Systems and methods for selectively accessing or using financial account data for subsequent risk determination

• US 7,873,566 B1
• Filed: 11/20/2002
• Issued: 01/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Shankar, Sharat, Ahles, Daniel, Barron, Tamila, Templeton, Randy
• Primary Examiner(s): Kramer; James A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fu; Hao
• Application Number:
  US10/302,796
• Time in Patent Office: 2,981 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/38, 705/39, 705/4, 705/45
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• 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 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for selectively determining when and from what source to access information received from a demand deposit account (DDA) associated with a given check or other promissory payment transaction, as well as for selectively incorporating the DDA information into a risk assessment for the transaction. Information received from the DDA can include an indication of the existence of sufficient funds in the account (or lack thereof) to cover the check in question, as well as a current status code for the account. Use of the DDA information may be integrated into an overall risk assessment process performed for the transaction, such that the influence of negative factors in one part of the risk assessment may be mitigated by other factors in the risk assessment and such that overall effectiveness of the risk assessment is enhanced. Systems and methods for selecting an access path for accessing a DDA to settle a promissory payment are also provided.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method comprising executing computer executable instructions by one or more processors for evaluating the risk of a merchant accepting a proffered promissory payment in a financial transaction and of providing an indication to the merchant to accept or to decline the promissory payment, wherein the payment is drawn on a demand deposit account (DDA), the method comprising:

receiving information about the financial transaction, wherein the information comprises at least one of;

information about the promissory payment, information about an individual proffering the promissory payment, and information about the merchant;

invoking one or more pre-scoring rules to evaluate the financial transaction;

accessing DDA access path rules;

if the DDA access path rules specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, by the one or more processors, the merchant stipulated DDA access path;

if the DDA access path rules do not specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, via an access path determination engine, a DDA information source based at least in part on the DDA access path rules, wherein the access path determination engine is executable by the one or more processors;

invoking one or more scoring rule matrix to evaluate whether to access additional DDA information;

invoking the access path determination engine in order to select an expedient DDA access path;

accessing additional associated information comprising at least one of;

information about a payment history associated with the individual or other information relevant to a risk evaluation of accepting a promissory payment from the individual, information about a service agreement with the merchant that stipulates characteristics of the risk assessment information about risk patterns associated with the merchant, and information about the DDA on which the promissory payment is drawn;

using at least some of the received information and the additional associated information to perform a risk assessment indicative of a level of risk associated with accepting the promissory payment;

invoking post-score rules to determine whether further risk assessment is desirable to confirm or to overturn the assessment and whether further additional DDA information is needed;

invoking the access path determination engine if desirable in order to select a DDA access path;

assessing further additional DDA information via the DDA access path selected by the access path determination engine;

performing further risk assessment, if desirable, based at least in part on the further additional DDA info to determine if a risk level associated with accepting the promissory payment is acceptable or unacceptable; and

providing an indication to the merchant to accept the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be acceptable and to decline the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be unacceptable.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the promissory payment is a check and the DDA is a checking account, and the check is drawn on the checking account.

3. The method of claim, 1, wherein the DDA information comprises information about the sufficiency of funds in the DDA to cove the amount of the promissory payment and about whether the DDA is open or closed.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising requesting and obtaining the DDA information from an external source if DDA information is not otherwise available for use in performing the risk assessment or the further risk assessment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the merchant comprises a merchant type categorization that groups the merchant with other merchants exhibiting similar customer purchase patterns and similar promissory payment risk patterns.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the individual comprises information about the individual'"'"'s payment history.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a risk assessment indicative of a level of risk comprises taking into consideration at least one of:

information about the promissory payment, information about the DDA, information about the merchant, and information about the individual, information about available sources of DDA information, and information about a probable amount of financial gain associated with accepting the promissory payment if the payment is not initially paid.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a further risk assessment comprises using a system of decision rules.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a further risk assessment comprises calculating a risk score.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the risk score is associated with one of at least three possible risk categories:

