CA2320572A1 - System and method for automated management of transaction information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for automated accumulation, tracking, and presentation of individual's pecuniary and/or otherwise valuable assets and liabilities. The present invention also preferably provides a secure paradigm by which an individual may conduct transactions. Accordingly, the individual is provided with robust and easy to understand and up-to-date information regarding his/her current situation from which transaction decisions may intelligently be made. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to communicate with vendor host systems, such as through the Internet or other network means, to keep the individual abreast of his/her ever changing situation.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED MANAGEMENT OF TRANSACTION INFORMATION

The present invention relates generally to the management of transaction information and in particular to automated accumulation, tracking, and presentation of individual's pecuniary andlor otherwise valuable assets and liabilities.

2 BACKGROUND
With the advent of personal computers the way in which persons, businesses, and other entities (referred to herein as individuals) conduct their affairs has changed. For example, an individual has been empowered to conduct many transactions electronically.
Many financial institution now offer the capability for an individual to check account balances, transfer funds (both between accounts with that financial institution and to accounts external to that financial institution), and even issue negotiable instruments, i.e., checks, electronically.
With the proliferation of the Internet, providing a substantially ubiquitous electronic interface, electronic commerce has become commonplace. F'or example, individuals may acquire information, services, and goods (all of which are referred to herein also as items), both hard, i.e., physical products, and soft, i.e., items of value embodied at least transiently in electronic form, from anywhere in the world using their personal computer and a network data connection.
The ability to conduct transactions on such a scale has resulted in the world becoming much smaller with respect to commerce. The availability of the world's commerce resources to individuals has provided opportunities and possibilities never before attainable to the average individual. However, commerce on a global scale has also presented the average individual with transactional information, both historical and potential, which is beyond the individual's capability to assimilate and comprehend without the aid of automated processing. Unfortunately, current technology has not evolved to the point where this information, varied in content, source, nature, and format, can be easily and directly accumulated, tracked, andlor presented by automated means.
Accordingly, individuals are saddled with increased time requirements, and very likely increased stress, in attempting to intelligently evaluate alternatives and opportunities in order to wisely conduct transactions. Alternatively, individuals must conduct transactions without having fixlly considered all information relevant to the conducting of the transaction.
As such, many individuals are reluctant to utilize any or all the transactional capabilities of a robust network such as the Internet. Those who do utilize the Internet often find themselves

3 "surfing," i.e., interacting with, the various information systems of the network for hours in order to visit various host sites or nodes and accumulate data relevant to the transaction at hand, i.e., compare the goods offered by various electronic commerce vendors (it should be appreciated that the term vendor or vendors as used herein is intended to include providers of S information as well as providers of services and/or goods, whether in exchange for money, or money equivalents, or for any other motivation).
Conducting transactions via a network such as the Internet, where an individual has ready access to such a large number of vendors and such a large amount of information, is generally very time consuming because there is no clearly defined way of conducting transactions. For example, just locating the appropriate information in the vast sea of available information can be unpredictable and fiwstrating for the casual or novice user.
There are quite a few network search engines at a user's disposal, each of which has their own limitations, such as the way in which they parse and/or search the available information, and presenting unique and inconsistent interfaces to the user. Additionally, the way in which each vendor presents information desirable to an individual in a particular transaction and the way in which the vendor interacts with an individual in conducting a transaction varies significantly from vendor to vendor. Accordingly, it is often a very fi-ustrating experience to conduct electronic transactions, especially to those individuals who are not predisposed to the use of technology. This may result in the underutilization of such a powerful resource.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for systems and methods which provide a simple and consistent interface, or portion thereof, to the user regardless of the source and/or type of information presented or transaction conducted.
Many individuals are very concerned about the security of their private or sensitive information when conducting electronic transactions. Some individuals are simply not comfortable utilizing such imperceptible communications for exchanging transaction related information, such as credit card information, social security number, and even historical or demographic information. This discomfort may arise from the apprehension that the information may be intercepted by a rogue while in transit over the network.
Additionally or alternatively this discomfort may be associated with exchanging sensitive information with a

4 faceless and relatively unknown vendor entity which may commit some sort of fraud on the individual or which may sell or otherwise distribute some or all of the individual's information. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a means of conducting transactions that instills in the user confidence in the privacy and security of information used thereby.
Because the widespread and instantaneous, or substantially instantaneous, availability of information, services, and/or goods through electronic means, such as the Internet, provides the potential for very efficient transactions, both in pecuniary costs and more intangible costs such as time, the use of technology is not only likely to be common, but most likely prevalent. However, for any form of commerce to survive and flourish, it must win the confidence of its users. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for systems and methods for conducting transactions which instil an acceptable level of confidence in the users.
In the past commerce has been mostly conducted at the advantage of the vendors.
This has been because these vendors have been in a relative position of control of the transaction. For example, the consumer was in a position of having to invest significant resources, such as physically or electronically visiting the various vendors, to accumulate information usefizl in conducting the desired transaction. However, the vendor's relative position of control appears to be eroding in the new ways of commerce. As the consuming individual becomes more at ease with the use of technology useful in conducting desired transactions, the individuals are more able to drive and, therefore, control these transactions.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for systems and methods which may be adopted by vendors in order to distinguish themselves from others such as by presenting user-fi-iendly and/or private or secure environment for the consuming individuals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other objects, features and technical advantages are achieved by a system and method which proactively maintains an individuals numerous transactional affairs.
Preferably, the present invention utilizes a system adapted to communicate with various information sources, such as vendor host systems, in order to maintain up-to-date information regarding the transactions of a particular individual. In a preferred embodiment, this information, regardless of its source or even the type of information, is presented to the user in a consistent manner through a uniform interface.
The present invention provides a more focused approach to acquiring, assimilating, and presenting data, preferably through the use of algorithms adapted to identify and query pertinent information, in order to reduce an individual's time expenditure in making transaction related determinations. Accordingly, the present invention substantially eliminates mundane operative tasks, such a operating a computer to interact with host site after host site, formerly required of a user in order to intelligently conduct a transaction.
Accordingly, the present invention operates to create an information and transaction environment which works for the individual rather than the individual being required to labor to acquire desired information etcetera. As such, the preferred embodiment of the present invention proactively gives the user the desired and/or relevant information and manipulates and/or presents this information in a way to efficiently guide the individual in his/her decision making.
With the relatively recent advent of electronic commerce trading, most of the vendors of these services and goods are still learning and formulating their concepts and strategies for marketing, enticing the consumer, and distinguishing themselves from other vendors.
Presently these vendors are tailoring their approaches from vendor's perspective as has been the case in traditional "bricks and mortar" type paradigms.
However, even with the more tedious interaction required by users of electronic commerce today, there is pressure for vendors to adopt a business paradigm to separate this particular vendor from the plethora of other vendors equally accessible to the individual conducting a particular transaction. When operation of the present invention is employed, thus empowering users to readily, and even passively, accumulate and assimilate the information necessary to intelligently and confidently conduct transactions, it is expected that vendors will be further pressured to adopt such business paradigms.
Accordingly, it is envisioned that such vendors will be eager to adapt their user interfaces to comply with the concepts and operation of the present invention, thus causing the implementation of the present invention to invoke a synergy of use and compatibility.
In addition to the use of the present invention to empower users to make more informed decisions, in order to facilitate the adoption of operation of the present invention by vendors, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to include features desirable to vendors. Accordingly, the most preferred embodiment of the present invention is specifically adapted to provide functionality and features symbiotically desirable to both users and vendors. Specifically, the present invention is preferably adapted to provide users with a comfort level that he/she has something working in their interest and providing reliable and secure information exchange. Similarly, the present invention is preferably adapted to provide vendors with reliable and secure transactions with a low cost of operation and in a form attractive to their customers.
In achieving the above features and functionality, a preferred embodiment of the present invention provides network communication software, such as software specifically designed to operate over Internet data links and/or with Internet host processors. Portions of this network software, such as particular client modules, are preferably integrable with widely available user interfaces, such as "Internet browsers." Accordingly, operation of the present invention, or portions thereof, may be employed or invoked behind the scenes, i.e., in a background task of a multi-tasking user environment, without any substantial hindrance to the user and, preferably, without requiring their active attention. For example, every time the user is in communication with the network, such as when a connection is established with the user's Internet service provider (ISP), a client module of the present invention may be activated, and/or the module may be programed to activate at a particular times or intervals, to perform information communication, acquisition, and/or assimilation. As such, the present invention may operate to bring all the user's transactional data and affairs up-to-date and, through manipulation and presentation according to the present invention, into perspective.
The information which the above described module may operate with preferably includes a particular individual's debt or expenditure information (mortgages, credit card debt checks, bank debt, etcetera), asset or income information (bank account, trading account, retirement account, stocks, bonds, property values, etcetera), and/or earnings or awards information (frequent flyer credits, earned coupons, earned vouchers, etcetera). Of course, there is a vast variety of information, such as relevant to transaction decision making and transaction historical data, now available or later to be developed that is within the scope of the present invention.
In a most preferred embodiment, an individual provides particular transaction relevant information to configure a program of the present invention to operate in a manner desired by the individual. Accordingly, an individual may establish in a software module of the present invention such information as the identity of vendors the individual has accounts established with and information regarding those accounts. Similarly, the individual may provide information regarding the type of transactions, services, goods, or similar information the individual is interested in. The individual's information so provided may include data associated with the above described information in order to facilitate operation of the present invention, such as passwords, cryptographic key information, digital signature information, digital certificates, and/or the like.
Thereafter, such as in a background operation when the user is connected to a network, the present invention may operate to solicit, acquire, communicate, transmit, and/or assimilate information (accumulate and exchange of information) with respect to this individual's indicated interests for storage, analysis, compilation, and/or presentation (manipulation of information). For example, the present invention may poll an individual's identified financial institution to constantly or periodically update a database of the individual's assets. Similarly, the present invention may use the individual's account information to determine the current interest rate on a the individual's variable rate mortgage or to track interest rates on a new or refinance mortgage the individual's profile indicates.

