System and method for managing third-party input to a conditional purchase offer (CPO)

• US 6,484,153 B1
• Filed: 09/04/1997
• Issued: 11/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Priceline.com LLC (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Priceline Com Incorporated (Booking Holdings, Inc., fka Priceline Group Inc.)
• Inventors: Jindal, Sanjay K., Schneier, Bruce, Walker, Jay S., Weir-Jones, Toby
• Primary Examiner(s): Choi, Kyle J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Irshadullah, M.
• Application Number:
  US08/923,524
• Time in Patent Office: 1,902 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/26, 705/35-38, 705/50, 705/66, 705/75, 705/76, 705/78, 705/80, 235/380, 235/379
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/403 Solvency checks
• 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 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/026 for alarm, monitoring and auditing in vending machines or means for indication, e.g. when empty

Abstract

A central controller receives an offer signal including at least one condition signal. The offer signal defines an offer having at least one condition from a customer. The central controller also receives a payment identifier signal for specifying an account from which funds may be paid. An informational signal relevant to the offer is received from a third party. The central controller transmits the offer signal and the informational signal to at least one seller. In response, an acceptance signal is received from at least one of the sellers. The central controller selects one acceptance signal, if more than one is received, and the corresponding lender is identified. The borrower is thereby bound to the identified lender under the terms and conditions of the offer. Use of the payment identifier signal is initiated if it is determined that the borrower has failed to abide by terms of the offer.

Claims

1. An apparatus for processing a loan, comprising:

a storage device; and

a processor disposed in communication with the storage device,

the storage device storing;

a program for controlling the processor; and

the processor operative with the program to;

receive an offer signal including at least one condition signal, the offer signal thereby defining a binding offer having borrower-defined loan conditions,

receive a payment identifier signal for specifying an account from which funds may be paid as a penalty if the offer is accepted by a lender and is not processed by a borrower,

receive an informational signal relevant to the offer from a third party, said informational signal containing credit report information regarding the borrower,

transmit the offer signal and the informational signal to at least one lender,

receive from at least one of the at least one lender an acceptance signal responsive to the transmitted offer signal and the transmitted informational signal, and

selecting one acceptance signal to process the loan.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

identify the lender from which the selected acceptance signal was received.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

initiate the use of the payment identifier signal to collect the funds.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to transmit the payment identifier signal to the at least one lender.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

validate the received offer signal, and thereby determine whether the received offer signal meets predetermined validation criteria.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to transmit the offer signal and the informational signal only if the validating determines that the received offer signal meets the predetermined validation criteria.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to select the first received acceptance signal.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to select a random one of the plurality of acceptance signals if a plurality of acceptance signals are received.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to

if a plurality of acceptance signals are received,

sort the plurality of acceptance signals according to a predetermined sort criteria, and

select the first of the sorted plurality of acceptance signals.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to

if a plurality of acceptance signals are received,

transmit a plurality of lender signals, each indicative of a lender which corresponds to one of the plurality of acceptance signals,

receive a selection signal indicative of a selected lender signal, and thereby indicate a corresponding acceptance signal, and

select the acceptance signal corresponding to the selected lender signal.

11. An apparatus for processing a loan between a borrower terminal and at least one lender terminal, comprising:

a storage device; and

a processor disposed in communication with the storage device, the borrower terminal and the at least one lender terminal,

the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor; and

the processor operative with the program to;

receive from the borrower terminal an offer signal including at least one condition signal, the offer signal thereby defining a binding offer having borrower-defined loan conditions,

receive from the borrower terminal a payment identifier signal for specifying an account from which funds may be paid as a penalty if the offer is accepted by a lender and is not processed by a borrower,

receive an informational signal including credit information from a third party, said informational signal containing credit report information regarding the borrower,

transmit the offer signal and the informational signal to the at least one lender terminal,

receive from the at least one lender terminal an acceptance signal responsive to the transmitted offer signal and the transmitted informational signal,

select one acceptance signal, and

identify the lender terminal from which the selected acceptance signal was received to process loan.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

validate the received offer signal, and thereby determine whether the received offer signal meets predetermined validation criteria.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

perform a financial calculation to determine whether the received offer signal defines a meaningful offer.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to transmit the offer signal and the informational signal only if the validating determines that the received offer signal meets the predetermined validation criteria.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

select the first received acceptance signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

