WO2001031536A2

WO2001031536A2 - A direct stock purchase system and method for implementing the same

Info

Publication number: WO2001031536A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/029200
Authority: WO
Inventors: Matt Ho; Greg M. Allio; Paul Guthrie; Rick Holloman Wesson
Original assignee: Stock Power, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-10-22
Filing date: 2000-10-23
Publication date: 2001-05-03
Also published as: AU1225501A; WO2001031483A2; AU1225401A; WO2001031483A3; WO2001031536A8

Abstract

A system that allows a partner company to establish a direct on-line connection with customers who want to purchase the company's equity. The system includes a direct stock purchase system, a transfer agent/plan administrator, and a payment system. The customer/investor accesses the system through the direct stock purchase system. The direct stock purchase system e-mails the partner company's communications and communications required or permitted by any Regulatory Body to investors and enables customers/investors to purchase stocks from the partner company. After the investor clicks on direct stock purchase system's link, the system obtains enrollment information from the investor and forwards the information to the transfer agent. The transfer agent processes the enrollment requests and returns stock information from the Open Market to direct stock purchase system. Upon processing the enrollment requests, the system accommodates a variety of different payment mechanisms and obtains investments and fees directly from the investor's bank or another account with a financial institution.

Description

A Direct Stock Purchase System and Method For

Implementing the Same

This application claims the benefit of U. S. Provisional Application No. 60/160,914. filed on October 22, 1999.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for verifying on-line information, and more particularly, to a system and method for enabling a customer of a partner company to directly purchase equity from the company on-line.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Advances in computer processing power and network communications have made information from a wide variety of sources available to users on computer networks. Computer networking allows network computer users to share information, software applications and hardware devices and internetworking enables a set of physical networks to be connected into a single network such as the Internet. Today, computers connected to the Internet have almost instant access to information stored in relatively distant regions. Moreover, computers connected to networks other than the Internet also have access to information stored on those networks. The World Wide Web (Web), a hypermedia system used on the Internet, enables hypertext linking, whereby documents automatically reference or link other documents located on connected computer networks around the world. Thus, users connected to the Internet connected computer networks around the world. Thus, users connected to the Internet have almost instant access to information stored in relatively distant regions.

A page of information on the Web may include references to other Web pages and may include a broad range of multimedia data including textual, graphical, audio, and animation information. Currently, Internet users retrieve information from the

Internet, through the Web, by 'visiting' a web site on a computer that is connected to the Internet.

The web site is, in general terms, a server application that displays information stored on a network server computer. The web site accepts connections from client programs, such as Internet browser applications. Browser applications, such as

Microsoft Internet Explorer ™ or Netscape Navigator ™, allow Internet users to access information displayed on the web site. Most browser applications display information on computer screens and permit a user to navigate through the Web using a mouse. Like other network applications, Web browsing uses the client-server paradigm. When given the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a document, the browser application becomes a client and it contacts a server application specified in the URL to request the document. After receiving the document from the server application, the browser application displays the document for the user. When the browser application interacts with the server application, the two applications follow the Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP). HTTP allows the browser application to request a specific article, which the server application then returns. To ensure that browser applications and server applications inter-operate unambiguously, HTTP defines the exact format for requests sent from the browser application to the server application as well as the format of replies that the server application returns.

As the number of physical networks connected to the Internet continues to grow, so too will the number of web sites that are accessible to Internet users and so too will commercial activity on the Internet. Providers of a wide range of products and/or services are continuously exploring new methods for promoting and selling them.

With changes in federal regulations it is also easier for publicly held companies to sell shares of their stock to potential investors directly rather than selling through a broker. For example, public companies may use a direct stock purchase plan, sometimes called a Customer Stock Plan (CSP), to offer stock in the company directly to the public. Investors purchasing shares through the CSP become registered shareholders in the company rather than allowing the broker to hold their shares in a "street" name.

