U.S. patent application number 11/488783 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-16 for system and method for granting promotional rewards to credit account holders.
This patent application is currently assigned to Bank One, Delaware, National Association. Invention is credited to Beth L. Bressler, Eugene Glavin, Lynn Hooper, Bradley R. Strock.
Application Number | 20060259364 11/488783 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32599954 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060259364 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Strock; Bradley R. ; et
al. |
November 16, 2006 |
System and method for granting promotional rewards to credit
account holders
Abstract
A system and method for providing promotional rewards is
provided. First, a promotional reward is communicated to a
customer. The promotional reward offer comprises a promotional
reward associated with one or more promotional reward-earning
behaviors and a promotional time frame. The offer may specify a
customer population, and the customer may be enrolled in the
promotional reward program if the customer is determined to be in
the population. The customer is credited a promotional reward if
the customer accomplishes the promotional reward-earning
behavior(s) within the promotional time frame. The customer may
also be enrolled in a base reward program. The promotional rewards
and base rewards may be accumulated in a customer account. A system
for implementing a promotional rewards program is also
provided.
Inventors: |
Strock; Bradley R.;
(Landenberg, PA) ; Glavin; Eugene; (West Chester,
PA) ; Hooper; Lynn; (Newark, DE) ; Bressler;
Beth L.; (Kennett Square, PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DEPARTMENT
1900 K STREET, N.W.
SUITE 1200
WASHINGTON
DC
20006-1109
US
|
Assignee: |
Bank One, Delaware, National
Association
Wilmington
DE
19801
|
Family ID: |
32599954 |
Appl. No.: |
11/488783 |
Filed: |
July 19, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10683294 |
Oct 14, 2003 |
|
|
|
11488783 |
Jul 19, 2006 |
|
|
|
60417658 |
Oct 11, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/14.15 ;
705/14.18; 705/14.35; 705/14.36; 705/14.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0216 20130101;
G06Q 30/0233 20130101; G06Q 30/0213 20130101; G06Q 30/0236
20130101; G06Q 30/0232 20130101; G06Q 30/0231 20130101; G06Q
30/0235 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101; G06Q 30/0241 20130101; G06Q
30/0207 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/014 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/00 20060101
G06Q030/00 |
Claims
1. A method of implementing multiple promotional rewards programs
comprising: communicating at least one promotional reward offer
from a first promotional rewards program and at least one
promotional reward offer from a second promotional rewards program
to a customer, wherein each of the at least one promotional reward
offer comprises a promotional reward associated with a promotional
reward-earning behavior and a promotional time frame; and crediting
the promotional reward from the first promotional rewards program
and the second promotional rewards program to the customer if the
customer accomplishes the promotional reward-earning behavior
within the promotional time frame.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the crediting of the promotional
reward from the first promotional rewards program and the second
promotional rewards program to the customer is simultaneous.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first promotional rewards
program is on the same account as the second promotional rewards
program.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first promotional rewards
program is on a different account as the second promotional rewards
program.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the promotional reward from the
second promotional rewards program is stacked with the promotional
reward from the first promotional rewards program.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the first promotional rewards
program is different from the second promotional rewards
program.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first
promotional rewards program and the second promotional rewards
program is a third party program.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first
promotional rewards program and the second promotional rewards
program is a partner program.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first
promotional rewards program and the second promotional rewards
program has a base reward program, wherein the customer is enrolled
in the base reward program prior to the offer of the promotional
reward.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one promotional
reward is further associated with a defined population.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining that
the customer is a member of the defined population.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining that
the customer is a member of the defined population; and verifying
the promotional reward-earning behavior by processing customer
transaction information.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: verifying the
promotional reward-earning behavior by processing customer
transaction information.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying a cardholder acceptor
ID of a transaction.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying a bank identification
number of a transaction
16. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying a standard industry
code of a transaction.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying an amount of a
transaction.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying a location of a
transaction.
19. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying a merchant description
of a transaction.
20. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying a frequency of a
plurality of customer transactions.
21. The method of claim 13, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises verifying a transaction type of a
transaction.
22. The method of claim 1, wherein verifying the promotional
reward-earning behavior comprises using a financial transaction
network and verifying the reward-earning behavior comprises at
least one of a visit or the use of an account.
23. The method of claim 1, wherein the promotional time period
comprises specific days or a specific time of day.
24. The method of claim 1, wherein the promotional reward offer is
a phased offer.
25. The method of claim 1, wherein the promotional reward offer is
a multi-tiered offer.
26. The method of claim 1 wherein the reward-earning behavior
comprises at least one of: credit or debit card transaction;
accumulating a specific amount of charges; charging a specific
amount; charging a certain number of transactions; transacting at a
specific location; paying a balance; paying interest; linking with
another account; making a deposit; making a withdrawal; drafting a
check; paying a fee for a banking service; transferring a balance;
issuing a convenience check; accessing a line of credit; purchasing
from a merchant; checking and savings account activity; setting up
a recurring payment; enabling an auto-payment; paying an annual
fee; paying a rewards fee; transactions with Bank partners;
transactions with third parties; brokerage transactions; purchasing
or selling securities; depositing funds; transferring holdings from
an external account to a Bank account; transferring a balance;
opening a checking account; opening a credit or debit account;
applying for a loan or other credit account; paying a balance on
time; and maintaining at least a specified minimum balance; having
a specific account balance at a specific time; having above or
below a specific average daily balance; revolving an account
balance; having an inactive account; maintaining a type of account
balance; taking a cash advance; using a convenience check; and
using an account card for identification purposes.
27. The method of claim 1, wherein the promotional reward-earning
behavior comprises one or more of the following: using an account
card for an identification purpose that does not result in debiting
an account; and using a convenience check.
28. The method of claim 1, wherein the promotional reward comprises
at least one of: a product; a service; points, miles or other
reward currency; a discount; a coupon; and cash, checks, Treasury
bills, stocks, bonds, or other financial instruments.
29. The method of claim 1, wherein the promotional reward comprises
at least one of: a gift card or other stored value; and an upgrade
in account status or other recognition.
30. The method of claim 1, further comprising: exchanging the
promotional reward for a second reward.
31. The method of claim 30, further comprising: issuing the second
reward to the customer.
32. The method of claim 1, further comprising: converting a
customer reward account sponsored by one institution into another
reward account sponsored by another institution.
33. The method of claim 32, further comprising: converting a
promotional reward associated with the customer reward account
sponsored by one institution to a different reward.
34. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a customer
request to exchange a customer's earned reward for a second award;
and exchanging the earned award for the second award.
35. The method of claim 9, wherein the promotional reward is a
different reward than the base reward.
36. A system for enabling customers to earn multiple promotional
rewards comprising: an offer setup processor configured to generate
at least one promotional reward offer from a first promotional
rewards program and a second promotional rewards program, wherein a
customer simultaneously earns at least one promotional reward from
each of the at least first promotional rewards program and the
second promotional rewards program by accomplishing one or more
specific reward-earning behaviors during a promotional time
frame.
37. The system of claim 36, further comprising: an enrollment
processor configured to enroll customers into at least a first
promotional rewards program and a second promotional rewards
program by processing promotional reward offer data and customer
account data; and a qualifying processor configured to process
customer transaction data to determine whether a customer
transaction earns a reward.
38. A method of implementing multiple promotional rewards programs
comprising: communicating at least two promotional reward offers
from each of at least two promotional rewards programs to a
customer, wherein each of the at least two promotional reward
offers comprises a promotional reward associated with a promotional
reward-earning behavior and a promotional time frame; crediting the
at least two promotional rewards to the customer if the customer
accomplishes the promotional reward-earning behavior within the
promotional time frame; and accumulating two or more promotional
rewards and two or more base rewards in a single customer reward
account, wherein the two or more promotional rewards are
accumulated when the customer accomplishes one or more promotional
reward-earning behaviors, and the base reward is accumulated when
the customer accomplishes a base reward-earning behavior pursuant
to a base reward program associated with the at least two
promotional reward programs, wherein the reward-earning behavior
comprises at least one of: credit or debit card transaction;
accumulating a specific amount of charges; charging a specific
amount; charging a certain number of transactions; transacting at a
specific location; paying a balance; paying interest; linking with
another account; making a deposit; making a withdrawal; drafting a
check; paying a fee for a banking service; transferring a balance;
issuing a convenience check; accessing a line of credit; purchasing
from a merchant; checking and savings account activity; setting up
a recurring payment; enabling an auto-payment; paying an annual
fee; paying a rewards fee; transactions with Bank partners;
transactions with third parties; brokerage transactions; purchasing
or selling securities; depositing funds; transferring holdings from
an external account to a Bank account; transferring a balance;
opening a checking account; opening a credit or debit account;
applying for a loan or other credit account; paying a balance on
time; and maintaining at least a specified minimum balance; having
a specific account balance at a specific time; having above or
below a specific average daily balance; revolving an account
balance; having an inactive account; maintaining a type of account
balance; taking a cash advance; using a convenience check; and
using an account card for identification purposes, and wherein the
promotional reward comprises at least one of: a product; a service;
points, miles or other reward currency; a discount; a coupon; cash,
checks, Treasury bills, stocks, bonds, or other financial
instruments, a gift card or other stored value; and an upgrade in
account status or other recognition.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation (CON) of U.S. application
Ser. No. 10/683,294 entitled "System and Method for Granting
Promotional rewards to Credit Account Holders," filed Dec. 14,
2003, which claims priority to Provisional Application Ser. No.
60/417,658, filed Oct. 11, 2002, which are both incorporated herein
by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is generally related to data
processing techniques for enabling bank customers to earn
promotional rewards. More particularly, the present invention is
related to a data processing technique for allowing a Bank's
existing credit cardmembers to earn promotional rewards for
specific triggering behaviors in a specific time frame, wherein the
rewards can be targeted to specific cardmembers or groups.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Rewards are given to customers by merchants for various
reasons, including to encourage certain consumer behaviors and also
to strengthen relationships between Banks and customers. Rewards
can also be used to strengthen the relationships between merchants
and customers, such as when a Bank offers a merchant-related reward
such as a gift card, or when a merchant or affiliated Bank offers a
reward for using a particular credit card with the merchant.
[0004] There is a recognized need in the financial services
industry to attract and retain loyal customers. A loyal customer is
one who uses a single Bank for all or a significant number of
banking relationships and does so over an extended period of time.
This need is particularly important to Banks in small and medium
sized communities where regionally and nationally marketed
financial services have attracted customers away from local
institutions. This need is also important to Banks that compete in
small and medium-sized communities to attract customers, and also
to Banks that compete in highly competitive markets where customers
are offered a wide variety of investment and other banking
relationship options, some of which may individually be very
enticing to existing customers of other banks.
[0005] Thus, incentive reward programs for rewarding customers,
particularly repeat or ongoing customers, have become increasingly
common in a variety of industries. Well known examples of the use
of incentives to attract and reward repeated customer patronage are
airline frequent flyer programs. In airline frequent flyer programs
the customer is awarded points, often expressed in terms of "miles
traveled" for each use of a particular airline or its partners or
affiliates. Additional points or "miles" are awarded for use of
ancillary services such as car and hotel room rentals. Other
examples of customer incentive programs include the trading stamp
programs once popular in the grocery retail trade.
[0006] The implementation of a customer incentive program for Bank
customers has complexities not found in customer incentive plans in
other industries. The relationships between the Bank and any
customer may be quite numerous and complex, involving a number of
different kinds of accounts and interactions. Most other incentive
programs require tracking of only one customer factor such as miles
traveled in a frequent flyer program or the total dollar volume of
purchases in a grocery store trading stamp program.
[0007] There can exist a great deal of variation among Banks in the
types of financial services offered and emphasized. In particular,
different Banks may wish to establish different scoring systems for
the various types of consumer-bank relationships and consumer
behaviors, depending on which relationships and behaviors are found
to be the most profitable by the Bank, Bank partners, and third
parties who offer rewards to Bank customers. Further, each Bank may
wish to establish a different award structure of incentives,
depending upon that Bank's perception of the benefits of the
program in relation to the costs of the incentives and the needs of
its particular community.
[0008] Furthermore, for an incentive program to be fully effective
as a tool for attracting and retaining long-term customers, it is
desirable for the Bank's management to be able to monitor customer
behaviors and the relationships between the Bank and its customers,
as individuals and as groups. The Bank may thus be able to identify
significant opportunities for marketing its financial services by
evaluating customer behaviors and relationships and the appeal of
those behaviors and relationships to customers.
[0009] To these ends, Banks have developed a wide variety of
rewards programs to attract and retain customers. Typically, a
reward program of a financial product such as a credit card will
allow customers to earn rewards in a predetermined rewards system.
There is typically one type of reward, a base reward, and one type
of method of earning the reward. For instance, some Banks offer a
1% cash rebate each time a customer uses a platinum credit card
issued by the Bank. Other incentive rewards programs may offer a
reward in the form of reward currency, such as frequent flyer miles
or points, which can be used to purchase other rewards or
benefits.
[0010] Further, the universe of reward-earning behaviors for such
rewards programs is limited. Rewards are typically earned by
charging more transactions on a credit card account. Special
rewards also may be earned by purchasing from a particular Bank
partner ("Partner"). Finally, rewards can be earned by
accomplishing certain tasks or exhibiting certain behaviors, such
as by opening a bank account. However, prior art reward systems
typically cannot differentiate transactions (or other
reward-earning behaviors) beyond these limited criteria of dollar
amount and merchant.
