Patent ID: 8671281

Claim:
A method for accessing a plurality of financial accounts using a single sign on procedure, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at a host service provider, a request from a user to access the plurality of financial transaction 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; using at least one computer processor, verifying the user identification and password; prompting the user for ownership verification information associated with at least one of the plurality of financial transaction accounts to which access is requested; receiving the ownership verification information from the user; using at least one computer processor, verifying the ownership verification information; providing the user with the requested access to the plurality of financial transaction accounts; the at least one computer processor determining a highest level account to which the user is verified based on the ownership verification information; and providing the user access to accounts of the plurality of accounts at and under the highest level account based on a hierarchy ranking, wherein the host service provider provides access to account information pertaining to a plurality of the user's accounts, the account information of the plurality of accounts residing respectively in the plurality of service provider systems.