Method and system for saving and investing through use of a money management card and pooled investment accounts

• US 7,480,634 B1
• Filed: 04/15/2002
• Issued: 01/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cornelius Marketing
• Original Assignee: Cornelius Marketing
• Inventors: Cornelius, Harry
• Primary Examiner(s): Kazimi; Hani
• Assistant Examiner(s): Zecher; Michael R
• Application Number:
  US10/122,763
• Time in Patent Office: 2,472 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

A money management card adapted to provide a method of saving and investing for a user of the money management card. The money management card is associated with an investment account which allows money to be pooled for the purpose of investing. The investment account allows the user to allocate the balance of the investment account in one or more investment vehicles. The user is not required to satisfy a minimum amount before placing a portion of the balance in the investment vehicle. The balance of the investment account is funded by additional amounts added to purchase amounts for purchases made with the card.

Claims

1. In a system wherein a credit card is used to charge a purchase amount for purchases, a method for allowing a user to save a specified savings amount when using the credit card, the method comprising the computer-implemented acts of:

associating the credit card with an investment account for the user, the investment account including a pooled account that aggregates funds from a plurality of users that have been issued cards associated with a savings program thereby increasing the pool of total funds that can be invested by the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program, the pooled account enabling each of the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program and that do not individually submit savings amounts sufficient to meet minimum investment amounts for registered securities to invest along with the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment requirements for the registered securities;

receiving from the user an indication of registered security allocations, the registered security allocations indicating how any separate savings amounts submitted on behalf of the user are to be invested in corresponding registered securities associated with the established investment account;

receiving an indication that the user made a purchase using the credit card for a specified purchase amount;

prior to billing the indicated credit card purchase;

a computer calculating a separate savings amount to loan to the user for investment in the user'"'"'s indicated registered security allocations, the calculation of the separate savings amount triggered by the purchase, the separate savings amount based on the purchase amount of the purchase, the separate savings amount being less than the minimum investment amount for the user'"'"'s indicated security allocations;

the computer loaning the separate savings amount to the user for investment in the user'"'"'s indicated registered security allocations such that the loaned savings amount can be invested on behalf of the user prior to billing for payment for the loaned savings amount from the user, wherein the loaned savings amount is charged to the credit card along with the purchase amount and not as a charge associated with a separate credit account; and

the computer adding the loaned savings amount to the pooled account in the name of the user prior to receiving payment for the loaned savings amount so that the loaned savings amount can be pooled with savings amounts of the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment amounts for the user'"'"'s indicated registered securities.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequent to investment of the loaned savings amount determining a charge from the user, the charge including

     1) the specified purchase amount, and

     2) the loaned savings amount that has been invested into the pooled account in the name of the user;

charging the determined charge to the user; and

receiving a payment for the determined charge subsequent to the concurrent investment of the loaned savings amount into the pooled account in the name of the user with the indicated credit card purchase.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein adding the loaned savings amount to the pooled account in the name of the user comprises adding the loaned savings amount to the pooled account in response to calculating the separate savings amount.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of methods of calculating the separate savings amount are provided.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said user selects a method to calculate the separate savings amount from said plurality of methods of calculating the additional amount.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a separate savings amount is calculated for each transaction.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a separate savings amount is calculated for more than one transaction.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a separate savings amount is calculated using a total of all purchase amounts for a given billing cycle.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a separate savings amount is pre-selected amount.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a separate savings amount is calculated based on a percentage of the purchase amount.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said percentage of the purchase amount varies depending on purchase amounts totals.

12. In a system wherein a user uses a credit card to charge a purchase amount for purchases, a method for allowing the user to save a specified savings amount when using the credit card, the method comprising the computer-implemented acts of:

authorizing the addition of a savings amount to any purchase amount corresponding to any purchases the user makes using the credit card;

submitting to a financial institution an indication of registered security allocations indicating how any separate savings amounts submitted on behalf of the user are to be invested in corresponding registered securities, the registered securities associated with an investment account established for the user, the investment account including a pooled account that aggregates funds from a plurality of users that have been issued cards associated with a savings program thereby increasing the pool of total funds that can be invested by the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program, the pooled account enabling each of the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program and that do not individually submit savings amounts sufficient to meet a minimum investment amount to invest along with the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment requirements;

making a purchase using the credit card, the purchase for a specified purchase amount;

a computer receiving a charge for use of the credit card, the charge including;

     1) the specified purchase amount, and

     2) a loaned savings amount that was loaned by the financial institution to the user prior to generation of the received charge and invested into the pooled account in the name of the user prior to generation of the received charge, the loaned savings amount having been calculated based on the sum of the specified purchase amount, the specified separate savings amount being less than the minimum investment amount, and wherein the loaned savings amount is charged to the credit card along with the purchase amount and not as a charge associated with a separate credit account.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a plurality of methods of calculating the loaned savings amount are provided.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said user submits a method to calculate the loaned savings amount from said plurality of methods of calculating the loaned savings amount to the financial institution.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the loaned savings amount is a pre-selected amount.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the loaned savings amount is a pre-selected amount is calculated based on a percentage of the purchase amount.

