Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    (1) Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention is directed to a method, an article of manufacture, and a system incorporating a computer system of a financial institution, wherein data fields are provided and access thereto is initiated for the generation of financial information for format and transmission via electronic mail to the customer on an incremental time basis.  
           [0003]    (2) Brief Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Electronic mail (or “e-mail”) is a popular way for people to communicate. Using e-mail, a person can send messages and other information such as formalized documents, etc., that are in digital form, either in the mail itself, or as an “attachment” in a rather lengthy e-mail configuration.  
           [0005]    E-mail communication systems are generally regarded as multi-cast, store-and-forward bi-directional communication systems. A user can send e-mail messages to one or more recipients at a time. An e-mail system is regarded as bi-directional as, usually, a user can both send and receive e-mail messages. Uni-directional systems are also popular.  
           [0006]    When using e-mail to communicate, a user will typically create a message using an e-mail program running on a computer that is or can be connected by a network to other computers. The message will include the e-mail address of the intended recipient. When the user has finished entering the message, the user will “send” the message to the intended recipient. The message is electronically transmitted via the computer network. The recipient, also using an e-mail program running on a computer connected to a computer network, can then read the received message.  
           [0007]    A common computer network used to send and receive e-mail is the Internet. The Internet allows users to send and receive e-mail to and from computers around the world. Typically, each user will have an Internet e-mail address unique to that user, e.g., bob@pto.com. A user with an e-mail account and a computer that can connect to the Internet can easily send and receive e-mail over the Internet. Users connect to the Internet to send and receive e-mail through a number of on-line networks, such as America on Line, CompuServe, Microsoft Network, and the like. Using a computer with a modem, the user is supplied with a unique access number which is sourced through the network for sending and receiving e-mail.  
           [0008]    In the past, banks and other similar financial organizations, have customarily sent out statements to customers on a given time basis, such as monthly. Generally speaking, separate accounts will generate statements which have been mailed to the customer. Recently, many banks and other financial institutions have offered statements in which all accounts are included in one statement, i.e., 2 or more checking accounts, a savings account, a line of credit, and the like.  
           [0009]    Most banks offer a telephone “800” number for a customer to make specific inquiry regarding a debit, credit or balance for a particular account Most of the “800” numbers are automated and computer generated voice responses deliver the required messages and information to the customer upon the customer entering into the phone pad identification numbers for the account and other information. Often times, these “800” numbers are not satisfactorily responsive and result in delays in communicating the desired information to the customer, with the customer being placed on “hold” for many minutes.  
           [0010]    The present invention addresses many of the problems described above by providing a method and system for sorting, generating and presenting banking and other financial data in a format from a host computer system, i.e., a host server, to a computer integrated into an e-mail system, preferably via the Internet as above described, for a very frequent transmission of the requested and desired information to the customer, such as on a daily basis, i.e., once each morning at a designated time. In this manner, the customer may be serviced with a “daily” or almost continuous data stream containing debit, credit and balance information on a host of accounts with the financial institution, such as a Bank, savings and loan association, or the like. The information is provided in a format which offers security to the customer with respect to proper identification of accounts and the like.  
         DEFINITIONS  
         [0011]    As used in the specification and the claims, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings corresponding thereto:  
           [0012]    (1) “Checking Account”: a bank account against which the depositor can draw checks.  
           [0013]    (2) “Savings Account”: an account (as in a bank) on which interest is usually paid and from which withdrawals can be made usually only by presentation of a passbook or by written authorization on a prescribed form.  
           [0014]    (3) “Certificate of Deposit”: an account (as in a bank) on which interest is usually paid at an agreed upon rate for an specific, agreed upon, time period. For example, 7% for 90 day. Withdrawals of principle are usually not allowed (without penalty) during the term of the agreement.  
           [0015]    (4) “Loan Account”: an account (as in a bank) reflecting money lent at interest.  
           [0016]    (5) “Discount Loan Account”: an account (as in a bank) reflecting money lent at interest where the interest to be charged during the term on the loan is computed at the time the money is lent and added to the amount borrowed to determine the amount of the loan. The borrower receives as proceeds, the amount of the loan less the pre-computed interest (the discounted amount);  
           [0017]    (6) “Simple Interest Loan Account”: an account (as in a bank) reflecting money lent at interest where interest charged is computed and added to the balance of the note on a daily basis using a daily interest rate factor.  
           [0018]    (7) “Laser Notice File”: a data file containing customer notices (interest paid, NSF checks, payments due, etc.) formatted for printing on a laser printed.  
           [0019]    (8) “NSF Check”: a check presented payment on an account against which the depositor can draw checks when there are not sufficient funds in the account to pay the check.  
           [0020]    (9) “Predeterminable Time Increment Basis”: For example, daily at a set time each day.  
           [0021]    (10) “Officer Order”: account information sorted in order of the initial of the bank officer assigned to the account (rather than in another order such as account number).  
