Investment management system with travel usage funds indexed to customer account status4885685Abstract A data processing system is disclosed which tracks each client's cumulative travel usage over time for the purpose of authorizing travel requests and ensuring a predetermined minimum return on an initial investment base. Such variables as frequency of use and level of service (i.e., first class, coach, etc.) are translated into cumulative cost figures which are carefully tracked and compared with a "travel ceiling." This ceiling is actually a constantly varying reference base line of maximum expanditures/usage available to the client at any given time to stay on course to achieve an expected return on the initial investment. The air travel related data is stored in uniquely formatted client account files which may be readily accessed and displayed. The data processing system's ability to track many travel related conditions is enhanced by a unique set of control status words which control software flow and which are utilized to visually flag important status conditions. Claims What is claimed is: Description FIELD OF THE INVENTION
______________________________________
ID FILE FORMAT
ACCOUNT # ID # START/
current/ current/ DATE
transferred
last NAME ADDRESS mo/yr
______________________________________
A aaaa
B bbbb
C cccc
. .
. .
. .
Z zzzz
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The ID file which is stored on disk 3 has been strategically segregated from the main CLIENT ACCOUNT files to protect the valuable ID#'s from casual observation by system operators. Access to this file is granted by the system only to the individual acting as system administrator through the system console (23) of FIG. 1. The ID#'s have not been inserted in the CLIENT ACCOUNT format, and their usage is confined to being entered by the operator (called by the client) and validated by the system all without screen presentation. Up to four (4) successive attempts are allowed before the system suspends the account and demands confirmation in writing that the client himself is attempting to enter the wrong ID#. The ID numbers can be easily changed periodically with proper notification to the client at the address of record. The system software also permits company management officials to make status inquiries of the system (202). As indicated by block 204, the present system responds to an input client travel request by transferring client account indicia to a process travel request routine 212. As will be explained further below in conjunction with FIG. 12, the process travel request routine serves to verify a client's I.D., to determine whether the travel request is within the boundaries discussed in conjunction with, for example, FIG. 4. Presuming that the boundary checks yield satisfactory results, the output of the process travel request routine will be tickets and/or vouchers which go to the client. Concurrently, with the issuance of the tickets, as explained above with respect to FIG. 4, a fund withdrawal notification is sent to the bank (214), thereby decrementing the investment fund by the amount approved for travel requests. The process travel requests routine 212 additionally serves to provide transaction data to the transaction file 213 which is also stored on disk 3. The transaction file, format of which is shown in FIG. 8B, collectively stores the ongoing transactions generated by all the accounts each day. This file permits transaction data to be readily accessed for account auditing and/or analysis. The transaction file headings and fields are self-explanatory and are discussed below in conjunction with the client account file format. Focusing on the periodic processing that occurs within the system, the client/investment accounts 210 which are stored on disk are periodically backed up on the tape files 218. Presuming that the periodic processing is performed on a monthly basis, the client files would be updated once each month by an update client files routine 216 (which is discussed in detail below in conjunction with FIG. 10) to reflect usage of the system throughout the month. Thus, while a client travel request entry at 204 will serve to add an additional increment of travel indicia into the client's investment account stored on the disk 3, the update client files routine at 216 serves to provide a cumulative tabulation of all of the travel requests that have been granted by the system. The update client files routine 216 will utilize prevailing interest rates transmitted or received from the bank 214 to make projections as to whether the client is on track in meeting the predetermined minimum account growth rate threshold. Once the client account files have been updated, they are stored back on disk for subsequent interrogation for the next travel request. The process travel requests routine (212) must be locked out during this update to avoid obtaining an out-of-date balance. Therefore, the update client files routine (216) must be run off-line during non-peak hours. The update client file routine 216 will also generate a client account summary 222 which is transmitted to the client 226, as well as to the company 228. The client summary at 222 informs the client of not only the current status of his account, but also the projection made by the update client files routine 216. As with the process travel request routine 212, this projection shows where the client's investment fund base will be at the end of the client's participation in the air travel program if the current rate of travel usage continues. The client summary report will also inform a client who is below the 50% rate of return "growth floor" as to how far below the growth floor he or she is and how much capital is required to get back to that 50% growth floor. On the other hand, for a client who has exceeded the 100% growth ceiling, the system will inform the client as to how much free travel is available. From time to time, the system expects to receive certain responses from a client. A record of the responses is stored in responses file 227 on disk 3 in the format shown below.
__________________________________________________________________________
RESPONSE FILE FORMAT
__________________________________________________________________________
ACCOUNT #
NAME DATE
PURPOSE OF RESPONSE
SYSTEM CHECK OFF
SIGNED
ID REQUEST
WAIVER
CONFIRM
CLOSEOUT
