Business to contact linkage system

Systems and methods for capturing and maintaining business to contact links, where the links comprise a persistent and enduring association between business entities and individuals.

BACKGROUND

Various financial service providers extend credit services to individuals and businesses. In their investigation associated with such transactions, the financial service providers may wish to receive financial data related to credit activities, current assets, and current liabilities of the individual, as well as the financial health of the businesses associated with the individual. Commonly, this association of businesses to an individual may be determined by the financial service provider wishing to receive the financial information, and may be generally based on input from the individual applying to receive the credit services.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems and methods for capturing and maintaining business to contact links, where the links comprise a persistent and enduring association between business entities and individuals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The business to contact (B2C) linkage system described is designed to build a repository of B2C links, implement data management processes for the ongoing capture and maintenance of the links, and provide for the delivery of products that use the B2C links. The B2C links are a persistent and enduring association between individual information and business information, both of which may be separately stored in the overall B2C linkage system. In the following, individual information is referred to as having associated with it a personal identification number (PIN), and business information is referred to as having associated with it a business identification number (BIN). However, references to these information and identification numbers should be interpreted to include any other like data assets and/or identification numbers.

Example System Implementation

FIG. 1is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which a computing system100is in communication with a network160and various systems are also in communication with the network160. The computing system100may be used to implement systems and methods described herein. For example, the computing system100may be a business to contact (B2C) linkage system configured to provide an interface for financial service providers, or other entities interested in association between consumers and businesses (e.g., companies that are considering extending credit services to individuals and businesses), which are referred to herein individually or collectively as “requesting entities”. Although the description provided herein refers to individuals, consumers, or customers, the terms “user,” “individual,” “consumer,” and “customer” should be interpreted to include groups of individuals, such as, for example, married couples or domestic partners, organizations, groups, and business entities.

The computing system100includes, for example, a personal computer that is IBM, Macintosh, or Linux/Unix compatible or a server or workstation. In one embodiment, the computing system100comprises a server, a laptop computer, a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, a kiosk, or an audio player, for example. In one embodiment, the exemplary computing system100includes one or more central processing unit (“CPU”)105, which may each include a conventional or proprietary microprocessor. The computing system100further includes one or more memory130, such as random access memory (“RAM”) for temporary storage of information, one or more read only memory (“ROM”) for permanent storage of information, and one or more mass storage device120, such as a hard drive, diskette, solid state drive, or optical media storage device. Typically, the modules of the computing system100are connected using a standard based bus system180. In different embodiments, the standard based bus system could be implemented in Peripheral Component Interconnect (“PCI”), Microchannel, Small Computer System Interface (“SCSI”), Industrial Standard Architecture (“ISA”) and Extended ISA (“EISA”) architectures, for example. In addition, the functionality provided for in the components and modules of computing system100may be combined into fewer components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules.

The computing system100is generally controlled and coordinated by operating system software, such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server, Unix, Linux, SunOS, Solaris, or other compatible operating systems. In Macintosh systems, the operating system may be any available operating system, such as MAC OS X. In other embodiments, the computing system100may be controlled by a proprietary operating system. Conventional operating systems control and schedule computer processes for execution, perform memory management, provide file system, networking, I/O services, and provide a user interface, such as a graphical user interface (“GUI”), among other things.

The exemplary computing system100may include one or more commonly available input/output (I/O) devices and interfaces110, such as a keyboard, mouse, touchpad, and printer. In one embodiment, the I/O devices and interfaces110include one or more display devices, such as a monitor, that allows the visual presentation of data to a user. More particularly, a display device provides for the presentation of GUIs, application software data, and multimedia presentations, for example. The computing system100may also include one or more multimedia devices140, such as speakers, video cards, graphics accelerators, and microphones, for example.

In the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the I/O devices and interfaces110provide a communication interface to various external devices. In the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the computing system100is electronically coupled to a network160, which comprises one or more networks, such as one or more of a LAN, WAN, and/or the Internet, for example, via a wired, wireless, or combination of wired and wireless, communication link115. The network160communicates with various computing devices and/or other electronic devices via wired or wireless communication links.