acceptable risk, unacceptable risk, and borderline risk.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if further assessment is desirable comprises determining if the risk category indicates borderline risk.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if further assessment is desirable comprises determining if considering DDA information will allow for enhanced accuracy of the risk assessment.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if further assessment is desirable comprises determining that further risk assessment is desirable if DDA information was not used in performing the risk.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if further assessment is desirable comprises determining whether accessing DDA will enable a more accurate risk assessment and, if so, whether the increased accuracy justifies resource costs associated with accessing the DDA information.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if further assessment is desirable comprises performing further risk assessment in all cases.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a further risk assessment comprises determining if sufficient funds exist in the demand deposit account to cover the proffered promissory payment.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a further risk assessment comprises determining a probable amount of financial gain from accepting the promissory payment.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a further risk assessment comprises determining a probable amount of financial gain from accepting the promissory payment if the payment is not initially cashable and if additional late fees are assessed.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein performing a further risk assessment comprises selecting a source of DDA information and obtaining DDA information if DDA information is not already available.

20. A system for assessing the risk of accepting a promissory payment proffered in a financial transaction, the system comprising:

at least one processor configured to execute computer executable instructions for;

transmitting information about the proffered payment from a point of sale device to a central location;

invoking one or more pre-scoring rules to evaluate the financial transaction;

evaluating at the central location the risk of accepting the proffered promissory payment that categorizes the risk into at least a category of acceptable risk and unacceptable risk;

determining, if the risk is unacceptable, whether to re-evaluate the risk;

accessing DDA access path rules;

if the DDA access path rules specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, by the one or more processors, the merchant stipulated DDA access path;

if the DDA access path rules do not specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, via an access path determination engine, a DDA information source based at least in part on the DDA access path rules, wherein the access path determination engine is executable by the one or more processors;

invoking one or more scoring rule matrix to evaluate whether to access additional DDA information;

invoking the access path determination engine in order to select an expedient DDA access path;

re-evaluating, based at least in part on information about the demand deposit account (DDA) corresponding to the proffered promissory payment, the risk of accepting the proffered promissory payment;

invoking post-score rules to determine whether further risk assessment is desirable to confirm or to overturn the assessment and whether further additional DDA information is needed;

invoking the access path determination engine if desirable in order to select a DDA access path;

assessing further additional DDA information via the DDA access path selected by the access path determination engine;

performing further risk assessment, if desirable, based at least in part on the further additional DDA info to determine if a risk level associated with accepting the promissory payment is acceptable or unacceptable; and

providing an indication to the merchant to accept the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be acceptable and to decline the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be unacceptable.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the promissory payment is a tendered check drawn on the DDA.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein re-evaluating the risk comprises using information from the DDA comprising information about the sufficiency of funds in the DDA to cover the amount of the promissory payment and about whether the DDA is open or closed.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute computer executable instructions for providing an indication of the re-evaluated risk assessment to the point of sale device comprising advising whether to accept or decline the promissory payment.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is further operable for executing computer executable instructions for providing the indication via a distributed electronic network.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein re-evaluating the risk comprises receiving information about the DDA from a source belonging to the group consisting of:

an issuing financial institution associated with the demand deposit account, a third party entity that provides access to the issuing financial institution, a third party entity that maintains a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution, and an internal database that stores a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein re-evaluating further comprises accessing and utilizing stored information about a merchant associated with the point of sale device, wherein the merchant information comprises a merchant type categorization that groups the merchant with other merchants exhibiting similar customer purchase patterns and similar promissory payment risk patterns.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein re-evaluating further comprises accessing and utilizing stored information about a customer proffering the promissory payment, wherein the stored information comprises information relevant to an assessment of the risk of accepting a promissory payment from the customer.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the information about the customer comprises information about the customer'"'"'s payment history.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein calculating an initial risk score comprises taking into consideration at least one of:

information about the promissory payment information about the DDA, information about the merchant, and information about a customer proffering the promissory payment, information about available sources of DDA information, and information about a probable amount of financial gain associated with accepting the promissory payment if the payment is not initially paid.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein the utilizing the DDA information to enhance the initial risk score is performed using a system of decision rules.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein the utilizing the DDA information to enhance the initial risk score comprises recalculating the risk score.

