U.S. patent application number 14/283852 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-04 for consumer processing system and method.
This patent application is currently assigned to BILL ME LATER, INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is BILL ME LATER, INC.. Invention is credited to Thomas H. Keithley, Mark L. Lavelle, Vincent W. Talbert.
Application Number | 20140249949 14/283852 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37084242 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140249949 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Keithley; Thomas H. ; et
al. |
September 4, 2014 |
CONSUMER PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD
Abstract
Disclosed is a consumer processing system for identifying and
recognizing a consumer engaged in a transaction with a merchant.
The system includes a consumer processing system interface for
receiving, from a merchant, a consumer/transaction data set with a
plurality of fields. A consumer/transaction database is populated
with data sets, and each data set is related to a specific consumer
and also includes multiple data fields therein. The
consumer/transaction data set is established as part of an initial
data set in the consumer/transaction database, and thereafter,
during subsequent transactions, compared to an existing data field
in an existing data set in the consumer/transaction database. Based
upon the establishment or comparison, a consumer activity data set
is communicated from the consumer processing system interface to
the merchant. A method of identifying and recognizing a consumer
engaged in a transaction with a merchant is also disclosed.
Inventors: |
Keithley; Thomas H.;
(Monkton, MD) ; Talbert; Vincent W.;
(Cockeysville, MD) ; Lavelle; Mark L.; (Govans,
MD) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BILL ME LATER, INC. |
Timonium |
MD |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
BILL ME LATER, INC.
Timonium
MD
|
Family ID: |
37084242 |
Appl. No.: |
14/283852 |
Filed: |
May 21, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11102986 |
Apr 11, 2005 |
8756099 |
|
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14283852 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/21 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/202 20130101;
G06Q 30/0226 20130101; G06Q 20/401 20130101; G06Q 30/06
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/21 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/20 20060101
G06Q020/20 |
Claims
1. A system comprising: a memory storing user transaction history
with a plurality of merchants; and a hardware processor in
communication with the memory and operable for receiving, from a
device at a point of sale (POS) location, data about a consumer and
a merchant engaged in a transaction; comparing at least a portion
of the received data to an existing data set associated with the
consumer; determining in real time, based at least in part on the
comparing, a transaction data set, wherein the transaction data set
comprises data of prior activity of the consumer with the merchant
and with an unaffiliated merchant; and communicating, in real-time
prior to consummation of the transaction, information based on the
data of prior activity of the consumer with the merchant and with
an unaffiliated merchant.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the communicating is to the
device at the POS location.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the communicating further
includes the transaction data set, including the data of prior
activity data.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the POS location is a location of
the merchant.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the POS location is a home
location of the consumer.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the information comprises an
offer of at least one of a service, an item, a discount, a
redemption, a coupon, a voucher, a non-cash benefit, an incentive,
a ticket, an invitation, or an event.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the information is communicated
to the merchant and comprises an instruction to the merchant,
advising the merchant to at least one of deny the transaction, deny
a purchase request, deny a credit request, or take a specified
action with respect to the consumer.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the merchant is at least one a
seller, an Internet site, an online entity, a web store, a
telephone seller, a group of merchants, an organization of
merchants, an entity, a corporation, a company, an offeror of
goods, an offeror of services, or an affiliation of a plurality of
entities.
9. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, from a
merchant computer system, data about a consumer and a merchant
engaged in a transaction; comparing, by the merchant computer
system, at least a portion of the received data to an existing data
set associated with the consumer; determining in real time, based
at least in part on the comparing, a transaction data set, wherein
the transaction data set comprises data of prior activity of the
consumer with the merchant and with an unaffiliated merchant; and
communicating, in real-time prior to consummation of the
transaction, an offer based on the data of prior activity of the
consumer with the merchant and with an unaffiliated merchant.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the communicating is to the
device at the POS location.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the communicating further
includes the transaction data set, including the data of prior
activity data.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the POS location is a location
of the merchant.
13. The method of claim 9, wherein the POS location is a remote
location from the merchant.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein offer comprises at least one of
a service, an item, a discount, a redemption, a coupon, a voucher,
a non-cash benefit, an incentive, a ticket, an invitation, or an
event.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein the merchant is at least one a
seller, an Internet site, an online entity, a web store, a
telephone seller, a group of merchants, an organization of
merchants, an entity, a corporation, a company, an offeror of
goods, an offeror of services, or an affiliation of a plurality of
entities.
16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with
computer-executable instructions executable by a computer that
causes the computer to perform: receiving, from a device at a
merchant location, data about a consumer and a merchant engaged in
a transaction at the merchant location; comparing at least a
portion of the received data to an existing data set related to the
consumer; determining in real time, based at least in part on the
comparing, a transaction data set, wherein the transaction data set
comprises data of prior activity of the consumer with the merchant
and with an unaffiliated merchant; and communicating, in real-time
prior to consummation of the transaction, the transaction data set,
including the data of prior activity data.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the communicating further includes an offer of at least
one of a service, an item, a discount, a redemption, a coupon, a
voucher, a non-cash benefit, an incentive, a ticket, an invitation,
or an event.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the communicating further comprises an instruction to
the merchant, advising the merchant to at least one of deny the
transaction, deny a purchase request, deny a credit request, or
take a specified action with respect to the consumer.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the merchant is at least one a seller, an Internet
site, an online entity, a web store, a telephone seller, a group of
merchants, an organization of merchants, an entity, a corporation,
a company, an offeror of goods, an offeror of services, or an
affiliation of a plurality of entities.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim
16, wherein the communicating is to the device at the merchant
location.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/102,986, filed Apr. 11, 2005, which is
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates generally to consumer
processing and transaction systems and, in particular, to a
consumer processing system and method for identifying and
recognizing a consumer or customer engaged in a transaction with a
merchant, such as the identification and recognition of a repeat
customer at a particular point-of-sale.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] In order to enable convenient purchases or goods and
services by consumers, the financial service industry has developed
many alternative payment methods that allow a consumer to engage in
a transaction and receive goods and services on credit. For
example, such alternative payment methods may include checks, ATM
or debit cards, credit cards, charge cards, etc. In addition, these
credit vehicles are able to be used on many platforms and via many
communication methods and processes. For example, a credit or
charge card may be used over the telephone, by mail or
electronically over the Internet or at an in-store location. The
benefit of existing payment methods allows a consumer to move the
point-of-sale (POS) from an in-store location to one's home. For
example, a consumer may place an order from a catalog over the
telephone and use a credit card or a charge card to pay for the
goods and/or services. A similar process can be used for mail
orders.
[0006] Virtual commerce and the growth of the Internet as a medium
for commerce have placed pressure on the payment options discussed
above with respect to convenience, transactional security and
profitability by the credit issuer. However, the consumer's
convenience is paramount, and the Internet provides yet another
POS, or option, to the consumer for purchasing goods and/or
services via an alternative medium. This growth in commerce on the
Internet and over the telephone has also placed additional burdens
on the merchant, such as identification and recognition of a
customer. However, this burden also may lead to certain benefits,
such as the ability to identify and recognize customers in not only
a negative sense, such as in the identification of fraud or bad
credit, but also in a positive sense, such as in the opportunity to
offer additional benefit to a repeat customer in good standing.
[0007] Moving the POS to the consumer's home, the consumer can use
the telephone or otherwise conduct business over the Internet,
which provides a tangible benefit to the consumer. Such remote
transactions provide the consumer with a certain amount of
anonymity, as well as a much greater amount of convenience in
making purchases. Likewise, the merchant obtains more business by
opening up these lines of communication and allowing for the
engagement in such a transaction at remote points-of-sale.
[0008] However, both the consumers and the merchants suffer in one
important respect. In particular, when operating in a real-time
sales environment, the merchant typically has no way of quickly
determining whether a consumer is a repeat customer. Accordingly,
the merchant may suffer by offering goods and services to a person
with a fraudulent history or bad credit characteristics, based upon
these previous sales. Such activity is detrimental to the merchant,
and could have been avoided had the merchant been able to identify
and recognize this repeat consumer. Similarly, both the merchant
and consumer may suffer from this lack of identification and
recognition on the "positive" side of a previous transaction. For
example, a repeat and "good" customer may be offered additional
benefits or special merchant offers, which will further engender
the consumer to the merchant and provide the merchant with
additional business. However, since such repeat consumers cannot be
identified or recognized in many cases, the ability to provide such
a benefit to the consumer, which indirectly also benefits the
merchant, is unavailable.