__________________________________________________________________________
The RESPONSE file 227 is an open-ended file, sorted in ascending ACCOUNT # sequence. As each response is received, it is logged in as a single record with one or more purposes. If the client has been asked to sign a waiver acknowledging that he is in the PENALTY zone, the response must so indicate that waiver within one month. If the client has attempted to enter the wrong ID# four times or has otherwise used an improper medallion card or questionable ID, the response must confirm that he was in fact the party in error. At any time, the client may request closing out his account, subject to an early withdrawal fee if he is in the PENALTY zone at that time. As the system acts upon each response, it checks off the associated RESPONSE record so that it can be routinely deleted on a periodic basis. The update investment file routine shown at 220 serves to summarize the cumulative balance totals for each of the clients in the system. In addition, the updated investment file routine keeps track of the company's profits as well as the capital reserve status during the transactions discussed in FIG. 4 with respect to blocks 120 and 128. Additionally, the update investment file routine 220 tabulates how much of a deficit the company has had to make up in order to increment each client account up to the 50% level, if such a deficit in fact ever arises. The updated investment file is stored back on disk for subsequent status inquiries 202. Just as with the update client files routine 216, the update investment files routine 220 must run off-line after hours, since it must lock out all other interrogations during the update. The output of the update investment file routine is summarized in an investment summary report 224 which is transmitted to the company 228. Like the update client files routine 216, the update investment file routine 220 receives the prevailing interest rate which it utilized to project the cumulative growth of the overall investment base in view of travel usage by all of the clients. Before focusing on the details of the routines discussed above, a brief analysis of how the present system uses the prevailing interest rates to project the percentage growth rate of a client's investment base is described below. Through the use of such a projected growth rate, the system monitors the cumulative growth of a client's initial investment as a function of usage and interest rates. It then enforces constraints as to usage to insure that the client receives at least a predetermined minimum return on his or her initial investment. The return on a client's initial investment projected at any given prevailing interest rate can be expressed as a rate of growth (percent) of the initial investment over the term of the client's participation in the air travel program. By way of example only, it is contemplated that a client will have a choice of selecting five-year, ten-year or fifteen-year timeframes for participation in the program. In order to provide a baseline for monitoring a client's travel usage, an initial step is to find the "threshold" interest rate for each of the five, ten and fifteen year plans that will yield the predetermined minimum "floor" growth rate (e.g., 50%) and the desired "ceiling" growth rate (e.g., 100%). Once the 50% floor and 100% ceiling rates for each plan are established, any deviation of the current interest rate from the 50% floor rate can be carefully monitored in light of each client's rate of usage. For the purpose of projecting whether the minimum rate of return will be achieved at the end of the term of a given plan, the system assumes a linearly, declining balance for a given account (see FIG. 3B). Under this assumption, each plan has target average interest rates which must be achieved in order to obtain, for example, a 50% return on the initial investment. Likewise, there are higher target interest rates at which each plan will yield a 100% return. As indicated above with respect to FIG. 4, the present system bases a multitude of processing decisions on whether the growth rate of a client's initial investment at any given point in time is within predetermined boundaries. Such a growth rate may be determined based on the equations shown below and expressed as a percentage of the client's initial investment (X.sub.O). Thus, one exemplary approach for calculating the investment growth rate shown in Table I below as follows:
TABLE I
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GENERALIZED ALGORITHM FOR
CALCULATING GROWTH RATE
______________________________________
N = no. of years
X = end balance
I = interest rate
i = current year
X.sub.0 = initial funds
BAL = cum bal.
(1) end bal for current year (i):
##STR1##
(2) cumulative bal. for total year (N): BAL =
##STR2##
##STR3##
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This is a generalized algorithm for calculating growth rate (RATE) expressed as a percentage of an initial investment X.sub..phi.. It can be modulated for any number of years N as a total timeframe at any constant interest rate I. It is independent, however, of the size of the initial investment X.sub..phi., whether it is $10,000, $20,000 or even $60,000, because the growth rate is a percentage of X.sub.O. The cumulative balance (BAL) for any intervening year (Y) within the given time frame (N) can be calculated by simply summing BAL for i=1, 2, . . . , Y. This algorithm also allows the system to calculate the BAL of any client withdrawing from the program at any time. For convenience herein, this algorithm has been confined to accumulating interest on a yearly basis. It would be apparent to one skilled in the art how to compound the interest monthly, or even daily, for greater precision. Focussing on equation 1 above, in order to determine the ending balance (Xi) for a current year i, (where i runs from 1 to N), this current end balance is calculated from the last year's balance (X.sub.i-1) minus a linear decrement equal to the initial investment (X.sub..phi.) divided by the number of years (N) in the plan; times an interest rate factor which is 1 plus the current interest rate (I) divided by 2. This takes into account the fact that the prevailing interest rate is operating on a linearly declining balance and, thus, only 50% of that interest rate would be realized for the entire year. Taking, for example, where i=1, (i.e., at the end of year 1), where the initial balance is presumed to be $20,000 the interest rate I=10%, and the number of years N is 10, then X.sub.i would equal $20,000 minus $20,000 divided by 10 times (1 plus 10%, the prevailing interest rate, divided by 2) equals $20,000 minus $2,000 times 1.05, equals $18,000 times 1.05 or $18,900. With respect to equation 2, the cumulative balance for the total years end is merely the summation of the N balance for the current year i, i.e., X.sub.i where i names from 1 to N. The growth rate as defined by equation 3 may then be calculated by dividing the cumulative balance for the total years divided by the initial investment X.sub..phi..sub.). Table II below shows the return on the investment, expressed as a growth rate percentage, as a function of the timeframe of the plan, as well as the prevailing interest rates. This table, as well as the plot of this data shown in FIG. 6, presumes that the initial investment balance will decline linearly at 20% per year for the five-year plan, 10% per year for the ten-year plan, and 6.7% per year for the 15-year plan. The Table II and the associated plot in FIG. 6 indicate what the growth rate of the initial investment will be if the prevailing interest rate is maintained at any of the rates shown between 5% and 15%. Thus, Table II shows the growth of the initial investment associated with the listed interest rates. To appreciate the practical significance of these values, FIG. 6 shows a plot of the percentage growth rate as a function of the prevailing interest rate for the five-year plan, the ten-year plan, and the fifteen-year plan respectively. The data shown in the graph of FIG. 6 represents the use of formulas 1, 2, and 3 shown above where calculations were augmented with interest being compounded on a monthly instead of yearly basis. Each of the curves shown in FIG. 6 presume a linearly declining balance.
