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  System for maintaining party and communication point dataRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, AccountingThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20050192874. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 USC .sctn.119(e) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/547,651, filed on Feb. 24, 2004 entitled "System and Method for Transaction Processing" as well as the benefit under 35 USC .sctn. 1l9(e) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/567,891, filed May 3, 2004, entitled "System and Method for Transaction Processing" and hereby incorporates by reference the content of both applications in their entirety and for all purposes. STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] NOT APPLICABLE REFERENCE TO A "SEQUENCE LISTING," A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISK. [0003] NOT APPLICABLE [0004] Embodiments of the invention relate generally to systems for processing data for service industries. For example, one embodiment of the invention relates to a system for processing utility usage transactions and generating bills. Yet another embodiment relates to processing credit card transactions for the credit card (retail, debit, consumer) industry. Still other embodiments of the invention relate to processing transactions generated on accounts for healthcare payments, home mortgage, consumer loans, telephone usage, for example. BACKGROUND [0005] Credit card transaction management and administration is an example of a processing system that has traditionally relied on storing a great deal of information with a single identifier used as a reference. For example, a credit card account typically includes information about the customer, the account, the billing address, the formal transaction information, and the credit card and physical credit card characteristics. All of this is handled from the perspective of a single account, so that the credit card company can track transactions for a particular customer. Thus, this results in a very static data processing system that is inflexible which makes it difficult to effect changes as the business it services evolves. Furthermore, the handling of this information is typically specific to a particular line of business within an industry such as a revolving credit product for the financial services industry. It is not readily aligned with a totally different service model, such as one's utility billing system, insurance claim payment processing system, phone billing system, or cable billing system. [0006] Thus, a third party which handles the processing of transactions for a variety of different industries or services must create independent systems for handling each service's transactions. There currently appears to be no unique system which is capable of flexibly handling different types of services, such as credit card processing, healthcare claim payment, and utility bill processing, in the same processing system. Again, the static and inflexible nature of the current processing systems prevent this. [0007] In addition, because the account information, party information, and presentation instrument information for a credit card system, for example, is referenced by a single identifier, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, under present systems, to manage the individual areas of account information, party information, or presentation instrument as independent data. Once again, the inflexible nature of a single reference to the data prevents this from happening. [0008] As another example of the inflexibility of current systems, it is not easy to modify existing systems to add multiple parties and the requisite roles they play to an account and utilize multiple cards for that account. Again, this is difficult due to the fact that once an account is created under the static formatting of a particular account--such as the formatting of a Mastercard Gold Card with a single customer--it is extremely difficult to modify that record to reflect change--such as a second party, playing a previously unsupported role, on the account--without restructuring the processing system (underlying data structures and program code). [0009] Another example of the inflexibility of credit card systems is that customers are typically prevented from playing dual roles in an account, such as the role of guarantor and authorized user. Instead, the credit card account is typically configured to identify one party as the authorized user and a different party as the guarantor. Once again, this prevents the flexibility that might be desired in certain circumstances. [0010] Yet another example of the rigidity of current systems is that, for products offered by a bank, for example, which offers different credit card lines as well as brokerage accounts and mortgages, each of those individual accounts is typically processed separately, under separate systems. It is not possible to easily combine those systems at a later point in time under a master account which could be tailored to the services desired by a particular customer. [0011] As yet another example, the static nature of current systems makes it difficult, if not impossible, to modify the mailing contact points for an individual during different times of the year. For example, a credit card statement is typically mailed to a home residence of the customer who is financially responsible for the account. Current systems do not provide the flexibility to allow a customer to designate varying locations during the year to which statements should be sent. This is due to the fact that only a single address is currently associated with a credit card account, for example, without the flexibility to designate different contact points throughout the year. To include such information would require a complete reworking of the credit card processing system because the credit card processing system operates by referring to all account information using a single reference identifier. [0012] Thus, as can be seen from the above examples, current processing systems for service industries are typically configured in a static and inflexible way so as to effectively prevent the efficient management of information for an account. Other examples addressed by present embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the following specification. [0013] Thus, there is a need for a data processing system which can handle the processing of data for service industries in a more flexible manner. For example, there is a need for a data processing system and requisite data architecture that can easily adapt to changing business requirements and is not tightly coupled with a specific aspect of any one service or any one industry. SUMMARY [0014] According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of storing data for a service business is provided comprising storing party data identifying a party as a separate set of data; storing communication point data identifying a communication point as a separate set of data; associating the party data with the communication point data so as to relate the communication point with the party. [0015] According to another embodiment of the invention, a system for storing data for a service business is provided comprising a party database for storing data identifying a party as a separate set of data; a communication point database for storing data identifying a communication point as a separate set of data; wherein the party data and the communication point data identify a communication point for the account. [0016] In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method of storing data for a service business is provided comprising storing data for a plurality of product types, wherein each of the plurality of product types designates a service having defined parameters; storing data for an account as a separate set of data, wherein the account is identified by an account identifier; associating the data for the plurality of product types with the data for the account so as to relate the plurality of product types with the account. [0017] According to still another embodiment of the invention, a method of storing data for a service business is provided comprising storing data for a plurality of product types, wherein each of the plurality of product types designates a service having defined parameters; storing data for an account as a separate set of data, wherein the account is identified by an account identifier; associating the data for the plurality of product types with the data for the account so as to relate the plurality of product types with the account. [0018] Yet another embodiment of the invention provides a system for storing data for a service business, the system comprising a product database for storing data for a product type as a separate set of data; an account database for storing data for an account as a separate set of data; an account-product database for associating the data for a product type with the data for the account. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Continue reading... 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