U.S. patent application number 17/134958 was filed with the patent office on 2021-04-22 for systems and methods to facilitate the redemption of offer benefits in a form of third party statement credits.
The applicant listed for this patent is Visa International Service Association. Invention is credited to Daniel Eisen Fineman, Christopher Magpayo, Vaishali Rao, Derek Vroom, Ann T. Wang Reed.
Application Number | 20210117935 17/134958 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005305763 |
Filed Date | 2021-04-22 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210117935 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fineman; Daniel Eisen ; et
al. |
April 22, 2021 |
Systems and Methods to Facilitate the Redemption of Offer Benefits
in a Form of Third Party Statement Credits
Abstract
A system and method configured to provide a mechanism allowing a
third party, not involved in a payment transaction made between a
merchant and a payment account, to provide a credit to the payment
account as an offer benefit redeemed in view of the payment
transaction. The mechanism includes a transaction handler of a
payment processing network configured to provide transaction
information relevant to the offer to the third party. If the third
party determines that a qualifying transaction in the payment
account is entitled to the benefit, the third party communicates a
request, via an application programming interface (API), to a
portal of the transaction handler for a credit to the payment
account for the payment transaction; if the request is approved, in
response, the transaction handler generates a credit transaction
for the payment account.
Inventors: |
Fineman; Daniel Eisen; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Magpayo; Christopher; (Belmont,
CA) ; Rao; Vaishali; (San Francisco, CA) ;
Vroom; Derek; (San Mateo, CA) ; Wang Reed; Ann
T.; (Burlingame, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Visa International Service Association |
San Francisco |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005305763 |
Appl. No.: |
17/134958 |
Filed: |
December 28, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16666697 |
Oct 29, 2019 |
10909508 |
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17134958 |
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14538121 |
Nov 11, 2014 |
10489754 |
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16666697 |
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61902493 |
Nov 11, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/02 20130101;
G06Q 20/24 20130101; G06Q 20/40 20130101; G06Q 20/10 20130101; G06Q
30/0207 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/02 20060101
G06Q020/02; G06Q 20/10 20060101 G06Q020/10; G06Q 20/24 20060101
G06Q020/24; G06Q 20/40 20060101 G06Q020/40; G06Q 30/02 20060101
G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A method in an electronic payment processing system, the method
comprising: in response to an authorization request transmitted in
the electronic payment processing system from a merchant
transaction terminal, detecting, by a computing device comprising a
transaction handler coupled between an issuer processor and an
acquirer processor and configured in the electronic payment
processing system, a payment transaction between a merchant account
of a merchant and a payment account of a user controlled by the
issuer processor; determining, by the transaction handler during
processing of an authorization request from the merchant
transaction terminal, that the payment transaction is of interest
to a third party benefit qualifier that is not involved in
processing of the payment transaction, the determination based at
least partially on trigger records stored in a data warehouse of
the computing device that is coupled to the transaction handler,
the trigger records generated in response to input by the third
party benefit qualifier; transmitting, by at least one of a message
broker and an application programming interface of the computing
device configured in the electronic payment processing system, a
notification containing transaction information about the payment
transaction to the third party benefit qualifier during processing
of the payment transaction in the electronic payment processing
system, wherein the notification causes the third party benefit
qualifier to: determine a statement credit to the payment account
of the user based on an offer provided to the user; and transmit,
using the application programming interface of a portal of the
computing device, a request to provide the statement credit to the
payment account; and communicating, by the transaction handler in
the electronic payment processing system and based on the request
to provide the statement credit received from the third party
benefit qualifier, a statement credit request to the issuer
processor of the payment account using a refund protocol in the
electronic payment processing system to provide a refund from a
third account to the payment account, wherein the third account is
a sponsor account different from the merchant account, and the
sponsor account is controlled, on behalf of a sponsor of the offer,
by a processor connected in the electronic payment processing
system.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the computing device is
integrated with the transaction handler of the electronic payment
processing system.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the statement credit request
communicated to the issuer processor using the refund protocol
comprises a return clearing transaction message.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the transaction handler comprises
the processor connected in the electronic payment processing system
that controls the sponsor account.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: determining, by the
computing device, whether a budget of the third account has been
depleted; wherein the statement credit request is communicated to
the issuer processor of the payment account after a determination
that the statement credit to the payment account is allowed by the
budget of the third account.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising: tracking, by the
computing device, availability of funds in the third account for
the statement credit to the payment account; and determining, by
the computing device, whether to accept or decline the request
received via the application programming interface from the third
party benefit qualifier based on the availability of the funds in
the third account.
7. The method of claim 4, further comprising: confirming, by the
computing device, validity and permissibility of the statement
credit to the payment account based on a set of pre-defined rules
of the offer; wherein the statement credit request is communicated
to the issuer processor of the payment account after a
determination that the statement credit to the payment account is
valid and permissible in accordance with the set of pre-defined
rules.
8. The method of claim 4, further comprising: storing, by the
computing device, data associating the statement credit to the
payment account with the payment transaction; and initiating, by
the computing device, a change to the statement credit to the
payment account in response to a change to the payment transaction;
wherein the payment transaction is processed, independent of the
statement credit to the payment account, between the merchant
account controlled by the acquirer processor and the payment
account controlled by the issuer processor.
9. The method of claim 4, wherein the statement credit to the
payment account is neutral in interchange fees for the processing
of the payment transaction in the electronic payment processing
system.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the statement credit request
identifies both the merchant and the third party benefit qualifier
as responsible parties for the refund.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein a sponsor processor independent
from the transaction handler comprises the processor connected in
the electronic payment processing system controlling the sponsor
account.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein a sponsor processor implemented
within the transaction handler comprises the processor connected in
the electronic payment processing system controlling the sponsor
account.
13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: communicating, by
the computing device, with the sponsor processor for authorization
of the statement credit to the payment account during authorization
of the payment transaction; wherein the statement credit request is
communicated to the issuer processor of the payment account after
an authorization response from the sponsor processor approving the
statement credit to the payment account as a benefit of the
offer.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein a budget associated with the
offer is controlled by the sponsor processor.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the statement credit to the
payment account is settled with the issuer processor after
settlement of the payment transaction.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing, in the
computing device, data identifying the merchant and the user;
wherein the payment transaction is detected based on monitoring
authorization requests of payment transactions between the merchant
and the user.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the transaction information
about the payment transaction transmitted to the third party
benefit qualifier includes identifiers of the user and the merchant
without revealing account information of the merchant account of
the merchant and the payment account of the user.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the statement credit request is
communicated to the issuer processor of the payment account using
the refund protocol in response to settlement of the payment
transaction.
19. A non-transitory computer storage media storing instructions
configured to instruct a computing device configured in an
electronic payment processing system to perform a method, the
method comprising: in response to an authorization request
transmitted in the electronic payment processing system from a
merchant transaction terminal, detecting, by a computing device
comprising a transaction handler coupled between an issuer
processor and an acquirer processor and configured in the
electronic payment processing system, a payment transaction between
a merchant account of a merchant and a payment account of a user
controlled by the issuer processor; determining, by the transaction
handler during processing of the authorization request from the
merchant transaction terminal, that the payment transaction is of
interest to a third party benefit qualifier that is not involved in
processing of the payment transaction, the determination based at
least partially on trigger records stored in a data warehouse of
the computing device that is coupled to the transaction handler,
the trigger records generated in response to input by the third
party benefit qualifier; transmitting, by at least one of a message
broker and an application programming interface of the computing
device configured in the electronic payment processing system, a
notification containing transaction information about the payment
transaction to the third party benefit qualifier, during processing
of the payment transaction in the electronic payment processing
system, wherein the notification causes the third party benefit
qualifier to: determine a statement credit to the payment account
of the user based on an offer provided to the user; and
transmitting, using the application programming interface of a
portal of the computing device, a request to provide the statement
credit to the payment account; and communicating, by the
transaction handler in the electronic payment processing system and
based on the request to provide the statement credit received from
the third party benefit qualifier, a statement credit request to
the issuer processor of the payment account using a refund protocol
in the electronic payment processing system to provide a refund
from a third account to the payment account, wherein the third
account is a sponsor account different from the merchant account,
and the sponsor account is controlled, on behalf of a sponsor of
the offer, by a sponsor processor connected in the electronic
payment processing system.
20. A computing apparatus, comprising: a data warehouse; a first
network interface configured to interface with an electronic
payment processing system; a transaction handler coupled to the
electronic payment processing system via the first network
interface and coupled between an issuer processor and an acquirer
processor, and further coupled to the data warehouse; a second
network interface configured to provide a web-based application
programming interface; a portal coupled to the second network
interface to provide the web-based application programming
interface; at least one microprocessor; and a memory storing
instructions configured to instruct the at least one microprocessor
to at least: in response to an authorization request transmitted in
the electronic payment processing system from a merchant
transaction terminal, detect, via the first network interface, a
payment transaction between a merchant account of a merchant and a
payment account of a user controlled by the issuer processor;
determine, via the transaction handler during processing of the
authorization request from the merchant transaction terminal, that
the payment transaction is of interest to a third party benefit
qualifier that is not involved in processing of the payment
transaction, the determination based at least partially on trigger
records stored in the data warehouse, the trigger records generated
in response to input by the third party benefit qualifier;
transmit, via the second network interface, a notification
containing transaction information about the payment transaction to
the third party benefit qualifier during processing of the payment
transaction in the electronic payment processing system, wherein
the notification causes the third party benefit qualifier to:
determine a statement credit to the payment account of the user
based on an offer provided to the user; and transmit, using the
web-based application programming interface of the portal, a
request to provide the statement credit to the payment account; and
communicate, via the first network interface and based on the
request to provide the statement credit received from the third
party benefit qualifier, a statement credit request to the issuer
processor of the payment account using a refund protocol in the
electronic payment processing system to provide a refund from a
third account to the payment account, wherein the third account is
a sponsor account different from the merchant account, and the
sponsor account is controlled, on behalf of a sponsor of the offer,
by a sponsor processor connected in the electronic payment
processing system.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 16/666,697, filed Oct. 29, 2019, and entitled
"Systems and Methods to Facilitate the Redemption of Offer Benefits
in a Form of Third Party Statement Credits", which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/538,121, filed
Nov. 11, 2014, and entitled "Systems and Methods to Facilitate the
Redemption of Offer Benefits in a Form of Third Party Statement
Credits," which claims the benefit of the filing date of Prov. U.S.
Pat. App. Ser. No. 61/902,493, filed Nov. 11, 2013, and entitled
"Systems and Methods to Facilitate the Redemption of Offer Benefits
in a Form of Third Party Statement Credits", the entire disclosures
of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] The present application relates to U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.
2013/0124417, entitled "Systems and Methods to Provide Generalized
Notifications," and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0125565, entitled
"Systems and Methods for Multi-Channel Offer Redemption," the
entire disclosures of which applications are hereby incorporated
herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY
[0003] At least some embodiments of the present disclosure relate
to the processing of payment transactions, such as payments made
via credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, etc., and the
redemption of the benefits of offers, such as coupons, deals,
discounts, rewards, etc.
BACKGROUND
[0004] Millions of transactions occur daily through the use of
payment cards, such as credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards,
etc. Payment processing systems, involving acquirer systems, issuer
systems, transaction handlers to interconnect the acquirer systems
and issuer systems, etc., have been developed to facilitate secure
and efficient communications among parties involved in the payment
transactions.
[0005] For example, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2009/0271262, published
Oct. 28, 2009, discloses a first authorization request generated to
include split payment data. After the first authorization request
message is analyzed using a server computer, a second authorization
request message is sent to a first service provider, and a third
authorization request message is sent to a second service provider,
to facilitate the split payment according to the split payment
data.
[0006] Offers, such as coupons, deals, discounts, rewards, etc.,
typically involve benefits that are provided to the recipients of
the offers after the redemption requirements of the respective
offers are satisfied. A typical requirement involves the purchase
of a product or service relevant to the corresponding offer.
[0007] Processing payments and offers using substantially separate
systems have drawbacks, such as inefficient use of computation
resources for security measures and processing, duplicative
allocation of computation resources for the separate systems, time
delay from the time when redemption requirements of offers are
satisfied and the completion of the provisioning of the benefits of
the offers, etc.
[0008] Some systems have been developed to at least partially
integrate the payment processing and the offer processing. For
example, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0125565, published May 26,
2011, discloses a system to associate an offer with an account of a
user in a data warehouse, in which a transaction handler is
configured to identify a payment transaction in the account for a
purchase eligible for the redemption of the offer. If the payment
transaction is identified, the transaction handler provides the
benefit of the offer to the account of the user via statement
credits. For example, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2009/0112721,
published Oct. 28, 2009, discloses a Value-Added Service Engine
programmed to determine a benefit associated with a product after
receiving transaction information identifying the product and after
communicating with a supplier of the product.
[0009] U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0312626, published Dec. 9,
2010, discloses a transaction handler configured to receive an
authorization request for a discount associated with an electronic
coupon for a purchase. The electronic coupon has been received by
the merchant to give the discount on a purchase by a consumer. The
discount is to be debited from the sponsor account and credited to
an account of the merchant.
[0010] U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0047019, published Feb. 24,
2011, discloses a transaction handler configured to forward a
coupon authorization request message, identifying a sponsor account
and a coupon, from a merchant's acquirer to a sponsor account's
issuer, and when the coupon is eligible, to forward the
corresponding authorization response from the issuer to the
acquirer.
[0011] U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0133351, published Jun. 5,
2008, discloses a "Method and Apparatus for Reward Messaging,
Discounting and Redemption at the Point of Interaction," in which,
upon determining that the transaction is eligible for a discount,
the authorization request message is updated to indicate that it is
a discount transaction, and this updated authorization request
message is then forwarded to the issuer (or issuer processor) for
authorization. When a promo code is used by the POS terminal or
merchant system to apply or calculate a discount amount at the
point of interaction, the full transaction price may be authorized
by the issuer, and full transaction price less the discount amount
is then cleared and settled between the acquirer and the issuer
after the transaction. When a promo code is not used, the
authorization system forwards an authorization request message to
the issuer for the purchase amount less the discount.
[0012] U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2007/0011044, published Jan. 11,
2007, discloses a host system configured to transmit an
authorization request to a credit provider. After discounts
available for application to the transaction are identified with
the host system and from the identifier of a credit instrument, a
modified transaction having a total transaction cost reduced by
application of at least one of the separate discounts is
coordinated between the host system and the merchant.
[0013] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/036,018, filed Feb. 22,
2008, assigned Pub. No. 2009/0216579, and entitled "Tracking Online
Advertising using Payment Services," discloses a system in which a
payment service identifies the activity of a user using a payment
card as corresponding with an offer associated with an online
advertisement presented to the user.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,330, issued on Oct. 2, 2001 and entitled
"Communicating with a Computer Based on the Offline Purchase
History of a Particular Consumer," discloses a system in which a
targeted advertisement is delivered to a computer in response to
receiving an identifier, such as a cookie, corresponding to the
computer.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,855, issued on Apr. 25, 2006 and
entitled "Process and System for Integrating Information from
Disparate Databases for Purposes of Predicting Consumer Behavior,"
discloses a system in which consumer transactional information is
used for predicting consumer behavior.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,168, issued on Jan. 7, 2003 and entitled
"System and Method for Gathering and Standardizing Customer
Purchase Information for Target Marketing," discloses a system in
which categories and sub-categories are used to organize purchasing
information by credit cards, debit cards, checks and the like. The
customer purchase information is used to generate customer
preference information for making targeted offers.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 7,444,658, issued on Oct. 28, 2008 and
entitled "Method and System to Perform Content Targeting,"
discloses a system in which advertisements are selected to be sent
to users based on a user classification performed using credit card
purchasing data.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 7,937,286, issued on May 3, 2011 and entitled
"System and Method for Analyzing Marketing Efforts," discloses a
system that evaluates the cause and effect of advertising and
marketing programs using card transaction data.
[0019] U.S. Pat. No. 7,665,660, issued on Feb. 23, 2010 and
entitled "Real-Time Awards Determinations," discloses a system for
facilitating transactions with real-time awards determinations for
a cardholder, in which the award may be provided to the cardholder
as a credit on the cardholder's statement.
[0020] The disclosures of the above discussed patent documents are
hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0021] The present application includes systems and methods
configured to further improve the overall system performances,
including interoperability, transaction integrity, efficiency in
processing payments in combination with offers, time delay in
processing, resource allocation, etc., and/or to provide enhanced
services.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not
limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which
like references indicate similar elements.
[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates a system to provide services based on
transaction data according to one embodiment.
[0024] FIG. 2 illustrates the generation of an aggregated spending
profile according to one embodiment.
[0025] FIG. 3 shows a method to generate an aggregated spending
profile according to one embodiment.
[0026] FIG. 4 shows a system to provide information based on
transaction data according to one embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates a transaction terminal according to one
embodiment.
[0028] FIG. 6 illustrates an account identifying device according
to one embodiment.
[0029] FIG. 7 illustrates a data processing system according to one
embodiment.
[0030] FIG. 8 shows the structure of account data for providing
loyalty programs according to one embodiment.
[0031] FIG. 9 shows a system to provide real-time messages
according to one embodiment.
[0032] FIG. 10 shows a method to provide real-time messages
according to one embodiment.
[0033] FIG. 11 shows a system configured to communicate via a
merchant aggregator according to one embodiment.
[0034] FIG. 12 shows a system to enroll a merchant according to one
embodiment.
[0035] FIG. 13 shows a method to provide real-time notifications of
transactions according to one embodiment.
[0036] FIG. 14 illustrates a system to provide generalized
notifications to facilitate diverse services according to one
embodiment.
[0037] FIG. 15 illustrates a method to provide generalized
notifications according to one embodiment.
[0038] FIG. 16 shows a system to provide third party statement
credits according to one embodiment.
[0039] FIG. 17 shows a method to provide third party statement
credits according to one embodiment.
[0040] FIG. 18 shows another system to provide third party
statement credits according to one embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Introduction
[0041] To facilitate automated offer redemption, data associating
offers with account information identifying the consumer accounts
or payment accounts of the users can be stored in a data warehouse
coupled with a transaction handler of a payment processing network.
For example, in one embodiment of associating offers with
consumer/payment accounts, a portal of the transaction handler is
configured to store data representing offers, and to associate user
selected offers with the financial accounts of the respective
users, if the users select advertisements containing the offers.
When the financial accounts are used to make payments processed by
the transaction handler for purchases that satisfy the respective
redemption conditions of the offers, the transaction handler and/or
the portal are configured to detect such payment transactions and
fulfill the offers in an automated way.
