Patent Publication Number: US-2007112655-A1

Title: Prepaid financial account incentives system and method

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention pertains generally to financial accounts and to computer based systems and methods for managing automatically such accounts, and more particularly to prepaid or stored value accounts and systems and methods for encouraging specific account activities with respect to such accounts by holders thereof and systems and methods for managing the same.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Banks and other financial institutions, referred to generically herein as financial institutions, make available to their individual, commercial, and institutional customers a variety of different types of financial accounts. Such accounts range, for example, from basic checking and savings accounts to credit card accounts, retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, etc. These varieties of financial accounts allow customers of financial institutions great flexibility in the ways that they may save, spend, and invest their money. A single customer may hold various different accounts with a single financial institution. Such different accounts may be integrated in a variety of ways. For example, a customer&#39;s savings account may be tied to his checking account such that any overdraft of the checking account is automatically made good from funds on deposit in the savings account. By integrating accounts in various ways, financial institution customers are provided with even greater flexibility.  
      Financial institutions make money from the various accounts that are maintained by them for their customers in a variety of ways. For example, for deposit type accounts, the financial institution is able to loan funds on deposit with the financial institution at an interest rate higher than that paid to depositors, and thereby make a profit. Significant earnings may be made by financial institutions from interest charged on accounts. Another source of revenue for financial institutions is fees that may be applied by the financial institution to various accounts. For example, consumers may be required to pay periodic fees for maintaining accounts, such as annual fees. Each time a payment card (such as a credit or debit card) is used a fee is paid by the merchant at which the card is used, a portion of which is returned to the financial institution issuing the card. Fees may be charged for account activities performed by customer account holders based on various account related conditions. For example, periodic fees charged to customers for certain deposit and checking accounts may be reduced as the balances maintained in the accounts are increased. Credit card holders may be charged fees (in addition to interest fees) for cash advances from credit card accounts. (Such transaction fees typically are not charged for standard purchase transactions made with a credit card account.) Fees also may be charged to a customer for failure to abide by the rules imposed by the financial institution for maintaining the account. For example, such fees may be imposed for exceeding the account limits (account overdrawn) or failure to make a payment or making a late payment on a loan, etc.  
      Financial institutions, therefore, desire to increase earnings both by encouraging potential customers to open and use accounts with a particular financial institution, rather than with a competing financial institution, and, after an account has been established, by encouraging the account holder to engage in particular account activities that may produce larger fees, interest collections, and/or other revenue for the financial institution. For example, as an incentive to put money on deposit with a financial institution, and keep it there, a financial institution may reduce fees, and/or increase interest paid, as the amount on deposit by a customer with the financial institution increases. In this case, the revenue lost by the banking entity due to reduced fees and increased interest payments to the account holder is more than offset by earnings gained by the financial institution from use by the financial institution of the larger amount of money made available by the depositor.  
      Credit card issuers, in particular, have employed a variety of schemes to encourage customers to open credit card accounts and to use those accounts in ways that will bring more revenue to the credit card issuer. For example, a credit card issuing financial institution may advertise a very low initial interest rate to encourage customers to open accounts. (These low interest rates may be increased at a later date.) Once an account is opened, the credit card issuer may try to encourage active use of the credit card account by providing the customer various incentives or rewards. For example, the card holder may be provided a reward, either in the form of cash back, discount certificates, etc., in relation to the purchases made by the customer using the account. The more that the customer charges to the account, the greater the reward provided. The reward may be provided by the financial institution itself or provided in association with a particular merchant or group of merchants with which the financial institution has established a joint marketing relationship. Thus, the reward may be points that can be used for discounts at a particular merchant or group of merchants, such as “frequent flyer” miles that may be redeemed for travel on a particular airline or airlines. Additionally, purchases at the particular merchant or merchants involved in such a partnering relationship may result in more valuable rewards, or the more rapid accumulation of points toward achieving a reward threshold level. In another scheme, credit card issuers may offer an entry into a drawing for prizes each time a credit card holder uses a credit card associated with a particular account over a certain period of time. Thus, the credit card holder is encouraged to use his credit card often, thereby to increase his chances of winning a prize.  