TABLE II
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RETURN ON INVESTMENT
(expressed as GROWTH RATE %)
TIMEFRAME
INTEREST RATE
OF PLAN 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10%
11%
12%
13%
14%
15%
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A. 5 Years balance declining linearly at 20% per year
1st yr 4.6%
5.6%
6.5%
7.5%
8.5%
9.4%
10.4%
11.4%
12.5%
13.5%
14.5%
5th yr 14.8
18.3
22.1
26.1
30.4
34.9
39.8
44.9
50.3
56.1
62.2
B. 10 Years balance declining linearly at 10% per year
1st yr 4.9
5.9
6.9
7.9
8.9
10.0
11.0
12.1
13.1
14.2
15.3
5th yr 21.5
26.6
31.9
37.6
43.4
49.7
56.3
63.3
70.6
78.3
86.4
10th yr 35.0
45.0
56.3
69.0
83.3
99.3
117.3
137.4
160.0
185.1
213.2
C. 15 Years balance declining linearly at 6.7% per year
1st yr 5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.1
11.2
12.3
13.4
14.5
15.6
5th yr 23.8
29.4
35.2
41.4
47.8
54.7
61.8
69.4
77.4
85.7
94.5
10th yr 44.9
57.3
71.2
86.7
103.9
123.1
144.5
168.3
194.7
224.2
256.8
15th yr 62.6
83.4
108.3
137.8
172.8
214.2
263.0
320.7
388.5
468.2
561.9
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Focusing first on the curve for the five-year plan A (Curve A.sub.5), for a prevailing interest rate of 5% over this time frame, it can be seen that the growth rate at the end of the five years will be approximately 15%. In order to achieve a 50% return on the initial investment, a prevailing interest rate of 13% would be required. Likewise to achieve a 100% rate of return, interest rates on the order of 20% would be required. With respect to the ten-year plan B, (Curve B.sub.10), at a 5% prevailing interest rate at the end of 10 years, a growth rate of 35% will result. A prevailing interest rate of 6.4% will serve to provide the minimum 50% return on the initial investment and a 100% return on the initial investment will result from a 10.1% prevailing interest rate. Focusing on the fifteen-year plan C (Curve C.sub.15), a prevailing interest rate of 4.2% will yield the minimum 50% return on the initial investment. A 6.7% prevailing interest rate will yield a 100% return on the initial investment. Thus, it can be seen that for any given plan as the prevailing interest rate increases above the 50% threshold, there is much more latitude for progressively increasing a client's usage travel, as the prevailing interest rate climbs above the minimum floor rates for each plan (i.e., 4.2%, 6.4% and 13% respectively). Although the graphs shown in FIG. 6 presume a linear withdrawal of investment funds from a client's initial investment, this data is used only to provide a reference baseline for analyzing a client's usage. In this regard, while a client may be able to use his travel funds at a rate greatly exceeding that which is shown in these curves, the curves provide a basis for demonstrating how far the client's usage is departing from usage rate required to guarantee a predetermined minimal rate of return. Before turning to the flowcharts, it is noted that the flow of program control centers around the control state of a unique set of control status words, which are listed in Table III below.
TABLE III
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CONTROL STATUS WORDS (CSW'S)
CSW A V B P I
BIT ACCOUNT VESTING
BONUS PENALTY IDENT
POSITION
CSWA CSWV CSWB CSWP CSWI
(all bits off)
(no status)
(no vesting)
(no bonus)
(no penalty)
(no ID error)
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BIT 1 VESTED 1st level
100% level
50% level
1st attempt
BIT 2 BONUS 2nd level
150% level
waiver signed
2nd attempt
BIT 3 PENALTY 3rd level
200% level
projected out
3rd attempt
BIT 4 IDENT 4th level
travel used
travel denied
ID rejected
BIT 5 SUSPENDED
5th level
level advanced
level denied
confirm req.
BIT 6 CLOSED OUT
CASHED IN
CASHED IN
CASHED OUT
TRANSFERRED
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The relationship between these CSW's is as follows. CSWA summarizes the current status of the account, which can be in one or more states at the same time. Upon startup, the account has no status, good or bad (CSWA=0). As the account reaches its first vesting level, CSWA1 goes ON indicating that CSWV now reflects a vesting status (initially CSWV=1). If the account rises above the 100% growth ceiling, CSWA2 goes ON indicating that CSWB now reflects a bonus status (initially CSWB=1). On the other hand, if the account falls below the 50% growth floor, CSWA3 goes ON indicating that CSWP now reflects a penalty status (initially CSWP=1). Clearly, an account cannot be in both a bonus state and penalty state at the same time, so only either CSWB or CSWP will be active at any given time. If the client or an imposter attempts to use the account with the wrong ID number, CSWA4 goes ON indicating that CSWI now reflects an IDENT status (initially, CSWI=1), which implies that the most recent travel request has been denied. If this persists for 3 attempts (CSWI3 is ON) or the client's ID is rejected (CSWI4 is ON), the account is suspended on the next attempt (CSWA5 is ON). If the account advances through the successive CSWP/CSWI states to cashed out (CSWP6) or transferred to a new account (CSWI6), the account is terminated (CSWA6 is ON). If the account matures to the 5th level of vesting (CSWV5 is ON), the vested amount is cashed in (CSWV6 is ON) and any remaining bonus cashed in (CSWP6 is ON) then the account is finally closed out (CSWA6 is ON). Beyond the ACCOUNT CSW (CSWA), the other CSW's advance progressively from their first state (bit 1 set) to their final state (bit 6 set) which implies that the account has matured to completion (CSWV6) or has been terminated by the client (CSWP6) or the system (CSWI6). Other than the VESTING CSW (CSWV), the remaining CSW's (CSWB/CSWP/CSWI) are independently set, advanced, and reset as the prevailing status of the account fluctuates. Thus, any of these CSW's may have several bits ON at the same time which may be reset to OFF as the condition of the account reverts back to normal. The VESTING CSW (CSWV) advances sequentially as the account advances from one vesting level to the next CSWV1, . . . , CSWV5 in accordance with the qualification schedule of Table 4, which is shown below. As the account reaches the 5th and final level, CSWV remains at state CSWV5 until the client decides to cash in his vested amount (CSWV6). The client can, of course, cash in his policy at any earlier level for a modest closeout charge.