[0009] Therefore, it is the merchant's ability to identify and
recognize a consumer using various data transmitted to the merchant
that allows for this mutually beneficial and ongoing
consumer/merchant relationship. Of course, as discussed above, this
relationship may be a potential "negative" relationship (such as in
bad credit) or a "positive" relationship (such as in offering
"perks" to the best customers). In either case, the merchant must
have access to this valuable information and data in order to
decide how best to interact with any individual consumer.
[0010] According to the prior art, existing merchants have used
various approaches in order to overcome the inability to quickly
identify repeat customers, such as quickly identifying repeat
customers in a real-time sales environment. For example, some
merchants attempt to solve this problem by requiring a log-in by
the customer prior to purchase. Many times, this approach causes
abandonment of shopping carts and reduces the total sales that a
merchant will close. Therefore, this log-in process reduces the
merchant's aggregate revenue and profit. Other merchants invest in
software, purchased externally or internally developed, as well as
hardware, to run real-time applications that use various methods to
identify existing customers. However, such an approach raises a
merchant's capital expenditure and operating costs. Still further,
some merchants do neither the log-in process nor invest in any
software, and forego the business benefit of knowing who was a
repeat customer in real-time. These merchants usually run a monthly
or weekly batch process to identify the repeat customers, but this
process does not allow them any real-time benefit.
SUMMARY
[0011] It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to
provide a consumer processing system and method that overcomes the
deficiencies of the prior art. It is another object of the present
invention to provide a consumer processing system and method that
is capable of quickly identifying a consumer engaged in a
transaction with a merchant, such as in a real-time sales
environment. It is a further object of the present invention to
provide a consumer processing system and method that allows a
merchant to recognize a repeat consumer during a subsequent
transaction. It is yet another object of the present invention to
provide a consumer processing system and method that provides the
merchant with the appropriate data to make a decision regarding how
best to interact with a consumer in all subsequent transactions. It
is a still further object of the present invention to provide a
consumer processing system and method that allows the merchant
access to a consumer data warehouse for establishing a historical
transactional database with respect to each individual consumer. It
is yet another object of the present invention to provide a
consumer processing system and method that is adapted for
facilitating a better relationship between the consumer and the
merchant at remote POS locations.
[0012] The present invention is directed to a consumer processing
system. The consumer processing system identifies and recognizes a
consumer engaged in a transaction with a merchant. In particular,
the system includes a consumer processing system interface for
receiving, from a merchant, a consumer/transaction data set, which
has multiple data fields therein. A consumer/transaction database
is included and populated with multiple-data sets, and each data
set relates to a specified customer or consumer, and further each
data set includes multiple data fields therein. One or more of the
data fields in the received consumer/transaction data set is
either: (1) established as part of an initial data set in the
consumer/transaction database; or (2) compared to an existing data
field in an existing data set in the consumer/transaction database.
Based upon the establishment or comparison, a consumer activity
data set is communicated from the consumer processing system
interface to the merchant.
[0013] In one embodiment, the consumer activity data set includes
consumer recognition data. This consumer recognition data is
selected and provided based upon the current transaction between
the consumer and the merchant, a previous transaction between the
consumer and the merchant, historical transaction data, tracking
data specific to a consumer, a value reflective of a consumer's
transaction history with a merchant, data associated with
transactions with a merchant, transaction-specific data,
customer-specific data, transaction frequency data, transaction
amount data, cumulative transaction frequency data, cumulative
transaction amount data, and/or customer demographic data. In
addition, the consumer activity data set may include merchant
offering data reflecting an established offer to the consumer of a
service, item, discount, redemption, coupon, voucher, non-cash
benefit, incentive, ticket, invitation, event, etc. Further, the
data set may include merchant denial data reflecting an instruction
to the merchant, and advising the merchant to deny the transaction,
deny a purchase request, deny a credit request, and/or take a
specified action with respect to the consumer.
[0014] The present invention is further directed to a method of
identifying and recognizing a consumer engaged in a transaction
with a merchant. The method includes the steps of: receiving, from
a merchant, a consumer/transaction data set having a plurality of
data fields; establishing at least a portion of the
consumer/transaction data set as part of an initial data set in a
consumer/transaction database; or comparing at least a portion of
the consumer/transaction data set to an existing data field in an
existing data set in a consumer/transaction database; and
communicating a consumer activity data set to the merchant based at
least in part upon the establishment or comparison step.
[0015] The present invention, both as to its construction and its
method of operation, together with the additional objects and
advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following
description of exemplary embodiments when read in connection with
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a consumer processing system
according to the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a further embodiment of a
consumer processing system according to the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a still further embodiment of
a consumer processing system according to the present invention;
and
[0019] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method of identifying and
recognizing a consumer engaged in a transaction with a merchant
according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0020] The present invention is directed to a consumer processing
system 10 and method 100 of identifying and recognizing a consumer
12 engaged in a transaction with a merchant 14. Various embodiments
of the consumer processing system 10 of the present invention are
illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. A flow diagram of the method 100 is
illustrated in FIG. 4.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, the consumer
processing system 10, which identifies and recognizes consumers 12
engaged in a transaction with a merchant 14, includes a consumer
processing system interface 16. This interface 16 receives, from
the merchant 14, a consumer/transaction data set 18, which includes
multiple data fields 20 therein. In addition, the system 10
includes a consumer/transaction database 22, which is populated
with multiple data sets, and each data set relates to a specified
consumer 12. Further, each data set also has multiple data fields
therein.
[0022] After receipt of the consumer/transaction data set 18 by the
consumer processing system interface 16, the system 10 either
establishes this data set 18 as part of some initial data set in a
consumer/transaction database 22 or compares one or more of the
data fields 20 in the consumer/transaction data set 18 to one or
more of the fields in an existing data set in the
consumer/transaction database 22. Based upon the establishment of
the data sets or the comparison of data fields, a consumer activity
data set 24 is communicated from the consumer processing system
interface 16 to the merchant 14. The merchant 14, in turn, can use
the data and information in the consumer activity data set 24 to
appropriately interact with or otherwise communicate with the
consumer 12.
[0023] In one embodiment, the data fields 20 in the
consumer/transaction data set 18 are populated with data that is
reflective of the consumer 12 and/or the transaction information
for the transaction between the consumer 12 and the merchant 14.
For example, the data fields 20 in the consumer/transaction data
set 18 may be populated with data reflecting a consumer's name, a
consumer key, a consumer identification, an account number, an
address, a city, a state, a zip code, a country, a telephone
number, an e-mail address, a social security number, a date of
birth, the merchant's name, an identification, an order number, an
authorization number, an authorization time, an authorization
amount, a ship-to address, a bill-to address, a transaction amount,
a consumer purchase demographic, a transaction date, a transaction
type, a product identification, a service identification, shipping
costs, delivery type, consumer type, a company identity, a merchant
identity, a third-party risk score, risk data, authentication data,
verification data, consumer rating data, profitability data, credit
risk data, fraud risk data, transaction risk data, denial data,
processing data, a general credit risk score, a credit bureau risk
score, a prior approval, prior report data, previous transaction
data, a geographical risk factor, credit account data, bankcard
balance data, delinquency data, credit segment data, previous
transaction data, time between transactions data, previous
transaction amount, previous transaction approval status, previous
transaction time stamp data, a response code, active trades in
database, public record data, trade line data, transaction medium,
credit segment data, consumer payment type, consumer payment
method, consumer payment history, consumer account history,
consumer credit account balance, merchant history, private label
entity data, affiliated private label entity and/or
consumer/merchant historical data. In a preferred embodiment, the
data fields 20 in the consumer/transaction data set 18 are
populated with data that reflects the historical interaction
between the consumer 12 and the merchant 14 or some other previous
consumer/merchant transaction or interaction.
[0024] Using the data fields 20 in the consumer/transaction data
set 18, the consumer processing system 10 will initially establish,
using some or all of this data, a consumer-specific data set in the
consumer/transaction database 22. Accordingly, the data fields and
data sets in the consumer/transaction database 22 may be populated
with data reflecting a consumer's name, a consumer key, a consumer
identification, an account number, an address, a city, a state, a
zip code, a country, a telephone number, an e-mail address, a
social security number, a date of birth, the merchant's name, an
identification, an order number, an authorization number, an
authorization time, an authorization amount, a ship-to address, a
bill-to address, a transaction amount, a consumer purchase
demographic, a transaction date, a transaction type, a product
identification, a service identification, shipping costs, delivery
type, consumer type, a company identity, a merchant identity, a
third-party risk score, risk data, authentication data,
verification data, consumer rating data, profitability data, credit
risk data, fraud risk data, transaction risk data, denial data,
processing data, a general credit risk score, a credit bureau risk
score, a prior approval, prior report data, previous transaction
data, a geographical risk factor, credit account data, bankcard
balance data, delinquency data, credit segment data, previous
transaction data, time between transactions data, previous
transaction amount, previous transaction approval status, previous
transaction time stamp data, a response code, active trades in
database, public record data, trade line data, transaction medium,
credit segment data, consumer payment type, consumer payment
method, consumer payment history, consumer account history,
consumer credit account balance, merchant history, private label
entity data, affiliated private label entity and/or
consumer/merchant historical data.
