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A method and apparatus for warehousing information in a wallet consolidator, including personal identification data for facilitating a transaction. The wallet consolidator includes a controller for controlling operation of the wallet consolidator, a magnetic stripe reader/writer for reading and writ

A method and apparatus for warehousing information in a wallet consolidator, including personal identification data for facilitating a transaction. The wallet consolidator includes a controller for controlling operation of the wallet consolidator, a magnetic stripe reader/writer for reading and writing magnetic stripes, a bar code scanner for scanning bar codes, a keypad for inputting user selections and commands, a memory for storing information provided to the wallet consolidator, a smart card interface for effectuating communication between the wallet consolidator and a smart card and a display screen for displaying text and graphics, the display screen further for displaying a bar code pattern capable of being scanned by a bar code reader. To store information in the wallet consolidator, or alternatively in a smart card interfaced to the wallet consolidator, information is read from magnetic stripes on various types of cards such as, but not limited to, credit, debit and identification cards. Additionally, images of the cards including, but not limited to, signatures and portraits are downloaded and stored. A user retrieves the information from any of the stored magnetic stripes and writes the information to a single magnetic stripe for use in a point of sale transaction. Similarly, stored images are retrieved and displayed on a display screen including a bar code which can be scanned by a bar code scanner.

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I claim: 1. A method comprising: configuring at least one server configured to store a plurality of personal control ID's and a plurality of sets of personal data, each of the plurality of personal control ID's being associated with a respective different person and a respective set of personal dat

