Creating federated customer identifiers to positively identify customers interfacing with a business across access platforms

• US 9,092,603 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2012
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Umamaheswaran, Rangarajan, Englar, Bruce Wyatt, Nielson, Brett A., Halas, Miroslav
• Primary Examiner(s): Jasmin, Lynda
• Assistant Examiner(s): THOMPSON, MICHAEL M
• Application Number:
  US13/468,820
• Publication Number:
  US 20130304661A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,174 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1.1, 705/325, 705/500
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/316 by observing the pattern of computer usage, e.g. typical user behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems and computer program products described and claimed that provide for automatically and positively determining that a customer interfacing with one business platform application using a platform-specific customer identifier is the same customer that is interfacing with another business platform application using another platform-specific customer identifier. Once the positive determination of same customer is made, a federated identifier key is generated and applied to all of the platforms, so as to globally identify the customer across multiple enterprise-wide platforms. As such, the present invention eliminates the labor-intensive need to manually analyze customer data to determine if a customer interfacing with one platform is the same customer interfacing with another platform.

Claims

1. A method for positively identifying customers accessing a business through multiple business platform applications using different customer identifiers, the method comprising:

mapping, by a computing device processor, activity-related data associated with a first business platform application to determine a first platform-specific customer identifier used by a customer to access the first business platform application;

mapping, by a computing device processor, activity-related data associated with a second business platform application to determine a second different platform-specific customer identifier used by the customer to access the second business platform application;

determining, by a computing device processor, that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application using the first platform-specific customer identifier is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application when using the second different platform-specific customer identifier, wherein the determination includes,

accessing one or more lookup tables to determine (a) a first system of record associated with the first business platform application, (b) a first sequence of lookups to be performed on the first system of record, (c) a second system of record associated with the second business platform application, and (d) a second sequence of lookups to be performed on the second system of record,

accessing the first system of record based on the first platform-specific identifier and performing the first sequence of lookups to identify first data items associated with the customer,

accessing the second system of record based on the second platform-specific identifier and performing the second sequence of lookups to identify second data items associated with the customer,

identifying one or more data item matches between the first data items in the first system of record and the second data items in the second system of record, wherein data item matches include same or similar data,

applying a weighting factor to each of the one or more data item matches, wherein the weighting factor is based on (a) similarity of the data and (b) a significance that the data item match may indicate that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same customer interfacing with the second business platform application, and

calculating a total for the weighted one or more data item matches and comparing, the calculated total for the weighted one or more data item matches to a predetermined threshold to determine if the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same customer interfacing with the second business platform application;

generating, by a computing device processor, a different and unique federated identifier for the customer based on the determination that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application; and

storing, in computing device memory, the federated identifier for the customer in a plurality of systems of record, wherein each system of record is associated (a) with the customer and (b) with a business platform application provided by the business.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting, at a computing device, customer activity data from a plurality of business interface platforms, wherein each customer activity datum indicates that a customer has conducted an activity with one of a plurality of business platform applications and includes a platform-specific customer identifier that is associated with the customer and used to conduct the activity.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the platform-specific customer identifiers in the customer activity data is an impetus for determining that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining further comprises:

identifying, by a computing device processor, linking data that links the first platform-specific customer identifier and the second platform-specific customer identifier; and

accessing, by a computing device processor, one or more systems of record associated with business platform applications based on the linking data to determine that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising implementing, by a computing device processor, the federated identifier to access the plurality of systems of record to determine a plurality of platform-specific customer identifiers associated with the customer.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising identifying, by a computing device processor, business associates that have previously interfaced with the customer or accounts associated with the customer based on the determined plurality of platform-specific customer identifiers.

7. An apparatus for positively identifying customers accessing a business through multiple business platform applications using different customer identifiers, the apparatus comprising:

a computing platform including one or more processors and a memory in communication with the processor;

a customer federation module stored in the memory, executable by at least one of the processors and configured to;

map activity-related data associated with a first business platform application to determine a first platform-specific customer identifier used by a customer to access the first business platform application;

map activity-related data associated with a second business platform application to determine a second different platform-specific customer identifier used by the customer to access the second business platform application;

determine that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application using the first platform-specific customer identifier is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application when using the second different platform-specific customer identifier by;

accessing one or more lookup tables to determine (a) a first system of record associated with the first business platform application, (b) a first sequence of lookups to be performed on the first system of record, (c) a second system of record associated with the second business platform application, and (d) a second sequence of lookups to be performed on the second system of record,