[0011] Thus, prior art rewards programs typically have limited
reward-earning behaviors that earn limited rewards. While Banks
have successfully encouraged cardmembers to use their credit cards
by offering a rewards program associated with the card, Banks
typically do not continually provide additional promotional rewards
programs targeted to specific customers or groups, wherein rewards
are earned through specific triggering behaviors. What is needed is
a robust and efficient system of offering a plurality of
promotional rewards programs to individual cardmembers or classes
of cardmembers, wherein the rewards programs enable customers or
customer groups to earn a variety of rewards by accomplishing a
variety of behaviors and/or transactions. It is further desirable
to have a rewards program system that is customizable across a wide
variety of variables.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] Generally speaking, the foregoing needs are fulfilled by
providing in one exemplary embodiment a system and method for
providing promotional rewards. First, a promotional reward is
communicated to a customer. The promotional reward offer comprises
a promotional reward associated with a promotional reward-earning
behavior and a promotional time frame. The offer may specify a
customer population, and the customer may be enrolled in the
promotional reward program if the customer is determined to be in
the population. The customer is credited a promotional reward if
the customer accomplishes the promotional reward-earning behavior
within the promotional time frame. The customer may also be
enrolled in a base reward program, and the promotional rewards may
be accumulated in a customer account along with the base
rewards.
[0013] In another embodiment, a system is provided for implementing
a promotional rewards program. An offer setup processor generates
offers for one or more promotional rewards programs. Each
promotional rewards program enables one or more customers to earn
one or more rewards by accomplishing one or more specific
reward-earning behaviors during a specific time frame. The one or
more customers are also enrolled in a base rewards program. An
enrollment processor enrolls customers into one or more promotional
rewards programs by processing offer data and customer account
data. A qualifying processor processes customer transaction data to
determine whether a customer transaction earns a reward pursuant to
an offer.
[0014] In yet another embodiment, a computer-readable medium
encoded with computer program code is provided for implementing a
promotional rewards program. A customer is offered promotional
reward earnings that can be accumulated in a customer rewards
account pursuant to a promotional rewards program. Promotional
reward earnings and base reward earnings are accumulated in the
customer rewards account. The promotional reward earnings are
accumulated pursuant to the promotional reward program, and the
base reward earnings are accumulated pursuant to a base reward
program.
[0015] Other embodiments could be considered.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates the process flow of a typical rewards
engine according to the prior art.
[0017] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a promotional rewards engine
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 3A illustrates a promotional rewards engine system
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 3B illustrates additional features of the promotional
rewards engine system of FIG. 3A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 illustrates the process flow of a typical rewards
engine according to the prior art. First, a rewards program system
is created in step 1. The systems and processing environments at
the Bank, the card processor, and the Bank Partners are established
for processing the rewards functions. Rules defining the reward
program are specified. For instance, it may be specified that all
platinum credit cardmembers will receive a 1% cash rebate for all
platinum credit card transactions.
[0021] In step 2, a cardmember (or cardmember population) is
enrolled in the reward program.
[0022] In step 3, enrolled customers earn and accumulate rewards
according to the rewards program earning rules. To earn and
accumulate rewards, the rewards engine receives information
relating to customer transactions that earn rewards.
[0023] In step 4, an earned reward is redeemed, and the reward is
removed from the customer's account.
[0024] In step 5, the reward is fulfilled, and the customer
actually obtains the reward. In the case of a rebate check,
fulfillment occurs when the check is actually printed and mailed,
or otherwise delivered or transferred to the customer.
[0025] In step 6, the customer reward and/or account is serviced.
This may comprise any actions taken with regard to customer service
or otherwise ensuring that the customer appropriately received the
reward, or otherwise ensuring that any of the prior steps took
place properly. For instance, a reward may be serviced when a
customer calls to complain that the reward was never received, or
that an inappropriate amount was debited from a reward account.
[0026] In step 7, the Bank may audit or otherwise monitor the
rewards program.
[0027] It should be noted that in the prior art method of FIG. 1, a
customer account is enrolled in only one rewards program at a
time.
[0028] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a promotional rewards engine
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0029] The assignee of the present invention has developed a Bank
customer incentive program called the "Promotional Rewards Engine"
that greatly improves upon the prior art. The Promotional Rewards
Engine ("PRE") is a system that processes promotional rewards
offers to existing credit cardmember populations. The PRE allows a
Bank (and/or the marketing department of a Bank) to offer one or
more additional rewards earning opportunities to credit
cardmembers.
[0030] Through the PRE, a Bank offers rewards programs to existing
Bank customers so that the customers may earn rewards by performing
specific behaviors during a specified time frame. As used herein
the term "Bank" is intended to mean all types of financial service
institutions, including banks, savings and loan associations,
credit unions, credit card issuers, and the like, which offer a
variety of financial and investment services to customers, such as
credit cards; "triggering behaviors" refers to credit card
purchases, other account activity, and other consumer behaviors
that can trigger the earning of rewards in a rewards program; and
the term "reward" is intended to mean some type of consideration or
recognition established and given by the Bank, the Bank's partners,
or third parties to the customer in recognition of the customer's
specific behaviors in the specific time frame, such as gifts, cash
rebates, and frequent flyer miles.
[0031] A portion or all of the Bank's customers may be enrolled or
participating in any given program, depending on the eligibility
rules of the program. A rewards database stores customer-specific
reward information for each customer enrolled in the Promotional
Rewards Program. Rewards such as rewards currency are automatically
calculated based on the triggering behaviors performed by the
customer, and earned rewards are awarded either upon demand of the
customer, or automatically on an immediate or periodic basis. The
point awards may be increased depending on the rules defining the
reward program.
[0032] The PRE may interface with a Bank Partners' loyalty and
rewards systems. For example, the PRE has the capability to offer
and process rewards through a Bank Partner's rewards system, and/or
to offer and process a Bank Partner's rewards program through the
PRE system.
[0033] The PRE system may be used for any customer or group of
customers that have an account with or associated with a Bank. Such
accounts may or may not be associated with physical cards, such as
plastic credit cards with a magnetic stripe. Accounts may comprise
smart card accounts, accounts associated with a radio frequency
identification device such as Speedpass.TM. and EZ Pass.TM.,
accounts associated with cardless payments (wherein a cardless
account with a user name and alias is associated with another
cardmember account), virtual accounts (such as one-time use
accounts set up for a special purpose), or other transaction
accounts. Such non-traditional accounts may have non-traditional
"cards" or other identifiers associated with them. For purposes of
the invention, such identifiers are considered cards associated
with the account.
[0034] In step 202 of FIG. 2, the Bank administers a base rewards
program. Alternately, the base rewards program could be
administered by another entity, such as a Bank Partner or third
party. The base rewards program may be implemented by a Promotional
Rewards Engine (PRE), as referenced above. Customers are enrolled
in a rewards program associated with a customer account. Customers
may choose from among a variety of rewards programs for a
particular customer account. The rewards program is associated with
one or more earning behaviors (such as transactions) and one or
more rewards which can be earned through those behaviors.
[0035] In optional step 204, the PRE receives Partner rewards
program data. The PRE is configured to manage the Bank rewards
program as well as the rewards program of Bank Partners who do not
manage their own customer rewards earnings and fulfillment
processes. Thus, step 204 occurs when the PRE is managing one or
more Bank Partner rewards programs. The PRE then handles the
management of the Partner rewards program in accordance with the
rules governing the Partner rewards program. Depending on the
arrangement with the Partner, the method may then proceed to steps
206, 208, and/or 212.
[0036] In step 206, the Bank creates its promotional rewards
program, including the rules defining the program. The rules may be
any of the rules described herein, including rules governing the
offer, reward, and eligible population.
[0037] In step 208, the PRE creates and stores the offers and
rewards. These offers and rewards may be created by the Bank
Interface 76 and Create Bank Offer & Partner Offer Modules 40,
42 of FIGS. 3A & 3B, as described below. The offers and rewards
information may be stored in the Offer Database 20 of FIGS. 3A
& 3B.
[0038] In optional step 210, the PRE communicates the offers and
rewards to the customers. It may also report the offer and reward
information for internal or external auditing purposes. For
instance, it may report the information to an internal data
collection module such as the Report Module 70 and/or Bank
Interface 76 of FIG. 3B. The customers may comprise Bank customers
having accounts with the Bank. The customers may also comprise
Partner customers, if the PRE has received Partner rewards program
information in step 204. Communication with the customer can occur
via any means described in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
[0039] In step 212, the PRE enrolls customers in customer reward
accounts. The accounts are created and stored, preferably in a
database. Each reward account may be associated with an existing
customer account. More than one reward account may be associated
with a single customer account. Each reward account may be
associated with one or more rewards.
[0040] In step 214, the PRE may communicate reward account
information to the customer. It may also report the reward account
information for internal or external auditing purposes. For
instance, it may report the information to an internal data
collection module such as the Report Module 70 and/or Bank
Interface 76 of FIG. 3B. Such account information may comprise a
description of the reward program, the number of the account, and
the balance of the reward account. For new accounts, the balance
may be zero. There may be a positive balance if the customer is
automatically given an initial reward upon enrollment in the
rewards program. For instance, a customer who signs up for a
checking account may automatically receive a free $5 gift
certificate to a Partner retailer, in which case the reward account
created for that customer would have a positive balance. The reward
account balance may also be positive if it is not a new account,
but rather if it is converted from another reward account or
portfolio. If the old account had a positive balance, then the new,
converted account would carry over a balance. In these cases, the
reward balance may need to be converted. For instance, if the prior
balance was a number of merchant points, but the converted account
offers only frequent flyer miles, then the points may be converted
into miles.
[0041] In step 216, the PRE monitors customer transactions and
behaviors in order to determine reward earnings. As defined by the
reward program, specific transactions and/or behaviors may earn
rewards.
[0042] In step 218, the PRE accumulates earnings to the customer
reward account based on the customer's reward earning transactions
and behaviors monitored in step 216.
[0043] In optional step 220, the PRE communicates the reward
earnings to the customer. It may also report the earnings
information for internal or external auditing purposes. For
instance, it may report the information to an internal data
collection module such as the Report Module 70 and/or Bank
Interface 76 of FIG. 3B.
[0044] In optional step 222, the PRE may exchange one or more
customer rewards for one or more other rewards. This may be at the
request of a customer, for example if the customer wants to switch
reward programs or reward types.
[0045] In step 224, the rewards are fulfilled. A reward may be
delivered to a customer, credited to a customer account, provided
to a Partner or third party who will provide the reward to the
customer, or otherwise provided to the customer.
[0046] In optional step 226, the PRE communicates the fulfillment
of the reward. The PRE may also debit the reward from the
customer's reward account. It may also report fulfillment
information for internal or external auditing purposes. For
instance, it may report the information to an internal data
collection module such as the Report Module 70 and/or Bank
Interface 76 of FIG. 3B.
[0047] The method described above in FIG. 2 may also include
features of the PRE as described in FIGS. 3A and 3B. For instance,
the communicating and/or reporting steps 210, 214, 220, 226 of FIG.
2 may be accomplished by the Communication Module 64 and/or the
Reporting Module 70 via any of the communication methods described
for those Modules 64, 70, or any other communication means
described herein. The rules defining the offers in step 206 may
comprise any offer rules as described herein, such as with respect
to the Bank Interface 76, the Create Bank Offer Module 40, and the
Create Partner Offer Module 42. The steps of monitoring
transactions and behaviors 216 and accumulating rewards 218 may
comprise the operations described with respect to the Interrogate
Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions Modules 48, 50 and the
Offer Qualification Module 52, and other associated modules, as
described below for FIGS. 3A & 3B.
[0048] FIGS. 3A and 3B show the Promotional Rewards Engine (PRE)
according to one embodiment of the invention.
[0049] As shown in FIG. 3A, the Bank Interface 76 may pass rules
and other information to the Create Bank Offer Module 40, the
Create Partner Offer Module 42, the Offer Database 20, the Create
Rewards Account Population Module 44, the Create Partner Rewards
Account Population Module 46, the Interrogate Reward Account
Behaviors Module 48, the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions
Module 50, the Offer Qualification Module 52, the Offer Fulfillment
Module 54, the Fulfillment Reconciliation Module 56, the
Communication Module 64, and the Report Module 70. The Bank
Interface 76 may generate these rules and information or receive
them from the Bank. The rules may govern and/or define the Bank's
and/or Bank Partners' rewards program(s) by governing and/or
defining the operation of the Modules 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52,
54, 56, 64, 70 and Offer Database 20. The various rules are
described further in conjunction with FIG. 3B.
[0050] FIG. 3B shows the PRE of FIG. 3A in greater detail. In the
PRE system, any of the Processors 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 58, 60, 62,
66 & 68 and Modules 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 64,
& 70 may comprise a processor, database, and suitable inputs
and outputs for communicating with other processors. For instance,
a processor or module may comprise a computer, a computer program,
a server, or other appropriate data processing device. Some of the
PRE system components may share the same hardware. For example, one
computer may be one or more elements of the PRE.
[0051] Still referring to FIG. 3B, the Bank Interface 76 may pass
rules or other information to the Modules as described above. A
rule may comprise any instruction, parameter, macro, subroutine,
program, or any other instruction set that may apply to one or more
customers or population groups, one or more rewards or reward
programs, any other feature as described below, or any other
feature defining a Bank or Partner reward program. For instance,
the rules may change the accumulation rules of a rewards program
used by the Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 to accumulate customer rewards.
