This invention relates to the field of banking systems and methods, financial systems and methods, mortgage systems and methods, loan systems and methods, restructuring systems and methods, tracking and analytics' systems and methods, and interest computation systems.
Particularly, this invention relates to loan processing and related processing, such as annuity redirection processing performed in conjunction with loan processing.
A lending institution, such as a bank, provides a loan to a debtor in return for periodic time payments at a set rate of interest. The time payments are due at predetermined payment intervals, typically every month, during the period or the term of the loan. The term is sometimes defined by the number of time payments. Part of each time payment made by the debtor is generally allocated to paying interest on the loan, and the remainder of the payment is allocated to reducing the amount owed, known as the principal balance of the loan, and any escrow deposits. Interest to be collected on the loan is often front loaded. This means that the portion of a payment, made by a debtor, which is allocated to interest will decrease over the term of the loan, while at the same time the portion of the payment applied to the principal will increase. The reduction in the principal balance by the time payments is known as amortization. Known methods of calculating interest rates and amortization payments are disclosed in “The Mathematics of Investing: A Complete Reference” by Michael Thomsett, pp. 23-40.
Financial loans (such as mortgages) may be classified as fixed-rate or variable-rate. In a fixed-rate loan, a prevailing interest rate at the time the loan is made determines the rate of interest for the entire term of the loan. In a variable-rate loan, a prevailing interest rate at the time the loan is made determines the initial rate of interest. However, at set dates the interest rate of a variable-rate loan is adjusted in accordance with a time-varying interest-rate index, such as the rate of interest payable on Treasury Bills.
Interest-rate indices typically fluctuate several times a year, and may fluctuate by substantial amounts during the term of a loan. Such changes in interest rates are beyond the variable-rate debtor's control, and may be to his or her advantage or detriment depending on whether the interest rate on the adjustment date is higher or lower than the mortgage's initial interest rate.
In the case of a mortgage loan, a mortgage servicer is an entity who is paid a fee to collect the payments from the mortgagor (borrower) and pay them to the mortgagee (lender). The fee collected is typically called a servicing income, servicing revenue, or servicing fee. There may be other terms for this fee. Mortgage servicing companies collect servicing fees as compensation for the collection and processing of mortgage payments.
A debtor having a fixed-rate loan may find that after receiving a loan at a fixed rate of interest, interest rates decrease substantially below the fixed interest rate associated with his or her loan. Naturally, the debtor prefers a loan with a low rate of interest so that the time payment amount will be as low as possible. Unfortunately, a drawback of a fixed-rate loan is that the debtor cannot automatically take advantage of decreases in interest rates. On the other hand, the fixed-rate debtor is not adversely affected by increases in interest rates which would negatively impact a variable-rate debtor.
To lower the mortgage payment in light of a decrease in interest rates, the mortgagor must refinance his or her loan. Refinancing a loan includes at least of the following steps: re-applying for the loan, re-qualifying for the loan, and signing a new loan agreement at the lower rate of interest. Refinancing of a loan involves a number of mandatory fees, such as fees paid to the lending institution, attorney's fees, and title searcher's fees. Therefore, refinancing is not cost effective to the debtor unless interest rates have decreased enough that savings from lower mortgage payments will offset the initial monetary expenditure of refinancing the mortgage. Mortgage servicing companies are adversely affected when mortgagors refinance their mortgages in order to take advantage of interest rate drops, because refinancing of a mortgage pays the mortgage in full thereby eliminating future earned interest on the mortgage and the accompanying servicing fee revenue.
In recent years par plus pricing has become very popular for refinancing mortgages. Par plus pricing is where a lender, in exchange for a higher rate of interest, provides a credit to the borrower which can be used to pay for the borrower's closing costs associated with refinancing. In essence, par plus pricing allows borrowers to lower the interest rates on their mortgages, through refinancing, without having to pay the associated fees at closing. This allows the mortgagor to lower his or her interest rate even if a small interest rate percentage drop would not have offset the monetary cost of traditional refinancing. Loan officers refinancing their current customers using par plus pricing are paid a commission on each refinance. A side effect of par plus pricing has been unusually high prepayment speeds on mortgages. High prepayment speeds negatively affect mortgage servicers and mortgage investors by lowering both the interest collected over time and the revenue generated through the mortgage servicing fee.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,404 is directed to a system and method for managing the amortization of a loan which automatically resets the rate of interest stored in memory in response to the debtor's election, yet holds the rate of interest fixed in the absence of such an election. In this patent application, a mortgage which can have its interest rate lowered without refinancing, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,404, will be called a modifiable mortgage. The use of modifiable mortgages increases the customer retention rates for mortgage servicers and mortgage investors by eliminating the need to refinance mortgages in order to take advantage of lower interest rates. In essence, if a person had a mortgage whereby interest rates could be lowered without refinancing, such person may be less inclined to leave his or her current mortgage servicer.
Mortgage companies employ loan officers to originate mortgages. Compensation is paid to loan officers in the form of commissions for the origination of mortgages. Further, loan officers are typically paid a full commission when they refinance their current customers. When interest rates decline, par plus pricing provides loan officers the opportunity to earn a commission each time a customer refinances the same property. However, not all involved parties benefit from the refinancing of mortgages. Higher prepayment speeds adversely impact mortgage investors because their original investment is repaid earlier than expected. Servicing companies who collect payments on behalf of the investor also are adversely impacted because the servicing income generated is stopped when the loan is paid off.
