System and method for facilitating a subsidiary card account with controlled spending capability

• US 7,249,092 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2003
• Issued: 07/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Hobbs, Chris, Dunn, Melanie, Rances, Mary, Menichilli, Julie
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamilton, Lalita M.
• Application Number:
  US10/628,034
• Publication Number:
  US 20040039694A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,461 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34, 705/35, 705/38, 705/39, 705/40, 705/41, 705/42, 705/44, 235/380, 235/379
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/227 characterised in that multiple accounts are available, e.g. to the payer
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/2295 Parent-child type, e.g. where parent has control on child rights
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/30 characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/381 Currency conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• 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

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and method for facilitating a subsidiary account with parental control of one or more spending limits. An exemplary system facilitates the provisioning of funds to a subsidiary account and the control of the spending of the subsidiary account by a parent through establishment or modification of one or more spending limits through various communication devices. Exemplary spending limits may be configured for modifying a spending capacity so as to affect an amount per transaction, per day, during a predetermined time period, at a particular merchant, at a particular chain of merchants, at a type of industry, in accordance with a predetermined rate of increase or decrease over time, number of transactions during any time period and/or any combination thereof.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating the administration of a subsidiary account within a database contained within a host computer comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a host computer, a request for a subsidiary account linked to a parent account, wherein said parent account is a financial account having a parent spending power, wherein said parent spending power is a credit limit for said parent account;

linking, at said host computer, said subsidiary account to said parent account, wherein said subsidiary account is a financial account having a subsidiary spending power, said subsidiary spending power is a credit limit for said subsidiary account, and said subsidiary spending power is configured to consume a portion of said parent spending power;

reducing, at said host computer, said subsidiary spending power in said subsidiary account by a subsidiary spend transaction amount; and

,

reducing, at said host computer, said parent spending power by an amount less than said subsidiary spend transaction amount when said subsidiary account is linked to said parent account.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein said step of receiving said request comprises:

receiving said request via a means for communication selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a pager, a computer, a digital communications device, a television, a personal digital assistant, and a facsimile machine.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

monitoring spending activity facilitated by at least one of said parent account and said subsidiary account; and

modifying at least one of said parent spending power and said subsidiary spending power based at least in part on said spending activity.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

establishing, at said host computer, a spending limit configured to affect at least one of said parent spending power and said subsidiary spending power.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed per transaction.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed per day.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed during a predetermined time period.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed at a particular merchant.

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed at a particular chain of merchants.

10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed at a particular industry type.

11. The computer-implemented method according to claim 4, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed in accordance with a predetermined rate of change over time.

12. A system for administering a subsidiary account within a computing system, said computer system comprising:

an account administrator module in communication with a transaction administrator module;

a settler module; and

a statement generator module,

wherein said account administrator module is configured to;

receive a request for at least one subsidiary account linked to a parent account, said parent account including a parent account spending power, wherein said parent account spending power is a credit limit for said parent account, said at least one subsidiary account including a subsidiary spending power, wherein said subsidiary spending power is a credit limit for said subsidiary account, and said subsidiary spending power is less than said parent spending power, and

reduce said subsidiary spending power in said subsidiary account by a subsidiary spend transaction amount;

reduce said parent spending power only by an amount less than said subsidiary spend transaction amount when said subsidiary account is linked to said parent account,

wherein said settler module is configured to facilitate providing a settling payment to a merchant, and

wherein said statement generator module is configured to facilitate generating a parent account statement.

13. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, said plurality of instructions when executed by a processor, cause said processor to perform a method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for a subsidiary account linked to a parent account, said parent account being a financial account, and said parent account having a parent spending power, said subsidiary account being a financial account, and said subsidiary account having a subsidiary spending power, wherein said parent spending power is a credit limit for said parent account, and said subsidiary spending power is a credit limit for said subsidiary account;

linking said subsidiary account to said parent account, wherein said subsidiary spending power is configured to consume a portion of said parent spending power;

reducing, at said host computer, said subsidiary spending power in said subsidiary account by a subsidiary spend transaction amount; and

,

reducing, at said host computer, said parent spending power by an amount less than said subsidiary spend transaction amount when said subsidiary account is linked to said parent account.

14. The machine-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein said step of receiving said request comprises:

receiving said request via a means for communication selected from the group consisting of a telephone, a pager, a computer, a digital communications device, a television, a personal digital assistant, and a facsimile machine.

15. The machine-readable medium according to claim 13, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

monitoring spending activity facilitated by at least one of said parent account and said subsidiary account; and

modifying at least one of said parent spending power and said subsidiary spending power based at least in part on said spending activity.

16. The machine-readable medium according to claim 13, further comprising the step of:

establishing at least one spending limit configured to affect at least one of said parent spending power and said subsidiary spending power.

17. The machine-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed per transaction.

18. The machine-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed per day.

19. The machine-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed during a predetermined time period.

20. The machine-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed at a particular merchant.

21. The machine-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed at a particular chain of merchants.

22. The machine-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed at a particular industry type.

23. The machine-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein said step of establishing said spending limit is based upon a maximum transaction amount allowed in accordance with a predetermined rate of change over time.