U.S. patent application number 13/097828 was filed with the patent office on 2012-08-23 for institutional provided data share platform.
This patent application is currently assigned to BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Erik Stephen Ross.
Application Number | 20120215724 13/097828 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46653593 |
Filed Date | 2012-08-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120215724 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ross; Erik Stephen |
August 23, 2012 |
INSTITUTIONAL PROVIDED DATA SHARE PLATFORM
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method,
or computer program product for an institution provided data share
platform. The institution provided data share platform allows
customers and commercial partners to access data the institution
may have. Specific platform data access may be limited and/or
monitored by the institution to ensure customer safety and privacy
compliance. Allowing access to the institution data provides a
customer the means to create customized applications utilizing the
data in combination with data provided by the customer. In return
for access to the platform, the institution may recover fees based
on the application the customer creates.
Inventors: |
Ross; Erik Stephen;
(Charlotte, NC) |
Assignee: |
BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION
Charlotte
NC
|
Family ID: |
46653593 |
Appl. No.: |
13/097828 |
Filed: |
April 29, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13030597 |
Feb 18, 2011 |
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13097828 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/400 ;
726/5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0201 20130101;
G06Q 40/00 20130101; G06Q 30/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/400 ;
726/5 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00; H04L 9/32 20060101 H04L009/32 |
Claims
1. A method for providing data via a data share platform
comprising: populating the data share platform with data that is
accessible through the data share platform; receiving a request,
from a requestor who desires access to the data on the data share
platform, wherein the request includes authentication information;
authenticating the requestor from the authentication information,
to determine if the requestor has access to the data on the data
share platform; and providing, using a processing device, a
response to the request, wherein the response to the request
comprises data available through the data share platform, the data
being provided to the requestor based at least in part on queries
made by the requestor to the data share platform.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein populating the data share
platform comprises data provided by an institution.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein populating the data share
platform comprises data provided by the requestor and implemented
on the data share platform by the requestor.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a request is be
provided through an application programming interface.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the requestor is a customer of
the institution providing the data share platform.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the requestor is a commercial
partner of the institution providing the data share platform.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein authenticating the requestor for
access to the data share platform is based at least in part on
institutional security.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein authenticating the requestor for
access to the data share platform is based in part on the requestor
providing data to the data share platform.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein requestor provided data comprises
data that the institution is not able to acquire independent of the
requestor.
10. The method of claim 4, wherein the application programming
interface provides the response to the request.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring activity
of the data share platform
12. The method of claim 11, wherein monitoring the activity of the
data share platform comprises monitoring the number of accesses to
the data share platform.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein monitoring the activity of the
data share platform comprises monitoring use of the data, wherein
the data comprises code recognition readable by the data share
platform.
14. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a
payment amount based at least in part on the monitoring interaction
between the data share platform and the requestor.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising providing
institutional security for the data share platform based at least
in part on the monitoring interaction between the data share
platform and the requestor.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the institution is a financial
institution, wherein the data provided by the data share platform
is financial data.
17. An institution provided data share platform system comprising:
a memory device; a communication device; and a processing device
operatively coupled to the memory device and the communication
device, wherein the processing device is configured to execute
computer-readable program code to: populate the data share platform
with data that is accessible through the platform; receive a
request, from a requestor who desires access to the data on the
data share platform, wherein the request includes authentication
information; authenticate the requestor from the authentication
information, to determine if the requestor has access to the data
on the data share platform; and provide a response to the request,
wherein the response to the request comprises data available
through the data share platform, the data being provided to the
requestor based at least in part on queries made by the requestor
to the data share platform.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein populating the data share
platform comprises data provided by an institution.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein populating the data share
platform comprises data provided by requestors implemented on the
data share platform by the requestor.
20. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing device is
further configured to execute computer-readable program code to
receive a request through an application programming interface.
21. The system of claim 17, wherein the requestor is a customer of
the institution providing the data share platform.
22. The system of claim 17, wherein the requestor is a commercial
partner of the institution providing the data share platform.
23. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing device is
further configured to execute computer-readable program code to
authenticate the requestor for access to the data share platform is
based at least in part on institutional security.
24. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing device is
further configured to execute computer-readable program code to
authenticate the requestor for access to the data share platform is
based in part on the requestor providing data to the data share
platform.
25. The system of claim 24, wherein requestor provided data is data
that the institution is not able to acquire independent of
requestor.
26. The system of claim 20, wherein an application programming
interface provides the response to the request.
27. The system of claim 17, wherein the processing device is
further configured to execute computer-readable program code to
monitor activity of the data share platform.
28. The system of claim 27, wherein monitor the activity of the
data share platform comprising monitoring the number of accesses to
the data share platform.
29. The system of claim 28, wherein the data comprises code
recognition readable by the data share platform.
30. The system of claim 27, wherein the processing device is
further configured to execute computer-readable program code to
determine a payment amount based at least in part on monitoring the
interaction between the data share platform and the requestor.
31. The system of claim 27, wherein the processing device is
further configured to execute computer-readable program code to
provide institutional security for the data share platform based at
least in part on monitoring interaction between the data share
platform and the requestor.
32. The system of claim 17, wherein the institution is a financial
institution, wherein the data provided by the data share platform
is financial data.
33. A computer program product, the computer program product
comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium
having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein,
the computer-readable program code portions comprising: an
executable portion configured for receiving a request, from a
requestor who desires access to the data on the data share
platform, wherein the request includes authentication information;
an executable portion configured for authenticating the requestor
from the authentication information to determine if the requestor
has access to the data on the data share platform; and an
executable portion configured for providing a response to the
request, wherein the response to the request comprises data
available through the data share platform, the data being provided
to the requestor based at least in part on queries made by the
requestor to the data share platform.
34. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein populating
the data share platform comprises data provided by an
institution.
35. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein populating
the data share platform comprises data provided by requestors
implemented on the data share platform by the requestor.
36. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein receiving a
request is through an application programming interface.
37. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein the requestor
is a customer of the institution providing the data share
platform.
38. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein the requestor
is a commercial partner of the institution providing the data share
platform.
39. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein
authenticating the requestor for access to the data share platform
is based at least in part on institutional security.
40. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein
authenticating the requestor for access to the data share platform
is based in part on the requestor providing data to the data share
platform.
41. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein requestor
provided data is data that the institution is not able to acquire
independent of requestor.
42. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein an
application programming interface provides the response to the
request.
43. The computer program product of claim 33, further comprising an
executable portion configured for monitoring activity of the data
share platform.
44. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein monitoring
the activity of the data share platform comprises monitoring the
number of accesses to the data share platform.
45. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein monitoring
the activity of the data share platform further comprises code
recognition readable by the data share platform.
46. The computer program product of claim 43, further comprising an
executable portion configured for determining a payment amount
based at least in part on monitoring the interaction between the
data share platform and the requestor.
47. The computer program product of claim 43, further comprising an
executable portion configured for providing institutional security
for the data share platform based at least in part on the
monitoring interaction between the data share platform and the
requestor.
48. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein the data
provided by the data share platform is financial data.
49. A method for providing a data share platform comprising:
allowing access to data on the data share platform to a customer;
providing security to the customer, wherein the customer is
provided limited access to the data on the data share platform;
monitoring activity of the data share platform; and determining a
customer payment amount based on the customer use of the data share
platform, wherein the fee is further based at least in part on the
monitoring of the data share platform.
50. The method of claim 49, wherein the data on the data share
platform is provided to the customer through an application
programming interface.
51. The method of claim 49, wherein the customer is an individual
customer of the institution providing the data share platform.
52. The method of claim 49, wherein the customer is a commercial
partner of the institution providing the data share platform.
53. The method of claim 49, wherein providing security to the
customer limits the customer access to restricted data.
54. The method of claim 53, wherein restricted data is financial
data of other customers.
55. The method of claim 53, wherein restricted data comprises data
that the institution is not able to acquire independent of the
customer.
56. The method of claim 49, further comprising providing security
for the data share platform based at least in part on the
monitoring of activity on the data share platform.
57. The method of claim 49, wherein monitoring the activity of the
data share platform comprises monitoring the number of accesses to
the data share platform.
58. The method of claim 49, wherein monitoring the activity of the
data share platform comprises monitoring use of the data, wherein
the data comprises code recognition readable by the data share
platform.
59. The method of claim 49, further comprising determining a
payment amount based at least in part on the monitoring interaction
between the data share platform and the customer.
60. The method of claim 49, wherein the institution is a financial
institution, wherein the data provided by the data share platform
is financial data.
Description
REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATION FOR PATENT
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 13/030597 entitled, "Customizable
Financial Institution Application Interface" filed on Feb. 18,
2011, assigned to the assignee of the present application, the
contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Downloadable applications (i.e., "apps") for electronic
devices such as smart phones, personal digital assistants ("PDAs"),
laptop computers, and other hand held electronic devices have
become popular amongst owners of these devices for providing a
range of useful and entertaining tools. There are tens of thousands
or even hundreds of thousands of downloadable applications
available to customers. Studies have shown that nearly half a
person's time on a smart phone is used on non-talking activities,
such as texting and using applications. The applications available
allow a customer to customize his electronic device with the
applications that the customer finds most relevant to his needs.
Some applications available to the customer include, but are not
limited to applications that the customer can use to check the
news, check sports scores, make grocery lists, track a diet, get
the weather, check stocks, play games, etc. The customer may
download an application onto an electronic device and utilize the
features of the application instantly. In view of these demands for
such applications, there's always a need for new types of
applications.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0003] Embodiments of the present invention address the above needs
and/or achieve other advantages by providing apparatuses (e.g., a
system, computer program product and/or other devices) and methods
for a financial institution provided data share platform that
allows customers and commercial partners to access financial
institution data and utilize that data in applications.
[0004] In some embodiments the data share platform provides for
customer access to data the institution has regarding customers,
merchants, transactions, etc. A customer may request to access the
data share platform through an application programming interface
("API"). The customer may be an individual, a commercial partner,
or other entity wishing to develop or create an application using
data on the data share platform in the application. Once access to
the data share platform is requested, the platform may provide data
to the requesting customer.
[0005] The data share platform provides several functions,
including but not limited to, receiving requests for access to the
platform, providing access to the platform, providing security
functions, providing monitoring functions, providing fee analysis
functions, and providing for a data retrieval function. Requests
may be received at the data share platform from a customer wishing
to utilize the data on the platform in an application. The specific
data and the amount of data provided to the requesting customer may
be limited by security functions of the platform. The security
functions may allow a customer access to a limited amount of data
from the platform or the security functions may allow customer
access to a wide range of data. The platform may also provide for a
monitoring function. The monitoring function may allow the
institution to monitor the platform to regulate the requests, use
of data, the amount of data, frequency of access, etc. of the
platform. The platform may also provide for a fee analysis function
that determines fees, if any, payable by the customer for accessing
the platform or using the data on the platform. Another function of
the platform is to retrieve data from the requesting customer, this
data may, in turn, be compiled within the platform data for use by
other customers.
[0006] Once the request has been made and the data on the platform
has been accessed, the customer may develop an application. The
application developed by the customer may have the data obtained by
the customer from the data share platform in combination with the
customer's own data within the application. The application may be
created by software and coding that the customer implements,
whether the software and/or coding is known to the institution or
not. The application may also be created by other entities with the
capabilities of creating applications. The applications may also be
created by using the institution's own application building
implements.
[0007] Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and
computer program products for an institution provided data share
platform comprising: populating the data share platform with data
that is accessible through the platform; receiving a request, from
a requestor who desires access to the data on the data share
platform, wherein the request includes authentication information;
authenticating the requestor to determine if the requestor has
access to the data on the data share platform; and providing a
response to the request, wherein the response to the request
comprises data available through the data share platform, the data
being provided to the requestor based at least in part on queries
made by the requestor to the data share platform. In some
embodiments receiving a request and providing a response to the
request is done through an application programming interface. In
some embodiments the institution is a financial institution and the
data provided by the data share platform is financial data.
[0008] In some embodiments, the requestor is a customer of the
institution providing the data share platform. In some embodiments,
the requestor is a commercial partner of the institution providing
the data share platform. The requestor may provide data, in such
instances the provided data may comprise data that the institution
is not able to acquire independent of the requestor.
