FIELD OF USE

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to secure transactions and more specifically to a protocol to secure electronic transactions using two-way handshakes.

BACKGROUND

Scams, and various types of fraud, to obtain money from users are well-known. From the Nigerian Prince email scam to phishing attempts, various efforts are made to obtain money or sensitive information from users. In this regard, existing solutions provide inadequate protection for users. For example, users may set up alerts and notifications; however, most alerts and notifications may be triggered by spending limits, not fraudulent attempts to obtain the users money. Another example may be fraud detection systems employed by banks and other lending institutions. These may catch valid attempts to transfer money, which may, in turn, annoy users. Lastly, users may configure secure sign-in to require multifactor authentication, such as a password and either a biometric or one-time code. While this may protect the users' accounts, secure sign-in techniques do little to protect a user from transferring money to a scammer.

Aspects described herein may address these and other problems, and generally improve the speed, efficiency, and security of electronic asset transfers.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of various aspects described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intended to identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of the claims. The following summary merely presents some concepts in a simplified form as an introductory prelude to the more detailed description provided below. Corresponding apparatus, systems, and computer-readable media are also within the scope of the disclosure.

Methods and systems as described herein may secure the electronic transfer of assets using two-way handshakes. When a second user initializes a transaction with a first user, the second user may capture a second biometric identifier to send along with the transaction request transmitted to the first user device. The first user device may receive the transaction request and the first user may review the second biometric identifier. If the first user does not approve of the second biometric identifier, the first user device may terminate the transaction. However, when the first user recognizes the second user from the second biometric identifier and approves the second biometric identifier, the first user device may confirm the identity of the second user, obtain a first biometric identifier, and transmit a response to the second user device via a server. The response may include the confirmation of the second user's identity and the first biometric identifier. Further, the server may record the first user device's approval of the second biometric identifier.

Upon receiving the response from the first user device, the second user device may present the first biometric identifier received in the first user's response for the second user to confirm the identity of the first user. The second user device may not approve the first biometric identifier and the transaction may be terminated. When the second user identifies the first user from the first biometric and approves the first biometric identifier, the second user device may transmit a verification to the server. After the server has received approval of each parties' respective biometric identifier, the server may initiate the electronic transfer between the two parties.

By having both parties approve a biometric identifier of the other party before initiating a transfer of assets from one account to another, the techniques described herein may improve security of electronic asset transfers and prevent scammers from fraudulently obtaining assets from users.

These features, along with many others, are discussed in greater detail below.

