METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REAL-TIME CONTRACTS, ADMINISTRATION, AND FINANCIAL CONTROL TO PROCESS ELECTRONIC CREDIT APPLICATIONS AND INSURANCE SERVICES VIA A GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

Abstract: The present invention provides easy, reliable, and efficient systems and methods for processing credit applications, for consolidating finance and insurance services, and/or for providing administrative and management tools. The systems and methods may advantageously be utilized at the point of sale of a durable good, such as a motor vehicle. In different possible embodiments of the present invention, the systems and methods may be utilized to perform one or different combinations of the following tasks: (1) generate a price quote for finance and insurance; (2) facilitate on-line credit application processing; (3) provide for electronic signature capture; (4) facilitate printing on plain paper; (5) provide integration with external systems, such as dealer systems; (6) provide on-line approval status information; (7) provide detailed reports for finance, insurance, inventory, tracking, and other administrative matters; (8) allow for real-time system modifications; (9) utilize web-based technology; (10) utilize internally maintained data; (11) provide integration with other internal systems; and/or (12) provide quick quote capabilities for a loan or a lease or for insurance. In so doing, the present invention can advantageously (1) minimize manual entry of applications; (2) minimize application errors due to multiple entries; (3) minimize time between submitting applications and receiving responses; (4) provide similar sets of financial data to the dealer, the financial institution, and the insurer; (5) consolidate a price-quote and payment scheduled for a loan or a lease, taxes, and insurance; (6) maintain real-time tracking and inventory, and/or (7) store data that is accessible by a communications network connected to different hardware and software.

Description: TITLE OF THE INVENTION METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REAL-TIME CONTRACTS, ADMINISTRATION, AND FINANCIAL CONTROL TO PROCESS ELECTRONIC CREDIT APPLICATIONS AND INSURANCE SERVICES VIA A GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 60/115,667 filed January 13, 1999, and entitled "Method For Point-Of-Sale, Real-Time Automatic Determination Of Price Quote For Lease, Loan And Insurance." BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to the fields of electronic commerce, data processing, and business management. More particularly, the present invention relates to electronic methods and systems to process an application for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance in a fast, reliable, and efficient manner. In addition, the present invention maintains and reports point-of-sale information on contract, administration, and financial matters. 2. Background To obtain financing and insurance of major consumer or commercial purchases, an applicant generally completes a credit application. It may also be necessary for the applicant to complete any State or Federally required forms, provide insurance information, provide collateral or trade-in information, and/or provide financial data, such as, for example, tax returns, references, assets, income, expenditures, debts, employment history, and the like. Typically, this is a time-consuming and inefficient process that often results in numerous errors and miscalculations due to interactions with different parties each providing a different product or service, from vagueness in instructions, and from multiple entries into multiple different computer or manual forms systems. For example, in a motor vehicle transaction, when an applicant (i.e., customer) applies for financing to purchase a tractor trailer, one or more of the following events generally occur: (1) the applicant fills out a credit application with a dealer; (2) a dealer assesses any collateral or trade-ins to provide to the financial institution; (3) the dealer forwards the application to a financial institution; (4) the financial institution enters the credit information and gathers a credit report on the applicant; and/or (5) the financial institution performs a detailed credit analysis regarding approval of the application and assessment of the collateral or trade-in value. If the credit application is approved, there may be one or more additional steps, including: (1) establishing a payment schedule with the financial institution; (2) setting up an automatic electronic bank draft or credit card payment with the financial institution; (3) contacting an insurance agent and filling out an application for insurance; (4) transferring the insurance application to an insurer; (5) establishing a payment schedule with the insurer or insurance agent. As used in the art, the term "financial institution" is interchangeable with the terms "funding source," "lending institution," "lender," "lending source," "funding institution," and/or "bank." Furthermore, when a dealer sells a vehicle (e.g., automobile, tractor, trailer, bus, van, heavy equipment, construction equipment, etc.) one of the important services it may provide to its customers is financing. To provide this service, a dealer typically has an agreement with one or more financial institutions, including financial institutions affiliated with a manufacturer whose products are sold by the dealer. Often, the dealer and the financial institution have a business agreement wherein the dealer agrees to provide indirect finance application processing and funding. As used herein, the term "indirect financing" involves any financial transaction (e.g., a loan, a lease, or other financing to purchase a durable good) which is originated by an entity other than the financial institution. For instance, a dealer initiates financial transactions for its customers (i.e., completes the credit application with a customer and transmits the completed application to a financial institution), but a financial institution actually funds the financial transactions. The dealer takes credit application information from its customer, prepares indirect financing applications (hereinafter also referred to as "credit applications" or simply as the "application"), and forwards each application to the financial institution. Furthermore, the dealer has the option of forwarding each application to multiple financial institutions to provide competitive financing to its customer. Currently, the dealer either manually writes a credit application or enters the application data into a local computer system or local computer network. If the application is entered into the local computer system or local computer network, the application is printed onto paper and the paper application is faxed to the financial institution. Further, after the financial institution receives the paper credit application by fax, the financial institution, typically, will manually enter the application data into its credit application processing system. Any changes later supplied by the dealer would also have to be manually entered. Thus, the manual entry of credit application data by the dealer and the financial institution creates many potential opportunities for errors and delays in the credit application processing including the approval or disapproval decision of a credit application. As can be further appreciated, the manual entry of application data into the credit processing system at the financial institution requires additional financial institution personnel. Accordingly, dealer staff must wait for the financial institution personnel to enter the credit application into their credit application processing system, pull a credit bureau report and other financial information on the applicant, and then process the credit application data. The dealer staff must keep track of the status of each submitted application, including when the application was sent and whether a funding decision has been made to approve or decline the applicant. This results in a substantial record keeping burden on the dealer. This burden is further magnified when credit application volume is significantly increased, such as, for example, during sales promotions, seasonal fluctuations, and/or market conditions. Thus, a need exists for a point-of-sale credit application process to solve the above problems, as well as to provide additional flexibility and functionality in the management of the credit application process, to provide insurance services, to provide inventory tracking, to provide warranty registration, to provide an automated method to replenish dealer supply, and/or to provide marketing information. A need also exists for systems and methods that will enable data collected and accumulated during a credit application process to be mined and utilized in management and administrative functions. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To overcome these problems, the present invention provides easy, reliable, and efficient methods and systems for processing credit applications, for consolidating finance and insurance services, and/or for providing administrative and management tools. In an embodiment of the methods and systems of the present invention, instead of manually filling out forms and faxing or mailing them to a financial institution, a credit application is created in an electronic transfer medium, such as a remote terminal that accesses the Internet or Intranet and connects to a financial institution's communications network. An applicant, or a representative of the applicant, such as a salesman in a commercial setting, creates the credit application by entering information. The financial institution's communications network may provide a front end interface, e.g., in the form of a computer software application that provides a template for entering the information the financial institution desires from the applicant in order to make a credit decision. The application is electronically transmitted to the financial information where the data contained in the information is utilized in a credit decision making and/or credit issuing process. In additional embodiments of the present invention, an applicant may provide, or be asked to provide, additional types of information that may be utilized for insurance, registration and/or other applications. In addition to providing the systems and methods outlined above, the present invention provides management tools that allow data collected to be mined and utilized for management functions, including, but not limited to, inventory tracking, insurance tracking, purchase tracking, applicant profiling, targeted marketing, customer satisfaction, and related functions. The management tools include report generators to provide reports including information relevant to the aforementioned management functions. Furthermore, the systems and methods of the present invention may include a wide variety of features to advantageously accomplish different tasks and/or business objectives. The aforementioned problems and drawbacks are solved by the present invention by the provision of methods and systems, capable of being performed and/or operated in real time. In different possible embodiments of the present invention, the systems and methods may be utilized to perform one or different combinations of the following tasks: (1) generate a price quote for finance and insurance; (2) facilitate on-line credit application processing; (3) provide for electronic signature capture; (4) facilitate printing on plain paper; (5) provide integration with external systems, such as dealer systems; (6) provide on-line approval status information; (7) provide detailed reports for finance, insurance, inventory, tracking, and other administrative matters; (8) allow for real-time system modifications; (9) utilize web- based technology; (10) utilize internally maintained data; (11) provide integration with other internal systems; and/or (12) provide quick quote capabilities for a loan or a lease or for insurance. In so doing, the present invention can advantageously (1) minimize manual entry of applications; (2) minimize application errors due to multiple entries; (3) minimize time between submitting applications and receiving responses; (4) provide similar sets of financial data to the dealer, the financial institution, and the insurer; (5) consolidate a price-quote and payment scheduled for a loan or a lease, taxes, and insurance; (6) maintain real-time tracking and inventory, and/or (7) store data that is accessible by a communications network connected to different hardware and software. In a possible embodiment of the present invention a system for processing contractual, administrative, and/or financial records, relating to a transaction, the transaction having one or more deal attributes comprises: a computing device having a memory; a database accessible by the computing device, wherein the database further comprises inventory data relating to the transaction; a database processor accessible by the computing device; at least one deal module; an interface capable of allowing a user to view and to select one or more of the deal modules and to input one or more deal attributes; and a network including the computing device, the interface, the database, and the database processor. As used herein, the term "user" includes a "dealer," an "applicant," a "customer," and an "agent" who is working on behalf of the applicant. The interface may comprise a remote terminal located at a different site than the computing device. The database processor may include a credit processor. The credit processor is capable of evaluating one or more deal attributes to generate a credit outcome. The network may comprise a wide area network, the Internet, a satellite communications network and/or other network capable of transmitting data. In another possible embodiment of the present invention, a point-of-sale system for evaluating and scoring the credit- worthiness of an applicant seeking to finance the purchase of a durable good; and collecting, maintaining and reporting data about the applicant, the applicant's credit- worthiness; and the durable good, comprises: at least one processor; memory; at least one database stored in the memory and accessible to the processor; a database processor capable of processing data contained in the database to determine the credit- worthiness of the applicant and generate reports comprising data contained in the database, including a credit-worthiness report; an interface capable of allowing a user to enter data about the applicant into the database and view reports generated by the database; and a network connecting the processor, memory, database, database processor, and interface, wherein the interface is located at the point-of-sale location and the database is located at a remote location from the point-of-sale. When the durable good comprises a motor vehicle, it may be advantageous for the interface to be located at a dealer for the motor vehicle. The data capable of being collected will generally comprise data relevant to one or more of the following: the credit worthiness of the applicant; data identifying and describing the durable good; insurance covering the durable good; and data required by governmental entities relating to the durable good. The database processor may include a data mining engine for searching, collating, and reporting data in the database. In another possible embodiment, a method of the present invention for obtaining and evaluating data relevant to a purchase of a durable good, the data comprising deal attributes relating to the purchase transaction, comprises: providing an interface that allows a user to view and select one or more deal modules relating to aspects of the purchase transaction, and that further allows the user to input deal attributes; inputting at least a first portion of the deal attributes; transmitting the first portion of the deal attributes to a database through a network, the database having access to a database processor and including credit processing attributes; storing the first portion of the deal attributes in the database; evaluating one or more deal attributes and one or more credit processing attributes; storing the results of the evaluation on the database; and communicating the results of the evaluation to the user through the interface. The method may further comprise inputting a second portion of the deal attributes and transmitting the second portion of the deal attributes to the database processor and evaluating the second portion of the deal attributes. The attributes may comprise an application for one or more of the following: a lease; a loan; and/or insurance. The attributes may further comprise setup attributes; inventory attributes; applicant attributes; finance