Method, System and Apparatus for Providing a Variable Credit Account to a Consumer

• US 20080065530A1
• Filed: 05/18/2004
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: 14 Licensing LLC
• Inventors: Hirschfeld, Daniel, Keithley, Thomas, Talbert, Vincent, Lavelle, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 8,010,446 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 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A method of providing a variable credit account to a consumer (12) is provided. The method includes the steps of: offering, by a credit issuer (14), a variable credit account to a consumer (12) by telephone, electronically, mail or at an in-store location; accepting, by the consumer (12), the offer; opening, by the credit issuer, the variable credit account (18) for the consumer (12), where the account includes an open-ended loan portion (22) and a close-ended loan portion (20). The method may further include the steps of initially activating the open-ended loan portion (22) when the initial offer is made electronically, by mail or at an in-store location; and initially activating a close-ended loan portion (20) of the account when the initial offer is made at any point-of-sale. A system and apparatus for providing a variable credit account to a consumer (12) is also discussed.

Claims

1. A method of providing a variable credit account to a consumer, comprising the steps of:

(a) offering, by a credit issuer, a variable credit account to a consumer by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at an in-store location;

(b) accepting, by the consumer, the credit issuer offer; and

(c) opening, by the credit issuer, the variable credit account for the consumer, wherein the variable credit account includes an open-ended loan portion and a close-ended loan portion.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of initially activating the open-ended loan portion of the variable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer is made at least one of electronically, by mail and at the in-store location.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of subsequently activating the close-ended loan portion of the variable credit account at a subsequent communication between at least one of a merchant and the credit issuer and a consumer.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of transmitting an account statement to the consumer, the account statement including specified terms and conditions relating to the variable credit account for review by the consumer.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

acknowledging, by the consumer, that the specified terms and conditions are acceptable;

receipt of the acknowledgement by the credit issuer; and

activating the close-ended loan portion of the variable credit account.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the acknowledgement by the consumer is in at least one of written form, verbal form, transmission of an application, an indication of acknowledgement and a selection indication.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of initially activating the close-ended loan portion of the variable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer is made by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at an in-store location.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of subsequently activating the open-ended loan portion of the variable credit account at a subsequent communication between at least one of a merchant and the credit issuer and a consumer.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of transmitting an account statement to the consumer, the account statement including specified terms and conditions relating to the variable credit account for review by the consumer.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

acknowledging, by the consumer, that the specified terms and conditions are acceptable;

receipt of the acknowledgement by the credit issuer; and

activating the open-ended loan portion of the variable credit account.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the acknowledgement by the consumer is in at least one of written form, verbal form, transmission of an application, an indication of acknowledgement and a selection indication.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer accepts the credit issuer offer in at least one of written form, verbal form, transmission of an application and an indication of acceptance.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of assessing, by the credit issuer, the consumer prior to at least one of:

(i) offering, by the credit issuer, the variable credit account to the consumer;

(ii) accepting, by the consumer, the credit issuer offer; and

(iii) opening, by the credit issuer, the variable credit account for the consumer.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the assessing step further includes at least one of:

(i) transmitting data to a credit issuer central database;

(ii) transmitting data to a third-party database;

(iii) processing data relating to the consumer;

(iv) rating the consumer; and

(v) verifying the authenticity of the consumer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the consumer is rated for at least one of credit risk, fraud risk, profitability and risk factors.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one of the central credit issuer database and the third-party database includes a data set including at least one field populated with data reflecting a consumer'"'"'s name, an account number, an address, a city, a state, a zip code, a country, a telephone number, an e-mail address, a social security number, a date of birth, the merchant'"'"'s name, an identification, an order number, an authorization number, an authorization time, an authorization amount, a ship-to address, a bill-to address, a transaction amount, a consumer purchase demographic, a transaction date, a transaction type, a product identification, a service identification, shipping costs, delivery type, customer type, a company identity, a merchant identity, a third-party risk score, a general credit risk score, a credit bureau risk score, a prior approval, prior report data, previous transaction data, a geographical risk factor, credit account data, bankcard balance data, delinquency data, credit segment data, time between transactions data, previous transaction amount, previous transaction approval status, previous transaction time stamp data, a response code, active trades in database, public record data, trade line data, transaction medium, credit segment data, consumer payment type, consumer payment method, consumer payment history, consumer account history, consumer credit account balance and merchant history.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of approving the consumer by the credit issuer based upon the assessment.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of steps (a)-(c) is automatically performed by a computing device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the computing device is at least one of a personal computer, a networked device, a laptop, a palmtop, a personal digital assistant and a server.

20. A method of providing a variable credit account to a consumer, comprising the steps of:

a) offering, by a credit issuer, a variable credit account to a consumer by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at an in-store location;

b) accepting, by the consumer, the credit issuer offer;

c) opening, by the credit issuer, the variable credit account for the consumer, wherein the variable credit account includes an open-ended loan portion and a close-ended loan portion;

d) initially activating the open-ended loan portion of the variable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer is made at least one of electronically, by mail and at the in-store location;

e) initially activating the close-ended loan portion of the variable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer is made by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at an in-store location; and

f) subsequently activating the non-initially-activated loan portion of the variable credit account at a subsequent communication between at least one of a merchant and the credit issuer and a consumer.

21. An apparatus for providing a variable credit account to a consumer, the apparatus comprising:

means for offering, by a credit issuer, a variable credit account to a consumer by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at an in-store location;

means for accepting, by the consumer, the credit issuer offer; and

means for opening, by the credit issuer, the variable credit account for the consumer, wherein the variable credit account includes an open-ended loan portion and a close-ended loan portion.