Automated Money Transfer System with Agent Network
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing money transfer systems face significant time delays and require account relationships between senders and receivers, limiting convenience and efficiency, especially when transferring money across different currencies.
Innovation Solution
A computerized money transfer system utilizing a network of agent terminals interconnected by a communications network, where agents register with the service and manage accounts, enabling currency-independent transactions without requiring senders or receivers to have accounts, with built-in monitoring for suspicious transactions and hierarchical agent organization for local processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If money is transferred through physical offices with manual processing, then the system does not require senders to have accounts, but there is a considerable time delay between ordering and receipt of money
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical office-based money transfer system with an automated electronic computerized system. The money transfer controller automatically processes transactions between sending and receiving entities using electronic data storage and communication, eliminating the need for physical office visits and manual handling while maintaining the benefit of not requiring sender accounts.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service money transfers where senders can initiate transfers electronically without requiring account relationships with the transfer service. The automated controller handles the entire transfer process independently, allowing senders to simply provide transfer instructions without ongoing account management.
2Speed
If money is transferred between bank accounts, then the transfer can be fast, but it requires both sender and receiver to have accounts with the financial organization
Solution Approach 1:
The money transfer controller is designed to handle multiple types of transfers including cash-to-cash, cash-to-account, and account-to-cash transfers. The system can process transfers between entities with or without accounts, and between different currencies, making it universally applicable to various transfer scenarios without requiring specific account relationships.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a network of agents as intermediaries between senders and receivers. These agents operate agent terminals that communicate with the money transfer controller, enabling transfers between entities that do not have direct account relationships with the financial organization. The agents facilitate the transfer process while the controller manages the underlying transactions.
3Ease of operation
If a network of agents is used for money transfers, then account relationships are not required, but the system complexity increases with multiple agents and terminals
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into distinct functional components: multiple independent agent terminals, a central money transfer controller, and a transaction data store. Each agent terminal operates independently to handle local transactions, while the controller provides centralized coordination. This segmentation allows the system to scale with multiple agents without proportionally increasing overall complexity, as each component has a specific, well-defined function.
Data Source
AI summary
A computerized money transfer system implements a money transfer service for trasferring money from a sending entity to at least one receiving entity. A plurality of agent terminals operable by agents of the money transfer service are interconnected by a communications network. A money transfer control system is connected to the communications network for controlling the implementation of the money transfer service. The money transfer control system includes an agent account data store storing account data for each agent and a transaction data store storing transaction data for transactions by agents implementing money transfers from a sending entity to at least one receiving entity. When data is input to an agent terminal by a sending agent instigating a money transfer requested by a sending entity to at least one receiving entity, the data is transmitted to the money transfer control system. The input data identifies the sending and receiving entities, sending agent and at least one receiving agent that is to remit the money transferred thereto to the or each receiving entity. The money transfer control system records the input data in the transaction data store as a transaction from a sending agent to at least one receiving agent for a sending entity and at least one receiving entity and updates the agent account data in the agent account data store for the sending and receiving agents.