SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FLEXIBLE PAYMENT TERMS

• US 20140310168A1
• Filed: 06/25/2014
• Published: 10/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Ang, Mark, Choudhuri, Boudhayan, Kaplan, Jessica, Narayan, Gyanesh, Nielsen, Eric, Vega, Christine, Lowry, David
• Granted Patent: US 10,019,697 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• 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 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

A method is disclosed for offering transaction account consumers with payment term options to pay a minimum amount due early, defer payment into the following payment cycle, and pay a standard amount when due. When generating a periodic billing statement, the invention determines a consumer'"'"'s eligibility to elect early payment, deferred payment, and regular payment. When a consumer is eligible for early payment, a received payment is compared to a discount rate tier, then a discount amount is calculated and credited to the consumer'"'"'s account. When the consumer is eligible for deferred payment, the system calculates a new current minimum payment due by multiplying the current non-deferred balance by a predetermined percentage amount and adding the result to the deferred balance. When the consumer is not eligible for deferred payment, the system calculates a new current minimum due by summing the current non-deferred balance with the deferred balance.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a computer-based system configured for processing deferred payments, that an election for a deferred payment does not exceed a predetermined number of available deferred payments,

wherein the deferred payment is to reduce a balance on previously billed charges, and

wherein the deferred payment defers payment to the next billing cycle due date,

transferring, by the computer-based system, a non-deferred balance to a deferred balance; and

incrementing, by the computer-based system, a deferred payment counter.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, the election, in response to a billing statement.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, the election and a partial payment, in response to a billing statement.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the predetermined number of available deferred payments based on at least one of:

a balance of the account, a payment history, a spend history, a payment amount, a spend amount, a payment date, a merchant identifier, an industry code, a location or region associated with a purchase, a transaction amount, a spend trend, a merchant relationship, a status of the consumer, a status of the account, an affiliation with an organization, a product held by the consumer, a timing of the payment, time period for a purchase, a payment method, a participation in a program, a length of relationship between the consumer and the account, or a credit rating of the consumer.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating a new non-deferred balance by subtracting a deferred balance, a delinquent amount due, and suspense from a total outstanding balance of an account of the consumer.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating a current minimum payment due in response to the consumer not being eligible for the deferred payment, wherein the current minimum payment due is based on adding a current non-deferred balance to a deferred balance.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the new current minimum payment due based on adding the deferred balance to the result of multiplying the new non-deferred balance by a predetermined percentage amount.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the fee amount based on at least one of:

a balance of the account, a value proposition, a payment history, a spend history, a payment amount, a spend amount, a payment date, a merchant identifier, an industry code, a location or region associated with a purchase, a transaction amount, a spend trend, a merchant relationship, a status of the consumer, a status of the account, an affiliation with an organization, a product held by the consumer, a timing of the payment, time period for a purchase, a payment method, a participation in a program, a length of relationship between the consumer and the account, or a credit rating of the consumer

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the computer-based system, that the consumer is eligible for the deferred payment.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating, by the computer-based system, a new current defer payment option based on the deferred balance and a new non-deferred balance.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring is in response to the non-deferred balance being greater than zero.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the transferring is in response to an account of the consumer being current.

13. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer-based system configured for handling deferred payment elections, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

determining, by the computer-based system, that an election for a deferred payment does not exceed a predetermined number of available deferred payments,

wherein the deferred payment is to reduce a balance on previously billed charges, and

wherein the deferred payment defers payment to the next billing cycle due date,

transferring, by the computer-based system, a non-deferred balance to a deferred balance; and

incrementing, by the computer-based system, a deferred payment counter.

14. The medium of claim 13, further comprising determining, by the computer-based system, that the consumer is eligible for the deferred payment.

15. The medium of claim 13, further comprising calculating, by the computer-based system, a new current defer payment option based on the deferred balance and a new non-deferred balance.

16. The medium of claim 13, wherein the transferring is in response to the non-deferred balance being greater than zero.

17. The medium of claim 13, wherein the transferring is in response to an account of the consumer being current.

18. The medium of claim 13, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, the election, in response to a billing statement.

19. The medium of claim 13, further comprising receiving, by the computer-based system, the election and a partial payment, in response to a billing statement.

20. A system comprising:

a processor configured for processing deferred payments,

a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor,

the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to be capable of performing operations comprising;

determining, by the processor, that an election for a deferred payment does not exceed a predetermined number of available deferred payments,

wherein the deferred payment is to reduce a balance on previously billed charges, and

wherein the deferred payment defers payment to the next billing cycle due date,

transferring, by the processor, a non-deferred balance to a deferred balance; and

incrementing, by the processor, a deferred payment counter.