Account management systems and methods

Abstract

Methods for providing an account rollover marketplace which includes providing a consumer computer interface with which consumers interact to pursue account rollovers, permitting each consumer to interact with the consumer computer interface to request to receive multiple rollover offers, and presenting multiple account rollover offers from different financial institutions to a particular one of the consumers in response to that consumer requesting rollover offers. Also included are methods for alerting a financial institution of a transaction, which includes providing a consumer with an opportunity to enter application information for a rollover account application when that consumer selects one of a number of rollover offers, storing the information entered by that consumer, automatically sending an alert to the financial institution whose rollover offer that consumer selected when a completed application for that selected offer is received, and making the stored information electronically available to the financial institution to which the alert is sent.

1 . A method for providing an account rollover marketplace involving a plurality of networked computers, comprising:
 providing a web portal to allow at least one consumer to compare a plurality of different competitive rollover options offered by one or more financial institutions, wherein the portal comprises a consumer computer interface adapted and configured for each consumer to electronically pursue at least one rollover of at least one account, wherein the consumer computer interface displays one or more screens for pursuing the rollover;   permitting the consumer to interact with the consumer computer interface to electronically request to receive multiple rollover offers from the one or more financial institutions; and   presenting the multiple account rollover offers from each financial institution to the consumer in response to that consumer's interaction with the consumer computer interface.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the providing comprises providing an Internet communications interface with which consumers interact to pursue rollovers; wherein the presenting comprises presenting an offer page through which the consumer can access the rollover offers; wherein the providing comprises providing an intranet interface with which one or more of the consumers interact to pursue account rollovers; or a combination thereof. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the presenting comprises presenting rollover offers for rollover of a preferred defined contribution plan. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the presenting comprises presenting rollover offers for rollover of an employee 401(k) plan; wherein the providing comprises providing the consumer computer interface to be one with which consumers interact to receive competitive rollover offers; wherein the presenting comprises identifying the multiple rollover offers from a database of available rollover offers based on the consumer's selected criteria; or a combination thereof. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the permitting comprises presenting the consumer with an opportunity to select criteria to be associated with their request for rollover offers. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing each financial institution with an opportunity to associate transaction criteria with their rollover offers. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the presenting comprises identifying the multiple rollover offers from a database of available rollover offers based on the transaction criteria associated with the available rollover offers. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the intranet interface is a part of an enterprise software application of an employer of the one or more consumers; wherein the intranet interface is present and further comprises an Internet portal therein located to permit consumers who interact therewith to pursue rollover transactions through the Internet; or both. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the intranet interface comprises multiple intranets in which each intranet interface is implemented and in which the intranet interface is adapted graphically to match its intranet host. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the presenting comprises presenting the multiple offers side-by-side in a matrix; wherein the presenting comprises presenting up to a predefined number of offers; or both. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising permitting at least one of the financial institutions to associate a filter with a rollover offer from that financial institution. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising using the filter to identify whether to present the available rollover offer associated with that filter to the consumer. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising presenting a report to each financial institution with respect to activity in connection with that financial institution's rollover offers. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising providing the particular consumer with an opportunity to select a desired one of the offers; further comprising preventing the presenting of multiple account rollover offers if any consumer request is incomplete; further comprising automatically entering from a database a portion of the information necessary for the consumer to electronically request to receive multiple rollover offers to alleviate the consumer's burden in entering information into the consumer computer interface; or any combination thereof. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising providing the consumer with an opportunity to enter application information for a rollover account application when that consumer selects one of the rollover offers from the opportunity to select the desired one of the offers. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  15  further comprising storing the information entered by the consumer. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising automatically electronically sending an alert to each financial institution whose rollover offer the consumer selected when a completed application for that selected offer is received. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising making the stored information electronically available to each financial institution to which the alert is sent. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising completing a rollover transaction using one of the presented offers that the consumer selects to use for the rollover transaction. 
   
   
       20 . A computer-implemented method for alerting a financial institution of a transaction, comprising:
 providing a web portal adapted and configured so that a consumer can enter application information for a rollover account application when that consumer selects one of a number of rollover offers presented by at least one financial institution;   storing the information entered by that consumer in a database;   automatically electronically sending an alert to each financial institution whose rollover offer that consumer selected when a completed application for that selected offer is received; and   making the stored information electronically available to the financial institution to which the alert is sent.   
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20  further comprising providing the financial institution to which the alert was sent the opportunity to assign the application to an agent to facilitate the rollover transaction. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising sending a different alert to the agent when the financial institution assigns the application to the agent. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 20  wherein the providing comprises associating an identifier with the application. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23  wherein the identifier is a bar code. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the alert is automatically sent when the bar code is read upon receipt of the application. 
   
