Abstract:
A system and method that allows coordination of loans by providing a web site where borrowers can enter personal information and receive a listing of multiple lending institutions interested in entering into loan agreements with those borrowers. Other applications of the system and method include, but are not limited to, tracking referrals of borrowers to lending institutions made based on selection criteria submitted by the lending institutions and personal information submitted by the borrower for purposes of collecting a referral fee from the lending institution paid to referring agents.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic commerce using a networked communications system. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for coordinating student loan borrowers and lending institutions via an on-line web site. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Lending institutions rely on different techniques for generating new clients, including promotion and advertising techniques, affiliation programs, and referrals. Referrals are clients that have learned about the lending institutions through word-of-mouth endorsements, third party loan originators, and other persons. Traditionally, third party loan originators would receive a referral fee from the lending institutions for every bare, partial-qualified, or qualified lead, depending on the terms of the referral program. With the Internet touching nearly every channel of goods and services in commerce today, it makes sense to use the Internet to increase the number of referrals that lending institutions receive by providing a convenient web-site where borrowers can search for and contact several lending institutions at a single user session. 
         [0005]    Student loans are no exception. Traditional methods of applying for student loans involved a borrower contacting individual lending institutions via a communications network, such as via a telephony or Internet system, to learn whether any of the contacted lending institutions would be interested in entering into a loan agreement with the borrower. Each contact would involve providing personal information to the lending institutions, such as the borrower&#39;s name, contact information, the state where the borrower&#39;s school is located, the amount to be borrowed, any credit history or co-borrower information, and other information requested by the lending institution. Then, if the lending institution were interested in working with the borrower, based on its review of the information provided by the borrower and other information about the borrower available from third parties, the lending institution would provide to the borrower its terms and conditions associated with the lending institution&#39;s loan programs. The borrower would then review those terms and conditions, and any terms and conditions provided by other lending institutions, before making a decision regarding whether to enter into a loan agreement. 
         [0006]    To simplify that process, systems and methods for collecting borrower data and transmitting that data to lending institutions after filtering the data based on selection criteria provided by the lending institution have been developed. The inventions disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,385,594 and 6,611,816, for example, relate to coordinating an electronic credit qualification form between an Internet user and multiple lending institutions via the Internet. The disclosed inventions include a method and computer system for displaying forms on a web site and receiving credit data from users via those forms. After receiving the data, a loan processing computer applies a filter to the data comprising loan selection criteria provided by lending institutions. That filter eliminates loan applications that the lending institutions do not want. Next, after the received data are filtered, the data are transmitted to the lending institutions. Finally, the computer and the method controls and coordinates communication between the lending institutions and the user to match borrowers and lenders via the Internet. 
         [0007]    In a broader context, the invention disclosed in U.S. Patent Appl. Pub. No. 2004-0205019 relates to a loan processing computer that automatically applies a first filter to the user&#39;s data, and then uses a second filter that can be applied to qualification form data that remains after the first filter, in order to identify potential borrowers. That second filter can by customized by a financial service provider who can also control the process of applying the second filter in a semi-manual manner. 
         [0008]    Systems and methods for coordinating financial services between consumers and financial service providers and wholesale investors have also been developed in recent years. The invention disclosed in U.S. Patent Appl. Pub. No. 2006-0100944 (“the &#39;944 application”), which is entitled “Method and computer network for coordinating financial services/products,” relates to coordinating an electronic qualification form between consumers and financial service providers and wholesale investors. 
         [0009]    Computer systems that allow borrowers to access mortgage information over the Internet have also been developed. For example, the invention disclosed in U.S. Patent Appl. Pub. No. 2004-0199458 relates to a system that allows consumers to access mortgage information and mortgage financing through a computer network. 
         [0010]    The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,947 relates to trading loans in real time by making loan applications, such as home mortgage loan applications, and placing them up for bid by a plurality of potential lenders. 
