Client-server architecture for managing customer vehicle leasing

• US 7,685,063 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2005
• Issued: 03/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Original Assignee: The Crawford Group Incorporated (Jack Taylor Family Voting Trust U A D 4 14 99)
• Inventors: McDaris, Mark E., Schuchardt, Jeff D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Poinvil; Frantzy
• Assistant Examiner(s): MADAMBA, CLIFFORD B
• Application Number:
  US11/090,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20060218085A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,824 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 45
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• 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 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

A system for managing a credit profile for a customer having a fleet of leased vehicles, the system comprising: (a) a client computer; (b) a server in communication with the client computer; and (c) a database in communication with the server, the database being configured to store a plurality of customer credit profiles, each customer credit profile comprising a credit limit for a customer and a leased vehicle limit for a customer, the credit limit corresponding to a maximum amount of monetary credit that has been authorized for extension to the customer, the leased vehicle limit corresponding to a maximum number of leased vehicles that are authorized for the customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet; and wherein the server is configured to (1) provide a plurality of GUIs for display on the client computer, wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured to submit a request for a change to a customer'"'"'s credit profile in response to user input, at least one of the GUIs is configured to display at least a portion of the customer'"'"'s credit profile in response to user input, and at least one of the GUIs is configured to receive input from the user corresponding to an action to take on the submitted request, and (2) update the customer'"'"'s credit profile in accordance with the action input. Also disclosed herein is a method for managing a credit profile for a customer having a fleet of leased vehicles.

Claims

1. A system configured for managing a plurality of credit profiles for a plurality of customers by a user, each of said customers having a fleet of leased vehicles, the system comprising:

a server for communication with a client computer, the client computer for use by a user; and

,

a database in communication with the server, the database being configured to store a plurality of customer credit profiles, each credit profile comprising a credit limit, a vehicle limit, a per vehicle credit limit that represents a maximum amount of credit authorized for any given vehicle in the customer'"'"'s fleet, a per vehicle aftermarket equipment (AME) credit limit that represents a maximum amount of credit authorized for AME for any given vehicle in the customer'"'"'s fleet, a maximum maintenance management amount and a maximum risk management amount;

wherein the server is configured to (1) provide a plurality of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for display on the client computer, at least one of the GUIs being configured to (i) display a selected customer credit profile'"'"'s credit limit, (ii) display the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s vehicle limit, (iii) display the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s per vehicle credit limit, (iv) display the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s per vehicle AME credit limit, (v) display the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s maximum maintenance management amount, (vi) display the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s maximum risk management amount, (vii) display a field for user entry of a proposed change to the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s credit limit, (viii) display a field for user entry of a proposed change to the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s vehicle limit, (ix) display a field for user entry of a proposed change to the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s per vehicle credit limit, (x) display a field for user entry of a proposed change to the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s AME credit limit, (xi) display a field for user entry of a proposed change to the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s maximum maintenance management amount, (xii) display a field for user entry of a proposed change to the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s maximum risk management amount, and (xiii) receive data from the client computer in response to user input, the data corresponding to a request for a proposed change to one of said customer'"'"'s credit profiles based on user entry in at least one of the fields, at least one of the GUIs being configured to display, in response to receiving the data corresponding to the proposed change request, at least a portion of the selected customer'"'"'s credit profile, and at least one of the GUIs being configured to receive an action input from the client computer in response to user input, the action input identifying an action to take on the proposed change request, and (2) update the selected customer'"'"'s credit profile in accordance with the received action input.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the user entry fields, the selected customer credit profile'"'"'s credit limit, vehicle limit, per vehicle credit limit, per vehicle AME credit limit, maximum maintenance management amount and maximum risk management amount are all displayed on the same GUI.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the customer credit profile further comprises a plurality of lease term depreciation percentages applicable to a plurality of lease months, and wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured to display the customer credit profile'"'"'s current lease term depreciation percentages and a plurality of fields for user entry of a plurality of requested lease term depreciation percentages for the customer credit profile.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the customer credit profile further comprises a credit rating that represents a level of scrutiny that will applied to credit checks applied to a leased vehicle order by the customer, and wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured to display the customer credit profile'"'"'s credit rating, and a field for user entry of a requested credit rating for the customer credit profile.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured with a plurality of fields for user entry of lease data by vehicle class for leased vehicles in a customer'"'"'s planned vehicle fleet.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured to display a calculated risk amount corresponding to a planned leased vehicle fleet for the customer.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured to display a calculated risk amount corresponding to current leased vehicles in the customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet and a calculated risk amount corresponding to leased vehicles that are planned for delivery to the customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured to display a calculated risk amount corresponding to current leased vehicles in the customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet and a calculated risk amount corresponding to leased vehicles that are planned for delivery to the customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet, and wherein that at least one GUI is further configured to allow the user to modify at least one of the displayed risk amounts.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the GUIs allows the user to initiate a credit review for a customer'"'"'s credit profile and specify a type of credit review that is to be undertaken.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the credit review type comprises a credit review for at least one selected from the group consisting of a requested increase in credit limit and a requested increase in vehicle limit.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the customer credit profile further comprises a credit rating that represents a level of scrutiny that will apply to credit checks applied to a leased vehicle order by the customer, and wherein the credit review type comprises a credit review for a requested change in credit rating.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the GUIs allows the user to schedule a future credit review for the customer'"'"'s credit profile.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein at least a plurality of credit profiles are applicable to a plurality of master customers, each master customer comprising at least one subcustomer, each subcustomer also having its own leased vehicle fleet, wherein the database is not configured to store credit profiles that are unique to subcustomers.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the customer credit profile further comprises financial information for the customer and an identifier associated with that financial information that represents a level of scrutiny applied to that financial information by an external auditor, and wherein at least one of the GUIs is configured to display the credit profile'"'"'s financial information and the identifier associated therewith.