[0052] The Bank Interface 76 may change (or provide rules which
change) relationships between the Bank and its Partners, between a
customer and any rewards programs associated with the customer, or
between the customer and the Bank. For instance, the Bank Interface
76 may change the rules defining a reward offered by a Bank or
Partner rewards program to a customer or customer population. The
Bank Interface 76 may specify the rules governing reward program
participation, program transfer, currency conversion, and
redemption for specific customers, customer groups, and programs.
The Bank Interface 76 may set up rewards currency earning and
accumulation algorithms based on defined business rules. The Bank
Interface 76 may also setup rules governing the redemption and
fulfillment of goods, services, and payments to be provided to
customers as rewards.
[0053] The Bank Interface 76 may comprise (or be implemented by) a
sub-entity of an issuing Bank, such as the marketing department of
the Bank. The Bank Interface may also comprise multiple banks,
multiple Bank Partners, or any combination thereof. For instance,
the Bank Interface of the PRE may comprise a module that receives
reward program information from other banks and Partners. In this
way, the PRE may manage the rewards programs of those other banks
and Partners.
[0054] The Bank Interface 76 may quickly add new items to rewards
catalogs (redemption sets). This is partly because the Bank
Interface 76 may provide Bank representatives the ability to view
and edit the rules defining and governing any of the Modules,
including the Bank Interface 76. Such authorized representatives
may edit and view the Modules via Bank computer terminals, over the
Internet, or via other channels.
[0055] The Bank Interface 76 may quickly incorporate new
information from other modules and databases to reflect program
changes and new offers across servicing channels.
[0056] One advantage of having a separate Bank Interface 76 is that
it may be configured to quickly add a new earning algorithm if the
new algorithm is to be driven from data already driving other
rewards currency earning algorithms. For instance, the Bank
Interface's 76 algorithm exists separately and can therefore be
modified separately from the data it acts upon. Thus, adding to,
subtracting from, or otherwise modifying the Modules 40, 42, 44,
46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 64, and 70 minimizes time, cost, and
administrative inefficiency.
[0057] The Create Bank Offer Module 40 and Create Partner Offer
Module 42 apply the rules received from the Bank Interface 76 and
thereby enable various functions and capabilities related to the
setup of the PRE and associated rewards programs. These two Modules
40, 42 may operate separately: the Create Bank Offer Module 40
receives and applies rules and other information related to rewards
programs that are created by the Bank itself, whereas the Create
Partner Offer Module 42 receives and applies rules and other
information related to rewards programs that are created by Bank
Partners. For instance, the Create Bank Offer Module 40 may receive
rules related to an offer whereby customers in Alabama earn 1% cash
back for all purchases in July that are over $50. The Create
Partner Offer Module 42 may receive rules related to an offer
whereby a Partner airline offers double frequent flyer points
during the month of February for all Partner purchases.
[0058] The Create Offer Module 40 and Create Partner Offer Module
42 may set up a program as a set of accumulations rules and
redemption options. The Modules 40, 42 may also define sets of one
or more redemption items (redemption sets or collections) and add
or delete items from any redemption set. For example, the
redemption items may comprise single item sets like Partner airline
miles and premiums. Redemption sets may also comprise merchandise
collections, sets of cash equivalents (checks and gift
certificates), Partner airline miles, pre-defined travel packages,
and Partner merchant coupons.
[0059] The Modules 40, 42 may add or delete any redemption item or
redemption set to or from any reward program and control the
capabilities and allowable combinations of the redemption through
business rules. For example, the Bank Interface 76 may add a cash
rebate option to multiple rewards programs or offer travel options
to premium rewards accounts, or it may offer the redemption of
airline Partner miles to customers who already have a different
option.
[0060] The Modules 40, 42 may define sets of rules for earning
rewards currency and/or rewards under a program's earnings and
accumulation requirements. The Modules 40, 42 may also specify
attributes or characteristics that limit or define the events,
transactions, and behaviors ("triggering events") for which a
customer earns a reward or rewards currency. Those attributes may
comprise transaction date, time, location, frequency, amount, and
other triggering attributes.
[0061] The specific triggering events are defined according to the
specific offer, i.e., the rules defining the offer provided by the
Bank Interface 76. An offer may be classified according to: offer
type or subtype; offer delivery channel (i.e., how the offer is
communicated to the customer, which may comprise any means of
communicating with the customer described herein); offer response
channel; start time; end time; offer campaign; internally or
externally provided population or population criteria; transaction
type; frequency of a specific type of transaction; frequency of
total transactions; amount of one or more transactions; minimum
transaction amount for triggering earning a reward; maximum
transaction amount for earning a reward; earning cap; variable or
fixed reward amount; reward amount (or conversion factor, if based
on a transaction amount); reward identifier; redemption type
(automatic, on-demand, or at a certain date); customer account
status (such as closed, frozen, bankrupt, revoked, or otherwise in
bad standing); merchant description of the transaction; number of
operative time periods; number of tiers (if the offer is a tiered
offer); and Partner. For instance, the Create Bank Offer Module 40
may define a rule enabling customers to earn rewards based on the
size of their home equity line of credit or credit card balance in
one or more rewards programs. The Create Partner Offer Module 42
may specify one or more Partner rewards that will be earned upon
one or more triggering events.
[0062] The Modules 40, 42 may create additional rules and
information based on the rules and information received from the
Bank Interface 76. The additional rules and information may
comprise rules defining an offer and reward of a reward program.
The Modules 40, 42 may pass their created rules and information to
the Offer Database Processor 20. As noted above for all Modules,
the Offer Database Processor 20 may alternately receive these rules
and information directly from the Bank Interface 76.
[0063] The Create Offer Module 40 may generate Bank rewards,
offers, rules, and other information. It is configured to pass this
information to the Create Rewards Account Population Module 44.
Similarly, the Create Partner Offer Module 42 may generate Partner
rewards, offers, rules, and other information. It is configured to
pass this information to the Create Partner Rewards Account
Population Module 46.
[0064] The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44 may also
receive rules and information from the Offer Database Processor 20.
For instance, the Create Reward Account Population Module 44 may
receive rules or other information defining the population eligible
to participate in a particular rewards program. Similarly, the
Create Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46 may also
receive rules and information from the Offer Database Processor 20.
For example, the Create Partner Rewards Account Population Module
46 may receive rules or other information defining the population
eligible to participate in a particular Partner rewards
program.
[0065] The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44 and the
Create Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46 receive rules
defining a population eligible for a Bank or Partner reward
program, respectively. For instance, in the Alabama 1% rebate
example described above, the Create Rewards Account Population
Module 44 may receive a rule specifying that the eligible
population is all Bank cardmembers who live in Alabama. A Partner
airline may offer double frequent flyer miles during the month of
February to anyone who has a Partner account, in which case the
Create Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46 may receive a
rule defining that the eligible population is everyone who has a
Partner account.
[0066] The Modules 44, 46 are configured to receive population
information from a variety of sources, including the Bank Interface
76 and the External Population Data Processor 58. The External
Population Data Processor 58 collects population data information
from the Bank Interface 76, third parties 78, and Partners 80. It
passes the population data to the Modules 44, 46.
[0067] The Modules 44, 46 may also receive population information
from the Account Data Processor 22, which stores customer account
information including population information such as customer
addresses. The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44 and the
Create Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46 may also
receive population information from the Create Bank Offer Module 40
and the Create Partner Offer Module 42, respectively.
[0068] Based on received population rules and population
information (such as customer account information stored in the
Account Data Processor 22), the Create Rewards Account Population
Module 44 and the Create Partner Rewards Account Population Module
46 generate the populations eligible to participate in Bank and
Partner rewards programs, respectively. For instance, an offer may
define a population as all customers in Alabama, and the Create
Rewards Account Population Module 44 and Create Partner Rewards
Account Population Module 46 may generate the population of Alabama
customers based on customer address data stored in the Account Data
Processor 22 for each customer.
[0069] The Account Data Processor 22 stores and processes
information related to customer accounts. Information stored by the
Account Data Processor 22 may comprise personal information about
each customer and financial information related to the customer's
account. Personal information for a particular cardmember may
comprise the cardmember's name, address, social security number,
hair color, height, weight, age, product preferences, credit
rating, personal information of other authorized users of the
account, mother's maiden name, and/or any other personal
information. Financial information related to a customer's account
may comprise the cardmember's account numbers with the bank,
account numbers and other account information of a customer account
with a Partner, activity on each account, and any other financial
information. Account activity may comprise date, time, location,
and amount information for each transaction; transaction type;
account payment histories; and any other information account
information for a customer 74. Account activity information is
stored at the Account Data Processor 22 after it is received from
the Transaction Data Processor 26, which receives such transaction
information from the Transaction Data Module 27, which receives and
stores customer transaction information. Any of the data stored in
the Account Data Processor 22 may be used to determine whether
customer behaviors earn rewards (i.e., whether a customer behavior
is a triggering event). The data may also be used to determine
whether a customer is a member of a population.
[0070] The Account Data Processor 22 may provide rules-based access
to specific functions and information of the Processor 22. For
example, the Processor 22 may only allow primary account holder
customers 74 to redeem a reward, or it may allow only the
controlling account for a small business to redeem or change
options of its enrolled programs. Other modules and databases such
as the Offer Database Processor 20 may also provide rules-based
access to their specific functions and information. For instance,
it may not allow the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module
50 the ability to overwrite an offer file stored at the Offer
Database 20.
[0071] The Communication Module 64 may receive customer account
information or other information from the Create Bank Offer Module
40, Create Partner Offer Module 42, Create Rewards Account
Population Module 44, Create Partner Rewards Account Population
Module 46, Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50, Offer Qualification Module 52, Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 56, and Bank Interface 76. For instance, the
Communication Module 64 may receive names and/or logos of any
enrolled rewards programs, rewards/points/currency summaries of
those programs, a status report regarding earnings on a customer
reward account, or any other information associated with the
programs from the Offer Qualification Module 52.
[0072] The Communication Module 64 may communicate information to
the customer via the Internet, an account statement, proactive
services, a voice response unit, a customer representative (via
phone or email), a welcome kit, acquisition offers, inbound
telemarketing, outbound telemarketing, direct mail, or any other
communication means described herein.
[0073] The Communication Module 64 may customize the customer's
statements to include any customer account or reward account
transaction, such as transaction history, reward earnings balance,
reward earnings history, available reward programs or offers,
rewards (such as earned coupons or rebate checks), or other
information. For instance, the Communication Module 64 may
communicate to a customer what the customer must do to earn a
particular reward (such as the difference between the customer's
current transaction volume for a given month and the transaction
volume threshold necessary to earn a particular reward), and/or the
additional behaviors that must be accomplished after that to earn a
second reward (such as for a phased reward, described below). The
customer statements may be on paper (via U.S. mail, for example).
They also may be available on a webpage or via any other
communication means described herein. The Communication Module 64
may then integrate such information into account statements sent to
the customer, or it may otherwise make such information available
to the customer. The Communication Module 64 may send the customer
the statement or enable the customer to access the statement over a
variety of channels, such as a Bank website over the Internet,
which may be password-protected. Other channels may comprise email,
a customer service telephone number, a voice recognition unit, a
bank teller, an ATM, a merchant point-of-sale ("POS") system, a
signature debit payment system, and a PIN debit system. The
customer may also communicate with the Bank via cell phone or
PDA.
[0074] The Communication Module 64 provides for various
capabilities and functions related to servicing the cardmember. For
instance, the Module 64 can communicate to the customer 74 the
number, amount, or nature of earned, redeemed, or fulfilled
rewards.
[0075] The Communication Module 64 may provide information (or make
information available) to customers, advisors, and/or Bank
representatives (such as a servicing department) to disclose the
rules for any currency conversion or any other rule.
[0076] The Communication Module 64 provides for various
capabilities and functions related to communicating with a customer
74. The Communication Module 64 also generally provides for various
capabilities and functions related to offers and communication
channels between and among the bank, bank affiliates, third
parties, modules, databases, and customers 74.
[0077] Through the Communication Module 64, customers may access
their accounts and/or redeem currency online or through other
self-serve channels. Customer 74 may also change their redemption
method online (or via another communication channel). For example,
a customer 74 might change a redemption from automatic to
on-demand. In automatic redemption, a reward may be automatically
removed from a customer account without any action by the customer.
For a cash rebate, the rebate credited to the account may be
deducted when a rebate check is mailed to the customer in a monthly
statement letter. In on-demand redemption, earnings are deducted
from the customer's account when requested by the cardholder. For
instance, the rebates may accumulate in the customer's account
until the customer requests a rebate check.
[0078] The rewards engine may verify the availability of rewards
for fulfillment before deducting the reward earnings from the
reward account. For instance, the rewards engine may need to verify
that a gift is available in inventory before the reward can be
fulfilled and delivered. This may occur when the Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 receives reward availability information from the
Fulfillment Data Processor 68.
[0079] Customers 74 may opt in to various offered rewards programs
through the Communication Module 64. Offered rewards programs may
be communicated to the customer 74 via the Communication Module 64.
For instance, the Communication Module 64 may offer rewards
promotions through product statements, rewards statements, and
other communication delivery channels.
[0080] The Communication Module 64 may provide detail of earnings
by specific qualification set or show currency earned for a
specified type of event, transaction, or behavior that was set up
with different qualifying attributes and calculation methods. For
example, the Communication Module 64 may show Partner purchase
points, non-Partner purchases, or event-based rewards.
[0081] The Communication Module 64 may produce periodic summaries
of earnings, balances, and redemption activity that can be separate
from or part of product account statements. For example, the
Communication Module 64 may produce a free-standing rewards
statement.