g Accordingly, the present invention centralizes and automates the tasks of keeping track of the individual's transaction information and provides better records, more up-to-date records, and maintains them more accurately. Such automation substantially reduces keyboard entries on both ends of the transaction because, when software according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is activated, it automatically operates substantially without any input from the keyboard, accessing the vendors' databases.
It should be appreciated that accumulation of information, such as the aforementioned tracking of interest rates, may not only be at the direction of the individual according to the present invention, but may also be based on artificial intelligence determinations derived automatically. For example, accumulation of information regarding current interest rates may be instigated automatically from the information that the individual has a mortgage account with a lending institution and that current mortgages are being offered at a more attractive rate.
Moreover, it should be appreciated that accumulation and exchange of information is not limited according to the present invention to times at which the individual is otherwise connected to a network such as the Internet. For example, if a predetermined period of time elapses in which no such connection is otherwise established, the present invention may operate to establish a network connection itself. This connection is preferably established in a manner which is not disruptive to the user and does not interfere with the user's other tasks.
Accordingly, a preferred embodiment operates to establish such connections as a background task or during idle or substantially system idle times.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to automatically integrate accumulated information into processes external to the software of the present invention: For example, a database of an individual's personal finance software, such as QUICKEN
available from INTUIT, may be updated automatically from operation of the present invention.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention additionally or alternatively provides an efficient, and preferably secure, protocol by which transactions may be conducted. Such transactions coordinated by operation of the present invention include data exchanges of desired information as well as exchanges of monetary equivalent value or other transaction authorization for desired items. Accordingly, adoption of the present invention by users and vendors establishes a common and uniform protocol by which information may be exchanged and transactions consummated.
In a most preferred embodiment the protocol established by the present invention for exchanging transaction authorizations establishes a means by which an individual is never required to provide sensitive information to an unknown, or relatively unknown, vendor.
Accordingly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention establishes a method by which an individual authorizes an independent known, and trusted, party to credit a portion of that individual's monetary equivalent value to the particular relatively unknown vendor.
Accordingly, the individual user can be shielded from disclosing sensitive information to anyone but the trusted third party. Additionally, the vendor can be assured that the transfer of the monetary equivalent value is authentic as, presumably, the independent third party is also known to, and trusted by, the vendor, such as in the case of an established banking institution or the like.
Accordingly, in doing an electronic commerce transaction, the user will not be required to give his credit card numbers or account numbers or any sensitive information to the vendor of the desired item. Instead, the user deals with his trusted bank or financial institution and that financial institution will issue a payment authorization and/or arrange for payment to the vendor. Accordingly, the present invention provides users with a high level of confidence in the safety and security of transactions conducted therewith.
Moreover, this paradigm is also advantageous to the vendor because he does not need to independently seek authorization for the individual's transaction, confirm that the individual is trustworthy, or even maintain paper records of the transaction because the individual's financial institution will directly credit the vendor's account, whether it is with that particular financial institution, with another financial institution, or even a vault or database maintained on or with the vendor's equipment. As a trusted financial institution, the vendor can be confident that the transaction is truly and fully funded. This is advantageous to the vendor as the vendor is then enabled to shift his/her emphasis from those physical pieces of paper or other payment tracking and/or collection system to the business that the vendor is actually involved with. The vendor's income earnings are handled much like cash transactions, although electronic, from the trusted third party directly to the vendor's earnings database. For example, the vendor could electronically store all approvals for direct reconciliation with the vendor bank's database records for that particular month.
Accordingly, the present invention not only eases the transactional operations for the vendor, but it also provides efficiencies in terms of vendor cash flow, security, and overall ease of operations.
It should also be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to network 10 connections, such as the aforementioned Internet, for the accumulation and exchange and/or manipulation of information. For example, operation of the present invention may utilize more direct links to particular information sources, such as direct dedicated communication links to particular host systems, dial up connections.to particular host systems, and the like.
Moreover, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to use combinations of such various links in order to accumulate and exchange information sufficient to serve the individual's desires.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to provide a uniform interface or portion thereof, regardless of the vendor's transactions or data the individual is looking at. For example, once the present invention operates to accumulate and exchange information, this information is preferably stored and/or presented to the individual in a readily understandable format. Accordingly, regardless of the particular source of information, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a uniform interface to the user of the present invention.
Additionally, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides efficient and intuitive access to the information desired by the individual. For example, a preferred embodiment logically collates information for user access, such as delineating folders or portfolios for particular vendors, folders or portfolios for particular types of transactions, folders or portfolios for categories of transaction information, etcetera. In a preferred software embodiment, a summary screen will have various subscreens and that would be associated with, for example, debtors, creditors, earnings, and/or electronic commerce history and tracking. It should be appreciated that collation of the information into particular classifications or categories according to the present invention need not be exclusive. For example, information associated with a particular vendor may be accessible through a folder identified with that vendor and also accessible through a folder identified with a particular category of transaction.
Accordingly, a user may simply launch the user interface to software of the present invention in order to be given a choice of particular information folders.
Preferably, the initial presentation of the information folders includes a summary of the individual's affairs, i.e., summary of accounts showing balances and, possibly, a last transaction and/or a tickler for a scheduled future transaction. From this initial presentation, the user is enabled to select a particular folder to be presented information with respect to a desired matter more detailed than that presented in the above described summary. Of course, the detail within such selected folders may be hierarchal in that levels of folders may be selected depending on the particular information and level of detail desired. As described above, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a user interface more similar to that which the user is accustomed to on his/her own personal computer or his/her own files in his/her own office, rather than that of a large network of dissimilar hosts as is currently presented via the Internet.
An individual, at a glance, will be able see what his/her assets are, what his/her liabilities are, as well as information to help him/her in decision making for future transactions. Because information with respect to many aspects of the individual's transaction affairs are consolidated by the present invention, the future transaction decisions may be made more intelligently. Specifically, a user, in ten~ns of transaction decision making, would generally want to know his/her current position, what his/her liabilities and assets are. Based on this type of information, the user can preplan as to whether to make new investments, new purchases, or new transactions. This places the individual in a more pro-active consumer position, as opposed to a reactive consumer position. For example, a particular credit card account may be selected for a future transaction due to a particular promotional premium or premium milestone being available, i.e., the transaction may result in enough frequent buyer premium units to reach a desired goal.
A further aspect of the present invention provides for information communication in addition to that actually required or necessary to conduct a desired transaction, thus facilitating a more robust interaction between vendors and the individual. For example, as a part of the communication managed according to the present invention, information not necessarily directly related to a transaction at hand is provided for, such as queries for information from an agent not otherwise provided by a vendor host system.
Similarly, queries of the individual by the vendor or his agents, such as clarification of information previously provided or additional information required in fully serving the individual's requests, may be facilitated by the present invention.
Such robust information exchange is provided in a preferred embodiment through the knowledge that there will predictably be information communication established between-the vendor and individual, such as through the above mentioned background information accumulation and exchange. Accordingly, for various of the above described folders or portfolios, such as for every respective company that the individual deals with, a queries action portion, such as a tab or button, can be provided to allow the individual to submit and/or receive queries or other, presumably less structured, information. This information may be exchanged during the above mentioned accumulation and exchange of information according to the present invention.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vendor is not required to determine how and when to contact the individual. Instead, the vendor can simply configure a host according to the present invention and, thereafter, reap the benefit of the individual's accumulation and exchange of data. For example, an individual's contact information is subject to change and, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vendor need not determine this information in order to maintain timely communication with the individual.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIGURE 1 shows a system adapted according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIGURES 2-4 show flow diagrams of initializing information according to one aspect of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIGURE 5 shows a flow diagram of information accumulation and exchange according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and FIGURE 6 shows a flow diagram of conducting a transaction according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present invention preferably provides an information exchange platform adapted to address the needs of both individuals and vendors alike, thus promoting widespread adoption of the systems and methods of the present invention and, thereby, establish a