[0009] In some embodiments, the data share platform comprises data
provided by the institution. The data share platform further
comprises data provided by requestor, which the requestor
implements on the data share platform.
[0010] In some embodiments, authenticating the requestor for access
to the data share platform is based at least in part on
institutional security. Authenticating the requestor for access to
the data share platform is further is based in part on the
requestor providing identification data to the data share
platform.
[0011] In some embodiments, monitoring the activity of the data
share platform comprises monitoring the number of requests to
access the data share platform. Monitoring the activity of the data
share platform further comprises monitoring use of the data,
wherein the data comprises code recognition readable by the data
share platform. Further, determining a payment amount based at
least in part on the monitoring interaction between the data share
platform and the requestor. The monitoring may further comprise
providing institutional security for the data share platform based
at least in part on the monitoring interaction between the data
share platform and the requestor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] Having thus described embodiments of the invention in
general terms, reference will now be made the accompanying
drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, wherein:
[0013] FIG. 1 provides a high level process flow illustrating an
institution provided data share platform process for accessing and
using the platform to create an application, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 provides a data share system and environment for
providing the platform to a customer, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 3 provides a data share platform function process, in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 4 provides a customer decision process flow, in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 5 provides a request interface for requesting data from
the data share platform, in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0018] FIG. 6 provides a high level process flow illustrating an
example of creating a customized application using financial
institution building templates, in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 7 provides an example customizable financial
application system and environment for using financial institution
building templates to build a customized application, in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 8 provides an example customer data process flow
illustrating how customer data is used in building a customized
application using financial institution building templates, in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 9 provides an example of a customized application
set-up process flow illustrating the process of setting up the
customized application using financial institution building
templates, in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0022] FIG. 10 provides an example customized application builder
process flow illustrating the process of creating the customized
application using financial institution building templates, in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 11 provides an example set-up interface for individual
users creating a customized application using financial institution
building templates, in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0024] FIG. 12 provides an example application builder interface
for individual users creating a customizable application using
financial institution building templates, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 13 provides an example set-up interface for merchant
users creating a customized application using financial institution
building templates, in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0026] FIG. 14 provides an example application builder interface
for merchant users creating a customized application using
financial institution building templates, in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention; and
[0027] FIG. 15 provides an exemplary customized financial
application created by using financial institution building
templates, in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0028] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which some, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown.
Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and
should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth
herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this
disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers
refer to elements throughout. Where possible, any terms expressed
in the singular form herein are meant to also include the plural
form and vice versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as
used herein, the term "a" and/or "an" shall mean "one or more,"
even though the phrase "one or more" is also used herein. Although
some embodiments of the invention herein are generally described as
involving a "financial institution," one of ordinary skill in the
art will appreciate that other embodiments of the invention may
involve other businesses that take the place of or work in
conjunction with the financial institution to perform one or more
of the processes or steps described herein as being performed by a
financial institution.
[0029] This disclosure is written in terms of a financial
institution provided data share platform. It is understood that the
invention is meant to provide some form of data share for use by a
customer developing an application. The provider of the data share
platform should not be limited to a financial institution, but
instead include any institution that may be in a position to
provide data to implement with respect to an application. The
customer should not be limited to an individual, but instead
include any person, commercial partner, user, requestor, or
institution wishing to create an application utilizing the data on
the data share platform.
[0030] Throughout the disclosure specific customer action is
described. Specific customer action may be customer requests,
customer inputs such as on an interface, or other manually provided
data the customer may provide to the data share platform. It is
understood that the invention is meant to provide a form of data
share for use by a customer developing an application. In this way,
the customer action described in further detail below may be
automated.
[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates a high level process flow for high level
process flow an institution provided data share platform process
100, which will be discussed in further detail throughout this
specification with respect to FIGS. 2 through 15. As illustrated in
block 102 the data share platform process 100 includes receiving a
request to access the platform for application development 102. The
request is for data on the platform that the requestor may use on
an application the requestor wishes to develop. The request may be
received from an individual, group of individuals, or a business
entity that wishes to develop an application based, at least in
part on the data on the data share platform. Once the request has
been made the data share platform process 100 determines the
accessibility to the platform based, at least in part on the
request made 104. In this way, the data share platform
accessibility is protected, ensuring the security of the data share
platform process 100. Once the security features of the platform
determine the data allowed to be accessed by the requestor, a
response to the request is transmitted through an API to a customer
106. Once the requestor is provided access to the data, the
requestor may use the data to create an application. In other
embodiments, the data share platform may provide the requestor the
ability to visualize the data on the data share platform. In yet
other embodiments, the data share platform may provide a data
mining service to the requestor for mining of data on the data
share platform. The data is then monitored by the data share
platform 108. The monitoring may be utilized to provide further
security functions to the platform, to provide a way of charging a
fee for use of the platform, etc. The requestor may then create an
application, the application including data from the data share
platform. The application, and the data therein, may subsequently
be placed on the data share platform. In block 110, fees may then
be recovered from a requestor accessing the platform. Fees may be
determined in many ways, including, but not limited to being
determined by the monitoring of use of the platform 108 such that
the more use allows for larger fees, by the amount of access to the
platform, by the amount of data requested, by a royalty based on
application sales, by a flat fee, a subscription fee, etc.
[0032] FIG. 2 provides a data share system and environment 200, in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. It is
understood that the servers, systems and devices described herein
illustrate one embodiment of the invention. It is further
understood that one or more of the servers, systems, and devices
can be combined in other embodiments and still function in the same
or similar way as the embodiments described herein.
[0033] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the platform server 206 is
operatively coupled, via a network 201 to the institution data
systems 210, commercial partner systems 208, and the customer
systems 204. In this way, the platform server 206 can send and
receive information to and from the institution data system 210,
the commercial partner systems 208, and the customer system 204, to
facilitate data share for building applications. FIG. 2 illustrates
only one example of an embodiment of a data share system and
environment 200, and it will be appreciated that in other
embodiments one or more of the systems, devices, or servers may be
combined into a single system, device, or server, or be made up of
multiple systems, devices, or servers.
[0034] The network 201 may be a global area network (GAN), such as
the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network
(LAN), or any other type of network or combination of networks. The
network 201 may provide for wireline, wireless, or a combination of
wireline and wireless communication between devices on the
network.
[0035] In some embodiments, the customer 202 is an individual that
has an account associated with the institution providing the data
share platform. An account may be any form of connection between
the customer 202 and the data share platform provider, this
connection may include, but is not limited to, the customer 202
providing data to the provider, the customer 202 being a prior
customer of the provider, the customer 202 having prior
negotiations with the provider, etc. For example, the customer 202
may have financial accounts with a financial institution that is
providing the data share platform and the customer 202 wishes to
develop an application, the application having data the financial
institution has on the data share platform included within the
application. In this example, the accounts the customer 202 may
have in association with the financial institution may include
savings accounts, checking accounts, credit card accounts,
investment accounts, retirement accounts, mortgage accounts, etc.
These accounts include accounts with the customer's primary
financial institution, as well as accounts that the customer has
with other secondary financial institutions.
[0036] In some embodiments, the customer 202 is a commercial
partner that has an account associated with the institution
providing the data share platform. For example, the commercial
partner may have financial accounts with a financial institution
and the commercial partner may desire to create an application, the
application having data from the financial institution data share
platform. In this example, the accounts the commercial partner may
have in association with the financial institution may include
customer accounts, lease agreements, business accounts, brokerage
accounts, expense accounts, etc. These accounts include accounts
with the commercial partner customer's primary financial
institution, as well as accounts with other financial institutions.
In some embodiments, a commercial partner may wish to mine data or
visualize the data on the data share platform. For example, a
commercial partner may wish to create targeted behavioral
advertising and/or contextual location based offers based on the
data on the data share platform. In this way, the commercial
partner may mine the data on the data share platform to determine
proper advertising targets.
[0037] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the platform server 206 generally
comprises a communication device 224, a processing device 226, a
memory device 228, and an API 225. The platform server 206 may
further include an application server. The application server,
explained in more detail below with respect to FIG. 7, provides the
customer 202 application builder software to build an application,
the application having data from the data share platform. As used
herein, a "processing device" generally refers to a device or
combination of devices having circuitry used for implementing the
communication and/or logic functions of a particular system. For
example, a processing device may include a digital signal processor
device, a microprocessor device, and various analog-to-digital
converters, digital-to-analog converters, and other support
circuits and/or combinations of the foregoing. Control and signal
processing functions of the system are allocated between these
processing devices according to their respective capabilities. The
processing device may include functionality to operate one or more
software programs based on computer-readable instructions thereof,
which may be stored in a memory device.
[0038] The processing device 226 is operatively coupled to the
communication device 224 and the memory device 228. The processing
device 226 uses the communication device 224 to communicate with
the network 201 and other devices on the network 201, such as, but
not limited to the institution data system 210, the customer system
204, and commercial partner systems 208. As such, the communication
device 224 generally comprises a modem, server, or other device for
communicating with other devices on the network 201.
[0039] The API 225 provides the ability to transmit and/or receive
data or other messages. In some embodiments, APIs may be provided
in the systems or servers of the data share system 200, such as,
but not limited to the customer system 204, the commercial partner
system 208, the institution data system 210, the platform server
206, and/or the like. In some embodiments, such as described in
FIG. 2, an API 225 communicates with the systems of the data share
system 200. In this way, the software of each system may be
implemented to communicate to transmit and/or receive data or
messages. In one example, the API 225 may be executed by the
processing device 226 such that the API 225 may interface with any
resident programs such as the platform module 234. In another
example, the processing device 226 may instruct the communication
device 224 to interact with an API of a specific system of the data
share system 200.
[0040] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the platform server 206 comprises
computer-readable instructions 232 stored in the memory device 228,
which in one embodiment includes computer-readable instructions 232
for a platform module 234. In some embodiments, the memory device
228 includes data storage 230 for storing data related to the
platform server 206, but not limited to the data created and/or
used by the platform module 234.
[0041] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, and described
throughout much of this specification, the platform module 234
allows for access, security, monitoring, fee analysis, and a
receive function for the platform server 206. In some embodiments,
the platform module 234 allows a customer 202 to access the
platform server 206 to retrieve data for use on an application. The
platform module 234 allows for the customer 202 to communicate, via
the customer system 204, to request and receive data from the
platform module 234. The request may be received directly from a
customer system 204, through the use of an API or the customer 202
may request the data via an interface, such as described in FIGS. 5
and 11-14.
[0042] The data may be financial data, institution specific data,
or other data acquired by the institution. Financial data may
include, but is not limited to account information, payment
history, finances, debt, data uploaded from a social networking
site, etc. For example, a customer 202, in this case a financial
analyst commercial partner may wish to create an application
specifically directed to selected clients, based on the clients
financial data, such as the clients' net worth or if the clients
have above a specific amount of funds in an account. In this way,
the financial analyst may provide an application specific to the
client needs. Institution specific data may include, but is not
limited to inventory data, profit data, sales data, margin data,
social networking data, uploaded data, etc. For example, a
commercial partner, such as a retail store or wholesaler, may
provide an application to selected customers 202 of the commercial
partner that indicates to the customer the inventory available. The
application could be directed to customers 202 that frequent the
commercial partner, social networking sites, etc.
[0043] In some embodiments, the data is stored in the memory device
216 of the institution data system 210. In this case, the data may
be received at the platform server 206 through communications with
the institution data system 210, and specifically the institution
data module 222. In some embodiments, the data is stored in the
memory device 228 of the platform server 206. In some embodiments,
the data stored in the memory device 216 of the institution data
system 210 may be received at the platform server 206 through
communications with other servers. For example, the platform server
206 may receive data from social networking sites that upload their
data onto the data share platform. Commercial partners or other
business may also provide data to the platform server 206. For
example, search companies or telephone companies, specifically
cellular telephone companies, may also provide data for the data
share platform.
[0044] In some embodiments, other data acquired by the institution
may include customer 202, commercial partner, search company,
and/or social networking uploading, etc. For example, the customer
202 may wish to upload data to the data share platform. The
customer 202 may provide data to the data share platform through
manual input, such as by an interface, through uploading from a
social networking site, etc. In this way, the customer 202 may
provide data to the data share platform.