           [0022]    (11) CSV attachments: (comma separated values) information in a computer data file where each file record contains several data elements each separated by a comma. The comma marks the end of one data element and the beginning of another.  
           [0023]    (12) Qwicken attachments: Information in a computer data file formatted to the requirements of the popular personal accounting program Quicken, for importing financial information into the program.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0024]    The present invention provides a method, system and article of manufacture incorporating a financial institution computer system for extracting financial data within a data base in the computer system and for formatting the data and thereafter transmitting the formatted data via electronic mail. Electronic information is maintained on financial accounts of a customer within the data base in the financial institution computer system. The electronic information is processed within the data base to identify and extract pre-selected data therefrom. The data is electronically formatted for transmission to the customer via electronic mail. The formatted data is transmitted to a location designated by the customer via electronic mail for storage within and readout on a computer system of the customer.  
           [0025]    The financial institution preferably is a bank. As used herein, the computer system may include a computer server, one or more personal computers and any other electronic computer system well known to those skilled in the art and utilized in financial institutions for the maintaining of electronic information pertaining to checking, savings, certificates of deposit, loan accounts, and the like. Electronic information is processed to identify and extract pre-selected data therefrom, such as mini trial balances for checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, loan accounts, and discount loan accounts, simple interest loan accounts, and any and all other special service accounts of the financial institution for each of its customers. The information is electronically formatted such as by use of a “WINDOWS” type computer operating system including menu selections for customers, options, verify files, enable auto e-mail, generate e-mail, broadcast, help and exit.  
           [0026]    A customer setup configuration is generated through sorting of the data field in the computer for each customer in at least one of the following fields sorted by file within the computer: account number; reference number; account name; account type; balance for designated accounts; transactions for designated accounts; non-sufficient funds designation; and day or date of report transmission.  
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS  
       [0027]    [0027]FIG. 1 is a printout of a sample or representative e-statement illustrating the preferred layout and configuration of the report generated in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 2 is a view of the main menu for generating the e-mail report of the preferred embodiment of the invention in WINDOWS™ format as it would appear on a personal computer CRT or screen.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 3, similar to the illustration of FIG. 2, is an illustration of the customer&#39;s selection,  39 , from the main menu.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4, is an illustration of the view of the customer set-up generated by selection at the add/edit button  56 .  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4 showing the customer account set up configuration which will appear by activating the accounts button  68  shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 6 is a view similar to the previous figures illustrating a sub-menu option of “change report path” and “change loan data path” by clicking onto the options field  40  illustrated in FIG. 2.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 7 is a view similar to the other figures of the sub-menu option for “change system information” resulting from scrolling at  107  in the sub-menu option illustrated in FIG. 6.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 8 is a view similar to the previous views of the sub-menu option of “Edit Auto E-Mail Settings” by scrolling at  107  in the sub-menu illustrated in FIG. 6.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 9 is yet another sub-menu option which may be position by again scrolling at  107  on the sub-menu profile of FIG. 6.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 10 is a view of yet another sub-menu option of “Edit Transaction Codes” which may be selected by again scrolling at  107 .  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 11 is an illustration of the selection on the main menu of “enable auto e-mail” and “disable auto e-mail”, field  42  as illustrated in FIG. 2.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 12 is yet another illustration of another main menu selection in the “broadcast” field  44  of FIG. 2.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 13 illustrates the method of the generation of the e-statement in logic and step format.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 illustrating the sub-program of “make statements”.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIGS. 13 and 14 showing another sub-program pertaining to reading of the loans files.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIGS. 13 through 15 showing the logic and step path for the reading of deposit trial balances files.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 17 is yet another logic/step view similar to FIGS. 13 through 16 of the sub-program of reading transactions and NSF (non-sufficient funds) files.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIGS. 18A through 18D together constitute an illustration of a representative printout of a detailed statement generated in accordance with the present invention, and as built from data input as illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 12 in accordance with the description in the specification relating thereto.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0045]    Now with reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a sample of an e-statement preferred format  1  which is transmitted electronically from the financial source, through a computer via conventional e-mail Internet services.  
         [0046]    The statement  1  may appear upon a computer screen, or the like, and/or may be printed out in any tangible format. As shown, the e-statement  1  contains a first line  2  containing the title and the source of the statement and any advertising or promotional or legal notice requirements, such as “Member FDIC”. A date line  3  is provided for specifying the statement generation date and time of generation. As shown, the statement  1  has a statement generation field  3  specifying that it is generated “as of close of business Monday Oct. 16, 2000”. A salutation/description line  4  brings the attention of the reader to the subject matter of the e-statement  1 .  
         [0047]    Fields  5 ,  6  and  7  are clustered on one line to identify the type of account, and the digitized account number  6 , which may have one or more sub-fields in “x”ed or other disguising configuration, for security purposes. Field  7 , as shown, describes the account as “Household Account”.  
