IP Library Granted Patent US 12,469,089
Granted Patent B1
US 12,469,089 · App. 18/991,338 · Granted Nov 11, 2025

Advancement of earned wages via payroll service

Inventors: Zachary Haitz (San Leandro, CA); Jeffrey Rauch (San Francisco, CA); Walid Owais (Richmond, TX)
Assignee: Block, Inc.
G06Q40/125G06Q20/26
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,469,089
App. No.
18/991,338
Granted
Nov 11, 2025
Kind
B1
Abstract

A payroll service can receive, from an employee's device, a request for early payment of earned wages for work performed for an employer. The payroll service can determine that the employee is eligible for the early payment of payroll funds. The payroll service facilitates transfer of a portion of the earned wages from a financial account of the payroll service to a financial account of the employee. The employer can then provide the payroll service payroll funds for a current pay period, and based on receiving the payroll funds, another portion of the earned wages is paid by the payroll service to the employee.

Claims (43)

1 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a device of a payroll service, employer information indicating at least an employer account of an employer with a payroll service;

receiving, by the device of the payroll service and from a user device of an employee via an application executing on the user device, a request for a payment of earned wages for work by the employee for the employer in a current pay period, wherein the payment is in advance of a payday associated with the current pay period;

determining, by the device of the payroll service, that the employer account has not received payroll funds corresponding to the earned wages from a bank account associated with the employer and;

determining, by the device of the payroll service, that the employee is eligible to receive a portion of the earned wages at a time that is before the employer account has received the payroll funds from the bank account associated with the employer;

facilitating, by the device of the payroll service, transfer of the portion of the earned wages from a financial account of the payroll service to a financial account of the employee;

receiving, in the financial account of the payroll service and from the bank account associated with the employer, the payroll funds associated with the current pay period; and

based at least in part on receiving the payroll funds, facilitating, by the device of the payroll service, a payment from the financial account of the payroll service to the financial account of the employee, of a balance due to the employee for the current pay period.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the earned wages comprise at least one of salary or tips.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the payroll service provides payroll processing services to the employer.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the earned wages is based at least in part on predicted taxes associated with the earned wages.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving information on hours worked by the employee in the current pay period at a time of the request, wherein the portion of the earned wages is based at least in part on hours worked.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the earned wages is provided to the employee via a debit card.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the financial account of the employee is managed by the payroll service, and wherein funds in the financial account of the employee managed by the payroll service may be transferred to an account of the employee at a financial institution.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the application executing on the user device is provided by the payroll service.

9 . A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

receiving, by a device of a payroll service, employer information indicating at least an employer account of an employer with a payroll service;

receiving, by the device of the payroll service and from a user device of an employee via an application executing on the user device, a request for a payment of earned wages for work by the employee for the employer in a current pay period, wherein the payment is in advance of a payday associated with the current pay period;

determining, by the device of the payroll service, that the employer account has not received payroll funds corresponding to the earned wages from a bank account associated with the employer and;

determining, by the device of the payroll service, that the employee is eligible to receive a portion of the earned wages;

facilitating, by the device of the payroll service, transfer of the portion of the earned wages from a financial account of the payroll service to a financial account of the employee;

receiving, in the financial account of the payroll service and from the bank account associated with the employer, the payroll funds associated with the current pay period; and

based at least in part on receiving the payroll funds, facilitating, by the device of the payroll service, a payment from the financial account of the payroll service to the financial account of the employee, of a balance due to the employee for the current pay period.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the payroll service provides payroll processing services to the employer.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the portion of the earned wages is based at least in part on predicted taxes associated with the earned wages.

12 . The system of claim 9 , the acts further comprising receiving information on hours worked by the employee in the current pay period at a time of the request, wherein the portion of the earned wages is based at least in part on hours worked.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the portion of the earned wages is provided to the employee via a debit card.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the application executing on the user device is provided by the payroll service.

15 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions executable by one or more processors that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

receiving, by a device of a payroll service, employer information indicating at least an employer account of an employer with a payroll service;

receiving, by the device of the payroll service and from a user device of an employee via an application executing on the user device, a request for a payment of earned wages for work by the employee for the employer in a current pay period, wherein the payment is in advance of a payday associated with the current pay period;

determining, by the device of the payroll service, that the employer account has not received payroll funds corresponding to the earned wages from a bank account associated with the employer and;

determining, by the device of the payroll service, that the employee is eligible to receive a portion of the earned wages at a time that is before the employer account has received the payroll funds from the bank account associated with the employer;

facilitating, by the device of the payroll service, transfer of the portion of the earned wages from a financial account of the payroll service to a financial account of the employee;

receiving, in the financial account of the payroll service and from the bank account associated with the employer, the payroll funds associated with the current pay period; and

based at least in part on receiving the payroll funds, facilitating, by the device of the payroll service, a payment from the financial account of the payroll service to the financial account of the employee, of a balance due to the employee for the current pay period.

16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , further comprising receiving information on hours worked by the employee in the current pay period at a time of the request, wherein the portion of the earned wages is based at least in part on hours worked.

17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 15 , wherein the portion of the earned wages is provided to the employee via a debit card.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the employee is eligible to receive the portion of the earned wages is based at least in part on an agreement between the employer and the payroll service regarding a monetary amount available from the payroll service for advancement of funds for earned wages.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the agreement is based at least in part on a number of employees of the employer.

20 . The method of claim 8 , wherein information regarding the portion of the earned wages is displayed via a user interface of the application.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 20, 2024
From: HAITZ, ZACHARY; RAUCH, JEFFREY; OWAIS, WALID
To: SQUARE, INC.
Reel/Frame 069658/0874 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 20, 2024
From: SQUARE, INC.
To: BLOCK, INC.
Reel/Frame 069658/0880 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17989558 · Nov 17, 2022
Continuation 16457711 · Jun 28, 2019
Continuation 15800002 · Oct 31, 2017
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