Electronic disclosure delivery system and method

• US 10,163,153 B1
• Filed: 08/26/2013
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank NA (Wells Fargo & Company)
• Original Assignee: Wells Fargo Bank NA (Wells Fargo & Company)
• Inventors: Constantine, Erin, Nelson, Kimberly Robin, Huisman, Bryan William
• Primary Examiner(s): Ebersman, Bruce I
• Application Number:
  US14/010,282
• Time in Patent Office: 1,947 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A system includes a processor and machine readable storage media having instructions stored therein. The instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive input indicating whether a customer of a financial institution has a mobile device, to receive an indication from the customer via the mobile device acknowledging that the customer has been given access to disclosure documents, and to provide the customer with a financial product based on the indication.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a bank account for a customer at a branch location of a financial institution via a financial institution computing system, the method comprising:

receiving, at the financial institution computing system via a first graphical user interface displayed in a computing device accessed by a user associated with the branch location of the financial institution, input indicating that the customer is establishing the bank account with the financial institution, wherein the bank account is one of a checking account and a savings account;

associating the customer and bank account being opened with a customer identifier;

receiving, at the financial institution computing system and from the computing device, a unique messaging address associated with a mobile device of the customer;

determining, by the financial institution computing system, whether the customer has provided global consent to receive disclosure documents associated with opening the bank account in electronic format prior to attempting to establish the bank account;

accessing a database of required banking disclosure documents and identifying, based on the type of bank account being opened or the customer identifier, one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents that are required to be provided to the customer;

sending, by the financial institution computing system, an electronic message to the mobile device via the unique messaging address associated with the mobile device of the customer, the electronic message containing a network address for an application, the application configured to provide, via a second graphical user interface displayed in the mobile device, access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents related to the bank account upon being accessed by the mobile device;

receiving, in response to the electronic message, a request from the customer to receive access to disclosure documents associated with the opening of the bank account in electronic format;

verifying that the request contains a customer identifier that corresponds to the customer identifier associated with the bank account;

sending to the customer, via the unique messaging address, an electronic consent request to receive required disclosure documents associated with opening the bank account in electronic format if no global consent has been provided by customer;

receiving, by the financial institution computing system, a request from the mobile device to access the application, the request containing the customer identifier associated with the bank account;

in response to determining that a global consent has been obtained from the customer or receiving indication that the customer has accepted the electronic consent request, providing, by the financial institution computing system, access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents to the mobile device via the application displayed via the second graphical user interface;

wherein the electronic message provides the customer access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents via a second graphical user interface displayed in the mobile device, the electronic message comprising a hyperlink, wherein the hyperlink comprises a network address and is structured to transmit a request to the financial institution computing system to retrieve and transmit the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents from a network storage location for display via the second graphical user interface;

providing, by the financial institution computing system and to the computing device, a confirmation to the user indicating that the mobile device has accessed the application;

determining, by the financial institution computing system, that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents;

providing, by the financial institution computing system and to the computing device, a confirmation to the user indicating that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents; and

establishing the bank account for the customer based on the confirmation that the mobile device has accessed the application and the determination that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the confirmation that the mobile device has accessed the application and the confirmation that the customer has provided consent regarding the documents in a memory location associated with the account based on the customer identifier.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising storing an indication that the unique messaging address is valid in the memory location associated with the account based on the customer identifier.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the disclosure documents include one of a rate sheet for the bank account and a privacy policy document.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising associating the unique messaging address with the customer identifier.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the user is in communication with the customer at a financial institution store location.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the user is in communication with the customer via a telephone connection.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the disclosure documents related to the account are identified based on the customer identifier.

9. A financial institution computing system associated with a financial institution, the financial institution computing system configured to:

receive input indicating that a customer is establishing a bank account with the financial institution, wherein the bank account is one of a checking account and a savings account;

associate the customer and bank account being opened with a customer identifier;

receive a unique messaging address associated with a mobile device of the customer;

determine whether the customer has provided global consent to receive disclosure documents associated with opening the bank account in electronic format prior to attempting to establish the bank account;

access a database of required banking disclosure documents and identify, based on the type of bank account being opened or the customer identifier, one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents that are required to be provided to the customer;

send an electronic message to the mobile device via the unique messaging address associated with the mobile device of the customer, the electronic message containing a network address for an application, the application configured to provide, via a second graphical user interface displayed in the mobile device, access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents related to the bank account upon being accessed by the mobile device;

receive, in response to the electronic message, a request from the customer to receive access to disclosure documents associated with the opening of the bank account in electronic format;

verify that the request contains a customer identifier that corresponds to the customer identifier associated with the bank account;