and tax attributes; insurance attributes; and report attributes. The report may comprise one or more of the following: an application for a lease; an application for a loan; a quote for a lease; a quote for a loan; a quote for insurance; an assignment; a guaranty; an officer's certificate; a certified copy of resolution; a specific guarantee; an addendum; a limited power of attorney; a payment schedule; a warranty registration; and a proof of insurance. As set forth above, in particularly advantageous embodiments of the present invention, the durable good comprises a vehicle. In another possible embodiment, a method of the present invention having a plurality of computer executable steps to implement and control an interactive application and decision management system, comprises: displaying a remote interface, wherein said interface provides means for displaying one or more deal modules and for inputting one or more deal attributes into an application; storing said deal attributes in a communications system; selectively routing said deal attributes to a financial institution; allowing a credit analyst to access said deal attributes to determine outcome criteria, wherein said outcome criteria consist of analyzing said deal attributes and credit processing attributes to determine a credit outcome; storing said outcome criteria, said credit processing attributes, and said credit outcome in said communications system; transmitting said credit outcome to a user at a remote interface; based on said credit outcome, optionally executing one or more of the following steps: selecting an appropriate insurance package and automatically calculating a correlated insurance premium, wherein said correlated insurance premium is dependent on one or more of said deal attributes, said outcome criteria, said credit processing attributes, said credit outcome, and said insurance package; storing said appropriate insurance package and said correlated insurance premium on said communications network; allowing an appropriate user to consolidate billing statements and payments for: a lease and insurance; or a loan and insurance utilizing one or more of said deal attributes, said outcome criteria, said credit processing attributes, and said credit outcome to update one or more useful data files and store said updated data files; generating a report based on one or more of said useful data files, said report comprising contractual, administrative, and financial information; and printing said reports. Further details on these embodiments, other possible embodiments, and the systems and methods of the present invention are set forth below. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the systems and methods of the present invention have wide utility in a number of areas as illustrated by the wide variety of possible uses discussed below. One possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide a communications network system for the collection and transfer of credit applications and decisions between a user and one or more financial institutions. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide a database which accumulates point-of-sale financial, insurance, and inventory data. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to allow for single application data entry in order to eliminate the errors caused by the re-entry of data by the financial institutions, or the like, and accordingly to reduce the need for personnel to enter application data. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to significantly reduce the time required by the overall credit application and decision process. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to reduce the time for the credit application and decision process required by one or more financial institutions. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide a user with capability to conveniently fill out an application and to conveniently transfer the application to one or more financial institutions sequentially and automatically, and at a time when it is convenient to the user to do so. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to allow a user to complete applications electronically, and subsequently submit completed applications to financial institutions, insurance agents, or the like. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide an electronic signature pad to incorporate the signature of the applicant into the electronic form of the application. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide on-line system help to assist the user with completion and submission of the application. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to minimize the amount of paper work generated by: (1) the credit application and decision process; (2) the insurance application process; and (3) tracking inventory supply. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to consolidate credit and insurance billing statements and payments. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provides means for the automatic electronic bank draft or automatic credit card payment of one or more of the following: a lease, a loan, and/or insurance. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide a detailed reporting system for finance, insurance, inventory, warranty, and other administrative matters. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to transmit a completed application directly to a financial institution credit application processing system, bypassing the need for the financial institution to manually enter the application. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide for editing of an electronic application before or after it is electronically submitted to a financial institution. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide real- time point-of sale entry, editing, and review of application data, of credit processing data, and of a financial institution's funding decision. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide for secure access to the contractual, administrative, and financial processing system and to facilitate multiple levels of security. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to secure the source code on the server affiliated with a financial institution. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide credit application management and administrative functions, including statistical analysis of credit application processing, financial institution decisions, system usage, application status, and status of all applications entered during various time frames. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide a user with access to a variety of optional additional useful features, such as, for example, a loan calculator, a tax calculator, a lease calculator, a tool for performing a loan vs. lease analysis, access to an insurance pricing guide, access to real-time dealer inventory and tracking information, access to real-time supply, access to special manufacturer promotions, and access to reviews and ratings of consumer or commercial merchandise. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to manage and control the transactional costs associated with the processing and routing of the credit applications, between a dealer and one or more financial institutions. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide a point-of-sale indirect credit application and decision process for one or more of a loan, a lease, and/or insurance. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide the point-of sale indirect financing system to all eligible dealerships. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to allow for sharing of data between one or more financial institutions, one or more suppliers, one or more manufacturers, one or more dealers, one or more insurers, and one or more applicants. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to allow a user to enter and submit applications, track the status of all applications, direct, redirect and queue applications to the financial institution, modify previously submitted applications, and use screens and information similar to those used by a financial institution, an insurer, a manufacturer, a supplier, and/or a dealer. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is that a user can automatically receive the status of a submitted application, including whether an application is approved, approved with modified terms, declined, or sent back to complete additional information. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to allow a financial institution to have one standardized communication and application interface to all of its users regardless of a user's computer system (i.e., the hardware, operating system, and other software). Another possible use of the systems and methods of the inventor to allow an applicant, a manufacturer, an insurer, a supplier, and/or a dealer to store data on a local computer or local network. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the invention is to provide for the use of similar screens when a financial institution and a user are discussing an application. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to interface and communicate with a financial institution and a user, a dealer, a manufacturer, a supplier, and/or a dealer through a variety of electronic mediums, including wireline and wireless technology, such as, for example, WAN, LAN, satellite system, telephone lines, and the like. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to facilitate application entry customization to verify that specific data fields are entered on the application prior to sending it to one or more financial institutions, wherein each financial institution can add customized data fields to a standard application, for example, the standard Consumer Financial Institution Association (CBA) application format. As used herein, the term "data fields" includes one or more of deal attributes, credit processing attributes, a credit outcome, and/or other data that is input, transmitted, and/or stored in the database. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to permit a user to know immediately whether an application was received at the financial institution and if there are any required data fields on the application that were not entered. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide comprehensive analysis tools for troubleshooting and fixing problems as they occur and for answering questions. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide report and printout features to a financial institution, an applicant, a dealer, an insurer, a manufacturer, and/or a supplier. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide a formal enrollment and billing process, that is, a process for activating and enrolling an applicant, a manufacturer, an insurer, a dealer, and/or suppler with a password and ID (identification or identifier). Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to enable financial institutions to easily and quickly develop and deploy new products and enhancements, wherein initial marketing of new products can occur through the present invention, and enrollment of new products can easily occur. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to make it easier for financial institutions to accommodate growth in the number of users and volume of applications. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to provide multilingual capabilities including translations between a financial institution, an applicant, a manufacturer, an insurer, a dealer, and/or a supplier. Another possible use of the systems and methods of the present invention is to allow an applicant, a manufacturer, an insurer, a dealer, and/or supplier to select a language (e.g., English, French, Spanish, German, etc.) to display deal modules and to input deal attributes. These uses may be accomplished singularly, or in combination, in one or more of the embodiments of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a system overview of the hardware in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing systems and methods. Figures 2 A, 2B, and 2C illustrating the operational steps in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing systems and methods. Figures 3A-3C illustrates deal modules that a user views, selects, inputs, and/or transmits deal attributes in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing system. Figure 4 is a table of deal attributes for a credit application in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing system. Figure 5 illustrates a deal module that a user views, inputs, selects, and transmits insurance attributes in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing system. Figure 6 illustrates a deal module that a user views, inputs, selects, and transmits inventory attributes in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing system. Figures 7A-7K illustrate transactional reports that can automatically be loaded with one or more deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or a credit outcome and that can be printed by a dealer in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing system. Figure 8 illustrates a transactional report in French for a Credit Sales Contract that can automatically be loaded with one or more deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or a credit outcome and that can be printed by a dealer in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing system. DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS The method and system of the present invention provides a point-of-sale contract, administration, and financial control processing system to a financial institution and/or affiliated dealerships and/or an applicant to process credit and insurance applications for consumers and/or business entities. Some of the possible benefits of the present invention include: (1) facilitating electronic generation, completion, signature, and processing for an application for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance; (2) generating a point-of-sale price quote for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance; (3) providing quick quote capabilities for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance; (4) printing, saving, and/or transmission of an application for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance; (5) allowing for real-time modifications for an application for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance; (6) providing real-time status information on an application for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance; (7) generating data files in a useful format, such as, for example, detailed reports for finance, insurance, inventory, tracking, and other administrative matters; (8) facilitating printing an application for one or more of a lease, loan, and insurance on plain paper; (9) providing for electronic signature capture, recordation, and transmission; (10) utilizing web-based technology; and/or (11) sharing data with other internal and external computer systems, such as, for example, dealer networks. The present invention will now be described in more detail by illustrative examples with reference to the embodiment(s) depicted in the Figures. The following described embodiment(s) is presented by way of example and should not be construed as limiting the inventive concept to any particular configuration. Referring to Figure 1, a basic overview of the contract, administration, and financial processing systems according to the present invention is depicted. The contract, administration, and financial processing systems and methods may include a plurality of dealer terminals including a first dealer terminal, a second dealer terminal, and so on. Each dealer terminal is located with a dealer using the contract, administration, and financial processing systems and methods. The dealer terminal typically includes a central processing unit (CPU), a monitor or other visual display device, a keyboard or some other input device, and a communications device, such as a modem. Further, each dealer terminal may be coupled with a signature pad to capture an applicant's signature. Each dealer terminal is electronically connected to a global communications network which provides access to one or more remotely located financial institution(s) communications system. A common example of such a global communications system is the Intranet or the Internet. A server terminal of the financial institution is also coupled to the global communications network. This server terminal includes a database, a back-up database, and a database processor coupled to the database and to the global communications network. The server terminal also includes a system interface which is coupled to the database processor. The system interface is also coupled to a