Method and system for debt collection optimization

US7519553B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

• Naoki Abe · Yokohama, JP
• James Bennett · Fairport, US
• David L. Jensen · Peekskill, US
• Richard D. Lawrence · Ridgefield, US
• Prem Melville · White Plains, US
• Edwin Peter Dawson Pednault · Somers, US
• Cezar Pendus · Yardley, US
• Chandan Karrem Reddy · Troy, US
• Vincent P. Thomas · Severna Park, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 2, 2007
• Grant date: Apr 14, 2009
• Expiry date: May 2, 2027

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q40/12
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention employs data processing systems to handle debt collection by formulation the collections process as a Markov Decision Process with constrained resources, thus making it possible automatically to generate an optimal collections policy with respect to maximizing long-term expected return throughout the course of a collections process, subject to constraints on the available resources possibly in multiple organizations. This is accomplished by coupling data modeling and resource optimization within the constrained Markov Decision Process formulation and generating optimized rules based on constrained reinforcement learning process comprising applied on the basis of past historical data.