         [0011]    What the aforementioned prior art systems and methods fail to address, however, among other things, is the data security and liability concerns raised by transmitting personal information collected about borrowers to the lending institutions. Also, the aforementioned systems and methods can be overly complicated, in view of the fact that many lending institutions simply want potential customer leads that they can turn into actual revenue-generating customers. Systems and methods that focus on simplifying the process of sending qualified customer leads to lending institutions, and that account for the data security and liability concerns associated with using electronic communications of personal information, would be highly desirable. 
       SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    It should be apparent that there exists a need for a system and method for coordinating student loans over a communications network, like the Internet, that does not involve transmitting to the lending institution personal information collected about the borrower. There also exists a need for a system and method that can track successful referrals of borrowers to lending institution without transmitting any information regarding the borrower to the lending institution. To facilitate and simplify such a system, the coordinator should be barely visible in the process. 
         [0013]    Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide systems and methods for coordinating student loans, by providing a web site where borrowers can enter personal information and receive a listing of multiple lending institutions interested in entering into loan agreements with those borrowers. 
         [0014]    It is another object of the invention to provide a system and method for coordinating student loans, by identifying potential borrowers and referring them to lending institutions which then may enter into loan agreements with those borrowers. 
         [0015]    It is still another object of the invention to provide a system and method for coordinating student loans, by minimizing the interaction of the coordination system so that borrowers and lending institutions are put in contact with each other in an expedited manner. 
         [0016]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for referring borrowers interested in borrowing money that have been prescreened to meet certain lending institution criteria to lenders without directly transmitting the personal information of the borrower. 
         [0017]    It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for maintaining a database of lending institution selection criteria allowing the selection criteria to be matched against each borrower that submits personal information to the system. 
         [0018]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for tracking referrals made by the system of borrowers to lending institutions for purposes of collecting a referral fee from the lending institutions. 
         [0019]    It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for automatically generating an invoice detailing referrals made to facilitate referral fee collection. 
         [0020]    Briefly described, those and other objects and features of the present invention are accomplished, as embodied and fully described herein, by a system for coordinating student loans that includes a server in data communication with one or more lending institutions and one or more borrowers interested in borrowing money, one or more lending institution client computers for entering and sending a plurality of selection criteria to the server, one or more borrower client computers for entering and sending a set of personal information to the server, and a data processing component for comparing the set of personal information to the plurality of selection criteria and returning a list of one or more matching lending institutions to the borrower. 
         [0021]    The system includes a web server for serving Internet web pages, a list of one or more matching lending institutions containing one or more HTML links to a web page of the matching lending institution, a lending institution database accessible by the server containing a plurality of selection criteria for the one or more lending institutions, and a borrower database accessible by the server containing a plurality of sets of personal information for the one or more borrowers interested in borrowing money. 
         [0022]    The objects and features of the system also include a mechanism for receiving at the server a signal from the one or more borrower client computers indicating that the borrower has clicked on at least one of the HTML links. 
         [0023]    The objects and features of the present invention are also accomplished, as embodied and fully described herein, by a method involving the steps of receiving at a first server over a first communications network a set of selection criteria from each of a plurality of lending institutions; receiving at the first server over a second communications network a set of personal information from a first borrower; comparing at the first server the set of personal information to each of the sets of selection criteria; identifying at the first server which of the sets of selection criteria are satisfied by the set of personal information; outputting from the first server over the second communications network information containing instructions to generate a link on a client computer associated with each of the identified selection criteria, wherein the link is associated with at least one of the plurality of lending institutions; and receiving at the first server over the second communications network a signal from the client computer when the link has been activated. 
         [0024]    With those and other objects, advantages and features of the invention that may become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and to the several drawings attached herein. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0025]      FIG. 1  is a drawing depicting a schematic of the general system architecture of a loan coordinating system according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0026]      FIG. 1A  is a drawing depicting a schematic of the system architecture of a loan coordinating system according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  is drawing depicting a schematic of the client-server architecture of a loan coordinating system according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 3  is a schematic drawing depicting the server-side architecture of a loan coordinating system according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 4  is another schematic drawing depicting the server-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with communications to various third party information providers according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0030]      FIG. 5  is another schematic drawing depicting the server-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with a database external to the server(s) according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0031]      FIG. 6  is another schematic drawing depicting the server-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with a database internal to the server(s) according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0032]      FIG. 7  is another schematic drawing depicting the server-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with a database for storing lender selection criteria and borrower personal information according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0033]      FIG. 8  is a schematic drawing of a system for coordinating loans through a loan aggregator according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0034]      FIG. 9  is a schematic drawing depicting the lending institution client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0035]      FIG. 10  is another schematic drawing depicting the lending institution client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with a plurality of lending institutions according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0036]      FIG. 11  is another schematic drawing depicting the lending institution client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with a plurality of lending institutions and a lending institution aggregator according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0037]      FIG. 12  is a schematic drawing depicting the borrower client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0038]      FIG. 13  is another schematic drawing depicting the borrower client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with a plurality of borrowers according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0039]      FIG. 14  is another schematic drawing depicting the borrower client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with a plurality of borrowers and a borrowing aggregator according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0040]      FIG. 15  is another schematic drawing depicting the borrower client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system with communications to various third party information providers according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0041]      FIG. 15A  is a drawing representing an HTML link containing borrower personal information according to one aspect of the present invention; 
           [0042]      FIG. 16  is a process flow diagram depicting the server-side process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0043]      FIG. 16A  is a process flow diagram depicting the server-side and client-side process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0044]      FIG. 17  is a process flow diagram depicting the borrower client-side process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0045]      FIG. 18  is a process flow diagram depicting the server-side referral tracking process flow according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0046]    Several preferred embodiments of the invention are described for illustrative purposes, it being understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms not specifically shown in the drawings. 
         [0047]    I. System Architecture. 
         [0048]      FIG. 1  and  FIG. 1A  are drawings depicting a schematic of the system architecture of a loan coordinating system  100  according to one aspect of the present invention. For purposes of illustrating the invention, the system  100  will be discussed in connection with a student loan referral program; however, it should be noted that the system  100  could easily be employed in any money-borrowing program, such as automobile loans. 
         [0049]    The system  100  includes a server subsystem  102 , a borrower  104 , and a lending institution  106 . The invention contemplates that the lending institution  106  will submit selection criteria to the server subsystem  102  using the lending institution client  108  in data communication over a communications network  110  with a web server  112  in the server subsystem  102 . The selection criteria may be saved in a database  118 . The borrower  104  will submit personal information using a borrower client  114  in data communication over a communications network  116  with the web server  112  in the server subsystem  102  to make use of the system  100 . The personal information may be saved in a database  120 , which could be the same as or different than the database  118 . 
         [0050]    A filtering process  122  in the server subsystem  102  will use the selection criteria stored in the database  118  to identify whether the personal information submitted by the borrower  104  meets the selection criteria submitted by the lending institution  106 . Based on the result of the filtering process  122 , the web server  112  will generate instructions to be communicated back to the borrower client  114 . 
         [0051]    In one embodiment, the web server  112  may generate instructions to generate an HTML page describing a simple list of matching lending institutions with contact information. In another embodiment the web server  112  may generate instructions to generate a list of HTML (or other markup language) links to the website of identified lending institutions  106  to be communicated via the communications network  116  to the borrower client  114  for display. As described below, the HTML link may contain data variables representing personal information relevant to the lending institution that can be parsed by the lending institution web server  126 . The borrower  104  may then click on a link to access the lending institution web server  126  via the communications network  124 . Clicking on a link simultaneously sends a signal from the borrower client  114  to the server system  102  indicating that a successful referral has occurred. The borrower  104  can then interact directly with the lending institution web server  126 . 
         [0052]    The borrower  104  and lending institution  106  can communicate with and receive information provided by the system  100  using wired or wireless electronic client devices  108 ,  114 . The client devices  108 ,  114  could be, for example, a wireless telephone, a wired telephone, a personal data assistant, a portable computer, and/or a desktop computer. Combinations of those electronic devices, or other types of electronic devices capable of sending and receiving electronic, optical, and electro-optical signals, may be used. 
