Creating groups of linked accounts

Abstract

Linking accounts corresponding to different products together to create a group so that group processing can be performed at the group level while independent processing of the accounts is performed at the account level. The method links the accounts into a group by linking a financial record for each account to group master data for the group. The group master data includes information about the group, including group parameters and a group identifier. A group typically includes a key account and one or more dependent accounts. The relationship between a dependent account and the group is specified by a dependent strategy. A dependent strategy specifies group level processing options for the account. The relationships between the accounts and the group are flexible to accommodate changes in the status of the group cardholders.

1 . A method for linking a plurality of financial records to create a group, the financial records corresponding to a plurality of accounts spanning a plurality of products, comprising the steps of: 
 providing a primary owner for the group;    providing a dependent financial record corresponding to a dependent account, the dependent financial record having a dependent strategy for controlling group processing options for the dependent account;    providing group master data that is associated with the group to facilitate group processing, the group master data including a group identifier, group control settings, and group aggregate data; and    linking the primary owner and the dependent financial record through the group master data to support group processing while retaining independent processing of the dependent account.    
     
     
         2 - 24 . (canceled)