[0082] The Communication Module 64 may access a customer's reward
activity summary through different channels. For example, it may be
accessed through paper statement or online inquiry.
[0083] The Communication Module 64 may communicate to a customer
via a Partner's or merchant's desired method. For instance, a
desired method might be a Partner privileged mileage account
Statement or a Partner Internet portal's personalized site.
[0084] An advantage of the present invention is that new rewards
accumulation methods can be quickly and easily integrated into
these Customer 74 communication channels without specialized
knowledge of the PRE system. For example, a new reward program may
be displayed on a credit card statement, a demand deposit account
(e.g., checking account) statement, or any other statement received
by the customer. The customer could also download such information
over a computer, cell phone, or personal digital assistant
(PDA).
[0085] The customer 74 may interface with the Account Data
Processor 22, the Rewards Account Data Processor 24, and/or the
Transaction Data Processor 26. The Account Data Processor 22,
Rewards Account Data Processor 24, and Transaction data Processor
26 are preferably all part of a Bank computer network. Preferably
these Processors 22, 24, 26 communicate with one another, for
instance, to update account information stored at the Account Data
Processor 22 based on new transaction data received at the
Transaction Data Processor 26.
[0086] The customer may interface with the Account Data Processor
22 via Internet, ATM, phone call, or any other method of
communicating with a Bank. The customer 74 may customize an
individual account by inputting customization information at the
Account Data Processor 22 and/or Rewards Account Data Processor 24.
For instance, the customer may change personal information stored
on the account such as the customer's address, or the customer may
add another authorized user to a customer account. Multiple
customers' accounts, such as all the accounts in a family or
business group, could be pooled for a particular reward or multiple
rewards. For instance, in a pooled account, earnings from multiple
customers could be accrued together toward a particular reward.
Alternately, the customer 74 may input such information at an
access channel that transfers such information to the Account Data
Processor 22, Rewards Account Data Processor 24, or Transaction
Data Processor 26. An access channel may comprise a Bank customer
service department, a Bank, a Bank website or other Internet
website affiliated with the Bank, an ATM machine, or another
communication channel.
[0087] The Account Data Module 22 may receive initial account setup
data at the time the customer is applying for the account. For
instance, the Account Data Module 22 may receive the customer's
name and other account-related information, and the Account Data
Module 22 may assign the customer an account number. The Account
Data Module 22 may also associate one or more rewards programs with
the customer, e.g., when the Create Rewards Account & Partner
Rewards Account Population Modules 44, 46 determine that a
particular customer qualifies for a particular offer.
[0088] The Offer Database Processor 20 receives offer and reward
instructions and information from the Bank Interface 76, the Create
Bank Offer Module 40, and the Create Partner Offer Module 42. The
Offer Database Processor 20 stores this offer and reward
information. Preferably, the Offer Database Processor 20 stores
each offer. The Offer Database Processor 20 may allow, disallow, or
require participation in a specific reward program depending upon
other Partner or brand affiliations associated with the account.
For instance, if a customer has an account enrolled in a frequent
flyer reward program with one airline, the Offer Database Processor
20 may prevent the account from enrolling in a similar program with
another airline.
[0089] The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44 and Create
Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46 request and receive
information regarding offers, rewards programs, and rewards from
the Offer Database Processor 20 (or directly from Bank Interface
76). For instance, the Modules 44, 46 may receive information
regarding an offer wherein all Bank or Partner platinum credit card
account holders may earn double frequent flyer miles for all
purchases in February. The Modules 44, 46 receive customer account
information from the Account Data Processor 22. For instance, the
Modules 44, 46 may receive the account numbers of all customers who
have Bank platinum credit card accounts. The External Population
Data Processor 58 communicates with the Bank Partners 80 and third
parties 78 to receive external population data, which it passes to
the Modules 44, 46. External population data may comprise
information regarding accounts with Partners. The Modules 44, 46
may also receive specific rules or instructions from the Bank
Interface 76. For instance, during the month of February, the
Modules 44, 46 may receive instructions that any Bank or Partner
platinum credit card accounts already associated with a non-Partner
airline must be disqualified from the offer.
[0090] In a preferred embodiment, the Modules 44, 46 receive rules
defining a population eligible for a Bank or Partner reward
program, respectively. For instance, in the Alabama 1% rebate
program described above, the Create Rewards Account Population
Module 44 may receive a rule specifying that the eligible
population is all cardmembers who live in Alabama.
[0091] The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44 and Create
Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46 process population
information and creates populations for the rewards programs. A
population may comprise one or more customers who, based on the
rules and criteria defining a particular offer, qualify for a
particular rewards program associated with the offer. For instance,
the population may comprise the set of all Bank platinum credit
card account holders whose accounts are not associated with a
non-Partner airline. The Modules 44, 46 may also enroll such
populations in the rewards program. The Modules 44, 46 process this
information and create an account for each individual customer who
qualifies for a particular rewards program offer. When the Modules
44, 46 enroll a customer in a rewards program, they may pass such
enrollment information to the Communication Module 64, which may
communicate such enrollment to the customer 74.
[0092] The Modules 44, 46 may create an account for each qualifying
customer (such as each customer determined to be in the population)
and pass this information to the Account Data Processor 22 and
Rewards Account Data Processor 24. For instance, if the population
comprises all customers who live in Alabama, the Create Rewards
Account Population Module 44 may create a rewards account for each
cardmember who lives in Alabama. The rewards account would be
passed to and stored in the Rewards Account Data Processor 24.
[0093] The Rewards Account Data Processor 24 stores information
regarding each customer rewards account. For instance, the
Processor 24 stores the customer name and account number(s), the
rewards account name(s) and number(s) associated with each customer
account (there may be more than one rewards account associated with
a particular customer account), the accumulation rules of the
rewards account, the type of rewards, reward balance, fulfillment
information, reward history, and any other reward- or reward
account-related information.
[0094] Different rewards programs have different enrollment systems
and methods. For some rewards programs, cardmembers have the
opportunity to enroll in the program at any time after the account
is established. To accomplish this, customers may express a desire
to enroll in the program by interfacing with the Account Data
Processor 22, the Rewards Account Data Processor 24, and/or the
Transaction Data Processor 26. Customers may input appropriate
information at one or more of the Processors 22, 24, 26 in any
method as described herein, such as via a customer service phone
number or the Internet. The Processor 22 may pass this information
to the Modules 44, 46 on a regular basis, such as immediately or at
the close of business every day. Then the Modules 44, 46 may
continue to enroll such qualifying customers as they input their
preference to enroll at the Processor 22.
[0095] This ability to enroll can be limited according to the
customer, customer group, and program based on configurable rules.
The Modules 44, 46 may receive these rules in any method described
above. For instance, as described above, the Modules 44, 46 may
receive instructions to limit an offer to customers who hold a
platinum account.
[0096] Via any communication channels described above, customers
may be offered the option to enroll in a reward program at the time
of applying for a particular Bank or Partner account. For instance,
a customer may apply for an account at the Account Data Processor
22, and the Processor 22 may immediately offer the customer to
enroll in any account for which the customer qualifies but has not
yet entered. There may be special offers tailored only to customers
opening new accounts. Customers may also be capable of opting out
of a particular program by entering such preference at the Account
Data Processor 22, and during the opt-out process they may be
offered another rewards program. The Account Data Processor 22 may
be configured to automatically offer the customer another rewards
program for which the customer qualifies but has not yet been
enrolled.
[0097] The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44, the Create
Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46, the Account Data
Processor 22, and the Rewards Account Data Processor 24 may
transfer a customer's or customer group's participation in one
program (or multiple programs) to participation in another program
(or programs). Alternately, the Modules 44, 46 and Processors 22,
24 may enable the customer or customer group to choose to
transfer.
[0098] The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44, the Create
Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46, the Account Data
Processor 22, and the Rewards Account Data Processor 24 may
establish currency conversion rules for the switch or transfer, so
that rewards or points accumulated in one or more programs can be
converted to the different rewards or points offered in the other
program(s). To facilitate conversion, a universal unit may be used
to measure each reward, such as a dollar value, so that dissimilar
rewards can be easily converted into each other. The Create Rewards
Account Population Module 44, the Create Partner Rewards Account
Population Module 46, the Account Data Processor 22, and the
Rewards Account Data Processor 24 may specify allowable program
transfer pairs. For instance, the program may allow frequent flyer
miles from an airline to be converted to cash rebates or rental car
discounts, but it may disallow the conversion of one airline's
frequent flyer miles to another airline's frequent flyer miles, or
vice versa.
[0099] The PRE may allow for terminating a program and de-enrolling
one or more customers from a program. For instance, the Bank
Interface 76, the Account Data Processor 22, and Modules 44, 46 may
terminate a program and de-enroll one or more customers according
to rules received. They may also specify the disposition of any
accumulated rewards or currency. Accumulated currency may be
converted into a reward or currency in another reward program as
described below, or it may be lost upon de-enrollment. The Bank
Interface 76 may also directly terminate a program or de-enroll
customers by inputting information at the Account Data Processor
22.
[0100] The Create Rewards Account Population Module 44 and Create
Partner Rewards Account Population Module 46 may enable
accumulating rewards earnings from activity in accounts in
different lines of business to a single customer rewards account.
The Modules 44, 46 receive Partner 80 and third party 78 account
data from the External Population Data Processor 58. The Modules
may also receive population data from the Internal Customer
Population Processor 82, which stores Bank customer data, or
directly from the Bank Interface 76.
[0101] The Modules 44, 46 may identify and assign customer
membership numbers in any or all Partner rewards or loyalty
programs, which it can pass back to the Partners 80 via the
External Population Data Processor 58. For instance, the Modules
44, 46 may receive Partner loyalty files and assign numbers to
those files. The Modules 44, 46 may capture and track those
numbers, and the numbers can be displayed through various channels,
such as various bank branches. The Modules 44, 46 may capture
and/or track any and all Partner loyalty numbers, whether from
Partners or non-Partners.
[0102] The Modules 44, 46 may assess and validate which customers
are eligible for enrollment or access to a product, service, or
feature based on predetermined rules. The Modules 44, 46 may also
synchronize appropriate customer or member identifiers among the
Bank, Partners 80, and third parties 78. For example, the Modules
44, 46 can provide real-time synchronization of a Partner airline
frequent flyer number with a newly-acquired cardmember who holds a
Partner frequent flyer account. This could enable embossing of the
customer's account number onto the new plastic credit card (or
other physical embodiment associated with an account) immediately
following the cardmember's decision to enroll.
[0103] The Modules 44, 46 may additionally be configured to verify
a customer's enrollment in real time.
[0104] The Modules 44, 46 may recognize and process changes in
award level status in various Partner programs. For instance, a
Partner may go bankrupt. The Bank Interface 76 may inform the
Modules 44, 46 that the Partner went bankrupt by providing rules
determining, for example, how to modify each Partner reward
account. For instance, the Bank Interface 76 may specify how to
convert earnings of the Partner account into another reward with a
different Partner.
[0105] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors Module 48 and
Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50 process data to
match triggering events with customer reward accounts. The Modules
may receive triggering event information from the Offer Database
Processor 20, the Account Data Processor 22, or the Rewards Account
Data Processor 24. The Modules 48, 50 may also receive account data
and rewards account data from the Account Data Processor 22 and the
Rewards Account Data Processor 24.
[0106] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors Module 48 receives
behavior data from the External Behavior Data Processor 60. The
External Behavior Data Processor 60 stores information relating to
customer behaviors. For instance, the Processor 60 may receive and
store information relating to customer transactions at a Partner
airline or hotel, which may or may not be otherwise stored in the
system. The Processor 60 may also receive customer behavior
information such as spending a week at a Partner hotel.
[0107] The Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50
receives customer transaction information from the Transaction Data
Processor 26, which stores transaction information for customer
transactions involving a customer account. The Transaction Data
Processor 26 receives Bank transaction data from the Transaction
Data Module 27. The Transaction Data Module 27 may comprise a
database that receives and stores all transactions on Bank-related
accounts. For instance, the Transaction Data Module 27 may receive
and store all transactions for all Bank customer credit cards,
debit cards, and other accounts. The customer may also process
transactions directly through the Transaction Data Module 27, e.g.,
via secure online payments wherein the transaction information
feeds directly into the Transaction Data Module 27.
[0108] The Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50
receives external transaction data from the External Transaction
Data Processor 62, which stores customer transaction information
that may not involve a customer account. External transaction data
may comprise transaction data from Partners.
[0109] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors Module 48 receives
reward account data from the Rewards Account Data Processor 24 and
customer behavior data from the External Behavior Data Processor
60.
[0110] For instance, the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions
Module 50 may determine from the Rewards Account Data Processor 24
that a customer is enrolled in XYZ rewards program. The Module 50
may then pull the XYZ program data from the Offer Database
Processor 20 and discover that the XYZ program enables customers to
earn a small gift for every platinum credit card transaction that
has an amount over $50 during the month of February. The Module may
then query the Transaction Data Processors 26, 62 for all
transactions that were over $50. The Module 50 may then discover
that the customer made two purchases in amounts over $50 during the
month of February. At this point, the Module 50 could send this
earnings information to the Rewards Account Data Processor 24.
Alternatively, the Module 50 could pass this information to the
Offer Qualification Module 52, which may then determine if the
activities should earn rewards.
[0111] When the reward is part of a Partner reward program, such as
frequent flyer miles or points for a Partner airline, the
Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50 may pass the
earnings information to the External Transaction Data Processor 62,
which may pass the earnings information to the Partner rewards
system. The rewards in the Partner rewards program could then
subsequently be processed by the Partner rather than the PRE.