According toFIG. 1, information is provided to the computing system100over the network160from one or more data sources including, for example, commercial repository162, consumer repository164. The information supplied by the various data sources may include credit data, demographic data, application information, product terms, accounts receivable data, financial statements, and/or other like data, for example. Such information may be provided to the commercial repository162and consumer repository164by other data structures such as a business information data structure172, business contact information data structure174, and the like. In one embodiment, the business information data structure172and the business contact information data structure174comprise data obtained from several other data structures, such as, for example, corporate record filings data structure, fictitious business name filings data structure, business license filings data structure, UCC filings data structure, judgments data structure, tax liens data structure, bankruptcies data structure, sales tax filings data structure. In some embodiments, records from the various source data structures may comprise different or additional data fields from one another. A skilled artisan will understand that the processes described herein may be modified to accommodate different forms of records. Some or all of these data sources may also be segmented to distinguish business information and business contact information. In one embodiment the consumer repository164comprises data obtained from a credit data structure and a consumer marketing data structure. Consumer credit and consumer marketing data may be handled differently, and the links identified according to the processes described herein may be divided along this boundary as well.

In addition to the devices that are illustrated inFIG. 1, the network160may communicate with other data sources or other computing devices. In addition, the data sources may include one or more internal and/or external data sources. In some embodiments, one or more of the data structures or data sources may be implemented using a relational database, such as Sybase, Oracle, CodeBase and Microsoft® SQL Server as well as other types of data structures such as, for example, a flat file data structure, an entity-relationship data structure, an object-oriented data structure, and/or a record-based data structure.

A client system184may be connected to the network160and used by a requesting entity to exchange information with the computing system100. For example, the client system184may be used to transmit information related to an individual or business requesting a credit service, and the computing system100may respond to the information received from the client system184by providing a report for display to the requesting entity using the client system184to facilitate the decision of the requesting entity on whether to extend credit to the individual or business. The client system184may be a desktop computer, a mobile computer, or any other mobile device such as a mobile phone or other similar handheld computing devices. The client system184may include the same or similar components to those discussed above with reference to the computing system100.

In one embodiment, the I/O devices and interfaces110further provide a communication interface to an internal persistent business to contact (B2C) data structure190. In the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the computing system100is coupled to a secured network161, such as a secured LAN, for example. The system communicates with the persistent B2C data structure190through the secured network161. In some embodiments, the persistent B2C data structure190is configured to communicate with additional computing devices over the network160or some other network, such as a LAN, WAN, or the Internet via a wired, wireless, or combination of wired and wireless, communication link.

In the embodiment ofFIG. 1, the computing system100also includes a business to contact (B2C) link module150and a link quality module155that may be stored in the mass storage device120as executable software codes that are executed by the CPU105. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, the computing system100is configured to execute the B2C link module150and the link quality module155among others, in order to handle various aspects for providing requesting entities with information to determine whether to extend credit services to individuals and/or businesses.

In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, Lua, C or C++. These modules may include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. A software module may be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or may be written in an interpreted programming language such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software modules may be callable from other modules or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software modules configured for execution on computing devices may be provided on a computer readable medium, such as a compact disc, digital video disc, flash drive, or any other tangible medium. Such software code may be stored, partially or fully, on a memory device of the executing computing device, such as the computing system100, for execution by the computing device. Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated that hardware modules may be comprised of connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein are preferably implemented as software modules, but may be represented in hardware or firmware. Generally, the modules described herein refer to logical modules that may be combined with other modules or divided into sub-modules despite their physical organization or storage.

FIG. 2is a sample user interface that may be provided to a requesting entity. The user interface202may be provided to a requesting entity (e.g., a company that requests information regarding business associations of an individual, John Smith) to indicate results of reconciliation of records by the computing system100, in accordance with one embodiment. A process may be performed on records in the commercial repository162in order to associate a single BIN with a single business. Those records that are determined to be multiple business records may be stored. Records that are determined to be multiple records corresponding to a single business, may also be stored, but are appended with a flag indicating the basis for determining that the records correspond to a single business.

Businesses having multiple records that are actually a single business may correspond to, for example, a single business stored with slight variations in name or address, or with conflicting information regarding an attribute such as for example industry code, annual sales, number of employees, the maximum credit to offer, and the like. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 2, a single business John's Bike Shop may exist, and four records may be present in the commercial repository162corresponding to this single business. Despite the variations in the records' name, address, annual sales figures, number of employees and maximum credit amount, the four records are associated with a single business by the B2C linkage system100through proper filtering.