5 standardized transactional platform. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to assist in tracking all expenditures made by an individual, all investments made by an individual, all earnings of an individual, and/or all electronic commerce transactions of an individual. Additionally, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to provide security for electronic commerce transactions.
10 Preferably, the present invention is operable to communicate with various information sources, such as vendor host systems, in order to maintain up-to-date information regarding the transactions of a particular individual. For example, connection to various information sources according to operation of the present invention is shown in FIGURE 1 as network 100.
15 As shown in FIGURE 1, network 100 provides an individual information communication through use of user system 110 connected to information sources, such as Internet service provider (ISP) system 121, host systems 122-125, 131, and 142, and user system 141. Preferably, user system 110 is a microcomputer system such as the well known INTEL and MOTOROLA processor based personal computers widely available today.
Such microcomputer systems typically include a central processor unit in communication with memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and disk storage devices, providing user input/output through a display device and a keyboard, mouse or other pointing device, and/or voice recognition interface. Of course, other systems suitable for providing information communication and processing may be utilized according to the present invention, such as mini-frame computers, main-frame computers, and telecommunications equipment, such as dual tone multiple frequency (DTMF) telephony response units or new generation phones, hand held devices, such as organizers and personal data assistants (PDA), and even interactive television devices. Information sources utilized according to the present invention may also incorporate microcomputers or other systems as described above with respect to the user system.
Preferably, user system 110 is adapted to communicate with information sources for information communication according to the present invention. For example, user system 110 may establish communication with information sources available on the Internet 120 through interface 11 l, which may be a modem, cable modem, T1 communication interface, satellite link, or the like. Additionally or alternatively, user system 110 may establish communication with information sources available through a switched network, such as public switched telephone network (PSTN) 130, through interface 112, which may be a modem or other communication device. Likewise, user system 110 may additionally or alternatively establish communication with information sources available through other media, such as network 140 which may be a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or the like, through interface 113, which may be a modem, a network interface card (hTIC), or other communication device. It should be appreciated that user system 110 may not only be in communication with information sources typically thought of as host systems, but may also be in communication with other systems, such as user system 141 shown connected to network 140.
Systems of the present invention, or portions thereof, may be embodied in software programs, software program modules, software program components, and/or the like. For example, a server application of the present invention may be operable on an information source, such as host system 122, while a client application of the present invention is operable on a user system, such as user system 110. Each application is preferably adapted to function with a general purpose operating system such as WINDOWS available from Microsoft Corporation or MAC OS available from Apple Computer, Inc. Additionally or alternatively, systems of the present invention may be embodied in program applets, plug-ins, and/or the like. For example, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is integrated with commonly available browsers such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR, available from Netscape Communications Corporation, and INTERNET EXPLORER, available from Microsoft Corporation, or other widely available user interfaces operable on user system 110.

Furthermore, systems of the present invention may be integrated into hardware devices, such as server processor units, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), and/or the like.
Irrespective of how the systems of the present invention are embodied, in a preferred embodiment information, regardless of its source or even the type of information, is presented to the user in a consistent manner through a uniform interface.
In understanding the present invention, it is helpful to consider its operation with reference to the particular types of data sources it will interact with.
Accordingly, the discussion herein below will present detail of the present invention with reference to such data sources. However, it should be appreciated that such a discussion is not intended to be limiting on the present invention.
As previously mentioned, a preferred embodiment of the present invention assists an individual in keeping track of expenditures made by the individual, keeping track of investments made by the individual, keeping track of earnings of the individual, and keeping track of all the individual's electronic commerce transactions, as well as providing security for the associated information exchanges and/or transactions. Of course, it should be appreciated that alternative embodiments of the present invention may assist individuals in various combinations of the above listed aspects and/or other aspects not specifically identified above.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a level of detail with respect to the individual's accounts or other status with the vendors much greater than previously available to the individual. This is because operation of the present invention will automatically assimilate this information in order to present the individual user with transaction information having considered fully, or substantially so, all relevant information.
In the past, where an individual was required to both gather and assimilate information from a plurality of vendors in order to make an informed decision, it was typically not possible to reasonably manage the level of detail utilized by the present invention.
Moreover, as discussed in more detail herein, the present invention, through analysis of all the appropriate vendor transactions of the individual in combination with the above described high level of detail, is able to more fully assist the individual in decision making.

