PHILADELPHIA — The United States Patent & Trademark Office recently published the patent application for ATMB-Safe, a software product that may help combat the problem of forced ATM withdrawals.
Ron Russikoff, founder of ATMB-Safe and inventor of the product, said it will enable ATM customers to simply and discreetly signal if they are in distress at the ATM.
Russikoff said the ATMB-Safe system is designed to ask cardholders for an additional means of user authentication called a Transaction Acceptance Password (TAP) after he inserts his ATM card and enters a PIN.
The cardholder will be asked to recognize and choose his TAP from a list of pre-selected passwords. In the event of a forced withdrawal, the cardholder will be able to recognize and select a password other than the TAP. The selection of the alternate password will allow the transaction to proceed as normal, while authorities are alerted.
Russikoff believes it makes sense to add another level of identity verification at the ATM. "In a world where we sometimes have to go through several steps to confirm our identity when ordering a book from Amazon or an appliance from eBay, I think it's time that ATM cardholders are given the opportunity to take an additional step to protect themselves when withdrawing cash from an ATM," he said.
Russikoff said that ATMB-Safe hopes to partner with the ATM, financial services and EFT industries to help them cost-effectively enhance their existing customer security and safety education efforts.
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