Foreign currency exchange system and method

Abstract

A foreign currency exchange system and method are provided that allows the user to exchange various foreign currency for a physical or electronic gift card, a donation to a charity, a stored foreign currency value card and/or a multi-currency debit cash card.

1 . A system, comprising:
 a kiosk with a physical housing;   a plurality of currency acceptor mechanisms within the housing configured to accept foreign currencies from a plurality of different countries into the kiosk during a single transaction, wherein each foreign currency accepted into the kiosk is a currency for a country in which the kiosk is not physically located; and   a core computer coupled to the currency adapter mechanisms comprising a processor, non-transient memory, and a plurality of lines of computer code configured to:   store current foreign currency exchange rates between the plurality of foreign currencies and a kiosk currency of the country in which the kiosk is physically located;   determine total amounts of the foreign currencies from the plurality of different countries received by the currency acceptor mechanisms during the single transaction with the kiosk; and   determine a total kiosk currency value by calculating a kiosk currency for each received foreign currency using the stored current foreign current exchange rate for each received foreign currency and summing the kiosk currency for each received foreign currency to determine the total kiosk currency value that is a total value of all of the foreign currencies in the currency of the country in which the kiosk is physically located.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the currency acceptor mechanisms further comprises a bill acceptor mechanism that accepts and counts bill foreign currency and a coin acceptor mechanism that accepts and counts coin foreign currency. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the kiosk currency value is a United States dollar value and the plurality of foreign currencies accepted into the kiosk are two or more of Japanese yen, British pound sterling, European Union euros, Swiss Francs and Canadian dollars. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a foreign exchange system remote from the kiosk that periodically updates the set of stored foreign currency exchange rates via a wired or wireless network. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a foreign exchange system remote from the kiosk that converts the total value of the currencies received by the currency acceptor mechanisms into the kiosk currency value and transmits the kiosk currency value to the kiosk. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a backend system that communicates with the kiosk to handle credit card clearing operations. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a card dispenser mechanism within the housing configured to dispense a physical gift card to the user from the kiosk and wherein the core computer is configured to deliver by the kiosk, based on inputs by the user into the user input device, one or more of a physical gift card dispensed using the card dispenser mechanism, an electronic gift card, and a donation to a charity in an amount of the total kiosk currency value. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein each of the physical gift card and the electronic gift card have a fixed value. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the core computer further delivers a stored foreign currency value card that electronically stores the value of the foreign currency accepted by the currency acceptor mechanisms instead of delivering one or more of the physical gift card, the electronic gift card and the donation to the charity. 
     
     
         10 . A method, comprising:
 storing current foreign currency exchange rates between the plurality of foreign currencies and a kiosk currency of a country in which a kiosk is physically located, wherein the kiosk comprises a housing, a plurality of currency acceptor mechanisms and a core computer further comprising a processor, non-transient memory, and a plurality of lines of computer code;   determining total amounts of foreign currencies from a plurality of different countries received by the currency acceptor mechanisms during a single transaction with the kiosk, wherein each foreign currency is a currency for a country in which the kiosk is not physically located;   determining a total kiosk currency value by calculating a kiosk currency for each received foreign currency using the stored current foreign current exchange rate for each received foreign currency and summing the kiosk currency for each received foreign currency to determine the total kiosk currency value that is a total value of all of the foreign currencies in the currency of the country in which the kiosk is physically located.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein inserting foreign currency further comprises inserting, using a bill acceptor mechanism of the kiosk, bill foreign currency and inserting, using a coin acceptor mechanism of the kiosk, coin foreign currency. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the kiosk currency value is a United States dollar value and the plurality of foreign currencies accepted into the kiosk are two or more of Japanese yen, British pound sterling, European Union euros, Swiss Francs and Canadian dollars. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising periodically updating the set of stored foreign currency exchange rates via a wired or wireless network with the foreign exchange rates from a foreign exchange system remote from the kiosk. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising converting, using a foreign exchange system remote from the kiosk, the total amounts of the foreign currencies received into the kiosk currency value and transmitting the kiosk currency value to the kiosk. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising determining if a particular user has exceeded a maximum kiosk currency value during a predetermined period and delivering one or more of the physical gift card, the electronic gift card and the donation to a charity occurs if the particular user has not exceeded the maximum kiosk currency value during the predetermined period. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising requesting the user to make up a difference between the kiosk currency value and a value of one of the physical gift card and the electronic gift card. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising delivering, by the kiosk, based on inputs by the user into the user input device, one or more of a physical gift card dispensed using the card dispenser mechanism, an electronic gift card, and a donation to a charity in an amount of the kiosk currency value. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein each of the physical gift card and the electronic gift card have a fixed value. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein delivering by the kiosk further comprises delivering a stored foreign currency value card that electronically stores the value of the foreign currency accepted by the currency acceptor mechanisms instead of delivering one or more of the physical gift card, the electronic gift card and the donation to the charity.