[0042] For example, the advertisement providing the offer can be
configured to have multiple selectable regions when the
advertisement is presented in a web browser of a user. Examples of
offers include discounts, incentives, rebates, coupons, rewards,
cash back, etc. One of the selectable-regions contains a Uniform
Resource Locator (URL) of the advertiser or merchant, which, when
selected, directs the user to the website of the advertiser or
merchant. A separate one of the selectable regions contains a
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the portal of the transaction
handler, which, when selected, directs the user to the portal for
access to a user interface to register the offer with a financial
account of the user. Examples of financial accounts of users
include credit card accounts, debit card accounts, prepaid card
accounts, bank accounts, etc. Some details and examples about
associating offers with financial accounts are provided in U.S.
Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0125565, entitled "Systems and Methods for
Multi-Channel Offer Redemption."
[0043] After the offer is associated with the financial account of
the user, the transaction handler and/or the portal are configured
to detect that the user is making a payment using the financial
account for a purchase that satisfies the redemption requirements
of the offer. In response to the detection, the portal may
optionally notify the user of the eligibility of the redemption of
the offer using a communication reference associated with the
financial account, and the transaction handler and/or the portal
are configured to automate the processing of the offer for
redemption, such as using the split-payment embodiment identified
above, or via statement credits to the financial account of the
user, or via benefits afforded via a loyalty program, such as
reward points, loyalty points, etc. Some details and examples about
offer fulfillment operations are provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub.
No. 2011/0125565, entitled "Systems and Methods for Multi-Channel
Offer Redemption."
[0044] Since the transaction handler records the transaction data
for transactions made in various purchase channels, such as online
marketplaces, offline in retail stores, phone orders, etc., the
registered offer can be redeemed in an automated way, without being
limited by the channel used to make the purchase and limited by the
context of the purchase. Thus, the system provides a normalized,
real-time, online and offline, redemption service for offers in
combination with, and integrated with, the processing of payment
transactions.
[0045] In one embodiment, trigger records are generated for the
transaction handler to identify authorization requests that satisfy
the conditions specified in the trigger records, identify
communication references of the users associated with the
identified authorization requests, and use the communication
references to target real-time messages at the users in parallel
with the transaction handler providing responses to the respective
authorization requests. Details in one embodiment regarding the
generation and delivery of messages in real-time with the
processing of transactions are provided in the section entitled
"REAL-TIME MESSAGES."
[0046] In one embodiment, transaction information about
transactions between enrolled merchants and enrolled account
holders is provided to a merchant aggregator, which enrolls the
merchants and account holders for enhanced communications with
merchants and account holders. The transaction information is
provided in real-time or concurrently with the processing of the
respective transaction requests at the transaction handler. Details
and examples in one embodiment regarding the communication via the
merchant aggregator are provided in the section entitled "MERCHANT
AGGREGATOR."
[0047] In one embodiment, generalized notifications are provided to
intermediate service providers, which may use the generalized
notifications to provide services, such as customized
notifications, security alerts, offers, benefit redemptions, etc.
Thus, the computing apparatus can be configured to use the same
generic notification service to provide the relevant information in
a generic way to various intermediate service providers, which can
better customize their services to meet the needs of their
customers. Details and examples in one embodiment regarding the
generic notifications are provided in the section entitled
"GENERALIZED NOTIFICATION."
[0048] In one embodiment, a mechanism is provided to allow a third
party, not involved in a payment transaction made in a payment
account of a user for a purchase from a merchant, to provide a
credit to the payment account as an offer benefit redeemed in view
of the payment transaction. Details and examples in one embodiment
regarding such a mechanism are provided in the section entitled
"THIRD PARTY STATEMENT CREDITS."
[0049] The transaction data, such as records of transactions made
via credit accounts, debit accounts, prepaid accounts, bank
accounts, stored value accounts and the like, can be further
processed to optionally provide information for various services,
such as reporting, benchmarking, advertising, content or offer
selection, customization, personalization, prioritization, etc. In
one embodiment of improving privacy protections, users are required
to enroll in a service program and provide consent to allow the
system to use related transaction data and/or other data for the
related services, and the system is configured to provide the
services while protecting the privacy of the users in accordance
with the enrollment agreement and user consent.
[0050] For example, based on the transaction data, an advertising
network in one embodiment is provided to present personalized or
targeted advertisements/offers on behalf of advertisers. A
computing apparatus of, or associated with, the transaction handler
uses the transaction data and/or other data, such as account data,
merchant data, search data, social networking data, web data, etc.,
to develop intelligence information about individual customers, or
certain types or groups of customers. The intelligence information
can be used to select, identify, generate, adjust, prioritize,
and/or personalize advertisements/offers to the customers. The
transaction handler may be further automated to process the
advertisement fees charged to the advertisers, using the accounts
of the advertisers, in response to the advertising activities.
Transaction Data Based Services
[0051] FIG. 1 illustrates a system to provide services based on
transaction data according to one embodiment. In FIG. 1, the system
includes a transaction terminal (105) to initiate financial
transactions for a user (101), a transaction handler (103) to
generate transaction data (109) from processing the financial
transactions of the user (101) (and the financial transactions of
other users), a profile generator (121) to generate transaction
profiles (127) based on the transaction data (109) to provide
information/intelligence about user preferences and spending
patterns, a point of interaction (107) to provide information
and/or offers to the user (101), a user tracker (113) to generate
user data (125) to identify the user (101) using the point of
interaction (107), a profile selector (129) to select a profile
(131) specific to the user (101) identified by the user data (125),
and an advertisement selector (133) to select, identify, generate,
adjust, prioritize and/or personalize advertisements for
presentation to the user (101) on the point of interaction (107)
via a media controller (115).
[0052] In FIG. 1, the system further includes a correlator (117) to
correlate user specific advertisement data (119) with transactions
resulting from the user specific advertisement data (119). The
correlation results (123) can be used by the profile generator
(121) to improve the transaction profiles (127).
[0053] The transaction profiles (127) of one embodiment are
generated from the transaction data (109) in a way as illustrated
in FIGS. 2 and 3. For example, in FIG. 2, an aggregated spending
profile (341) is generated via the factor analysis (327) and
cluster analysis (329) to summarize (335) the spending
patterns/behaviors reflected in the transaction records (301).
[0054] In one embodiment, a data warehouse (149) as illustrated in
FIG. 4 is coupled with the transaction handler (103) to store the
transaction data (109) and other data, such as account data (111),
transaction profiles (127) and correlation results (123). In FIG.
4, a portal (143) is coupled with the data warehouse (149) to
provide data or information derived from the transaction data
(109), in response to a query request from a third party or as an
alert or notification message.
[0055] In FIG. 4, the transaction handler (103) is coupled between
an issuer processor (145) in control of a consumer account (146)
and an acquirer processor (147) in control of a merchant account
(148). An account identification device (141) is configured to
carry the account information (142) that identifies the consumer
account (146) with the issuer processor (145) and provide the
account information (142) to the transaction terminal (105) of a
merchant to initiate a transaction between the user (101) and the
merchant.
[0056] FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate examples of transaction terminals
(105) and account identification devices (141). FIG. 7 illustrates
the structure of a data processing system (170) that can be used to
implement, with more or fewer elements, at least some of the
components in the system, such as the point of interaction (107),
the transaction handler (103), the portal (143), the data
warehouse, the account identification device (141), the transaction
terminal (105), the user tracker (113), the profile generator
(121), the profile selector (129), the advertisement selector
(133), the media controller (115), etc. Some embodiments use more
or fewer components than those illustrated, such as, in FIGS. 1,
4-7, and other figures, as further discussed in the section
entitled "VARIATIONS."
[0057] In one embodiment, the transaction data (109) relates to
financial transactions processed by the transaction handler (103);
and the account data (111) relates to information about the account
holders involved in the transactions. Further data, such as
merchant data that relates to the location, business, products
and/or services of the merchants that receive payments from account
holders for their purchases, can be used in the generation of the
transaction profiles (127, 341).
[0058] In one embodiment, the financial transactions are made via
an account identification device (141), such as financial
transaction cards (e.g., credit cards, debit cards, banking cards,
etc.); the financial transaction cards may be embodied in various
devices, such as plastic cards, chips, radio frequency
identification (RFID) devices, mobile phones, personal digital
assistants (PDAs), etc.; and the financial transaction cards may be
represented by account identifiers (e.g., account numbers or
aliases). In one embodiment, the financial transactions are made
via directly using the account information (142), without
physically presenting the account identification device (141).
[0059] Further features, modifications and details are provided in
various sections of this description.
Centralized Data Warehouse
[0060] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) couples
with a centralized data warehouse (149) organized around the
transaction data (109). For example, the centralized data warehouse
(149) may include, and/or support the determination of, spend band
distribution, transaction count and amount, merchant categories,
merchant by state, cardholder segmentation by velocity scores, and
spending within merchant target, competitive set and cross-section.
For example, the centralized data warehouse (149) may include the
advertisement data (135) and/or offers of benefits such as
discount, reward, points, cashback, etc. The offers can be
communicated to the users (e.g., 101) via the advertisement data
(135) or as part of the advertisement data (135).
[0061] In one embodiment, the centralized data warehouse (149)
provides centralized management but allows decentralized execution.
For example, a third party strategic marketing analyst,
statistician, marketer, promoter, business leader, etc., may access
the centralized data warehouse (149) to analyze customer and
shopper data, to provide follow-up analyses of customer
contributions, to develop propensity models for increased
conversion of marketing campaigns, to develop segmentation models
for marketing, etc. The centralized data warehouse (149) can be
used to manage advertisement campaigns and analyze response
profitability.
[0062] In one embodiment, the centralized data warehouse (149)
includes merchant data (e.g., data about sellers),
customer/business data (e.g., data about buyers), and transaction
records (301) between sellers and buyers over time. The centralized
data warehouse (149) can be used to support corporate sales
forecasting, fraud analysis reporting, sales/customer relationship
management (CRM) business intelligence, credit risk prediction and
analysis, advanced authorization reporting, merchant benchmarking,
business intelligence for small business, rewards, etc.
[0063] In one embodiment, the transaction data (109) is combined
with external data, such as surveys, benchmarks, search engine
statistics, demographics, competition information, emails, etc., to
flag key events and data values, to set customer, merchant, data or
event triggers, and to drive new transactions and new customer
contacts.
Transaction Profile
[0064] In FIG. 1, the profile generator (121) generates transaction
profiles (127) based on the transaction data (109), the account
data (111), and/or other data, such as non-transactional data, wish
lists, merchant provided information, address information,
information from social network websites, information from credit
bureaus, information from search engines, and other examples
discussed in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0054981, entitled
"Analyzing Local Non-Transactional Data with Transactional Data in
Predictive Models," the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated
herein by reference.
[0065] In one embodiment, the transaction profiles (127) provide
intelligence information on the behavior, pattern, preference,
propensity, tendency, frequency, trend, and budget of the user
(101) in making purchases. In one embodiment, the transaction
profiles (127) include information about what the user (101) owns,
such as points, miles, or other rewards currency, available credit,
and received offers, such as coupons loaded into the accounts of
the user (101). In one embodiment, the transaction profiles (127)
include information based on past offer/coupon redemption patterns.
In one embodiment, the transaction profiles (127) include
information on shopping patterns in retail stores as well as
online, including frequency of shopping, amount spent in each
shopping trip, distance of merchant location (retail) from the
address of the account holder(s), etc.
[0066] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) (and/or the
portal (143)) is configured to provide at least part of the
intelligence for the prioritization, generation, selection,
customization and/or adjustment of the advertisement for delivery
within a transaction process involving the transaction handler
(103). For example, the advertisement may be presented to a
customer in response to the customer making a payment via the
transaction handler (103).
[0067] Some of the transaction profiles (127) are specific to the
user (101), or to an account of the user (101), or to a group of
users of which the user (101) is a member, such as a household,
family, company, neighborhood, city, or group identified by certain
characteristics related to online activities, offline purchase
activities, merchant propensity, etc.
[0068] The profile generator (121) may generate and update the
transaction profiles (127) in batch mode periodically, or generates
the transaction profiles (127) in real time, or just in time, in
response to a request received in the portal (143) for such
profiles.
[0069] The transaction profiles (127) of one embodiment include the
values for a set of parameters. Computing the values of the
parameters may involve counting transactions that meet one or more
criteria, and/or building a statistically-based model in which one
or more calculated values or transformed values are put into a
statistical algorithm that weights each value to optimize its
collective predictiveness for various predetermined purposes.
[0070] Further details and examples about the transaction profiles
(127) in one embodiment are provided in the section entitled
"AGGREGATED SPENDING PROFILE."
Non-Transactional Data
[0071] In one embodiment, the transaction data (109) is analyzed in
connection with non-transactional data to generate transaction
profiles (127) and/or to make predictive models.
[0072] In one embodiment, transactions are correlated with
non-transactional events, such as news, conferences, shows,
announcements, market changes, natural disasters, etc. to establish
cause and effect relations to predict future transactions or
spending patterns. For example, non-transactional data may include
the geographic location of a news event, the date of an event from
an events calendar, the name of a performer for an upcoming
concert, etc. The non-transactional data can be obtained from
various sources, such as newspapers, websites, blogs, social
networking sites, etc.
[0073] When the cause and effect relationships between the
transactions and non-transactional events are known (e.g., based on
prior research results, domain knowledge, expertise), the
relationships can be used in predictive models to predict future
transactions or spending patterns, based on events that occurred
recently or are happening in real time.
[0074] In one embodiment, the non-transactional data relates to
events that happened in a geographical area local to the user (101)
that performed the respective transactions. In one embodiment, a
geographical area is local to the user (101) when the distance from
the user (101) to locations in the geographical area is within a
convenient range for daily or regular travel, such as 20, 50 or 100
miles from an address of the user (101), or within the same city or
zip code area of an address of the user (101). Examples of analyses
of local non-transactional data in connection with transaction data
(109) in one embodiment are provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.
2011/0054981, entitled "Analyzing Local Non-Transactional Data with
Transactional Data in Predictive Models," the disclosure of which
is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0075] In one embodiment, the non-transactional data is not limited
to local non-transactional data. For example, national
non-transactional data can also be used.
[0076] In one embodiment, the transaction records (301) are
analyzed in frequency domain to identify periodic features in
spending events. The periodic features in the past transaction
records (301) can be used to predict the probability of a time
window in which a similar transaction would occur. For example, the
analysis of the transaction data (109) can be used to predict when
a next transaction having the periodic feature would occur, with
which merchant, the probability of a repeated transaction with a
certain amount, the probability of exception, the opportunity to
provide an advertisement or offer such as a coupon, etc. In one
embodiment, the periodic features are detected through counting the
number of occurrences of pairs of transactions that occurred within
a set of predetermined time intervals and separating the
transaction pairs based on the time intervals. Some examples and
techniques for the prediction of future transactions based on the
detection of periodic features in one embodiment are provided in
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0280882, entitled "Frequency-Based
Transaction Prediction and Processing," the disclosure of which is
hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0077] Techniques and details of predictive modeling in one
embodiment are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,119,103, 6,018,723,
6,658,393, 6,598,030, and 7,227,950, the disclosures of which are
hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0078] In one embodiment, offers are based on the point-of-service
to offeree distance to allow the user (101) to obtain in-person
services. In one embodiment, the offers are selected based on
transaction history and shopping patterns in the transaction data
(109) and/or the distance between the user (101) and the merchant.
In one embodiment, offers are provided in response to a request
from the user (101), or in response to a detection of the location
of the user (101). Examples and details of at least one embodiment
are provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0319843, entitled
"Supply of Requested Offer Based on Point-of Service to Offeree
Distance," U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2008/0300973, entitled "Supply
of Requested Offer Based on Offeree Transaction History," U.S. Pat.
App. Pub. No. 2009/0076896, entitled "Merchant Supplied Offer to a
Consumer within a Predetermined Distance," U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.
2009/0076925, entitled "Offeree Requested Offer Based on Point-of
Service to Offeree Distance," and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.
2010/0274627, entitled "Receiving an Announcement Triggered by
Location Data," the disclosures of which applications are hereby
incorporated herein by reference.
Targeting Advertisement
[0079] In FIG. 1, an advertisement selector (133) prioritizes,
generates, selects, adjusts, and/or customizes the available
advertisement data (135) to provide user specific advertisement
data (119) based at least in part on the user specific profile
(131). The advertisement selector (133) uses the user specific
profile (131) as a filter and/or a set of criteria to generate,
identify, select and/or prioritize advertisement data for the user
(101). A media controller (115) delivers the user specific
advertisement data (119) to the point of interaction (107) for
presentation to the user (101) as the targeted and/or personalized
advertisement.
[0080] In one embodiment, the user data (125) includes the
characterization of the context at the point of interaction (107).
Thus, the use of the user specific profile (131), selected using
the user data (125), includes the consideration of the context at
the point of interaction (107) in selecting the user specific
advertisement data (119).
[0081] In one embodiment, in selecting the user specific
advertisement data (119), the advertisement selector (133) uses not
only the user specific profile (131), but also information
regarding the context at the point of interaction (107). For
example, in one embodiment, the user data (125) includes
information regarding the context at the point of interaction
(107); and the advertisement selector (133) explicitly uses the
context information in the generation or selection of the user
specific advertisement data (119).
[0082] In one embodiment, the advertisement selector (133) may
query for specific information regarding the user (101) before
providing the user specific advertisement data (119). The queries
may be communicated to the operator of the transaction handler
(103) and, in particular, to the transaction handler (103) or the
profile generator (121). For example, the queries from the
advertisement selector (133) may be transmitted and received in
accordance with an application programming interface or other query
interface of the transaction handler (103), the profile generator
(121) or the portal (143) of the transaction handler (103).
[0083] In one embodiment, the queries communicated from the
advertisement selector (133) may request intelligence information
regarding the user (101) at any level of specificity (e.g., segment
level, individual level). For example, the queries may include a
request for a certain field or type of information in a
cardholder's aggregate spending profile (341). As another example,
the queries may include a request for the spending level of the
user (101) in a certain merchant category over a prior time period
(e.g., six months).
[0084] In one embodiment, the advertisement selector (133) is
operated by an entity that is separate from the entity that
operates the transaction handler (103). For example, the
advertisement selector (133) may be operated by a search engine, a
publisher, an advertiser, an ad network, or an online merchant. The
user specific profile (131) is provided to the advertisement
selector (133) to assist the customization of the user specific
advertisement data (119).
[0085] In one embodiment, advertising is targeted based on shopping
patterns in a merchant category (e.g., as represented by a Merchant
Category Code (MCC)) that has high correlation of spending
propensity with other merchant categories (e.g., other MCCs). For
example, in the context of a first MCC for a targeted audience, a
profile identifying second MCCs that have high correlation of
spending propensity with the first MCC can be used to select
advertisements for the targeted audience.
