Single payment card for flexible payment vehicle options for a transaction

• US 9,514,456 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: England, Tony, Harkey, Scott Lee, Calman, Matthew A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamilton, Lalita M
• Application Number:
  US13/827,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20140279471A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,363 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/36.R, 705/38, 705/39, 705/40
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3572 Multiple accounts on card
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method, or computer program product for providing a customer with a single transaction card that is tied to the customer'"'"'s available payment vehicles. As such, the single transaction card may be utilized by the customer to complete a transaction with a merchant. Subsequently, based on customer rules or customer selection, the invention may direct the transaction to the selected payment vehicle. Rules include any preferences that a customer may input that allows the invention to automatically apply a single transaction card transaction to a payment vehicle. As such, rules may be trigged for a specific merchant, a specific transaction amount, a specific location, and/or the like. If a rule is triggered by a transaction made with the single transaction card, the triggered transaction will be automatically applied to the payment vehicle tied to that rule.

Claims

1. A system for a single transaction card associated with multiple payment vehicles to complete a transaction, the system comprising:

a memory device with computer-readable program code stored thereon;

a communication device;

a processing device operatively coupled to the memory device and the communication device, wherein the processing device is configured to execute the computer-readable program code to;

generate, via the processing device, a single transaction card, wherein the single transaction card acts like a payment card and is associated with multiple payment vehicles available to a customer;

determine the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer via communication via the communication device with issuing financial institution systems for each of the determined multiple payment vehicles;

associate the determined multiple payment vehicles with the single transaction card based on contacting the issuing financial institution for each of the determined multiple payment vehicles and storing account information received from the issuing financial institution for each of the multiple payment vehicles on the memory device, wherein the account information is stored separately from the single transaction card;

provide the single transaction card to the customer;

provide a rules engine to a customer system via the communication device for customer rules input, wherein the inputted rules determine a selected payment vehicle for a transaction based on a rules triggering event;

receive indication of a transaction between the customer and a merchant, wherein the indication is received at the communication device from a point-of-transaction system associated with a merchant, wherein the single transaction card was utilized in the transaction with the merchant;

receive transaction details associated with the transaction between the customer and the merchant from the point-of-transaction system based on a request provided by the communication device, wherein transaction details include merchant type, merchant location, merchant name, products of the transaction, and total purchase amount;

apply, instantaneously, the total purchase amount to a temporary line of credit to complete the transaction and present the temporary line of credit to the point-of-transaction system, wherein the temporary line of credit is provided to the merchant directly, whereby eliminating a customer interaction requirement with the merchant;

detect, based at least in part on the transaction details, the triggering of rules based on the transaction details associated with the transaction;

identify, the selected payment vehicle associated with the rule associated with the rules triggering; and

apply, automatically based on the input received from the customer and the triggered rules, the selected payment vehicle from the determined multiple payment vehicles of the user retroactively to terminate the temporary line of credit and the total purchase amount of the transaction that was completed using the single transaction card.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein if no rules triggering event is detected, the processing device further comprises computer-readable program code to:

provide the customer with notification of no triggering event;

provide the customer with a selection interface for selection of the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer to complete the transaction;

provide a temporary line of credit to the merchant to satisfy the total purchase amount of the transaction while the selection interface is pending with the customer; and

apply, based on a response from the selection interface, a selected payment vehicle to the temporary line of credit and terminate the temporary line of credit.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein providing the temporary line of credit to satisfy the total purchase amount of the transaction further comprises providing the temporary line of credit directly to the merchant to apply to the total purchase amount of the transaction, wherein applying the temporary line of credit to the total purchase amount of the transaction completes the transaction between the customer and merchant.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein applying the selected payment vehicle to the temporary line of credit further comprises closing the temporary line of credit that satisfied the total purchase amount of the transaction, such that the selected payment vehicle has the total purchase amount of the transaction applied thereto.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer further comprises:

determining, automatically, the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer based on customer transaction history;

or

receiving input from the customer, wherein the input comprises the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer,

wherein the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer comprise cash, credit card account, a debit card account, a line of credit account, a retail card, a savings account, an investment account, or a line of credit.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein providing rules engine for customer rules input, further comprises rules associated with the frequency of the transaction, the merchant of the transaction, the total purchase amount of the transaction, a location of the transaction, or transaction history of the customer.

