System and method for accumulation and maintenance of money in a vehicle maintenance savings account

• US 10,565,593 B1
• Filed: 06/11/2015
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Aabram, Michael P., Irey, Grady
• Primary Examiner(s): Holly, John H.
• Application Number:
  US14/737,299
• Time in Patent Office: 1,713 Days
• Field of Search: 705 4, 705 11, 705 35, 705 39, 705 36 R, 705 42, 705 1413, 705 44, 235380, 235379, 701 35, 701 1, 701210, 701 33
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0057 for the hiring or rent of vehicles, e.g. cars, bicycles or wheelchairs car rental G07B15/00

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for accumulating and maintaining funds (e.g., money, a money proxy or a combination thereof) in a vehicle maintenance savings account. The account funds may be used to pay for the costs of maintaining and/or operating a vehicle (e.g., costs of maintenance and operation associated with ownership, leasing or renting a vehicle) and/or driver safety. For instance, the balance of the account may be used to pay for driver'"'"'s education, driver'"'"'s safety courses, attention improvement/maintenance courses, visual acuity improvement/maintenance courses, vehicle maintenance, repair, inspections, registration, check-ups, replacement parts, emissions testing, government stickers, taxes, license plates, insurance premiums, insurance deductibles, safety products, sensors/monitors, disposal fees, new vehicles of a certain type, etc. The vehicle maintenance savings account system may collect and analyze user data, and may accumulate funds for the user when the user engages in certain user behaviors (e.g., safe driving behaviors, purchase behaviors, account use behaviors, etc.).

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a telematics device in signal communication with at least one processor;

a plurality of vehicle sensors in communication with the telematics device;

the at least one processor;

an electronic communication interface in signal communication with an electronic communication network; and

a memory storing computer-readable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to;

execute an application configured to detect telematics data by the telematics device;

initiate a communication session with the telematics device;

receive, in real-time and via the initiated communication session, the telematics data including data received from the plurality of vehicle sensors, the telematics data including a plurality of driving events, each driving event including at least two metrics based on at least one of;

speed, acceleration, braking and turning;

determine whether the at least two metrics match predefined criteria for a safe driving behavior;

responsive to determining that the at least two metrics match predefined criteria for the safe driving behavior, identify an amount of funds to be added to a balance of funds in a vehicle maintenance savings account associated with a first user;

increase the balance of funds in the vehicle maintenance savings account associated with the first user by the identified amount of funds;

receive, at the electronic communication interface via the electronic communication network, a first electronic communication indicating that the amount has been added to the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account associated with the first user;

receive, at the electronic communication interface via the electronic communication network, transaction data related to at least one transaction to be made by the first user using at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account, wherein the transaction data includes a cost associated with the at least one transaction and an identification of what is being purchased;

access, via the electronic communication network, a set of vehicle maintenance savings account spending restrictions, wherein the spending restrictions limit expenditure of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account to expenses related to costs of vehicle possession, vehicle operation, vehicle maintenance and driver safety;

determine whether at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account is eligible to be used to fund the at least one transaction based, at least in part, on a comparison, via the at least one processor, of the transaction data to the spending restrictions; and

responsive to a determining that the at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account is eligible to be used to fund the at least one transaction, initiate payment, via the at least one processor, of the cost of the at least one transaction using the funds in the vehicle maintenance savings account.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the costs of vehicle possession and driver safety are courses or products selected from the group consisting of driver'"'"'s education, driver'"'"'s safety, attention improvement, attention maintenance, visual acuity improvement, visual acuity maintenance, and combinations thereof.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the costs of vehicle possession and driver safety, with respect to a vehicle, are selected from the group consisting of maintenance, repair, inspections, registration, check-ups, replacement parts, roadside assistance, emissions testing, government stickers, taxes, license plates, insurance premiums, insurance deductibles, safety products, sensors, monitors, disposal fees, replacements, and combinations thereof.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein payment initiation causes the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account to become negative.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle maintenance savings account is managed by an insurance company or an external non-insurance hosting entity.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle maintenance savings account is managed by a first insurance company and the first user does not have an insurance policy with the first insurance company.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein

the first user has an insurance policy with a second insurance company different from the first insurance company;

the at least one transaction comprises payment of an insurance premium or insurance deductible of the second insurance company; and