The filtering may be done as follows. A BIN is selected and all of the records related to that BIN are accessed from commercial repository162. The records corresponding to each of the BINs may be processed iteratively or in parallel according to different embodiments.

In one embodiment, it is determined whether any of the selected records having the same BIN have matching business names. If the records do have matching business names then the records correspond to a single business and the non-matching records are dropped. The business name fields in records being compared are not required to be identical in order to be considered matching names. A rule set may be applied to determine a similarity level or to determine if they meet predetermined criteria and are considered to be matching. For example, a rule set may indicate that when at least 50% (or some other portion) of the words in the names are identical, then the names match. Certain words and characters may be filtered out of this determination. For example, common words and literals such as ‘AND’, ‘DDS’, ‘MD’, ‘&’, ‘ASSOC’, ‘ASSOCS’, ‘AT’, ‘LAW’ may be removed from consideration in the name matching process. Corporate literals such as ‘LLP’, ‘LLC’, ‘CORP’, and ‘INC’ may also be removed from the name matching process.

In some embodiments, multiple records may be indirectly matched. For example, if a first record ‘A’ is matched to a second record ‘B’ but not to a third record ‘C’, but the record ‘B’ is matched to the record ‘C’, then ‘A’ may be indirectly matched to ‘C’ as well. Other rule sets may be used to determine whether business names match.

While in some embodiments the non-matching records may be dropped or kept, in some embodiments all of the records are stored in the commercial repository162, but ‘dropped’ records are flagged with an exception. The exception flag may identify why the record is not a multiple-business record. For example, records that have matching business names may be flagged indicating that they have matching business names. Thus, these records would still be available but would not be identified as a multiple business record. One of the flagged records may be selected to represent the single business having multiple records.

If the records do not have matching business names, additional rules may be applied to determine whether or not records associated with a single ownership entity are multiple-business records. For example, it is determined whether there are at least two fields having different values, selected from all fields. The fields may be, for example the address, the phone number, the industry code, the annual sales, the number of employees, the name of the owner, the maximum amount of credit. Of course, other fields or a different number of fields may be used, and additional or alternative rules may be applied. In the embodiment shown, if two of the selected fields do not match, then the records are kept as multiple business records stored in commercial repository162. If there are not at least two different fields from these selected fields, then the process drops (flags and stores) the records. Thus, false positives (different BINs representing one business) are dropped from the commercial repository162, allowing for a more accurate determination of multiple-business owner data.

The B2C link module150and the link quality module155illustrated inFIG. 1are used to implement a B2C linkage system and method of linking business principals to their current and previous businesses. The B2C linkage system100can link hundreds of thousands of individual and business name and address variations, and can also designate a level of strength with each of the B2C links created. The links between individuals and businesses can be established based on source data, and can be maintained over time with a link confidence indication based on updates from public records, trades, and other sources. The B2C link itself may be a simple structure containing only the primary identity keys from the source systems concatenated to form a logical pair, a confidence indicator and a few attributes that describe how the link was formed. In one embodiment, all identifying attributes (name, address, etc.) remain in the source systems and do not reside in the B2C data structure.

In one embodiment, a requesting entity may input an individual applicant's information, including the individual's name and address, and the B2C linkage system100may link the individual's PIN with one more currently and previously affiliated BINs. By acknowledging the individual that is common between the consumer and business data structures, the individual's identity is used to link the information from the different sources. The B2C link captures associations between the consumer source system and business source system data assets that pivot around a central entity: the individual.

After the links are identified, the system may return the links to the requesting entity, with or without an indication of the confidence or strength of the links. The system may also return the business title of the individual for each linked business located, and/or commercial credit attributes for each business linked. The B2C linkage system may also provide audit and integrity information describing the creation and historical use of the B2C links as well as providing a means of defining and maintaining the rules that govern the management and delivery of the B2C links. The B2C links, when accessed at product delivery time, provide a means to share and exchange information across business processes by acting as a directory to traverse between sources and providing the system keys by which the product request can subsequently access the authorized content within those source domains. The B2C Linkage data structure may be physically separate and distinct from the source systems that contain the identity attributes necessary for comparison, matching and linking.

FIG. 3is a diagram showing various components of a business to contact (B2C) linkage system100and their interactions, in accordance with one embodiment. The B2C linkage system100shown includes a B2C system200, a business source system210, a business source data structure215, a business update system220, a business IQ system230, a consumer source system240, a rules maintenance system250, a management reporting system260, a B2C correction system270and a B2C data structure265.

