System and method for locating and accessing account data

Abstract

Account data (e.g., balance information) for accounts at a plurality of financial institutions (or government agencies) is stored (and updated) in a central database system and accessed using a personal identifier, such as a social security number. Risk data may be generated for accounts based on the account data. The account data and risk data are accessed in response to either an account search request (e.g., from a government entity and relating to a benefits program or a subpoena) or an account verification request (e.g. from a mortgage company and relating to a mortgage application).

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 providing a database;   storing, in the database, account data for accounts maintained at a plurality of institutions, the account data for each respective account comprising at least a personal identifier for an account holder of that respective account;   receiving a request to locate an account, the request including a submitted personal identifier;   locating an account by matching the submitted personal identifier to the personal identifier stored in the database for the located account; and   retrieving at least some of the account data for the located account.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a response to the request to locate an account, the response comprising the retrieved account data.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the personal identifier is assigned by an entity independent of the institution maintaining the account. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the personal identifier comprises a social security number. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of accounts are financial accounts and wherein the database is populated with account data from financial institutions. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account data for each account further comprises an account balance for such account, and wherein the step of retrieving at least some of the account data comprises retrieving the account balance for the located account. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the account data for each account further comprises at least one or more of an account type, a name of the account holder, an identity of designated signers for the account, an average balance over a predetermined period of time, interest paid on the account during a predetermined period of time, a physical address associated with the account holder, an email address associated with the account holder, a phone number associated with the account holder, and a date of birth associated with the account holder. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of accounts comprises benefits accounts relating to benefits provided to the account holder as a beneficiary under a benefits program, and wherein at least one of the institutions maintaining the accounts comprises an entity managing the benefits program. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the entity managing the benefits program comprises a governmental agency. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the account data for each account further comprises benefits data relating the scope of benefits being provided to the account holder. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the benefits comprise cash payments to the beneficiary. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the benefits comprise services provided to the beneficiary. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the account data for each account further comprises at least one or more of a beneficiary name, a beneficiary address, a beneficiary date of birth, a beneficiary employer, a date benefits were applied for, a benefits type, a benefits amount, a date benefits began, an identification of an agency administering the benefits, and a location of the agency. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account data further comprises, for each account, both initially transferred account data from each of the institutions and periodically updated account data from each of the institutions. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account data further comprises risk data associated with one or more of the accounts. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 inputting the account data for one or more of the accounts to scoring logic;   generating, at the scoring logic, risk data for one or more of the accounts based on the inputted account data; and   storing the risk data in the database as account data.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the risk data generated at the scoring logic comprises a risk score associated with the one or more of the accounts. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the risk data generated at the scoring logic reflects whether the account howler is a consistent saver, based on a pattern of deposits and withdrawals at the 1 one or more accounts. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the risk data generated at the scoring logic reflects recent transfers of amounts from the one or more of the accounts. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the step of generating risk data comprises comparing account data populating the database for the one or more of the accounts to data associated with suspected fraudsters. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the risk data generated at the scoring logic reflects whether an authorized signer has changed for the one or more of the accounts. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request to locate an account is made in response to an application for a loan, wherein an applicant has represented a balance for an applicant account, wherein the retrieved account data includes an account balance for a located account corresponding to the applicant account, and wherein the method further comprises:
 verifying that the represented balance from the applicant is consistent with the balance for the located account.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request to locate an account is made in response to an application for benefits, wherein the benefits program requires a specified level of assets available to the applicant, wherein the step of locating an account comprises:
 searching for all accounts in the database having stored account data with a personal identifier that matches the submitted personal identifier.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the retrieved account data comprises an account balance for any located account, and wherein the method further comprises:
 verifying that a total of account balances for all located accounts meets the required specified level of assets.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of accounts comprise one or more of a checking account, savings account, certificate of deposit account, money market account, stored value account, credit account, loan account, credit card account, debit account, prepaid account, reward account, loyalty account, online payment service account, and on-line gaming account. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of accounts comprise loan accounts and the account holder is the obligor for the loan underlying each loan account, and wherein the account data further comprises an outstanding balance or a credit limit for such loan account. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account data populating the database further comprises an account identifier for each of the accounts, wherein the step for receiving a request to locate an account further includes a submitted account identifier in the request. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising:
 locating an account by matching the submitted account identifier to the account identifier stored in the database for the account.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the step of retrieving at least some of the account data comprises both retrieving account data for any account located using the submitted personal identifier and retrieving account data for any account located using the submitted account identifier. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 retrieving account data for any account located using the submitted account identifier when that same account is not located by matching the submitted personal identifier to the personal identifier stored in the database for the account.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the account identifier comprises an institution identifier and an account number, and wherein the method further comprises:
 transmitting a request to an institution identified by the institution identifier in the account identifier, when no account is located in the database using the submitted account identifier;   receiving account data from the identified institution for the account associated with the submitted account identifier; and   providing a response to the request to locate an account, the response including the account data received from the identified institution.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of locating an account comprises:
 comparing the submitted personal identifier to the personal identifier stored in the database for each of the accounts; and   identifying an account as a located account if the submitted personal identifier matches the personal identifier stored in the database for the located account.   
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a response to the request to locate an account when no account located, the response including notification that no account has located by matching the submitted personal identifier to the personal identifier stored in the database.   
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the account data for each account populating the database further comprises personal data for the account holder, the personal data including at least one or more of a name of the account holder, a physical address associated with the account holder, an email address associated with the account holder, a phone number associated with the account holder, and a data of birth associated with the account holder, wherein the request to locate further comprises submitted personal data, and wherein the method further comprises:
 providing a response to the request to locate an account when there is no match between submitted personal data and the personal data populating the database for any account that is located, the response including notification that there is no match of personal data for the located account.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the submitted personal identifier is associated with a subject of a writ issued by a governmental entity, and wherein the located account is associated with the subject of the writ. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the writ is one of a subpoena and a writ of execution, and a National Security Letter. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the submitted personal identifier is related to known associates of the subject of the writ. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising locating ancillary information related to the subject of the writ, by applying linking analysis to the submitted personal identifier to find associations between the submitted personal identifier and the ancillary information. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the ancillary information comprises records relating to one or more of open accounts, loans, securities, safe deposit boxes, financial documents, past and present addresses, hot files, accounts closed for cause, and past and present phone numbers. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 35  further comprising:
 receiving the writ from the governmental entity by a processor/broker, 
 determining, by the processor/broker, at least one institution that possesses information about a subject of the writ; 
 requesting, from the at least one financial institution, information identified in the writ; and 
 returning the information by the processor/broker to the governmental entity. 
 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein prior to returning the information to the governmental entity, the processor/broker filters the information to remove any information not permitted to be furnished to the governmental entity under a legal framework. 
     
