Method and system for monitoring transactions

• US 20040177035A1
• Filed: 03/03/2003
• Published: 09/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Standard Chartered UK Holdings Limited (Standard Chartered PLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Silva, Simon Da
• Granted Patent: US 7,505,931 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/39
• 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

Abstract

A method for monitoring financial accounts to determine the possibility of money laundering and other attempts at fraud includes monitoring the financial accounts owned by a person or entity. Data regarding withdrawals and deposits are extracted from a computer database and analyzed. The analysis includes determining the amount of time between a large deposit and the withdrawal (in one or more transactions) of a large portion of the deposit. A further analysis may include determining the amount of time between a large withdrawal and the time of the earliest deposit, wherein multiple deposits may be combined. Using the above-described data, accounts that are more likely to be used for money laundering and other fraudulent activities.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring financial transactions comprising:

selecting an account;

analyzing transactions performed on said account; and

determining if the transactions performed are indicative of suspicious behavior.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said transactions comprises withdrawals and deposits.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said selecting step comprises:

searching a database to find an account owned by said account holder.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said analyzing step comprises:

searching said database to find data regarding a deposit over a first threshold amount, wherein said data includes an amount of said deposit, and a date of said deposit;

extracting data regarding one or more withdrawals wherein said data includes an amount of said withdrawal, and a date of said withdrawal and further wherein the total amount of said withdrawals is equal to or greater than a predetermined percentage of the amount of said deposit;

determining the number of days between the deposit and the withdrawal of a predetermined percentage of the amount of said deposit; and

calculating a constant by dividing said number of days by said deposit.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said method is performed using a computer.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

finding one or more additional accounts owned by said account holder; and

further wherein,

said filtering, extracting, determining, and calculating steps are performed for each of said one or more additional accounts.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein said predetermined percentage is greater than or equal to approximately 90%.

8. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

flagging the account if said constant is below a second threshold amount.

9. A method of monitoring financial transactions comprising:

selecting an account holder;

searching a database to find an account owned by said account holder;

filtering said database to extract data regarding a withdrawal over a first threshold amount, wherein said data includes an amount of said withdrawal, and a date of said withdrawal;

extracting data regarding one or more deposits wherein said data includes an amount of said deposit, and a date of said deposit and further wherein the total amount of said one or more deposits is equal to or greater than a predetermined percentage of the amount of said withdrawal;

calculating the number of days between the earliest of said one or more deposits and the withdrawal;

formulating a constant by dividing said number of days by said amount of said withdrawal.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said method is performed using a computer.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

finding one or more additional accounts owned by said account holder; and

further wherein,

said filtering and extracting steps are performed for each of said one or more additional accounts.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein said predetermined percentage is greater than or equal to approximately 90%.

13. A system for monitoring financial accounts comprising:

a computer system configured to access various financial data;

storage for various financial data;

a program configured to find and extract certain pieces of financial data and analyze the data for suspicious behavior; and

output capabilities to transmit results of said analysis in a variety of different manners.