System and method of automatic insufficient funds notification and overdraft protection

Abstract

A method and program product for conducting business transactions and avoiding inadvertent overdrafts. First, the value of an intended purchase is estimated and an electronic receipt is generated for the estimate. An account identified for payment (e.g., a checking account or a credit card account) is analyzed for sufficient funds and, alerts may be provided whenever the analysis indicates that the account has insufficient funds. As a result of the alert, the purchase may be halted or another form of payment may be selected. Also, total in-store purchases may be estimated and other accounts may be analyzed to determine if, in addition to being overdrawn for the selected account, the transaction is over budget.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present invention is a continuation in part of published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 430,824 (Attorney Docket No. BLD920030021US1), entitled “Point-of-Sale Receipt Electronic Generation” to Joan L. Mitchell et al., filed May 6, 2003 and published Nov. 11, 2004, publication No. 2004 / 0225567 A1; and related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,706 B2 (Attorney Docket No. BLD920030020US1), entitled “Point-of-Sale Bill Authentication” to Scott D. Mastie et al., issued Apr. 26, 2005; and to published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 446,204 (Attorney Docket No. BLD920030019US1), entitled “Expense Accounting Data Management Based on Electronic Expense Document” to Joan L. Mitchell et al., filed May 27, 2003 and published Dec. 2, 2004, publication No. 2004 / 0243489 A1; all assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invent...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is a method and program for conducting business transactions and preventing overdrafts. It estimates the value of a purchase and generates an electronic receipt. It analyzes the funds in the customer's account and alerts if there is not enough funds to make the purchase. This allows the customer to stop or choose another form of payment. The invention also analyzes the total in-store purchases and other accounts to determine if the transaction is over budget. Overall, the invention helps avoid overdrafts and unbudgeted expenditures.

Problems solved by technology

Frequently, new businesses fail because of cash-flow problems and under capitalization.

Often this is because a new business person finds it difficult tracking business expenses.

Also, the typical 30-90 day lag time between invoicing and payment can cause budgeting problems, even when accounts receivable sufficiently cover ordinary expenses.

Bad or bounced checks further deplete business resources and are not reflected on the balance sheet until marked as a loss.

So, while the balance sheet may indicate that the business is in the black, a large accounts receivable may leave the business cash poor and unable to meet payroll or pay creditors on time.

Moreover, tracking bills, payments and receipts can be a very time consuming process.

A business may have multiple employees on expense accounts or otherwise spending company money, each too busy to take time to promptly account for expenditures.

Unfortunately, these off-the-shelf packages depend upon either manually entering the data or periodically downloading checking account and credit card information from multiple accounts.

These types of expenditure problems are not limited to new businesses; individuals and families frequently encounter similar cash flow problems as well.

Financial difficulties arising from these types of monetary issues can stress a marriage to the breaking point.

When one or both of the partners is lax about recording joint account transactions, the charges may reach the credit card limit and / or the account may become overdrawn without either party realizing the problem.

Consequently, outstanding checks can exceed available funds and some may even bounce for insufficient funds.

Without available funds, credit card payment due dates may pass without payment, leaving the credit cards unpaid.

Bounced checks and missed credit card payments injure both partners' credit rating.

Unfortunately, these bounced checks and missed credit card payments incur large penalties that further exacerbate the problem, potentially stretching an already tight budget past the breaking point.

If, for example, one partner is susceptible to “impulse buying,” spontaneously making unplanned purchases, the couples' budget may be blown before the other partner is aware of the problem.

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