US Patent 7520423 Multi-vendor agent for a self-service terminal

A self-service terminal includes at least one electromechanical hardware component (e.g., a display monitor, a card reader, a cash dispenser, a cash acceptor, and a statement printer) configured to interact physically with a human user of the self-service terminal as the user engages in a financial transaction between the user and a financial-services institution. A self-service component is configured to control operation of the electromechanical hardware component as the electromechanical hardware component interacts physically with the user during the financial transaction, and a client component is configured to interact with the electromechanical hardware component at least once while the financial transaction is in progress. The self-service terminal also includes a messaging-interface component configured to intercept a message that is intended to grant the self-service component control of the electromechanical hardware component and, before allowing delivery of the message to the self-service component, to allow the client component to interact with the electromechanical hardware component.