Patent ID: 7058817

Claim:
A method for accessing a plurality of financial accounts using a single sign on procedure, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user to access the plurality of financial accounts; prompting the user for a user identification; receiving the user identification from the user; prompting the user for a password; receiving the password from the user; determining the ownership verification information requirements for each of the plurality of financial accounts; ranking the ownership verification information requirements for each of the plurality of financial accounts on the basis of the stringency of the ownership verification information requirements for each of the plurality of financial accounts; prompting the user for user-provided ownership verification information related to the financial account with the most stringent ownership verification information requirements; receiving the user-provided ownership verification information from the user; and determining whether the user-provided ownership verification information satisfies the ownership verification information requirements of the financial account with the most stringent ownership verification information requirements, and, if so, then providing the user with the requested access to the plurality of financial accounts.