Method and system for making a monetary gift

• US 7,502,749 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2001
• Issued: 03/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Checkfree Services Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Checkfree Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ganesan, Ravi, Renshaw, Timothy Scott, Kight, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith; Jeffrey A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MISIASZEK, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US09/849,979
• Publication Number:
  US 20020087427A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,863 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27
• 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

Abstract

A method, system and article of manufacture for making a monetary gift. The system includes a communications port, a memory, and a processor. The processor functions to perform the method of the present invention. A request to make a monetary gift to a recipient on behalf of a donor is received. An input associated with an electronic greeting card is also received. The request and the input are processed to generate the electronic greeting card with a notification of the gift. The electronic greeting card is transmitted to the recipient, and the gift is credited to the recipient'"'"'s bank account.

Claims

1. A method for making a monetary gift, comprising:

receiving, via a network, a request to send an electronic greeting card and to make an associated monetary gift in an amount, on behalf of a requesting donor to a designated recipient;

processing the received request to generate the electronic greeting card including a notification of the monetary gift;

transmitting, via the network, the generated electronic greeting card to the designated recipient;

further transmitting, via the network, the transmitted electronic greeting card including a hyper-link and the notification of the monetary gift to a non-designated recipient;

receiving, via activation of the hyper-link, information identifying the non-designated recipient;

processing the received information identifying the non-designated recipient to determine if the non-designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community;

if it is determined that the non-designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, transmitting a notice, via the network, to the non-designated recipient, that the non-designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before funds are directed to be credited to a deposit account; and

if it is determined that the non-designated recipient is a member of the enclosed community, directing the crediting of the funds equal to the monetary gift amount to the deposit account;

wherein the deposit account is at a financial institution and is associated with the non-designated recipient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the request is received by, the received request is processed by and the generated electronic greeting card is transmitted by an electronic greeting card service; and

the crediting of funds is directed by a payment service provider.

3. A method for making a monetary gift, comprising:

receiving, via a network, a request to send an electronic greeting card and to make an associated monetary gift in an amount, on behalf of a requesting donor to a designated recipient;

processing the received request to generate the electronic greeting card including a notification of the monetary gift;

transmitting, via the network, the generated electronic greeting card to the designated recipient; and

directing a crediting of funds equal to the monetary gift amount to a deposit account;

wherein the request is received from an electronic greeting card service.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the electronic greeting card is transmitted to the designated recipient at one of 1) a time subsequent to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, 2) a time concurrent with the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, and 3) a time prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the electronic greeting card includes a hyper-link;

the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account subsequent to an activation of the hyper-link; and

the deposit account is at a financial institution.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, via activation of the hyper-link, information identifying the designated recipient;

wherein the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account subsequent to receipt of the information identifying the recipient; and

wherein the deposit account is associated with the designated recipient.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the electronic greeting card includes a hyper-link, and further comprising:

receiving, via activation of the the hyperlink, information identifying the designated recipient;

processing the received information identifying the designated recipient to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account; and

if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, transmitting a notice, via the network, to the designated recipient, that the designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

processing the received request to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to processing the request to generate the electronic greeting card including the notification of the monetary gift;

wherein, if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, the transmitted electronic greeting card includes a notification that the recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.

9. A method for making a monetary gift, comprising:

receiving, via a network, a request to send an electronic greeting card and to make an associated monetary gift in an amount, on behalf of a requesting donor to a designated recipient;

processing the received request to generate the electronic greeting card including a notification of the monetary gift;

transmitting, via the network, the generated electronic greeting card to the designated recipient;

directing a crediting of funds equal to the monetary gift amount to a deposit account; and

transmitting, via the network, the generated electronic greeting card to an electronic greeting card service prior to transmitting the electronic greeting card to the designated recipient.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the electronic greeting card is transmitted to the designated recipient at one of 1) a time subsequent to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, 2) a time concurrent with the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, and 3) a time prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the electronic greeting card includes a hyper-link;

the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account subsequent to an activation of the hyper-link; and

the deposit account is at a financial institution.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, via activation of the hyper-link, information identifying the designated recipient; and

wherein the deposit account is associated with the designated recipient.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the electronic greeting card includes a hyper-link, and further comprising:

receiving, via activation of the hyper-link, information identifying the designated recipient;

processing the received information identifying the designated recipient to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account; and

if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, transmitting a notice, via the network, to the designated recipient, that the designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

processing the received request to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to processing the request to generate the electronic greeting card including the notification of the monetary gift;

wherein, if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, the transmitted electronic greeting card includes a notification that the recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein:

the request is received by, the received request is processed by and the generated electronic greeting card is transmitted by an electronic greeting card service; and

the crediting of funds is directed by a payment service provider.