[0086] In one embodiment, the aggregated spending profile (341) is
used to provide intelligence information about the spending
patterns, preferences, and/or trends of the user (101). For
example, a predictive model can be established based on the
aggregated spending profile (341) to estimate the needs of the user
(101). For example, the factor values (344) and/or the cluster ID
(343) in the aggregated spending profile (341) can be used to
determine the spending preferences of the user (101). For example,
the channel distribution (345) in the aggregated spending profile
(341) can be used to provide a customized offer targeted for a
particular channel, based on the spending patterns of the user
(101).
[0087] Further details about targeted offer delivery in one
embodiment are provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0030644,
entitled "Targeted Advertising by Payment Processor History of
Cashless Acquired Merchant Transaction on Issued Consumer Account,"
and in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0035280, entitled "Systems and
Methods for Targeted Advertisement Delivery," the disclosures of
which applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Profile Matching
[0088] In FIG. 1, the user tracker (113) obtains and generates
context information about the user (101) at the point of
interaction (107), including user data (125) that characterizes
and/or identifies the user (101). The profile selector (129)
selects a user specific profile (131) from the set of transaction
profiles (127) generated by the profile generator (121), based on
matching the characteristics of the transaction profiles (127) and
the characteristics of the user data (125). For example, the user
data (125) indicates a set of characteristics of the user (101);
and the profile selector (129) selects the user specific profile
(131) that is for a particular user or a group of users and that
best matches the set of characteristics specified by the user data
(125).
[0089] In one embodiment, the profile selector (129) receives the
transaction profiles (127) in a batch mode. The profile selector
(129) selects the user specific profile (131) from the batch of
transaction profiles (127) based on the user data (125).
Alternatively, the profile generator (121) generates the
transaction profiles (127) in real time; and the profile selector
(129) uses the user data (125) to query the profile generator (121)
to generate the user specific profile (131) in real time, or just
in time. The profile generator (121) generates the user specific
profile (131) that best matches the user data (125).
[0090] In one embodiment, the user tracker (113) identifies the
user (101) based on the user activity on the transaction terminal
(105) (e.g., having visited a set of websites, currently visiting a
type of web pages, search behavior, etc.).
[0091] In one embodiment, the user data (125) includes an
identifier of the user (101), such as a global unique identifier
(GUID), a personal account number (PAN) (e.g., credit card number,
debit card number, or other card account number), or other
identifiers that uniquely and persistently identify the user (101)
within a set of identifiers of the same type. Alternatively, the
user data (125) may include other identifiers, such as an Internet
Protocol (IP) address of the user (101), a name or user name of the
user (101), or a browser cookie ID, which identify the user (101)
in a local, temporary, transient and/or anonymous manner. Some of
these identifiers of the user (101) may be provided by publishers,
advertisers, ad networks, search engines, merchants, or the user
tracker (113). In one embodiment, such identifiers are correlated
to the user (101) based on the overlapping or proximity of the time
period of their usage to establish an identification reference
table.
[0092] In one embodiment, the identification reference table is
used to identify the account information (142) (e.g., account
number (302)) based on characteristics of the user (101) captured
in the user data (125), such as browser cookie ID, IP addresses,
and/or timestamps on the usage of the IP addresses. In one
embodiment, the identification reference table is maintained by the
operator of the transaction handler (103). Alternatively, the
identification reference table is maintained by an entity other
than the operator of the transaction handler (103).
[0093] In one embodiment, the user tracker (113) determines certain
characteristics of the user (101) to describe a type or group of
users of which the user (101) is a member. The transaction profile
of the group is used as the user specific profile (131). Examples
of such characteristics include geographical location or
neighborhood, types of online activities, specific online
activities, or merchant propensity. In one embodiment, the groups
are defined based on aggregate information (e.g., by time of day,
or household), or segment (e.g., by cluster, propensity,
demographics, cluster IDs, and/or factor values). In one
embodiment, the groups are defined in part via one or more social
networks. For example, a group may be defined based on social
distances to one or more users on a social network website,
interactions between users on a social network website, and/or
common data in social network profiles of the users in the social
network website.
[0094] In one embodiment, the user data (125) may match different
profiles at a different granularity or resolution (e.g., account,
user, family, company, neighborhood, etc.), with different degrees
of certainty. The profile selector (129) and/or the profile
generator (121) may determine or select the user specific profile
(131) with the finest granularity or resolution with acceptable
certainty. Thus, the user specific profile (131) is most specific
or closely related to the user (101).
[0095] In one embodiment, the advertisement selector (133) uses
further data in prioritizing, selecting, generating, customizing
and adjusting the user specific advertisement data (119). For
example, the advertisement selector (133) may use search data in
combination with the user specific profile (131) to provide
benefits or offers to a user (101) at the point of interaction
(107). For example, the user specific profile (131) can be used to
personalize the advertisement, such as adjusting the placement of
the advertisement relative to other advertisements, adjusting the
appearance of the advertisement, etc.
Browser Cookie
[0096] In one embodiment, the user data (125) uses browser cookie
information to identify the user (101). The browser cookie
information is matched to account information (142) or the account
number (302) to identify the user specific profile (131), such as
aggregated spending profile (341) to present effective, timely, and
relevant marketing information to the user (101), via the preferred
communication channel (e.g., mobile communications, web, mail,
email, POS, etc.) within a window of time that could influence the
spending behavior of the user (101). Based on the transaction data
(109), the user specific profile (131) can improve audience
targeting for online advertising. Thus, customers will get better
advertisements and offers presented to them; and the advertisers
will achieve better return-on-investment for their advertisement
campaigns.
[0097] In one embodiment, the browser cookie that identifies the
user (101) in online activities, such as web browsing, online
searching, and using social networking applications, can be matched
to an identifier of the user (101) in account data (111), such as
the account number (302) of a financial payment card of the user
(101) or the account information (142) of the account
identification device (141) of the user (101). In one embodiment,
the identifier of the user (101) can be uniquely identified via
matching IP address, timestamp, cookie ID and/or other user data
(125) observed by the user tracker (113).
[0098] In one embodiment, a look up table is used to map browser
cookie information (e.g., IP address, timestamp, cookie ID) to the
account data (111) that identifies the user (101) in the
transaction handler (103). The look up table may be established via
correlating overlapping or common portions of the user data (125)
observed by different entities or different user trackers
(113).
[0099] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to
identify the consumer account (146) based on the IP address
identified in the user data (125) through mapping the IP address to
a street address.
[0100] In one embodiment, the portal (143) uses a plurality of
methods to identify consumer accounts (146) based on the user data
(125). The portal (143) combines the results from the different
methods to determine the most likely consumer account (146) for the
user data (125).
[0101] Details about the identification of consumer account (146)
based on user data (125) in one embodiment are provided in U.S.
Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0093327, entitled "Systems and Methods to
Match Identifiers," the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated
herein by reference.
Close the Loop
[0102] In one embodiment, the correlator (117) is used to "close
the loop" for the tracking of consumer behavior across an on-line
activity and an "off-line" activity that results at least in part
from the on-line activity. In one embodiment, online activities,
such as searching, web browsing, social networking, and/or
consuming online advertisements, are correlated with respective
transactions to generate the correlation result (123) in FIG. 1.
The respective transactions may occur offline, in "brick and
mortar" retail stores, or online but in a context outside the
online activities, such as a credit card purchase that is performed
in a way not visible to a search company that facilitates the
search activities.
[0103] The correlator (117) is configured in one embodiment to
identify transactions resulting from searches or online
advertisements. For example, in response to a query about the user
(101) from the user tracker (113), the correlator (117) identifies
an offline transaction performed by the user (101) and sends the
correlation result (123) about the offline transaction to the user
tracker (113), which allows the user tracker (113) to combine the
information about the offline transaction and the online activities
to provide significant marketing advantages.
[0104] For example, a marketing department could correlate an
advertising budget to actual sales. For example, a marketer can use
the correlation result (123) to study the effect of certain
prioritization strategies, customization schemes, etc. on the
impact on the actual sales. For example, the correlation result
(123) can be used to adjust or prioritize advertisement placement
on a web site, a search engine, a social networking site, an online
marketplace, or the like.
[0105] In one embodiment, the profile generator (121) uses the
correlation result (123) to augment the transaction profiles (127)
with data indicating the rate of conversion from searches or
advertisements to purchase transactions. In one embodiment, the
correlation result (123) is used to generate predictive models to
determine what a user (101) is likely to purchase when the user
(101) is searching using certain keywords or when the user (101) is
presented with an advertisement or offer. In one embodiment, the
portal (143) is configured to report the correlation result (123)
to a partner, such as a search engine, a publisher, or a merchant,
to allow the partner to use the correlation result (123) to measure
the effectiveness of advertisements and/or search result
customization, to arrange rewards, etc.
[0106] In one embodiment, the correlator (117) matches the online
activities and the transactions based on matching the user data
(125) provided by the user tracker (113) and the records of the
transactions, such as transaction data (109) or transaction records
(301). In another embodiment, the correlator (117) matches the
online activities and the transactions based on the redemption of
offers/benefits provided in the user specific advertisement data
(119).
[0107] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to receive
a set of conditions and an identification of the user (101),
determine whether there is any transaction of the user (101) that
satisfies the set of conditions, and if so, provide indications of
the transactions that satisfy the conditions and/or certain details
about the transactions, which allows the requester to correlate the
transactions with certain user activities, such as searching, web
browsing, consuming advertisements, etc.
[0108] In one embodiment, the requester may not know the account
number (302) of the user (101); and the portal (143) is to map the
identifier provided in the request to the account number (302) of
the user (101) to provide the requested information. Examples of
the identifier being provided in the request to identify the user
(101) include an identification of an iFrame of a web page visited
by the user (101), a browser cookie ID, an IP address and the day
and time corresponding to the use of the IP address, etc.
[0109] The information provided by the portal (143) can be used in
pre-purchase marketing activities, such as customizing content or
offers, prioritizing content or offers, selecting content or
offers, etc., based on the spending pattern of the user (101). The
content that is customized, prioritized, selected, or recommended
may be the search results, blog entries, items for sale, etc.
[0110] The information provided by the portal (143) can be used in
post-purchase activities. For example, the information can be used
to correlate an offline purchase with online activities. For
example, the information can be used to determine purchases made in
response to media events, such as television programs,
advertisements, news announcements, etc.
[0111] Details about profile delivery, online activity to offline
purchase tracking, techniques to identify the user specific profile
(131) based on user data (125) (such as IP addresses), and targeted
delivery of advertisement/offer/benefit in some embodiments are
provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0035278, entitled "Systems
and Methods for Closing the Loop between Online Activities and
Offline Purchases," the disclosure of which application is
incorporated herein by reference.
Loyalty Program
[0112] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) uses the
account data (111) to store information for third party loyalty
programs.
[0113] FIG. 8 shows the structure of account data (111) for
providing loyalty programs according to one embodiment. In FIG. 8,
data related to a third party loyalty program may include an
identifier of the loyalty benefit offeror (183) that is linked to a
set of loyalty program rules (185) and loyalty record (187) for the
loyalty program activities of the account identifier (181). In one
embodiment, at least part of the data related to the third party
loyalty program is stored under the account identifier (181) of the
user (101), such as the loyalty record (187).
[0114] FIG. 8 illustrates the data related to one third party
loyalty program of a loyalty benefit offeror (183). In one
embodiment, the account identifier (181) may be linked to multiple
loyalty benefit offerors (e.g., 183), corresponding to different
third party loyalty programs. The third party loyalty program of
the loyalty benefit offeror (183) provides the user (101),
identified by the account identifier (181), with benefits, such as
discounts, rewards, incentives, cash back, gifts, coupons, and/or
privileges.
[0115] In one embodiment, the association between the account
identifier (181) and the loyalty benefit offeror (183) in the
account data (111) indicates that the user (101) having the account
identifier (181) is a member of the loyalty program. Thus, the user
(101) may use the account identifier (181) to access privileges
afforded to the members of the loyalty programs, such as rights to
access a member only area, facility, store, product or service,
discounts extended only to members, or opportunities to participate
in certain events, buy certain items, or receive certain services
reserved for members.
[0116] In one embodiment, it is not necessary to make a purchase to
use the privileges. The user (101) may enjoy the privileges based
on the status of being a member of the loyalty program. The user
(101) may use the account identifier (181) to show the status of
being a member of the loyalty program.
[0117] For example, the user (101) may provide the account
identifier (181) (e.g., the account number of a credit card) to the
transaction terminal (105) to initiate an authorization process for
a special transaction which is designed to check the member status
of the user (101), as if the account identifier (181) were used to
initiate an authorization process for a payment transaction. The
special transaction is designed to verify the member status of the
user (101) via checking whether the account data (111) is
associated with the loyalty benefit offeror (183). If the account
identifier (181) is associated with the corresponding loyalty
benefit offeror (183), the transaction handler (103) provides an
approval indication in the authorization process to indicate that
the user (101) is a member of the loyalty program. The approval
indication can be used as a form of identification to allow the
user (101) to access member privileges, such as access to services,
products, opportunities, facilities, discounts, permissions, which
are reserved for members.
[0118] In one embodiment, when the account identifier (181) is used
to identify the user (101) as a member to access member privileges,
the transaction handler (103) stores information about the access
of the corresponding member privilege in loyalty record (187). The
profile generator (121) may use the information accumulated in the
loyalty record (187) to enhance transaction profiles (127) and
provide the user (101) with personalized/targeted advertisements,
with or without further offers of benefit (e.g., discounts,
incentives, rebates, cash back, rewards, etc.).
[0119] In one embodiment, the association of the account identifier
(181) and the loyalty benefit offeror (183) also allows the loyalty
benefit offeror (183) to access at least a portion of the account
data (111) relevant to the loyalty program, such as the loyalty
record (187) and certain information about the user (101), such as
name, address, and other demographic data.
[0120] In one embodiment, the loyalty program allows the user (101)
to accumulate benefits according to loyalty program rules (185),
such as reward points, cash back, levels of discounts, etc. For
example, the user (101) may accumulate reward points for
transactions that satisfy the loyalty program rules (185); and the
user (101) may use the reward points to redeem cash, gift,
discounts, etc. In one embodiment, the loyalty record (187) stores
the accumulated benefits; and the transaction handler (103) updates
the loyalty record (187) associated with the loyalty benefit
offeror (183) and the account identifier (181), when events that
satisfy the loyalty program rules occur.
[0121] In one embodiment, the accumulated benefits as indicated in
the loyalty record (187) can be redeemed when the account
identifier (181) is used to perform a payment transaction, when the
payment transaction satisfies the loyalty program rules. For
example, the user (101) may redeem a number of points to offset or
reduce an amount of the purchase price.
[0122] Details on loyalty programs in one embodiment are provided
in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2011/0087530, entitled "Systems and
Methods to Provide Loyalty Programs," the disclosure of which is
hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Real-Time Messages
[0123] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is
configured to cooperate with the media controller (115) to
facilitate real-time interaction with the user (101) when the
payment of the user (101) is being processed by the transaction
handler (103). The real-time interaction provides the opportunity
to impact the user experience during the purchase (e.g., at the
time of card swipe), through delivering messages in real-time to a
point of interaction (107), such as a mobile phone, a personal
digital assistant, a portable computer, etc. The real-time message
can be delivered via short message service (SMS), email, instant
messaging, or other communications protocols.
[0124] In one embodiment, the real-time message is provided without
requiring modifications to existing systems used by the merchants
and/or issuers.
[0125] FIG. 9 shows a system to provide real-time messages
according to one embodiment. In FIG. 9, the transaction handler
(103) (or a separate computing system coupled with the transaction
handler (103)) is to detect the occurrence of certain transactions
of interest during the processing of the authorization requests
received from the transaction terminal (105); a message broker
(201) is to identify a relevant message for the user (101)
associated with the corresponding authorization request; and the
media controller (115) is to provide the message to the user (101)
at the point of interaction (107) via a communication channel
separate from the channel used by the transaction handler (103) to
respond to the corresponding authorization request submitted from
the transaction terminal (105).
[0126] In one embodiment, the media controller (115) is to provide
the message to the point of interaction (107) in parallel with the
transaction handler (103) providing the response to the
authorization request.
[0127] In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) receives
the message from the media controller (115) in real-time with the
transaction handler (103) processing the authorization request. In
one embodiment, the message is to arrive at the point of
interaction (107) in the context of the response provided from the
transaction handler (103) to the transaction terminal (105). For
example, the message is to arrive at the point of interaction (107)
substantially at the same time as the response to the authorization
request arrives at the transaction terminal (105), or with a delay
not long enough to cause the user (101) to have the impression that
the message is in response to an action other than the payment
transaction. For example, the message is to arrive at the point of
interaction (107) prior to the user (101) completing the
transaction and leaving the transaction terminal (105), or prior to
the user (101) leaving the retail location of the merchant
operating the transaction terminal (105).
[0128] In FIG. 9, the system includes a portal (143) to provide
services to merchants and/or the user (101).
[0129] For example, in one embodiment, the portal (143) allows the
user (101) to register the communication reference (205) in
association with the account data (111), such as the account
information (142) of the consumer account (146); and the media
controller (115) is to use the communication reference (205) to
deliver the message to the point of interaction (107). Examples of
the communication reference (205) include a mobile phone number, an
email address, a user identifier of an instant messaging system, an
IP address, etc.
[0130] In one embodiment, the portal (143) allows merchants and/or
other parties to define rules (203) to provide offers (186) as
real-time responses to authorization requests; and based on the
offer rules (203), the message broker (201) is to generate, or
instruct the media controller (115) to generate, the real-time
message to provide the offers (186) to the user (101). For example,
the offer (186) may include a discount, incentive, reward, rebate,
gift, or other benefit, which can be redeemed upon the satisfaction
of certain conditions required by the offer rules (203). In one
embodiment, based on the offer rules (203) the message broker (201)
configures a message by selecting the appropriate message template
from (an) existing message(s) template(s), and inserts any relevant
data (e.g., the communication reference (205)) into the selected
template, then passes the configured message to the media
controller (115), which delivers the message to the point of
interaction (107). In one embodiment, the message broker (201) (or
a subsystem) is used to manage message templates along with the
rules for selecting the appropriate message template from among
several potential choices.
[0131] In one embodiment, the offer rules (203) include offer
details, targeting rules, advertisement campaign details, profile
mapping, creative mapping, qualification rules,
award/notify/fulfillment rules, approvals, etc. Creative elements
for offers include text, images, channels, approvals, etc.