[0112] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors Module 48 operates
similarly to the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50,
except it monitors behaviors instead of Bank transactions.
[0113] Whether the Modules 48, 50 determine earnings or not, the
earning information produced by the Modules 48, 50 is preferably
passed to the Offer Qualification Module 52.
[0114] The Offer Qualification Module 52 processes this earnings
data and determines any reward earnings. For instance, it may
determine that a customer did in fact make two purchases over $50
during the month of February, and therefore determine that the
customer has earned two rewards. The Module 52 then checks with the
External Suppression Data Processor 28 to determine whether the
customer account is eligible to earn rewards. A customer may be
ineligible if the customer's account has been suspended, closed, or
delinquent, if too many transactions have been disputed, if credit
card purchases have been returned and credited back to the account,
the account is in bad standing with the Bank, or if the account has
any other feature that the Bank considers adverse. If the customer
account is eligible to earn rewards, then the Module 52 would then
instruct the Rewards Account Data Processor 24 to amend the
customer's rewards account to reflect the earned rewards.
[0115] When a reward is earned, the Module 52 may also pass the
earning information to the Communication Module 64, which can
communicate such information to the customer 74. The Module 52 may
also pass the earning information to the Offer Fulfillment Module
54.
[0116] Some rewards programs may have earnings caps. The Bank
Interface 76 may override such earnings caps and making earnings
adjustments to a customer's rewards account.
[0117] In one embodiment, a customer may be enrolled in a points
program wherein the customer may earn 1000 points for spending one
weekend at a Partner hotel in the month of July. The Rewards
Account Data Processor 24 and the Offer Database Processor 20 may
pass this information to the Module 48. The customer may then spend
a July weekend at the Partner hotel. The External Behavior Data
Processor 60 may pass this behavior information to the Module 48.
The Module 48 may acquire and process this data, and finally pass
it to the Offer Qualification Module 52. The Offer Qualification
Module 52 may generate instructions to add 1000 points to the
customer's rewards account. The Module 52 would then pass the
instructions to the Rewards Account Data Processor 24, which would
add the points to the appropriate customer account.
[0118] Similarly, the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions
Module 50 processes rewards. The Module 50 receives rewards account
data from the Rewards Account Data Processor 24. The Module 50
receives external transaction data from the External Transaction
Data Processor 62 and Bank transaction data from the Transaction
Data Processor 26. Bank transaction data may comprise any
transactions that involved a Bank account (i.e., for which the Bank
has a record). Transactions such as credit card purchases or
opening a savings account can also be considered behaviors, and
they may be monitored by the Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors
Module 48. External transaction data may comprise any transaction
that does not involve a Bank account, e.g., transactions involving
Partner accounts.
[0119] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 thereby interrogate customer behaviors and
transactions to help determine customer reward earnings, which may
later be posted to the Rewards Account Data Processor 24. The
customer may be enrolled in multiple rewards programs on the same
or different accounts. Each qualifying behavior or transaction will
cause the Modules 48, 50 to post earnings to the customer's
account(s). In this way, customers may participate in and
accumulate earnings in multiple rewards programs simultaneously.
Participating cardmembers may earn stacked rewards for earning
points in multiple programs. Stacked rewards are when multiple
earning behaviors and/or transactions must occur to earn a reward;
e.g., by purchasing three round-trip airfares in one month, a
customer might earn double miles for each purchase and then a bonus
1000 miles for making three purchases in one month. A reward
program may offer a tie-in with other programs so that certain
behaviors or combinations of behaviors can earn bonus points or
rewards. For instance, while purchasing a flight might earn 10,000
miles in one program and renting a car may earn a 2% cash rebate in
another program, doing both on the same weekend may earn an
additional gift coupon through what is effectively a third tie-in
rewards program. Such multi-tiered rules would be specified in the
Rewards Account Data Processor 24, and the Modules 48, 50 would
process the behaviors and transactions according to those stacked
rewards programs. For instance, after a Module 48, 50 determines
that a behavior earned a reward directly, it may inquire whether
any combination of existing reward behaviors or transactions would
enable another reward.
[0120] Through instructions from the Bank Interface 76 or another
module, the Modules 48, 50 may add additional earnings
opportunities and criteria to existing programs.
[0121] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may allow the customer to purchase additional points
in a bank's reward program, preferably as specified by configurable
rules. For instance, the Modules 48, 50 may have a customized rule
allowing cardmembers to purchase 10,000 Marriott points for
$200.
[0122] A customer may earn a reward or reward currency for the
occurrence of specific triggering events, transactions, and
behaviors related to a specific bank product. For instance,
customers may earn rewards for payments, purchases, opening an
account, first use of a product or account, cash advances, or
another reward trigger in a demand deposit account, credit card, or
other bank product. However, the Modules 48, 50 may also exclude a
specific type of event, transaction, or behavior from earning
currency, in accordance with the rules of the offer as stored in
the Offer Database Processor 20.
[0123] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may allow customers to qualify to earn currency for
transactions, events, behaviors with specific sets of attributes
like location, time period, platform, frequency, merchandise
category, merchant, threshold or other trigger attribute. For
example, customers may earn at different rates depending on whether
the purchase is from a particular Partner or non-Partner, or other
factors such as time of day or store location. Customers can be
rewarded with escalating bonus points or rebates for repeat
purchases at specific merchants. Customers may receive an
additional 1% rebate on purchases over $500; or they may receive 1%
on all purchases if monthly purchases do not exceed $1000, and 1.5%
on all purchases if purchases exceed $1000. Transactions with
specific attributes may also be excluded from earning currency.
[0124] Preferably, the Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and
Transactions Modules 48, 50, alone or in conjunction with the Offer
Qualification Module 52, may verify that specific customer
transactions and behaviors occurred at a specific time and location
according to an offer. For instance, if an offer grants rewards for
transactions that occur each day after 4 pm at a restaurant, the
Modules 48, 50, & 52 should be able to verify if a particular
transaction fits this criteria and therefore should earn a reward
or reward currency.
[0125] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may offer "earnings sales" wherein customers earn
currency at a specified rate for trigger events (e.g., transactions
and specific behaviors) during a specific length of time. For
instance, in the case of a rewards program where customers earn
points at a particular rate, such as 10 points per dollar
purchased, customers may earn double points on all purchases in the
month of November.
[0126] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may specify rules for expiration of earned currency
balances for each of the specified earning categories of the
program (i.e., categories based on events, transactions, and
behaviors). For instance, the Modules 48, 50 may allow the customer
to cash out earned currency, transfer or convert the currency to
another rewards program, or it may hold the currency active for a
period of time specified in the rules. The Modules 48, 50 may also
specify rules for the disposition of currency balance when the
status of the customer's account changes. For example, certain
behavior or account status may cause or enable the Modules 48, 50
to suspend earnings accumulation.
[0127] Earnings may be capped for specific products, events,
transactions, and behaviors, and/or for attributes of the events,
transactions, and behaviors. The Modules 48, 50 may specify
multiple caps for different criteria, and it may remove a cap if
specific behaviors are met. For example, an exemplary rewards
program may only allow a customer to earn a maximum of 10,000 miles
in a month and 50,000 in a year for a type of credit card account.
Another exemplary program may allow customers to earn double or
triple points in February up to $1,000. Yet another program might
allow customers to earn only 5,000 points per year for demand
deposit account activity.
[0128] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may automatically adjust earnings features based on
changes in the status of a Partner program. For example, different
earnings rates or maximums may be determined based on the status of
a Partner's business. For instance, earning rates and maximums may
change for a Partner's frequent flyer program during certain
blackout periods or periods of peak activity, or during when
special conditions are met that are related to the Partner's
business.
[0129] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may give a customer a reward or rewards currency in
return for referring a new customer to a specific product or type
of account.
[0130] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may allow users to earn different forms of reward
currency. The Modules 48, 50 may specify the form of currency (or
other reward) earned by a customer or group of customers. For
example, it may specify dollars, points, miles, Partner currency
(such as Disney Dollars), specific physical items, or other
rewards. The Modules 48, 50 may also allow customers to earn
currency using different calculation methods and calculation rates.
For example, the calculation methods of different programs may
comprise: lump sum, ratios, ratio with tiers, ratio at threshold,
or specific items. The programs may specify different calculation
rates, such as 1 point for $1, or 1 point for $2.
[0131] Except for the function of interrogating reward behaviors
and transactions, the additional earning functions described above
for the Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may also be accomplished by the Offer Qualification
Module 52.
[0132] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 allows for the processing of various functions and
capabilities related to the accumulation of rewards in a customer
account. The Modules 48, 50 may track earnings accumulation by
amount earned in categories, or it may track accumulation by a
specific earnings rule. For example, the Modules 48, 50 may track
earnings from Partner purchases (as a category) as separate from
bonus points and other rewards.
[0133] Customers may accumulate reward currency earned in multiple
Bank products and/or external products into one or more reward
currency banks or accounts. For example, customers may earn a
special type of rewards or points ("extraordinary rewards") for
credit card purchases and for opening a demand deposit account, and
the earned points may be combined in one extraordinary rewards
points bank or maintained in two separate points banks.
[0134] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may convert among forms of rewards currency to
facilitate changing redemption options. To simplify conversion, all
rewards (or all rewards from a particular institution) may have a
universal currency translation method, or accumulation may occur in
an underlying universal currency. For instance, each reward may
correspond to a specific amount of universal rewards points, and
rewards may be accumulated in units of universal rewards points.
This way, a customer may cash out a different specific reward
according to its "price" in universal rewards points.
[0135] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may allow a customer to accumulate earnings at a
household level. For instance, if the household includes several
Bank customers, earnings may be accumulated and tracked in a single
rewards account.
[0136] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may link multiple accounts of the same (or
different) product type to one rewards account. A fee may be waived
or charged for this feature. For example, points may be funneled
for multiple credit cards into one rewards account.
[0137] Rewards currency may be accumulated as soon as transactions
and events are recognized, or they may be accumulated on a monthly
account cycle processing. For example, earnings currency may be
accumulated at midnight after each day's purchases and behaviors
are recorded.
[0138] If a suspended account is later reinstated, the Interrogate
Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions Modules 48, 50, and Offer
Qualification Module 52 may retro-actively accumulate earnings that
were missed due to the suspended status. Such rules or policies may
provide additional incentive to customers to improve the status of
their account and/or maintain their account in good standing.
[0139] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 and Offer Qualification Module 52 may return or
reverse the redemption of rewards currency for a stored value. For
instance, the Modules 48, 50 may add, subtract, or otherwise change
the points, miles, or other value from a stored value card.
[0140] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may suspend access to accumulated earnings. For
example, this may occur if the reward earnings are the result of a
fraudulent transaction.
[0141] Points may expire based on rules, which may relate to the
date earned, account type, and other account information.
[0142] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may transfer rewards currency to another customer
rewards account. The Bank may charge a fee for the transfer.
[0143] The Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors and Transactions
Modules 48, 50 may redeem currency from programs run by
non-Partners for rewards in Bank affiliated programs. The Modules
48, 50 may also aggregate points from multiple programs. The
Modules 48, 50 may cause the purchase of rewards currency from
non-Partners. Such a purchase of rewards currency from third party
rewards programs would require a relationship between the Bank and
those third parties to establish a fair method (and currency price)
for buying and exchange rewards and points.
[0144] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 allows for the processing of
various redemption capabilities and functions. The Module 54
receives fulfillment data from the Offer Qualification Module 52.
The Module also receives external fulfillment data, such as Partner
reward information, from the External Fulfillment Data Processor
66. The Module 54 determines where to send the fulfillment of a
customer reward and then sends it to the appropriate party.
Monetary rewards are passed to the Monetary Gateway 32.
[0145] The Monetary Gateway 32 provides the customer with monetary
credits or cash. For instance, the Monetary Gateway 32 may send the
customer a check via mail. It may also be able to charge them for
shipping fees and other costs. Non-monetary, non-physical rewards
such as points, miles, and stored value are passed to the
Non-Monetary Gateway 34, which delivers such rewards to the
customer, e.g., via a customer account. For some rewards, such as
Partner points or miles, the Non-Monetary Gateway 34 may pass the
fulfillment information to the External Transaction Data Processor
62 for external fulfillment. In the case of Partner miles, the
Partner may pass the miles rewards directly to the customer's
frequent flyer account with the Partner. Savings bonds, premiums,
and other financial rewards may be passed to the Federal Reserve 36
for fulfillment. The Federal Reserve may then send the customer a
reward such as a savings bond, Treasury bill, or other similar
reward.
[0146] A fee may be charged to a customer for different offerings
and/or different combinations of features in rewards programs. For
instance, the Account Data Processor 22 may charge a fee to a
customer's 74 account when the customer enrolls in a particular
rewards account. For instance, a yearly fee of $10 may be charged
for the ability to exchange a customer's earned rewards points for
frequent flyer miles with a Bank Partner. Such fees would be
specified in the rules defining the offer and or the terms of the
account, which may be specified by the Bank Interface 76 and stored
in the Offer Database Processor 20. Different fees may be charged
to different groups of customers for a given feature. For instance,
platinum cardholders may have a reduced fee compared to regular
cardholders.
[0147] The Monetary Gateway 32 may charge a fee for the use of
different redemption methods (e.g., automatic vs. on-demand). For
instance, if a customer chooses to use an automatic redemption,
then the Monetary Gateway 32 may charge the customer's account
through a regular transaction at the Transaction Data Processor 26.
