Patent Publication Number: US-2013232059-A1

Title: Using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of and claims priority to, U.S. Ser. No. 13/354,135 filed Jan. 19, 2012 and entitled “using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments.” The &#39;135 application is a continuation of and claims priority to, U.S. Pat. No. 8,117,116 issued Feb. 14, 2012 (aka U.S. Ser. No. 11/642,956 filed Dec. 21, 2006) and entitled “USING A TRANSACTION CARD ACCOUNT TO MAKE RECURRING LOAN PAYMENTS,” The &#39;116 patent claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/753,398, filed Dec. 27, 2005. All of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments. 
     2. Related Art 
     Many loan companies (e.g., mortgage lenders) currently do not offer consumers the ability to make recurring loan payments (e.g., monthly mortgage payments) using a transaction card account. As a result, consumers are left with conventional payment vehicles, e.g., checks and electronic checks through Automated Clearing House (ACH), which may not be flexible, convenient and/or secure. For example, many consumers feel checks are inconvenient and often lead to late payments. With ACH, many consumers feel that providing checking account info and having money automatically deducted from checking accounts is not safe or reliable. 
     Given the foregoing, what is needed is a system, method and computer program product for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention meets the above-identified needs by providing a system, method and computer program product for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments. 
     In one embodiment, there is provided a method for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments comprising: receiving information at a transaction account system from a loan company system corresponding to an application received at the loan company system from a requester for a loan that has also requested having automatic debits to a transaction card account; determining if the requestor is eligible for the loan, which recurring payment is to be associated with a transaction card account corresponding recurring bill; determining, if eligible, whether the transaction account system has stored therein a transaction card account of the requestor, (i) if no, opening a transaction card account for the requestor and associating the transaction card account with the loan, and (ii) if yes, associating the loan with the transaction card account; and periodically debiting the transaction card account corresponding to a recurring loan payment amount for the loan. 
     In another embodiment, there is provided a system for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments comprising a controller, a storage device, and a comparing device. The controller receives information from a loan company system corresponding to an application received at the loan company system from a requester for a loan that has also requested having automatic debits to a transaction card account when a loan is approved by the loan company system. The storage device is coupled to the controller and stores information regarding individual transaction card accounts. The comparing device compares information received from the controller with the stored information to determine if the requestor is associated with one of the individual transaction card accounts and generates a result signal. The controller is configured to associate the loan with one of the individual transaction card accounts or to associate the loan with a new individual transaction card account based on the result signal. The controller is configured to perform the automatic debits to the associated transaction card account according to information received from the loan company system in a recurring amount value based on the loan. 
     In a further embodiment, the present invention provides a computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for controlling at least one processor. The computer program logic comprising computer program code modules that perform operations similar to the above-mentioned method and system embodiments. 
     Further features and advantages of the present invention as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings. The left-most digit of a reference number identifies the drawing in Which the reference number first appears. 
         FIG. 1  is a system diagram, according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4 , and  5  are flowcharts illustrating various processes, according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a sample computer system that can be used in the implementation of one or more embodiments of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 7 and 8  are flowcharts illustrating various processes, according to various embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Overview and Terminology 
     The present invention is directed to a system, method and computer program product for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments. 
     The present invention is now described in more detail herein in terms of the above exemplary description. This is for convenience only and is not intended to limit the application of the present invention. In fact, after reading the following description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the following invention in alternative embodiments. 
     The terms “member,” “cardmember,” “user,” “end user”, “consumer”, “customer,” “participant,” etc., and/or the plural form of these terms are used interchangeably throughout herein to refer to those persons or entities capable of accessing, using, be affected by and/or benefiting from the tool that the present invention provides for searching credit reports using only a partial social security number and other identifying information. 
     Furthermore, the terms “business” or “merchant” may be used interchangeably with each other and shall mean any person, entity, distributor system, software and/or hardware that is a provider, broker and/or any other entity in the distribution chain of goods or services. For example, a merchant may be a grocery store, a retail store, a travel agency, a service provider, an on-line merchant or the like. 