A modifiable mortgage helps mortgage servicing companies retain their customers while at the same time helping to prevent mortgages from being paid off at faster than expected intervals. However, mortgage companies face a problem trying to get their salespeople to promote and originate (or sell) modifiable mortgages. The problem is that, under traditional compensation schemes, loan officers may earn less commission from modifiable mortgages than more conventional mortgage types. In particular, if a modifiable mortgage is offered to the borrower, a refinancing is less likely to occur and the loan officer does not receive additional compensation because a new refinanced loan is typically not originated. Loan officers therefore may not be incentivized to promote and sell modifiable mortgages because doing so may decrease the amount of income a loan officer could make when compared to selling other mortgage types, such as par plus pricing loans, which have a greater likelihood of being refinanced.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,995 is directed to a system and method for providing compensation to loan professionals. In this patent, a compensation program associated with a modifiable mortgage is disclosed which provides incentives to encourage a sales force to originate a modifiable mortgage. In one aspect of U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,995, the compensation program calculates an annuity to be paid to an appropriate sales force member based on the principal, interest, and/or service income of a modifiable mortgage. In another aspect of U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,995, the compensation program provides a commission calculation to be paid based on a triggering event such as, for example, each time the interest rate on a modifiable mortgage is lowered. The compensation program as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,995 may also include both the annuity compensation and the commission compensation as incentives to originate the modifiable mortgage.
However, a variety of problems arise due to resetting mortgage rate or due to restructuring of finances. Firstly, the annuities that are due to an employee may differ. These annuities are typically structured wherein a part percentage is paid to a broker and a part percentage to the company or bank. These percentages may vary in cases of restructuring or resetting. Secondly, if a broker who is an employee leaves the bank or mortgage company, the annuities need to be redirected. Thirdly, the annuities need to be efficiently used by the bank or company.
Furthermore, in terms of restructuring or refinancing or resetting mortgage rates, the banks need to retain customers. Therefore, customer retention mechanisms need to be in place.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods which provide mechanisms for handling annuities in instances of restructuring or refinancing or resetting mortgage rates and also for handling annuities in instances of employees of brokers leaving the bank or company.
Further, there is a need for systems and methods which provide mechanisms and processes for handling user initiated rate resets and loan modifications in a user friendly and interactive interface.
Accordingly, there is also a need for systems and methods for customer retention and customer acquisition based on aggregated analytics and tracking data.
Illustratively, the systems and methods of the invention process customer interface data in conjunction with resetting a loan, the system comprises a processor coupled to a memory portion with the processor configured to execute programmed instructions stored in the memory portion. The system may include a communication portion that interfaces with a customer device to establish an electronic session over a network, and the electronic session including a plurality of exchanges of data between the processor and the customer device over the network and the memory portion. The processor, of the system, may perform processing including: (A) interfacing with the customer device, via the communication portion over an electronic network, to establish the electronic session between the processor and the customer device; (B) retrieving prior customer data, collected from prior interface with the customer over the network; (C) retrieving current loan data that relates to a current financial product possessed by the customer; (D) retrieving offered loan data that relates to an offered financial product, the offered loan data constituted by a collection of rules that constrain particulars of a loan under the offered loan data, the rules providing for stretches of parameters afforded by the offered loan data; (E) generating first prospect loan data based on (a) the offered loan data, (b) the prior customer data, and (c) the current loan data, and outputting the first prospect loan data to the customer device so as to render a prospect loan on the customer device in the form of graphics presented to the customer in the electronic session; (F) collecting, in the electronic session, current customer data regarding interfacing with the customer in the electronic session; and (G) generating second prospect loan data based on (a) the offered loan data, (b) the prior customer data, (c) the current loan data, and (d) the current customer data, and outputting the adjusted prospect loan data to the customer device in the electronic session, the adjusted prospect loan data output so as to render on the customer device in the form of graphics presented to the customer in the electronic session.
The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description together with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference indicators are used to designate like elements, and in which:
Hereinafter, aspects of loan reset-interface processing and associated systems in accordance with various embodiments of the invention will be described. As used herein, any term in the singular may be interpreted to be in the plural, and alternatively, any term in the plural may be interpreted to be in the singular. As used herein, “customer” and “user” have been used interchangeably, as a user may constitute a customer.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems of the prior art by providing a system and method for managing financial products (including managing annuities associated with loans) pursuant to what is herein characterized as a “loan reset” (such loan reset including loan parameter resets for an auto loan, rate modifications on a mortgage, rate modifications on financing options, financing options, restructure of a financial product, or annuity redirection, for example) with respect to at least a customer, at least an employee, and/or at least a company.
In particular, the systems and methods of the invention provide a variety of processing related to resetting an existing loan, including control of graphical data and other data (presented to a customer) based on data collected from interfacing with one or more customers, to generate a “reset loan” in accordance with embodiments of the invention.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a system and method for computing annuity streams pursuant to loan parameter resets or rate modifications on mortgages or financing options (i.e. loan resets) with respect to at least a customer, at least an employee, and/or at least a company.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a system and method for handling user initiated rate resets and loan modifications (i.e. loan resets) in a user friendly and interactive interface.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for providing tracking data corresponding to a customer in relation to the customer's bank accounts and banking activity, customer's web interface activity, customer's web history, and similar parameters.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for providing analytics data corresponding to a customer in relation to the customer's bank accounts and banking activity, customer's web interface activity, customer's web history, and similar parameters.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system and method for using analytics' data for customer acquisition and customer retention.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a system and method for loan resetting according to system-defined parameters and/or user-defined parameters.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, as seen in
Accordingly, as shown in
In an embodiment of the invention, the offered loan data may be constituted by a collection of rules the constraint particulars of a loan that is extended, to the customer, under the offered loan data. Further particulars are described below.
