# US 10,373,150 B2 · User terminal location based credit card authorization servers, systems, methods and computer program products

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- Number: US 10,373,150 B2
- Document ID: US10373150B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/508,308
- Filed: 2014-10-07
- Published: 2015-01-22
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2007-01-03
- Assignees: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
- Applicants: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
- Inventors: Jeffrey A. Aaron; John P. Ruckart
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10373150B2

## CPC

- G06Q 20/3224: {Transactions dependent on location of M-devices}
- G06Q 20/24: Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
- G06Q 20/26: Debit schemes, e.g. "pay now"
- G06Q 20/40: 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
- G06Q 40/00: Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
- H04W 12/12: Detection or prevention of fraud
- H04W 12/126: Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
- H04W 4/021: Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
- H04W 4/14: Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
- H04W 12/63: Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

Credit card transaction servers, systems, methods and computer program products receive information concerning a prospective credit card transaction with one of multiple credit card issuers and obtain location information from multiple wireless network providers for wireless terminal(s) that are associated with a user of the credit card for the prospective credit card transaction. The locations of the credit card transaction terminal(s) and the locations of the wireless terminal(s) are correlated, and authorization information for the prospective credit card transaction is generated based upon this location correlation.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
obtaining, by a server comprising a computing processor, information about a prospective credit card transaction associated with a credit card, wherein the information about the prospective credit card transaction comprises an identification of a merchant associated with a credit card transaction terminal that is associated with the prospective credit card transaction, wherein the server comprises a wireless network interface for communicating with a plurality of different wireless network providers;
querying, by the server, using the identification of the merchant, a geographic information system;
in response to querying the geographic information system, obtaining, by the server, a merchant location of the merchant;
polling, by the server using the wireless network interface, via wireless communications links, the plurality of different wireless network providers;
determining, by the server, based on results of polling the plurality of different wireless network providers, that a user associated with the credit card of the prospective credit card transaction is associated with a first wireless device and a second wireless device, wherein the first wireless device associated with the user is registered with a first wireless network provider of the plurality of different wireless network providers and wherein the second wireless device associated with the user is registered with a second wireless network provider of the plurality of different wireless network providers that is different from the first wireless network provider;
setting up, by the credit card transaction terminal, ad hoc short-range wireless links between the credit card transaction terminal and devices within a proximity of the merchant location of the merchant, wherein the ad hoc short-range wireless links comprise an ad hoc short-range wireless link set up by the credit card transaction terminal between the credit card transaction terminal and the first wireless device associated with the user;
providing, by the credit card transaction terminal, to the server, an indication that an ad hoc short-range wireless link was set up between the credit card transaction terminal and the first wireless device associated with the user;
receiving, by the server, from the credit card transaction terminal, the indication that an ad hoc short-range wireless link was set up between the credit card transaction terminal and the first wireless device associated with the user;
determining, by the server, that the first wireless device associated with the user is within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant based, at least in part, on the indication from the credit card transaction terminal;
determining, by the server, that the second wireless device associated with the user is not within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant based, at least in part, on not receiving an indication from the credit card transaction terminal that an ad hoc short-range wireless link was set up between the credit card transaction terminal and the second wireless device associated with the user;
in response to determining that the second wireless device associated with the user is not within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant, determining, by the server via the wireless network interface, whether the first wireless device associated with the user and the second wireless device associated with the user are registered with a same wireless network provider;
in response to determining that the first wireless device and the second wireless device are not registered with the same wireless network provider based on the first wireless device being registered with the first wireless network provider and the second wireless device being registered with the second wireless network provider that is different from the first wireless network provider, requiring, by the server, a level of authentication of the user in order to authorize the prospective credit card transaction, wherein the level of authentication comprises an additional authentication of the user in order to authorize the prospective credit card transaction that is not required to authorize the prospective credit card transaction when the first wireless device associated with the user and the second wireless device associated with the user are both within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant;
generating, by the server, for the additional authentication, a message comprising a photo of the user; and
transmitting, by the server, the message comprising the photo of the user to the credit card transaction terminal to authorize the prospective credit card transaction.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the merchant includes a merchant name.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the prospective credit card transaction associated with the credit card is obtained along with a request for authorization for the prospective credit card transaction.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the proximity varies based on a time of day.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the proximity is based on a type of the first wireless device and on a type of the second wireless device.

### Claim 6

A system comprising:
a server comprising
a wireless network interface, wherein the server communicates with a plurality of different wireless network providers via the wireless network interface,
a processor, and
a computer-readable medium that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
obtaining information about a prospective credit card transaction associated with a credit card, wherein the information about the prospective credit card transaction comprises an identification of a merchant associated with a credit card transaction terminal that is associated with the prospective credit card transaction,
querying, using the identification of the merchant, a geographic information system,
in response to querying the geographic information system, obtaining a merchant location of the merchant,
polling, using the wireless network interface, via wireless communications links, the plurality of different wireless network providers,
determining, based on results of polling the plurality of different wireless network providers, that a user associated with the credit card of the prospective credit card transaction is associated with a first wireless device and a second wireless device, wherein the first wireless device associated with the user is registered with a first wireless network provider of the plurality of different wireless network providers and wherein the second wireless device associated with the user is registered with a second wireless network provider of the plurality of different wireless network providers that is different from the first wireless network provider; and
the credit card transaction terminal that performs operations comprising
setting up ad hoc short-range wireless links between the credit card transaction terminal and devices within a proximity of the merchant location of the merchant, wherein the ad hoc short-range wireless links comprise an ad hoc short-range wireless link set up by the credit card transaction terminal between the credit card transaction terminal and the first wireless device associated with the user, and
providing, to the server, an indication that an ad hoc short-range wireless link was set up between the credit card transaction terminal and the first wireless device associated with the user,
wherein the processor performs further operations comprising
receiving, from the credit card transaction terminal, the indication that an ad hoc short-range wireless link was set up between the credit card transaction terminal and the first wireless device associated with the user,
determining that the first wireless device associated with the user is within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant based, at least in part, on the indication from the credit card transaction terminal,
determining that the second wireless device associated with the user is not within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant based, at least in part, on not receiving an indication from the credit card transaction terminal that an ad hoc short-range wireless link was set up between the credit card transaction terminal and the second wireless device associated with the user,
in response to determining that the second wireless device associated with the user is not within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant, determining whether the first wireless device associated with the user and the second wireless device associated with the user are registered with a same wireless network provider,
in response to determining that the first wireless device and the second wireless device are not registered with the same wireless network provider based on the first wireless device being registered with the first wireless network provider and the second wireless device being registered with the second wireless network provider that is different from the first wireless network provider, requiring a level of authentication of the user associated with the credit card in order to authorize the prospective credit card transaction, wherein the level of authentication comprises an additional authentication of the user in order to authorize the prospective credit card transaction that is not required to authorize the prospective credit card transaction when the first wireless device associated with the user and the second wireless device associated with the user are both within the proximity of the merchant location of the merchant,
generating, for the additional authentication, a message comprising a photo of the user, and
transmitting the message comprising the photo of the user to the credit card transaction terminal to authorize the prospective credit card transaction.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the information about the prospective credit card transaction associated with the credit card is obtained along with a request for authorization for the prospective credit card transaction.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the proximity varies based on a time of day.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the identification of the merchant includes a merchant name.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the proximity is based on a type of the first wireless device and on a type of the second wireless device.