Systems and methods for presenting payoff information to credit card customers

• US 20030229589A1
• Filed: 06/07/2002
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated), SAE Magnetics Limited (TDK Corporation)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lindell, Bruce, Lin, Yung-Li, Kurth, Allen, Mills, Robert Jeff, Rosenblatt, Brenda, Trent, Millie
• Granted Patent: US 8,560,444 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

A method of presenting account payoff information to customers includes receiving electronic data relating to a plurality of customers and evaluating the data to determine a class to which each customer belongs. The method also includes preparing an account statement for each customer in a first class and for each customer in a second class. The account statement for each customer in the first class includes a standard message, and the account statement for each customer in the second class includes a detailed message. The method also includes transmitting an electronic file comprising the account statements for the plurality of customers to a statement generator. The standard message comprises a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a first series of minimum payments. The detailed message comprises a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer based on a second series of minimum payments.

Claims

1. A method of presenting account payoff information to customers, comprising:

receiving electronic data relating to a plurality of customers;

evaluating the data to determine a class to which each customer belongs;

preparing an account statement for each customer in a first class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the first class comprises a standard message;

preparing an account statement for each customer in a second class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the second class comprises a detailed message;

transmitting an electronic file comprising the account statements for the plurality of customers to a statement generator;

wherein the standard message comprises a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a first series of minimum payments; and

wherein the detailed message comprises a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer based on a second series of minimum payments.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the standard message further comprises a total cost to pay off the at least one hypothetical account balance at the hypothetical interest rate based on the first series of minimum payments, and wherein the detailed message further comprises a total cost to pay off the account balance of the customer at the interest rate of the customer based on the second series of minimum payments.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first class comprises customers who made more than a minimum payment for at least a first number of billing periods during a period of time preceding a current billing period.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first number is in the range from about 1 to about 6 and the period of time is 6 months.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second class comprises customers who made a minimum payment or less for at least a second number of billing periods during a period of time preceding a current billing period.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second number comprises 6 or more and the period of time is 6 months.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising preparing an account statement for each customer in a third class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the third class comprises a negative amortization message, wherein the negative amortization message comprises a statement that the customer cannot pay off the account balance making minimum payments.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the third class comprises customers having an interest rate for a current billing period that exceeds a minimum payment percentage for the current period.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating comprises determining whether each customer is a qualified customer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether each customer is a qualified customer comprises determining whether a billing address of the customer includes a particular state, determining whether a minimum payment due percentage of a customer is less than a particular minimum payment due percentage, and determining whether any interest is charged on the account of the customer in a current billing period.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating comprises determining whether each customer is a retail credit card customer or a bank credit card customer.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising preparing an account statement for each customer in a fourth class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the fourth class comprises a minimum payment warning message, wherein the minimum payment warning message comprises a statement that making minimum payments will increase the time and cost to pay off the account balance.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the fourth class comprises retail credit card customers having an account balance greater than $500.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the standard messages and the detailed messages appear in a language other than English.

15. A method of presenting account payoff information to customers, comprising:

receiving electronic data relating to a plurality of customers;

evaluating the data to determine a class to which each customer belongs;

preparing an account statement for each customer in a first class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the first class comprises a standard message;

preparing an account statement for each customer in a second class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the second class comprises a detailed message;

transmitting an electronic file comprising the standard messages and the detailed messages for the plurality of customers to a customer service database;

wherein the standard message comprises a total cost and a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a first series of minimum payments; and

wherein the detailed message comprises a total cost and a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer designated based on a second series of minimum payments.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a call from a customer;

accessing the customer service database; and

displaying on a display screen information relating to either of the standard message or the detailed message relating to the customer.

17. A method of presenting account payoff information to customers, comprising:

receiving a request from a client to include a particular message on account statements for each of a plurality of customers based on a particular class of which the customer is a member; and

entering the request into a host computer system, wherein the host computer system is configured to;

receive an electronic file comprising data relating to the plurality of customers;

evaluate the data to determine a class to which each customer belongs;

prepare an account statement for each customer, wherein the account statement comprises either of a standard message or a detailed message based on the class of which the customer is a member;

wherein the standard message comprises a total cost and a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a first series of minimum payments; and

wherein the detailed message comprises a total cost and a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer based on a second series of minimum payments.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the selection comprises including the detailed message on account statements for customers in both the first class and the second class.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the selection comprises including the standard message on statements for customers in the first class and the detailed message on account statements for customers in the second class.

20. A method of presenting account payoff information to customers, comprising:

receiving an electronic file comprising data relating to a plurality of customers;

processing the data to produce account statements for the plurality of customers;

including a first message on the account statement for each of a first number of the plurality of customers;

including a second message on the account statement for each of a second number of the plurality of customers;

wherein the first message comprises a total cost and a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer based on a first series of minimum payments as determined by a certain formula; and

wherein the interest rate of the customer is based on multiple interest rates of the customer.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the second message comprises a total cost and a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a second series of minimum payments.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the designated interest rate is determined using a highest interest rate applied to an account during a billing period.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein minimum payments in the first series of minimum payments are determined using a lowest applicable minimum payment percentage during a billing period.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the lowest applicable minimum payment percentage is in the range from about 2 to about 5.

25. A system for presenting account payoff information to customers, comprising:

a processor;

a storage device; and

an output device;

wherein the processor is configured to;

receive electronic data relating to a plurality of customers;

evaluate the data to determine a class to which each customer belongs;

prepare an account statement for each customer in a first class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the first class comprises a standard message;

prepare an account statement for each customer in a second class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the second class comprises a detailed message;

transmit an electronic file comprising the account statements for the plurality of customers to a statement generator;

wherein the standard message comprises a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a first series of minimum payments; and

wherein the detailed message comprises a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer based on a second series of minimum payments.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the standard message further comprises a total cost to pay off the at least one hypothetical account balance at the hypothetical interest rate based on the first series of minimum payments, and wherein the detailed message further comprises a total cost to pay off the account balance of the customer at the interest rate of the customer based on the second series of minimum payments.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the first class comprises customers who made more than a minimum payment for at least a first number of billing periods during a period of time preceding a current billing period, and wherein the second class comprises customers who made a minimum payment or less for at least a second number of billing periods during a period of time preceding a current billing period.

28. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of presenting account payoff information to customers, comprising:

receiving electronic data relating to a plurality of customers;

evaluating the data to determine a class to which each customer belongs;

preparing an account statement for each customer in a first class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the first class comprises a standard message;

preparing an account statement for each customer in a second class, wherein the account statement for each customer in the second class comprises a detailed message;

transmitting an electronic file comprising the account statements for the plurality of customers to a statement generator;

wherein the standard message comprises a total time to pay off at least one hypothetical account balance at a hypothetical interest rate based on a first series of minimum payments; and

wherein the detailed message comprises a total time to pay off an account balance of the customer at an interest rate of the customer based on a second series of minimum payments.

29. The medium of claim 28, wherein the standard message further comprises a total cost to pay off the at least one hypothetical credit card balance at the hypothetical interest rate based on the first series of minimum payments, and wherein the detailed message further comprises a total cost to pay off the account balance of the customer at the interest rate of the customer based on the second series of minimum payments.

30. The medium of claim 28, wherein the first class comprises customers who made more than a minimum payment for at least a first number of billing periods during a period of time preceding a current billing period, and wherein the second class comprises customers who made a minimum payment or less for at least a second number of billing periods during a period of time preceding a current billing period.