         [0053]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the lending institution client device  108  is connected to a first data communications network  110  and the borrower client device  114  is connected to a second data communications network  116 . The lending institution client device  108  and the borrower client device  114  are connected to a third data communications network  124 . The particular connectivity of the client devices  108  and  114  to the first, second, and third networks  110 ,  116 ,  124  is for illustrative purposes only. The networks  110 ,  116 ,  124  may be, for example, a wireless network used by mobile computing devices like cellular telephones, the Internet, an intranet, or some other data communication system. Preferably, the networks  110 ,  116 ,  124  are packet-switched networks capable of routing hypertext, extensible, or other types of markup language code and data in accordance with the standard Internet Protocol or some other protocol in order to generate web pages. In particular, data may be exchanged over these networks by employing the Commonline Data standardized format and delivery process commonly used for the exchange of origination, disbursement and change transaction data between educational institutions and their federal and private student loan service providers. The Internet Engineering Task Force is the standards body that creates and maintains the basic standards on which the Internet depends, including the Internet Protocol specification published in 1981. 
         [0054]    The first and second networks  110 ,  116  are connected or interconnected to a server subsystem  102 , which can include one or more server computers that are adapted to, among other things, store and process data, protect data and access to the system using a firewall or some other security measure, generate responses to client device requests for markup language files and information, and provide access to user information. The borrower  104  and the lending institution  106  can use one or more of the electronic client devices  108 ,  114  to access the server subsystem  102 , preferably via a web site graphical user interface that is generated on the electronic client devices  108 ,  114  using markup language commands and data provided to those devices by the server subsystem  102 . 
         [0055]    The server subsystem  102  is capable of interfacing with one or more databases  118 ,  120  as shown in  FIG. 1 . The database  118  could be, for example, a database containing records of each lending institution&#39;s  106  profile and selection criteria. The selection criteria could be, for example but not limited to, amount of the loan, state of residence of the borrower, state in which the school attended is located, credit rating, amount of assets, year of graduation, or annual income. The database  120  could be, for example, a database containing borrowers&#39;  104  personal information. The personal information could include, but is not limited to, name, date of birth, address, social security number, amount of loan, credit rating, amount of assets, year of graduation, state in which the school attending is located, annual income, user identification, passwords, and preferences. 
         [0056]    As described above, the many objects of the present invention can easily be used in connection with coordinating student loans between borrowers interested in borrowing money and lending institutions interested in lending money to selected borrowers. However, the system can be used in other ways.  FIG. 2  is the general client-server architecture of a loan coordinating system  200  according to one embodiment of the invention. As shown, a server subsystem  202  is in data communication with a borrower client subsystem  204  and a lending institution client subsystem  206 . Data communication between the server subsystem  202  and the borrower client subsystem  204  occurs over a communications network  208 . Data communication between the server subsystem  202  and the lending institution client subsystem  206  occurs over a communications network  210 . The borrower client subsystem  204  is in data communication with the lending institution client subsystem over a communications network  212 . The communications networks  208 ,  210 ,  212  can be separate communications network as illustrated, or the same network (not shown). 
         [0057]      FIGS. 3-7  are drawings depicting schematics of the server-side architecture of the loan coordinating system according to one embodiment of the invention. For example, shown in  FIG. 3  is a server subsystem  300  in which a server  302  is in data communications with a borrower client  304  and a lending institution client  306 . The server may be in data communication with one or more databases  308 ,  310  for storing personal information received from borrowers  304  and selection criteria received from lending institutions  306 . The server subsystem  300  includes a filtering process  312  for identifying lending institutions  306  that would be interested in loaning money to borrowers  304  based on personal information submitted to the server subsystem  300  by the borrower  304  and selection criteria submitted to the server subsystem  300  by the lending institution  306 . The server  302  may also be in data communication with one or more third party information providers  314  for retrieving information relevant to generating a list of lending institutions which the borrower may contact or be contacted by. Third party information providers may include, but are not limited to, credit reporting bureaus, financial institutions, government agencies, or providers of data such as current interest rates, currency values, or other indicators of market conditions. 