Research has shown that CSP investors are more loyal customers to the companies in which they hold equity than customers who are not investors. However, until now, CSP investors were required to enroll in these plans and perform transactions by mail. This has been a time-consuming and intimidating process that limited the number of people willing to invest in CSP plans. Consequently, as use of the Internet has increased, many companies have become interested in offering investors the opportunity to enroll in their CSP plans over the Internet. Currently, some companies allow investors to visit their web sites and download a form for purchasing stocks from the companies. Thereafter, the downloaded form must be filled out by the investor and mailed into the company. Other companies allow investors to fill out the form on the website and print the form for subsequent mailing into the company. After the account is set up offline, some companies allow the investors to view their account statements on-line. What is needed therefore is a system and method for providing the capability to directly purchase company stocks on-line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a system that allows a partner company to establish a direct on-line connection with customers who want to purchase the company's equity. The system includes a direct stock purchase system, a transfer agent/plan administrator, and a payment system. The customer/investor accesses the system through the direct stock purchase system. The system obtains enrollment information from the investor and forwards the information to the transfer agent. The transfer agent processes the enrollment requests and returns stock information from the Open Market[please define Open market] to the direct stock purchase system. The system accommodates a variety of different payment mechanisms and obtains investments and fees directly from the investor's bank or another financial account. It is another object of the invention for the direct stock purchase system to include a client application, which is a Web application; a Web server component that manages connectivity with the client application; and a backend database that maintains information. The client application includes a user authentication component and SSL connectivity to the Web server to ensure that only authorized users access the system. It is another object of the invention to include a link to the direct stock purchase system on the partner company's web site. When the investor visits the company's web site and decides to purchase the company's stock, the investor may click on the link to the direct stock purchase system or the investor may directly visit the direct stock purchase system's web site.

It is another object of the invention for the investor to register to purchase the company's stock by providing personal information, such as name, address, checking account and routing numbers. The direct stock purchase system uses the investor's personal and billing data to authenticate the investorand to enroll the investor in the direct stock purchase plan.

It is another object of the invention for the system to link the investor to a real world address by using a multi-layered authentication process. The investor is informed of a successful registration and the investor's account is placed in a pending status. If the registration application is rejected, the investor is instructed how to proceed via a system-generated e-mail message.

It is another object of the invention to send registration e-mail to the investor, if the registration application is approved. To complete the identity verification process, the registration e-mail instructs the investor to call from a previously specified phone number to activate the assigned account. Upon calling to activate the assigned account, the authentication process verifies the calling phone number used by the investor against the calling telephone's phone number as supplied by Automatic Number Identification

(ANI), thus binding the investor to a specific place and time. The inventive system therefore greatly reduces the likelihood of identity fraud in on-line purchases. It is another object of the invention to issue a digital identifier for the investor to create a digital signature, a challenge phrase and a password for enabling only the authorized investor to access the account. It is another object of the invention to enable the investor to proceed with enrollment in the company's direct stock purchase plan by entering the amount to be invested in the company, after the registration process is complete.

It is another object of the invention to enable the investor to preview the order instructions and to give the investor a chance to change the order before the order is confirmed by the investor and processed by the transfer agent.

It is another object of the invention to send a confirmatory e-mail to the investor, if the investor confirms the order.

It is another object of the invention to enable the investor, during registration, to indicate the type of account the investor wants to open.

It is another object of the invention to enable the investor to consent to have the direct stock purchase system e-mail information required or permitted to be delivered by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") or other regulatory body (together with the SEC, "Regulatory Body")and/or company information. It is another object of the invention to send a transaction e-mail once the registration process is complete and the order is filled.

It is another object of the invention to enable the investor to log into a pre- established account.

It is another object of the invention for the direct stock purchase system and the investor's system to exchange digital identifiers or cookies via a secure channel, to ensure secure communications.

It is another object of the invention to use other security means to secure exchanges between the direct stock purchase system and the investor's system. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the system particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, the present invention provides a [independent claim to be inserted here -apn]

The present invention also provides a [independent claim to be inserted here - apn]

The present invention also provides a [independent claim to be inserted here -

apn]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention that together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates a computer network in which the inventive system may be incorporated; Fig. 2 illustrates the TCP/IP Layering Model Protocol used during communications between components on the computer network;

Fig. 3 illustrates a system that allows a partner company to establish a direct online connection with customers who want to purchase the company's equity; Fig. 4 illustrates the components of the direct stock purchase system;

Fig. 5 illustrates a company web page with a link to direct stock purchase system 302;

Fig. 6 illustrates components of the authentication process, each of which performs a specific function; Fig. 7 illustrates the information that the investor is required to enter in the system to purchase equity on-line; and

Fig. 8 illustrates the steps implement by the inventive system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The present invention described below extends the functionality of the inventive system and method for enabling electronic purchases of company stocks.

