System and method for facilitating a transaction using a revolving use account associated with a primary account

• US 8,538,863 B1
• Filed: 10/15/2004
• Issued: 09/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2001
• 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: Saunders, Peter D
• Primary Examiner(s): Khattar, Rajesh
• Application Number:
  US10/711,963
• Time in Patent Office: 3,259 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/385 using an alias or single-use codes
• 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 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/257 electronically G07C9/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/29 the pass containing active electronic elements, e.g. smartcards
• 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: H04L 2209/805 Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3271 using challenge-response

Abstract

The present invention facilitates transactions by providing a revolving use account that is associated with a primary account number, wherein the revolving use account is presented to the merchant to initiate a transaction. More particularly, the system involves the process of registering a user'"'"'s primary account (if not already pre-registered) to use in a transaction system; generating a revolving use account and issuing this number one or more separate users and/or transaction devices, where the user presents this revolving use account to a merchant to complete a transaction. Additionally, the revolving use account may also carry with it certain limitations-on-use conditions, where a transaction is not authorized unless these conditions are met. In generating a revolving use account, the issuer generates a random number and associates this number with the user'"'"'s primary charge account.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

associating, by a computer based system for facilitating a transaction, a primary account with a primary association identifier;

associating, by the computer based system, multiple revolving use accounts with the primary association identifier and with corresponding individual revolving use account identifiers, the multiple revolving use accounts being limited use accounts associated with the primary account;

receiving, by the computer-based system, a plurality of reset requests from the multiple revolving use accounts for a plurality of reset values, wherein each of the plurality of reset values is based on a percentage of a total value stored in the primary account;

transferring, by the computer based system, each of the plurality of reset values from the primary account to a corresponding multiple revolving use account of the multiple revolving use accounts in response to determining that a value stored in each of the multiple revolving use accounts has dropped below a pre-set level, wherein the reset value resets the value greater than the pre-set level;

receiving, by the computer based system, user-defined conditions for the multiple revolving use accounts, wherein the user-defined conditions place limits on use of the multiple revolving use accounts;

receiving, by the computer based system, merchant-defined conditions for the multiple revolving use accounts, wherein the merchant-defined conditions place limits on use of the multiple revolving use accounts at a merchant;

initiating, by the computer based system, the transaction using at least one of the multiple revolving use accounts;

receiving, by the computer based system, an authorization request from the merchant, the authorization request including at least one of the individual revolving use account identifiers;

determining, by the computer based system, whether the transaction satisfies the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions;

authorizing, by the computer based system, the transaction if the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions are satisfied;

denying, by the computer based system, the transaction if the user-defined conditions or the merchant-defined conditions are not satisfied; and

notifying a third party in response to one of the multiple revolving use accounts being used.

2. The method of claim 1, further including issuing the multiple revolving use accounts to a first party to facilitate the transaction with a second party.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the issuing the multiple revolving use accounts to the first party to facilitate the transaction with the second party further comprises configuring the multiple revolving use accounts to be immediately usable for facilitating the transaction.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the storing at least one of the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions in one or more account database fields associated with at least one of the multiple revolving use accounts and an account of the merchant.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions include at least one of:

a revolving use account credit limit, limiting use of the multiple revolving use accounts based on account balance availability, a revolving use account expiration date, a predetermined number of transactions before the multiple revolving use accounts are declined, limiting use of the multiple revolving use accounts to a specified dollar amount per transaction, limiting use of the multiple revolving use accounts to a total dollar amount for pre-designated number of transactions, whether the multiple revolving use accounts can be used to earn loyalty points, whether the multiple revolving use accounts can be used to redeem loyalty points, limiting use of the multiple revolving use accounts to a maximum dollar amount per month, use of the multiple revolving use accounts for a specified merchant only, restricting use of the multiple revolving use accounts to a specified group of users, and specifying that all online transactions be performed using only the multiple revolving use accounts.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the third party includes at least one of the police, the fire department, a parent, and an employer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating the multiple revolving use accounts with the primary association identifier further includes associating two or more primary charge accounts with the primary association identifier.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the primary account as a non-currency-based account.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising refilling the pre-set value of the revolving use account using the primary account.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the multiple revolving use accounts is individually loaded onto a radio frequency transaction device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the value stored in each of the multiple revolving use accounts is stored on the radio frequency transaction device, and wherein the pre-set value is loaded onto the radio frequency transaction device.

10. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computer-based account provider, transaction information from a second party for authorization;

recognizing, by the computer-based account provider, that the transaction information comprises one of a plurality of revolving use accounts, the plurality of revolving use accounts being limited use accounts associated with a primary account;

determining, by the computer-based account provider, that a value stored in the one of the plurality of revolving use accounts has dropped below a pre-set level;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, a plurality of reset requests from the plurality of revolving use accounts for a plurality of reset values, wherein each of the plurality of reset values is based on a percentage of a total value stored in the primary account;

transferring, by the computer-based account provider, each of the plurality of reset values from the primary account to a corresponding revolving use account of the plurality of revolving use accounts in response to the determining that the value stored in the one of the plurality of revolving use accounts has dropped below the pre-set level, wherein the reset value resets the value greater than the pre-set level;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, user-defined conditions for the plurality of revolving use accounts, wherein the user-defined conditions place limits on use of the plurality of revolving use accounts;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, merchant-defined conditions for the plurality of revolving use accounts, wherein the merchant-defined conditions place limits on use of the plurality of revolving use accounts at a merchant;

determining, by the computer-based account provider, whether the transaction information satisfies the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions;

authorizing, by the computer-based account provider, the transaction if the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions are satisfied;

denying, by the computer-based account provider, the transaction if the user-defined conditions or the merchant-defined conditions are not satisfied; and

notifying a third party in response to one of the multiple revolving use accounts being used.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining whether the transaction information satisfies the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions further comprises determining whether at least one of the following conditions are satisfied:

a revolving use account credit limit, a revolving use account balance availability, a revolving use account expiration date, a predetermined number of transactions before the revolving use account is declined, whether the use of the plurality of revolving use accounts meets a specified dollar amount per transaction, whether the use of the plurality of revolving use accounts meets to a total dollar amount for pre-designated number of transactions, whether the plurality of revolving use accounts can be used to earn loyalty points, whether the plurality of revolving use accounts can be used to redeem loyalty points, whether the use of the plurality of revolving use accounts is limited to a maximum dollar amount per month, whether the use of the plurality of revolving use accounts is reserved for a specified merchant only, whether the use of the plurality of revolving use accounts is restricted to a specified group of users, and whether all online transactions need to be performed using only the plurality of revolving use accounts.

12. A method comprising:

associating, by a computer-based account provider, a primary association identifier with a primary account;

associating, by the computer-based account provider, multiple revolving use accounts with the primary association identifier and with corresponding individual revolving use account identifiers, the multiple revolving use accounts being limited use accounts associated with the primary account and being configured to facilitate a transaction;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, a plurality of reset requests from the multiple revolving use accounts for a plurality of reset values, wherein each of the plurality of reset values is based on a percentage of a total value stored in the primary account;

transferring, by the computer-based account provider, each of the plurality of reset values from the primary account to a corresponding multiple revolving use account of the multiple revolving use accounts in response to determining that a value stored in each of the multiple revolving use accounts has dropped below a pre-set level, wherein the reset value resets the value greater than the pre-set level;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, user-defined conditions for the multiple revolving use accounts, wherein the user-defined conditions place limits on the use of the multiple revolving use accounts;

issuing, by the computer-based account provider, the multiple revolving use accounts to a first party to facilitate a transaction with a merchant, wherein the multiple revolving use accounts are configured to be immediately usable for facilitating the transaction;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, merchant-defined conditions for the multiple revolving use accounts, wherein the merchant-defined conditions place limits on use of the multiple revolving use accounts at the merchant;

initiating, by the computer-based account provider, the transaction using at least one of the multiple revolving use accounts;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, an authorization request from the merchant, the authorization request including at least one of the individual revolving use account identifiers;

