CA2127291A1 - System for promoting account activity - Google Patents
System for promoting account activityInfo
- Publication number
- CA2127291A1 CA2127291A1 CA002127291A CA2127291A CA2127291A1 CA 2127291 A1 CA2127291 A1 CA 2127291A1 CA 002127291 A CA002127291 A CA 002127291A CA 2127291 A CA2127291 A CA 2127291A CA 2127291 A1 CA2127291 A1 CA 2127291A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- customer
- investor
- interest
- funds
- investment
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
- G06Q20/387—Payment using discounts or coupons
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
- G06Q30/0207—Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
- G06Q30/0215—Including financial accounts
- G06Q30/0216—Investment accounts
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q40/00—Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
- G06Q40/02—Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07G—REGISTERING THE RECEIPT OF CASH, VALUABLES, OR TOKENS
- G07G1/00—Cash registers
- G07G1/0036—Checkout procedures
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07G—REGISTERING THE RECEIPT OF CASH, VALUABLES, OR TOKENS
- G07G1/00—Cash registers
- G07G1/12—Cash registers electronically operated
- G07G1/14—Systems including one or more distant stations co-operating with a central processing unit
- G07G1/145—PLU-management
Abstract
A system and data processing arrangement for use by a seller of goods or services to provide an incentive to customers to make purchases. The system (10) comprises an offering entity (12) which provides goods and/or services to the customers (14), interest is charged from the customers (14) to the offering entity (12), the flow of investment funds from the customers (14) to the offering entity (12) can be limited to a fixed percentage of the amount of purchase by the customers. The offering entity also establishes a deposit account (18) from a part of funds from the customers for reinvestment to obtain maximum secure return. The offering entity (12) may limit the term during which interest is paid on accepted funds invested for a particular such period.
Description
WO 93/13488 PCI`/US92/11275 SYSTEM FOR PROMOTING ACCOUNT ACTIVITY
S P E C I F I C A T I O N
Backaround of the Invention The invention relates qenerally to a system for promotinq purchases in custome~ accounts such as credit card accounts, department s~.ore accounts and other consumer purchase transactions, with associated data processinq.
Credit card firms such as Visa and MasterCard, automobile manufacturers, r~ntal car companies, department stores, lonq distance telephone companies, financial institutions and other or~anizations have offered a number of different proqrans for promotinq purchases of ~oods or services. These have included discount offers for certain catalo~ items, based on volume of activity in an account.
Other promotional schemes have involved discounts on other qoods or ~ervices, different from those purchased in the account. For example, di~count coupons have been offered ~or airline ticke~s, based on a minimum level of investment in a bank or savinqs and loan. Similarly, holders of Visa cards hav~ been offered deeply discounted or free air travel based on a certain level of activity usinq a ~eneral purpose charqe card,~ or have been credited with air miles based on actlvity in~a charqe card account.
The followinq U.;S. Patents have ~eneral pertinence to ~the present invention: ~eon Patent No. 4,742,457, Musmanno : Patents Nos. 4,746,442, 4,376,978, 4,597,046 and 4,774,6i63 Lucas Patent No. 4,751,640, Brachtel Patent No~ 4,755,940, and Durbin Patent No. 4,933,842. These patents relate to investmeint plans,~allocation of investment funds amon~
different investments and accounts, differinq in liquidity and term; data processinq and computerization of investment plans and electronlc funds transfers, security of funds :`
transfer arranqements and indexinq of interest rates for deposit accounts. In particular, the Leon patent discloses a system for adjusting for inflation in deposit accounts and loan funds, with associated automated data ~rocessing.
Another investment offerinq havinq some relevance to the present invention is Citibank's CITI Credit Card Fund, "units" of which are sold to the public throuqh brokers.
Like a type of revenue bond, the investment quarantees a fixed rate of return. Citibank uses the invested funds to finance the purchases and cash advances of its credit card customers, and the customer's investments are secured ~y the ~,ard account receivables, at 100+%.
It is an object of this invention to provide a system for enablinq a marketer of qoods or services, a qeneral purpose credit card firm such as Visa or MasterCard, or another similarly situated entity to offer an attractive incentive to customers toward use of a qeneral purpose credit card, the purchase of qoods, the purchase of services, or other financial activity which costs the offerin~ entity far less than promotional sGhemes or arranqements conventlonally used; and it is a related ob~ect to offer a consumer an attractive and safe investment o~portunity in return for the purchase of qoods and servlces.
: .-. , Summa~y_of the Invention In~accordance~with the present invention, a method and system used by~a~seller of qoods or services, or by a financin~ entity~such as~a qeneral purpose credit card firm,~provides a hi~h rate of return for : :
investors/customers~while promotinq purchase~ by the customers of products or services from or throuqh the , offerinq entity.~ $he offerin~ entity, which is in the business of acceptinq purchases by customers (or acceptinq ~ some form of account activity), calculates the sum of total - 35 purchases made by the customer durinq a preselected period, or in some cases, records only a sinqle lar~e purchase.
The offerinq entity then accepts investment funds from the :
W093/13488 PCT/US92/11275 ~
2127~91 :
investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-aqreed proportion o~ the sum of purchases made by the investor/customer during the preselected period. The firm may provide a deposit account for the investor/customer, crediting the investment funds received from the investor in the deposit account, along with interest which accrues at a relatively high rate.
By this system, a firm promoting ~oods and services is able to offer an attractive, safe and liquid investment opportunity to customers in return for the customer's making purchases. The customer receives a rate of return considerably higher than available in money market accounts, certificates of deposit, or other relatively safe investments, and in fact the investment provided under this system is more liquid than most investment programs claiming to give a hig~ yield.
T~e customer can withdraw his invested funds plus interest on demand, preferably by giving a fixed period of notice. If the firm loses money on these incentive accounts, the firm generally will wish to limit the duration of each~investment of funds, or to limit the period of time in~whicb the high rate is paid.
However, the offering entity will not necessarily have a loss for the incentive investment accounts, or may have only a small loss.~ In~most cases the firm will be large, ~ with substantial assets, and will be able to obtain among ;~ the highest rates of return available when reinvesting `~ these funds; the~rate may be comparable to the rate paid to the investors. MoreoYer, even if the offering entity incurs a small loss (e.g. one-half percent) through the offering of very attractive return, the cost incurred will still be lower than many previously used promotional programs used by Visa,~ MasterCard, airlines, rental car companies, etc. Compared to the amount of the customer's purchases, and with a 10% limit on investment as compared to purchases, the loss to the offering entity in this example would be only l/20 percent.
Further, the system of the invention can cooperate ~127~
particularly well with general'purpose credit card accounts such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
Investment funds from customers can be used to finance the offering entity's own customer credit card accounts, thus earning a return for the offering entity higher than would be available elsewhere with relative security and enabling the sntity to make a profit rather than incur a loss.
Examples of published interest rates to which is tied the interest rate to be offered customers are the prime rate for large banks; average lar~e bank prime rate when several are published; government bills, less than two years; federal funds rate at which banks borrow from the government; term federal funds; bankers' acceptance (backed by letters of credit); Libor-London Interbank offering rate/international cost of funds; commercial paper;
certificates of deposit; government bonds; and government notes. The large bank prime rate is an interest rate with which many investors are familiar, and is preferred.
The attractive investment rate offered to customers/
investors can be, for example, zero to four percent above the published money rate selected. ~n example would be one-half percent or one~percent over the prime rate or its equivalent, or the prime rate itself. Another example would be two to three percent over a published certificate . ~ .
of deposit (CD)~rate ~such as published in The Wall Street Journal~. In~many cases certi~icates of deposit rates are more familiar to and more meaningful'to customers; also, , ~
the investment~contemplated by the invention is in competition wlth and will usually be compared with CD
rates, by the investor.
The system~of th~e invention preferably includes automated data processing of customer/investor transactions.~ A central computer and database can automatically set up an account for an investor, make ' 35 computations re~ardlng amount of investment funds that will be accepted for each customer account in each billinq period, compute 1nterest, print offerin~ materials, calendar investments so as to require liquidation after a WO93/13488 PCT/US92/1127~
2~2~al certain agreed-upon period, etc. These functions overlap to a large degree with functions already performed internally by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, telephone companies and other businesses offering credit to consumers.
For security to the customer/investor, the deposit ::
account can be insured, or it can be secured by assets of the of~erinq entity, e.g. charge account receivables in the case of a department store or general purpose credit card.