17. In a system wherein a debit card associated with a user'"'"'s account is used to conduct purchases for a purchase amount, a method for investing a savings amount for the user in response to use of the debit card, the method comprising the computer-implemented acts of:

associating the debit card with an investment account for the user, the investment account including a pooled account that aggregates funds from a plurality of users that have been issued cards thereby increasing the pool of total funds that can be invested by the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program, the pooled account enabling each of the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program and that do not individually submit savings amounts sufficient to meet minimum investment amounts for registered securities to invest along with the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment requirements for the registered securities;

receiving from the user an indication of registered security allocations, the registered security allocations indicating how any separate savings amounts submitted on behalf of the user are to be invested in corresponding registered securities associated with the established investment account;

receiving a debit card authorization indicating that a user made a purchase using the debit card for a specified purchase amount;

concurrent with the debit card authorization;

a computer calculating a separate savings amount corresponding to the purchase based on the specified purchase amount, the calculation of the separate savings amount being less than the minimum investment amount for the user'"'"'s indicated registered security allocations;

the computer directly deducting the specified purchase amount and the calculation of the separate savings amount from the user'"'"'s account; and

the computer adding the separate savings amount to the pooled account in the name of the user so that the separate savings amount can be pooled with savings amounts of the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment amounts for the user'"'"'s indicated registered securities in response to use of the debit card.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said funds of said pooled account are invested in a plurality of registered securities.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said user is provided with a plurality of registered securities to which said separate savings amount can be allocated.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said plurality of registered securities provided to said user is a tailored subset of said plurality of registered securities in which said funds of said pooled account are invested, the tailored subset of registered securities tailored for the user based on the user'"'"'s investment needs.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said plurality of registered securities provided to said user are selected for said user.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein said plurality of registered securities provided to said user comprise said plurality of registered securities in which said funds of said pooled account are invested.

23. A computer program product for use in a system wherein a credit card is used to charge a purchase amount for purchases, the computer program product for implementing a method for allowing the user to save a specified savings amount when using the credit card, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed at a processor, cause the system to perform the method, including the following:

associate the credit card with an investment account for the user, the investment account including a pooled account that aggregates funds from a plurality of users that have been issued cards associated with a savings program thereby increasing the pool of total funds that can be invested by the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program, the pooled account enabling each of the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program and that do not individually submit savings amounts sufficient to meet minimum investment amounts for registered securities to invest along with the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment requirements for the registered securities;

receive from the user an indication of registered security allocations, the registered security allocations indicating how any separate savings amounts submitted on behalf of the user are to be invested in corresponding registered securities associated with the established investment account;

receive an indication that the user made a purchase using the credit card for a specified purchase amount;

prior to billing the indicated credit card purchase;

calculate a separate savings amount to loan to the user for investment in the user'"'"'s indicated registered security allocations, the calculation of the separate savings amount triggered by the purchase, the separate savings amount based on the purchase amount of the purchase, the separate savings amount being less than the minimum investment amount for the user'"'"'s indicated registered security allocations;

loan the separate savings amount to the user for investment in the user'"'"'s indicated registered security allocations such that the loaned savings amount can be invested on behalf of the user prior to receiving payment for the loaned savings amount from the user, wherein the loaned savings amount is charged to the credit card along with the purchase amount and not as a charge associated with a separate credit account;

add the loaned savings amount to the pooled account in the name of the user prior to receiving payment for the loaned savings amount so that the loaned savings amount can be pooled with savings amounts of the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment amounts for the user'"'"'s registered securities.

24. A computer program product for use in a system wherein a debit card associated with a user'"'"'s account is used to conduct purchases for a purchase amount, the computer program product for implementing a method for investing a savings amount for the user in response to use of the debit card, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed at a processor, cause the system to perform the method, including the following:

associate the debit card with an investment account for the user, the investment account including a pooled account that aggregates funds from a plurality of users that have been issued cards associated with a savings program thereby increasing the pool of total funds that can be invested by the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program, the pooled account enabling each of the plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program and that do not individually submit savings amounts sufficient to meet minimum investment amounts for registered securities to invest along with the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment requirements for the registered securities;

receive from the user an indication of registered security allocations, the registered security allocations indicating how any separate savings amounts submitted on behalf of the user are to be invested in corresponding registered securities associated with the established investment account;

receive a debit card authorization indicating that a user made a purchase using the debit card for a specified purchase amount

concurrent with the debit card authorization;

calculate a separate savings amount corresponding to the purchase based on the specified purchase amount, the calculation of the separate savings amount being less than the minimum investment amount for the user'"'"'s indicated registered security allocations;

directly deduct the specified purchase amount and the calculation savings amount from the user'"'"'s account; and

add the separate savings amount to the pooled account in the name of the user so that the separate savings amount can be pooled with savings amounts of the other plurality of users issued cards associated with the savings program in order to meet the minimum investment amounts for the user'"'"'s indicated registered securities in response to use of the debit card.