Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
  • G06Q40/02—Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
  • G06F16/20—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor of structured data, e.g. relational data
  • G06F16/25—Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems
  • G06F16/258—Data format conversion from or to a database
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management

Definitions

• This invention relates to the common processing of data held of disparate data processing systems, and in particular to the extraction of data for a common purpose from disparate systems running on different platforms.
• banking core deposit systems have been limited to specific geographical areas defined by the bank's own operations and by non- integrated purchases. No cross-system processing would occur between core banking systems until a conversion was performed to integrate the geographic region into the larger entity. Such a conversion is extremely expensive and time consuming and may require a complete replacement of all software and hardware in a particular region and pose very complex data migration problems. In practice, this integration often does not take place.
• the present invention aims to address the problems discussed above and to provide for integration of non-common platforms to deliver a single solution across multiple platforms.
• a plurality of data processing platforms each have a records database.
• Software at each of the plurality of data processing platforms extracts data from records stored at the data processing system to form a first data extract file and forms a second file having data relating to at least some of the records stored at each of the plurality of databases.
• a common data processing platform processes the first extract file and the second file received from the plurality of different data processing platforms and comprises software for combining the first data extract files received from each of the plurality of platforms into a combined data extract file, and software for processing the second files for each platform against the combined data extract file, thereby to identify records from which data in the first data extract files was extracted that have a predetermined property
• Software is also provided for processing the second data files relating to identified records including formatting the second data files for the data processing system on which their respective records reside
• the software at each of the data processing platforms formats the second data files from each of the plurality of data processing platforms to a common format
• the software for processing the second data fifes relating to identified records comprises software for combining the identified second data files into a single file, the reformatting being performed on the single file
• the first data extract files may include an indication of whether the data record from which the data in the file is extracted is eligible for a predetermined operation
• the data in the first data extract files is extracted from account records and the eligibility is an indication of whether the account can receive transactions
• the first data extract files include data extracted from each record held on the data processing platform at which they are created
• the second data files may comprise monetary transfer transaction data which may include source account data and destination account data
• the software running at the common data processing platform may process the monetary transfer transaction data of the second data files against the combined data extract file to identify transactions with ineligible destination account data
• Embodiments of the invention are advantageous in any environment in which data is held on a number of different data processing platforms and needs to be processed in the same manner
• the creation of extract files from the various platforms avoids the need to send the complete master records to the common platform
• the master records may be bank account records each of which may be a large as 10000 bytes per record
• Embodiments of the invention avoid the need to transfer large files with large record sizes which otherwise may be prevented by data transfer rates and available storage units attached to any single platform
• embodiments of the invention avoid the problems associated with handling incompatible file formats used for records on different platforms that arise if complete records are transferred Handling of these different records would require multiple processing paths within the decision engine at the common platform based on the source platform which is highly undesirable
• the use of a data extract file at each platform to create a small record with only the necessary data elements resolves the data transfer/storage issues and eliminates the need to have multiple processing paths within the decision engine at the common platform
• FIG. 1 is a schematic overview of a system embodying the invention.
• Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating the steps performed in an embodiment of the invention
• the principles underlying the invention are applicable to any environment in which it is desirable to provide a common solution across a plurality of non-common platforms
• the specific example to be described is given in relation to the banking industry and relates to a scheme by which customers using a debit card for purchase have amounts spent on the card rounded up to the nearest whole amount That round up amount is then credited to a savings account with the same bank
• the savings account may be held by a different party
• the bank may offer incentives to encourage customers to participate, such as matching the amount transferred to the savings account up to a certain predetermined amount over a period of time
• the method is described in detail in PCT/US2006/030362 the contents of which are incorporated by reference
• This example is illustrative only and the general principles underlying the invention are more broadly applicable
• the savings account to which round-up amounts are credited is not necessarily in the same name as the current or checking account, there is no
• the requirement to identify closed recipient accounts poses a considerable technical problem. This requirement arises from the possibility that a customer may specify a closed account for receipt of round-up amounts or that a specified account may have become closed making it no longer possible to transfer round-up amounts to the specified account. As the receiving account may not be held by the current account holder, the current account holder may not be aware that the receiving account has been closed. In the past, this type of problem has been dealt with by producing a report of non-posted transactions, where the receiving account is closed and then manually processing the transactions on the list. The present invention automates this process and provides a technical solution which checks account status across different platforms for the ability to accept posted round-up transactions. The manner in which this is achieved is described in more detail below.
• the problem of supporting incentives such as the offer by a bank to match round-up amounts transferred to a savings account up to a certain value and/or for a limited period of time may be solved by providing a database having central functionality with access point for each of the platforms which require access to the database.
• the problems of viewing transactions data to show which transactions were rounded up and by how much across the multiple platforms may also be solved by the central functionality database.
• the database interfaces with each of the platforms and takes data from existing data warehouses and accounting systems to determine which transactions are eligible for rounding up.
• the database then manipulates the data and flags which transactions were used. This information is sent to a repository where it is matched with the day's transactions in the repository database for online viewing.
• FIG. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a cross-platform data extraction system embodying the invention.