      U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/891,410 by inventors A. Wayne Johnson and Robert Riddett and entitled “Financial Account Up-Front Incentives Management System and Method” describes a unique system and method for providing incentives to holders of credit card and other financial accounts. In accordance with the system and method described, an account holder is provided a reward before an agreed-upon account related activity is performed by the account holder. Thus, the account holder is immediately rewarded and encouraged to engage in the desired account-related activity. If the customer fails to engage in the agreed-upon activity, the customer&#39;s account may be charged for all or a portion of the cost of the reward provided up-front to the customer.  
      An increasingly popular form of payment are prepaid financial accounts, also known as stored value cards. Prepaid accounts differ from credit card accounts in that, with prepaid cards, the underlying card account is funded up-front by the card purchaser. A common example of such prepaid accounts are merchant gift cards that are offered at many retail stores, restaurants, and the like. These typically are purchased at a specified amount and may be used to make purchases at the store where the card was purchased and, sometimes, at other store locations and related retailers. Thus, the use of these cards, which are a replacement for paper gift certificates, typically is limited to one or a very limited number of retailers. On the other hand, there typically is no fee associated with the purchase of such cards. Therefore, the purchase and use of these types of cards is growing in popularity. In this case, the card issuer makes money from (1) the goods or services purchased by the customer using the card, (2) revenue due to the float value of the money received between the time of purchase of the card (funding of the account) and the time that it is used, and (3) cards that are purchased but never used. (Some card issuers may charge penalties to the card value if the card is not used within a certain time period.) Transactions using such merchant issued gift cards may be known as closed loop transactions, since the card issuer from which the card is purchased and the entity with which the card value is redeemed are the same.  
      Another type of prepaid or stored value account are general purpose gift cards. The underlying account represented by such cards also is funded up-front. However, unlike merchant issued gift cards, such general purpose gift cards may be used at many different unrelated merchants. Transactions using such general purpose gift cards are processed using one of the major credit card processing networks, e.g., MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, etc., and thus are accepted at any merchant that accepts such branded cards. General purpose gift cards may be issued by banks and other financial institutions and the like. Transactions using such general purpose gift cards may be known as open loop transactions, since the card issuer from which the card is purchased and the entity with which the card value is redeemed typically are unrelated. Such general purpose gift cards have experienced limited popularity so far. One challenge with such cards is that the card issuer must often resort to charging fees, at the time of purchase and/or periodically, to the card account, in order to cover the cost of issuing and maintaining the card account and to make a profit at the end of the day. Despite the convenience and flexibility of such cards, only limited consumers appear to be ready to pay a fee for such cards, and thus continue to use checks, cash, and other mediums of exchange instead.  
      General purpose gift cards and other similar prepaid financial accounts, nevertheless, represent another potential service that can be provided to financial institution customers and another potential revenue stream for the financial institution, if such a prepaid account program can be implemented and managed profitably by the financial institution. Besides fees, which are unpopular with customers, financial institutions can make money off of prepaid accounts in other ways. For example, the financial institution can make money by investing or lending the funds that are paid up-front by the customer to fund a prepaid account, but typically only if the funds are not expended, i.e., the prepaid account is not used by the customer, for a sufficiently long period of time after the account is funded. What is desired, therefore, is an improved and effective system and method for encouraging a customer to fund a prepaid account and to use the account in a way that is profitable to the account issuer and rewarding to the account holder.  