         [0058]      FIG. 4  is another drawing depicting a schematic of the server-side architecture of a server subsystem  400  according to another aspect of the present invention. In this case, one or more servers  402  are in data communications with one or more databases  404 ,  406 . The server  402  may also be in data communication with one or more third party information providers  408 ,  410 ,  412  for retrieving information relevant to generating a list of lending institutions which the borrower may contact. Third party information providers may be, for example, credit reporting bureaus, financial institutions, government agencies, or providers of data such as current interest rates, currency values, or other indicators of market conditions. The server  402  and the third party information providers  408 ,  410 ,  412  are connected to a first data communications network  414 . The particular connectivity of the server  402  and the third party information providers  408 ,  410 ,  412  to the first network  414  is for illustrative purposes only. The network  414  may be, for example, a wireless network used by mobile computing devices like cellular telephones, the Internet, an intranet, or some other network system. 
         [0059]      FIGS. 5-7  are additional drawings depicting schematics of the server-side architecture of a server subsystem, these representing different server-database architectures than those previously discussed. For example,  FIG. 5  includes a server  502  in data communication with a database  504  external to the server  502  via a communications network  506 . The database  504  can be used to store lending institution selection criteria and/or borrower personal information. The database  504  may be a single database repository that is centrally located proximate to the server  502 , or it may consist of multiple databases distributed at various geographic locations. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that there are many ways to construct and operate a database structure and manage database records that are not all located at a central database. 
         [0060]    That concept is illustrated in  FIG. 6 , which is a drawing of a skematic showing a server  602  in data communication with a database  604  internal to the server  602 . The database  604  can store lending institution selection criteria and/or borrower personal information. 
         [0061]    In another embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 7 , a server  702  is in data communication with one or more databases  704 ,  706  external to the server  702  via a communications network  708 . The databases  704 ,  706  can each store lending institution selection criteria and/or borrower personal information. 
         [0062]    Further to the embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 8  is a drawing depicting a schematic of the system architecture of a loan coordinating system  100  according to another aspect of the present invention. In the embodiment shown, individual borrower clients  802 ,  804 ,  806  (representing different users, who are not shown) are in data communication with an aggregator  808  via a communications network  810 . 
         [0063]    The aggregator  808  may be, for example, a student loan office of a university that handles processing of student loan requests by providing prospective and current students with an on-line personal account in which they can enter personal information and submit it to the university for transmission to the server subsystem  102 . The aggregator  808  may instead be, for example, a third party provider that collects and manages information from multiple prospective borrowers for a fee, such as a lending institutions that aggregates information associated with all borrowers in a geographical location, or information associated with borrowers requesting a similar amount of borrowed money, or that satisfy some other specific criteria. 
         [0064]    The aggregator  808  combines the personal information of the individual borrower clients  802 ,  804 ,  806  and sends the information to the server subsystem  102  via the communications network  116 . The server subsystem  102  processes the personal information as described above, and returns to the aggregator  808 , for example, contact information for matching lenders or HTML links to the web sites of identified lending institutions  106 , as previously described. The aggregator  808  may then wait to be contacted by any or all of the matching lending institutions  106 . Alternatively, the aggregator  808  may interface via a communications network  812  with the one or more identified lending institutions  106  directly using the HTML links in order to obtain favorable loan terms for the individual borrower clients  802 ,  804 ,  806 , or it may pass on the HTML links to the individual borrower clients  802 ,  804 ,  806  which can then interface with the lender via a communications network  814 . 
         [0065]    When either the aggregator  808  or the individual borrower clients  802 ,  804 ,  806  click on an HTML link, a signal is sent via the communications network  116  to the server subsystem  102  to indicate a successful referral as previously described. The communications networks  116 ,  110 ,  810 ,  812 ,  814  can be separate communications network (as illustrated) or different networks (not shown). 