The customer's account would then be debited by the appropriate
amount as in a regular purchase transaction. For instance, the Bank
Interface may have a rule associated with a particular customer's
rewards program wherein the on-demand redemption feature will cost
$10 in shipping and handling every time the customer redeems a
reward. When the customer 74 elects to redeem a reward through the
Communication Module 64 (or through another appropriate
communication means, such as Rewards Account Data Processor 26 and
Account Data Processor 22), the Communication (or other) Module 64
passes such request to the Offer Qualification Module 52 or the
Offer Fulfillment Module 54. From there, the reward fulfillment
request is passed to the appropriate fulfillment module 32, 34, 36,
38, 78, 80, and the Monetary Gateway debits the customer's account.
Here, the transaction on the customer's account may contribute
toward reward earnings.
[0148] The Monetary Gateway 32 may enable the integration of credit
cards and stored value cards (e.g., a combined credit and stored
value card). For instance, when an award is posted to a customer
account, the Rewards Account Data Processor 24 may move the reward
into a customer stored value account. Alternately, for stored value
accounts with Partners and third parties, the value may be added to
the stored value account through the regular processing of rewards
through the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 and the stored value
account provider (i.e., Third Party 78 or Partner 80). The customer
may use the stored value according to the restrictions of the
account. For instance, $10 of stored value on a Bank account may
enable the customer to purchase $10 of goods or services from
merchants who accept the Bank credit, whereas a $10 stored value
account at a Partner coffee retailer may only be valid towards the
purchase of coffee.
[0149] Physical rewards such as merchandise and gift certificates
are passed to the Merchandise Gateway 38. For instance, the
Merchandise Gateway 38 may send the customer a fluffy bear or a DVD
player. Rewards that will be fulfilled by third parties 78 or
Partners 80 are passed to third parties 78 or Partners 80,
respectively. Finally, rewards may be passed to the External
Fulfillment Data Processor 66 for external fulfillment, such as
when the Bank has contracted with external parties to handle reward
fulfillment.
[0150] Once the reward is passed to the appropriate party for
fulfillment, the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may notify the
Communication Module 64 of the status of the reward. The Order
Fulfillment Module may also debit the reward from the customer's
account stored at the Rewards Account Data Processor 24.
[0151] When the reward is ultimately fulfilled by any of the above
elements 32, 34, 36, 38, 78, 80, those elements may communicate
back to the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 and/or the Fulfillment Data
Processor 68 that the reward was fulfilled (i.e., that the reward
was constructively delivered to the customer). Upon receiving
confirmation that a reward was fulfilled (or not fulfilled) from
elements 32, 34, 38, 78, & 80, the Fulfillment Reconciliation
Module 56 may notify the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 and the
Fulfillment Data Processor 68.
[0152] The PRE also enables the effective management of physical
reward inventory through the Merchandise Gateway 38. The
Merchandise Gateway 38 may communicate with the Fulfillment Data
Processor 68 (or the Fulfillment Reconciliation Module 56) to
exchange information related to the inventory of certain rewards.
The Fulfillment Data Processor 68 keeps track of reward inventory.
For instance, if the supply is very low, then the Fulfillment Data
Processor 68 may notify the appropriate party at the Bank (such as
the Bank Interface 76) of the delinquent supply so that remedial
measures can be taken, such as discontinuing the reward or
acquiring more. The Fulfillment Data Processor 68 can then notify
the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 of the delinquent supply. The
Report Module 70 may also query the Fulfillment Data Processor 68
regarding inventory and report such records to the Bank. If there
is insufficient rewards available to fulfill a reward request, then
the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 can amend the Rewards Account Data
Processor 24 to reflect that the reward has not been processed.
Alternate steps can be taken; e.g., the customer 74 can be notified
via 64, 22, 24, or 26, and the customer can choose to switch to
another reward.
[0153] Other information can be communicated between the
Fulfillment Data Processor 68 and the Report Module 70. The Report
Module can output a Fulfillment Reconciliation Report 72 that
contains fulfillment information such as information relating to
inventory or summary information about rewards processed and
fulfilled during a specific time. The Report 72 may be sent to any
appropriate party at the Bank or to a Partner 80 or third party
78.
[0154] Redemption can be automatic or on-demand. Automatic
redemption occurs when a reward is provided to the cardmember
automatically. For instance, if a reward program offered a 1%
account credit for all purchases at a specific retailer for one
week, then 1% of the amount spent at that retailer during that
might be automatically credited to the cardmember's account. This
may occur when the Offer Qualification Module 52 passes the
earnings information to the Rewards Account Data Processor 24. The
Processor 24 may automatically credit the account (which is stored
in the Account Data Processor 22) as each qualifying purchase is
made, or it may provide the credit at another time, such as at the
end of the month, according to the provisions of the reward
program. Alternately, a third party, such as the merchant, may
automatically provide the reward. For instance, the merchant may
send a check in the mail to cardmembers in the amount of 1% of the
qualifying purchases.
[0155] On-demand redemption occurs when cardmember action is
required for the cardmember to redeem the reward. For instance, a
gift reward may be provided to cardmembers who purchase a
particular product with a qualifying credit card, but the
provisions of the reward program may require that the cardmember
mail the receipt and UPC code for the product to a specific address
in order to claim the reward. The gift reward may then be mailed to
the cardmember after the receipt and UPC code are received at the
address.
[0156] However, the financial transaction information received at
the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50 and processed
at the Offer Qualification Module 52 may include enough information
for the Offer Qualification Module 52 (or appropriate Fulfillment
Module, e.g., Merchandise Gateway 38) to determine that a gift
reward should be mailed. Alternately, the customer may qualify
immediately, and therefore the reward determination may bypass the
Offer Qualification Module 52. For instance, a Partner 80 may
determine that a particular customer or population automatically
qualifies for a particular reward. They may pass the reward and
population information from the External Processor 60, 62 to the
Interrogating Module 48, 50. Because such rewards are in effect
"pre-qualified" by the Partner, the reward instructions may pass
through straight through the Offer Qualification Module 52 to the
Offer Fulfillment Module 54 for fulfillment of the approved
award.
[0157] It should be appreciated that different rewards programs
will have different methods of redemption and fulfillment. Some
rewards can be fulfilled by the Bank, others by third parties
and/or Partners of the Bank. Some reward programs may provide for
on-demand fulfillment, and some may provide for automatic
fulfillment.
[0158] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may "burn points," i.e.,
hold auctions to reduce accumulated points that the rewards-giver
previously purchased, was obligated to purchase, or otherwise
obtained, or to otherwise reduce the amount of accumulated rewards
held or owned by a reward-giver. For instance, the occurrence of a
specified trigger behavior or event may trigger automatic currency
redemption. For example, a coupon or check may be redeemed when a
specified number of points accumulate, or upon an anniversary date,
regular cycle processing, specific calendar date, or at another
specified time. The redemption method may be also changed from
automatic to on-demand.
[0159] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may employ an underlying
universal currency or (currency translation capability) to
facilitate redemption across any reward program by any
customer.
[0160] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may define sets of one or
more items for which currency can be redeemed (or exchanged for
value). The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may also add and delete
items from any of these redemption sets. Redemption sets may
comprise merchandise collections, sets of cash equivalents (checks
and gift certificates), Partner airline miles, pre-defined travel
packages, Partner merchant coupons, or other types of rewards. The
Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may further give any customer or group
of customers access to redeem currency for items in one or more
redemption sets. The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may change
customer access to different redemption sets over time to support
new offers. For example, the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may allow
a customer to redeem currency (or another reward) for Partner
airline miles, items in a merchandise collection, checks and gift
certificates, Partner coupons, or other rewards. The Offer
Fulfillment Module 54 may offer Partner points/miles as a
redemption option in other reward programs. The Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 may also enable any customer to redeem currency for any
good or service, as specified and limited by the rules defined by
the Bank. These rules may be created by the Offer Database GUI (76)
and stored in the Create Bank Offer Module or Offer Database
Module.
[0161] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may limit access for a
customer or a group of customers to a single redemption set or
collection through definable rules. For example, the Offer
Fulfillment Module 54 may offer customers a preferred Partner
airline credit card that earns only Partner airlines miles (as in
the prior art), with no access to or awareness of any other
redemption options.
[0162] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may specify the redemption
method (automatic or on-demand) for a customer or a group of
customers, to change the redemption method through subsequent
offers, and to allow or limit this capability with business rules.
For example, the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may set up customer to
automatically redeem earnings for a competitor airline's miles or
change the rewards program to allow customer to decide whether to
redeem for the competitor airline's miles or redeem for items in a
merchandise collection (with currency translation or exchange
rate). The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may automatically redeem for
a Partner bookstore coupon or let the customer choose to redeem
accumulated currency for a Partner bookstore coupon or for miles
that will be transferred to a Partner airline account.
[0163] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may offer a customer access
to a specific redemption set for a specific period of time. For
example, the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may give customers (who
normally only have access to travel redemption options) access to
merchandise options to support an offer to burn points (point
burner offer). A point burner offer may comprise an offer, for a
limited time, to redeem earnings for a golf club for 20,000 points
instead of the usual 30,000 points.
[0164] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may maintain multiple
collections of redemption items in flexible catalogs and make such
redemptions available across multiple channels.
[0165] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may access rewards currency
information at a merchant point-of-sale device in order to pay for
the purchase. For example, a cardholder may access and use rewards
at a suitable credit card terminal to pay for a merchant's product.
For example, the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may have real-time
access to rewards currency balance through a payment network.
[0166] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may transfer value from the
rewards account to a Stored-Value account in real-time, on-demand.
For example, the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may allow a customer
to redeem rewards currency and have it immediately transferred to a
stored value account. In this way, the customer can use the stored
value at a merchant in a very short time.
[0167] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may function as a "Rewards
Concierge" that obtains un-offered rewards on demand (or
automatically) for a customer in exchange for rewards currency. A
rewards concierge allows a customer to identify a product not
currently listed as a redemption item and then calculate the item's
cost in terms of rewards currency. The Rewards Module may then
source and fulfill the item for the customer.
[0168] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may allow specific customers
to supplement their accumulated currency with cash when redeeming
for specified items. One example used by Philips Electronics is a
"cash plus" system, wherein customers may purchase products from a
retailer using a reward, such as points, but if the reward is
insufficient to cover the purchase, the customer may pay the
remaining balance in cash at the point of sale.
[0169] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may comprise all current
redemption capabilities. Redemption capabilities may comprise
merchandise, Partner currency, checks payable to the cardholder on
a statement or letter to the cardholder, a coupon on a statement
letter to the cardholder, or another valuable good.
[0170] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may apply reward currency to
pay a monthly minimum account payment.
[0171] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may use accumulated currency
to purchase or obtain a discount on specific types of future
purchases. For example, the Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may allow a
customer to accumulate gas-dollar-points at a gas station merchant
such as BP. The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may provide direct cash
back to a customer's Bank asset account. The Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 may donate currency to charity, either in the form of
rewards currency or as a cash donation. The Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 may redeem for an investment or long term savings
product, or any other financial product. The Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 may apply reward currency as a credit to a customer's
account statement.
[0172] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may redeem currency to pay a
variety of different fees and costs and to grant this capability by
item, program, customer, or customer group. The Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 may automatically waive a fee for accounts that show
specific behaviors such as spending, revolving, or a specific
tenure of being a cardholder. For example, the Offer Fulfillment
Module 54 may remove or pay a customer's account fee or annual
rewards fee, or it may pay for (or credit the cost of) rush
shipping.
[0173] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may convert rewards points
at some specified rate and send the points to a non-Partner airline
or other Partner program.
[0174] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may redeem currency to
reduce the annual percentage rate of an account, such as a credit
card account, for a certain period of time. There may be limits on
the reduction in rate and the time period.
[0175] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may be used to move rewards
points to or from a stored value account. The Module 54 may request
fulfillment from the Non-Monetary Gateway 34, which is configured
to process the fulfillment of non-monetary rewards such as points,
miles, or stored value. The Non-Monetary Gateway 34 may then pass
the fulfillment information to an External Transaction Data
Processor 62, which may create or credit a customer stored value
account with a Partner or third party. The Monetary Gateway 32 may
also be used to fulfill stored value rewards for accounts stored in
the Account Data Processor 22 when the Module 54 sends it an
appropriate request.
[0176] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may redeem the rewards for a
US Savings Bond or other financial instrument.
[0177] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 provides for the processing
of various capabilities and functions related to the fulfillment of
customer rewards. The method of fulfillment varies by reward
program and redemption type. Fulfillment can be through the bank, a
Partner of the bank, or a vendor. If the rewards earnings are sent
to a Partner or vendor, then the bank (or cardmember) may need to
contact the Partner or vendor to request the Partner or vendor to
deliver the award to the cardmember. In a simpler example, the
reward may be automatically delivered to the cardmember, such as
when a coupon or check reward is enclosed with, printed on, or
attached to the cardmember's monthly statement.
[0178] The rewards earnings/points can be sent to third parties for
redemption and fulfillment. For instance, a cardmember may earn
frequent flyer miles with a Partner airline by engaging in specific
behaviors, such as renting cars from a Partner car rental company.
At a specified time, such as monthly or after a cardmember earns a
threshold number of points, the points could be sent to the Partner
airline. If the cardmember has an account with the Partner airline,
those points could be stored in that account. The cardmember's
frequent flyer miles could then be redeemed through the Partner
airline directly or through the Partner airline's affiliates, such
as when the cardmember applies the miles earnings toward free or
discounted air travel or car rentals, respectively.
[0179] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may generate electronic
coupons.