     Transaction Accounts and Instrument 
     A “transaction account” as used herein refers to an account associated with an open account or a closed account system (as described below). The transaction account may exist in a physical or nonphysical embodiment. For example, a transaction account may be distributed in non-physical embodiments such as an account number, frequent-flyer account, and telephone calling account or the like. Furthermore, a physical embodiment of a transaction account may be distributed as a financial instrument. 
     A financial transaction instrument may be traditional plastic transaction cards, titanium-containing, or other metal-containing, transaction cards, clear and/or translucent transaction cards, foldable or otherwise unconventionally-sized transaction cards, radio-frequency enabled transaction cards, or other types of transaction cards, such as credit, charge, debit, pre-paid or stored-value cards, or any other like financial transaction instrument. A financial transaction instrument may also have electronic functionality provided by a network of electronic circuitry that is printed or otherwise incorporated onto or within the transaction instrument (and typically referred to as a “smart card”), or be a fob having a transponder and an RFID reader. 
     Open Versus Closed Cards 
     “Open cards” are financial transaction cards that are generally accepted at different merchants. Examples of open cards include the American Express®, Visa®, MasterCard® and Discover® cards, which may be used at many different retailers and other businesses, in contrast, “closed cards” are financial transaction cards that may be restricted to use in a particular store, a particular chain of stores or a collection of affiliated stores. One example of a closed card is a pre-paid gift card that may only be purchased at, and only be accepted at, a clothing retailer, such as The Gap® store, 
     Use of Transaction Accounts 
     With regard to use of a transaction account, users may communicate with merchants in person (e.g., at the box office), telephonically, or electronically (e.g., from a user computer via the Internet). During the interaction, the merchant may offer goods and/or services to the user. The merchant may also offer the user the option of paying for the goods and/or services using any number of available transaction accounts. Furthermore, the transaction accounts may be used by the merchant as a form of identification of the user. The merchant may have a computing unit implemented in the form of a computer-server, although other implementations are possible. 
     In general, transaction accounts may be used for transactions between the user and merchant through any suitable communication means, such as, for example, a telephone network, intranet, the global, public Internet, a point of interaction device (e.g., a point of sale (POS) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, kiosk, eta), online communications, off-line communications, wireless communications, and/or the like, 
     System Overview 
       FIG. 1  shows a system  100 , according to one embodiment of the present invention. System  100  comprises a loan system  102 , a transaction card account system  104 , and a credit agency system(s)  106 . In one example, loan, transaction card account, and credit agency systems  102 ,  104 , and  106  are coupled together and communicate with each other via a network  108 . In other examples, loan, transaction card account, and credit agency systems  102 ,  104 , and  106  are directly connected through a wired or wireless system for communications. 
     In one example, loan system  102  can be a mortgage system, or the like, that includes many different types of mortgage products. In one example, loan system  102  can include an application information storage  110  that receives and stores information or data signal  111  (e.g., financial, personal, demographic, etc. information) from a requestor of a loan. This information signal  111  may also include information relating to what type of loan product the requestor is applying for, and whether the requestor wants to pay the loan product through a new or old transaction card account, which is described in more detail below. 
     In this example, loan system  102  also includes a controller  112  and a credit device  114 . In various examples, controller  112  can be a processor, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, or the like. In one example, controller  112  processes the loan application information  111 . In various examples, the loan application can be automatically processed by the controller  112  to generate a decision or the information  111  can be processed by the controller  112  to place it in a form to later be manually reviewed by an application officer. In either example, processing of the loan application information  111  may include controller  112  initiating communication between credit device  114  and credit agency system  106  to retrieve credit information  116  from credit agency system  106 . It is to be appreciated that one or more credit agency systems  106  can be used to retrieve credit information  116 , as would be known to a skilled artisan. In one example, credit information  116  is processed by controller  112  in conjunction with application information  111  to determine whether a loan product should be approved, for example using any process known to a skilled artisan. 
     In one example, transaction card account system  104  can include a controller  118 , a transaction card account storage  120 , a comparing device  122 , and an optional credit device  124 . In various examples, controller  118  can be a processor, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, or the like. 
