Presenting credit score information

[0001] This application is a non-provisional of and claims priority to U.S. Prov. Pat. App. No. 61/870,666 filed Aug. 27, 2013 and U.S. Prov. Pat. App. No. 61/815,194, filed Apr. 23, 2013, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties as if set forth herein.

[0002] This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/452,155, filed May 30, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,610,229; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/606,060, filed Oct. 26, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,015,107; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/150,480, filed Jun. 10, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,891; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/563,779, filed Sep. 21, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,925,582; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/326,803, filed Dec. 15, 2011, and U.S. Prov. Pat. App. No. 60/384,650, filed May 30, 2002. The disclosures of the above-listed applications are all hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth herein in their entireties.

[0003] This disclosure relates to the field of consumer credit information and particularly to the presentation of credit report and credit score information.

[0004] The credit score is an important indicator of a consumer's financial health. Consequently, having a high credit score is important to consumers for many reasons. A consumer's credit score may impact availability and/or terms (e.g., interest rate) of such things as loan applications, rental applications, real estate mortgages, and so on. Thus, many consumers have a substantial interest in monitoring and finding ways to improve their credit scores.

[0005] It would be advantageous for consumers to be able to quickly investigate the various actions that may be taken to change one's credit score and the effect that those actions would have. In particular, it would be advantageous for consumers to be able to visualize those effects in an interactive and real time manner. It would also be advantageous for consumers to visualize the impact specific credit data upon their credit score, either individually, by category, or by account.

[0006] The present disclosure describes user-interfaces, systems, and methods directed towards providing a consumer-centered view of consumer's credit data. In one embodiment, the user interfaces provide detailed and customizable views of credit accounts, credit score report, credit history, loan planning (e.g., car, home, other), and available credit actions (e.g., dispute charges, id theft/fraud notifications). For example, a credit accounts view may present a consumer with information (e.g., balance, standing, credit utilization) about accounts on the consumer's credit report and a relative impact of each on the consumer's overall credit health.

[0007] In one embodiment, a computing system comprises one or more computer hardware processors and one or more storage devices. The storage device may store instructions for execution on the computer hardware processors. The instructions may cause the processors to access credit data for a consumer. From the accessed credit data, the processors may identify financial accounts of the consumer and determine account information for each of the identified financial accounts. The computer processors may generate a user interface comprising a plurality of substantially rectangle tiles that each indicate account information for one of the identified financial accounts and include a positive or negative status indicator for the associated account.

[0020] Although several embodiments, examples and illustrations are disclosed below, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the systems described herein extend beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments, examples and illustrations and includes other uses of the systems and modifications and equivalents thereof. Embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals refer to like elements throughout. The terminology used in the description presented herein is not intended to be interpreted in any limited or restrictive manner simply because it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments. In addition, embodiments of the inventions can comprise several novel features and no single feature is solely responsible for its desirable attributes or is essential to practicing the systems or methods herein described.

[0021] Traditional credit reports typically present information in a spreadsheet-like view, such as with columns which present data from the three major credit bureaus and rows which present a consumer's different accounts as well as different credit applications with different companies. The traditional credit report is more of a business view of the consumer's credit data. Credit reports were never really intended for the average user to see until federal regulations enabled consumers to receive their credit report from each of the three bureaus for free every year. Thus, credit reports became much more common and accessible to consumers. The traditional spreadsheet view of the rows and the columns may be more difficult for consumers to engage with and doesn't provide a certain level of satisfaction, understanding, and education regarding the consumers' credit report.

[0022] The user interfaces provided and discussed herein present a parallel consumer view which consumers may engage with more. In this way the credit report may become a springboard for engagement within the membership (e.g. monthly subscription to one's credit reports, various credit report services, etc.). The credit report today is full of a consumer's personalized credit data which may facilitate personalization and customization of a consumer's membership account.

[0023] Credit report and/or credit monitoring products and services often send alerts to the consumer for various credit events (e.g., notifying the consumer he/she has a new inquiry on their credit report, or that a payment was late, etc.). Consumers often wish to know: what does that mean? What should I do about it? What can I do about it? What does the credit report system recommend? How does it impact my score? Does it make it go up? Does it make it go down? What is my new score after that inquiry? How does that actually affect me? Simply notifying the consumer about a particular credit event may not help the consumer understand the true impact of the event. The user interfaces described herein attempt to answer these questions and provide a more comprehensive and interactive view of the consumer's credit report and/or credit score.

Example System Implementation and Architecture

[0024] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a credit report system 100, which may be in communication with network 160 and various computing systems, such as consumer computing devices 162, credit data store 108, and data sources 166, that are also in communication with the network 160. The credit report system 100 may be used to implement systems and methods described herein. In some embodiments, the other computing devices discussed herein, such as the computing devices 162, may include some or all of the same components as discussed below with reference to credit report system 100. Furthermore, depending on the embodiment, certain modules, such as the user interface module 110, credit data gathering module 150, and/or memory 130 may be performed by different and or multiple computing devices. For example, certain functionality of the interface module 110 may be performed by the computing device 162, while other functionality of the interface module 110 may be performed by the credit report system 100.

[0025] In an embodiment, various software modules are included in the credit report system 100, which may be stored on the system itself, or on computer readable storage media separate from the system and in communication with the system via a network or other appropriate means. The credit report system 100 may include a credit data gathering module 150, which performs various tasks of gathering data used by the credit report system. Such data may include, for example, credit data retrieved from credit data store 108. Such a credit data store 108 may comprise one or more credit bureaus and their databases, which may access information from data sources 166, such as banks and creditors. In other embodiments, the credit data store 108 may be maintained by another entity and/or may be part of and/or in direct communication with the credit report system 100.