The system and method of the invention there~ore achieve for the offering entity a relatively inexpensive vehicle for attracting customers to purchases of goods or services, while at the same time promoting savings. From the point of view of the customer, a very high rate of return can be achieved in a safe and liquid investment, with a firm or institution which the customer knows to be reliable, and the customer is encouraged to use his credit card, purchase department store items or appliances, automobiles, etc. as well as to increa~e savings. These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawlngs.
DesGri~tion of the Draw~s Figure 1 is a~block diagram diagrammatically : illustrating the system of the invention in one embodiment, illustrating flow of goods or services, payment, investment funds, interest and reinvestment activity by the sellin~/offering entity.
~igure 2 is a block diagram similar in basic respects to Fi~ure 1, but showing the system as applied to a credit card account wherei:n the o~fering agency primarily offers credit, but the goods and services come from other sources under agreement with the offering agency. Examples are a Visa, MasterCard or other general purpose credit card account. The credit card account may or may not be a revolving type charge account.
~1272~1 Figure 3 is another schematic dia~ram in the form of a block diagram~flow chart showing the operation of the system from the point of view of the offering firm or entity. The figure shows data processing steps, accomplished using a central processor or CPU, involved in setting up a customer deposit account, accepting funds up to the preset percentage limit, issuing statements, limiting the term of each increment of investment funds, calculating interest, etc.
Figures 4 and 5 show examples of statements that can be sent to the customer detailing the customer's deposit account and the progress of all investment increments in the account, as interest is applied to each of these increments of funds. The statement of Figure 4 reflects an in~estment account in which the term is limited for each increment of funds; Figure 5 shows a statement wherein no maximum term is imposed,~but the interest rate drops to a lower level after~a pre-set period such as one year.
Description o~ Preferred Embodiments In the drawings~,~Figure l shows in block diagram form a system generally identified as lO for use by a seller of goods or services to provide an incentive to customers to make purchases.~ In the system lO of the invention an offering entity 12 can~be, for example, an automobi-le manufacture~,~a department store, a provider of telephone services, a hotel,~rental car company, etc. As indicated in the drawing, the~offering entity 12 provides goods and~or services to the customer 14, and this can include credit on purchases. The drawing shows the flow of payment from the customer 14 to the offering entity or firm 2 and, as indicated, this will include interest if interest is charged, such as in a "revolving" credit type account.
The drawing also shows the flow of investment funds from the customer 14 to the offering entity 12. As discusse~ above~ the amount of these investment funds can be limited to a fixed percentage of the amount of purchase activity by the customer during a particular period or for ~093/13488 PCT/US92/11275 ~ 1 2 7 2 ~
7 -~
a particular transaction in the case of the purchase of an automobile, for example. Thus, if the customer has purchased $1000 of goods and services from a department store, for example, during a specific billing period (or during a longer preselected period which may encompass several billing periods), and the investment percentage amount is set at 10~, the customer may invest ~100 with the offering entity for the period in question. If the customer pays the entire bill for purchases, $1100 may be remitted, with instructions (preferably on a provided form) that $100 is to be placed in the investment account for the customer As noted above, the offering entity 12 offers a high rate of return on the investment funds, higher than available elsewhere in safe, liquid investments at the retail level. The`customer will find a significantly higher rate of return~with this program than available in "money market"~accounts, certificates of deposit or other short to medium term liquid-safe~investments.
The offering~entity establishes a deposit account 18 `~ 20 for the customerjinvestor~l2, preferably using a dedicated account numker~which is tied to the customer (the customer is;~identified~as~number~123 ~iD Figure l). In any event, the deposit account~balance~and other information is tied to~the customèr'~s regular~account number or to a ~25 ~ transaction number~in~the~case~of~a~single-purchase of goods or-services~
If the offering~entity is a single department store ` (as~opposed to~a gr p of different stores or firms selling a variety of goods~and/oriservices), the period for accumulation of~;~purchases~may advantageously be longer than the case of a~general~purpose credit~card, since the monthly purchase~amounts~will usually ~e less. Thus, a department store~;~;may offer an lnvestment based on six months~' total purchases to make investment amounts more 3S si~nificant.
Of course, the~customer's deposit account 18 will exist as part of a pool of funds from all customers/investors and the account 18 will exist only in a :~ ' .. . .
21~7291 8 central computer data~ase and in statements issued from the offering entity. The offering entity uses these funds for reinvestment to obtain maximum secure return, or otherwise uses the funds advantageously as limited by applicable laws and regulations regarding financial institutions, general purpose credit card companies, etc. The block 20 in Figure l indicates investment of funds by the offering entity, with return of interest.
As outlined earlier, because the offering entity can have a small loss on the purchase incentive/investment progranl of the invention, it may wish to limit the duration of investment of each increment of funds invested by each customer. The term can be, for example, six months, one year, several years, or up to a fixed end date but with a guarantee of a minimum term of, say, six months. ~or example, each customer deposit account may be automatically liqiuidated at JuIy 31 and December 31 of each year, but only for funds that have been in the account for at least six months at the particular liquidation date. Liquidation or redemption of investment funds is indicated at 22 in the drawing, with principal~ and interest paid back to the ~; customer/investor. If the entire account is not liquidated, then onl~y those portions of investment funds scheduled to be liquidated at the particular time will be sent to the customer,~with later-invested funds remaining in the deposit account l~.
~ Figure 2 shows a system of the invention similar to that of Figure 1~, ~but in this case reflecting that the offering entity in the system 30 may be a general purpose credit card firm offering a widely accepted credit card, :
such as Visa, Mas~erCard or American Express. In this case, the offerlng;entity 32 does not normally provide goods or services (except credit services), the actual provider of goods or services being a retailer 34 or mail order firm or other supplier of goods or services to the public.
Thus, the offering entity 32 provides credit to the customer/investor 14, indicated by the arrow 36, while the 212729~
customer obtains goods or services from the retailer 34, indicated by the arrow 38. Fi~ure 2 shows commissions (typically 2% to 4%) passing from the retailer 34 via arrow 40 to the offering entity (Visa, MasterCard, etc.); and payment for the customer's purchases passing from the offering entity 32 to the retailer 34, indicated by the arrow 42.
The customer (identified as customer No. 234) remits payment to the offering entity (arrow 44) and may also invest funds (arrow 46) with the offering entity as a pre-agreed percentage of purchases made.
Again, the offering entity establishes a deposit account 48 for the customer, the deposit account being shown in dashed lines because the funds are actually part of a pooled fund. The offering entity 32 actually invests these investment funds, for example in high return institutional investments 50, which provide a return to the offering entity indicated at arrow 52.
For example, a situation may exist wherein the prime rate for large banks is at 8%, and wherein the best secure and liquid inves~ment available to the average consumer has a rate of return of about 5% to 6%. Bank savings account rates in such~an investment climate may be only about 4~%
to 5~%. The offerlng firm 32 might offer the customer a rat.e of return of 7%%, 8%, 9%, lO% or even ll~ or higher, , ~ -limiting~t~e amount of each investment to, for example, 10%
of the purchases~made by the cust~mer during a given billing period ~(this percentage may be higher depending on the off~ering entity, its own return on investments 50, ~he duration over which high interest is payable, and other ; factors). A strong~incentive is therefore provided for the customer to make purchases using a credit card account with the offerin~ firm1 especially if the customer can pay the .
~ account in full after~each billing period. In this ; 35 situation, instead of buying items or services for cash~
the customer can use the credit card account, obtain an extension of credit for a minimum of about 2S days, and can also reap the benefits of a very high rate of return on W093/13488 - PCT~US92/11275 2127~31 investment funds.
On the other hand, the offering firm 32 obtains a higher activity in the customer's credit card account, and, even if the customer pays the full balance every month, the offering entity receives substantial commissions from the retailer 34. (Of course the customer can allow the credit account to "revolve", by not paying the full balance each billing period. However, in nearly every case this will not be economically sound since the intere~t charges of the offering firm 32 in the customer's account will be greater than the interest offered via the customer's deposit account 48).
As indicated in Figure 2, the offering entity 32 ultimately liquidates the customer's investment, shown by the arrow 54, by turning over principal and interest to the customer 14. If the customer has an outstanding balance in th~ credit card account, or if the customer ~s in arrears on payment, or if the customer so desires, the payment of principal and interest can be via credit t~ the customer's credit card account,~rather than by direct payment.
