American Express has filed a new blockchain patent to match receipt images with records. The new system will send the image of the receipt to and link the digital image with all related records. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published the filing Nov 13.
The financial services company has filed under their travel subsidiary “American Express Travel Related Services Co., Inc. The system works to match transaction histories to receipt images for easier and automated management. Users can take their mobile phones and snap a quick picture, then the system’s “optical character recognition” goes to work.
Data storage and filing isn’t the usual point of interest for financial services when it comes to blockchain technology. Most companies are just racing to scale the first crypto payment platform that can handle more transactions per second than Visa. The patent goes on to reference database for more exacting and convenient filing with added in blockchain security.
What are the practical uses of this patent? Amex believes it will make general accounting easier and help diffuse merchant disputes according to the document:
” The systems and methods provided herein may enable linkage of electronic receipts to a transaction authorization completed via any acquirer or processor. In this regard, more information is available at the transaction level, which may help to provide increased financial clarity to the transaction account holder. This may also result in easier accounting, bookkeeping, expense reporting, reduced disputes and/or chargebacks, merchant returns, and/or the like.”
American Express had filed another patent under their travel company for a proof-of-payment system that encrypts payment payload data, automating the process thanks to public-private key asymmetrical cryptography. Amex is keeping pace with its competitors and will likely continue to roll out blockchain patents to secure their place in a decentralized future.
