EMERGENCY FINANCIAL RESERVE ACCESSIBLE DURING A COVERED EVENT

• US 20100306108A1
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Myrick, Thomas, Kramer, Andrew, Mauldin, Robert M., Bierer, Jeffrey H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,751,377 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• 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

Abstract

A system and method for providing emergency reserve conditional credit to a customer of a financial institution. The emergency conditional credit may be provided to the customer in the form of a line-of-credit or a loan based on the occurrence of a predetermined condition, such as involuntary unemployment, disability or the like. The emergency reserve product of the present invention is a product that can be offered through a financial institution or other ER-providing entity and, as such, does not require the level of regulation required of an insurance product. The invention also provides for the emergency reserve product to be offered in conjunction with a debt cancellation feature, referred to as emergency reserve protection, which serves to cancel the outstanding debt associated with the loan or line-of-credit.

Claims

1. A method for providing an emergency financial reserve, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement associated with a customer, wherein the terms provide for the customer to receive emergency reserve funds or receive access to the emergency reserve funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events and provide for an emergency reserve-providing entity to receive a fee from the customer in exchange for the emergency financial reserve;

storing, at computing device memory, the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement;

receiving a covered event indication from the customer that indicates an occurrence of one of the one or more covered events;

verifying the occurrence of the covered event and validity of the emergency financial reserve; and

providing, via a computing device, the customer with a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a predetermined interval based on the verification of the occurrence of the covered event and verification of the validity of the emergency financial reserve.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement further comprise receiving the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for the emergency financial reserve to be configured as a line-of credit.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing further comprises providing the customer with access to a predetermined portion of the line-of-credit for the predetermined interval.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein providing further comprises providing the customer electronic access to the line-of-credit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement further comprise receiving the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for the emergency financial reserve to be configured as a loan.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein providing further comprises providing the customer with a predetermined portion of the loan for the predetermined interval.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein providing further comprises depositing electronically the predetermined amount of funds in an account associated with the customer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement further comprise receiving the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide the customer to receive emergency reserve funds or receive access to the emergency reserve funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events, wherein the one or more predetermined covered events include one or more of involuntary unemployment, disability, hospitalization, lifecycle events, moving, childbirth, or retirement.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein verifying the validity of the emergency financial reserve further comprises verifying that the fee payment is current and verifying that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-verifying a continual occurrence of the covered event after the predetermined interval and providing the customer with a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a second predetermined interval based on the verification of the continual occurrence of the covered event and verification that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement further comprise receiving the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for an emergency reserve protection feature that cancels any emergency reserve balance on a monthly basis during the occurrence of the covered event and provide for the emergency reserve-providing entity to receive an additional fee from the customer in exchange for emergency reserve protection.

12. A method for providing a line-of-credit configured emergency financial reserve, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement associated with a customer, wherein the terms provide for the customer to receive access to an emergency reserve line-of-credit based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events and provide for an emergency reserve-providing entity to receive a fee from the customer in exchange for the emergency financial reserve;

storing, at computing device memory, the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement;

receiving a covered event indication from the customer that indicates an occurrence of one of the one or more covered events;

verifying the occurrence of the covered event and validity of the emergency financial reserve; and

providing, via a computing device, the customer with access to a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve line-of-credit for a predetermined interval based on the verification of the occurrence of the covered event and verification of the validity of the emergency financial reserve.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising re-verifying a continual occurrence of the covered event after the predetermined interval and providing the customer with access to a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve line-of-credit for a second predetermined interval based on the verification of the continual occurrence of the conditional and verification that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve line-of-credit.

14. A method for providing an emergency financial reserve loan, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement associated with a customer, wherein the terms provide for the customer to receive emergency reserve funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events and provide for an emergency reserve-providing entity to receive a fee from the customer in exchange for the emergency financial reserve;

storing, at computing device memory, the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement;

receiving a covered event indication from the customer that indicates an occurrence of one of the one or more covered events;

verifying the occurrence of the covered event and validity of the emergency financial reserve; and

providing, via a computing device, the customer with a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve loan for a predetermined interval based on the verification of the occurrence of the covered event and verification of the validity of the emergency financial reserve.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising re-verifying a continual occurrence of the covered event after the predetermined interval and providing the customer with a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve loan for a second predetermined interval based on the verification of the continual occurrence of the conditional and verification that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve loan.

