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  Systems and methods for providing consumers anonymous pre-approved offers from a consumer-selected group or merchantsRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, Finance (e.g., Banking, Investment Or Credit), Credit (risk) Processing Or Loan Processing (e.g., Mortgage)The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070299771. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/737,459, titled "Systems and Methods for Providing Consumers Anonymous Pre-Approved Offers From a Consumer-Selected Group of Merchants," filed Dec. 14, 2000, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/170,960, titled "Systems And Methods For Providing Consumers Anonymous Pre-Approved Offers From A Consumer-Selected Group Of Merchants," filed Dec. 15, 1999, the contents of each of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to consumer credit information and, more particularly, to systems and methods for providing consumers credit information and anonymous pre-approved offers from merchants based upon consumer credit information. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Consumer credit information is typically utilized by merchants, such as credit card issuers and banks, to determine the credit worthiness of a consumer. The credit worthiness of the consumer is in turn used by the merchants to determine if the merchants will enter into a transaction with the consumer. In many instances, the merchant may be a lender which determines if it will enter a loan transaction with the consumer, what amount it will lend to the consumer, and the terms of the transaction, such as interest rate, based upon consumer credit information. To receive merchant offers, consumers must give merchants permission to look at the consumer's credit information, such as credit reports maintained by credit bureaus, such as Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. The credit reports maintained by these credit bureaus contain information regarding the consumer's credit, such as outstanding accounts, account balances, and other relevant information such as accounts placed for collection by creditors. [0004] In a typical consumer-merchant transaction, the merchant receives permission from the consumer to view consumer's credit report. A consumer's consent to allow a merchant to view the consumer's credit report, however, can have a negative effect on the consumer's credit rating. This is due to the credit inquiry being merchant driven, along with the general proposition that the higher number of accounts a consumer may have or apply for, the higher risk that the consumer will default on one or more credit transactions. In addition to utilizing the consumer's credit information to determine the consumer's credit worthiness for the purposes of the merchant's own transaction, the merchant can use the consumer's credit information for other purposes, such as future solicitations. [0005] With the increase of electronic transactions, credit reports are becoming increasingly important in evaluating consumer transactions. Where consumers were once judged on a combination of subjective and objective information, today credit reports are increasingly used as the sole or primary criteria used by lenders and merchants to evaluate the credit worthiness of a consumer. And although consumer credit reports are becoming increasingly important, consumers presently do not have readily available up to the date information regarding their credit, as well as information indicating what factors help or hurt consumer credit ratings. Furthermore, consumers often do not understand how lending decisions are made based upon credit, credit scores, and what components can contribute to credit scores. Currently, consumers can often only receive information regarding negative items listed on their credit report through being denied credit. Even after being denied credit, the consumer may only then be provided standard statements as to the items that led to the deny of the credit or loan, such as too many recent new accounts, or too many accounts having high balances. [0006] What is needed is a system and method enabling consumers to obtain up to the date credit information, including customized information that helps consumer evaluate positive and negative aspects of their credit report, as well as how the consumer can go about improving their credit rating. Moreover, what is also needed is a system and method that allows consumers to receive pre-approved offers from merchants, where the merchants do not make merchant inquiries into the consumer's credit report that can negatively affect the consumer's credit rating. A system and method for obtaining pre-approved offers would also be advantageous where the merchants can provide consumers offers without seeing the consumer's credit report so the consumer's credit report can be maintained in confidence. Finally, it would be advantageous for the consumer to be able to obtain credit report information and merchant offers through a trusted third party agent that can receive the consumer's credit data, maintain the data in confidentiality, receive merchant criteria for pre-approved offers, and identify to consumers those merchants' offers for which the consumer has been pre-approved. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] The systems and methods of the present invention provide consumers with credit information including information which can help the consumer evaluate the consumer's credit report or credit worthiness. The present invention can also provide consumers with suggestions to help consumers better their credit rating. The systems and methods of the present invention also provide consumers with pre-approved credit offers from a consumer-selected group of merchants, where the consumers are anonymous to the merchants, and the merchants do not receive copies of the consumer's credit report. Additional functions of the present invention include allowing users to opt-out or opt-into solicitation lists, and enabling users to automatically monitor their credit report. The present invention offers these services through a third party agent of the consumer which can be accessible to the consumer via the Internet. Through this agency relationship, the third party can request consumer information and determine pre-approved offers from a plurality of merchants while protecting the confidentiality of consumer credit information without negative consequences on a consumer's credit. [0008] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for providing a consumer with personalized credit-related information based on credit history data of the consumer is disclosed. The method includes creating an account with the consumer, receiving a request from the consumer for personalized credit-related information, and transmitting to a credit bureau, in response to the request from the consumer, an inquiry for credit history data relating to the consumer. The method further includes receiving credit history data on the consumer in response to the inquiry, generating a summary report of personalized credit-related information based on the credit history data, the summary report including a credit score and an explanatory statement suggesting steps to improve the credit score, and transmitting the summary report to the consumer. [0009] According to one aspect of the method of the present invention, creating an account includes establishing