the first insurance company, responsive to the determination that at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account is eligible to be used to fund the at least one transaction, initiates payment, via the at least one processor, of the cost of the at least one transaction from the vehicle maintenance savings account to the second insurance company.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one transaction comprises transfer of at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account to a vehicle maintenance savings account of a second user, and the expenses related to costs of vehicle possession and driver safety are with respect to the second user.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to:

access, via the electronic communication network, a set of balance-affecting events;

determine, via the at least one processor, whether or not the at least one transaction qualifies as at least one balance-affecting event, at least in part, on a comparison, via the at least one processor, of the transaction data to the set of balance-affecting events;

responsive to a determination that the at least one transaction qualifies as at least one balance-affecting event, calculate, via the at least one processor, a first balance increase amount to be applied to the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account; and

increment, via the at least one processor, the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account by the first balance increase amount.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the set of balance-affecting events comprises purchase of i) certified, preferred or authorized products;

or ii) services from certified, preferred or authorized vendors, merchants or providers.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the first balance increase amount is a percentage of the cost of the at least one transaction.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein initiating payment, via the at least one processor, of the cost of the at least one transaction using the funds in the vehicle maintenance savings account further includes generating a payment device including a scannable code.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the scannable code is at least one of a bar code and a quick response (QR) code.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one transaction is a fuel purchase, and

wherein initiating payment, via the at least one processor, of the cost of the at least one transaction using the funds in the vehicle maintenance savings account further includes transmitting an instruction to a fuel dispensing device to dispense fuel.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein identifying an amount of funds to be added to a balance of funds in a vehicle maintenance savings account associated with a first user further includes:

identifying a number of points associated with the safe driving behavior; and

converting, based on a predetermined conversion rate, the number of points to the amount of funds.

12. A system comprising:

at least one processor;

an electronic communication interface in signal communication with an electronic communication network; and

a memory storing computer-readable instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to;

initiate communication with a plurality of sensors associated with a vehicle of a first user;

receive, from the plurality of sensors associated with a vehicle of a first user, driving data of the first user, the driving data including driving data metrics based at least one of;

speed, acceleration, braking and turning;

access, via the electronic communication network, a set of user driving behaviors;

determine, via the at least one processor, whether at least two metrics of the driving data of the first user correspond to at least one user driving behavior of the set of user driving behaviors based, at least in part, on a comparison, via the at least one processor, of the driving data of the first user to the set of user driving behaviors;

responsive to a determination that the at least two metrics of the driving data of the first user correspond to the at least one user driving behavior, calculate, via the at least one processor, an amount to increase a balance of an account based on the at least two metrics of the driving data of the first user corresponding to the at least one user driving behavior; and

increase, via the at least one processor, a balance of a vehicle maintenance savings account associated with the first user by the calculated amount.

16. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computing device to:

execute an application configured to detect telematics data by a telematics device;

initiate a communication session with the telematics device;

receive, in real-time and via the initiated communication session, the telematics data including data received from a plurality of vehicle sensors, the telematics data including a plurality of driving events, each driving event including at least two metrics based on at least one of;

speed, acceleration, braking and turning;

determine whether the at least two metrics match predefined criteria for a safe driving behavior;

responsive to determining that the at least two metrics match predefined criteria for the safe driving behavior, identify an amount of funds to be added to a balance of funds in a vehicle maintenance savings account associated with a first user;

increase the balance of funds in the vehicle maintenance savings account associated with the first user by the identified amount of funds;

receive, at an electronic communication interface via an electronic communication network, a first electronic communication indicating that the amount has been added to the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account associated with the first user;

receive, at the electronic communication interface via the electronic communication network, transaction data related to at least one transaction to be made by the first user using at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account, wherein the transaction data includes a cost associated with the at least one transaction and an identification of what is being purchased;

access, via the electronic communication network, a set of vehicle maintenance savings account spending restrictions, wherein the spending restrictions limit expenditure of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account to expenses related to costs of vehicle possession, vehicle operation, vehicle maintenance and driver safety;

determine whether at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account is eligible to be used to fund the at least one transaction based, at least in part, on a comparison, via the at least one processor, of the transaction data to the spending restrictions; and

responsive to a determining that the at least a portion of the balance of the vehicle maintenance savings account is eligible to be used to fund the at least one transaction, initiate payment, via the at least one processor, of the cost of the at least one transaction using the funds in the vehicle maintenance savings account.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the at least one transaction is a fuel purchase, and

wherein initiating payment, via the at least one processor, of the cost of the at least one transaction using the funds in the vehicle maintenance savings account further includes transmitting an instruction to a fuel dispensing device to dispense fuel.