accessing the first and second system of record based on the first and second platform-specific identifiers and performing the first and second sequence of lookups to identify first data items associated with the customer and second data items associated with the customer,

identifying one or more data item matches between the first data items in the first system of record and the second data items in the second system of record, wherein data item matches include same or similar data,

applying a weighting factor to each of the one or more data item matches, wherein the weighting factor is based on (a) similarity of the data and (b) a significance that the data item match may indicate that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same customer interfacing with the second business platform application, and

calculating a total for the weighted one or more data item matches and comparing the calculated total for the weighted one or more data item matches to a predetermined threshold to determine if the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same customer interfacing with the second business platform application, and,

based on the determination, generate a different and unique federated identifier for the customer; and

a plurality of systems of record stored in the memory, each system of record is associated (a) with the customer and (b) with a business platform application provided by the business and configured to receive and store the federated identifier.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising an activity monitoring module stored in the memory, executable by the processor and configured to monitor and collect customer activity data from a plurality of business interface platforms, wherein each customer activity datum indicates that a customer has conducted an activity with one of a plurality of business platform applications and includes a platform-specific customer identifier that is associated with the customer and used to conduct the activity.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the customer activity data collected by the activity monitoring module is an impetus for determining that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the customer federation module is further configured to identify linking data that links the first platform-specific customer identifier and the second platform-specific customer identifier and access one or more systems of record associated with business platform applications based on the linking data to determine that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising an associate-customer connection module stored in the memory, executable by the processor and configured to implement the federated identifier to access the plurality of systems of record to determine a plurality of platform-specific customer identifiers associated with the customer.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the associate-customer connection module is further configured to identify business associates that have previously interfaced with the customer or accounts associated with the customer based on the determined plurality of platform-specific customer identifiers.

13. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the medium comprising:

a first set of codes for causing a computer to;

map activity-related data associated with a first business platform application to determine a first platform-specific customer identifier used by a customer to access the first business platform application,

map activity-related data associated with a second business platform application to determine a second different platform-specific customer identifier used by the customer to access the second business platform application,

determine that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application using the first platform-specific customer identifier is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application when using the second different platform-specific customer identifier by

(1) accessing one or more lookup tables to determine (a) a first system of record associated with the first business platform application, (b) a first sequence of lookups to be performed on the first system of record, (c) a second system of record associated with the second business platform application, and (d) a second sequence of lookups to be performed on the second system of record,

(2) accessing the first and second system of record based on the first and second platform-specific identifiers and performing the first and second sequence of lookups to identify first data items associated with the customer and second data items associated with the customer,

(3) identifying one or more data item matches between the first data items in the first system of record and the second data items in the second system of record, wherein data item matches include same or similar data,

(4) applying a weighting factor to each of the one or more data item matches, wherein the weighting factor is based on similarity of the data and a significance that the data item match may indicate that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same customer interfacing with the second business platform application, and

(5) calculating a total for the weighted one or more data item matches and comparing the calculated total for the weighted one or more data item matches to a predetermined threshold to determine if the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same customer interfacing with the second business platform application;

a second set of codes for causing a computer to generate a different and unique federated identifier for the customer based on the determination that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same customer interfacing with the second business platform application; and

a third set of codes for causing a computer to store the federated identifier for the customer in a plurality of systems of record, wherein each system of record is associated with the customer and with a business platform application provided by the business.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising a fourth set of instructions for causing a computer to collect customer activity data from a plurality of business interface platforms, wherein each customer activity datum indicates that a customer has conducted an activity with one of a plurality of business platform applications and includes a platform-specific customer identifier that is associated with the customer and used to conduct the activity.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the platform-specific customer identifiers in the customer activity data collected by the fourth set of instructions in an impetus for the first set of instructions to determine that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the first set of codes are further configured to cause the computer to identify linking data that links the first platform-specific customer identifier and the second platform-specific customer identifier and access one or more systems of record associated with business platform applications based on the linking data to determine that the customer interfacing with the first business platform application is the same as the customer interfacing with the second business platform application.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising a fourth set of codes for causing a computer to implement the federated identifier to access the plurality of systems of record to determine a plurality of platform-specific customer identifiers associated with the customer.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising a fifth set of codes for causing a computer to identify business associates that have previously interfaced with the customer or accounts associated with the customer based on the determined plurality of platform-specific customer identifiers.