     In one example, when a requestor of the loan product also requests that the loan be paid through debits to a transaction card account, controller  118  receives a signal  126  from loan system  102 . In various examples, signal  126  can include loan product information, the credit determination information, the requestor&#39;s information, and/or other information. Controller  118  processes information signal  126  and generates a signal  128  that is transmitted to comparing device  122 . Comparing device  122  compares the information in signal  128  to information in storage  120  to determine if the requestor already has a transaction card account established in the transaction card account system  104 . If an account is already established for the requestor, the loan product is associated with this account for the future periodic recurring loan payments that will be debited to the transaction card account. If an account is not already established for the requestor, controller  118  processes a portion of the received information  126  and transmits information signal  130  to storage  120  to establish a transaction card account for the requestor. Transaction card account system  104  then generates and forwards a new transaction card to the requestor. 
     In one example, credit device  124  is optional, because transaction card account system  104  can base its decision on whether or not to allow association of the loan with a transaction card account on the credit determination information portion of signal  126  from loan system  102 , in other examples, when credit device  124  is used, transaction card account system  104  can make its own eligibility determination. In this latter example when credit device  124  is used, controller  118  initiates communication between credit device  124  and credit agency  106 , possibly via network  108 , to retrieve credit information  116  corresponding to the requestor. Then, controller  118  forwards the retrieved credit information  116  to credit device  124  to determine if the requestor is eligible for associating a transaction card with the loan. Once approved, then controller  118  generates and transmits signal  130  to storage  120 , which establishes a transaction card account for the requestor in storage  120 . 
     In one example, once it is either established that a transaction card account already exists for the requestor or a new transaction card account is associated with the requestor, transaction card account system  104  communicates with loan system  102 . This communication is to verify that the customer has accepted and enrolled in a program that would allow the automatic periodic payments of the recurring loan account value through debits to their transaction card account. Once established, the automatic debits can begin. These debits are automatically posted to the transaction card account similar to any other transaction associated with the transaction card account. 
     In one example, a customer receives a corresponding number of award or loyalty points, or the like, for each dollar of the recurring loan account value. 
     In one example, loan and transaction card account systems  102  and  104  can be computer systems having underlying software or they can be software on a computer system. Thus, loan and transaction card account systems  102  and  104  can therefore be hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. Thus, the use of “device” throughout this description can be a hardware device or a software module that performs a described function. 
     In various examples, network  108  can be a wired or wireless network that allows for transmission of information between loan, transaction account, and credit agency systems  102 ,  104 , and  106 . For example, network  108  can be a wide area network (WAN), local area network (LAN), Ethernet, Internet, Intranet, Extranet, etc. 
     in one example, system  100  can performed a process that can be referred to as Mortgage Payment on the Card (“MPOC”) for a specially-created mortgage product (or line of products), created just for the purpose of making monthly mortgage payments on the card (i.e., a transaction card account). Loan system  102  (e.g., mortgage lender partners of the transaction card account company system  104 ) would offer consumers this line of products that would have certain loan characteristics and added features, including a transaction card account (e.g., an American Express card account) that is used for each monthly mortgage payment. Alternatively, system  100  can perform a process referred to as Mortgage Payment on the Card (“MPOC”) for a specially-created program in which mortgage lenders offer consumers the option of making monthly mortgage payments on the card (i.e., trans card account) for a subset of their existing mortgages. Loan system  102  would offer customers this line of mortgages that has the unique feature or allowing a transaction card account (e.g., an American Express card account) for making monthly mortgage payments. In one example, by using a transaction card account, consumers would be able to obtain the rewards/loyalty points associated with their transaction card for each monthly mortgage payment. 
     As discussed above, in order to be eligible for this service, consumers need to have a card on the transaction card account network and they have to enroll in automatic recurring billing. If non-cardmembers apply for the product, they will be issued, as discussed above, a new transaction card, e.g., a Preferred Rewards Gold Card from American Express Company of New York, N.Y., to make their monthly mortgage payments. 
