Patent ID: 7895100

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, by a central controller, a purchase price of a purchase and a financial account identifier from a point of sale terminal, the financial account identifier specifying a financial account of a purchaser; determining, by the central controller, at least one installment plan offer for the purchase; transmitting the at least one installment plan offer; receiving, by the central controller, a selection signal indicative of acceptance of the installment plan offer; calculating, by the central controller, an installment charge amount to include in at least two generated bills for the financial account; determining a plurality of individual charges, each individual charge being for a respective purchase price of a purchase applied to the financial account in one charge and not in multiple installment charges; and generating a bill for the financial account, the bill including: the plurality of individual charges for the respective purchase prices, at least one installment charge amount, the at least one installment charge amount including the calculated installment charge amount, a first payment amount due that is a minimum payment amount due without any installment charge amounts, and a second payment amount due comprising a sum of the first payment amount due and the at least one installment charge amount.