SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING AN INDIVIDUAL AND MANAGING AN ACCOUNT

• US 20090319383A1
• Filed: 09/01/2009
• Published: 12/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Btm Investments, LLC
• Original Assignee: Btm Investments, LLC
• Inventors: Zimmerman, Spencer M., Pence, Joseph A., Benge, Brad A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,359,270 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/18
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/206 comprising security or operator identification provisions, e.g. password entry
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/227 characterised in that multiple accounts are available, e.g. to the payer
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/346 Cards serving only as information carrier of service
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• 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 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for managing an account for an unidentified individual by communicating with the unidentified individual who is using a device to communicate which transmits an identifier associated with the origin of the communication, obtaining from the unidentified individual a group of characters associated with the unidentified individual'"'"'s personal information, comparing the group of characters to a database including a plurality of personal information associated with a plurality of individuals, identifying from the plurality of individuals one individual whose plurality of personal information includes the group of characters associated with the unidentified individual, and managing an account for the identified individual in an account database.

Claims

1. A method for managing an account for an individual, comprising the steps of:

communicating with an individual who is seeking to purchase a product or service from a point of sale without disclosing an account number to the point of sale;

obtaining from said individual at least three sets of numbers relating to the individual'"'"'s personal information;

using an account management system to compare said at least three sets of numbers to at least one database including a plurality of personal information associated with a plurality of individuals;

identifying from the plurality of individuals one identified individual whose plurality of personal information includes the personal information associated with said individual; and

managing an account for said individual in an account database;

wherein said at least three sets of numbers obtained from the individual includes;

a) a first set of numbers comprising the last four digits of the individual'"'"'s social security number;

b) a second set of numbers comprising the last two digits of the individual'"'"'s birth year, or the two digits indicating the individual'"'"'s birth month, or the two digits indicating the individual'"'"'s birth day-of-month, or any combination of those numbers; and

c) a third set of numbers comprising the individual'"'"'s zip code;

wherein said sets of numbers obtained from said individual does not include the complete account number for any pre-existing credit or social security account of the individual.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of managing an account includes extending credit to a third party on behalf of the identified individual.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of managing an account includes at least one of creating a new account for the identified individual and updating the account where the plurality of personal information of the identified individual exists in the account database.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of managing an account includes communicating with a credit checking service, obtaining a credit score, and analyzing the credit score with the plurality of personal information to determine whether to extend credit to a third party on behalf of the identified individual.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of communicating with an unidentified individual includes the use of at least one of a telephone land line, cellular telephone, VOIP, Ethernet, wireless, and satellite.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprises the step of comparing answers to a plurality of challenge questions associated to the plurality of personal information to verify identity of the unidentified individual.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said obtained personal information is compared to another database which includes at least one of the individual'"'"'s residence land telephone number, work land telephone number, residence address, work address, a portion of the social security number, the complete social security number, state in which the social security number was issued, number of vehicles in the household, number of vehicles in the neighbors'"'"' households, a range of income in the household, and the street address of the previous residence.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprises the step of assigning a confidence score to the individual and using the confidence score to indicate the level of confidence that the individual has been correctly identified.

9. A method for managing an account for an individual, comprising the steps of:

communicating with an individual who is seeking to purchase a product or service from a point of sale without disclosing an account number to the point of sale;

obtaining from said individual at least three sets of numbers relating to the individual'"'"'s personal information;

using an account management system to compare said at least three sets of numbers to at least one database including a plurality of personal information associated with a plurality of individuals;

identifying from the plurality of individuals one identified individual whose plurality of personal information includes the personal information associated with said individual; and

managing an account for said individual in an account database;

wherein said at least three sets of numbers obtained from the individual includes;

a) a first set of numbers comprising the last four digits of the individual'"'"'s social security number;

b) a second set of numbers comprising the numbers in the individual'"'"'s home street address; and

c) a third set of numbers comprising the individual'"'"'s zip code;

wherein said sets of numbers obtained from said individual does not include the complete account number for any pre-existing credit or social security account of the individual.

10. A method for managing an account for an individual, comprising the steps of:

communicating with an individual who is seeking to purchase a product or service from a point of sale without disclosing an account number to the point of sale;

obtaining from said individual a set of numbers relating to the individual'"'"'s personal information;

using an account management system to compare said at least three sets of numbers to at least one database including a plurality of personal information associated with a plurality of individuals;

identifying from the plurality of individuals one identified individual whose plurality of personal information includes the personal information associated with said individual; and

managing an account for said individual in an account database;

wherein said set of numbers obtained from the individual includes;

a) the last four digits of the individual'"'"'s social security number;

b) the last two digits of the individual'"'"'s birth yea; and

c) the individual'"'"'s zip code;

wherein said set of numbers obtained from said individual does not include the complete account number for any pre-existing credit or social security account of the individual.