[0180] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may specify the fulfillment
channel or vendor for each redemption item, and it may supply the
information required for fulfillment. The Offer Fulfillment Module
54 may quickly change the specified fulfillment channel or vendor
for any item and reroute fulfillment requests for changed items to
the appropriate channel or vendor.
[0181] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may track and generate a
Partner numbering scheme on reward coupons, and it may calculate
and generate expiration dates on coupons and certificates via
statement or letter.
[0182] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may allow the customer to
elect to obtain an earned reward (such as a check) via email, on a
statement, or transfer to a demand deposit account.
[0183] The Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may also wire transfer funds
to Financial Partners. This may occur when the PRE runs another
bank or other company's rewards program when the other bank or
other company would prefer their customer's reward to be received
from the other bank or company rather than the Bank operating the
PRE.
[0184] The Report Module 70 may provide for various capabilities
and functions relating to analysis and targeting.
[0185] The Report Module 70 may output various reports based on
data received from other elements of the PRE. For instance, the
Report Module 70 may generate a New Offer Created Report when a new
offer is created. This report may also be generated by the Create
Bank Offer Module 40 and the Create Partner Offer Module 42, which
may then pass the report to the Bank Interface 76. The Report
Module 70 may generate a New Locked Offer Report when a new offer
is locked. A new offer is locked when the population is closed, and
no further customers will become eligible to enroll in the program
(unless another rule enables them to enroll). The Report Module 70
may generate a Population Reject Detail Report when a population is
rejected, which may occur when a customer account or population set
is rejected for one or more offers. The Report Module 70 may
generate a Population Missing Report when it is determined that a
population was missing. Some or all of these reports may also be
created by the Communication Module 64 and passed to the Bank
Interface 76.
[0186] The Report Module 70 may target offers to the customers most
likely to redeem a reward for higher-cost items. For example, if
the previous behavior on a customer or similar customers indicate a
likelihood to redeem an airline ticket award, the Report Module 70
may send the customer a point-burner offer to reduce the Bank's
exposure to accumulating too many rewards obligations. The Report
Module may send such information to the Fulfillment Reconciliation
Report Module 72, which may send the information to the Bank
Interface 76. It may alternately send the information straight to
the Bank Interface 76. The information could then pass through the
PRE to the customer 74.
[0187] The Report Module 70 may analyze customer spending or
merchant patterns. Based on such analysis, the Report Module 70 may
recommend that a customer receive an automatic offer or eligibility
for new features with immediate visibility across multiple
channels, for instance, any of the communication channels discussed
above. The Report Module may send such information to the
Fulfillment Reconciliation Report Module 72, which may send the
information to the Bank Interface 76. It may alternately send the
information straight to the Bank Interface 76. The information
could then pass through the PRE to the customer 74.
[0188] The Report Module 70 (and/or the Bank Interface 76, using
data from the Report Module 70) may provide modeling analysis. For
instance, the Report Module 70 may recommend that some rewards
should be offered only to rewards seekers with the potential to be
profitable.
[0189] The Report Module 70 may supply detailed activity
information for a Bank's marketing target analysis. The Report
Module 70 may provide information about rewards activity,
accumulation bank status, and other rewards-related information to
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Campaign Management
(i.e., managing marketing campaigns to). Campaign Management may
comprise managing product or marketing campaigns to attract more
customers or otherwise improve business and profits for one or more
products or programs. For instance, a marketing department, by way
of the Bank Interface 76, may collect internal data about the PRE.
It may collect this data from the various Modules directly (as
shown in FIG. 3A), or it may collect some or all of the information
from the Report Module 70 (optionally via a Fulfillment
Reconciliation Report 72). The Bank Interface 76 may then aggregate
or otherwise process the information for marketing or other
internal purposes. For instance, the Bank Interface 76 may
aggregate usage data for accounts in various rewards programs to
determine the effectiveness of one program compared with another.
Based on the marketing data, the Bank Interface may output rules to
the PRE to create more rewards program offers, such as offers that
have features similar to the most successful rewards programs.
[0190] The Report Module 70 may send information to the Bank
Interface 76 automatically when certain criteria are met. For
example, the Report Module 70 may send a message whenever a
specific customer is within a certain percentage of a redemption
threshold. Such information may be used for a variety of purposes,
such as to monitor and change reward inventory as necessary, or to
determine the next set of rewards programs based on the
availability of rewards for current programs.
[0191] Analysis of customer redemption patterns may result in
automatic eligibility for new feature offers. These new offers may
be immediately accessible to the customer 74 via any of a variety
of channels as discussed above. Information about customer
redemptions may be received by the Fulfillment Reconciliation
Module 56 and passed to the Report Module 70 via the Fulfillment
Data Processor 68. The Report Module 70 may then pass the data to
the Bank Interface 76 (via the Fulfillment Reconciliation Report
72). The offers may be communicated to the customer via the
Communication Module 64 or Account Data Processor 22. For example,
a Web advisor or Card Member Services (CMS) advisor may change its
web page or the rewards programs offered (or otherwise change
communications) when a customer pattern is detected. The Web
advisor and Card Member Services advisor may be accessible via the
Communication Module 64 or other modules that interface with the
customer 74.
[0192] The Report Module 70 may calculate costs of rewards currency
earnings (e.g., points) at the account level based on a calculated
or estimated cost per currency point. The Report Module 70 may
first determine how the cost basis determined. The Report Module 70
may support the ability to manage accrual at an account level, a
portfolio population or sub-population, or an entire rewards
program.
[0193] The Report Module 70 may reconcile and settle reward
currency disputes or settlements among vendors, Partners,
processors and the Bank (or multiple banks) based on business
rules. The Report Module 70 may provide up-to-date reconciliation
at a frequency defined by Bank. Such account reconciliation may
include both accumulation and balance information.
[0194] The Report Module 70 may track a customer's (or class of
customer's) history of earnings by the qualifying trigger types and
attributes and by specific product and account. The Report Module
70 may differentiate points earned on credit card transactions as
compared with demand deposit account activity. The Report Module 70
may track earnings separately for Partner purchases, activity bonus
(first use or open account), non-Partner purchases, and other
criteria. Such information can be used to determine how the costs
of specific rewards programs or other PRE features. The information
tracked by the Report Module is passed to the Bank Interface 76 and
processed as described above. The Bank Interface 76 processes the
information to determine appropriate changes in the system in the
interest of profitability or long-term Bank growth, or other
business interests, and then creates new rules or changes old rules
and propagates those rules through the system as described
above.
[0195] Through the Report Module 70, the PRE may produce audits,
controls, and file reconciliations in order to allow for monitoring
the efficiency and accuracy of the PRE, as described below.
[0196] The Report Module 70 is configured to send specific auditing
reports to the Bank Interface 76 (e.g., via the Fulfillment
Reconciliation Report Module 72), based on information received
from the various Modules (as shown in FIG. 3A). Information may be
provided to the Report Module on a daily or other timely basis.
[0197] From the Create Bank Offer Module 40 and Create Partner
Offer Module 42, the Report Module 70 receives information
regarding: offers started, offer alerts, offers locked, and offers
modified. Such information may detail such offer information by the
frequency of each offer campaign identifier, the campaign name, the
offer identifier, the offer subtype, and/or other criteria.
[0198] From the Interrogate Reward Account Behaviors Module 48, the
Report Module 70 may receive cancellation and rejection reports for
single and multiple accounts and offers, including those for
existing populations. The reports may detail the frequency of a
particular offer, the reasons for a particular rejection, the offer
name, and the customer account numbers.
[0199] From the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50,
the Report Module 70 may receive a tracking report detailing the
frequency of an offer and the account number of the accounts that
did or did not have data applied to them during a certain time
period. The frequency and other data may be received by the
Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module 50 from any of the
Account Data Processor 22, the Rewards Account Data Processor 24,
and the Transaction Data Processor 26. The same data may be
received by the Report Module 70 from those modules via the
Communication Module 64, or another indirect route of information
through the system, such as via the Interrogate Reward Account
Transactions Module 50.
[0200] From the Offer Qualification Module 52, the Report Module 70
may receive a tracking report detailing the frequency of an offer
and the account number of accounts that went through the
qualification process and either qualified or did not qualify for
the offer.
[0201] From the Fulfillment Reconciliation Module, the Report
Module 70 may receive a status report detailing the frequency of a
number of qualifying accounts by offer and internal or external
status. The Module 70 may also receive information regarding the
daily minimum, maximum, mean, and/or sum of the amount spent by the
qualifying accounts. Report Module 70 may also receive information
regarding the rewards fulfilled successfully. This information may
describe the frequency of customers qualifying. This may be
detailed by offer, by account number, by the recipient of the
fulfillment file (e.g., 32, 34, 36, 38, 78, or 80). The Report
Module 70 may also receive information regarding the reward
fulfillments that were rejected, and this information may be
detailed by reasons for rejection (such as the reason code). This
information may describe the frequency by active or live offer; by
date; by account number; by the recipient of the fulfillment file;
by the reason code (e.g., from a reject report) which may comprise
the number of purged or product traded accounts; by rewards offer;
and by account number when the reason for rejection is that the
reward was product traded, closed, lost or stolen.
[0202] The Report Module 70 may receive similar associated
information from the other Modules. The Report Module 70 (e.g., via
the Fulfillment Reconciliation Report Module 72) and the
Communication Module 64 may output memo reports, phase reports,
live offer cancellation reports, and offline earn reports, success,
and failures. Such information may describe the frequency by offer
identifier, by the memo posted to accounts, by phase, by subtype,
by account number, by the number of accounts that arrived through a
Partner file, the accounts that are live or active, notification
sent, and cancelled offers by reason code.
[0203] Such auditing processes may allow for internal and external
audits upon demand. For instance, an external source such as a
Partner 80 or third party 78 may request an audit by via the Bank
Interface 76. The Bank Interface 76 may then create and provide
rules requesting the various Modules to output audit reports. Any
of the Modules may be configured to perform such self-audits. Self
audits may comprise checking to confirm that information was
received by the Module and that the information comprises
appropriate content and appropriate formatting. For example, the
Create Rewards Account Population Module may output a report to
confirm that a file was received, that the file has appropriate
information content, and that the file has the appropriate header
and/or trailer information.
[0204] The PRE is designed to operate in a test or simulation mode.
In such a mode, there may be no actual customers or real
transactions, but rather simulated customers, accounts,
transactions, and rewards. The PRE could operate as it would for a
real promotional rewards program, except that the necessary
external inputs and communications with the PRE system would be
fabricated by the Bank Interface 76 or another test entity. The
Bank Interface 76 could monitor the performance of the various
modules through direct monitoring, as shown on FIG. 3A, and/or via
the Report Module 70. The Bank Interface 76 could analyze the
offers, rewards, earnings, fulfillment, and other functions to
ensure that the PRE is working and producing proper results. For
instance, in the test mode, the Bank Interface 76 would ensure that
simulation customers in a fake miles rewards program accumulate and
earn miles, rather than another reward like cash rebates.
[0205] An advantage of the PRE is that it may de-couple reward
participation from plastic fulfillment. In other words, the
physical plastic card (e.g., a credit card) may no longer be
necessary to obtain awards. As described above, the rewards may be
accrued and fulfilled without regard to the physical plastic. For
instance, the customer can request rewards online. In addition, a
cardmember may switch redemption or default accumulation options
without the need for a re-issue of a plastic card; again, such
selections can be made online or via other communication channels
that do not involve a physical card.
[0206] Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the Rewards Account Data
Processor 24, the Interrogate Reward Account Transactions Module
50, and the External Transaction Data Processor 62 may communicate
with each other to reconcile rewards provided through Partners 80
and third parties 78 (via the External Transaction Data Processor).
A reward accumulated at the Processor 24 may be passed through the
Module 50 to the Module 62, where the reward is passed to a third
party 78 or Partner 80 for fulfillment. The outside party 78, 80
would confirm to the Processor 24 through the Modules 50, 62 that
the reward will be fulfilled, and the reward is deducted from the
customer's rewards account stored in the Processor 24. The
Processor 24 and Modules 50, 62 may thereby provide closed-looped
reconciliation of file transfers to Partners 80 and third party
vendors 78. Appropriate reporting may be passed to the Reporting
Module 70.
[0207] The Report Module 70, Fulfillment Data Processor 68, and
Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may communicate through each other to
provide reasonableness checks, audits, and reporting for
accumulation and redemption. For instance, when the Fulfillment
Data Processor receives information about missing reward inventory
or a list of rewards rejected, it may pass it to the Report Module
70.
[0208] The Bank Interface 76 may run rewards and loyalty programs
for Partners 80 and non-Bank businesses. This may require the
capability for multiple input/outputs with those Partners 80 and
non-Bank businesses. For instance, it may require that Partners 80
and third parties 78 output all customer transaction information to
the Bank, e.g., to the Bank Interface 76, External Behavior Data
Processor 60, and the External Transaction Data Processor 62. It
may also require the Partners 80 and third parties 78 to provide
activity tracking and invoicing information to the PRE.
[0209] The PRE allows a Bank, or a department of a Bank such as a
marketing department, to offer multiple additional rewards earning
opportunities to credit cardmembers. The processing is controlled
by a rules-based engine, in which the Bank or its various business
lines can specify the cardmember eligibility and earnings rules.
Cardmembers are targeted for specific promotional rewards offers
and enrolled in one or more promotional rewards programs. Rewards
are then earned based on explicit cardmember behaviors and
transaction qualifications. Eligible cardmembers are awarded
promotional rewards only when the specific behaviors and/or
transactions qualify for rewards under the earnings rules.