      Any such desirable system and method for rewarding prepaid account holders for particular types of account activities preferably is implemented for substantially automatic operation in a computer based system. Computer systems currently are employed to manage and maintain the wide variety of financial accounts provided by financial institutions to their customers. Account management computer programs implemented on computer systems perform a wide variety of account management functions, such as facilitating the establishment (opening) of accounts, maintaining general account records and balances, posting debits and credits to accounts, automatically transferring funds between accounts at appropriate times, automatically issuing account statements to customers (as well as to the financial institution itself), etc. Any improvement to existing financial account management systems and processes should, to the greatest extent possible, be implemented for automatic operation as part of, or as an addition to, existing computer based financial account management systems.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a system and method for rewarding holders of prepaid financial accounts for engaging in certain activities associated with those accounts. The present invention is applicable to any type of prepaid financial accounts including, but no limited to, merchant issued gift cards and general purpose gift cards. In accordance with the present invention, a customer purchaser of a prepaid account is offered a special incentive. If the customer does not activate or use the account for at least a specified period of time after the account is funded the customer will be provided with a reward. The reward may take many forms, including an increase in the value of the prepaid account, merchandise, discounts, services, enrollment in loyalty programs, preferential treatments, rebates, lottery or other contest entries, etc. The specific reward to be granted may be determined or selected by the customer at the time that the customer agrees to the conditions of the reward or at the time that the conditions are satisfied and the reward is earned.  
      In accordance with the present invention a customer is offered an opportunity to open a prepaid financial account and to receive a reward or rewards if the account is not used by the customer for a specified time period after the account is funded. If the customer agrees to the conditions specified for a reward, the customer funds the account for an agreed upon amount. The customer&#39;s prepaid account is opened at par value, i.e., the amount paid by the customer, less any fees that may be charged up front. If the customer activates or uses the prepaid account before the specified time period expires, the customer does not receive the reward. However, the account is still available to the customer at full par value (less any account opening fees). On the other hand, if the customer waits until after the specified time period has expired to activate or use the account the account is available to the customer at full par value (less any account opening fees) plus the reward is provided to the customer. Several reward threshold time periods may be agreed upon between the account issuer and the customer such that more rewards and/or more valuable rewards are earned by the customer the longer that the customer delays activating or using the account beyond the agreed upon time periods.  
      A prepaid account incentives system and method in accordance with the present invention may be implemented in a computer system, preferably as part of the computer system that is used to process purchase transactions using such a prepaid account. For example, such a processor system may be run by a financial institution that issues the prepaid account to customers of the financial institution or by a third party service provider. The processor may be in communication with the customer via a variety of communications channels, including mail, telephone (e.g., using live representatives and/or a voice response unit (VRU)), facsimile, and/or a computer network (such as the Internet). Using such communications channels, prepaid account incentive offers, account statements, and reward notices (or the rewards themselves) may be provided to the customer. The customer preferably may be able to accept prepaid account incentive offers, fund prepaid card accounts, and activate an opened account using such communications channels to the processor system. The processor employs one or more databases to maintain account information such as the account number, the opening par value of the account, the current value of the account, whether the account has been opened and used, the agreed upon time period(s) required to issue a reward, the agreed upon award to be issued, etc. The processor preferably also is coupled to a processing network to receive and process account use transactions by the customer at merchant points of sale.  
      Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic flow chart diagram of a general exemplary prepaid account incentives method in accordance with the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary system for implementing a prepaid account incentives system and method in accordance with the present invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating in more detail an exemplary prepaid account incentives method in accordance with the present invention.  
       FIG. 4 . is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating in detail a portion of an exemplary prepaid card incentives method in accordance with the present invention wherein increasing rewards are provided in response to delaying use of the prepaid account for increasing periods of time.  
       FIG. 5 . is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating in detail a portion of an alternative embodiment of an exemplary prepaid account incentives method in accordance with the present invention wherein increasing rewards are provided in response to delaying use of the prepaid account for increasing periods of time. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention will be described in detail herein generally with reference to the use thereof in association with general purpose gift card type prepaid financial accounts that may be issued either directly or indirectly by financial institutions and the like. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is applicable to any type of prepaid or stored value financial account, including such accounts as may be issued directly by merchants and other entities for use by customers with the issuing entity or a limited group of related entities. This may include prepaid accounts that are accessed using a gift card or house or other prepaid accounts that operate in the same manner although an access card may not be issued. It should also be understood that the present invention is applicable to prepaid accounts that are funded directly by customers or indirectly for customers by a third party. For example, prepaid accounts may be funded for a customer by a third party as a means of transferring funds to the customer from an employer (payroll cards), as an insurance settlement from an insurance company, etc. (In such case, the rewards earned if the customer delays use or activation of the account for a selected period of time may be awarded to the customer and/or to the third party that originally funded the account.)  