The B2C system200may be referred to as the system of reference for products or requesting entities that need to access links between contacts and businesses. The B2C system200stores and maintains a list of PIN-BIN links. In one embodiment, the list is maintained in an entity relationship table. The business source system210may be referred to as the system of record that stores and maintains reported business-contact links, and is used as the source of data to establish and maintain PIN-BIN links in the B2C system200. In some embodiments, the business source system210includes a search engine to identify a contact that is reported as associated to a business.

The business update system220may be responsible for applying manual updates to business related information in the business source data structure215. The business update system220may also have a criteria-based selection and review function to support the manual correction process. The business update system220may include contact correction and/or manual update functionality to allow administrators of the B2C Linkage system100to delete, add, or change contact information. The business update system220may also allow administrators to be able to view existing data before and after applying corrections.

The business IQ system230provides an integrated portal to allow requesting entities to access products and services, including products regarding the business-to-contact (B2C) links. The business IQ system230may in some embodiments allow the requesting entity to request B2C links and view the results through the integrated customer portal. The consumer source system240may be used to build and maintain the PIN-BIN links in the B2C system200by identifying contacts reported as business contacts. The consumer source system240may include a consumer search engine (not shown) to identify the contacts.

The rules maintenance system250stores and maintains business rules used by the B2C linkage system100. The business rules may include rules for PIN-BIN link usage, as well as rules for PIN-BIN link quality derivation. In some embodiments, the rules maintenance system250may include a user interface (not shown) to allow administrators of the B2C linkage system100to establish and maintain the business rules used by the system. The Rules Maintenance System250may store and maintain link usage rules and link quality rules. The link usage rules and the link quality rules may be based on various business rules as determined by the administrators of the B2C linkage system100.

The management reporting system260is used to generate link usage reports on a periodic basis. Similar to the rules maintenance system250, the management reporting system260may also include a user interface (not shown) to allow administrators of the B2C Link Module system150to specify and generate management reports. The B2C correction system270may be responsible for applying corrections and manual updates to PIN-BIN links. The B2C correction system270may allow the application of manual updates to the data in the B2C data structure265. The manual update functionality may allow administrators of the B2C Linkage system100to delete PIN-BIN links or to update attributes of existing PIN-BIN links. Through the B2C Correction System270, the administrators of the B2C Linkage system100may also be able to view onfile data before and after applying corrections.

The B2C data structure265stores various types of information used by the systems of the B2C linkage system100. The B2C data structure265may include all PIN-BIN links, with an indication associated with each link representing whether the link is active/valid or inactive/invalid. The links may also include a link quality score, which is a derived score to denote the quality of the link. The quality of the link may, in some embodiments, be an indication of the likelihood that the linked business and individual truly do have an association (either current or past). The derivation of the link quality score may be based on several factors, including for example who reported the business to contact relationship, the reliability of the reporter, the number of times the business to contact relationship was reported, and the like. Some other factors which may affect the usage of a link, and which may be stored in the B2C data structure265include: the type of relationship between the contact identified by the PIN and the business identified by the BIN; the legal structure of the business (for example, whether the business is a corporation, a partnership, a sole proprietorship, etc); the dates the relationship between the contact and the business was first and last reported; whether the relationship between the contact and the business is actively reported by at least one public record source, and the like.

The B2C data structure265may also store, in the transaction that reported the PIN-BIN link, information pointing to the actual business name and address in a data structure of business information, as well as pointing to the actual contact name and address in a data structure of consumer information. The information pointed may be stored in the business source data structure215and/or the consumer source system240. The B2C data structure265may also store historical snapshots of the PIN-BIN link information at various points in time. The B2C data structure265may also store audit information about a correction and/or manual update to a PIN-BIN link. The B2C data structure265may also store an audit trail of links that were requested, and an associated link usage rules table to determine whether or not to deliver a requested link.

The various components of the B2C linkage system100interact with each other in various ways. For example, business to contact links may be extracted from the business source data structure215by the business source system210and sent to the B2C system200. The B2C system200may then use this information to establish and maintain PIN-BIN links. Similarly, supporting information about the PIN-BIN links in the B2C data structure265may be extracted from the business source data structure215by the business source system210and sent to the B2C system200. The B2C system200may then use this information to evaluate the quality of the PIN-BIN links in the B2C data structure265.