16. A system for making a monetary gift, comprising:

a communications port configured to receive a request to send an electronic greeting card and to make an associated monetary gift in an amount, on behalf of a requesting donor to a designated recipient, via a network; and

a processor configured to process the received request to generate the electronic greeting card including a notification of the monetary gift;

wherein;

the communications port is further configured to transmit the electronic greeting card to the designated recipient via the network;

the generated greeting card includes a hyper-link;

the communications port is further configured to receive, via the network over the hyper-link, information identifying a non-designated recipient subsequent to a transmission of the electronic greeting card;

the processor is further configured to process the information identifying the non-designated recipient to determine if the non-designated recipient of a member of the enclosed community;

if it is determined that the non-designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, the processor is further configured to cause the communications port to transmit a notice to the non-designated recipient, via the network, that the non-designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before the funds are directed to be credited to a deposit account;

if it is determined that the non-designated recipient is a member of the enclosed community, the processor is further configured to direct the funds equal to the monetary gift amount to be credited to a deposit account; and

the deposit account is at a financial institution and is associated with the non-designated recipient.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the request is received by an electronic greeting card service.

18. A system for making a monetary gift, comprising:

a communications port configured to receive a request to send an electronic greeting card and to make an associated monetary gift in an amount, on behalf of a requesting donor to a designated recipient, via a network; and

a processor configured to process the received request to generate the electronic greeting card including a notification of the monetary gift;

wherein the communications port is further configured to transmit the electronic greeting card to the designated recipient via the network;

wherein the processor is further configured to direct funds equal to the monetary gift amount to be credited to a deposit account; and

wherein the request is received from an electronic greeting card service.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the electronic greeting card to be transmitted to the recipient at one of 1) a time subsequent to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, 2) a time concurrent with the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, and 3) a time prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the generated electronic greeting card includes a hyper-link;

the communications port is further configured to receive information via the network over the hyper-link;

the processor is further configured to direct the funds to be credited to the deposit account subsequent to receipt of the information over the hyper-link; and

the deposit account is at a financial institution.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the information received via the network over the hyper-link identifies the designated recipient; and

the deposit account is associated with the designated recipient.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein:

the processor is further configured to (1) process the received information identifying the designated recipient to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, and (2) if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, cause the communications port to transmit a notice to the designated recipient that the designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.

23. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the processor is further configured to process the request to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to generating the electronic greeting card including the notification of the monetary gift; and

if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, the generated electronic greeting card includes a notification that the designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein the request is received by an electronic greeting card service.

25. A system for making a monetary gift, comprising:

a communications port configured to receive a request to send an electronic greeting card and to make an associated monetary gift in an amount, on behalf of a requesting donor to a designated recipient, via a network; and

a processor configured to process the received request to generate the electronic greeting card including a notification of the monetary gift;

wherein the communications port is further configured to transmit the electronic greeting card to the designated recipient via the network; and

wherein the processor is further configured to direct funds equal to the monetary gift amount to be credited to a deposit account.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the electronic greeting card to be transmitted to the recipient at one of 1) a time subsequent to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, 2) a time concurrent with the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, and 3) a time prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the generated electronic greeting card includes a hyper-link;

the communications port is further configured to receive information via the network over the hyper-link;

the processor is further configured to direct the funds to be credited to the deposit account subsequent to receipt of the information over the hyper-link; and

the deposit account is at a financial institution.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein:

the information received via the network over the hyper-link identifies the designated recipient; and

the deposit account is associated with the designated recipient.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein:

the processor is further configured to (1) process the received information identifying the designated recipient to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to the directing of the crediting of the funds to the deposit account, and (2) if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, cause the communications port to transmit a notice to the designated recipient that the designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the processor is further configured to process the request to determine if the designated recipient is a member of an enclosed community prior to generating the electronic greeting card including the notification of the monetary gift; and

if it is determined that the designated recipient is not a member of the enclosed community, the generated electronic greeting card includes a notification that the designated recipient must become a member of the enclosed community before the funds are directed to be credited to the deposit account.