     
         42 . A system, comprising:
 a database storing data for accounts from a plurality of institutions, the stored data for each respective account comprising at least a personal identifier for an account holder of that respective account; and   a processor configured to:
 receive a request to locate an account, the request including a submitted personal identifier; 
 locate an account by matching the submitted personal identifier to a personal identifier stored in the database for that account; and 
   retrieve from the database stored data associated with any located account.   
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 provide a response to the request to locate an account, the response including the retrieved account data when an account is located using the submitted personal identifier.   
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the personal identifier is assigned by an entity independent of the institution maintaining the account. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the personal identifier comprises a social security number. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the plurality of accounts are financial accounts and wherein the database is populated with account data from financial institutions. 
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 42 , wherein the plurality of accounts comprises benefits accounts relating to benefits provided to the account holder as a beneficiary under a benefits program, and wherein at least one of the institutions maintaining the accounts comprises an entity managing the benefits program. 
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 47 , wherein the entity managing the benefits program comprises a governmental agency. 
     
     
         49 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 providing a searchable database;   populating the database with account data associated with accounts from a plurality of institutions, each of the accounts having an account holder identified by a personal identifier;   in response to a request to locate an account, searching the database using a submitted personal identifier;   locating an account when the submitted personal identifier matches a personal identifier associated with an account holder of one of the accounts; and   retrieving at least some of the account data associated with any account that is located.   
     
     
         50 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 providing a database;   storing in the database account data for accounts from a plurality of institutions, wherein each of the respective accounts is a loan account having an associated account identifier;   in response to a request to locate an account in the database, searching the database using a submitted account identifier included with the request;   locating an account by matching the submitted account identifier to the account identifier associated with one of the accounts; and   retrieving at least some of the account data for any account that is located.   
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein the retrieved account data comprises an outstanding account balance for the located account. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein the retrieved account data comprises a credit limit for the located account. 
     
     
         53 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 providing a database to be populated with account data for a plurality of accounts from a plurality of financial institutions maintaining the accounts;   initially receiving, from each of the plurality of financial institutions and for storing in the database, account data representing a plurality of account characteristics respectively associated with each of the plurality of accounts, wherein the account characteristics for each respective account comprise (a) an account identifier assigned to that respective account by the maintaining financial institution, (b) a personal identifier for an account holder of that respective account, and (c) a balance of funds in that respective account;   periodically receiving updated account data from each of the financial institutions;   storing in the database the initially received account data and the updated account data;   receiving a submitted personal identifier for an account holder to locate any accounts at any of the financial institutions associated with that account holder; and   retrieving at least some of the account data associated with any account that is located using the submitted personal identifier.   
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein the personal identifier is common to accounts of the account holder at more than one financial institution. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the personal identifier comprises a social security number. 
     
     
         56 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 providing a database for being populated with benefits data, the benefits data associated within benefits provided to beneficiaries under benefit programs administered by a plurality of governmental agencies;   initially receiving benefits data respectively associated with each of the beneficiaries, wherein the benefits data for each respective beneficiary comprises (a) a personal identifier for the respective beneficiary, and (b) the scope of benefits being provided to the respective beneficiary under any of the benefits programs;   periodically receiving updated benefits data associated with each of the respective beneficiaries;   storing in the database the initially received benefits data and the updated benefits data;   receiving a submitted personal identifier to locate any benefits data stored in the database and associated with one of the beneficiaries; and   retrieving at least some of the located benefits data.   
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 56 , wherein the personal identifier is common to beneficiaries under more than one of the benefits programs. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 57 , wherein the personal identifier comprises a social security number.