[0132] In one embodiment, when the offer rules (203) are activated
by the merchant or advertiser via the portal (143), the message
broker (201) is to generate trigger records (207) for the
transaction handler (103). The transaction handler (103) is to
monitor the incoming authorization requests to identify requests
that satisfy the conditions specified in the trigger records (207)
during the process of the authorization requests, and to provide
the information about the identified requests to the message broker
(201) for the transmission of an appropriate real-time message in
accordance with the offer rules (203).
[0133] In one embodiment, the generation of the trigger records
(207) for the transaction handler (103) is in real-time with the
merchant or advertiser activating the offer rules (203). Thus, the
offer rules (203) can be activated and used for the detection of
the new authorization requests in real-time, while the transaction
handler (103) continues to process the incoming authorization
requests.
[0134] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides information
about the spending behaviors reflected in the transaction data
(109) to assist the merchants or advertisers to target offers or
advertisements. For example, in one embodiment, the portal (143)
allows merchants to target the offers (186) based on transaction
profiles (127). For example, the offer rules (203) are partially
based on the values in a transaction profile (127), such as an
aggregated spending profile (341). In one embodiment, the offer
rules (203) are partially based on the information about the last
purchase of the user (101) from the merchant operating the
transaction terminal (105) (or another merchant), and/or the
information about the location of the user (101), such as the
location determined based on the location of the transaction
terminal (105) and/or the location of the merchant operating the
transaction terminal (105).
[0135] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides transaction
based statistics, such as merchant benchmarking statistics,
industry/market segmentation, etc., to assist merchants and
advertisers to identify customers.
[0136] Thus, the real-time messages can be used to influence
customer behaviors while the customers are in the purchase
mode.
[0137] In one embodiment, the benefit of the offers (186) can be
redeemed via the transaction handler (103). The redemption of the
offer (186) may or may not require the purchase details (e.g., SKU
level purchase details). Details in one embodiment about redeeming
offers (186) via the transaction handler (103) are provided in U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 13/113,710, filed May 23, 2011,
assigned Pub. No. 2011/0288918 and entitled "Systems and Methods
for Redemption of Offers," the disclosure of which is hereby
incorporated herein by reference.
[0138] In one embodiment, when the authorization request for a
purchase indicates that the purchase qualifies the offer (186) for
redemption if the purchase corresponding to the authorization
request is completed, the message broker (201) is to construct a
message and use the media controller (115) to deliver the message
in real-time with the processing of the authorization request to
the point of interaction (107). The message informs the user (101)
that when the purchase is completed, the transaction handler (103)
and/or the issuer processor (145) is to provide the benefit of the
offer (186) to the user (101) via statement credit or some other
settlement value, for example points in a registered loyalty
program, or credit at the point of sale using a digital coupon
delivered to the purchaser via mobile phone.
[0139] In one embodiment, the settlement of the payment transaction
corresponding to the authorization request does not occur in
real-time with the processing of the authorization request. For
example, the merchant may submit the complete purchases for
settlement at the end of the day, or in accordance with a
predetermined schedule. The settlement may occur one or more days
after the processing of the authorization request.
[0140] In one embodiment, when transactions are settled, the
settled transactions are matched to the authorization requests to
identify offers (186) that are redeemable in view of the
settlement. When the offer (186) is confirmed to be redeemable
based on a record of successful settlement, the message broker
(201) is to use the media controller (115) to provide a message to
the point of interaction (107) of the user (101), such as the
mobile phone of the user (101). In one embodiment, the message is
to inform the user (101) of the benefit to be provided as statement
credits and/or to provide additional offers. In one embodiment, the
message to confirm the statement credits is transmitted in
real-time with the completion of the transaction settlement.
[0141] In one embodiment, the message broker (201) is to determine
the identity of the merchant based on the information included in
the authorization request transmitted from the transaction terminal
(105) to the transaction handler (103). In one embodiment, the
identity of the merchant is normalized to allow the application of
the offer rules (203) that are merchant specific.
[0142] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is to provide data
insight to merchants and/or advertisers. For example, the portal
(143) can provide the transaction profile (127) of the user (101),
audience segmentation information, etc.
[0143] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is to allow the
merchants and/or advertisers to define and manage offers (186) for
their creation, fulfillment and/or delivery in messages.
[0144] In one embodiment, the portal (143) allows the merchants
and/or advertisers to test, run and/or monitor the offers (186) for
their creation, fulfillment and/or delivery in messages.
[0145] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is to provide reports
and analytics regarding the offers (186).
[0146] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides operation
facilities, such as onboarding, contact management, certification,
file management, workflow assistance, etc. to assist the merchants
and/or advertisers to complete the tasks related to the offers
(186).
[0147] In one embodiment, the portal (143) allows the user (101) to
opt in or opt out of the real-time message delivery service.
[0148] In one embodiment, an advertiser or merchant can select an
offer fulfillment method from a list of options, such as statement
credits, points, gift cards, e-certificates, third party
fulfillment, etc.
[0149] In one embodiment, the merchant or advertiser is to use the
"off the rack" transaction profiles (127) available in the data
warehouse (149). In one embodiment, the merchant or advertiser can
further edit parameters to customize the generation of the
transaction profiles (127) and/or develop custom transaction
profiles from scratch using the portal (143).
[0150] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides a visualization
tool to allow the user to see clusters of data based on GeoCodes,
proximity, transaction volumes, spending patterns, zip codes,
customers, stores, etc.
[0151] In one embodiment, the portal (143) allows the merchant or
advertiser to define cells for targeting the customers in the cells
based on date/time, profile attributes, map to
offer/channel/creative, condition testing, etc.
[0152] In one embodiment, the portal (143) allows the merchant or
advertiser to monitor the system health, such as the condition of
servers, files received or sent, errors, status, etc., the
throughput by date or range, by program, by campaign, or by global
view, and aspects of current programs/offers/campaigns, such as
offer details, package audit reports, etc. In one embodiment,
reporting includes analytics and metrics, such as lift, conversion,
category differentials (e.g., spending patterns, transaction
volumes, peer groups), and reporting by program, campaign, cell,
GeoCode, proximity, ad-hoc, auditing, etc.
[0153] FIG. 10 shows a method to provide real-time messages
according to one embodiment. In FIG. 10, a computing apparatus is
to generate (211) a trigger record (207) for a transaction handler
(103) to identify an authorization request that satisfies the
conditions specified in the trigger record (207), receive (213)
from the transaction handler (103) information about the
authorization request in real-time with the transaction handler
(103) providing a response to the authorization request to a
transaction terminal (105), identify (215) a communication
reference (205) of a user (101) associated with the authorization
request, determine (217) a message for the user (101) responsive to
the authorization request, and provide (219) the message to the
user (101) at a point of interaction (107) via the communication
reference (205), in parallel with the response from the transaction
handler (103) to the transaction terminal (105).
[0154] In one embodiment, the computing apparatus includes at least
one of: a transaction handler (103), a message broker (201), a
media controller (115), a portal (143) and a data warehouse
(149).
Merchant Aggregator
[0155] In one embodiment, real-time information about transactions
is communicated to a merchant aggregator, which has a plurality of
merchants as clients. The merchant aggregator may provide offers
(186) on behalf of the merchants, service loyalty programs on
behalf of the merchants, provide rewards to customers (e.g., user
(101)) for their interaction with the merchants, etc. The real-time
information about the transactions allows the merchant aggregator
to provide new services and improve existing services.
[0156] In one embodiment, the merchants and/or the customers (e.g.,
user (101)) are required to enroll with the merchant aggregator to
receive the services. A portal (143) is configured to match the
identities of the merchants and customers as known to the merchant
aggregator with the identities of the merchants and account holders
as known to the transaction handler (103).
[0157] FIG. 11 shows a system configured to communicate via a
merchant aggregator according to one embodiment. In FIG. 11, the
merchant aggregator (221) is configured to communicate with
merchants (227) to enroll the merchants (227) for the services of
the system.
[0158] In one embodiment, when the merchant aggregator (221)
enrolls a new merchant, the merchant aggregator provides merchant
information (225) to the portal (143) of the transaction handler
(103) to request the portal (143) and/or the transaction handler
(103) to monitor the transactions of the respective merchant
(227).
[0159] In one embodiment, the merchant information (225) used by
the merchant aggregator (221) to identify the merchant (227) may
include the business data (e.g., corporation data, corporation
name, consumer-facing name, "doing business as" names, names of
affiliates and/or subsidiaries), addresses and store locations,
etc. of the merchant (227). In one embodiment, the merchant
information (225) further includes information about the acquirer
representing the merchant, merchant category, and/or other relevant
information that is helpful in identifying the merchant in the
transaction processing network having the transaction handler (103)
interconnecting acquirers representing respective merchants and
issues representing respective users (101) of consumer accounts
(146).
[0160] For example, in one embodiment, the merchant aggregator
(221) provides the merchant information (225) via a spreadsheet
identifying a list of merchants (227). In the spreadsheet, each
merchant (227) is identified via the corporate name of the merchant
(227) and the consumer-facing name of the merchant. For less well
known merchants (e.g., small businesses), the spreadsheet further
the name of the acquiring bank that represents the merchant (227)
in processing transactions to be processed via the transaction
handler (103). In one embodiment, the spreadsheet further includes
the desired starting date of monitoring the transactions of the
merchants (227) identified in the spreadsheet and the expected
ending date of monitoring the transactions of the merchant (227)
for the merchant aggregator (221).
[0161] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to provide
a user interface that allows the merchant aggregator (221) to
specify data for the creation of the trigger records (207)
associated with an offer campaign. For example, the user interface
in one embodiment allows the merchant aggregator (221) to create an
offer campaign associated with one of the merchants (227)
identified in the spreadsheet provided to identify the merchants
(227). To support the offer campaign, the user interface is
configured to allow the merchant aggregator (221) to specify rules
to monitor the transactions of the respect merchant (227). For
example, the rules may identify a date to start testing of the
monitoring of the transactions of the merchant (227), a date to
send the monitoring of the transactions of the merchant (227) for
the purpose of the offer campaign, a request for a notification of
transactions provided in real-time as the processing of the
authorization requests of the respective transactions of the
merchant (227), and/or a request for a notification of transactions
provided in real-time as the processing of the settlement requests
of the respective transactions of the merchant (227). In one
embodiment, the user interface further allows the merchant
aggregator (221) to specify other requirements to select
transactions to be monitored, such as requirements based on
transaction amount, transaction time, characteristics of the user
(101) purchasing from the merchant (227), etc. In one embodiment,
the user interface further allows the merchant aggregator (221) to
specify messages to be transmitted, in a way as illustrated in FIG.
9, to the respective user (101) transacting with the merchant
(227), in response to the transactions detected according to the
offer rules.
[0162] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to
correctly identify transactions associated with the enrolled
merchant (227) based on the merchant information (225), and
calculate the location of the transactions to enable location based
services associated with the offer (186) of the merchant (227).
[0163] In one embodiment, based on the merchant information (225),
the portal (143) is configured to identify one or more merchant IDs
(305) that are configured to be used in authorization requests for
transactions of the merchant (227) identified by the merchant
information (225). The identified merchant ID (305) is used to
generate the trigger records (207) for monitoring the transactions
of the merchant (227) identified by the merchant information (225)
provided by the merchant aggregator (221).
[0164] In one embodiment, the account holders (e.g., user (101))
are required to enroll with the system to provide the consent for
the media controller (115) to send the transaction information of
the account holders (e.g., user (101)) to the merchant aggregator
(221), and for the media controller (115) and/or the merchant
aggregator (221) to send messages to the point of interaction (107)
of the user (101) based on the transaction information.
[0165] In FIG. 11, after user enrollment, the user (101) of the
consumer account (146) is identified to be associated with a user
ID (223) used by the merchant aggregator (221) to identify the user
(101). The user (101) may further provide the communication
reference (205) to the merchant aggregator (221) to receive offers
(186), rewards, notifications, alerts, etc. The transaction handler
(103) is configured to use the trigger records (207) containing the
account number (302) of the user (101) to detect the transactions
of the user (101).
[0166] To associate the account number (302) with the user ID (223)
in one embodiment, the account number (302) of the consumer account
(146) of the user (101) is identified to the portal (143) during
the user enrollment and stored in the data warehouse (149) in
association with the user ID (223).
[0167] For example, during the user enrollment process, the point
of interaction (107) (e.g., a web browser, a mobile phone) of the
user (101) interacting with the merchant aggregator (221) is
redirected in one embodiment from the merchant aggregator (221) to
the portal (143) with a reference to the user ID (223); and in
response, the portal (143) provides a user interface to the point
of interaction (107) of the user (101) to specify the account
number (302). After the account number (302) specified by the user
(101) is validated and/or authenticated (e.g., via security code,
person identification number, security questions, security devices,
etc.), the account number (302) is associated with the user ID
(223) in the data warehouse (149) of the transaction handler
(103).
[0168] In one embodiment, more than one account number (302) of the
consumer accounts (146) of the user (101) can be associated with
the single user ID (223) used by the merchant aggregator (221) to
represent the user (101).
[0169] In one embodiment, the user ID (223) is assigned to the user
(101) by the merchant aggregator (221) during the enrollment
process. Alternatively, the portal (143) may generate and assign
the user ID (223) for the user during the enrollment process and
provide the user ID (223) to the merchant aggregator (221) to
complete the enrollment of the user (101).
[0170] In one embodiment, during the enrollment process, the user
(101) provides the account number (302) to the merchant aggregator
(221), which indicates the association between the account number
(302) and the user ID (223) to the portal (143) of the transaction
handler (103); and the user ID (223) is subsequently used to
identify the user (101) is messages to the merchant aggregator
(221). Alternatively, the account number (302) may be used directly
to identify the user (101), when the real-time message from the
media controller (115) to the merchant aggregator (221) is
transmitted over a secure communication channel.
[0171] In one embodiment, the trigger record (207) is generated
based at least in part on the account number (302) and the merchant
ID (305) to monitor the transactions between the user (101) and the
merchant (227). When the authorization request from the transaction
terminal (105) of the merchant (227) identifies the account number
(302) and the merchant ID (305), as required by the trigger record
(207) (and satisfies other requirements of the trigger record
(207), such as requirements related to the date and time of the
transaction, the amount of the transaction, etc.), the transaction
handler (103) causes the message broker (201) to generate a message
and transmit the message to the merchant aggregator (221), in
real-time with the processing of the transaction, to inform the
merchant aggregator (221) of the transaction.
[0172] In one embodiment, the data warehouse (149) stores the
merchant location (229) for the merchant ID (305) associated with
the transaction terminal (105).
[0173] In one embodiment, in response to the authorization request
from the transaction terminal (105), the merchant location (229) of
the transaction terminal (105) is determined and included in the
real-time message generated by the message broker (201) and
provided to the merchant aggregator (221) in a generic,
machine-readable format (e.g., XML). Based on the information
provided in the real-time message, the merchant aggregator (221)
may use the communication reference (205) to communicate offers
(186), rewards, messages, notifications, alerts, etc. to the point
of interaction (107) of the user (101), such as via messages to a
mobile phone identified by the communication reference (205) and/or
a mobile application running on the mobile phone of the user
(101).
[0174] In FIG. 11, the merchant aggregator (221) is configured to
communicate with the point of interaction (107) of the user (101)
in response to the real-time message from the media controller
(115). Alternatively or in combination, the data warehouse (149)
may store the communication reference (205), which is used by the
media controller (115) to provide one or more separate real-time
messages related to location-based offers (186) to the point of
interaction (107) of the user (101) without going through the
merchant aggregator (221).
[0175] In one embodiment, a merchant (227) may have a number of
subsidiaries with different names and locations. In response to the
merchant information (225), merchant data related to merchant
accounts (148) are searched to identify a set of possible matches
to the merchant information (225), which may be further
communicated to the merchant aggregator (221) for confirmation. For
example, in one embodiment, each matched merchant ID is augmented
with the respective address of the transaction terminals operated
by the respective merchant entity; and the merchant (227) may
further confirm the enrollment of the respective merchant entity.
In one embodiment, the names and addresses of the merchant
information (225) are matched with the names and addresses of the
merchant data for merchant accounts (148) to identify the merchant
entity that is enrolled via the merchant information (225).
[0176] In one embodiment, a plurality of merchant IDs (305) may
match the merchant information (225) specified by the merchant
aggregator (221); and one or more merchant locations corresponding
to the locations of the transaction terminals (105) may associate
with a merchant ID (305) in the data warehouse (149). When the
trigger record (207) matches a transaction, the merchant location
(229) corresponding to the transaction terminal (105) from which
the authorization request is received is used for the
location-based service provided by the merchant aggregator (221)
and/or the message broker (201).
[0177] FIG. 12 shows a system to enroll a merchant according to one
embodiment. In FIG. 12, a transaction using a predetermined account
number (302) is used to correlate the merchant information (225)
with the merchant ID (305) used in the transaction messages
processed by the transaction handler (103).
[0178] In FIG. 12, when the merchant (227) enrolls with the
merchant aggregator (221), the merchant enrollment data (231),
including the merchant information (225), is generated to identify
the names and locations of the enrolled merchant (227). The
merchant aggregator (221) uses the merchant identifier (235) to
represent the enrolled merchant (227).
[0179] In one embodiment, to correlate the merchant identifier
(235) with a merchant ID (305) associated with the merchant account
(148), the merchant (227) is instructed to use the account number
(302) to initiate a transaction using the transaction terminal
(105) at the enrolled location of the merchant (227). After the
transaction is initiated, the acquirer processor (147) connected to
the transaction terminal (105) provides the authorization request
to the transaction handler (103), which stores the transaction
record (237) that includes the predetermined account number (302),
the merchant ID (305), the date (303) of the transaction, the
amount (304) of the transaction, etc.
[0180] In one embodiment, the merchant aggregator (221) stores a
separate transaction record (233) including certain information
about the transaction as identified by the enrolling merchant
(227), such as the predetermined account number (302), the date
(303) (or the time period in which transaction is performed), and
the amount (304), etc.
[0181] In FIG. 12, the portal (143) is configured to match the
transaction records (233 and 237) to link the merchant ID (305) to
the merchant identifier (235).
[0182] For example, during the enrollment period, the portal (143)
is configured to retrieve transactions records (237) for the
predetermined account number (302) from the data warehouse (149);
and the merchant aggregator (221) is configured to provide its
transaction record (233) with the merchant identifier (235) to the
portal (143). The portal (143) is configured to match the
transaction records (233 and 237) based on the account number
(302), the transaction date (303), and/or the transaction amount
(304). When a match is detected, the merchant ID (305) from the
transaction record (237) generated by the transaction handler (103)
is linked to the merchant identifier (235) associated with the
transaction record (233) stored by the merchant aggregator
(221).
