Application processing and decision systems and processes

• US 8,108,301 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2008
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Equifax, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Equifax, Inc.
• Inventors: Gupta, Sandeep, Hall, Christian, Reid, James, Lu, Shen, Horton, Dennis, Grice, Lee, Dixon, Thresa, Garten, Scott, Reddy, Sudhakar
• Primary Examiner(s): Kalinowski, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vyas, Abhishek
• Application Number:
  US12/257,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20090112753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• Field of Search: 705/38
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• 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

The present invention relates to application processing and decisioning systems and processes. One embodiment of the invention includes a method for automating decisioning for a credit request associated with an applicant. The method includes providing a user computer interface adapted to receive information associated with an applicant, and further adapted to display and receive information associated with at least one decision rule. The method also includes receiving information associated with an applicant through the user computer interface; receiving information associated with the applicant from at least one data source; and receiving a selection of information associated with a plurality of decision rules through the user computer interface. Furthermore, the method includes receiving a selection of rule flow information associated with the plurality of decision rules through the user computer interface; generating a plurality of decision rules based at least in part on the information associated with the applicant, based at least in part on the information associated with the applicant from at least one data source, and based at least in part on the selection of information associated with a plurality of decision rules, wherein an outcome associated with the at least one decision rule can be obtained; and based in part on at least the rule flow information, displaying at least a portion of the plurality of decision rules through the user computer interface.

Claims

1. A method for accessing a plurality of data sources for decisioning a credit request associated with an applicant, comprising:

configuring, by a server device processor executing code stored on a computer-readable storage device, a user interface for display on a client device, the user interface being configured to allow a client to input applicant identification information using the client device and to allow the client to specify a decision flow and to specify at least one decision rule in a near-natural language using a selectable menu provided on the user interface, the applicant identification information comprising at least one data element representing an identification of the applicant, the decision flow comprising at least one of a flow element, a decision block, or a flow path;

receiving the applicant identification information through the user interface;

receiving the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language through the user interface;

responsive to receiving the applicant identification information through the user interface configured by the server device processor, extracting, by the server device processor, applicant data from at least one data source of the plurality of data sources, the applicant data being associated with the applicant;

responsive to receiving the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language through the user interface, defining, by the server device processor, a rule in an executable format using the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language;

applying, by the server device processor, in accordance with the decision flow the rule in the executable format to the applicant data extracted from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources to determine a credit outcome for the applicant data;

configuring, by the server device processor, the user interface to include the credit outcome for the applicant data for display on the client device; and

configuring, by the server device processor, the user interface to allow the client to modify the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language after receiving the credit outcome.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data sources comprises at least one of the following:

an internal database, a third-party database, a credit reporting database, a risk database, a commercial database, and a commercial information database.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the applicant comprises at least one of the following:

an individual, an entity, a business, and a commercial institution.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein defining the rule in the executable format using the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language comprises translating the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language into executable code.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a modified decision rule in the near-natural language;

defining a modified rule in the executable format using the modified decision rule in the near-natural language;

re-applying the modified rule to the applicant data extracted from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources to determine a new credit outcome for the applicant data based on the modified rule; and

configuring the user interface to include the new credit outcome for the applicant data based on the modified rule.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring by the server device processor the user interface for display on the client device comprises:

creating the user interface comprising a selectable menu having a plurality of attributes and a plurality of criteria,

wherein the decision rule in the near-natural language comprises at least one attribute of the plurality of attributes and at least one criteria of the plurality of criteria,

wherein each attribute of the plurality of attributes represents a credit data-related element,

wherein each criteria of the plurality of criteria represents at least one attribute and a set of instructions describing a logical expression associated with the at least one attribute.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein extracting applicant data from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources comprises extracting credit information associated with the applicant from data stored at a data source.

