Abstract:
A system and method for associating payments with spending vehicles so that an individual who is entitled to receive periodic or special payments such as social security checks receives in place of the payment a spending vehicle such as a discount card, rebate, or coupon for use with purchases of the sponsor&#39;s products or services. Sponsors include companies and organizations interested in offering purchase incentives to their customers. An individual who wishes to receive a spending vehicle rather than the regular payment selects the spending vehicle he or she would like to receive. The individual then assigns his or her right to receive the payment to a third party. The third party then arranges to give a spending vehicle to the individual and to transfer the individual&#39;s payment to the sponsor of the spending vehicle. The third party may take a portion of the payment as compensation for the service.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation, and claims priority benefit with regard to all common subject matter, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/710,846, entitled “SPENDING VEHICLES FOR PAYMENTS” filed Feb. 23, 2010, and issued Dec. 4, 2012, as U.S. Pat. No. 8,326,711 (“the &#39;711 patent”). The &#39;711 patent is a continuation, claiming priority benefit with regard to all common subject matter, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/423,824, entitled “SPENDING VEHICLES FOR PAYMENTS,” filed Jun. 13, 2006, and issued Feb. 23, 2010, as U.S. Pat. No. 7,668,764 (“the &#39;764 patent”). The &#39;764 patent is a continuation, claiming priority benefit with regard to all common subject matter, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/483,537, entitled “SPENDING VEHICLES FOR PAYMENTS,” filed Jan. 14, 2000, and issued Jul. 4, 2006, as U.S. Pat. No. 7,072,862. 
     The &#39;711 patent, to which the present application claims priority, is a continuation-in-part, claiming priority benefit with regard to all common subject matter, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/626,677, entitled “TAX REFUND SYSTEM,” filed Jan. 24, 2007, and issued Jul. 27, 2010, as U.S. Pat. No. 7,765,132 (“the &#39;132 patent”). The &#39;132 patent is a continuation, claiming priority benefit with regard to all common subject matter, of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/354,870, entitled “TAX REFUND SYSTEM,” filed Jul. 16, 1999, and issued Feb. 13, 2007, as U.S. Pat. No. 7,177,829. 
     The above-referenced patents are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 
     The present invention relates generally to a system and method for distributing payments to individuals and, more particularly, to a system and method for allocating a portion or all of an individual&#39;s payment into a spending vehicle. 
     Participants in many government and corporate sponsored programs are entitled to regular or periodic payments. For example, in government sponsored welfare programs such as Aid to Dependent Children and retirement programs such as Social Security, beneficiaries may receive monthly payments. Individuals who make regular IRA contributions during their working years may receive monthly or yearly distributions during their retirement years. Employees who participate in their employers&#39; retirement programs such as 401(K) plans, may also receive monthly or yearly distributions during their retirement years. Individuals who participate in other savings and investment plans may receive regular or periodic dividend payments. 
     Individuals who receive periodic or regular payments from various government and corporate plans or programs typically receive a check from the plan or program administrator. Alternatively, individuals may arrange for an electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) payment. In either case, the individuals receive cash payments. Individuals are then free to use the cash as desired. 
     Although the cash payments provide individuals with flexibility in making purchases, the overall purchasing power available to the individuals is equivalent to the dollar amount of cash payment. Alternatives to cash payments could provide individuals with increased purchasing power. For example, if instead of receiving a cash payment, an individual had the option of receiving a coupon from a retailer for an amount greater than the value of the cash payment, the individual would receive the benefit of increased purchasing power. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method by which individuals may select among alternatives to receiving cash payments. 
