Methods And Computer Network For Co-Ordinating A Loan Over The Internet
The invention relates to a method and a computer for coordinating an electronic credit application between an Internet user and a plurality of lending institutions via the Internet. This method involves displaying documents in a web site, and receiving credit data forming placed on the web site. After receiving this data a special loan processing computer applies a filter to the data. The filter comprises loan selection criteria provided by lending institutions which allows these institutions to filter out loan applications that they do not want. Next, after the data is filtered, it is transmitted to a plurality of lending institutions. Finally, the computer and the method then controls and coordinates communication between these lending institutions and the Internet user to match borrowers and lenders via the Internet.
This application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/236,705, filed Sep. 24, 2008, which in turn claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 11/725,567, filed Mar. 19 2007, which in turn claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 10/985,336, filed Nov. 10, 2004, which in turn claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 10/409,647, filed Apr. 8, 2003, which in turn claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 10/080,891, filed Feb. 22, 2002, which in turn claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 09/075,136, filed May 8, 1998 and all of which are herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. The Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for coordinating loans on a loan processing computer over the Internet. The Internet, a vast collection of computers world wide, is a relatively new medium for both personal and commercial entities to transact business. To conduct business over the Internet, ‘companies must find ways to communicate with potential customers. The two most common forms of communication across the Internet are web pages, and e-mail.
2. The Prior Art
Various methods are known for presenting web pages over the Internet. For example, information about the Internet and web browsers can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,451 to Rogers et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Rogers et al., details how requests of a web browser are processed. The Rogers invention speeds up the process for receiving requests from web browser users and retrieving the required information. U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,407 to Yanagawa et al., details a customer data processing system which is used to assist credit card purchases made in stores. The Yanagawa invention simplifies the way in which credit card purchases are verified at the time of checkout. U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,442 to Musmanno details a securities brokerage-cash management system. The Musmanno invention maintains customer brokerage accounts, charge cards and checking accounts and calculates available credit for purchases of securities.
Until now, there has been no way to apply for credit from a multitude of lending institutions without physically going to or calling each lender and filling out an application. This process was tedious and time consuming. All applications required substantially the same information: name, address, occupation, debt, amount of loan, etc.. This invention combines the vast resources and speed of the Internet with additional knowledge of various lending institution's selection criteria to create a simple mechanism whereby an Internet user can apply for credit from a multitude of lending institutions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTo overcome these limitations, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fast, convenient process to apply for credit from a large number of lending institutions. In accordance with our invention, needless repetitive applications are eliminated.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a universal credit application over the Internet and to allow the Internet user to submit a single credit application to a plurality of lending institutions who then make offers to the customer via the Internet.
To achieve these and other objects of the invention, there is provided a method and apparatus for coordinating an electronic credit application between an Internet user and a plurality of lending institutions via the Internet. The method comprises the steps of displaying a plurality of documents to an Internet user, receiving a plurality of credit data sent from the Internet user; matching an electronic credit application to a filter comprising a plurality of selection criteria; transmitting the credit data to a plurality of lending institutions via one of four methods; and responding to the Internet user via the Internet. The documents sent to the Internet user includes a series of questions pertaining to their desired loan, followed by the appropriate type of loan application. The various types of loan applications include first and second mortgages, car loans, student loans, personal loans, and credit card applications. Other types of credit applications may exist without departing from the spirit of the invention. Upon completion of the application, the invention matches a unique filter to the credit data entered by the Internet user.
The filter is made up of a plurality of selection criteria in which a specific lending institution has given to the inventor. The filter is customizable by the specific lending institution in real time and unique to each lending institution. Once the application has been filtered, it is sent to a list of lending institutions that match with the credit application. These lending institutions then reply as to whether the application has been accepted or rejected.
The information can be sent in many different ways. For example, the information can be sent in an Active File Transfer system (AFTS), via e-mail, through a secured webpage or through a Common Gateway Interface (CGI). In addition, since much of the information relayed between the network of computers is private information, it is encrypted before it is sent from one computer to another.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which disclose several embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the drawings are designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.
In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:
Essentially, the invention is a process and a computer for coordinating loans between lending institutions and borrowers via the Internet.
For this process to occur, there must be a series of computers connected to each other via telecommunication lines as shown in
Loan processing computer 100 must have sufficient memory and processor power, to project program 10 over the Internet. Therefore, the recommended minimum requirements for processor 12 on computer 100 is an Intel Pentium 200 Mhz processor. The remaining standard components are 64 megabytes of ram, 2 gigabytes of disk space, an Internet connection, additional Ethernet connection, and Windows NT workstation operating system. Computer 100 is installed with one Ethernet interface directly on the Internet, and the other Ethernet interface connected to a firewall storage device 110, to allow disposition of files on a designated server inside the corporate network. In addition computer 100 could be a Unix style server that interfaces with other Unix and non-Unix based computers on the Internet.
When program 10 runs on computer 100 it instructs computer 100 to interact with other computers through the Internet to co-ordinate a loan application. For example, as shown in
In
If there are more criteria to match to application 115, then in step 47, program 10 checks to see whether that remaining criteria matches with application 115. If the criteria matches with application 115 then in step 58, program 10 advances to the next available criteria in tables 175. As shown in
If there is another lending institution found, then the filter process advances to another lending institution in step 49. Step 49 creates a loop back to step 38 wherein the filter process reads all of the criteria for the new lending institution. This loop continues until in step 40, the filter finds there are no criteria available to match to completed application 115.
If there are no more criteria to match to application 115, then in step 50, the filter determines whether there has been an acceptable match between a borrower and a lender. If there is an acceptable match, then in step 55 the filter selects that lender as a suitable lender for application 115.
In step 56 program 10 checks to see if there is another lending institution available, if yes, then program 10 advances to the next lending institution in step 49. If there are no more lending institutions available, then program 10 advances to step 57 wherein the filter process ends. Finally in step 59a computer 100 selects a limited number of matched lending institutions in which to send application 115. For example, if the filter process matches application 115 with 20 lending institutions, computer 100 may send application 115 to only a fraction of those matched lending institutions. This selection process in step 58 is based upon either random selection or a predetermined set of criteria stored in computer 100.
Next, as shown in
In stage 8, as shown in
In addition, the data from credit application 115 can also be sent via e-mail with Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption as shown in
The third transfer process that of the secured dynamic website serves as a place for lenders to log in to a website to change their lending criteria filters and to view loan applications. In this process, information is stored on computer 100 in a website that can be accessed by a lender. To access this site, a lender is given a login access account to log into the website that is encrypted by SSL technology. Once the lender logs into the website he can download information relating to a borrower's request for information.
In the fourth transfer method, the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) format is shown in
In stage 9, as shown in
At this point the lending institution program takes over so that in step 93, institution computer 230 processes the acceptance message. In step 94, institution computer 230 attaches a receipt file to the acceptance message. In step 95, institution computer 230 generates a notification of receipt message, and in step 96, it converts the notification from its standard database format into HTML format. Finally, in step 97 ICH computer 600 sends a notification of the receipt message to computer 100 and in step 98 the Active File Transfer System ends.
In the tenth and final stage, as shown in
While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method for coordinating an electronic credit application between an Internet user and a plurality of lending institutions via the Internet, comprising the steps of:
- a) displaying a plurality of documents in a web site;
- b) receiving a plurality of credit data sent from the Internet user;
- c) applying said credit data to a filter comprising a plurality of selection criteria, wherein the plurality of selection criteria are employed to automatically select the plurality of lending institutions;
- d) transmitting said credit data to said plurality of lending institutions; and
- e) coordinating communication between said plurality of lending institutions and the Internet user so that said Internet user can obtain credit or loans from said lending institutions.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises the steps of:
- displaying a document welcoming the Internet user;
- displaying a document explaining the application process;
- displaying a document explaining the services provided; and
- displaying said electronic credit application.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (b) further includes the steps of:
- verifying data input in a credit application on a web site; and
- storing said plurality of credit data in a database table in a storage device.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (c) further includes the steps of:
- obtaining a Fair Isaac Credit Score based upon said plurality of credit data submitted; and
- attaching the Fair Isaac Credit Score to said database table.
5. The method as claimed in claim 4, further including the steps of:
- reading said database table from said storage device;
- reading said filter wherein, said filter is comprised of a plurality of lending institution criteria comparing said filter to said database table; and
- identifying a match between said filter and said database table wherein said match yields a successful electronic credit application.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (c) further includes the step of:
- checking said filter for data errors.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (c) further includes the steps of:
- advancing to the first of said selection criteria of said filter;
- comparing said selection criteria to the corresponding credit data on said electronic credit application;
- proceeding to the next level of said selection criteria if the comparison is successful; and
- proceeding to the next level of said filter if the comparison is unsuccessful.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein step (d) further includes the steps of:
- determining an appropriate transfer method to transmit said successful electronic credit application to said lending institutions; and
- sending said successful electronic credit application to said lending institutions via said appropriate transfer method.
9. The method as claimed in claim 8, further including:
- sending said successful electronic credit application to said lending institutions via a Common Gateway Interface (CGI).
10. The method as claimed in claim 8, further including: transmitting said successful electronic credit application to said lending institutions via a secured website.
11. The method as claimed in claim 8, further including:
- sending said successful credit application to said lending institutions via a secured E-Mail.
12. The method as claimed in claim 8, further including the step of:
- receiving a first notification of a successful transmission of said successful electronic credit application from said plurality of lending institutions.
13. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including the steps of:
- receiving a second notification from said lending institutions regarding a lender's decision;
- creating a dynamic personal web site for said Internet user; and
- storing said lender's decision on said dynamic personal web site.
14. The method as claimed in claim 13, further including the steps of:
- sending a loan id number to said Internet user; and
- receiving an Internet user's decision from said dynamic personal web site comprising an acceptance, denial or request for more information regarding said lender's decision from said plurality of lending institutions.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14, further including the steps of:
- sending said Internet user's decision to a corresponding lender of said plurality of lending institutions; and
- collecting said Internet user's decision and storing said decision in a storage device.
16. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including the steps of:
- receiving a third notification of a closure of said successful electronic credit application from a final lending institution.
17. The method as claimed in claim 1, further including the steps of:
- generating a plurality of reports for said plurality of lending institutions; and
- displaying said plurality of reports to said plurality of lending institutions.
18. A network system designed to coordinate loan applications between lenders and borrowers comprising:
- a means for inputting loan application data from a prospective borrower into the network;
- a means for inputting lender criteria data into the network;
- a computing means for comparing said borrower application data to said lender criteria data, wherein the lender criteria data are employed to automatically select the plurality of lending institutions;
- a communicating means connecting said means for inputting borrower application data and said means for inputting lender criteria data to said computing means said communicating means for allowing said connected components to communicate with each other, wherein said computing means matches said borrower application data and said lender criteria data so as to achieve a match between a borrower and a lender.
19. The system as claimed in claim 18, further comprising a means for storing data connected to said computing means said storage means for storing said borrower application data and said lender criteria data.
20. The system as claimed in claim 18, wherein said communicating means is a connection via the Internet.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 10, 2014
Publication Date: May 14, 2015
Inventors: Douglas Lebda (Charlotte, NC), Richard Stiegler (Matthews, NC), James F. Bennett, JR. (Wellesley, MA)
Application Number: 14/537,581
International Classification: G06Q 40/02 (20120101);