15. A method for user management of a plurality of customer credit profiles, at least one of said customers having a fleet of leased vehicles, the method comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can selectively choose to propose a change for a credit profile of a customer, the credit profile being stored in a database and comprising a credit limit, a vehicle limit, and at least one member selected from the group consisting of a per vehicle credit limit that represents a maximum amount of credit authorized for any given vehicle in the customer'"'"'s fleet, a per vehicle aftermarket equipment (AME) credit limit that represents a maximum amount of credit authorized for AME for any given vehicle in the customer'"'"'s fleet, a maximum maintenance management amount, and a maximum risk management amount;

receiving input through that GUI to propose a change to at least one of the group consisting of the credit limit, the vehicle limit, and at least one member selected from the group consisting of the per vehicle credit limit, the per vehicle AME credit limit, the maximum maintenance management amount, and the maximum risk management amount;

providing at least one GUI through which a user can submit a request to review the proposed change to the customer'"'"'s credit profile;

providing at least one GUI through which a user can view data stored in the customer'"'"'s credit profile in response to a submitted request to review the proposed change;

providing at least one GUI through which a user can provide input corresponding to an approval or rejection of the proposed change; and

,

updating the customer'"'"'s stored credit profile in accordance with the approval or rejection input; and

wherein the method steps are performed by at least one processor.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the at least one processor comprises a server in communication with a plurality of client computers over a network, wherein the server is configured to provide the GUIs over the network to the client computers for display thereon.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can view the customer credit profile'"'"'s current credit limit and current vehicle limit.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the customer credit profile further comprises a plurality of lease term depreciation percentages applicable to a plurality of lease months, the method further comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can request a change to at least one of the credit profile'"'"'s lease term depreciation percentages.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the customer credit profile further comprises a credit rating that represents a level of scrutiny that will be applied to a credit check applied to a leased vehicle order by the customer, the method further comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can request a change to the credit profile'"'"'s credit rating.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can enter lease data broken down by vehicle class for leased vehicles in a customer'"'"'s planned vehicle fleet, the entered lease data for display to a user when that user is evaluating the credit profile change request.

21. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can specify a type of credit review to be performed on a customer'"'"'s credit profile.

22. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can view a calculated risk amount corresponding to current leased vehicles in the customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet and a calculated risk amount corresponding to leased vehicles that are planned for delivery to the customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet, and wherein that at least one GUI is further configured to allow the user to modify at least one of the displayed risk amounts.

23. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user provide input corresponding to scheduling a future credit review for the customer'"'"'s credit profile; and

scheduling a future credit review for the customer'"'"'s credit profile in response to scheduling input received from the user.

24. The method of claim 16 further comprising storing a master customer credit profile in the database, the master customer credit profile serving as the credit profile for a master customer and each subcustomer of the master customer.

25. The method of claim 16 wherein the customer credit profile further comprises financial information for the customer and an identifier associated with that financial information that represents a level of scrutiny applied to that financial information by an external auditor, the method further comprising:

providing at least one GUI that is configured to display the credit profile'"'"'s financial information and the identifier associated therewith.

26. The method of claim 16 further comprising the client computers.

27. A method for user management of credit for a plurality of fleet customers, each fleet customer having a fleet of leased vehicles, the method comprising:

providing at least one GUI through which a user can selectively choose to propose a change for a customer'"'"'s credit information, the credit information being stored in a database and comprising financial data about the customer, an identifier associated with the financial data that corresponds to a level of scrutiny applied to the financial data, a credit limit, a vehicle limit, and at least one member selected from the group consisting of a per vehicle credit limit that represents a maximum amount of credit authorized for any given vehicle in the customer'"'"'s fleet, a per vehicle aftermarket equipment (AME) credit limit that represents a maximum amount of credit authorized for AME for any given vehicle in the customer'"'"'s fleet, a maximum maintenance management amount, and a maximum risk management amount;

receiving input through that GUI to propose a change to at least one of the group consisting of the credit limit, the vehicle limit, and at least one member selected from the group consisting of the per vehicle credit limit, the per vehicle AME credit limit, the maximum maintenance management amount, and the maximum risk management amount;

providing at least one GUI through which a user can submit a request to review the proposed change to the customer'"'"'s credit information;

providing at least one GUI through which a user can view the customer credit information'"'"'s financial data and the identifier associated therewith;

providing at least one GUI through which a user can provide input corresponding to an approval or rejection of the proposed change; and

updating the customer'"'"'s stored credit information in the database in accordance with the user'"'"'s approval or rejection input; and

wherein the method steps are performed by at least one processor.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the at least one processor comprises a server in communication with a plurality of client computers over a network, wherein the server is configured to provide the GUIs over the network to the client computers for display thereon.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the identifier corresponds to a level of scrutiny applied to the financial data by an external party.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein a plurality of different identifiers are available for association with each customer'"'"'s financial information, the plurality of identifiers comprising an identifier that indicates the financial data has been reviewed but not fully audited by an external auditor and at least one identifier that indicates the financial data has not been reviewed by an external auditor.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the plurality of identifiers further comprise an identifier that indicates the financial data is a tax return.

32. The method of claim 28 wherein each of a plurality of users has an assigned approval limit, the method further comprising:

assigning a credit information review for a credit information change request to a user at least partially on the basis of the user'"'"'s assigned approval limit.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the assigned approval limit comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a per customer maximum vehicle limit and a per customer maximum credit limit.

34. The method of claim 28 further comprising the client computers.

35. A system comprising:

a server configured to (1) provide a plurality of GUIs for display on any of a plurality of client computers, the plurality of GUIs being configured to interface a plurality of users of the client computers with vehicle fleet leasing credit management software, (2) accept a plurality of commands from the GUIs, and (3) execute the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software in response to the accepted commands, the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being configured to provide integrated management of a plurality of credit profiles by the users through the GUIs, each credit profile corresponding to a customer having a fleet of leased vehicles, the integrated management comprising;