Fig. 1 is an example of a local area network (LAN) 100 that is configured to utilize a non-repudiation protocol. LAN 100 comprises a server 102, four computer systems 104-110, and peripherals, such as printers and other devices 112, that may be shared by components on LAN 100. Computer systems 104-110 may serve as clients for server 102 and or as clients and/or servers for each other and/or for other components connected to LAN 100. Components on LAN 100 are preferably connected together by cable media, for example copper or fiber-optic cable and the network topology may be a token ring topology 114. It should be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other media, for example, wireless media, such as optical and radio frequency, may also connect LAN 100 components. It should also be apparent that other network topologies, such as Ethernet, may be used.

Data may be transferred between components on LAN 100 in packets, i.e., blocks of data that are individually transmitted over LAN 100. Routers 120, 122 create an expanded network by connecting LAN 100 to other computer networks, such as the Internet, other LANs or Wide Area Networks (WAN). Routers are hardware devices that may include a conventional processor, memory, and separate I/O interface for each network to which it connects. Hence, components on the expanded network may share information and services with each other. In order for communications to occur between components of physically connected networks, all components on the expanded network and the routers that connect them must adhere to a standard protocol. Computer networks connected to the Internet and to other networks typically use TCP/IP Layering Model Protocol. It should be noted that other internetworking protocols may be used.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, TCP/IP Layering Model comprises an application layer (Layer 5) 202, a transport layer (Layer 4) 204, an Internet layer (Layer 3) 206, a network interface layer (Layer 2) 208, and a physical layer (Layer 1) 210. Application layer protocols 202 specify how each software application connected to the network uses the network. Transport layer protocols 204 specify how to ensure reliable transfer among complex protocols. Internet layer protocols 206 specify the format of packets sent across the network as well as mechanisms used to forward packets from a computer through one or more routers to a final destination. Network interface layer protocols 208 specify how to organize data into frames and how a computer transmits frames over the network. Physical layer protocols 210 correspond to the basic network hardware. By using TCP/IP Layering model protocols, any component connected to the network can communicate with any other component connected directly or indirectly to one of the attached networks.

Fig. 3 illustrates system 300 that allows a partner company (a company registered to offer equity to customers) to establish a direct on-line connection with customers who want to purchase the company's equity. System 300 includes direct stock purchase system 302, transfer agent or plan administrator 304, and payment system 306. The customer/investor accesses system 300 through direct stock purchase system 302. Direct stock purchase system 302 e-mails the partner company's communications and communications required or permitted by a Regulatory Body, such as the SEC, to investors and enables customers/investors to purchase stocks from the partner company. When the investor clicks on the direct stock purchase system's link, system 300 obtains enrollment information from the investor and forwards the information to transfer agent 304. Transfer agent 304 processes the enrollment requests and returns stock information from the Open Market 308 to direct stock purchase system 302. Transfer agent 304 also performs bookkeeping, manages dividend programs and facilitates legally required communications. Thus, direct stock purchase system 302 is a transparent front end for on-line enrollment and investment requests and an on-line interface for transfer agent 304. Upon processing the enrollment requests, system 300 accommodates a variety of different payment mechanisms and obtains investments and fees directly from the investor's bank or another account with a financial institution. Fig. 4 illustrates the components of direct stock purchase system 302. Direct stock purchase system 302 includes a client application 402, which is a Web application; a Web server component 404 that manages connectivity with the client application; and a backend database 406 that maintains information. Client application 402 includes a user authentication component, such as digital certification, user names, passwords, and cookies, and SSL connectivity to Web server 404. SSL is a commonly used protocol for managing security of message transmission on the Internet and it is used to ensure that only authorized users access system 300. A direct stock purchase plan implemented by direct stock purchase system 302 enables investors to enroll in direct stock purchase plans, to link to pre-established direct stock purchase plan accounts, to perform initial/optional cash purchases of stock, to specify dividend reinvestment preferences (for partner companies paying dividends), to specify automatic monthly investment preferences, and to request a stock certificate, among others.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the partner company includes a link to direct stock purchase system 302 on the company's web site. To become a partner company, the company must meet certain system requirements. For example, the company must be a U.S. coφoration or a qualified foreign coφoration, be subject to SEC reporting requirements, provide an audited financial statement, and have a certain amount of market capitalization. Fig. 5 illustrates a company web page with a link 502 to direct stock purchase system 302. When the investor visits the company's web site and decides to purchase the company's stock, the investor clicks on link 502 to direct stock purchase system 302. It should be noted that the investor may directly visit direct stock purchase system's web site. The investor registers to purchase the company's stock by providing personal information, such as name, address, checking account and routing numbers. Direct stock purchase system 302 uses the investor's personal and billing data to verify the investor's identity and to enroll the invest in the direct stock purchase plan.