TABLE IV
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QUALIFICATION SCHEDULE
WHICH LOCKS IN
MINIMUM RETURN ON INVESTMENT
LEVEL PLAN AMOUNT
OF A B C LOCKED IN
QUALIFICATION
(YEARS) (%)
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0 <1 <2 <3 5%
1 1 2 3 10%
2 2 4 6 20%
3 3 6 9 30%
4 4 8 12 40%
5 5 10 15 50%
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The above qualification schedule, which defines the CSWV control states, guarantees the client that he will receive a minimum return on his investment should he decide to drop out of the plan at any time. The minimum amount guaranteed by the system is uniformly incremented from 5% to 50% at 5 milestones over the course of the plan. The purpose underlying this gradually increasing return on investment is to provide a predictable incentive to stay in the plan (A/B/C) for the full timeframe. (5/10/15 years). It also encourages the client to avoid entering the PENALTY ZONE which might prolong his time to reach the next level and/or reduce his return on investiment if he should not recover in time. Stated postively, it give the client an incentive to reach and lock-in intermediate goals on the road to achieving the final goal of 50% minimum return. The account must stay below the "travel ceiling" throughout the course of the plan. If the account does on occasion exceed the travel ceiling, the client can still achieve the next level of qualification if he recovers (i.e., allows the account to catch up to the "growth floor") within the current qualification period. For example, if a client enters the PENALTY ZONE during the 3rd year of the plan B, he has until the end of the 4th year to recover by allowing his account to remain dormant. Focusing back on the control status words, the bonus CSW (CSWB), also advances progressively as the account rises above the 100/150/200% levels of projected return on investment in the BONUS zone (CSWB1/CSWB2/CSWB3). At any time, the client may use the bonus amount as free travel (CSWB4). As the accumulated bonus amount reaches a predetermined threshold, the client may optionally decide to apply the bonus amount to advance the account by one vesting level (CSWB5), which essentially shortens the minimum life of the account by 20%. If desired, the client need not be given the opportunity to make such a decision. To preserve working capital for the system, the client can only cash in his bonus amount (CSWB6) at the completion of the account timeframe (CSWA6). The penalty CSW (CSWP), advances progressively from one status to the next as the account remains in the PENALTY zone. Once below the 50% level, CSWP1 remains ON until the account recovers and reverts back to the normal SPLIT zone. The client must sign and return a waiver (CSWP2) acknowledging that, as long as the account lies in the PENALTY zone, the system cannot guarantee a 50% return on investment. CSWP3 indicates that, at the present rate of recovery, the account will not escape the PENALTY zone before the end of the current vesting period. At that time, if no steps are taken by the client, the system will deny advancement to the next vesting level (CSWP5). At any time, the client may choose to cash out his account with whatever its current balance is (CSWP6) for a modest closeout penalty. The identification CSW (CSWI), advances progressively from the 1st attempt to use the account with an incorrect ID number (CSWI1) to the 2nd attempt (CSWI2) to the 3rd attempt (CSWI3). At any time, a local company representative or remote travel agent may reject the medallion card as a counterfeit or the cardholder as not matching his ID picture (CSWI4). As a safeguard against fraudulent usage, all activity in the account is suspended at CSWI3 or CSWI4 until the client signs and returns a confirmation that he attempted to use the account (CSWI5). If fraudulent attempts were made to utilize the account, or if the client does not acknowledge his incorrect ID within one month, the account is transferred to a new account number (CSWI6) to protect the client's investment. CLIENT AND INVESTMENT ACCOUNT FILE FORMATS As noted in the above description of the system software elements, the client and investment accounts are stored on disk 3 in a format corresponding to the display or printer output format seen by the user. The client account file format is shown in FIG. 8A. The format headings shown in the top left hand portion are as follows: REPORT, CLIENT, STATUS, RATES, THRESHOLDS, and BALANCES. The fields to the right of these headings are labeled in an essentially self-explanatory fashion (and will not be described in detail except as set forth below) to reflect the data which must be associated therewith. For example, with respect to the REPORT heading in the "TITLE" field, "Client Account File" would be inserted. In FIG. 8A, the client's account number is inserted in the first field in the CLIENT heading. This field is utilized by the system software to access the client file. In the INITIAL PLAN field, the appropriate Plan A, B or C is inserted which identifies, among other things, the time period during which the client is committed to participate in the program. The INITIAL BAL field will of course reflect the initial amount of funds which the client is putting into the plan. The LAST ACTIVITY field in the CLIENT heading reflects the date of the most recent trip taken. Below the client information, the client account format uniquely provides the control states of the control status words "VESTING", "BONUS" "PENALTY" and "IDENT", which reflect the client account current status as explained above. With respect to the RATES heading, the fields herein reflect the client account growth rate as defined above and the prevailing interest rate. In addition, the RATES heading includes LIMITS fields for both growth rate and interest rate which define the year-to-date minimum and maximum percentage values. Turning next to the THRESHOLD heading, these threshold values may be used to readily determine whether the growth rate of any given client account exceeds fixed threshold values which will result in achievement of the 50%, 100%, 150% or 200% values for each of plans A, B and C. As indicated above, these thresholds are calculated by determining what the account balance should be based on a linearly declining balance from the initial entry into the plan until the five, ten, or fifteen years have expired. The first field under the THRESHOLD heading is DBAL which is the declining balance. This can be visualized as the value at a point along the line labeled "travel ceiling" in FIG. 3B which runs from the 100% initial investment point to zero dollars at the end of end years. The declining balance (DBAL) threshold is reduced by a fixed linear amount each month. Thus, for a client in the five-year plan, the declining balance will be reduced each month by 1/60th of the initial investment amount. The 50, 100, 150/200% thresholds are threshold balance figures that reflect the threshold balance necessary for a client to be on track for accumulating a 50, 100, 150/200% growth of his initial investment. These values are calculated based on the prevailing interest rate required to obtain a 50, 100, 150 and 200% return for each of the plans as reflected in the Growth Rate Thresholds shown in Table V below.
