim 10 wherein the IoT service is to establish a communication channel with a credit card service to complete the payment transaction.

13 . The method as in claim 8 further comprising:
exposing an application programming interface (API) by the IoT service over which data from the database is communicated to one or more external services.

14 . The method as in claim 8 wherein the further comprising:
transmitting targeted content to an app on a client of the user, the targeted content selected based on the indication of the stores visited by the user and/or the locations within stores visited by the user stored in the database.

15 . A system comprising:
means for positioning one or more IoT hubs at one or more locations within a store; means for detecting an IoT device embedded within a credit card of a user within the store or at a particular location within the store; means for transmitting data uniquely identifying the IoT device and location data related to the IoT hubs to which the IoT device has connected, from one or more of the IoT hubs to an IoT service, the location data usable to determine the store and/or locations within store visited by the user; and means for storing an indication of the stores visited by the user and/or the locations within stores visited by the user within a database on the IoT service.

16 . The system as in claim 15 wherein the IoT hubs comprise secure communication modules embedded therein to establish secure communication channels with a secure communication module of the IoT device.

17 . The system as in claim 16 wherein a first secure communication channel is established between a secure communication module of a first IoT hub and a secure communication module of the IoT device, the first secure communication channel used to implement a payment transaction allowing the user to submit payment with the credit card.

18 . The system as in claim 17 wherein data associated with the payment transaction is stored within the database.

19 . The system as in claim 17 wherein the IoT service is to establish a communication channel with a credit card service to complete the payment transaction.

20 . The system as in claim 15 further comprising:
exposing an application programming interface (API) by the IoT service over which data from the database is communicated to one or more external services.

21 . The system as in claim 15 wherein the further comprising:
transmitting targeted content to an app on a client of the user, the targeted content selected based on the indication of the stores visited by the user and/or the locations within stores visited by the user stored in the database.

Assignees

• Afero Inc

Inventors

• Britt Joe

Classifications

• G06Q20/3224 Primary

  Transactions dependent on location of M-devices · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• G06F16/9537

  Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries · CPC title

• G06Q20/4093

  Monitoring of device authentication · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title