4. A computer-readable storage device on which program code for accessing a plurality of data sources for decisioning a credit request associated with an applicant is stored, the program code comprising:

program code for configuring a user interface for display on a client device, the user interface being configured to allow a client to input applicant identification information using the client device and to allow the client to specify a decision flow and to specify at least one decision rule in a near-natural language using a selectable menu provided on the user interface, the applicant identification information comprising at least one data element representing an identification of the applicant, the decision flow comprising a flow element, a decision block, or a flow path;

program code for receiving the applicant identification information through the user interface;

program code for receiving the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language through the user interface;

program code for, responsive to receiving the applicant identification information through the user interface, extracting applicant data from at least one data source of the plurality of data sources, the applicant data being associated with the applicant;

program code for, responsive to receiving the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language through the user interface, defining a rule in an executable format using the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language;

program code for applying in accordance with the decision flow the rule in the executable format to the applicant data extracted from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources to determine a credit outcome for the applicant data;

program code for configuring the user interface to include the credit outcome for the applicant data for display on the client device; and

program code for configuring the user interface to allow the client to modify the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language after receiving the credit outcome.

5. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein the plurality of data sources comprises at least one of the following:

an internal database, a third-party database, a credit reporting database, a risk database, a commercial database, and a commercial information database.

6. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein the applicant comprises at least one of the following:

an individual, an entity, a business, and a commercial institution.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein program code for defining the rule in the executable format using the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language comprises program code for translating the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language into executable code.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, further comprising:

program code for receiving a modified decision rule in the near-natural language;

program code for defining a modified rule in the executable format using the modified decision rule in the near-natural language;

program code for re-applying the modified rule to the applicant data extracted from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources to determine a new credit outcome for the applicant data based on the modified rule; and

program code for configuring the user interface to include the new credit outcome for the applicant data based on the modified rule.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein program code for configuring the user interface for display on the client device comprises:

creating the user interface comprising a selectable menu having a plurality of attributes and a plurality of criteria,

wherein the decision rule in the near-natural language comprises at least one attribute of the plurality of attributes and at least one criteria of the plurality of criteria,

wherein each attribute of the plurality of attributes represents a credit data-related element,

wherein each criteria of the plurality of criteria represents at least one attribute and a set of instructions describing a logical expression associated with the at least one attribute.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 4, wherein program code for extracting applicant data from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources comprises program code for extracting credit information associated with the applicant from data stored at the at least one data source.

7. A sever device comprising:

a processor; and

a computer-readable storage device configured to store code,

wherein the processor is capable of executing the code to cause the server device to;

configure a user interface for display on a client device in communication with the server device through a network, the user interface being configured to allow a client to input applicant identification information using the client device and to allow the client to specify at least one decision rule in a near-natural language and decision flow elements using a selectable menu provided on the user interface, the applicant identification information comprising at least one data element representing an identification of an applicant, the decision flow elements comprising a flow element, a decision block, and a flow path for connecting at least one of the flow element or the decision block;

receive the applicant identification information through the user interface;

receive the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language through the user interface;

responsive to receiving the applicant identification information through the user interface configured by the server device, extract applicant data from at least one data source of a plurality of data sources, the applicant data being associated with the applicant;

responsive to receiving the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language through the user interface, define a rule in an executable format using the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language;

apply in accordance with the decision flow the rule in the executable format to the applicant data extracted from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources to determine a credit outcome for the applicant data;

configure the user interface to include the credit outcome for the applicant data for display on the client device; and

configure the user interface to allow the client to modify the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language after receiving the credit outcome.

8. The server device of claim 7, wherein the processor is capable of executing the code to cause the server device to define the rule in the executable format using the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language by translating the at least one decision rule in the near-natural language into executable code.

9. The server device of claim 7, wherein the processor is capable of executing the code to cause the server device to:

receive a modified decision rule in the near-natural language;

define a modified rule in the executable format using the modified decision rule in the near-natural language;

re-apply the modified rule to the applicant data extracted from the at least one data source of the plurality of data sources to determine a new credit outcome for the applicant data based on the modified rule; and

configure the user interface to include the new credit outcome for the applicant data based on the modified rule.

10. The server device of claim 7, wherein the processor is capable of executing the code to cause the server device to configure the user interface for display on the client device in communication with the server device through a network by:

creating the user interface comprising a selectable menu having a plurality of attributes and a plurality of criteria,

wherein the decision rule in the near-natural language comprises at least one attribute of the plurality of attributes and at least one criteria of the plurality of criteria,

wherein each attribute of the plurality of attributes represents a credit data-related element,

wherein each criteria of the plurality of criteria represents at least one attribute and a set of instructions describing a logical expression associated with the at least one attribute.