Patents by Inventor William E. Wheeler

William E. Wheeler has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20260134417
    Abstract: A method of accessing an account includes receiving, from a device, randomly generated seed information and an encrypted key or token generated by a card using the randomly generated seed information via a contactless communication between the card and the device; decrypting the encrypted key or token using a decryption process that includes the randomly generated seed information and the encrypted key or token as inputs in response to determining that the randomly generated seed information does not match previously received seed information; and providing, to the device and based on the decrypted key or token, access to the account.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2025
    Publication date: May 14, 2026
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 12626242
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. More particularly, a transaction card that includes a contactless enabled chip having a customer-specific uniform resource locator (URL) stored thereon, where the contactless enabled chip is configured to communicate the customer-specific URL to a mobile device via a contactless communication to activate the transaction card for use in a transaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2024
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2026
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20260127576
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. A transaction card includes a contactless enabled chip storing a near-field communication (“NFC”) tag and an application that enables a payment via the transaction card. The NFC tag includes stored information separate from the application including customer identity information. The contactless enabled chip is configured to: receive, via a contactless communication between the contactless enabled chip and a user device, a random bit string and a request for the customer identity information; determine a cryptographic algorithm; encrypt, according to the cryptographic algorithm and using the random bit string, an information package to generate a bit sequence; embed the bit sequence into a general uniform resource locator (“URL”) to create a customer-specific URL; and wirelessly transmit the NFC tag containing the customer-specific URL to the user device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2025
    Publication date: May 7, 2026
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 12561669
    Abstract: A method of accessing an account includes receiving, from a device, randomly generated seed information and an encrypted key or token generated by a card using the randomly generated seed information via a contactless communication between the card and the device; decrypting the encrypted key or token using a decryption process that includes the randomly generated seed information and the encrypted key or token as inputs in response to determining that the randomly generated seed information does not match previously received seed information; and providing, to the device and based on the decrypted key or token, access to the account.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2024
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2026
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20260017640
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a card via unique activation codes are disclosed. A system includes a memory and a processor configured to: generate an activation code for the card including (i) an account number associated with the card appended to a set of randomly generated alphanumeric values and (ii) an alphanumeric string generated based on obfuscated information associated with a customer; receive, via a browser navigation to a customer-specific uniform resource locator (URL) and subsequent to a short-range communication between the card and a user device, the activation code and an encrypted cryptographic key; decrypt the encrypted cryptographic key to determine an identifier of the customer associated with the card; and subsequent to at least one authentication, store the activation code.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 16, 2025
    Publication date: January 15, 2026
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20250348862
    Abstract: A method of accessing an account includes receiving, from a device, randomly generated seed information and an encrypted key or token generated by a card using the randomly generated seed information via a contactless communication between the card and the device; decrypting the encrypted key or token using a decryption process that includes the randomly generated seed information and the encrypted key or token as inputs in response to determining that the randomly generated seed information does not match previously received seed information; and providing, to the device and based on the decrypted key or token, access to the account.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2024
    Publication date: November 13, 2025
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 12450591
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card via unique activation codes are disclosed. A system includes a memory and a processor configured to: receive an account number for a contactless card from a third party computing system; generate a card activation code for the contactless card, the card activation code being unique to the contactless card; generate a customer-specific uniform resource locator (URL) by appending the card activation code to a general URL, the general URL being associated with an entity of the system; transmit the customer-specific URL to the third party computing system with instructions to write the customer-specific URL into a wireless chip of the contactless card; associate the card activation code with the account number and information regarding a customer associated with the contactless card; and store the card activation code within the memory to be referenced during activation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2025
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20250094965
    Abstract: Systems and methods for activating a transaction card are provided. A method includes: receiving a uniform resource locator (URL) and an encrypted key stored on a contactless transaction card from a first contactless communication between the contactless transaction card and a customer device; decrypting the encrypted key to identify information regarding the contactless transaction card; providing a web site associated with the URL for display, wherein the web site comprises a field automatically populated based on the identified information regarding the contactless transaction card; activating the contactless transaction card in response to verifying the identified information regarding the contactless transaction card; receiving information associated with the contactless transaction card from a second contactless communication between the contactless transaction card and the customer device; and resetting a credential for accessing an account associated with the contactless transaction card.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2024
    Publication date: March 20, 2025
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 12182798
    Abstract: Systems and methods for activating a transaction card are provided. A method includes: receiving a uniform resource locator (URL) and an encrypted key stored on a contactless transaction card from a first contactless communication between the contactless transaction card and a customer device; decrypting the encrypted key to identify information regarding the contactless transaction card; providing a web site associated with the URL for display, wherein the web site comprises a field automatically populated based on the identified information regarding the contactless transaction card; activating the contactless transaction card in response to verifying the identified information regarding the contactless transaction card; receiving information associated with the contactless transaction card from a second contactless communication between the contactless transaction card and the customer device; and resetting a credential for accessing an account associated with the contactless transaction card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2024
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 12014354