[0025] After establishment, the incoming consumer/transaction data
set 18 is compared with or otherwise linked to the
customer-specific data set in the consumer/transaction database 22.
Accordingly, the system 10 may perform a variety of actions after
establishing a match between the incoming consumer/transaction data
set 18 and the information in the consumer/transaction database 22.
In general, the data fields 20 in the consumer/transaction data set
18 are obtained by the merchant 14 at the POS from the consumer 12.
However, even a very minimal amount of collected information at the
POS can be used and transmitted to the consumer processing system
interface 16, where the consumer processing system 10 is able to
use this limited information to identify the consumer 12, as well
as build a historical index of data directed to the consumer's 12
previous interactions with the merchant 14.
[0026] In another embodiment, as seen in FIG. 2, the system 10 also
includes a consumer recognition database 26. This consumer
recognition database 26 includes multiple data fields therein, and
the data fields are populated with data reflecting consumer
recognition data 28. Therefore, and in one embodiment, based upon
at least one data field 20 in the consumer/transaction data set 18,
at least one data field in the consumer/transaction database 22 and
at least one data field in the consumer recognition database 26,
the consumer activity data set 24 is established. In one
embodiment, the consumer recognition data 28 includes merchant
offering data 30. This merchant offering data 30 may reflect an
established offer to the consumer 12 of a service, an item, a
discount, a redemption, a coupon, a voucher, a non-cash benefit, an
incentive, a ticket, an invitation, an event, etc. Such merchant
offering data 30 would be transmitted from the merchant 14 to the
consumer 12 as a reward for engaging in multiple or subsequent
transactions with a specific merchant 14 or a group of merchants
14. In this sense, the merchant offering data 30 establishes a
better relationship between the consumer 12 and the merchant 14,
and provides a benefit to the consumer 12 for being a preferred or
"best" customer.
[0027] The consumer recognition data 28, which is normally part of
the consumer activity data set 24 transmitted to the merchant 14,
may also be selected based upon a number of different existing
conditions. For example, the consumer recognition data 28 may be
based upon the current transaction between the consumer 12 and the
merchant 14, a previous transaction between the consumer 12 and the
merchant 14, historical transaction data, tracking data specific to
a consumer 12, a value reflective of the consumer's 12 transaction
history with the merchant 14, transaction data, customer or
transaction-specific data, frequency data, cumulative data and
other similar demographic information.
[0028] The consumer recognition database 26 can be in communication
with and/or maintained by the consumer processing system 10, some
central processing system, the merchant 14, a seller, an Internet
site, an online entity, a web store, a telephone seller, a group of
merchants 14, an organization of merchants 14, an entity, a
corporation, a company, an offeror of goods, an offeror of
services, an affiliation of multiple entities, etc. As seen in the
embodiment of FIG. 2, the consumer recognition database 26 is
maintained by and within the consumer processing system 10.
However, the merchant 14 has the ability to transmit consumer
recognition data 28 to the consumer recognition database 26. In
this embodiment, the consumer recognition database 26 is modifiable
and/or configurable by the consumer processing system 10, the
merchant 14 or any of the entities set forth above. As seen in FIG.
2, the consumer recognition data 28 is communicated from the
merchant 14 to the consumer processing system 10 according to the
merchant's 14 desire to revise the consumer recognition database
26. For example, the merchant 14 may want to provide additional
offers or consumer recognition data 28 to the consumer recognition
database 26, such that this new consumer recognition data 28 is
transmitted back through the merchant 14 or another affiliated
merchant 14 and on to the consumer 12. This communication between
the merchant 14 and the consumer recognition database 26 may be on
a continual basis, a dynamic basis, a batch basis, a periodic
basis, etc., and this consumer recognition data 28 is stored in the
consumer recognition database 26.