      The present invention also will be described herein with reference to prepaid accounts that are generally accessed using a card or similar physical device but wherein the value of the account is maintained in a database outside of the card itself. Access to and maintenance of the account value is accomplished via reference to an account number that can be printed and/or stored magnetically or otherwise included on the card. However, it should be understood that the present invention also is applicable, with appropriate modification, to prepaid cards and card processing systems wherein the account value is maintained in a memory chip or other medium on the card itself. The present invention is generally applicable to prepaid financial accounts wherein any method or device may be used to access the account value, even where no card or other physical device is issued, e.g., prepaid accounts that are accessed using biometrics, such as fingerprint scans.  
      A general exemplary method  10  in accordance with the present invention for providing an incentive to a customer to use a prepaid account in a desired manner is illustrated in, and will be described with reference to,  FIG. 1 . The process begins with the account issuer, or a third party on behalf of the account issuer, extending  12  an incentive offer in accordance with the present invention to a prospective purchaser of a prepaid financial account. In addition to the common terms of a prepaid card account, the offer  12  will specify a minimum purchase price or initial funding amount for the account along with one or more time periods. If the customer funds the account for at least the minimum amount and does not activate or use the account for at least a minimum specified time period a reward will be provided to the customer. The reward to be provided may be specified by the offer  12  or the customer may be able to select from among a group of available rewards. (The customer may be able to make such a selection at the time of opening the account or later, at the time that the reward is earned.) Exemplary possible rewards include money (e.g., an increase in the value of the account), merchandise, discounts, services, enrollment in loyalty programs, preferential treatments, rebates, lottery or other contest entries, etc.  
      If the customer accepts  14  the terms of the incentive offer, the customer will be asked to fund the account. This may be accomplished via a cash payment, check, money order, a charge to another account, or in any other appropriate manner. With the account funded  14  by the customer the account is opened  16  at par value (i.e., the amount paid by the customer to open the account less any up-front fees charged to the customer) and the customer may be issued a prepaid payment card to access the account.  
      The activity of the customer is monitored to determine when the customer activates  18  or uses the prepaid account. If the customer activates or uses the account before the time period agreed upon in the incentive offer expires, no reward is provided to the customer. However, the account is activated  20  and the full par value of the account is available for use by the customer. If the customer first uses or activates the prepaid account after the time period specified in the incentive offer expires, the agreed upon reward is issued  22  to the customer. In addition to the reward, the account is activated  20  and the full par value of the account is available for use by the customer. Thus, the customer is provided an incentive to open and use a prepaid account in a manner that is both valuable to the account issuer, allowing the account issuer to invest and/or loan the account funds for an extended period of time, and rewarding to the account holder customer.  
      A prepaid account incentives system and method in accordance with the present invention preferably is implemented in a computer based processor system  30 , as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . As will be apparent to those skilled in the art of computer based financial account processing, the functions performed by a prepaid account incentives system and method in accordance with the present invention are an extension of and rely upon conventional computer based systems and processes for processing prepaid account issuance and use transactions. Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art will be able to implement a prepaid account incentives system and method in accordance with the present invention on conventional current or future computer systems, using conventional programming languages and operating systems, based on the detailed functional description and flow chart diagrams provided herein. It should be noted that the processor system  30  functionality described herein may be split between several computer systems that are operated by various entities. For example, a single entity (e.g., a financial institution or merchant) may issue a prepaid account, process and monitor account transactions, and issue rewards in accordance with the present invention using a single integrated computer system. Alternatively, and more likely, account issuance, processing, and reward issuance and other functions may be split between different entities using separate computer systems that are in communication with each other via appropriate networks or otherwise to provide seamless operation from the point of view of the customer account holder.  
