Methods of establishing credit

• US 8,387,861 B2
• Filed: 09/14/2011
• Issued: 03/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Eufora LLC
• Original Assignee: Eufora LLC
• Inventors: Constantine, Tommy
• Primary Examiner(s): St. Cyr, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US13/232,567
• Publication Number:
  US 20120004963A1
• Time in Patent Office: 538 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/379, 235/380, 235/381, 235/382
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0212 Chance discounts or incentives
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/025 by means, e.g. cards, providing billing information at the time of purchase, e.g. identification of seller or purchaser, quantity of goods delivered or to be delivered
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/086 by passive credit-cards adapted therefor, e.g. constructive particularities to avoid counterfeiting, e.g. by inclusion of a physical or chemical security-layer for security documents G07D7/00; for the reading of record-carriers in general G06K7/00; for the design of coded credit-cards G06K19/10

Abstract

A method for enhancing credit of a cardholder of a pre-paid card may include issuing a pre-paid card to a cardholder. The cardholder may be charged a fee to establish a credit instrument associated with an account and the pre-paid card. The cardholder may be billed a portion of the credit instrument that includes the fee on a periodic basis, where the billing may be independent of billing for purchases of goods and services with the pre-paid card. A determination as to whether the cardholder timely paid the bill. If the cardholder timely paid the bill, then the payment may be recorded as being timely paid. Otherwise, a recording may be made that the bill was not timely paid. A reporting as to the timeliness of the payment may be made to affect a credit rating of the cardholder.

Claims

1. A method for enhancing credit of a cardholder of a pre-paid card, said method comprising:

issuing a prepaid card to a cardholder;

establishing an account associated with the prepaid card;

applying a load to the account to create a first available balance for the cardholder;

establishing a credit instrument associated with the account and the prepaid card;

establishing a second available balance for the cardholder based on the credit instrument and the load;

billing the cardholder at least a portion of the amount owed for the credit instrument; and

reporting payment history of payments made by the cardholder and applied to the credit instrument associated with the prepaid card, the reporting being used to affect a credit rating of the cardholder.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein billing the cardholder a portion of the credit instrument includes billing the cardholder an equal amount each billing period.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein billing the cardholder at least a portion of the credit instrument is performed on a periodic basis.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein reporting includes reporting on timeliness of a payment.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising charging the cardholder a fee to establish the credit instrument.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising applying a portion of the fee to the credit instrument, and wherein billing includes billing the cardholder a portion of the fee.

7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising charging the cardholder a second fee to establish the credit instrument each successive year to keep the account associated with the prepaid card.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein issuing the prepaid card includes issuing a prepaid card that requires the cardholder to prepay a load prior to using the prepaid card, and wherein the cardholder is limited to spending up to the load amount plus available credit on the credit instrument when using the prepaid card.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein billing the cardholder includes billing the cardholder on a period basis, and wherein reporting the timeliness of the payment includes reporting the timeliness of the payment consistent with the periodic basis.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising establishing terms by which the cardholder is to make payments for paying down the credit instrument and a fee charged to the cardholder to establish the credit instrument.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein establishing the terms includes setting a minimum monthly payment for the cardholder to pay back the credit instrument and the fee.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a referral for a potential new cardholder from the cardholder;

in response to the potential new cardholder being authorized and accepting to become a new cardholder of a prepaid card, designating the cardholder as a referring party.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising issuing valuable consideration to the referring party for the referral of the new cardholder.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the valuable consideration is an entry into a sweepstakes.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the valuable consideration is a monetary payment to the referring party.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the valuable consideration is a debit amount being applied to the credit instrument and the fee.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein billing the cardholder at least a portion of the credit instrument includes billing the cardholder an equal minimum amount each billing period.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein reporting includes reporting payment history to at least one credit bureau.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein billing the cardholder at least a portion of the credit instrument includes billing the cardholder a variable amount each billing period based on a credit balance of the credit instrument.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein establishing the second available balance includes establishing the second available balance as an increase to the first available balance based on the credit instrument.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising:

increasing the credit instrument; and

increasing the second available balance in response to the credit instrument being increased.