select a random one of the plurality of acceptance signals if a plurality of acceptance signals are received.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

if a plurality of acceptance signals are received,

sort the plurality of acceptance signals according to a predetermined sort criteria, and

select the first of the sorted plurality of acceptance signals.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

if a plurality of acceptance signals are received,

transmit to the borrower terminal a plurality of lender signals, each indicative of a lender which corresponds to one of the plurality of acceptance signals,

receive from the borrower terminal a selection signal indicative of a selected lender signal, thereby indicating a corresponding acceptance signal, and

select the acceptance signal corresponding to the selected lender signal.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one condition signal indicates at least one of a loan amount, a periodic payment amount, a loan period and an interest rate.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one condition signal indicates a request for a lowest of one of a periodic payment amount and an interest rate.

21. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the offer signal includes:

a first condition signal indicative of a loan amount,

a second condition signal indicative of a periodic payment amount, and

a third condition signal indicative of a request for a lowest interest rate.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

if a plurality of acceptance signals are received, wherein each acceptance signal includes an interest rate, select an acceptance signal having the lowest interest rate of the plurality of acceptance signals.

23. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the offer signal includes:

a first condition signal indicative of a loan amount,

a second condition signal indicative of a request for a lowest periodic payment amount, and

a third condition signal indicative of an interest rate.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

if a plurality of acceptance signals are received, wherein each acceptance signal includes a periodic payment amount, select an acceptance signal having the lowest periodic payment amount of the plurality of acceptance signals.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the offer signal further includes:

a fourth condition signal indicative of a loan period.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the offer signal further includes:

a fourth condition signal indicative of a maximum loan period.

27. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the offer signal includes:

a first condition signal indicative of a loan amount,

a second condition signal indicative of a periodic payment amount, and

a third condition signal indicative of an interest rate.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the second condition signal is indicative of a monthly payment amount.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the offer signal further includes:

a fourth condition signal indicative of a loan period.

30. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the offer signal includes

a first condition signal indicative of a loan amount,

a second condition signal indicative of a loan period, and

a third condition signal indicative of an interest rate.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the offer signal further includes:

a fourth condition signal indicative of a periodic payment amount.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the fourth condition signal is indicative of a monthly payment amount.

33. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

initiate the use of the payment identifier signal to collect the funds.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to transmit the payment identifier signal to the identified lender terminal.

35. An apparatus for processing a loan, comprising:

a storage device; and

a processor disposed in communication with the storage device, the storage device storing;

a program for controlling the processor; and

the processor operative with the program to;

receive an offer signal including at least one condition signal, the offer signal defining a binding offer having borrower-defined loan conditions,

receive a payment identifier signal for specifying an account from which funds may be paid as a penalty if the offer is accepted and is not processed by a borrower,

receive an informational signal relevant to the offer from a third party, said informational signal containing credit report information regarding the borrower,

store at least one rule signal from each of a plurality of lenders, each rule signal including at least one lender-defined restriction,

compare the offer signal and the informational signal with the at least one rule signal; and

determine whether the at least one condition and the informational signal satisfy each lender-defined restriction of any rule to process the loan.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

if each seller-defined restriction of any rule is satisfied, identify a seller which corresponds to a satisfied rule.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

if a plurality of rules are satisfied, select one of the plurality of satisfied rules.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

select a random one of the plurality of satisfied rules.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

transmit a plurality of lender-defined signals, each indicative of a lender which corresponds to one of the plurality of satisfied rules;

receive a selection signal indicative of a selected lender-defined signal, and thereby indicate a corresponding rule; and

select the satisfied rule corresponding to the selected signal.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

sort the plurality of satisfied rules according to a predetermined sort criteria, and

select the first of the sorted plurality of satisfied rules.

41. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

identify a lender which corresponds to the selected rule.

42. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

initiate the use of the payment identifier signal to collect the funds if any of the rules are satisfied.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

if each lender-defined restriction of any rule is satisfied, identify a lender which corresponds to a satisfied rule, and

transmit the payment identifier signal to the identified lender.

44. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

validate the received offer signal, and thereby determine whether the received offer signal meets predetermined validation criteria.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to:

perform a financial calculation to determine whether the received offer signal defines a meaningful offer.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the processor is further operative with the program to compare only if the validating determines that the received offer signal meets the predetermined validation criteria.