The business source system210and the B2C system200may also interact when the business source system210merges two or more BINs together, or splits a BIN into two or more BINs, and passes this merge or split information to the B2C system200. The B2C system200may then update the merge information in the B2C data structure265, and identify potentially invalid BINS due to the splits. When a B2C link is requested by a client, the business source system210may determine the businesses that are linked to a contact by generating a request to the B2C system200containing the PIN that identifies the contact. The business source system210then receives from the B2C system200the BINs that are linked to the PIN as stored in the B2C data structure265. The business source system210may then use this information to assemble/display information about the businesses related to the PIN. The B2C system200also ensures that the PIN in the B2C data structure265is updated in case of PIN merges.

Similarly, when a B2C link is requested by a requesting entity, the business source system210determines the contacts that are linked to a business by generating a request to the B2C system200containing the BIN that identifies the business. The business source system210then receives from the B2C system200the PINs that are linked to the BIN as stored in the B2C data structure265. The business source system210may then use this information to assemble/display information about the contacts related to the BIN.

The PIN-BIN link stored in the B2C data structure265may no longer be valid if the BIN is split into multiple BINs in the business source data structure215or if the PIN is split into multiple PINs in the consumer source system240. The business source system210informs the B2C system200of BIN splits. The consumer source system240may likewise inform the B2C system200of PIN splits. When a PIN-BIN link is identified as potentially invalid, the B2C system200will generate a B2C link request to the business source system210. The business source system210may then resend B2C Link candidates related to the potentially invalid PIN-BIN link. These transactions enable the B2C system to derive and store the PIN-BIN link that represents the current PIN and the current BIN.

The B2C system200submits PIN requests as part of processing B2C Link candidates from the business source system210. A PIN Request contains the contact identification information. The B2C system200receives the PIN in a response from the consumer source system240. The response contains the PIN that the consumer source system240identified based on the contact identification information in the request. The response is used by the B2C system200to establish PIN-BIN links in the B2C data structure265.

Another type of data flow from the B2C system200to the consumer source system240may be as follows. In consumer source system240, PINs are sometimes merged together with one of the PINs selected as the surviving PIN; the rest of the PINs in the merged set then become obsolete. The B2C system200ensures that the PINs stored in the B2C data structure265are updated with the survivor PIN in case of a merge situation. To accomplish this, the B2C system200may periodically send a file of PINs to consumer source system240and consumer source system240may send the new survivor PIN when the PIN has been merged.

In some embodiments, the B2C system200may generate a list of B2C links for manual review. The B2C system200may have a process to periodically assess links, check for contradictory information, detect suspicious links, and the like. Based on business rules, the B2C system200may identify links that should be reviewed manually and send them to the business update system220.

In some embodiments, when a Business IQ system230requesting entity requests to view the businesses related to a business contact, Business IQ system230may generate a request to the B2C system200containing the PIN that identifies the contact. Business source system210may then receive the BINs that are linked to the PIN as stored in the B2C data structure265. These BINs may then be used by Business IQ system230to display information about the businesses related to the PIN.

When a business IQ system230requesting entity requests to view the business contacts related to a business, the business IQ system230generates a request to the B2C system200containing the BIN that identifies the business. Business IQ system230receives the PINs that are linked to the BIN as stored in the B2C data structure265. The results may be used by Business IQ system230to display information about the contacts related to the BIN.

In some embodiments, the business source system210may submit a individual identification request containing the contact identification information or the PIN. In response, the consumer source system240may return the PIN with the best identification attributes (name, address, phone, etc.) that consumer source system240has for the contact inquired upon.

There may be several data suppliers or contributors that report B2C links in conjunction with the primary data regarding businesses and or contacts being reported. For example, a purpose of trade files from trade contributors may be to report account level information. However, trade contributors can also report the owners, guarantors, executives and other individuals that are contacts of the business that owns the account. Business source system210may store B2C links from the data suppliers or contributors in addition to any new supplier files that business source system210processes.

FIG. 4is a flowchart showing operational flow of the B2C linkage system in accordance with one embodiment. Depending on the embodiment, the method ofFIG. 4may include fewer or additional blocks and/or the blocks may be performed in a different order than is illustrated. For ease of explanation, the method will be described herein as performed by the computing system100and, more specifically, by various modules executing on system100; however, the method may be performed by any other suitable computing devices.

