OFFSETTING LIABILITIES AND ATTRIBUTING REWARDS

• US 20110166989A1
• Filed: 01/04/2010
• Published: 07/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Ross, Erik Stephen, Thomas, Susan Smith
• Application Number:
  US12/651,577
• Publication Number:
  US 20110166989A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatuses for determining, recommending, and/or executing a payment strategy for offsetting liabilities and/or attributing rewards. For example, in some embodiments, a method is provided for transferring offsetting funds from a first account to a second account. In such embodiments, the method includes: (1) determining that the second account has incurred a liability; and (2) transferring funds from the first account to the second account in an amount sufficient to offset the liability. In some embodiments, the determining step automatically triggers the transferring step, either immediately, nearly immediately, or sometime after the occurrence of the determining step. In some embodiments, the method further includes attributing rewards to the first account or the second account based at least partially on the transfer of offsetting funds from the first account to the second account and/or based at least partially on the second account incurring the liability.

Claims

1. A method for transferring offsetting funds from a first account to a second account, the method comprising:

determining that the second account comprises a liability; and

transferring funds from the first account to the second account in an amount sufficient to offset the liability,

wherein the determining step automatically triggers the transferring step.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising attributing rewards to the first account or the second account based at least partially on the transferring step.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising attributing rewards to the second account based at least partially on the second account incurring the liability.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the first account comprises funds sufficient to offset the liability.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step further comprises determining, at end of day, that the second account comprises the liability.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first account comprises a deposit account and the second account comprises a credit account.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first account is maintained by a first financial institution and the second account is maintained by a second financial institution.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first account comprises two or more accounts.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring step occurs immediately or nearly immediately after the determining step.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second account incurring the liability automatically triggers the determining step.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining step occurs immediately or nearly immediately after the second account incurs the liability.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring step and the determining step are both implemented on the same day.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein a user-selected triggering event automatically triggers the determining step.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the user-selected triggering event comprises a user-selected time.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the liability comprises an amount greater than or equal to a user-selected target amount.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a trend based at least partially on a transaction history of the first account or a transaction history of the second account; and

determining a triggering event based at least partially on the trend, wherein the transferring step occurs immediately or nearly immediately after an occurrence of the triggering event.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

communicating a triggering event recommendation to a user, wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises information associated with the triggering event, and wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises functionality configured to enable the user to accept, modify, or reject one or more portions of the triggering event recommendation.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a triggering event based at least partially on a user-predicted future behavior, wherein the transferring step occurs immediately or nearly immediately after an occurrence of the triggering event.

19. A system for transferring offsetting funds from a first account to a second account, the system comprising:

a processor configured to;

determine that the second account comprises a liability; and

transfer funds from the first account to the second account in an amount sufficient to offset the liability, wherein the processor determining that the second account comprises the liability automatically triggers the processor to transfer the funds from the first account to the second account.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to attribute rewards to the first account or the second account based at least partially on the transfer of funds from the first account to the second account.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to attribute rewards to the second account based at least partially on the second account incurring the liability.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the first account comprises funds sufficient to offset the liability.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to transfer the funds immediately or nearly immediately after determining that the second account comprises the liability.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the second account incurring the liability automatically triggers the processor to determine that the second account comprises the liability.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the second account comprises the liability immediately or nearly immediately after the second account incurs the liability.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein a user-selected triggering event automatically triggers the processor to determine that the second account comprises the liability.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the user-selected triggering event comprises a user-selected time.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein the liability comprises an amount greater than or equal to a user-selected target amount.

29. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a trend based at least partially on a transaction history of the first account or a transaction history of the second account; and

determine a triggering event based at least partially on the trend, wherein the processor is configured to transfer the funds from the first account to the second account immediately or nearly immediately after an occurrence of the triggering event.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the processor is further configured to:

communicate a triggering event recommendation to a user, wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises information associated with the triggering event, and wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises functionality configured to enable the user to accept, modify, or reject one or more portions of the triggering event recommendation.

31. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a triggering event based at least partially on a user-predicted future behavior, and wherein the processor is configured to transfer the funds from the first account to the second account immediately or nearly immediately after an occurrence of the triggering event.

32. A computer program product for transferring offsetting funds from a first account to a second account, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having computer-executable program code portions stored therein, wherein the computer-executable program code portions comprise:

a first program code portion configured to determine that the second account comprises a liability; and

a second program code portion configured to transfer funds from the first account to the second account in an amount sufficient to offset the liability,

wherein execution of the first program code portion automatically triggers execution of the second program code portion.

33. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising a third program code portion configured to attribute rewards to the first account or the second account based at least partially on an offsetting transfer of funds from the first account to the second account.

34. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising a third program code portion configured to attribute rewards to the second account based at least partially on the second account incurring the liability.

35. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising a third program code portion configured to determine that the first account comprises funds sufficient to offset the liability.

36. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the second program code portion is configured to be executed immediately or nearly immediately after execution of the first program code portion.

37. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the second account incurring the liability automatically triggers execution of the first program code portion.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the first program code portion is configured to be executed immediately or nearly immediately after the second account incurs the liability.

39. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein a user-selected triggering event automatically triggers execution of the first program code portion.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the user-selected triggering event comprises a user-selected time.

41. The computer program product of claim 32, wherein the liability comprises an amount greater than or equal to a user-selected target amount.

42. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising:

a third program code portion configured to determine a trend based at least partially on a transaction history of the first account or a transaction history of the second account; and

a fourth program code portion configured to determine a triggering event based at least partially on the trend, wherein the second program code portion is configured to be executed immediately or nearly immediately after an occurrence of the triggering event.

43. The computer program product of claim 42, further comprising:

a fifth program code portion configured to communicate a triggering event recommendation to a user, wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises information associated with the triggering event, and wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises functionality configured to enable the user to accept, modify, or reject one or more portions of the triggering event recommendation.

44. The computer program product of claim 32, further comprising a third program code portion configured to determine a triggering event based at least partially on a user-predicted future behavior, wherein the second program code portion is configured to be executed immediately or nearly immediately after an occurrence of the triggering event.

45. A system for transferring offsetting funds from a first account to a second account, the system comprising:

a processor configured to;

determine that the second account comprises a liability;

determine a trend based at least partially on a transaction history of the first account or a transaction history of the second account;

determine a triggering event based at least partially on the trend; and

transfer funds from the first account to the second account in an amount sufficient to offset the liability,

wherein an occurrence of the triggering event automatically triggers the processor to transfer the funds from the first account to the second account.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to transfer the funds from the first account to the second account immediately or nearly immediately after an occurrence of the triggering event.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor determining that the second account comprises the liability automatically triggers the processor to determine the trend.

48. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to attribute rewards to the first account or the second account based at least partially on the transfer of funds from the first account to the second account.

49. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to attribute rewards to the second account based at least partially on the second account incurring the liability.

50. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the first account comprises funds sufficient to offset the liability.

51. The system of claim 45, wherein the second account incurring the liability automatically triggers the processor to determine that the second account comprises the liability.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the second account comprises the liability immediately or nearly immediately after the second account incurs the liability.

53. The system of claim 45, wherein a user-selected triggering event automatically triggers the processor to determine that the second account comprises the liability.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the user-selected triggering event comprises a user-selected time.

55. The system of claim 45, wherein the liability comprises an amount greater than or equal to a user-selected target amount.

56. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to:

communicate a triggering event recommendation to a user, wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises information associated with the triggering event, and wherein the triggering event recommendation comprises functionality configured to enable the user to accept, modify, or reject one or more portions of the triggering event recommendation.

57. The system of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the triggering event based at least partially on a user-predicted future behavior.