[0183] Using the system of FIG. 12, the merchant (227) can
selectively enroll certain transaction terminals (105) operated
under certain names and/or at certain locations. Thus, the merchant
(227) may enroll a portion of the transaction terminals (105) under
control of the merchant (227) but not another portion of the
transaction terminals (105) under control of the merchant (227)
[0184] In one embodiment, the transaction record (233) further
includes the location information of the transaction terminal
(105), which can be used for location based services. For example,
in reporting the transaction initiated via using the predetermined
account number (302) at the transaction terminal (105), the
merchant (227) may specify the location of the transaction terminal
(105) via a mobile device, a mobile application, a map application,
or a street address. Thus, the location of the transaction terminal
(105) is associated with the merchant ID (305) and/or the
transaction terminal (105).
[0185] In one embodiment, the data warehouse (149) stores location
information of transaction terminal (105) (e.g., as reported by the
acquirer processor (147)) and provides the location information to
the merchant aggregator (221) after the merchant ID (305) is linked
to the merchant identifier (235) via the transaction record (237)
for the transaction initiated on the transaction terminal
(105).
[0186] In one embodiment, during the enrollment process, the
merchant aggregator (221) instructs the merchant (227) to perform
the transaction according to the data stored in the transaction
record (223) and provides the transaction record (233) to the
portal (143). In response, the portal (143) generates a trigger
record (207) to detect the transaction that is subsequently
initiated by the merchant at the transaction terminal (105). In one
embodiment, the trigger record (207) is configured to cause the
portal (143) to link the merchant ID (305) from the transaction
record (237) of the identified transaction with the merchant
identifier (235) associated with the transaction record (233) used
to generate the trigger record (207).
[0187] FIG. 13 shows a method to provide real-time notifications of
transactions according to one embodiment. In FIG. 13, a computing
apparatus is configured to receive (241) merchant information (225)
identifying merchants (227) enrolled with a merchant aggregator
(221), determine (243) merchant IDs (305) configured to be used in
transaction authorization requests from the respective merchants
(227), identify (245) account numbers (302) associated with user
IDs (223) used by the merchant aggregator (221) to identify
respective account users (101), monitor (247) transactions to
detect transactions between merchants (227) as identified by the
merchant IDs (305) and the users (101) as identified by the account
numbers (302), and transmit (249) to the merchant aggregator (221)
messages reporting the detected transactions.
[0188] In one embodiment, the computing apparatus/system includes
at least one of: the portal (143), the data warehouse (149), the
transaction handler (103), the medial controller (115), and the
message broker (201).
Generalized Notification
[0189] In one embodiment, the information about transactions
provided in real-time with the processing of the transactions is
configured to be used in open loop communities, where hundreds or
thousands of vendors may use the information to provide separate
services. Each of the vendors can have their own requirements about
how to send notifications to their users.
[0190] In one embodiment, a standardized notification is provided,
by the centralized message broker (201) coupled with the data
warehouse (149) and the transaction handler (103), to a set of
service portals that are configured to provide diverse services to
their customers based on the real-time transaction-related
information provided in the standardized notification.
[0191] For example, some of the vendors can successfully leverage
the core offerings of real-time transaction-related information to
improve their services. For example, some of the vendors can use
the real-time transaction-related information to extend the
real-time message services offered by the system illustrated in
FIG. 9 to support vendor specific features. Thus, the message
broker (201) does not have to implement all features desired by the
vendors and their customers. The implementation of the standardized
notification reduces the burden on the message broker (201), and
improves the efficiency and flexibility of the overall system.
[0192] In one embodiment, the message broker (201) is configured to
provide a generic message in a preformatted template to service
portals, which can be configured to receive the generic message and
perform vendor specific tasks to provide services, such as
customized notifications, offer presentations, coupon redemptions,
etc.
[0193] In one embodiment, the portal (143) coupled with the data
warehouse (149) and/or the transaction handler (103) is configured
to provide a self-service user interface that allows a vendor to
register a destination for a standardized notification generated by
the message broker (201). The destination can be a third party
service portal operated by the vendor. In one embodiment, the
destination is specified by a uniform resource locator/universal
resource locator (URL). The portal (143) is configured to use a web
interface associated with the URL to provide the standardized
notification to the registered destination.
[0194] FIG. 14 illustrates a system to provide generalized
notifications to facilitate diverse services according to one
embodiment.
[0195] In one embodiment, notification services are organized
according to community. A community includes at least one merchant
and a plurality of users enrolled in the community to receive
offers, alerts, notifications and/or other services from the
merchants in the community. When a community that provides services
based at least in part on the generalized notifications from the
message broker (201) is created or updated, a destination for
receiving the generalized notifications for the community is
specified via a URL and stored as a configuration parameter of the
community.
[0196] For example, in FIG. 14, a set of community aggregators
(261, 263, . . . , 269) are configured to use the generalized
notification (250) generated by the message broker (201) to provide
services to their respective users (101). The data warehouse (149)
is configured to store the community data (271) for the respective
community, such as the users (101) and merchants associated with
the aggregator (261, 263, . . . , or 269).
[0197] In FIG. 14, the community data (271) includes the aggregator
reference (273) that identifies the aggregator (261, 263, . . . ,
or 269) as the destination of the generalized notification (250)
generated in accordance with the trigger records (207) that
represent the requests for the generalized notifications (e.g.,
250). In one embodiment, the aggregator reference (273) includes a
URL of the aggregator (261, 263, . . . , or 269); and the portal
(143) is configured to provide the generalized notification (250)
via a web service provided at the URL.
[0198] In one embodiment, when a user (101) is enrolled or updated
in a community, the merchant/vendor/aggregator may optionally
collect information about the user (101) that is required to
address their specific requirements. In one embodiment, the
community data (271) stored in the data warehouse (149) stores for
the community the information about enrolled users (275) in the
community to monitor the transaction of the enrolled users
(275).
[0199] In one embodiment, the data warehouse (149) stores the user
enrollment information to associate the users enrolled in the
community with the merchant/vendor/aggregator in the community.
[0200] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides an interface
that allows an aggregator/merchant/vendor to define a triggering
event, the occurrence of which is configured to cause the
generation of the generalized notification (250) and the
transmission of the generalized notification (250) to the
pre-defined destination for the community (e.g., using the
aggregator reference (273) and the portal (143)).
[0201] In FIG. 14, a trigger record (207) is generated according to
the triggering event specified via the portal (143), and is used to
detect events matching the event definition. For example, the
trigger record (207) is configured to monitor the processing of
authorization requests that satisfy certain conditions specified in
the trigger record (207). The information about the enrolled users
(275) limits the monitoring to transactions of the enrolled users
(275) in the community; and the trigger record (207) may further
limit the monitoring to a set of users that satisfy certain
requirements formulated based on the transaction profile (127),
demographic information, etc. In one embodiment, the trigger record
(207) is configured to detect certain transactions based on certain
aspects of the transaction, such as transaction amount (304),
transaction location, merchant category (306), transaction channel
(307), etc. Other types of events include the settlement processing
of a transaction, a user enrollment in the community, etc.
[0202] In one embodiment, when a transaction satisfying the
requirements of the trigger record (207) is identified, an action
specified in the trigger record (207) is triggered. An example of
the action is the delivery of the generalized notification
(250).
[0203] In one embodiment, the generalized notification (250) is in
a standardized format, such as a message including a plurality of
fields (251, 253, . . . , 259) in an Extensible Markup Language
(XML). The plurality of fields (251, 253, . . . , 259) are
pre-selected to report various aspects of the detected event. The
set of fields (251, 253, . . . , 259) are selected based on the
type of the event to be reported, but are independent from the
destination/aggregator/merchant/vendor of the generalized
notification (250).
[0204] In one embodiment, the trigger record (207) may identify a
subset of the predefined set of fields (251, 253, . . . , 259) to
improve efficiency in reporting. The message broker (201) is
configured to generate the generalized notification (250) that
contains the subset requested by the trigger record (207), but not
the remaining subset of fields that are not requested by the
trigger record (207).
[0205] The portal (143) is configured to use the aggregator
reference (273) to deliver the generalized notification (250) to
the respective aggregator (261, 263, . . . , or 269) (e.g., using a
web service, or other communication channels, such as short text
message, email, instant message, etc.). In one embodiment, the
generalized notification (250) is generated by the message broker
(201) and provided by the portal (143) in real-time as, or in
parallel with, the processing of the authorization request for the
transaction that satisfies the trigger record (207).
[0206] In one embodiment, the generalized notification (250)
includes fields (e.g., 251, 253, . . . , 259) such as the type of
the event, an identification of the event definition used to
generate the trigger record (207), an identification of the user
(101) with whom the detected event is associated, and other
properties/attributes of the detected event.
[0207] FIG. 15 illustrates a method to provide generalized
notifications according to one embodiment. In FIG. 15, a computing
apparatus is configured to present (281) a user interface to
receive an event definition and a communication reference (e.g.,
273), generate (283) a trigger record (207) specifying a set of
conditions and an action in accordance with the event definition,
detect (285) an event (e.g., processing of an authorization request
for a transaction) that satisfies the set of conditions specified
in the trigger record (207), generate (287) a generalized
notification (250) in accordance with a type of the event, and
transmit (289) the generalized notification (250) to a destination
identified by the communication reference (e.g., 273).
[0208] In one embodiment, the generalized notification (250) is
configured in a way suitable for processing by a computing device
(e.g., presented in XML).
[0209] In one embodiment, the computing apparatus/system includes
at least one of: the portal (143), the message broker (201), the
transaction handler (103) and the data warehouse (149).
Third Party Statement Credits
[0210] In one embodiment, a system and method is configured to
provide a mechanism allowing a third party, not involved in a
payment transaction made in a payment account, to provide a credit
to the payment account as an offer benefit redeemed during the
processing of the payment transaction. The mechanism includes a
transaction handler of a payment processing network configured to
provide transaction information relevant to the offer to the third
party. If the third party determines that a qualifying transaction
in the payment account is entitled to the benefit, the third party
communicates a request, via an application programming interface
(API), to a portal of the transaction handler for a credit to the
payment account for the payment transaction; in response, the
transaction handler generates a credit transaction for the payment
account using a funding source of the third party and stores data
associating the credit transaction with the qualifying
transaction.
[0211] FIG. 16 shows a system to provide third party statement
credits according to one embodiment. In FIG. 16, the data warehouse
(149) is configured to store trigger records (207) configured to
detect transactions to be reported to a third party benefit
qualifier (261).
[0212] The third party benefit qualifier (261) is not involved, or
not required, in a traditional payment transaction between a
merchant (102) having a merchant account (148) under control of the
acquirer processor (147) and a user (101) having a consumer payment
account (146) under control of the issuer processor (145). A
transaction handler (103) of a payment processing network (e.g., as
illustrated in FIG. 4) is configured to interconnect the acquirer
processors (e.g., 147) and the issuer processors (e.g., 145) in the
payment processing network.
[0213] In FIG. 16, the benefit qualifier (261) is configured to
determine whether a transaction between the merchant and the user
(101) is entitled to a benefit in a form of a statement credit.
[0214] For example, the benefit qualifier (261) may provide an
offer of the benefit linked to the consumer account (146) of the
user (101), such that when a transaction in the consumer account
(146) satisfies the benefit redemption requirements of the offer,
the benefit qualifier (261) may request that a statement credit be
provided to the consumer account (146) of the user (101) as the
benefit of the offer. The benefit of the offer may be funded by the
respective merchant, or other sponsors, such as a manufacturer, a
government entity, a charity organization, an advertiser, etc.
[0215] In FIG. 16, the data warehouse (149) is configured to store
data identifying the enrolled merchants (401) and enrolled users
(275) for the offers. The data identifying the enrolled merchants
(401) and enrolled users (275) corresponds to the merchant accounts
(e.g., 148) and the consumer accounts (e.g., 146) to allow the
transaction handler (103) to detect transactions that may be of
interest to the benefit qualifier (261). The data identifying the
enrolled merchants (401) and enrolled users (275) may further
include the participant IDs of the merchants (e.g., 102) and the
users (e.g., 101) in the respective offer campaigns, and the
identifications of the respective offers.
[0216] In one embodiment, the portal (143) is configured to receive
input from the benefit qualifier (261) to generate the trigger
records (207) to detect, from transactions processed by the
transaction handler (103), a subset of transactions that are of
interest to the benefit qualifier (261). The transaction handler
(103) is coupled with the message broker (201) and/or the portal
(143) to generate a notification (250) to the benefit qualifier
(261), in accordance with the trigger records (207), in a way as
illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15 and discussed in the section
entitled "GENERALIZED NOTIFICATION."
[0217] For example, when the user (101) makes a qualifying
transaction at the transaction terminal (105) of the merchant
(102), the transaction terminal (105) communicates an authorization
request (168) for the transaction to the transaction handler (103)
via the acquirer processor (147) that controls the merchant account
(148) of the merchant (102).
[0218] In response to the authorization request (168), the
transaction handler (103) determines that the transaction satisfies
the requirements of the trigger record (207) for the notification
(250) and cause the message broker (201) to generate, and the
portal (143) to transmit, the notification (250) to the benefit
qualifier (261).
[0219] In one embodiment, the notification (250) includes
transaction information (405), such as a transaction ID (411), a
transaction date (413), . . . , a transaction amount (419), etc.
The notification (250) and/or the transaction information (405) may
further identify the merchant (102) and the user (101) involved in
the transaction, via the account information of the merchant
account (148) and the consumer account (145) and/or participant IDs
of the merchant (102) and the user (101). The notification (250)
may further identify an offer associated with the trigger record
(207) when the transaction reported in the notification (250)
satisfies the requirements of the trigger record (207) and thus
triggers the notification (250).
[0220] In FIG. 16, the benefit qualifier (261) is configured to
determine whether the transaction identified by the transaction
information (405) is entitled to a statement credit; and if so, the
benefit qualifier (261) is configured to send a credit request
(407) to the portal (143) using an application programming
interface (API). The benefit qualifier (261) may optionally
communicate with the point of interaction (107) of the user (101)
to notify the user (101) of the credit being requested for the
consumer account (146).
[0221] In FIG. 16, the credit request (407) is configured to
include the transaction information (405) to identify the
transaction for which the statement credit is issued, as well as
the credit amount (409).
[0222] In one embodiment, the transmission of the notification
(250) is initiated before, or in parallel with, the transmission of
the authorization response (138).
[0223] In response to the authorization request (168) from the
acquirer processor (147), the transaction handler (103) sends an
authorization request (421) to the issuer processor (145) that
controls the consumer account (146) of the user (101) to obtain the
authorization response (423) from the issuer processor (145) for
the payment transaction between the consumer account (146) and the
merchant account (148). The transaction handler (103) is configured
to provide the authorization response (138) to the acquirer
processor (147) in view of the authorization response (423)
received from the issuer processor (145).
[0224] In one embodiment, the credit request (407) is received in
real time with the transmission of the authorization response (138)
to the acquirer processor (147), or in parallel with the receiving
of the authorization response (423) from the issuer processor
(145).
[0225] Optionally, the notification (250) and/or the credit request
(407) can be delayed after a period of time (e.g., after the
transaction requested by the authorization request (168) is cleared
and settled).
[0226] In response to the credit request (407), the transaction
handler (103) is configured to validate the credit request (407)
based on the transaction information (405) contained in the credit
request (407) and/or identify the sponsor account (431) that funds
the credit request (407). If the transaction information (405)
corresponds to an authorized and/or a settled transaction (and
other validation checks are satisfied), the credit request (407) is
accepted; otherwise, the credit request (407) may be rejected. If
rejected, the transaction handler (103) sends a response to the
benefit qualifier (261) indicating the reason for rejection.
[0227] Examples of other validation checks include: 1) the
referenced consumer account is still enrolled in the offers
program; 2) the offer referenced in the credit request is
active/not expired; 3) the amount of the credit is less than or
equal to the qualifying purchase amount; 4) no prior credits have
been issued that are associated with the qualifying purchase
transaction referenced in the credit request (to prevent multiple
credits being issued against the same transaction); and/or 5) the
cost of the benefits for the offers program is within a
predetermined budget constraint.
[0228] The sponsor account (431) may be identified based on the
identification of offer associated with the credit request (407),
or account information of the sponsor account (431) provided in the
credit request (407).
[0229] In FIG. 16, the credit request (407) is received from the
benefit qualifier (261). Alternatively, when the offer rules are
stored in the data warehouse (149), the portal (143) and/or the
transaction handler (103) can be configured to compute the credit
amount (409) at the time of the authorization and/or settlement of
the qualifying transaction between the consumer account (146) and
the merchant account (148), without the credit request (407) from
the benefit qualifier (261).
[0230] In response to the credit request (407) (or after the
computing of the credit amount (409)), the transaction handler
(103) is configured to communicate with the sponsor processor (433)
of a sponsor account (431) that provides funds for the amount (409)
of credit identified in the request (407).
[0231] For example, a sponsor account (431) may be a payment
account under control of the sponsor processor (433). The payment
account may be a debit account, a credit account, a prepaid
account, a checking account, etc. For example, in response to the
credit request (407), the transaction handler (103) may communicate
an authorization request (425) to the sponsor processor (433) and
obtain an authorization response (427) for the amount (409) of
credit identified in the request (407).
[0232] In one embodiment, one or more rules can be configured with
the sponsor account (431) to limit the use of funds in the sponsor
account (431). For example, the sponsor account (431) may be
limited by a budget (441) that has a predetermined spending limit
with a predetermined time period (e.g., a day, a week, or a month).
The budget (441) may be enforced by the sponsor processor (433)
and/or the transaction handler (103).
[0233] FIG. 16 illustrates an example where the sponsor account
(431) is under control of the sponsor processor (433) that is
separate from the transaction handler (103). Alternatively, the
transaction handler (103) is configured to control the sponsor
account (431); and the function of the sponsor processor (431) is
merged into the transaction handler (103), in a way as illustrated
in FIG. 18. For example, the benefit qualifier (261) may establish
a prepaid account as the sponsor account (431) with the transaction
handler (103) to fund the credit requests (e.g., 407).
[0234] If there are sufficient funds for the amount (409) of credit
specified in the request (407), the transaction handler (103) is
configured to communicate a credit (443) to the issuer processor
(145).
[0235] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is
configured to use a return clearing transaction message in
compliance with a financial transaction message standard to
communicate the credit (443). A return clearing transaction message
is typically used by a merchant to process the refund due to a
return of a previous purchase. In the present application, the use
of the return clearing transaction message is used without
requiring a prior payment from the consumer account (146) to the
sponsor account (431); and the credit (443) is provided from the
sponsor account (431) to the consumer account (146) (e.g., without
providing in the return clearing transaction message a reference to
a prior payment transaction, from the consumer account (146), to
the merchant account (148) and/or the sponsor account (431)).