[0026] Credit data of consumers may be retrieved via a network 160, via a dedicated communication channel, or by other means. In an embodiment, one or more credit bureaus provide the credit data to in the credit data store 108, which may be accessed by the credit report system 100 via a secured communication channel to ensure the privacy and security of the credit data.

[0027] In an embodiment, credit data is gathered on demand as required by the credit report system 100. In another embodiment, credit data is gathered on a periodic basis independent of requests for information to the credit report system 100. In another embodiment, credit data is stored on the credit report system 100, in which case, retrieval of credit data from a credit bureau may not be necessary. The credit data may include a complete credit report about a consumer, summary data, such as credit attributes (also referred to as credit variables) that are calculated using various modules, such as Experian's STAGG (standard aggregation variables) attributes, and/or credit data inputs to calculate a complete or partial credit score. Each credit data input may be associated with a particular category of credit inputs, for example credit usage, payment history, age of accounts, types of accounts, and credit inquiries. In some embodiments, credit data gathering module 150 may calculate the Summary/STAGG attributes or perform other modifications on accessed credit data.

[0028] Credit data gathering module 150 may also gather information about how a credit score is calculated. This may include algorithms, formulas, executable code, statistical variables, and the like. This information may be used to visualize the significance of each type of data in calculating a credit score. In an embodiment, the models and/or algorithms are retrieved from credit data store 108 on an on-demand basis as needed by the credit report system. In another embodiment, the models and/or algorithms are retrieved on a periodic basis. In another embodiment, the credit report system internally stores the models and/or algorithms. In an embodiment, the user interface module 110 may include executable instructions for constructing user interfaces or otherwise interacting with end users. User interface module 110 may include portions that are executed by the credit report system 100 and/or by the computing device 162. Thus, discussion herein of operations performed by the user interface module 110 may be performed entirely by the credit report system 100, entirely by the computing device 162, or some portions may be performed by the credit report system 100 while other portions are performed by the computing device 162. Furthermore, other computing systems may also perform all or some of the processes discussed with reference to the user interface module 110.

[0029] In one embodiment, the user interface module 110 may access data from credit data gathering module 150 or credit data store 108, and use that data to construct user interfaces that assist the user in visualizing a credit score and the underlying data used to construct a credit score. Such visualization may be presented to the end user in a manner that allows improved manipulation and/or understanding of the credit data by the user. In an embodiment, the user interfaces transmitted by user interface module 110 are interactive. Various embodiments of the user interfaces that may be provided by user interface module 110, are shown and described throughout this specification. Variations on such interfaces and other possible interfaces will be known to those of skill in the art. In some embodiments, the actual credit data accessed by credit data gathering module 150 may not be transmitted to the computing device 162 and, rather, software code (e.g., HTML, Java, Perl, Ruby, Python, etc.) may be transmitted to the computing device 162. For example, code that is usable by the computing device 162 to render the credit report user interfaces may be transmitted, without transmitting a data structure that separately includes the actual credit data.

[0030] User interface module 110 may be configured to construct user interfaces of various types. In an embodiment, user interface module 110 constructs web pages to be displayed in a web browser or on a another computer or mobile application. The web pages may, in an embodiment, be specific to a type of device, such as a mobile device or a desktop web browser, to maximize usability for the particular device. In an embodiment, user interface module 110 may also interact with a client-side application, such as a mobile phone application (an “app”) or a standalone desktop application, and provide data to the application as necessary to display underlying credit score information.

[0031] Client computing device 162, which may comprise software and/or hardware that implements all or some of the user interface module 110, may be an end user computing device that comprises one or more processors able to execute programmatic instructions. Examples of such a computing device 162 are a desktop computer workstation, a smart phone such as an Apple iPhone or an Android phone, a computer laptop, a tablet PC such as an iPad, Kindle, or Android tablet, a video game console, or any other device of a similar nature. In some embodiments, the client computing device 162 may comprise a touch screen that allows a user to communicate input to the device using their finger(s) or a stylus on a display screen. The computing device 162 and/or credit report system 100 may comprise storage systems such as a hard drive or memory, or comprise any other non-transitory data storage medium. The storage systems may be configured to store executable instructions that may be executed by one or more processors to perform computerized operations on the client computing device, accept data input from a user (e.g. on the touch screen), and/or provide output to a user using the display. These executable instructions may be transmitted to another device for execution or processing by the device to implement the systems and methods described herein.

[0032] The computing device 162 may be connected to the credit report system 100, including credit data gathering module 150, and/or the credit data store 108 via the network 160. The computing device 162 may be connected to the network 160, which may include any combination of networks, such as local area, wide area, Internet, etc., by way of a wired network, such as an Ethernet LAN or cable modem, or via a wireless method, such as through an 802.11 access point or via a cell phone network. The network 160 allows computing devices to send (i.e. transmit) and receive electronic transmissions.

[0033] The computing device 162 may also comprise one or more client program applications, such as a mobile “app” (e.g. iPhone or Android app) that may be used to visualize data, and initiate the sending and receiving of messages in the credit report system. This app may be distributed (e.g. downloaded) over the network to the client computing device directly from a credit bureau, from the credit report system 100, credit data gathering module 150, user interface module 110, or from various third parties such as an Apple iTunes repository or Android app store. In some embodiments, the application may comprise a set of visual interfaces that may comprise templates to display a consumer's credit data information from a credit report or associated attributes. In some embodiments, as described above, visual user interfaces may be downloaded from another server or service, such as the credit report system 100. This may comprise downloading web page or other HTTP/HTTPS data from a web server and rendering it through the “app”. In some embodiments, no special “app” need be downloaded and the entire interface may be transmitted from a remote Internet server to computing device 162, such as transmission from a web server that is a part of the credit report system 100 to an iPad, and rendered within the iPad's browser.