Specifically, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, direct stock purchase

system 302 includes an authentication process that authenticates the investor by linking the on-line investor to a physical address. Fig. 6 illustrates components of the authentication process for performing checks on information supplied by the investor, whereby each component performs a specific task. A normalization component 602 is used to ensure that the investor has filled out required information fields and that the information in the required information fields is in the proper format. A reflexive check component 604 uses predefined rules to validate structures of particular data elements in order to determine whether those data elements have been entered in the correct sequence. An internal check component 606 uses information that was previously entered by other investors to determine whether an attempt is being made to impersonate another investor. A cross-reference check component 608 uses external data sources to determine whether multiple data elements are valid when considered together. A physical location check 610 component binds and verifies information given by the investor to a physical location. Fig. 7 illustrates the information that the investor is required to enter in the system to purchase equity on-line. The investor is required to enter a name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card information, banking information and social security number. As would be obvious to those skilled in the art, the investor may be required to enter other information to purchase equity on- line. After the investor enters the required information, system 300 checks that the social security number and financial account, such as a bank account, were not previously submitted by another investor and requests a certificate for the new investor. Upon receiving the certificate, the information is stored and the authentication process is called to authenticate the investor and to bind the investor to a physical location. The authentication process queries a database for fields used by its components to perform a series of checks and either accepts or rejects the registration application. If the investor's information is correct, the investor is informed of a successful registration and the investor's account is placed in a pending status. If the registration application is rejected, the investor is instructed how to proceed via a system 300-generated e-mail message. Upon authenticating the investor, the investor's personal information is saved in direct stock purchase system 302. Preferably, a digital identifier is issued for the investor to create a digital signature, a challenge phrase and a password for enabling only the authorized investor to access the account. As is apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, other methods may be used for enabling only authorized investors to access the account, and are within the scope of the present invention. To finalize the registration process, a registration e-mail is also sent to the investor. The registration e- mail instructs the investor to dial a predetermined number from a specific, land-based phone and to enter an activation code contained in the registration e-mail. After the 1 1

investor dials the number and enters the code, the authentication process checks that the investor is calling from the appropriate phone and binds the investor to that physical location. Thereafter, an account is activated for the investor. If the investor does not call the predetermined number from the specified, land-based phone within a predefined amount of time, the registration is cancelled. During registration the investor must indicate whether to enroll in a single or joint account, or to link to an existing account. In a preferred embodiment, only one investor is associated with each account. However, joint accounts will be used for legal puφoses. Thus, a single investor may have multiple accounts, for example, a single account, a joint account and a custodial account. The investor can also consent to have direct stock purchase system 302 e-mail company information or information required or permitted to be delivered by any Regulatory Body .

The investor then proceeds with enrollment in the company's direct stock purchase plan and enters the amount to be invested in the company. The investor can submit orders to buy or sell stocks, and/or set up or change regular investment instructions for a company's direct stock purchase plan. If the investor is buying a stock, the investor indicates the dollar amount to buy and submits the order to direct stock purchase system 302. If the investor is selling a stock, the investor indicates the number of shares to be sold and submits the order to direct stock purchase system 302. Before the order is processed by transfer agent 304, the investor is presented a preview of the order instructions and a chance to change the order. When the investor confirms the order, a confirmatory e-mail is sent to the investor. The confirmatory e-mail summarizes the order data and includes instructions on where to go for help or a status 1.5

of the order. The order is updated in the transaction history and entered in the database as a "requested" order.