16. An apparatus for providing an emergency financial reserve, the system comprising:

a computing device including;

a memory device; and

a processing device operatively connected to the memory device and configured to;

receive terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement associated with a customer, wherein the terms provide for the customer to receive emergency reserve funds or receive access to the emergency reserve funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events and provide for an emergency reserve-providing entity to receive a fee from the customer in exchange for the emergency financial reserve,

store the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement in the memory device, and

provide the customer with a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a predetermined interval based on verification of occurrence of a covered event and verification of the validity of the emergency financial reserve.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing device is further configured to receiving the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for the emergency financial reserve to be configured as a line-of credit.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the customer with access to a predetermined portion of the line-of-credit for the predetermined interval.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing device is further configured to receiving the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for the emergency financial reserve to be configured as a loan.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the customer with a predetermined portion of the loan for the predetermined interval.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing device is further configured to receive the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide the customer to receive emergency reserve funds or receive access to the emergency reserve funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events, wherein the one or more predetermined covered events include one or more of involuntary unemployment, disability, hospitalization, lifecycle events, moving, childbirth, or retirement.

22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the customer with a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a predetermined interval based on verifying that the fee payment is current and verifying that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve.

23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the customer with a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a second predetermined interval based on re-verification of continual occurrence of the covered event after the predetermined interval and verification that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve.

24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processing device is further configured to receive the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for an emergency reserve protection feature that cancels any emergency reserve balance on a monthly basis during the occurrence of the covered event and provide for the emergency reserve-providing entity to receive an additional fee from the customer in exchange for emergency reserve protection.

25. An apparatus for providing an emergency financial reserve line-of-credit, the system comprising:

a computing device including;

a memory device, and

a processing device operatively connected to the memory device and configured to;

receive terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement associated with a customer, wherein the terms provide for the customer to receive access to the emergency reserve line-of-credit based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events and provide for an emergency reserve-providing entity to receive a fee from the customer in exchange for the emergency financial reserve,

store the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement in the memory device, and

provide the customer with access to a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve line-of-credit for a predetermined interval based on verification of occurrence of a covered event and verification of the validity of the emergency financial reserve.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the customer with access to a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve line-of-credit for a second predetermined interval based on re-verification of continual occurrence of the covered event after the predetermined interval and verification that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve line-of-credit.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing device is further configured to provide the customer a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve loan for a second predetermined interval based on re-verification of continual occurrence of the covered event after the predetermined interval and verification that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve loan.

27. An apparatus for providing an emergency financial reserve loan, the system comprising:

a computing device including;

a memory device; and

a processing device operatively connected to the memory device and configured to;

receive terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement associated with a customer, wherein the terms provide for the customer to receive emergency financial reserve loan funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events and provide for an emergency reserve-providing entity to receive a fee from the customer in exchange for the emergency financial reserve,

store the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement in the memory device, and

provide the customer with a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve loan for a predetermined interval based on verification of occurrence of a covered event and verification of the validity of the emergency financial reserve.

29. A computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to receive terms of an emergency financial reserve agreement associated with a customer, wherein the terms provide for the customer to receive emergency reserve funds or receive access to the emergency reserve funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events and provide for an emergency reserve-providing entity to receive a fee from the customer in exchange for the emergency financial reserve;

a second set of codes for causing the computer to store the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement in the memory device; and

a third set of codes for causing a computer to provide the customer with a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a predetermined interval based on verification of occurrence of a covered event and verification of the validity of the emergency financial reserve.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the first set o codes is further configured to cause the computer to receive the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for the emergency financial reserve to be configured as a line-of credit.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the third set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to provide the customer with access to a predetermined portion of the line-of-credit for the predetermined interval.

32. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the first set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to receive the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for the emergency financial reserve to be configured as a loan.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the third set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to provide the customer with a predetermined portion of the loan for the predetermined interval.

34. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the first set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to receive the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide the customer to receive emergency reserve funds or receive access to the emergency reserve funds based upon occurrence of one of one or more predetermined covered events, wherein the one or more predetermined covered events include one or more of involuntary unemployment, disability, hospitalization, lifecycle events, moving, childbirth, or retirement.

35. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the third set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to provide the customer with a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a predetermined interval based on verifying that the fee payment is current and verifying that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve.

36. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the third set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to provide the customer with a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve or access to a second predetermined amount of funds from the emergency financial reserve for a second predetermined interval based on re-verification of continual occurrence of the covered event after the predetermined interval and verification that funds currently exist in the emergency financial reserve.

37. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the first set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to receive the terms of the emergency financial reserve agreement, wherein the terms provide for an emergency reserve protection feature that cancels any emergency reserve balance on a monthly basis during the occurrence of the covered event and provide for the emergency reserve-providing entity to receive an additional fee from the customer in exchange for emergency reserve protection.