Method, system, and computer program product for linking customer information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016342999-A1
Application number	US-201615134119-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 20, 2016
Priority date	Sep 30, 2005
Publication date	Nov 24, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In a business where a database tracks customers and manages customer accounts, a method and system correctly link accounts with customers. The method entails reading customer information for a first customer and for a second customer, and then utilizing personal identification information obtained from other sources to determine if the first customer is the same as the second customer. If the first customer and the second customer are the same person, the first customer and the second customer are identified as being the same unique person. Accounts associated with the two customers are identified as belonging to the same unique person. Viewed another way, the method and system of the present invention takes an existing database of personal identification information, and cross-references that database against other sources of personal identification information to identify persons who appear to be separate persons, but who are actually one and the same individual.

First claim

1 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . A method of linking data in a computer memory comprising:
a computing system identifying accounts of a first entity and a second entity in an internal database; the computing system conducting a search of at least one external database to obtain personal identification information associated with the first entity and the second entity; the computing system comparing the accounts of the first and second entities with the personal identification information and determining, based at least in part on the comparing, that the account of the first entity and the account of the second entity actually belong to a single entity; and where it is determined by the computing system that the account of the first entity and the account of the second entity actually belong to a single entity, the computing system linking the account of the first entity with the account of the second entity in the internal database.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the linking includes linking the account of the first entity with an identifier that is associated with the single entity.

23 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the conducting the search further comprises:
the computing system generating a search query based on account data for the accounts of the first and second entities; the computing system sending the search query to the external database; and the computing system receiving the personal identification information from the external database in response to the search query.

24 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
the computing system identifying an account of a third entity; the computing system comparing account data for the account of the third entity with the personal identification information; the computing system determining that the account of the third entity actually belongs to the single entity; and the computing system associating the account of the third entity with the account of the first entity and the account of the second entity in the internal database.

25 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the determining is based on a plurality of linking rules usable to determine when accounts should be linked.

26 . The method of claim 25 , wherein the plurality of linking rules includes a subset of linking rules that are specific to an account type that is associated with the accounts.

27 . The method of claim 21 , further comprising:
the computing system receiving a request to modify first data associated with the account associated with the first entity; and in response to the request, the computing system modifying second data associated with the account associated with the second entity.

28 . An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computing system, cause the computing system to carry out operations comprising:
identifying accounts of a first entity and a second entity in a first database; conducting a search of at least second database to obtain personal identification information associated with the first entity and the second entity; comparing the accounts of the first and second entities with the personal identification information; determining, based at least in part on the comparing, that the account of the first entity and the account of the second entity actually belong to a single entity; and associating the account of the first entity with the account of the second entity in the first database.

29 . The article of claim 28 , wherein the personal identification information includes at least one item of information selected from the group consisting of: a name of the single entity, an address of the single entity, a social security number of the single entity, a date of birth of the single entity, a phone number of the single entity, an e-mail address of the single entity, a driver's license number of the single entity, or any combination thereof.

30 . The article of claim 28 , wherein the associating includes storing an identifier in association with the account associated with the first entity.

31 . The article of claim 30 , wherein the associating further includes storing the identifier in association with the account associated with the second entity.

32 . The article of claim 30 , wherein the identifier is a persistent ID that is unique to the single entity.

33 . A system comprising:
at least one processor; and a memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
identifying accounts of a first entity and a second entity in an internal database;
conducting a search of at least one external database to obtain personal identification information associated with the first entity and the second entity;
comparing the accounts of the first and second entities with the personal identification information;
determining, based at least in part on the comparing, that the first entity and the second entity are actually a single entity; and
associating the account of the first entity with the account of the second entity in the internal database.

34 . The system of claim 33 , wherein the first and second entities are individuals.

35 . The system of claim 33 , wherein the first and second entities are businesses.

36 . The system of claim 33 , wherein comparing accounts with the personal identification information comprises:
detecting, based on the personal identification information and the accounts, first identification information corresponding to the first entity and second identification information corresponding to the second entity; and determining that the first identification information matches the second identification information.

37 . The system of claim 33 , wherein the at least one external database includes United States Postal Service data, consumer credit data, marketing data, demographic data, survey data, telephone directory data, public records data, court records data, or any combination thereof.

38 . The system of claim 33 , wherein the at least one external database includes law enforcement records.

39 . The system of claim 33 , wherein the operations further comprise:
prior to the associating the account of the first entity with the account of the second entity in the internal database, receiving confirmation from an operator that the account of the first entity and the account of the second entity should be associated in the internal database.

40 . The system of claim 33 , wherein the operations further comprise: after associating the account of the first entity with the account of the second entity, in response to a communication from the single entity that indicates that accounts should not be linked, disassociating the accounts in the internal database.

Assignees

• Iii Holdings 1 Llc

Inventors

• Routson Nicholas K
• Weissman Mary
• Mata Ann Shelley

Classifications

• G06Q50/265

  Personal security, identity or safety · CPC title

• G06Q30/02

  Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising · CPC title

• G06F16/211 Primary

  Schema design and management · CPC title

• G06Q30/01 Primary

  Customer relationship services · CPC title

• G06F17/30292

  Physics · mapped topic