It should be pointed out that a general purpose credit card offering entity as indicated at 32 (and as d~scribed previously) will generally be a ~ank rather than Visa International, which is primarily a computer service company and licensing agency. The bank offers a Visa card or MasterCard~under an "interchange agreement" with the organization such as:Visa Intèrnational. The bank's processing center has a computer communicating with a central Visa computer. Sta~ements are sent to the customer by t~e bank, but the Visa computer has all rele~ant data and charges the bank a fee based on volume and the number of ser~ices provided. Thus, Visa benefits from the system of the:invention, although the bank benefits more directly and generally more substantially. ~merican Express is different in that it offers cards directly, not through ~anks.
An organization such as American Express or a bank issuing Visa cards and MasterCards is in a good position to ~093/13488 PCT/US92/11275 offer the system of the invention. If the organization collects interest from customers for extension of credit, it has the opportunity to obtain a high rate of interest from customers who do not pay the entire balance each month. Thus, banks issuing Visa cards or MasterCards, for example, can use customer-invested funds to finance additional credit card accounts. A large proportion of customers with these credit card accounts wil1 carry a re~olving balance and will pay high interest (e.g. 14%-19%) for the financing of those accounts. Therefore, such an organization has an opportunity to make an investment 50 which potentially can return more to the offering organization than the offering organization must pay to those customers who take advantage of the investment offer.
Figure 3 is a simplified flow chart showing the operation of the system of the invention by the offering firm or entity. The~offering entity is indicated in a dashed line box as 60, encompassing a central computer or central proccssing unit 62 as well as a function box 64 indicating che~k clearing and crediting of funds to the offering entity from the customer 14. An arrow at 65 indicates inpùt;of~lnformatlon regarding the current large bank prime rate (or other published interest rate as sele~ted for use in the~system, with adjustment daily, weekIy, or ovcr another selectcd period of time. The offering entity~60 will of course encompass many additional features,~functlons, departments and personnel; Figure 3 only indicates certain functions related to the system of the invention,~sufflcient to describe the operation of the system by the offering entity 60.
As can be seen from Figure 3j the central computer or CPU 62 establishes or coordinates with the establishment of ~ many customer deposit accounts 18, in a database. Several ;~ customer deposit accounts 18 are indicated in Figure 3, but there could be~hundreds or thousands of such accounts. The account 18 is shown in dashed lines, since it will normally onIy exist in the computer database, in statements sent out to the customer,~ other internal records, etc.
21~7~91 Figure 3 also shows the CPU 62 issuing or causing the issuance of statements 66 to the customer 14, as well as invoices or periodic account statements 68, at appropriate times. The invoice or account statement 68, in the case of a monthly charge account or other periodic account, will inform the customer of purchases made during the accounting period and the balance due and amount payable by the customer. In addition, the monthl~ or periodic invoice or statement 68 in preferred embodiments of the invention will indicate to the customer the maximum investment that can be made by the customer for the particular period and which will be accepted from the customer for investment in the offering entity, at a stated high rate of return;
alternatively, this can occur less frequently, such as every six months, but with the relevant purchase accumulation given each statement. The customer can be invited to send a single check, with designation of what portion is to make~payment of or on the balance due, and what portion is~to be applied as investment funds. The offer presented~to~the~customer is indicated at 7~ on the invoice 68 in Figure 3.
The deposi~t account statement 66 should indicate any term limit on the invested funds, if any i5 imposed by the of~ering entity.~ In the event the customer has sent in various increments of investment funds for different periods, received~by the o~fering entity and credited to the deposit account~18 at dif~erent times, the statement 66 can give a schedule of dates for liquidation of each increment of funds making up the current balance. This is discussed further below with reference to Figure 4.
As mentioned above and as indicated in Figure 3, the ~`~ CPU 62 may issue or direct the issuance of separate statements 66 to the~customer 14, regarding the balance in the customer's deposit account 18. These statements will ~include an accounting of compounded interest as calculated by the CPU 62. Although the statement 66 could be physically combined with the periodic account statement 68, it will be preferably in most instances to have a separate WO93/13488 PCT/~S92/11275 ~127291 statement 66, even if they are mailed together in the same en~elope. For example, there could be periods where a statement 66 is sent out to report deposit account balance, when no periodic account statement 68 is sent. This would be the case with firms which mail a statement only when some balance is due. Even in such periods, the customer may have an existing deposit account balance from in~estment funds sent in previously.
Figure 3 further indicates the investment of funds by the offering entity, i.e. funds which have been invested by a number of customers 14. The arrow 74 in Figure 3 indicates funds being invested in a high return institutional type invéstment 76. Such investment pays a return of interest 7~ back to the offering entity as schematically shown.
Also shown in the schematic view of Figure 3 is a demand for funds by the customer 14, indicated at 80 in the figure. At any time, preferably with a prescribed period of notice (such as one month), the customer 14 may demand principal and interest, or a portion of principal and interest, from his customer deposit account 18. Such demand does not come into play if the offering entity has imposed a maximum investment term in which interest is paid, and no demand is~made by the customer prior to the imposed end of the term, in~which case the account is liquidatëd automaticaIly. The customer's demand 80 is fed by the offering;entity~60 into the CPU 62, which automatically carries out steps such as those of verifying the customer's deposit account balance, calculating all compounded interest which should be credited to the customer's balance to~date, matching the account number and any security code which is required, automatic verification of signature or checking that manual verification has been performed, compi~ling a~closing statement or a status-bearing statement regarding the deposit account followingwi~hdrawal of the demanded funds, and finally, issuance of and mailing of a check to the customer 14, as indicated by the arrow and legend 82.
:
.
21r~r~ 291 14 Figure 4 shows a portion of the statement regarding the liquidation dates of a series of increments of customer-invested funds, and also listing interest accrued at the date of the statement. The example of Figure 4 assumes that the interest rate applied to all funds will float in accordance with a fixed increment over the published money rate which is used in the system, e.g. the prime rate (the figures are fictional and not necessarily correct). However, each increment of funds could instead be guaranteed the interest rate prevailing at the time the funds are invested, so that, potentially, each increment of funds could carry a different interest rate for the life of the investment. Interest may or may not be compounded, depending on the offer to the customer.
As a further alternative, the system can guarantee the customer a fixed rate of return, at the 1evel prevailing at the time of investment, but guarantee this return only for a limited term, such as one year. In this way, limitation on th~ term of investment need not be imposed, and the customer can maintain a deposit account with the subject funds retained indefinitely, but with a lower rate of interest paid after the expiration of the original promised high-interest duration for the subject incremental investment. Figure 5 shows an example stat~ment 86 for the latter alternative (again with arbitrary figures). After the~promIsed perlod of high interest has expired or a given increment~of~funds, the interest rate paid can drop to, for exampIe, a point or more below prime rate. The customer may then wish to withdraw those funds not subject to the higher rate of return, but in many cases, even `~ though notified,~the customer will not do so immediately.
This will provide opportunity for the offering entity to earn a positive return from the customer's invested funds that have passed the high-interest period.
In the system as exemplified by Figure 4, the customer's statement 84 shows incremental investments A
through I, made, as received by the offering entity, from January 3, l99l to November 4, l99l. The statement 84 in ~093/13488 PCT/US92/1127~
the illustrated example gives the date and amount of each incremental investment, along with the amount of compounded interest accrued to date for those particular funds. On the right, the statement gives the required liquidation date for each incremental investment. Although this is only one example of how the limitation of the high-interest investment can be effected, the statement 84 reflects a system in which the customèr is guaranteed at least one full year of the high return investment for each incremental investment, but with liquidation only occurring twice per year, at June 30 and December 31. Thus, funds invested by the customer jus~ after December 31 can obtain ;
the high rate of return, in this example, for almost a year and a half.
15Figure 5 reflects the variation discussed above, wherein the customer is given the benefit of the prevailing high rate of interest at the time of investment of each segment of funds, as a fixed rate which follows those funds throughout the term. In this example, however, the fixed rate of return is e~fective for only a fixed period of time, e.g. one year~in the example illustrated (again, interest may or may not be compounded). Thus, there need be no mandated liquidation date for each increment of funds -- as discussed;~above,;the customer can keep the funds invested as long~às desired,~ but;the lower rate (e.g. one percent below~prime) will be ~ffective after the expiration of the high-return period~
In another variation~discussed above but not specifically~shown ln the~statements of Figure 4 and 5, if the offering entity is a single business sr firm such as a ` department store;chain,~a~rental car firm, etc., the -~
customer may have~the opportunity to invest funds less frequently, such as every six months or every year, based on purcha~es/account activity over that period. The statement will reflect this less frequent investment and will appear slmpler.