In block301, the B2C linkage system100may gather contact information. The contact information may be gathered from various contributors, such as vendors, public record sources, administrators and other users of the B2C linkage system. In some embodiments, the contact information may be stored in a data structure of files on credit-active individuals, such as for example a data structure in consumer source system240. The contact information gathered may be validated before storage in the consumer source system240. In various embodiments, the validation may include a verification of the information with a second source, internal or external. In some embodiments, contact information may also be derived or inferred based on gathered information.

Next, at block302, qualifying contact information is extracted from the business source data structure215, where business information associated with a contact is assigned a business identification number (BIN). Qualifying contact information may include business information associated with the business contact, such as the BIN. The BIN extracted may then be forwarded to the B2C Link Module150for possible matching of the BIN to a PIN in the consumer source system240. The matching may be based on an identification of the individual designated by the PIN also being a principal, e.g., of a given business with an associated BIN. In some embodiments, the matching may be enabled by a search engine in the consumer source system240. When the B2C Link Module150finds a matching PIN to the contact information received, a link may be established, updated or deleted in the PIN-BIN links stored on the B2C data structure265at block303. In various embodiments, the links may be established, updated or deleted by applying certain rules of construction. The rules of construction may be based on, for example, a substantiated link, a legitimate goal, clear meaning, contradictory evidence, right to capture, right to use, and the like.

For example, a link can be established or altered only when sufficient intent exists to justify the creation or alteration. A sufficient intent may be that there was information regarding the link between the individual and the business identified obtained from a public record source, or that information obtained from contributed sources was corroborated by public record sources, or that the information was inferred from public record source. In some embodiments, a link can be established or altered if there is a clear or unambiguous continuous line of sight that reasonably demonstrates the sufficient intent under which the link was created, the justification for the continued existence of the link, or that maintenance has occurred with information concerning the context and circumstances of each link provided upon creation or alteration. A link may also be established, updated or deleted based on contradictory evidence, where the contradictory evidence may be assigned sufficient priority such that it serves to diminish the quality of a link, or to dissolve the link. The contradictory evidence may in some instances consist of a lack of positive reporting of activity for a given link.

Once the links are established or updated at block303, they are evaluated for a quality and confidence score at block304. Further details of the evaluation of the link quality and confidence score are described in reference toFIG. 5below. In various embodiments, each link may be periodically evaluated and assigned attributes that further describe the link, its quality and/or fitness for use, including a confidence index for the link, the link type and source, and/or integrity dates and information.

Once the links are established and quality and confidence scores are assigned, the B2C linkage system100may receive requests for B2C links at block305. Requests received are validated, authorized and processed according to usage rules. A usage log of the requests may also be generated and stored.

At block310, processes to maintain the links, as well as to perform active surveillance of validity and accuracy are performed, and the links are adjusted while the method performs the process at blocks301-305. At block310, usage rules may be defined and maintained and an audit of all link usage may also be maintained, providing a complete view of each link and its full transactional lineage.

FIG. 5is a flowchart illustrating a process for determining link quality in accordance with one embodiment. This process may be performed by the B2C linkage system100at block304ofFIG. 4, for example. Depending on the embodiment, the method ofFIG. 5may include fewer or additional blocks and/or the blocks may be performed in a different order than is illustrated. For ease of explanation, the method will be described herein as performed by the computing system100and, more specifically, by various modules executing on system100; however, the method may be performed by any other suitable computing devices.

In block501, the B2C linkage system100identifies a possible link between an individual and a business after having received information regarding an individual, such as from a requesting entity that is contemplating a relationship with the individual. For each link identified, the link quality module155of the B2C linkage system100may determine, at block502, the source of the link information that identifies the individual as being associated with the business. As described above, the link information may have been received from one or more sources, such as sources providing information regarding corporate record filings, fictitious business name filings, business license filings, UCC filings, judgments tax liens, bankruptcies, sales tax filings, consumer credit data, and/or consumer marketing.