Illustratively, as reflected in item 21 of
Further,
Hereinafter, further aspects of the invention will be described with reference to
The financial system 1000 may also include one or more third-party systems 300. The system 100 may access such third-party systems over the network 1001 so as to retrieve relevant data from such third-party systems 300 in the processing performed by the system 100. Further details of such use of a third-party system 300 are described below.
As described above, the system 100 performs a wide variety of processing to interact with a user to reset a loan, such as an auto loan. Relatedly, it is appreciated that changes in any aspect of a loan (that is reset by a user) may well affect financial mechanisms that are tied or in some manner associated with such loan. In particular, changes in any aspect of a loan can also impact annuities that are related to the modified loan. Accordingly, the systems and methods of the invention provide both an interface and associated processing to effectively engage with a customer to reset a particular loan. In addition, the system 100 handles various processing that are associated with financial mechanisms that are tied to such a loan. The processing is described below with handling an impacted annuity that is tied to a reset loan. However, it is appreciated that the systems and methods of the invention are not limited to such particulars. That is, the processing described below with reference to an annuity may well be applied and utilized with some other financial mechanism, i.e. other than an annuity, that is impacted by a reset loan.
Accordingly, the system 100 includes an annuity management engine 101. The annuity management engine 101 performs various processing associated with an annuity that is impacted by the reset of a loan.
In accordance with at least an embodiment of this invention, the annuity management engine 101 is configured to restructure or reset annuities, which are associated with reset loans, in respect of pre-determined rules. As shown in
The system 100, i.e. the annuity management engine 101, further includes a second rule definition engine 104. The second rule definition engine 104 defines a second set of rules in order to determine how the restructuring of annuities is to take place. Typically, the second set of rules relates to percentages (or any pre-defined method) of split of annuity between broker or employee and company or bank. In at least one embodiment, the annuity management engine comprises a first computation engine 106 in order to compute at least a commission component and at least a principal component in correlation with the second set of defined rules. In at least one embodiment, the annuity management engine further comprises an annuity directing mechanism 108 in order to determine where to direct or redirect annuities in correlation with the first set of rules; i.e. when resetting or restructuring takes place or when an employee or broker leaves or becomes disassociated. In at least one embodiment, the annuity management engine further comprises an annuity sale mechanism 110 in order to allow a company or a bank that receives annuities to sell off the annuity. In at least one embodiment, the annuity management engine comprises an annuity transfer mechanism 112 in order to allow a company or a bank that receives annuities to transfer annuities or pre-defined portions thereof (as determined by the annuity directing mechanism and/or computation engine) to new employee(s) or existing employee(s) as bonus(es) or add-on(s).
Accordingly, various aspects of the annuity management engine 101 is described above, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. Hereinafter, further aspects of the system 100 will be described including processing to reset a loan, which in turn may trigger the annuity processing describe above.
As shown in
The system 100 also includes a memory portion 140. The memory portion 140 stores a wide variety of data used in the system 100. In particular, the memory portion 140 stores data used by the annuity management engine 101 and the analytics portion 130. Further details of the memory portion 140 are described below with reference to
As described above,
The memory portion 140 includes system processing data 141. This data includes operating data such as instructions on a computer readable medium to perform various processing described herein. The system processing data 141 may also be constituted by various data described herein as used in the processing of the invention.
The memory portion 140 also includes annuity management engine data 142. This data portion stores the various data that is used and/or generated by the annuity management engine 101.
The memory portion 140 also includes analytics portion data 143. This data portion stores the various data that is used and/or generated by the analytics portion 130.
Lastly, the memory portion 140 also includes customer data 144. The customer data 144 may include any of a wide variety of data that is associated with one or more customers. For example, such customer data 144 may be in the form of records that are respectively associated with a particular customer.
In accordance with further aspects of the invention and as described above, the analytics portion 130 includes a tracking mechanism 131. The tracking mechanism 131 is designed to track a customer's activity in terms of pre-defined parameters relating to banking and to provide tracking data per user. These parameters illustratively relate to a customer's bank accounts, nature of bank accounts, transaction types, transaction values, transaction nature, and the like and other banking activity. These parameters further relate to a customer's interaction and interaction with a bank in terms of physical banking, net banking (through a web-interface), phone banking, mobile banking, and the like. Click based analytics and mouse or activity tracking may be deployed in order to understand a customer's behavior of banking through a web-interface. Furthermore, a customer's web history and search parameters may be recorded in order to deeply understand customer-related parameters in order to profile a customer. Additional profiling mechanisms may be introduced and correlated with the above profiling system and method.
In accordance with at least yet another embodiment of this invention, the analytics portion 130 includes an analytics mechanism 132. The analytics mechanism 132 is configured to use tracked data per user in order to analyze user-based parameters based on pre-defined rules of analytics. This may be used to identify potential customers as well as to retain existing customers. Empirical data and statistical data can be derived from the tracked data in order to understand customer behavior. Trend analysis can be done using the analytics engine. This may aid in understanding customer's refinancing or financing needs, customer's refinancing or financing reasons, reasons due to which customer's that have been acquired or lost, and the like competitive and business intelligence.