communications network having a plurality of operator terminals affiliated with one or more personnel or separate departments serving the financial institution responsible for contractual, administrative, or financial processing. Each operator terminal that has access to the deal attributes, credit processing attributes, or credit outcome, has a particular task relating to the contractual, administrative, or financial control of the system. For example, such personnel or departments could provide one or more of the following: system access and security; credit processing; credit bureau relations; system management, audit, and routing; legal services; and dealer and applicant services. The operation of the contractual, administrative, and financial processing systems of Figure 1 is described in Figures 2A, 2B, and 2C. This operation includes: (1) establishing an on-line real-time connection between a dealer terminal located at and accessed by a point-of- sale user and a communications system at the financial institution, said connection being established by electronic medium (e.g., wireline or wireless communication devices) connected to the financial institution's communications system; (2) displaying deal modules to the point-of-sale user, said deal modules consisting of scripts supplied from a library of scripts maintained on the financial institution's communications system; (3) selecting a proper script, the script being a series of pre-determined questions, statements, data fields, and/or instructions; (4) inputting a first portion of deal attributes using information supplied by an applicant, a second portion of deal attributes using information supplied by the financial institution, and/or other data fields stored on the financial institution database; (5) submitting, tagging, and storing a completed application for a loan or a lease to the financial institution's communication system; (6) generating and storing credit processing attributes and a credit outcome; (7) transmitting and displaying a credit outcome; (8) optionally transmitting credit processing attributes to a user; and/or (9) depending on the credit outcome, optionally processing an insurance application. The operation of inputting deal attributes includes allowing a user to input a first portion of deal attributes that include information on the applicant, inventory, finance, and insurance. Furthermore, a second portion of deal attributes can be input by the financial institution, thus populating the database with pertinent application information and decreasing manual entry time by the user where the user need only select existing deal attributes. For example, a financial institution, could input inventory attributes associated with each dealer location. A user selects or inputs deal attributes, including an applicant's signature and date, necessary to complete an application and submits the application to the financial institution. An application may consist of two types to the financial institution ~ a lease or a loan. The actual act of submitting the application involves the user selecting a "SUBMIT" button displayed on the deal module. The present invention verifies that required deal attributes are entered on the application prior to submitting it to the financial institution. Once the "SUBMIT" button is selected, the user interface indicates that the application is "PENDING," and the deal attributes are tagged which triggers the routing of said application to a credit analyst at the financial institution. The credit analyst reviews the deal attributes in the submitted application, gathers credit processing attributes including credit bureau reports and other credit processing information, and uses all of this information to determine a credit outcome. The financial institution may specify credit processing attributes by defining minimum requirements for any or all deal attributes making up the application to determine a credit outcome. Alternatively, the financial institution may assign weighing factors to any or all of the deal attributes and/or credit processing attributes making up the application to determine a credit outcome. The minimum requirements may also be derived via other scoring models or from pre-defined risk classifications for any offered loan or lease to determine a credit outcome. The credit outcome indicates the funding decision of the financial institution and includes, "APPROVED," "APPROVED WITH MODIFIED TERMS," "DENIED," and "INCOMPLETE." A user can access and view the credit outcome as soon as it is input and transmitted by the credit analyst to the database. When viewing the credit outcome, it can be color coded to quickly allow a user to identify the status of the application. For example, the terms "APPROVED" or "APPROVED WITH MODIFIED TERMS" may appear in green on the user screen, the term "DENIED" may appear in red, and the term "INCOMPLETE" may appear in purple. After an application is "APPROVED" and accepted by the applicant, the applicant has the option of selecting, pricing, and applying for insurance coverage. Deal attributes are preloaded into the deal module based on information submitted for the lease or the loan. Once the applicant accepts the insurance package, the applicant has the further option of consolidating billing statements and monthly payments for the insurance and for the financing (i.e., the lease or the loan). At any time, a user and/or financial institution can query the database to determine real-time information on one or more deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or credit outcome. Furthermore, the user and/or financial institution may periodically update or add to the deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or credit outcome as stored in the database. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the dealer terminal may be any PC running a Windows operating system or may be a Windows NT workstation with access to the global telecommunications network. For example, the dealer terminal may be a PC that supports either Internet Explorer or Navigator to provide access to the Intranet or Internet. Alternatively, it should be appreciated that the dealer terminal could take on a variety of other suitable forms, such as, for example, PC's and/or servers running UNIX or LINUX, a Machintosh, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a pen-based computer. Furthermore, the dealer terminal could be electronically connected to the financial institution communications system by way of other wireline or wireless technology, including, for example, WAN, LAN, satellite system, telephone lines, and the like. The contract, administration, and financial processing systems and methods may include a menu-driven interface for inputting deal attributes, credit processing attributes, credit outcome, and other data. For example, Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, 5, and 6 show the appearance of several deal modules as displayed to the user on the user interface screen, enabling the user to enter deal attributes as prompted by the deal module, and to thereafter, submit the entered deal attributes to the financial institution to process an application. By way of example only, a menu-driven interface could be written in Visual Basic. The database processor can be any modern main-frame, super-mini computer, or personal computer, such as, for example, those that are commercially available from IBM, Apple, Sun Solaris, Data General, or Hewlett-Packard, having the capability of handling realtime, multi-tasking, remote-access database applications. Furthermore, by way of example only the database could be an Oracle database. Turning now to the illustrative deal modules depicted in Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, 5 and 6, deal modules may be advantageously displayed as a web page by a conventional web-browser based on a Hyper-Text Mark-up Language (HTML) form page transmitted to the dealer terminal from the database processor coupled to the contract, administration, and financial processing systems and methods. The deal modules may use Microsoft Active Server Page technology including scripts written in Visual Basic or Java Script. Java, Javascript, or Active X form may also be used with suitably capable web browsers, and provide the added ability to perform validity checks on the deal attributes as it is input into the dealer terminal before it is submitted to the