Financial services payment vehicle and method

• US 7,254,557 B1
• Filed: 04/29/1999
• Issued: 08/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Citibank (South Dakota) NA (Citigroup Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: C/Base Incorporated
• Inventors: Korfmann, Roger, Raden, Paul L., Gillin, Matthew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Millin; Vincent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Akintola; Olabode
• Application Number:
  US09/302,218
• Time in Patent Office: 3,022 Days
• Field of Search: 705/40, 705/26, 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/22 Payment schemes or models
• 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 financial services payment vehicle is disclosed having a database stored on a computer readable media, the database including records associated with a plurality of active financial services card accounts, one of the financial services card account records having a name representing a cardholder for purposes of using the account, the name having a first part selected by the cardholder and a second part selected by a second party unrelated to the cardholder.

A financial services method is also disclosed involving selecting a first part of a cardholder name for an account which would appear on a financial services card if a physical card is issued, accepting an unrelated entity'"'"'s selection of a second part of the cardholder name for the account such that a use of the account will result in a provision of the first part in place of a first name and the second part in place of a surname.

An additional financial services method is disclosed involving a using step for making a purchase with a financial services card, the financial services card including a cardholder name having a first part selected in a first selecting step by an individual in whose name the financial services card is registered, and a second part selected in a second selecting step, the second part identifying an entity other than the individual.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

a) receiving a request for a financial services account of a plurality of financial services accounts capable of being evidenced by financial services cards,

b) accepting a selection of a first sequence of characters from a person making the request,

c) selecting a second sequence of characters which identify an entity unrelated to the person,

d) combining the first sequence of characters and the second sequence of characters into a cardholder name,

e) storing the cardholder name into a database record including an identifier of a financial services account and an available amount,

f) accepting a payment for an activation of the financial services account,

g) creating a financial services card for the financial services account, the financial services card including the cardholder name,

h) providing for delivery of the financial services card to the person,

i) activating the financial services account,

j) providing an anonymizing capability for the financial services account,

k) depositing the payment into a DDA account,

l) setting a transaction, between the person and a merchant who accepted the financial services card, out of the DDA account, and

m) decreasing the available amount by an amount of the transaction.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of b), c) and d) occur before a).

3. The method of claim 1 wherein f) occurs before b).

4. The method of claim 1 wherein j) occurs at least at a time prior to any of g), h) i), k), l) and m).

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising anonymizing the financial services account by purging identifying information for the person.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a financial services card including

i) an account identifier; and

ii) a name, the name having a first part and a second part, the first part being selected by a cardholder of the financial services card, the second part being selected by an issuer of the financial services card, the name representing a cardholder name in which a financial services card account identified by the account identifier is registered.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the financial services card account has a value.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the value is a credit limit.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the value includes a monetary amount at least as great as a backing payment made by the cardholder.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the financial services card account is maintained in a database which contains no record of an actual identity of the cardholder.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the name appears on the financial services card in a human readable form.

12. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the name is contained on a magnetic stripe affixed to the financial services card.

13. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the name is contained in a circuit affixed to the financial services card.

14. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the name is contained on the financial services card in a coded form.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the coded form is a barcode.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the barcode is a two dimensional barcode.

17. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the second part is a proxy for a surname.

18. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the first part includes alphabetic and numeric characters.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a financial services card including

i) an account identifier; and

ii) a name, the name having a first part and a second part, the first part being selected by a first party, the second part being selected by a second party different from the first party, neither the first or second party being related to a cardholder who will be provided with the financial services card for the cardholder'"'"'s use, the name representing a cardholder name in which a financial services card account identified by the account identifier is registered, the financial services card further having an associated billing identifier which will result in a settlement of a charge by the cardholder using the financial services card from an account associated with the first or the second party and the cardholder name neither being a given name nor a stage name of the cardholder.

20. An apparatus comprising:

a financial services card account including an associated cardholder name, an account limit, a billing address and an expiration indicator, the expiration indicator representing a date on which a financial services account card for the financial services card account will not be usable, the billing address being associated with an issuer of the financial services card, the cardholder name having a first part representing a selection by a cardholder having an actual name and a second part representing a selection by an entity other than the cardholder having an association with the issuer of the financial services account, the second part being usable as a surrogate surname of the cardholder, so that when the cardholder makes a purchase and pays a merchant for the purchase via the financial services card account, the cardholder will use the cardholder name instead of the actual name and a payment for the purchase will be made without identifying the actual name of the cardholder.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:

means for storing records, the records containing information related to the financial services card account, the means, at a time of the purchase, containing no information capable of identifying the actual name of the cardholder.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:

a database which stores information related to the financial services card account, the database, at a time of the purchase, containing no indication of an address for the cardholder.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the means for storing contains no indication of an address for the cardholder.