      The processor  30  may be in communication with a financial institution  32 , such as a bank, savings and loan, credit union, or the like. As just discussed, the financial institution  32  may operate the processor system  30 . Alternatively, the processor system  30  may be operated by a third party on behalf of the financial institution  32 . In the embodiment of the invention being described, the financial institution  32  is the prepaid account issuer, and is the entity that maintains the underlying prepaid account financial account. Thus, the financial institution  32  holds the funds representing the prepaid account. As discussed above, another type of entity, such as a merchant, may, alternatively, be the account issuer and maintain the underlying account either alone or in association with a financial institution.  
      The processor system  30  maintains one or more account databases  34 , either independently from or in association with the financial institution  32  or other entity. The account database  34  may include customer account identifying information, such as the account number, name, address, and other contact information for the account owner, the account opening or par value, the current account value, agreed upon period(s) for delaying use of the account by a customer in order to obtain a reward, rewards selected, reward issuance status, etc.  
      The processor system  30  may be in communication with a prepaid account customer  36  via a variety of communications channels  38 . These variety of communications channels  38  are used to provide offers and information to the customer  36  from the processor  30  and to receive information and requests from the customer  36 . Information provided to the customer  36  via the communications channels  38  may include offers for prepaid accounts with incentives in accordance with the present invention, account statements, communications concerning rewards earned, or failed to be earned, by the customer  36 , etc. Information received from the customer  36  via the communications channel  38  may include acceptance of a prepaid account incentive offer, information needed to fund a prepaid account, account activation requests, etc.  
      Exemplary communications channels  38  that may be provided between the processor system  30  and the customer  36  include conventional mail  40 , facsimile  42 , telephone  44  and on-line or computer network  46  communications. Telephone communications  44  may include both live operator facilitated communications and/or the use of conventional automated voice response units (VRU) or similar devices. Live operators, for example, may take information from customers  36  over the telephone  44  and enter such information manually into the processor system  30  using an appropriate user interface. Live operators may also be able to access customer account information from the account database  34  to provide account status and other information to a customer  36  over the telephone  44  as part of a customer service function of the system  30 . Alternatively, a VRU may be used to implement many of these functions. By use of the VRU a customer  36  can enter information into the system  30  and/or request information from the system  30  by interacting with an automated menu system using either touch tone responses or spoken commands, if the VRU supports voice recognition. Information may be provided by the system  30  to the customer via the VRU using recorded and/or computer generated voice messages in a conventional manner.  
      On-line  46  communications between a customer  36  and the processor system  30  may be provided via any appropriate computer network. For example, on-line  46  communications may be provided via a web-site on the Internet that is provided either by or for the financial institution  32  or another account issuing entity. Various pages on the web site may be used to provide information to customers  36  and user interfaces may be provided to receive information from customers  36  regarding pre-paid card financial accounts in accordance with the present invention. On-line  46  communications between the processor system  30  and the customer  36  also may be provided via e-mail.  
      A customer  36  account holder may use a prepaid account with incentives in accordance with the present invention to make purchases in a conventional manner from, for example, a merchant  48 . A payment card may be physically presented to the merchant  48 , or the account number and, perhaps, other identifying information, may be provided over the phone, via mail, or via the Internet to the merchant  48 . No matter how the account number is provided, the requested account transaction preferably is processed  50  electronically in a conventional manner by the processor system  30 . This may be accomplished by a direct computer network or other connection  50  between the merchant  48  and the processor system  30 . Alternatively a conventional processing system network (MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express, etc.) may be used. The processor  30  processes the use of the prepaid account by verifying that there is sufficient current account value to cover the requested purchase amount, and, if this is the case, deducting the value of the customer purchase from the prepaid account value and providing a message back to the merchant  48  that the transaction has been approved. Identifying information (e.g., the time and/or date) regarding the transaction is noted.  