         [0048]    Below the field lines  5 ,  6  and  7  are found the Available Balance field  8  and the Exact Balance field  9  as of the date of the generation of the e-statement  1 , reflected in field  3 .  
         [0049]    A field  10  is identified as “Last Deposit”, giving the amount field  11  in numbers, and an “as of” or “on” field  12  for identifying the date of the last deposit  10  which may or may not, be the same date as the generation date  3  of the e-statement  1 .  
         [0050]    Field  13  specifies the transactions for the account identified in field  6  by date  14 , serial or transaction number  15 , amount  16  and transaction source and type  17 . As shown, under the date field  14 , three transactions,  18 ,  19  and  20  are shown for Oct. 16, 2000 with each being identified by a separate serial number  15 . Each of the amounts  16  for the transactions  18 ,  19  and  20  are identified and described in the transaction identification field  17 , such as a check, ACH, debit or a VISA® banking creditor debit card, well known to those skilled in the art.  
         [0051]    The e-statement  1  also has a similar information in fields for another account  22  which is identified in field  1  as a “savings account” and further identified in description field  23  as a “Household Savings Account”. An available balance field  24  similar to that in field  8  is shown for the savings account  21  in a specific monetary amount at field  25 . A last deposit field  26  indicates, as shown, an amount of $2,000 in field  27  deposited to the account on Oct. 13, 2000 as shown in field  28 .  
         [0052]    Again, particular transactions for the account are shown in field  26  with the account being respecified in field  27 . The transactions are identified along field line  29  by date, field  30 , serial number, field  31 , amount, field  32  and transaction source and type, field  33 . The date is provided in field  34  with the serial number identification field  35  and the specified amount of the transaction in the amount field  36 . In field  37 , the transaction is identified as a “withdrawal”, the amount of $40.00, field  36 .  
         [0053]    The e-statement  1  may be provided in a number of formats, with FIG. 1 being only representative of an arrangement of the accumulation of the financial data in the statement format  1 .  
         [0054]    The operation of the e-statement method and program will now be described. FIGS. 2 through 12 illustrate various computer generated video screen or CRT displays of various menu selections incorporated within a preferred program for the e-statement process. As shown, and as previously described, the program is preferably generated through the computer by means of a WINDOWS® computer operating system which is well known and generally publically available in numerous versions.  
         [0055]    With first reference to FIG. 2, a main menu  38  is displayed. The main menu has sub-menus identified as customers  39 , options  40 , verify files  41 , enable auto e-mail  42 , generate e-mail  43 , broadcast  44  and general help fields or sub-menus  45  and exit field  46 .  
         [0056]    The customer&#39;s menu or field  39  is more particularized in FIG. 3 and discussed hereafter in detail. In this customer&#39;s field  39 , a customer&#39;s name, e-mail address and account information are entered or changed, from time to time.  
         [0057]    The main menu  38  also contains an option field  40  for the purpose of changing certain program options such as the directory path to reports, default fonts and graphics for statements, auto e-mail settings, and to define core processor transaction codes, and the like.  
         [0058]    The verify files field  41  assures verification that all files which are needed to generate a current days e-statements have been downloaded from the financial source core computer processor.  
         [0059]    The enable auto e-mail field  42  is used to turn on or off any program feature monitoring the progress of the daily report downloads from the financial organization&#39;s core computer processor. Additionally, this field  42  generates e-statements as soon as all required reports have been received and processed just prior to generation of the e-statement configuration to the customer.  
         [0060]    The generate e-mail field  43  is utilized to generate a current days, week&#39;s or months e-statements which may be prepared and sent on any incremental time basis. This field  43  is a manual request field. The program itself verifies to confirm that all required report files are available. However, if some required reports are not available or are incomplete, the program allows the user the option to continue or abort the request through activation of the generate e-mail field  43  as shown and described in more detail in FIG. 9 and discussion relating thereto.  
         [0061]    The broadcast field  44  is utilized to send an e-mail message to all or a selected group of customers receiving e-statements to announce changes, delays, modifications, or any other material information which is desired to be generated and transmitted to a select number of customers.  
         [0062]    The help menu selection field  45  is conventional in nature and is provided for purposes of immediate computer program operating assistance.  
         [0063]    Finally, the exit program or field  46  maybe utilized for click-on to return to the original WINDOWS® desktop configuration after termination of entry into the program.  
