US-12626235-B2 - System and method for mobile check deposit with restricted endorsement

US12626235B2US 12626235 B2US12626235 B2US 12626235B2US-12626235-B2

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes receiving, from a mobile device, a deposit request including a first check image for funds to be deposited into a user account, determining a risk level associated with the deposit request, requesting a second check image having a restricted endorsement based on the risk level, receiving the second check image having the restricted endorsement, determining a confidence level based on the restricted endorsement, and transferring the funds to the user account based on the confidence level.

Inventors

Al Hecht

Assignees

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240610

Claims (20)

1 . A method implemented by a mobile device, the method comprising: initiating an image sensor of the mobile device to detect imagery via one or more lenses of the image sensor; displaying, on a display screen of the mobile device, the imagery detected by the image sensor; overlaying, on the displayed imagery, a guide box having a first visual feedback; detecting, by the image sensor, a check within the guide box in the imagery; responsive to detecting the check within the guide box, changing the first visual feedback to a second visual feedback to indicate that the check is detected; capturing a check image of the detected check using the image sensor of the mobile device; applying an optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm to the check image to detect a presence of one or more characters within the check image and positions of the one or more characters in the check image; determining a certainty score for each of the one or more characters within the check image; determining, based at least in part on the certainty scores, a confidence level for a restricted endorsement in the check image, the confidence level corresponding to (i) whether the positions of a subset of the one or more characters of the restricted endorsement are within a predetermined area of the check image and (ii) the subset of the one or more characters of the restricted endorsement form a predetermined word or phrase; and transmitting, responsive to the confidence level satisfying a predetermined threshold, the check image to a check processing computer system to trigger the check processing computer system to automatically deposit funds based on the restricted endorsement.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first visual feedback is a first color of an edge of the guide box, and wherein changing the first visual feedback to the second visual feedback comprises changing the first color of the edge of the guide box to a second color of the edge of the guide box.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the confidence level is determined based on a percentage of recognizable characters within the restricted endorsement.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining that the restricted endorsement is within a specified area in the check image prior to transmitting the check image to the check processing computer system.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: assigning a respective tag to each of a subset of the one or more characters that have a certainty score above a first certainty threshold, wherein the confidence level for the restricted endorsement is based at least in part on the respective tag of each of the subset of the one or more characters; assigning a second tag to a character of the one or more characters having the certainty score between the first certainty threshold and a second certainty threshold, wherein the second certainty threshold is lower than the first certainty threshold; displaying, on the display screen of the mobile device, a request to validate the character having the second tag; responsive to the request to validate the character having the second tag, receiving, by the mobile device, validated characters corresponding to the character having the second tag; and revising the confidence level for the restricted endorsement based on the character having a first tag and the second tag.
6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising: assigning a third tag to a character having the certainty score below the second certainty threshold: displaying, on the display screen of the mobile device, a request to enter the character having the third tag; responsive to the request to enter the character having the third tag, receiving entered characters corresponding to the character having the third tag; and revising the confidence level for the restricted endorsement based on the character having the first tag, the second tag, and the third tag.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying, on the display screen of the mobile device, the check image.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying, on the display screen on a first side of the mobile device, the check image detected by the image sensor disposed on the first side of the mobile device.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying, on the display screen on a first side of the mobile device, the check image detected by the image sensor disposed on a second side of the mobile device, the first side opposing the second side on the mobile device.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting an amount associated with the check image to an institution to trigger a transfer of funds into a user account, the funds equal to the amount.
11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, responsive to the confidence level satisfying a specified confidence threshold, an amount associated with the check image to an institution to trigger a transfer of funds into a user account, the funds equal to the amount.
12 . A computer system comprising: a mobile device comprising an image sensor configured to detect imagery via one or more lenses of the image sensor, the mobile device comprising one or more processors and being configured to: display, on a display screen of the mobile device, the imagery detected by the image sensor; overlay, on the displayed imagery, a guide box having a first visual feedback; detect, by the image sensor, a check within the guide box in the imagery; responsive to detecting the check within the guide box, change the first visual feedback to a second visual feedback to indicate that the check is detected; capture a check image of the detected check using the image sensor of the mobile device; apply an optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm to the check image to detect a presence of one or more characters within the check image and positions of the one or more characters in the check image; determine a certainty score for each of the one or more characters within the check image; determine, based at least in part on the certainty scores, a confidence level for a restricted endorsement in the check image, the confidence level corresponding to (i) whether the positions of a subset of the one or more characters of the restricted endorsement are within a predetermined area of the check image and (ii) the subset of the one or more characters of the restricted endorsement form a predetermined word or phrase; and transmitting, responsive to the confidence level satisfying a predetermined threshold, the check image to a check processing computer system to trigger the check processing computer system to automatically deposit funds based on the restricted endorsement.
13 . The computer system of claim 12 , wherein the first visual feedback is a first color of an edge of the guide box, and the second visual feedback is a second color of the edge of the guide box.
14 . The computer system of claim 12 , wherein the confidence level is determined based on a percentage of recognizable characters within the restricted endorsement.
15 . The computer system of claim 12 , wherein the mobile device is further configured to determine that the restricted endorsement is within a specified area in the check image in response to determining that the confidence level is above a confidence threshold.
