Proximity-Based ATM Transaction Resumption via Mobile Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Customers often abandon ATM transactions due to insufficient funds, forgotten items, or lack of time, leading to inefficiencies as they must restart the transaction upon returning to a financial institution, forgetting to complete the initial transaction.
Innovation Solution
A system that provides proximity-triggered notifications to customers via mobile devices when they are near a financial institution channel, allowing them to resume abandoned ATM transactions from the last completed point, using a distributed computing network with ATMs, an authorization system, and a customer management system to queue and alert customers of pending transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a customer initiates an ATM transaction but abandons it before completion, then the customer may need to complete the transaction later, but the customer must start the transaction anew and may forget to complete it
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically queuing the abandoned transaction for later completion and sending notifications to the customer. The transaction is preserved in a queue with all necessary data stored, so when the customer receives a notification and returns to complete it, the transaction is already prepared and waiting, eliminating the need to start over.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by sending notifications to the customer's mobile device when they are near an ATM, reminding them of the abandoned transaction. This feedback loop ensures the customer is aware of the pending transaction and can complete it, preventing total loss of the transaction initiation.
2Productivity
If the system queues abandoned transactions for later completion, then customers can resume transactions efficiently, but the system requires additional infrastructure including mobile notifications and location tracking
Solution Approach 1:
The system leverages existing multi-functional components: the ATM serves both as a transaction device and a notification trigger point; the mobile device handles both communication and location tracking; the queue system manages both abandoned and normal transactions. This multi-functionality reduces the need for entirely new infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a notification server as an intermediary that coordinates between the ATM, the queue system, and the customer's mobile device. This intermediary manages the complexity of synchronizing location data, transaction queues, and notifications, centralizing the control logic in one component rather than distributing it across multiple systems.
3Reliability
If the system sends proximity-triggered notifications to customers, then customers are reminded to complete transactions at convenient locations, but the system requires location determination mechanisms and proximity detection
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the customer's own mobile device location capabilities to trigger notifications. The mobile device's built-in location determination mechanism serves the system's needs without requiring separate tracking infrastructure. The customer's device essentially serves itself by providing location data that triggers the appropriate notification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds a spatial dimension to transaction management by using geographic location as a trigger for notifications. Instead of time-based or event-based notifications alone, the system incorporates location-based triggering, creating a new dimension for initiating transaction completion reminders.
Data Source
AI summary
Proximity-triggered notifications/alerts are communicated to bank customers as a result of a previously abandoned/canceled ATM transaction that has subsequently been pre-queued for completion. In this regard, the present invention recognizes when the customer is proximate in location to a financial institution channel suitable for completing the transaction and sends the customer an alert, which is typically received by the customer via a mobile communication device. The alert indicates that the previous abandoned ATM transaction has been pre-queued for completion and provides the customer with the location of the nearest financial institution channel suitable for completing the transaction. In specific embodiments of the invention, pre-queuing of the transaction for completion provides for the customer to complete the transaction from the last existing point in the transaction completed by the customer.