U.S. patent application number 09/770180 was filed with the patent office on 2003-07-31 for computer program and system for recording and processing bonus credits.
Invention is credited to Bowie, Stuart S..
Application Number | 20030144902 09/770180 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22099017 |
Filed Date | 2003-07-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030144902 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bowie, Stuart S. |
July 31, 2003 |
Computer program and system for recording and processing bonus
credits
Abstract
A method whereby credit card companies can program their
computers to record and award Bonus Program Credits offered by
airlines, hotels, rental car companies, etc. and relieve the latter
of the burden of maintaining such records. This Abstract is not to
be construed as a complete description of the invention or to limit
the scope of the disclosure of the invention or of the claims.
Inventors: |
Bowie, Stuart S.;
(Wallingford, PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STUART S. BOWIE
206 KNOLL ROAD
WALLINGFORD
PA
19086
US
|
Family ID: |
22099017 |
Appl. No.: |
09/770180 |
Filed: |
January 29, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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09770180 |
Jan 29, 2001 |
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09317975 |
May 25, 1999 |
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6195644 |
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09317975 |
May 25, 1999 |
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07071062 |
Jul 8, 1987 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.33 ;
705/14.36; 705/26.1; 705/39; 705/5 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/387 20130101;
G06Q 30/0235 20130101; G06Q 20/06 20130101; G06Q 20/10 20130101;
G06Q 20/24 20130101; G06Q 20/04 20130101; G06Q 30/0601 20130101;
G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 20/20 20130101; G06Q 30/0226 20130101;
G06Q 30/0236 20130101; G06Q 10/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0233
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/14 ; 705/39;
705/26; 705/5 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Goverment Interests
[0002] This invention was not made under any federally-sponsored
program and the Federal Government has no rights in the invention.
Claims
1. A method of processing transactions by a customer who has been
issued a credit or debit card by a card issuing company which has a
computer system, wherein said customer uses the card to purchase
goods or services from a plurality of vendors, wherein at least two
of said vendors are not commonly owned or controlled, and wherein
two or more of said vendors maintain a bonus program, said method
comprising: a) entering data in the computer system representative
of the value of each purchase transaction by said customer from
each of said vendors; b) instructing the computer system to convert
and individually itemize the value of such purchases as credits
earned by said customer; c) upon request of said customer,
transferring some or all of said credits to one of said bonus
program vendors whereby said customer obtains goods or services
pursuant to such vendor's bonus plan in exchange for said
credits.
2. A method of programming a credit card company computer wherein
the company issues and maintains accounts for a plurality of
cardholders, comprising the steps of: a) assigning a credit card
account number to each cardholder; b) entering in the program names
of bonus vendors who grant cardholders goods and services in
exchange for bonus points earned by cardholders for purchasing
goods or services using the card; c) converting the value of
purchases by said cardholders into bonus points.
3. A method of programming a credit card company computer wherein
the company issues and maintains accounts for a plurality of
cardholders, comprising the steps of: a) assigning a credit card
account number to each cardholder; b) entering in the program names
of bonus vendors who, by plan, grant cardholders goods and services
in exchange for bonus points earned by cardholders for purchasing
goods or services using the card; c) converting the value of
purchases by said customers into bonus points and crediting the
same to the cardholder; d) upon the request of a cardholder,
transferring bonus points credited to the cardholder to a bonus
vendor designated by the cardholder, whereby said cardholder
obtains goods or services pursuant to such vendor's bonus plan in
exchange for said bonus points.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/317,975 filed May 25, 1999 which, in turn,
is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/071,062
filed Jul. 8, 1987. The full statutory benefit and priority of
those Applications is claimed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] 1. Field of the Invention
[0004] This invention relates to computer programs and systems for
recording and processing data relating to consumer credit or debit
card transactions with vendors who award bonus credits to such
consumers.
[0005] 2. Description of Related Art
[0006] Without acknowledging the same to be "prior art" within the
meaning of the Patent Act, Applicant is aware only of (1) the
patents cited during the examination of this application and (2)
has seen advertisements for certain credit card programs--which
Applicant believes were not developed until well after the present
invention--whereby a certain credit card company "ties In" to a
single airline. With respect to the latter, Applicant Is unaware
that such programs Involve a system whereby the credit card company
records the "Frequent Flyer" credits (or other bonus credits)
offered by the airline, etc. or that any credit card company has
developed any system of recording and processing bonus credits from
a plurality of vendors for each card holder.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0007] Credit card companies ("CCCs") record data representing
charges made by their customers to purchase a variety of products
and services from vendors thereof by electronic means, in written
form and otherwise. The card companies input these charges into
their computers and thereafter send a bill to their card customers
and remit balances due the vendors.
[0008] Certain credit card companies, such as American Express,
include in their computer records information in addition to the
usual basic data that all card companies record, which basic
information essentially is the transaction date, name of vendor and
amount charged. The additional information referred to is a more
extensive description of the transaction. Thus in the case of
American Express, separate entries are made for airline tickets,
tickets on other forms of transpiration, hotels, car rental
companies, etc. A large and growing number of the latter class of
vendors offer to their customers bonuses for purchasing their
services and goods, which, in turn, has generated a very
significant "brand loyalty"--because their customers have an
incentive to continue to purchase--and even increase their
purchases--of their services and goods in order to accumulate
enough credits to earn the bonuses, such as free airline trips
awarded by airlines under their popular "Frequent Flyer" Programs.
