System for benefits processing

• US 6,014,642 A
• Filed: 05/06/1996
• Issued: 01/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Merrill Lynch & Co. Incorporated (Bank of America Corp.)
• Inventors: Derienzo, Larion, El-Kadi, Khaled
• Primary Examiner(s): Cosimano, Edward R.
• Application Number:
  US08/642,918
• Time in Patent Office: 1,345 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/36
• US Class Current: 705/36.00R
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

A benefits processing system is provided in which a central benefits processor is interconnected with continually updated databases containing such information as available investments, pricing information, commission schedules, and dividend information. To make all investments available to participants, the system uses a unique two-byte binary code for each investment. Through the use of dollar cost averaging, whole or part shares of any investment traded on any exchange or over-the-counter may be purchased as part of the plan. Various system modules for automatically handling support tasks are provided, in addition to modules created to handle new tasks previously unavailable in such benefits plans.

Claims

1. In a data processing system for transaction processing and recordkeeping with respect to a benefits plan:

means for storing a list of available investments, each of said investments having a unique identifier, said identifier being selected from a set of identifiers, all having a similar format, said format being encoded as a two-byte binary code indicative of one of said available investments; and

means for converting and displaying said two-byte binary code as a value indicative of said available investment in a manner intelligible to a user of said data processing system.

2. In the system of claim 1, said system further comprising multiple plans and further comprising:

means for storing an investment table for each of said plans, each of said investment tables having information on all of said investments within the respective plan.

3. In the system of claim 2, further comprising:

means for automatically copying the information relating to a particular investment from said means for storing a list to said means for storing an investment table when a participant requests a transaction involving said particular investment and said particular investment'"'"'s information is not yet stored in said means for storing an investment table.

4. In the system of claim 2, further comprising:

a forward price table for each of said plans, said price table being updated on each trading day, said price table containing the last trading price from the previous day for all of the investments held within the respective plan such that intra-day calculations based on transactions processed during the day will be based on prices contained in said price table.

5. In a data processing system for transaction processing and recordkeeping with respect to a benefits plan having participants invested in a plurality of investments, said investments being of various types, the improvement comprising:

means for storing the settlement periods for investments within said plan;

means for analyzing a transaction to determine a first investment to be sold and a second investment to be bought;

means for retrieving the settlement period for said combination of first and second investments from said means for storing;

means for automatically delaying said second investment from being bought until the end of the settlement period for said first investment if said settlement period is longer than a predetermined duration.

6. In the system of claim 5, wherein said means for automatically delaying will record the purchase of a dummy investment until the end of said settlement period such that said participant will gain no earnings during said settlement period.

7. In the system of claim 5, the improvement further comprising:

means for processing corporate actions, said means for processing including means for storing information on corporate actions with respect to investments with said plan;

means for storing participant'"'"'s responses to said actions; and

means for automatically generating a transaction according to a participant response.

8. In the system of claim 7, the improvement further comprising:

a dividend processing table containing dividend information for all investments within a particular plan; and

a dividend selection table containing information for each participant within said plan concerning such participant'"'"'s instructions regarding the distribution of dividends for said investments.

9. In a data processing system for transaction processing and recordkeeping with respect to a benefits plan having participants invested in a plurality of investments, the improvement comprising:

means for filtering a requested transaction on a particular day, said transaction involving multiple investments, said means for filtering including means for parsing said transaction into at least two transactions if any of said multiple investments is not trading on said particular day, one of said two transactions including said non-trading investment and being delayed until said investment is traded.

10. A system for transaction processing and recordkeeping with respect to a benefits plan, comprising:

computer data processing means for processing data;

data storage means for storage and retrieval of data;

means for storing in said data storage means a list of available investments, each of said investments having a unique identifier, said identifier being selected from a set of identifiers, all having a similar format, said format being encoded as a two-byte binary code, and

means for converting said and displaying said two-byte binary code as a value indicative of said available investment in a manner intelligible to a user of said data processing system.

11. A system for transaction processing and recordkeeping with respect to a benefits plan having participants invested in a plurality of investments, said investments being of various types, comprising:

computer data processing means for processing data;

data storage means for storage and retrieval of data;

means for storing the settlement periods in said data storage means for investments within said plan;

said computer data processing means analyzing a transaction to determine a first investment to be sold and a second investment to be bought;

means for retrieving the settlement period from said data storage means for said combination of first and second investments from said data storage means;

means for automatically delaying said second investment from being bought until the end of the settlement period for said first investment if said settlement period is longer than a predetermined duration.

12. A system for managing a plurality of individual benefits accounts wherein each account corresponds to a participant, the system comprising:

a means for storing a list of investments available to participants;

a price table, said price table being updated periodically and containing the latest trading price for the investments available to participants;

a means for purchasing an investment and automatically adding the investment to a participant'"'"'s plan upon request of a participant; and

a means for calculating the commission price for investments purchased by a participant.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a means for receiving dividend information or dividend amounts for investments held by plan participants; and

a means for storing a participant'"'"'s instructions regarding the treatment of dividends; and

a means of distributing dividends according to the participant'"'"'s instructions.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a means for selling investments in a plan;

a means for analyzing a transaction to determine the total amount needed in a participant'"'"'s plan to purchase investments indicated in the transaction;

a means for storing the settlement period for investments within a plan; and

a means automatically delaying a purchase of an investment until there are sufficient funds in a participant'"'"'s account to purchase the investment.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a means for receiving and processing corporate actions, said means for processing including means for storing information on corporate actions with respect to investments held in the various participant plans;

a means for storing a participant'"'"'s responses to, or instructions regarding, corporate actions; and

a means for automatically generating an action in accordance to a participant'"'"'s response to, or instructions regarding, corporate actions.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

a means for analyzing a requested transaction on a particular day involving multiple investments, and

a means for delaying a transaction of an investment which is not trading on that particular day.