Method and system for network-based allowance control
First Claim
1. A method for transferring an amount of money to a recipient account associated with a recipient, the amount of money being available for use by the recipient for purchase of goods over a network, said method comprising:
- (a) receiving an allowance request from a user indicating a request to set up an allowance for a recipient, the allowance representing an amount of money being made available by the user to the recipient for purchase of one or more items over the network; and
(b) receiving an allowance increment or selection of an allowance increment, the allowance increment indicating an amount of money to be transferred to the recipient account on a periodic basis.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for network-based allowance control are disclosed. A user creates an allowance in association with a recipient account such that funds are available in the recipient account for use by a recipient for the purchase of goods over a network (e.g., Internet). Specifically, by creating an allowance, a user initiates a periodic (recurring) transfer (i.e., credit) of an amount of money (i.e., funds) to the recipient account. This money may then be used by the recipient for the purchase of goods over the network. The recipient account may be related to a parent account as a sub-account, enabling the user of the parent account to monitor purchases made by the recipient, as well as limit the items that can be purchased by the recipient.
65 Citations
62 Claims
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1. A method for transferring an amount of money to a recipient account associated with a recipient, the amount of money being available for use by the recipient for purchase of goods over a network, said method comprising:
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(a) receiving an allowance request from a user indicating a request to set up an allowance for a recipient, the allowance representing an amount of money being made available by the user to the recipient for purchase of one or more items over the network; and
(b) receiving an allowance increment or selection of an allowance increment, the allowance increment indicating an amount of money to be transferred to the recipient account on a periodic basis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method for transferring an amount of money to a recipient account associated with a recipient, the amount of money being available for use by the recipient for purchase of goods over a network, said method comprising:
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transmitting an allowance message to the recipient, the allowance message indicating that an allowance is being made available by a user in a recipient account associated with the recipient, the allowance representing an amount of money being made available to the recipient for purchase of one or more items over the network, the allowance being transferred to the recipient account in one or more allowance increments, each of the allowance increments being an increment of money to be transferred on a periodic basis; and
receiving a request to purchase one or more items over the network using the allowance established in the recipient account. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A method for facilitating the transfer of money to one or more recipient accounts associated with one or more recipients, the money being made available for use by the recipients for purchase of goods over a network, comprising:
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maintaining a list of one or more recipient accounts, each of the recipient accounts having an associated allowance increment indicating an amount of money to be transferred to the recipient account on a periodic basis; and
automatically transferring the allowance increment associated with each of the recipient accounts to the corresponding recipient account on a periodic basis.
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57. A graphical user interface for use in facilitating the transfer of money to a recipient account associated with a recipient, the money being available for use by the recipient for purchase of goods over a network, comprising:
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a recipient identifier field identifying a recipient of an allowance or identifying the recipient account, the allowance representing an amount of money being made available by a user for use by the recipient for purchase of one or more items over the network; and
an allowance field enabling input or selection of an allowance increment, the allowance increment indicating an amount of money to be transferred to the recipient account on a periodic basis. - View Dependent Claims (58)
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59. A method of implementing two or more related accounts, each of the related accounts being capable of performing one or more transactions via a web site over the Internet, the method comprising:
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creating one or more sub-accounts, a user associated with each of the sub-accounts being capable of purchasing one or more items from the web site over the Internet; and
associating the one or more sub-accounts with a parent account such that a user associated with the parent account is capable of monitoring transactions performed by each of the sub-accounts and capable of limiting the transactions performed by each of the sub-accounts;
wherein a user associated with each of the sub-accounts can view information associated with the corresponding sub-account, but cannot view information associated with the parent account. - View Dependent Claims (60)
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61. A system adapted for implementing two or more related accounts, each of the related accounts being capable of performing one or more transactions via a web site over the Internet, the system comprising:
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a parent account; and
one or more sub-accounts;
wherein a user associated with the parent account has authority to view a transaction history of each of the sub-accounts and authority to limit transactions that can be performed by each of the sub-accounts;
wherein a user associated with each of the sub-accounts can view information associated with the corresponding sub-account, but cannot view information associated with the parent account.
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62. A computer readable media including computer program code for transferring an amount of money to a recipient account associated with a recipient, the amount of money being available for use by the recipient for purchase of goods over a network, said computer readable medium comprising:
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computer program code for receiving an allowance request from a user indicating a request to set up an allowance for a recipient, the allowance representing an amount of money being made available by the user to the recipient for purchase of one or more items over the network; and
computer program code for receiving an allowance increment or selection of an allowance increment, the allowance increment indicating an amount of money to be transferred to the recipient account on a periodic basis.
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Specification