System, program product, and method to authorized draw for retailer optimization

• US 8,301,557 B1
• Filed: 05/28/2012
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pathward National Association
• Original Assignee: MetaBank (Meta Financial Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Crowe, Andrew B., Galit, Scott H., Sorbe, Trent
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Goyea, Olusegun
• Application Number:
  US13/481,950
• Time in Patent Office: 155 Days
• Field of Search: 705/17, 705/38, 705/39, 705/40, 705/41, 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• 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 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A line of credit optimized for a retailer and attached to a customer account at a financial institution is established for a customer of the retailer. A financial institution computer determines whether to advance funds through the line of credit for a transaction, then advances funds in one or more preselected loan increments to the customer account, up to a total available line of credit for the customer. The financial institution computer decrements the total available line of credit by the amount provided for the customer transaction and by a predetermined customer fee for each of the loan increments. The computer determines a value of a retailer foe to be paid by the retailer, involving a predetermined amount for each of the loan increments. The customer fee amount can be zero or discounted for customer transactions with the retailer. The retailer fee can be a rebate to the customer.

Claims

1. A computer to allow a plurality of customers to access a plurality of line of credits associated with a plurality of customer accounts, the computer comprising:

one or more processors to allow a plurality of customers to access a plurality of line of credits accounts associated with a financial institution;

one or more input/output unit adapted to communicate with an electronic communications network; and

non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with computer program that when executed by the one or more processors, perform the operations of;

establishing, responsive to customer underwriting data and predetermined qualification parameters, the plurality of line of credit accounts associated with a plurality of customer accounts for a plurality of customers, the plurality of line of credit accounts having a plurality of total credit limits having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of the plurality of total credit limits being reserved for use with one or more transactions with a predetermined retailer, each of the plurality of line of credit accounts further being adapted to be drawn in at least one of a plurality of separate predetermined loan increments each being equal in value;

determining a number of separate predetermined loan increments to be added to the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts responsive to a determination to advance funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts for one or more customer transactions;

loading the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts with at least one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments that corresponds with the determined number of separate predetermined loan increments to thereby define loaded predetermined increments, the loaded predetermined increments not exceeding a line of credit balance available for the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts; and

determining a loan advance fee for the loaded predetermined increments, the loan advance fee being equal to a predetermined financial institution fee plus a predetermined retailer fee multiplied by the number of separate predetermined loan increments.

2. A computer as defined in claim 1, wherein determining whether to advance funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts includes:

determining, responsive to receipt of transaction data, when one or more customer transaction cards associated with the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts is being used as payment for one or more customer transactions and when a value of the one or more customer transactions is greater than a value associated with the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts.

3. A computer as defined in claim 1, wherein the total value of the predetermined loan advance fee is a first amount when the one or more customer transactions is with the predetermined retailer and a second amount when the one or more customer transactions is not with the predetermined retailer, the second amount being larger than the first amount so that advances from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts for one or more customer transactions with the predetermined retailer are provided at a discount.

4. A computer as defined in claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises the instructions of:

deducting the loaded predetermined increments and the total value of the predetermined loan advance fee from a line of credit balance available associated with the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts; and

decreasing a line of credit balance associated with the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts by at least the predetermined retailer fee to thereby provide a rebate to one or more of the plurality of customers.

5. A computer as defined in claim 1, wherein determining whether to advance funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts is responsive to a request to draw funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts using an interactive voice response unit;

and wherein the financial institution is a first financial institution and one or more of the plurality of customer accounts are managed by a second financial institution different and positioned remote from the first financial institution.

6. A computer as defined in claim 1, wherein the predetermined retailer fee is paid by the predetermined retailer when the loaded predetermined increments are used for the one or more customer transactions with the predetermined retailer.

7. A computer as defined in claim 2, wherein the determined number of separate predetermined loan increments multiplied by a value of one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments plus the value associated with the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts exceeds the value of the one or more customer transactions by less than the value of one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments.

