Mobile Foreign Currency Transaction via Image Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current foreign currency transaction systems, particularly for card-based payments, are limited as they require a point-of-sale (POS) terminal and often involve language barriers, making transactions with merchants in non-traditional settings like street stalls or markets difficult and inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
A user device with data processing capabilities captures electronic images of pricing indicators, processes them to determine costs in multiple currencies, and facilitates transactions without a POS terminal, allowing users to select a desired currency and payment card, enabling secure and convenient foreign currency transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If DCC service is provided by third party operators at POS terminals, then users can know the charged amount in home currency, but the system requires POS terminal involvement and excludes merchants in non-traditional settings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical POS terminal system with a mobile device-based system using camera imaging and optical character recognition. The mobile device captures images of pricing indicators and processes them to determine costs in multiple currencies, eliminating the need for physical POS terminals and enabling use in non-traditional merchant settings like street stalls and markets.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mobile device as an intermediary between the user and the merchant transaction system. The mobile device captures pricing information through its camera, processes the information to determine costs in both local and home currencies, and presents the converted amounts to the user, thereby providing DCC functionality without requiring traditional POS infrastructure.
2Loss of information
If third party operators provide DCC at POS terminals, then currency conversion is available, but language barriers remain with merchants in foreign countries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the need for human operators and manual currency conversion processes with an automated mobile device system. The device's camera captures pricing indicators, optical character recognition extracts the pricing information, and the system automatically converts currencies and presents results to the user, eliminating language barriers and simplifying the transaction process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the user's mobile device to perform currency conversion and pricing information extraction independently without requiring merchant assistance or human operators. The device captures the pricing indicator image, processes it through OCR, determines costs in multiple currencies using exchange rates, and presents the information to the user autonomously.
3Productivity
If manual currency conversion processes are used, then transactions can be processed, but the process is time-consuming and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual currency conversion processes with automated image processing and optical character recognition technology. The mobile device captures the pricing indicator, the OCR system automatically extracts pricing information, and the system retrieves exchange rates to calculate converted amounts, dramatically reducing transaction time and complexity compared to manual processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by capturing the pricing indicator image and extracting pricing information before the actual transaction occurs. The system determines costs in both local and home currencies in advance, allowing the user to review and approve the transaction amount before completing the payment, thereby streamlining the overall transaction process.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows users and merchants to conduct foreign currency transactions without a POS device, simplifies the process by using image processing, and provides currency conversion certainty, reducing language barriers and enhancing transaction security.
Implementation Method 1
capture an electronic image of a pricing indicator of a good/service
Data Source
AI summary
A foreign currency transaction system and method can allow both users and merchants to carry out foreign currency transactions without using a point-of-sale (POS) device. In addition, users can carry out foreign currency transactions without knowing much of a foreign language in order to engage with a merchant in a foreign country. In addition, a user may lock-in a foreign currency exchange rate so that the user is able to have some certainty in relation to the foreign currency transaction, and can simplify the use of payment cards for foreign currency transactions by capturing an electronic image of a pricing indicator at a juncture of initiating a foreign currency transaction, and processing the electronic image to automatically determine a required payment amount represented on the pricing indicator.