[0236] In one embodiment, since the return clearing transaction
message for the credit (443) is initiated by the transaction
handler (103) (e.g., instead of from a transaction terminal (105)
of a merchant (102)), the transaction for the credit (443) is
neutral in interchange fees (e.g., does not involve an interchange
fee).
[0237] In one embodiment, the return clearing transaction message
identifies both the merchant (102) and the benefit qualifier (261)
as the benefit provider. Thus, the names of the merchant (102) and
the benefit qualifier (261) can be provided on the statement of the
consumer account (146) for the credit (443).
[0238] The transaction handler (103) is configured to store the
transaction data (109) recording the qualifying transaction of the
payment from the consumer account (146) to the merchant account
(148), and store the credit record (403) showing the "return"
transaction of the credit (443) from the sponsor account (431) to
the consumer account (146). The transaction handler (103) is
further configured to store data associating the transaction data
(109) recording the qualifying transaction of the payment from the
consumer account (146) to the merchant account (148) and the credit
record (403) showing the return transaction of the credit (443)
from the sponsor account (431) to the consumer account (146). Thus,
the association of the credit record (403) and the transaction data
(109) identifies the credit (421) as a refund, issued via the
sponsor account (431), for the payment transaction between the
merchant account (148) and the consumer account (146).
[0239] In FIG. 16, the notification (250) with the transaction
information (405) and the API for the credit request (407) allows
the benefit qualifier (261) to identify qualifying transactions and
request credits (e.g., 443) without having to be a party in the
transaction between the merchant account (148) and the consumer
account (146). The novel use of the return clearing transaction
message to provide the credit (443) via a sponsor account (431)
that is separate from the merchant account (148) and the consumer
account (146) provides flexibility in implementing statement
credits and improves interoperability amount across various issuer
processors. The data association of the credit record (403) and the
transaction data (109) provides auditable data for transaction
integrity checks.
[0240] In one embodiment, the communications of the notification
(250) of the payment transaction and the credit request (407) are
in response to the authorization request (168) and/or the
authorization response (138) of the payment transaction. The credit
(443) is transmitted to the issuer processor (145) is in response
to the settlement of the payment transaction.
[0241] In one embodiment, the computation and authorization of the
statement credit (e.g., as requested in the credit request (407))
are performed during the authorization of the payment transaction.
Subsequently, the credit (443) is provided to the issuer processor
(145) via refund protocol (e.g., a return clearing transaction
message in an electronic payment processing system) in reponse to
settlement of the payment transaction.
[0242] Alternatively, the credit (443) can be provided to the
issuer processor (145) using the refund protocol upon approval of
the payment transaction via the authorization response (138), prior
to the settlement of the payment transaction.
[0243] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is
configured to settle the credit (443) based on, or in parallel
with, the settlement of the payment transaction identified by the
transaction information (405).
[0244] FIG. 17 shows a method to provide third party statement
credits according to one embodiment. For example, the method of
claim 17 can be implemented in the system of FIG. 16.
[0245] In FIG. 17, a computing apparatus is configured to: detect
(451) a transaction between a merchant (102) and a user (101) in an
account (146) issued by an issuer to the user (101); transmit (453)
information about the transaction (e.g., notification (250)) to a
third party (e.g., benefit qualifier (261)) not involved in
processing of the transaction, while authorization of the
transaction is being processed (e.g., in the time period between
the authorization request (168) and the authorization response
(138)); communicate (455) with the third party via an Application
Programming Interface (API) to determine, based at least in part on
the information about the transaction, a statement credit (e.g.,
identified in the credit request (407)) to the user (101) based on
an offer provided by the third party to the user (101); confirm the
validity and permissibility of the credit request (407) based on a
pre-defined set of business rules; communicate (457), via a refund
protocol, to the issuer a request for the statement credit (e.g.,
credit (443)), funded by the third party, in the account (146) of
the user (101); and store (459) data associating the request for
the statement credit (443) with the transaction based on which the
statement credit is issued to the user (101).
[0246] For example, in FIG. 16, the data warehouse (149) stores the
credit record (403) to record the credit (443), and the transaction
data (109) to record the payment transaction between the consumer
account (146) and the merchant account (148) as authorized by the
authorization response (138), and data associating the credit
record (403) and the transaction data (109) to indicate that the
credit (443) is a benefit for the transaction authorized by the
authorization response (138).
[0247] In one embodiment, after the user (101) enrolls an eligible
consumer account (146) through the benefit qualifier (261) (e.g.,
via a web site or mobile app) and provides consent to applicable
terms and conditions, the transaction handler (103) is authorized
to provide the real-time notification (250) of the relevant
transactions to the benefit provider (261).
[0248] The benefit provider (261) may optionally deliver real-time
notifications to the point of interaction (107) of the user (101),
when the user (101) completes a qualifying payment transaction for
a qualifying purchase, and/or when the credit (443) is communicated
by transaction handler (103). The credits (e.g., 443) are typically
posted to the consumer account (146) within a predetermined period
of time (e.g., 3-5 days).
[0249] The statement of the consumer account (146) can be
configured to display a detailed description for the issued credit
(433), including the name of the benefit qualifier (261) and the
merchant (102) (e.g., in the form of "[Benefit Qualifier Name]
Offers-[Merchant Name]"), along with the customer service phone
number of the benefit qualifier (261). In one embodiment, the
description is generated based on, or provided by, the return
clearing transaction message for the credit (443). The description
avoids customer confusion regarding the identities of the third
party benefit qualifier and the participating merchant, and what
phone number to call for service issues. The details provided in
the description also address issuer concerns regarding data quality
and customer service.
[0250] In one embodiment, the merchant (102) contracts with the
benefit qualifier (261) to advertise offers on the platform of the
benefit qualifier (261). The merchant (102) and the benefit
qualifier (261) will work together to design and publish
offers.
[0251] Since the offers are redeemed automatically when the user
(101) uses an enrolled consumer account (146) to make the payment
for a qualifying purchase, no additional action, equipment or
software is required by the merchant at the point of sale.
[0252] Since qualifying purchases can be processed normally without
any modifications at the transaction terminal (105) and the
acquirer processor (147), there is no merchant or acquirer impact
on the transaction processing to provide the benefit via the system
as illustrated in FIG. 16.
[0253] The benefit qualifier (261) interested in using the
mechanism to provide the benefit in the form of credits (e.g., 443)
may identify or establish a sponsor account (431) with the sponsor
processor (433), or the transaction handler (103), for posting
statement credits.
[0254] The benefit qualifier (261) may recruit merchants,
negotiating offer terms with each merchant (e.g., 102), publishing
merchant offers and enrolling users (e.g., 101).
[0255] In one embodiment, offers are configured on an offer
platform (e.g., stored in data warehouse (149)), with rules for
identifying a qualifying transaction (e.g. merchant, date range,
minimum purchase amount). Some of the rules or conditions are used
to formulate the trigger records (207).
[0256] The transaction handler (103) is configured to identify
qualifying transactions that meet offer terms and deliver a
real-time notification (250) to the benefit qualifier (261) via an
application programming interface (API).
[0257] In one embodiment, once a qualifying transaction settles,
the statement credit amount is calculated by the benefit qualifier
(261) or the portal (143), based on pre-defined offer rules.
[0258] For examples, the benefit of the offers can be calculated as
either a percentage of the total transaction amount, with a limit
on the maximum discount amount (e.g. "Receive 10% off your
purchase, up to $15"), or a fixed amount (e.g. "Spend $20 or more
and receive a $5 statement credit").
[0259] In one embodiment, a computing apparatus includes the
transaction handler (103) and the portal (143) illustrated in FIG.
16, each of which can be implemented via one or more data
processing systems illustrated in FIG. 7 with more or less
components.
[0260] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) has at
least a first network interface configured to interface with an
electronic payment processing system illustrated in FIG. 4; and the
portal (143) has at least a second network interface configured to
provide a web-based application programming interface. The
computing apparatus includes at least one microprocessor (173) and
a memory (e.g., 167) storing instructions configured to instruct
the at least one microprocessor (173) to perform various
operations.
[0261] For example, the transaction handler (103) is configured to
detect, via the first network interface, a payment transaction
between: a merchant account (148) controlled by an acquirer
processor (147) on behalf of a merchant (102), and a payment
account (146) controlled by an issuer processor (145) on behalf of
a user (101).
[0262] For example, the transaction handler (103) can be configured
to detect the authorization of the payment transaction for the
authorization of a third party statement credit and to detect the
settlement of the payment transaction for the settlement of the
third party statement credit.
[0263] In one embodiment, in response to the detection of the
payment transaction, the portal (143) transmits, via the second
network interface, information about the payment transaction (405)
to a third party (e.g., benefit qualifier (261)) who is not
involved in the processing of the payment transaction. The
notification (250) containing the transaction information (405) is
transmitted to the benefit qualifier (261) during processing of the
payment transaction in the electronic payment processing system
(e.g., during the authorization and/or settlement of the payment
transaction). The portal (143) communicates, via the second network
interface, with the third party (e.g., the benefit qualifier (261))
via an application programming interface to determine a statement
credit to the user (101) based on an offer provided by the third
party to the user (101). In one embodiment, the provisioning of the
statement credit is based at least in part on the transaction
information (405) provided via the notification (250).
[0264] In response to a request received via the application
programming interface from the third party to provide the statement
credit, the transaction handler (103) is configured to generate a
statement credit request and communicate, via the first network
interface, the statement credit request to the issuer processor
(145) of the payment account (146) using a refund protocol for a
refund from a sponsor (431) account to the payment account (146) of
the user (101). The sponsor account (431) is different from the
merchant account (148)
[0265] In one embodiment, the sponsor account (431) is controlled
by the transaction handler (103) on behalf of a sponsor of the
offer.
[0266] In response to the detection of the payment transaction by
the transaction handler (103), the computing apparatus is
configured to determine whether a budget (441) of the sponsor
account (431) has been depleted. The credit request (407) is
accepted and the credit (443) via refund protocol is communicated
to the issuer processor (145) of the consumer payment account (146)
of the user (101), after a determination is made that the statement
credit is allowable by the budget (441) of the sponsor account
(441).
[0267] In one embodiment, the computing apparatus is configured to
track, availability of funds in the sponsor account (431) for the
statement credit, and determine whether to accept or decline the
credit request (407) received via the application programming
interface from the third party benefit qualifier (261) based on the
availability of the funds in the sponsor account (431).
[0268] In one embodiment, the computing apparatus is configured to
check validity and permissibility of the credit request (407) based
on a set of pre-defined rules of the offer. The credit (443) is
communicated to the issuer processor (443) of the consumer payment
account (146) via the refund protocol after a determination is made
that the credit request (407) for the credit amount (409) is valid
and permissible in accordance with the rules.
[0269] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is
configured to store in the data warehouse (149) data associating
the statement credit identified by the credit record (403) with the
payment transaction identified by the transaction data (109) to
maintain the transaction integrity of the credit (443) that is
dependent upon the payment transaction, where the payment
transaction is processed between the merchant account (148)
controlled by the acquirer processor (147) and the consumer payment
account (146) controlled by the issuer processor (145) independent
of the statement credit. The transaction handler (103) is
configured to initiate a change to the statement credit in response
to a change to the payment transaction. For example, if the
merchant (102) initiates a refund against the payment transaction,
the transaction handler (103) is configured to initiate a return of
the credit (443) back to the sponsor account (431).
[0270] In one embodiment, the credit (443) initiated by transaction
handler (103) in the electronic payment processing system is
neutral in interchange fees for the processing of the payment
transaction in the electronic payment processing system. Thus,
although the credit (443) is implemented via a refund protocol, the
credit (443) is implemented as a transaction separate from the
payment transaction between the merchant account (148) and the
consumer account (146); and as a result, the credit (443) has no
impact on interchange fees for the processing of the payment
transaction. The interchange fees for the processing of the payment
transaction are the same with or without the credit (443).
[0271] In one embodiment, the statement credit request identifies
both the merchant (102) and the third party benefit qualifier (261)
as responsible parties for the refund. Thus, the user (101) can be
adequately informed of the reason for the refund on the monthly
statement of the consumer payment account (146).
[0272] In one embodiment, the sponsor account (431) is controlled,
on behalf of a sponsor of the offer, by a sponsor processor (431)
connected in the electronic payment processing system. The sponsor
processor (433) may be implemented within a transaction handler of
the electronic payment processing system.
[0273] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is
configured to communicate with the sponsor processor (433) for
authorization of the credit (443), during the authorization
processing of the payment transaction. The credit (443) is
communicated to the issuer processor (145) of the payment account
(146) after an authorization response (427) from the sponsor
processor (431) approves the statement credit as a benefit of the
offer. In one embodiment, a budget (441) associated with the offer
is controlled/enforced by the sponsor processor (431)
[0274] In one embodiment, the data warehouse (149) is configured to
store data identifying the enrolled merchants (102) and the
enrolled users (e.g., 101). The payment transaction is detected
based on monitoring authorization requests of payment transactions
between the merchant and the user.
[0275] In one embodiment, the transaction information (405)
provided in the notification (250) users identifiers of the user
(101) and the merchant (102) (e.g., IDs assigned by the benefit
qualifier (261)) without revealing account information of the
merchant account (148) and the consumer payment account (146).
[0276] In one embodiment, the credit (443) is communicated to the
issuer processor (145) of the payment account using the refund
protocol in response to settlement of the payment transaction.
[0277] The computing apparatus in FIG. 16 and/or configured to
implement the method of FIG. 17 can be further implemented,
optionally, to perform other operations discussed below, such as
the operations discussed in the section entitled "TRANSACTION DATA
BASED SERVICES." Some of the hardware arrangements are discussed in
the sections entitled "CENTRALIZED DATA WAREHOUSE" and
"HARDWARE."
[0278] For example, the transaction handler (103) discussed above
can be further used to record transaction data (109) to provide
transaction data based services as illustrated in FIG. 1 and
discussed in the section entitled "TRANSACTION DATA BASED
SERVICES."
Variations
[0279] Some embodiments use more or fewer components than those
illustrated in the figures.
[0280] In one embodiment, at least some of the profile generator
(121), correlator (117), profile selector (129), and advertisement
selector (133) are controlled by the entity that operates the
transaction handler (103). In another embodiment, at least some of
the profile generator (121), correlator (117), profile selector
(129), and advertisement selector (133) are not controlled by the
entity that operates the transaction handler (103).
[0281] In one embodiment, the products and/or services purchased by
the user (101) are also identified by the information transmitted
from the merchants or service providers. Thus, the transaction data
(109) may include identification of the individual products and/or
services, which allows the profile generator (121) to generate
transaction profiles (127) with fine granularity or resolution. In
one embodiment, the granularity or resolution may be at a level of
distinct products and services that can be purchased (e.g.,
stock-keeping unit (SKU) level), or category or type of products or
services, or vendor of products or services, etc.
[0282] In one embodiment, the entity operating the transaction
handler (103) provides the intelligence information in real time as
the request for the intelligence information occurs. In other
embodiments, the entity operating the transaction handler (103) may
provide the intelligence information in batch mode. The
intelligence information can be delivered via online communications
(e.g., via an application programming interface (API) on a website,
or other information server), or via physical transportation of a
computer readable media that stores the data representing the
intelligence information.
[0283] In one embodiment, the intelligence information is
communicated to various entities in the system in a way similar to,
and/or in parallel with the information flow in the transaction
system to move money. The transaction handler (103) routes the
information in the same way it routes the currency involved in the
transactions.
[0284] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides a user
interface to allow the user (101) to select items offered on
different merchant websites and store the selected items in a wish
list for comparison, reviewing, purchasing, tracking, etc. The
information collected via the wish list can be used to improve the
transaction profiles (127) and derive intelligence on the needs of
the user (101); and targeted advertisements can be delivered to the
user (101) via the wish list user interface provided by the portal
(143). Examples of user interface systems to manage wish lists are
provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0174623, entitled "System
and Method for Managing Items of Interest Selected from Online
Merchants," the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein
by reference.
Aggregated Spending Profile
[0285] In one embodiment, the characteristics of transaction
patterns of customers are profiled via clusters, factors, and/or
categories of purchases. The transaction data (109) may include
transaction records (301); and in one embodiment, an aggregated
spending profile (341) is generated from the transaction records
(301), in a way illustrated in FIG. 2, to summarize the spending
behavior reflected in the transaction records (301).
[0286] In FIG. 2, each of the transaction records (301) is for a
particular transaction processed by the transaction handler (103).
Each of the transaction records (301) provides information about
the particular transaction, such as the account number (302) of the
consumer account (146) used to pay for the purchase, the date (303)
(and/or time) of the transaction, the amount (304) of the
transaction, the ID (305) of the merchant who receives the payment,
the category (306) of the merchant, the channel (307) through which
the purchase was made, etc. Examples of channels include online,
offline in-store, via phone, etc. In one embodiment, the
transaction records (301) may further include a field to identify a
type of transaction, such as card-present, card-not-present,
etc.
[0287] A "card-present" transaction typically involves physically
presenting the account identification device (141), such as a
financial transaction card, to the merchant (e.g., via swiping a
credit card at a POS terminal of a merchant); and a
"card-not-present" transaction typically involves presenting the
account information (142) of the consumer account (146) to the
merchant to identify the consumer account (146) without physically
presenting the account identification device (141) to the merchant
or the transaction terminal (105).
[0288] The transaction records (301) of one embodiment may further
include details about the products and/or services involved in the
purchase.
[0289] When there is voluminous data representing the transaction
records (301), the spending patterns reflected in the transaction
records (301) can be difficult to recognize by an ordinary
person.
[0290] In FIG. 2, the voluminous transaction records (301) are
summarized (335) into aggregated spending profiles (e.g., 341) to
concisely present the statistical spending characteristics
reflected in the transaction records (301). The aggregated spending
profile (341) uses values derived from statistical analysis to
present the statistical characteristics of transaction records
(301) of an entity in a way easy to understand by an ordinary
person.
[0291] In FIG. 2, the transaction records (301) are summarized
(335) via factor analysis (327) to condense the variables (e.g.,
313, 315) and via cluster analysis (329) to segregate entities by
spending patterns.
[0292] In FIG. 2, a set of variables (e.g., 311, 313, 315) are
defined based on the parameters recorded in the transaction records
(301). The variables (e.g., 311, 313, and 315) are defined in a way
to have meanings easily understood by an ordinary person. For
example, variables (311) measure the aggregated spending in super
categories; variables (313) measure the spending frequencies in
various areas; and variables (315) measure the spending amounts in
various areas. In one embodiment, each of the areas is identified
by a merchant category (306) (e.g., as represented by a merchant
category code (MCC), a North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) code, or a similarly standardized category code). In
other embodiments, an area may be identified by a product category,
a SKU number, etc.