It should be appreciated that it is in the vendor's interest to provide information in a format and/or with detail useful in practicing the present invention, such as through operation of the above mentioned server application, because benefits such as improved and simplified serving of individuals, reduced costs of transactions, and improved monetary exchange will be realized by the cooperating vendors. Moreover, as previously discussed, the advent of personal computers is changing the way in which individuals conduct their affairs, providing the ability to conduct transactions on such a scale has resulted in the world becoming much smaller with respect to commerce. Accordingly, vendors will be driven to adopt business paradigms, such as those offered by operation of the present invention, which distinguish them from the plethora of other vendors, or at the very least are on par with the majority of other vendors.
In keeping track of an individual's expenditures, and preferably their associated payments or other obligations, the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGURE 2 begins at step 201 with various cooperating credit vendors providing their 1 S corresponding host systems, such as host systems 122-125, 131, and/or 142 of FIGURE 1, with user credit and associated information. Such credit vendors may include shops, department, and discount stores having their own in house credit facilities, financial institutions providing store or specific credit lines, fuel companies, traditional financial institutions providing bank card, equity, mortgage, or other traditional loans, insurance companies, retirement plan management companies, etcetera. It should be appreciated that vendors which may provide/utilize information according to the present invention are not limited to those extending credit. For example, vendors dealing on a cash, or "electronic cash" basis with an individual may be managed substantially as described herein with respect to credit vendors.
The information provided by the credit vendors may be such information as transaction detail, including date, item, amount, and the like, as well as detail with respect to payment history, accrued interest, prepayment/payment options, discounts or incentives for early payment, disincentives for late payment, promotions associated with or available to the account, and the like. It shall be appreciated that much of the above information may akeady be available in electronic form to the vendor, such as on an internal system, and therefore may require little more that linking data to an interface of the present invention.
Additionally, some of the information of interest to a particular individual may be equally of interest, and equally applicable, to a plurality of individuals. For example, all individuals S with a particular type of account with a credit vendor may be eligible for the same incentives.
Accordingly, categories of information may be established which are linked to the appropriate individual accounts, thus eliminating the need to separately input and maintain such information for each individual.
At step 202 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 2, the individual configures an associated user system, such as user system 110 of FIGURE 1, to include information with respect to credit vendors. For example, individual users may input into a client module, as described above, vendor and account details, such as identification of the vendor, vendor account numbers, user identification information, such as personal identification number (PII~ or password, and/or other useful information. Additionally, the user may provide information with respect to how the present invention is to utilize and/or present information with respect to any particular vendor. For example, the user may indicate that a file or portfolio, as well as various levels and/or sub-files or portfolios, should be established with respect to a particular individual for storage, analysis, compilation, and/or presentation of any information accumulated and/or exchanged with that particular vendor.
Additionally or alternatively, the user may indicate that the information associated with a particular credit vendor is to be associated with a particular category of data, such as a bank card folder containing information with respect to all bank credit card accounts of the individual.
Similarly, the user may instruct the present invention to link its accumulation and exchange of information with a pauticular vendor or vendors with systems external to the systems of the present invention, such as an accounting software program, spread sheet software program, personal finance software program, database software program, word processing software program, PDA, or the like.
Information provided to the user system by the individual according to the present invention may include sensitive information, such as PIN or password information, account information, and the like. Accordingly, information provided according to the present invention is stored in a secure manner, such as in encrypted form and/or within a secure, hidden, or limited access storage area. Additionally, this sensitive information is preferably only provided external to the system of the present invention in a secure manner, such as 5 through the use of cryptography. Preferably however, most or all sensitive information provided to the present invention is never transmitted outside of systems of the present invention as the external systems needing such information have independent access thereto.
For example, the user, who initially provided sensitive information to the user system as well as the financial institutions which provide transaction authorizations according to the present 10 invention both have independent access to the sensitive information.
It should be appreciated that input of information by a user is not limited to those vendors cooperative to the operation of the present invention. For example, a preferred embodiment of the present invention may utilize macros or other techniques to accumulate and exchange information with a host system of a non-cooperating vendor.
Additionally or 15 alternatively, sufficient information may be provided to the system of the present invention by means other than communicating with a vendor's host system. For example, a user may directly input and subsequently update information relevant to a particular vendor, the user system may be adapted to accept input of tangible documents, such as through the use of optical character recognition (OCR), relevant to a particular vendor, or the user system may 20 be adapted to accept information relevant to a particular vendor from a separate source, such as a stock ticker or other commonly available information source.
According to a preferred embodiment, at least a portion of information provided to the system of the present invention described above is provided without direct input by a user.
For example, a user may identify a particular credit vendor with which the user has an account and, thereafter, the system may automatically operate to retrieve information regarding this vendor from the user or other system. For example, ones of the above mentioned external systems may include information relevant to the particular vendor that may be accessed by the present invention. Such data access may be facilitated by the systems of the present invention being adapted to identify and extract the desired data from such external systems without the special adaptation of these external systems.
Additionally or alternatively, such external systems may be specifically adapted, or an interface developed which is operable therewith, to allow the ready extraction of desired information.
The present invention may also utilize sources of information other than the above listed external systems. For example, information available from such sources as "cookies,"
commonly used by Internet browsers, may be utilized to determine vendor Internet address, user account identification information, and the like.
Accordingly, through intelligently utilizing information akeady available in the user system, the present invention can minimize the information required of the user. However, although the user may input an appreciable amount of information in initializing the present invention with respect to a particular vendor, considerable savings and advantages are realized in that this information may be accurately retained and exchanged, where appropriate, without further user input.
At step 203 of FIGURE 2 an information communication link is preferably established between user system and the credit vendor host system. This link may be utilized initially after the aforementioned initialization steps in order to complete the initialization process, confirm the accuracy of the input information, to notify the vendor host system of the user's configuration for operation according to the present invention, etcetera.
Additionally or alternatively, this link may be utilized to bring the individual's account detail information stored at the user system up-to-date or provide other fimctionality as described herein. Accordingly, at step 204 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 2 a step of accumulating and exchanging information is performed.
Of course, operation of steps 203 and 204 to establish a link and accumulate and exchange information may be omitted from the initialization steps discussed above, if desired. For example, any information exchange desired to confirm the accuracy of the input information or to initially up date the individual's information may be performed through a link established in the standard operation of the system as described with respect to FIGURE
5 below. Additionally or alternatively, the initial update of vendor specific information may be provided by the user or other means. For example, the user may input initial balances and history information. Alternatively, such information may be scanned through the use of OCR
capabilities from tangible documents and/or acquired from other sources both within the user system and external thereto.
It should be appreciated that the initialization steps of FIGURE 2 may be performed for each credit vendor in toto prior to input of information with respect to additional vendors, if desired. However, there is no limitation to operation in that manner. In fact, a preferred embodiment of the present invention operates to allow initial input of vendor information (whether credit vendor or other vendors discussed below) prior to establishing communication links therewith. Accordingly, economy of time may be realized in that a mufti-vendor link, such as the Internet, may be established once and yet a plurality of vendor exchanges conducted.
It should be appreciated that, although described separately, the operation of the present invention to provide the functions and features described with reference to the various FIGURES utilize similar steps. One of ordinary skill in the art should readily appreciate that various alterations and adaptations of the embodiments of the present invention described with respect to one aspect of the present invention may be desirable with another aspect of the present invention and, therefore, may be readily incorporated into such aspects according to the present invention. Specifically, the alternatives discussed with respect to FIGURE 2 above are equally applicable to the portions of the present invention discussed below with references to FIGURES 3 and 4 below.
Having described initialization of the present invention to keep track of an individual's expenditures, initializing a preferred embodiment system to track the individual's investments will now be described with reference to FIGURE 3. Preferably systems of the present invention operate to keep up-to-date the values of, and other associated information with respect to, the individual's investments, such as investment value, preferably present and future, rate of return, important dates such as vestige, maturity, etcetera, type of investment, such as for taxation or contribution determinations, and the like.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGURE 3 begins at step 301 with various cooperating investment vendors providing their corresponding host systems, such as host systems 122-125, 131, and/or 142 of FIGURE 1, with user investment and associated information. Such investment vendors may include traditional financial institutions providing savings, brokerage, trading, trust, retirement, and like accounts, brokerage houses, retirement plan management companies, insurance companies, etcetera.
The information provided by the investment vendors may be such information as transaction detail, including investment dates, account balance, interest rates, withdrawal penalties, and the like, as well as detail with respect to deposit history, accrued interest, payment options, promotions associated with or available to the account, and the like. As with the credit vendor information described above, much of the above information may already be available in electronic form to the vendor, such as on an internal system, and therefore may require little more that linking data to an interface of the present invention.
Also as described above with respect to credit vendors, some of the information of interest to a particular individual may be equally of interest, and equally applicable, to a plurality of individuals.
At step 302 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 3, the individual configures an associated user system, such as user system 110 of FIGURE 1, to include information with respect to investment vendors. For example, individual users may input into a client module, as described above, vendor and account details, such as identification of the vendor, vendor account numbers, user identification information, such as the user's PIN or password, and/or other useful information. Additionally, as discussed above with respect to FIGURE 2, the user may provide information with respect to how the present invention is to utilize and/or present information with respect to any particular vendor. As discussed above, through intelligently utilizing information already available in the user system, the present invention can minimize the information required of the user.
At step 303 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 3, an information communication link is preferably established between the user system and the investment vendor host system. This link may be utilized initially after the aforementioned initialization steps in order to complete the initialization process, confirm the accuracy of the input information, to notify the vendor host system of the user's configuration for operation according to the present invention, etcetera. Additionally or alternatively, this link may be utilized to bring the individual's account detail information stored at the user system up-to-date or provide other functionality as described herein. Accordingly, at step 304 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 3 a step of accumulating and exchanging information is performed. As with FIGURE 2 above, operation of steps 303 and 304 to establish a link and accumulate and exchange information may be omitted from the initialization steps discussed above, if desired.
The preferred embodiment shown in FIGURE 4 provides steps for accommodating an individuals various earnings in the operation of the present invention. The earnings referred to here include such items of value as frequent flier units, discount coupons, entitlement coupons, entitlements to special offers, and the like. It should be appreciated that such earnings may be embodied in tangible media, such as a paper coupon possibly having a unique barcode or other information thereon, or electronically, such as a datapacket indicating an entitlement.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGURE 4 begins at step 401 with various cooperating earnings vendors providing their corresponding host systems, such as host systems 122-125, 131, and/or 142 of FIGURE 1, with user earnings and associated information. Such earnings vendors may include bank card issuers which provide charging incentives, such as automobile discount credit, percentage cash back, free services, frequent flyer units, and other accrued incentives, air lines which provide frequent flyer units, hotels which provide frequent guest units, issuers of valuable coupons, etcetera.
The information provided by the earnings vendors may be such information as goods and services for which the earnings may be redeemed, circumstances under which the earnings may be redeemed, vendors which will accept the earnings in conducting transactions, milestones at which an individual may be entitled to particular goods and services, milestones which the individual has reached, transaction detail accruing earnings credit, and the like. As with the credit vendor information described above, much of the above information may already be available in electronic form to the vendor, such as on an internal system, and therefore may require little more that linking data to an interface of the present invention. Also as described above with respect to credit vendors, some of the information of interest to a particular individual may be equally of interest, and equally applicable, to a plurality of individuals.
At step 402 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 4, the individual configures an associated user system, such as user system 110 of FIGURE 1, to include information with respect to earnings vendors. For example, individual users may input into a client module, as described above, vendor and account details, such as identification of the vendor, vendor account numbers, user identification information, such as the user's PIN or password, and/or other useful information. Additionally, as discussed above with respect to FIGURE 2, the 10 user may provide information with respect to how the present invention is to utilize and/or present information with respect to any particular vendor. As discussed above, through intelligently utilizing information already available in the user system, the present invention can minimize the information required of the user.
As mentioned above, the earnings attributable to a particular individual may be 15 redeemable at a vendor other than that issuing the earnings. Accordingly, it may not be desired to input information with respect to the earnings vendor, but rather information regarding the earning itself and/or vendors at which the earning may be redeemed. In such cases, the above described steps may be eliminated or altered accordingly.
Step 403 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 4 accepts the input of earnings 20 information of the individual. Such input may be provided by the user, extracted from information available on the user system, or received from systems in communication with the user system, as described above.
Moreover, it is anticipated that, at least initially, many of an individual's earnings may be in a form other than electronic. For example, typical discount coupons are typically 25 embodied in tangible form. Accordingly, at step 403 may also utilize input, such as the above mentioned OCR technology and/or other scanning input means including barcode readers, to accept input of various earnings.

At step 404 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 4, an information communication link is preferably established between the user system and the earnings vendor host system. This link may be utilized initially after the aforementioned initialization steps in order to complete the initialization process, confirm the accuracy of the input information, to notify the vendor host system of the user's configuration for operation according to the present invention, etcetera. Additionally or alternatively, this link may be utilized to bring the individual's earnings detail information stored at the user system up-to-date or provide other functionality as described herein. Accordingly, at step 405 of the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 4 a step of accumulating and exchanging information is performed. As with FIGURE 2 above, operation of steps 404 and 405 to establish a link and accumulate and exchange information may be omitted from the initialization steps discussed above, if desired.
It shall be appreciated that various vendors may provide goods and services which logically place a vendor in more than one particular category discussed herein. For example, a credit vendor may also be an investment vendor. Accordingly, rather than perform separately the steps of FIGURES 2, 3, and 4 as described herein, this vendor's information may be provided in a single series of steps, if desired.
It should be appreciated that information other than that associated with the three above described vendors may be utilized according to the present invention.
For example, the individual may be interested in particular items or information as a hobby or business, such as electronic equipment or computers generally, the collection of postage or coins, or other non-vendor specific information. The individual may, following steps similar to those described above, provide information regarding the types of non-vendor specific information he/she is interested in. Such information may include particular identified vendors dealing in merchandise, services, or information associated with the non-vendor specific information.
Additionally or alternatively, such information may include information sufficient for the system of the present invention to independently communicate with various host systems and determine whether merchandise, services, or information associated with the non-vendor specific information is available there. Vendors cooperating in the practice of the present invention may provide information in their host systems suitable for the ready determination by the present invention of their suitability for inclusion as a vendor of interest by the user systems.
Information associated with the non-vendor information which is accumulated and exchanged according to the present invention may be compared and contrasted to present the individual with information regarding what is available to the individual and from what source, what the competitive prices for such items are, the features, limitations, etcetera of the items, and the like. Accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention is neither limited to the use of the credit, investment, and asset vendors discussed in detail above nor the use of vendor specific information.
Preferably, the present invention is adapted to keep the individual current with respect to the information presented. For example, algorithms of the preferred embodiment utilize at least a portion of the information regarding the particular debts, investments, assets, etcetera of the individual provided above to at least periodically solicit further or more current information associated therewith. This updating of information may take place at predetermined intervals, after the occurrence of a predetermined event, or by any other trigger events deemed advantageous. In a preferred embodiment, updating of information is accomplished as a background task on the user system so as not to substantially interfere with the individual's normal use of the user system.
For example, whenever the individual is surfing the Internet, or when the user system is independently surfing the Internet, the present invention preferably triggers signals to contact the databases specified in the user system software initialized as described above.
These signals will pick out the transactions made by the individual and bring it back into the individual's database and present it in a consolidated way into summarized form for him/her to view. If the individual does want to see detailed transactions, principally the whole statement of transaction made for 30 or 90 days, for example, he/she just clicks onto the vendor's folder and everything will be reflected on that side of it. If he/she is not satisfied with the information available, he/she could utilize a query button, or similar device, to allow the individual to put in his/her queries and automatically communicate them to the appropriate vendor, such as the next time the user system connects to the Internet. Similarly, the vendor may respond or otherwise communicate with the individual.
Likewise, interaction with various host systems may be utilized to update or otherwise provide the individual with information regarding the above described non-vendor specific information. For example, the system of the present invention may access various host systems to collect information relevant to the non-vendor specific information of interest to the individual.
Directing attention to FIGURE 5, a flow diagram of a preferred embodiment algorithm for the accumulation and exchange of information is shown. At step SO1 a determination is made as to whether a suitable link has been established for the accumulation and exchange of information according to the present invention. This determination allows the operation of this aspect of the present invention to take place as a background task when the user system establishes a particular link for other purposes. For example, an individual may cause user system 110 to dial up ISP system 121 to retrieve e-mail. This connection between user system 110 and ISP system 121 provides an Internet gateway to user system 110 through which communication with host systems 122-125 may be had. Where information relevant to the individual indicates that communication via an Internet connection is useful in accumulating and exchange of information, the determination at step 501 may be in the affirmative and processing proceeds to step 502.
At step 502 a determination is made as to whether information accumulation and exchange according to the present invention is proper. For example, it may be predetermined that information accumulation and exchange need only be accomplished on a daily basis, such as to avoid unnecessary use of processor time with information which is likely to have changed only slightly if at all. If a previous suitable link has been established and, therefore, information accumulation and exchange has akeady occurred within the desired time frame, a determination may be made at step 502 that it is not a proper time for fi~rther information accumulation and exchange. In such a case processing would loop back to a beginning point, such as back to step SO1.