The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate the~principles of the present invention, but . : ~
: ~: :
2127~1 not to limit its scope~ It can be seen that in a number of aspects of the system described, several alternatives are possible, still within the overall system and principle described. Other embodiments and variations to these preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
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S P E C I F I C A T I O N
Backaround of the Invention The invention relates qenerally to a system for promotinq purchases in custome~ accounts such as credit card accounts, department s~.ore accounts and other consumer purchase transactions, with associated data processinq.
Credit card firms such as Visa and MasterCard, automobile manufacturers, r~ntal car companies, department stores, lonq distance telephone companies, financial institutions and other or~anizations have offered a number of different proqrans for promotinq purchases of ~oods or services. These have included discount offers for certain catalo~ items, based on volume of activity in an account.
Other promotional schemes have involved discounts on other qoods or ~ervices, different from those purchased in the account. For example, di~count coupons have been offered ~or airline ticke~s, based on a minimum level of investment in a bank or savinqs and loan. Similarly, holders of Visa cards hav~ been offered deeply discounted or free air travel based on a certain level of activity usinq a ~eneral purpose charqe card,~ or have been credited with air miles based on actlvity in~a charqe card account.
The followinq U.;S. Patents have ~eneral pertinence to ~the present invention: ~eon Patent No. 4,742,457, Musmanno : Patents Nos. 4,746,442, 4,376,978, 4,597,046 and 4,774,6i63 Lucas Patent No. 4,751,640, Brachtel Patent No~ 4,755,940, and Durbin Patent No. 4,933,842. These patents relate to investmeint plans,~allocation of investment funds amon~
different investments and accounts, differinq in liquidity and term; data processinq and computerization of investment plans and electronlc funds transfers, security of funds :`
transfer arranqements and indexinq of interest rates for deposit accounts. In particular, the Leon patent discloses a system for adjusting for inflation in deposit accounts and loan funds, with associated automated data ~rocessing.
Another investment offerinq havinq some relevance to the present invention is Citibank's CITI Credit Card Fund, "units" of which are sold to the public throuqh brokers.
Like a type of revenue bond, the investment quarantees a fixed rate of return. Citibank uses the invested funds to finance the purchases and cash advances of its credit card customers, and the customer's investments are secured ~y the ~,ard account receivables, at 100+%.
It is an object of this invention to provide a system for enablinq a marketer of qoods or services, a qeneral purpose credit card firm such as Visa or MasterCard, or another similarly situated entity to offer an attractive incentive to customers toward use of a qeneral purpose credit card, the purchase of qoods, the purchase of services, or other financial activity which costs the offerin~ entity far less than promotional sGhemes or arranqements conventlonally used; and it is a related ob~ect to offer a consumer an attractive and safe investment o~portunity in return for the purchase of qoods and servlces.
: .-. , Summa~y_of the Invention In~accordance~with the present invention, a method and system used by~a~seller of qoods or services, or by a financin~ entity~such as~a qeneral purpose credit card firm,~provides a hi~h rate of return for : :
investors/customers~while promotinq purchase~ by the customers of products or services from or throuqh the , offerinq entity.~ $he offerin~ entity, which is in the business of acceptinq purchases by customers (or acceptinq ~ some form of account activity), calculates the sum of total - 35 purchases made by the customer durinq a preselected period, or in some cases, records only a sinqle lar~e purchase.
The offerinq entity then accepts investment funds from the :
W093/13488 PCT/US92/11275 ~
2127~91 :
investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-aqreed proportion o~ the sum of purchases made by the investor/customer during the preselected period. The firm may provide a deposit account for the investor/customer, crediting the investment funds received from the investor in the deposit account, along with interest which accrues at a relatively high rate.
By this system, a firm promoting ~oods and services is able to offer an attractive, safe and liquid investment opportunity to customers in return for the customer's making purchases. The customer receives a rate of return considerably higher than available in money market accounts, certificates of deposit, or other relatively safe investments, and in fact the investment provided under this system is more liquid than most investment programs claiming to give a hig~ yield.
T~e customer can withdraw his invested funds plus interest on demand, preferably by giving a fixed period of notice. If the firm loses money on these incentive accounts, the firm generally will wish to limit the duration of each~investment of funds, or to limit the period of time in~whicb the high rate is paid.
However, the offering entity will not necessarily have a loss for the incentive investment accounts, or may have only a small loss.~ In~most cases the firm will be large, ~ with substantial assets, and will be able to obtain among ;~ the highest rates of return available when reinvesting `~ these funds; the~rate may be comparable to the rate paid to the investors. MoreoYer, even if the offering entity incurs a small loss (e.g. one-half percent) through the offering of very attractive return, the cost incurred will still be lower than many previously used promotional programs used by Visa,~ MasterCard, airlines, rental car companies, etc. Compared to the amount of the customer's purchases, and with a 10% limit on investment as compared to purchases, the loss to the offering entity in this example would be only l/20 percent.
Further, the system of the invention can cooperate ~127~
particularly well with general'purpose credit card accounts such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.
Investment funds from customers can be used to finance the offering entity's own customer credit card accounts, thus earning a return for the offering entity higher than would be available elsewhere with relative security and enabling the sntity to make a profit rather than incur a loss.
Examples of published interest rates to which is tied the interest rate to be offered customers are the prime rate for large banks; average lar~e bank prime rate when several are published; government bills, less than two years; federal funds rate at which banks borrow from the government; term federal funds; bankers' acceptance (backed by letters of credit); Libor-London Interbank offering rate/international cost of funds; commercial paper;
certificates of deposit; government bonds; and government notes. The large bank prime rate is an interest rate with which many investors are familiar, and is preferred.
The attractive investment rate offered to customers/
investors can be, for example, zero to four percent above the published money rate selected. ~n example would be one-half percent or one~percent over the prime rate or its equivalent, or the prime rate itself. Another example would be two to three percent over a published certificate . ~ .
of deposit (CD)~rate ~such as published in The Wall Street Journal~. In~many cases certi~icates of deposit rates are more familiar to and more meaningful'to customers; also, , ~
the investment~contemplated by the invention is in competition wlth and will usually be compared with CD
rates, by the investor.
The system~of th~e invention preferably includes automated data processing of customer/investor transactions.~ A central computer and database can automatically set up an account for an investor, make ' 35 computations re~ardlng amount of investment funds that will be accepted for each customer account in each billinq period, compute 1nterest, print offerin~ materials, calendar investments so as to require liquidation after a WO93/13488 PCT/US92/1127~
2~2~al certain agreed-upon period, etc. These functions overlap to a large degree with functions already performed internally by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, telephone companies and other businesses offering credit to consumers.
For security to the customer/investor, the deposit ::
account can be insured, or it can be secured by assets of the of~erinq entity, e.g. charge account receivables in the case of a department store or general purpose credit card.
The system and method of the invention there~ore achieve for the offering entity a relatively inexpensive vehicle for attracting customers to purchases of goods or services, while at the same time promoting savings. From the point of view of the customer, a very high rate of return can be achieved in a safe and liquid investment, with a firm or institution which the customer knows to be reliable, and the customer is encouraged to use his credit card, purchase department store items or appliances, automobiles, etc. as well as to increa~e savings. These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments, considered along with the accompanying drawlngs.
DesGri~tion of the Draw~s Figure 1 is a~block diagram diagrammatically : illustrating the system of the invention in one embodiment, illustrating flow of goods or services, payment, investment funds, interest and reinvestment activity by the sellin~/offering entity.
~igure 2 is a block diagram similar in basic respects to Fi~ure 1, but showing the system as applied to a credit card account wherei:n the o~fering agency primarily offers credit, but the goods and services come from other sources under agreement with the offering agency. Examples are a Visa, MasterCard or other general purpose credit card account. The credit card account may or may not be a revolving type charge account.
~1272~1 Figure 3 is another schematic dia~ram in the form of a block diagram~flow chart showing the operation of the system from the point of view of the offering firm or entity. The figure shows data processing steps, accomplished using a central processor or CPU, involved in setting up a customer deposit account, accepting funds up to the preset percentage limit, issuing statements, limiting the term of each increment of investment funds, calculating interest, etc.