         [0066]      FIGS. 9-11  are drawings depicting schematics of the lending institution client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system according to still other embodiments of the present invention. For example,  FIG. 9  depicts a lending institution subsystem  902  in data communication with the server subsystem  904  via the communications network  906 . 
         [0067]      FIG. 10  illustrates a plurality of lending institution subsystems  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006  in data communication with the server subsystem  904  via a communications network  906 . 
         [0068]      FIG. 11  illustrates the plurality of lending institution subsystems  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006  in data communication with a lending institution aggregator  1102  via a communications network  1104 . The lending institution aggregator  1102  is in data communication with the server subsystem  904  via the communications network  906 . The particular connectivity of the lending institution  902 ,  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006 , the lending institution aggregator  1102  and the server subsystem  904  to the networks  906 ,  1104  is for illustrative purposes only. The lending institution aggregator  1102  may be, for example, a financial institution or a plurality of subsidiary financial institutions that, by aggregating selection criteria of the subsidiary financial institutions, allows the financial institution to more efficiently make loans across the subsidiary financial institutions. The networks  906 ,  1104  may be, for example, a wireless network used by mobile computing devices like cellular telephones, the Internet, an intranet, or some other network system. 
         [0069]      FIGS. 12-15  are drawings depicting schematics of the borrower client-side architecture of a loan coordinating system according to still other embodiments of the present invention, these representing different borrower subsystem architectures. Borrowers, of course, may be consumers looking for student loans, automobile loans, home loans, or other financial debt instruments. 
         [0070]    For example,  FIG. 12  is a drawing of a schematic showing a basic borrower subsystem  1202  in data communication with the server subsystem  904  via a communications network  1204 . 
         [0071]      FIG. 13  is a drawing of a schematic illustrating a plurality of borrower subsystems  1302 ,  1304 ,  1306  in data communication with the server subsystem  904  via a communications network  1204 . 
         [0072]      FIG. 14  illustrates the plurality of borrower subsystems  1302 ,  1304 ,  1306  in data communication with a borrower aggregator  1402  via a communications network  1404 . The borrower aggregator  1402  is in data communication with the server subsystem  904  via the communications network  906 . The borrower aggregator  1402  may be, for example, a university financial aid department representing a plurality of students seeking student loans, as described above. By aggregating the personal information of a plurality of students, the university can more efficiently coordinate student loans for the plurality of students. The particular connectivity of the borrower subsystems  1302 ,  1304 ,  1306 , the borrower aggregator  1402  and the server subsystem  904  to the networks  906 ,  1404  is for illustrative purposes only. The networks  906 ,  1404  may be, for example, a wireless network used by mobile computing devices like cellular telephones, the Internet, an intranet, or some other network system. 
         [0073]      FIG. 15  is another drawing depicting a schematic of the borrower client-side architecture of a borrower subsystem according to another aspect of the present invention. In this case, a borrower subsystem  1202  is in data communications with one or more third party information providers  1502 ,  1504 ,  1506 ,  1508  for retrieving information relevant to submitting personal information requested by the server subsystem  904 . Third party information providers may be, for example, credit reporting bureaus, financial institutions, government agencies, or educational institutions. The borrower subsystem  1202  and the third party information providers  1502 ,  1504 ,  1506 ,  1508  are connected to a first data communications network  1204 . The particular connectivity of the borrower subsystem  1202  and the third party information providers  1502 ,  1504 ,  1506 ,  1508  to the first network  1204  is for illustrative purposes only. The network  1204  may be, for example, a wireless network used by mobile computing devices like cellular telephones, the Internet, an intranet, or some other network system. 
         [0074]      FIG. 15A  is a drawing representing an HTML link  1510  containing borrower personal information as described above. The link contains the domain name  1512  of an identified lending institution  106  to website to which the borrower  104  will be directed. The link also contains the filename  1514  of the particular webpage on the lending institution website to which the borrower should be directed. The borrower&#39;s personal information is stored as a series of variables  1516  that can be parsed by the lending institution web server. When the borrower clicks on a link, certain personal information is transmitted from the borrower client computer  114  to the lending institution  106  and can be used to, for example, pre-populate certain loan application forms. 