TABLE V
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GROWTH RATE THRESHOLDS
TIMEFRAME
WHOLE EACH RATE THRESHOLDS
PLAN LEVEL 50% 100% 150% 200%
______________________________________
Plan 5 years 1 years 13.0% 20.2% 25.2% 28.8%
Plan 10 years 2 years 6.4% 10.1% 12.6% 14.5%
B
Plan 15 years 3 years 4.2% 6.7% 8.3% 9.6%
C
Plan 60 months 12 months 1.083%
1.683%
2.10% 2.40%
A
Plan 120 months
24 months .533% .842% 1.05% 1.74%
B
Plan 180 months
36 months .350% .558% .69% .80%
C
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The above table reflects threshold values for determining whether the growth rate of any given account exceeds fixed 50/100/150/200% thresholds for each plan A/B/C. These values are utilized for purposes of splitting the excess according to that plan between the appropriate client/company accounts, as will be discussed in detail below. Following the THRESHOLDS heading is the BALANCES heading, which reflects the client's current account balance (VBAL) and an associated company balance (CBAL), which indicates the contribution of the client's account to the company account. Each of the balances which will be discussed below are associated with either VBAL or CBAL and are stored independently on three sets of data arrays, i.e., the running, milestone, and archival data arrays, which are shown schematically in FIG. 7. The running data array indexes the balances and dates on a monthly basis and stores such data for the current, last, previous and initial months. The milestone data array indexes the same balances and dates based on achievement of the levels shown in Table V. Finally, the archival data array indexes balances and dates on a yearly basis, which provides a convenient method, e.g., to generate end-of-fiscal year reports. Thus, by utilizing the data arrays shown in FIG. 7, an operator can access current balances for clients either based on the current month's performance, achievement of the first through the fifth level, or based on any desired year in the course of the program. It is noted that with respect to the running data array, the array is conveniently structured so that the current month's balances and dates in the updating cycle may be shifted to the last month's location in the array, while the last month's data may be shifted to the previous month's location. Similarly, in the milestone data array, when a client qualifies for advancement to a higher level, the balances and dates information are merely advanced to the location in the milestone data array for the next highest level. In the BALANCE heading, VBAL reflects the client's all-important current balance. The "current" balance is updated on a continuing basis to reflect travel taken during the month. The "update" field represents the cumulative balance as of the previous update, i.e., as of the last month. If the PENALTY field is zero, the balance VBAL is equal to the sum of the values in the SPLIT, BONUS and EXCESS fields. The "penalty" field reflects the amount of operating costs or the penalty assessed to the client for his account falling below the 50% growth floor. The SPLIT field reflects that portion of the balance where the account is between the growth floor and the growth ceiling. As previously indicated, the excess over the growth floor is split evenly between the client and the company. The BONUS and EXCESS fields reflect the account rising above the 100% growth ceiling which may, for example, result in the client receiving free travel and the company receiving an increase in its capital reserve (BONUS zone). It is contemplated that the company will receive all the profits due to funds in the EXCESS zone. The present invention contemplates associating checking account, borrowing, insurance and other privileges with the client's cumulative balance VBAL. By way of example only, the achievement of a predetermined balance in the BONUS field may be used to trigger associating a predetermined insurance policy benefit with the client's account. The present system is designed so that when the client utilizes travel services under the plan, the funds are first extracted from the EXCESS field and then the BONUS, SPLIT and PENALTY fields, in that order, to cover the costs of the travel. The client account format also includes fields relating to company balances (CBAL). The total company balance (CBAL) is the sum of the field to the right, i.e., the sum of DEFICIT, SPLIT, BONUS and RESERVE fields. The COMPANY balances are a reflection of the contribution that the client account balance has made to the company account. As shown in FIG. 4, the deficit field reflects the amount of funds the company needs to draw out of its reserve or profit margins to cover a client account which due to lower than expected interest rates, has fallen into the PENALTY zone. Company balances are incremented by virtue of the activity in the client balances. For example, if the client balances is above the 100% growth ceiling, then the bonus field of the company balances are incremented. Likewise, if the client account rises above the 150% level, then the RESERVE field is incremented accordingly. The client account format also includes a CURRENT TRANSACTIONS field, which reflects the most recent five (5) trips taken by the client. By virtue of the current transaction data listed here, the system operator can perform a status check on any given account to determine the degree of recent usage. If desired, the client transaction field may be used to verify that the caller requesting travel usage is, in fact, the client by, for example, requiring the caller to identify the most recent trip(s) taken. The transaction data may be designed to include trip related data at any desired level of detail. Each transaction is assigned a sequential transaction number and the total amount of funds expended on the trip is set forth in the field next to the transaction number. The trip related data recorded may, for example, include the day at which travel was initiated, the cities of departure and arrival, the level or class of hotels (or cars) utilized and charges related to each of these items. The final entry in the client account file format is the CUMULATIVE QUALIFICATION heading. Under the cumulative qualification heading five achievement levels have been defined corresponding to vested amounts of the initial investment of from 10% to 50%. For example, in the 15 year plan, at the end of the first three years (or 36 months), the client account would be checked to determine whether the client is out of the penalty zone. If so, the client will have achieved the first level and the date of achievement and the cumulative balance as of the date of achievement will be recorded in the fields indicated. Upon achieving a particular level, it is contemplated that the company will take the funds vested and place them into a separate account to lock in that percentage of return to the client. If at the end of the three-year period, the client is in the penality zone, then the penalty date is recorded and the client is not advanced to a higher level. The investment account file format is shown in FIG. 9. This file reflects cumulative statistics for all clients who participate in the program. The REPORT, BANK, RATES and BALANCES headings contain fields which are largely self-explanatory and will not be explained in detail except as indicated below. The BANK (or investment, or brokerage house) heading provides for the entry of a plurality of account numbers associated with all the funds in the program. The RATES heading includes an INTEREST RATE field which reflects the prevailing interest rate from the bank of all the investment accounts. The GROWTH RATE field under the RATES heading reflects the growth rate of all the client accounts. The BALANCES heading identifies the investment account balance which is the total amount of funds in all the client investment accounts. Additionally, the total balance which is vested to various clients is maintained in the vesting account. The company account balance is the summation of all the client's company balances (CBAL). Turning to the client summary record shown in FIG. 9, all the clients in the program are listed by number and name. The date which the client started in the program is listed and the initial plan subscribed to as well as the initial balance. In addition, for each client the status of the account is identified by its associated control status words indicating "vested", "bonus", "penalty", "identifications", "suspended" or "closed" out account status indicia respectively. Under the qualification level heading for each client, the vesting level from level .phi. to level 5 is indicated as well as the growth rate and the declining balance (DBAL) from each client account. The VESTING ACCOUNT and COMPANY ACCOUNT headings incorporate the vesting balance and company balance for each account in the system as reflected by the fields in the client account format described above with respect to FIG. 8A. The balances for both the vesting and company account reflect monthly and cumulative entries. The cumulative balance reflects the up-to-date cumulative balance total, whereas the monthly entry reflects the monthly increment or decrement that the account experienced during the previous month. In the ACCOUNT SUMMARY heading, the total number of clients in each status and in each plan is recorded. In the QUALIFICATION SUMMARY, a summation of all the accounts that have achieved the levels shown. Under the GROWTH LEVEL heading, the percentage of accounts in the listed growth levels are recorded. As shown in FIG. 9, the VESTING ACCOUNT SUMMARY reflects a summary of all client accounts of all the balances shown above under the VESTING ACCOUNT heading. Likewise, the COMPANY ACCOUNT SUMMARY shows a summation of all the company account balances for all the fields shown under the COMPANY ACCOUNT heading above. Under the vesting account and company account headings the summary balances show both the cumulative balance as well as the monthly balance to reflect the cumulative totals as well as the performance during the last month. The final data stored in investment account file are the monthly increment and the percentage change data for the ACCOUNT, QUALIFICATION, VESTING ACCOUNT and COMPANY ACCOUNT summaries. Under each of these increment headings, the "delta" change in the account is calculated based on the current amount minus the previous months amount, and the percentage (%) change based on the current amount minus the last amount divided by the last amount. Turning next to the system software, a detailed exemplary implementation of the update client files routine (which is depicted in block form in FIG. 5), is shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 10A through 10C. In interpreting the flowcharts which follow the definitions listed in the Flowchart Functions table below should be noted.
