Financial management system, and methods and apparatus for use therein

Abstract

The invention provides a financial management system wherein a real bank account is notionally sub-divided into virtual sub-accounts and transactions are effected between the virtual sub-accounts without affecting the operation of the real bank account, such a system allowing a customer to maintain an automatically updated model of the customer's finances within the single account, thus assisting visualization of his or her financial position, while retaining the benefit of the single account.

1 . A system for managing a financial account, comprising:
 a real financial transactional account and a real transaction engine configured to perform real transactions to and from the real account; and   at least two virtual sub accounts of said real account and a virtual account transaction engine configured to perform transactions between the virtual accounts without effecting any real transaction and without altering the balance of the real account.   
     
     
         2 . The system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the virtual sub accounts are created with predefined attributes or user defined attributes. 
     
     
         3 . The system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein transactions are categorized and traced by virtual sub account. 
     
     
         4 . The system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the virtual-sub accounts are categorized according to use. 
     
     
         5 . The system as claimed in  claim 1  operable to trace and summarize real and virtual transactions according to category and other attributes. 
     
     
         6 . The system as claimed in  claim 1 , the real account comprises a combination of to loan secured against an asset of the customer and a checking account, whereby the customer's day-to-day credit and debit transactions are aggregated with the loan into a single account balance with a single credit limit within said real financial account. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein one of said sub accounts is a loan-type sub-account, the virtual account transaction engine being arranged to generate virtual transactions automatically so as to virtually repay the loan over a period of time using virtual transactions. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the virtual transaction engine is operable to associate portions of the interest deductions of the real account with a loan-type sub-account, thereby to present interest deductions as virtual transactions with said sub-account. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein one of said virtual sub-accounts is a savings-type sub-account, the virtual transaction engine is operable to to automatically transfer funds from another virtual sub-account into said savings-type sub-account over a period of time. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the virtual sub-accounts include a virtual checking account, the balance of which is the balance of the real account minus the other virtual sub-account balances. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the virtual transaction engine includes an automatic virtual transaction generator configured to generate transactions at intervals, in accordance with sub-account parameters defined by the secondary customer instructions. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  comprising a virtual subaccount creating engine is operable to create virtual sub-accounts 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  comprising a virtual accounting engine which is operable to update the balances of all of the sub-accounts before allowing access to functions for the creation and/or modification of sub-accounts. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the virtual accounting engine includes a calculator configured to calculate and report projected sub-account balances at a future date, by reference to a database of expected virtual transactions. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the calculator is operable to report on the effect of hypothetical changes in attributes of the sub-accounts. 
     
     
         16 . An account operation apparatus implemented on at least one computer and operable to implement integrated bank accounts for a plurality of customers, each integrated bank comprising a real account, said account operation apparatus comprising:
 a real transaction engine configured to receive from the customer instructions for credit and debit transactions on the real account and for effecting real transactions by communication with apparatuses of a plurality of banking institutions;   an accounting engine configured to periodically update said real account in response to said real transactions;   a primary reporting engine configured to report to the customer the real account balance and transaction history, and   a secondary customer interface for use in financial planning comprising:   a sub account creating engine responsive to secondary customer instructions and configured to create a sub-account database defining attributes and virtual balances for a plurality of virtual sub-accounts of said real account so as to compartmentalize funds within said real account balance without creating separate accounts in said account operation apparatus;   a virtual transaction engine configured to effect virtual transactions between said sub-accounts without effecting any real transaction or altering the single account balance; and   a virtual accounting engine configured to update and report sub-account balances in response to each said virtual transaction.   
     
     
         17 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 16  wherein said account operation apparatus and said secondary customer interface are implemented on independent computer systems. 
     
     
         18 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the real transaction engine and the secondary customer interface include a connection engine configured to establish a secure connection with a customer's own terminal over a public telecommunications network. 
     
     
         19 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the sub-account database is maintained on a customer's own terminal, such as a personal computer or PDA. 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 16  wherein sub-account databases for said plurality of customers are maintained on a central server apparatus. 
     
     
         21 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 20  wherein the customer's own terminal merely handles instructions and reporting functions, the virtual transactions being implemented on the sub-account database remote from the customer. 
     
     
         22 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the secondary customer interface is controlled by an intermediate service provider separate from the banking institution controlling the account operating apparatus. 
     
     
         23 . An apparatus as claimed in  claim 16  wherein each integrated bank account combines the features of (i) a loan secured against an asset of the customer and (ii) a checking account, whereby the customer's day-to-day credit and debit transactions are aggregated with the loan into a single account balance with a single credit limit.