      A more detailed description of an exemplary prepaid account incentives method  10  in accordance with the present invention employing the processor system  30  now will be provided with reference to  FIG. 3 .  
      A prepaid account incentive offer  12  may be extended to a potential customer  36  via a variety of different communications channels  38  and in a variety of different manners. For example, an offer  12  may be extended via a direct or mass mailing  40  to the customer  36 . The customer  36  may receive an offer  12  via a telephone call  44  from a live or recorded customer service representative. The customer  36  may receive the offer via an e-mail message or on-line  46 , for example, at a web site that is offered by or for a financial institution  32  or other merchant.  
      The offer extended  12  to the customer  36  may include, in addition to the conventional terms of an offer to open a prepaid account, terms of a special incentive in accordance with the present invention. These special incentive terms will typically include a minimum opening amount for the prepaid account, a time period or periods for which the customer must forego use of the account after it is opened in order to receive a reward, and the reward or rewards to be provided if the customer satisfies the conditions of the reward. The offer extended  12  may specify a single minimum opening amount, time period, and reward, or may allow the customer to select from among a variety of different combinations of minimum opening amounts, time periods and rewards. (The customer  36  may be able to select the desired reward from available offered rewards either at the time that the offer is accepted or later, at the time that the conditions for receiving the reward have been satisfied.) The offer extended  12  may include increasing rewards as the customer foregoes use of the prepaid account for longer time periods.  
      A variety of different types of rewards may be offered as part of a prepaid account incentive offer in accordance with the present invention. Such rewards may include money, merchandise, discounts, services, enrollment in loyalty programs, preferential treatments, rebates, and lottery or other contest entries.  
      Money rewards may be paid as an increase in the value of the prepaid account. For example, a customer  36  may agree to open a prepaid account for $100 and not to use the account for six months after purchasing it, at which time the value of the account is increased to $120. Alternatively, a money reward may take the form of a direct payment (e.g., via check) that is mailed  40  to the customer  36 , a direct deposit to another financial account of the customer (e.g., maintained by the customer at the same financial institution  32  that issued the prepaid account), a separate prepaid payment card mailed  40  to the customer  36 , etc.  
      Merchandise rewards may be provided to a customer  36  either by sending the merchandise itself to the customer  36  or by providing a certificate that can be redeemed for the merchandise at a local or on-line merchant. For example, a customer  36  may agree to open a prepaid account for $500 and not to use the account for six months, at which time the customer  36  or a designee is sent a DVD player (or a certificate that can be redeemed for one).  
      Discount rewards may include coupons that can be redeemed at local or online merchants. Discounts may be particularly applicable rewards for merchant issued prepaid accounts employing incentives in accordance with the present invention. For example, a customer  36  may open a prepaid account with a retail merchant for $500 and agree not to use it for six months, at which time the customer  36  will receive a coupon for a discount on their next purchase at the merchant.  
      Service rewards typically may be provided in the form of a certificate for the service provided. For example, a customer  36  may open a prepaid account for $500 and agree not to use it for six months in exchange for a certificate for a gym membership for three months.  
      As an example of a reward in the form of enrollment in a loyalty program, a customer  36  may open a prepaid account for $500 and agree not to use the account for six months, at which time the customer  36  will receive loyalty points or membership in an elite status with a merchant or service provider.  
      As an example of a reward in the form of preferential treatments, a customer  36  may open a prepaid account for $500 and agree not to use the account for six months, at which time the customer  36  will get guaranteed availability at a merchant or service provider.  
      As an example of a reward in the form of rebates, a customer  36  may open a prepaid account for $500 and agree not to use the account for six months, at which time the customer  36  would get a certificate for a discount off of a selected item or items at a selected merchant or merchants.  
      As an example of a reward in the form of a lottery entry, a customer  36  may open a prepaid account for $500 and agree not to use it for six months, at which time the customer  36  will be entered for a chance to win a prize. Prizes may be awarded to one or more account holders. Winners would be selected from account holder entries.  
      If the customer  36  agrees to the conditions of the prepaid account incentive offer he may accept the offer and fund the account  14 . The customer  36  may accept the offer and fund  14  the prepaid account using any appropriate communications channel  38 . The manner in which the customer  36  accepts  14  the offer and funds the account may depend upon the way in which the offer was received. For example, the customer  36  may respond to a mailed  40  offer by mailing  40  an acceptance back, sending an acceptance by facsimile  42  back, by calling  44  a toll-free customer service telephone number provided on the mailed  40  offer, or by accessing a web site  46  at a web site address provided on the offer. The customer  36  may accept  14  an offer received via the telephone  44  as part of the same telephone call with a customer service representative or VRU. The customer  36  may accept  14  an offer viewed on-line  46  by entering the acceptance  14  into a user interface provided on the web site at which the offer was made.  
      However the manner in which the customer  36  acceptance  14  of the offer is received by the system, the customer  36  will be required to provide or verify personal identification information needed to open the prepaid account. Such information may include the customer&#39;s name and address to which a prepaid account payment card and any rewards or reward certificates are to be mailed  40 . The customer  36  will also be required to fund the account. This may also be accomplished in a variety of ways. For example, the customer  36  may provide a credit card number or the number of a deposit account owned by the customer  36  as part of the response and to which the price of the prepaid account is to be charged. Alternatively, the customer  36  may merely mail  40  a check or money order to cover the price of the prepaid account or provide authorization for an ACH debit to fund the account.  
      Upon receiving the customer&#39;s acceptance of the prepaid account incentive offer, and funding of the prepaid account, a prepaid account is opened  16  for the customer. This includes storing in the account database  34  the assigned account number along with the customer identifying information and the details of the time period(s) required for the customer to forego using the account in order for a reward to be issued and the details of the reward to be issued if such reward conditions are satisfied. The prepaid account is established at a par value of the amount paid by the customer to open the account less any initial fees that may have been disclosed to and accepted by the customer  36 . (There may or may not be other fees charged to the account value for other services associated with the prepaid account, such as for additional payment cards for accessing the account, replacement cards, account upgrades, etc.)  
      With the prepaid account established  16 , the processor  30  may preferably monitor two conditions, account activity and the passage of time since the account was established. The prepaid account may be activated simply by using an associated payment card or the account number to make a purchase, e.g., at a merchant  48 . Alternatively, the account may be activated by the customer  36  contacting the processor  30 , via an appropriate communications channel  38 , explicitly to activate the account. For example, the account issuer may require that the customer  36  call  44  a toll free telephone number or access a particular web page  46  on the Internet to activate a prepaid account before purchases using the account will be accepted. In either case, by using the account or explicitly requesting activation, the customer  36  activates  52  the account. When the customer activates  52  the account, the system processor  30  retrieves from the account database  34  the time period for which the customer agreed to defer using the account in exchange for a reward. The system processor  30  then determines  54  if the retrieved time period from the opening of the account has elapsed. If it has not, the condition for receiving a reward has not been satisfied. No reward is issued. However, the account is now active  20  at the initial par value (or remaining value after the initial use charges are deducted therefrom). If the specified time period from the opening of the account has elapsed, the condition for receiving a reward has been satisfied. In this case the account is active for at least the initial par value and a reward is issued  22 . (If the agreed upon reward was a money reward, the account may be activated at the par value plus the reward value amount.) The account database  34  may be updated to indicate the current value of the account as well as whether or not a reward has issued  22 .  
      The processor system  30  may also periodically check the prepaid account information in the account database  34  to determine  56  whether or not the time period that the customer agreed to forego using the account has elapsed. If the time period has elapsed, the account database  34  is checked to verify  58  that the account has not been activated. If the account has been activated, before the time period elapsed, no reward is issued, and the account is active initially at the par value. If the account has not been activated the reward, or a notice of reward eligibility, may be issued  22 , even though the account is still not activated. This process insures that the customer  36  receives the reward due him when the agreed upon time period for foregoing use of the account expires.  
