Patent ID: 7499884

Claim:
An automated method for calculating interest for an account over a selected time interval, comprising the steps of: at an interest calculation module, responsive to a request from an account management application to calculate an interest, performing the following steps: receiving electronically from the account management application, calculation period data, including a start point and an end point, each said point defined by date, hour, minute and second; receiving electronically from the account management application, interest condition data, including at least a starting interest data point and optionally including one or more subsequent interest data points, each said interest condition data point having associated therewith an effective interest rate and an effective time point defined by date, hour, minute and second; based on the interest condition data, forming electronically one or more effective interest rate intervals; receiving electronically from the account management application, valuation date data, including one or more valuation points after said starting date and not exceeding said ending date, each said valuation point defined by date, hour, minute, and second, and having associated therewith an account balance; ordering electronically said effective interest rate intervals and valuation points in a time sequence; forming electronically valuation intervals defined by said effective interest rate intervals and valuation points, each said valuation interval having associated therewith an effective interest rate and an account balance; and for each said valuation interval, calculating electronically an interest and returning the calculated interest from the interest calculation module to the account management application.