8. Non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with computer program operable on a computer to allow a plurality of customers to access a plurality of line of credits associated with a plurality of customer accounts, the computer program when executed by the computer, perform the operations of:

establishing, by the computer associated with a financial institution to define a financial institution computer, responsive to customer underwriting data and predetermined qualification parameters, a plurality of line of credit accounts associated with a plurality of customer accounts for a plurality of customers, the plurality of line of credit accounts having a plurality of total credit limits and adapted to be drawn in at least one of a plurality of separate predetermined loan increments each being equal in value;

determining, by the financial institution computer, a number of separate predetermined loan increments to be added to the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts responsive to a determination to advance funds from one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts for the one or more customer transactions;

loading, by the financial institution computer, the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts with at least one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments that corresponds with the determined number of separate predetermined loan increments to thereby define loaded predetermined increments, when the loaded predetermined increments not exceeding a line of credit balance available for the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts; and

determining, by the financial institution computer, a loan advance fee for the loaded predetermined increments, the loan advance fee being equal to a predetermined financial institution fee plus a predetermined retailer fee multiplied by the number of separate predetermined loan increments.

9. Non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein determining whether to advance funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts includes:

determining, responsive to receipt of transaction data, when one or more customer transaction cards associated with the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts is being used as payment for one or more customer transactions and when a value of the one or more customer transactions is greater than a value associated with the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts.

10. Non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the plurality of total credit limits of the plurality of line of credit accounts have a first portion and a second portion;

and wherein the predetermined retailer fee being a first amount when the one or more customer transactions is with a predetermined retailer and a second amount when the one or more customer transactions is not with the predetermined retailer, the second amount being larger than the first amount so that advances from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts for one or more customer transactions with the predetermined retailer are provided at a discount.

11. Non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein the computer program further comprises the instructions of:

deducting the loaded predetermined increments and the total value of the predetermined loan advance fee from a line of credit balance available associated with the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts; and

decreasing a line of credit balance associated with the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts by at least the predetermined retailer fee to thereby provide a rebate to one or more of the plurality of customers.

12. Non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 8, wherein determining whether to advance funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts is responsive to a request to draw funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts.

13. Non-transitory computer-readable medium defined in claim 8, wherein the predetermined retailer fee is paid by the predetermined retailer when the loaded predetermined increments are used for the one or more customer transactions with the predetermined retailer.

14. Non-transitory computer-readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the determined number of separate predetermined loan increments multiplied by a value of one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments plus the value associated with the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts exceeds the value of the one or more customer transactions by less than the value of one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments.

15. A computer-implemented method to allow a plurality of customer to access a plurality of line of credits, the computer-implemented method comprising:

establishing, by a computer associated with a financial institution and defining a financial institution computer, a plurality of line of credit accounts associated for a plurality of customers, the plurality of line of credit accounts having a plurality of total credit limits and adapted to be drawn in at least one of a plurality of separate predetermined loan increments each being equal in value;

determining, by the financial institution computer, a number of separate predetermined loan increments to be added to the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts responsive to a determination to advance funds from one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts for the one or more customer transactions;

loading, by the financial institution computer, the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts with at least one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments that corresponds with the determined number of separate predetermined loan increments to thereby define loaded predetermined increments, the loaded predetermined increments not exceeding a line of credit balance available for the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts; and

determining, by the financial institution computer, a loan advance fee for the loaded predetermined increments, the loan advance fee being equal to a predetermined financial institution fee plus a predetermined retailer fee multiplied by the number of separate predetermined loan increments.

16. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 15, wherein determining whether to advance funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts includes:

determining, by the financial institution computer, responsive to receipt of transaction data by the financial institution computer, when one or more customer transaction cards associated with the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts is being used as payment for one or more customer transactions.

17. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 15, wherein the plurality of total credit limits of the plurality of line of credit accounts have a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being larger than the second portion and reserved for use with one or more transactions with the predetermined retailer;

and wherein the predetermined retailer fee being a first amount when the one or more customer transactions is with the predetermined retailer and a second amount when the one or more customer transactions is not with the predetermined retailer, the second amount being larger than the first amount so that advances from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts for one or more customer transactions with the predetermined retailer are provided at a discount.

18. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 15, wherein determining whether to advance funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts is responsive to a request to draw funds from the one or more of the plurality of line of credit accounts.

19. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 15, wherein the predetermined retailer fee is paid by the predetermined retailer when the loaded predetermined increments are used for the one or more customer transactions with the predetermined retailer.

20. A computer-implemented method as defined in claim 16, wherein the determined number of separate predetermined loan increments multiplied by a value of one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments plus the value associated with the one or more of the plurality of customer accounts exceeds the value of the one or more customer transactions by less than the value of one of the plurality of separate predetermined loan increments.