[0034] As described above, some embodiments may include portions that are executed by the credit report system 100 and/or by the computing device 162, or are entirely executed by the credit report system 100 or the computing device 162. Thus, discussion herein of any structure (e.g. CPU, memory, etc.) of the computing device 162 or operations performed by the computing device 162 or user interface module 110 may be equally applied to the credit report system 100. Furthermore, other computing systems may also perform all or some of the processes discussed with reference to the user interface module 110.

[0035] The credit report system 100 includes, for example, a personal computer that is IBM, Macintosh, iOS, Android or Linux/Unix compatible or a server or workstation. In one embodiment, the credit report system 100 comprises a server, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a kiosk, or a media player, for example. In one embodiment, the exemplary credit report system 100 includes one or more central processing unit (“CPU”) 105, which may each include a conventional or proprietary microprocessor. The credit report system 100 further includes one or more memory 130, such as random access memory (“RAM”) for temporary storage of information, one or more read only memory (“ROM”) for permanent storage of information, and one or more mass storage device 120, such as a hard drive, diskette, solid state drive, or optical media storage device. Typically, the modules of the credit report system 100 may be connected to the computer using a standard based bus system. In different embodiments, the standard based bus system could be implemented in Peripheral Component Interconnect (“PCI”), Microchannel, Small Computer System Interface (“SCSI”), Industrial Standard Architecture (“ISA”) and Extended ISA (“EISA”) architectures, for example. In addition, the functionality provided for in the components and modules of credit report system 100 may be combined into fewer components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules, and executed in software, hardware, or a combination of hardware and software.

[0036] The computing device 162 and credit report system 100 are generally controlled and coordinated by operating system software, such as iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server, Windows CE, Unix, Linux, SunOS, Solaris, iOS, Blackberry OS, or other compatible operating systems. In Macintosh systems, the operating system may be any available operating system, such as MAC OS X. In other embodiments, the computing device 162 and/or credit report system 100 may be controlled by a proprietary operating system. Conventional operating systems control and schedule computer processes for execution, perform memory management, provide file system, networking, I/O services, and provide a user interface functionality usable by the user interface module 110, such as a graphical user interface (“GUI”), among other things.

[0037] The exemplary computing device 162 and/or credit report system 100 may include one or more commonly available input/output (I/O) devices and interfaces 111, such as a keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, and printer. In one embodiment, the I/O devices and interfaces 111 include one or more display devices, such as a monitor or touchscreen, that allows the visual presentation of data to a user. More particularly, a display device provides for the presentation of GUIs, application software data, and multimedia presentations, for example. The computing device 162 and/or credit report system 100 may also include one or more multimedia devices 140, such as speakers, video cards, graphics accelerators, and microphones, for example.

[0038] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the I/O devices and interfaces 111 provide a communication interface to various external devices, such as via the network 160.

[0039] The credit report system 100, the credit data store 108, and/or the data sources 166 may include one or more internal and/or external data sources 166. The data sources 166 may store, for example, credit bureau data and/or other consumer data. In some embodiments, one or more of the databases or data sources may be implemented using a relational database, such as Sybase, Oracle, CodeBase and Microsoft® SQL Server as well as other types of databases such as, for example, a flat file database, an entity-relationship database, and object-oriented database, and/or a record-based database.

[0040] The various modules of the credit report system 100 may include, by way of example, components, such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the credit report system 100 is configured to execute the user interface module 110 in order to for example, receive credit report and summary attributes regarding a specific consumer, generate one or more credit report user interfaces, receive data input and/or user interactions with the user interfaces, and update the user interface and/or visual indicators in real-time based on the received data input and/or user interactions, and perform other methods as described herein.

[0041] User interface module 110 may generate and render one or more visual user interfaces (such as the user interfaces illustrated and described with respect to FIGS. 2-11) based on upon the received credit information. By interacting with these user interfaces, a user of computing device 162 may view various information about credit score goals (or thresholds) and alerts.

[0042] In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exit points, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, Lua, C or C++. A software module may be compiled and linked into an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or may be written in an interpreted programming language such as, for example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software modules may be callable from other modules or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software modules configured for execution on computing devices may be provided on a computer readable medium, such as a compact disc, digital video disc, flash drive, magnetic disc, or any other tangible medium, or as a digital download (and may be originally stored in a compressed or installable format that requires installation, decompression or decryption prior to execution). Such software code may be stored, partially or fully, on a memory device of the executing computing device, such as the credit report system 100 and/or the computing device 162, for execution by the computing device. Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated that hardware modules may be comprised of connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein are preferably implemented as software modules, but may be represented in hardware or firmware. Generally, the modules described herein refer to logical modules that may be combined with other modules or divided into sub-modules despite their physical organization or storage.

[0043] Like the credit report system 100, computing device 162 may comprise similar computing hardware, software, and functionality as described above for credit report system 100.

[0044] In some embodiments, the system distinguishes between the initial transmission of credit data required for user interfaces, and subsequent transmissions of user interface data so that it may transmit only portions that are necessary to update a credit score threshold user interface or alert interface. This may be done, for example, using an XMLHttpRequest (XHR) mechanism, a data push interface, or other communication protocols.

Sample User-Interfaces

[0045] Through the user interfaces described herein, the credit report system 100 takes a consumer's credit data, such as accounts (tradelines), individual events, late payment indicators, changes in credit usage and/or credit limits, and places it logically in a variety of user interfaces for presentation to a consumer.

[0046] FIGS. 2-11 illustrate several example user interfaces as used in one or more embodiments of a credit report system. The example user interfaces may be sample mobile device user interfaces and/or are sample user interfaces typically displayed via a web browser or standalone application. However, in some embodiments, each of the sample user interfaces described herein may also be displayed on a suitable computer device, such as a personal computer, desktop, laptop, cell phone, tablet, or portable computing device, and are not limited to the samples as described below. These user interfaces are examples of only certain features that a credit report system may provide. In other embodiments, additional features may be provided, and they may be provided using various different user interfaces and software code. Depending on the embodiment, the user interfaces and functionality described with reference to the figures may be provided by software executing on a computing device, such as the credit report system 100 and/or the computing device 162).