Outputs from the tracking mechanism 131 along with the analytics mechanism 132 are illustratively used to identify customers with reset mortgages, customers who are considering a reset in their mortgage(s) or rates thereof, and customers who are defecting or likely to defect as part of a mortgage refinancing. In general, the tracking mechanism 131 along with the analytics mechanism 132 may be utilized to identify any of a wide variety of loans that may be good candidates for loan reset, in accordance with the invention. Such identification of good candidates are based on both attributes of the particular loan as well as attributes of the customer, including customer behavior.
The analytics portion 130 performs a variety of processing in addition and/or in conjunction with the processing described above. In particular, the analytics portion 130 interfaces with a user to output various graphical displays to the user device along with inputting responsive content back from the user. Such engagement with the user may be performed via the communication portion 150 (of the system 100) communicating with a customer device 200 over the network 1001. Such engagement with a user is described further below and in particular with reference to the flowcharts of
As described above,
After the process starts in step 500, the process passes to step 510. In step 510, the system 100 performs processing to engage a customer regarding a loan reset. In general, the processing of step 510 relates to retrieving a variety of data and presenting various options to the customer regarding a reset of a current loan of the customer. In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the various options may be presented to the customer in the form of graphics and other data. As described in detail below, such graphics may include dials representative of various parameters associated with a prospect loan reset, pointers to select values on such dials, sliders via which the customer may select values associated with a prospect loan reset and/or other graphical representations and indicia.
Further details of such processing are described below with reference to the flow charts of
As shown in
After step 520, the process passes to step 530. In step 530, the processing as illustratively performed by the analytics portion 130 is completed for that particular customer. However, it is appreciated that processing performed by the analytics portion 130, and in general the system 100, may be continuous given the many potential customers serviced by the system 100.
As shown in
In step 511 of
After the processing of step 512, the process passes to step 513. In step 513, the system 100 accesses prior customer data accumulated from prior interaction with the particular user. This retrieved data may then be used for affective engagement with the user in the current session. Then, the process passes to step 514.
The processing of step 514 is illustratively performed, in particular, by the analytics portion 130 of the system 100. In step 514, the analytics portion further engages the customer to provide a variety of options and information related to a prospect loan, i.e., a “prospect loan” meaning a loan offered by the system 100 (to the user) that constitutes a reset of a current loan possessed by the user. Accordingly, it is in the processing of step 514 that the analytics portion 100 generates the various user interfaces as shown in
Further details of the processing of step 514 (of
After the processing of step 514 in
In step 514-1, the loan reset-interface system 100 retrieves prior customer data, collected from prior interface with the customer over the network. Then, in step 514-2, the system 100 retrieves current loan data that relates to a current financial product possessed by the customer. In other words, this current financial product is the loan the user once to reset. Then, the processing passes to step 514-3.
In step 514-3, the loan reset-interface system 100 retrieves offered loan data that relates to an offered financial product. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the offered loan data may be constituted by a collection of rules that constrain particulars of a loan under the offered loan data, the rules, for example, providing for stretches of parameters afforded by the offered loan data. In other words, as characterized herein, “offered loan data” may be constituted at least in part by a collection of parameters. The offered loan data constrains such parameters to run a limited window, i.e. a limited stretch of values. Further, the offered loan data may well provide constraints between the interrelationship of the various parameters they go to make up the offered loan data. After the processing of step 514-3, the processing passes to step 514-4.
In step 514-4, the loan reset-interface system 100 generates first prospect loan data based on (a) the offered loan data, (b) the prior customer data, and (c) the current loan data, and outputs the first prospect loan data to the customer device so as to render a prospect loan on the customer device in the form of graphics presented to the customer in the electronic session.
Then, in step 514-5, the system 100 performs collecting, in the electronic session, current customer data regarding interfacing with the customer in the electronic session. Then, the process passes to step 514-6. In step 514-6, the loan reset-interface system 100 generates a second prospect loan data based on (a) the offered loan data, (b) the prior customer data, (c) the current loan data, and (d) the current customer data. Further, the system 100 outputs the adjusted prospect loan data to the customer device in the electronic session, the adjusted prospect loan data is output so as to render on the customer device in the form of graphics presented to the customer in the electronic session.
After step 514-6, the processing is performed by the system 100 passes to step 514-7. The processing then returns to step 515 of
According to a further aspect of the present invention,
In step 521, the loan reset-interface system 100 determines whether the reset loan is associated with an annuity. Then, in step 522, based on the constraints imposed on the prior loan and/or the reset loan, the system 100 determines if processing of the annuity, which is associated with the reset loan, is required. Then, in step 523, the loan reset-interface system 100 performs required processing on the annuity, including sale and/or transfer. The processing then passes to step 524. In step 524, the processing returns to step 530 of
Various other related processing is describe herein.
Hereinafter, further particulars of the various user interfaces of
In accordance with further aspects of this invention, as shown in
In at least one embodiment, the described visual user-friendly graphical displays provide at least one sliding bar or pointer (904, 906, 910, 1052) as shown in
The pointer (904, 906, 910, 1052), in this case, or a slider in any such other graphical user display is an adjustable interface which allows a user to adjust at least one parameter relating to the loan. Typically, this parameter is one of the key parameters relating to time period, rate of interest, desired monthly payment, cast out option, and similar such parameters. Change(s) in at least one of these user-selected or user-variable parameters results in changes in the other associated parameters relating to the same loan and/or the same customer. These changes follow pre-defined formulae and/or rules. Therefore, according to a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, a change in term of repayment results in changes in interest rate(s), monthly payment or installment(s) amount, and similar such parameters which are also instantaneously displayed on the graphical user display.