7. The system of claim 1 further comprising receiving a customer enrollment indication such that the customer authorizes access to the payment vehicles available to the customer and is provided the rules engine.

8. A computer program product for a single transaction card associated with one or more payment vehicles to complete a transaction, the computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code portions embodied therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion configured for generating, a single transaction card, wherein the single transaction card acts like a payment card and is associated with multiple payment vehicles available to the customer;

an executable portion configured for determining the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer via communication with issuing financial institution systems for each of the determined multiple payment vehicles;

an executable portion configured for associating the determined multiple payment vehicles with the single transaction card based on contacting the issuing financial institution for each of the determined multiple payment vehicles and storing account information received from the issuing financial institution for each of the multiple payment vehicles, wherein the account information is stored separately from the single transaction card;

an executable portion configured for providing the single transaction card to the customer;

an executable portion configured for providing a rules engine to a customer system for customer rules input, wherein the inputted rules determine a selected payment vehicle for a transaction based on a rules triggering event;

an executable portion configured for receiving indication of a transaction between the customer and a merchant, wherein the indication is received from a point-of-transaction system associated with a merchant, wherein the single transaction card was utilized in the transaction with the merchant, wherein the single transaction card was utilized in the transaction;

an executable portion configured for receiving transaction details associated with the transaction between the customer and the merchant from the point-of-transaction system based on a request provided, wherein transaction details include merchant type, merchant location, merchant name, products of the transaction, and total purchase amount;

an executable portion configured for applying, instantaneously, the total purchase amount to a temporary line of credit to complete the transaction and present the temporary line of credit to the point-of-transaction system, wherein the temporary line of credit is provided to the merchant directly, whereby eliminating a customer interaction requirement with the merchant;

an executable portion configured for detecting, based at least in part on the transaction details, the triggering of rules based on the transaction details associated with the transaction;

an executable portion configured for identifying, the selected payment vehicle associated with the rule associated with the rules triggering; and

an executable portion configured for applying, automatically based on the input received from the customer and the triggered rules, the selected payment vehicle from the determined multiple payment vehicles of the user retroactively to terminate the temporary line of credit and the total purchase amount of the transaction that was completed using the single transaction card.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein if no rules triggering event is detected, further comprising computer-readable program code portions comprising:

an executable portion configured for providing the customer with notification of no triggering event;

an executable portion configured for providing the customer with a selection interface for selection of the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer to complete the transaction;

an executable portion configured for providing a temporary line of credit to the merchant to satisfy the total purchase amount of the transaction while the selection interface is pending with the customer; and

an executable portion configured for applying, based on a response from the selection interface, a selected payment vehicle to the temporary line of credit and terminate the temporary line of credit.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein providing the temporary line of credit to satisfy the total purchase amount of the transaction further comprises providing the temporary line of credit directly to the merchant to apply to the total purchase amount of the transaction, wherein applying the temporary line of credit to the total purchase amount of the transaction completes the transaction between the customer and merchant.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein applying the selected payment vehicle to the temporary line of credit further comprises closing the temporary line of credit that satisfied the total purchase amount of the transaction, such that the selected payment vehicle has the total purchase amount of the transaction applied thereto.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein determining the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer further comprises:

determining, automatically, the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer based on customer transaction history;

or

receiving input from the customer, wherein the input comprises the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer,

wherein the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer comprise cash, credit card account, a debit card account, a line of credit account, a retail card, a savings account, an investment account, or a line of credit.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein providing rules engine for customer rules input, further comprises rules associated with the frequency of the transaction, the merchant of the transaction, the total purchase amount of the transaction, a location of the transaction, or transaction history of the customer.