     The present invention provides a system and method for associating payments with spending vehicles so that an individual who is entitled to receive regular or periodic payments (e.g., Social Security checks, 401(k) distributions, dividend payments, tax refunds, payroll checks or deposits, private payment arrangements, or any other source of payment(s)) may choose to receive in place of the payment a spending vehicle such as a credit card, debit card, e-wallet account, gift card, discount card, rebate, coupon for use with purchases of the sponsor&#39;s products or services, or anything of value to the payee which the payee agrees to accept in this form instead of receiving a regular payment by check or cash or by direct deposit. Sponsors may include companies and organizations interested in offering purchase incentives to their customers. For example, sponsors may be retailers, manufacturers, or service providers. An individual who wishes to receive a spending vehicle rather than the regular payment selects the spending vehicle he or she would like to receive and assigns his or her right to receive the payment to a third party. The third party assignee may be a sponsor offering a spending vehicle or it may be a financial institution that serves as intermediary between an individual and a sponsor. If a sponsor offers the spending vehicle, the sponsor arranges to give a spending vehicle to the individual in return for an assignment of the individual&#39;s right to payment. If the spending vehicle is offered by a financial institution, the financial institution then arranges to give a spending vehicle to the individual and to transfer all or a portion of the individual&#39;s payment to the sponsor of the spending vehicle. The financial institution may take a portion of the individual&#39;s payment as compensation for the service provided to the individual and the sponsor. Alternatively, the financial institution may offer its own spending vehicle or it may purchase spending vehicles from various sponsors so that only one payment for purchase of the spending vehicles is made. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the dollar value of the spending vehicle received by an individual is greater than the dollar value of the cash payment the individual would have received. Consumers of the present invention therefore benefit by increasing their purchasing power. Alternatively, the dollar value of the spending vehicle may be equivalent to or less than the dollar value of the cash payment the individual would have received. In this embodiment of the present invention, consumers benefit from the convenience of receiving a spending vehicle for use with purchases at their preferred sponsors. Sponsors benefit from the present invention through increased customer bases and additional traffic. They further benefit from increased sales of their products and services. Payors who make payments available to individuals benefit from an increase in the use of electronic funds transfers and a reduction in the printing and mailing of checks to individuals. 
     The present invention will be described in greater detail hereinafter. The present invention is described in the form of preferred embodiments and is not to be limited to those preferred embodiments but instead shall be given the broadest scope of protection affordable under the law in view of the allowed claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a flow diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in  FIG. 1  a flow diagram for a preferred embodiment of the system of the present invention. Steps to accomplish a preferred embodiment of the present invention are shown in  FIG. 1 . In the first step  10 , a plurality of spending vehicles for a plurality of sponsors is created. A spending vehicle may be a credit card, debit card, cash card, checking card, spending account, checking account, e-wallet account, gift card, discount card, rebate, coupon, voucher or any other type of financial instrument or currency that enables the holder of the spending vehicle to purchase products or services. A sponsor may be a retailer, financial institution, service provider, wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, entertainment entity, travel entity, publisher, governmental entity, insurance institution, brokerage institution, global computer network and online business, consortium of companies, or any participating entity through which an individual may purchase something of value to the individual. A sponsor participating in the system and method of the present invention may choose to offer one or more spending vehicles to its customers. 
     In the next step  12 , the individual&#39;s selection of a spending vehicle is determined. The individual may be given the option of selecting more than one spending vehicle from one or more sponsors. Next  14 , the individual is provided with the spending vehicle or vehicles selected. In exchange for the spending vehicle, the individual assigns his or her right to a payment to a third party in step  16 . In one embodiment of the present invention, the individual assigns his or her right to payment directly to the sponsor who provided the spending vehicle. The individual may arrange to transfer the full amount or less than the full amount of the payment to the sponsor. The sponsor then provides one or more of its own spending vehicles to the individual with a value based on the amount of the payment assigned to the sponsor. In this embodiment, the sponsor provides a spending vehicle to the individual directly without the need of an intermediate entity such as a financial institution. The sponsor may be a financial institution. Alternatively, the individual may assign his or her right to payment to a financial institution. In this embodiment of the present invention, the financial institution may serve as an intermediary between a plurality of sponsors and an individual. The financial institution may then offer more types of spending vehicles from more sponsors thereby giving the individual more options than may be available from a single sponsor. Once the assignment is complete, the assignee of the individual&#39;s right to payment, (e.g., the sponsor or financial institution) arranges to receive the individual&#39;s payment in step  18 . In step  20 , if an intermediary such as a financial institution is the assignee of the right to payment, a portion or all of the payment may then be transferred to the sponsor or sponsors from whom the individual selected the spending vehicle. In order to accomplish the transfer of funds, a third party payor may arrange to transfer the individual&#39;s payment to a sponsor or financial institution entitled to receive the individual&#39;s payment based on the assignment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , an embodiment of the present invention in which an individual  30  obtains a spending vehicle  34  directly from a spending vehicle provider such as a sponsor  36  is shown. In exchange for the assignment of the payment rights  32  by the individual  30  to the sponsor  36 , the spending vehicle provider or sponsor (i.e., third party assignee) provides a spending vehicle  34  to the individual  30 . Information regarding the arrangement between the individual  30  and sponsor  36  may then be communicated with the third party payor from whom the individual is entitled to receive a payment. Payment information  42  such as name and account information may be transferred from the sponsor  36  to the third party payor  38  so that the sponsor  36  receives the individual&#39;s payment  40  directly. The payor may use electronic funds transfer to accomplish the transfer so that it is not required to process a check or other form of payment to the individual. 
     In accordance with the present invention, for example, an individual may assign his or her Social Security check to a retailer and in exchange for the right to receive the individual&#39;s check, the retailer provides the individual with a spending vehicle such as a credit card or debit card with a predetermined amount of spending power for use at various outlets. The retailer spending vehicle may include an amount of buying power greater than the amount of the Social Security check. For example, a retailer may issue a special debit card worth $500 in exchange for receiving the individual&#39;s check of $450. The benefit to the retailer is that the individual must spend his or her Social Security dollars at the retailer&#39;s store(s), and the benefit to the individual may be that the retailer offers buying power at the retailer&#39;s store(s) in excess of the dollar amount of the Social Security check. 
     Under a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the spending vehicle provider or sponsor may issue, for example, a debit card to an individual upon receiving confirmation of the receipt of the Social Security check. The credit card or debit card may not be activated until such time as the spending vehicle provider receives the funds for the check. The spending vehicle may include a telephone number for an individual to call to activate the spending vehicle once the spending vehicle provider is assured of receipt of payment. Once the individual&#39;s spending vehicle is activated, the individual may spend the value of the spending vehicle. For example, an individual who is entitled to receive a $450 Social Security check may assign that amount to a spending vehicle provider in exchange for $500 of spending power through a debit card good only at a particular retailer or at some group of retailers. In another example, an individual who is due an IRA distribution of $2,500 may assign his or her distribution amount to an automobile dealer in exchange for the automobile dealer issuing a spending vehicle worth $3,000 in buying power at the auto dealership. In another example, a cruise line may offer a spending vehicle of $3,000 in exchange for receiving the individual&#39;s distribution amount of $2,500. 
     The spending vehicle may take the form of many different embodiments, including but not limited to, credit cards, debit cards, cash cards, checking cards, spending accounts, checking accounts, electronic spending accounts, coupons, vouchers, discount certificates, rebate certificates, and any other vehicle in which an individual receives spending power in a particular dollar amount useable at practically any participating retailer, financial institution, service provider, wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, entertainment entity, travel entity, publisher, governmental entity, insurance institution, brokerage institution, global computer network and online business, and any participating entity through which an individual may purchase something of value to the individual. A payment may be any type of regular or periodic payment such as a government, corporate, or employer benefit. It may also be a special one-time payment such as a tax refund or a special dividend payment from an investment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , use of a financial institution  56  as an intermediary or middleman between the individual  50 , the payor  76  from whom the individual  50  is entitled to receive a payment, and the spending vehicle provider(s) or sponsor(s)  62 ,  68 ,  74  may be preferable. For example, financial institutions are typically well established in providing spending vehicles such as credit cards and debit cards. A retailer, for example, may find it helpful to provide its own spending vehicle if done in conjunction with a financial institution. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a financial institution  56  may work with a plurality of sponsors  62 ,  68 ,  74  so that an individual  50  is provided with several options for selecting a spending vehicle. The financial institution  56  may arrange to obtain a plurality of spending vehicles  60 ,  66 ,  72  from a plurality of sponsors  62 ,  68 ,  74 . As indicated above, the spending vehicles  60 ,  66 ,  72  may be credit cards, debit cards, cash cards, checking cards, spending accounts, checking accounts, electronic spending accounts, coupons, vouchers, discount certificates, or rebate certificates. The individual  50  assigns his or her payment rights  52  to a financial institution  56  and selects one or more spending vehicles  54  from one or more of the sponsors  62 ,  68 ,  74 . The individual may assign the full or less the full amount of the payment to the financial institution. 