     In one example, incremental closing costs or fees will be retained by the mortgage lender system  102 . These fees may be charged in one lump sum at closing or they may be charged on an annual basis over the life of the mortgage. Alternatively, the fees may be charged half initially and half over the life of the loan. Additionally, or alternatively, fees may be charged on a monthly basis over the life of the mortgage. 
     In one example, a special process may be implemented in the case of “spend disruption” (e.g., failure to pay a required amount on the transaction card account during a billing cycle) in which: 1) loan system  102  is notified by transactions card account system  104  when the customer does not properly pay their transaction card account, such that loan system  102  can obtain an alternative form of payment. 
     In one example, the transaction card account company may provide monetary incentives to the loan company for acquiring new customers and allowing them to put the recurring loan payment to be made on the transaction card account. In various examples, remuneration may be made to mortgage lender partners in the form of a bounty for new card acquisitions. In various examples, the transaction card account company may have different settlement options for different mortgage lender partners. 
     In one example, the mortgage line of products will consist of a variety of common mortgage types. The interest rates and closing costs will be competitive with the best available rates. The approval process for the loan will be quick and easy. Monthly payments will be charged automatically to a transaction card (e.g., an American Express credit or charge card). 
     As discussed above, through use of the above system  100 , customers can earn loyalty or rewards points associated with their transaction card for each monthly mortgage payment. For example, if their monthly mortgage payment is $2,000, they can earn 2,000 points per month or 24,000 points per year. Their monthly mortgage payment will be automatically made through their transaction card, allowing them to: save time preparing payments and balancing their bank statement, eliminate the chance of late payment, and/or consolidate bill payments and keep track of mortgage payments online, in addition to these benefits, consumers who close a loan through the program will also receive an exclusive assortment of home-related offers. No additional interest will be Charged on the transaction card provided their card is paid in full by the payment due date. 
     Process Overview 
       FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 , and  7  are flowcharts illustrating various processes, according to various embodiments of the present invention. In one example, these processes can be performed using system  100 . 
       FIG. 2  shows a flowchart depicting a method  235 . For example, method  235  can be a method for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments. In step  236 , information is received at a transaction account system from a loan company system corresponding to an application received at the loan company system from a requester for a loan involving automatic debits to a transaction card account. In step  238 , a determination is made as to whether the requestor is eligible for the loan to be associated with a transaction card account. If not eligible in step  238 , in step  241  the customer receives a communication of rejection. If eligible in step  238 , in step  240  a determination is made whether the transaction account system has stored therein a transaction card account of the requestor. If no in step  240 , in step  242  a transaction card account is opened for the requestor and associated with the loan. If yes in step  240 , in step  244  the loan payment is associated with the transaction card account bill, as discussed elsewhere. In step  246 , periodic debits to the transaction card account are automatically made that correspond to a recurring loan payment amount for the loan. 
     In various examples, step  238  is either performed based on information from the loan company system, based on information generated by the transaction card account company, or based on information from both the loan company system and the transaction card company system. 
     In one example, method  235  periodically stores a respective reward value or a loyalty point value associated with the recurring loan payment amount in the transaction card account. 
     In one example, the recurring loan payment is a mortgage payment. 
     In an alternative embodiment, method  235  may only comprise associating a mortgage product with the transaction card account and automatically periodically debiting the transaction card account with the mortgage payment amount, e.g., steps  240 ,  242 ,  244 , and  246 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a flowchart depicting a method  300 . In one example, method  300  is a method for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments, e.g., mortgage payments. In this embodiment, the customer is known to be a transaction card holder of a transaction card company associated with or partnering with a mortgage company accepting a mortgage application. In step  302 , a consumer contacts a lender or selling agent of the mortgage company and applies for a mortgage. In step  304 , the lender takes loan information (e.g., financial, personal, demographic, etc. information of the customer). In one example, risk approval criteria can be the same for the lender and a transaction card company. In step  306 , after an automated or manual evaluation of the loan application, the lender approves the customer for a mortgage product. In step  308 , the transaction card company is contacted and sets a mortgage payment as an automatic bill pay process. 