______________________________________
FLOWCHART FUNCTIONS
______________________________________
"ADVANCE" means -
reset current CSW bit set next
higher CSW bit
"UPDATE" means -
(1) last value
previous value
(2) current value
last value
(3) new value last value
and also, (4) new low value
YTD MIN
for rates (if applicable)
(5) new high value
YTD MAX
"CSWX" means -
a particular one of the five control
words (X = A/v/B/P/I) for
each client account
"CSWX1-CSWX6"
means - a particular bit (1,2, . . . ,6) set ON or
OFF within a given CSWX
"CUM" and "monthly"
means the cumulative value up to the
last monthly update, and the monthly value since
time (default is "monthly")
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Turning back to the flowcharts in FIGS. 10A-C, the functions accomplished by the update client files routine is depicted schematically in the monthly update portion of the logic flow diagram shown in FIG. 4. The update client file routine serves to update the client files on a periodic, e.g., monthly, basis. Each client file is updated on this periodic basis, regardless of whether any trips were taken during the past month. Thus, each month the update client file routine is entered (400) and data required by the routine is retrieved and appropriately processed (402). More specifically with respect to block 402, the current prevailing interest rate is retrieved from the bank or financial institution 13 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The interest rate is then divided by 12 in order to get the monthly interest rate. The variable "days" is defined as being equal to the number of days in the current month, and the transaction file is sorted by client account number with respect to the transactions which took place during the previous month. The client account year-to-date minimum and maximum interest rate figures are then updated if the new interest rate impacts this field. After the sorting of the transaction file, the account file for the next client is retrieved, as well as all the transactions for that client (404). As indicated at block 406, the average balance for the current month is that thereafter calculated. The cost of the travel transactions are figured into the average balance calculation by appropriately weighting the day of the month that the transaction occurred. In this regard, the formula shown in block 406 takes into account the date.sub.i, (i.e., the day of the month that the transaction occurred), as well as the number of days in the month. Thus, if a transaction takes place on the first day of the month, the average balance during the month must be lower than if the transaction took place later in the month. Under such circumstances, the largest subtraction from the last balance would be taken into account. Immediately thereafter, the monthly declining balance is calculated for purposes of making the account projections on a monthly and cumulative basis. The monthly declining balance is merely the initial investment base divided by the number of months in the plan. Thus, if the initial investment base is $10,000 and the client is enrolled in a 5-year plan, then the initial balance is $10,000 divided by 60 or $166.67. The current cumulative declining balance is defined as being the last declining balance minus the monthly declining balance (408). In block 410, the interest rate thresholds for the 50%, 100%, 150% or 200% levels are set, depending upon the particular plan that the client is enrolled in. These rate thresholds are utilized to determine which of the previously discussed zones the client is currently in. Although these thresholds may be determined from calculations of the nature discussed above with respect to Table 2, for convenience, the growth rate thresholds at each of these levels for each plan are shown in Table V above. Additionally, in block 410, the interest rate is set to equal the monthly interest rate defined at block 402. Thereafter, as indicated at 412, the routine shifts all the balance fields in the running data array shown in FIG. 7 from the "current" to the "previous" locations in order to provide the appropriate storage space for the generation of the "current" monthly balance fields (which are initially set to 0). The client's current balance is then calculated (VBAL) which is equal to the average account balance times the monthly interest rate. With respect to the processing which follows, reference should be made to the client account file format shown in FIG. 8A and the specification associated therewith wherein the various fields are described. At block 414, a check is made to determine whether the interest rate is less than the rate required to sustain the account at the 50% growth floor target. If the interest rate is, in fact, less than the rate required to sustain the account at the 50% floor, then a "deficit" calculation must be made to determine how much funds must be supplied to the account by the company in order to place the account back to the 50% level. As indicated at block 416, a calculation is made to establish what this deficit amount actually is. After this deficit amount is calculated, the deficit (which may be provided, for example, by company RESERVE funds) is added to the client's vesting balance and the deficit amount is then subtracted from the company's cumulative RESERVE fund (which inures to the client's benefit). It is noted, however, that there may not be funds in the company's cumulative reserve account to cover the deficit and a check for this condition is made at 418. The cumulative reserve may be less than 0 due to the subtraction of the deficit amount in 416 above. Thereafter, the cum CBONUS field is set to equal the sum of the current CBONUS field plus the cumulative RESERVE field (which may, in fact, be a negative number) and the cumulative RESERVE field is reset to 0 (420). The cumulative BONUS field is then checked to see if it's less than 0 (422). If so, this indicates the BONUS field had insufficient funds to cover the deficit. Thereafter, as indicated in 424, the cum CSPLIT field is set to be equal to the sum of the cum CSPLIT and cum CBONUS fields and the cum CBONUS field is set to be equal to 0. The cum CSPLIT field is checked to determine if it is less than 0 (426). By virtue of the checks at 418, 422 and 426, an effort is made to cover the deficit calculated in 416 from funds which have accumulated in the client's account. If no such funds are present, then the deficit is covered by the cum DEFICIT field, which reflects the company's contribution and the client's cum CSPLIT field is set to 0 (428). By this process, the deficit will either be totally absorbed by the company's RESERVE/SPLIT/BONUS funds, or else it will appear as a negative company DEFICIT for the client's account If a negative response is received from the checks at 414, 418, 422 or 426, or if the deficit is supplied from the cum DEFICIT field, a check is thereafter made at 430 to determine whether the client has gone over the travel ceiling discussed above as reflected by the linear declining balance DBAL. In this regard, the check at 430 indicates whether the client's current balance is less than the linear declining balance which would indicate that the client is operating in one of the previously defined penalty zones. As indicated at 432, if the client is operating in the penalty zone, an operating cost (or penalty fee) is subtracted from his current balance. The operating cost used to offset any company's deficit that may have accumulated (i.e., this may force the DEFICIT fields to go positive). Blocks 434, 438 and 442 are checks to determine how this penalty amount will actually be subtracted from the client's account. In this regard, the penalty amount as indicated in block 432 is initially subtracted from the client's EXCESS fund field. If there is no cumulative EXCESS field, then the cumulative EXCESS field will be less than 0 and the check at 434 will cause the cumulative BONUS field (cum V BONUS) to be equal to the sum of the current cumulative BONUS field and the cumulative EXCESS field. If there are insufficient