Authorizing transactions associated with accounts

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method for linking accounts corresponding to different products together to create a group so that group processing can be performed at the group level while independent processing of the accounts is performed at the account level. The method links the accounts into a group by linking a financial record for each account to group master data for the group. The group master data includes information about the group, including group control settings, aggregate data, and a group identifier. A group typically includes a key account and one or more dependent accounts. The relationship between a dependent account and the group is specified by a dependent strategy. A dependent strategy specifies group level processing options for the account. The relationships between the accounts and the group are flexible to accommodate changes in the status of the group cardholders. Alternative embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is described by the appended claims and is supported by the foregoing description.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for authorizing financial transactions, the method comprising: 
 receiving a request to perform a financial transaction in relation to a first account;    determining that the first account is associated with a second account; and    authorizing the financial transaction, wherein authorizing the financial transaction is based at least in part on a characteristic of the second account.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein authorizing the financial transaction comprises: 
 determining a combined credit limit of the first account and the second account, wherein the combined credit limit exceeds the amount of the request to perform the financial transaction.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein authorizing the financial transaction comprises: 
 determining a group available credit line associated with an account group, wherein both the first account and the second account are members of the account group, and wherein the group available credit line exceeds the amount of the request to perform a financial transaction.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first account and the second account are associated in an account group, the method further comprising: 
 determining that the second account is a key account in the account group, wherein authorizing the financial strategy includes: 
 authorizing the transaction based only on a credit limit associated with the key account.  
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first account and the second account are associated in an account group, the method further comprising: 
 determining that the first account is a key account in the account group, wherein authorizing the financial strategy includes: 
 authorizing the transaction based upon a group credit line, wherein the group credit line is at least partially based on a first credit line specific to the first account and a second credit line specific to the second account.  
   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first account and the second account are associated in an account group, the method further comprising: 
 determining that the first account is a dependent account in the account group, wherein authorizing the financial strategy includes: 
 defining a relationship associated with the first account, wherein it is defined that the first account participates in group authorizations;  
 authorizing the transaction based at least in part on a group authorization strategy.  
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the group authorization strategy provides for authorizing the financial transaction based on a credit line of the account group.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the credit line is an available credit line, and wherein the available credit line is calculated in real time.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the group authorization strategy provides for authorizing the financial transaction based on an available credit limit of the account group.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the available credit limit is calculated by subtracting from a credit line of the account group: 
 the current balance of the first account;    the current balance of the second account;    an outstanding authorization of the first account; and    an outstanding authorization of the second account.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first account and the second account are associated in an account group, the method further comprising: 
 determining that the first account is a dependent account in the account group, wherein authorizing the financial transaction includes: 
 accessing a dependent strategy associated with the first account, wherein it is determined that the first account does not participate in group authorizations;  
 authorizing the transaction based on an authorization strategy specific to the first account.  
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request to perform the financial transaction includes a transaction amount.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the characteristic of the second account is selected from a group consisting of: an outstanding balance, an outstanding authorization, a derogatory state, a closed state, a frozen state, a revoked state, an authorization prohibited state, a compromised presentation instrument state, and a de-linked state.  
     
     
         14 . A method for authorizing a financial transaction, the method comprising: 
 receiving a request to perform a financial transaction in relation to an account;    determining that the account is associated with an account group, wherein the account group includes a available group credit line; and    authorizing the financial transaction based at least in part on the group credit line.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the account is a first account, wherein a second account is associated with the account group, and wherein access to the available group credit line is based at least on a characteristic of the second account.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the characteristic of the second account is selected from a group consisting of: an outstanding balance, an outstanding authorization, a derogatory state, a closed state, a frozen state, a revoked state, an authorization prohibited state, a compromised presentation instrument state, and a de-linked state.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the derogatory state is an account delinquency.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein access to the available group credit line is based at least in part on a characteristic of the account.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , the method further comprising: 
 determining if the group credit line is accessible by the account.    
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the account is associated with a dependent strategy, and wherein the dependent strategy indicates that the group credit line is accessible by the account.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein access to the available group credit line is calculated in real-time.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the available group credit line indicates credit available to members of the account group.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the account is a first account, wherein a second account is associated with the account group, wherein the available group credit line is an unused portion of an associated group credit line, and wherein the group credit line is determined independent of the first account and the second account.  
     
     
         24 . A method for authorizing a financial transaction, the method comprising: 
 receiving a request to authorize a transaction in relation to a first account;    identifying an account group to which the first account is associated, wherein a second account is associated with the account group; and    authorizing the transaction, wherein the authorization is based at least in part on an available group credit line associated with the group, and wherein the available group credit line is based at least in part on a characteristic of the second account.