[0293] Examples of the spending frequency variables (313) and
spending amount variables (315) defined for various merchant
categories (e.g., 306) in one embodiment are provided in U.S. Pat.
App. Pub. No. 2010/0306029, entitled "Cardholder Clusters," and in
U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0306032, entitled "Systems and Methods
to Summarize Transaction Data," the disclosures of which
applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0294] In FIG. 2, the aggregation (317) includes the application of
the definitions (309) for these variables (e.g., 311, 313, and 315)
to the transaction records (301) to generate the variable values
(321). The transaction records (301) are aggregated to generate
aggregated measurements (e.g., variable values (321)) that are not
specific to a particular transaction, such as frequencies of
purchases made with different merchants or different groups of
merchants, the amounts spent with different merchants or different
groups of merchants, and the number of unique purchases across
different merchants or different groups of merchants, etc. The
aggregation (317) can be performed for a particular time period and
for entities at various levels.
[0295] The transaction records (301) can be aggregated according to
a buying entity, or a selling entity. For example, the aggregation
(317) can be performed at account level, person level, family
level, company level, neighborhood level, city level, region level,
etc. to analyze the spending patterns across various areas (e.g.,
sellers, products or services) for the respective aggregated buying
entity. For example, the transaction records (301) for a particular
merchant having transactions with multiple accounts can be
aggregated for a merchant level analysis. For example, the
transaction records (301) for a particular merchant group can be
aggregated for a merchant group level analysis. The aggregation
(317) can be formed separately for different types of transactions,
such as transactions made online, offline, via phone, and/or
"card-present" transactions vs. "card-not-present" transactions,
which can be used to identify the spending pattern differences
among different types of transactions.
[0296] In FIG. 2, the variable values (e.g., 323, 324, . . . , 325)
associated with an entity ID (322) are considered the random
samples of the respective variables (e.g., 311, 313, 315), sampled
for the instance of an entity represented by the entity ID (322).
Statistical analyses (e.g., factor analysis (327) and cluster
analysis (329)) are performed to identify the patterns and
correlations in the random samples.
[0297] Once the cluster definitions (333) are obtained from the
cluster analysis (329), the identity of the cluster (e.g., cluster
ID (343)) that contains the entity ID (322) can be used to
characterize spending behavior of the entity represented by the
entity ID (322). The entities in the same cluster are considered to
have similar spending behaviors.
[0298] In FIG. 2, the random variables (e.g., 313 and 315) as
defined by the definitions (309) have certain degrees of
correlation and are not independent from each other. For example,
merchants of different merchant categories (e.g., 306) may have
overlapping business, or have certain business relationships. For
example, certain products and/or services of certain merchants have
cause and effect relationships. For example, certain products
and/or services of certain merchants are mutually exclusive to a
certain degree (e.g., a purchase from one merchant may have a level
of probability to exclude the user (101) from making a purchase
from another merchant). Such relationships may be complex and
difficult to quantify by merely inspecting the categories. Further,
such relationships may shift over time as the economy changes.
[0299] In FIG. 2, a factor analysis (327) is performed to reduce
the redundancy and/or correlation among the variables (e.g., 313,
315). The factor analysis (327) identifies the definitions (331)
for factors, each of which represents a combination of the
variables (e.g., 313, 315). A factor from the factor analysis (327)
is a linear combination of a plurality of the aggregated
measurements (e.g., variables (313, 315)) determined for various
areas (e.g., merchants or merchant categories, products or product
categories). Once the relationship between the factors and the
aggregated measurements is determined via factor analysis, the
values for the factors can be determined from the linear
combinations of the aggregated measurements and be used in a
transaction profile (127 or 341) to provide information on the
behavior of the entity represented by the entity ID (e.g., an
account, an individual, a family).
[0300] Once the factor definitions (331) are obtained from the
factor analysis (327), the factor definitions (331) can be applied
to the variable values (321) to determine factor values (344) for
the aggregated spending profile (341). Since redundancy and
correlation are reduced in the factors, the number of factors is
typically much smaller than the number of the original variables
(e.g., 313, 315). Thus, the factor values (344) represent the
concise summary of the original variables (e.g., 313, 315).
[0301] For example, there may be thousands of variables on spending
frequency and amount for different merchant categories; and the
factor analysis (327) can reduce the factor number to less than one
hundred (and even less than twenty). In one example, a
twelve-factor solution is obtained, which allows the use of twelve
factors to combine the thousands of the original variables (313,
315); and thus, the spending behavior in thousands of merchant
categories can be summarized via twelve factor values (344). In one
embodiment, each factor is combination of at least four variables;
and a typical variable has contributions to more than one
factor.
[0302] In FIG. 2, an aggregated spending profile (341) for an
entity represented by an entity ID (e.g., 322) includes the cluster
ID (343) and factor values (344) determined based on the cluster
definitions (333) and the factor definitions (331). The aggregated
spending profile (341) may further include other statistical
parameters, such as diversity index (342), channel distribution
(345), category distribution (346), zip code (347), etc., as
further discussed below.
[0303] In general, an aggregated spending profile (341) may include
more or fewer fields than those illustrated in FIG. 2. For example,
in one embodiment, the aggregated spending profile (341) further
includes an aggregated spending amount for a period of time (e.g.,
the past twelve months); in another embodiment, the aggregated
spending profile (341) does not include the category distribution
(346); and in a further embodiment, the aggregated spending profile
(341) may include a set of distance measures to the centroids of
the clusters.
[0304] FIG. 3 shows a method to generate an aggregated spending
profile according to one embodiment. In FIG. 3, computation models
are established (351) for variables (e.g., 311, 313, and 315). In
one embodiment, the variables are defined in a way to capture
certain aspects of the spending statistics, such as frequency,
amount, etc.
[0305] In FIG. 3, data from related accounts are combined (353);
recurrent/installment transactions are combined (355); and account
data are selected (357) according to a set of criteria related to
activity, consistency, diversity, etc.
[0306] In FIG. 3, the computation models (e.g., as represented by
the variable definitions (309)) are applied (359) to the remaining
account data (e.g., transaction records (301)) to obtain data
samples for the variables. The data points associated with the
entities, other than those whose transactions fail to meet the
minimum requirements for activity, consistency, diversity, etc.,
are used in factor analysis (327) and cluster analysis (329).
[0307] In FIG. 3, the data samples (e.g., variable values (321))
are used to perform (361) factor analysis (327) to identify factor
solutions (e.g., factor definitions (331)). The factor solutions
can be adjusted (363) to improve similarity in factor values of
different sets of transaction data (109).
[0308] The data samples can also be used to perform (365) cluster
analysis (329) to identify cluster solutions (e.g., cluster
definitions (333)). The cluster solutions can be adjusted (367) to
improve similarity in cluster identifications based on different
sets of transaction data (109). For example, cluster definitions
(333) can be applied to the transactions in the time period under
analysis (e.g., the past twelve months) and be applied separately
to the transactions in a prior time period (e.g., the twelve months
before the past twelve months) to obtain two sets of cluster
identifications for various entities. The cluster definitions (333)
can be adjusted to improve the correlation between the two set of
cluster identifications.
[0309] Optionally, human understandable characteristics of the
factors and clusters are identified (369) to name the factors and
clusters. For example, when the spending behavior of a cluster
appears to be the behavior of an internet loyalist, the cluster can
be named "internet loyalist" such that if a cardholder is found to
be in the "internet loyalist" cluster, the spending preferences and
patterns of the cardholder can be easily perceived.
[0310] In one embodiment, the factor analysis (327) and the cluster
analysis (329) are performed periodically (e.g., once a year, or
six months) to update the factor definitions (331) and the cluster
definitions (333), which may change as the economy and the society
change over time.
[0311] In FIG. 3, transaction data (109) are summarized (371) using
the factor solutions and cluster solutions to generate the
aggregated spending profile (341). The aggregated spending profile
(341) can be updated more frequently than the factor solutions and
cluster solutions, when the new transaction data (109) becomes
available. For example, the aggregated spending profile (341) may
be updated quarterly or monthly.
[0312] Details about aggregated spending profile (341) in one
embodiment are provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0306032,
entitled "Systems and Methods to Summarize Transaction Data," the
disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0313] In one embodiment, a set of profiles are generated from the
transaction data for a plurality of geographical regions, such as
mutually exclusive, non-overlapping regions defined by postal
codes. Transactions of account holders residing in the regions are
aggregated according to merchant categories for the respective
regions and subsequently normalized to obtain preference indicators
that reveal the spending preferences of the account holders in the
respective regions. Each of the profiles for respective regions is
based on a plurality of different account holders and/or households
to avoid revealing private information about individual account
holders or families. Further, the profiles are constructed in a way
to make it impossible to reverse calculate the transaction amounts.
Further details and examples about profiles constructed for regions
in one embodiment are provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No.
2013/0124263, entitled "Systems and Methods to Summarize
Transaction data," the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated
herein by reference.
Transaction Processing and Data
[0314] FIG. 4 shows a system to provide information and/or services
based on transaction data (109) according to one embodiment.
[0315] In FIG. 4, the transaction handler (103) is coupled between
an issuer processor (145) and an acquirer processor (147) to
facilitate authorization and settlement of transactions between a
consumer account (146) and a merchant account (148). The
transaction handler (103) records the transactions in the data
warehouse (149). The portal (143) is coupled to the data warehouse
(149) to provide information based on the transaction records
(301), such as the transaction profiles (127), aggregated spending
profile (341), offer redemption notification, etc. The portal (143)
may be implemented as a web portal, a telephone gateway, a
file/data server, etc.
[0316] In FIG. 4, the transaction terminal (105) initiates the
transaction for a user (101) (e.g., a customer) for processing by a
transaction handler (103). The transaction handler (103) processes
the transaction and stores transaction data (109) about the
transaction, in connection with account data (111), such as the
account profile of an account of the user (101). The account data
(111) may further include data about the user (101), collected from
issuers or merchants, and/or other sources, such as social
networks, credit bureaus, merchant provided information, address
information, etc. In one embodiment, a transaction may be initiated
by a server (e.g., based on a stored schedule for recurrent
payments).
[0317] The accumulated transaction data (109) and the corresponding
account data (111) are used to generate intelligence information
about the purchase behavior, pattern, preference, tendency,
frequency, trend, amount and/or propensity of the users (e.g.,
101), as individuals or as a member of a group. The intelligence
information can then be used to generate, identify and/or select
targeted advertisements for presentation to the user (101) on the
point of interaction (107), during a transaction, after a
transaction, or when other opportunities arise.
[0318] In FIG. 4, the consumer account (146) is under the control
of the issuer processor (145). The consumer account (146) may be
owned by an individual, or an organization such as a business, a
school, etc. The consumer account (146) may be a credit account, a
debit account, or a stored value account. The issuer may provide
the consumer (e.g., user (101)) an account identification device
(141) to identify the consumer account (146) using the account
information (142). The respective consumer of the account (146) can
be called an account holder or a cardholder, even when the consumer
is not physically issued a card, or the account identification
device (141), in one embodiment. The issuer processor (145) is to
charge the consumer account (146) to pay for purchases.
[0319] The account identification device (141) of one embodiment is
a plastic card having a magnetic strip storing account information
(142) identifying the consumer account (146) and/or the issuer
processor (145). Alternatively, the account identification device
(141) is a smartcard having an integrated circuit chip storing at
least the account information (142). The account identification
device (141) may optionally include a mobile phone having an
integrated smartcard.
[0320] The account information (142) may be printed or embossed on
the account identification device (141). The account information
(142) may be printed as a bar code to allow the transaction
terminal (105) to read the information via an optical scanner. The
account information (142) may be stored in a memory of the account
identification device (141) and configured to be read via wireless,
contactless communications, such as near field communications via
magnetic field coupling, infrared communications, or radio
frequency communications. Alternatively, the transaction terminal
(105) may require contact with the account identification device
(141) to read the account information (142) (e.g., by reading the
magnetic strip of a card with a magnetic strip reader).
[0321] The transaction terminal (105) is configured to transmit an
authorization request message to the acquirer processor (147). The
authorization request includes the account information (142), an
amount of payment, and information about the merchant (e.g., an
indication of the merchant account (148)). The acquirer processor
(147) requests the transaction handler (103) to process the
authorization request, based on the account information (142)
received in the transaction terminal (105). The transaction handler
(103) routes the authorization request to the issuer processor
(145) and may process and respond to the authorization request when
the issuer processor (145) is not available. The issuer processor
(145) determines whether to authorize the transaction based at
least in part on a balance of the consumer account (146).
[0322] The transaction handler (103), the issuer processor (145),
and the acquirer processor (147) may each include a subsystem to
identify the risk in the transaction and may reject the transaction
based on the risk assessment.
[0323] The account identification device (141) may include security
features to prevent unauthorized uses of the consumer account
(146), such as a logo to show the authenticity of the account
identification device (141), encryption to protect the account
information (142), etc.
[0324] The transaction terminal (105) of one embodiment is
configured to interact with the account identification device (141)
to obtain the account information (142) that identifies the
consumer account (146) and/or the issuer processor (145). The
transaction terminal (105) communicates with the acquirer processor
(147) that controls the merchant account (148) of a merchant. The
transaction terminal (105) may communicate with the acquirer
processor (147) via a data communication connection, such as a
telephone connection, an Internet connection, etc. The acquirer
processor (147) is to collect payments into the merchant account
(148) on behalf of the merchant.
[0325] In one embodiment, the transaction terminal (105) is a POS
terminal at a traditional, offline, "brick and mortar" retail
store. In another embodiment, the transaction terminal (105) is an
online server that receives account information (142) of the
consumer account (146) from the user (101) through a web
connection. In one embodiment, the user (101) may provide account
information (142) through a telephone call, via verbal
communications with a representative of the merchant; and the
representative enters the account information (142) into the
transaction terminal (105) to initiate the transaction.
[0326] In one embodiment, the account information (142) can be
entered directly into the transaction terminal (105) to make
payment from the consumer account (146), without having to
physically present the account identification device (141). When a
transaction is initiated without physically presenting an account
identification device (141), the transaction is classified as a
"card-not-present" (CNP) transaction.
[0327] In general, the issuer processor (145) may control more than
one consumer account (146); the acquirer processor (147) may
control more than one merchant account (148); and the transaction
handler (103) is connected between a plurality of issuer processors
(e.g., 145) and a plurality of acquirer processors (e.g., 147). An
entity (e.g., bank) may operate both an issuer processor (145) and
an acquirer processor (147).
[0328] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103), the issuer
processor (145), the acquirer processor (147), the transaction
terminal (105), the portal (143), and other devices and/or services
accessing the portal (143) are connected via communications
networks, such as local area networks, cellular telecommunications
networks, wireless wide area networks, wireless local area
networks, an intranet, and Internet. Dedicated communication
channels may be used between the transaction handler (103) and the
issuer processor (145), between the transaction handler (103) and
the acquirer processor (147), and/or between the portal (143) and
the transaction handler (103).
[0329] In FIG. 4, the transaction handler (103) uses the data
warehouse (149) to store the records about the transactions, such
as the transaction records (301) or transaction data (109).
[0330] Typically, the transaction handler (103) is implemented
using a powerful computer, or cluster of computers functioning as a
unit, controlled by instructions stored on a computer readable
medium. The transaction handler (103) is configured to support and
deliver authorization services, exception file services, and
clearing and settlement services. The transaction handler (103) has
a subsystem to process authorization requests and another subsystem
to perform clearing and settlement services. The transaction
handler (103) is configured to process different types of
transactions, such credit card transactions, debit card
transactions, prepaid card transactions, and other types of
commercial transactions. The transaction handler (103)
interconnects the issuer processors (e.g., 145) and the acquirer
processor (e.g., 147) to facilitate payment communications.
[0331] In FIG. 4, the transaction terminal (105) is configured to
submit the authorized transactions to the acquirer processor (147)
for settlement. The amount for the settlement may be different from
the amount specified in the authorization request. The transaction
handler (103) is coupled between the issuer processor (145) and the
acquirer processor (147) to facilitate the clearing and settling of
the transaction. Clearing includes the exchange of financial
information between the issuer processor (145) and the acquirer
processor (147); and settlement includes the exchange of funds.
[0332] In FIG. 4, the issuer processor (145) is configured to
provide funds to make payments on behalf of the consumer account
(146). The acquirer processor (147) is to receive the funds on
behalf of the merchant account (148). The issuer processor (145)
and the acquirer processor (147) communicate with the transaction
handler (103) to coordinate the transfer of funds for the
transaction. The funds can be transferred electronically.
[0333] The transaction terminal (105) may submit a transaction
directly for settlement, without having to separately submit an
authorization request.
[0334] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides a user
interface to allow the user (101) to organize the transactions in
one or more consumer accounts (146) of the user with one or more
issuers. The user (101) may organize the transactions using
information and/or categories identified in the transaction records
(301), such as merchant category (306), transaction date (303),
amount (304), etc. Examples and techniques in one embodiment are
provided in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2007/0055597, entitled "Method
and System for Manipulating Purchase Information," the disclosure
of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0335] In one embodiment, the portal (143) provides transaction
based statistics, such as indicators for retail spending
monitoring, indicators for merchant benchmarking, industry/market
segmentation, indicators of spending patterns, etc. Further
examples can be found in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2009/0048884,
entitled "Merchant Benchmarking Tool," the disclosures of which
applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Transaction Terminal
[0336] FIG. 5 illustrates a transaction terminal according to one
embodiment. The transaction terminal (105) illustrated in FIG. 5
can be used in various systems discussed in connection with other
figures of the present disclosure. In FIG. 5, the transaction
terminal (105) is configured to interact with an account
identification device (141) to obtain account information (142)
about the consumer account (146).
[0337] In one embodiment, the transaction terminal (105) includes a
memory (167) coupled to the processor (151), which controls the
operations of a reader (163), an input device (153), an output
device (165) and a network interface (161). The memory (167) may
store instructions for the processor (151) and/or data, such as an
identification that is associated with the merchant account
(148).
[0338] In one embodiment, the reader (163) includes a magnetic
strip reader. In another embodiment, the reader (163) includes a
contactless reader, such as a radio frequency identification (RFID)
reader, a near field communications (NFC) device configured to read
data via magnetic field coupling (in accordance with ISO standard
14443/NFC), a Bluetooth transceiver, a WiFi transceiver, an
infrared transceiver, a laser scanner, etc.
[0339] In one embodiment, the input device (153) includes key
buttons that can be used to enter the account information (142)
directly into the transaction terminal (105) without the physical
presence of the account identification device (141). The input
device (153) can be configured to provide further information to
initiate a transaction, such as a personal identification number
(PIN), password, zip code, etc. that may be used to access the
account identification device (141), or in combination with the
account information (142) obtained from the account identification
device (141).
