Methods of establishing credit
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- providing a pre-paid card to an authorized user, the pre-paid card being issued by a service provider;
establishing an account associated with the pre-paid card;
applying a load to the account of the pre-paid card to establish an available prepaid balance for the authorized user;
establishing a credit instrument with a credit balance associated with the account of the pre-paid card for the authorized user;
establishing a fee for usage of the pre-paid card for the authorized user to pay, the established fee being applied to the credit balance of the credit instrument to the pre-paid card;
setting a periodic fee based on the credit balance of the credit instrument to be paid by the authorized user to pay on a periodic basis;
recording receipt of payment of the periodic fee in response the authorized user paying the periodic fee;
debiting the credit balance in response to processing the recorded payment of the periodic fee; and
reporting payment of the periodic fee made by the authorized user and applied to the credit balance associated with the prepaid card, the reporting being used to alter a credit rating of the authorized user.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
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 score of the cardholder.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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providing a pre-paid card to an authorized user, the pre-paid card being issued by a service provider; establishing an account associated with the pre-paid card; applying a load to the account of the pre-paid card to establish an available prepaid balance for the authorized user; establishing a credit instrument with a credit balance associated with the account of the pre-paid card for the authorized user; establishing a fee for usage of the pre-paid card for the authorized user to pay, the established fee being applied to the credit balance of the credit instrument to the pre-paid card; setting a periodic fee based on the credit balance of the credit instrument to be paid by the authorized user to pay on a periodic basis; recording receipt of payment of the periodic fee in response the authorized user paying the periodic fee; debiting the credit balance in response to processing the recorded payment of the periodic fee; and reporting payment of the periodic fee made by the authorized user and applied to the credit balance associated with the prepaid card, the reporting being used to alter a credit rating of the authorized user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification