Patent ID: 8386377

Claim:
A method for generating a credit rating for an entity comprising the steps of: providing a network of linked identity records, each identity record comprising identity related information; receiving an identity record comprising identity related information; linking the received identity record with at least one of the identity records in the network of linked identity records to form a graphical network of related identity records; detecting anomalies in the graphical network of related identity records; generating a credit rating for the entity based on the detected anomalies in the graphical network of related identity records using a processor, and regenerating the credit rating for the entity, wherein the step of regenerating further comprises the steps of: receiving a new identity record comprising identity related information related to the entity, from a third-party source; linking the new identity record with the network of linked identity records to form a second graphical network; detecting anomalies in the second graphical network of related identity records; and regenerating the credit rating for the entity based on the detected anomalies in the second graphical network of identity records; wherein a link between a first identity record and a second identity record is created when a characteristic of the identity related information of the first identity record is similar to a characteristic of the identity related information of the second identity record, and the entity has no credit history with a standard credit bureau.