If at step 502 it is determined that information accumulation and exchange is proper according to the present invention, processing proceeds to step 505. At step 505, the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 5 operates to conduct information accumulation and exchange. This step may involve looking to information provided regarding various vendors, such as vendors' electronic addresses, account numbers, passwords, and the like, and interfacing with the appropriate host systems to solicit information on the individual's behalf, to provide information to the host systems, to exchange queries, and/or the like.
Thereafter, processing proceeds to step 506 where the preferred embodiment of the present invention manipulates information. For example, information with respect to a particular vendor may be stored in a folder on the user system associated with that particular vendor. This information may supplement or update information previously stored in that folder. Additionally or alternatively, information may be provided to category folders, such as an out standing credit card dept folder, to supplement or update information therein.
Manipulation of information by the present invention preferably includes more than the proper association and storing of information. Specifically, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to provide summaries of the individual's current status, historical status, and/or projected status in a simple and readily understandable format. This summary information, or portions thereof, may be selected by the individual for further analysis or detail.
The present invention preferably not only summarizes such information in the traditional sense of reducing the level of detail for rapid assimilation by a user, but also intelligently correlates information to present a robust picture of the individual's status. For example, an individual may have certain monthly obligations which are both fixed and variable for which the individual should know an amount of money required to satisfy this debt prior to committing to other obligations. Accordingly, operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is adapted to determine whether a debt is variable, such as a revolving fuel credit card dept or a variable interest mortgage loan, and determine the factors which will cause the dept to vary and, thereby, be able to determine the projected monthly payment. Additionally, operation of the present invention preferably is adapted to determine the occurrence of other periodic debt, such as semi-annual automobile insurance payments or annual life insurance payments, and forewarn the individual to this obligation to avoid the committal to a transaction which will cause financial over extension.
Further, manipulation of information according to the present invention includes S determining any advantages, disadvantages, etcetera associated with the accounts of the individual. For example, the present invention may determine that a significant savings may be had by prepayment of a debt or that transferring debt of one credit card to another credit card would provide a savings in interest and, thus, present this information in the above mentioned summary or other levels of detail. Likewise, a determination that use of one 10 particular account for a next purchase will result in a milestone providing an earning, such as a frequent flyer award, to the individual and, thus, the individual may be notified of this circumstance. Similarly, a determination that particular earniings will expire if not redeemed may be made and a warning. provided to the individual. Accordingly, it should be appreciated, because the knowledge base of the present invention is so encompassing, that 15 robust determinations considering various aspects of the individual's position may be made, instead of considering each aspect in isolation. This more robust information provided by the present invention, as shown above, may be utilized by the individual in conducting future transactions.
Accordingly, the preferred embodiment of the present invention not only is adapted 20 for the information accumulation and exchanges described above, but is also adapted to operate with information regarding active transactions. Specifically, the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an interface useful in conducting electronic commerce transactions. However, it should be appreciated that features and advantages of the present invention are also applicable to more traditional forms of transactions.
25 In a typical electronic commerce transaction, the individual may connect to vendor host systems, such as through the Internet, for whatever the individual desires. Typically, this involves some "electronic window shopping" and ultimately results in the selection, often done through "electronic carting" of the items, and purchase of items, generally accomplished through some sort of electronically acceptable payment method such as credit card, prepaid accounts, and even electronic vault credit exchange.
Such transactions conducted according to the present invention provide the individual with added advantages as the ability to determine if particular premiums, earnings, discounts, etcetera are available, whether the individual's current status is such that conducting the currently contemplated transaction is advisable, and like considerations.
Moreover, operation of the present invention, as described above, may be utilized by the individual to present, contrast, and compare a variety of items prior to their purchase. These advantages are further supplemented by the preferred embodiment of the present invention's inclusion of a protocol for exchanging monetary value or other transaction authorization information.
This protocol establishes a means by which an individual is not required to provide sensitive information to an unknown, or relatively unknown, vendor.
Directing attention to FIGURE 6, operation of the present invention in conducting an electronic commerce transaction is illustrated. In operation of the present invention, as with 1 S the typical electronic commerce transaction described above, the individual connects to a selected host vendor's host system at step 601. It should be appreciated that the individual may select this vendor directly or selection may be made otherwise. For example, through operation of the present invention comparison and contrast of the desired item as available from a variety of vendors may be made by the present invention and recommended to the individual or actually selected by the operation of the present invention.
Alternatively, vendors meeting particular criteria may be selected by the present invention to allow "electronic window shopping" by the individual for final selection of the vendor.
Thereafter, the individual selects for purchase (or other form of exchange) the particular item or items available from the selected vendor at step 602.
Selection may involve flagging particular item descriptions as they are presented to the individual in the aforementioned electronic window shopping. Additionally or alternatively, selection may involve the individual inputting a description or catalogue number of the desired item or items. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to any particular form of selecting items for conducting transactions.

