Patent ID: 8209199

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a first purchase payment to be credited to a financial account; setting, at a processor, a first initial benchmark interest rate to be applied to the first purchase payment as of a first initial date; based on the first initial benchmark interest rate, setting, at the processor, a first base interest rate to be applied to the first purchase payment in the financial account for a first initial period; setting, at the processor, a first subsequent benchmark interest rate to be applied to the first purchase payment as of a first subsequent date; determining, at the processor, a first subsequent total interest rate to be applied to the first purchase payment in the financial account for a first subsequent period by comparing the first initial benchmark interest rate to the first subsequent benchmark interest rate wherein: (A) when the first subsequent benchmark interest rate is less than or equal to the first initial benchmark interest rate, setting the first subsequent total interest rate to the first base interest rate; (B) when the first subsequent benchmark interest rate is greater than the first initial benchmark interest rate, computing the first subsequent total interest rate to be the sum of the first base interest rate and a first factor that is associated in a first preset manner to the increase in the first initial benchmark interest rate; and (C) when a first value of the financial account exceeds a first predefined threshold, adding a first upward interest rate adjustment to the first subsequent total interest rate determined in (A) or (B).