(a) the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being configured to respond to a request by at least one of the users to propose a change to a customer'"'"'s credit profile to accommodate a potential change to that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet by (i) displaying data within that customer'"'"'s credit profile on at least one of the client computers through at least one of the GUIs, the displayed data comprising a credit limit corresponding to a maximum amount of monetary credit that has been authorized for extension to that customer and a leased vehicle limit corresponding to a maximum number of leased vehicles that are authorized for that customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet, (ii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the credit limit, (iii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the leased vehicle limit, (iv) accepting a user entry through at least one of the fields to thereby define a proposed new credit profile for that customer, and (v) submitting the proposed new credit profile for approval; and

(b) the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being further configured to permit at least one of the users to conduct a credit review corresponding to the proposed new credit profile by (i) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that displays a current state and a projected state for that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet, (ii) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that provides an analysis of a credit risk for that customer based on a risk analysis technique that is systematically uniform for a lessor of the vehicle fleet with respect to the users of the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software, (iii) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that provides a view of financial information for that customer that is systematically uniform for the lessor with respect to the users of the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software, and (iv) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that permits that at least one user to approve the proposed new credit profile.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the integrated management further comprises the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being further configured to respond to a request by at least one the users to propose a change to a customer'"'"'s credit profile to accommodate a potential change to that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet by (i) displaying data within that customer'"'"'s credit profile on at least one of the client computers through at least one of the GUIs, the displayed data further comprising a per vehicle credit limit corresponding to a maximum amount of monetary credit that has been authorized for extension to that customer for any given vehicle in that customer'"'"'s fleet, (ii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the per vehicle credit limit, (iii) accepting a user entry through the per vehicle credit limit field to thereby define a proposed new credit profile for that customer, and (iv) submitting the proposed new credit profile for approval.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein the integrated management further comprises the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being further configured to respond to a request by at least one the users to propose a change to a customer'"'"'s credit profile to accommodate a potential change to that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet by (i) displaying data within that customer'"'"'s credit profile on at least one of the client computers through at least one of the GUIs, the displayed data further comprising a per vehicle aftermarket equipment (AME) credit limit corresponding to a maximum amount of monetary credit that has been authorized for extension to that customer for AME for any given vehicle in that customer'"'"'s fleet, (ii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the per vehicle AME credit limit, (iii) accepting a user entry through the per vehicle AME credit limit field to thereby define a proposed new credit profile for that customer, and (iv) submitting the proposed new credit profile for approval.

38. The system of claim 35 wherein the integrated management further comprises the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being configured to (i) permit at least one of the users to place a credit hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs, and (ii) permit at least one of the users to release a credit hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs.

39. The system of claim 35 wherein the integrated management further comprises the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being configured to (i) permit at least one of the users to place an order hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs, and (ii) permit at least one of the users to release an order hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs.

40. The system of claim 35 wherein the integrated management further comprises the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being further configured to display an indicator as part of the standardized financial information view, wherein the indicator comprises any of a plurality of indicators which indicate a level of scrutiny applied to the customer'"'"'s financial information.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein the plurality of indicators comprise:

an audited indicator for financial information which was audited by a third party auditor;

a reviewed indicator for financial information which was reviewed by a third party auditor but not fully audited;

a compiled indicator for financial information which was compiled by a third party auditor but not fully reviewed or audited;

an internal indicator for financial information created internally by a customer and not subject to any third party auditing; and

a tax return indicator for financial information which represents a customer'"'"'s tax return.

42. The system of claim 35 wherein the integrated management further comprises the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being further configured to respond to an approval of the proposed new credit profile by (i) updating that customer'"'"'s credit profile with the approved new credit profile, and (ii) automatically performing a credit check for that customer against the updated credit profile and any outstanding quotes or orders for that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet.

43. The system of claim 35 further comprising a database in communication with the server, the database being configured to store data for the credit profiles and customer'"'"'s vehicle fleets.

44. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of GUIs for display on any of a plurality of client computers, the plurality of GUIs being configured to interface a plurality of users of the client computers with vehicle fleet leasing credit management software;

accepting a plurality of commands from the GUIs; and

executing the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software in response to the accepted commands, the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software being configured to provide integrated management of a plurality of credit profiles by the users through the GUIs, each credit profile corresponding to a customer having a fleet of leased vehicles,

wherein the executing step comprises (1) responding to a request by at least one of the users to propose a change to a customer'"'"'s credit profile to accommodate a potential change to that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet by (i) displaying data within that customer'"'"'s credit profile on at least one of the client computers through at least one of the GUIs, the displayed data comprising a credit limit corresponding to a maximum amount of monetary credit that has been authorized for extension to that customer and a leased vehicle limit corresponding to a maximum number of leased vehicles that are authorized for that customer'"'"'s leased vehicle fleet, (ii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the credit limit, (iii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the leased vehicle limit, (iv) accepting a user entry through at least one of the fields to thereby define a proposed new credit profile for that customer, and (v) submitting the proposed new credit profile for approval, and (2) permitting at least one of the users to conduct a credit review corresponding to the proposed new credit profile by (i) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that displays a current state and a projected state for that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet, (ii) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that provides an analysis of a credit risk for that customer based on a risk analysis technique that is systematically uniform for a lessor of the vehicle fleet with respect to the users of the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software, (iii) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that provides a view of financial information for that customer that is systematically uniform for the lessor with respect to the users of the vehicle fleet leasing credit management software, and (iv) providing at least one GUI for access by at least one of the users that permits that at least one user to approve the proposed new credit profile.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein the executing step further comprises responding to a request by at least one the users to propose a change to a customer'"'"'s credit profile to accommodate a potential change to that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet by (i) displaying data within that customer'"'"'s credit profile on at least one of the client computers through at least one of the GUIs, the displayed data further comprising a per vehicle credit limit corresponding to a maximum amount of monetary credit that has been authorized for extension to that customer for any given vehicle in that customer'"'"'s fleet, (ii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the per vehicle credit limit, (iii) accepting a user entry through the per vehicle credit limit field to thereby define a proposed new credit profile for that customer, and (iv) submitting the proposed new credit profile for approval.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein the executing step further comprises responding to a request by at least one the users to propose a change to a customer'"'"'s credit profile to accommodate a potential change to that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet by (i) displaying data within that customer'"'"'s credit profile on at least one of the client computers through at least one of the GUIs, the displayed data further comprising a per vehicle aftermarket equipment (AME) credit limit corresponding to a maximum amount of monetary credit that has been authorized for extension to that customer for AME for any given vehicle in that customer'"'"'s fleet, (ii) providing a field through at least one of the GUIs for user entry to enter a proposed new value for the per vehicle AME credit limit, (iii) accepting a user entry through the per vehicle AME credit limit field to thereby define a proposed new credit profile for that customer, and (iv) submitting the proposed new credit profile for approval.

47. The method of claim 44 wherein the executing step further comprises (1) permitting at least one of the users to place a credit hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs, and (2) permitting at least one of the users to release a credit hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs.

48. The method of claim 44 wherein the executing step further comprises (1) permitting at least one of the users to place an order hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs, and (2) permitting at least one of the users to release an order hold on a customer through at least one of the GUIs.

49. The method of claim 44 wherein the executing step further comprises displaying an indicator as part of the standardized financial information view, wherein the indicator comprises any of a plurality of indicators which indicate a level of scrutiny applied to the customer'"'"'s financial information.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the plurality of indicators comprise:

an audited indicator for financial information which was audited by a third party auditor;

a reviewed indicator for financial information which was reviewed by a third party auditor but not fully audited;

a compiled indicator for financial information which was compiled by a third party auditor but not fully reviewed or audited;

an internal indicator for financial information created internally by a customer and not subject to any third party auditing; and

a tax return indicator for financial information which represents a customer'"'"'s tax return.

51. The method of claim 44 wherein the executing step further comprises responding to an approval of the proposed new credit profile by (1) updating that customer'"'"'s credit profile with the approved new credit profile, and (2) automatically performing a credit check for that customer against the updated credit profile and any outstanding quotes or orders for that customer'"'"'s vehicle fleet.

52. The method of claim 44 wherein the software limits access to the plurality of GUIs to authorized users wherein the authorized users comprise employees of a fleet management company.