         [0064]    Now with particular reference to FIG. 3, the customer&#39;s sub-program or field  39  in the main menu  38  will now be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the customer&#39;s field  39  is shown in spreadsheet configuration. Fields  50  through  54  are entered in negative/zero configuration where the negative is reflective of a “true” state and a “0” is indicative of a false state, as further described below. Sub-fields  47  through  55  are displayed across the spreadsheet in a horizontal configuration. The “Id” field permits entry of a unique number or code correlated to a single customer. Within the customer name field  48  are listed the individual customer names, by individual or business. The e-mail address field is horizontally displayed adjacent the customer name field  48  which is followed by fields  50 - 54  for a specific service information. For example, “CHRG” field  50  is a field indicating whether or not the customer is to be charged for the service of providing the e-statement. A negative number in this field  50  would indicate that the customer is to be charged for the e-mail statement service. The “CONF” field  51  is utilized to verify that the customer has returned the confirmation of the e-mail address. The “SUSP” field  52  is utilized to indicate possible temporary or permanent suspension of the service for this particular customer. The “No Ad” field  53  is utilized to indicate whether or not electronic advertising is to accompany the e-statement with transmission to this particular customer. The “Rate” field  54  is utilized to indicate the transmission of various interest rates being paid to customers on deposit accounts or charged to customer on loan accounts by the bank.  
         [0065]    The “Add/Edit” button  56  is a click field which will allow the program user to add a new customer, to delete a customer, or change any of the information about the customer in any of the fields  47  through  55 . Selecting this button  56  with a customer&#39;s information highlighted will display that customer&#39;s information for editing purposes. Selecting this button without a customer&#39;s information highlighted will display the first customer&#39;s information for editing purposes, or , alternatively, the last customer&#39;s information for such purposes, as described below. The “Close” button  57  will, of course, return the program to the main menu display, as in FIG. 2.  
         [0066]    The Add/Edit button  56  window display is particularized in FIG. 4. Fields  47  through  54  are displayed vertically and correspond to the horizontal configuration for such fields in FIG. 3. The address name field  48  may be filled in by a click-on and type in of the data in field  48 A. Likewise, the e-mail address field  49  may be clicked on to insert such information in field  49 A. As indicated, charge and confirmed fields  50  and  51  are positively indicated by click-on at fields  58  and  59 . Fields  60 ,  61  and  62  likewise are that they are click-checked or the field left blank, as the case requires. The sort name field  63  is filled in at corresponding field  64  by use of first, last or code names, as required. The Add button  65  is conventional and clears all the fields and sets them to their default value thus allowing the entry of a new customer&#39;s information, or update of such information. Likewise, the delete button  66  deletes the displayed customer from the field. When the delete button  66  is utilized, no additional e-statement will be generated for that particular customer. The update button  67  is utilized to update the customer&#39;s information with the contents displayed on the screen, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, or adds a new customer to the database after the information has been entered. The Account button  68  allows the program user to add or edit account information for the customer currently being displayed. The Close button  69  closes the window display FIG. 4 to return to the display format of FIG. 3.  
         [0067]    Now with reference to FIG. 5, there is shown the statement account display which allows the program user to add or edit account information for the customer currently being displayed in particular fields. The Account field  70  is entered in space  71  in alpha numeric format from the financial systems main computer processing unit. This number is assigned at the time the account is opened, such as a purchase of a certificate of deposit, or completion of a loan transaction. A limited number of digits for the account number field  71  are permitted to be displayed on the e-statement or account attachments as illustrated in FIG. 1, for security purposes. The reference number field  72  is entered in space  73  from the financial organization&#39;s main computer and this number may, or may not, be the same as the account number  71 , depending upon the particular operations of the bank&#39;s central computer processing system. However, the number in the field  73  is never displayed or printed on the e-mail statements or account statement attachment due to a computer block for printout of this particular number, also for security purposes.  
         [0068]    The account name field  74  is filled in at space  75  as it will appear on the customer&#39;s e-statement, as in FIG. 1. This can be any name which is meaningful to the customer. For security reasons it should not be the customer&#39;s actual account name and preferably will be, as reflected in the e-statement of FIG. 1, identified as “Household Account” or “Regular Checking”, or the like. The customer will be able to identify the respective accounts by the last four digits of the account number, as printed, and not particularly with reference to the specific name in the field  75 . The account type field  76  is entered at  77  by scrolling on button  78  for one of a number of account types reported on the program, such as checking, savings, certificate of deposit, commercial loan, consumer loan, line of credit, revolving account, or the like.  
         [0069]    The reports balance field  79  is checked in the adjacent area if the balance of the account is to be reported each day, week, month, or the like, along with certain other information specific to each account type.  
         [0070]    The scroll down button  78  may be clicked on to select one of a number of account type  76  in field  77 , such as checking accounts, savings accounts, loans, certificates of deposits, and the like.  
         [0071]    If the report balance field  79  is checked in the appropriate location, supplemental information for the various types of accounts as indicated in the field  77  will be generated and included within the e-statement. For example, if checking accounts is scrolled into the field  77  by click-on to the arrow button  78 , current balance, available balance, date of last deposit, amount of last deposit, posted transactions and NSF (None Sufficient Funds) Items will be generated. If “Loans” is scrolled into the field  77 , current balance, interest rate, payment amount, last payment due, next due date, maturity date, payoff balance, interest year-to-year and collateral description information will also be generated. If savings accounts is scrolled into the field  77 , available balance, date last deposit, amount of last deposit and posted transactions will be generated into the e-statement automatically. If certificates of deposit are entered into the field  77 , current balance, next payment date and accrued interest information will be generated.  
