Granted Patent B1

US 12,579,527 · App. 18/237,769 · Granted Mar 17, 2026

Inventors: Urich T. Bowers (Brideville, PA); Mecal McDade (New Alexandria, PA); Todd Tkach (Wexford, PA); Jerry Scheller (Moon Township, PA)

Assignee: The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

G06Q20/108G06N20/00G06Q20/3221G06Q20/3223G06Q20/4037G06Q20/405G06Q30/0283G06Q40/02G06Q20/023G06Q30/0185G06Q50/01

Abstract

Claims (101)

1 . A system comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to perform operations including:

determining that an account held by a user at a financial service provider is in a low-cash mode by determining that at least one of the following is true:

the account has insufficient funds to handle a transaction without resulting in a negative balance;

the account has a negative balance;

an account balance associated with the account will become negative as a result of scheduled or predicted future transactions; or

the account balance has fallen below a predetermined threshold value;

providing an alert to the user responsive to the determining that the account is in low-cash mode;

authenticating the user when the user attempts to log into the account;

after authentication, presenting a graphical user interface to the user, the graphical user interface including a first dashboard configuration for notifying the user with information about the low-cash mode;

displaying a notification to the user that the account associated with the financial service provider is in low-cash mode;

responsive to the determining that the account is in low-cash mode, automatically enabling a second dashboard configuration for payment control and review of individual transactions;

the second dashboard configuration dynamically displaying:

options for payment control including:

increase the account balance of the account,

approve or deny individual transactions,

report individual transactions as fraudulent,

return individual transactions to a payee, or

select repayment options when an overdraft cannot be avoided;

an amount of time remaining for the user to choose to control the individual transactions, wherein the amount of time remaining includes an allotted amount of time for an option within the set of payment controls to be selected; and

a starting balance;

allowing the user to select a specific payment control for the individual transactions;

responsive to selection, updating the displayed starting balance to a calculated ending balance reflecting the specific payment control;

providing options for the user to pay the calculated ending balance;

confirming the user decisions regarding the individual transactions;

determining if the account is in low-cash mode after the user decisions have been confirmed; and

responsive to determining that the account is not in low-cash mode, automatically disabling the second dashboard configuration.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert links to an application on a mobile device.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert is an email.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert is a text message.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the alert is a voice call.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the authentication includes multifactor authentication.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein one of the payment control options is selected by default.

8 . A method comprising:

determining that an account held by a user at a financial service provider is in a low-cash mode by determining that at least one of the following is true:

the account has insufficient funds to handle a transaction without resulting in a negative balance;

the account has a negative balance;

an account balance associated with the account will become negative as a result of scheduled or predicted future transactions; or

the account balance has fallen below a predetermined threshold value;

providing an alert to the user responsive to the determining that the account is in low-cash mode;

authenticating the user when the user attempts to log into the account;

after authentication, presenting a graphical user interface to the user, the graphical user interface including a first dashboard configuration for notifying the user with information about the low-cash mode;

displaying a notification to the user that the account associated with the financial service provider is in a low-cash mode;

responsive to the determining that the account is in low-cash mode, automatically enabling a second dashboard configuration for payment control and review of individual transactions;

the second dashboard configuration dynamically displaying:

options for payment control including:

increase the account balance of the account,

approve or deny individual transactions,

report individual transactions as fraudulent,

return individual transactions to a payee, or

select repayment options when an overdraft cannot be avoided;

an amount of time remaining for the user to choose to control the individual transactions, wherein the amount of time remaining includes an allotted amount of time for an option within the set of payment controls to be selected; and

a starting balance;

allowing the user to select a specific payment control for the individual transactions;

responsive to selection, updating the displayed starting balance to a calculated ending balance reflecting the specific payment control;

providing options for the user to pay the calculated ending balance;

confirming the user decisions regarding the individual transactions;

determining if the account is in low-cash mode after the user decisions have been confirmed; and

responsive to determining that the account is not in low-cash mode, automatically disabling the second dashboard configuration.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the alert links to an application on a mobile device.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the alert is an email.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the alert is a text message.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the alert is a voice call.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the authentication includes multifactor authentication.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein one of the payment control options is selected by default.

15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored instructions, which when executed, cause at least one processor to perform operations for managing an account when the account balance is low in real time, comprising:

determining that an account held by a user at a financial service provider is in a low-cash mode by determining that at least one of the following is true:

the account has insufficient funds to handle a transaction without resulting in a negative balance;

the account has a negative balance;

an account balance associated with the account will become negative as a result of scheduled or predicted future transactions; or

the account balance has fallen below a predetermined threshold value;

providing an alert to the user responsive to the determining that the account is in low-cash mode;

authenticating the user when the user attempts to log into to the account;

after authentication, presenting a graphical user interface to the user, the graphical user interface including a first dashboard configuration for notifying the user with information about the low-cash mode;

displaying a notification to the user that the account associated with the financial service provider is in a low-cash mode;

responsive to the determining that the account is in low-cash mode, automatically enabling a second dashboard configuration for payment control and review of individual transactions;

the second dashboard configuration dynamically displaying:

options for payment control including:

increase the account balance of the account,

approve or deny individual transactions,

report individual transactions as fraudulent,

return individual transactions to a payee, or

select repayment options when an overdraft cannot be avoided;

an amount of time remaining for the user to choose to control the individual transactions, wherein the amount of time remaining includes an allotted amount of time for an option within the set of payment controls to be selected; and

a starting balance;

allowing the user to select a specific payment control for the individual transactions;

responsive to selection, updating the displayed starting balance to a calculated ending balance reflecting the specific payment control;

providing options for the user to pay the calculated ending balance;

confirming the user decisions regarding the individual transactions;

determining if the account is in low-cash mode after the user decisions have been confirmed; and

responsive to determining that the account is not in low-cash mode, automatically disabling the second dashboard configuration.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the alert links to an application on a mobile device.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the alert is an email.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the alert is a text message.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the alert is a voice call.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the authentication includes multifactor authentication.

21 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein one of the payment control options is selected by default.

22 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the financial service provider determines the default option based on an origin of the individual transaction.

23 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the financial service provider determines the default option based on an origin of the individual transaction.

24 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the financial service provider determines the default option based on an origin of the individual transaction.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (400)