     The financial institution may arrange to receive the appropriate amount of the individual&#39;s payment  78  by providing payment information  80  to the third party payor  76  from whom the individual is entitled to receive a payment. As indicated above, the payor  76  may be a governmental agency, an employer, or any institution that provides payments to individuals in accordance with instructions from a governmental agency, corporation, organization, employer, etc. The payment  78  may be a Social Security check, 401(k) distribution, dividend payment, tax refund, etc. The financial institution  56  may then arrange to transfer  58 ,  64 ,  70  to each participating sponsor  62 ,  68 ,  74  all or a portion of the individual&#39;s payment  78 . The financial institution  56  may keep a portion of each individual&#39;s payment as a fee for allowing sponsor participation. Preferably, the value of the spending vehicle  54  selected by the individual  50  exceeds the value of the payment right  52  transferred to the financial institution. In this arrangement, individuals benefit from the increased spending power available from the various sponsors. While financial institutions may be beneficial to the process of the present invention, they are not essential. 
       FIG. 4  shows another embodiment of the present invention in which a financial institution  96  purchases spending vehicles from a sponsor  102 . In this embodiment of the present invention, a financial institution  96  may make a payment of a lump sum or fixed amount  98  to a sponsor  102  in return for a plurality of spending vehicles  100 . The financial institution  96  may then distribute one of the spending vehicles  94  to an individual  90  in exchange for the right to receive a payment  92  from the individual or individual&#39;s payor  104 . Payment information  108  provided by the financial institution  96  to the payor  104  may then be used to transfer the individual&#39;s payment  106  directly to the financial institution  96 . An electronic funds transfer may be used to complete the transaction so the payor is relieved of the burden of processing a check payment to the individual. 
     In accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, a financial institution  96 , for example, may purchase $5,000 worth of coupons for $4,000. The financial institution  96  may then sell the coupons to individuals for slightly less than the face value of each coupon but for more than it paid for each coupon. Under this arrangement, the sponsor benefits from the lump sum payment and increased sales due to the distribution of the coupons to potential customers while the financial institution benefits by selling the coupons for less than its purchase price. Individuals benefit from the increased spending power at the participating sponsor. In addition, the financial institution is not required to transfer any portion of the individual&#39;s payment to the sponsor. 
       FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of the present invention in which a particular third party spending vehicle provider is not necessary. Instead, a financial institution  116  (perhaps the bank where the individual banks), for example, issues a spending vehicle  114  directly to the individual  110  that may be used at many different outlets for the purchase of goods and or services. In return for the spending vehicle  114 , the individual  110  assigns payment rights  112 , which may be any amount equal to or less than the amount of the payment, directly to the financial institution  116 . The financial institution  116  receives the appropriate amount for the individual&#39;s payment  120  from the third party payor  118  after providing necessary payment information  122  to the payor  118 . The payment information may include name and account information so that an electronic funds transfer may be completed. 
     Once the individual receives the spending vehicle and the individual has completed any process for activating the spending vehicle, the individual may spend the dollar amount of value inherent in that individual&#39;s spending vehicle through participating sponsor or sales outlets. Furthermore, the spending vehicle provider or sponsor may agree to assign its rights and obligations in the spending vehicle to another entity at which the individual may spend or obtain the unspent dollar amount of the spending vehicle. The individual is therefore given even greater flexibility in using the selected spending vehicle. 
     Once the spending vehicle is activated for the individual, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the individual may be given a period of time in which to use the spending vehicle before a service charge is applied. For example, the individual may incur no service charge on the spending vehicle if the spending vehicle is used within 90 days of being activated. In the event a minimum balance remains in the spending vehicle after the initial “no fee” period, a small monthly service charge may be levied against the spending vehicle until it is entirely used. Alternatively, after a period of time (e.g., 60 days) the spending vehicle provider may issue a check to the individual for the balance left in the spending vehicle. These alternatives provide the individual with greater flexibility in using the selected spending vehicle. 
     Having shown and described a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will realize that many variations and modifications may be made to the described invention and still be within the scope of the claimed invention. Thus many of the elements indicated above may be altered or replaced by different elements which will provide the same or substantially the same result and fall within the spirit of the claimed invention. It is the intention therefore to limit the invention only as indicated by the scope of the claims.