Abstract: A system integration tool integrates an external service to run in conjunction with or as part of a remote business accounting system. The system integration tool includes a front-end component and a back-end component. The front-end component remotely accesses accounts receivable data from the accounting system. The back-end component merge each financial transaction within the accounts receivable data with a credit score of an entity associated with the financial transaction at a date associated with the financial transaction. The back-end component generates an external service that secures the accounting system against insecure financial transactions and embeds the external service to run as part of the accounting system. The external services alert the business as to insecure financial transactions that lead to bad debt or disqualify such transactions from entry into the accounting systems.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide computer or machine generated interfaces for maximizing an entity's credit score by rebalancing values for different credit variables constituting the credit score across different lines of credit obtained by the entity. The rebalancing is performed over primary credit variables including payment history, debt, length of credit history, new credit, and type of credit in use as well as secondary credit variables that form the primary credit variables. Some embodiments provide interfaces with adjustment tools including sliders for modifying different credit variable values and for presenting the actual real-world impact to the entity credit score resulting from the adjusted credit variable. Some embodiments further execute the rebalancing identified in the interfaces to realize the improvements to the entity's credit score.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide an independent authentication system for authenticating entities that have registered accounts across different online service providers on behalf of the service providers. The authentication system maintains a database of previously verified entity information. A service provider requests authentication by providing the authentication system with unverified and basic identifying information used by an entity when registering with the service provider. The authentication system attempts to match the registration information against previously verified information for a known entity. When a match is found, the authentication system generates a series of challenge questions. The questions are submitted to the entity through the service provider and answers are processed in order to authenticate the entity.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a system that generates different customized decks of cards with each deck being customized for a different user with a condensed and filtered set of business data that is relevant to that user. The customizations are based in part on monitored user behavior and user interactions with the cards. Cards identifying businesses that the user has viewed for the most amount of time, recommended to others, approved, or positively reviewed or rated are assigned high values. Cards identifying businesses that the user has viewed for the least amount of time, rejected, or negatively reviewed or rated are assigned low values. The system then continually updates the deck to remove cards identifying business with the lowest values while adding cards identifying businesses that resemble other businesses with assigned high values.

Abstract: A system integration tool integrates an external service to run in conjunction with or as part of a remote business accounting system. The system integration tool includes a front-end component and a back-end component. The front-end component remotely accesses accounts receivable data from the accounting system. The back-end component merge each financial transaction within the accounts receivable data with a credit score of an entity associated with the financial transaction at a date associated with the financial transaction. The back-end component generates an external service that secures the accounting system against insecure financial transactions and embeds the external service to run as part of the accounting system. The external services alert the business as to insecure financial transactions that lead to bad debt or disqualify such transactions from entry into the accounting systems.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide computer or machine generated interfaces for maximizing an entity's credit score by rebalancing values for different credit variables constituting the credit score across different lines of credit obtained by the entity. The rebalancing is performed over primary credit variables including payment history, debt, length of credit history, new credit, and type of credit in use as well as secondary credit variables that form the primary credit variables. Some embodiments provide interfaces with adjustment tools including sliders for modifying different credit variable values and for presenting the actual real-world impact to the entity credit score resulting from the adjusted credit variable. Some embodiments further execute the rebalancing identified in the interfaces to realize the improvements to the entity's credit score.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a communication tool that directly sends messages to accounts of different entities across different social media sites by automatically identifying and associating the accounts of the entities when the entities are referenced in the contents of the messages. Such identification and association is performed without the message originator manually specifying the accounts as intended recipients for the messages. The communication tool also automatically sends messages to different social media accounts of the message originator.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide holistic and comprehensive identity protection solutions. The solutions protect user identity by screening the information trail that a user leaves behind online in order to suppress or neutralize information crumbs that can subsequently be used to harm the user. The solutions audit user privacy settings, established online friends and contacts, and friend and contact activity online to limit the exposure and disclosure of user information online. The solutions perform white-hat penetration tests. The solutions report on user risk based on available online information. The solutions validate completed transactions based on monitored user movements and site visits. The solutions provide a crowd-sourced approach to identify risk based on common transactions and visits of others. The solutions prevent identity theft by verifying that disbursements are made to the correct entity.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide holistic and comprehensive identity protection solutions. The solutions protect user identity by screening the information trail that a user leaves behind online in order to suppress or neutralize information crumbs that can subsequently be used to harm the user. The solutions audit user privacy settings, established online friends and contacts, and friend and contact activity online to limit the exposure and disclosure of user information online. The solutions perform white-hat penetration tests. The solutions report on user risk based on available online information. The solutions validate completed transactions based on monitored user movements and site visits. The solutions provide a crowd-sourced approach to identify risk based on common transactions and visits of others. The solutions prevent identity theft by verifying that disbursements are made to the correct entity.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide holistic and comprehensive identity protection solutions. The solutions protect user identity by screening the information trail that a user leaves behind online in order to suppress or neutralize information crumbs that can subsequently be used to harm the user. The solutions audit user privacy settings, established online friends and contacts, and friend and contact activity online to limit the exposure and disclosure of user information online. The solutions perform white-hat penetration tests. The solutions report on user risk based on available online information. The solutions validate completed transactions based on monitored user movements and site visits. The solutions provide a crowd-sourced approach to identify risk based on common transactions and visits of others. The solutions prevent identity theft by verifying that disbursements are made to the correct entity.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a system that generates different customized decks of cards with each deck being customized for a different user with a condensed and filtered set of business data that is relevant to that user. The customizations are based in part on monitored user behavior and user interactions with the cards. Cards identifying businesses that the user has viewed for the most amount of time, recommended to others, approved, or positively reviewed or rated are assigned high values. Cards identifying businesses that the user has viewed for the least amount of time, rejected, or negatively reviewed or rated are assigned low values. The system then continually updates the deck to remove cards identifying business with the lowest values while adding cards identifying businesses that resemble other businesses with assigned high values.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a credibility system that computes credibility scores to quantify the credibility of different businesses and to coalesce the generated credibility scores into various indices. The indices comparatively present the credibility of a particular business relative to other businesses along one or more dimensions. Based on the indices, the system identifies trends in the credibility of a particular business. The system derives preliminary credibility for a new business for which credibility data has not yet been obtained based on credibility that has been previously established for other businesses in an index associated with the new business. The system provides automated services for monitoring credibility of a business and for generating alerts to notify the business that its credibility has reached various thresholds. The system identifies business practices that improve upon or adversely affect the credibility of a particular business.

Abstract: Some embodiments rank entities within a lead list to identify the quality of each lead. Each entity is ranked based on stability component and a transactional component. The stability component accounts for the size and years of operation of the lead. The transactional component accounts for the recency of purchases, total amount of purchases, and changes in spending behavior of the lead. The stability component and transactional component are then quantified into a lead rank score and presented in conjunction with the lead in the lead list.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a credibility platform for a multi-dimensional, holistic, and real-time derivation and presentation of entity credibility. The holistic derivation of credibility is predicated on attributing context to subjective data using objective data. The credibility platform produces entity-specific context by identifying temporal or relational associations between different instances of target entity data. The credibility platform also produces comparative context for comparing the credibility of a target entity to a group of related entities. The credibility platform encourages entity engagement in order to provide a cause and effect presentation of credibility and to ensure real-time relevance of the derived credibility. To encourage participation, the platform prioritizes the presentation of credibility on the basis of entity engagement and provides fixed links to the credibility interfaces of the entities.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a credibility system that computes credibility scores to quantify the credibility of different businesses and to coalesce the generated credibility scores into various indices. The indices comparatively present the credibility of a particular business relative to other businesses along one or more dimensions. Based on the indices, the system identifies trends in the credibility of a particular business. The system derives preliminary credibility for a new business for which credibility data has not yet been obtained based on credibility that has been previously established for other businesses in an index associated with the new business. The system provides automated services for monitoring credibility of a business and for generating alerts to notify the business that its credibility has reached various thresholds. The system identifies business practices that improve upon or adversely affect the credibility of a particular business.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a credibility system including an interface portal for presenting a holistic view of entity credibility. To provide the holistic view, the credibility system aggregates credibility data from multiple data sources. The aggregated credibility data is processed and ordered to present different dimensions of entity credibility, with each dimension graphically presented in the interface portal through an interactive credibility module. In some embodiments, the credibility data associated with each credibility module is processed to produce at least one value that quantifiably represents the credibility data. In some embodiments, the credibility data associated with each credibility module is hierarchically ordered to present the credibility data in a drill-down fashion with each hierarchical layer presenting more detailed credibility data for better understanding the credibility data presented in the preceding layer.

Abstract: A system is provided to restrict the ability of a spammer to freely contact an entity over a communication channel. To do so, the system reconfigures a communication channel used to contact the target entity such that the system can intercept a communication from a source contacting entity en route to the target entity. The system extracts an identifier (e.g., contacting entity's telephone number) from the communication and uses the identifier to query a database storing information about the contacting entity. The information reveals the contacting entity's industry, occupation, credibility, etc. From this information, the system automatically identifies the contacting entity as a spammer, potential spammer, or non-spammer. The system performs a default screening of the communication based on the classification. Alternatively, the target contacted entity can specify a configuration for different actions the system takes to screen the communication based on the source contacting entity classification.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide an independent authentication system for authenticating entities that have registered accounts across different online service providers on behalf of the service providers. The authentication system maintains a database of previously verified entity information. A service provider requests authentication by providing the authentication system with unverified and basic identifying information used by an entity when registering with the service provider. The authentication system attempts to match the registration information against previously verified information for a known entity. When a match is found, the authentication system generates a series of challenge questions. The questions are submitted to the entity through the service provider and answers are processed in order to authenticate the entity.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a system that removes the delineation between credit and credibility and between the personal and business aspects of each. The system constructs an individual-business tuple for an entity. The tuple stores credit and credibility information for the entity and other entities that are associated with the entity. When the entity is a business, the tuple stores credit and credibility information for individuals that can affect creditworthiness of the business. When the entity is an individual, the tuple stores credit and credibility information for businesses that can affect the creditworthiness of the individual. The entity's credit can then be evaluated by shopping the information to loan originators, using the associated information to fill gaps in credit information of the entity, producing a holistic report, and deriving a hybrid credit score based on some combination of the credit and credibility information from the tuple.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide an accurate and real-time account of an entity's verification status and credibility from transaction data. Some embodiments verify the entity's operational status by aggregating transaction data involving the entity and by determining if the transaction data satisfies some threshold number of transactions within a given time frame. If the threshold is satisfied, the entity is verified to be active and operational and have a “pulse”. The pulse can be used to scrub directories or marketing lists. Some embodiments derive the entity's credibility by monitoring for increases or decreases in the transaction data, wherein increases or decreases can be identified from changes in the transaction volume, changes in average transaction price, and/or changes in price of a good or service from one monitored interval to another. Some embodiments derive entity credibility by comparing those changes to changes in one or more competitors' transaction data.