send to the customer, via the unique messaging address, an electronic consent request to receive required disclosure documents associated with opening the bank account in electronic format if no global consent has been provided by customer;

receive a request from the mobile device to access the application, the request containing the customer identifier associated with the bank account;

in response to determining that a global consent has been obtained from the customer or receiving indication that the customer has accepted the electronic consent request, provide access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents to the mobile device via the application displayed via the second graphical user interface;

wherein the electronic message provides the customer access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents via a second graphical user interface displayed in the mobile device, the electronic message comprising a hyperlink;

wherein the hyperlink comprises a network address and is structured to transmit a request to the financial institution computing system to retrieve and transmit the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents from a network storage location for display via the second graphical user interface;

provide, to the computing device, a confirmation to the user indicating that the mobile device has accessed the application;

determine that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents;

provide, to the computing device, a confirmation to the user indicating that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents; and

establish the bank account for the customer based on the confirmation that the mobile device has accessed the application and the determination that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the system is further configured to facilitate compliance by the financial institution with regulatory banking requirements by creating an audit trail related to the opening of the bank account in a memory location associated with the customer identifier, the audit trail including:

a validation of the customer contact information;

a confirmation that consent was provided by the customer to receive disclosure documents in electronic format; and

a confirmation that the customer was provided access to the one or more transaction specific disclosure documents prior to the establishment of the bank account.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the audit trail further includes a date and time stamp corresponding to when the request to receive access to disclosure documents associated with the opening of the bank account in electronic format was received from the customer.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the validation of the customer contact information is provided in response to the verification that the received request contains the customer identifier associated with the bank account.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the confirmation that the customer has provided consent includes a date and time stamp corresponding to when consent was received and the manner in which consent was received.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program that, when executed by a processor of a computing system, causes the computing system to:

receive input indicating that a customer is establishing a bank account with a financial institution, wherein the bank account is one of a checking account and a savings account;

associate the customer and bank account being opened with a customer identifier;

receive a unique messaging address associated with a mobile device of the customer;

determine whether the customer has provided global consent to receive disclosure documents associated with opening the bank account in electronic format prior to attempting to establish the bank account;

access a database of required banking disclosure documents and identify, based on the type of bank account being opened or the customer identifier, one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents that are required to be provided to the customer;

send an electronic message to the mobile device via the unique messaging address associated with the mobile device of the customer, the electronic message containing a network address for an application, the application configured to provide, via a second graphical user interface displayed in the mobile device, access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents related to the bank account upon being accessed by the mobile device;

receive, in response to the electronic message, a request from the customer to receive access to disclosure documents associated with the opening of the bank account in electronic format;

verify that the request contains a customer identifier that corresponds to the customer identifier associated with the bank account;

send to the customer, via the unique messaging address, an electronic consent request to receive required disclosure documents associated with opening the bank account in electronic format if no global consent has been provided by customer;

receive a request from the mobile device to access the application, the request containing the customer identifier associated with the bank account;

in response to determining that a global consent has been obtained from the customer or receiving indication that the customer has accepted the electronic consent request, provide access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents to the mobile device via the application displayed via the second graphical user interface;

wherein the electronic message provides the customer access to the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents via a second graphical user interface displayed in the mobile device, the electronic message comprising a hyperlink;

wherein the hyperlink comprises a network address and is structured to transmit a request to the financial institution computing system to retrieve and transmit the one or more transaction-specific disclosure documents from a network storage location for display via the second graphical user interface;

provide, to the computing device, a confirmation to the user indicating that the mobile device has accessed the application;

determine that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents;

provide, to the computing device, a confirmation to the user indicating that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents; and

establish the bank account for the customer based on the confirmation that the mobile device has accessed the application and the determination that the customer has provided consent regarding the disclosure documents.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, further causes the computing system to create an audit trail related to the opening of the bank account in a memory location associated with the customer identifier, the audit trail including:

a validation of the customer contact information;

a confirmation that consent was provided by the customer to receive disclosure documents in electronic format; and

a confirmation that the customer was provided access to the one or more transaction specific disclosure documents prior to the establishment of the bank account.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the audit trail further includes a date and time stamp corresponding to when the request to receive access to disclosure documents associated with the opening of the bank account in electronic format was received from the customer.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the confirmation that the customer has provided consent includes a date and time stamp corresponding to when consent was received and the manner in which consent was received.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, further causes the computing system to store the confirmation that the mobile device has accessed the application and the confirmation that the customer has provided consent regarding the documents in a memory location associated with the account based on the customer identifier.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the disclosure documents include one of a rate sheet for the bank account and a privacy policy document.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the program, when executed by the processor, further causes the computing system to associate the unique messaging address with the customer identifier.