Electronic financial transaction system

• US 6,856,970 B1
• Filed: 09/26/2000
• Issued: 02/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bottomline Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Bottomline Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Campbell, Eric, Lemanis, Maris Norbert, Nebenhaus, Eve Renee, Hoffman, Robert F.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHILCOT, RICHARD E
• Application Number:
  US09/670,266
• Time in Patent Office: 1,603 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 42, 709/224, 709/228, 709/331, 709/332, 707/9, 707/10, 707/102, 707/103, 707/516
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A financial transaction system consistent with the invention allows clients of a financial institution to use a web-based workstation to interface with a plurality of back office systems within one or more financial institutions. In an exemplary embodiment, a financial transaction system comprises a hub server, a plurality of financial institutions, at least one web server, and at least one database server. The hub server receives data in the form of a plurality of disparately formatted instructions and communicates the instructions to the financial institutions, which are connected to the hub server for receiving the data and have a plurality of differing reception formats to receive the reformatted data. Data is transmitted between the web server and at least one user via a network interface, and between the web server and the hub server. The web server stores data and at least one application in an application database. Data is transmitted between the database server, the hub server, and the web server, and is stored in a hub database. The hub server maps data received from the financial institutions and loads it onto the hub database. The web server receives the mapped data from the hub database, transmits it onto the application database, and permits the user to manipulate it using the application. In another exemplary embodiment, a method of executing a financial transaction consistent with the present invention comprises the steps of receiving into an application database an instruction to execute a financial transaction from at least one user using an application, receiving the instruction into a hub database, reformatting the instruction, and routing the reformatted instruction to at least one financial institution.

Claims

1. A financial transaction system comprising:

at least one financial institution transaction processing system;

at least one hub server operable to transmit data to and receive data from said financial institution transaction processing system;

at least one web server operable to transmit data to and receive data from

at least one user via an open network, said web server operable to transmit data to and receive data from said hub server;

at least one database server operable to transmit data to and receive data from said hub server and said web server, said database server capable of storing data in a hub database;

said hub server operable to map data received from said financial institution into mapped data and load said mapped data onto said hub database;

said web server operable to;

receive said mapped data from said hub database;

transmit said mapped data onto said user over the open network;

receive a financial transaction message from said user over the open network, the financial transaction message relating to said mapped data conforming to one of a plurality of transaction type profiles;

select a unified transaction format based on the transaction type profile of the transaction;

generate a unified transaction message by converting the transaction message to the unified transaction format;

provide the unified transaction message to the database server for storage in the hub database and to the hub server for delivery to the financial institution transaction processing system;

said hub server further operable to;

look up a financial institution transaction format associated with both the transaction type profile and the financial institution processing;

reformat the unified transaction to the financial institution transaction format; and

route said reformatted transaction to the financial institution transaction processing system.

2. The financial transaction system of claim 1, further comprising a data archive, said archive operable to remove data from said hub database and/or said application database, index said data, and store said data for future retrieval.

3. The financial transaction system of claim 2, wherein said web server further comprises a mechanism allowing said user to at least one of enter and modify the financial transaction message at a time prior to a transaction execution date specified in the financial transaction message, such mechanism performing the steps of:

receiving an instruction message to at least one of enter, modify, and delete the financial transaction message, the instruction message specifying the financial transaction message;

generating a modified unified transaction message combining;

i) the unified transaction message corresponding to the specified financial transaction message; and

ii) the instruction message; and

storing the modified unified transaction message in the application database.

4. The financial transaction system of claim 3, wherein said web server is operable to require approval by a predetermined number of remote approvers prior to providing the unified transaction message to the hub server, the web server performing the steps of:

determining each remote approver required to approve the financial transaction message based on an identity of the user providing the financial transaction message and the transaction type profile;

duplicating the unified transaction message in an approval queue for each remote approver;

receiving an instruction to execute said transaction from each remote approver;

storing each instruction to execute said transaction in the hub database;

routing the unified transaction message to the hub server only after an instruction to execute the transaction has been approved by each remote approver.

5. The financial transaction system of claim 4, wherein said web server is operable to prevent processing of a financial transaction message until the execution date specified in said financial transaction message matches the current date by routing the unified transaction message to the hub server only when the specified execution date matches the current date.