System and method of automatic insufficient funds notification and overdraft protection

Abstract

A method and program product for conducting business transactions and avoiding inadvertent overdrafts. First, the value of an intended purchase is estimated and an electronic receipt is generated for the estimate. An account identified for payment (e.g., a checking account or a credit card account) is analyzed for sufficient funds and, alerts may be provided whenever the analysis indicates that the account has insufficient funds. As a result of the alert, the purchase may be halted or another form of payment may be selected. Also, total in-store purchases may be estimated and other accounts may be analyzed to determine if, in addition to being overdrawn for the selected account, the transaction is over budget.

1 . A method of conducting business transactions, said method comprising the steps of: 
 a) estimating the value of an intended purchase;    b) generating an electronic receipt for said intended purchase from the estimate;    c) analyzing an account for payment for sufficient funds; and    d) selectively providing an alert responsive to an indication that said account has insufficient funds.    
     
     
         2 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the step (a) of estimating comprises estimating the total value of in-store purchases for an identified customer.  
     
     
         3 . A method as in  claim 2 , wherein the analyzing step (c) further comprises analyzing a plurality of accounts to determine whether said intended purchase exceeds a current total budget.  
     
     
         4 . A method as in  claim 3 , wherein the step (d) of selectively providing an alert comprises halting said intended purchase.  
     
     
         5 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the analyzing step (c) further comprises analyzing a plurality of accounts to determine whether said intended purchase exceeds a current total budget.  
     
     
         6 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the step (d) of selectively providing an alert comprises halting said intended purchase.  
     
     
         7 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein the step (b) of generating said electronic receipt comprises scanning an intended form of purchase.  
     
     
         8 . A method as in  claim 7 , wherein said intended form of purchase is selected from one of a check, a credit card and a smart card.  
     
     
         9 . A method as in  claim 8 , further comprising the step of: 
 e) identifying another form of purchase responsive to a generated said alert.    
     
     
         10 . A method as in  claim 1 , further comprising the step of: 
 e) identifying another form of purchase responsive to a generated said alert.    
     
     
         11 . A method as in  claim 1 , wherein said account is a bank account, said method providing overdraft protection, said method further comprising the step of: 
 e) identifying another form of purchase responsive to a generated said alert.    
     
     
         12 . A method of providing overdraft protection as in  claim 1 , wherein the step (c) of analyzing further comprises verifying that the account is identified with a customer subscribed to an overdraft protection service, alerts being provided in step (d) only for overdraft protection service subscribers.  
     
     
         13 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions, said computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, said computer readable program code comprising: 
 computer program code means for receiving estimates of intended purchases;    computer program code means for generating electronic receipts for each received estimate;    computer program code means for analyzing payment accounts for sufficient funds for covering said each received estimate; and    computer program code means for providing alerts responsive to an indication that an account has insufficient funds.    
     
     
         14 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions as in  claim 13 , wherein said computer program code means for estimating comprises computer program code means for receiving estimates of the total value of in-store purchases for an identified customer.  
     
     
         15 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions as in  claim 13 , wherein the computer readable program code means for analyzing comprises: 
 computer program code means for analyzing a plurality of accounts; and    computer program code means for determining whether said intended purchase exceeds a current total budget.    
     
     
         16 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions as in  claim 13 , wherein the computer program code means for providing an alert comprises computer program code means for halting said intended purchase.  
     
     
         17 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions as in  claim 13 , wherein the computer program code means for generating said electronic receipts comprises computer program code means for receiving scans of intended forms of purchase.  
     
     
         18 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions as in  claim 17 , wherein said intended forms of purchase include checks drawing on a checking account, a credit card for a credit card account and a smart card.  
     
     
         19 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions as in  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 computer program code means for identifying an alternate payment account.    
     
     
         20 . A computer program product for conducting business transactions as in  claim 13 , wherein the computer program code means for analyzing verifies that bank accounts are identified with customers subscribed to an overdraft protection service, and said computer program code means for providing alerts provides alerts only for overdraft protection service subscribers.