Spending and savings secondary linked accounts

• US 7,945,512 B2
• Filed: 08/13/2007
• Issued: 05/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Tiritoglu, Alp, Black, Joseph Edward, Fotsch, Donald James, Scipioni, German, Poling, Amy
• Primary Examiner(s): Poinvil; Frantzy
• Application Number:
  US11/837,704
• Publication Number:
  US 20080228637A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,373 Days
• Field of Search: 705 10- 44
• US Class Current: 705/39
• 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 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/22 Payment schemes or models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/227 characterised in that multiple accounts are available, e.g. to the payer
• 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 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Embodiments describe a method and a system to link a secondary account to a primary account with an account management module associated with the primary account and to control access to funds in the secondary account with respect to a secondary account holder through the account management module. The secondary account includes a spending account and a savings account.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an account management module;

to link, using one or more processors, a secondary account to a primary account, the secondary account including a spending account and a savings account and having a dependent source portion and an independent source portion, the account management module associated with the primary account,

to enable a holder of the primary account to control access to and use of funds in the dependent source portion of the secondary account with respect to a secondary account holder by limiting spending in certain categories or with certain merchants, and

to allow the secondary account holder to control funds in the independent source portion.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the account management module includes a module selected from a group including a security management module, a merchant control module, a category control module, a marketplace control module and a funds transfer module.

3. The system of claim 1 including a funds transfer module to control transfer of funds between the savings account and the spending account.

4. The system of claim 1 including a savings module to enable interest to be earned in the secondary savings account.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the savings module is to enable the interest earned in the savings account to be subsidized from the primary account.

6. The system of claim 1 including a savings module to enable a portion of the savings account of the secondary account to be set aside for a selected goal.

7. The system of claim 6 including a payment module having a savings goal purchase module to purchase a particular item associated with the selected goal with funds from the set aside portion of the savings account of the secondary account upon meeting the selected goal.

8. The system of claim 1 comprising a customizing module including a financial game module to simulate ‘

real-world’

savings and spending.

9. A computer-implemented method comprising:

linking, using one or more processors, a secondary account to a primary account with an account management module associated with the primary account, the secondary account including a spending account and a savings account and having a dependent source portion and an independent source portion; and

enabling a holder of the primary account to control access to and use of funds in the dependent source portion of the secondary account with respect to a secondary account holder through the account management module by limiting spending in certain categories or with certain merchants while allowing the secondary account holder to control funds in the independent source portion.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the account management module includes a module selected from a group including a security management module, a merchant control module, a category control module, a marketplace control module and a funds transfer module.

11. The method of claim 9 including controlling transfer of funds between the savings account and the spending account.

12. The method of claim 9 including enabling interest to be earned in the savings account of the secondary account.

13. The method of claim 12 including subsidizing the earned interest from the primary account.

14. The method of claim 9 including enabling a portion of the savings account of the secondary account to be set aside for a selected goal.

15. The method of claim 14 including purchasing a particular item associated with the selected goal with funds from the set aside portion of the savings account upon meeting the selected goal.

16. The method of claim 9 comprising simulating ‘

real-world’

savings and spending.

17. A machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when implemented by one or more processors perform operations comprising:

linking a secondary account to a primary account with an account management module associated with the primary account, the secondary account including a spending account and a savings account and having a dependent source portion and an independent source portion; and

enabling a holder of the primary account to control access to and use of funds in the dependent source portion of the secondary account with respect to a secondary account holder through the account management module by limiting spending in certain categories or with certain merchants while allowing the secondary account holder to control funds in the independent source portion.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operation further comprise controlling transfer of funds between the savings account and the spending account.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the operation further comprises enabling interest to be earned in the savings account of the secondary account.

20. A primary account user interface comprising:

an account linking feature to link, using one or more processors, a secondary account to a primary account, the secondary account includes a spending account and a savings account and having a dependent source portion and an independent source portion; and

an account management feature to enable a holder of the primary account to control access to and use of funds in the dependent source portion of the secondary account with respect to a secondary account holder by limiting spending in certain categories or with certain merchants, the account management feature further to allow the secondary account holder to control funds in the independent source portion.

21. The primary account user interface of claim 20 wherein the account management feature is selected from a group including a security management feature, a merchant control feature, a category control feature, a marketplace control feature, and a funds transfer feature.

22. The primary account user interface of claim 21 including a funds transfer feature to control transfer of funds between the savings and the spending accounts.

23. The primary account user interface of claim 20 including an interest-bearing savings feature to enable interest to be earned in the savings account of the secondary account.

24. The primary account user interface of claim 23 wherein the interest-bearing savings feature is to enable the interest earned in the savings account to be subsidized from the primary account.

25. The primary account user interface of claim 20 including a savings goal feature to enable a portion of the savings account to be set aside for a selected goal.

26. The primary account user interface of claim 25 wherein the savings goal feature is to purchase a particular item associated with the selected goal with funds from the set aside portion of the savings account upon meeting the selected goal.