Loading patent…
AssigneeMetabank
InventorsTrent Sorbe, Troy Larson
Estimating the term…
Embodiments of the present invention include transfer account machines, computer program products, and associated computer-implemented methods of providing prioritized payments from the proceeds of automatic or direct deposits. Embodiments of the present invention include routing automatic deposit information to a financial institution computer managing a prioritized payment program and formulating an outgoing file with both an entry for an automatic deposit destined for a customer account and an entry for a pre-authorized prioritized payment to a select creditor, so that the automatic deposit is credited to the customer account and relatively instantaneously any prioritized payment is debited from the customer account. According to embodiments of the present invention, the customer account can be a prepaid card account so that a customer has effective access on the prepaid card only to a net value of funds.
A machine to provide prioritized payments directly from each of plurality of automatic deposits prior to being made available to one or more enrollees enrolled for prioritized payments, the machine comprising:
Non-transitory computer memory encoded with computer program on a computer being associated with a financial institution to thereby define a financial institution computer configured to control access to a plurality of intermediary accounts associated with the financial institution and receive a plurality of electronic deposits from a plurality of depository institution computers to define a plurality of automatic deposits, the computer program comprising a set of instructions that when executed by the financial institution computer cause the financial institution computer to perform the operations of:
A computer-implemented method to be performed by a first computer being associated with a first financial institution to thereby define a first financial institution computer configured to control access to a plurality of intermediary accounts associated with the financial institution and receive a plurality of electronic deposits from a plurality of depository institution computers to define a plurality of automatic deposits, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems: remote banking, e.g. home banking
Payment architectures: specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
Specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems: bill distribution or payments
Specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems: involving programming of a portable…
About 3 years 11 months of term left · ends 9 Oct 2030 (estimated)
The present invention relates generally to the financial service and banking industries, and, more particularly, to systems, computer program products, and associated computer-implemented methods of providing prioritized payments from proceeds of automatic deposits.
Today, a bank customer can authorize a loan provider to debit a customer's bank account, e.g., a checking, savings, money market, for a loan payment, or, more generally, a customer can authorize a creditor to debit the customer's bank account for a bill payment. Funds, however, may or may not be in the account at the time the creditor is authorized to debit the account or receive the funds from the account. Furthermore, the bank authorized to make the debit controls the order of presentment. This allows covering of an overdraft to the bank itself first or processing larger items early in the day in order to generate more overdraft fees when multiple smaller items are processed later in the day. Rather than bounce one big check, for example, banks may choose to bounce several smaller checks to generate extra fees.
It is known for banks to offer money management systems that have a money management account and a discretionary fund account in which bills are paid directly from the money management account on a customer-determined schedule, and excess funds beyond the customer's budget are transferred into the discretionary fund account. It is also known that such a money management system can be used in conjunction with loan payments. These offerings, however, still require the customer to determine a budget and schedule of payments. In addition, these offerings depend on the customer's discipline for not accessing the funds in the money management account, funds which are known to the customer and belong to the customer.
So that the manner in which the features and benefits of the invention, as well as others which will become apparent, may be understood in more detail, a more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings, which form a part of this specification. It is also to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only various embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the invention's scope as it may include other effective embodiments as well.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are respective front and back plan views of a prepaid card as used according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front plan view of a display screen of a computer displaying an excerpt of an account activity statement according to an embodiment of the present invention;
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the invention. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
One source of the problems with current offerings for loan and other bill payment, as recognized by Applicants, is that money that can be accessed is often spent. The adage about money burning a hole in the pocket is apt. Although a bank customer can authorize a loan provider to debit the customer's deposit account for a loan payment, or, more generally, a customer can authorize a creditor to debit the customer's deposit account for a bill payment, there is no guaranty that the funds will still be available at the time of the request for payment. That is, a creditor can debit the customer's account too late, or too early if new funds have not been deposited. Applicants recognize that a preferred time for a debit is immediately after or relatively simultaneous with the receipt of a deposit, especially a recurring deposit such as payroll or government benefits.
Embodiments of the present invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, for example, can include a prepaid card 101. As understood by those skilled in the art, prepaid cards can include a logo 102 associated with a provider or sponsor of the prepaid card and an expiration date 104. Prepaid cards 101 are typically associated with an account number 103, and a prepaid card account can often be reloaded with additional funds. Prepaid cards 101 often have a magnetic strip 105, as understood by those skilled in the art, and are coded so that the code received by a point of sale terminal or other interface processes the code so that a value is associated with the code, for example, to allow purchases with the prepaid card through a communications network 26, as illustrated in FIG. 3, to authorize payment from a bank or other financial institution through a prepaid card processor 40, and to decrement the value associated with the card 101.