Systems and associated methods for providing projected incentive based loans

• US 20060004650A1
• Filed: 07/01/2004
• Published: 01/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Parcel Service Of America Incorporated (United Parcel Service Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: United Parcel Service Incorporated
• Inventors: Mittenzwei, Phil, Kapeskas, Rimas
• Granted Patent: US 7,729,980 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

An incentive based loan method and related system provides a loan to a purchaser in association with the purchase of goods or services. An amount of purchases to be made by a purchaser, such as a small business, is projected over a period of time. The purchases can be goods or services, such as package shipping services. Based on the amount of the projected purchases, an incentive rate is agreed upon by the seller of the goods or services and the purchaser. In lieu of receiving the discounted rate on the goods or services during the period of time, the present value of the total incentives to be earned over the projection period is loaned to the purchaser. The purchaser thereafter pays list price for the goods or services, and the incentives earned are applied to the required loan payment.

Claims

1. A method for providing a loan in association with the purchase of goods or services comprising:

projecting the value of agreed upon incentives to be applied to purchases over a period of time;

loaning a purchaser an amount based on the projected value of the agreed upon incentives.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the services purchased are shipping services.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a seller of goods or services loans the amount to the purchaser.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein a third party financial institution loans the amount to the purchaser.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

applying incentives earned on actual sales against a required loan payment.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

billing the purchaser for any amount of the loan payment not covered by the incentives earned when the amount of the incentives earned is less than the required loan payment.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

refunding an amount of the incentives earned to the purchaser that is in excess of the required loan payment.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

reducing the purchaser'"'"'s bill by an amount of the incentives earned that is in excess of the required loan payment.

9. The method of claim 5 further comprising

applying an amount of the incentives earned that is in excess of the required loan payment to the principal of the loan.

10. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

applying an amount of the of the incentives earned that is in excess of the required loan payment to a subsequent bill.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting to the purchaser from the seller, a statement detailing charges for purchases, incentives earned, and amount of incentives earned applied to a loan payment.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

collecting funds at an undiscounted price for goods or services purchased; and

applying a portion of said funds as payment on the loan, the portion being based on incentives earned.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

collecting an additional amount to cover a loan payment shortfall where the incentives earned during a period are less than a required loan payment.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of projecting the value of agreed upon incentives comprises:

estimating purchases to be made by a purchaser;

calculating sales revenue for a seller at a first price for the purchases.

calculating sales revenue for a seller at a second price for a the purchases, the second price being less that the first price;

calculating the difference between the sales revenue at the first price and the sales revenue at the second price.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

calculating the present value of the difference between the sales revenue at the first price and the sales revenue at the second price using an interest rate and a time period.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

creating an amortization schedule for the present value of the difference using the interest rate and the time period.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein a seller of goods or services loans the amount to the purchaser.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein a third party financial institution loans the amount to the purchaser.

19. A method for a seller to provide a loan to a purchaser in association with the purchase of goods or services, comprising:

projecting sales revenue for the seller from purchases to be made by the purchaser over a period of time;

determining an incentive rate to be offered to purchaser based on the projected sales revenue;

loaning the purchaser an amount based on the incentive rate and the projected sales revenue.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the services purchased are shipping services.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

applying incentives earned on actual sales against a required loan payment.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

billing the purchaser for any amount of the loan payment not covered by the incentives earned when the amount of the incentives earned is less than the required loan payment.

23. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

refunding an amount of the incentives earned to the purchaser that is in excess of the required loan payment.

24. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

reducing the purchaser'"'"'s bill by an amount of the incentives earned that is in excess of the required loan payment.

25. The method of claim 21 further comprising

applying an amount of the incentives earned that is in excess of the required loan payment to the principal of the loan.

26. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

applying an amount of the of the incentives earned that is in excess of the required loan payment to a subsequent bill.

27. The method of claim 19 wherein a statement is presented to the purchaser from the seller, the statement detailing charges for purchases, incentives earned, and amount of incentives earned applied to a loan payment.

28. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

collecting funds at an undiscounted price for goods or services purchased; and

applying a portion of said funds as payment on the loan, the portion being based on incentives earned.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising:

collecting an additional amount to cover a loan payment shortfall where the incentives earned during a period are less than the loan payment.

32. The method of claim 27 wherein the purchaser obtains the loan from the seller.

30. A method of a purchaser obtaining a loan in connection with the purchase of goods or services from a seller comprising:

negotiating an incentive rate to be applied to purchases by purchaser from seller over a period of time; and

borrowing an amount based on the projected value of the incentives to be earned on purchases by purchaser from seller over the period of time.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the services purchased are shipping services.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein the purchaser obtains the loan from a third party financial institution.

34. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

directing the seller to apply incentives earned on actual purchases applied against a required loan payment.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising

directing the seller to apply an amount of the incentives earned that is in excess of the required loan payment to the principal of the loan.

36. The method of claim 30 further comprising:

paying an undiscounted price for goods or services purchased; and

directing the seller to apply a portion of said funds be as payment on the loan, the portion being based on incentives earned.

37. The method of claim 36 further comprising:

paying an additional amount beyond that owed for purchases to cover a loan payment shortfall where the incentives earned during a period are less than the loan payment.

38. A system for facilitating the administration of a loan program offered to purchasers in conjunction with the purchase of goods or services comprising:

a billing module configured to;

record purchases made by a purchaser;

calculate a first amount for the purchases based on a first price for the goods or services;

calculate a second amount for purchases based on a discounted price for the goods or services; and

generate an invoice that indicates the difference between the first amount and the second amount, and an amount to be applied to a loan payment.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the billing module is further configured to send the invoice to the purchaser.

40. The system of claim 38 wherein the billing module is further configured to receive an invoice payment from a purchaser.

41. The system of claim 38 wherein the billing module is further configured to provide the amount to be applied to the loan payment to a lender accounting module.

42. The system of claim 38 wherein the billing module records purchases made by a purchaser after receiving purchase information from an internet ordering interface.

43. The system of claim 38 wherein the billing module records purchases made by a purchaser after receiving purchase information from a sales module.

44. The system of claim 38 wherein the billing module is further configured to receive loan balance information from a lender accounting module.

45. The system of claim 44 wherein the billing module is further configured to include the loan balance information on the generated invoice.

46. A system for calculating a monthly payment amount for an advance incentive loan program configured to:

receive estimated data regarding purchases to be made by a purchaser;

receive a time period for the loan;

receive an interest rate to be applied;

calculate sales revenue for a seller at a first price for the purchases;

calculate sales revenue for a seller at a second price for the purchases, the second price being less that the first price;

calculate the difference between the sales revenue at the first price and the sales revenue at the second price; and

calculate the present value of the difference between the sales revenue at the first price and the sales revenue at the second price using the received interest rate and the received time period.

47. The system of claim 46 further configured to:

create an amortization schedule for the present value of the difference using the received interest rate and the received time period.

48. A method for providing a loan in association with the purchase of goods or services comprising:

selecting a discount percentage based on past amounts of shipping services purchased by a purchaser,

calculating an amount of incentives that would be earned if the discount percentage is applied to the past amounts,

loaning the purchaser an amount based on the calculated incentives.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein the amount loaned is equal to the amount of incentives calculated.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein the amount loaned is within a range of 30 percent less than the calculated incentives and 30 percent more than the calculated incentives.

51. A system for calculating an advance incentive loan amount configured to:

receive a shipping needs value for a purchaser,

choose a discount percentage to be applied based on the shipping needs value,

calculate an incentive amount by applying the discount percentage to the shipping needs value, and

calculate a total incentives value for a loan period.

52. The system of claim 51 further configured to generate a display that shows the total incentives value as an amount to be loaned to the purchaser.

53. The system of claim 51 further configured to generate a display that shows monthly payment amounts.

54. The system of claim 51 further configured to generate a display that shows weekly payment amounts.