METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MONITORING AND VERIFYING A TRANSFER OF FINANCIAL SETTINGS

• US 20090112746A1
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Fong, Spencer W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,844,522 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that monitors and verifies a transfer of financial settings. During operation, the system receives a request to transfer a set of financial settings from an initial account to a destination account. In response to the transfer request, the system transfers the financial settings and then monitors the initial account following the transfer to determine whether any subsequent transactions occur. If so, the system analyzes each subsequent transaction to determine whether the subsequent transaction is associated with the transferred financial settings. By monitoring and analyzing subsequent transactions, the system verifies the success of the transfer.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring and verifying a transfer of financial settings, comprising:

receiving a transfer request for a set of financial settings associated with an initial account;

transferring the set of financial settings from the initial account to a destination account in response to the transfer request;

monitoring the initial account following the transfer to determine whether a subsequent transaction occurs in the initial account subsequent to transferring the set of financial settings;

analyzing the subsequent transaction to determine whether the subsequent transaction is associated with the set of transferred financial settings; and

using information associated with the subsequent transaction and the set of transferred financial settings to identify an error for a transferred financial setting in the set of transferred financial settings;

wherein determining whether subsequent transactions are associated with the set of transferred financial settings facilitates verifying the success of the transfer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein verifying the success of the transfer can involve one or more of the following:

verifying that a specified set of financial settings has been successfully transferred from the initial account to the destination account;

confirming that no transactions associated with the financial settings occur in the initial account after the transfer; and

/or

detecting additional transactions in the initial account that indicate errors or omissions in the transfer process.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the transfer request can further involve:

presenting an initial set of financial settings for the initial account to a user during a selection process; and

receiving from the user all or a subset of the initial set of financial settings to be transferred to the destination account.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of financial settings is associated with one or more of the following:

an automated funds transfer;

a bill pay transaction; and

/or

an Automated Clearing House transaction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of financial settings includes one or more of the following:

a name for a vendor;

an amount for a one-time and/or recurring financial transaction with the vendor;

a set of account and/or routing information associated with the vendor;

a schedule relating to financial transactions with the vendor; and

/or

historical data for financial transactions associated with the vendor.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the initial account further involves:

accessing the initial account after the transfer; and

retrieving records for one or more subsequent transactions from the initial account.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein monitoring the initial account further involves accessing the initial account multiple times to retrieve records for one or more subsequent transactions.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the subsequent transaction further involves performing a notification operation when the subsequent transaction is determined to be associated with the set of financial settings.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the subsequent transaction can further involve one or more of the following:

repeating the transfer of the set of financial settings from the initial account to the destination account;

adjusting parameters associated with the set of financial settings in the initial account and/or the destination account; and

/or

deleting the set of financial settings from the initial account.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the subsequent transaction involves one or more of:

comparing the subsequent transaction to a set of transactions specified by a user and/or administrator; and

determining an amount, a description, and/or a pattern for one or more subsequent transactions.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further involves one or more of the following:

disabling a recurring and/or scheduled transaction in the initial account associated with the set of financial settings;

deleting the set of financial settings from the initial account; and

/or

maintaining a copy of the financial settings in the initial account after the transfer.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein analyzing the subsequent transaction involves one or more of:

comparing the subsequent transaction to a set of transactions specified by a user and/or administrator; and

determining an amount, a description; and

/or a pattern for one or more subsequent transactions.

12. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for monitoring and verifying a transfer of financial settings, the method comprising:

receiving a transfer request for a set of financial settings associated with an initial account;

transferring the set of financial settings from the initial account to a destination account in response to the transfer request;

monitoring the initial account following the transfer to determine whether a subsequent transaction occurs in the initial account subsequent to transferring the set of financial settings;

analyzing the subsequent transaction to determine whether the subsequent transaction is associated with the set of transferred financial settings; and

using information associated with the subsequent transaction and the set of transferred financial settings to identify an error for a transferred financial setting in the set of transferred financial settings;

wherein determining whether subsequent transactions are associated with the set of transferred financial settings facilitates verifying the success of the transfer.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the set of financial settings is associated with one or more of the following:

an automated funds transfer;

a bill pay transaction; and

/or

an Automated Clearing House transaction.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the set of financial settings includes one or more of the following:

a name for a vendor;

an amount for a one-time and/or recurring financial transaction with the vendor;

a set of account and/or routing information associated with the vendor;

a schedule relating to financial transactions with the vendor; and

/or

historical data for financial transactions associated with the vendor.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein monitoring the initial account further involves:

accessing the initial account after the transfer; and

retrieving records for one or more subsequent transactions from the initial account.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein monitoring the initial account further involves accessing the initial account multiple times to retrieve records for one or more subsequent transactions.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein analyzing the subsequent transaction further involves performing a notification operation when the subsequent transaction is determined to be associated with the set of financial settings.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein analyzing the subsequent transaction can further involve one or more of the following:

repeating the transfer of the set of financial settings from the initial account to the destination account;

adjusting parameters associated with the set of financial settings in the initial account and/or the destination account; and

/or

deleting the set of financial settings from the initial account.

20. An apparatus that monitors and verifies a transfer of financial settings, comprising:

a receiving mechanism configured to receive a transfer request for a set of financial settings associated with an initial account;

a transfer mechanism configured to transfer the set of financial settings from the initial account to a destination account in response to the transfer request;

a monitoring mechanism configured to monitor the initial account following the transfer to determine whether a subsequent transaction occurs in the initial account subsequent to transferring the set of financial settings; and

an analysis mechanism configured to analyze the subsequent transaction to determine whether the subsequent transaction is associated with the set of transferred financial settings;

wherein the analysis mechanism is further configured to use information associated with the subsequent transaction and the set of transferred financial settings to identify an error for a transferred financial setting in the set of transferred financial settings;

wherein determining whether subsequent transactions are associated with the set of transferred financial settings facilitates verifying the success of the transfer.