Once the source(s) of the possible link is determined, the link quality module155may determine a link score based on at least the source of the information, the freshness of the data received from the source, and other factors determined to be relevant in the business rules. In one embodiment, the link quality module155may not consider all information in a uniform manner. In some embodiments, information sources may have respective confidence levels that are used in developing link scores for links based on information received from the respective sources. For example, public record sources, including for example corporate registrations, fictitious business name filings, UCC filings, sales tax filings, and the like, may have a higher confidence level and, thus, B2C links based on information from public record sources may have higher scores than links based on information from other, lower confidence level sources, such as information gathered at a trade show linking an individual to a business. Furthermore, individual public record sources, such as those noted above, may have separate confidence levels, such that B2C links identified by those sources are assigned link qualities based on the respective confidence level of the particular public record source.

In some embodiments, if the recency of data received from a given source exceeds a configurable threshold of time (e.g., set by the requesting entity and/or the provider of the B2C linkage system100), then that B2C link may be assigned a lower score than a link identified in data that has been received more recently and does not exceed the configurable threshold. In some embodiments, the data received from a given source may be assigned an expiration time after which the data may be completely disregarded, or given a link quality score of zero, for example. This step may be repeated for each source identified, as indicated by block504.

In one embodiment, the data sources are periodically accessed in order to retrieve new information in which possible business to contact links may be identified. For example, the provider of the B2C linkage system100may have a relationship with various data sources, such that periodic updates to the data sources are provided to the B2C linkage system100either in a push or pull architecture. For example, some data sources may be configured to automatically provide updated information to the B2C linkage system100on a periodic basis, such as daily, weekly, monthly, etc., while other data sources are accessed by the B2C linkage system100periodically in order to identify and/or retrieve data indicative of possible B2C links. In one embodiment, one or more of the data sources are queried in real-time in response to a request for B2C links of a particular individual from a requesting entity. In this embodiment, the most updated data regarding the B2C links of the individual may be identified and conveyed to the requesting entity.

Then, at block505, an overall link score may be determined based on the individual source scores and an adjustment for corroborating sources. For example, if information regarding a particular B2C link is not available from a public records source, but it is available from multiple non-public record source, then link score may be adjusted upward to account for the corroboration of the multiple sources. Similarly, if the same B2C link is identified by a public record source and a non-public record source, then the link quality score may be adjusted upward based on corroboration from the public record source, and the link quality score may be available for subsequent searches.

FIG. 6is a flowchart showing a process for providing a response to a request from a requesting entity in accordance with one embodiment. Depending on the embodiment, the method ofFIG. 6may include fewer or additional blocks and/or the blocks may be performed in a different order than is illustrated. For ease of explanation, the method will be described herein as performed by the computing system100and, more specifically, by various modules executing on system100; however, the method may be performed by any other suitable computing devices.

In block601, the B2C linkage system100may receive individual information from a requesting entity using the B2C linkage system. In various embodiments, the requesting entity may be a financial service provider wishing to extend credit services to individuals and businesses. In its investigation associated with such transactions, the financial service provider may wish to receive financial data related to credit activities, current assets, and current liabilities of the individual, as well as the financial health of the businesses associated with the individual. The individual information received from the requesting entity may include a individual's name. In some embodiments, the individual's address may also be provided. In other embodiments, more information regarding the individual may optionally be provided by the requesting entity. In various embodiments, the information and request by the requesting entity may be provided through a user interface of a browser or standalone software that is in communication with the B2C linkage system100.

Next, at block602, the B2C linkage system200may determine the PIN of the individual. As explained above, in some embodiments, the PINs associated with various individuals may be stored in the consumer source system240.

Next at block603, the PIN is searched in the persistent B2C data structure. As described above, the B2C data structure265may store information regarding links between individuals and businesses, such as by establishing PIN-BIN links between the individuals and businesses. The information regarding the individuals may be stored in the consumer source system240, and the information regarding the respective businesses may be stored in the business source system210. For each occurrence of the PIN-BIN link in the B2C data structure265, information regarding the business associated with the BIN may be obtained from the business source system210. For example, the B2C data structure265may not include details regarding each of the businesses associated with a PIN-BIN link. However, the details of a business may be retrieved from business source system210by requesting information regarding a particular BIN of interest. With this configuration of data sources, the business information is not exposed simply by accessing the B2C data structure265; rather, the business information is maintained in the business source system210and is separately accessed once a BIN of interest is identified in the B2C data structure265.