funds available in cum VBONUS as reflected by the check in 438, then the funds are taken out of cum VSPLIT. Thus, the routine steps through the fields which reflect the account funding to find a field from which the penalty assessed can be subtracted. If there are insufficient funds present in the cum VSPLIT field (442), then a further penalty is assessed as per block 444. Just as with the field resetting steps in blocks 420, 424 and 428 above, the cum EXCESS, cum VBONUS and cum SPLIT fields are appropriately reset to 0 by the routine in blocks 436, 440 and 444, respectively. As shown in FIG. 10C, the routine in its normal processing loop calculates which fields in the client's account balances are to be incremented due to prevailing interest rates. In this regard, a check is initially made to determine whether the previously calculated rate is greater than the 200% rate as indicated by the growth rate thresholds Table V above. If the rate is above the 200% rate, then all the excess goes into the company's RESERVE as determined at 448. The amount in RESERVE is defined as the average balance times the rate which is over the 200% rate. The rate is then set at the 200% rate and the control status word CSWB3 is set to reflect the 200% level. A check is then made to determine whether the rate is greater than the 150% rate (450). This check will likewise be made if the determination at 446 indicates that the rate is not greater than the 200% rate. If the rate is greater than the 150% rate, then an EXCESS variable is defined as the average balance times 1/2 of the rate over the 150% rate. The 1/2 factor reflects the fact that these funds are being split between the company and the client. The RESERVE field of the client's account is set then to equal the "excess" plus "reserve". The rate is set to the 150% rate and the control status word CSWB2 is set to reflect the 150% level (452). If the check at 450 reveals that the rate is not greater than the 150% rate or after the processing at block 452, a check is made to determine whether the rate is greater than the 100% rate (454). If so, the client account file VBONUS field is set to equal the average balance times 1/2 of the excess of the rate over the 100% rate, the company's CBONUS field is set to be equal to the client's vesting VBONUS field, the rate is set equal to 100% and the control status word CSWB1 is set to reflect performance at the 100% level. If the check at 454 indicates that the rate is not greater than the 100% rate or after the processing in block 456, a check is made to determine whether the rate is greater than the 50% rate (458). If so, VSPLIT is set to be equal to the average balance times 1/2 of the excess rate over the 50% rate and the company CSPLIT field is set equal to the client's VSPLIT field. If the rate is not greater than the 50% rate or after the processing in block 460, the overall monthly company balances are calculated and the company balance CBAL is set to be equal to the sum of the DEFICIT, CSPLIT, CBONUS and RESERVE fields (462). As noted previously, besides calculating monthly balances, the system keeps track of cumulative balances which must be updated, as well. This is accomplished as indicated at block 464, where all cumulative balance fields are appropriately shifted (e.g., from the "current" to the "last" to the "previous" location in the running data array) and for each cumulative balance, the current cumulative balance field is set to be equal to the last cumulative balance plus the current month's balance. After the cumulative balances have been updated, a check is made to determine whether the cumulative penalty amount is greater than 0 (466). If the cumulative penalty amount is not greater than 0 (which indicates that the client is not in the penalty zone), a check is made to determine whether the control status word defining the penalty zone is on (482). If so, then the control status word CSWA3 is reset and the penalty control status bits in CSWP are all set to 0. After processing in block 480, the client responses are retrieved from the response file at block 502, as will be explained hereafter. If the check at block 482 indicates that the penalty control status word CSWA3 is not set, then as indicated at 484 the client's "months sustained" data is incremented and a check is thereafter made to determine whether the client is vested at the fifth vesting level (486) and, if so, block 502 is entered. If the check at 486 indicates that the client is not at the fifth vesting level, then a check of the client's months sustained is made to determine whether the client has reached a new level (488). If not, then a further check is made to determine whether the funds in the client's cumulative excess field are greater than a predetermined amount required to automatically advanced one level (490). If the funds in the cumulative excess field are sufficiently high, then the control status word bit CSWB5 is set, indicating that the system has advanced the account by one level. The date achieved, the account balance, and the vested amount data are updated to the current status (494). Thereafter, the level achieved is incremented, the vesting CSW is advanced, and the vested control status word CSWA1 is set (496). The system then enters block 502. Turning back to block 466, if the cumulative penalty amount is in fact greater than 0, then a check is made at 468 to determine whether the last penalty amount is greater than 0, as reflected by the "last" data array (468). If the last penalty amount was not greater than 0, then the penalty date is set to equal the current date (470) and a check is made to see whether the bonus control status word CSWB is on or off (472). If the check at 472 indicates that the CSWA2 is on, then CSWA2 is reset and the bonus CSW bits are set to 0. Thereafter, the penalty control status words CSWA3 and CSWP1 are set. At block 478, a check is then made to see whether the control status word CSWP3 is set, which indicates that the client is "projected out" of parameters to reach the next level at the expected date, due to his excessive travel usage. CSWP3 is If CSWP3 is on, then a check is made to determine whether the current date is the date at which the client's qualification level should be advanced one level (498). If so, then the control status word CSWP5 is set, which indicates that the client is denied the advance to the next level and the months sustained is reset back to 0 (500), after which block 502 is entered. In block 502, the client's responses are retrieved from the previously described response file. Thereafter, a check is made to see whether, in fact, there was a response from the client (504) and a further check is made to determine whether the client ID has been confirmed by the client (506). If so, then the control status words CSWA4, CSWA5, and CSWI are reset to indicate that the problem with client identification has been resolved. If the client ID is not confirmed at 506, then a new account is set up for the client and a message is generated indicating that the account has been transferred (508). Thereafter, the control status word CSWI6 and CSWA6 are set to reflect that the account has been transferred and the current account has been closed out (510). Eventually, accounts in this "transferred" status can be surged from the system, after appropriate archival records are stored on tape. After the processing in blocks 510, 512 or if a negative response is received at 504, a check is made to determine whether the client has requested the account to be closed (514). If the client has, in fact, requested account close-out, a check is made to determine whether the client is in the penalty zone, as reflected by CSWP1 (516). If so, a deduction is made from the client's balance as an early withdrawal penalty (518). Thereafter, the control status word reflecting cashed-out status is set (524), a message is written indicating that a penalty has been deducted (526) and a further message is written indicating that the account is closed out with a balance equal to the vesting account balance (528). Thereafter, the