In the graphical user display of
In a further embodiment, the second pointer 906 is user-configurable, in that, a customer or a user can slide the pointer to a desired payment amount. This second dial 908 is calibrated with payments to be made per time interval (per month) which is depicted by the second pointer 906. A first dial 902 then depicts time intervals (months) required for the loan to be offset depending upon choice of payment amount per time interval (month). Additionally, a third dial 912 displays the cash out amount of the customer by means of a third pointer 910. The first dial 902 and the third dial 912 are communicably coupled to the second dial 908 by operation of the analytics portion 130, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, which is pre-configured and shows corresponding changes in the first dial 902 and the third dial 912 pursuant to changes in the second dial 908.
In a third alternative embodiment, the third pointer 910 is user-configurable, in that, a customer or a user can slide the pointer 910 to a cash out amount of choice that is desirable. This third dial 912 is calibrated with cash out amounts relating to a customer which are depicted by the third pointer 910. A first dial 902 then depicts time intervals (months) required for the loan to be offset depending upon cash out amount of the third pointer 910. Additionally, the second dial 908 is calibrated with payment amounts to be made per time interval (per month) which is depicted by the second pointer 906. The first dial 902 and the second dial 908 are communicably coupled to the third dial 912 by operation of the analytics portion 130, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, which is pre-configured and shows corresponding changes in the first dial 902 and the second dial 908 pursuant to changes in the third dial 912. Also as seen in
As described above, changes in any aspect of the loan can also impact annuities related to the modified loan. These changes are recorded and provided to the annuity management engine 101 which computes, tracks, and assigns any modifications, resetting or redirecting or reconfiguration of annuities. Entities which are affected in case of a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of car loan resetting include, but are not limited to: loan originator such as a broker or car dealership which sold the car); company providing the software to banks; the bank or financial institution; the bank manager or branch of bank associated with the loan; the website which referred the customer, and similar such entities.
The system also allows the user to process the loan modification through the interface including processing of approval documents and related approvals. The system can track any commission or annuity adjustments for the modified loan. Finally, the system can be tied into related third party data prior to acceptance of loan modifications. For example, the loan modification could be tied into a database (e.g. the third party system 300 of
Furthermore, these changes are recorded by the tracking mechanism and analytics' mechanism of this invention. This, further coupled with intelligence, aids in identifying customers' interest quotient in the services or loan modification option, customers who are inclined to reset their interest rates, customers who are inclined to defect for refinancing, and similar such parameters. This can further aid banks to provide tailor made resets instead of standard resets on interest rates.
The reduction in term can also apply to existing loans loaded onto the loan reset-interface system 100, i.e. for retention efforts in addition to the term extension and cash out options.
In accordance with further aspects of the invention, the loan reset-interface system 100 may include several methods for receiving data from financial institutions (FIs) or other entities. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the system 100 may receive customer data from a financial institution whereby the customer clicks a button on their online banking, such as where their loan resides. The loan (i.e. mortgage or car loan, for example) may be provided with a “Reset” Button next to presented loan data, thus providing an indication that a particular loan has a reset feature. When the borrower clicks the button, the pertinent existing loan data is transferred to the loan reset-interface system 100 in one long string of XML data (real time) upon the borrower click. The existing data may be loaded onto the system 100 for the borrower to compare against other available options.
In at least one embodiment of this invention, a referral management solution is provided wherein referrals from websites, third party dealers, lead generators, and the like are to be evaluated and commissions offered, thereto, are to be computed in accordance with user or customer defined resetting or reconfiguring mechanisms.
The software and system of embodiments of the invention perform numerous calculations and processes including: (1) New Loan Term: Months Remaining+Months Added; (2) Extension APR: Current APR+CO Bump+Added Mo Bump; (3) New Principal Balance: Current UPB+Cash Out; (4) New Payment: New Principal Balance×Extension APR/New Loan Term; (5) Monthly Reduction in Payment: Current Payment−New Payment. These calculations and processes are run in real time by handling various variables and formulas.
By way of example, the loan formula for calculating a monthly payment is set forth below where M is the monthly payment, P is the mortgage principle, I is the monthly interest, and N is the number of months of payments
M=P[I(1+I)N]/[(1+I)N−1]
However, there are numerous variables that can change the monthly payment (M) including: the interest rate (I); the principal (P); and the number of remaining monthly payments (N). Some of those variables include:
The loan reset-interface system 100, through the programmed instructions in the software, is able to adjust, calculate, or determine the numerous variables based on user selected options, administrative established values, standard or real time market values, or calculated values, for example. These variables and values are then processed through the formula to determine the critical values the user wants to know such as monthly payment, new term, interest rate, or available cash out. The critical values are then translated into data sent to the user interface module of the software for conversion into a graphic display of the critical values. Accordingly, a gauge of the system is that as depicted in
In accordance with one or more embodiments of the current invention, a New Loan Term is calculated and stored by the software through the formula and the determined variables. The New Loan Term calculation is triggered by a specific event whereby the borrower elects to extend the term of their loan. Extending the Loan Term means the borrower is adding additional months to the time that the loan amount from the financial institution is paid in full. By way of example, but not to limit the claimed invention, a borrower has an existing loan with 40 months remaining until the current loan amount is paid in full. The borrower elects to add an additional 18 months to the time the loan amount from the financial institution is paid in full. The software calculates the New Loan Term of 58 months, determines the appropriate interest rate (I), any fees, and using the formula the software calculates the monthly payment (M) and stores the new values in the database. The software recognizes the calculation of the New Loan Term of 58 months and automatically, in real time displays the new term in the New Loan Term field on the user interface screen and the new monthly payment (M) on the user interface.
