Systems and methods for settling an allocation of an amount between transaction accounts

• US 7,877,325 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2009
• Issued: 01/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/1999
• 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: Thomas, Tracey R., Sharma, Bansi L., Bishop, Fred A.
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, JAGDISH
• Application Number:
  US12/355,527
• Publication Number:
  US 20090125426A1
• Time in Patent Office: 739 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37, 705/38, 705/39
• 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 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A financial account issuer facilitating transactions between accounts is disclosed. The invention provides sellers with an irrevocable method of receiving funds from a purchaser and for improving purchaser willingness to transact with an unknown party. The invention also enables the allocation of a portion or all of a charge or loyalty points to different transaction accounts issued by different issuers, or to sub-accounts.

Claims

1. A method for settling an allocation of an amount associated with a transaction, the method comprising:

receiving, by a financial account issuer server, a first application for a first financial account from a first party, wherein the financial account issuer server is a processing engine having a non-transitory memory and, wherein the first application comprises fields which include financial account information for establishing the first financial account and transaction management information relating to facilitating transaction management between the first party and a second party;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, creation of the first financial account for the first party and a registration of the first party to participate in the transaction management, wherein the registration includes a first financial account identifier for identifying the first financial account associated with the first party;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, first party credit information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or a third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the first party is eligible for obtaining the first financial account based on the first party credit information and the transaction management information;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, first party fraud risk information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the first party is eligible to participate in the transaction management based on a fraud risk analysis of the first party fraud risk information;

transmitting, by the financial account issuer server, the first financial account identifier to the first party;

receiving, at the financial account issuer server, a second application for a second financial account from a second party, wherein the second application comprises fields which include financial account information for establishing the second financial account and transaction management information relating to facilitating transaction management between the second party and the first party;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, creation of the second financial account for the second party and a registration of the second party to participate in the transaction management, wherein the registration includes a second financial account identifier for identifying the second financial account associated with the second party;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, second party credit information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the second party is eligible for obtaining the second financial account based on the second party credit information and the transaction management information;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, second party fraud risk information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the second party is eligible to participate in the transaction management based on a fraud risk analysis of the second party fraud risk information;

transmitting, by the financial account issuer server, the second financial account identifier to the second party;

receiving, at a first financial account issuer, a request to settle the amount and the first financial account identifier from a merchant associated with the transaction

acquiring, by the financial account issuer server, an allocation rule associated with the first financial account identifier;

transforming, by the financial account issuer server, an allocation instruction based on the allocation rule;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, a first portion of the amount to be debited from the first financial account based on the allocation instruction;

verifying, by the financial account issuer server, that the first financial account can satisfy the debiting of the first portion;

debiting, by the financial account issuer server, the first portion of the amount from the first financial account based on the allocation instruction;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, the second financial account, based on the allocation instruction;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, a second portion of the amount to be debited from the second financial account based on the allocation instruction;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, debiting of the second portion of the amount from the second financial account based on the allocation instruction; and

sending, by the financial account issuer server, at least a part of the first portion and the second portion to the merchant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending to the merchant occurs prior to the obtaining the second portion of the amount from the second financial account issuer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the allocation rule is based upon at least one of:

the amount, consumer goals, demographic data, location information, loyalty point information, historical transactions, frequency of transactions, time period of the transaction, past behavior of consumer, past behavior of merchant, payment system, consumer transaction fees, late fees, interest rates, merchant transaction fees, exchange rates, account fees, vendor information, company guidelines, biometric information, authorization levels, consumer information, merchant information, issuer information, payment processor information, record of charge, summary of charges, consumer confirmation, employer confirmation, lack of confirmation, type of account or financial instrument.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first financial account or the second financial account includes at least one of:

a transaction account, an escrow account, a digital cash account, a demand deposit account, a credit line, checking account, savings account, a gift card account, a pre-paid account, a credit union account, a bank account, an investment account, a money market account, a corporate account, personal account, a loyalty account, gift card account, procurement account, fuel account, shared account, a third party billing account, a revolving credit card account or a charge card account.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the allocation rule is at least one of:

stored on a transaction device, stored on a personal digital assistant, acquired from an employer, acquired from a third party, generated at a point of sale, associated with the first financial account, stored in a merchant database, or stored in a payment processor database.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the allocation rule is at least one of:

a pre-defined rule, a dynamic rule, entered via a webpage, or entered via a personal digital assistant.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the allocation rule at least one of:

initiates a notification, or requests a confirmation.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of:

the amount, the first portion or the second portion are included on a billing statement associated with at least one of the first financial account or the second financial account.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the amount comprises at least one of a monetary amount, a non-monetary amount, loyalty points, or monetary equivalent value.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the allocation rule from a consumer associated with the first financial account.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first financial account and the second financial account are associated with the same consumer.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising retaining, by the first financial account issuer, a third portion of the amount as a transaction fee.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising debiting a transaction fee from at least one of the first financial account or the second financial account.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising paying interest to at least one of the first financial account or the second financial account based upon on the second portion of the amount allocated to the second financial account.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first financial account issuer comprises at least one of a transaction account issuer, charge card issuer, credit card issuer, debit card issuer, gift card issuer, bank, lender, credit union, or a third party issuer under contract with the financial account issuer.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein a second authorization request is received by the second financial account issuer from at least one of the first financial account issuer or a merchant associated with the transaction.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein a second authorization approval is sent from the second financial account issuer to at least one of the first financial account issuer or a merchant associated with the transaction.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the facilitating debiting comprises sending a request to an issuer associated with the second financial account.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising transforming the allocation instruction based on the transaction.

20. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, in response to execution by a financial account issuer server, cause the financial account issuer server to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the financial account issuer server, a first application for a first financial account from a first party, wherein the financial account issuer server is a processing engine having a non-transitory memory and, wherein the first application comprises fields which include financial account information for establishing the first financial account and transaction management information relating to facilitating transaction management between the first party and a second party;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, creation of the first financial account for the first party and a registration of the first party to participate in the transaction management, wherein the registration includes a first financial account identifier for identifying the first financial account associated with the first party;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, first party credit information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or a third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the first party is eligible for obtaining the first financial account based on the first party credit information and the transaction management information;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, first party fraud risk information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the first party is eligible to participate in the transaction management based on a fraud risk analysis of the first party fraud risk information;

transmitting, by the financial account issuer server, the first financial account identifier to the first party;

receiving, at the financial account issuer server, a second application for a second financial account from a second party, wherein the second application comprises fields which include financial account information for establishing the second financial account and transaction management information relating to facilitating transaction management between the second party and the first party;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, creation of the second financial account for the second party and a registration of the second party to participate in the transaction management, wherein the registration includes a second financial account identifier for identifying the second financial account associated with the second party;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, second party credit information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the second party is eligible for obtaining the second financial account based on the second party credit information and the transaction management information;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, second party fraud risk information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the second party is eligible to participate in the transaction management based on a fraud risk analysis of the second party fraud risk information;

transmitting, by the financial account issuer server, the second financial account identifier to the second party;

receiving, at a first financial account issuer, a request to settle the amount and the first financial account identifier from a merchant associated with the transaction;

acquiring, by the financial account issuer server, an allocation rule associated with the first financial account identifier;

transforming, by the financial account issuer server, an allocation instruction based on the allocation rule;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, a first portion of the amount to be debited from the first financial account based on the allocation instruction;

verifying, by the financial account issuer server, that the first financial account can satisfy the debiting of the first portion;

debiting, by the financial account issuer server, the first portion of the amount from the first financial account based on the allocation instruction;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, the second financial account, based on the allocation instruction;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, a second portion of the amount to be debited from the second financial account based on the allocation instruction;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, debiting of the second portion of the amount from the second financial account based on the allocation instruction; and

sending, by the financial account issuer server, at least a part of the first portion and the second portion to the merchant.

21. A system comprising:

a tangible, non-transitory memory communicating with a processor of a financial account issuer server,

the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the financial account issuer server to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by the financial account issuer server, a first application for a first financial account from a first party, wherein the financial account issuer server is a processing engine having a non-transitory memory and, wherein the first application comprises fields which include financial account information for establishing the first financial account and transaction management information relating to facilitating transaction management between the first party and a second party;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, creation of the first financial account for the first party and a registration of the first party to participate in the transaction management, wherein the registration includes a first financial account identifier for identifying the first financial account associated with the first party;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, first party credit information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or a third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the first party is eligible for obtaining the first financial account based on the first party credit information and the transaction management information;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, first party fraud risk information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the first party is eligible to participate in the transaction management based on a fraud risk analysis of the first party fraud risk information;

transmitting, by the financial account issuer server, the first financial account identifier to the first party;

receiving, at the financial account issuer server, a second application for a second financial account from a second party, wherein the second application comprises fields which include financial account information for establishing the second financial account and transaction management information relating to facilitating transaction management between the second party and the first party;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, creation of the second financial account for the second party and a registration of the second party to participate in the transaction management, wherein the registration includes a second financial account identifier for identifying the second financial account associated with the second party;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, second party credit information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the second party is eligible for obtaining the second financial account based on the second party credit information and the transaction management information;

obtaining, by the financial account issuer server, second party fraud risk information from at least one of the financial account issuer server or the third party;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, that the second party is eligible to participate in the transaction management based on a fraud risk analysis of the second party fraud risk information;

transmitting, by the financial account issuer server, the second financial account identifier to the second party;

receiving, at a first financial account issuer, a request to settle the amount and the first financial account identifier from a merchant associated with the transaction;

acquiring, by the financial account issuer server, an allocation rule associated with the first financial account identifier;

transforming, by the financial account issuer server, an allocation instruction based on the allocation rule;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, a first portion of the amount to be debited from the first financial account based on the allocation instruction;

verifying, by the financial account issuer server, that the first financial account can satisfy the debiting of the first portion;

debiting, by the financial account issuer server, the first portion of the amount from the first financial account based on the allocation instruction;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, the second financial account, based on the allocation instruction;

determining, by the financial account issuer server, a second portion of the amount to be debited from the second financial account, based on the allocation instruction;

facilitating, by the financial account issuer server, debiting of the second portion of the amount from the second financial account based on the allocation instruction; and

sending, by the financial account issuer server, at least a part of the first portion and the second portion to the merchant.