SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATIC MIGRATION OF A CONSUMER BETWEEN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS

• US 20080301037A1
• Filed: 06/04/2007
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Monk, Justin T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,860,790 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for automatically migrating a consumer from one prepaid financial account to another prepaid financial account based on preset trigger criteria. A prepaid payment device, such as a payroll card, may be issued to the consumer and associated with a prepaid financial account. The prepaid financial account may include a profile for the consumer. The issuer of the prepaid payment device may monitor the account activity and set trigger criteria that control when the consumer is automatically migrated from the current prepaid financial account and which type of new account the consumer is migrated into.

Claims

1. A method of automatically migrating a consumer between prepaid financial accounts, the method comprising:

issuing a first prepaid financial account to a consumer, wherein the first account is associated with a profile of the consumer;

setting trigger criteria for migrating the consumer from the first account, wherein the trigger criteria is based on account activity;

monitoring the account activity to determine when the trigger criteria has been met; and

automatically issuing a second prepaid financial account to the consumer when the trigger criteria has been met and associating the profile with the second account.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein issuing a first and second prepaid financial accounts comprises issuing payroll card accounts configured to be loaded by an employer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein associating the profile with the second account comprises associating at least a direct deposit account number of the consumer with the second account.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising loading funds into the second account using the direct deposit account number.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the profile comprises the consumer'"'"'s name and a direct deposit account number associated with the consumer.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second accounts have different account numbers.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising issuing a new portable consumer device associated with the second account to the consumer, wherein the new portable consumer device is embossed with a new account number different than that of the first account and the consumer'"'"'s name.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a type of the second account based on a type of the first account.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a type of the second account based on a number of trigger criteria that have been met.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a type of the second account by comparing the account activity to numerical levels established in at least one trigger criterion.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first account is of a first type and the second account is of a second type, wherein each type of account includes a different set of features.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first type of account can only be reloaded a set number of times and the second type of account is capable unlimited reloads.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the first type of account can only be used at an ATM and the second type of account can also be used to conduct credit card transactions.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the first account is an account that can only be reloaded a set number of times and the trigger criteria is reloading the account the set number of times.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the trigger criteria comprise a number of times the account has been loaded, an aggregate amount of funds loaded, a frequency of spending activity, and an amount of spending activity.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the trigger criteria comprise a fraud alert and the second type of account has fraud prevention features.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the fraud prevention features comprise enabling the account to transact only PIN verified transactions.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the fraud prevention features comprise limiting a number of reloads the account is allowed to transact.

19. A computer readable medium comprising code for performing the method of claim 1.

20. A server computer comprising the computer readable medium of claim 19.

21. A method of utilizing prepaid financial accounts, the method comprising:

receiving a first prepaid financial account from an issuer having a first account number, wherein the first account is associated with a consumer profile;

conducting financial transactions on the first account;

receiving a second prepaid financial account from the issuer having a second account number different than the first account number based on account activity, wherein the second account is associated with the consumer profile, and wherein the second account possesses upgraded account features; and

conducting financial transactions on the second account utilizing the upgraded account features.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein conducting financial transactions comprises receiving a direct deposit payment.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the upgraded account features comprise at least one of an ability to conduct credit card transactions and an ability to reload the second account an unlimited number of times.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the consumer profile comprises a direct deposit account number.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein conducting financial transactions on the second account comprises using a new portable consumer device associated with the second account.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the new device is embossed with at least a consumer name.