       FIG. 4  shows a flowchart depicting a method  400 . In one example, method  400  is a method for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments, e.g., mortgage payments. In this embodiment, the customer is known to not be a transaction card holder of a transaction card company associated with or partnered with a mortgage company accepting a mortgage application. In step  402 , a consumer contacts a lender or selling agent of the mortgage company and applies for a mortgage. In step  404 , the lender takes loan information, similar to above. In one example, risk approval criteria can be the same for the lender and a transaction card company. In step  406 , after an automated or manual evaluation of the loan application, the lender approves the customer for a mortgage product and forwards the customer&#39;s information to the transaction card company. In step  408 , upon closing of the mortgage, the transaction card company establishes a new transaction card account for the customer. In step  410 , the transaction card account company sets a mortgage payment as an automatic bill pay process. 
       FIG. 5  shows a flowchart depicting a method  500 . For example, method  500  can be used to make sure the transaction card account bills are being paid and to alert the mortgage company if they are not. In step  502 , each mortgage charge to the transaction card account is authorized by the mortgage company. In step  504 , the transaction card company declines the mortgage charge and asks the customer to pay down the transaction card account before more charges can be posted to it. This can be for several reasons, for example the customer is in default or at/over their credit limit on their transaction card account. In an optional step  506 , transaction card company can alert the loan system company that the charge was not accepted and that the mortgage company should contact the customer directly to pay the mortgage payment. 
       FIG. 7  shows a flowchart depicting a method  700 . In one example, method  300  is a method for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments, e.g., mortgage payments. In this embodiment, the customer is known to be a transaction card holder of a transaction card company associated with or partnering with a mortgage company accepting a mortgage application. In step  702 , a consumer contacts a lender or selling agent and applies for mortgage that is part of the program and gives the consumer the ability to make their monthly mortgage payments on their transaction card account (e.g., American Express). In step  704 , a lender takes information for a loan. In step  706 , the lender pre-approves customer for loan. In step  708 , the lender contacts the transaction card company (e.g., American Express), either directly via voice authorization or via electronic authorization, to determine if the consumer would be authorized to make the mortgage payment at that point in time. There is no guarantee that the consumer will be able to transact in the future, but the pre-approval should be a good indicator. If the consumer is approved for the loan and is authorized to make the payment, the consumer will receive pre-approval for the Program. In step  710 , upon closing of the loan, the lender sets up a mortgage payment (e.g., via a recurring billing solution) as a recurring transaction on the transaction card account. 
       FIG. 8  shows a flowchart depicting a method  800 . In one example, method  800  is a method for using a transaction card account to make recurring loan payments, e.g., mortgage payments. In this embodiment, the customer is known to not be a transaction card holder of a transaction card company associated with or partnered with a mortgage company accepting a mortgage application. In step  802 , a consumer contacts a lender or selling agent and applies for a mortgage and a transaction card account (e.g., an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card). In step  804 , the lender takes information for the loan and the transaction card account. In step  806 , the lender forwards information to transaction card account company (e.g., American Express) for approval for the transaction card account. Once confirmation of approval is received from the transaction card account company, in step  808  the lender approves the consumer for the loan and the transaction card. In step  810 , upon closing of the loan, the lender sets up a mortgage payment (e.g., via a recurring billing solution) as a recurring transaction on the transaction card account. 
     In one example, for pre-authorization (e.g., step  708  above), normal decision factors (e.g., credit and fraud parameters) may be made more stringent, so that it is harder for existing cardmembers to get authorized to make the monthly mortgage payment. This will help decrease the chances that cardmembers who close a loan through the Program will be declined for their first payment, and possibly also for the ongoing payments associated with the loan. 
     For new cardmembers, some card issuing companies have limits on spend (e.g., amount one can charge) for the first few months of having the card. Some mortgage payments can exceed this amount, which would normally prevent the potential cardmember applicant from making payments for the loan since the recurring monthly payments could not be immediately Charged on the card. However, in one example, these rules are relaxed to allow the new cardmember to incur charges substantial enough to cover, for example, a mortgage payment. 