[0045] Prior to allowing customer 202 access to the data share
platform a security function is implemented. The security function
provides the data share system 200 with protection from security
breaches, protection of restricted data being exposed, protection
of the amount of data exposed, etc. For example, a customer 202 may
request data from the data share platform. The security function
may determine the data that the customer 202 is allowed access to.
This data will be transmitted to the customer 202. The remaining
data on the data share platform may be protected from the customer
202, especially if the security functions determine that the
customer 202 is not allowed access to restricted data. The customer
202 may request restricted data. Restricted data may be data that
relates to a specific customer 202, such as that customer's bank
accounts, personal information, etc. Restricted data may be exposed
to customers 202 who request it based on security functions. For
example, a customer 202 may provide his own restricted data to the
data share platform and in return, the platform may provide data
regarding finances of peers similarly situated to the customer 202
to create a financial planning application or the like. The
security function may be implemented by the platform module 234 to
prevent customer 202 access to restricted data to which he is not
privy. The security function may be also be implemented by the
institution data module 222, which may communicate, via a
communication device 212, through a network 201 to the platform
server 206 to indicate to the platform module 234 customer 202
access to the data share platform.
[0046] Once the customer 202 has requested the data and the
security functions have determined that the customer 202 is allowed
access to the data, the data is then provided to the customer 202.
In some embodiments, the data is stored at the platform server 206.
In this case, the data may be received by the customer 202, from
the platform module 234, through a network 201, at a customer
system 204. In some embodiments, the data is stored at the
institution data system 210. In this case, the data may be received
by the customer 202, from the institution data module 222, through
a network 201, at the customer system 204. The data may be received
and implemented at the customer system 204 by an API 225 at the
platform server 206 or an API at the customer system 204. The data
may also be received at the customer system 204 via an interface,
such as described in further detail with respect to FIG. 5.
[0047] In some embodiments, the platform module 234 may further
allow for monitoring of the use of the platform and the data
obtained there from. The platform module 234 may monitor the use of
the data, the access requests for data, the restricted data, and
the data once it is utilized in an application. The platform module
234 may communicate with the institution data module 222 to monitor
data activity within the institution, such as but not limited to
the data being viewed by a customer 202, restricted data available,
or the data being provided to the platform. Monitoring may provide
the data share platform with an added security function, an ability
to analyze the platform, and an ability to base fees off of
use.
[0048] Monitoring of restricted data may provide an added security
function to ensure no misuse or misappropriation of that data. For
example, restricted data may be requested by a commercial partner
to create an application designed to create different pricing
groups to customers 202. Therefore, the commercial partner may be
using the restricted data to provide pricing to customers 202
depending on the customers 202 spending, etc. However, if the
commercial partner uses the data for other means, such as to
violate consumer protection rights, the monitoring function may
determine that the use of the restricted data is not appropriate
and provide a security feature to limit that commercial partner's
access to restricted data in the future.
[0049] The ability to monitor the platform allows for statistical
data to be gathered from the data on the platform. In this way,
data may be compiled and averaged to obtain average data for use by
a customer or the platform. For example, a customer 202 may wish to
develop an application to track similarly situated peers and their
savings for retirement. The customer 202 may select to view average
data on the data share application and add the average data to his
application in order to track his retirement as compared to his
similarly situated peers. The average data may be a compilation of
data from customers of similar age, sex, and salary to determine an
average amount of money saved in a retirement account. In this way,
the customer 202 may compare his retirement savings to like
situated peers. In another example, statistical analysis may be run
on the data. In one embodiment, the statistical analysis may
include analysis such as Zip +4. Zip +4 may provide location
indications of the customer based on a nine digit code that may be
provided in some data on the data share platform. This data may
include address information, etc. In this way, the monitoring
function may be able to pinpoint the customer's location within a
city block and may be able to provide location based services to
customers 202.
[0050] Monitoring of the platform data further allows a fee
analysis function. The fee analysis function may determine fees, if
any, a customer 202 owes for accessing the platform or using the
data on the platform. In this way, fees may be based off on the
number of accesses to the platform, the amount of data requested
from the platform, a flat fee, a subscription fee, and/or a royalty
based on use of the data on the platform. For example, a customer
202 may only wish to access the platform one time, in this case the
fee would be charged for that one access. If a customer 202 wished
to access the platform a number of times, each time the customer
202 accessed the platform a fee would be charged. A fee may be
charged based on the amount of data the customer requests from the
platform. This fee may also be dependent on the type of data
requested. For example, if a customer 202 requests several types of
restricted data, the fee may be higher than the fee for a customer
202 requesting non-restricted data. A fee may also be charged based
on the use of the data on the platform which may be implemented by
means codes embedded in the data. In this way, the data share
system 200 may monitor financial metrics, such as sales of the
application that have data share platform data on the application
and charge a royalty based on the financial metrics of the
application. For example, a customer 202 may develop an
application, and some of the data on the developed application may
be data from the data share platform. The customer 202 may then
sell his application in an application marketplace. The coded data
may monitor each sale and provide a royalty to the platform based
on the sales of the application.
[0051] In some embodiments, the platform module 234 may allow for
the receiving of data from the customer 202. The customer 202 may
provide the platform with restricted data of his own in order to
gain access of other customers' restricted data. For example, a
commercial customer may provide current inventory data to the
platform so that they may build an application tailored to specific
customers 202 with specific needs. The specific needs may be based
on restricted data that is available in a secure manner on the
platform. The platform module 234 may receive data from the
customer 202 or from the customer system 204, through a network
201. Once the platform module 234 receives the data, the platform
module 234 may store the data in the memory device 228 and/or
provide the data to the institution data system 210.
[0052] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the institution data system 210 is
generally comprised of a communication device 212, a processing
device 214, and a memory device 216. As described in further detail
below with respect to FIG. 7, the institution data system 210 may
include an institution account systems allowing a customer 202 to
utilize the institution's application builder software to build an
application. The processing device 214 is operatively coupled to
the communication device 212 and the memory device 216. The
processing device 214 uses the communication device 212 to
communicate with the network 201 and other devices on the network
201, such as, but not limited to the platform server 206, the
customer system 204, and the commercial partner systems 208. As
such, the communication device 212 generally comprises a modem,
server, or other device for communicating with other devices on the
network 201.
[0053] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the institution data system 210
comprises computer-readable instructions 220 stored in the memory
device 216, which in one embodiment includes computer-readable
instructions 220 for an institution data module 222. In some
embodiments, the memory device 216 includes data storage 218 for
storing data related to the data share platform including, but not
limited to customer 202 data received, data relating to the
institution, and the data created and/or used by the institution
data 222.
[0054] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the institution
data module 222 allows for data to be received for the data share
platform, for data to be monitored on the data share platform, and
for security features for the data share platform. The institution
data module 222 receives data that may be implemented on the
platform. The data may be received from customers 202, vendors,
commercial partner systems 208, the institution itself, etc. and
organize that data on the data share platform. In one embodiment,
the institution data module 222 may receive data from a customer
202. For example, a customer 202 may wish to use restricted data to
develop an application, in exchange for restricted data the
customer 202 may provide the data share platform his own restricted
data. In this way, the data share platform may collect other
restricted data and build the amount of data on the data share
platform. In another embodiment, a vendor or commercial partner may
provide the data share platform with data. For example, vendor may
wish to create an application that tracks its own inventory and
several of its closest competitors. The vendor may provide the data
share platform data regarding its inventory in order to develop the
application. In yet another embodiment, the institution may provide
data to the data share platform. For example, the institution data
module 222 may receive data from the institution itself when a
customer 202 of the institution, say a financial institution, opens
a savings account at that financial institution. When the customer
202 opens the savings account, the data from that savings account
may be provided to the platform. The data may include the
customer's address, telephone, career, emergency contact, and data
about the amount of money in the account.
[0055] The platform module 234 may receive data from the customer
202, vendors, commercial partner systems 208, the institution
itself, etc. through systems, such as but not limited to the
customer system 204 or the commercial partner systems 208, via a
network 201. Once the platform module 234 receives the data, the
platform module 234 may store the data in the memory device 228
and/or provide the data to the institution data system 210.
[0056] The institution data module 222 may also monitor data. The
institution data module 222 may monitor the data received at the
institution data system 210 and the data currently on the
institution data system 210. In this way, the data received by the
institution, such as data from customers 202, vendors, commercial
partner systems 208, the institution itself, etc. may be monitored
to provide restrictions to access the data or other monitoring
functions. The data currently on the institution data system 210,
such as the data stored in the memory device 216 may also be
monitored. Monitoring may indicate the number of customers 202
requesting specific data, the use of the data, and the data that is
being accessed by customers 202. The institution data module 222
may communicate with the platform module 234 to provide the
platform server 206 monitored data on the institution data system
210, such as but not limited to the data being viewed by a customer
202, restricted data available, or the data being provided to the
platform.
[0057] The monitoring capabilities of the institution data module
222 may further include security (including authentication
capabilities) and statistical functionality. The security and
statistical functionality may be provided in a similar manner as
described above respect to the platform module 234. The institution
data module 222 may provide security by limiting the customers 202
whom are authorized to access the data. The institution data module
222 may further provide security by the monitoring of restricted
data. The monitoring of restricted data may provide an added
security function to ensure no misuse or misappropriation of that
data. The institution data module 222 may provide statistical
functionality monitor the platform, allowing for statistical data
to be gathered from the data on the data share platform. In this
way, data may be compiled and averaged to obtain average data for
use by a customer or the platform. Because the security and
statistical functionality of the institution data module 222 may be
provided in a similar manner as the platform module 234, the
institution data module 222 authentication and monitoring
capability may be compatible with the monitoring preformed by the
platform module 234. This may provide easy cross communications
with the data on the institution data system 210 and the platform
server 206.
[0058] As illustrated in FIG. 2 the customer system 204 is
generally comprised of a communication device 236, a processing
device 238, and a memory device 240. The customer system 204 is a
computing system that allows a user to access and provide data to
the platform server 206, via a network 201. The customer system 204
may be, for example, a desktop personal computer, a mobile system
such as a laptop, personal digital assistant ("PDA"), cellular
phone, smart phone, or the like. Although only a single customer
system 204 is depicted in FIG. 2, the customizable application
system and environment 200 may contain numerous customer systems
204. Further, the customer system 204 allows the customer 202 to
view the customized application created using the data on the data
share platform. The processing device 238 is operatively coupled to
the communication device 236 and the memory device 240. The
processing device 238 uses the communication device 236 to
communicate with the network 201 and other devices on the network
201, such as, but not limited to the platform server 206, the
institution data system 210, and the commercial partner systems
208. As such, the communication device 236 generally comprises a
modem, server, or other device for communicating with other devices
on the network 201.
[0059] As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the customer system 204
comprises computer-readable instructions 244 stored in the memory
device 240, which in one embodiment includes computer-readable
instructions 244 for a customer module 246. In some embodiments,
the memory device 240 includes data storage 242 for storing data
related to the customer system 204, but not limited to the data
created and/or used by the customer module 246. The customer module
246 enables a customer 202 to access the data share platform.
Access to the data share platform may be provided in several ways,
such as through a customer system 204 API, through the platform
server 206 API 225. The customer 202 may also request data from the
data share platform through the use of interfaces, such as those
disclosed in FIGS. 5 and 11-14.
[0060] The commercial partner systems 208 are operatively coupled
to the institution data system 210, the platform server 206, and/or
the customer system 204 through the network 201. The commercial
partner systems 208 have systems with devices the same or similar
to the devices described for the customer system 204, the
institution data system 210, and the platform server 206 (i.e., a
communication device, a processing device, and a memory device).
Therefore, the commercial partner systems 208 communicates with the
institution data system 210, the platform server 206, and/or the
customer system 204 in the same or similar way as previously
described with respect to each system. The commercial partner
systems 208, in some embodiments, are comprised of systems and
devices that allow for commercial partners to access the data share
platform and for the institution data system 210 and/or the
platform server 206 to access the data of the commercial partner
system 208.