In accordance with another embodiment of the current invention, the Extension APR or interest rate (I) for an extended loan is calculated and stored by the software. The Extension APR calculation is triggered by a specific event whereby the borrower elects to extend the term of their loan and or take cash out. Extending the Loan Term means the borrower is adding additional months to the time that the loan amount from the financial institution is paid in full. When an extension occurs, banks can increase the standard interest rate by adding an interest bump to the interest rate.
In general, it is appreciated that a particular loan of a user is represented by data in a suitable database. For example, the data might be stored in the database associated with a financial institution maintaining the particular loan and/or in the memory portion 140 (
Further, in accordance with embodiments of the invention, it is appreciated that data, which is representative of the actual loan, may indeed be varied in the course of a customer/user interfacing with the loan reset-interface system 100 to explore reset options. Such variance might be constituted by data (in the data record that represents the current loan of the customer) representing behavior of the customer. For example, this behavior might be mouse clicks, web pages visited, or other parameters as described herein. Accordingly, the customer exploring reset options (via the processing described herein) might indeed bring about a real world change in the data that represents his or her current loan. Furthermore, such data might be used by the loan reset-interface system 100 to alter future reset options provided to the customer in the various processing as described herein. For example, if a user is observed to be heavily exploring reset options (i.e. much activity)—then an APR or duration of a reset option offered to the customer might be less favorable vis-à-vis a case where the customer infrequently explored reset options. The basis for such decisioning performed by the loan reset-interface system 100 might rest in that the “much activity” scenario is indicative of the customer resetting (her loan) even in the absence of a more favorable duration or APR, for example.
As an example of an Extension APR, using a borrower with a current APR of 1.99% where the borrower elects to add an additional 18 months to the time the loan amount from the financial institution is paid in full. The software determines or calculates the New APR of 2.365% and stores the new value in the database. The New APR reflects a ⅜th risk premium (1.99%+0.375=2.365%) which is calculated using the standard borrower rate (1.99%) plus any additional rate adjustments or bumps as set by the admin user (see
In another example, using a borrower with a current APR of 1.99% and a credit score of 620, where the borrower elects to add an additional 18 months to the term of the loan amount. In such an example, the software calculates the New APR of 2.5% and stores the new value in the database. The New APR reflects a ½ risk premium ((Extension Risk of ⅜th and Credit Score Risk of ⅛th) to obtain the 2.5% rate value (1.99%+0.375+0.125=2.500%). The software recognizes the calculation of the New APR and automatically, in real time displays the new amount in the New APR field on the user interface screen. Through the real time automated adjustment of the APR the software is able to provide Loan Level Borrower Specific Price Adjustments. The software also uses the financing formula to calculate any changes to the new monthly payment (M) based on the Extension APR and any other risk related components of the loan and displays on the user interface screen.
The system of the present invention can also determine the New Principal Balance as calculated and stored by the software. The New Principal Balance calculation is triggered by a specific event whereby the borrower selects the Cash Out option. Cash Out means the borrower is adding to their principle (P) loan amount and increasing the amount owed to the financial institution. As an example, if a borrower has an existing loan with an outstanding balance of $25,000.00 and selects a Cash Out option in the amount of $2,000.00. The software calculates the New Principal Balance of $27,000.00 and stores the new principal value in the database. The software recognizes the calculation of the New Principal Balance of $27,000.00 and automatically, in real time displays the new amount in the New Principal Balance field on the user interface screen. The software also uses the financing formula to calculate any changes to the new monthly payment (M) based on the New Principal Balance of the loan and displays on the user interface screen.
In accordance with another embodiment of the current invention, a user may seek a Monthly Reduction in Payment which can be calculated and stored by the software. The Monthly Reduction in Payment calculation is triggered by a specific event whereby the borrower seeks to lower their monthly payment which corresponds to an extension in the term of their loan. The user may also elect to take cash out as part of this process. Extending the Loan Term means the borrower is adding additional months to the time that the loan amount from the financial institution is paid in full. Cash Out means the borrower is adding to their loan amount and increasing the amount owed to the financial institution. Depending on the servicing requirements, the current invention calculates the new payment based on the existing principal balance, the balance after the borrower's next payment at the existing rate, or the balance after two payments made at the existing rate.
The following example is offed to illustrate, but not to limit the claimed invention. In this example the borrower has a current payment of $484.63. The borrower elects to add an additional 18 months to the current remaining term of 40 months totaling 58 months for the loan amount to be paid in full. Using the financing formula and the adjusted interest rates and the new term the New Payment is $342.26. The software calculates the Monthly Reduction in Payment of $142.37 and stores the new value in the database. The software recognizes the calculation of the Monthly Reduction in Payment of $142.37 and automatically, in real time displays the new amount in the Monthly Reduction in Payment field on the user interface screen.
In a preferred embodiment, the user interface includes a term extension slide or user initiated input with the scale or indicia in Months allowing the user to extend or slide the term in monthly increments. The slide beginning and ending points are based on the minimum and maximum stretch (calculated on each loan). The system may also provide a cash-out feature or element on the user interface. Such feature may be presented as a cash-out slide where the slide increments are at $500 and the slide may range from $0 to MaxCashOut. The MaxCashOut variable is determined or provided per each loan from the client or bank which has the loan.