         [0072]    If the report transactions field  80  is checked, all transactions posted to the account will be listed in the e-statement along with other information, as described above.  
         [0073]    If the report NSF field  81  is checked, any debit, such as a check, or the like, presented for payment when the account does not have sufficient funds to pay the debit will be reported, so that the customer may make provision for supplemental or immediate deposits, or the like or transfer of other funds into the account. NSF Items appear before any other account information on the e-statements as an alert courtesy to the customer. This option is, of course, valid for only checking accounts or accounts similar to conventional checking accounts.  
         [0074]    The attached statement field  82  is checked if it is desired for any statement produced for the account by the bank&#39;s core processing computer system to be added to the e-statement as an attachment. Integrated statements, i.e., those with more than one account on a single statement, may be attached only once, if desired. The extract ASCII field  83  is checked if it is desired to generate an ASCII text file each day that there are transactions for an account and attached to that day&#39;s e-statement. This file can be imported into many different accounting programs for account reconciliation operations, as desired.  
         [0075]    The extract Qwicken™ field  84  is checked if a file in Qwicken™ format is to be created each day there are transactions for an account and attached to that days e-statement for transmission to the customer. This file can be imported into Qwicken™ for account reconciliation. The report on given days, such as Monday through Fridays fields  85  through  89  are checked for generation of e-statement for that particular day. For example, the customer may only want certificate of deposit or loan information on a weekly basis since these accounts customarily have limited transactions, whereas checking accounts may have transactions on them several times each day. In such case, a report may be generated for each day of the week by checking in the appropriate fields  85  through  89 . Alternatively, field  90  may be checked if a report is to be generated only on a monthly basis and field  91  is completed to indicate on the day of such month that the e-statement is to be generated and transmitted to the customer.  
         [0076]    Field  98  is the “Last Statement” field and appears at the upper right hand corner of the window. This field is the date of the last statement generated for the account and is utilized for information purposes only. Add, delete, update and previous and next buttons  92  through  96  are provided for respective adding, deleting, updating, or moving to previous and next displays, in conventional format. Likewise, the Close button  97  is provided to close the window and return to the previous format.  
         [0077]    [0077]FIG. 6 represents the visual configuration of the program appearing on the CRT or other screen from the main menu selection of options  40 . FIG. 6 is illustrated with the change report path and change loan data path submenu options preparing in the window. These options allow the program user to designate the full path name to the directory where the computer download financial report files from the core computer are downloaded at the end of each day, the like. As shown on FIG. 6, the correct report download directory may be selected by either clicking on to a location field  106  or by entry of the file name  99  in field  100  or by scrolling at  107  for designation in the field  104  of the files of type  103  and then clicking to the open button  101 . The selection may be cancelled by clicking at  102  prior to opening the file at  101 . Opening the file  101  will change the path to the files in the windows registry. The report path and the loan data path typically will be identical.  
         [0078]    As shown in FIG. 7, another submenu option is the “change system information” option. This submenu option permits the program user to change some of the program options, as provided. The system name field  108  will permit entry at location  109  of the brand name used for the title of the statement, such as “E-Statement”. Other service mark titles may be utilized as desired. The name which is entered and placed in the field  109  will be used on all customer e-mail that is generated.  
         [0079]    The bank name field  110  identifies the supplier of the service at  111  and is entered in the e-statement in the “from” field (see FIG. 1). The statement font size  112  is entered in space  113  which will be the font size used in the account statements created as attachments.  
         [0080]    The statement graphic field  114  is inserted at  115  if a valid graphic file name is to be entered and the graphic will be added to the upper left hand corner of the statement attachments, to include a logo, or the like in the e-statement configuration transmitted to the customer. The brouse button  116  is used to select reference to a graphic file, which may be created as needed. The save button  117  may be used to save the currently displayed program settings and close the window to return to the main menu. Likewise, the close button  118  will close the window and return to the main menu without saving any changes.  
         [0081]    As shown in FIG. 8, another submenu option is the “Edit Auto E-Mail Settings”. This submenu option will allow the program user to change the time to begin the e-statement generation each day, and a number of minutes between attempts to automatically generate e-statement through the computers and the internet to receipt by the customer, if all reports needed are not available at the time of initial desired generation.  
         [0082]    The “begin e-mail” function  120  time is entered in space  121  by scrolling up or down on buttons  122 ,  123 . This time is the time that the computer is instructed to begin trying to generate and send the days e-statement. The minutes between attempts field  124  is selected and entered at  125  by scroll up or down at buttons  126  and  127  to reflect the time in between attempts to try to generate such e-statement because downloads from a core data processing system may take several minutes or even hours. If all of the reports are not completely downloaded, continual repetitious checks for the reports may not be successful. Therefore, by increasing the time between checks, a computer processing usage can be limited and e-statement may be generated in a reasonable time after the last report is received.  
