20140074687 | ASSESSING CONSUMER PURCHASE BEHAVIOR IN MAKING A FINANCIAL CONTRACT AUTHORIZATION DECISION - A method includes: receiving a request corresponding to a prospective customer for a new service contract and/or a product, wherein the request comprises purchaser data specific to the prospective purchaser, and new transaction data; determining historic data for a plurality of past transactions based at least in part on the purchaser data and one or more characteristics of the new service contract and/or the product, the historic data including purchaser data, transaction data, and outcome data; determining, based on the respective outcome data, historic profitability data related to the plurality of past transactions; determining a profitability prediction of the request, wherein the profitability prediction is based on the historic profitability data; determining a profit estimate of the request, the profit estimate based on a cost associated with a subsidization of the new service contract and/or the product; and determining an authorization decision based on the profitability prediction. | 03-13-2014 |