Patent ID: 8359270

Claim:
A method for managing an account for an individual, comprising the steps of: a) communicating with an individual who is seeking to purchase a product or service from a point of sale, wherein said communicating occurs without the individual disclosing an account number to the point of sale; and wherein said communicating further comprises obtaining from said individual at least three sets of numbers relating to the individual's personal information, wherein said at least three sets of numbers includes: a) a first set of numbers com risin the last four digits of the individual's social security number; b) a second set of numbers comprising the last two digits its of the individual's birth year or the two digits indicating the individual's birth month, or the two digits indicating the individual's birth day-of-month, or any combination of those numbers; and c) a third set of numbers comprising the individual's zip code, and wherein said sets of numbers obtained from said individual does not include the complete account number for any pre-existing credit or social security account of the individual; b) using an account management system to compare said at least three sets of numbers to at least one database including a plurality of personal information associated with a plurality of individuals; c) identifying from the plurality of individuals one identified individual whose plurality of personal information includes the personal information associated with said individual; and d) managing an account for said individual in an account database.