Systems and methods for client screening in the financial services industry

Abstract

Systems, methods, and interfaces for screening clients for security compliance with a Customer Identification Program are disclosed. An illustrative system for screening clients can include a client screening engine adapted to filter client account data based on one or more filtering criteria, a database adapted to store client account information and verification status information, and a graphical user interface adapted to selectively display client account information and verification status information for one or more selected clients on a screen. The system can be used to submit identity verification requests to Customer Identification Program vendors for only those clients whose identity have not been verified.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for screening clients for security compliance, the system comprising:
 a client screening engine adapted to obtain client account data based on one or more criteria;   a database adapted to store client account information and verification status information; and   a graphical user interface adapted to selectively display client account information and verification status information for one or more selected clients on a screen.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said client screening engine is adapted to automatically update the database each time a new account is opened for a new or existing client. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said client screening engine is adapted to automatically update the database when a name and/or address change is received for at least one client. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said client screening engine is adapted to associate client account data received from the account custodian with account data stored within the database using a unique client identification tag. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said graphical user interface includes a verification status field. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said graphical user interface includes a means for filtering client account data received from the account custodian based on one or more filtering criteria and displaying a filtered subset of the client account data on the screen. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said graphical user interface includes an account type field. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said graphical user interface includes an action-to-take field. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein said action-to-take field includes a selection means for submitting client identifying information for verification, a selection means for bypassing verification of a client's identity, and a selection means for suppressing client identifying information for verification. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said system is a computer software system. 
     
     
         11 . A method of screening clients for security compliance, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving a client screening request and client account data for one or more new or existing clients from an account custodian;   identifying for each client whether the client's identification has been previously verified based on one or more criteria;   outputting customer identifying information of only unverified clients to a customer identification program vendor for verification of each client's identity; and   notifying the user of the verification status of one or more submitted clients.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of initiating a client screening request is performed automatically each time a new account is opened for a new or existing client. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of initiating a client screening request is performed automatically when a name and/or address change is received for at least one client. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of initiating a client screening request is performed automatically when a user request is received from a representative or supervisor. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of associating the client account data received from the account custodian includes the step of comparing the account data against a database containing previously stored account data of one or more clients. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of filtering client account data received from the account custodian includes associating one or more accounts belonging to a particular client with a unique client identification tag. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said client identification tag includes a social security number. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said client identification tag includes a customer identification number. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of filtering client account data received from the account custodian includes the step of filtering the client account data based on address type. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of filtering client account data received from the account custodian includes the step of filtering client account data based on any clients previously verified by the customer identification program vendor.