Expenditure monitoring system
First Claim
1. A method for tracking and categorizing expenditure transactions, comprising the following steps:
- a. providing at the point of each said expenditure transaction a predetermined number of pictographic icons each said icon being representative of a particular expenditure category which can be directly marked on the icon by an individual conducting said transaction to indicate that said expenditure is of a type corresponding to said marked icon representative of said particular expenditure category;
b. scanning said array of pictographic icons to determine the existence of a mark made directly on one or more of said pictographic icons;
c. recording information representative of each said marked icon or corresponding expenditure category in association with other information representative of each said corresponding expenditure transaction; and
d. periodically organizing said information representative of each said expenditure transaction and each said associated marked icon or corresponding expenditure category into a statement of expenditures broken down by expenditure category.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved system and method is provided for automatically tracking check transactions and generating an expenditure statement thereof using printed bank checks having a plurality of graphic icons disposed thereon. The customer marks the icon which describes the particular expense for which the check payment is being made. The payor bank or a check processing center scans each check to determine which icon(s) have been marked for each particular check transaction. Recorded expenditures are then automatically recorded in a cumulative transaction record. Periodically, this information is organized into a detailed expenditure statement that can be provided to the bank customer.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for tracking and categorizing expenditure transactions, comprising the following steps:
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a. providing at the point of each said expenditure transaction a predetermined number of pictographic icons each said icon being representative of a particular expenditure category which can be directly marked on the icon by an individual conducting said transaction to indicate that said expenditure is of a type corresponding to said marked icon representative of said particular expenditure category; b. scanning said array of pictographic icons to determine the existence of a mark made directly on one or more of said pictographic icons; c. recording information representative of each said marked icon or corresponding expenditure category in association with other information representative of each said corresponding expenditure transaction; and d. periodically organizing said information representative of each said expenditure transaction and each said associated marked icon or corresponding expenditure category into a statement of expenditures broken down by expenditure category. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An expenditure tracking system for automatically tracking and categorizing check expenditures made over a predetermined period of time using checks having an array of pictographic icons representative of expenditure categories, each said icon being adapted to receive a mark directly thereon to indicate a desired expenditure category, said expenditure tracking system comprising:
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a. a scanner adapted to scan said checks in substantial succession and to output a series of data representative of a pixel image of at least a portion thereof; b. a decoder adapted to decode a MICR code disposed on each said checks and output transaction information contained therein, including at least the account number and the dollar amount of each said check; c. a central processor adapted to receive said series of data representative of said pixel image and to detect in each of a plurality of predetermined areas corresponding to each said pictographic icon the presence or absence of one or more marks made directly on one or more of said pictographic icons indicative of a particular expenditure category; and d. storage media for storing said transaction information in association with said marked icon or corresponding expenditure category to provide a cumulative transaction record thereof; whereby an expenditure statement may be periodically generated from said transaction record for purposes of budgeting and/or financial planning. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for processing checks of the type having an array of pictographic icons representative of expenditure categories and wherein the icons are adapted to be directly marked on the icon by a person using the check to indicate a desired expenditure category corresponding to a particular check expenditure, said method comprising the following steps:
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a. decoding a MICR code disposed on each said check to obtain basic transaction information contained in said MICR code, including at least the account number and the dollar amount of said check; b. scanning each of said checks to generate a series of data representative of a pixel image of at least a portion thereof; c. using said data representative of said pixel image to detect in each of a plurality of predetermined areas corresponding to each said pictographic icons the presence or absence of one or more marks made directly on one or more of said pictographic icons indicative of a particular expenditure category selected by said check user; and d. recording said transaction information and said marked icon or corresponding expenditure category in a cumulative transaction record; whereby an expenditure statement may be periodically generated from said transaction record and provided to said check user for purposes of budgeting and/or financial planning. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification