Method for Processing a Point of Sale Transaction Posted to a Credit Balance

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for processing a point of sale transaction posted to a credit balance, wherein parameters are used to determine whether a transaction posted to a credit balance is electronically paid using a separate payment balance.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS / PRIORITY CLAIM[0001]This Continuation Application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application Ser. Nos. 60 / 752,119, filed Dec. 20, 2005; 60 / 811,977, filed Jun. 8, 2006; 11 / 487,680, filed Jul. 17, 2006; and 11 / 612,467, filed Dec. 18, 2006, each of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention provides multiple account, multiple parameter methods, systems, apparatus, transaction cards, and the like for use in managing account balances relating to managing the debiting of at least one point of sale transaction via access to at least two available financial accounts that can be debited by preset and / or adjustable parameters before, during or after at least one financial transaction relating the amount of the debit to the relative balances available in the two available financial accounts, including increasing cash or credit balances by adjusting manually or automatically one or more transact...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]The inherent flexibility also helps the end user immensely. With regard to cash management and budgeting, certain embodiments enable an end user to predetermine which transactions are automatically paid versus manually paid. In certain embodiments an end user that subsequently regrets using an available cash balance to automatically pay for a given transaction item can manually, or even automatically “unpay” the item to “free up” the resultant cash for a much more pressing need, such as an emergency, or to automatically prevent a check from bouncing. Being able to unpay transactions can even prevent hardship for the end user should an anticipated cash payment to the end user from an outside source fail to materialize. It is reasonable that a given card issuer could optionally choose to charge the end user fees for any or all conveniences that the various methods enable.

[0014]Also, the created credit-default risk has an advantage for responsible end users. Being that certain faux debit card embodiments comprise credit-default risk, those embodiments justify themselves as valid credit reporting items. Those end users that don't jeopardize themselves by avoiding default using said faux debit card embodiments could have their credit usage related to the faux debit card embodiments reported in a positive light. Therefore, end users of the faux debit card embodiments comprising credit-default risk criteria can see their responsible faux debit card activity potentially maintaining or even improving their credit scores, such as a FICO score. This is a huge advantage over standard debit cards, because activity using a standard debit card has absolutely no bearing on, or advantage towards, maintaining or improving an end user's credit score.

[0015]Unusual payment capabilities comprise enabling an end user to user specify or “create at will” at least one new billing cycle, which is handy for the end user, and advantageous to the card issuer, because it saves the end user from having to use a competitor's card due to the fact that the competitor's billing cycle ends later. By enabling the end user to create a new billing cycle, the end user enjoys the capability to postpone the bill payment on a given new purchase for as long as possible, while the card issuer enjoys the end user's card use as a result.

[0016]Finally, an advantage to the end user is privacy, whereby nobody in a point-of-sale environment can tell whether the user is paying for a given transaction automatically before or at the close of the billing cycle, or manually after or prior to the close of a billing cycle. This advantage can be especially valued and appreciated by those that feel that others already know too much about them.

[0017]Even though merchants probably won't care for the fee structure that the card / account issuer charges, there are certain advantages for the merchant as well. The merchant might not have to deal with an item return, due to an end user's cash shortfall, if the end user instead has the option to unpay a given transaction item, and carry the transaction as an open item to be repaid later, all without involving the merchant whatsoever. Also, an end user that normally pays for certain items automatically using an available cash balance may stop spending if there is uncertainty regarding potential cash balance shortfalls, but may spend anyway if a potential remedy enabling the end user to unpay and repay later is available. An example is where an end user that normally uses an available cash balance to eat in restaurants might stay away from a restaurant given a possibly uncertain future cash position, but might patronize the restaurant if a remedy to unpay, and subsequently repay later, is available, just in case the remedy is needed. Overall, the resultant reduced item returns and the increased patronage by certain end users is viewed as being pluses for merchants.

Problems solved by technology

For example, by allowing an end user to use a fully enabled embodiment of a faux debit card, the end user can engage in purchase transactions that are automatically and fully paid by the end user's available cash balance; however, at a later time, the end user can then “unpay” the paid transactions, resulting in a credit balance that needs to be repaid, which also results in the cash balance being restored to the pre-transaction level.