[0340] In one embodiment, the output device (165) may include a
display, a speaker, and/or a printer to present information, such
as the result of an authorization request, a receipt for the
transaction, an advertisement, etc.
[0341] In one embodiment, the network interface (161) is configured
to communicate with the acquirer processor (147) via a telephone
connection, an Internet connection, or a dedicated data
communication channel.
[0342] In one embodiment, the instructions stored in the memory
(167) are configured at least to cause the transaction terminal
(105) to send an authorization request message to the acquirer
processor (147) to initiate a transaction. The transaction terminal
(105) may or may not send a separate request for the clearing and
settling of the transaction. The instructions stored in the memory
(167) are also configured to cause the transaction terminal (105)
to perform other types of functions discussed in this
description.
[0343] In one embodiment, a transaction terminal (105) may have
fewer components than those illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, in
one embodiment, the transaction terminal (105) is configured for
"card-not-present" transactions; and the transaction terminal (105)
does not have a reader (163).
[0344] In one embodiment, a transaction terminal (105) may have
more components than those illustrated in FIG. 5. For example, in
one embodiment, the transaction terminal (105) is an ATM machine,
which includes components to dispense cash under certain
conditions.
Account Identification Device
[0345] FIG. 6 illustrates an account identifying device according
to one embodiment. In FIG. 6, the account identification device
(141) is configured to carry account information (142) that
identifies the consumer account (146).
[0346] In one embodiment, the account identification device (141)
includes a memory (167) coupled to the processor (151), which
controls the operations of a communication device (159), an input
device (153), an audio device (157) and a display device (155). The
memory (167) may store instructions for the processor (151) and/or
data, such as the account information (142) associated with the
consumer account (146).
[0347] In one embodiment, the account information (142) includes an
identifier identifying the issuer (and thus the issuer processor
(145)) among a plurality of issuers, and an identifier identifying
the consumer account among a plurality of consumer accounts
controlled by the issuer processor (145). The account information
(142) may include an expiration date of the account identification
device (141), the name of the consumer holding the consumer account
(146), and/or an identifier identifying the account identification
device (141) among a plurality of account identification devices
associated with the consumer account (146).
[0348] In one embodiment, the account information (142) may further
include a loyalty program account number, accumulated rewards of
the consumer in the loyalty program, an address of the consumer, a
balance of the consumer account (146), transit information (e.g., a
subway or train pass), access information (e.g., access badges),
and/or consumer information (e.g., name, date of birth), etc.
[0349] In one embodiment, the memory includes a nonvolatile memory,
such as magnetic strip, a memory chip, a flash memory, a Read Only
Memory (ROM), etc. to store the account information (142).
[0350] In one embodiment, the information stored in the memory
(167) of the account identification device (141) may also be in the
form of data tracks that are traditionally associated with credits
cards. Such tracks include Track 1 and Track 2. Track 1
("International Air Transport Association") stores more information
than Track 2, and contains the cardholder's name as well as the
account number and other discretionary data. Track 1 is sometimes
used by airlines when securing reservations with a credit card.
Track 2 ("American Banking Association") is currently most commonly
used and is read by ATMs and credit card checkers. The ABA
(American Banking Association) designed the specifications of Track
1 and banks abide by it. It contains the cardholder's account
number, encrypted PIN, and other discretionary data.
[0351] In one embodiment, the communication device (159) includes a
semiconductor chip to implement a transceiver for communication
with the reader (163) and an antenna to provide and/or receive
wireless signals.
[0352] In one embodiment, the communication device (159) is
configured to communicate with the reader (163). The communication
device (159) may include a transmitter to transmit the account
information (142) via wireless transmissions, such as radio
frequency signals, magnetic coupling, or infrared, Bluetooth or
WiFi signals, etc.
[0353] In one embodiment, the account identification device (141)
is in the form of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA),
etc. The input device (153) can be used to provide input to the
processor (151) to control the operation of the account
identification device (141); and the audio device (157) and the
display device (155) may present status information and/or other
information, such as advertisements or offers. The account
identification device (141) may include further components that are
not shown in FIG. 6, such as a cellular communications
subsystem.
[0354] In one embodiment, the communication device (159) may access
the account information (142) stored on the memory (167) without
going through the processor (151).
[0355] In one embodiment, the account identification device (141)
has fewer components than those illustrated in FIG. 6. For example,
an account identification device (141) does not have the input
device (153), the audio device (157) and the display device (155)
in one embodiment; and in another embodiment, an account
identification device (141) does not have components (151-159).
[0356] For example, in one embodiment, an account identification
device (141) is in the form of a debit card, a credit card, a
smartcard, or a consumer device that has optional features such as
magnetic strips, or smartcards.
[0357] An example of an account identification device (141) is a
magnetic strip attached to a plastic substrate in the form of a
card. The magnetic strip is used as the memory (167) of the account
identification device (141) to provide the account information
(142). Consumer information, such as account number, expiration
date, and consumer name may be printed or embossed on the card. A
semiconductor chip implementing the memory (167) and the
communication device (159) may also be embedded in the plastic card
to provide account information (142) in one embodiment. In one
embodiment, the account identification device (141) has the
semiconductor chip but not the magnetic strip.
[0358] In one embodiment, the account identification device (141)
is integrated with a security device, such as an access card, a
radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a security card, a
transponder, etc.
[0359] In one embodiment, the account identification device (141)
is a handheld and compact device. In one embodiment, the account
identification device (141) has a size suitable to be placed in a
wallet or pocket of the consumer.
[0360] Some examples of an account identification device (141)
include a credit card, a debit card, a stored value device, a
payment card, a gift card, a smartcard, a smart media card, a
payroll card, a health care card, a wrist band, a keychain device,
a supermarket discount card, a transponder, and a machine readable
medium containing account information (142).
Point of Interaction
[0361] In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) is to
provide an advertisement to the user (101), or to provide
information derived from the transaction data (109) to the user
(101).
[0362] In one embodiment, an advertisement is a marketing
interaction which may include an announcement and/or an offer of a
benefit, such as a discount, incentive, reward, coupon, gift, cash
back, or opportunity (e.g., special ticket/admission). An
advertisement may include an offer of a product or service, an
announcement of a product or service, or a presentation of a brand
of products or services, or a notice of events, facts, opinions,
etc. The advertisements can be presented in text, graphics, audio,
video, or animation, and as printed matter, web content,
interactive media, etc. An advertisement may be presented in
response to the presence of a financial transaction card, or in
response to a financial transaction card being used to make a
financial transaction, or in response to other user activities,
such as browsing a web page, submitting a search request,
communicating online, entering a wireless communication zone, etc.
In one embodiment, the presentation of advertisements may be not a
result of a user action.
[0363] In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) can be one
of various endpoints of the transaction network, such as point of
sale (POS) terminals, automated teller machines (ATMs), electronic
kiosks (or computer kiosks or interactive kiosks), self-assist
checkout terminals, vending machines, gas pumps, websites of banks
(e.g., issuer banks or acquirer banks of credit cards), bank
statements (e.g., credit card statements), websites of the
transaction handler (103), websites of merchants, checkout websites
or web pages for online purchases, etc.
[0364] In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) may be the
same as the transaction terminal (105), such as a point of sale
(POS) terminal, an automated teller machine (ATM), a mobile phone,
a computer of the user for an online transaction, etc. In one
embodiment, the point of interaction (107) may be co-located with,
or near, the transaction terminal (105) (e.g., a video monitor or
display, a digital sign), or produced by the transaction terminal
(e.g., a receipt produced by the transaction terminal (105)). In
one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) may be separate from
and not co-located with the transaction terminal (105), such as a
mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a personal computer of
the user, a voice mail box of the user, an email inbox of the user,
a digital sign, etc.
[0365] For example, the advertisements can be presented on a
portion of media for a transaction with the customer, which portion
might otherwise be unused and thus referred to as a "white space"
herein. A white space can be on a printed matter (e.g., a receipt
printed for the transaction, or a printed credit card statement),
on a video display (e.g., a display monitor of a POS terminal for a
retail transaction, an ATM for cash withdrawal or money transfer, a
personal computer of the customer for online purchases), or on an
audio channel (e.g., an interactive voice response (IVR) system for
a transaction over a telephonic device).
[0366] In one embodiment, the white space is part of a media
channel available to present a message from the transaction handler
(103) in connection with the processing of a transaction of the
user (101). In one embodiment, the white space is in a media
channel that is used to report information about a transaction of
the user (101), such as an authorization status, a confirmation
message, a verification message, a user interface to verify a
password for the online use of the account information (142), a
monthly statement, an alert or a report, or a web page provided by
the portal (143) to access a loyalty program associated with the
consumer account (146) or a registration program.
[0367] In other embodiments, the advertisements can also be
presented via other media channels which may not involve a
transaction processed by the transaction handler (103). For
example, the advertisements can be presented on publications or
announcements (e.g., newspapers, magazines, books, directories,
radio broadcasts, television, digital signage, etc., which may be
in an electronic form, or in a printed or painted form). The
advertisements may be presented on paper, on websites, on
billboards, on digital signs, or on audio portals.
[0368] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) purchases
the rights to use the media channels from the owner or operators of
the media channels and uses the media channels as advertisement
spaces. For example, white spaces at a point of interaction (e.g.,
107) with customers for transactions processed by the transaction
handler (103) can be used to deliver advertisements relevant to the
customers conducting the transactions; and the advertisement can be
selected based at least in part on the intelligence information
derived from the accumulated transaction data (109) and/or the
context at the point of interaction (107) and/or the transaction
terminal (105).
[0369] In general, a point of interaction (e.g., 107) may or may
not be capable of receiving inputs from the customers, and may or
may not co-located with a transaction terminal (e.g., 105) that
initiates the transactions. The white spaces for presenting the
advertisement on the point of interaction (107) may be on a portion
of a geographical display space (e.g., on a screen), or on a
temporal space (e.g., in an audio stream).
[0370] In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) may be
used to primarily to access services not provided by the
transaction handler (103), such as services provided by a search
engine, a social networking website, an online marketplace, a blog,
a news site, a television program provider, a radio station, a
satellite, a publisher, etc.
[0371] In one embodiment, a consumer device is used as the point of
interaction (107), which may be a non-portable consumer device or a
portable computing device. The consumer device is to provide media
content to the user (101) and may receive input from the user
(101).
[0372] Examples of non-portable consumer devices include a computer
terminal, a television set, a personal computer, a set-top box, or
the like. Examples of portable consumer devices include a portable
computer, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a
pager, a security card, a wireless terminal, or the like. The
consumer device may be implemented as a data processing system as
illustrated in FIG. 7, with more or fewer components.
[0373] In one embodiment, the consumer device includes an account
identification device (141). For example, a smart card used as an
account identification device (141) is integrated with a mobile
phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
[0374] In one embodiment, the point of interaction (107) is
integrated with a transaction terminal (105). For example, a
self-service checkout terminal includes a touch pad to interact
with the user (101); and an ATM machine includes a user interface
subsystem to interact with the user (101).
Hardware
[0375] In one embodiment, a computing apparatus is configured to
include some of the components of systems illustrated in various
figures, such as the transaction handler (103), the profile
generator (121), the media controller (115), the portal (143), the
profile selector (129), the advertisement selector (133), the user
tracker (113), the correlator, and their associated storage
devices, such as the data warehouse (149).
[0376] In one embodiment, at least some of the components such as
the transaction handler (103), the transaction terminal (105), the
point of interaction (107), the user tracker (113), the media
controller (115), the correlator (117), the profile generator
(121), the profile selector (129), the advertisement selector
(133), the portal (143), the issuer processor (145), the acquirer
processor (147), and the account identification device (141), can
be implemented as a computer system, such as a data processing
system (170) illustrated in FIG. 7. Some of the components may
share hardware or be combined on a computer system. In one
embodiment, a network of computers can be used to implement one or
more of the components.
[0377] Further, the data illustrated in the figures, such as
transaction data (109), account data (111), transaction profiles
(127), and advertisement data (135), can be stored in storage
devices of one or more computers accessible to the corresponding
components. For example, the transaction data (109) can be stored
in the data warehouse (149) that can be implemented as a data
processing system illustrated in FIG. 7, with more or fewer
components.
[0378] In one embodiment, the transaction handler (103) is a
payment processing system, or a payment card processor, such as a
card processor for credit cards, debit cards, etc.
[0379] FIG. 7 illustrates a data processing system according to one
embodiment. While FIG. 7 illustrates various components of a
computer system, it is not intended to represent any particular
architecture or manner of interconnecting the components. One
embodiment may use other systems that have fewer or more components
than those shown in FIG. 7.
[0380] In FIG. 7, the data processing system (170) includes an
inter-connect (171) (e.g., bus and system core logic), which
interconnects a microprocessor(s) (173) and memory (167). The
microprocessor (173) is coupled to cache memory (179) in the
example of FIG. 7.
[0381] In one embodiment, the inter-connect (171) interconnects the
microprocessor(s) (173) and the memory (167) together and also
interconnects them to input/output (I/O) device(s) (175) via I/O
controller(s) (177). I/O devices (175) may include a display device
and/or peripheral devices, such as mice, keyboards, modems, network
interfaces, printers, scanners, video cameras and other devices
known in the art. In one embodiment, when the data processing
system is a server system, some of the I/O devices (175), such as
printers, scanners, mice, and/or keyboards, are optional.
[0382] In one embodiment, the inter-connect (171) includes one or
more buses connected to one another through various bridges,
controllers and/or adapters. In one embodiment the I/O controllers
(177) include a USB (Universal Serial Bus) adapter for controlling
USB peripherals, and/or an IEEE-1394 bus adapter for controlling
IEEE-1394 peripherals.
[0383] In one embodiment, the memory (167) includes one or more of:
ROM (Read Only Memory), volatile RAM (Random Access Memory), and
non-volatile memory, such as hard drive, flash memory, etc.
[0384] Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM)
which requires power continually in order to refresh or maintain
the data in the memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic
hard drive, a magnetic optical drive, an optical drive (e.g., a DVD
RAM), or other type of memory system which maintains data even
after power is removed from the system. The non-volatile memory may
also be a random access memory.
[0385] The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled
directly to the rest of the components in the data processing
system. A non-volatile memory that is remote from the system, such
as a network storage device coupled to the data processing system
through a network interface such as a modem or Ethernet interface,
can also be used.
[0386] In this description, some functions and operations are
described as being performed by or caused by software code to
simplify description. However, such expressions are also used to
specify that the functions result from execution of the
code/instructions by a processor, such as a microprocessor.
[0387] Alternatively, or in combination, the functions and
operations as described here can be implemented using special
purpose circuitry, with or without software instructions, such as
using Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or
Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Embodiments can be
implemented using hardwired circuitry without software
instructions, or in combination with software instructions. Thus,
the techniques are limited neither to any specific combination of
hardware circuitry and software, nor to any particular source for
the instructions executed by the data processing system.
[0388] While one embodiment can be implemented in fully functioning
computers and computer systems, various embodiments are capable of
being distributed as a computing product in a variety of forms and
are capable of being applied regardless of the particular type of
machine or computer-readable media used to actually effect the
distribution.
[0389] At least some aspects disclosed can be embodied, at least in
part, in software. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a
computer system or other data processing system in response to its
processor, such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of
instructions contained in a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM,
non-volatile memory, cache or a remote storage device.
[0390] Routines executed to implement the embodiments may be
implemented as part of an operating system or a specific
application, component, program, object, module or sequence of
instructions referred to as "computer programs." The computer
programs typically include one or more instructions set at various
times in various memory and storage devices in a computer, and
that, when read and executed by one or more processors in a
computer, cause the computer to perform operations necessary to
execute elements involving the various aspects.
[0391] A machine readable medium can be used to store software and
data which when executed by a data processing system causes the
system to perform various methods. The executable software and data
may be stored in various places including for example ROM, volatile
RAM, non-volatile memory and/or cache. Portions of this software
and/or data may be stored in any one of these storage devices.
Further, the data and instructions can be obtained from centralized
servers or peer to peer networks. Different portions of the data
and instructions can be obtained from different centralized servers
and/or peer to peer networks at different times and in different
communication sessions or in a same communication session. The data
and instructions can be obtained in entirety prior to the execution
of the applications. Alternatively, portions of the data and
instructions can be obtained dynamically, just in time, when needed
for execution. Thus, it is not required that the data and
instructions be on a machine readable medium in entirety at a
particular instance of time.
[0392] Examples of computer-readable media include but are not
limited to recordable and non-recordable type media such as
volatile and non-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM),
random access memory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other
removable disks, magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media
(e.g., Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile
Disks (DVDs), etc.), among others. The computer-readable media may
store the instructions.
[0393] The instructions may also be embodied in digital and analog
communication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other
forms of propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared
signals, digital signals, etc. However, propagated signals, such as
carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc. are not
tangible machine readable medium and are not configured to store
instructions.
[0394] In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism
that provides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a form
accessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personal
digital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one
or more processors, etc.).
[0395] In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in
combination with software instructions to implement the techniques.
Thus, the techniques are neither limited to any specific
combination of hardware circuitry and software nor to any
particular source for the instructions executed by the data
processing system.
Other Aspects
[0396] The description and drawings are illustrative and are not to
be construed as limiting. The present disclosure is illustrative of
inventive features to enable a person skilled in the art to make
and use the techniques. Various features, as described herein,
should be used in compliance with all current and future rules,
laws and regulations related to privacy, security, permission,
consent, authorization, and others. Numerous specific details are
described to provide a thorough understanding. However, in certain
instances, well known or conventional details are not described in
order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or an
embodiment in the present disclosure are not necessarily references
to the same embodiment; and, such references mean at least one.
[0397] The use of headings herein is merely provided for ease of
reference, and shall not be interpreted in any way to limit this
disclosure or the following claims.
[0398] Reference to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that
a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in
connection with the embodiment is included in at least one
embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase "in one
embodiment" in various places in the specification are not
necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, and are not
necessarily all referring to separate or alternative embodiments
mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features
are described which may be exhibited by one embodiment and not by
others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be
requirements for one embodiment but not other embodiments. Unless
excluded by explicit description and/or apparent incompatibility,
any combination of various features described in this description
is also included here. For example, the features described above in
connection with "in one embodiment" or "in some embodiments" can be
all optionally included in one implementation, except where the
dependency of certain features on other features, as apparent from
the description, may limit the options of excluding selected
features from the implementation, and incompatibility of certain
features with other features, as apparent from the description, may
limit the options of including selected features together in the
implementation.
[0399] The disclosures of the above discussed patent documents are
hereby incorporated herein by reference.
[0400] In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been
described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof.
It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto
without departing from the broader spirit and scope as set forth in
the following claims. The specification and drawings are,
accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a
restrictive sense.
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