Method and apparatus for inbound message management

1. A computer-implemented method for identifying institutions with which a first individual does business, the method comprising:

accessing a message stream that includes messages from a plurality of institutions, wherein:

the messages are directed to a first individual,

the message stream comes from at least one message source, and

the message source requires an access credential to access messages;

analyzing the messages in the message stream, using a computer, and, responsive to the analyzing, inferring institution relationships; and

populating a system account for use by the first individual, using the computer, with at least one institution identifier corresponding to each of the institutions with the inferred institution relationships;

further analyzing the messages from the institutions with the inferred institution relationships and determining from contents of the messages which are actionable messages and what user actions are responsive to the actionable messages, the user actions comprising: pay a bill, retrieve a document for review or archive, sign a document, check in for a transit, refill a prescription, confirm or verify a profile or password change, RSVP for an event in response to an invitation, or track a package; and

for each of the actionable messages, generating and causing display of a snaplet, the snaplet comprising at least the institution identifier and an action button or link that, when selected, initiates a user action responsive to the selection of the action button or link without opening the message.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying at least a first institution account for a first institution and a second institution account for a second institution in the plurality of institutions from a first message and a second message by applying pattern matching, wherein the first institution and the second institution are different entities.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including:

the analyzing following spam checking of the messages and further comprising:

accessing a white list of institutions and using the white list to filter the institution relationships prior to populating the system account; and

extracting at least one account number for a first institution account from a first institution from the messages according to one or more rules; and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to an institution identifier the institution account and the account number.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the populating the system account follows verification that the extracted account number is unique for the first institution within the system account for use by the first individual.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further including:

identifying a first message from a first institution and identifying at least a first institution account and a second institution account within the first message and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to an institution identifier the first institution account and the second institution account identified in the first message.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the first institution account and the second institution account are with the same institution.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the first institution account is with the first institution and the second institution account is with a second institution, wherein the first institution and the second institution are different institutions.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:

inferring that the first institution account is a payment method for the second institution account based upon review of at least one message in the plurality of messages and pattern matching for a payment in the message and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to at least a second institution identifier the payment method.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 ,

wherein the analyzing further comprises

identifying a first message in the plurality of messages sent by a first institution and

identifying at least a first institution account in the first message and

identifying a second institution for the first institution account, the first institution and the second institution being different entities; and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to at least a first institution identifier the first institution account associated with the second institution.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising repeating the accessing, analyzing, inferring, and populating with a second message stream for a second individual.

11. A system for identifying institutions with which a first individual does business, the system comprising:

a processor and memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing program instructions that implement:

accessing a message stream that includes messages from a plurality of institutions, wherein:

the messages are directed to a first individual,

the message stream comes from at least one message source, and

the message source requires an access credential to access messages;

analyzing the messages in the message stream, using a computer, and, responsive to the analyzing, inferring institution relationships; and

populating a system account for use by the first individual, using the computer, with at least one institution identifier corresponding to each of the institutions with the inferred institution relationships;

further analyzing the messages from the institutions with the inferred institution relationships and determining from contents of the messages which are actionable messages and what user actions are responsive to the actionable messages, the user actions comprising: pay a bill, retrieve a document for review or archive, sign a document, check in for a transit, refill a prescription, confirm or verify a profile or password change, RSVP for an event in response to an invitation, or track a package; and

for each of the actionable messages, generating and causing display of a snaplet, the snaplet comprising at least the institution identifier and an action button or link that, when selected, initiates a user action responsive to the selection of the action button or link without opening the message.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising identifying at least a first institution account for a first institution and a second institution account for a second institution in the plurality of institutions from a first message and a second message by applying pattern matching, wherein the first institution and the second institution are different entities.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein

the analyzing following spam checking of the messages and further comprising:

accessing a white list of institutions and using the white list to filter the institution relationships prior to populating the system account; and

extracting at least one account number for a first institution account from a first institution from the messages according to one or more rules; and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to an institution identifier the institution account and the account number.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the populating the system account follows verification that the extracted account number is unique for the first institution within the system account for use by the first individual.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the program instructions further implement:

identifying a first message from a first institution and identifying at least a first institution account and a second institution account within the first message and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to an institution identifier the first institution account and the second institution account identified in the first message.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first institution account and the second institution account are with the same institution.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first institution account is with the first institution and the second institution account is with a second institution, wherein the first institution and the second institution are different institutions.

18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:

inferring that the first institution account is a payment method for the second institution account based upon review of at least one message in the plurality of messages and pattern matching for a payment in the message and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to at least a second institution identifier the payment method.

19. The system of claim of claim 11 ,

wherein the analyzing further comprises

identifying a first message in the plurality of messages sent by a first institution and

identifying at least a first institution account in the first message and

identifying a second institution for the first institution account, the first institution and the second institution being different entities; and

the populating the system account further comprising linking to at least a first institution identifier the first institution account associated with the second institution.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving data indicating that a user has selected an action button or link in a snaplet; and

responsive to the data indicating that the user selected the action button or link in the snaplet, initiating the user action without opening the message.

21. The system of claim 11 , wherein the program instructions further implement:

receiving data indicating that a user has selected an action button or link in a snaplet; and

responsive to the data indicating that the user selected the action button or link in the snaplet, initiating the user action without opening the message.