[0047] FIG. 2 is an example credit score user interface for viewing and analyzing credit report data, as used in an embodiment. FIG. 2 presents an accounts (e.g., “tiles”) page. A couple of major components of managing one's existing accounts is just paying one's bills on time as well as keeping one's overall credit usage (e.g., utilization) below a certain percentage or threshold (e.g., below 30% may be most optimal). These components can help the consumer optimize his/her credit score. The credit report system 100 brings managing these accounts into the user experience via a nice, simple clean view of the consumer's accounts.

[0048] The example user interface of FIG. 2 presents a filter dropdown 210 for selecting accounts to include in the tile view credit report. In this example, the user has select to include only “open accounts.” The credit report system 100 may filter by other types of accounts (e.g., closed accounts, inactive accounts) and/or other criteria associated with accounts (accounts with credit inquiries still affecting the consumer's credit score, accounts with late payments, etc.). While the user interface of FIG. 2 presents the credit report data in a tile view, if the consumer wishes to view something more traditional, like the traditional table view (e.g., columns and rows), the user interface may present the consumer with an option to switch to that view.

[0049] The tile view credit report helps users understand what things that they should pay attention to—things that the consumer should go and take a look at in further detail. In one embodiment, the user interface of FIG. 2 presents accounts using indicators of whether the consumer should review further account information and possibly take some action. For example, one account may be marked as red and another may be marked green, where red indicates, for example, that the account needs the consumer's attention and green indicates, for example, that the account is in good standing, and the consumer may not need to visit further information regarding that account or take actions on that account immediately.

[0050] For example, consider the accounts referred to in tiles 220 and 230. The user interface may highlight these accounts for the consumer using red indicators across the bottoms of the tiles (or elsewhere on the tiles in other embodiments). The tile 220 indicates that the customer's bill is considered past due for the associated CitiOne account, and indicates the date that it was due. The credit report system 100 also gives the consumer an opportunity to pay the overdue bill directly from the tile view credit report. In some embodiments, if the credit report system 100 identifies a bill that is due within a predetermined threshold time (e.g., one day) and the consumer hasn't made the required payment, the credit report system 100 may facilitate the minimum payment for the consumer so that the payment may be not considered late. This is a useful feature because paying bills on time is a significant factor of one's credit score. In such an embodiment the credit report system 100 can provide consumers with tools to pay their bills—to make sure that they're not late, which in turn will help them better manage their accounts which may have a positive impact to their credit score.

[0051] Still with reference to FIG. 2, the tile 230 associated with the Delta Miles card may be indicated with red, but for a different reason than tile 220: credit usage. The credit report system 100 knows that keeping one's credit usage or credit utilization below a percentage (e.g., 30%) may be most optimal. At 40%, the consumer Delta Miles account in this sample embodiment is over the recommended utilization. In response to determining that the consumer has an account over the recommended usage (e.g. 30%), the credit report system 100 may alert the consumer so that the consumer may make a payment to reduce usage. The alerts may be indicated on a user interface as illustrated in FIG. 2. For example, in FIG. 2, the tile associated with the Delta Miles account may be highlighted in color to show the potential negative impact. In some embodiments there may also be additional indicators present on the tiles, such as the credit usage alert indicator 270 shown in FIG. 2. In some embodiments, the credit report system may facilitate automatic payments to keep a consumer's accounts below recommended usage levels, or below a level set by the consumer. In some embodiments, the credit report system 100 may alert the consumer at a time when the impact from an event is still only potentially negative such that the consumer can actually do something before it is updated on the credit report. For example, the credit report system 100 may alert the consumer when the consumer's credit usage approaches a threshold instead of only after that threshold is crossed. In FIG. 2, for example, the credit report system may determine that credit usage over 30% has a negative impact on the consumer's credit score. The credit report system may alert the consumer when credit usage approaches 25% so that the consumer is aware of the approaching 30% threshold before the consumer's credit usage passes 30% and begins to negatively impact a credit score.

[0052] With respect to the overall design of the user interface of FIG. 2, the credit report system 100 may present the accounts with logos to distinguish the accounts, rather than just using the name of the account. The credit report system 100 may automatically retrieve the correct logo for an account of the consumer based on account information derived from the consumer's credit data. For example, the credit report system 100 may determine from the consumer's credit data that the consumer has a Discover card and can include a default Discover logo on a tile associated with that account. In some embodiments, an account may have multiple types of accounts (e.g., multiple levels of credit cards) with multiple logos and the consumer can select an appropriate account logo from a plurality of possible account logos that may be identified by the credit report system 100. In one embodiment, the consumer can upload a personalized logo for an account.

[0053] Frequently creditor names that are listed on credit reports may not be user-friendly. Sometimes they're acronyms or businesses with which the consumer does not directly interact. Thus, in one embodiment the consumer may be presented an option to customize or rename accounts, e.g., to something more recognizable or user-friendly. For example, in FIG. 2 the consumer has named the account associated with tile 240 to “Joan's loan” (e.g. this could be a loan for his wife's car) the consumer could have multiple car loans on his credit report and he wants to easily distinguish the difference between each of the car loans he has. For a personal car loan, he may nickname the account “My car loan” to distinguish it from “Joan's loan.” Thus the credit report system 100 enables the user to personalize the information included on the tiles.

