Methods and systems for assisting financial services firms and their representatives
OwnerScott Fergussoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and systems are provided for assisting financial services firms and their representatives in efficiently managing their businesses, and in developing and maintaining strong customer service and loyalty. An integrated, preferably web based browser operated system is provided that uses one or more central databases to store customer, account, accounting, compliance, and other relevant information. Interfaces and tools are also provided for accessing the one or more central databases in a manner that is consistent with and supports how a representative actually works.
Claims44
A system for displaying account information from two or more accounts that are stored in one or more account database, wherein each account includes one or more account items, the system comprising:
- [1] a first data structure having two or more associated links, wherein each link identifies one or more of the accounts, and wherein the first data structure, along with the one or more associated links, are user definable;
- [2] display means for simultaneously displaying selected account items from the accounts identified by the two or more links of the first data structure;
- [3] a second data structure having one or more associated links, wherein one of the associated links identifies the first data structure;
- [4] wherein the display means displays selected account items from the accounts identified by the one or more links of the second data structure, including selected account items from the accounts identified by the one or more links of the first data structure.
A method for displaying account information from two or more accounts that are stored in one or more account database, wherein each account includes one or more account items, the method comprising:
- [1] allowing a user to create a first data structure having two or more associated links, wherein each link identifies one or more of the accounts;
- and
- [2] simultaneously displaying selected account items from the two or more accounts identified by the two or more links of the first data structure;
- [3] providing a second data structure having one or more associated links, wherein each link identifies one or more of the accounts;
- [4] providing a third data structure having one or more associated links, wherein one of the associated links identifies the first data structure and another one of the associated links identifies the second data structure.
A method for using a financial services computer program to provide a formatted output of selected fields of a database for a computer program with a merge capability, wherein the database includes a number of database entries each having two or more fields, and each field having a field value, the method comprising:
- operating a financial services computer program that aids financial service professionals in servicing customers, wherein the financial services computer program can access the database, and wherein the two or more fields of each database entry containing customer information;
- providing a query or expression to the financial services computer program;
- identifying the database entries that have one or more fields with a field value that matches the query or expression;
- and
- outputting a formatted output that includes the field value of a selected field of each database entry identified by the identifying step, wherein the formatted output is formatted as a merge document that can be read by the computer program with the merge capability.
A method for using a financial services computer program to provide a formatted output of selected fields of a database, wherein the database includes a number of database entries each having two or more fields, and each field having a field value, the method comprising:
- operating a financial services computer program that aids financial service professionals in servicing customers, wherein the financial services computer program can access the database, and wherein the two or more fields of each database entry containing customer information;
- providing a query or expression to the financial services computer program;
- identifying the database entries that have one or more fields with a field value that matches the query or expression;
- and
- outputting a formatted output that includes the field value of a selected field of each database entry identified by the identifying step, wherein the formatted output is formatted to print onto printed labels, and wherein each of the printed labels is one of an array of printed labels on a sheet of printed labels.
A method for using a financial services computer program to provide a formatted output of selected fields of a database, wherein the database includes a number of database entries each having two or more fields, and each field having a field value, the method comprising:
- operating a financial services computer program that aids financial service professionals in servicing customers, wherein the financial services computer program can access the database, and wherein the two or more fields of each database entry containing customer information;
- providing a query or expression to the financial services computer program;
- identifying the database entries that have one or more fields with a field value that matches the query or expression;
- and
- outputting a formatted output that includes the field value of a selected field of each database entry identified by the identifying step, wherein the formatted output is formatted to be read into a personal digital assistant.
A method for accomplishing a stock deposit in a financial services firm having a ledger, the stock deposit being for a specified number of shares of a specified company, the method comprising:
- selecting a customer account having a customer account identifier from a data processing system;
- entering the specified number of shares into the data processing system;
- entering an identifier of the specified security into the data processing system;
- entering at least one stock certificate number into the data processing system;
- generating a stock power that can be readily printed using the customer account identifier, the specified number of shares, the security identifier and the at least one stock certificate number;
- creating an entry in the customer account designated by the customer account number, the entry representing the deposited stock;
- and
- entering the stock deposit in the blotter of the financial services business.
A computer assisted method for determining the productivity of customer referrals from a number of customer referral sources, the method comprising the steps of:
- storing a customer referral source identifier for each referred customer in a database;
- determining a total number of customer referrals for each customer referral source;
- determining an average of the total numbers of customer referrals for all customer referral sources;
- and
- providing at least a visual comparison of the total number of customer referrals for a selected customer referral source against the average of the total numbers of customer referrals for all customer referral sources.
A computer assisted method for determining the productivity of customer referrals to an representative or firm from a number of customer referral sources, the method comprising the steps of:
- storing a customer referral source identifier for each referred customer in a database;
- determining a total dollar amount of commissions made by the representative or firm from customers referred to the representative or firm from each customer referral source;
- averaging the total dollar amounts;
- and
- providing at least a visual comparison of the total dollar amount for a selected customer referral source with the average total dollar amount for all customer referral sources.
A broker dealer assistance system, comprising:
- an account database for storing account information, the account information for each account including a number of account holdings, a number of investment objectives and a number of documented customer contacts;
- and
- display means for displaying on a single screen or window, or multiple screens or windows simultaneously, selected investment objectives and selected documented customer contacts for a selected account.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.