Once the item or items are committed to by the individual for conducting the transaction, according to the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 6 at step 603, the individual inputs non-sensitive individual transaction information. This non-sensitive individual transaction information may include information such as the individual's name, address, or other information useful in conducting the transaction for which the individual is not opposed to providing to an unknown, or relatively unknown, vendor.
It should be appreciated that the above steps of the present invention may be conducted through an unmodified interface generally available, such as an Internet browser.
Accordingly, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention the above steps are provided through such a general purpose interface without substantial interaction by the present invention. However, in an alternative embodiment the present invention operates to control all or substantially all of the above steps. Additionally or alternatively, the present invention monitors item browsing, or other proposed transaction relevant information, by the individual in order to dynamically present the individual with information relevant to the individual's decision to conduct the transaction. For example, even though browsing may be conducted through the use of a general purpose interface such as an Internet browser, the present invention may operate to monitor communications and present, such as within a window unobtrusively displayed on the user system, discounts available on the currently viewed item, milestones reached through purchase of the item, and like information useful to the individual.
In order to complete the transaction, it is generally required that the individual also provide information more sensitive than that listed above. For example, the individual conducting a transaction is often required to provide payment information which, if landed in the wrong hands, could cause the individual a considerable amount of embarrassment and harm. Accordingly, operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a secure means at step 604 by which the individual may confidently provide information necessary to complete the transaction.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, where a general purpose interface is utilized in steps 601-603 described above, a software button, automatic activator, or other activation means or mechanism is provided to allow a portion of the system of the present invention to interact with the individual. Preferably this interaction involves the display of a special window or form soliciting sensitive information from the individual for the proposed transaction. This window or form may present a selection of various credit cards, lending institutions, etcetera to the individual, such as may be selected from the initialization information provided by the user for selection of a particular one by the individual at step 605. The present invention may operate to determine the one credit card, or other payment method, most advantageous to the individual, such as because of a particular milestone reached, a desirable interest rate, an existing credit balance, a particular promotion available in association with the selected vendor, or the like. This may cause this particular payment method to be selected as a default which may be overridden by the individual.
Additionally or alternatively, various ones of the payment methods may be presented as best choices and their reasons for being suggested, for selection by the individual.
It should be appreciated that it is not required that the individual actually input all of the sensitive information. Instead, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention the individual need only select or identify the sensitive information which has already been provided. However, in order to prevent a rogue user of the user system from having full status of the individual in conducting transactions, of the present invention preferably requires the individual conducting a transaction to provide some form of identification. For example, the individual may input a password or PIN at step 606 before the present invention will allow the sensitive information stored therein to be used in conducting a transaction. Of course, other means of identifying an individual and/or authorizing the transaction may be used according to the present invention, if desired. For example, biological or physiological tests, such as thumb print or retinal scanning, may be performed by the user system in addition to or in the alternative to the more typical approaches such as the above mentioned password or PIN verification.
It should be appreciated that the password or PIN used in step 606 above may be that associated with the particular form of payment, such as a PIN associated with a debit card account being used in the transaction. Additionally or alternatively, identification information separate and distinct from the identification information associated with the sensitive information may be used. For example, passwords unique to the software systems of the present invention may be utilized to identify the individual and authorize the use of sensitive information in conducting a transaction. Accordingly, an individual might only need to remember one password or PIN regardless of the various means utilized in conducting a transaction. Of course, the use of one such identification means for multiple sets of the sensitive information may be less desirable where it is feared that this password or PIN would be discovered by a rogue.
After the individual has interacted with the sensitive transaction information interface (step 604), confirmed that he/she wishes to complete the transaction and selected a particular set of sensitive information suitable for completing the transaction according to the individual's desires (step 605), and provided sufficient identification/authorization (step 606), the preferred embodiment of the present invention proceeds to steps 607-608 to acquire a payment, or other transaction, authorization data packet.
Specifically, at step 607 an electronic commerce transaction data packet is communicated to a host system of the individual's selected payment method, or other transaction authorization mechanism. This data packet may include a minimum of data, such as identification of the individual, identification of the vendor, and a transaction amount.
Where the data packet is generated within the system of the present invention, means such as cryptography, i.e., public key cryptography and/or digital signing where each of the user system and the particular host in communication therewith have a private cryptographic key of their own and a public key associated with the other system, receipt of a proper data packet can provide a level of comfort that it was authorized by a proper individual.
Accordingly, transmission of sensitive information may be avoided in this data packet.
Alternatively, sensitive information, such as the individual's password, account number, etcetera may be included in the data packet, which is preferably transmitted securely such as through the use of encryption.

Additional non-sensitive information may be included in this data packet if desired.
For example, the details of the contents of the electronic shopping cart could be sent to the user's bank in order to apply for credit for the transaction.
At step 608 the host system of the selected method of payment generates an electronic 5 commerce approval data packet acceptable to the selected vendor in completing the desired transaction. This data packet may be proof that the appropriate funds have been transferred from a user account to that of the selected vendor. Alternatively, this data packet may itself be electronic monetary value which the selected vendor may add to a value register as an electronic "cash" transaction. In another alternative this data packet may be useful by the 10 selected vendor in requesting payment when presented later. In some embodiments this data packet may simply be a transaction authorization number. Regardless of its form, in the preferred embodiment of FIGURE 6 this electronic commerce approval data packet is transmitted to the user system for use according to the present invention.
At step 609, the electronic commerce approval data packet is appended to the non-15 sensitive individual transaction information and communicated to the selected vendor's host system. Accordingly, the selected host vendor will be provided all information necessary to conduct the transaction.
It should be appreciated that in the preferred embodiment, where a general purpose interface is used, such as the aforementioned Internet browser, the electronic commerce 20 approval data packet may be appended to the non-sensitive data inputted therein and then the operation of software of the present invention then substantially suspended for completion of the transaction. Accordingly, the preferred embodiment of the present invention is well suited to be embodied in a "plug-in" or "pop-up" application operable with the general purpose interface. Of course, many variations as to how the data interaction of the present 25 invention is accomplished may be used within the scope of the present invention. For example, software of the present invention may be utilized exclusively for the communication with the selected vendor. Additionally or alternatively, the non-sensitive information may be communicated independent of the electronic commerce approval data packet to the selected vendor.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the electronic commerce approval data packet may be communicated from the host system of the selected method of payment (or other transaction authorization) directly to the selected vendor (although it may be desirable for the user system to receive a copy of this data packet in order for transaction log keeping or other purposes). Accordingly, the selected vendor may be provided a higher level of comfort that the approval is genuine, may be provided with funds more rapidly, or may be provided other desirable advantages.
Regardless of the form of the communication of the transaction completing information to the selected vendor, at step 610 the transaction is completed and the selected items are transmitted to the individual. Such transmission may be through electronic means, such as where the desired item is information or another electronically reproducible item, such as a coupon, voucher, ticket, or the like. Alternatively, transmission may be by physical Garner, such as a common Garner employed to deliver a tangible item.
Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same fimction or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