In many instances, a new interest rate needs to be determined based on the various variables determined by user selection and bank or institution criteria. The system determines the new interest rate based on current institution interest rate settings. The invention provides several solutions to calculate a new offer rate. One solution allows for the software to take the borrower's current interest rate and adjust the offer rate by adding or subtracting to the current rate based on the borrower's election of extending their term, electing to take cash out, or both. Another embodiment provides a rate offer whereby the system can extract current interest rates from the institutions website and post the rate based on the borrower's election of extending their term and or taking cash out and or both.
Based on loan level information the software can also automatically identify risk components and calculate an adjusted interest rate. The interest rate is calculated based on a predefined index, plus a margin. The premium or discount for borrower related risk factors are added or subtracted. The index and margin are populated manually and then automatically applied to all appropriate loans. The index can also be populated automatically using a predefined interface with the desired index. The appropriate risk adjustments are pre populated and applied automatically as risk components are recognized. Ultimately, the software takes all the interest rate information and determines a final or total interest rate it uses in the financing formula to determine the monthly payment or new term.
The software, through use of the formulas, variables, indexes, real time and pre-set values can determine the monthly payment, term, interest rate, and principal based on any factors changed by the user or set or changed by the institution. The final values are determined and can be stored in the system and transmitted to the user to display on the user interface. The value can be displayed as text but can also be translated into the meter or slide bar feature of the user interface as depicted in
It is appreciated that features of one embodiment as describe herein may be used in conjunction with other embodiments.
The described embodiments may be implemented as a system, method, apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques related to software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. The described operations may be implemented as code maintained in a “computer readable medium”, where a processor may read and execute the code from the computer readable medium. A computer readable medium may comprise media such as magnetic storage medium (e.g., hard disk drives, floppy disks, tape, etc.), optical storage (CD-ROMs, DVDs, optical disks, etc.), volatile and non-volatile memory devices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, DRAMs, SRAMs, Flash Memory, firmware, programmable logic, etc.), etc. The code implementing the described operations may further be implemented in hardware logic (e.g., an integrated circuit chip, Programmable Gate Array (PGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.). Still further, the code implementing the described operations may be implemented in “transmission signals”, where transmission signals may propagate through space or through a transmission media, such as an optical fiber, copper wire, etc. The transmission signals in which the code or logic is encoded may further comprise a wireless signal, satellite transmission, radio waves, infrared signals, Bluetooth, etc. The transmission signals in which the code or logic is encoded is capable of being transmitted by a transmitting station and received by a receiving station, where the code or logic encoded in the transmission signal may be decoded and stored in hardware or a computer readable medium at the receiving and transmitting stations or devices. An “article of manufacture” comprises computer readable medium, hardware logic, and/or transmission signals in which code may be implemented. A device in which the code implementing the described embodiments of operations is encoded may comprise a computer readable medium or hardware logic. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope of the present invention, and that the article of manufacture may comprise suitable information bearing medium known in the art.
In an embodiment of the invention, the systems and methods use networks, wherein, the term, ‘networks’ means a system allowing interaction between two or more electronic devices, and includes any form of inter/intra enterprise environment such as the world wide web, Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Storage Area Network (SAN) or any form of Intranet.
In an embodiment of the invention, the systems and methods can be practiced using any electronic device. An electronic device for the purpose of this invention is selected from any device capable of processing or representing data to a user and providing access to a network or any system similar to the internet, wherein the electronic device may be selected from but not limited to, personal computers, mobile phones, laptops, palmtops, portable media players and personal digital assistants.
As noted above, the processing machine used to implement the invention may be a suitable computer or other processing machine. The processing machine may also utilize (or be in the form of) any of a wide variety of other technologies including a special purpose computer, a computer system including a microcomputer, mini-computer or mainframe for example, a programmed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integrated circuit element, a CSIC (Consumer Specific Integrated Circuit) or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or other integrated circuit, a logic circuit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic device such as a FPGA, PLD, PLA or PAL, or any other device or arrangement of devices that is capable of implementing the steps of the processes of the invention.
The processing machine used to implement the invention may utilize a suitable operating system. Thus, embodiments of the invention may include a processing machine running the Windows 10 operating system, the Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft Windows™ Vista™ operating system, the Microsoft Windows™ XP™ operating system, the Microsoft Windows™ NT™ operating system, the Windows™ 2000 operating system, the Unix operating system, the Linux operating system, the Xenix operating system, the IBM AIX™ operating system, the Hewlett-Packard UX™ operating system, the Novell Netware™ operating system, the Sun Microsystems Solaris™ operating system, the OS/2™ operating system, the BeOS™ operating system, the Macintosh operating system, the Apache operating system, an OpenStep™ operating system or another operating system or platform.
It is appreciated that in order to practice the method of the invention as described above, it is not necessary that the processors and/or the memories of the processing machine be physically located in the same geographical place. That is, each of the processors and the memories used by the processing machine may be located in geographically distinct locations and connected so as to communicate in any suitable manner. Additionally, it is appreciated that each of the processor and/or the memory may be composed of different physical pieces of equipment. Accordingly, it is not necessary that the processor be one single piece of equipment in one location and that the memory be another single piece of equipment in another location. That is, it is contemplated that the processor may be two pieces of equipment in two different physical locations. The two distinct pieces of equipment may be connected in any suitable manner. Additionally, the memory may include two or more portions of memory in two or more physical locations.