     Additionally, or alternatively, if a decision is made that a new or existing cardmember cannot qualify to make a mortgage payment, i.e., risk systems decline a cardmember for a payment, the card issuing company can work with the potential new cardmember or the existing cardmember to remedy the problems associated with the declined payment. For example, if a cardmember is considered higher risk due to certain spending patterns or if they are spending a lot and intend on spending more, this may cause the cardmember to be declined for payment. If this occurs, the card issuing company would contact the cardmember and communication with the cardmember that if they can agree to prepay and the transaction card company will proactively reach out to the lender to notify the lender that the cardmember should now be approved for payment if the lender submits the charge against the cardmembers transaction account again. In another example, the cardmember may not be considered high risk, but has spent a lot that month and/or over the course of recent months. If the cardmember communicates that they will not spend anymore that month, the card issuing company will proactively reach out to the lender to notify the lender that the cardmember should now be approved for payment if the lender submits the charge against the cardmembers transaction account again. 
     Example Implementations 
     The present invention (i.e., system  100  and processes  235 ,  350 ,  460 , and  575  in  FIGS. 2 ,  3 ,  4 , and  5 , or any part(s) or function(s) thereof) may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems. However, the manipulations performed by the present invention were often referred to in terms, such as receiving or comparing, which are commonly associated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of the operations described herein which form part of the present invention. Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines for performing the operation of the present invention include general purpose digital computers or similar devices. 
     In fact, in one embodiment, the invention is directed toward one or more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. An example of a computer system  600  is shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     The computer system  600  includes one or more processors, such as processor  604 . The processor  604  is connected to a communication infrastructure  606  (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, or network). Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplary computer system. After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the invention using other computer systems and/or architectures. 
     Computer system  600  can include a display interface  602  that forwards graphics, text, and other data from the communication infrastructure  606  (or from a frame buffer not shown) for display on the display unit  630 . 
     Computer system  600  also includes a main memory  608 , preferably random access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory  610 . The secondary memory  610  may include, for example, a hard disk drive  612  and/or a removable storage drive  614 , representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drive  614  reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit  618  in a well known manner. Removable storage unit  618  represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. Which is read by and written to by removable storage drive  614 . As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit  618  includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data. 
     In alternative embodiments, secondary memory  610  may include other similar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into computer system  600 . Such devices may include, for example, a removable storage unit  622  and an interface  620 . Examples of such may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other removable storage units  622  and interfaces  620 , which allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit  622  to computer system  600 . 
     Computer system  600  may also include a communications interface  624 . Communications interface  624  allows software and data to be transferred between computer system  600  and external devices. Examples of communications interface  624  may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface  624  are in the form of signals  628  which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface  624 . These signals  628  are provided to communications interface  624  via a communications path (e.g., channel)  626 . This channel  626  carries signals  628  and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, an radio frequency (RF) link and other communications channels. 
     In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as removable storage drive  614 , a hard disk installed in hard disk drive  612 , and signals  628 . These computer program products provide software to computer system  600 . The invention is directed to such computer program products. 
     Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) are stored in main memory  608  and/or secondary memory  610 . Computer programs may also be received via communications interface  624 . Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computer system  600  to perform the features of the present invention, as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor  604  to perform the features of the present invention. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the computer system  600 . 
     In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into computer system  600  using removable storage drive  614 , hard drive  612  or communications interface  624 . The control logic (software), when executed by the processor  604 , causes the processor  604  to perform the functions of the invention as described herein. 
     In another embodiment, the invention is implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware state machine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). In yet another embodiment, the invention is implemented using a combination of both hardware and software. 
     CONCLUSION 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention). Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. 
     In addition, it should be understood that the figures, which highlight the functionality and advantages of the present invention, are presented for example purposes only. The architecture of the present invention is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than that shown in the accompanying figures. 
     Further, the purpose of the following Abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is not intended to be limiting as to the scope of the present invention in any way.