BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to providing checkout authentication using text messaging.

2. Introduction

Money services such as “Send Money,” “Pay a Bill,” or “Cash a Check” may be offered in a retail store environment. The services may be offered at a point of sale terminal, such as a check-out register, or at a non-point of sale terminal, such as a stand alone kiosk. Typical checkout systems used for money services do not have a method for customer authentication in order for the customer to pull up their historical data. The systems that do have authentication provide it in the form of letting the customer login with their account ID manually on the checkout system. If the customer wants to use the checkout system they need to login using their account ID. This system and method has several drawbacks. It is difficult to enter the account ID and password on a checkout system; the input devices and display are not accommodating for this type of function. In addition, the prior approach has privacy issues. The cashier and other customers in the vicinity may see the account number and password.

There is a need for a profile management system and method that provides profile management functionality with a more effiencet system and that address the shortcomings of prior systems.

SUMMARY

A system according to embodiments of the invention may comprise a profile management service storing mobile phone numbers for customers in a table, with an account ID associated with each mobile phone number in the table, and the account ID is associated with a respective account for the respective customer; and a money services device for a financial transaction remote from the profile management device and configured to present money service options to a customer, receive a selected option, and present a checkout ID and a destination to the customer, the profile management service may be cross referenced The mobile phone number in the table to the user ID associated with the customer's account and generating challenge questions based on information in the associated customers' account; receiving response to the challenge questions, and logging the user into the account when the responses are verified.

A method for performing concepts disclosed herein can include: presenting a number of available services to the customer via a kiosk; receiving a selection of the options and displaying a unique checkout ID and a destination at the kiosk; receiving the unique checkout ID along with phone number at the destination; parsing the phone number from the message and sending it to the profile management module; cross referencing at a profile management module the phone number to the customer's account ID; determining challenge questions based on account information and sending challenge/security questions to the kiosk with the unique checkout ID that was sent in the original message; displaying to the challenge/security questions and receiving response at the kiosk; and logging the customer in with their account ID when responses are verified.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosed principles. The features and advantages of the disclosure can be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or can be learned by the practice of the principles set forth herein.