[0210] Rewards earnings (or rewards) may be any of the following: a
physical reward, such as a plush toy or monetary certificates; a
monetary reward, such as a credit to a cardmember's account; a
non-monetary reward, such as points or miles, which can be applied
to a rewards account or to a stored-value card; a federal reserve
savings bond; donations to a charity such as an educational
institution; or another product or service that may be of value to
a bank customer. Rewards earnings may even be "earned" by
purchasing them outright.
[0211] Rewards earnings are accrued when specific transactions or
behaviors occur during a reward program's earning period. The
specific transactions or behaviors which trigger rewards
("triggering behaviors") may comprise: credit and debit card
transactions, such as debit transactions, opening an account,
paying a balance, paying interest, and linking with another
account; other transactions associated with the Bank offering the
reward, such as making a deposit, making a withdrawal, paying
interest, drafting a check, paying a fee for a banking service;
loan transactions, such as paying interest, transferring a balance,
issuing a convenience check, and accessing a line of credit; a
merchant purchase; checking and savings account activity; account
payment transactions, such as setting up a recurring payment,
enabling an auto-payment, paying an annual fee, or paying a rewards
fee; transactions with Bank Partners; transactions with third
parties; brokerage transactions, such as purchasing or selling
securities, depositing funds, and transferring holdings from an
external account to a Bank account; and other transactions or
behaviors. Some other triggering behaviors may comprise purchases,
transferring a balance, opening a checking account, opening a
credit or debit account, applying for a loan or other credit
account, paying a balance on time, and maintaining at least a
specified minimum balance. Triggering behaviors may also comprise:
accumulating a specific amount of charges; charging a specific
amount; charging a certain number of transactions; transacting at a
specific location; using an account card for identification
purposes; or otherwise using an account card for purposes other
than financial transactions. Yet other triggering
behaviors/transactions may comprise: obtaining a cash advance and
using a convenience check. It should be noted that some behaviors
do not necessarily require any action on the part of the
cardholder. For instance, in some circumstances maintaining a
minimum account balance might be satisfied by merely refraining
from withdrawing funds from the account.
[0212] Other behaviors and transactions that may impact rewards may
comprise: having a specific account balance; having above or below
a specific average daily balance; revolving an account balance
versus paying in full; having an inactive account; maintaining a
type of account balance. Behavior and transaction data is stored at
the External Behavior Data Processor 60, the External Transaction
Data Processor 62, the Transaction Data Processor 26, and the
Account Data Processor (which stores behavior data related to
accounts).
[0213] A rewards earning period, i.e., the time period during which
a reward may be earned, may be any definable time period, such as:
all weekends in March, 2004; Nov. 28, 2005; the entire year of
2005; May 16, 2004 through Jun. 5, 2004; the holidays in November,
2004; March, 2004, and June, 2004; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
of the first quarter of 2003; the hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
E.S.T. from Jan. 7 to Feb. 10, 2004; and a period of one month
beginning when a cardmember makes a first purchase on a credit
card.
[0214] The Bank Interface 76 rules may enable any credit card
transactions (e.g., purchases, balance transfers, convenience
checks, adjustments, and customer service disputes) to qualify as
rewards earning transactions for any rewards offer. These credit
card transactions can be interrogated from the credit card
processor or from a file provided by an outside entity.
[0215] The Bank Interface 76 rules may classify the credit card
transactions by transaction type, e.g., purchase, balance transfer,
convenience check, or adjustment. Any combination of transaction
types can be chosen as qualifying agents for a reward offer, as
defined in the Bank Interface 76 rules. For instance, the Bank
Module may specify that all balance transfers and convenience
checks may qualify for an offer. The Interrogate Reward Account
Transactions Module 50 is configured to determine the transaction
type of the transactions it processes from the Transaction Data
Processor 26 and the External Transaction Data Processor 62.
[0216] The PRE may be configured to match credit card debits (e.g.,
purchases) and credits (e.g., refunds). For instance, any credit
card debit transaction that is subsequently reversed by a matching
credit card credit transaction (e.g. return, adjustment, etc.) may
have its initial related rewards earnings reversed (i.e.
nullified). Also, even if that reverse transaction happened after
the credit card account had issued a statement to the customer or
the initial reward has been redeemed; thus, it may be possible to
have a negative rewards balance. For instance, when the Interrogate
Reward Account Transactions Module 50 processes refund or other
credit transaction data from the Transaction Data Processor 26, it
may automatically reverse any reward earned by a prior
corresponding debit transaction. Alternately, such transaction and
reward-earning data may be checked by the Offer Qualification
Module 52 prior to authorizing the fulfillment of a reward.
[0217] The PRE may be configured to identify a Bank's credit card
accounts that are active and in good standing. This information may
be posted by the Bank (e.g., through the Bank Interface 76) to the
External Suppression Data Processor 28, where it can be
interrogated by the Offer Qualification Module 52 prior to
authorizing the fulfillment of a reward. For instance, the Offer
Qualification Module 52 may only qualify credit card accounts that
are active and in good standing (i.e. not delinquent) for a reward
at any given time. If an account is not in good standing, then when
prompted, the External Suppression Data Processor 28 will notify
the Offer Qualification Module 52 of the status of the account, and
the Offer Qualification Module 52 may not process the reward for
fulfillment. Each offer may have different rules. The rules may
also incorporate the cardmember's status for other bank products.
For instance, by opening a checking account a customer may earn
5000 miles on the customer's credit card account.
[0218] The PRE comprises one or more processors that can calculate
mathematical formulas, e.g., the Offer Qualification Module 52.
Monetary and non-monetary rewards earnings may be determined by a
mathematical formula containing a transaction amount, or the
earnings could be a fixed rewards earning amount. Non-monetary
rewards earnings may be mathematically determined in a variety of
ways as prescribed by the rules provided by the Bank Interface 76.
For instance, a reward program may offer rewards points equal to
the accumulated transaction amount times 2.00 (i.e., double
points). The Bank Interface 76 may provide a reward program wherein
customers earn different rewards based on different spending
thresholds, for instance, an offer specifying that if the
transaction amount is less than $1001 then the rewards points equal
the transaction amount times 2.00, otherwise the rewards points
equal 3.00 times the transaction amount (i.e., earning threshold).
Similarly, the Bank Interface 76 may provide three tiers of
earnings rates, wherein transaction amounts greater than $1000 earn
points equal to the sum of the portion of the transaction amount
less than $1000 times 2.00, plus the portion of the transaction
amount greater than $1000 times 3.00. The Bank Interface may also
provide a reward program wherein reward miles equals the
transaction amount plus 2000. The Offer Qualification Module 52 may
also be configured to allow for phased offers and phased rewards,
where a customer earns a consistent or increasing level of a reward
for performing a desired behavior (or transaction) over a longer
period of time. For instance, according to one phased offer, a
customer may earn 1000 points for spending $500 in June, 2000
points for spending $500 in July, and 3000 points for spending $500
in August, where the July points can be earned only if the June
threshold was satisfied, where each successive phase of earnings
can only be accrued if the prior phase is completed successfully
(i.e., additional points in August can be earned only if the
customer spent $500 in both June and July). Through another phased
offer, a customer may earn 500 bonus miles each month for the next
five months as long as the customer spends $500 per month (or makes
a certain number of purchases).
[0219] The PRE applies rewards earnings to the cardmember's rewards
account. rewards earnings will be applied to the cardmember's
rewards account after the specific rewards offer earning period has
ended on the specific rewards offer award date, or the reward may
be awarded at other specified reward offer earning distribution
dates.
[0220] The PRE may identify credit card transactions at the account
level. Only Credit card transactions made by a specific cardmember
account at a Bank can be used to qualify that cardmember account
for Reward earnings given to that cardmember account. I.e., a
cardmember's credit card transactions-related rewards earnings
cannot be applied to a different account held by the cardmember.
The processor can determine rules.
[0221] The PRE may qualify a single credit card transaction. A
single credit card transaction (or multiple transactions) can be
qualified for a rewards offer based on a combination of factors
according to the rules defining the reward offer, such as: whether
the source of the transaction (e.g. Bank Identification Number
(BIN), cardholder acceptor ID (CAID) and/or Standard Industry Code
(SIC)) was in the specific rewards offer source requirement (e.g.,
the PRE may qualify a tax payment for a reward if the payment is
made using a specific credit card). For instance, a reward program
may provide a reward to a customer for paying the customer's
property taxes using a Bank credit card. The credit card
transaction for the tax payment would have identifier information
indicating that it was a tax payment. Such transaction information
would be collected by the Transaction Data Module 27 and passed to
the Transaction Data Processor 26. The Offer Qualification Module
52 may then determine that the customer earned a reward when it
processes the customer transaction information and determines that
a customer reward program in which the customer is enrolled
provides reward earnings for tax payments. Other factors include:
whether the credit card account number is eligible to participate
in the reward offer (e.g., whether the account number satisfied the
specific rewards offer account portfolio requirement, e.g., entire
portfolio, Partner, co-brand targeted accounts); whether the
transaction was made within the specific rewards offer earning time
period; whether the amount of the transaction (or accumulated
amount for multiple transactions) was greater or equal to the
specific rewards offer trigger amount (minimum $0.01, in increments
of $0.01); and whether the debit transaction type was in the
specific rewards offer set of debit transaction types. The PRE may
also qualify a single credit card transaction based on the merchant
or the transaction records pertaining to the description of the
merchant.
[0222] The PRE may qualify a customer on multi-period rewards
earnings periods. Multi period rewards earnings periods can be used
in a rewards offer to determine cardmember eligibility for
subsequent earnings periods. For instance, a cardmember might only
qualify for the current rewards earning period if they have already
qualified in the previous rewards earning period, e.g., in a phased
offer. However, a rule may specify that cardmembers always qualify
for the first rewards earning period or tier. This functionality
may be accomplished through Modules 44 & 46 which create the
populations for a particular offer (or offer subset, such as a
second phase of an offer). Alternately, this functionality may be
accomplished when Modules 48, 50, & 52 determine rewards
earnings and valid reward-earning behaviors and transactions.
[0223] The PRE may identify accounts that have been purged or that
have a card that has been lost or stolen. For instance, such
information may be posted directly to the Bank via the
Communication Module 64, the Bank Interface 76, or the Account Data
Processor 22, e.g., if the customer reports a lost or stolen card.
Such information may thus be directly or indirectly provided to the
Account Data Processor 22 to reflect the new account data. If a
credit card account is lost or stolen, then the Account Data
Processor 22 may transfer any of its rewards offers and associated
rewards balances to the replacement credit card account as soon as
the new account is available. If a credit card account is purged,
then any of its rewards offers and associated rewards balances may
be removed based on rules governing retention of records and
reinstatement of closed accounts. If the account is purged from the
base rewards system, the account must be purged from the PRE (and
the Account Data Processor 22), except possibly for purposes of
record-keeping.
[0224] The PRE may "product switch" accounts. A product switched
account may comprise an account with an associated rewards program
that is converted or otherwise switched into another account or
account portfolio that has a different associated rewards program.
To accomplish this, the Bank Interface 76 may create rules that
pass through the system in order to edit the appropriate rewards
accounts (and/or customer accounts) that are being product
switched. For example, the Bank Interface 76 may send rules to the
Create Bank offer Module 40 or Create Partner Offer Module 42,
which may then create the new offer or switch it with the old one.
Alternately, the Bank Interface 76 may directly modify the Account
Data Processor 22 and Rewards Account Data Processor 24 to convert
the old account to the new one. Other Modules and/or Processors may
be modified or provided rules as needed.
[0225] Product switching may occur when a Partner account portfolio
(i.e., collection of accounts and rewards programs) is eliminated
or switched into a portfolio of a different Partner. For example, a
VISA portfolio (i.e., collection of accounts and rewards programs)
may include a VISA-sponsored credit card account with frequent
flyer rewards. The VISA portfolio may be eliminated when the Bank
switches all of its accounts to MasterCard. In this event, the
VISA-sponsored credit card may be converted into a
MasterCard-sponsored account with a 1% rebate on all purchases. If
a credit card account is product switched into another portfolio or
account, then all of its rewards offers and associated rewards
balances that existed in the portfolio or account before it is
switched must be transferred or converted to the new credit card
account or portfolio. In another example, if a Partner airline
credit card account is product switched into a Partner hotel credit
card account, then the account does not continue to earn
airline-related rewards; rather, it will earn hotel-related
rewards.
[0226] Rewards earnings balances for a specific rewards offer may
be capped at a maximum value, according to the rules governing the
program as defined by the Bank Interface 76.
[0227] Memorandums, notes, or other information may be posted to
the cardmember account information stored in the Account Data
Processor 22. All cardmember accounts that are eligible for a
specific rewards offer, qualified for a specific rewards offer, or
have been fulfilled for a specific rewards offer may have a related
memo placed on their cardmember account. For instance, the
Communication Module 64, Bank Interface 76, Create Rewards Account
Population Module 44, or other elements in communication with the
Account Data Processor 22 may post such information to the account.
The Bank may service these memos, e.g., through the Bank Interface
Module 76.
[0228] Each of the Modules and Processors can be modified, e.g., by
the Bank Interface 76, during a reward program. For instance, the
Offer Fulfillment Module 54 may be given instructions not to send
fulfillments for a set of specific rewards, or for a set of rewards
that satisfy specific criteria.
[0229] Other embodiments and uses of this invention will be
apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon
consideration of the specification and practice of the invention
disclosed herein. The specification and examples given should be
considered exemplary only, and it is contemplated that the appended
claims will cover any other such embodiments or modifications as
fall within the true scope of the invention.
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