System, method, and computer program product for issuing and using debit cards

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product are used to issue and track debit cards. A system comprises an enrolling system that verifies an enrollee, associates an enrollee's main and overdraft account, and issues a debit card, an authentication system that receives information regarding a requested transaction of a debit card and that receives information regarding the main and overdraft account associated with the debit card and accepts or rejects the requested transaction based thereon, and a settlement system that generates a periodic report of at least one of the transactions, the main account, and the overdraft account. The overdraft account can be a charge or credit account.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for establishing a smart card transaction instrument for use in an electronic payment system, wherein the smart card transaction instrument has electronic functionality provided by a network of electronic circuitry that is incorporated within the transaction instrument, the method comprising:
 a computer system creating a debit account for a customer in response to an enrollment request, wherein creation of the debit account includes generating a functional data structure corresponding to the debit account;   the computer system establishing access parameters for obtaining balance information for a separate account of the customer and associating the established access parameters with the created debit account and corresponding functional data structure; and   the computer system linking the created debit account and corresponding functional data structure to the smart card transaction instrument, wherein, in an event of a transaction request for the debit account initiated using the smart card transaction instrument, the computer system is configured to use balance information for the separate account as part of a transaction request authorization for the debit account that allows the computer system to determine whether the transaction is authorized without verifying an account balance of the debit account.   
     
     
         22 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the debit account is associated with a first financial institution and the separate account is associated with a second financial institution. 
     
     
         23 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the separate account is debited via a debit request issued through an automated clearing house (ACH) network. 
     
     
         24 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the method further comprises, responsive to receiving access parameters of the customer:
 accessing, using the computer system, an online banking service associated with the separate account; and   extracting account balance information from the online banking service using the access parameters.   
     
     
         25 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the smart card transaction instrument comprises radio frequency identifier (RFID) functionality. 
     
     
         26 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , further comprising:
 receiving a request at the computer system to associate the debit account with the separate account, the request including an account number and bank routing information for the separate account; and   based on the computer system determining whether the transaction is authorized, the computer system using the account number and bank routing information to issue a request to debit the separate account for the transaction request.   
     
     
         27 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , further comprising:
 the computer system associating a credit account with the debit account; and   the computer system debiting the credit account in response to an overdraft of the separate account.   
     
     
         28 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , further comprising the computer system retrieving the balance information using the access parameters that are established by the computer system. 
     
     
         29 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein using the balance information comprises verifying that a balance in the separate account is sufficient to complete a purchase associated with the transaction request. 
     
     
         30 . The method as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the separate account is a direct deposit account. 
     
     
         31 . A method comprising:
 creating, using a computer system, debit account for a customer responsive to an enrollment request, wherein creating the debit account includes generating a functional data structure that corresponds to the debit account;   establishing, using the computer system, parameters for obtaining information for accessing a separate account of the customer and associating established access parameters with the debit account and the functional data structure;   linking, using the computer system, the debit account and the functional data structure to a smart card transaction instrument usable in an electronic payment system, the transaction instrument comprising a card having electronic functionality provided by electronic circuitry implemented therein; and   using, by the computer system, balance information for the separate account as part of an authorization for a transaction responsive to a transaction request for the debit account initiated using the smart card transaction instrument, wherein using the balance information comprises the computer system determining whether the transaction is authorized without verifying an account balance of the debit account.   
     
     
         32 . The method as recited in  claim 31 , further comprising, responsive to authorization of the transaction, debiting the separate account via a debit request issued through an automated clearing house (ACH) network. 
     
     
         33 . The method as recited in  claim 31 , wherein using the balance information comprises verifying that a balance in the separate account is sufficient to complete the transaction associated with the transaction request. 
     
     
         34 . The method as recited in  claim 31 , further comprising the computer system obtaining the balance information for the separate account using a user name and a password of the parameters for obtaining information for accessing the separate account of the customer. 
     
     
         35 . The method as recited in  claim 31 , further comprising:
 associating, using the computer system, a credit account with the debit account; and   debiting, using the computer system, the credit account responsive to an overdraft of the separate account.   
     
     
         36 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to:
 create debit account for a customer responsive to an enrollment request, wherein creating the debit account includes generating a functional data structure that corresponds to the debit account;   establish access parameters for obtaining information for accessing a separate account of the customer and associating established access parameters with the debit account and the functional data structure;   link the debit account and the functional data structure to a smart card transaction instrument usable in an electronic payment system, the smart card transaction instrument comprising a card having electronic functionality provided by electronic circuitry implemented therein; and   use balance information for the separate account as part of an authorization for a transaction responsive to a transaction request for the debit account initiated using the smart card transaction instrument, wherein using the balance information comprises the computer system determining whether the transaction is authorized without verifying an account balance of the debit account.   
     
     
         37 . The computer readable medium as recited in  claim 36 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:
 receive a request to associate the debit account with the separate account, the request including an account number and bank routing information for the separate account;   determine whether the transaction is authorized; and   use the account number and bank routing number to issue a request to debit the separate account for the transaction request.   
     
     
         38 . The computer readable medium as recited in  claim 36 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:
 access an online banking service associated with the separate account using login credentials of the customer included in the access parameters; and   extract account balance information from the online banking service using the login credentials.   
     
     
         39 . The computer readable medium as recited in  claim 36 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:
 verify that a balance in the separate account is sufficient to complete the transaction associated with the transaction request.   
     
     
         40 . The computer readable medium as recited in  claim 36 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to:
 associate a credit account with the debit account; and   debit the credit account responsive to an overdraft of the separate account.