Systems and methods for mobile image capture and remittance processing

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for capturing and processing images of remittance coupons using a mobile device and obtaining data from the captured image which is used to set up or carry out payment of a bill that corresponds to the remittance coupon. Optimization and enhancement of image capture and image processing are provided on the mobile device to improve the initial quality of the captured image and provide a user with real time feedback. The image is then sent from the mobile device to a remote server, where additional image processing is performed to improve the quality of the image and then extract data from the image that is relevant to paying the bill. The extracted data may be verified through comparisons with databases which store information on billers, bill formats and other relevant content that will appear on the bill.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of processing a remittance coupon captured by a mobile device, comprising:
 receiving an image of a remittance coupon captured by a mobile device;   correcting at least one aspect of the image to produce a corrected image;   performing a first content recognition pass on the corrected image to extract content from the remittance coupon;   identifying an address of a biller on the remittance coupon by comparing address content in the extracted content with an address database;   determining biller profile information of the biller, including an identity of the biller on the remittance coupon, by comparing the identified address of the biller with a database of biller profile information; and   producing a set of billing information, including the extracted content and the identity of the biller, for processing a payment of the bill.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising using the biller profile information of the biller to perform a second content recognition pass on the corrected image to extract content from the remittance coupon, wherein the biller profile information includes at least one of a remittance coupon format, a remittance coupon mask, a location of at least one field on the remittance coupon and a format of at least one field. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reading a code line on the remittance coupon and correcting a scale of the remittance coupon based on a size of the code line. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the correcting of the at least one image includes at least one of a perspective correction, an aspect ratio correction, a warping correction and a shadow correction. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first content recognition pass is performed using optical character recognition (OCR). 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising comparing the address content in the extracted content with address content extracted by reading a barcode on the remittance coupon before comparing the address content with the address database. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the address database is populated with a plurality of addresses from a United States Postal Service (USPS) database. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein comparing the address content in the extracted content with the address database includes comparing a “zip code plus four digit” field in the extracted content with a zip code plus four digit field in the address database. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein comparing address content in the extracted content with an address database involves performing a fuzzy search of the address database using the address content. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the set of billing information to the mobile device to display to a user. 
     
     
         11 . A method of processing a remittance coupon on a mobile device, comprising:
 activating an image capture device on the mobile device;   detecting at least one position setting of the mobile device;   capturing an image of a remittance coupon when at least one of the position settings meets a threshold value; and   transmitting the image to a remote server.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one position setting includes at least one of: motion of the mobile device, an angle of the mobile device with respect to the remittance coupon, and the size of the remittance coupon within a field of view of the image capture device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the threshold value of the motion of the mobile device is met when there is no motion of the mobile device for a period of time. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the threshold value of the angle of the mobile device with respect to the remittance coupon is met when the angle is approximately zero degrees. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the threshold value of the size of the remittance coupon within a field of view of the image capture device is met when all of the edges of the remittance coupon are visible in a viewfinder of the mobile device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the viewfinder of the mobile device is a display screen of the mobile device, and wherein the display screen displays a quadrilateral outline to help the user capture the image of the remittance coupon which meets the threshold value of size. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising providing feedback to a user of the mobile device if at least one of the position settings does not meet a threshold value. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the feedback includes an instruction for correcting at least one of the position settings of the mobile device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising performing at least one image quality test on the image to determine whether the image meets at least one threshold value. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one image quality test includes at least one of document identification, de-warping and shadow removal. 
     
     
         21 . A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer with a processor and a memory, perform a process comprising:
 receiving an image of a remittance coupon captured by a mobile device;   correcting at least one aspect of the image to produce a corrected image;   performing a first content recognition pass on the corrected image to extract content from the remittance coupon;   identifying an address of a biller on the remittance coupon by comparing address content in the extracted content with an address database;   determining biller profile information of the biller, including an identity of the biller on the remittance coupon, by comparing the identified address of the biller with a database of biller profile information; and   producing a set of billing information, including the extracted content and the identity of the biller, for processing a payment of the bill.