Method and system for a multi-purpose transactional platform
The present invention relates particularly to a method and system for consolidating a plurality of a consumer's payment and non-payment source accounts into a consolidated platform with a customer identification or available proxy account numbers that can be assigned to source accounts. The source accounts can be, for example, credit card accounts, ATM accounts, debit card accounts, demand deposit accounts, stored-value accounts, merchant-loyalty card accounts, membership accounts, and identification card numbers. The consumer can access and modify any of the source accounts and manage funds across the source accounts by accessing the consolidated platform with a single access device or mode.
1. A method for consolidating multiple predetermined accounts for use in a transaction, comprising:
obtaining actual account numbers of a plurality of accounts to be consolidated;
assigning each of the actual account numbers to one of a plurality of account identifiers associated with the actual account numbers;
receiving, by a computer, one of the plurality of account identifiers as a request to perform a transaction with a selected one of the plurality of accounts to be consolidated;
matching, by a computer, the received account identifier with one of the actual account numbers of the consolidated accounts based on the assignment of each of the actual account numbers to one of the plurality of account identifiers; and
settling, by a computer, the transaction with the selected one of the plurality of accounts to be consolidated based at least on the matching of the received account identifier with one of the actual account numbers.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of assigning includes providing an ability to assign any one of the actual account numbers to any one of the account identifiers.
3. method of claim 2 , further comprising assigning a new actual account number to any one of the account identifiers.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of settling includes settling the transaction with the selected account via an external settlement network.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of accounts are administered by different host systems.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the different host systems belong to different financial institutions.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of receiving comprises receiving the account identifier in a magnetically-encoded format.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts and the account identifiers are administered by a first host system.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a remote user with an ability to choose one of the account identifiers for the transaction; and
once the remote user chooses one of the proxy account numbers for the transaction, the step of receiving the account identifier comprises receiving the account identifier chosen by the remote user.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction includes a purchase of a product or service with a fund from the selected account.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction includes a modification of information on the selected account.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction includes a fund transfer to or from the selected account.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of receiving comprises receiving the account identifier from a computer terminal, a landline phone, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant, a magnetic-stripe card, a smart card, a television, a touch screen, an interactive voice and/or touchtone terminal, a video screen, or biometric identification means.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of settling includes settling the transaction with the selected account on a periodic basis.