• the system comprises a plurality of platforms 10(i) to 10( ⁇ ) which contain data required to implement the round-up process described in PCT/US2006/030362.
• Each of these platforms comprises a deposit system and in the case of a nationwide or EU wide system, these may each be regional or national deposit systems.
• a data extract is formed file from the account records which contains the following information:
• the latter status is an indication of whether the account is eligible to receive monetary transactions and is therefore essential information in the round-up transfer process.
• the extract files are both created and stored at the regional platforms 10(i) to 10(n) and are shown at 12(i) to 12(n) in Figure 1.
• each platform forms an extract file which has the minimal data described above for each account held on the platform.
• N extract files will be prepared, one for each of the platforms. It will be appreciated that it would be possible to split any of these filed into a number of separate files but a single file is easier to process. Only a small amount of the data stored in eachof the account records is extracted. Thus, the data extract file is small compared to the total dataheld in the account records
• a file is also created by each platform which contains information needed to create monetary transfer transactions. This file contains transaction information for those checking accounts which have a roundup transaction for that processing day
• This file is formatted to the specification of a common input file which may be used for cross platform transfers
• Such file formats are well known as the industry has for many years been able to transfer monetary amounts from one platform to another and from bank to bank
• a suitable file format is the Fidelity Financial Systems intersystem transfer monetary input file This file includes the following information for account on which there is a transaction
• the first files of the first set 12( ⁇ ) to 12(n) are data extract files which may be viewed as account status files and the files of the second set 14( ⁇ ) to 14(n) are monetary transfer information files
• a given account may or may not contribute to the monetary transfer information file on a given day, depending on whether there is any activity on the file
• a given account only has a single monetary transfer on a given day, that transfer being the sum of all round-ups created
• Figure 1 shows a common platform 16 which includes a decision engine and receives the two files for each processing entity
• the suitable platform is a single mainframe LPAR cluster maintained at a single processing site
• File transfer may be performed using the NDM piocess NDM (Network Data Mover) is a well known process for transfer of files between large computer platforms and is widely used in the financial services industry
• NDM Network Data Mover
• the common platform 16 receives via NDM, two files from each of the entities on each platform 10( ⁇ ) to 10(n)
• the account extract files from each processing entity or platform are combined into a single VSAM file which is used to determine whether the receiving accounts are eligible to receive the monetary transaction.
• VSAM Virtual Storage Access Method
• IBM file management system a well-known IBM file management system.
• a single file is created which contains the account eligibility files from all of the platforms 10(i) to 10(n).
• the VSAM file is also, therefore, an account extract file.
• this combined account extract file is shown at 18.
• the common platform now has a combined account extract file and separate monetary input transaction files for each of the platforms 10(i) to 10(n). This enables transactions where the receiving account is not eligible to be identified and the transfer not made.
• the receiving account may not be eligible because it does not exist or because its account status in the account extract file indicates that it is not eligible to receive-monetary transactions.
• This function is achieved by processing the monetary input transaction file for each platform or entity separately against the combined account extract file. Where the account status in the combined extract file shows ineligibility, the receiving account details in the combined extract file are changed to the sending account. This means that the monetary amount to be transacted is effectively returned to the sending account. Thus, the debit previously posted to this sending account is reversed as the amounts will not be posted to the recipient account.
• This process also alters the transaction description and the posting transaction code.
• These transaction descriptions reflect the various dispositions of the transaction. Transactions that post the roundup amount to the savings account will have different descriptions from transactions that are returned to the checking account due to the savings account being in an ineligible status. Posting transaction codes are defined within the specific deposit systems. These codes tell the deposit system which options to use in posting the transaction.
• This process occurs once a day, after all the various deposit systems have completed the daily processing.
• This input file is formed at the common platform and is shown as 20 in Figure 1.
• the file contains transaction details for accounts which could be held on any of the platforms 10(i) to 10(n).
• the file then needs to be processed to create reformatted monetary transactions and general ledger transactions. This process may be performed by the Fidelity intersystem transfer application referred to above.
• FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the steps in the file processing operation described above
• each of the platforms creates the transaction eligibility extract file and at step 102 each of the platforms creates the monetary transaction file
• the common platform determines, for each transaction, whether the receiving account is eligible and if not, at step 1 14 performs the account destination switch described above If the receiving account is eligible, processing is continued and all the eligible transactions are combined into a single file at step 116
• These files are reformatted at step 1 18 to create the correct file format for each destination deposit application
• each of the platforms receives transaction data relating to accounts held on its platform and in a format that is compatible with the platform
• the bank enables the bank to operate incentive schemes which provide the same incentives for all customers irrespective of geographical location or account type. For example, in the round-up system described, it enables the bank to credit the savings account selected by the customer with an amount equal to that transferred by the round-up operation, or any other amount as desired, subject to a limit in the amount credited over a given period of time and/or the period of time for which the incentive is available.
• the creation of extract files from the various deposit platforms avoids the need to send the complete account master records to the common platform.
• the account master records can be a large as 10000 bytes per record. Transferring large files with large record sizes is inhibited by data transfer rates and available storage units attached to any single platform.
• Account master records from different deposit platforms have incompatible file layouts. Handling of these different records would require multiple processing paths within the decision engine at the common platform based on the source deposit system which is highly undesirable. Allowing each deposit system to create a small record with only the necessary data elements, resolves both the data transfer/storage issues and the need to have multiple processing paths within the decision engine at the common platform.

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• 2007
  • 2007-02-06 CA CA2677147A patent/CA2677147C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-02-06 CN CN2007800509965A patent/CN101632077B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-02-06 EP EP07710465A patent/EP2126729A4/de not_active Ceased
  • 2007-02-06 WO PCT/US2007/061694 patent/WO2008111965A2/en not_active Ceased

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