         [0083]    Save and cancel button  128  and  129  are utilized to either save the currently displayed program setting and close the window and return to the main menu or to close the window and return to the main menu without saving such information.  
         [0084]    The program contemplates and enable/disable submenu option, which is used only during testing. Disabling users will check the “Suspend” option for each e-statement customer except the customer whose customer ID is a specific number, such as “10”. This will allow the program user to test new program settings, while sending e-statements to only one customer, such as a staff member of the financial organization. Selecting “enable” will return all customer&#39;s to their previous suspended status.  
         [0085]    The next submenu option is illustrated in FIG. 9 and provides the set up and screen profile for the generation of the selected e-statement. This submenu option allows the user to generate the selected portions of the daily e-statements generated by the financial organization main computer as well as to attach a personal message. This submenu may be used to send information of a special nature that may not have been available at the time that the e-statements were generated on a daily, weekly or other basis. Fields  130  through  135  may be checked by appropriate click for balance information, transactions, loan information, statement attachments, CSV attachments or Qwicken™ attachments. Field  136  may be used for personal messages. After completion of this option, the continue button is click at  37  or the operation may be cancelled by clicking at  138 .  
         [0086]    [0086]FIG. 10 illustrates another submenu option generally referred to as “edit tran codes”. This submenu allows the operator to provide descriptions used in the e-statement for the different type of transactions posted to deposit and/or loan accounts. A transaction code field  139  is typed in in area  140  and corresponds to a pre-determined code in the computer for a given transaction type and is assigned by the main data processor. A description field  140  is used for insertion of an identification if the title of the transaction code, such as “new account opening deposit” at area  141 . A debit field  142  may be checked at location  143  to indicate that the transaction code is for a debit transaction, such as a check or an ACH debit for insurance, car payment or the like. The add button  144  clears the content of all the fields and resets them to their default value enabling the program user to enter a new transaction code, when desired. Likewise, the delete button  145  will delete the information for the currently displayed transaction code. The refresh button  146  is used to realign all the transaction codes in numerical order. This button may be used after a new transaction code has been entered to get it in the proper numeric sequence for viewing. The update code  147  is used to update information with the contents displayed on the screen or may be used to add a new transaction code to the database after the transaction code&#39;s information has been entered.  
         [0087]    The close button  148  will close the window and return to the previous screen. Arrow keys  149  and  150  will function as “next” and “previous” buttons for displaying or scrolling from one transaction code to the next as reflected in field  151 .  
         [0088]    Now returning to referred FIG. 2, the verify files field  41  is used to verify that all necessary files are available to produce the days e-statements. Each of these files is given a specific code and they&#39;re contained within the main or core computer system. Typically, and preferably, these files will include the following:  
         [0089]    1. Daily checking account mini-trial balance.  
         [0090]    2. Daily savings account mini-trial balance.  
         [0091]    3. Daily certificate of deposit account mini-trial balance.  
         [0092]    4. Daily loan account mini-trial balance.  
         [0093]    5. Daily discount loan trial balance.  
         [0094]    6. Daily simple interest loan trial balance.  
         [0095]    7. Daily customer&#39;s without account trial balance.  
         [0096]    8. Daily posting journal containing all posted transactions for all account types in account number order.  
         [0097]    9. Daily posting journal containing posted transactions for all account types in amount order.  
         [0098]    10. Daily file containing all statements printed the previous.  
         [0099]    11. A laser notice file.  
         [0100]    12. The daily NSF checks notices in officer order (including copy).  
         [0101]    If all the files are not present in the downloaded director, a message to that affect will be displayed on the screen. If they are not, a message showing each missing file is displayed as it is check. Several of the files listed above are not used for information but the presence of the file indicates completion of certain downloading steps.  
         [0102]    [0102]FIG. 11 is a main menu selection display for enablement and disablement of automatic e-mail generation. This function eliminates a need for a program user to remember to generate thee-statement each day at a certain time. When the program is running and auto e-mail is enable, the program monitors the time of day. When the selected time is reached, such as reflected in the next schedule field  152  reflected in area  153 , it checks to see if all reports needed have been downloaded. If they have, the program generates the daily e-statements and waits another  24  hours, or other time designed period, before repeating the operation. If not, the program will repeat checking every few minutes or other time increments until all the files have been downloaded. During the waiting phase, the display is as shown in FIG. 11. The last complete field  150  shows a date and time in the area  151  for the last completed cycle. The next schedule field  152  is completed in area  153  to show beginning of the next cycle for the generation of the e-statements. The last attempt field  154  will automatically reflect in area  155  a “complete” or “waiting” indicator. The missing files area  156  will automatically reflect in location  157  the number or identification of files that are missing and are required for the complete generation of the e-mail statement. Finally, current time in field  158  is reflected in area  159 .  