32. The system of claim 20, wherein utilizing the DDA information to enhance the risk score comprises determining if sufficient funds exist in the demand deposit account to cover the proffered promissory payment and wherein providing an indication of the assessment comprises advising the merchant not to accept the proffered payment when there are insufficient funds in the demand deposit account.

33. The system of claim 20, wherein utilizing the DDA information to enhance the risk score comprises determining if sufficient funds exist in the DDA to cover the proffered promissory payment and taking into consideration other information, said other information comprising at least one of:

payment history information associated with the DDA, promissory payment history information associated with the merchant and with other merchants exhibiting similar promissory payment risk patterns, information about the transaction, and a probable amount of late fees or other form of financial gain if the promissory payment is not initially cashable, such that providing the indication of the risk assessment may comprise advising the merchant to accept the proffered payment even when there are insufficient funds in the demand deposit account.

34. The system of claim 20, wherein calculating the initial risk score comprises taking into consideration the information about the demand deposit account.

35. The system of claim 20, wherein receiving information about the demand deposit account comprises:

determining if requesting demand deposit information is desirable for performing the risk assessment;

selecting a source of the demand deposit account information based upon the determination;

transmitting a request for demand deposit account information to the selected source of the demand deposit information; and

receiving the information about the demand deposit account from the selected source.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein determining if requesting DDA information is desirable is based at least in part on at least one of the group consisting of:

the amount of the proffered promissory payment, payment history information associated with the DDA, auxiliary services offered by available sources of DDA information, resource costs associated with accessing DDA information from sources, a merchant category assigned to the merchant which is indicative of risk patterns associated with promissory payments proffered to merchants assigned to the category, a merchant agreement stipulating circumstances under which requesting DDA information is desirable, and a merchant agreement stipulating preferred sources of demand deposit information.

37. A computer program product, comprising computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for determining whether to accept a check offered as payment in a check transaction, the method comprising:

receiving electronic information about a DDA against which a check that is offered as payment in a check transaction is drawn;

invoking one or more pre-scoring rules to evaluate the financial transaction;

generating a risk score indicative of a predicted level of risk for the check transaction;

accessing DDA access path rules;

if the DDA access path rules specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, by the one or more processors, the merchant stipulated DDA access path;

if the DDA access path rules do not specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, via an access path determination engine, a DDA information source based at least in part on the DDA access path rules, wherein the access path determination engine is executable by the one or more processors;

based at least in part on the risk score, selectively integrating use of the information from the DDA together with use of other information associated with the check transaction to generate a second risk score, wherein the manner of selectively integrating the DDA information and the other information is determined, at least in part, based on characteristics of the check transaction;

determining to accept the check if the second risk score indicates an acceptable level of risk associated with accepting the check and to decline the check if the second risk score indicates an unacceptable level of risk associated with accepting the check;

invoking one or more scoring rule matrix to evaluate whether to assess additional DDA information;

invoking the access path determination engine in order to select an expedient DDA access path;

accessing additional associated information and using at least some of the received information and the additional associated information to perform a risk assessment indicative of a level of risk associated with accepting the promissory payment;

invoking post-score rules to determine whether further risk assessment is desirable to confirm or to overturn the assessment and whether further additional DDA information is needed;

invoking the access path determination engine if desirable in order to select a DDA access path;

assessing further additional DDA information via the DDA access path selected by the access path determination engine;

performing further risk assessment, if desirable, based at least in part on the further additional DDA info to determine if a risk level associated with accepting the promissory payment is acceptable or unacceptable; and

providing an indication to the merchant to accept the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be acceptable and to decline the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be unacceptable.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the information from the DDA comprises information about the sufficiency of funds in the DDA to cover the amount of the promissory payment and about whether the DDA is open or closed.

39. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein providing an indication of the risk assessment to the merchant comprises advising the merchant whether to accept or to decline the promissory payment.

40. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein providing an indication of the risk assessment to the merchant comprises advising the merchant via a distributed electronic network.

41. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein receiving information from the DDA comprises receiving the information from a source belonging to the group consisting of an issuing financial institution associated with the demand deposit account, a third party entity that provides access to the issuing financial institution, a third party entity that maintains a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution, and an internal database that stores a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution.

42. The computer program product of claim 37, further comprising accessing and utilizing stored information about the merchant comprising a merchant type categorization that groups the merchant with other merchants exhibiting similar customer purchase patterns and similar promissory payment risk patterns to enhance the risk score.

43. The computer program product of claim 37, further comprising accessing and utilizing stored information about a customer proffering the promissory payment to enhance the risk score, wherein the stored information comprises information relevant to an assessment of the risk of accepting a promissory payment from the customer.

44. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the information about the customer comprises information about the customer'"'"'s payment history.

45. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein calculating an initial risk score comprises taking into consideration at least one of:

information about the promissory payment, information about the DDA, information about the merchant, and information about a customer proffering the promissory payment, information about available sources of DDA information, and information about a probable amount of financial gain associated with accepting the promissory payment if the payment is not initially paid.

46. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the utilizing the DDA information to enhance the initial risk score is performed using a system of decision rules.

47. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the utilizing the DDA information to enhance the initial risk score comprises recalculating the risk score.

48. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein utilizing the DDA information to enhance the risk score comprises determining if sufficient funds exist in the demand deposit account to cover the proffered promissory payment and wherein providing an indication of the assessment comprises advising the merchant not to accept the proffered payment when there are insufficient funds in the demand deposit account.

49. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein utilizing the DDA information to enhance the risk score comprises determining if sufficient funds exist in the DDA to cover the proffered promissory payment and taking into consideration other information, said other information comprising at least one of:

payment history information associated with the DDA, promissory payment history information associated with the merchant and with other merchants exhibiting similar promissory payment risk patterns, information about the transaction, and a probable amount of late fees or other form of financial gain if the promissory payment is not initially cashable, such that providing the indication of the risk assessment may comprise advising the merchant to accept the proffered payment even when there are insufficient funds in the demand deposit account.

50. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein calculating the initial risk score comprises taking into consideration the information about the demand deposit account.

51. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein receiving information about the demand deposit account comprises:

determining if requesting demand deposit information is desirable for performing the risk assessment;

selecting a source of the demand deposit account information based upon the determination;

transmitting a request for demand deposit account information to the selected source of the demand deposit information; and

receiving the information about the demand deposit account from the selected source.

52. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein determining if requesting DDA information is desirable is based at least in part on at least one of the group consisting of:

the amount of the proffered promissory payment, payment history information associated with the DDA, auxiliary services offered by available sources of DDA information, resource costs associated with accessing DDA information from sources, a merchant category assigned to the merchant which is indicative of risk patterns associated with promissory payments proffered to merchants assigned to the category, a merchant agreement stipulating circumstances under which requesting DDA information is desirable, and a merchant agreement stipulating preferred sources of demand deposit information.

53. A computer implemented method comprising executing computer executable instructions by one or more processors for determining whether to authorize acceptance of a promissory payment offered from a demand deposit account (DDA), the method comprising:

accessing electronic information about a demand deposit account from which a promissory payment has been offered;

invoking one or more pre-scoring rules to evaluate the financial transaction;

using at least one of a plurality of available risk engines to generate a score, or other generated evaluation, that is indicative of a level of risk predicted for the promissory payment, to make an authorization decision;

accessing DDA access path rules;

if the DDA access path rules specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, by the one or more processors, the merchant stipulated DDA access path;

if the DDA access path rules do not specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, via an access path determination engine, a DDA information source based at least in part on the DDA access path rules, wherein the access path determination engine is executable by the one or more processors;

re-evaluating the authorization decision, based at least in part on the demand deposit account information;

invoking one or more scoring rule matrix to evaluate whether to assess additional DDA information;

invoking the access path determination engine in order to select an expedient DDA access path;

accessing additional associated information and using at least some of the received information and the additional associated information to perform a risk assessment indicative of a level of risk associated with accepting the promissory payment;