[0061] FIG. 3 illustrates a data share platform function process
300 that illustrates the various functions of the platform. As
shown in block 302 a request may be received to access the data
share platform. The request may come from a customer 202 such as an
individual, a commercial partner, or other entity wishing to
develop or create an application using data on the data share
platform in the application. The request may be made using a
customer system 204 or a commercial partner system 208. Receipt of
an access request 302 may be provided through an API 312 or an
interface 313. An API 312 may be provided in each of the systems or
servers of the data share system 200 or a central API 312 may
communicate with each of the systems or servers of the data share
system 200. In this way, the software of each of the systems may be
implemented to communicate a request to receive data from the data
share platform. In some embodiments, the request is made through a
customer system 204 or a commercial partner system 208 by utilizing
an interface 313. The interface 313 may be accessed by a customer
202 through a network 201. In this way, the customer 202 may input
data on the interface 313 in order to request access to the data on
the data share platform.
[0062] As illustrated in block 304 of FIG. 3, after a request has
been made, the security functions of the data share platform
function process 300 are implemented. The security function may
provide the platform with protection from security breaches,
protection against data being exposed, limitation on the amount of
data exposed, etc. The security functions include, but are not
limited to, limiting data accessibility 314, determining data
subsets available to the customer 316, and coding available data
318. Data accessibility 314 provides the platform with an ability
to limit the accessibility of restricted data to only those
customers 202 who are allowed access to it. Access to restricted
data is determined by several factors including, but not limited to
the restricted data's originator, the customer's level of access,
the originators determination, etc. In this way, the originator of
the restricted data may disclose the restricted data regarding
itself, but in return may limit which customers 202 the platform
may allow to view the data. For example, a retailer may provide
sales data to the platform as well as a sales strategy that allows
for retailers of competing products to view the data, but the
retailer may not wish for direct competitors to view the data. The
platform security functions may then limit the retailer's
restricted data to those who are not the retailer's direct
competitors.
[0063] Allowing the requesting customer 202 access to data subsets
in block 316 provides the security function the ability to disclose
restricted data in such a way that does not disclose the originator
of the data. For example, a customer 202 may request to see data
that relates to similarly aged customers data regarding savings for
retirement. The platform may be able to provide the customer 202
with this data as an average or median. In this way, the exact
customers 202 names and their exact retirement plans are not
explicitly disclosed. Data subsets allow a customer 202 to view
restricted data that the customer 202 may not be privy to
otherwise. In this way, the customer 202 may be able to build an
application using restricted data, but not know the exact
originator of the restricted data. This, in turn, protects the
originator of the data. The originator of the data may be offered
incentives for providing the restricted data to the platform. The
originator of the data may opt-in to share restricted data and in
return receive targeted offers for products in which they have
interest, a royalty based on sales of applications using the
restricted data, an increased savings interest rate, etc.
[0064] The platform security function 304 of coding data 318 prior
to allowing access to the data provides the platform with a means
of tracking the data once it has been accessed by a customer 202.
For example, a customer 202 may use coded data from the platform to
build his application. In this way, the platform may be able to
track the data to the customer 202 and to an application store in
which the customer 202 sells his application.
[0065] Once the security functions 304 have been used, in block 305
the customer 202 is allowed access to the data on the platform.
Similar to receiving a request in block 302, allowing access to the
data 305 may be provided by accessing an API 312 and/or the data
being sent to a customer system 204 via an interface 313. In some
embodiments, access to the platform API 312 may allow a customer
202 to view and/or retrieve the data that he is allowed access to.
In this way, the customer 202 through the customer system 204 may
be allowed access to the data share platform API 312. In other
embodiments, access to the data on the platform may be provided to
the customer 202 through use of an interface 313. In this way the
customer system 204 is provided an interface 313 with data the
customer 202 requested from the platform, as described in more
detail with respect to FIG. 15.
[0066] The data accessed by the customer 202 in block 305 may be
un-restricted data. In some embodiments, un-restricted data may,
but is not limited to, be publicly available data that does not
concern customer 202 safety and/or require privacy compliance. For
example, a commercial party may expose inventory data to the
platform to create an application. The application could be
directed to customers 202 that frequent the commercial partner,
social networking sites, etc. and provide the customer 202 up to
the minute inventory data. In some embodiments, restricted data may
be, but is not limited to, customer 202 or commercial partner
financial data, strategic data, etc. In this case, the customer 202
may provide the platform his restricted data and in return expect a
benefit. For example, the customer 202 may provide or "opt-in" his
restricted data in return for other restricted data from the
platform, so that the customer 202 may be able to create a
customized application based on the restricted data, such as a
customized financial application. In another example, the customer
202 may opt-in his restricted data, thus exposing it to the
platform and in return the customer 202 may enhance his
creditworthiness with the institution. If the institution is a
financial institution, this may allow for better interest rates,
loan modifications, etc. If the institution is a retail store, this
may allow for discounts on mechanize or special offers. In yet
another example, the customer 202 may provide the restricted data
in order to receive special applications from the institution or
the institution's commercial partners. A commercial partner may
receive restricted data in the form of customer 202 credit scores.
In this way, the commercial partner may create an application
specifically for customers 202 with higher credit scores, thus
awarding those customers 202 with credit product pricing. The
credit product pricing may be provided for high credit scoring
customers 202 or for un-restricted data such as a social networking
group or business.
[0067] In block 306, the platform may provide a monitoring
function. The monitoring function may include monitoring the data
on the platform, monitoring use of the data, monitoring access to
the data, monitoring requests for the data, etc. The data being
monitored may include, but is not limited to the data being viewed
by a customer 202, restricted data available, or the data being
provided to the platform. At block 322, the access requests are
monitored. This may provide the platform the ability to monitor
which customers 202 are accessing data and which customers 202 are
trying to access data. At block 320, the use of the data is
monitored. This may include data that is on the platform or data
that is obtained from the platform by a customer 202. Monitoring
the data that remains on the platform may include, but is not
limited to, monitoring who looks at the data, how long the customer
202 looks at the data, copying of the data, etc. Monitoring of data
already in use by a customer 202 or obtained from the platform by
the customer 202 may provide an added security function to ensure
no misuse or misappropriation of that data. Monitoring of data
already in use may be provided by coding of available data in block
318. Coding of data may provide the platform the ability to monitor
where and when the data of the platform is being used. Coding of
data also provides a means of tracking use for calculating
fees.
[0068] The ability to monitor the data on the platform further
allows for statistical data to be gathered from the data on the
platform. In this way, data may be compiled and averaged to obtain
average data for use by a customer or the platform. For example, a
customer 202 may wish to create an application to track similarly
situated peers and their savings for retirement. The customer 202
may select to view average data to add to his application in order
to track his retirement as compared to his similarly situated
peers.
[0069] The ability to monitor the data on the platform may further
allow for the institution to provide special offers to customers
202 who either provide data to the platform, access the platform
often, and/or use the platform often. In this way, the institution
may provide institutional incentives for using the platform. For
example, if the institution is a financial institution, it may
provide an enhanced creditworthiness to the customers 202 who
actively participate in the platform. In another example, the
institution may provide discounts to the customers 202 for
mechanize the institution provides, because of the customer's 202
active participation in the platform. In another example,
statistical analysis may be run on the data. In one embodiment, the
statistical analysis may include analysis such as Zip +4. Zip +4
may provide location indications of the customer based on a nine
digit code that may be provided in some data on the data share
platform. This data may include address information, etc. In this
way, the monitoring function may be able to pinpoint the customer's
location within a city block and may be able to provide location
based services to customers 202.
[0070] Monitoring of the platform data further allows a fee
analysis function 308. The fee analysis function 308 may determine
fees, if any, a customer 202 owes for accessing the platform 326,
the amount of data the customer accessed 328, etc. In this way,
fees may be based on the number of times a customer 202 accesses
the platform 326, the amount of data requested from the platform
328, a flat fee, a subscription fee, and/or a royalty based on use
of the data on the platform 330. In block 326, a fee may be charged
to a customer 202 depending on the number of times a customer 202
accesses the platform. For example, a customer 202 may only wish to
access the platform one time, in this case the fee would be charged
for that one access. If a customer 202 wished to access the
platform a number of times, each time the customer 202 accessed the
platform a fee would be charged. In block 328, a fee may be charged
based on the amount of data the customer requests from the
platform. This fee may also be dependent on the type of data
requested. For example, a customer 202 may request several types of
restricted data, the fee may be higher than the fee for a customer
202 requesting non-restricted data. In block 330, royalties may be
based on the use of the data on the platform. This fee may be
implemented by means of data with codes embedded therein. In this
way, the platform may monitor the profits of the application, made
with platform data, based off of the data code and charge a royalty
based on the sales of the application. For example, a customer 202
may create an application by using data on the data share platform.
The customer 202 may then sell his application on an application
marketplace. The coded data may monitor each sale and provide a
royalty to the platform based on the sales of the application. In
yet another example fees may be determined by a fee analysis
function 308 by using subscription fees for use of the data share
platform. In this way, a customer 202 may provide a
weekly/monthly/annually fee for use of the data share platform at
any time.
[0071] In block 310, the platform may provide a receiving data
function 310. As explained above, receiving data may include data
from a commercial partner, application developers, social
networking site, a search company, manually inputted data, uploaded
data by a customer 202, the data on the customer 202 created
application, etc. The ability for a vast quantities of data to be
added to the data share platform may provide for several types of
data on the platform including search data, financial data, health
data, and cell data. For example, a customer 202 may provide
restricted data 332 in exchange for some incentives. For example,
the customer 202 may provide or "opt-in" his restricted data 332 in
return for other restricted data 332 from the platform, enhanced
creditworthiness, discounts, etc. In this way, the platform may be
able to receive data from numerous sources to provide an ever
expanding platform from which a customer 202 may build an
application. In another example, a customer 202 may have created an
application, the application having data from the data share
platform within it, as well as unique customer 202 data. The unique
customer data may be added to the data share platform.
[0072] FIG. 4 illustrates a customer decision process flow 400. In
block 402, the customer 202 may request access to the data share
platform. If the customer 202 does not request access to the
platform, the customer decision process flow 400 does not begin. If
the customer 202 requests access to the data share platform, the
customer 202 may be allowed access to the platform in block 404.
Customer requests may be provided through an API or a request
interface 500. The customer may request specific data to build an
application in block 406. If the customer 202 requests specific
data the platform may provide for further security features to
ensure that the customer 202 is allowed to access the specific
data.
[0073] As illustrated in FIG. 5, a request interface provides a
customer 202 the ability to access the data share platform. At
section 502 the customer 202 may input a username and/or password.
In this way, the security functions may provide for customer 202
specific data accessibility and data subsets available to the
customer 202. The customer 202 may then provide personal
information in the customer information section 504. Customer
information 504 may include contact information 508 and payment
information 510. Contact information 508 may provide the customer
202 a section to input his address, phone number, e-mail address,
and additional information. In the payment information section 510
the customer 202 may provide information for a payment means for
use of the data share platform. A customer 202 may provide, for
example, a credit card, a debit card, an account number, etc. in
the payment information section 510. In other embodiments, a group
of customers may with to access the data share platform. In this
way, a group of customers may provide restricted data and social
networking ties in order to obtain discounts, offers, etc.
[0074] Once the customer 202 has provided his customer information
504 and added the information by selecting the add button 512, the
customer 202 may select the data he wishes to request from the
platform in the platform request section 506. The selections
include customer general data 514, customer specific data 516,
commercial general data 518, commercial specific data 520, or the
customer 202 may provide other requests 522. In this way, the data
share platform may have an indication from the customer 202 as to
the data the customer 202 is intending to select. Customer general
514 and commercial general 518 data may be general data regarding
customers or commercial partners of the institution. Customer
general 514 and commercial general 518 data may also included
subsets of restricted data. For example, restricted data, such as
customer 202 retirement savings, may be combined to provide an
average of retirement savings for a specific demographic, such as
age, salary etc. Customer specific 516 and commercial specific 520
data may be specific data regarding customers or commercial
partners of the institution. This data may be restricted or
un-restricted data. For example, customer specific 516 data may be
financial information regarding the customer's 202 spending habits.