      If the customer uses or activates the prepaid account before the agreed upon time period expires, and thus is not entitled to a reward, the customer  36  may be sent a message, automatically generated by the processor system  30 , via, e.g., mail  40  or e-mail  46 , to this effect. If the customer  36  is entitled to a reward, the processor  30  may automatically initiate issuance of the reward. For example, the processor system  30  may automatically increase the value of the prepaid account if the reward is a money reward to be paid in this form. Alternatively, the processor  30  may send a message to a merchant or other order fulfillment system or service to send a merchandise reward or certificate therefore or other coupon or certificate reward to the customer  36 . The processor  30  may also, in such case, send a message, e.g., via mail  40  or email  46 , to the customer  36 , informing him that the conditions for the reward have been satisfied and that the reward is on the way.  
      As mentioned above, a prepaid account incentives system and method in accordance with the present invention may include establishing a series of increasingly long time periods from the time that an account is opened and providing increasing rewards to the customer  36  account holder for foregoing use of the account for the increasing time periods. Thus, the longer a customer  36  defers using a prepaid account, the greater the reward he may receive. In such a case, the customer  36  may receive more and more rewards as time passes, or a single reward of greater value as more time passes. Each of these cases may be handled slightly differently by the processor system  30 .  
      A portion of a process  60  for issuing a reward to a customer  36  where the reward is of increasing value depending upon how long the customer  36  has delayed using a prepaid account is illustrated in, and will be described with reference to,  FIG. 4 . This process  60  is initiated when the customer  36  activates  62  the account, e.g., by using the account to make a purchase. Upon activating the account  62  the system determines  64  whether the first and shortest agreed upon time period has elapsed since the account was opened. If the first time period has elapsed, the customer  36  will have earned  66  at least a first reward of a first value. The system  30  then determines  68  whether a second and longer time period has elapsed since the account was opened. If the longer time period has elapsed, the customer  36  will have earned  70  at least a second reward of a second value. The second reward may be a separate reward from the first reward or an increase in the first reward. For example, if the first reward is an increase in the account value of $X and the second reward is an increase in the account value of $Y then the total reward for delaying use of the card for the longer second time period is $X+$Y. This process is repeated by determining  72  if any further longer agreed upon time periods since the account was opened have expired and, if so, issuing  74  additional rewards or increasing the total value of the rewards issued. No matter how many, if any, rewards are issued, the prepaid account will be activated initially at at least the par value. In the process  60  illustrated in  FIG. 4  the customer  36  receives all his due rewards (or a single greater reward) at the time that the prepaid account is activated.  
      An alternative process  80  for issuing rewards in accordance with the present invention wherein increasing rewards are provided depending on how long the customer  36  forgoes using a prepaid financial account is illustrated in, and will be described with reference to,  FIG. 5 . In this case, the processor system  30  monitors the passage of time since the customer  36  opened a prepaid account and compares  82   a - n  the time passed with time periods established in the account database  34 . If a time period since the account was opened has elapsed, the system  30  determines  84  if the account has been activated. If the account has not been activated, an appropriate reward is issued  86   a - n.  If the account has been activated, no additional reward is issued, and the account is activated  88  initially at par value. In the process illustrated in  FIG. 5  the customer  36  receives rewards as time passes without the customer  36  using or otherwise activating the prepaid account. A combination of the processes  60  and  80  illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5  for issuing rewards to prepaid account customers based on the time elapsed since the account was opened to the time the account is activated may also or alternatively be used in accordance with the present invention.  
      Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described with reference to particular exemplary applications thereof, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes, modifications, or alterations to the invention as described herein may be made, none of which depart from the spirit or scope of the present invention. All such changes, modifications, and alterations should, therefore, be seen as being within the scope of the present invention.