Patent of the Month

The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) Patent Newsletter is a monthly review of patents issued in the fields of security, decorative and data storage holography, along with holographic techniques, processes and displays.

In the ‘Card – luminescence’ category of February’s edition of the newsletter, Bank of America discloses an application that provides a payment card with light- based signature.

The patent claims protection for a system for light-based authentication of a payment card. The system is comprised of a payment card made from a randomised mix of materials; a light source configured to emit light in a predetermined range of wavelengths; an image capture device configured to capture a light pattern. The light pattern appears when light from the light source passes through the payment card and is converted to a digital image.

The system also includes a processor in communication with the image capture device which compares the digital image of the captured light pattern to a digital image of a reference light pattern and by doing so authenticates the payment card when the digital image of the captured light pattern matches the digital image of the reference light pattern. The cards are considered to be matched when the percentage match is greater than a predetermined threshold.

The randomised mix of materials comprises one or more randomly selected materials from a first set of materials comprising opaque materials and one or more randomly selected materials from a second set of materials comprising translucent materials. The payment card further comprises a number of predefined spaces extending through a front card surface and a rear card surface, and the spaces filled with the randomised mix of materials.

The payment card further comprises a diffraction grating configured to split the light from the light source into individual wavelengths. The image capture device comprises a photosensor positioned to detect a diffracted wavelength, the photosensor position based on an angle of incidence and a predetermined wavelength. The processor is further configured to authenticate the payment card when the diffracted wavelength corresponds to the predetermined wavelength.

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