Method and apparatus for performing collective validation of credential information

• US 20030004840A1
• Filed: 06/29/2001
• Published: 01/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Inventors: Gharavy, Shari
• Granted Patent: US 7,904,326 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0214 Referral reward systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

An embodiment of the invention comprises a method and apparatus for performing collective validation of credential information. The invention has applicability in industries that require sales agents or those related to the distribution of a certain product to be credentialed (e.g., licensed and/or appointed) when selling certain products (e.g., life insurance, etc . . . ). For example, in order to sell some financial instruments sales representatives must meet state and/or federal licensing requirements. Embodiments of the invention provide a way to ensure that sales representatives operate within any regulatory constraints put in place by government or any other organization. Companies may, for instance, utilize embodiments of the invention to ensure that sales representatives operate within a set of defined constraints. One aspect of the invention provides a method for validating sales agents'"'"' credentials while processing the sales transaction data to determine commission amounts. The system is configured to perform such transaction processing in an efficient manner that minimizes the amount of computational resources required to determine whether a sales agent has valid credential at the time of a particular sale and is therefore entitled to compensation (e.g., a commission) for the sale.

Claims

1. In a computer system, a method for collectively performing validation of credential information comprising:

obtaining a set of credential information;

loading a set of rule data associated with said credential information from at least one data source;

obtaining at least one sales transaction associated with at least one distributor;

computing a commission for said at least one distributor;

converting said at least one sales transaction into a collective data set for submission to a rule engine;

validating said collective group to produce a validation result, said validation result indicating whether to credit said commission to said at least one distributor; and

executing a predetermined action depending on said validation result.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said obtaining said set of credential information further comprises denormalizing data from a plurality of database tables.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said loading said set of rule data further comprises loading said set of rule data from a standard format data file.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said standard format data file further comprises parsing data from a file having an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said validating said collective group further comprises:

determining said set of rules associated with said collective group by using a set of preconditions to filter among a plurality of rules, said rule data comprising at least one test having an associated type;

partitioning said set of rules based on said type of said at least one test associated with said set of rules;

selecting a processor for each of said type of said at least one test, said processor preparing said collective group wherein said collective group comprises tests associated with said test type;

determining for said set of rule data whether said at least one test associated with said set of rules are valid.

6. The method in claim 1 wherein said step of executing a predetermined action further comprises computing commission allocations to said sales party.

7. A method for determining whether to compensate a distributor for at least one sales transaction comprising:

initiating a sale of at least one product;

obtaining information associated with said sale of said at least one product;

recording said information into a computer system in the form of transaction data;

obtaining a rule set to process said transaction data, said rule set comprising credential information identifying regulatory constraints placed on at least one sales representative associated with said initiating said sale of said at least one product;

processing said transaction data using said rule set, wherein said processing comprises collectively determining if said credential information of said at least one sales representative conforms to said regulatory constraints;

crediting said at least one sales representative for said sale of said at least one product.

8. A method for collectively managing the payment of commissions to at least one sales representative comprising:

determining a commission structure associated with selling at least one product;

defining a rule set identifying when said commission is to be paid, said rule set comprising credential information identifying regulatory constraints placed on at least one distributor associated with said selling of said at least one product;

obtaining at least one sales transaction associated with at least one distributor;

converting said at least one sales transaction into a collective data set;

validating said collective data set to produce a validation result, said validation result indicating whether to credit said commission to said at least one distributor; and

executing a predetermined action depending on said validation result, said predetermined action comprising payment of said commission when said validation result verifies said credential information.