I claim: 1. A method comprising: configuring at least one server configured to store a plurality of personal control ID's and a plurality of sets of personal data, each of the plurality of personal control ID's being associated with a respective different person and a respective set of personal data entered into the server and controlled by said respective different person; configuring the at least one server also to store a data profile derived from a set of personal data associated with a personal control ID identifying a selected different person and assembled together by the selected different person for use by a selected one of one or more providers identified by a provider ID; positioning a data processor remote from and in communication with the server; positioning a retail point-of-sale (POS) terminal in communication with the data processor, the retail POS terminal adapted to couple via a data communication link to an ID instrument to receive from the ID instrument the personal control ID identifying the selected different person and to send the personal control ID identifying the selected different person to the data processor; configuring the data processor to transmit the personal control ID identifying the selected different person and the provider ID identifying the selected provider to the at least one server; configuring the at least one server to retrieve from the plurality of sets of personal data and transmit to the data processor the data profile derived from a set of personal data associated with the personal control ID identifying the selected different person for use by the selected provider identified by the provider ID; and positioning an output device in connected with the data processor to receive from the data processor the data profile received from said the at least one server and to output the data profile to the selected provider to thereby verify the personal control ID as being associated with a user of the personal control ID at the retail POS prior to proceeding with a retail transaction. 2. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising the at least one server to recognize that the personal control ID is being received prior to transmitting to the data processor the data profile derived from the set of personal data associated with the personal control ID identifying the selected different person. 3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the ID instrument comprises one or more of a magnetic striped card, a smart card, a bar code, a gift card, an automatic teller machine (ATM) card, a check card, a wallet consolidator, a debit card, a credit card, a smart card, a prepaid card, a personal identification card, a driver's license, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) adapted for infra-red (IR) communication, a check, a keypad, a touchscreen, a voice recognition device, a radio-frequency (RF) device, the RF device comprising at least one of a PDA adapted for RF communication, an RF identification (RFID) tag, and a cell phone. 4. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the personal data comprises one or more of a personal name, a personal ID, a pictorial image of the person, personal fingerprint data, personal checking account data, driver's license data of said person, personal biometric data, a personal social security number, a personal ID password, a personal data password, credit card data, debit card data, prepaid card data, frequent purchaser data, medical data, bank account data, investment data, coupon data, processed data, points, data generated based on existing personal data, and membership ID data of the person. 5. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the processor, the POS terminal, and said output device are combined to constitute a substantially integrated input/output device. 6. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the POS terminal comprises at least one of a magnetic card reader, a smart card reader, a bar code reader, an infra-red (IR) receiver, an optical scanner, a transmitter adapted for transmitting a pre-determined signal for activating a response from an RFID tag and for receiving a response back from said RFID tag, and an interface adapted for receiving RF signals from at least one of a cell phone and an RF device. 7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the output device comprises one or more of a visual display monitor and a printer. 8. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising positioning the at least one server to receive from the data processor transaction ID information. 9. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising positioning the at least one server to receive from the processor transaction ID information containing information relating to the transaction to be executed, including the type of information needed to execute the transaction and personal ID; and configuring the least one server to access a database to retrieve and process the personal data related to the personal ID and restricted according to the transaction ID information. 10. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the data communication link comprises at least one of a wireless link, a wireline link, wide area network (WAN) link, an infra-red (IR) link, a radio-frequency (RF) link, an optical link, and a magnetic link. 11. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the data profile is useable in a transaction for at least one of goods, services, grocery items, food, medical services and supplies, insurance premiums, ticketing, a money transfer, and identification services relating to the person. 12. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising positioning the at least one server to receive the personal ID from the input device and for accessing a database to retrieve and process personal data related to the personal control ID for each of a plurality of persons, providers, and transactions. 13. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising configuring the output device to generate, in response to receipt of personal data associated with the selected personal ID, information relating to the selected person for purposes of facilitating the transaction and the generation of customer messages. 14. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising configuring the output device to generate, in response to receipt of personal data related to the selected personal ID, incentives to the selected person for making future purchases, the incentives including at least one of a coupon and a discount offer. 15. A method comprising: storing a plurality of personal control ID's and a plurality of sets of personal data, each of the plurality of personal control ID's being associated with a respective different person and a respective set of stored personal data controllable by the respective different personal; storing a data profile derived from the set of personal data associated with a personal control ID to identify a selected different person and assembled to be used by a selected one or more providers identified by a provider ID; receiving from an ID instrument the personal control ID identifying the selected different person; retrieving from the plurality of sets of personal data a data profile derived from a set of personal data associated with the personal control ID to be used by a selected one of the selected one or more providers identified by the provider ID; and providing the data profile to the selected provider to thereby verify the personal control ID as being associated with a use of the personal control ID prior to proceeding with a transaction. 16. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the ID instrument comprises one or more of a magnetic striped card, a smart card, a bar code, a gift card, an automatic teller machine (ATM) card, a check card, a wallet consolidator, a debit card, a credit card, a smart card, a prepaid card, a personal identification card, a driver's license, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) adapted for infra-red (IR) communication, a check, a keypad, a touchscreen, a voice recognition device, a radio-frequency (RF) device, said RF device comprising at least one of a PDA adapted for RF communication, an RF identification (RFID) tag, and a cell phone. 17. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the personal data comprises one or more of a personal name, a personal ID, a pictorial image of the person, personal fingerprint data, personal checking account data, driver's license data of said person, personal biometric data, a personal social security number, a personal ID password, a personal data password, credit card data, debit card data, prepaid card data, frequent purchaser data, medical data, bank account data, investment data, coupon data, processed data, points, data generated based on existing personal data, and membership ID data of the person. 18. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein the data profile is useable in a transaction for at least one of goods, services, grocery items, food, medical services and supplies, insurance premiums, ticketing, a money transfer, and identification services relating to the person. 19. A method comprising: receiving from an ID instrument a personal control ID identifying a selected different person; receiving a data profile derived from a set of personal data associated with the personal control ID, the set of personal data including one or more providers identified by a provider ID; and using the data profile by the one or more providers identified by the provider ID to thereby verify the personal control ID as being associated with a user of the personal control ID prior to proceeding with a transaction. 20. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein the ID instrument comprises one or more of a magnetic striped card, a smart card, a bar code, a gift card, an automatic teller machine (ATM) card, a check card, a wallet consolidator, a debit card, a credit card, a smart card, a prepaid card, a personal identification card, a driver's license, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) adapted for infra-red (IR) communication, a check, a keypad, a touchscreen, a voice recognition device, a radio-frequency (RF) device, said RF device comprising at least one of a PDA adapted for RF communication, an RF identification (RFID) tag, and a cell phone. 21. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein the personal data comprises one or more of a personal name, a personal ID, a pictorial image of the person, personal fingerprint data, personal checking account data, driver's license data of said person, personal biometric data, a personal social security number, a personal ID password, a personal data password, credit card data, debit card data, prepaid card data, frequent purchaser data, medical data, bank account data, investment data, coupon data, processed data, points, data generated based on existing personal data, and membership ID data of the person. 22. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein the data profile is useable in a transaction for at least one of goods, services, grocery items, food, medical services and supplies, insurance premiums, ticketing, a money transfer, and identification services relating to the person. 23. A program product stored in a tangible computer medium, the program product being operable on a computer to perform the steps of: receiving from an ID instrument a personal control ID identifying a selected different person; receiving a data profile derived from a set of personal data associated with the personal control ID, the set of personal data including one or more providers identified by a provider ID; and using the data profile by the one or more providers identified by the provider ID to thereby verify the personal control ID as being associated with a user of the personal control ID prior to proceeding with a transaction.