[0054] Credit data, such as that retrieved from credit data store 108. may be anywhere from 1 to 30 or more days old, so it is not always up to date with current information for each of the consumer's accounts. In one embodiment, the credit report system 100 gives consumer's a reason to come back much more often via a “connect now” functionality, whereby account information may be updated more frequently. For example, the credit report system may provide the consumer with an option to connect an account (e.g., the MasterCard account associated with tile 250 currently stating that the balance shown is the last reported balance in FIG. 2). For example, in FIG. 2, selecting “connect now” may enable the consumer to download and/or access transactions from an issuer of the particular MasterCard such that information on the account may be more up to date than provided by credit data (e.g., reported from the credit card issuer maybe only once a month). For example, purchases made by the consumer using a particular account may be reflected in the account balance shown on the associated tiles when they are updated on the issuer's systems instead of after the consumer's credit report has been updated. In some embodiments, this account linkage may allow the consumer to view individual transactions associated with his accounts through the credit report system 100. For example, selecting an account tile may present the consumer with an additional user interface showing the individual transactions made on the consumer's account. If the system links multiple accounts associated with the consumer, the consumer may use his credit report to view updated account data in one place, alongside the associated credit score impacts, rather than having to view data at individual creditors.

[0055] The user interface shown in FIG. 2 may include other features which may not be shown. For example, each account may have an associated credit utilization amount or percentage indicating how much of an available credit for the account is being used by the consumer (e.g., a user might have a $1,000 balance for an account and a $10,000 maximum credit for the account, indicating a 10% credit utilization for the account). The credit utilization amount may be shown along with, or instead of, other account information in the account tile. In one embodiment, the credit utilization data may be displayed as a graph of credit utilization over time. Other examples of account information which may be displayed in the account view may include a visual indicator of which account has a highest credit limit, which account is the oldest account (and/or an indication of the age of respective accounts), and other information which may be of interest to the consumer.

[0056] In some embodiments, the account view user interface shown in FIG. 2 may also provide or enable direct options to the user/consumer to pay bills for one or more accounts. For example, the user-interface in FIG. 2 provides the consumer with a button 360 enabling the consumer to make a payment. The credit report system 100 may provide the user with the ability to, for example, setup a one time or recurring payment for one or more accounts directly from a user interface provided by the credit report system 100. The credit report system 100 may also provide the user with the ability to enroll or “opt-in” to a minimum payment service, so that the credit report system 100 can facilitate automatic payments of a minimum amount due for an account on behalf of the user if a late payment is projected. Avoidance of a late payment may help prevent a negative credit event from affecting the consumer's overall credit score or credit health. The credit report system 100 may facilitate this automatic minimum payment by receiving authorization from the consumer, as well as account information specifying a funding account from which funds should be withdrawn (e.g., a bank or other deposit account) and one or more credit accounts for which minimum payments due should be automatically paid on the consumer's behalf on or before the due date.

[0057] FIGS. 3-7 are additional examples credit score user interfaces for viewing and analyzing credit report data for one or more financial accounts, as used in an embodiment. Each of the example credit score user interfaces shown in FIGS. 3-7 illustrate variations on the account “tile” view illustrated in FIG. 2. For example, the user interface of FIG. 3 illustrates several features which may be included on account “tiles” including, for example, an indicator, such as an icon, badge, color, and/or text, illustrating or highlighting a particular characteristic or attribute of each respective account. The example shown in FIG. 3 shows icons and text in the upper right corner of each account tile, although these indicators may be displayed in other positions or layouts. Examples of indicators which may be displayed include an age of account indicator 310 (e.g., an “oldest account” indicator or similar), a credit limit indicator 320 (e.g., a “highest limit” indicator or similar), a payment history indicator 330 (e.g., a “perfect payments” indicator or similar), a type of account indicator (e.g., an image of a house to indicate a mortgage, an image of a car to indicate an auto loan, an image of a student to indicate a student loan, etc.), and so on. The text to the right of the tiles indicates possible benefits individual accounts may have to a consumer's credit score. For example, in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the consumer's Discover card is the oldest account. The consumer is informed, by inclusion of the oldest account indicator 310, that the Discover card is the oldest account, and by the included text that the account helps with the age of accounts score factor. In some embodiments, the system may inform a consumer of multiple factors that are impacted from each account. The system may also inform the consumer of how each account contributes to negative impacts. For example, instead of visual indicators of positive attributes, some or all of the consumer's accounts may have negative indicators. For example, the credit report system 100 may determine which accounts are negatively impacting one or more factors of the consumer's credit score. Those accounts may be pointed out to the consumer with an indicator corresponding to the factor that is negatively impacted. In FIG. 3, for example, the tile associated with the consumer's Delta Miles account may include an indicator informing the consumer that the Delta Miles account is negatively impacting the credit usage factor of the consumer's credit score. In some embodiments, the credit report system 100 may sort the consumer's accounts based on their impact on the consumer's credit score. For example, the accounts may be sorted based on the most positive impact, the most negative impact, or the greatest impact regardless of positive or negative.

[0058] In another example, FIG. 4 illustrates a variation on the account view tiles of FIG. 2 showing information about credit inquiries associated with the respective accounts. The user interface illustrated in FIG. 4 may be reached by selecting “inquiries” from the filter dropdown 210. The inquiry information may include for example an indication of when a credit data inquiry was added to the consumer's credit report in response to request for credit data from the various entities. In this embodiment, the account tiles include an indication of when inquiries are scheduled to be removed from the consumer's credit report. Because a credit inquiry can negatively impact a consumer's credit score, consumer's may be curious as to when inquiries (e.g., for purposes of opening a new line of credit) will no longer affect their credit score. The example of FIG. 4 provides the consumer with that information. In some embodiments, the inquiries are color coded to indicate the status of the inquiry. For example, in FIG. 4, those inquiries that do not show up on the consumer's credit report anymore are color coded green, while those that do show up on the consumer's credit report are color coded red to indicate that they may be negatively impacting the consumer's credit score. In some embodiments, the system may include additional colors to indicate inquiries that are projected to be removed from the credit report soon. For example, inquiries that are projected to be removed in the next month, or next time the consumer's credit report is updated, may be highlighted in yellow. Some embodiments of the user interface of FIG. 4 may not provide indicators of an inquiry's status or may provide indicators in other manners not illustrated. In some embodiments, the consumer may be able to sort account tiles included in the inquiries-filtered view based on a variety of options. For example, the consumer may be able to sort tiles based on when corresponding account inquiries will be removed from the consumer's credit data, the inquiry date, whether an account was eventually opened based on the inquiry, the impact on the consumer's credit score, or other factors.