determining, by the computer-based account provider, whether the transaction satisfies the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions;

receiving, by the computer-based account provider, transaction settlement information from the merchant;

identifying, by the computer-based account provider, the transaction settlement information as a transaction involving an account of a revolving use type;

capturing, by the computer-based account provider, the transaction settlement information in a financial capture system;

causing, by the computer-based account provider, the second party to be paid if the user-defined conditions and the merchant defined conditions are satisfied; and

notifying, by the computer-based account provider, a third party in response to one of the multiple revolving use accounts being used.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

replacing, by the computer-based account provider, the primary association identifier with a primary account number;

processing, by the computer-based account provider, the transaction settlement information in an accounts receivable system; and

generating, by the computer-based account provider, a billing statement that includes the primary account number.

14. A system comprising:

a user interface system configured to allow a first party to interact with a host computer'"'"'s transaction services;

a number generating and processing mechanism, including at least one application server and at least one database, configured for receiving input from the user interface system to generate a plurality of revolving use accounts and to associate therewith a designated primary association identifier and associate therewith a plurality of corresponding revolving use account identifiers, the plurality of revolving use accounts being limited use accounts associated with the primary account;

a settlement processing mechanism including at least a financial capture system configured for capturing transaction information relating to use of revolving use accounts,

an accounts receivable system for billing the first party and an accounts payable system for paying a second party;

a receiving mechanism for receiving;

user-defined conditions for the plurality of revolving use accounts, wherein the user-defined conditions place limits on use of the plurality of revolving use accounts,

merchant-defined conditions for the plurality of revolving use accounts, wherein the merchant-defined conditions place limits on use of the plurality of revolving use accounts at a merchant, and

a plurality of reset requests from the plurality of revolving use accounts for a plurality of reset values, wherein each of the plurality of reset values is based on a percentage of a total value stored in the primary account,

an authorization request including at least one of the plurality of corresponding revolving use account identifiers;

a transferring mechanism for transferring each of the plurality of reset values from the primary account to a corresponding revolving use account of the plurality of revolving use accounts in response to determining that a value stored in each of the plurality of revolving use accounts has dropped below a pre-set level, wherein the reset value resets the value greater than the pre-set level;

an authorization mechanism for authorizing the transaction if the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions are satisfied and denying the transaction if the user-defined conditions or the merchant-defined conditions are not satisfied; and

a notification mechanism for notifying a third party in response to one of the multiple revolving use accounts being used.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory, tangible computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to execute the following operations:

associating, by the computer, a primary account with a primary association identifier;

associating, by the computer, multiple revolving use accounts with the primary association identifier and with corresponding individual revolving use account identifiers, the multiple revolving use accounts being limited use accounts associated with the primary account and being configured to facilitate a transaction;

receiving, by the computer, a plurality of reset requests from the multiple revolving use accounts for a plurality of reset values, wherein each of the plurality of reset values is based on a percentage of a total value stored in the primary account;

transferring, by the computer, each of the plurality of reset values from the primary account to a corresponding multiple revolving use account of the multiple revolving use accounts in response to determining that a value stored in each of the multiple revolving use accounts has dropped below a pre-set level, wherein the reset value resets the value greater than the pre-set level;

receiving, by the computer, user-defined conditions for the multiple revolving use accounts, wherein the user-defined conditions place limits on use of the multiple revolving use accounts;

receiving, by the computer, merchant-defined conditions for the multiple revolving use accounts, wherein the merchant-defined conditions place limits on use of the multiple revolving use accounts at a merchant;

receiving, by the computer, a transaction initiated using at least one of the multiple revolving use accounts;

receiving, by the computer, an authorization request from the merchant, the authorization request including at least one of the individual revolving use account identifiers;

determining, by the computer, whether the transaction satisfies the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions;

authorizing, by the computer, the transaction if the user-defined conditions and the merchant-defined conditions are satisfied;

denying, by the computer, the transaction if the user-defined conditions or the merchant-defined conditions are not satisfied; and

notifying, by the computer, a third party in response to one of the multiple revolving use accounts being used.