초록 ▼

A system and method for integrating the Internet front end sign on processes of the various systems of a financial institution which allows a customer to view and access its various financial accounts with the institution. During the initial sign up for the online access to its accounts, a customer

A system and method for integrating the Internet front end sign on processes of the various systems of a financial institution which allows a customer to view and access its various financial accounts with the institution. During the initial sign up for the online access to its accounts, a customer creates it's User ID and password online during the same session. Once the customer has signed on (password) and verified ownership of at least one account, the system displays all of the customer's accounts that are available for access via the Internet website. The online ownership verification uses only a single account of the customer and the ownership verification criteria associated with the account. The account used for verifying a customer is first determined based on the accounts selected by the customer for accessing online. From the selected accounts, the system of the present invention creates a verification hierarchy with respect to the accounts. When determining the verification to use for the single ownership verification, the present invention selects the account from the hierarchy with the most stringent requirements.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method for accessing a plurality of financial accounts using a single sign on procedure, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user to access the plurality of financial accounts; prompting the user for a user identification; receiving the user ident

What is claimed is: 1. A method for accessing a plurality of financial accounts using a single sign on procedure, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user to access the plurality of financial accounts; prompting the user for a user identification; receiving the user identification from the user; prompting the user for a password; receiving the password from the user; determining the ownership verification information requirements for each of the plurality of financial accounts; ranking the ownership verification information requirements for each of the plurality of financial accounts on the basis of the stringency of the ownership verification information requirements for each of the plurality of financial accounts; prompting the user for user-provided ownership verification information related to the financial account with the most stringent ownership verification information requirements; receiving the user-provided ownership verification information from the user; and determining whether the user-provided ownership verification information satisfies the ownership verification information requirements of the financial account with the most stringent ownership verification information requirements, and, if so, then providing the user with the requested access to the plurality of financial accounts. 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the stringency of the ownership verification is determined on the basis of the amount of ownership verification information required. 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the stringency of the ownership verification is determined on the basis of the level of detail of ownership verification information required. 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of financial accounts reside on separate systems, the step of providing the user with the requested access further comprises providing the user with access to the separate systems. 5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of providing the user with summary information with respect to the plurality of financial accounts. 6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: prompting the user to create a user identification; prompting the user to create a password; and establishing the user identification and password with respect to the user, wherein the creation and establishment steps occur online. 7. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein the creation and establishment steps occur during a single online session. 8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of prompting the user to create original answers to challenge questions. 9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising the steps of: presenting one or more of the challenge questions to the user; receiving the user's answers to the one or more challenge questions; and providing the user with the requested access if the user's answers to the one or more challenge questions match the original answers. 10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of prompting the user to create cue questions, the cue questions providing the user with a cue as to the user's password. 11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising the steps of: presenting one or more of the cue questions to the user; receiving the user's answer to the one or more cue questions; and prompting the user for the password. 12. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: prompting the user to select which of the plurality of financial accounts the user desires to access online; receiving the user's selection of financial accounts; and providing the user with access to only the selected financial accounts. 13. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: prompting the user to see if the user desires to view an additional one of the plurality of financial accounts; receiving a request to see the additional financial account from the user; determining the ownership verification information requirements for the additional financial account; and performing the ranking step again, taking into account the ownership verification information requirements for the additional financial account. 14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the financial accounts include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, credit card accounts, investment accounts, online trading accounts, auto loans and leases, home equity loans, personal loans, trust accounts, 401k accounts and insurance accounts. 15. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the step of: determining whether the user-provided ownership verification information satisfies the ownership verification information requirements of the financial account with the most stringent ownership verification information requirements, and, if not, then providing the user with access to only the financial accounts of the plurality of financial accounts having ownership verification information requirements that are satisfied by the user-provided ownership verification information. 16. A method for controlling access to a financial services Internet site comprising the steps of: receiving a request from a user to sign up to the financial services Internet site; determining if the user is a customer having a plurality of financial accounts at the financial institution operating the financial services Internet site; allowing the user to create a user identification and password regardless of whether the user is a customer; if the user is a customer: displaying a list of the plurality of financial accounts to the user; receiving a list of selected financial accounts from the user; determining the ownership verification information requirements for each of the selected financial accounts; ranking the ownership verification information requirements for each of the selected financial accounts on the basis of the stringency of the ownership verification requirements for each of the selected financial accounts; prompting the user for user-provided ownership verification information related to the selected financial account with the most stringent ownership verification requirements; receiving the ownership verification information from the user; and determining whether the user-provided ownership verification information satisfies the ownership verification information requirements of the financial account with the most stringent ownership verification information requirements, and, if so, then displaying a summary of the plurality of financial accounts to the user. 17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the plurality of financial accounts reside on separate systems, and the method further comprises the step of providing the user with access to the plurality of financial accounts on the separate systems. 18. The method as recited in claim 17, further comprising the step of allowing the user to conduct transactions with respect to at least one of the plurality of financial accounts. 19. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising the step of allowing the user to perform the steps of creating the user identification and password in more than one session. 20. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the user is an individual. 21. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the user represents a business. 22. A system for controlling access to financial accounts comprising: an interface to a network, wherein a user can connect to the interface through the network; at least one network server coupled to the interface, the network server communicating with the user to; receive a request from the user to access at least one of two or more financial accounts, receive a user identification and password from the user, and receive user-provided ownership verification information from the user related to at least one of the two or more financial accounts; a first financial system maintaining a first of the two or more financial accounts, the first financial account requiring a first amount of ownership verification information to grant access thereto; a second financial system maintaining a second of the two or more financial accounts, the second financial account requiring a second amount of ownership verification information to grant access thereto; an application server coupled to the network server, the first financial system and the second financial system; the application server adapted to: compare the first amount of ownership verification information with the second amount of ownership verification information to determine which of the first financial account and second financial account requires the most stringent ownership verification information; determine whether the user-provided ownership verification information satisfies the ownership verification information required by the financial account that requires the most stringent verification information, and, if so, then grant the user access to both the first financial account and the second financial account. 23. The system as recited in claim 22, further comprising: a database coupled to the application server, the database containing the first amount of ownership verification information and the second amount of ownership verification information. 24. The system as recited in claim 22, further comprising a firewall coupled between the network and the interface. 25. The system as recited in claim 22, further comprising a firewall coupled between the interface server and the application server. 26. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein the network is the Internet.