[0059] In another example, FIG. 5 illustrates a variation on the account view tiles of FIG. 2 showing information about closed accounts. The account tiles may include information such as when the account was closed; a status of the account including whether the account was paid in full (if known); and/or a recommendation to keep an account open, which may help improve the consumer's credit score because of one or more positive score factors related to the account, such as a good payment history (e.g., on-time payments, at or above minimum amounts due, etc.), a high credit limit, and/or an old account. In the example of FIG. 5, the consumer is informed that two accounts, those associated with tiles 510 and 520, were settled for less than the consumer owed. These account tiles include a red indicator (across the bottom margin of the tiles in this embodiment) which indicates that the closed account is negatively affecting the consumer's credit score. The remaining closed accounts are labeled green as being satisfactorily paid to the creditor. The consumer, in the example of FIG. 5, is also informed that keeping open old accounts with a good payment history may benefit the consumer's credit score by the green indicators on tiles 530 and 540. The consumer may access the tile view of FIG. 5 by selecting closed accounts from filter dropdown 210.

[0060] In FIG. 6, the tiles associated with the consumer are sorted based on one or more attributes selected by the consumer. In the sample embodiment of FIG. 6, tiles are sorted based on the credit utilization of each account. For example, the account with the highest usage is listed first, in this case, the consumer's Delta Miles credit card. In some embodiments, such as is shown in FIG. 6, all types of accounts associated with the consumer's may be listed, even though only some of the accounts have a credit usage attribute. In such embodiments, the credit report system 100 may display those accounts without the selected attribute at the end of the sorted accounts. In other embodiments, if a consumer sorts accounts based on a specific attribute, the credit report system 100 may only display those accounts having the relevant attribute. For example, if accounts are sorted by credit usage, only those accounts with that attribute would be displayed in FIG. 6. Therefore, the consumer's revolving credit accounts would be displayed in FIG. 6, but the consumers other accounts, such as mortgages and loans, may not be displayed. The accounts may be sorted from left to right and top to bottom as shown, or in another order. The user-interface in FIG. 6 sorts the accounts based on credit usage, but the consumer may have the option to sort the accounts based on other account attributes. For example, the consumer may have the option to sort accounts based on amount due, total balance, oldest/newest accounts, credit limits, nearest payment due dates, necessity of attention from the consumer, and/or other attributes associated with credit accounts.

[0061] FIG. 7 is an example credit score user interface illustrating an option to pin one or more account tiles to the front of the consumer's accounts page. The user interface may provide the consumer with the ability to customize arrangement of the account tiles in additional ways to increase the usability for specific consumers. For example, in FIG. 7, the Discover account tile 710 may be the consumer's personal favorite credit card. When the consumer logs into the credit report system 100, the account may be in good standing (e.g., indicated with a green highlight). In the example of FIG. 7, the consumer has sorted accounts based on the impact accounts have to the consumer's credit score. Thus, the Discover card may have been moved down, and other accounts may have been moved up because they are negatively impacting the consumer's credit score and may need immediate attention from the consumer. But in this example the consumer may prefer to see the Discover account tile 710 near the top of the user interface, no matter what sorting is applied to the tiles. So the user interface of FIG. 7 may provide a pin concept where the consumer can take an account from anywhere on the screen and drag it or otherwise place it wherever the consumer desires to see it (e.g. in this case, at the top left because that's where the consumer's eyesight is going to focus). Pinned account tiles (e.g., “sticky” to a particular location) may be indicated by a user interface elements such as the pin 720, or another indicator that an account has been pinned. In some embodiments, the consumer can pin more than one account, and can pin accounts to any position on the user interface (e.g. in the middle of the screen, or at the bottom right of the screen). In some embodiments, pinning an account will make that account appear pinned to a specific position when the consumer enters a default view of the accounts page, but the account will not be pinned if the consumer sorts or otherwise manipulates the accounts with automated functions.

[0062] Depending on the embodiment, variations of the information provided in the example tiles of FIGS. 2-7 may be provided in a single user interface. For example, a credit score interface may display a tile having information on a closed account (e.g., as in FIG. 5), another tile having information on when an inquiry for a particular line of credit will be removed from the consumer's credit file (e.g., as in FIG. 4), and/or one or more tiles including badges, colors, icons, etc. indicating other information of one or more lines of credit (e.g., as in FIG. 3).

[0063] FIG. 8 is an example of a credit score user interface displaying the consumer with a contextual pop-up credit menu 810. In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, the menu is provided to the consumer based on input indicating that the consumer is hovering over an account tile. In other embodiments, for example, a contextual credit menu 810 user interface element may be displayed over an account tile/panel, in response to other user interactions (e.g., clicking on an account tile, hovering a mouse over a specified portion [bottom, top, right, left, etc.] of the account tile, touching a portion of the screen for touch-screen enabled devices, speaking a voice command to show the credit menu for audio command enabled devices, detecting a visual or gesture based command for devices with a digital camera, etc.). In some embodiments, the contextual credit menu may include options for the user to, for example, call the credit account service provider, add a note on the account, view detail for the account, make or schedule a payment, flag or create an action item for the account, and/or perform other features associated with the credit report system 100. The credit report system 100 may enable the consumer to interact with the credit menu 810 to perform the selected action in relation to the associated account. For example, if the consumer selects an option to “Add Note” in relation to the Delta Miles account the credit report system 100 may alter the user interface or provide a new user interface to the consumer which enables the consumer to add a note to the relevant account. In some embodiments, clicking on an account will bring the consumer to a new user interface (e.g. FIG. 9) from which the consumer can perform one or more of the options indicated in the credit menu 810.

[0064] In FIG. 9, the consumer is presented with an account level screen from which the consumer can perform actions associated with a specific account. This screen may be presented when the consumer selects one of the accounts from the user-interfaces described in reference to FIGS. 2-8. The consumer may enter information to make a payment to the selected account 910, file a dispute based on the selected account 920, edit settings for the account 930 (e.g. account nickname), call the entity associated with the account 940, or make notes on the account 950. The consumer is also provided with information about the status of the selected account 960. In some embodiments, the consumer may be presented with fewer or additional actions associated with the selected account. Selecting to call the entity associated with an account may initiate a phone call on computing device 162 to the designated number. If the computing device 162 is a consumer's laptop, desktop, or other computer system, the call may be initiated over a VoIP service or other similar program. If the computing device 162 is a mobile device such as a cellular phone, selecting to call the designated number may make a phone call through the phones internal system. Entering information to make a payment may process a payment based on provided financial institution information, or may provide information to a third party payment processor to make a payment to the associated creditor. In some embodiments, the consumer can setup payment rules and/or recurring payments to be made to one or more accounts. In FIG. 9, the consumer may make notes for a specific account. For example, the consumer may notice a late payment, but the consumer may be sure he/she paid that bill on time. The consumer may need to contact the creditor to resolve the dispute, but the creditor may be closed or it's too late or inconvenient for the consumer to immediately call. The consumer can put a short note on the page associated with this account to remember to check if the payment was indeed late. Next time the consumer logs into or accesses his/her credit report account the credit report system 100 may remind the consumer to call. The consumer may then add another note (e.g. spoke with Jane regarding the late payment, Jane confirms that the actual payment was late by 3 days). Thus the credit report system 100 may enable more user interaction by allowing the consumer to take notes within the context of his/her credit report and/or credit account data. This way the consumer can record diligent notes (e.g., who the consumer talked to, the date the consumer talked, what they said, etc.). The account information 960 for the selected account may be the same as is shown on an accounts page (e.g. FIG. 2), or may be more detailed for the specific account. There may also be one or more graphics to help the consumer understand how the selected account affects the consumer's overall credit score.

[0065] FIG. 10 illustrates an additional user interface providing some of the features described in reference to FIG. 9. In some embodiments one or more of the features described in reference to FIG. 9 may be displayed on one of the account tiles as part of a user interface similar to those described in reference to FIGS. 2-7. These options may be presented to the consumer in response to a user interaction (e.g. a mouse click or a touch in the case of a touch screen device) indicating a user's selection of an account. For example, in FIG. 10, the consumer has selected the Delta Miles account from the accounts listed. In response, the credit report system 100 provides the consumer with options associated with the account on the Delta Miles account tile 1010. In some embodiments, the system may provide some animation associated with the selection, such as flipping the tile over. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the consumer is presented with options to file a dispute, make a note, or call the credit provider. These options may operate in the same manner as discussed in reference to FIG. 9. The consumer may also be enabled to take fewer or additional actions, such as updating settings and/or making payments. The options provided to the consumer may be different depending on the status of an account, or other contextual indicators. In some embodiments, the consumer is also provided with information about the selected account. For example, in FIG. 10, the consumer is informed that the Delta miles account “helps with payment history score factor.” In some embodiments, more detailed information and/or links to more detailed information about the selected accounts are provided. In some embodiments, the consumer may provide only actions or only information on the selected account.

[0066] FIG. 11 is an example credit score user interface for presenting a dashboard or home page view for a consumer, as used in an embodiment. The home page of FIG. 11 provides, for example, a quick snapshot of a consumer's credit score 1110, his/her actions, quick shortcut links to his/her open credit cards and his/her open loans 1120, a snapshot of his/her goal planner 1130 (which the consumer can simulate and engage with directly). In some embodiments, once the consumer sets up a plan this area may be used to show progress of his/her plan and inform the consumer about the date the consumer may complete that plan and the consumer's current progress towards that projected completion date. The dashboard user interface may also provide the consumer with a quick snapshot of his/her credit history 1140, where the consumer can see some of the most recent activity. The dashboard user interface may also provide the consumer with links to view his/her credit report from all three credit bureaus in the traditional spreadsheet view.

[0067] In one embodiment, the dashboard/home page may be generated dynamically based at least in part on a “life stage,” motivation, or other criteria for the consumer. This motivation may be provided by the consumer, or detected, determined, or projected by the credit report system 100. For example, the credit report system 100 may determine, based on the data known about the consumer (e.g., behavioral data, consumer/market segment data, credit data, pre and post registration activity, etc.) a likely motivation for the consumer. The motivation may be indicative of what is motivating the consumer to check, monitor, and/or act on his/her credit report or credit report data. For example, the consumer may be associated with one or more motivation categories such as active planner, life event, reactive, or just curious. An active planner may be a consumer who regularly checks his/her credit report and takes active steps to improve his/her credit score or health (e.g., by reducing or paying off credit balances, taking active steps to avoid missed or late payments, etc.). A life event consumer may be one who desires to check his/her credit in preparation for a life event such as a car purchase, a home purchase, getting married or divorced, entering or graduating from college, or any other life event which may motivate the consumer to find out what his/her current credit standing may be. A reactive consumer may be a consumer who is motivated to check his/her credit report in response or reaction to another credit event, such as being denied a loan or a low interest rate and being informed that the reason for the denial was a poor credit score. Another reactive type event may be identify theft or fraud, a lost or stolen credit card, or any other event which triggers a consumer to think he/she needs to check his/her credit score and assess the impact of the event. A just curious consumer may be a consumer who is motivated to check his/her credit report out of curiosity or because the credit report is available for free, but may not yet be otherwise motivated to act on the credit report or be experiencing a life event or reactive event.

