Problem Statement

In order to better compete with its much larger competitors, ACMEBank of Sammamish, Washington has decided to offer a full range of online banking services, known collectively as HomeDirect Bank, to its customers.

HomeDirect will be available to all bank customers free of charge via the World Wide Web. Three key types of services will initially be offered as part of HomeDirect:

• Inquiry services: These include balance updates, viewing lists of transactions, and downloading past account history.

• Bill Payment services: Users will be able to pay bills electronically.

• Transaction services: These include facilities such as funds transfer, and for investment accounts, buying and selling of stocks,

A separate mechanism will be required for administrative functions related to HomeDirect. In addition to having full access to the online banking functions previously described, the administrative functions include the ability to create new accounts, close accounts, enable online banking for a given customer, manually adjust a given account balance, and cancel future bill payment transactions at the account holder's request.

HomeDirect online banking services must utilize the existing databases and other banking infrastructure at all times. Provision should also be made in the design for eventual integration with the existing loan processing system, LoansDirect, to enable customers to make requests for loans online. Enhanced bill payment services shall be offered for online customers that are using the BillsDirect service for tracking unpaid bills.