# US 12,223,505 B1 · Biometric token that functions as a universal identifier

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- Number: US 12,223,505 B1
- Document ID: US12223505B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 17/688,715
- Filed: 2022-03-07
- Granted: 2025-02-11
- Earliest claimed: 2015-12-29
- Assignees: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
- Applicants: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
- Inventors: Jinee K. Ellis; Timothy R. Knowlton; Ashish B. Kurani; Steven E. Puffer
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12223505B1

## CPC

- G06Q 20/40145: {Biometric identity checks}
- G06Q 20/10: specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
- G06Q 20/202: {Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR}
- 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

## Abstract

Systems and methods for identifying a user to a merchant include creating a token for the user, the token identifying the user and user information of the user, where creating the token includes generating a string based on a user biometric and hashing the string to generate a hashed string, sending a notification indicating that a merchant requests the user information of the user, sending the token to a user device associated with the user where the token is configured to be activated via the user device before the token is selectively transmitted by the user device, receiving the token from a merchant computing system associated with a merchant, identifying the user and the user information based on the received token, receiving an indication from the user device, and withholding the user information from the merchant computing system based on the indication.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of identifying a user using a token service provider, the method comprising:
creating, by a token service provider computing system associated with the token service provider, a token for the user, the token identifying the user and user information of the user, wherein creating the token includes:
generating a string based on a user biometric by converting a biometric file associated with the user biometric into the string via a biometric conversion algorithm, and
hashing the string to generate a hashed string that serves as the token;
sending, by the token service provider computing system to a user device associated with the user, a notification indicating that a merchant requests the user information of the user;
sending, by the token service provider computing system, the token to the user device associated with the user;
receiving, by the token service provider computing system, the token from a merchant computing system associated with the merchant;
receiving, by the token service provider computing system, a user interaction from the user device indicative of not authorizing transmission of the user information to the merchant computing system;
in response to receiving the user interaction, preventing, by the token service provider computing system, the transmission of the user information from the token service provider computing system to the merchant computing system; and
subsequent to preventing the transmission of the user information, receiving, by the token service provider computing system, authentication from the user device for the token service provider computing system to provide the user information to the merchant computing system, wherein the authentication includes a biometric of the user.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the merchant computing system captures the token from a broadcast of the token from the user device.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the user interaction is a first user interaction, the method further comprising sending, by the token service provider computing system based on receiving a second user interaction, the user information to the merchant computing system.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3, wherein the user information sent to the merchant computing system is merchant-specific user information.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, by the token service provider computing system, a payment source associated with the user to the merchant computing system.

### Claim 6

A system for identifying a user, the system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
creating a token for the user, the token identifying the user and user information of the user, wherein creating the token includes:
generating a string based on a user biometric by converting a biometric file associated with the user biometric into the string via a biometric conversion algorithm, and
hashing the string to generate a hashed string that serves as the token;
sending a notification indicating that a merchant requests the user information of the user;
sending the token to a user device associated with the user;
receiving the token from a merchant computing system associated with the merchant;
receiving a user interaction from the user device indicative of not authorizing transmission of the user information to the merchant computing system;
in response to receiving the user interaction, preventing the transmission of the user information to the merchant computing system; and
subsequent to preventing the transmission of the user information, receiving an authentication from the user device to provide the user information to the merchant computing system, wherein the authentication includes a biometric of the user.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the merchant computing system captures the token from a broadcast of the token from the user device.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the user interaction is a first user interaction, and wherein the operations further comprise sending the user information to the merchant computing system based on receiving a second user interaction.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8, wherein the user information sent to the merchant computing system is merchant-specific user information.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the operations further comprise sending a payment source associated with the user to the merchant computing system.

### Claim 11

A non-transitory computer readable media have computer-executable instructions embodied therein that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
creating a token for a user, the token identifying the user and user information of the user, wherein creating the token includes:
generating a string based on a user biometric by converting a biometric file associated with the user biometric into the string via a biometric conversion algorithm, and
hashing the string to generate a hashed string that serves as the token;
sending a notification indicating that a merchant requests the user information of the user;
sending the token to a user device associated with the user;
receiving the token from a merchant computing system associated with the merchant;
receiving a user interaction from the user device indicative of not authorizing transmission of the user information to the merchant computing system;
in response to receiving the user interaction, preventing the transmission of the user information to the merchant computing system; and
subsequent to preventing the transmission of the user information, receiving, by the computing system, authentication from the user device for the computing system to provide the user information to the merchant computing system, wherein the authentication includes a biometric of the user.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11, wherein the token is received by the merchant computing system from a broadcast of the token from the user device.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11, wherein the user interaction is a first user interaction, and wherein the operations further comprise sending the user information to the merchant computing system based on receiving a second user interaction.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 13, wherein the user information sent to the merchant computing system is merchant-specific user information.