         [0075]    II. System Operation. 
         [0076]      FIG. 16  is a process flow diagram depicting the server-side process flow steps according to an embodiment of the present invention. In process step  1602 , the server subsystem  102  receives at the web server  112  via a communication network  110  and stores in a database  118  selection criteria from one or more lending institutions  106 . 
         [0077]    In process step  1604 , the server subsystem receives from a borrower  104  interested in borrowing money personal information about the borrower or another person. The personal information may be stored in a database  120 . The personal information is checked for completeness and to ensure it satisfies certain quality standards (e.g., punctuation, missing characters, special formats for items like phone numbers and email addresses, etc.). 
         [0078]    In process step  1606 , the server subsystem  102  applies a filter  122  to determine whether the borrower&#39;s personal information matches any of the lending institutions&#39;  106  selection criteria. If no matching lending institutions  106  are found, the server subsystem  102  informs the borrower  104  that there are no identified lending institutions  106  and the borrower  104  is given the opportunity to change the personal information entered and resubmit the information as depicted in process step  1608 . The borrower  104  may choose to edit his or her personal information to reflect, for example, a smaller amount of money desired or the existence of a guarantor. The edited information is again checked for completeness and quality. 
         [0079]    If one or more matching lending institutions  106  are found, as depicted in process step  1610 , the server subsystem  102  will output to the borrower  104  a list of HTML links to the web sites of the one or more matching lending institutions  106 , however the number of outputted links will be equal to or less than the total number of identified matching lending institutions, or at least one if there is only one match, the actual links being displayed to be determined at random or according to pre-determined criteria. In addition to allowing the borrower to contact any of the returned lending institution, the list of HTML links outputted to the user will provide the borrower with the option to contact all the returned lending institutions that are displayed. 
         [0080]    In process step  1612 , the server subsystem receives from the borrower&#39;s client computer  114  a signal indicating that the borrower  104  has clicked on one or more of the HTML links identifying matching lending institutions  106 . 
         [0081]      FIG. 16A  is another process flow diagram depicting the client and server-side process flow steps according to an embodiment of the present invention. In process step  1650 , a borrower/user  104  interfaces with the system  100  by visiting a website through a networked computer  114  via the server subsystem web server  112  or by some other means as described above. The networked computer  114  interfaces with the server subsystem web server  112  via a data communications network  116  and receives HTML pages. 
         [0082]    As described in process step  1652 , if the user is a new user, he is prompted to create a new website account. If the user is a returning user of the systems, he is prompted to log in as described in  1654 . 
         [0083]    In process step  1656 , the borrower  104  supplies at least some of the personal information requested by the HTML forms displayed on the networked computer  114 . 
         [0084]    In process step  1658 , the borrower  104  submits the personal information to the server subsystem web server  112 . 
         [0085]    In process step  1660 , the borrower&#39;s  104  personal information is stored to a database  118 . 
         [0086]    In process step  1662 , the server subsystem  102  applies a filter  122  to determine whether the borrower&#39;s  104  personal information matches any of the lending institutions&#39;  106  selection criteria. 
         [0087]    In process step  1664 , the server subsystem  102  sends a list of matching lending institutions  106  to the borrower  104  optionally including the contact information of each lending institution  106 . As shown in process step  1666 , the server subsystem  102  also sends a notification to the identified lending institutions  106  that new leads have been generated by the system  100 . The notification may contain one or more links that when activated cause the system  100  login screen to be displayed at the lending institution&#39;s computer 
         [0088]    In process step  1668 , the lender  106  logs in to the website as directed by the notification. The lender may view or download new leads identified by the system  100  as described in process step  1670 . The lender  106  may then contact the borrower  104  that has been identified as meeting the lender&#39;s selection criteria directly by phone or other methods as described in process step  1672 . 