Figures 4 and 5 show examples of statements that can be sent to the customer detailing the customer's deposit account and the progress of all investment increments in the account, as interest is applied to each of these increments of funds. The statement of Figure 4 reflects an in~estment account in which the term is limited for each increment of funds; Figure 5 shows a statement wherein no maximum term is imposed,~but the interest rate drops to a lower level after~a pre-set period such as one year.
Description o~ Preferred Embodiments In the drawings~,~Figure l shows in block diagram form a system generally identified as lO for use by a seller of goods or services to provide an incentive to customers to make purchases.~ In the system lO of the invention an offering entity 12 can~be, for example, an automobi-le manufacture~,~a department store, a provider of telephone services, a hotel,~rental car company, etc. As indicated in the drawing, the~offering entity 12 provides goods and~or services to the customer 14, and this can include credit on purchases. The drawing shows the flow of payment from the customer 14 to the offering entity or firm 2 and, as indicated, this will include interest if interest is charged, such as in a "revolving" credit type account.
The drawing also shows the flow of investment funds from the customer 14 to the offering entity 12. As discusse~ above~ the amount of these investment funds can be limited to a fixed percentage of the amount of purchase activity by the customer during a particular period or for ~093/13488 PCT/US92/11275 ~ 1 2 7 2 ~
7 -~
a particular transaction in the case of the purchase of an automobile, for example. Thus, if the customer has purchased $1000 of goods and services from a department store, for example, during a specific billing period (or during a longer preselected period which may encompass several billing periods), and the investment percentage amount is set at 10~, the customer may invest ~100 with the offering entity for the period in question. If the customer pays the entire bill for purchases, $1100 may be remitted, with instructions (preferably on a provided form) that $100 is to be placed in the investment account for the customer As noted above, the offering entity 12 offers a high rate of return on the investment funds, higher than available elsewhere in safe, liquid investments at the retail level. The`customer will find a significantly higher rate of return~with this program than available in "money market"~accounts, certificates of deposit or other short to medium term liquid-safe~investments.
The offering~entity establishes a deposit account 18 `~ 20 for the customerjinvestor~l2, preferably using a dedicated account numker~which is tied to the customer (the customer is;~identified~as~number~123 ~iD Figure l). In any event, the deposit account~balance~and other information is tied to~the customèr'~s regular~account number or to a ~25 ~ transaction number~in~the~case~of~a~single-purchase of goods or-services~
If the offering~entity is a single department store ` (as~opposed to~a gr p of different stores or firms selling a variety of goods~and/oriservices), the period for accumulation of~;~purchases~may advantageously be longer than the case of a~general~purpose credit~card, since the monthly purchase~amounts~will usually ~e less. Thus, a department store~;~;may offer an lnvestment based on six months~' total purchases to make investment amounts more 3S si~nificant.
Of course, the~customer's deposit account 18 will exist as part of a pool of funds from all customers/investors and the account 18 will exist only in a :~ ' .. . .
21~7291 8 central computer data~ase and in statements issued from the offering entity. The offering entity uses these funds for reinvestment to obtain maximum secure return, or otherwise uses the funds advantageously as limited by applicable laws and regulations regarding financial institutions, general purpose credit card companies, etc. The block 20 in Figure l indicates investment of funds by the offering entity, with return of interest.
As outlined earlier, because the offering entity can have a small loss on the purchase incentive/investment progranl of the invention, it may wish to limit the duration of investment of each increment of funds invested by each customer. The term can be, for example, six months, one year, several years, or up to a fixed end date but with a guarantee of a minimum term of, say, six months. ~or example, each customer deposit account may be automatically liqiuidated at JuIy 31 and December 31 of each year, but only for funds that have been in the account for at least six months at the particular liquidation date. Liquidation or redemption of investment funds is indicated at 22 in the drawing, with principal~ and interest paid back to the ~; customer/investor. If the entire account is not liquidated, then onl~y those portions of investment funds scheduled to be liquidated at the particular time will be sent to the customer,~with later-invested funds remaining in the deposit account l~.
~ Figure 2 shows a system of the invention similar to that of Figure 1~, ~but in this case reflecting that the offering entity in the system 30 may be a general purpose credit card firm offering a widely accepted credit card, :
such as Visa, Mas~erCard or American Express. In this case, the offerlng;entity 32 does not normally provide goods or services (except credit services), the actual provider of goods or services being a retailer 34 or mail order firm or other supplier of goods or services to the public.
Thus, the offering entity 32 provides credit to the customer/investor 14, indicated by the arrow 36, while the 212729~
customer obtains goods or services from the retailer 34, indicated by the arrow 38. Fi~ure 2 shows commissions (typically 2% to 4%) passing from the retailer 34 via arrow 40 to the offering entity (Visa, MasterCard, etc.); and payment for the customer's purchases passing from the offering entity 32 to the retailer 34, indicated by the arrow 42.
The customer (identified as customer No. 234) remits payment to the offering entity (arrow 44) and may also invest funds (arrow 46) with the offering entity as a pre-agreed percentage of purchases made.
Again, the offering entity establishes a deposit account 48 for the customer, the deposit account being shown in dashed lines because the funds are actually part of a pooled fund. The offering entity 32 actually invests these investment funds, for example in high return institutional investments 50, which provide a return to the offering entity indicated at arrow 52.
For example, a situation may exist wherein the prime rate for large banks is at 8%, and wherein the best secure and liquid inves~ment available to the average consumer has a rate of return of about 5% to 6%. Bank savings account rates in such~an investment climate may be only about 4~%
to 5~%. The offerlng firm 32 might offer the customer a rat.e of return of 7%%, 8%, 9%, lO% or even ll~ or higher, , ~ -limiting~t~e amount of each investment to, for example, 10%
of the purchases~made by the cust~mer during a given billing period ~(this percentage may be higher depending on the off~ering entity, its own return on investments 50, ~he duration over which high interest is payable, and other ; factors). A strong~incentive is therefore provided for the customer to make purchases using a credit card account with the offerin~ firm1 especially if the customer can pay the .
~ account in full after~each billing period. In this ; 35 situation, instead of buying items or services for cash~
the customer can use the credit card account, obtain an extension of credit for a minimum of about 2S days, and can also reap the benefits of a very high rate of return on W093/13488 - PCT~US92/11275 2127~31 investment funds.
On the other hand, the offering firm 32 obtains a higher activity in the customer's credit card account, and, even if the customer pays the full balance every month, the offering entity receives substantial commissions from the retailer 34. (Of course the customer can allow the credit account to "revolve", by not paying the full balance each billing period. However, in nearly every case this will not be economically sound since the intere~t charges of the offering firm 32 in the customer's account will be greater than the interest offered via the customer's deposit account 48).
As indicated in Figure 2, the offering entity 32 ultimately liquidates the customer's investment, shown by the arrow 54, by turning over principal and interest to the customer 14. If the customer has an outstanding balance in th~ credit card account, or if the customer ~s in arrears on payment, or if the customer so desires, the payment of principal and interest can be via credit t~ the customer's credit card account,~rather than by direct payment.
It should be pointed out that a general purpose credit card offering entity as indicated at 32 (and as d~scribed previously) will generally be a ~ank rather than Visa International, which is primarily a computer service company and licensing agency. The bank offers a Visa card or MasterCard~under an "interchange agreement" with the organization such as:Visa Intèrnational. The bank's processing center has a computer communicating with a central Visa computer. Sta~ements are sent to the customer by t~e bank, but the Visa computer has all rele~ant data and charges the bank a fee based on volume and the number of ser~ices provided. Thus, Visa benefits from the system of the:invention, although the bank benefits more directly and generally more substantially. ~merican Express is different in that it offers cards directly, not through ~anks.
An organization such as American Express or a bank issuing Visa cards and MasterCards is in a good position to ~093/13488 PCT/US92/11275 offer the system of the invention. If the organization collects interest from customers for extension of credit, it has the opportunity to obtain a high rate of interest from customers who do not pay the entire balance each month. Thus, banks issuing Visa cards or MasterCards, for example, can use customer-invested funds to finance additional credit card accounts. A large proportion of customers with these credit card accounts wil1 carry a re~olving balance and will pay high interest (e.g. 14%-19%) for the financing of those accounts. Therefore, such an organization has an opportunity to make an investment 50 which potentially can return more to the offering organization than the offering organization must pay to those customers who take advantage of the investment offer.