[0029] As discussed above, the consumer recognition data 28 may
also include merchant denial data 32. This merchant denial data 32
reflects a negative merchant/consumer interaction. For example, the
merchant denial data 32 may be an instruction to the merchant 14,
advising the merchant 14 to deny the transaction with the consumer
12, deny some purchase request, deny a credit request and/or take
some other specified action with respect to the consumer 12.
Therefore, based upon the consumer/transaction data set 18
transmitted to the consumer processing system interface 16, the
consumer 12 is identified and recognized and, based upon the
consumer's 12 past behavior, the consumer recognition data 28 can
warn a merchant 14 what is the best manner in interacting with the
consumer 12. This "warning" information and data would be part of
the consumer activity data set 24.
[0030] In one embodiment, and based upon the transaction, the
system 10 may also track the consumer's 12 transactions with the
merchant 14, and thereby compile tracking data specific to the
consumer 12. Accordingly, the consumer activity data set 24 is
established and based at least in part upon the tracking data 34
specific to the consumer 12. This tracking data 34 represents
additional and valuable information that can be provided to the
merchant 14 for the decision making process in the transaction
between the merchant 14 and the consumer 12.
[0031] The merchant 14 may be a seller, an Internet site, an online
entity, a web store, a telephone seller, a group of merchants 14,
an organization of merchants 14, an entity, a corporation, a
company, an offeror of goods, an offeror of services, an
affiliation of multiple entities, etc. For example, a group of
merchants 14 can partner and share information or provide
multi-merchant merchant offering data 30 to the consumer 12.
Further, the merchant 14 may transmit to the consumer processing
system interface 16 multiple consumer/transaction data sets 18.
Each data set would be specific to an identified customer, and the
multiple consumer/transaction data sets 18 would be stored in the
consumer/transaction database 22. In short, the merchant 14 would
provide a customer list with all available information about the
customer to the consumer processing system 10 for data warehousing
and establishing the consumer/transaction database 22.
[0032] Another advantage of the consumer processing system 10 and
method 100 of the present invention is the ability to provide this
service to multiple merchants 14, whether these merchants 14 are
partnered or not. For example, and since there are not limits to
the amount of data that can be warehoused in the
consumer/transaction database 22 and the consumer recognition
database 26, the system 10 (and particularly the databases therein)
can act as a data vault that can provide secure information to each
individual merchant 14, as well as an individualized consumer
activity data set 24. Still further, it is envisioned that the
compilation of the consumer/transaction data set 18 and the
consumer/transaction database 22 can be offered across a variety of
merchants 14, all of which are individually compiling specific
consumer 12 data. Therefore, the information and data compiled
about a consumer 12 at a first merchant 14, could be effectively
used in the decision making process of the same consumer 12 at a
different and unaffiliated merchant 14, provided that both
merchants 14 agree to this information sharing. Accordingly, a
comprehensive service can be paid for by a variety of unaffiliated
merchants 14, with the databases 22, 26 of the system 10 acting as
the central repository of information.
[0033] Based upon all of the information provided to the consumer
processing system 10, and further based upon the historical
transactions between a merchant 14 and the consumer 12, the
consumer processing system 10 may provide a report 36 to the
merchant 14. In particular, the report 36 may include compiled
merchant-specific data. For example, the report 36 may be a
compilation of data representing at least a portion of the
consumer/transaction data set 24 for each consumer 12 or a group of
consumers 12, or some other information stored in a
consumer/transaction database 22 or the consumer recognition
database 26. Further, the report 36 may provide summaries of data,
such as the cumulative offers, denials, history data, consumer 12
data, consumer grouping data, etc.
