Geolocation-Boosted Financial Institution Matching

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Users face confusion when filling in bank account information due to the textual overlap of names among various financial institutions, leading to errors in identification.

Innovation Solution

The method involves mapping financial institutions' routing numbers with geolocation data and using the user's IP address to determine their location, generating a match score based on user input and boosting scores for institutions closest to the user's location, and presenting search results based on routing number similarity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If users manually type bank account information, then they can input data directly, but they may make errors due to confusion over similar institution names

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccuracy of bank account information inputVSAvoiduser confusion over similar names

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an intermediary matching system that uses routing numbers and geolocation data as mediators between the user's bank account information and the list of financial institutions. The system automatically matches institutions based on these intermediaries rather than relying solely on manual typing, thereby reducing user confusion and improving accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical manual typing process with an automated electronic matching system. Instead of relying on users to correctly type and select from similar-sounding names, the system uses electronic routing number parsing and geolocation data to automatically identify the correct institution, substituting human manual operation with automated computational processes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Reliability

If the system provides a list of financial institutions for selection, then users can choose from options, but the list may be overwhelming due to thousands of institutions with similar names

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecorrect identification of financial institutionVSAvoidcomplexity of financial institution list

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the financial institution list into meaningful groups based on routing number prefixes and geolocation data. Instead of presenting all thousands of institutions uniformly, the system divides them into categories or regions, making the list more manageable and easier to navigate while maintaining accurate identification capabilities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by tailoring the presentation of financial institutions based on the user's geolocation. The system adjusts the list or matching criteria according to the user's local region, providing relevant local institutions first or filtering the list to show only nearby institutions, thereby reducing the overwhelming effect of displaying all institutions uniformly.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Measurement precision

If the system uses routing numbers and geolocation data for matching, then match accuracy improves, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvematch score accuracyVSAvoidcomplexity of matching algorithm

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-processing routing numbers to extract geolocation information and pre-mapping financial institutions to their geographic locations. This preliminary preparation allows the matching algorithm to operate more efficiently during actual use, as the complex data structures are already in place and ready for quick querying, thereby reducing the apparent complexity during operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11755690B1Mitigating add financial institution errors by leveraging geolocation data

Publication Date: 2023.09.12 INTUIT INC

AI summary

Techniques for detecting fraud may include mapping routing numbers of one or more financial institutions with geolocation data of the financial institutions; obtaining a geolocation of a user based on the user's internet protocol (IP) address; obtaining a first user input from the user indicating a first financial institution; generating a match score for each of the one or more financial institutions that indicates a level of match between the first user input and the respective financial institution; boosting the match score for each financial institution based on its location with respect to the geolocation of the user; generating a list of financial institutions having the boosted match score above a threshold; obtaining a second user input from the user indicating at least one second financial institution; and presenting search results to the user based on the second user input, wherein the search results are boosted.