Figure 3 is a simplified flow chart showing the operation of the system of the invention by the offering firm or entity. The~offering entity is indicated in a dashed line box as 60, encompassing a central computer or central proccssing unit 62 as well as a function box 64 indicating che~k clearing and crediting of funds to the offering entity from the customer 14. An arrow at 65 indicates inpùt;of~lnformatlon regarding the current large bank prime rate (or other published interest rate as sele~ted for use in the~system, with adjustment daily, weekIy, or ovcr another selectcd period of time. The offering entity~60 will of course encompass many additional features,~functlons, departments and personnel; Figure 3 only indicates certain functions related to the system of the invention,~sufflcient to describe the operation of the system by the offering entity 60.
As can be seen from Figure 3j the central computer or CPU 62 establishes or coordinates with the establishment of ~ many customer deposit accounts 18, in a database. Several ;~ customer deposit accounts 18 are indicated in Figure 3, but there could be~hundreds or thousands of such accounts. The account 18 is shown in dashed lines, since it will normally onIy exist in the computer database, in statements sent out to the customer,~ other internal records, etc.
21~7~91 Figure 3 also shows the CPU 62 issuing or causing the issuance of statements 66 to the customer 14, as well as invoices or periodic account statements 68, at appropriate times. The invoice or account statement 68, in the case of a monthly charge account or other periodic account, will inform the customer of purchases made during the accounting period and the balance due and amount payable by the customer. In addition, the monthl~ or periodic invoice or statement 68 in preferred embodiments of the invention will indicate to the customer the maximum investment that can be made by the customer for the particular period and which will be accepted from the customer for investment in the offering entity, at a stated high rate of return;
alternatively, this can occur less frequently, such as every six months, but with the relevant purchase accumulation given each statement. The customer can be invited to send a single check, with designation of what portion is to make~payment of or on the balance due, and what portion is~to be applied as investment funds. The offer presented~to~the~customer is indicated at 7~ on the invoice 68 in Figure 3.
The deposi~t account statement 66 should indicate any term limit on the invested funds, if any i5 imposed by the of~ering entity.~ In the event the customer has sent in various increments of investment funds for different periods, received~by the o~fering entity and credited to the deposit account~18 at dif~erent times, the statement 66 can give a schedule of dates for liquidation of each increment of funds making up the current balance. This is discussed further below with reference to Figure 4.
As mentioned above and as indicated in Figure 3, the ~`~ CPU 62 may issue or direct the issuance of separate statements 66 to the~customer 14, regarding the balance in the customer's deposit account 18. These statements will ~include an accounting of compounded interest as calculated by the CPU 62. Although the statement 66 could be physically combined with the periodic account statement 68, it will be preferably in most instances to have a separate WO93/13488 PCT/~S92/11275 ~127291 statement 66, even if they are mailed together in the same en~elope. For example, there could be periods where a statement 66 is sent out to report deposit account balance, when no periodic account statement 68 is sent. This would be the case with firms which mail a statement only when some balance is due. Even in such periods, the customer may have an existing deposit account balance from in~estment funds sent in previously.
Figure 3 further indicates the investment of funds by the offering entity, i.e. funds which have been invested by a number of customers 14. The arrow 74 in Figure 3 indicates funds being invested in a high return institutional type invéstment 76. Such investment pays a return of interest 7~ back to the offering entity as schematically shown.
Also shown in the schematic view of Figure 3 is a demand for funds by the customer 14, indicated at 80 in the figure. At any time, preferably with a prescribed period of notice (such as one month), the customer 14 may demand principal and interest, or a portion of principal and interest, from his customer deposit account 18. Such demand does not come into play if the offering entity has imposed a maximum investment term in which interest is paid, and no demand is~made by the customer prior to the imposed end of the term, in~which case the account is liquidatëd automaticaIly. The customer's demand 80 is fed by the offering;entity~60 into the CPU 62, which automatically carries out steps such as those of verifying the customer's deposit account balance, calculating all compounded interest which should be credited to the customer's balance to~date, matching the account number and any security code which is required, automatic verification of signature or checking that manual verification has been performed, compi~ling a~closing statement or a status-bearing statement regarding the deposit account followingwi~hdrawal of the demanded funds, and finally, issuance of and mailing of a check to the customer 14, as indicated by the arrow and legend 82.
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21r~r~ 291 14 Figure 4 shows a portion of the statement regarding the liquidation dates of a series of increments of customer-invested funds, and also listing interest accrued at the date of the statement. The example of Figure 4 assumes that the interest rate applied to all funds will float in accordance with a fixed increment over the published money rate which is used in the system, e.g. the prime rate (the figures are fictional and not necessarily correct). However, each increment of funds could instead be guaranteed the interest rate prevailing at the time the funds are invested, so that, potentially, each increment of funds could carry a different interest rate for the life of the investment. Interest may or may not be compounded, depending on the offer to the customer.
As a further alternative, the system can guarantee the customer a fixed rate of return, at the 1evel prevailing at the time of investment, but guarantee this return only for a limited term, such as one year. In this way, limitation on th~ term of investment need not be imposed, and the customer can maintain a deposit account with the subject funds retained indefinitely, but with a lower rate of interest paid after the expiration of the original promised high-interest duration for the subject incremental investment. Figure 5 shows an example stat~ment 86 for the latter alternative (again with arbitrary figures). After the~promIsed perlod of high interest has expired or a given increment~of~funds, the interest rate paid can drop to, for exampIe, a point or more below prime rate. The customer may then wish to withdraw those funds not subject to the higher rate of return, but in many cases, even `~ though notified,~the customer will not do so immediately.
This will provide opportunity for the offering entity to earn a positive return from the customer's invested funds that have passed the high-interest period.
In the system as exemplified by Figure 4, the customer's statement 84 shows incremental investments A
through I, made, as received by the offering entity, from January 3, l99l to November 4, l99l. The statement 84 in ~093/13488 PCT/US92/1127~
the illustrated example gives the date and amount of each incremental investment, along with the amount of compounded interest accrued to date for those particular funds. On the right, the statement gives the required liquidation date for each incremental investment. Although this is only one example of how the limitation of the high-interest investment can be effected, the statement 84 reflects a system in which the customèr is guaranteed at least one full year of the high return investment for each incremental investment, but with liquidation only occurring twice per year, at June 30 and December 31. Thus, funds invested by the customer jus~ after December 31 can obtain ;
the high rate of return, in this example, for almost a year and a half.
15Figure 5 reflects the variation discussed above, wherein the customer is given the benefit of the prevailing high rate of interest at the time of investment of each segment of funds, as a fixed rate which follows those funds throughout the term. In this example, however, the fixed rate of return is e~fective for only a fixed period of time, e.g. one year~in the example illustrated (again, interest may or may not be compounded). Thus, there need be no mandated liquidation date for each increment of funds -- as discussed;~above,;the customer can keep the funds invested as long~às desired,~ but;the lower rate (e.g. one percent below~prime) will be ~ffective after the expiration of the high-return period~
In another variation~discussed above but not specifically~shown ln the~statements of Figure 4 and 5, if the offering entity is a single business sr firm such as a ` department store;chain,~a~rental car firm, etc., the -~
customer may have~the opportunity to invest funds less frequently, such as every six months or every year, based on purcha~es/account activity over that period. The statement will reflect this less frequent investment and will appear slmpler.
The above described preferred embodiments are intended to illustrate the~principles of the present invention, but . : ~
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2127~1 not to limit its scope~ It can be seen that in a number of aspects of the system described, several alternatives are possible, still within the overall system and principle described. Other embodiments and variations to these preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
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Claims
1. A method used by an offering entity such as a seller of goods or services or a firm financing goods and services, for providing a high rate of return for investors/customers while promoting purchases by the investors/customers of products or services from or through the offering entity or firm, comprising:
(a) accepting purchases by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity or firm, (b) calculating a sum of total purchases made by the investor customer during a preselected period, (c) accepting investment funds from the investor/
customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of the total purchases made by the investor during the preselected period, and providing a deposit account for the investor/customer and crediting such investment funds in the investor/customer's deposit account, (d) accruing interest for the investor/customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, said high rate of interest being tied to a published money rate, (e) repeating steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) for each of a series of preselected periods, and (f) paying the investor/customer principal and accrued interest after demand by the investor/customer.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of accepting purchases includes accepting purchases by the investor/customer on credit, at least for duration of said preselected period.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of limiting the term comprises ending the term at a preselected calendar date which is at least six months after the date of accepting the investment funds.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the high rate of interest is at least about one-half percentage point higher than a prevailing prime rate at the time of accepting PCT/US 92/112?6 of the investment funds, the prime rate serving as said published money rate.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the high rate of interest is about one to three percentage points higher than the prime rate for large banks, with the high rate of interest floating with the prime rate, the prime rate serving as said published money rate.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said high rate of interest is tied to the published money rate selected from the following: the prime rate as quoted by The Wall Street Journal; commercial paper; certificates of deposit;
government bonds; and government notes.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said high rate of interest is adjusted periodically in accordance with fluctuations in said published money rate.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said high rate of interest is tied to a published money rate selected from the following: government bills, less than two years;
federal funds rate at which banks borrow from the government;
term federal funds: banker's acceptance backed by letters of credit); and Libor-London Interbank offering rate/
international cost of funds.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of calculating the sum of total purchases, providing a deposit account for the investor/customer, crediting investment funds, accruing interest, limiting the term and paying principal and accrued interest, as well as a further step of issuing statements to the investor/customer showing account balance and accrued interest, are accomplished using automated data processing, with a computer and database.