Another example may be a commercial partner's inventory. Yet
another example may be the amount of purchases a customer 202 makes
at the institution or commercial partner in a given month. Once the
customer 202 has selected the platform requests 506, he may search
the platform for accessible data using the search button 524. In
some embodiments the search may be an automated search. The
automated search is driven by an algorithm, software agent, API, or
other means. If the customer 202 is satisfied with his search
results and has completed his session on the platform the customer
202 may finish his session by using the finish button 526.
[0075] Once the customer 202 has completed the request interface
500. The customer 202 may be allowed access to the data on the
platform, after security functions have been provided for the
customer 202. In block 416, the customer 202 may be provided access
to all authorized data. In block 408, the customer 202 may have
requested specific data, in which the platform may have to provide
further authorization to view the data. Once the customer is
allowed access to the data his is authorized for, the customer 202
may further input restricted data 418. If the customer 202 provides
restricted data the customer 202 may receive access to unauthorized
data in block 410. This unauthorized data 410 may be the benefits
descried above that the customer 202 receives for providing
restricted data to the platform. As described above, the
unauthorized data may be an enhanced creditworthiness with the
institution, a discount for institution products, etc.
[0076] In block 412, the customer 202 may create his own
application using the data from the platform. In some embodiments,
the customer 202 may use institution provided application builder
tools, such as described below with respect to FIGS. 6-15. In some
embodiments the customer 202 may provide his own means of building
and creating the application using data on the data share
platform.
[0077] In block 414, the customer 202 may provide the institution
providing the data share platform fees. As described in further
detail above, fees may be calculated by accessing the platform, the
amount of data the customer 202 accessed on the platform, or the
way the customer 202 uses the data on the platform.
[0078] In an example embodiment, described in detail below with
respect to FIGS. 6-15, the financial institution may provide a
customer 202 the ability to build a customized application by
utilizing financial institution provided building templates.
Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and
therefore the example embodiment set forth below should not be
construed as limited to the embodiments of the invention set forth
herein. The embodiment set forth below is provided as an example of
an application of the invention.
[0079] FIG. 6 illustrates a high level process flow for a
customized application process 600, which will be discussed in
further detail throughout this specification with respect to FIGS.
7 through 15. As illustrated in block 602, the customized
application process 600 includes receiving, at the financial
institution, a request from the customer to access customer data
maintained on a financial institution data share platform. The
financial institution systems may also receive a request from the
customer to access other data, as illustrated in block 604, such as
general data maintained on the financial institution data share
platform about groups of customers, an average customer, etc. As
illustrated in block 606, the financial institution may receive a
request from the customer 202 to develop a customized application
that displays or otherwise uses the requested data in the way
requested by the customer 202. Thereafter, the financial
institution systems develop the customized application, as
illustrated in block 608. After the customized application is
developed, a customer 202 may view the customized application to
analyze, track, and/or edit information related to the customer's
accounts, as illustrated in block 610.
[0080] For example, in one embodiment of the invention, a customer
202 may build an application, the application having financial
institution data. In another embodiment, the customer may build an
application using financial institution provided building tools,
the application having financial institution data. The financial
institution provides an application that the customer 202 downloads
to the customer's mobile device. The application is configured to
interact with a server of the financial institution via the mobile
communication network. The application building tools are
configured to allow a customer 202 to build an application with
numerous options to allow the customer freedom to create his own
financial application that utilize the data on the financial
institution data share platform other customers in general, and/or
other more general financial data. For instance, the customizable
application may allow the customer 202 to create his own charts,
tables, or graphs that display customer-selected and substantially
real time or updated financial metrics that are tracked by the
financial institution. In one example, the customer 202 may create
a chart showing the customer's spending on gas relative to an
average customer of the financial institution in the same age range
and geographic area as the customer 202. In other embodiments,
customers 202 that use the customizable application to create their
own unique financial applications can share these applications with
others in a forum. Other customers 202 can then use, rate, and/or
purchase applications from the forum.
[0081] FIG. 7 provides a customizable application system and
environment 700, in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the application server 706 is
operatively coupled, via a network 701 to the financial institution
account systems 708, other financial institution systems 710, and
the customer systems 704. In this way, the application server 706
can send and receive information to and from the financial
institution account system 708, the other financial institution
systems 710, and the customer system 704, to facilitate building a
customized application. FIG. 7 illustrates only one example of an
embodiment of a customized application system and environment 700,
and it will be appreciated that in other embodiments one or more of
the systems, devices, or servers may be combined into a single
system, device, or server, or be made up of multiple systems,
devices, or servers.
[0082] The network 701 may be a global area network (GAN), such as
the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network
(LAN), or any other type of network or combination of networks. The
network 701 may provide for wireline, wireless, or a combination of
wireline and wireless communication between devices on the
network.
[0083] In some embodiments, the customer 202 is an individual that
has financial accounts with a financial institution and desires to
access a financial institution data share platform to build an
application. The customer 202 is able to review and/or compare
financial information via the customized application. The accounts
used for the customized application are any accounts available to
the individual customer 202, such as but not limited to savings
accounts, checking accounts, credit card accounts, investment
accounts, retirement accounts, mortgage accounts, etc. These
accounts include accounts with the customer's primary financial
institution, as well as accounts that the customer 202 has with
other secondary financial institutions. In some embodiments of the
invention the customer 202 is a merchant that has financial
accounts with a financial institution and desires to review and/or
compare finances via a customizable financial institution
application. The accounts used for the customized application are
any accounts that are available to the merchant customer 202, such
as customer accounts, lease agreements, business accounts,
brokerage accounts, expense accounts, etc. These accounts include
accounts with the customer's primary financial institution, as well
as accounts with other financial institutions.
[0084] As illustrated in FIG. 7, the application server 706
generally comprises of a communication device 724, a processing
device 726, and a memory device 728. The application server 706 may
be provided from the institution platform server 206. The
processing device 726 is operatively coupled to the communication
device 724 and the memory device 728. The processing device 726
uses the communication device 724 to communicate with the network
701 and other devices on the network 701, such as, but not limited
to the financial institution account system 708, the customer
system 704, and other financial institution systems 710. As such,
the communication device 724 generally comprises a modem, server,
or other device for communicating with other devices on the network
701.
[0085] As illustrated in FIG. 7, the application server 706
comprises computer-readable instructions 732 stored in the memory
device 728, which in one embodiment includes computer-readable
instructions 732 for a financial institution interface module 734.
In some embodiments, the memory device 728 includes data storage
730 for storing data related to the customized application
including, but not limited to the data created and/or used by the
financial institution interface module 734.
[0086] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 the financial
institution interface module 734 allows the customer 202 to
determine, via a customer system 704, data to be used and displayed
in the customized application. In one example, the financial
institution interface module 734 allows the customer 202 to
communicate, via the customer system 704, to indicate the customer
account data, customer financial data, customer customized data,
and other customer data that the customer 202 wishes to be
displayed on the customized application from the financial
institution data share platform. The data stored within the
financial institution interface module 734 provides computer
readable instructions 732 to the processing device 726 to allow for
development of the customized application. The data share platform,
stores or accesses information for display in the customized
application including, but not limited to, customer accounts,
customer financial data, other customer financial data, customer
goals, etc. As used herein, customer account information, customer
financial data, other customer financial data, and customer goals
may be established by the customer 202 via the customer system 704
or established automatically by the financial institution interface
module 734.
[0087] In one embodiment, as explained in further detail below, the
customer account information available for use in the customized
application may be derived from all accounts available to the
customer 202. In some embodiments of the invention, the account
information may be derived from a primary financial institution,
secondary financial institutions, or other business that the
customer 202 may use to create an account (i.e. credit card held by
retailers). For example, the customer 202 may have several accounts
at the customer's primary financial institution and secondary
financial institutions that can be accessed from the data share
platform automatically by the financial institution interface
module 734, including savings accounts, retirement accounts,
checking accounts, investment accounts, credit card accounts etc.
In other embodiments, as explained in further detail below,
customer financial data available to use in the customized
application may include data provided by the customer 202. For
example, customer financial data entered by the customer 202 may
comprise financial information, such as credit cards, mortgages,
loans, cash transactions, and other financial information that
cannot be accessed by the financial institution interface module
734, such as accounts that are not associated with an online
account or accounts associated with institutions that do not allow
other financial institutions to access. Furthermore, in other
embodiments of the invention the customer 202 may include accounts
within the customized application including accounts associated
with spouses, dependents, friends, employees, etc.
[0088] In one embodiment, as explained in further detail below,
other customer data is available on the financial institution data
share platform for use within the customized application through
the financial institution interface module 734. In one embodiment,
the other customer data may include data from a representative
group of customers of the primary financial institution with a
specific income, as selected by the customer 202. In one embodiment
the other customer financial data may be from a representative
group of customers of the primary financial institution with a
specific age group, as selected by the customer 202. For example,
the customer 202 may wish to compare his retirement account
information to other customers of the primary financial institution
with a similar savings, age, and/or income level as the customer
202. In other embodiments of the invention the other customer data
may come from secondary financial institutions or other businesses
that capture financial information of people. In other embodiments
of the invention the other customer data may come from social
networks or the like, that may be received by the application
server 706 through the use of a network 701.
[0089] In one embodiment, as explained in further detail below,
customer goals available for use within the customized application
may include financial goals and strategies determined by the
customer 202. Customer goals may include spending goals, savings
goals, payment plans, and/or the like. For example, the customer
202 may wish to limit his spending from a checking account for a
specific time period. For that time period, the customer 202 may
input the goal limit into the customized application, therefore
allowing the customized application to display the goal limit and
how close he is to the limit for that specific account. In other
embodiments of the invention, the customer 202 may input retirement
goals into the customized application, thereby allowing the
customized application to display the customer's goals as they
compare to the goals of other customers within the financial
institution.
[0090] As illustrated in FIG. 7, the financial institution account
system 708 is generally comprised of a communication device 736, a
processing device 738, and a memory device 740. The processing
device 738 is operatively coupled to the communication device 736
and the memory device 740. The processing device 738 uses the
communication device 736 to communicate with the network 701 and
other devices on the network 701, such as, but not limited to the
application server 706, the customer system 704, and other
financial institution systems 710. As such, the communication
device 736 generally comprises a modem, server, or other device for
communicating with other devices on the network 701.
[0091] As illustrated in FIG. 7, the financial institution account
system 708 comprises computer-readable instructions 744 stored in
the memory device 740, which in one embodiment includes
computer-readable instructions 744 for a customer account module
722. In some embodiments, the memory device 740 includes data
storage 742 for storing data related to the building of the
application including, but not limited to the account data the
financial institution has for the customer 202 prior to the
customer 202 request, the financial data the financial institution
has for the customer 202 prior to the customer 202 request, and the
data created and/or used by the customer account module 722.
[0092] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, the customer
account module 722 comprises account and financial data received
from a financial institution and/or other financial institution
systems 710. In one embodiment the account and financial data
received by the customer account module 722 comprises data that the
customer 202 currently has with the financial institution. For
example, if the customer 202 has a savings account and a checking
account with the financial institution, the information related to
these accounts may be stored in the customer account module 722.
The account information can be accessed upon receipt of a request
from the customer 202 or from the financial institution interface
module 734. Therefore, the customer 202 may use the account
information he already has with the financial institution for the
customized application, without having to manually input the
account information into the interface. In one embodiment the
account and financial data received by the customer account module
722 comprises data that the customer 202 has on other financial
institution systems 710. For example, if the customer 202 has
accounts with a secondary financial institution, once the request
for customer account information is made, the customer account
module 722 may receive the account information from other financial
institution systems 710, and thereafter transfer that information
to the financial institution interface module 734. In other
embodiments of the invention the financial institution interface
module 734 can access the other financial institution systems 710
directly in order to access account information for customer
accounts at the secondary financial institutions for use in the
customized application.
[0093] The customer account module 722 also allows for storage in
the memory device 740 of other customer financial data upon request
of the customer 202. The other customer financial data comprises
the same or similar data as stored for the customer 202. Since the
financial institution stores financial data about many customers,
the financial institution can utilize this information by providing
non-identifying customer data to the customer 202 for use in the
customized application. In this way the customer account module 722
may communicate, via the network 701 with the application server
706 to provide the financial institution interface module 734 other
customer data, so that the customer 202 may be able to utilize the
other customer data as a comparison with the customer's own
data.
