ONLINE PURCHASING SYSTEM SUPPORTING LENDERS WITH AFFORDABILITY SCREENING

• US 20160253753A1
• Filed: 05/12/2016
• Published: 09/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bennett, James D., Winslade, Christopher C.
• Granted Patent: US 10,210,570 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0617 Representative agent
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

An online system uses, in various embodiments of the invention, credit report information, loan affordability screening and credit approval and management functionality to facilitate the purchase and finance of products online. The online system may include both sellers of products and lenders that offer financing to buyers seeking to purchase the products. The system may automatically obtain a buyer'"'"'s credit report information and use that information to determine if the buyer is pre-approved, for example, to obtain financing for a particular product or products. The system also enables use of buyer credit information to identify only those of a seller'"'"'s products for which the buyer is pre-approved, for example, to finance using one or more loans. The system then enables selection of an identified product or products for purchase, and selection of a loan, for example, for financing of the selected product or products. Credit approval (or pre-approval) may be performed automatically, and along with credit processing, may be performed completely online.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a non-transitory memory; and

one or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to cause the system to perform operations comprising;

obtaining information on a plurality of products available for sale;

performing, in response to a request from a potential buyer, a loan affordability filtering operation on the plurality of products to divide the plurality of products into at least a first category of products for which financing is available for the potential buyer, and a second category of products for which financing is unavailable for the potential buyer, the loan affordability filtering operation being performed based on a set of predefined rules with respect to sellers of the products, types of the products, and models of the products;

causing a device to display, via a device user interface, the first category of products with a first predetermined visual characteristic simultaneously with the second category of products with a second predetermined visual characteristic different from the first predetermined visual characteristic, the first and second predetermined visual characteristics being respectively associated with the first and second categories of products without requiring user input;

receiving input comprising first information relating to a product of interest from the first category that has been selected by the potential buyer and second information comprising personal information about the potential buyer;

identifying, based at least in part on the first information and the second information, a plurality of financing options that may be used in connection with purchasing the product of interest; and

communicating to the device for display, via the device user interface, a presentation comprising the plurality of financing options.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the personal information comprises credit related information.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors are further configured to read the computer readable instructions to cause the system to perform operations comprising receiving input selecting one of the plurality of financing options and at least initiate a processing of the selected one of the plurality of financing options.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the list is presented in a particular order that is determined based, at least in part, on the first information and the second information.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the input is received from a device different than the device for display.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of financing options comprises a plurality of loans.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of financing options comprises a plurality of revolving credit options.

8. A method comprising:

obtaining information on a plurality of products available for sale;

performing, in response to a request from a potential buyer, a loan affordability filtering operation on the plurality of products to divide the plurality of products into at least a first category of products for which financing is available for the potential buyer, and a second category of products for which financing is unavailable for the potential buyer, the loan affordability filtering operation being performed based on a set of predefined rules with respect to sellers of the products, types of the products, and models of the products;

causing a device to display, via a device user interface, the first category of products with a first predetermined visual characteristic simultaneously with the second category of products with a second predetermined visual characteristic different from the first predetermined visual characteristic, the first and second predetermined visual characteristics being respectively associated with the first and second categories of products without requiring user input;

receiving input comprising first information relating to a product of interest from the first category that has been selected by the potential buyer and second information comprising personal information about the potential buyer;

identifying, based at least in part on the first information and the second information, a plurality of financing options that may be used in connection with purchasing the product of interest; and

communicating to the device for display, via the device user interface, a presentation comprising the plurality of financing options.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the personal information comprises credit related information.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving input selecting one of the plurality of financing options and at least initiate a processing of the selected one of the plurality of financing options.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the list is presented in a particular order that is determined based, at least in part, on the first information and the second information.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the input is received from a device different than the device for display.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the first plurality of financing options comprises a plurality of loans.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the first plurality of financing options comprises a plurality of revolving credit options.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions executable to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

obtaining information on a plurality of products available for sale;

performing, in response to a request from a potential buyer, a loan affordability filtering operation on the plurality of products to divide the plurality of products into at least a first category of products for which financing is available for the potential buyer, and a second category of products for which financing is unavailable for the potential buyer, the loan affordability filtering operation being performed based on a set of predefined rules with respect to sellers of the products, types of the products, and models of the products;

causing a device to display, via a device user interface, the first category of products with a first predetermined visual characteristic simultaneously with the second category of products with a second predetermined visual characteristic different from the first predetermined visual characteristic, the first and second predetermined visual characteristics being respectively associated with the first and second categories of products without requiring user input;

receiving input comprising first information relating to a product of interest from the first category that has been selected by the potential buyer and second information comprising personal information about the potential buyer;

identifying, based at least in part on the first information and the second information, a plurality of financing options that may be used in connection with purchasing the product of interest; and

communicating to the device for display, via the device user interface, a presentation comprising the plurality of financing options.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the personal information comprises credit related information.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise receiving input selecting one of the plurality of financing options and at least initiate a processing of the selected one of the plurality of financing options.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the list is presented in a particular order that is determined based, at least in part, on the first information and the second information.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the input is received from a device different than the device for display.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first plurality of financing options comprises a plurality of loans.