[0034] As discussed above, the consumer activity data set 24 may
include a variety of valuable, and often necessary, data for the
merchant 14 to make decisions with respect to the consumer 12. For
example, the consumer activity data set 24 may include
consumer/transaction data, consumer recognition data,
consumer/merchant historical data, transaction data, consumer
demographic data, suggested consumer interaction data, suggested
consumer offer data, pre-established consumer interaction data,
pre-established consumer offer data, offer data, redemption data,
merchant denial data and denial instruction data. In one preferred
embodiment, the consumer activity data set 24 includes either
merchant offering data 30 reflecting an established offer to the
consumer 12 of a service, an item, a discount, a redemption, a
coupon, a voucher, a non-cash benefit, an incentive, a ticket, an
invitation, an event, etc.; or merchant denial data 32 reflecting
an instruction to the merchant 14, advising the merchant 14 to deny
the transaction, deny a purchase request, deny a credit request, or
take some other specified action with respect to the consumer
12.
[0035] In a further embodiment of the present invention, the
consumer/transaction data set 24 and/or the consumer/transaction
database 22 include a consumer identification key 38. This consumer
identification key 38 is unique to either a specific individual
consumer 12 or a specified grouping of multiple consumers 12 having
similar characteristics. In this manner, the consumer activity data
set 24 is established based at least in part upon the consumer
identification key 38. Using the consumer identification key 38,
the identification of appropriate consumer recognition data 28 in
the consumer recognition database 26 is facilitated. Accordingly,
an individual "look-up" is not required for each individual
consumer 12 in connection with the consumer recognition database
26, and instead this data is compiled and provided for an
identified grouping of consumers 12. In addition, this key 38 may
be sent to the merchant 14 for use in additional processing
functions.
[0036] The present invention is also directed to a method 100 of
identifying and recognizing a consumer 12 engaged in a transaction
with a merchant 14. The method 100 includes the steps of:
receiving, from the merchant 14, a consumer/transaction data set 18
having a plurality of data fields 20 (Step 102); establishing at
least a portion of the consumer/transaction data set 18 as part of
an initial data set in a consumer/transaction database 22; or
comparing at least a portion of the consumer/transaction data set
18 to an existing data field in an existing data set in the
consumer/transaction database 22 (Step 104); and communicating a
consumer activity data set 24 to the merchant 14, based at least in
part upon the establishment or comparison step (Step 106).
[0037] Overall, the present invention provides a consumer
processing system 10 and method 100 that allows a merchant 14 to
appropriately identify and recognize a consumer 12 engaged in a
transaction with the merchant 14. In this manner, the merchant 14
is able to easily track and understand the activities of repeat
consumers 12 and act accordingly. The actions that the merchant 14
takes with respect to the consumer 12 based upon the consumer
activity data set 24 may be either positive or negative, but would
be based upon historical data of the consumer's 12 activity with
respect to the merchant 14 or a grouping of merchants 14.
[0038] While the consumer/transaction database 22 of the consumer
processing system 10 may act as a data warehouse for all of the
information in the consumer/transaction data set 18, the consumer
recognition database 26 may be maintained on the system 10 side
(see FIG. 2) or the merchant 14 side (see FIG. 3). Therefore, the
merchant 14 may decide whether the consumer recognition database 26
should be maintained and kept apart from the normal systems of the
merchant 14, or integrated therewith. The presently-invented system
10 and method 100 are particularly useful in connection with
telephone order entities and online merchants 14, and more
particularly in connection with online merchants 14 that do not
require any sort of login or registration procedure, which may
facilitate the identification of repeat customers. Accordingly, the
present invention facilitates the identification and recognition of
consumers 12, and provides the consumer activity data set 24 to the
merchant 14 to make decisions regarding the present or future
transactions with any particular consumer 12.
[0039] In this manner, the present invention provides a consumer
processing system 10 that is highly accurate in identifying repeat
customers in a real-time environment, such as in an online
environment. Further, the consumer processing system 10 of the
present invention is integratable into the merchant payment
authorization step. In e-commerce, every merchant engaging in sales
transactions must complete payment authorization in order to ship
product to the customer and receive payment from their bank.
Therefore, the present invention provides a consumer processing
system 10 that integrates the customer identification step into the
payment authorization step, which essentially gives the merchant a
free solution that has none of the drawbacks noted above. Still
further, the consumer processing system 10 of the present invention
provides the merchant with highly useful information regarding
repeat customers, such that the merchant may avoid a fraudulent
sale, deliver a personalized discount, provide promotional offers
to repeat customers, and provide other services both dynamically or
subsequently.
[0040] This invention has been described with reference to the
preferred embodiments. Obvious modifications and alterations will
occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding
detailed description. It is intended that the invention be
construed as including all such modifications and alterations.
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