11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the offering entity or firm comprises a seller of goods or services.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the offering entity or firm comprises an issuer of general purpose credit cards such as Visa or MasterCard.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein said prescribed, pre-agreed proportion comprises about 10%.
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of paying the investor/customer principal and accrued interest includes conditioning such payment on the investor/customer's balance on purchases being fully pair.
15. A method used by an offering entity or firm such as a department store, provider of telephone services, insurance company, stock brokerage, hotel, airline or other provider of goods or services, or by a general purpose credit card firm, for providing a high rate of return for investors/customers while promoting purchases by the investors/customers of products or services from or through the offering entity, comprising:
accepting purchases or account activity by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity, calculating a sum of total purchases made by the investor/customer during a preselected period, accepting investment funds from the investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of the total purchases made by the investor during the preselected period, and providing a deposit account for the investor/customer and crediting such investment funds to the investor/customer's deposit account, accruing interest for the investor/customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, said high rate of interest being tied to a published money rate, and ultimately, paying the investor/customer principal and accrued interest.
16. The method of claim 15, further including limiting the term during which the offering entity pays said high rate of interest on accepted investment funds.
17. The method of claim 16, further including guaranteeing the customer at least a six month investment term at said high rate of interest, for each increment of funds invested.
18. The method of claim 16, further including guaranteeing the customer at least a one year investment term at said high rate of interest, for each increment of funds invested.
19. The method of claim 18, further including permitting the customer an indefinite term of investment for all funds invested, but limiting the term during which said high rate of interest is paid, for each increment of funds invested.
20. The method of claim 15, wherein the offering entity is a general purpose credit card firm, and the method including the offering entity's using investment funds from investors/customers to finance credit card accounts of the offering entity's customers.
21. The method of claim 1, including the further step of limiting to a specific term payment of the high rate of interest by the offering firm on accepted funds invested for each preselected period.
22. The method of claim 1, including the further step of producing printed information, the printed information including an offer to the investor/customer to accept investment funds up to said prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/customer during the preselected period.
23. A system used by an offering entity such as a seller of goods for services or a firm financing goods and services, for providing a high rate of return for investors/customers while promoting purchases by the investors/customers of s or services from or through the offering entity or firm, comprising:
(a) data processing means for calculating a sum of total purchases made by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity or firm during a preselected period, (b) investment accepting means including said data processing means for accepting investment funds from the investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/customer during the preselected period, and deposit account means associated with the data processing means for providing a deposit account for the investor/customer and for crediting such investment funds in the investor/customer's deposit account, (c) rate input means associated with the data processing means for receiving inputs of information relating to rates of interest, (d) interest calculating means associated with the data processing means, for accruing interest for the investor/
customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, (e) statement means associated with the data processing means for issuing statements for the investor/customer reporting principal and accrued interest in the deposit account of the investor/customer, and (f) payment means associated with the data processing means for issuing payment to the investor/customer for principal and accrued interest after demand by the investor/
customer or at the termination of a prescribed term of investment.
24. The system of claim 23, further including investment offering means associated with the data processing means for issuing statements to the investor/customer which include a report of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/
customer during a preselected period and a maximum investment which will be accepted from the investor/customer based on such total purchases made during the preselected period.
25. A system used by an offering entity such as a seller of goods or services or a firm financing goods and services, for promoting saving by providing a high rate of return for investors/customers while promoting purchases by the investors/customers of products or services from or through the offering entity or firm, comprising:
central processing computer means and associated data storage, data processing and data input means, input means connected to the central processing computer means for inputting at least one interest rate to the central processing computer means, which interest rate generally reflects or is tied to a rate of interest generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, means associated with the central processing computer means for calculating a sum of total purchases made by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity or firm during a preselected period, investment accepting means associated with the central processing computer means, for accepting investment funds from the investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/
customer during the preselected period, including for comparing funds from the investor/customer with said pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases to determine whether the funds are acceptable, deposit account means for establishing and maintaining in the data storage means a deposit account for the investor/
customer and for crediting such investment funds in the investor/customer's deposit account, interest calculating means associated with the central processing computer means, for accruing interest for the investor/customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions at the time of investment of the investment funds by the investor/
customer, using said interest rate input via the input means, statement means associated with the central processing computer means for issuing statements for the investor/
customer reporting principal and accrued interest in the deposit account of the investor/customer, redemption means associated with the central processing computer means for issuing payment to the investor/customer for principal and accrued interest after one of the following events:
(a) demand by the investor/customer;
(b) termination of a prescribed term of investment.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein the offering entity is a general purpose credit card firm, and the system further including account financing means for using investment funds from investors/customers to finance credit card accounts of the offering entity's customers.
(a) accepting purchases by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity or firm, (b) calculating a sum of total purchases made by the investor customer during a preselected period, (c) accepting investment funds from the investor/
customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of the total purchases made by the investor during the preselected period, and providing a deposit account for the investor/customer and crediting such investment funds in the investor/customer's deposit account, (d) accruing interest for the investor/customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, said high rate of interest being tied to a published money rate, (e) repeating steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) for each of a series of preselected periods, and (f) paying the investor/customer principal and accrued interest after demand by the investor/customer.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of accepting purchases includes accepting purchases by the investor/customer on credit, at least for duration of said preselected period.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of limiting the term comprises ending the term at a preselected calendar date which is at least six months after the date of accepting the investment funds.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the high rate of interest is at least about one-half percentage point higher than a prevailing prime rate at the time of accepting PCT/US 92/112?6 of the investment funds, the prime rate serving as said published money rate.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the high rate of interest is about one to three percentage points higher than the prime rate for large banks, with the high rate of interest floating with the prime rate, the prime rate serving as said published money rate.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said high rate of interest is tied to the published money rate selected from the following: the prime rate as quoted by The Wall Street Journal; commercial paper; certificates of deposit;
government bonds; and government notes.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said high rate of interest is adjusted periodically in accordance with fluctuations in said published money rate.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said high rate of interest is tied to a published money rate selected from the following: government bills, less than two years;
federal funds rate at which banks borrow from the government;
term federal funds: banker's acceptance backed by letters of credit); and Libor-London Interbank offering rate/
international cost of funds.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of calculating the sum of total purchases, providing a deposit account for the investor/customer, crediting investment funds, accruing interest, limiting the term and paying principal and accrued interest, as well as a further step of issuing statements to the investor/customer showing account balance and accrued interest, are accomplished using automated data processing, with a computer and database.
11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the offering entity or firm comprises a seller of goods or services.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the offering entity or firm comprises an issuer of general purpose credit cards such as Visa or MasterCard.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein said prescribed, pre-agreed proportion comprises about 10%.
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of paying the investor/customer principal and accrued interest includes conditioning such payment on the investor/customer's balance on purchases being fully pair.
15. A method used by an offering entity or firm such as a department store, provider of telephone services, insurance company, stock brokerage, hotel, airline or other provider of goods or services, or by a general purpose credit card firm, for providing a high rate of return for investors/customers while promoting purchases by the investors/customers of products or services from or through the offering entity, comprising:
accepting purchases or account activity by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity, calculating a sum of total purchases made by the investor/customer during a preselected period, accepting investment funds from the investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of the total purchases made by the investor during the preselected period, and providing a deposit account for the investor/customer and crediting such investment funds to the investor/customer's deposit account, accruing interest for the investor/customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, said high rate of interest being tied to a published money rate, and ultimately, paying the investor/customer principal and accrued interest.
16. The method of claim 15, further including limiting the term during which the offering entity pays said high rate of interest on accepted investment funds.
