System and method for enhancing detection of counterfeit financial transaction documents
OwnerWilliam F. McWhortorinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A financial transaction document, such as a check, is manufactured by dividing the clear band of the document into two parallel portions. The first portion is printed with ferrous loaded ink to produce the standard MICE encoded financial information currently employed in such transaction documents. The second band, located either directly above or directly below the first band, has symbols printed with non-ferrous inks in specific locations. A system is employed to read the information in both bands, and to differentiate between properly printed documents, using the ferrous and non-ferrous printing in adjacent bands, from improperly printed documents which do not employ this printing technique.
Claims14
A MICR encrypted transaction document having an ANSI standards MICR clear band on it, said document including in combination:
- first and second areas in the form of adjacent elongated first and second parallel strips both located in said MICR clear band;
- symbols printed with ferrous loaded ink in said first strip;
- and
- symbols printed with non-ferrous ink in said second strip.
Apparatus for identifying a potential counterfeit transaction document having an ANSI standards MICR clear band in which the transaction document has information with different first and second recognizable printing characteristics, respectively, printed in first and second predetermined areas within the ANSI standards MICR clear band of the document, respectively, said system including in combination;
- first means for detecting and analyzing information printed in both of the first and second predetermined areas of the MICR clear band of said transaction document;
- second means for detecting and analyzing information printed only in one of said first and second predetermined areas of the MICR clear band of said transaction document, and for differentiating the printing characteristics used;
- and
- means responsive to said first and second detecting and analyzing means for determining whether said transaction document is a potential counterfeit document.
A method of detecting potential counterfeit transaction documents where valid documents are provided with adjacent bands of special symbols, with the symbols in one of said bands printed with ferrous loaded ink, and with the symbols in the adjacent band printed with non-ferrous ink, the method including the steps of:
- detecting symbols printed in the first and second bands on the transaction document;
- determining whether symbols printed in the first band are printed having distinguishing characteristics from symbols printed in the second band;
- comparing the averages of the amplitudes of symbols printed in said first band with predetermined standards;
- making a separate calculation of the averages of symbols in said first band which also have symbols located adjacent them in the second band;
- and
- comparing differences between the two calculated averages to determine a potential counterfeit document.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.