Financial instrument having credit and pre-paid characteristics
First Claim
1. In a system that includes a financial instrument, the financial instrument tied to a single financial account comprising a credit portion and a prepaid portion that may be accessed by an account holder in a financial transaction, a method for processing the financial transaction, the method comprising:
- funding the financial account with a cash balance provided by the account holder, an amount of the cash balance comprising the prepaid portion of the financial account;
providing the financial instrument enabling the account holder to access the credit portion and the prepaid portion of the financial account, the credit portion linked to the prepaid portion in a single physical storage media;
receiving at a computing system a purchase authorization for the financial transaction initiated by the account holder, the purchase authorization comprising a purchase amount and an identifier for the financial account;
determining at the computing system an available balance of the credit portion of the financial account;
if the purchase amount exceeds the available balance of the credit portion, funding the financial transaction with an amount less than or equal to the available balance of the credit portion;
funding a remaining portion of the purchase amount with the prepaid portion of the financial account;
receiving a prepaid cash deposit from an account holder; and
applying the prepaid cash deposit to the prepaid cash balance portion until the prepaid cash balance satisfies a minimum amount and any amount of the prepaid cash deposit not applied to the prepaid cash balance is applied to at least partially pay an amount of the credit limit that has been used by the account holder.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide for methods and systems for providing a financial instrument that possesses both credit features (secured and unsecured) and prepaid features. When a purchase is made using a financial instrument linked to an account, funds are first drawn from a line of credit until a credit limit is reached. Any additional funds required to make the purchase are then drawn from a secured account, such as a prepaid cash balance. In some embodiments, the additional funds are automatically drawn form the prepaid cash balance while in other embodiments an account holder manually transfers funds from the prepaid cash balance to the credit balance.
26 Citations
10 Claims
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1. In a system that includes a financial instrument, the financial instrument tied to a single financial account comprising a credit portion and a prepaid portion that may be accessed by an account holder in a financial transaction, a method for processing the financial transaction, the method comprising:
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funding the financial account with a cash balance provided by the account holder, an amount of the cash balance comprising the prepaid portion of the financial account; providing the financial instrument enabling the account holder to access the credit portion and the prepaid portion of the financial account, the credit portion linked to the prepaid portion in a single physical storage media; receiving at a computing system a purchase authorization for the financial transaction initiated by the account holder, the purchase authorization comprising a purchase amount and an identifier for the financial account; determining at the computing system an available balance of the credit portion of the financial account; if the purchase amount exceeds the available balance of the credit portion, funding the financial transaction with an amount less than or equal to the available balance of the credit portion; funding a remaining portion of the purchase amount with the prepaid portion of the financial account; receiving a prepaid cash deposit from an account holder; and applying the prepaid cash deposit to the prepaid cash balance portion until the prepaid cash balance satisfies a minimum amount and any amount of the prepaid cash deposit not applied to the prepaid cash balance is applied to at least partially pay an amount of the credit limit that has been used by the account holder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An account system comprising:
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one or more processors; a single storage media for maintaining each of; a credit portion having a credit limit associated with an account; and a prepaid cash balance portion associated with the account, wherein the credit portion and the prepaid cash balance portion are each tied to a financial instrument that enables access to the credit portion and the prepaid cash balance portion in making purchases; wherein the account system is configured to perform the following; receive a purchase authorization for a transaction initiated by an account owner, the purchase authorization including an account identifier and a purchase amount; determine if the credit portion is sufficient to cover the purchase amount; if the purchase amount exceeds the available balance of the credit portion, fund the financial transaction with an amount less than or equal to the available balance of the credit portion; fund a remaining portion of the purchase amount with the prepaid cash balance portion of the account; receive a prepaid cash deposit from an account holder; and apply the prepaid cash deposit to the prepaid cash balance portion until the prepaid cash balance satisfies a minimum amount and any amount of the prepaid cash deposit not applied to the prepaid cash balance is applied to at least partially pay an amount of the credit limit that has been used by the account holder. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification