System and method for managing aggregated accounts

• US 7,996,308 B1
• Filed: 07/02/2010
• Issued: 08/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Island Intellectual Property LLC (Double Rock Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Island Intellectual Property LLC (Double Rock Corporation)
• Inventors: Bent, Bruce, Bent, Bruce II
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell; James P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Amelunxen; B. Joan
• Application Number:
  US12/829,961
• Time in Patent Office: 403 Days
• Field of Search: 705/4, 705/35, 705/39
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A method and system for minimizing fund transfers to and/or from a plurality of government-backed, interest-bearing aggregated deposit accounts.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

(1) accessing, using one or more computers, one or more electronic databases comprising;

(a) aggregated deposit account information comprising a respective balance of funds associated with each of a plurality of respective government backed-insured, interest-bearing aggregated deposit accounts held among a plurality of depository institutions, wherein funds from client accounts are aggregated with funds of other client accounts in the aggregated deposit accounts; and

(b) client account information for respective client accounts of respective clients, where the respective clients are associated with one or more respective source institutions, comprising a respective balance of funds from the respective client account held in each of one or more of the government backed-insured and interest-bearing aggregated deposit accounts holding funds of the respective client account;

(2) obtaining, using the one or more computers, client account transaction information comprising credit information and/or debit information applied to or against a respective client account for a sub-period of time;

(3) obtaining, using the one or more computers, one or more respective net transfer amounts for one or more sub-periods of time for one or more of the respective source institutions based at least in part on the client account transaction information;

(4) selecting at least one aggregated deposit account in at least one of the depository institutions to which to deposit/transfer or to withdraw/transfer funds, based at least in part on a selection rule to direct fund transfer activity to this at least one aggregated deposit account, and/or based at least in part on a selection rule to direct fund transfer activity away from one or more other of the respective aggregated deposit accounts;

(5) determining one or more fund transfer amounts in accordance with the selecting step and based at least in part on the one or more respective net transfer amounts such that the at least one aggregated deposit account in the one or more of the depository institutions will have a fund transfer and one or more of the other depository institutions will not have a fund transfer;

(6) allocating, using the one or more computers, amounts of funds from multiple of the client accounts among multiple of the depository institutions, so that the respective balance of funds for the sub-period of time in each of the aggregated deposit accounts of the multiple of the depository institutions, after taking into consideration any net fund transfer amount for this respective aggregated deposit account for the sub-period of time, will substantially match a sum of the respective balances of funds from the multiple of the respective client accounts allocated to this respective aggregated deposit account;

(7) generating data reflecting one or more fund transfers to or from one or more of the aggregated deposit accounts based at least in part on the one or more fund transfer amounts; and

(8) updating or having updated, using the one or more computers, the one or more electronic databases to reflect the reallocation of amounts for multiple of the client accounts.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the credit information and/or debit information applied to a respective client account comprises individual credits and/or debits and/or summaries of a plurality of credits and/or debits for a respective client account.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the credit information comprises an interest credit.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the credit information and/or debit information comprises information obtained from an electronic sweep file.

5. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the depository institutions is a bank and the government backed insurance is insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for that bank.

6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the depository institutions is a credit union and the government backed insurance is insurance from the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) for that credit union.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the selecting step comprises determining whether one or more of the aggregated deposit accounts has a no-fund-transfer designation for one or more sub-periods of time, and if so, directing fund transfer activitytowards one or more other aggregated deposit accounts for these one or more sub-periods of time.

8. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the selecting step comprises determining if a minimum cap and a maximum cap for one or more of the aggregated deposit accounts is set equal, and if so, directing fund transfer activity towards one or more other aggregated deposit accounts.

9. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

wherein, one or more of the aggregated deposit accounts has a no-fund-transfer designation, and

wherein for the one or more of the aggregated deposit accounts with a no-fund-transfer designation, the allocating step further comprises offsetting, by the one or more computers, any withdrawal from these one or more aggregated deposit accounts with deposits from one or more other aggregated deposit accounts in one or more different depository institutions.

10. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the selecting step comprises making a selection so that no more than a predetermined number of withdrawals/transfers are made in a period of time for each of one or more of the aggregated deposit accounts.

11. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising allocating amounts from client accounts based at least in part on limiting the balance of funds of at least one of the client accounts held at each of one or more of the depository institutions holding funds of that client account to less than a predetermined amount.

12. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein multiple of the client accounts is associated with a program, and wherein the step of allocating fund balances of those client accounts further depends on predefined rules of the program comprising rules relating to one or more of the following:

level of FDIC insurance provided by the program, client asset balance in the respective client account, and whether or not the client has chosen to opt out of one or more of the depository institutions.

13. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the at least one aggregated deposit account selected in at least one of the depository institutions to which to deposit/transfer or to withdraw/transfer funds is a holdback depository institution, and

further comprising:

calculating, using the one or more computers, for at least one of the aggregated deposit accounts held in the holdback depository institution a respective net amount of funds to be withdrawn/transferred from or deposited/transferred to the at least one aggregated deposit account, based at least in part on the client account transaction information for a sub-period of time; and

wherein the determining one or more transfer amounts step further comprises;

(i) accessing or receiving a holdback amount for the at least one depository institution that is a holdback depository institution;

(ii) determining, using the one or more computers, for at least the one net amount of funds to be withdrawn/transferred from or deposited/transferred to, the at least one aggregated deposit account of the holdback depository institution, whether the sub-period of time for the net amount of funds is after the cutoff time;

(iii) allocating, using the one or more computers, the respective net amount of funds for the respective one of the aggregated deposit accounts of the holdback institution while holding back an amount of funds based at least in part on the holdback amount of funds, if the sub-period of time is a before-cutoff time; and

wherein the generating data reflecting one or more fund transfers step comprises at least one of the following steps;

(i) generating one or more instructions, using the one or more computers, to transfer an amount of funds to satisfy at least in part a net amount that is negative and is for client account transaction information for a sub-period of time that is after the cutoff time, from the holdback amount of funds;

or

(ii) generating one or more instructions, using the one or more computers, to transfer an amount of funds to satisfy a net amount for client account transaction information for a sub-period of time that is after the cutoff time.

14. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the clients may be individuals, profit or non-profit corporations, limited liability corporations, partnerships or other forms of business entities, government agencies, and/or municipalities.

15. A system, comprising:

one or more electronic databases, stored on one or more computer-readable media, comprising;

(a) aggregated deposit account information comprising a respective balance of funds associated with each of a plurality of respective government backed-insured, interest-bearing aggregated deposit accounts held among a plurality of depository institutions, wherein funds from client accounts are aggregated with funds of other client accounts in the aggregated deposit accounts; and

(b) client account information for respective client accounts of respective clients, where the respective clients are associated with respective one or more source institutions, comprising a respective balance of funds from the respective client account held in each of one or more of the government backed-insured and interest-bearing aggregated deposit accounts holding funds of the respective client account;

one or more computers operably connected to the one or more databases, the one or more computers comprising memory, wherein the memory stores computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more computers to perform the steps;

(2) obtaining, using the one or more computers, client account transaction information comprising credit information and/or debit information applied to or against a respective client account for a sub-period of time;

(3) obtaining, using the one or more computers, one or more respective net transfer amounts for one or more sub-periods of time for one or more of the respective source institutions based at least in part on the client account transaction information;

(4) selecting, using the one or more computers, at least one aggregated deposit account in at least one of the depository institutions to which to deposit/transfer or to withdraw/transfer funds, based at least in part on a selection rule to direct fund transfer activity to this at least one aggregated deposit account, and/or based at least in part on a selection rule to direct fund transfer activity away from one or more other of the respective aggregated deposit accounts;

(5) determining one or more fund transfer amounts in accordance with the selecting step and based at least in part on the one or more respective net transfer amounts such that the at least one aggregated deposit account in the one or more of the depository institutions will have a fund transfer and one or more of the other depository institutions will not have a fund transfer;

(6) allocating amounts of funds from multiple of the client accounts among multiple of the depository institutions, so that the respective balance of funds for the sub-period of time in each of the aggregated deposit accounts of the multiple of the depository institutions, after taking into consideration any net fund transfer amount for this respective aggregated deposit account for the sub-period of time, will substantially match a sum of the respective balances of funds from the multiple of the respective client accounts allocated to this respective aggregated deposit account;

(7) generating data reflecting one or more fund transfers to or from one or more of the aggregated deposit accounts based at least in part on the one or more fund transfer amounts; and

(8) updating or having updated, using the one or more computers, the one or more electronic databases to reflect the reallocation of amounts for multiple of the client accounts.