an agent relationship with the consumer so that transmitting an inquiry includes transmitting a Fair Credit Reporting Act Consumer Disclosure Inquiry for the consumer to the credit bureau. [0010] According to the method of the present invention, generating the summary report can include generating the credit score based on the credit history data. Furthermore, the method of the present invention can include receiving consumer-related records from a plurality of databases on one or more networks, wherein generating the credit score includes generating the credit score based on the credit history data and at least one of the consumer-related records which is associated with the consumer. Additionally, receiving the request of the consumer can include authenticating the consumer. [0011] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of providing one or more pre-approved offers to a consumer based on credit-related information of the consumer is disclosed. The method of providing one or more pre-approved offers can include creating an account with the consumer, transmitting to a credit bureau an inquiry for credit history data relating to the consumer, receiving credit history data on the consumer in response to the inquiry, and selecting a pre-approved offer from a plurality of offers from multiple merchants based at least partially on the credit history data of the consumer. The method can further include presenting the offer to the consumer, where the offer is for establishing a credit-based account with a merchant. [0012] According to one aspect of the invention, presenting the offer can include displaying a selectable item on a web page viewable by a web browser interface. Furthermore, identifying the pre-approved offer can include receiving an offer from a merchant with merchant define criteria for selection of a suitable consumer, and selecting the offer based at least partially on the criteria provided by the merchant. [0013] According to another aspect of the invention, presenting the pre-approved offer can include presenting the pre-approved offer for acceptance by the consumer, wherein the pre-approved offer is anonymously pre-approved based on a comparison of the credit history data of the consumer and the criteria provided by the merchant. The step of creating the account can also include receiving preference criteria from the consumer, and selecting the pre-approved offer can include selecting the pre-approved offer from a merchant based at least partially on the preference criteria of the consumer. Additionally, selecting the pre-approved offer can include selecting the pre-approved offer from a merchant based at least partially on market activity of the consumer. [0014] According to yet another aspect of the invention, selecting the pre-approved offer can include determining a financial term of the pre-approved offer based at least partially on the credit history data of the consumer. Moreover, the method of the present invention can further include selecting a plurality of pre-approved offers for the consumer based at least partially on the credit history data of the consumer and a subject preference provided by the consumer. [0015] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method for presenting pre-approved offers to a consumer is disclosed. The method includes receiving consumer data records from a plurality of databases, selecting for the consumer at least one pre-approved offer based on at least one consumer data record associated with the consumer, and sending a web-based representation of the pre-approved offer to the consumer. According to one aspect of the present invention, receiving the consumer data record can include receiving at least one of credit history report associated with the consumer and at least one consumer data record associated with the consumer. Furthermore, selecting the pre-approved offer can include selecting the pre-approved offer based at least partially on the credit history record. [0016] According to one aspect of the invention, the method can further include receiving an offer acceptance indication from the consumer in response to the representation of the pre-approved offer. Additionally, selecting the pre-approved offer can include determining a financial term of the pre-approved offer, and comparing at least one consumer data record with modeling criteria provided by the merchant. [0017] According to another embodiment of the invention, a method is disclosed for opting a consumer out of or into targeted marketing programs that distribute targeted marketing items from a plurality of merchants. According to the invention, the method includes receiving at a webpage interface opt-out or opt-in criteria inputted by the consumer, and notifying at least one of the plurality of merchants and a direct marketer to cease sending targeted marketing items to the consumer based at least partially on the opt-out criteria. The method can also further include selecting the merchant to notify based at least partially on satisfaction by the merchant of the opt-out or opt-in criteria of the consumer. [0018] According to one aspect of the invention, receiving opt-out or opt-in criteria can include receiving an indication of a subject matter for which the consumer is opting out or opting in and/or receiving an indication of a merchant for which the consumer is opting out or opting in. Furthermore, receiving opt-out or opt-in criteria can include receiving an indication of an inclusive listing of merchants for which the consumer is opting out or opting in. [0019] According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a method for monitoring credit report activity for a consumer is disclosed. The method includes detecting a change in a credit report of the consumer, and sending a message to the consumer if the credit report has changed to notify the consumer of a credit report activity associated with the credit report of the consumer. The method can further include creating a credit monitoring account with the consumer, and receiving a request at a webpage interface from the consumer to view a representation of the credit report change. Additionally, the method can include transmitting an inquiry to a credit bureau for a credit report of the consumer, receiving in response to the inquiry a credit report on the consumer, identifying an item of the credit report that has changed, and generating a representation of the credit report activity based on the item of the credit report that changed. [0020] According to the method of the present invention, the method can further include storing credit-related information based on the credit report of the consumer, wherein identifying the item of the credit report that has changed includes retrieving the stored credit-related information, and comparing the credit related information with a representation of the credit report. According to the invention, identifying the item can include identifying an item selected from the group consisting of a credit score, a number of inquires, a consumer demographic data and any other statistical data retrieved from a data source. The method can further include receiving in response to the inquiry a credit report on the consumer, and presenting the consumer with a pre-approved offer for a credit-based account, the consumer being pre-approved based at least partially on the credit report of the consumer. Continue reading... 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