Abstract: A computer-based method for allocating parental funds in preestablished accounts for use by children, including the steps of: providing a bank or credit account containing parental funds for allocation to at least one child; creating a secondary account file with an internet video file supplier accessible by a child for spending on internet video file purchases; and periodically transferring directly and automatically to the secondary account file from the bank or credit account an allowance payment for use by the child to purchase and transfer video files over the internet using a personal computer; wherein the steps of creating a secondary account file and periodically transferring funds from the bank or credit account to the secondary account are performed using information supplied by the parent over the internet using a personal computer.

Abstract: A computer-based banking method including the steps of (1) creating an account for a customer into which funds may be deposited and from which funds may be paid upon request to designated payees; (2) allocating funds deposited by the customer to the account; (3) transferring funds upon request from the account to designated payees subject to fund availability, wherein the allocated funds are debited by amount of funds transferred to provide a lowered account balance against which future transfers are evaluated; and (4) automatically sending a periodic e-mail to the fund depositor with information including the lowered account balance. Accounts in which monthly itemized statements are generated that may be accessed by the customer using their home personal computer are also disclosed.