16 . The computer system of claim 12 , wherein the mobile device is further configured to: assign a respective tag to each of a subset of the one or more characters that have a certainty score above a first certainty threshold; assign a second tag to a character of the one or more characters having the certainty score between the first certainty threshold and a second certainty threshold, wherein the second certainty threshold is lower than the first certainty threshold; display, on the display screen of the mobile device, a request to validate the character having the second tag; responsive to the request to validate the character having the second tag, receive validated characters corresponding to the character having the second tag; and revise the confidence level for the restricted endorsement based on the character having a first tag and the second tag.
17 . The computer system of claim 16 , wherein the mobile device is further configured to: assign a third tag to a character having the certainty score below the second certainty threshold; display, on the display screen of the mobile device, a request to enter the character having the third tag; responsive to the request to enter the character having the third tag, receive entered characters corresponding to the character having the third tag; and revise the confidence level for the restricted endorsement based on the character having the first tag, the second tag, and the third tag.
18 . The computer system of claim 12 , wherein the mobile device is further configured to display, on the display screen on a first side of the mobile device, the check image detected by the image sensor disposed on a second side of the mobile device, the first side opposing the second side on the mobile device.
19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of a mobile device, the one or more programs including instructions for: initiating an image sensor of the mobile device to detect imagery via one or more lenses of the image sensor; displaying, on a display screen of the mobile device, the imagery detected by the image sensor; overlaying, on the displayed imagery, a guide box having a first visual feedback; detecting, by the image sensor, a check within the guide box in the imagery; responsive to detecting the check within the guide box, changing the first visual feedback to a second visual feedback to indicate that the check is detected; capturing a check image of the detected check using the image sensor of the mobile device; applying an optical character recognition (OCR) algorithm to the check image to detect a presence of one or more characters within the check image and positions of the one or more characters in the check image; determining a certainty score for each of the one or more characters within the check image; determining, based at least in part on the certainty scores, a confidence level for a restricted endorsement in the check image, the confidence level corresponding to (i) whether the positions of a subset of the one or more characters of the restricted endorsement are within a predetermined area of the check image and (ii) the subset of the one or more characters of the restricted endorsement form a predetermined word or phrase; and transmitting, responsive to the confidence level satisfying a predetermined threshold, the check image to a check processing computer system to trigger the check processing computer system to automatically deposit funds based on the restricted endorsement.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the first visual feedback is a first color of an edge of the guide box, and the second visual feedback is a second color of the edge of the guide box.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/986,833 filed Nov. 14, 2022 (now U.S. Pat. No. 12,008,529), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/102,306 filed Nov. 23, 2020 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,501,271), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/496,480, filed Sep. 25, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,846,667), which further claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/885,463, filed on Oct. 1, 2013, all of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties and for all purposes. BACKGROUND Mobile communication devices having a wireless internet connection, such as a cellular phone or a smart phone, may be used to deposit checks to a financial account held with a financial institution. The checks may be deposited through a website of the financial institution or via an application run by the mobile device. A check may be deposited by capturing one or more images of the check and sending the images remotely to the financial institution. The financial institution reviews the images and either accepts or rejects the deposit based on the images. If accepted by the financial institution, the financial institution may make the funds immediately available to the account holder. However, the check is retained by the account holder and remains free of any markings suggesting the check has been deposited. As such, the account holder may be able to cash the check with a check cashing service to again receive the value of the check. If the check cashing service has possession of the check (and thus priority) and the financial institution is unable to recover the funds distributed to the account holder (e.g., the financial account has a negative value), the financial institution may then lose the amount of the check. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE One embodiment relates to a computer-implemented method which includes receiving, from a mobile device, a deposit request including a first check image for funds to be deposited into a user account, determining a risk level associated with the deposit request, requesting a second check image having a restricted endorsement based on the risk level, receiving the second check image having the restricted endorsement, determining a confidence level based on the restricted endorsement, and transferring the funds to the user account based on the confidence level. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer-implemented check processing system, according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is an illustration of a process for receiving a check deposit request, according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3 is screen view of a mobile device implementing the check processing system of FIG. 1, according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 4 is a screen view of the mobile device capturing an image of the back of the check, according to an exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1, a computer-implemented check processing system 100 using a mobile device 110 is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment. The check processing system 100 may be utilized by a user of the mobile device 110 (e.g., an account holder, recipient user, etc.) to deposit checks to an account held by a financial institution. The user may be a business entity and/or an individual consumer that has one or more accounts with the financial institution. The mobile device 110 can be used to transmit check images and other user-provided data to a recipient bank computer system 120. Additionally, funds can be transferred from the source account bank to the recipient account bank. Alternatively, the source account and the recipient account can be held at a single financial institution. While, in the example of FIG. 1 a mobile device 110 is shown, as will be appreciated, the recipient may also use other devices (e.g., laptop or desktop computer system, not shown) to capture and transmit an image of a check to the financial institution. The check processing system 100 may include, among other systems, the mobile device 110 (e.g., cellular phone, smart phone, tablet, mobile handheld wireless e-mail device, personal digital assistant, portable gaming device, tablet, laptop, camera, etc.), the recipient bank computer system 120, and a source account bank computer system 130. The mobile device 110, the recipient bank computer system 120, and the source account bank computer system 130 may communicate through a network 160, which may include one or more of a cellular network, a wireless local area network (WLAN), Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, a proprietary banking network, and so on. The network 160 may connect the mobile device 110 to the Internet, such as via a wireless network access point or other connection. The mobile device 110, the recipient bank computer system 120, and the source account bank computer system 130 may each comprise a