Once the registration process is complete and the order is filled, i.e., direct stock purchase system 302 receives a position update from the transfer agent, a transaction e- mail is sent to the investor. The transaction e-mail indicates that the order has been filled and that the investor's new account number is stored in system 300. Thereafter, when the investor visits another partner company's web site and clicks on the link to system 300, the investor may log into the account. Optionally, the investor may choose to establish a new account. However, as the investor enters personal information, system 300 retrieves the investor's account and enables the investor to access that account.

After an account is established for the investor, the investor is shown a list of other partner companies that offer stock purchases through system 300. The investor may then invest in the stock of one or more of those other companies and choose the appropriate options, such as dividend reinvestment, for that investment. To change or set up a regular investment schedule, the investor may select the time intervals (determined and presented by the direct stock purchase plan), the amount and the start date when the regular investments will occur.

To ensure that exchanges between system 300 and the investor are secured, preferably at the beginning or each transaction, direct stock purchase system 302 and the investor's system exchange digital identifiers or cookies via a secure channel. During the exchange of the digital identifiers, portions of direct stock purchase system 302 will be stored on the investor's machine. Direct stock purchase system 302 verifies the Hi

digital identifier and validates that the investor is in good standing. All data received and sent by direct stock purchase system 302 must be digitally signed and/or encrypted. Moreover, the communication channel between the investor and direct stock purchase system 302 is secured against Internet based attacks. To protect the transport layer, the client and server in direct stock purchase system 302 leverages the transport level security provided by Internet browser application through SSL. Direct stock purchase system 302 uses the SSL layer to exchange digital identification information between the client application and the WEB server. Additionally, the application layer of each transmission is encrypted. Also transmission between direct stock purchase system 302 and transfer agent 304 is secured by various security means.

Fig. 8 illustrates the steps implement by the inventive system. In Step 8010, the investor logs on to system 300 and requests a registration form. In Step 8020, the investor provides registration information to system 300. In Step 8030, the investor chooses how much to invest and investment options presented by system 300. In Step 8040, the registration entity in system 300 processes the registration information. In Step 8050, the authentication process authenticates the investorand binds the investor to a physical location. In Step 8060, the registration e-mail is sent to the investor, if the investor was authenticated by the authentication process. In Step 8070, a confirmatory e-mail is sent to the investor. In Step 8080, a transaction e-mail is sent to the investor after the transaction is executed.

The foregoing description has been directed to specific embodiments of this invention. It will be apparent, however, that other variations and modifications may be made to the described embodiments, with the attainment of some or all of their advantages.

Claims

What is Claimed: 1. A system for enabling a partner company to establish a direct on-line connection for customers to purchase the partner company's equity, the system comprises: a direct stock purchase system for enabling the customer to enter information into and obtain information from the system; a transfer agent for processing information entered by the customer and for managing backend functions in the system; a payment system for accommodating various payment mechanisms and for obtaining payment directly from the customer's account with a financial institution; and means for enabling the direct stock purchase system to transmit information to and obtain information from the transfer agent and the payment system.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the partner company registers with the system and meets certain system requirements.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the direct stock purchase system obtains enrollment information from the customer and e-mails communications from the partner company and regulatory bodies to the customer.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the transfer agent processes enrollment requests from the customer, returns stock information to the direct stock purchase system for display or further transmission to the customer, performs bookkeeping functions, manages dividend programs and facilitates legally required communications.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the direct stock purchase system further comprises: a client application with a web interface for enabling interaction with the customer; a web server component for managing connectivity with the client application; and a backend database for maintaining information.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the client application includes a user authentication component and a secured connectivity to the web server for ensuring that only authorized users access the system.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the direct stock purchase system further comprises an authentication process that uses personal information entered by the customer to verify the customer's identity.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the authentication process comprises: a normalization component for ensuring that the customer has filled out required information fields and that the information in the required information fields is in the proper format; a reflexive check component that uses predefined rules to validate structures of particular data elements in order to determine whether those data elements have been entered in the correct sequence; an internal check component that uses information that was previously entered by other customers to determine whether an attempt is being made to impersonate another customer; a cross-reference check component that uses external data sources to determine whether multiple data elements are valid when considered together; and a physical location check component for binding and verifying information given by the customer to a physical location.