         [0089]    In process step  1674 , the lender logs in to the website to update the status of the loan process with respect to the identified borrower. In process step  1676 , the borrower may log in to the website to determine the status of the loan process with respect to each of the identified lenders. 
         [0090]      FIG. 17  is a process flow diagram according to another embodiment of the present invention. In process step  1702 , a borrower  104  interfaces with the system  100  by visiting a website through a networked computer  114  via the server subsystem web server  112  or by some other means as described above. The networked computer  114  interfaces with the server subsystem web server  112  via a data communications network  116  and receives HTML forms requesting personal information. 
         [0091]    In process step  1704 , the borrower  104  supplies at least some of the personal information requested by the HTML forms displayed on the networked computer  114 . Supplying personal information may include creating a website account if the borrower is a new user of the system. 
         [0092]    In process step  1706 , the borrower  104  submits the personal information to the server subsystem web server  112 . 
         [0093]    In process step  1708 , the borrower  104  receives a response from the server subsystem web server  112 . 
         [0094]    In process step  1710 , if the borrower  104  does not receive from the server subsystem  102  an identified lending institution, the borrower  104  may modify the personal information in the HTML forms requesting personal information and resubmit the revised information to the server subsystem  102  as depicted in process step  1712 , or the borrower may exit the system  100 . 
         [0095]    If the borrower  104  receives from the server subsystem  102  a list of one or more identified lending institutions  106 , the borrower  104  may click on one or more of the HTML links to the one or more identified lending institutions  106  as depicted in process step  1714 . 
         [0096]    In process step  1716 , the networked computer  114  sends a signal to the server subsystem  102  indicating that the borrower  104  has clicked one or more HTML links. This signal is recorded by the server subsystem  102  to manage the number of referrals being created using the system  100 , and is also a check to see if the borrower  104  has acted on any of the information provided in the form of the HTML links. 
         [0097]    The forms requesting personal information received from the web server  112  may include, but are not limited to, text entry fields, radio buttons, drop down boxes, and check boxes. For example, the borrower  104  may enter personal information about a self-assessment of his or her credit worthiness using a drop-down menu that asks whether the borrower  104  has “excellent,” “good,” or “poor,” credit, or which state the borrower  104  lives in. 
         [0098]      FIG. 18  provides a process flow diagram depicting the server-side referral tracking process flow according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In process step  1802 , the web server  112  in the server subsystem  102  receives from a lending institution  106  information about the lending institution and the lending institution&#39;s selection criteria. 
         [0099]    In process step  1804 , the server subsystem  102  determines whether an entry for the lending institution  106  exists in the database  118 . If an entry exists, the entry is updated with the information received from the lending institution  106 . If no entry exists, a new entry is created in the database  118  using the received lending institution information and selection criteria. An entry in the database may include, but is not limited to, the name of the institution, the selection criteria, a record of successful referrals, and the referral fee paid by the lending institution to the referring agent. 
         [0100]    In process step  1806 , the server subsystem  102  transmits to a borrower  104  a file containing instructions to create a link, such as an HTML hyperlink, that points the borrower  102  to the lending institution web site  108  when the borrower&#39;s submitted personal information matches the selection criteria of a lending institution. 
         [0101]    In process step  1808 , the server subsystem  102  receives from the borrower networked computer  114  a signal indicating that the borrower clicked on the HTML link. The signal includes an indication of the lending institution web site HTML link on which the borrower clicked. 
         [0102]    In process step  1810 , the server subsystem  102  updates the entry in the database  118  for the particular lending institution to which the borrower was referred to reflect a successful referral. 
         [0103]    In process step  1812 , a referral fee is received from the lending institution  106  for any referrals of borrowers  104  made by the system  100 . The server subsystem  102  may generate an invoice detailing the referrals made as recorded in the database  118  entry for a particular lending institution  106 . The step of generating an invoice and sending the invoice to the lending institution may be automated and can be performed intermittently or at predetermined intervals. 
         [0104]    Although certain presently preferred embodiments of the disclosed invention have been specifically described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the various embodiments shown and described herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and the applicable rules of law.