         [0103]    [0103]FIG. 12 reflects the view on the screen of the main menu selection for “broadcast”. The broadcast field is identified as “send to” at  160  and a list of selected classification of users, such as “all paying users” may be reflected and selected in area  161  by scrolling on  162 . The subject of the broadcast is identified at field  163  in area  164 , such as “monthly charges”. A message describing the subject is reflected in the field  164  may be manually inserted in a message are  165  and sent to the selected grouping of customers designated in  161  by clicking on the send  166 . Alternatively, the message and the broadcast maybe cancelled by clicking at  167  which will return the user to the main menu.  
         [0104]    The software preferably utilized to implement the present invention may be any one of a comparatively low level machine code, such as visual basic. The logic and sub-routines utilized to form the e-statement method disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 14 is set forth below: 
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
 
         [0105]    The preferred method may also be described with reference to the process steps as set forth in FIGS. 13 through 17. Now, with first reference to FIG. 13, there is displayed the various steps in logical sequence from the beginning of e-statement generation up to the actual building of the e-statements. The statement generation step  168  is initiated by verifying input of the various files described above, for extraction of certain financial data, such as balances, debits and credits to checking accounts, loan accounts and the like, previously described and for ultimate display into the e-statement as shown in FIG. 1. During final verification step  169 , a negative response will block continued processing and return to menu reflected in block  170 .  
         [0106]    If all files are positively verified at  169 , all variables are initialized in step  171 . The variables initiated in step  171  then are loaded into a format in step  172  and dimension variables  173  are configured. If it is then desired to process the statements at step  174 , the functions are run and the statements are made at  175 .  
         [0107]    The actual creation step  176  for the statements is illustrated in FIG. 14. For the making of the statements  176 , the dimension variables  173  are considered and the various source files are searched to confirm their presents at step  177 . If the files are not present, step  178 , return to run function  175  to step  169 . If step  177  confirms the presents of various files, the files are open and the header lines are read as step  179 . The lines are then read until the top of the page is identified, step  180 . The first 8 lines are read and the account number is extracted at step  181  to confirm account number match up step  182 . If the confirmation cannot be made at step  182 , step  180  is repeated until confirmation is established. Confirmation of account number through step  182  permits continuance of makeup of the statements and an HTML file is built by reading each line of the statement, step  183 . The file creation then is ended, step  184  or steps  180  through  183  repeated until creation of the file. Creation of the file enables return step  185  to process balances in the selected accounts (files) step  186 . As part of the processing of the balances  186 , the loan files are accessed and processed for balances and the like at  187 . The loans are read as a sub-step  188 .  
         [0108]    The loan sub-step  188  is initiated  189  to process, as shown in FIG. 1, two loan files, trial balances  190 . Each line of the text from the files is conducted at  191  and extraction of selected character lines, such as  2  through  11  for purposes of FIG. 1 is effected through step  192 . If the characters are numeric,  193  an account number match is effected  194 . If the characters are not numeric,  193 , steps  191  and  192  are repeated to search for any information which can be utilized to effect an account match-up. If the account number match-up is effected,  194 , the balance table is updated with data from 3 file lines, for example, to effect the configuration for FIG. 1 at step  195 . The file is now complete,  196  or steps  191  through  195  are repeated until the file is completed and return to main program,  197 .  
         [0109]    After the return step  197 , the trial balances for deposit accounts are read and the balance information is extracted, step  198 . If the account does not reflect any active loans, step  188  is not initiated and the deposit trial balances readings is immediately effected.  
         [0110]    The deposit trial balances step  198  will now be described. First, old balances from the data base for all accounts are deleted as step  199 . Confirmation of the existence of such files is then made at  200 . If no files are present, trial balances for deposits sub-step  198  is not effected. If presence of the files is confirmed at  200 , the files are processed, for example,  3  as shown in FIG. 1, incrementally at  201 . Each file is opened in sequence at  202  and each line is read to find and extract the account number,  203 . The account number match-up is either confirmed or not at step  204  and, if not, step  203  is repeated until confirmation of the account number match-up. The balance table is updated at step  205  and the file creation is completed,  206 , or steps  203 ,  204  and  205  are repeated until completion of the file and return to transaction processing, step  207 . The processing is continued through step  208  by reading all transactions and non-sufficient funds information sub-step d  209 .  