24. An apparatus comprising:

a database stored on a computer readable media, the database including records associated with a plurality of active financial services card accounts, one of the financial services card account records having a name representing a cardholder for purposes of using the account, the name having a first part selected by the cardholder and a second part selected by a second party unrelated to the cardholder.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising:

a pointer associated with an active database record.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the pointer identifies a settlement source.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the pointer identifies a settlement account.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the settlement account is a DDA account.

29. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the pointer identifies a billing address.

30. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the billing address identifies an issuing bank for a financial services card representing the financial services card account, the card incorporating the first part and the second part.

31. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein an active financial services card account is anonymous.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the anonymity is limited.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the anonymity is complete.

34. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the second party is one of an issuer of debit cards, an issuer of credit cards, an issuer of charge cards, an operator of the database, an agent of an issuer, a bank, a savings and loan, a payment card association, an authorized representative of an issuer, a provider of ATM cards, a brokerage, or an entity that makes payment cards available to its customers.

35. A method comprising:

adding a cardholder name to a financial services card, the cardholder name comprising at least two parts, a first part being an identifier selected by a cardholder who will receive the financial services card and a second part being characters selected by an entity other than the cardholder the first and second parts together substituting for an actual name of the cardholder; and

providing the financial services card containing the cardholder name for ultimate delivery to the cardholder.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the adding comprises imprinting the cardholder name in human readable form.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the imprinting comprises rendering the cardholder name in ink on a surface of the card.

38. The method of claim 36 wherein the imprinting comprises one of raising or lowering characters relative to a surface of the card.

39. A method of administering financial services card accounts comprising:

registering a financial services account in a cardholder name, the cardholder name comprising a first part, related to the cardholder, and a second part, identifying a party unrelated to the cardholder.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising anonymizing the financial services account.

41. The method of claim 39 further comprising communicating the cardholder name to an issuing bank for the financial services account.

42. The method of claim 39 further comprising activating the financial services account.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein the activating includes adding a record for the financial services account into a database.

44. The method of claim 39 further comprising causing creation of a financial services card having the cardholder name.

45. A method comprising the steps performing the functions of:

a using step for making a purchase with a financial services card, the financial services card including a cardholder name having a first part selected in a first selecting step by an individual in whose name the financial services card is registered, and a second part selected in a second selecting step, the second part identifying an entity other than the individual.

46. The method of claim 45 further comprising, prior to the using step, the first selecting step occurs after the second selecting step.

47. The method of claim 45 further comprising, prior to the using step, backing the financial services card for initiating an activation of the financial services card.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein the backing step comprises paying for the financial services card using one of a debit card, a charge card, a credit card, electronic money, a precious metal, or a negotiable instrument.

49. A method comprising:

selecting a first part of a cardholder name for an account which would appear on a financial services card if a physical card is issued,

accepting an unrelated entity'"'"'s selection of a second part of the cardholder name for the account such that a use of the account will result in a provision of the first part in place of a first name and the second part in place of a surname.

50. The method of claim 49 further comprising the step of paying for a purchase using a physical financial services card.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein the first part is selected from an actual first name, an e-mail user name, a nickname and a sequence of alphanumeric characters.

52. A method comprising:

accepting a payment via a financial services card having a cardholder name made up of a first part, selected by a user of the financial services card, and a second part, selected by an entity unrelated to the user.

53. The method of claim 52 further comprising:

seeking authorization for the payment.

54. The method of claim 52 further comprising:

receiving an authorization code prior to performing the accepting step.

55. The method of claim 52 further comprising:

providing on-line services in exchange for the payment.

56. A transactional method comprising:

accepting a payment via a financial services card account having an account number and a cardholder name, the cardholder name including a first part, selected by a user of the financial services card account, and a second part, selected by an entity unrelated to the user without requiring a presentation of a physical card for the financial services card account at about a time when the accepting occurs.

57. The method of claim 56 further comprising the step of seeking authorization for a purchase using the account number for the financial services card account.

58. A method comprising:

tendering payment to a merchant by providing a financial services account number registered in a cardholder name representing a tenderor, the cardholder name made up of a first part, selected by the tenderor, and a second part, selected by an entity unrelated to the tenderor, the second part being present in place of a surname as the surname would appear on a conventional credit card issued to the tenderor.

59. The method of claim 58 wherein, at a time at or before tendering step is performed, no physical card has been issued in the cardholder name and provided to the tenderor for the financial services account.

60. The method of claim 58 wherein the tendering step further comprises presenting a physical card including the financial services account number and the cardholder name.