[0094] As illustrated in FIG. 7 the customer system 704 is
generally comprised of a communication device 712, a processing
device 714, and a memory device 716. The customer system 704 is a
computing system that allows a user to provide information for a
customized application, via a network 701, to the financial
institution interface module 734. Further, the customer system 704
allows the customer 202 to view the customized application. The
processing device 714 is operatively coupled to the communication
device 712 and the memory device 716. The processing device 714
uses the communication device 712 to communicate with the network
701 and other devices on the network 701, such as, but not limited
to the application server 706, the financial institution account
system 708, and other financial institution systems 710. As such,
the communication device 712 generally comprises a modem, server,
or other device for communicating with other devices on the network
701.
[0095] As further illustrated in FIG. 7, the customer system 704
comprises computer-readable instructions 720 stored in the memory
device 716, which in one embodiment includes computer-readable
instructions 720 for a customer interface module 722. In this way,
a customer 202 may be able to access the customized application,
such as the application set-up interface and application builder
interface, in order to create the customized application using
customer account information, customer data, other customer data,
customer goals, etc. and provide the format for the customized
application, using the customer interface module 722. The customer
system 704 may be, for example, a desktop personal computer, a
mobile system such as a laptop, PDA, cellular phone, smart phone,
or the like. Although only a single customer system 704 is depicted
in FIG. 7, the customizable application system and environment 700
may contain numerous customer systems 704.
[0096] The other financial institution systems 710 are operatively
coupled to the financial institution account system 708, the
application server 706, and/or the customer system 704 through the
network 701. The other financial institution systems 710 have
systems with devices the same or similar to the devices described
for the customer system 704, the financial institution account
system 708, and the application server 706 (i.e., a communication
device, a processing device, and a memory device). Therefore, the
other financial institution systems 710 communicates with the
financial institution account system 708, the application server
706, and/or the customer system 704 in the same or similar way as
previously described with respect to each system. The other
financial institution systems 710, in some embodiments, are
comprised of systems and devices that allow the customer 202, the
financial institution account system 708, and the application
server 706 to access account and financial information regarding
the customer 202 stored at other financial institutions.
[0097] It is understood that the servers, systems and devices
described herein illustrate one embodiment of the invention. It is
further understood that one or more of the servers, systems, and
devices can be combined in other embodiments and still function in
the same or similar way as the embodiments described herein.
[0098] FIG. 8 illustrates a customer data process flow 800
illustrating the inputs that are used to create the customized
application. As illustrated in block 802 a customer may request to
set up a customized application on the customer system 704. In some
embodiments of the invention the customer 202 can download a
customized application to the customer system 704 in order to
create customized applications on the customer system 704. In other
embodiments of the invention the customer 202 can create a
customized application within the customer's online banking
application provided by the financial institution through the use
of the customer system 704.
[0099] Once the request is received that the customer 202 wants to
create a customized application, the financial institution
interface module 734 determines the customer accounts that are
available from the financial institution data share platform for
inclusion in a customized application. In one embodiment of the
invention, the customer account information 810 may include all the
customer accounts available on the financial institution data share
platform, which may include accounts with the primary financial
institution and/or accounts with secondary financial institutions.
For example, the customer 202 may have several accounts, including
savings accounts, retirement accounts, checking accounts,
investment accounts, or credit card accounts with various financial
institutions. These accounts may be included as the customer
account information 810 displayed to the customer 202 for ultimate
inclusion into the customized account interface. In one embodiment,
the customer account information 810 added may be financial
accounts from the primary financial institution such as savings
accounts, checking accounts, retirement accounts, brokerage
accounts, etc. In other embodiments, the customer account
information 810 added may be accounts from a secondary financial
institution, including accounts such as savings accounts, checking
accounts, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, etc.
[0100] As illustrated in block 804 of FIG. 8, after the customer
202 chooses to create a customized account application, one of the
application set-up interfaces 1100, 1300 is displayed to the
customer 202, depending on the type of customer 202. As illustrated
by block 804, prior to using the builder interfaces 1200, 1400 the
customer 202 may supply several inputs that the customer 202 may
want to include in the customized account interface. The customer
202 may provide restricted data in the form of customer financial
data 812. This restricted data may be included on the financial
institution data share platform. The customer financial data 812
may comprise financial information, such as credit cards,
mortgages, loans, and other financial information the financial
institution and other financial institutions may have regarding the
customer 202. Furthermore, in some embodiments other accounts maybe
included within the customer financial data 812 including accounts
associated with spouses or dependents, and/or cash transactions
made by the customer 202 or other people associated with the
customer's accounts. The customer 202 may also provide customized
data in the form of customer goal data 816. Customer goal data 816
includes data such as spending goals, savings goals, payment plans,
etc. For example, the customer 202 may wish to limit his spending
from a specific account for a specific time period. The customer
202 may input the goal limit and the interface may display to the
customer 202 his goal limit and how close he is to the goal
spending limit for that specific account. In some embodiments, the
customer 202 may provide shopping list information to include on
the customized application.
[0101] Furthermore, the customer 202 may request other customer
financial data 814 to be included in the customizable application.
The other customer financial data 814 requested may come in many
forms. For example, the customer 202 may request to see peer
financial data, such as but not limited to, retirement savings a
similarly financially situated individual has accumulated compared
to the customer 202. The customer 202 may request to see peer
financial data as it relates to mortgages or home ownership. The
customer 202 may request to see peer financial data as it relates
to investment account or savings account information. The customer
202 may request to see peer financial data as it relates to
checking or debit account information. In one embodiment, the
customer 202 may request to see other customer financial data 814
from a representative group of people with a similar income. In one
embodiment, the customer 202 may request to see other customer
financial data 814 from a representative group of people with
higher incomes. In one embodiment, the customer 202 may request to
see other customer financial data 814 from a representative group
of people with lower incomes. In one embodiment, the customer 202
may request to see other customer financial data 814 from a
representative group of similarly aged individuals. In one
embodiment, the customer 202 may request to see other customer
financial data 814 from a representative group of individuals of a
different age group.
[0102] As illustrated in FIG. 8, once the customer 202 selects the
customer financial data 812, the customer goal data 816, and/or the
other customer financial data 814 to include in the customized
application, the financial institution interface module 734
receives data from the financial institution data share platform.
Thereafter, the financial institution interface module 734 displays
the application builder interfaces 1200, 1400 to the customer 202
to allow the customer 202 to determine how the customer 202 would
like the information displayed in the customized application, as
illustrated by block 806.
[0103] In the application builder interfaces 1200, 1400 the
customer 202 utilizes the account information selected in order to
create the customize application. Within the application builder
interfaces 1200, 1400 the customer 202 may request to use a
template interface, create his own customized interface, or utilize
parts of both. As illustrated by block 818, the template interfaces
818 may be provided by the financial institution, and may organize
customer data in ways that the financial institution may think is
helpful to its customers 202. In other embodiments of the
invention, customers 202 may create their own customized interfaces
and save them as templates for other customers 202 use within the
financial institution interface application. Still in other
embodiments of the invention, the customers 202 may select
templates to use in the customized application, but thereafter make
changes to the template to tailor the customized application to the
individual customer's needs.
[0104] In some embodiments of the invention, the templates include
templates designed specifically for interfaces directed to
budgeting, goals, account management, financial comparisons, etc.
For example, the budgeting template may provide the customer 202
with a template interface displaying accounts and budgeting goals
based on the customer 202 inputs. The customer 202 may wish to
limit spending in three accounts. The three accounts will be
displayed on the customized application along with the goal limits.
The customized application may also provide break-downs of where
the spending in the three accounts came from. For example, a pie
chart indicating the percent spent on various items, so that the
customer 202 may see spending habits. The template may also display
the average budgets of similarly situated customers through the use
of the other customer data provided by the financial institution.
The comparisons with other customers may allow the customer 202 to
see areas of his budget where he can reduce expenditures and save
additional amounts of money.
[0105] In other examples of templates, the goals template may
provide the customer 202 with a template interface displaying
accounts and account goals based on the customer's inputs. For
example, the customer 202 may wish to save a specific amount each
year in a savings account and an investment account. The template
may illustrate the various types of accounts available to the
customer 202, and the amount of money the customer 202 needs to
fund the account in order to reach the customer's short term and
long terms savings goals. In some embodiments, the template may
include the savings account and the investment account, as well as
the savings thus far and the amounts left to save for the year, in
order to reach the goals established by the customer 202. In some
embodiments, the template may also illustrate the average, high,
and low savings goal of other similarly positioned customers. The
comparisons with the other customers may allow the customer 202 to
see area of his savings goals that can be improved.
[0106] In other examples, the template may comprise a financial
comparison template that provides the customer 202 with an
interface that displays customer account comparisons between the
customer 202 and other customers. For example, the customer 202 may
wish to use the comparison template interface to compare his
financial situation to others similarly positioned as him. The
customer 202 may choose to see how his financial accounts compare
to a representative population of similarly aged individuals with
similar incomes. The customer 202 may also choose to compare his
current financial situation with similarly positioned individuals
older or younger than him.
[0107] In other embodiments of the invention, as illustrated by
block 820, the customer 202 may provide for a customized format.
The customized format allows the customer 202 to format the
customized application in any display that he wishes. For example,
if the customer 202 wants to display budgeting information on his
interface, he may choose a custom format 820 in order to place both
budgeting information and also comparison information on his
customized application 808. In utilizing the custom format the
customer 202 may be able to customize the data displayed on the
customized application 808 in any order or position that the
customer 202 feels is most applicable to the customer's 202 own
needs.
[0108] FIG. 9 illustrates a customized application set-up process
900 for inputting accounts for the customizable application. The
customized application set-up process 900 is initiated when the
customer 202 requests access to data from the financial institution
in order to create a customized application. As illustrated in
block 902, the customer 202 accesses the application start-up
interface 1100 illustrated in FIG. 11, or a similar interface. As
illustrated by decision block 904, within the application start-up
interface 1100 the customer 202 may add account information. The
account information may be from the primary financial institution,
as illustrated by decision block 906, or from a secondary financial
institution, as illustrated by decision block 908. As illustrated
by decision block 906, if the account information is with the
financial institution, the financial institution interface module
734 may access the account information from financial institution
data share platform. Thereafter, the customer 202 may select the
accounts he or she wishes to include in the customized application.
If the customer 202 wishes to add another account as illustrated in
decision block 910, the customer 202 is returned to decision block
904 to add additional account information.
[0109] As illustrated by decision block 908, if the account
information that the customer 202 wishes to add is with a secondary
financial institution, the financial institution interface module
734 may access the account information from other financial
institution systems 710 or from the account information stored by a
customer account module 722 in the financial institution account
systems 708, related to the accounts of the customer 202 at other
financial institutions. In some embodiments of the invention, the
customer 202 may have to provide information regarding the account
prior to the account being selected for the customized application,
as explained later with respect to FIG. 11.
[0110] If the customer 202 wishes to add another account, as
illustrated by decision block 912, the process returns to decision
block 904. Once the customer 202 has completed adding all of his
accounts that the customer 202 wants to include in the customized
application, the customer is taken to the application builder
interface 1200, as illustrated by block 914.
[0111] The application set-up interfaces 1100, 1300 are illustrated
in FIGS. 11 and 13. FIG. 11 illustrates one embodiment of an
individual customer application set-up interface 1100. Prior to
adding any account information the customer 202 may create a
username 1104 and password 1108 for the customized application in
the create username/password section 1102. The username 1104,
password 1108, and re-enter password 1110 entries may be used for
security purposes, while the email address 1106 provides the
financial institution with contact information. Utilizing this
information the financial institution may provide the customer 202
with his associated account information 1112 that can be added to
the customized application.
[0112] As previously discussed, the account information 1112 may be
information regarding accounts held at the primary financial
institution, or the account information 1112 may enable the
customer 202 to add accounts to the customizable application. The
accounts may be with a primary financial institution, as
illustrated in section 1114 or the accounts may be with other
financial institutions, as illustrated in section 1116. The
accounts with financial institution section 1114 in the set-up
interface 1100 displays the accounts that the customer 202 has with
his primary financial institutions. In the example provided in FIG.
11, the customer 202 has a checking account, a savings account, a
brokerage account, a credit card, and a mortgage account with the
financial institution.
[0113] In one embodiment of the invention, the customer 202 may
select the accounts for the customized application by selecting the
box located next to the desired account in the accounts with
financial institution section 1114. For example, if the customer
202 wishes to have his savings account #5555 be displayed on the
customized interface, he would select the check box located next to
savings account #5555 on the application set-up interface 1100. The
accounts with financial institution section 1114 also allows for
the customer 202 to apply for and add other accounts that the
customer 202 did not previously have with the financial institution
by selecting the "other account-not listed" link.
[0114] In one embodiment of the invention, in the accounts with
other firms section 1116, the customer 202 may select the accounts
the customer 202 has with other financial institutions. The
accounts with other firms section 1116 allows the customer 202 to
select or add checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage
accounts, credit accounts, mortgage accounts, and custom selections
from other financial institutions. Once an account is selected, the
customer 202 may be prompted to input the account name 1118 and the
account number 1120, as well as the other financial information,
such as the name of the secondary financial institution, to allow
the primary financial institution to access the account
information. For example, if the customer 202 wishes to have a
checking account from a secondary financial institution be
displayed on the customized application, the customer 202 may
provide the account name and account number in the account name
section 1118 and the account number section 1120, and thereafter
the financial institution interface module 734 or the customer
account module 722 may obtain the necessary account information
from the secondary financial institution.
[0115] After each of the accounts are added the customer 202 may
select the add button 1130 on the application set-up interface 1100
to add that account to the customized application. Once the
customer 202 has added all of the accounts he wishes to have
displayed on the customized application, the customer 202 may
select the continue button 1140.
[0116] FIG. 13 illustrates a merchant customer application set-up
interface 1300. Prior to adding account information the merchant
customer 202 may have to enter the merchant name 1304 and create a
password 1306 in the create user name/password section 1302 of the
merchant customer application set-up interface 1300. The merchant
customer 202 may have to enter a merchant name 1304, a password
1306, and re-enter the password 1308 for security purposes.
Utilizing the merchant name 1304 and password 1306 the financial
institution may provide the merchant customer 202 with account
information 1310. As previously discussed, the account information
1310 may be information regarding accounts that the merchant
customer 202 has with the primary financial institution or the
account information 1310 may enable the merchant customer 202 to
add accounts that the merchant customer 202 has with other
financial institutions. The account with financial institution
section 1312 in the merchant set-up interface 1300 displays the
accounts the merchant customer 202 has with the primary financial
institution. In the example illustrated in FIG. 13, the merchant
customer 202 has a checking account, a business account, a
brokerage account, an expense account, and a credit account with
the primary financial institution. The merchant customer 202 may
add any of the accounts listed to the customized application by
selecting the box located next to the account. For example, if the
merchant customer 202 wanted to have its business account #5555 be
displayed in the customized application, the merchant would select
the check box located next to business account #5555 in the
accounts with financial institution section 1312 of the merchant
application set-up interface 1300. The accounts with financial
institution section 1312 also allows the merchant customer 202 to
add accounts that the merchant customer 202 does not currently have
at the primary financial institution by selecting the "other
account - not listed" link.
[0117] In the accounts with other firms section 1314 the merchant
customer 202 may select the accounts that the merchant has with
secondary financial institutions. The accounts with other firms
section 1314 allows the merchant customer 202 to select checking
accounts, business accounts, brokerage accounts, expense accounts,
credit accounts, and custom selections from other financial
institutions. Once an account is selected the merchant customer 202
may be prompted to input the account name 1316 and the account
number 1318 of the account at the secondary financial institution.
For example, if the merchant customer 202 wishes to have an expense
account from a secondary financial institution be displayed on the
customized application, the merchant customer 202 may provide the
account name in the account name section 1316 and the account
number in account number section 1318. The financial institution
interface module 734 obtains the account information from the other
financial institution systems 710 or from the financial institution
account systems 708 and provides the information to the financial
institution data share platform.
[0118] After each account is added the merchant customer 202 may
select the add button 1330 in the merchant application set-up
interface 1300 to add the accounts to the customized application.
Once the merchant customer 202 has added all of the accounts he
wishes to have displayed on the customized application, the
merchant customer 202 may select the continue button 1340.
[0119] FIG. 10 illustrates a customized application builder process
1000 for creating a customizable application after receiving the
customer's request to access customer account data. In one
embodiment, the customized application creation process 1000 is
initiated by the customer 202 completing the customized application
set-up process 900 in the application set-up interfaces 1100, 1300
and accessing the application builder interface 1200, 1400. The
customized application builder process 1000 begins by accessing the
application builder interface 1200, 1400, as described in more
detail below.
[0120] As illustrated by decision block 1004 through 1008, the
application builder interface 1200, 1400 allows the customer 202 to
add account information 1004, other customer data 1006, or
customized information 1008 to the customized application. The
account information, as illustrated in block 1004, may comprise
accounts from the primary financial institution and any secondary
financial institutions that that the customer 202 selected in the
customized application set-up process 900. In some embodiments of
the invention, the application builder interface 1200, 1400 may
allow the customer 202 to add additional accounts that the customer
202 may have not added in the customized application set-up process
900. In other embodiments of the invention, the application builder
interface 1200, 900 can take the place of the application set-up
interface 1100, 1300 to allow the customer 202 to select the
accounts from the primary and secondary financial institutions that
the customer 202 wants to include in the customized
application.
[0121] The other customer data, as illustrated in decision block
1006, may include a request from the customer 202 to add other
customer's financial data from the financial institution into the
customized application. The other customer data may include various
different types of data from the financial institution data share
platform. For example, in one embodiment the customer 202 may
request to compare the customer's account information with other
customer data related to a representative group of people with
similar incomes, higher incomes, and/or lower incomes. In another
embodiment, the customer 202 may request to compare his account
information with other customer data from a representative group of
individuals of similar or different ages. In one embodiment, the
customer 202 may request to compare all of his accounts with the
other customer data or only a select number of accounts. In some
embodiments of the invention, the other customer data, as
illustrated in block 1006, may be based on a nationwide average of
customers, a regional average of customers, a state average of
customers, a county average of customers, a city average of
customers, and/or a localized average of customers, etc.
[0122] For example, the customer 202 may request to compare other
customer data of a representative group of individuals with
approximately the same income, approximately the same age group,
and who live in the same state. The customer 202 may wish to
compare all of his accounts to this type of other customer data in
order to determine where he is financially as compared to his
peers. In another example, the customer 202 may not wish to compare
all of his accounts to other customers; he may only wish to select
specific accounts to compare, such as a savings account and/or an
investment account.
[0123] The customized information, as illustrated in decision block
1008, may include data such as spending goals, savings goals,
payment plans, etc. The customized information provides the
customer 202 with the ability to customize the application, thus,
the customer 202 has the ability to determine how the information
that the customer 202 selected is illustrated on a display screen.
For example, the customer 202 may wish to save money in a savings
account for a specific amount of time. The customer 202 may input
the amount he wishes to save, the span of time in which he wants
the amount saved, and the account to which he is directing the
savings. For the desired time, the customer 202 may view his
progress towards the goal via the customized application because
all the information he inputted will be displayed on the interface
in a format that he selects.
[0124] As illustrated by block 1016, after the information is
identified for inclusion into the customized application, the
customer 202 may determine how the customized application should be
displayed. In one embodiment, the customer 202 may select a
pre-established template to create his or her customized
application, as illustrated in decision block 1018. In one
embodiment of the invention the templates are created by the
financial institution and can be used to compare specific types of
information. For example, one template may compare the customer's
savings accounts and investments accounts with similar aged
customers living in the same city, through the use of pie charts,
graphs, average return rates for different types of accounts, etc.
In other embodiments of the invention one template may be comprised
of cash flows in and out of the customer's accounts compared to
cash flows of average customers living in various areas of the
country with a similar cost of living. The templates may be any
type of template set up by the financial institution, other
customers, other types of businesses that are allowed access to the
customized application, etc. For example, in some embodiments other
businesses may want to push a particular investment vehicle,
retirement plan, savings plan, home mortgage, car payment, etc.
Therefore, in some embodiments of the invention, the business may
be allowed to set up templates that the customer 202 can use to see
where the customer's finances stand with respect to the particular
investment vehicle, retirement plan, savings plan, home mortgage,
car payment, etc.
[0125] If the user does not wish to utilize a template then, as
illustrated by decision block 1020, the customer 202 may customize
his own application. For example, as explained in further detail
later, the customer 202 may apply financial tools, such as pie
charts, cash flow analysis, investment trending charts, etc. to the
customized application. Alternatively, as illustrated by block
1022, if the customer 202 decides to use a template, the customer
202 may also customize the template for the customer's own use.
Once the format of the customized application is selected the
customer 202 can complete the customized application builder
process 1000, by creating the customized application, as
illustrated by block 1024.
[0126] Embodiments, of the application builder interfaces 1200,
1400 that may be used in the customized application builder process
1000 are illustrated in FIG. 12 and FIG. 14. FIG. 12 provides an
individual customer application builder interface 1200. The
application builder interface 1200 provides an accounts section
1202 that lists the customer accounts from the application set-up
interface 1100 in FIG. 11, which the customer 202 selected for the
customized application. As illustrated in the add customer account
section 1204, the customer 202 may add an account that the customer
202 forgot to add in the application set-up interface 1100. Again,
the customer accounts may include accounts, such as savings,
checking, credit cards, mortgages, loans, and other financial
accounts at the primary financial institution or secondary
financial institution. Once the customer 202 inputs the selected
customer account information in the add customer account section
1204, the account may appear under the accounts section 1202. For
example, FIG. 12 may include accounts from the set-up interface
1100, such as a savings account, a brokerage account, and a
checking account, as well as account information added from the add
customer account section 1204, such as a mortgage account and a
credit card account.
[0127] As illustrated in the customized information section 1206,
the customized information may include a transaction specific data
section 1208, cash transaction data section 1210, expenditures
section 1212, credits section 1214, and peer comparison section
1216. The transaction specific data section 1208 may include adding
goals or achievements to specific accounts in the customized
application. As explained above the goals or achievements may
include data such as spending goals, savings goals, payment plans,
etc. For example, the customer 202 may wish to save money in a
savings account for a specific amount of time. Therefore, the
customer 202 may input the amount he wishes to save, the time frame
in which he wishes to save it, and the account to which he is
directing the savings. For the selected time frame, the customer
202 may view his progress toward the goal via the customized
application because all of the information he inputted is displayed
in the customized application in a format that he selects.
[0128] Cash transaction section 1210, in some embodiments, allows
the customer 202 to input and monitor cash transactions in which
the customer 202 entered on the customized application.
Expenditures section 1212, in some embodiments allows customers 202
to monitor expenses made with the customer accounts, in order to
examine when and where the customer 202 spends money. Credits
section 1214, in some embodiments, allows the customer 202 to
monitor credits made to the customer accounts, in order to examine
when and where the customer's money is coming from. The peer
comparison section 1216 allows the customer 202 access to other
customer data, as previously described. Within the peer comparison
section 1216 the customer 202 may select the other customer data
with which the customer 202 wants to compare his accounts to.
[0129] If the customer 202 elects to provide customized information
in the add customized information section 1218 for the customized
application, he may input the transaction specific data, cash
transaction data, expenditures data, credits, and peer composition
into the add customized information section 1218. Once the add
customized information section 1218 is populated the customer 202
may select the add button 1230 to incorporate the customized
information into the customized application.
[0130] As illustrated in the format options section 1220 of FIG.
12, the customer 202 may choose the format options 1220 for the
customized application. In one embodiment, the customer 202 may
select a pre-determined template or create his or her own template
for the application via a tab section 1222. The tabs may include
templates designed specifically for applications directed to
budgeting, to goals, to account management, and to comparisons. The
budgeting template provides the customer 202 with a template
interface directed towards accounts and budgeting goals the
customer 202 inputs. The goals template provides the customer 202
with a template interface directed towards accounts and account
goals inputted by the customer 202. The compare template provides
the customer 202 with a template interface directed towards
customer account comparisons with other customers. In other
embodiments of the invention the compare template can be combined
with or work in conjunction with one or more of the other
templates.