9. The system of claim 3, wherein the customer is required to enter a name, an address, a telephone number, an e-mail address, credit card information, financial information and a social security number to register with the system and purchase equity on-line.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the system checks that the social security number and financial account, entered by the customer, were not previously submitted by another customer and requests a certificate for a new customer.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein upon receiving the certificate, the information entered by the customer is stored and the authentication process is called to authenticate the customer and to bind the customer to a physical location.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein upon performing a series of checks, the authentication process; accepts a registration application, informs the customer of a successful registration, places the customer's account is placed in a pending status, stores the customer information in the direct stock purchase system, issues a secured identifier and transmits a registration e-mail to the customer; or rejects the registration application and instructs the customer how to proceed via a system-generated e-mail message.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the registration e-mail instructs the customer to dial a predetermined number from a specific, land-based telephone and to enter an activation code contained in the registration e-mail for the authentication process to bind the customer to a physical location and to activate an account.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein during registration the customer must indicate the type of account the customer want to enroll in, whereby only one customer is associated with each account.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein during registration the customer indicates the amount of equity to purchase whereby before processing the transaction the transfer agent enables the customer to change the order and after processing the transaction a confirmatory e-mail is sent to the customer.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein after transmitting the confirmatory e-mail and upon receiving a position update from the transfer agent, the direct stock purchase system sends a transaction e-mail to the customer.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein a direct stock purchase plan implemented by the system enables investors to enroll in direct stock purchase plans, to link to pre- established direct stock purchase plan accounts, to perform initial and optional cash purchases of stock, to specify dividend reinvestment preferences for partner companies paying dividends, to specify automatic monthly investment preferences, and to request a stock certificate.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the partner company has a web site with a link to the direct stock purchase system, whereby when the customer clicks on the link a web page associated with the direct stock purchase system is displayed.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the customer uses a previously established account to buy equity from multiple partner companies.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the system shows the customer a list of partner companies after an account is established for the customer.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein messages between the system and the customer's computer are secured by various security means.

22. The method for enabling a customer to purchase equity directly from a partner company, the method comprising the steps of: logging in, by the customer, to a system and requesting a registration form; providing registration information to the system by the customer; choosing investment amounts and investment options by the customer; processing, by the system, the registration information; sending e-mails to the investor relating to the registration and transaction; obtaining payment amount directly from the customer's account in a financial institution, if the registration is accepted.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of sending comprises the steps of: sending a registration e-mail to the customer to bind the customer to a physical location; sending a confirmatory e-mail to the customer to confirmation the investment amount and the investment options selected by the customer; and sending a transaction e-mail to the customer after the equity is purchased for the customer.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of logging in comprises the step of visiting the partner company's web site and clicking on a link to the system.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of logging in comprises the step of a web site associated with the system.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of processing comprises the steps of: checking that a social security number and financial account number, entered by the customer, was not previously submitted by another customer; and requesting a certificate for the customer.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of processing further comprises the steps of: authenticating the customer's identity; accepting the registration and placing the customer's account in a pending status; issuing a security means to the customer for enabling only an authorized customer to access the account; sending a registration e-mail to the customer for instructing the customer to dial a predetermined number from a specific phone and to enter an activation code in the registration e-mail; binding the customer to a physical location after the customer dials the predetermined number from the specific phone and enters the activation code in the registration e-mail; and activating the account.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of processing further comprises the steps of: authenticating the customer's identity; accepting the registration and placing the customer's account in a pending status; issuing a security means to the customer for enabling only an authorized customer to access the account; sending a registration e-mail to the customer for instructing the customer to dial a predetermined number from a specific phone and to enter an activation code in the registration e-mail; canceling the registration if the customer does not call from the specified phone within a predefined amount to time.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of processing further comprises the steps of: authenticating the customer's identity; and rejecting the registration and instructing the customer how to proceed via a system generated e-mail message.