System and methods for card payment instrument with rebate applied to an insurance premium

• US 6,386,444 B1
• Filed: 07/30/1999
• Issued: 05/14/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: First USA Bank N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: First USA Bank N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Sullivan, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D.
• Application Number:
  US09/364,037
• Time in Patent Office: 1,019 Days
• Field of Search: 235/379, 235/375, 235/380, 705/4
• US Class Current: 235/379
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

An apparatus and method for a card payment instrument providing that a percentage of consumer spending is rebated to the consumer for payment of premiums or the like for an account with an insurance company. In one version, an applicant provides a benefiting insurance account number to which the rebate is credited based on the rebate amount. The rebate is automatically submitted by the card issuer to the insurance account and, depending on the sizes of the rebate and premium, the cardholder may receive a bill reflecting a reduced premium or even a credit from the insurance concern. In another version, the rebate is submitted as a two-party check which can be cashed by the consumer or submitted by the consumer to the insurance company for cashing.

Claims

1. A card based payment system for providing insurance premium rebates based on card usage:

a plurality of credit or debit cards issued by a card issuer that are associated with insurance accounts;

a card issuer system for processing transactions and maintaining an accounting of card usage including a usage rebate balance;

an insurance concern associated with said insurance accounts; and

means for said card issuer and said insurance concern to apply the usage rebate balance to an insurance premium owed by a cardholder,

wherein the insurance premium represents a predetermined balance due, and wherein the applied usage rebate is not required to be equal to the predetermined balance.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said means comprise a check or wire transfer of funds from the card issuer to the insurance concern for the usage rebate balance.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said means comprise an electronic transfer of funds from the card issuer to the insurance concern for the usage rebate balance.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said means comprise a two-party check issued to the cardholder.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said cards are marked with information of the identity of the insurance concern.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the usage rebate balance is based on a predetermined percentage of card usage.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said card issuer periodically issues a card statement having information of the rebate balance and the rebate payout date.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the insurance concern issues an insurance account bill having information of a reduction of a premium based on the rebate balance.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the usage rebate balance vests at a predetermined time, and wherein the usage rebate balance will be forfeited if the cardholder cancels at least one of an account with the card issuer and an account with the insurance concern prior to the predetermined time.

10. The instrument of claim 1, wherein the cost of the applied usage rebate is shared between the card issuer and the insurance concern.

11. A credit or debit card instrument for encouraging cardholders to maintain the card account and an insurance account associated therewith, comprising:

a credit or debit card;

a card account number physically or electronically affixed to said card; and

an insurance account associated with said card account whereby rebate funds to be applied thereto are generated based on usage of said card,

wherein the rebate funds are applied to an insurance premium that represents a predetermined balance due, and wherein the applied rebate funds are not required to be equal to the predetermined balance.

12. The instrument of claim 11, wherein information of the insurance concern providing the insurance account is physically or electronically affixed to said card.

13. The instrument of claim 11, wherein the rebate funds vest at a predetermined time, and wherein the rebate funds will be forfeited if a cardholder cancels at least one of the card account and the insurance account prior to the predetermined time.

14. The instrument of claim 11, wherein the applied rebate funds are transmitted from a card issuer to an insurance concern through a check, wire transfer, or electronic funds transfer.

15. The instrument of claim 11, wherein the applied rebate funds are transmitted from a card issuer to a cardholder through a two-party check.

16. The instrument of claim 11, wherein the cost of the applied rebate funds is shared between a card issuer and an insurance concern.

17. A method for providing a card that generates a rebate to be applied to an insurance account based on card usage:

providing a payment card account that is associated with an insurance account;

maintaining data of payment card usage;

computing a rebate that is a function of payment card usage; and

issuing said rebate for application to said insurance account,

wherein the issued rebate is applied to an insurance premium that represents a predetermined balance due, and wherein the issued rebate is not required to be equal to the predetermined balance.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of issuing a statement reporting a rebate balance.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said rebate balance accrues on a first periodic basis and is made available for application on a second periodic basis.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the accrued rebate balance will be forfeited if the card account or the insurance account is canceled prior to a date corresponding to the second periodic basis.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of issuing further comprises electronically transferring funds to the insurance concern maintaining the insurance account.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of issuing further comprises sending a check or wire transfer to the insurance concern maintaining the insurance account.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of issuing comprises sending a two-party check to a cardholder.

24. The method of claim 17, wherein said rebate is based on a fixed percentage of the card usage.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein said rebate is based on a percentage of the card usage, and wherein the percentage can be varied such that a higher percentage is applied for a higher card usage.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of providing includes issuing a card having some visual indicia of the insurance account or the insurance account provider.

27. The method of claim 17, wherein funding for said rebate is provided by a card issuer and an insurance concern.