[0068] With reference again to FIG. 11, the user interface elements displayed in the dashboard or home page may be presented or displayed in different configurations based at least in part on the consumer's motivation category. For example, for a consumer identified as an active planner, the financial planning UI element may be presented larger or more prominently to the user since this particular feature is more likely to be relevant or of interest to the active planner. For a consumer identified as just curious, the credit snapshot UI element may be more prominently presented or displayed, while the financial planning UI element may be smaller or not displayed at all. Or in another example, for a consumer identified as reactive, the credit history timeline may be more prominently presented, placing more emphasis on recent events in the consumer's credit history and the relative impact of those events on the consumer's overall credit score.

[0069] The consumer may not always have the same motivation to check his/her credit report or credit data. Motivations can change over time. For example, a just curious or reactive consumer may transition to an active planner or a life event consumer, and so on. Accordingly, the dashboard user interface of FIG. 11 may be arranged, configured, or presented differently to the consumer over time as his/her motivations change. For example, the financial planning UI element may be prominently displayed until a particular life event has occurred (e.g., for a life event planner) or a financial goal has been achieved (e.g., for an active planner). For example, the financial planning UI element may be prominently displayed for a consumer planning a car purchase, and after the car has been purchased the financial planning UI element may no longer be prominently displayed because it would be less relevant to the consumer. The credit report system 100 may be configured to automatically detect credit events and/or determine the consumer's motivation category on a periodic basis in order to update the dashboard configuration for the consumer. For example, the credit repot system 100 may automatically detect that the consumer has a new car payment based on the appearance of a new auto loan obligation appearing on the consumer's credit report, and in response determine that the consumer may have shifted from a “life event” consumer (e.g., wherein the life event is a car purchase) to an “active planner” (e.g., wherein the consumer is actively planning to pay off the car loan). The dashboard and/or other user interfaces described herein may be generated or configured differently based on the detected shift in motivation.

[0070] In another embodiment, the various user interface panels shown in the user interface of FIG. 11 may be user-configurable widgets which may be configured to integrate or “plug in” to other websites or web services. For example, a user might use a web service or a web browser which supports integration and display of user interface widgets or components provided by third parties. Thus, the user might wish to include, for example, a credit summary widget provided and generated by the credit report system 100 on his/her web browser home page, or as an application shortcut on a mobile operating system, or similar configuration which may be external to, or separate from, the credit report system 100.

Credit Reports and Credit Bureaus

[0071] The credit report system 100 may be separate from a credit bureau or credit data store 108. One of the purposes of the credit report system is to interface with the credit bureau or any data store that has data that will eventually be rendered by computing device 162. The credit report system 100 may request and extract the appropriate credit data for a specific consumer based on a user using the computing device 162. This allows for a single point of contact for computing device 162 interaction. The credit report system 100 can then be configured to request from and receive data from credit bureaus or other credit databases.

[0072] Alternatively, the credit report system 100 may be executed by a credit bureau itself. In this case, the credit report system and the credit bureau functionality may be combined, with no need to transfer data over a wide area network between them. In some embodiments, the client computing device 162 may be configured to interact directly with a credit bureau over a network, to access a credit report and summary attributes. In this case, any custom attribute creation or processing needed must be performed by the computing device 162.

Other

[0073] Each of the processes, methods, and algorithms described in the preceding sections may be embodied in, and fully or partially automated by, code modules executed by one or more computer systems or computer processors comprising computer hardware. The code modules may be stored on any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or computer storage device, such as hard drives, solid state memory, optical disc, and/or the like. The systems and modules may also be transmitted as generated data signals (for example, as part of a carrier wave or other analog or digital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readable transmission mediums, including wireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and may take a variety of forms (for example, as part of a single or multiplexed analog signal, or as multiple discrete digital packets or frames). The processes and algorithms may be implemented partially or wholly in application-specific circuitry. The results of the disclosed processes and process steps may be stored, persistently or otherwise, in any type of non-transitory computer storage such as, for example, volatile or non-volatile storage.

[0074] The various features and processes described above may be used independently of one another, or may be combined in various ways. All possible combinations and subcombinations are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. In addition, certain method or process blocks may be omitted in some implementations. The methods and processes described herein are also not limited to any particular sequence, and the blocks or states relating thereto can be performed in other sequences that are appropriate. For example, described blocks or states may be performed in an order other than that specifically disclosed, or multiple blocks or states may be combined in a single block or state. The example blocks or states may be performed in serial, in parallel, or in some other manner. Blocks or states may be added to or removed from the disclosed example embodiments. The example systems and components described herein may be configured differently than described. For example, elements may be added to, removed from, or rearranged compared to the disclosed example embodiments.

[0075] Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

[0076] Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagrams described herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should be understood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations are included within the scope of the embodiments described herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0077] All of the methods and processes described above may be embodied in, and partially or fully automated via, software code modules executed by one or more general purpose computers. For example, the methods described herein may be performed by the credit report system 100, consumer computing device 162, and/or any other suitable computing device. The methods may be executed on the computing devices in response to execution of software instructions or other executable code read from a tangible computer readable medium. A tangible computer readable medium is a data storage device that can store data that is readable by a computer system. Examples of computer readable mediums include read-only memory, random-access memory, other volatile or non-volatile memory devices, CD-ROMs, magnetic tape, flash drives, and optical data storage devices.

[0078] It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to be understood as being among other acceptable examples. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure. The foregoing description details certain embodiments of the invention. It will be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. As is also stated above, it should be noted that the use of particular terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specific characteristics of the features or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. The scope of the invention should therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.