         [0111]    The reading of the transactions and NSF information, sub-step  209  is as shown in FIG. 17. The availability of the transactions file is confirmed at  210  and a posting journal is opened, step  211 . Each line is read and the account number is extracted, step  212  and an account number match is confirmed  213 . If the account number cannot be matched positively, the file is terminated at step  214  or procedure  212  repeated until confirmation is established  213 . If the file is terminated at step  214 , the run function is continued, step  175  and the statements of processed at  174 . If the account number is confirmed at  213 , the transaction is added to the transaction table step  215  and creation of the file is terminated,  216 , or steps  212 ,  213  and  215  repeated until file completion. File completion enables run function and statement processing steps  175  and  174 , respectively, to be effected. Upon completion of the file  216 , the availability of a non-sufficient fund file is checked at step  217  and the NSF report file is opened  218 . Each line is read and the account number is extracted  219  with account number match up effected at  220 . If there is no match-up, the file is terminated as step  216 , or step  219  completed to effect an account match-up. After account match-up,  220 , NSF checks are added to the NSF table for generation in the e-statement at step  221  and the file is completed,  222  and the statements are created and processed, steps  175  and  174 . The e-statements are built as generally shown in FIGS. 2 through 12.  
         [0112]    [0112]FIGS. 17A through 17D illustrate the configuration and orientation of an e-statement printout  300 . With particular reference to FIG. 17A, the title block  301  is provided at the upper-most portion of the page with advertising or other special title trailer  302 , provided adjacent the title  301 . A logo  303  or other artistic embellishment is presented as field  303 . A special notice  304  or disclaimer is provided just prior to printout of further specific information. A special printout of the customer number  305  deletes some of the digits to make the customer number incomplete, but is sufficient for the customer to know and identify his account number through his own personal knowledge.  
         [0113]    Field  306  designates a time period for coverage of the information within the statement  300 . A summary field  307  then is provided which basically summarizes and identifies the various accounts, such as checking  308  and savings  309 , also with only partial complete digits of the account numbers for security purposes,  310  and  311 . Respective balances  312  and  313  are provided for the accounts. An account activity field  314  serves to identify various debits and credits  315 ,  316 ,  317  and  318  for the associated accounts. The summary  307  also includes an ending balance column  319  for printing of the respective ending balances  320  and  321  for the respective accounts  308 ,  309 .  
         [0114]    More detail is provided in the statement  300  through a breakout of each of the account numbers identified in the summary  307 . As shown, the first account activity summary  322  is for checking account “06”, 308 . The account number configuration is repeated in field  323  with the previous balance field  324  being used to identify the previous date of information summary and the previous balances identified at  325 . A deposit total line  326  is given to identify the number  327  of deposits or other credits and a digitized  325  total of such deposits and other credits provided at  328 . Likewise, a debit and withdrawal line  329  provides the total  330  of debits and other withdrawals and a digitized column reflecting such total. Finally, an ending balance  332  includes a field  333  for referencing the date of the ending balance and digitized field  332  for printing out the amount of such ending balance. General summary information for the checking account  308  is provided below line  334 . As shown, the account disclosure field  334  may include an identification of average daily balance  335  in numerical format  336  and the total number od days for the statement cycle  337  and indicated as “28” in field  328 .  
         [0115]    Details of account transactions are identified at  329 , such as deposits and other credits  330  identified in a date column  331  together with a description  332  such as deposit  333  or direct deposit  334  or other means. An amount column  335  is provided with digitized amounts identified, such as  336 .  
         [0116]    Checks are identified in the area  337  by date, columns  338 , number  339  and amount  340 . A star or asterisk  341  indicates numerical sequence has been broken.  
         [0117]    As shown in FIG. 17B, the check transactions are continued and there below various miscellaneous charges of the bank or commercial organization are indicated at  342  by date  343 , reference number  344 , description  345  and amount  346 . These charges may be reflected as a debit card actual debit  347  from a business identified as  348  using a business designation code  349  and physical location  350 . Electronic transfers for automatic payment of utilities may be made, such as at  351  to a supplier  352 .  
         [0118]    A daily balance field  352  is provided for the checking account  308  with a breakdown by date  353  and balance  354 , as shown in FIGS. 17C.  
         [0119]    Also shown in FIG. 17C is a breakdown for another account, in this case, a savings account identified at  353  with a digitized account identifier at  354  with the first  4  digits therein deleted for security purposes. A previous balance line  355  provides the previous balance as of a given date, such as  356 , together with total number of deposits or other credits  357  and total of debits and withdrawals  358  and ending balance line is provided  359  and, there below, a field for identifying and calculating the interest earned on a year to date basis through the last payment  360 .  
         [0120]    General account disclosure information is identified at title  361  which includes an average daily balance disclosure  362 , the number of days in the statement cycle  363 . Interest earned during the current statement period is provided at  364  together with the annual percentage yield as calculated in a percentage format at  365 . Finally, the general promotional information or advertising is provided at the end of the statement in a general field identified as  366 .  
         [0121]    Although the invention has been described in terms of specified embodiments which are set forth in detail, it should be understood that this is by illustration only and that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, since alternative embodiments and operating techniques will become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the disclosure. Accordingly, modifications are contemplated which can be made without departing from the spirit of the described invention.

Technology Category: 3