14. The computer program product of claim 8 further comprising an executable portion configured for receiving a customer enrollment indication such that the customer authorizes access to the payment vehicles available to the customer and is provided the rules engine.

15. A computer-implemented method for a single transaction card associated with one or more payment vehicles to complete a transaction, the method comprising:

providing a computing system comprising a computer processing device and a non-transitory computer readable medium, where the computer readable medium comprises configured computer program instruction code, such that when said instruction code is operated by said computer processing device, said computer processing device performs the following operations;

generating, via the processing device, a single transaction card, wherein the single transaction card acts like a payment card and is associated with multiple payment vehicles available to a customer;

determining the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer via communication with issuing financial institution systems for each of the determined multiple payment vehicles;

associating the determined multiple payment vehicles with the single transaction card based on contacting the issuing financial institution for each of the determined multiple payment vehicles and storing account information received from the issuing financial institution for each of the multiple payment vehicles, wherein the account information is stored separately from the single transaction card;

providing the single transaction card to the customer;

providing a rules engine to a customer system via the communication device for customer rules input, wherein the inputted rules determine a selected payment vehicle for a transaction based on a rules triggering event;

receiving indication of a transaction between the customer and a merchant wherein the indication is received from a point-of-transaction system associated with a merchant, wherein the single transaction card was utilized in the transaction with the merchant;

receiving transaction details associated with the transaction between the customer and the merchant from the point-of-transaction system based on a request, wherein transaction details include merchant type, merchant location, merchant name, products of the transaction, and total purchase amount;

applying, instantaneously, the total purchase amount to a temporary line of credit to complete the transaction and present the temporary line of credit to the point-of-transaction system, wherein the temporary line of credit is provided to the merchant directly, whereby eliminating a customer interaction requirement with the merchant;

detecting, based at least in part on the transaction details, the triggering of rules based on the transaction details associated with the transaction;

identifying, the selected payment vehicle associated with the rule associated with the rules triggering; and

applying, automatically based on the input received from the customer and the triggered rules, the selected payment vehicle from the determined multiple payment vehicles of the user retroactively to terminate the temporary line of credit and the total purchase amount of the transaction that was completed using the single transaction card.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein if no rules triggering event is detected, the method further comprising:

providing the customer with notification of no triggering event;

providing the customer with a selection interface for selection of the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer to complete the transaction;

providing a temporary line of credit to the merchant to satisfy the total purchase amount of the transaction while the selection interface is pending with the customer; and

applying, via a computer processing device, based on a response from the selection interface, a selected payment vehicle to the temporary line of credit and terminate the temporary line of credit.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein providing the temporary line of credit to satisfy the total purchase amount of the transaction further comprises providing the temporary line of credit directly to the merchant to apply to the total purchase amount of the transaction, wherein applying the temporary line of credit to the total purchase amount of the transaction completes the transaction between the customer and merchant.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein applying the selected payment vehicle to the temporary line of credit further comprises closing the temporary line of credit that satisfied the total purchase amount of the transaction, such that the selected payment vehicle has the total purchase amount of the transaction applied thereto.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein determining the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer further comprises:

determining, automatically, the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer based on customer transaction history;

or

receiving input from the customer, wherein the input comprises the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer,

wherein the multiple payment vehicles available to the customer comprise cash, credit card account, a debit card account, a line of credit account, a retail card, a savings account, an investment account, or a line of credit.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein providing rules engine for customer rules input, further comprises rules associated with the frequency of the transaction, the merchant of the transaction, the total purchase amount of the transaction, a location of the transaction, or transaction history of the customer.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 further comprising receiving a customer enrollment indication such that the customer authorizes access to the payment vehicles available to the customer and is provided the rules engine.