System and method for selecting financial services

• US 6,845,906 B2
• Filed: 12/24/2003
• Issued: 01/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Liberty Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Schwarz, Bill, Armes, David, Royer, Coby
• Primary Examiner(s): Frech, Karl D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hess, Daniel A.
• Application Number:
  US10/707,614
• Publication Number:
  US 20040155101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 398 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 235/379, 235/380, 235/381, 235/382, 235/382.5, 705/1, 705/71, 705/72, 705/10, 705/42, 705/65
• US Class Current: 235/379
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/227 characterised in that multiple accounts are available, e.g. to the payer
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4037 Remote solvency checks
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/025 by means, e.g. cards, providing billing information at the time of purchase, e.g. identification of seller or purchaser, quantity of goods delivered or to be delivered
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed which enables a consumer to use a PIN biometric, merchant code or other indicia to conveniently instruct a financial institution to activate or access specific financial services or accounts during a particular time period or during a particular transaction. When making a purchase, the cardholder enters account information into a remote terminal such as a POS device, then the cardholder inputs a particular PIN or biometric which is communicated to the financial services provider. The provider interprets the PIN or biometric as an instruction to access or activate a particular service.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating the request of financial services, said method including:

receiving transaction request information from a cardholder via a remote terminal, wherein said request includes a PIN associated with a financial service in addition to account authorization;

processing said transaction request information and PIN to determine a desired financial service.

2. The method of claim 1 further including activating said desired financial service.

3. The method of claim 1 further including:

receiving transaction request information from a cardholder via a remote terminal, wherein said request comprises a cardholder selecta-card number and an account identification number; and

processing said selecta-card number and said account identification number to determine which cardholder transaction account is associated therewith.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of processing said transaction request information and PIN to determine a desired financial service includes a financial service which activates a limitation on an account.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of processing said transaction request information and PIN to determine a desired financial service includes a financial service which activates a limitation on an account, wherein said limitation includes at least one of:

selecting a particular account for any portion of the transaction, dividing the payment among various accounts, PIN expiration, payment instructions, notification instructions, security notifications, specific merchant rules, merchant category rules, geographic rules, expenditure rules or limits, time or transaction limitations, authorized transactions, authorized goods or services, authorized vendors, stores, and service providers, transaction amount limitation, daily spending limit, authorized geographical area of usage, authorized time of usage, authorized transaction limit for an account, transaction card or automated teller machine account, authorized individual for transacting on an account, one or more banks or financial institutions authorized for the transaction, a limitation of a fee charge on an account, authorized transaction location, and authorized number of transactions.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of processing said transaction request information and PIN to determine a desired financial service further includes supplementing pre-existing limitations on an account with the desired financial service.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of receiving transaction request information from a cardholder via a remote terminal, wherein said request includes a PIN further includes said PIN including at least one of a cardholder identification, biometric, and merchant code.