Abstract: A method and a system for operating a revolving credit program utilizing a table of tiered interest rates in which one of the interest rates is applied as a finance charge to a remaining outstanding balance (20) of an account depending upon the percentage that payments made during a billing cycle (12) comprise of an account parameter, such as the outstanding balance, a highest balance or a beginning balance. In the preferred embodiment the applied interest rate (34) is determined by the percentage the outstanding balance (32) is reduced by payments on the balance during a billing cycle. Also in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tiered interest rate table is structured to apply progressively reduced interest rates to outstanding balances reduced by progressively greater payment percentages from the previous billing cycle, thereby encouraging a credit customer to make larger payments and pay down the outstanding balance faster.

Abstract: An intelligent agent and its client communicate using a selector known by both parties to generate and interpret messages and thereby effectively disguise confidential information transmitted in the messages from third parties. Moreover, a neural network is used to implement the decision logic and/or the message disguising functions of an agent such that the logic employed in such functions is not readily reverse compiled or scanned by third parties.