Computer architecture and process for application processing engine

Abstract

An application processing engine computer system is configured to process an application for at least one of a product and service using a plurality of coordinated, configurable services. The application processing engine includes an application data management service, an application process flow management service, a decisioning service, an application processing host service, an application activity monitoring service, a queue management service and/or a system maintenance service. Various embodiments are described, including a computer implemented method for processing an application using an application processing engine component and/or module.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An application processing engine computer system, comprising:
 at least one computer database; and   an application processing computer in communication with said at least one database, the application processing computer configured to process an application for at least one of a product and service using a plurality of coordinated, configurable services, comprising:   an application data management service, responsive to the application, receiving and updating application data based on front end data from a front end application, internal data from an internal database, and external data from an external database;   an application process flow management service generating an application record and executing at least one macro service;   a decisioning service determining a decision for the application based on the application data;   an application processing host service retrieving the internal data and the external data, and processing instructions responsive to predetermined and configurable service rules to complete the application process;   an application activity monitoring service monitoring application processing activity and providing activity data and metrics;   a queue management service managing applications that are pending and unable to be processed via straight through processing of the application; and   a system maintenance service supporting communications, application archiving, application aging, and application expiry processes, and restarting of pending applications based on user configurable criteria.   
     
     
         2 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the front end application comprises a user configurable front end user interface that is decoupled from the underlying application process provided by the application processing engine. 
     
     
         3 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to receive reference data and product data for the at least one of the product and service from an enterprise standard reference repository. 
     
     
         4 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to communicate with a customer data management system to generate a customer record or retrieve information from an existing customer record stored in at least one customer data management database. 
     
     
         5 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to use a decoupled process to invoke an integrated customer communications module to provide one or more communications to a user based on user configurable criteria including business process, product group, product code, and user role, responsive to a call from the front end application or the application process flow management service. 
     
     
         6 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to communicate with at least one third party validation system to validate the identity of an applicant associated with the at least one of the product and service. 
     
     
         7 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to communicate with a decision engine supporting the decisioning service. 
     
     
         8 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the external database is at least one of a credit bureau database and a blacklist database. 
     
     
         9 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to communicate with a sales services system to track contacts with the user. 
     
     
         10 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to communicate with said front end application and a payment processing engine to execute one or more account funding instructions. 
     
     
         11 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to board an account to at least one product and service system. 
     
     
         12 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to provide at least one of a product application data extract, a product applicant data extract, a transaction log, a product configuration data extract, a to-do data extract, and a queue management system data extract to a computer intelligence system. 
     
     
         13 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to generate work items in a queue management system based on predetermined rules of process errors and reason codes. 
     
     
         14 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 13 , wherein the reason codes include a priority associated with the work item, and wherein the reason codes are unique for a given combination of entity, service ID, and sub-service ID. 
     
     
         15 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to log all activity related to the application and maintain the state of the application and products within the application. 
     
     
         16 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to determine and configure whether a product option is at a product level or applicant level, and associate the product option with at least one of a configuration ID, a customer segment, and a business line. 
     
     
         17 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 16 , wherein the front end application presents the product option responsive to at least one of the configuration ID and a user role. 
     
     
         18 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing engine receives from the front end application an Accept Offer or Decline Offer message to the resulting in a status change for the user for the at least one product and service, and invoking one or more downstream processes. 
     
     
         19 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to save the application data to said at least one database, wherein said saving comprises at least one of accepting predetermined application data and preferred contact mode, generating a retrieval code based upon a code generation request type, and saving the retrieval code and the preferred contact mode to said at least one database. 
     
     
         20 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 19 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to retrieve the previously saved application data from said at least one database, responsive to receiving the predetermined application data and the retrieval code, provided that the application has not reached a user configurable point in time for archival. 
     
     
         21 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to receive an application ID, an applicant ID, and a product tracker ID; insert an event type into an event tracker table indicating that gather application data is completed for the at least one of the product and service; and update a product status to accept when the product status is approved, gather application data is completed, and there are no to-do items pending. 
     
     
         22 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to capture events that occurred in the application at a service level, the events comprising application status changed, product status changed, validate identity status changed, user gather application data started, accept terms and conditions, accept product offer, user gather application data complete, decision status changed, user journey complete, product replaced—upsell/downsell, and sent final activity communication. 
     
     
         23 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the application processing computer is configured to generate configurable to-do items at an applicant level, a product level and an applicant/product level for different user roles. 
     
     
         24 . The application processing engine computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one macro service calls a sub service responsive to the configurable service rules. 
     
     
         25 . A computer implemented method for processing an application for at least one of a product and service, comprising:
 receiving and updating application data based on front end data from a front end application, internal data from an internal database, and external data from an external database;   generating an application record and executing at least one macro service;   determining a decision for the application based on the application data;   processing instructions responsive to predetermined and configurable service rules to complete the application process;   monitoring application processing activity and providing activity data and metrics;   managing applications that are pending and unable to be processed via straight through processing of the application; and   supporting communications, application archiving, application aging, and application expiry processes, and restarting of pending applications based on user configurable criteria.   
     
     
         26 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising decoupling a user configurable front end user interface of the front end application from the underlying application process provided by the application processing engine. 
     
     
         27 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising receiving by the application processing computer reference data and product data for the at least one of the product and service from an enterprise standard reference repository. 
     
     
         28 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising communicating by the application processing computer with a customer data management system to generate a customer record or retrieve information from an existing customer record stored in at least one customer data management database. 
     
     
         29 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising invoking an integrated customer communications module by the application processing computer using a decoupled process to provide one or more communications to a user based on user configurable criteria including business process, product group, product code, and user role, responsive to a call from the front end application or the application process flow management service. 
     
     
         30 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising communicating by the application processing computer with said front end application and a payment processing engine to execute one or more account funding instructions. 
     
     
         31 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising generating by the application processing computer work items based on predetermined rules of work item processing codes unique for a given combination of entity, service ID, and sub-service ID including a priority associated with the work item. 
     
     
         32 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising determining by the application processing computer whether a product option is at a product level or applicant level, and associating the product option with at least one of a configuration ID, a customer segment, and a business line. 
     
     
         33 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising saving by the application processing computer the application data to said at least one database, wherein said saving comprises at least one of accepting predetermined application data and preferred contact mode, generating a retrieval code based upon a code generation request type, and saving the retrieval code and the preferred contact mode to said at least one database. 
     
     
         34 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 33 , further comprising retrieving the previously saved application data from said at least one database, responsive to receiving the predetermined application data and the retrieval code, provided that the application has not reached a user configurable point in time for archival. 
     
     
         35 . The computer implemented method for processing an application of  claim 25 , further comprising: receiving an application ID, an applicant ID, and a product tracker ID: inserting an event type into an event tracker table indicating that gather application data is completed for the at least one of the product and service; and updating a product status to accept when the product status is approved, gather application data is completed, and there are no to-do items pending.