financial institution. These trade name are commonly known terminology in the art. The deal modules selectively load scripts stored in a library maintained by the financial institution and prompt the user to enter various information about the deal attributes, such as, for example, information about the applicant, inventory, and financial terms. The user may select and input deal attributes to complete an application for a loan or for a lease. Deal attributes describe deal information and include one or more of the following attributes: setup attributes; inventory attributes; applicant attributes; finance and tax attributes; insurance attributes; and report attributes. Examples of setup attributes include attributes that seek data on one or more of the following: dealer identification, dealer password, dealer authorization, signature pad communication port, required fees and taxes, transaction fees and cost, and/or other pertinent information. Examples of vehicle attributes include attributes that seek data on one or more of the following: vehicle identification number, stock number, dealer identification, contract identification, status, make, model, year, odometer reading, date of odometer reading, new vehicle, used vehicle, engine make, engine model, engine serial number, engine brake, transmission make, transmission model, differential make, differential ratio, suspension, exterior color, cab type, sleeper size, wheel type, wheel style, fuel fairing, cab fairing, invoice amount, refurbish amount, retail amount, front axle, rear axle, engine horsepower, vehicle type, vehicle description, length, width, height in feet, height in inches, number of axles, and/or other pertinent information. Examples of applicant attributes include attributes that seek data on one or more of the following: customer identification; dealer identification; borrower type; first name; middle name; last name; business name; legal name; tax identification; social security number; street number; street name; street type; city; county; state; zip code; phone number; fax number; pager number; mobile phone number; e-mail address; name, address, and phone number of contact in case of emergency; and/or other pertinent information. Examples of finance and tax attributes include attributes that seek data on one or more of the following: contract terms, contract identification, customer identification, dealer identification, credit processing identification, promotional information, buy rate, dealer markup, sell rate, contract date, payment date, advance payment, additional days, contract term, price, required fees and taxes, transaction fees and costs, cash down, collateral/trade-in value, lease fee, additional monthly rental, monthly payment, dealer commission, tax exemptions, and/or other pertinent information. Examples of insurance attributes include attributes that seek domestic and foreign data (i.e., data reflecting insurance products offered in the US and in other countries) on one or more of the following: deal identification, insurance plan type (e.g., comprehensive, liability, cargo, extended warranty, national, international, catastrophic, etc.), down time, group policy number, term, program, single or joint insurance, insured name(s), date(s) of birth, premium, discounts, monthly payment, and/or other pertinent information. Referring now to Figure 3 A, the deal module represents a screen shot that displays and prompts the user to input, select, and/or transmit applicant attributes that provide information on the customer. Attribute fields that are displayed in italic fonts represent mandatory attributes that must be filled out. At the attribute prompt "CUSTOMER TYPE," a user would use the pull-down window to select and identify the applicant as an individual or as a business entity. At the attribute prompt "FIRST," a user would input the first name of an applicant. Similar steps would be completed for each of the additional attribute prompts. After inputting all of the applicant attributes, the user would click on the "SAVE" icon to transmit the input applicant attributes to the financial institution. The deal attributes entered into each deal module by a user comprise a first portion of the deal attributes. If the user needs to retrieve stored deal attributes, the user may retrieve these deal attributes by accessing one or more deal modules and selecting the respective deal applicant information. For example, Figure 3B depicts a deal module that provides a pull- down window that list applicants alphabetically by name. A user can scroll-down this list to select an applicant. When the user clicks on the "SELECT" icon, the respective deal attributes that are stored for the selected applicant are transmitted from the database and automatically load the respective deal attributes into an appropriate deal module. Referring back to the flowchart of Figures 2A, 2B, and 2C, the operation of the present invention also includes inputting and storing into the database deal attributes that are potentially available for any application. For example, Figure 3C depicts a deal module that a user could access, input, and store finance and tax attributes. These attributes would automatically load into a lease or a loan application, thus preventing the user from entering this information each time an application is filled out. Referring to Figure 4, a table depicts some of the names of the deal attributes, whether a particular deal attribute is mandatory, and the field type of each deal attribute (i.e., number character, date, length, etc.). If the deal attribute is mandatory, this information must be input in order to submit a completed application to the financial institution. Note that this table is populated from deal attributes that are input from one or more deal modules displayed as web page in a similar manner as described for Figures 3 A, 3B, 3C, 5 and 6. Additionally, a second set of deal attributes may be input by the financial institution and may include information on inventory, financial terms, and insurance packages. For example, Figure 5 depicts a deal module to access, select, and apply for US insurance. The total premium amount is automatically calculated by accessing real-time insurance attributes that are loaded into programmed equations. The step of loading these insurance attributes and performing the mathematical equations is transparent to the user (i.e., the user does not see these insurance attributes or the equations, rather, the user is presented with the final determination). Figure 6 depicts another example in which a second portion of dealer attributes may be input by the financial institution. Figure 6 depicts a deal module for accessing, selecting, and storing inventory attributes (i.e., attributes that provide detailed information on each product in inventory). The financial institution could enter inventory attributes and associate these inventory attributes with individual dealers using a selected dealer attribute. Having this information loaded and stored in the database again decreases the manual entry time of a user submitting an application. When an application is completed and submitted, the deal attributes are tagged and routed to a credit analyst to review and input credit processing attributes and a credit outcome. The review and input of credit processing attributes constitutes what is commonly known in the art as the underwriting process to decide whether to provide a loan or a lease to an applicant. Alternatively, the deal attributes entered for an application could be processed by the server which executes a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script or the like to automatically place the credit processing attributes or a second portion of one or more deal attributes in the database. The use of HTML and a web page for form display and data storage allows a financial institution to utilize and to obtain information from the contract, administration, and financial processing systems. One of ordinary skill in web technology can readily implement such a web page. In this manner, the present invention greatly aids in access to any application and inventory in the contract, administration, and financial processing systems. With the automatic entry of deal attributes at a centralized location of the global communications network, the amount of time and effort a financial institution must employ to provide financing to an applicant is significantly