Some of the BINs associated with a particular individual (e.g., BINs associated with a particular PIN) may be associated with businesses that are no longer operational (e.g., gone out of business, filed bankruptcy, merged with another business, etc.). Thus, the BINs associated with a particular individual may include any number of currently active businesses and/or inactive businesses. The PIN-BIN links, as well as the audit information about a correction and/or manual update to a PIN-BIN link may be available in the B2C data structure265.

Once the current and historical PIN-BIN links are identified, then at block605, part or all of the identified links between businesses and the particular individual may be provided to the requesting entity, such as in a user interface similar to that ofFIG. 7. In some embodiments, the process illustrated inFIG. 6may occur in real-time. In some embodiments, the B2C linkage system100may apply link usage rules to determine whether or not to deliver a requested link. For example, in some embodiments, links with scores above a certain threshold may be returned to the requesting entity. The threshold may be configurable by the administrator of the system or by the requesting entity.

FIG. 7is a sample report showing current and historical businesses associated with an individual according to some embodiments. In various embodiments, the reports may include identifying information700of an individual and the individual's current and previous businesses710. Although not shown, up to five of the owner or principal's most recent addresses may also be shown, as well as other individual identification data useful to assist the requesting entity in identifying jurisdictions that may contain information on the individual.

The report may also include the strength threshold for each link711between a business (e.g., a particular BIN) and the individual. The report may also in include the individual's title with each of the identified businesses. In some embodiments, links displayed to the requesting entity may only be the subset of links identified which have link quality scores above a configurable threshold. The threshold may be configured by the administrator of the B2C linkage system100, or by the requesting entity. For example, the thresholds for link scores may be numbers between 0-100, or 0-10, a range similar to credit score ranges (e.g.,340-840), or any other range. In some embodiments, the link quality scores are not provided to the requesting entity, but the links are filtered to include only those having a minimum link quality score. In other embodiments, the actual link quality scores are provided to the requesting entity. In other embodiments, the link quality scores are generalized into groups, such as high, medium, and low confidence levels that are provided to the requesting entity.

In some embodiments, the B2C links may be used to deliver a business owner profile, which may identify the current and previous businesses and individual business partners with whom a small business owner has been associated. In addition, alerts can be generated as the business owner or their business affiliates appear on governmental watch lists and fraud alerts. An expanded version of the report can be provided that includes the business owner's consumer credit report in addition to their affiliation information. This type of product can help a requesting entity with authentication and fraud detection, commercial collections, insurance claims and even tax collection activities.

In some other embodiments, the B2C linkage system may allow requesting entities to receive blended reports without having to input individual information on the owners. A blended report may include the consumer credit report of the individual and the business score associated with the business associated with the individual, as indicated by the requesting entity. These types of reports can automatically be generated by requesting entities ordering a commercial report for a given business. Requesting entities can opt to receive a blended report whenever a linkage to the business owner is present as their default setting or can be prompted at the point of sale before receiving the blended information.

Another type of report may provide requesting entities with the ability to view the name, address and summary trade data of businesses that are linked to a business they inquire upon through common ownership.

The B2C linkage system may also deliver a product which provides linkage information in a batch environment to enable businesses to quickly identify:Undisclosed business interests to understand the global business liabilities associated with a business owner;Individuals that are currently a customer or have been a customer in the past under a different business identity;Relationships between a business owner and other business associates to identify potential fraud;Businesses that have moved to a new operating location for commercial collection purposes;The performance of businesses during a business owner's affiliation with them to identify potential bust out fraud risks.

FIG. 8shows a sample report showing some commercial credit metrics for a current business linked to an individual. Some key metrics may include the sum of current balance810and recent high credit820to show current and potential exposure of the business. In some embodiments, a commercial risk score830may also be provided for current business affiliations, as well as an indication of the average days beyond terms (DBT)840to illustrate the payment performance of each businesses under management

SUMMARY

All of the methods and processes described above may be embodied in, and partially or fully automated via, software code modules executed by one or more general purpose computers. For example, the methods described herein may be performed by an Information Display Computing Device and/or any other suitable computing device. The methods may be executed on the computing devices in response to execution of software instructions or other executable code read from a tangible computer readable medium. A tangible computer readable medium is a data storage device that can store data that is readable by a computing system. Examples of computer readable mediums include read-only memory, random-access memory, other volatile or non-volatile memory devices, CD-ROMs, magnetic tape, flash drives, and optical data storage devices.