    Abstract: A method of accessing an account includes receiving randomly generated seed information and an encrypted cryptographic key or token generated by a contactless card using the seed information via a contactless communication between the contactless card and the customer device; determining whether the randomly generated seed information matches previously received seed information; decrypting the encrypted cryptographic key or token using a decryption process that includes the seed information and the encrypted cryptographic key or token as inputs in response to determining that the randomly generated seed information does not match previously received seed information; identifying the customer associated with the contactless card based on the decrypted cryptographic key or token; and providing, to the customer device, access to the account in response to identifying the customer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2024
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20240177139
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. More particularly, a transaction card that includes a contactless enabled chip having a customer-specific uniform resource locator (URL) stored thereon, where the contactless enabled chip is configured to communicate the customer-specific URL to a mobile device via a contactless communication to activate the transaction card for use in a transaction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2024
    Publication date: May 30, 2024
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20240127220
    Abstract: A method includes receiving, from a customer device while the customer device depicts a login page for an account, information regarding the customer device including a customer device token and information regarding the contactless card including an encrypted contactless card token that is received by the customer device from a contactless communication with the contactless card; authenticating, while the customer device depicts the login page for the account, a customer associated with the contactless card based on the information regarding the customer device, an indication that the customer has logged into the customer device, and the information regarding the contactless card by: decrypting the encrypted contactless card token; identifying the customer; verifying that the customer is logged in to the customer device; and providing access to the account by sending an instruction to the customer device to display online account information in place of the login page.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2023
    Publication date: April 18, 2024
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 11941608
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. More particularly, a transaction card that includes a contactless enabled chip having a customer-specific uniform resource locator (URL) stored thereon, where the contactless enabled chip is configured to communicate the customer-specific URL to a mobile device via a contactless communication to activate the transaction card for use in a transaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 11928666
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. More particularly, a method of accessing an account is disclosed. The method includes receiving, by a transaction card processing circuit from a customer device, information regarding the customer device and information regarding a contactless card associated with the account, where the information regarding the contactless card is received by the customer device via a contactless communication with the contactless card, authenticating a customer associated with the contactless card based on the information regarding the customer device and the information regarding the contactless card, and providing access to the account by the customer device based on the authentication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20240037532
    Abstract: A payer user device includes a near field communication transceiver and a digital payment application configured to detect, via the near field communication transceiver, one or more nearby payee user devices, receive, via the near field communication transceiver, an anonymous tokenized identifier and an alias of a payee user device of the one or more nearby payee user devices that provides a provider computing system information to identify an anonymous account associated with one or more of the nearby payee user devices where the anonymous tokenized identifier and the alias enable a user associated with the anonymous account to maintain anonymity with a user of the payer user device, and add the anonymous tokenized identifier to a stored list of payees on the payer user device where the anonymous tokenized identifier enables the payer user device to provide the anonymous tokenized identifier to the provider computing system for a payment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2023
    Publication date: February 1, 2024
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Carrie A. Hanson, Jeff Parker, Matthew Pearce, Benjamin Soccorsy, Philip Sprague, Andrew Struck-Marcell, Shari Van Cleave, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 11775955
    Abstract: Systems and methods include a payer user device including a near field communication transceiver configured to facilitate communications with devices within a threshold range from the payer user device, and a digital payment application that detects one or more payee user devices, receives a selection of a payee user device, receives a tokenized identifier that provides a provider computing system information to identify an account associated with a user of the payee user device, and adds the tokenized identifier to a stored list of payees on the payer user device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Carrie A. Hanson, Jeff Parker, Matthew Pearce, Benjamin Soccorsy, Philip Sprague, Andrew Struck-Marcell, Shari Van Cleave, William E. Wheeler
  • Publication number: 20230267449
    Abstract: A mobile device includes a wireless chip, a display, a processor, and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations include: based on a first short-range wireless communication, receiving a customer-specific uniform resource locator (URL) from the contactless card via a wireless chip; automatically navigating to a website associated with the customer-specific URL; receiving authentication information and automatically populating one or more fields on a graphical user interface (GUI); displaying, by the display, an indication of activation of the contactless card; receiving and accepting a prompt to register the mobile device with the activated contactless card; and based on at least a second short range wireless communication between the registered mobile device and the contactless card, providing a second GUI including an online login portal for accessing an account that is associated with the contactless card.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2023
    Publication date: August 24, 2023
    Applicant: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 11694188
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. A mobile device includes a wireless chip structured to allow short-range wireless communications (e.g., a near-field communication), a processor, and a memory storing instructions. The mobile device is configured to communicate with a contactless card via a short-range wireless communication and receive a customer-specific uniform resource locator (URL) from the contactless card via a wireless chip. In response, the mobile device is configured to automatically open a web browser and navigate to a website associated with the customer-specific URL. The customer-specific URL identifying the client associated with the contactless card. The mobile device then prompts, via a GUI on the display, a user for authentication information, and based on a verification of the authentication information, display a confirmation page indicating activation of the contactless card.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 11599871
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. More particularly, a transaction card including a contactless enabled chip having payment information and identity information stored thereon, where the contactless enabled chip is configured to communicate the identity information to a mobile device via a contactless communication, and where the identity information comprises a cryptographic key, cryptographic token, or a digital certificate is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler
  • Patent number: 11551200
    Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system of activating and using a contactless card are disclosed. A method includes receiving a transaction card application for a contactless transaction card from an applicant; issuing a contactless transaction card based on the transaction card application, wherein the contactless transaction card comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) embedded thereon; and activating the contactless transaction card in response to receiving information from a contactless communication between the contactless transaction card and a customer device, wherein the contactless communication causes access to a web site associated with the URL.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Deana Cook, Darrell L. Suen, William E. Wheeler