reduced. Correspondingly, the amount of time an applicant must wait for application approval or for a quote is also significantly reduced. Moreover, the automatic updates to the database enable the financial institution to maintain real-time data on inventory, contracts, dealer volumes, market trends, performance characteristics, financial data, and other useful information. With this data, the financial institution is easily informed of the performance of borrowers and can make more informed decisions on whether to provide a loan or a lease to future applicants with similar deal attributes and credit processing attributes. Likewise, the financial institution can use this information to assess its insurance services and products, track inventory, and prepare numerous regulatory and administrative reports. The credit outcome of the application is displayed to the user on the screen of a dealer terminal. From this credit outcome, a user may view and accept the terms of a loan or a lease. This information may include the financial institution's name, phone number, address, contact name, and some of the credit processing attributes of the selected application. The selected dealer display prompts the user to accept the terms of the application for the purpose of consummating the transaction. If the user accepts, then the applicant has the option of accessing, selecting, and applying for insurance. If the user accepts the insurance package, monthly billing statements and payments can be consolidated for the insurance and for the lease or the loan. Another important feature of the present invention is that the lending institution has the ability to quickly update each and every deal module and deal attributes due to any change in the relevant laws or any change in criteria or policy of the financial institution. The financial institution also has the ability to modify the content of the scripts to be posed to the user to take into consideration such changes in the relevant laws or any change in criteria or policy of the financial institution. Accordingly, the financial institution can tag an application as "INCOMPLETE" and request additional information to comply with all up-to-date relevant laws and criteria or policy of the financial institution. When an application is tagged as "INCOMPLETE," a user has the ability to review the entirety of the deal attributes and to review a message from the credit analyst identifying additional deal attributes to complete the application. Automatic calculations can be provided for collateral and "hooks" to vehicle pricing guides can also be provided. The vehicle identification number or serial number is prompted for in the collateral screen and is used to automatically load pricing scripts associated with the respective make and/or model of the vehicle. A "QUICK QUOTE" option is provided according to an embodiment of the present invention, where a user can enter just enough information to get a quote for a loan, a lease, or insurance. Other optional features are also provided according to further embodiments of the present invention. For example, there is an analysis tool to compare an application for a lease with an application for a loan; there is an option to query a pricing guide for a vehicle, add-on features for the vehicle, replacement parts, or other equipment; and an optional function for a dealer to query administrative reports including inventory and sales volume with the financial institution. System management and maintenance features are provided according to further features and include, for example, the ability to troubleshoot errors and omissions, stop and start servers, and to archive, backup, and restore programs. Some of the reports that a dealer can print include: an application for a lease, an application for a loan, a quote for a lease, a quote for a loan, a quote for insurance, an assignment, a guaranty, an officer's certificate, a certified copy of resolution, a specific guarantee, an addendum, a limited power of attorney, a payment schedule, a warranty registration, and/or a proof of insurance. By way of example only, Figures 7A-7K illustrate some of the reports that can automatically be loaded with one or more deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or a credit outcome and that can be printed by a dealer. Figure 7A illustrates a Credit Sale Contract for an Individual Buyer. Figure 7B illustrates an assignment. Figure 7C illustrate and Authorized Agreement for Automatic Direct Payments; Figure 7D illustrates a Continuing Guaranty for an Individual. Figure 7E illustrates a Specific Guaranty for an Individual. Figure 7F illustrates a Limited Power of Attorney. Figure 7G illustrate an Addendum (Additional Collateral). Figure 7H is a Tax Exemption Survey. Figure 71 is a Warranty Registration. Figure 7J is a Bill of Sale for a Lease Agreement. Each of the generated reports is individually defined by a data array defined by specific deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or a credit outcome associated with a submitted credit application. Using these arrays, respective deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or a credit outcome can be easily retrieved and incorporated as appropriate in the forms and reports being generated. For example, a typical data array appropriate for the Bill of Sale for a Lease Agreement illustrated in Figure 7J would include the data array described in Table 1 below. Table 1: Data array for a Bill of Sale Lease Agreement 0 = = Dealer Legal Name 1 = = Dealer address 2 -- = Dealer city, state, zip 3 -- = Date 4 = = Contract ID 5 = = Dealer sign on 6 = = User name 7 = Password 8 = Price 9 = Freight 10 = Total amount 11 = Dealer commission 12 = Retail finance date 13 = Lease Fee 14 = Customer Name 1 15 = Customer Name 2 Figure 8 further illustrates a transactional report in French for a Credit Sales Contract that can automatically be loaded with one or more deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or a credit outcome and that can be printed by a dealer in an embodiment of the contract, administration, and financial processing system. The report can be translated to an English version of the Credit Sales Contract or to another language. Moreover, any of the deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and/or a credit outcome can be translated to English or to another language and can be displayed on interfaces accessed by an operator terminal or by a dealer terminal. Furthermore, deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and a credit outcome, can easily be selected and arranged for a variety of other contractual, administrative, and financial reports. A help mechanism is available in the deal modules via a pull down menu that is coupled to a library of help scripts. If, during inputting of the deal attributes, a user is uncertain as to how to answer a field, the user may request on-line help by striking a designated "HELP" key that accesses a library of "HELP" scripts. For example, help information may include how to "ADD" a deal attribute, "EDIT" a deal attribute, "DELETE" a deal attribute, and "CREATE" an application. The contract, administration, and financial processing systems can be updated at any time and, thus, enables the user to have the most recent deal modules and system updates, forms, finance terms, insurance rates and other pertinent information. The foregoing description and associated figures detail only illustrative examples of the environment in which the invention can be used and are not intended to be limiting. For instance, the deal modules shown in Figures 3 A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 5, and 6 are by way of example only and include multiple other deal modules. Similarly, the list of deal attributes in Figure 4 is by way of example only and may include other deal attributes. In addition, the deal attributes, credit processing attributes, and credit outcome may be constantly updated and additional fields can be added to by existing users and the financial institution. In particular, the programming languages, software platforms, and Internet browsers mentioned in the description are by way of example only, and the present invention may always be enhanced to incorporate the most advanced available technology. From the teaching of the present description, the person skilled in the art will be able to implement the invention with different embodiments.

