Systems and methods for issuing credit for unused interest free grace periods

• US 8,380,618 B1
• Filed: 02/02/2009
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Kazenas, Joseph Alfred, Voutour, Teddy Joseph Edmund
• Primary Examiner(s): Oyebisi, Ojo O
• Application Number:
  US12/364,153
• Time in Patent Office: 1,478 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34, 705/35, 705/38, 705/40, 705/30
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A system for issuing credit for unused interest free grace periods may comprise at least one subsystem that electronically calculates a number of unused interest free grace period days, and at least one subsystem that electronically calculates an amount of an award to a borrower based on the calculated number of unused grace period days and a statement balance paid by the borrower.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions executable by a processor to perform a method for issuing credit for unused interest free grace periods, comprising computer readable instructions for:

electronically calculating a number of unused interest free grace period days, wherein the number of unused interest free grace period days includes a number of days a payment for a statement balance of a borrower is received prior to a due date;

electronically calculating an amount of an award to the borrower based on the calculated number of unused grace period days and the statement balance paid by the borrower, wherein the award is applied to the account of the borrower in a subsequent billing cycle; and

wherein the award is in addition to a number of interest free grace period days for the subsequent billing cycle.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the award comprises one or more additional interest free grace period days to be made available to the borrower based on the calculated number of unused grace period days and the statement balance paid by the borrower.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 2, further comprising computer readable instructions for awarding the one or more additional interest free grace period days to the borrower in the subsequent billing cycle.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 3, further comprising computer readable instructions for sending out a statement at an end of a current billing cycle with a due date based on a current grace period for said current billing cycle taking into account the one or more additional interest free grace period days awarded the borrower.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 4, further comprising computer readable instructions for repeating each step starting with electronically calculating the number of unused interest free grace period days.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the award comprises one or more of the following:

a rebate, a reward, points, a coupon, travel miles, free insurance on purchases, credit card payment protection insurance, skipping one or more payments interest free, cash back, reduced interest rate, putting positive information on a credit report of the borrower, putting positive information on an internal credit report or evaluation of the borrower, instantly reducing a balance due within the current billing cycle, and increasing a credit limit of the borrower.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions executable by a processor to perform a method for issuing credit for unused interest free grace periods, comprising computer readable instructions for:

sending out a statement at an end of a current billing cycle with a due date based on a current grace period for said billing cycle;

determining whether a payment for the statement balance has been received before the due date;

electronically calculating a number of unused grace period days in response to determining that the payment was received before the due date, wherein the number of unused grace period days include a number of days the payment was received before the due date;

electronically calculating an amount of an award to a borrower based on the calculated number of unused grace period days, wherein the award is applied to the account of the borrower in a subsequent billing cycle; and

wherein the award is in addition to a number of grace period days for the subsequent billing cycle.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the computer readable instructions for electronically calculating the amount of the award to the borrower comprise computer readable instructions for calculating said amount based on the calculated number of unused grace period days and the statement balance paid by the borrower.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the award comprises one or more additional interest free grace period days to be made available to the borrower based on the calculated number of unused grace period days and the statement balance paid by the borrower.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising computer readable instructions for awarding the one or more additional interest free grace period days to the borrower in a subsequent billing cycle.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the one or more interest free grace period days are interest free for an amount up to the statement balance paid.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the award comprises one or more of the following:

a rebate, a reward, points, a coupon, travel miles, free insurance on purchases, credit card payment protection insurance, skipping one or more payments interest free, cash back, reduced interest rate, putting positive information on a credit report of the borrower, putting positive information on an internal credit report or evaluation of the borrower, instantly reducing a balance due within the current billing cycle, and increasing a credit limit of the borrower.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions executable by a processor to perform a method for issuing credit for unused interest free grace periods, comprising computer readable instructions for:

electronically calculating a number of unused grace period days during a current billing cycle of a borrower, wherein the number of unused grace period days includes a number of days a payment for a statement balance of the borrower is received prior to a due date and wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable z;

electronically calculating an interest charge that would have been charged over z days had the statement balance not been paid by an end of the grace period, wherein the resulting calculated charge is represented by the variable c;

electronically adding any remainder left in a previous calculation of extra grace period days from a previous billing cycle to c after converting said remainder to a dollar amount;

electronically dividing c by a predetermined amount selected by a lender, wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable d, and wherein if the division is not even, then saving any remainder for future calculations; and

giving d extra interest free grace period days to the borrower for a next billing cycle, wherein the d extra free grace period days are applied to the account of the borrower in the next'"'"'billing cycle and are in addition to a number of interest free grace period days for the next billing cycle.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the predetermined amount selected by a lender is substantially equal to a credit limit of the borrower.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising computer readable instructions for repeating the steps for one or more billing cycles starting with electronically calculating a number of unused grace period days during the current billing cycle of the borrower.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising computer readable instructions for sending out a statement at an end of the current billing cycle with a due date based on a current grace period for said billing cycle accounting for any extra interest free grace period days previously given to the borrower.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the extra interest free grace period days are interest free for an amount up to one of the following:

a previous statement balance paid by the borrower, a credit limit of the borrower, and an amount predetermined by the lender.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the billing cycle is that of a credit card.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 13, further comprising computer readable instructions for providing an option to the borrower wherein the borrower may electronically select a different award instead of receiving one or more of the extra interest free grace period days, the different award consisting of one or more of the following:

a rebate, a reward, points, a coupon, travel miles, free insurance on purchases, credit card payment protection insurance, skipping one or more payments interest free, cash back, reduced interest rate, putting positive information on a credit report of the borrower, putting positive information on an internal credit report or evaluation of the borrower, instantly reducing a balance due within the current billing cycle, and increasing a credit limit of the borrower.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions executable by a processor to perform a method for issuing credit for unused interest free grace periods, comprising computer readable instructions for:

electronically calculating a number of original unused grace period days during a current billing cycle, wherein the number of original unused grace period days includes a number of days a payment for a statement balance of a borrower is received prior to a due date and wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable z;

electronically calculating the statement balance amount paid by the borrower, wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable p and wherein p represents the statement balance of the borrower in the current billing cycle; and

giving z extra grace period days on top of any previously added grace period days to the borrower for a next billing cycle of the borrower, wherein the z extra grace period days are interest free on the first p amount of a balance of the account of the borrower in a next billing cycle and wherein the z extra grace period days are in addition to a number of original grace period days and previously added grace period days for the next billing cycle.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the balance of the borrower is based upon one of the following:

an average daily balance, an adjusted balance, a previous balance, and a two-cycle average daily balance.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising computer readable instructions for repeating the steps for one or more billing cycles starting with electronically calculating a number of original unused grace period days during a current billing cycle.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22, further comprising computer readable instructions for sending out a statement at an end of the current billing cycle with a due date based on a current grace period for said billing cycle accounting for any extra interest free grace period days previously given to the borrower.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the extra interest free grace period days are interest free for an additional amount up to the credit limit of the borrower.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the billing cycle is that of a credit card.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 20, further comprising computer readable instructions for providing an option to the borrower wherein the borrower may electronically select a different award instead of receiving one or more of the extra interest free grace period days, the different award consisting of one or more of the following:

a rebate, a reward, points, a coupon, travel miles, free insurance on purchases, credit card payment protection insurance, skipping one or more payments interest free, cash back, reduced interest rate, putting positive information on a credit report of the borrower, putting positive information on an internal credit report or evaluation of the borrower, instantly reducing a balance due within the current billing cycle, and increasing a credit limit of the borrower.

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions executable by a processor to perform a method for issuing credit for unused interest free grace periods, comprising computer readable instructions for:

electronically calculating a number of original unused grace period days during a current billing cycle, wherein the number of original unused grace period days includes a number of days a payment for a statement balance of a borrower is received prior to a due date and wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable z;

electronically calculating the statement balance amount paid by the borrower, wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable p and wherein p represents the statement balance of the borrower in the current billing cycle;

giving z extra grace period days on top of any previously added grace period days to the borrower for a next billing cycle of the borrower, wherein the z extra grace period days are interest free on the first p amount of a balance of the account of the borrower in the next billing cycle;

calculating a total dollar amount of the balances against which unused grace period days added from previous billing cycles could have been used, wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable h;

multiplying p times a number of the unused grace period days added from previous cycles, wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable j;

multiplying the lesser of h and j by 2 and then adding h, wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable k;

dividing k by the number of unused grace period days added from previous billing cycles, wherein the resulting number is represented by the variable s; and

assigning the unused grace period days added from previous cycles to be interest free on the first s of the borrower'"'"'s account in the next billing cycle, wherein the unused grace period days added are in addition to a number of original grace period days for the next billing cycle.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the balance of the borrower is based upon one of the following:

an average daily balance, an adjusted balance, a previous balance, a two-cycle average daily balance.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 27, further comprising computer readable instructions for repeating the steps for one or more billing cycles starting with electronically calculating a number of original unused grace period days during a current billing cycle.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, further comprising computer readable instructions for sending out a statement at an end of the current billing cycle with a due date based on a current grace period for said billing cycle accounting for any extra interest free grace period days previously given to the borrower.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein assigning the unused grace period days added from previous cycles to be interest free on the first s of the borrower'"'"'s in the next billing cycle comprises assigning the unused grace period days added from previous cycles to be interest free on the first s of the borrower'"'"'s in the next billing cycle up to a credit limit of the borrower and further comprises giving another extra grace period day in the next billing cycle that is interest free up to an amount that which s exceeded the credit limit of the borrower.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the billing cycle is that of a credit card.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 27, further comprising computer readable instructions for providing an option to the borrower wherein the borrower may electronically select a different award instead of receiving one or more of the extra interest free grace period days, the different award consisting of one or more of the following:

a rebate, a reward, points, a coupon, travel miles, free insurance on purchases, credit card payment protection insurance, skipping one or more payments interest free, cash back, reduced interest rate, putting positive information on a credit report of the borrower, putting positive information on an internal credit report or evaluation of the borrower, instantly reducing a balance due within the current billing cycle, and increasing a credit limit of the borrower.