invoking post-score rules to determine whether further risk assessment is desirable to confirm or to overturn the assessment and whether further additional DDA information is needed;

invoking the access path determination engine if desirable in order to select a DDA access path;

assessing further additional DDA information via the DDA access path selected by the access path determination engine;

performing further risk assessment, if desirable, based at least in part on the further additional DDA info to determine if a risk level associated with accepting the promissory payment is acceptable or unacceptable; and

providing an indication to the merchant to accept the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be acceptable and to decline the promissory payment if the risk level is evaluated to be unacceptable.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the information from the DDA comprises information about the sufficiency of funds in the DDA to cover the amount of the promissory payment and about whether the DDA is open or closed.

55. The method of claim 53, further comprising providing an indication of the risk assessment with a recommendation to accept or to decline the promissory payment.

56. The method of claim 53, wherein accessing information about the DDA comprises receiving the information from a source belonging to the group consisting of:

an issuing financial institution associated with the demand deposit account, a third party entity that provides access to the issuing financial institution, a third party entity that maintains a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution, and an internal database that stores a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution.

57. The method of claim 53, wherein re-evaluating further comprises accessing and utilizing stored information about the merchant comprising a merchant type categorization that groups the merchant with other merchants exhibiting similar customer purchase patterns and similar promissory payment risk patterns to enhance the accuracy of the authorization decision.

58. The method of claim 53, wherein re-evaluating further comprises accessing and utilizing stored information about a customer proffering the promissory payment to enhance the accuracy of the authorization decision, wherein the stored information comprises a promissory payment history for the customer.

59. The method of claim 53, wherein using one of a plurality of available risk engines comprises selecting a risk engine that is designed to assess the risk for transactions with conditions similar to those in which the promissory payment is offered.

60. The method of claim 53, wherein using a risk engine comprises taking into consideration at least one of:

information about the promissory payment, information about the DDA, information about the merchant, and information about a customer proffering the promissory payment, information about available sources of DDA information, and information about a probable amount of financial gain associated with accepting the promissory payment comprising additional expected fees to be collected if the payment is initially uncashable.

61. The method of claim 53, wherein using a risk engine comprises calculating a risk score, and wherein re-evaluating the authorization decision comprises recalculating the risk score.

62. The method of claim 53, wherein re-evaluating the authorization decision further comprises taking into consideration at least one of:

payment history information associated with the DDA, promissory payment history information associated with a merchant to whom the promissory payment is proffered and with other merchants exhibiting similar promissory payment risk patterns, information about an individual proffering the payment, and a probable amount financial gain from accepting the promissory payment that takes into consideration late fees or other fees due if the promissory payment is not initially cashable.

63. A computer implemented method comprising executing computer executable instructions by one or more processors for assessing risk associated with a merchant accepting a promissory payment in a financial transaction, wherein the method utilizes a scoring process to determine a risk score for the transaction, and wherein the method further utilizes information received from a demand deposit account (DDA) on which the promissory payment is drawn for use in enhancing the scoring process, the method comprising:

identifying the promissory payment for which the merchant desires risk assessment;

invoking one or more pre-scoring rules to evaluate the financial transaction;

determining if additional DDA information is needed to evaluate the financial transaction;

accessing DDA access path rules;

if the DDA access path rules specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, selecting, by the one or more processors, the merchant stipulated DDA access path;

if the DDA access path rules do not specify a merchant stipulated DDA access path, and if additional DDA access is needed, selecting, via an access path determination engine, a DDA information source based at least in part on the DDA access path rules, wherein the access path determination engine is executable by the one or more processors, and receiving information associated with the DDA against which the promissory payment is drawn;

calculating an initial risk score for the transaction;

selectively utilizing the information from the DDA in conjunction with the initial risk score to enhance the risk score for the transaction;

invoking one or more scoring rule matrix to evaluate whether to assess additional DDA information;

invoking the access path determination engine in order to select an expedient DDA access path;

accessing additional associated information and using at least some of the received information and the additional associated information to perform a risk assessment indicative of a level of risk associated with accepting the promissory payment;

invoking post-score rules to determine whether further risk assessment is desirable to confirm or to overturn the assessment and whether further additional DDA information is needed;

invoking the access path determination engine if desirable in order to select a DDA access path;

assessing further additional DDA information via the DDA access path selected by the access path determination engine;

performing further risk assessment, if desirable, based at least in part on the further additional DDA info to determine if a risk level associated with accepting the promissory payment is acceptable or unacceptable; and

providing an indication of the risk assessment associated with accepting the promissory payment to the merchant.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the promissory payment is a tendered check drawn on the DDA.