Vendors offering such bonuses are hereinafter sometimes referred to
as "Bonus Vendors" or, for short, "BVS". Such Bonus Plans are
sometimes referred to as "BPS".
[0009] Bonus Plans offered by the BVs are growing rapidly. This has
been of great brand loyalty benefit, but, because the transactions
involving bonuses now involve millions of computers entries per
year by the BVs, the cost of gathering purchase data, inputting the
same into the computers of the BVs and sending statements thereof
to the Bonus Plan Customers (hereinafter "BPCS") has risen
tremendously. This is especially true for those BVs who do not
record their BPCs' Bonus Plan Number Identification (hereinafter
"BPID") in their computers, but, rather, require their BPCs to
carry cards or coupons which must be inputted by the ticket sales
person (in the case of cards) or attached to the ticket (in the
case of the coupon system). This requires users of the Bonus Plans
to carry a large number of such cards and coupons, creates many
opportunities for error on the part of the BV, results in the loss
of good will on the part of the BPCs when they forget to bring
their cards or coupons and thereby lose the bonus, etc.
[0010] Moreover, the need to enter such card numbers or fill out
and attach the coupons at the time of purchase significantly delays
the transaction time. For example, airline ticket counters at major
airports are often quite crowded, creating long lines of customers
waiting to purchase tickets. The need on the part of the ticket
agent and the customer to convey and record the customer's BPID
extends the time of the ticketing process and adds to the delay
which so annoys airline passengers and causes the airlines to
actually lose goodwill.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic view diagram representing a flow chart
of the computer program of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] In this description, abbreviations are used as follows:
[0013] credit or debit card=CC
[0014] customer=C
[0015] computer program=CP
[0016] credit card company=CCC
[0017] computer program of the credit card company=CCCP
[0018] credit card holder=CCH
[0019] bonus credit=BC
[0020] bonus plan=BP
[0021] card identification number=CID or CCN
[0022] bonus plan identification number=BPID
[0023] vendor=V
[0024] computer system=CCS
[0025] bonus vendor=BV
[0026] bonus plan customer=BPC
[0027] bonus transaction=BT
[0028] customer file number--CCFN
[0029] The basic concept of this invention is to preserve the Bonus
System--and in fact, to dramatically improve Its accuracy and
efficiency--by providing a computer program ("CP") whereby, after
an appropriate agreement is reached between the Card Company
("CCC") and the BV, the BV supplies the CCC with the BPIDs of its
BPCs and the CCC--and not the BV--maintains the Bonus Transactions
("BTs") of the BV's BPCs and sends those BPCs a periodic statement
of their various Bonus Credits ("BCs") for each BP to which they
belong and whose BV has given their BPIDs to the CCC. This
statement-most conveniently and inexpensively should be sent to the
CCCs' customers with their usual monthly statement and a copy of
the BP credit portions of the statement would at the same time be
transmitted to the BVs listed on the statement--most efficiently by
electronic means.
[0030] Clearly, this new method has tremendous benefits to all
concerned: (1) The BV preserves its brand loyalty while being
relieved of the tremendous and increasing accounting and computer
costs of maintaining its BP; (2) The CCC will derive at least three
tremendous benefits: (a) the BVs will be willing to pay the CCC a
significant sum for the cost-saving to the BV; (b) the
CCC--especially if it obtains exclusive rights to this
invention--will induce its customers to dramatically increase their
use of the CCC's cards because its customers will be relieved from
the annoying burden of carrying around a pile of credit cards and
coupons; (c) new customers will be induced to become card holders
of the CCC for the same reason referred to in (c); (3) BPCs will
obtain great benefits, including those mentioned, plus the far
greater assurance that their BPTs and BCs are accurately recorded
on their account. Moreover, as indicated, the Public will generally
benefit because the adoption of this method will reduce the
ticketing or other transaction time, especially at airports and car
rental counters and hotel desks.
[0031] Before describing the method of the present invention in
detail, it should be noted that it is expressed in a series of
linguistic steps in universal form. This Is because the CCCs use a
wide variety of computers, computer programs and the latter may be
expressed in different program "languages", such as Fortran, etc.
However, once the method of this invention is set forth, it will be
readily understood in the Computer Programming Art how to translate
the method into a particular computer language and then into a
program for a particular computer system. This is not an attempt to
avoid teaching the so-called best mode of practicing the invention
because the best mode is taught herein. Rather, it is to avoid the
impracticality of setting forth a potentially huge number of
specific computer language programs which may be employed once this
invention is understood and which should be apparent to those
skilled in the art. Moreover, to limit the teachings of this
invention to specific modes would only be to Invite persons skilled
in the art to utilize the invention and avoid Infringement by
selecting a non-specified language or program, which would defeat
the overall Constitutional purpose of protecting inventions
broadly.