[0131] In one embodiment, format options section 1220 allows the
customer 202 to create a custom interface. The custom format allows
the customer 202 to format the customized application in any manner
that he chooses. Utilizing the custom format the customer 202 may
be able to customize the data displayed on the application in any
order or positioning using a number of financial management tools,
graphs, etc.
[0132] Once the customer 202 has selected from the format options
section 1220 the customer 202 may select to add his format option
by selecting the add button 1240. Once the customer 202 is
satisfied with the information selected in the customized
information section 1206 and the format options section 1220 he may
select to submit his inputs by selecting the finished button
1250.
[0133] FIG. 14 provides a merchant customer application builder
interface 1400. The merchant application builder interface 1400
provides an accounts section 1402 that lists the accounts from the
application set-up interface 1300 that the customer 202 selected
for the customized application. In add customer accounts section
1404, the merchant customer 202 may add the additional customer
accounts that the customer 202 did not previously add in the
application set-up interface 1300. As previously explained, the
customer accounts may include accounts, such as credit cards,
mortgages, loans, and other financial information. Once the
accounts are added to the add customer account 1404 the accounts
may appear under the accounts section 1402. For example, FIG. 14
includes accounts from the application set-up interface 1300, such
as a checking account, a business account, and a brokerage account,
as well as additional accounts added using the add customer account
section 1404, such as a credit account and an expense account.
[0134] The merchant customer application builder interface 1400 has
a customized information section 1406, in which the merchant
customer 202 can add customized information. The customized
information section 1406, may include a transaction specific data
section 1408, market watch section 1410, lease and purchase
agreements section 1412, contracts section 1414, cash transactions
section 1416, expenditure analysis section 1418, profit analysis
section 1420, and competitor tracking section 1422. The transaction
specific data section 1408 may allow the customer 202 to add
information in the customized application regarding specific
transactions as reminders or goals for the merchant. For example, a
merchant customer 202 may pay a low price for supplies which
fluctuate in the market. The next time the merchant customer 202
purchases those same supplies the merchant customer 202 knows what
the merchant has paid over time for the supplies. The market watch
section 1410 may allow the merchant customer 202 to watch the
market of either competitors or business partners. The lease and
purchase agreements section 1412 may allow the merchant customer
202 to view the profits and/or expenses from the accounts 1402 for
all lease and purchase agreements made by the merchant customer 202
through a customized application. The contracts section 1414 may
allow the merchant customer 202 to view current contracts that the
merchant customer 202 has and the profits and/or expenses being
paid with respect to the contract on the customized application.
The cash transaction data section 1416 allows the merchant customer
to input and monitor cash transactions through the customized
application. The expenditure analysis section 1418 may allow the
merchant customer 202 to monitor all expenses made with the
accounts 1402 to examine when and where the merchant customer 202
spends money. Profit analysis 1420 allows the merchant customer 202
to monitor all credits made to the accounts 1402 to examine when
and where the merchant's funds are being utilized. The competitor
tracking section 1422 may allow the merchant customer 202 access to
other merchant customer 202 data to compare the merchant accounts
with other similarly positioned merchants. Within the competitor
tracking section 1422 the merchant customer may be provided a
comparison of one or more of its accounts or finances with the
accounts and finances of its peers. If the merchant customer 202
elects to provide customized information in the add customized
information section 1424, the merchant customer 202 may input more
specific details of the customized information to include in the
customized application. Once the customized information in the
customized information section 1406 is selected the merchant
customer 202 may select the add button 1430 to incorporate the
customized information into the customized application.
[0135] As illustrated in the format options section 1426 of FIG.
14, the merchant customer 202 may choose the format in which to
display the customized application. The merchant customer 202 may
select a pre-determined template or create its customized interface
for the customized application via a tab section 1428. The tabs
include templates designed specifically for applications directed
to budgeting, margins, and to track finances. The budgeting
template may provide the merchant with a template interface related
accounts and budgeting goals that the merchant customer 202
inputted in the customized information section 1406. The margins
template may provide the merchant customer 202 with a template
interface directed to displaying accounts and account goals that
the merchant customer 202 inputted in order to track the margins of
the merchant. The track template may provide the merchant customer
202 with a template for making comparisons of the merchant accounts
with other merchants. In other embodiments of the invention, the
track template may be located within other templates or work in
conjunction with other templates in order to track merchant data
with respect to other merchants.
[0136] In other embodiments of the invention, the merchant customer
202 may also utilized the format options section 1426 to create a
customized interface. The customized format features allow the
merchant customer 202 to format the customized application in any
manner that the merchant customer 202 desires to see its financial
institution displayed. Utilizing the custom format the merchant may
be able to customize the data displayed in the customized
application in any order or positioning desired.
[0137] Once the merchant customer 202 has selected from the format
options section 1426 the merchant customer 202 may select to add
his format option by selecting the add button 1440. Once the
merchant customer 202 is satisfied with the information selected in
the customized information section 1406 and the format options
section 1426 he may select to submit his inputs by selecting the
finished button 1450.
[0138] FIG. 15 illustrates a customized application 1500. Once the
customer 202 has selected the format for the customizable
application, the financial institution interface module 734 may
provide the customer 202 with the interface that he created through
a network 701 to a customer system 704. Individual customized
applications 1500 may be downloaded onto the customer system 704,
such that the customer system 204 may have one or more customized
applications 1500 to track and/or compare customer 202 information
with respect to like situated peers.
[0139] One embodiment of the customized application 1500 that can
be created by the customer 202, is illustrated in FIG. 15 and
displays a comparison of the some of the accounts of the customer
202 with the accounts of other customers based on similar ages and
incomes. The accounts section 1502 lists the accounts the customer
202 provided for the application 1500 at the set-up interface 1100
and the builder interface 1200. In the balance section 1504, the
current balance for each account in the accounts section 1502 is
displayed. For example, in this instance, checking account #1234,
as displayed in section 1502, has a current balance of 2000
dollars, as displayed in the balance section 1504. The customized
application 1500 created by the customer 202, in this embodiment,
displays a budget comparison of two of the accounts listed in the
accounts section 1502. In some embodiments of the invention, the
customer 202 may add additional accounts to the budgeting accounts
section 1506 by selecting an account from the accounts listed in
the accounts section 1502 and selecting the add button 1507. At the
application builder interface 1200, the customer 202 has also
chosen to perform a peer comparison of like aged and like income
individuals. The financial institution interface module 734
compiles the like age and like income data from other customers'
and provides the data to the customer system 704, via the
customized application 1500. For example, the customer 202 has
selected to view budget comparisons of the accounts of credit card
#1 and credit card #2 as illustrated in the budgeting accounts
section 1506. Therefore the financial institution interface module
734 provides the customer 202 with information about how like
situated peers, for age and income, utilize their credit cards, as
displayed in the age pie chart 1520 and income comparison pie chart
1522 in the budgeting comparison section 1508.
[0140] The budgeting comparison section 1508 may include a current
pie chart 1509 of the customer 202 spending based on the accounts
selected by the customer 202. The current pie chart 1509 shows the
most common purchases made with credit card #1 and credit card #2,
these purchases include retail store purchases 1518, fuel purchases
1516, grocery purchases 1514, entertainment purchases 1512, and
payment of bills 1510. The common purchases made by the customer
202 are reflected in credit card purchases made my peers of like
age and income. The provided break-downs of the customer's current
spending in a current pie chart 1509 and the spending of like age
individuals in an age pie chart 1520 and like income individuals in
an income pie chart 1522 provides the customer 202 with a
percentage break down of spending on various items. In this way,
the customer 202 may see spending habits and areas in which he
could be saving.
[0141] The customized application 1500, in this instance further
provides a section for goals 1524. After the customer 202 has
viewed his current spending in the current pie chart 1509 and the
spending for like aged peers in an age pie chart 1520 and like
income peers in an income pie chart 1522 the customer 202 may wish
to limit his spending in specific areas. For example, after viewing
the budget comparison section 1508, the customer may wish to limit
his spending on groceries 1514. The goals section 1524 allows the
customer 202 to input his goals as they relate to the budgeting
comparison 1508. Once the customer 202 has inputted his goals he
can add the goals to the customized application 1500 by selecting
the add button 1526. Selecting goals in the goal section 1524
allows the financial institution interface module 734 to further
track the budgeting comparison 1508 with respect to the customer's
spending goals.
[0142] As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art,
the present invention may be embodied as an apparatus (including,
for example, a system, a machine, a device, a computer program
product, and/or the like), as a method (including, for example, a
business process, a computer-implemented process, and/or the like),
or as any combination of the foregoing. Accordingly, embodiments of
the present invention may take the form of an entirely software
embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code,
etc.), an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining
software and hardware aspects that may generally be referred to
herein as a "system." Furthermore, embodiments of the present
invention may take the form of a computer program product that
includes a computer-readable storage medium having
computer-executable program code portions stored therein. As used
herein, a processor may be "configured to" perform a certain
function in a verity of ways, including, for example, by having one
or more general-purpose circuits perform the functions by executing
one or more computer-executable program code portions embodied in a
computer-readable medium, and/or having one or more
application-specific circuits perform the function.
[0143] It will be understood that any suitable computer-readable
medium may be utilized. The computer-readable medium may include,
but is not limited to, a non-transitory computer-readable medium,
such as a tangible electronic, magnetic, optical, infrared,
electromagnetic, and/or semiconductor system, apparatus, and/or
device. For example, in some embodiments, the non-transitory
computer-readable medium includes a tangible medium such as a
portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory
(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only
memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a compact disc read-only memory
(CD-ROM), and/or some other tangible optical and/or magnetic
storage device. In other embodiments of the present invention,
however, the computer-readable medium may be transitory, such as a
propagation signal including computer-executable program code
portions embodied therein.
[0144] It will also be understood that one or more
computer-executable program code portions for carrying out
operations of the present invention may include object-oriented,
descripted, and/or unscripted programming languages, such as, for
example, Java, Perl, Smalltalk, C++, SAS, SQL, Python, Objective C,
and/or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more
computer-executable program code portions for carrying out
operations of embodiments of the present invention are written in
conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C"
programming languages and/or similar programming languages. The
computer program code may alternatively or additionally be written
in one or more multi-paradigm programming languages, such as, for
example, F#.
[0145] It will further be understood that some embodiments of the
present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart
illustrations and/or block diagrams of systems, methods, and/or
computer program products. It will be understood that each block
included in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and
combinations of blocks included in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by one or more
computer-executable program code portions. These one or more
computer-executable program code portions may be provided to a
processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,
and/or some other programmable data processing apparatus in order
to produce a particular machine, such that the one or more
computer-executable program code portions, which execute via the
processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create mechanisms for implementing the steps and/or
functions represented by the flowchart(s) and/or block diagram
block(s).
[0146] It will also be understood that the one or more
computer-executable program code portions may be stored in a
transitory or non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a
memory, etc.) that can direct a computer and/or other programmable
data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such
that the computer-executable program code portions stored in the
computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture
including instruction mechanisms which implement the steps and/or
functions specified in the flowchart(s) and/or block diagram
block(s).
[0147] The one or more computer-executable program code portions
may also be loaded onto a computer and/or other programmable data
processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be
performed on the computer and/or other programmable apparatus. In
some embodiments, this produces a computer-implemented process such
that the one or more computer-executable program code portions
which execute on the computer and/or other programmable apparatus
provide operational steps to implement the steps specified in the
flowchart(s) and/or the functions specified in the block diagram
block(s). Alternatively, computer-implemented steps may be combined
with operator and/or human-implemented steps in order to carry out
an embodiment of the present invention.
[0148] While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and
shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that
such embodiments are merely illustrative of, and not restrictive
on, the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to
the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described,
since various other changes, combinations, omissions, modifications
and substitutions, in addition to those set forth in the above
paragraphs, are possible. Those skilled in the art will appreciate
that various adaptations and modifications of the just described
embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and
spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that,
within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be
practiced other than as specifically described herein.
* * * * *