65. The method of claim 63, wherein the information from the DDA comprises information about the sufficiency of funds in the DDA to cover the amount of the promissory payment and about whether the DDA is open or closed.

66. The method of claim 63, wherein providing an indication of the risk assessment to the merchant comprises advising the merchant whether to accept or to decline the promissory payment.

67. The method of claim 63, wherein providing an indication of the risk assessment to the merchant comprises advising the merchant via a distributed electronic network.

68. The method of claim 63, wherein receiving information from the DDA comprises receiving the information from a source belonging to the group consisting of:

an issuing financial institution associated with the demand deposit account, a third party entity that provides access to the issuing financial institution, a third party entity that maintains a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution, and an internal database that stores a copy of demand deposit information from the issuing financial institution.

69. The method of claim 63, further comprising accessing and utilizing stored information about the merchant comprising a merchant type categorization that groups the merchant with other merchants exhibiting similar customer purchase patterns and similar promissory payment risk patterns to enhance the risk score.

70. The method of claim 63, further comprising accessing and utilizing stored information about a customer proffering the promissory payment to enhance the risk score, wherein the stored information comprises information relevant to an assessment of the risk of accepting a promissory payment from the customer.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein the information about the customer comprises information about the customer'"'"'s payment history.

72. The method of claim 63, wherein calculating an initial risk score comprises taking into consideration at least one of:

information about the promissory payment, information about the DDA, information about the merchant, and information about a customer proffering the promissory payment, information about available sources of DDA information, and information about a probable amount of financial gain associated with accepting the promissory payment if the payment is not initially paid.

73. The method of claim 63, wherein the utilizing the DDA information to enhance the initial risk score is performed using a system of decision rules.

74. The method of claim 63, wherein the utilizing the DDA information to enhance the initial risk score comprises recalculating the risk score.

75. The method of claim 63, wherein utilizing the DDA information to enhance the risk score comprises determining if sufficient funds exist in the demand deposit account to cover the proffered promissory payment and wherein providing an indication of the assessment comprises advising the merchant not to accept the proffered payment when there are insufficient funds in the demand deposit account.

76. The method of claim 63, wherein utilizing the DDA information to enhance the risk score comprises determining if sufficient funds exist in the DDA to cover the proffered promissory payment and taking into consideration other information, said other information comprising at least one of:

payment history information associated with the DDA, promissory payment history information associated with the merchant and with other merchants exhibiting similar promissory payment risk patterns, information about the transaction, and a probable amount of late fees or other form of financial gain if the promissory payment is not initially cashable, such that providing the indication of the risk assessment may comprise advising the merchant to accept the proffered payment even when there are insufficient funds in the demand deposit account.

77. The method of claim 63, wherein calculating the initial risk score comprises taking into consideration the information about the demand deposit account.

78. The method of claim 63, wherein receiving information about the demand deposit account comprises:

determining if requesting demand deposit information is desirable for performing the risk assessment;

selecting a source of the demand deposit account information based upon the determination;

transmitting a request for demand deposit account information to the selected source of the demand deposit information; and

receiving the information about the demand deposit account from the selected source.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein determining if requesting DDA information is desirable is based at least in part on at least one of the group consisting of:

the amount of the proffered promissory payment, payment history information associated with the DDA, auxiliary services offered by available sources of DDA information, resource costs associated with accessing DDA information from sources, a merchant category assigned to the merchant which is indicative of risk patterns associated with promissory payments proffered to merchants assigned to the category, a merchant agreement stipulating circumstances under which requesting DDA information is desirable, and a merchant agreement stipulating preferred sources of demand deposit information.