EP0540234A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Monitoring of charges debited to an account having an assigned limit

Assignee: AT&T Inc

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Filing: 1992-10-21

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Granted: —

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Expires: 2012-10-21

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Abstract

Abstract A more flexible and improved method of controlling and monitoring charges and balances assignable to a credit card account is obtained by assigning a purchase limit to the card. More specifically, when a card is used to pay for a call on a telecommunication network, the validity of the card is verified in, for example, a network database and the card record is examined for the presence of a purchase limit. If the card has a purchase limit, the network database determines the type of purchase limit which applies and if the balance is positive. If the balance is not positive and the purchase limit applicable does not authorize the extension of credit, a denial response is sent from the network database to an appropriate local operator system which provides a denial indication to the caller. If the available balance is positive, the network database forwards the balance to the operator system. Based upon the balance returned in the reply from the database, the operator system sends a request to a rating processor to determine the length of time the caller may talk. If the rating database cannot ascertain the amount of time a caller can speak, for whatever reason, the call is denied. Thus, the balance is used to determine how long the caller can speak. At various predetermined intervals during the call and immediately after the call has been completed, the actual charges are calculated and forwarded to the network database. If during a call, the maximum duration is exhausted, the operator system will terminate the call, calculate the actual charges, and forward the charges to the network database. The network database decrements the balance with each intermediate update from the operator system. At the termination of a call, the network database adjusts the card holders balance a final time to maintain the purchase balance accuracy.

Inventors

👤 Brenda B. Amarant
👤 William Harold Desmedt
👤 David Caswell Mcchristian
👤 Robert Michael Neilon

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —

Jurisdiction EP

Data Source google_patents

Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 19:33

CPC Classifications

G; G07; G07F; G07F7/00; G07F7/08; G06; G06Q; G06Q20/00; G06Q20/38; G06Q20/40; G06Q20/403; G06Q20/4037; G07F17/00; G07F17/0014; H; H04; H04L; H04L67/00; H04L67/2866; H04L67/30; H04L67/306; H04M; H04M15/00; H04M15/88; H04M17/00; H04M17/02; H04M2215/00; H04M2215/01; H04M2215/0116

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8

Claim 1

Independent Claim 124 words

A method of monitoring charges debited to an account comprising the steps of (a) storing in a database an authorization/billing code representative of a credit card account having an assigned purchase limit for a user authorized to make a credit transaction, (b) determining, at the time a credit transaction is initiated, the purchase amount limit assigned to said account, said determining step comprising communicating said code via a telephone network to a database, and comparing said code to the stored information in said database, and (c) obtaining, at the time the credit transaction is initiated, the current existing purchase balance remaining in the account, said current existing purchase balance comprising said purchase limit minus transactions against said account preceding said credit transaction being initiated.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 59 words

The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of (d) ascertaining the cost of the transaction initiated, (e) transmitting, after the cost of said transaction initiated is established, the cost information regarding said usage to a database, and (f) providing a current purchase balance by deducting the cost of said transaction initiated from said purchase balance.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method as defined in claim 2 further comprising the step of (g) denying said credit transaction initiated if said purchase balance is depleted.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method as defined in claim 2 further comprising the step of (h) allowing said credit transaction even if said purchase balance is depleted.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 43 words

The method as defined in claim 4 further comprising the step of allowing a first credit transaction which exceeds the existing purchase balance remaining in the account, and denying all subsequent credit transactions which exceed the existing purchase balance remaining in the account.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method as defined in claim 1 wherein said account is used for making a call on a telephone network.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 41 words

The method as defined in claim 6 further comprising the step of determining the maximum duration of the call based on the existing purchase balance in the account, and notifying the account user when the call depletes the existing account balance.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method as defined in claim 7 further comprising the step of terminating the call when the call depletes existing account balance.

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