[0032] The basic method of this invention is as follows:
[0033] 1. The CCC enters the BV BPID for each CCC Customer in the
CCC's computer program under the CCC*s file for that customer
("CCFN");
[0034] 2. The CCC enters the BV's Bonus Credits ("BCs") for each
type of transaction by a BPC of that BV. (For example, the BV may
be an airline which offers credits based upon mileage flown, in
which case the BV supplies the CCC with the mileage between
airports it serves and the BCs per mile to enable the CCC to
compute and add up the total mileage BCs per month (or during any
other period);
[0035] 3. When the BPC uses the CCC's credit card for a transaction
involving BCs, the CCC computer creates a sub-file under the CCCFN
of that BPC and records the BCs for each transaction and,
thereafter periodically, such as with the monthly statement sent to
the BPC by the CCC, sends a statement showing the BCs for each BV
showing the individual transaction and BCs for each transaction,
together with an aggregate thereof, with a copy thereof to the
BV.
[0036] In more detail, FIG. 1 is a flow chart depicting the method
or system of one preferred embodiment of the present Invention.
(The terms "method" and "system" are used synonymously. Moreover,
the sequence of steps described is optional, as Is the "looping
back" after the completion of each step to the starting point.)
[0037] Thus, the legend "Start" 20 Indicates the beginning of the
program. Step 30 determines whether the operator should enter a new
BPID Into the computer system for a given CID-N. (The term
"operator" Includes human operators such as those who Input
information by a keypunch system plus magnetic, optical and other
devices which are means for inputting information Into a
computer.)
[0038] If the answer In step 30 Is "Yes", then a CID-N and its BPID
are input into the computer system by the operator In Step 31. In
Step 32, the BPID is recorded in the computer under the CCFN file
for CID-N. The system then optionally loops back to the starting
point 20. On the other hand, If no new BPID is to be assigned In
step 30, the system progresses to step 40 where It Is determined
whether there is a BC for a BV for the type of transaction to be
recorded. If the answer Is "Yes", the BV, BC and transaction type
is Input at 41 by the operator and stored at 42 for subsequent
computations. Again, optionally, the program loops back to starting
point 20.
[0039] If a "No" answer was made at step 40, then the system
determines whether a specific transaction for a CID-N should be
entered. If the answer to that question is "Yes", the BPID, CID-N
and transaction type are Input at 51. At 52, the BC earned for that
transaction is calculated. At 53 the BC earned from the BV is
recorded In the CCFN file for that customer.
[0040] Then, optionally, the program loops back to starting point
20. At step 60, the system determines whether periodic (e.g.,
monthly) statements are to be generated. If so, i.e., a "Yes"
answer, the CCFN file for the CID-s (CID-N+I, N+2 . . . ) Is
processed, one CID per cycle. Thus, for each transaction for each
given CID, the system at step 62 determines if there are any
transactions to be recorded ("any left" ?.) for that CID. If "Yes",
then at step 63 the transaction is added to the monthly (or other
periodic) statement for that CID.
[0041] In step 64t the transaction i5 added to the BV's periodic
(such as monthly) statement.
[0042] The CID described above may have additional transactions
during the period. Thus, as shown by loop 65, the system repeats
steps 62-64 to record all transactions during the period. When
there are no additional transactions during the period for that
CID, means 62 reports that there are no more and means 69 tallys
the transactions during the period by that CID.
[0043] In the next step means 66 determines whether there are any
other CIDs remaining whose transactions require processing. If so,
or "Yes", the system loops back to step 61 and repeats steps 62-69
for each additional CID until the data for all CIDs has been
processed.
[0044] Finally, when the data for all customers has been processed,
step 66 yields a "No" answer. At this point, in step 67, Customer
Statements are transmitted, as well as BV Statements to Vendors at
step 68.
[0045] Optionally, after the above, the system can loop back to
Start 20 and progress through steps 30, 40, 50 and 60 and, If there
are negative answers at each of those steps, be terminated at
"Stop" 70.
[0046] As indicated, the present Invention encompasses a system for
electronically processing data representing transactions by a
customer (C) who uses a credit or debit card (CC) Issued to C by a
card company (CCC), which CCC assigns a card number (CID) to said
CC and which CCC records charges made by C in a computer system
(CS), and wherein C is a member of a bonus plan (BP) operated by a
vendor (V or BV) of goods and/or services pursuant to which V
awards C bonus credits (BC) for purchases from V, and B has
assigned C a bonus plan identification number (BPID) to be used In
connection with purchases from V for purposes of awarding BCs, said
system comprising:
[0047] a) means for entering Into the Cs the CID for C which is
accomplished by input or read means 31;
[0048] b) means for entering Into the Cs the BPID for C which is
also accomplished by means 31.
[0049] c) said CS system having means for entering into it
purchases from V by C using the CC and calculating the BC for each
purchase from V by C. This is accomplished by means 50-53.
[0050] d) transmitting the tally to C and V on a periodic basis.
The tally means is 69 and the means for transmitting such
statements are 67 and 68.
[0051] The teachings of the claims which follow are hereby
incorporated as an integral part of this specification.
* * * * *