Claims: WE CLAIM: 1. A system for processing contractual, administrative, and/or financial records, relating to a transaction, the transaction having one or more deal attributes, the system comprising: a computing device having a memory; a database accessible by the computing device, wherein the database further comprises inventory data relating to the transaction; a database processor accessible by the computing device; at least one deal module; an interface capable of allowing a user to view and to select one or more of the deal modules and to input one or more deal attributes; and a network including the computing device, the interface, the database, and the database processor. 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the interface comprises a remote terminal located at a different site than the computing device. 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the database processor includes a credit processor. 4. The system of claim 3 wherein the credit processor evaluates one or more deal attributes and one or more credit processing attributes to generate a credit outcome and the interface is capable of displaying the credit outcome. 5. The system of claim 4 wherein the network comprises a wide area network. 6. The system of claim 4 wherein the network comprises the internet. 7. The system of claim 4 wherein the deal attributes comprise an application for one or more of the following: a lease; a loan; and insurance. 8. A point-of-sale system for evaluating and scoring the credit- worthiness of a applicant seeking to finance the purchase of a durable good; and collecting, maintaining and reporting data about the applicant, the applicant's credit- worthiness; and the durable good, the system comprising: at least one processor; memory; at least one database stored in the memory and accessible to the processor; a database processor capable of processing data contained in the database to determine the credit- worthiness of the applicant and generate reports comprising data contained in the database, including a credit- worthiness report; an interface capable of allowing a user to enter data about the applicant into the database and view reports generated by the database; and a network connecting the processor, memory, database, database processor, and interface, wherein the interface is located at the point-of-sale location and the database is located at a remote location from the point-of-sale. 9. The system of claim 8 wherein the durable good comprises a truck and the interface is located at a dealer for the truck. 10. The system of claim 9 wherein the database further comprises modules corresponding to different types of data capable of being collected from the applicant. 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the data capable of being collected comprises data relevant to one or more of the following: the credit worthiness of the applicant; data identifying and describing the durable good; insurance covering the durable good; and data required by governmental entities relating to the durable good. 12. The system of claim 8 wherein the database processor comprises a data mining engine for searching, collating, and/or reporting data in the database. 13. A method for obtaining and evaluating data relevant to a purchase of a durable good, the data comprising deal attributes relating to the purchase transaction, the method comprising: providing an interface that allows a user to view and select one or more deal modules relating to aspects of the purchase transaction, and that further allows the user to input deal attributes; inputting at least a first portion of the deal attributes; transmitting the first portion of the deal attributes to a database through a network, the database having access to a database processor and including credit processing attributes; storing the first portion of the deal attributes in the database; evaluating one or more deal attributes and one or more credit processing attributes; storing the results of the evaluation on the database; and communicating the results of the evaluation to the user through the interface. 14. The method of claim 13 further comprising executing one or more of the following steps in response to the results of the evaluation: inputting a second portion of the deal attributes and transmitting the second portion of the deal attributes to the database processor; and evaluating the second portion of the deal attributes. 15. The method of claim 13 wherein the attributes comprise an application for one or more of the following : 16. The method of claim 13 wherein the attributes include one or more of the following: setup attributes; inventory attributes; applicant attributes; finance and tax attributes; insurance attributes; and report attributes. 17. The method of claim 13 wherein the report comprises one or more of the following: an application for a lease; an application for a loan; a quote for a lease; a quote for a loan; a quote for insurance; an assignment; a guaranty; an officer's certificate; a certified copy of resolution; a specific guarantee; an addendum; a limited power of attorney; a payment schedule; a warranty registration; and a proof of insurance. 18. The method of claim 13 wherein the durable good comprises a vehicle. 19. A method having a plurality of computer executable steps to implement and control an interactive application and decision management system, said method comprising: displaying a remote interface, wherein said interface provides means for displaying one or more deal modules and for inputting one or more deal attributes into an application; storing said deal attributes in a communications system; selectively routing said deal attributes to a financial institution; allowing a credit analyst to access said deal attributes to determine outcome criteria, wherein said outcome criteria consist of analyzing said deal attributes and credit processing attributes to determine a credit outcome; storing said outcome criteria, said credit processing attributes, and said credit outcome in said communications system; transmitting said credit outcome to a user at a remote interface; based on said credit outcome, optionally executing one or more of the following steps: selecting an appropriate insurance package and automatically calculating a correlated insurance premium, wherein said correlated insurance premium is dependent on one or more of said deal attributes, said outcome criteria, said credit processing attributes, said credit outcome, and said insurance package; storing said appropriate insurance package and said correlated insurance premium on said communications network; allowing an appropriate user to consolidate billing statements and payments for: a lease and insurance; or a loan and insurance utilizing one or more of said deal attributes, said outcome criteria, said credit processing attributes, and said credit outcome to update one or more useful data files and store said updated data files; generating a report based on one or more of said useful data files, said report comprising contractual, administrative, and financial information; and printing said reports. 20. The method of claim 19 further comprising means for providing a help mechanism to a user. 21. The method of claim 19 wherein said interface comprises a web page downloaded by said communications system to a internet or an intranet and capable of receiving one or more of said deal attributes.

Inventors: ASHBY KEITH, DELOOZE JAN, FREIBERG RICHARD, GORBEA DALE, JOYCE NEIL, LITTLE ANGELA, NORRIS SHERRY, SOMES JOE, ASHBY, KEITH, DELOOZE, JAN, FREIBERG, RICHARD, GORBEA, DALE, JOYCE, NEIL, LITTLE, ANGELA, NORRIS, SHERRY, SOMES, JOE
Applicants: ASHBY KEITH, DELOOZE JAN, FREIBERG RICHARD, GORBEA DALE, JOYCE NEIL, LITTLE ANGELA, NORRIS SHERRY, SOMES JOE, VOLVO COMMERCIAL FINANCE LLC T, ASHBY, KEITH, DELOOZE, JAN, FREIBERG, RICHARD, GORBEA, DALE, JOYCE, NEIL, LITTLE, ANGELA, NORRIS, SHERRY, SOMES, JOE, VOLVO COMMERCIAL FINANCE LLC THE AMERICAS
Application year: 2000
Main classification: G06F17
IPC codes: G06Q40