To explain further, processing as described above is performed by various components and various memories. However, it is appreciated that the processing performed by two distinct components as described above may, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, be performed by a single component. Further, the processing performed by one distinct component as described above may be performed by two distinct components. In a similar manner, the memory storage performed by two distinct memory portions as described above may, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, be performed by a single memory portion. Further, the memory storage performed by one distinct memory portion as described above may be performed by two memory portions.
Further, as also described above, various technologies may be used to provide communication between the various processors and/or memories, as well as to allow the processors and/or the memories of the invention to communicate with any other entity; i.e., so as to obtain further instructions or to access and use remote memory stores, for example. Such technologies used to provide such communication might include a network, the Internet, Intranet, Extranet, LAN, an Ethernet, or any client server system that provides communication, for example. Such communications technologies may use any suitable protocol such as TCP/IP, UDP, or OSI, for example.
As described above, a set of instructions is used in the processing of the invention. The set of instructions may be in the form of a program or software. The software may be in the form of system software or application software, for example. The software might also be in the form of a collection of separate programs, a program module within a larger program, or a portion of a program module, for example. The software used might also include modular programming in the form of object oriented programming. The software tells the processing machine what to do with the data being processed.
Further, it is appreciated that the instructions or set of instructions used in the implementation and operation of the invention may be in a suitable form such that the processing machine may read the instructions. For example, the instructions that form a program may be in the form of a suitable programming language, which is converted to machine language or object code to allow the processor or processors to read the instructions. That is, written lines of programming code or source code, in a particular programming language, are converted to machine language using a compiler, assembler or interpreter. The machine language is binary coded machine instructions that are specific to a particular type of processing machine, i.e., to a particular type of computer, for example. The computer understands the machine language.
Any suitable programming language may be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the invention. Illustratively, the programming language used may include assembly language, Ada, APL, Basic, C, C++, COBOL, dBase, Forth, Fortran, Java, Modula-2, Pascal, Prolog, REXX, Visual Basic, and/or JavaScript, for example. Further, it is not necessary that a single type of instructions or single programming language be utilized in conjunction with the operation of the system and method of the invention. Rather, any number of different programming languages may be utilized as is necessary or desirable.
Also, the instructions and/or data used in the practice of the invention may utilize any compression or encryption technique or algorithm, as may be desired. An encryption module might be used to encrypt data. Further, files or other data may be decrypted using a suitable decryption module, for example.
As described above, the invention may illustratively be embodied in the form of a processing machine, including a computer or computer system, for example, that includes at least one memory. It is to be appreciated that the set of instructions, i.e., the software for example, that enables the computer operating system to perform the operations described above may be contained on any of a wide variety of media or medium, as desired. Further, the data that is processed by the set of instructions might also be contained on any of a wide variety of media or medium. That is, the particular medium, i.e., the memory in the processing machine, utilized to hold the set of instructions and/or the data used in the invention may take on any of a variety of physical forms or transmissions, for example. Illustratively, as also described above, the medium may be in the form of paper, paper transparencies, a compact disk, a DVD, an integrated circuit, a hard disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a magnetic tape, a RAM, a ROM, a PROM, a EPROM, a wire, a cable, a fiber, communications channel, a satellite transmissions or other remote transmission, as well as any other medium or source of data that may be read by the processors of the invention.
Further, the memory or memories used in the processing machine that implements the invention may be in any of a wide variety of forms to allow the memory to hold instructions, data, or other information, as is desired. Thus, the memory might be in the form of a database to hold data. The database might use any desired arrangement of files such as a flat file arrangement or a relational database arrangement, for example.
In the system and method of the invention, a variety of “user interfaces” may be utilized to allow a user to interface with the processing machine or machines that are used to implement the invention. As used herein, a user interface includes any hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software used by the processing machine that allows a user to interact with the processing machine. A user interface may be in the form of a dialogue screen for example. A user interface may also include any of a mouse, touch screen, keyboard, voice reader, voice recognizer, dialogue screen, menu box, list, checkbox, toggle switch, a pushbutton or any other device that allows a user to receive information regarding the operation of the processing machine as it processes a set of instructions and/or provide the processing machine with information. Accordingly, the user interface is any device that provides communication between a user and a processing machine. The information provided by the user to the processing machine through the user interface may be in the form of a command, a selection of data, or some other input, for example.
As discussed above, a user interface is utilized by the processing machine that performs a set of instructions such that the processing machine processes data for a user. The user interface is typically used by the processing machine for interacting with a user either to convey information or receive information from the user. However, it should be appreciated that in accordance with some embodiments of the system and method of the invention, it is not necessary that a human user actually interact with a user interface used by the processing machine of the invention. Rather, it is also contemplated that the user interface of the invention might interact, i.e., convey and receive information, with another processing machine, rather than a human user. Accordingly, the other processing machine might be characterized as a user. Further, it is contemplated that a user interface utilized in the system and method of the invention may interact partially with another processing machine or processing machines, while also interacting partially with a human user.
It will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible to broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the invention.
Accordingly, while the present invention has been described here in detail in relation to its exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made to provide an enabling disclosure of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure is not intended to be construed or to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any other such embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/050,474 filed on Sep. 15, 2014 (Attorney Docket No. MH-PRV-001), the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62050474 | Sep 2014 | US |