17. The method of claim 16, further including guaranteeing the customer at least a six month investment term at said high rate of interest, for each increment of funds invested.
18. The method of claim 16, further including guaranteeing the customer at least a one year investment term at said high rate of interest, for each increment of funds invested.
19. The method of claim 18, further including permitting the customer an indefinite term of investment for all funds invested, but limiting the term during which said high rate of interest is paid, for each increment of funds invested.
20. The method of claim 15, wherein the offering entity is a general purpose credit card firm, and the method including the offering entity's using investment funds from investors/customers to finance credit card accounts of the offering entity's customers.
21. The method of claim 1, including the further step of limiting to a specific term payment of the high rate of interest by the offering firm on accepted funds invested for each preselected period.
22. The method of claim 1, including the further step of producing printed information, the printed information including an offer to the investor/customer to accept investment funds up to said prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/customer during the preselected period.
23. A system used by an offering entity such as a seller of goods for services or a firm financing goods and services, for providing a high rate of return for investors/customers while promoting purchases by the investors/customers of s or services from or through the offering entity or firm, comprising:
(a) data processing means for calculating a sum of total purchases made by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity or firm during a preselected period, (b) investment accepting means including said data processing means for accepting investment funds from the investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/customer during the preselected period, and deposit account means associated with the data processing means for providing a deposit account for the investor/customer and for crediting such investment funds in the investor/customer's deposit account, (c) rate input means associated with the data processing means for receiving inputs of information relating to rates of interest, (d) interest calculating means associated with the data processing means, for accruing interest for the investor/
customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, (e) statement means associated with the data processing means for issuing statements for the investor/customer reporting principal and accrued interest in the deposit account of the investor/customer, and (f) payment means associated with the data processing means for issuing payment to the investor/customer for principal and accrued interest after demand by the investor/
customer or at the termination of a prescribed term of investment.
24. The system of claim 23, further including investment offering means associated with the data processing means for issuing statements to the investor/customer which include a report of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/
customer during a preselected period and a maximum investment which will be accepted from the investor/customer based on such total purchases made during the preselected period.
25. A system used by an offering entity such as a seller of goods or services or a firm financing goods and services, for promoting saving by providing a high rate of return for investors/customers while promoting purchases by the investors/customers of products or services from or through the offering entity or firm, comprising:
central processing computer means and associated data storage, data processing and data input means, input means connected to the central processing computer means for inputting at least one interest rate to the central processing computer means, which interest rate generally reflects or is tied to a rate of interest generally available to individual investors from financial institutions, means associated with the central processing computer means for calculating a sum of total purchases made by an investor/customer from or through the offering entity or firm during a preselected period, investment accepting means associated with the central processing computer means, for accepting investment funds from the investor/customer up to a prescribed, pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases made by the investor/
customer during the preselected period, including for comparing funds from the investor/customer with said pre-agreed proportion of the sum of total purchases to determine whether the funds are acceptable, deposit account means for establishing and maintaining in the data storage means a deposit account for the investor/
customer and for crediting such investment funds in the investor/customer's deposit account, interest calculating means associated with the central processing computer means, for accruing interest for the investor/customer in the deposit account at a high rate of interest, significantly higher than generally available to individual investors from financial institutions at the time of investment of the investment funds by the investor/
customer, using said interest rate input via the input means, statement means associated with the central processing computer means for issuing statements for the investor/
customer reporting principal and accrued interest in the deposit account of the investor/customer, redemption means associated with the central processing computer means for issuing payment to the investor/customer for principal and accrued interest after one of the following events:
(a) demand by the investor/customer;
(b) termination of a prescribed term of investment.
26. The system of claim 25, wherein the offering entity is a general purpose credit card firm, and the system further including account financing means for using investment funds from investors/customers to finance credit card accounts of the offering entity's customers.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
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US816,675 | 1992-01-03 | ||
US07/816,675 US5297026A (en) | 1992-01-03 | 1992-01-03 | System for promoting account activity |
PCT/US1992/011275 WO1993013488A1 (en) | 1992-01-03 | 1992-12-29 | System for promoting account activity |
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Publication Number | Publication Date |
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CA2127291A1 true CA2127291A1 (en) | 1993-07-08 |
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ID=25221327
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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CA002127291A Abandoned CA2127291A1 (en) | 1992-01-03 | 1992-12-29 | System for promoting account activity |
Country Status (7)
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US (1) | US5297026A (en) |
EP (1) | EP0619902A4 (en) |
AU (1) | AU670775B2 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2127291A1 (en) |
FI (1) | FI943172A (en) |
NO (1) | NO942501L (en) |
WO (1) | WO1993013488A1 (en) |
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USD927509S1 (en) | 2013-03-14 | 2021-08-10 | Acorns Grow Incorporated | Mobile device screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface |
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US11176614B1 (en) | 2013-03-14 | 2021-11-16 | Acorns Grow Incorporated | Systems and methods for creating excess funds from retail transactions and apportioning those funds into investments |
US9419957B1 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2016-08-16 | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.A. | Confidence-based authentication |
US10032182B1 (en) | 2013-06-28 | 2018-07-24 | Groupon, Inc. | Systems and methods for providing promotion sharing among consumers |
US11354716B1 (en) | 2013-08-22 | 2022-06-07 | Groupon, Inc. | Systems and methods for determining redemption time |
US10922719B1 (en) | 2013-12-09 | 2021-02-16 | Groupon, Inc. | Systems and methods for providing group promotions |
US10148726B1 (en) | 2014-01-24 | 2018-12-04 | Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.A. | Initiating operating system commands based on browser cookies |
USD785640S1 (en) | 2015-02-11 | 2017-05-02 | Acorns Grow Inc. | Mobile device screen or portion thereof with a graphical user interface |
USD792890S1 (en) | 2015-05-22 | 2017-07-25 | Acorns Grow Incorporated | Display screen or portion therof with a financial data graphical user interface |
USD928799S1 (en) | 2018-07-19 | 2021-08-24 | Acorns Grow Incorporated | Mobile device screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface |
US11567655B2 (en) | 2019-02-21 | 2023-01-31 | Acorns Grow Incorporated | Secure signature creation on a secondary device |
USD927521S1 (en) | 2019-12-09 | 2021-08-10 | Acorns Grow Incorporated | Mobile device screen or portion thereof with a graphical user interface |
Family Cites Families (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4346442A (en) * | 1980-07-29 | 1982-08-24 | Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated | Securities brokerage-cash management system |
US4751640A (en) * | 1984-06-14 | 1988-06-14 | Citibank, Na | Automated investment system |
US4742457A (en) * | 1985-08-27 | 1988-05-03 | Trans Texas Holdings Corporation | System and method of investment management including means to adjust deposit and loan accounts for inflation |
EP0308224A3 (en) * | 1987-09-17 | 1990-09-05 | Meridian Enterprises, Inc. | Incentive award system |
US4885685A (en) * | 1987-09-18 | 1989-12-05 | L & C Family Partnership | Investment management system with travel usage funds indexed to customer account status |
US6009415A (en) * | 1991-12-16 | 1999-12-28 | The Harrison Company, Llc | Data processing technique for scoring bank customer relationships and awarding incentive rewards |
AU4806193A (en) * | 1992-08-11 | 1994-03-15 | S.T.A.R.T., Inc. | Transaction processing system |
-
1992
- 1992-01-03 US US07/816,675 patent/US5297026A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1992-12-29 EP EP93902798A patent/EP0619902A4/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1992-12-29 WO PCT/US1992/011275 patent/WO1993013488A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1992-12-29 AU AU34245/93A patent/AU670775B2/en not_active Ceased
- 1992-12-29 CA CA002127291A patent/CA2127291A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
1994
- 1994-07-01 FI FI943172A patent/FI943172A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1994-07-01 NO NO942501A patent/NO942501L/en unknown
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AU3424593A (en) | 1993-07-28 |
WO1993013488A1 (en) | 1993-07-08 |
EP0619902A1 (en) | 1994-10-19 |
EP0619902A4 (en) | 1995-05-03 |
NO942501L (en) | 1994-08-31 |
US5297026A (en) | 1994-03-22 |
FI943172A0 (en) | 1994-07-01 |
FI943172A (en) | 1994-07-01 |
AU670775B2 (en) | 1996-08-01 |
NO942501D0 (en) | 1994-07-01 |
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Legal Events
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EEER | Examination request | ||
FZDE | Dead |