   
       26 . A system for providing an account rollover marketplace through a consumer computer interface with which consumers interact to pursue account rollovers, wherein the rollover marketplace involves a plurality of networked computers, comprising:
 rollover service equipment configured to provide a web portal to allow each consumer to compare a plurality of different rollover options offered by one or more different financial institutions, wherein the portal is configured to operate with the consumer computer interface to permit each consumer to interact with the consumer computer interface to electronically request to receive different rollover offers from the rollover service equipment, wherein the consumer computer interface displays screens for pursuing the rollovers, and wherein the consumer computer interface is further configured to present the different account rollover offers from the one or more financial institutions to each consumer in response to that consumer's interaction with the consumer computer interface to request rollover offers.   
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to operate with the consumer computer interface using an Internet communications interface with which each consumer interacts to pursue one or more rollovers; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present an offer page through which that particular consumer can access the rollover offers; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present rollover offers for rollover of a preferred defined contribution plan; or any combination thereof. 
   
   
       28 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present rollover offers for rollover of an employee 401(k) plan; wherein rollover service equipment is configured to provide competitive rollover offers to each consumer that interacts with the system; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present each consumer with an opportunity to select criteria to be associated with their request for rollover offers; or any combination thereof. 
   
   
       29 . The system of  claim 28  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present each consumer with the opportunity to select the criteria and configured to identify the multiple rollover offers from a database of available rollover offers based on the particular consumer's selected criteria. 
   
   
       30 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to provide each financial institution with an opportunity to associate transaction criteria with their rollover offers. 
   
   
       31 . The system of  claim 30  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to identify the multiple rollover offers from a database of available rollover offers based on the transaction criteria associated with the available rollover offers. 
   
   
       32 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to include at least a portion that is resident on an intranet with which each consumer interacts through an intranet interface to pursue account rollovers. 
   
   
       33 . The system of  claim 32  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to operate with the intranet interface when the intranet interface is a part of an enterprise software application of an employer of one or more of the consumers; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to permit each consumer to pursue rollover transactions through the Internet when the intranet interface includes an Internet portal; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to operate with intranet interfaces that are part of multiple intranets, and is configured in each intranet to graphically match the intranet interface hosted on that intranet; or any combination thereof. 
   
   
       34 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present the multiple offers side-by-side in a matrix; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present up to a predefined number of offers; or both. 
   
   
       35 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured permit one of the financial institutions to associate a filter with a rollover offer from that financial institution. 
   
   
       36 . The system of  claim 35  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to use the filter to identify whether to present the available rollover offer associated with that filter to each consumer. 
   
   
       37 . The system of  claim 26  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to present a report to one of the financial institutions with respect to activity in connection with that financial institution's rollover offers; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to provide each consumer with an opportunity to select a desired one or more of the offers; wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to receive rollover information from that particular consumer in association with that consumer selecting one of the presented offers to complete a rollover transaction with the offering financial institution; or any combination thereof. 
   
   
       38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to provide that consumer with an opportunity to enter application information for a rollover account application when that consumer selects one or more of the rollover offers. 
   
   
       39 . The system of  claim 38  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to store the information entered by that consumer. 
   
   
       40 . The system of  claim 39  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to automatically electronically send an alert to the financial institution whose rollover offer the particular consumer selected when a completed application for that selected offer is received. 
   
   
       41 . The system of  claim 40  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to make the stored information electronically available to the financial institution to which the alert is sent. 
   
   
       42 . A computer-based system for alerting a financial institution of a rollover transaction, comprising:
 rollover service computer equipment that is configured to provide a web portal that provides a consumer with an opportunity to enter application information electronically for a rollover account application, wherein the consumer selects one of a number of different rollover offers presented by at least one financial institution and the computer equipment is configured to store the information entered by that consumer in a database; and   rollover management equipment that is configured to automatically electronically send an alert to each financial institution whose rollover offer that consumer selected when a completed application for that selected offer is received, and is configured to make the stored information electronically available to each financial institution to which the alert is sent.   
   
   
       43 . The system of  claim 42  wherein the rollover management equipment is configured to provide each financial institution to which the alert was sent the opportunity to assign the application to an agent to facilitate the rollover transaction. 
   
   
       44 . The system of  claim 43  wherein the rollover management equipment is configured to send a different alert to the agent when each financial institution assigns the application to the agent. 
   
   
       45 . The system of  claim 42  wherein the rollover service equipment is configured to associate an identifier with the application. 
   
   
       46 . The system of  claim 45  wherein the rollover management equipment is configured to a bar code with the application as the identifier. 
   
   
       47 . The system of  claim 46  wherein the rollover management equipment is configured to automatically send the alert when the bar code is read upon receipt of the application.