Automatic Savings Program

Abstract

A computer implemented method of processing a financial transaction executed by first person includes determining an automatic savings amount from the financial transaction by rounding up the amount of the financial transaction to the nearest dollar. The method further includes debiting the calculated savings amount from an account of the first person and crediting the savings amount to an account of a second person.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a processor to perform a method for saving money comprising:
 (a) posting a plurality of debit transactions to a source account;   (b) calculating at a financial institution a first savings amount based on a first of the plurality of debit transactions;   (c) calculating at a financial institution a second savings amount based on a second of the plurality of debit transactions;   (d) subsequent to step (a), calculating at a financial institution an aggregate savings amount comprising the first savings amount and the second savings amount;   (e) determining whether adequate funds are available in the source account to cover the aggregate savings amount; and   (f) if adequate funds are available in the source account,
 i. debiting the source account by the aggregate savings amount; and 
 ii. crediting a recipient account by the aggregate savings amount. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where calculating the rewards amount is based on a predetermined percentage of the aggregate savings amount. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the calculating the aggregate savings amount is based off of a fixed amount of money for each base financial transaction. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein calculating the aggregate savings amount is based off of rounding up to a next dollar amount for each base financial transaction. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where the calculating an aggregate savings amount and the determining whether adequate funds are available are performed by a computer system operated by a financial institution. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where the aggregate savings amount is equal to a predetermined monetary amount multiplied by a number of transactions of the plurality of debit transactions posted during a day. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where the aggregate savings amount is the predetermined monetary amount applied for each transaction posted during a predetermined time period. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where recipient account is a savings account, and the source account is a checking account. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where a debit transaction of the plurality of debit transactions is associated with a check card associated with the source account. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where a debit transaction of the plurality of debit transactions is associated with an electronic bill pay associated with the source account. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , the method for saving money further comprising:
 (e) receiving input from a holder of the source account, where the input comprises information to discontinue enrollment of the source account.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where the rewards amount credited to the recipient account is provided by a financial institution of the source account. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where a holder of the source account owns the recipient account. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , where the source account is owned by a first holder and the recipient account is owned by a second holder. 
     
     
         15 . A system for saving money comprising:
 (a) a source account associated with a customer capable of executing debit transactions;   (b) a recipient account associated with the customer;   (c) computer executable instructions for performing the steps comprising:
 i. receiving a plurality of debit transactions with at least one merchant to the customer's source account; 
 ii. calculating an aggregate savings amount based on the plurality of debit transactions received over a predetermined time period, where the aggregate savings amount includes at least a first savings amount and a second savings amount; 
 iii. periodically determining whether adequate funds are available in the source account to cover the aggregate savings amount; and 
 iv. if adequate funds are available in the source account, debiting the source account by the aggregate savings amount, crediting a recipient account by the aggregate savings amount; and crediting the recipient account by a rewards amount; 
   (d) a processor at a financial institution for executing the computer executable instructions; and   (e) a memory for storing at least the computer executable instructions.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , where recipient account is a savings account, and the source account is a checking account. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , where the predetermined time period is a day, and where the aggregate savings amount is equal to a predetermined monetary amount multiplied by a number of transactions of the plurality of debit transactions posted during the day. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , where the rewards amount credited to the recipient account is provided by a financial institution of the source account and is based on a predetermined percentage of the aggregate savings amount for a fixed period of time. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15  comprising, generating a monthly statement of the first and the second base financial transactions and the aggregate savings amounts debited for a month. 
     
     
         20 . A system for saving money comprising:
 a communication interface adapted to receive information relating to base financial transactions over a communication network;   computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:   (a) posting a plurality of debit transactions to a checking account of a customer comprising a first debit transaction and a second debit transaction, wherein each debit transaction relates to a corresponding base transaction by the customer with at least one merchant for goods or services;   (b) periodically at the financial institution determining an aggregate savings amount comprising:
 (i) calculating a first savings amount based on the first debit transaction; 
 (ii) calculating a second savings amount based on the second debit transaction; and 
 (iii) aggregating the first and second savings amount to form the aggregate savings amount; 
   (c) determining if the checking account has sufficient funds to cover the aggregate savings amount; and   (d) if sufficient funds are available to cover the aggregate savings amount, debiting the aggregate savings amount from the checking account and crediting the aggregate savings amount in a savings account;   
       a processor for executing the computer executable instructions; and 
       a memory for storing at least the computer executable instructions.