Claims (45)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A system for managing transaction information, said system comprising:
an information base including information associated with transactions of a particular individual thereby providing stored transaction information;
a communications interface adapted to communicate with a plurality of external sources of information to thereby solicit current transaction information associated said particular individual;
a processor based circuit adapted to manipulate said current transaction information solicited by said communications interface, said manipulation including processing at least portions of said current transaction information solicited from different ones of said plurality of external sources for presentation through a user interface; and said user interface adapted to provide summaries of manipulated transaction information, including at least a portion of said stored transaction information and a portion of said current transaction information, in a uniform fashion regardless of a particular external source of said plurality of external sources said current transaction information was solicited from.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said stored transaction information includes identification of a plurality of vendors.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein ones of said vendors are of different vendor categories from the group consisting of:
credit vendors;
investment vendors; and earnings vendors.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said stored transaction information includes identification of particular vendor accounts associated with said individual.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said stored transaction information includes categories for collating said manipulated transaction information for presentation through said user interface.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said transaction information includes non-vendor specific information.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said non-vendor specific information is a category of information of interest to said individual which is available from a plurality of vendors.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein said manipulation of information by said circuit compares similar solicited non-vendor specific information as available from multiple vendors for presentation through said user interface.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said communications interface is adapted to communicate with ones of said external sources through the Internet.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said communications interface is adapted to communicate with ones of said external sources through a public switched network.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said communications interface is adapted to communicate with ones of said external sources through a dial up link.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said communications interface is adapted to communicate with ones of said external sources through a dedicated communications link.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said communications interface is adapted to communicate with ones of said external sources through a private network.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein said communications interface is adapted to communicate with said external sources through at least two communications paths selected from the group consisting of:
the Internet;
a dedicated communications link; and a dial up communications link.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein said manipulation of information by said circuit includes determining a prospective transaction condition.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said prospective transaction condition includes determining a milestone at which said individual is eligible for an earning.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein said prospective transaction condition includes determining a future transaction which will place said individual in a better position than that individual is currently in.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said manipulation of information by said circuit includes collating said manipulated information into a hierarchy of detail for selection by said individual.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein said manipulation of information by said circuit includes storing at least a portion of said current transaction information in said information base thereby causing said portion of said current transaction information to become stored transaction information.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a transaction protocol for controlling at least a portion of current transaction activity.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said transaction protocol is adapted to prevent the need for communicating sensitive information to ones of said vendors of said plurality of vendors said individual is conducting a transaction with.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said transaction protocol communicates with a third party to the transaction to generate a transaction authorization data packet acceptable to said vendor of said plurality of vendors said individual is conducting a transaction with.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said data packet is transmitted from said third party to said individual.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein said data packet is transmitted from said third party to said vendor of said plurality of vendors said individual is conducting a transaction with.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein said user interface is adapted to dynamically display a summary of said transaction information during said individual's conducting a transaction with said vendor of said plurality of vendors.

26. The system of claim 1, further comprising:
a server interface operable on a host system associated with ones of said plurality of vendors adapted to accommodate solicitation of current transaction information by said communications interface.

27. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for managing transaction information, said computer program product comprising:
a database having stored therein transaction information associated with a particular individual;
a communication algorithm adapted to communicate with a plurality of external sources of information to thereby solicit current transaction information associated said particular individual;
a data manipulation algorithm adapted to manipulate said current transaction information solicited by said communications interface and at least a portion of said stored transaction information; and a transaction algorithm for controlling at least a portion of transaction activity between said individual and a vendor of said plurality of vendors, wherein information regarding said controlled transaction activity is provided to said database to thereby become stored transaction information.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising:
a user interface adapted to provide portions of said manipulated information in a uniform fashion regardless of a particular external source of said plurality of external sources said current transaction information was solicited from.

29. The computer program product of claim 27, further comprising:
a user interface adapted to dynamically display a portion of said manipulated transaction information during said individual's conducting a transaction with said vendor of said plurality of vendors, wherein said dynamic display is altered in response to transaction selections made by said individual in conducting said transaction.

30. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein said transaction protocol is adapted to prevent the need for communicating sensitive information to said vendor of said plurality of vendors said individual is conducting a transaction with.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein said transaction protocol utilizes a transaction authorization data packet to authorize said transaction without communicating sensitive information to said vendor of said plurality of vendors.

32. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein said communication algorithm is operable as a background task when a user system of said individual otherwise establishes an information communication link suitable for communicating with ones of said plurality of vendors.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein said information communication link is an Internet connection.

34. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein said communication algorithm is autonomously operable to establish an information communication link suitable for communicating with ones of said plurality of vendors upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition.

35. The computer program product of claim 34, wherein said predetermined condition is a time span.

36. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein said transaction algorithm is operable with a general propose user interface used by the individual in conducting the transaction with the vendor of the plurality of vendors.

37. A method of monitoring information related to transactions and to present said information for consideration in conducting future transactions, said method comprising the steps of:
storing vendor information on a user system, said vendor information including identification of a plurality of vendors a user of said system is interested in;
communicating with substantially all of said plurality of vendors to exchange information therewith, wherein said communicating step is performed without direction of said user according to a predetermined regimen;
manipulating information received from said exchange of information with said vendors to thereby update at least a portion of said stored vendor information; and presenting manipulated information for each vendor through a user interface adapted to allow said user to determine a current position and the outcome of various future transactions.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein said plurality of vendors includes credit vendors, investment vendors, and earnings vendors.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein said vendor information includes accounts associated with said user at ones of said vendors.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein said stored vendor information is in encrypted form.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein said communication regimen includes establishing communications during times at which said user system is otherwise provided a suitable link for said communications.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein said communication regimen also includes establishing communications autonomously upon the occurrence of a predetermined event.

43. The method of claim 37, further comprising the steps of conducting a transaction with a transaction vendor via an electronic information communication link; and authorizing said transaction utilizing sensitive information stored in said stored vendor information without transmitting said sensitive information to said transaction vendor.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein said transaction vendor is selected from said plurality of vendors.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein said authorizing step comprises the step of communicating with a credit vendor of said plurality of vendors to generate a transaction authorization data packet acceptable to said transaction vendor.