Patent ID: 8423463

Claim:
A method for managing the use of a gift card with a personal financial management application (PFMA), comprising: storing a balance of the gift card in the PFMA; obtaining, using a central processor (CPU) of a computer and within the PFMA, a transaction of a user; identifying, using the CPU, the gift card as a payment source of the transaction; adjusting, using the CPU and in response to identifying the gift card as the payment source, the balance in the PFMA based on the transaction; obtaining, within the PFMA, a savings plan comprising a target savings amount designated for a future purchase for a target item; generating, using the CPU, an adjusted target savings amount by: obtaining information of a merchant accepting the gift card, sending, based on the information of the merchant, an inquiry to a computer system of the merchant regarding the target item, receiving, in response to the inquiry, an offer from the computer system of the merchant regarding the target item, wherein the offer comprises a price discount, receiving an election from the user to apply a portion of the balance toward the future purchase, and reducing the target savings amount by the price discount and the portion of the balance; and generating, using the CPU, a notification to the user indicating an estimated time to save the adjusted target savings amount.