control status words reflecting the closed-out and cashed-out status are set (530). Eventually, accounts in either these statuses can be purged from the system, after appropriate archival records are stored on tape. Turning back to the check at 516, if CSWP1 is off, then a check is made at 520 to determine whether the client is in the bonus zone, as reflected by CSWB1. If the client is in the bonus zone, then CSWB6 is set to reflect cashed-in status and the functions of blocks 528 and 530 are performed. If the check at 520 indicates that CSWB1 is off, then the 528 and 530 functions are directly performed. After the functions indicated at 530 are performed or if the check at 514 indicates that the client has not requested an account close-out, a check is made at 532 (see FIG. 10A), as to whether the account file is at the end-of-file and, if so, the routine is exited (534). If the end-of-file has not been reached, as indicated by the check at 532, then the account file for the next client Y is retrieved (404). The processing then continues until all client files have been updated. Turning now to the update investment file routine shown in FIG. 11, this routine is entered by retrieving the investment file from the disk 3 (700, 702). The investment file includes summary records for each client as well as the summary information relating to the overall travel program. To update all the required investment file information, the routine retrieves the account file for the next client X (704) and steps the previously retrieved investment file to the next client summary record (see FIG. 9) for the next client (706). A check is then made to determine if client X has his own summary record (708). If client X does not have a summary record, then this indicates that the client is new to the system and a new client summary record must be constructed and inserted into the investment file client summary record field (710). After constructing the new record for client X, the system is then advanced to this record by virtue of block 706. The check at block 708 is again made to determine if client X is in the summary record. Since client X now has his own summary record a "yes" output will be generated which will cause entry into the update client summary record loop (712). In block 712, the account's status is set to equal to CSWA which, indicates the "vested", "bonus", "penalty", "identification", "suspended" or "closed out" status. The variable QUAL LEVEL is then set to equal CSWV which, as per Table IV, indicates which qualification level the client is currently at. The qualification rate is set to equal the growth rate discussed previously. Finally, the qualification balance is set to the declining balance which is shown under the QUALIFICATION LEVEL heading in the investment account format and was discussed above with respect to the client account format. It is contemplated that other variables may be updated in block 712 as well, for example, the interest rate received from the bank. With the current status of such variables updated, the routine replaces all vesting and company account fields in the summary record with updated amounts retrieved from the individual client account file previously discussed with respect to FIG. 8. The specific account fields which are updated are listed in block 714. A check is then made at block 716 to determine whether client X is in the penalty zone. If client X is in the penalty zone, then a record is kept of that client's summary record in a temporary file for later printout (718). If the client is not in the penalty zone, then a check is made to determine whether the corresponding company account is in a deficit (720). If the company account is in deficit, then a record of such is also stored in the temporary file. By virtue of this record, a mechanism is established for the company to readily determine all clients having an account in the penalty zone (due to the client's excessive travel usage) and all accounts which are operating at a deficit (due to low prevailing interest rates). Thereafter, all the saved summary records are stored back on the disk (722) and the account file is retrieved for the next client (704) after a check is initially made to determine whether the account file is at the end of file (724). If the client account file is at the end of file, then a next check is made to determine whether the files for all clients A through Z have been processed (726). After all client files have been processed, an end processing routine is entered (728). In the end processing, the account summary and qualification summary information is determined (see FIG. 9). In this regard, the number of accounts which fall into each category shown in the account and qualification summaries are tabulated. A summation of each field across the vesting and company account headings is performed. Thereafter, the change in each of the categories and fields are calculated by taking the current amount and subtracting the last amount and the percentage change for that category or field is likewise calculated. Thereafter, all the summations, changes and percentage changes are stored in their proper file positions within the pertinent account and monthly data arrays. Thereafter, as indicated at 730, all accounts are printed with current penalty and/or deficit balances for company review to determine what action, if any, must be taken for such accounts. Thereafter, an updated investment file printout is generated for the company's review. The updated investment file is thereafter stored on disk (732) and the routine is exited (734). Turning now to the process travel requests routine shown in FIG. 12A, this routine implements the travel on demand section of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 and, as will be seen below, involves interaction with an operator. The process travel request routine is entered at 800 and its action is initiated by reading an account number from an operator terminal after an operator has keyed in the client account number (802). Based on the client account number, the routine retrieves the client account file from disk 3, the client ID number from the ID file, and any client responses from the response file (804). A check is then made at 806 to determine whether the account is in a suspended status. If the control status word, CSWA5, is on, then a check is made to determine whether the client has submitted an ID response (808). If the client has not submitted an appropriate ID response, then a message is written indicating that the account is suspended pending an ID response (810) and the routine is exited immediately (812). If the client did submit an appropriate ID response, then the control status word bits reflecting an identification problem and an account suspension are reset and all the bits in the identification control status word CSWI are set to 0 (814). Thereafter, a check is made to see whether the client's medallion card had been accepted (816). If the ID is not accepted (e.g., the card appears to look counterfeit), then the control status bit, CSWI4 is set, indicating that the client's ID has been rejected (818). If the medallion card is accepted by virtue of a travel agent's visual inspection, then a further check may be optionally made at 824, e.g., a second identification card check. If the second ID is rejected, then the ID rejected bit CSWI4 is set (818) and the control status word bits CSWA5 and CSWI5 are set to reflect an account suspended status and as ID confirmation requested status condition, respectively. A message is also transmitted indicating that identification must be confirmed by the client in writing (820). Thereafter, the control status bit CSWA4 is set to reflect that there is an identification problem (822) and the routine is exited at error exit 812. Turning back to the ID check at block 824, if the second ID is accepted, then the client identification number is read from terminal 9 (826). If desired, for security purposes, the client's ID number may be scrambled or encrypted by techniques which will be apparent to t | ||||||