Patent Application
20180197214
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Incentive plans depend on a consumer's presentation of a loyalty card when making a purchase. Further, a merchant is required to develop and host a technologically challenging rewards platform when attempting to create a loyalty program to improve customer purchase amount and frequency.
Features and advantages described in this summary and the following detailed description are not all-inclusive. Many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims hereof. Additionally, other embodiments may omit one or more (or all) of the features and advantages described in this summary.
In some embodiments, an electronic payment platform hosts an electronic transaction monitoring system that allows a user such as a merchant to simply specify technical conditions for providing an award to a consumer and allow the electronic payment platform monitor electronic transactions made by consumers to determine when a registered consumer is eligible for a an electronic response such as an award. Rather than providing a discount on a future purchase or other soft award, the electronic payment platform may directly deposit cash or value back onto the customer's electronic payment instrument, such as a credit card. The electronic payment platform completes the award electronic transaction by drawing funds from an electronic merchant payment account. Neither the merchant nor the consumer are required to do anything beyond specifying the technical conditions for the award and registering one or more electronic payment cards, respectively. The electronic payment platform manages tracking qualifications, making appropriate electronic responses such as communicating awards, and collecting the award funds from the merchant. An electronic consumer portal may be provided that allows instant checking of progress towards achieving a desired response such as an award.
The figures depict a preferred embodiment for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art may readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein.
A system is used to provide an electronic response such as an incentive to a consumer by a merchant. Unlike traditional electronic response programs such as merchant loyalty programs, the merchant does not need to develop and manage its own tracking and payout systems because an electronic payment platform downstream from the merchant administers all aspects of the loyalty program including monitoring consumer activity relative to qualifying for an electronic response such as an award and providing the award fulfillment when the consumer has satisfied the requirements. A portal manages both merchant and consumer interfaces for setting up rewards based on technical conditions and providing feedback to consumers regarding completion status.
Referring to
The system 100 may include the elements illustrated in
In an aspect of the disclosure, a token service provider 118 may be used to provide greater security to transactions processed at the merchants, 110, 112, to the point of the merchants 110, 112 not knowing the identity of an individual consumer who may be participating in their loyalty programs. While this may seem contrary to the goals of a loyalty program, a system 100 implemented as described offers merchants a chance to influence purchasing behavior and provide direct access to the consumer for publicizing its campaigns through a consumer application. Similarly, the consumer may be able to benefit from the awards made available through loyalty campaigns without actually sharing personal details with the merchant or signing up with each merchant offering loyalty programs. This both protects the consumer's personal information including email accounts, as well as improving security for things like personal account number (PAN) data for various payment instruments because this information is not necessarily shared with the merchant. These and other aspects of the disclosure are discussed in more detail below.
The electronic payment platform 102 is illustrated in more detail in
A second kind of campaign may be set up using a second selection block 155. This campaign awards cash back after a consumer spends a minimum amount over a period of time, for example. In this illustration, drop down 156 and drop down 158 specify that a consumer gets $100 after spending $1000. In the illustrated embodiment, these purchases are specified to occur between Nov. 1 and Dec. 30 of the year 2016. The campaign types illustrated in selection blocks 151 and 155 are merely illustrative of a virtually limitless number of combinations of purchases, store visits, purchase amounts, etc., that can be configured. Further, the number of fields required to specify a campaign may be increased to include various details related to the value of a free item or specifics on qualifying purchases.
Other fields may be supported for the definition of a campaign including a total spend amount 160 that defines the amount the merchant 110 will dedicate to the campaign, such that when the total spend amount 160 is exceeded, the campaign may end. A start date 162 and stop date 164 may define limits on the campaign, in combination with the total spend amount 160. A location value 166 may be used to specify geographic limits on a campaign, such as a country, an area code, a commerce region, etc. The merchant interface 150, as implemented in the merchant module 172 provides a merchant 110 a convenient way to set up and operate a loyalty campaign without the necessity to code and develop an in-house tool for monitoring transactions, recording client transactions, both on-line and in-store, and administering payouts and refunds when campaign criteria are met by a consumer. The electronic payment platform 102, from its vantage point of handling all transactions processed through to an issuer 122, 128 evaluates each approved transaction to determine whether the merchant 110 is current sponsoring a campaign, whether the consumer has registered the payment instrument, e.g., credit card, for participation in campaigns, and when those two things are true, evaluates the consumer's progress toward achieving an award via the campaign. The merchant may specify a specific nameplate or card brand, or may allow all of a consumer's registered payment instruments to participate in a campaign, providing flexibility for co-sponsored campaigns.
Returning to
A further aspect of the consumer application 200 is illustrated in
A third offer 220 from an online merchandise store provides for a $100 cash back after spending $1000 during a period of time. A status field 222 advises the consumer of what must be completed to fulfill the conditions of the offer. A return field 224 allows the consumer to return to the previous screen. The consumer application 200 may be the conduit through which a merchant can publicize campaigns and attempt to influence a consumer even when the identity of the consumer is hidden from the merchant. For example, the offers screen of
Returning to
A fulfillment module 180 credits a value of the award to a financial instrument designated by the registered consumer when the conditions for an offer have been met. In an embodiment, an actual cash value of the award is transferred to the consumer, or more specifically, to a payment instrument designated by the consumer. In other embodiments, points, status, or merchandise may be made available to the consumer rather than a monetary only award.
A billing module 182 may be used to charge a value of the award to a funding account of the merchant. The billing module 182 may also calculate and include any fees associated with the campaign in general and with the fulfillment of individual awards specifically. In an embodiment, an operator of the electronic payment platform may charge a fixed percentage of the value of an award provided as compensation for operating the system on behalf of the merchant. In another embodiment, different fee structures may be used, such as a fixed fee based on a duration of a campaign and a percentage of the total spend.
A communication module 184 may manage network traffic and other performance-related capabilities such as load balancing, mirroring, etc. The architecture illustrated in
At block 244 the electronic payment platform 102 may receive campaign data from a merchant 110. The campaign data may include conditions for any registered consumer to receive an award as well as a value of the award, as depicted for one embodiment in
The steps of blocks 242 and 244 may be repeated as few as one time, in the case of a consumer, and as few as once per campaign for a merchant. In an embodiment, the merchant may choose to update characteristics of the campaign after the initial definition. For example, the merchant 110 may wish to extend the time period for a particularly successful campaign and/or increase a total spend.
At block 246, transaction data may be received from the merchant 110. The transaction data may include an identification of a consumer and a payment instrument used for the transaction.
At block 248, the payment instrument may be evaluated to determine whether it is a tokenized card number. If so, execution continues at block 250 and the tokenized card number is passed to token service provider 118 in order to match the token to a payment instrument. In order to increase security in the process, the token service provider 118 may also provide confirmation of an identity of the consumer. Execution may continue at block 252 with either the personal account number (PAN) from the token service provider 118 or from the original transaction data received at block 246. At block 252, the merchant, user information, and transaction data may be extracted.
At block 254, the transaction may be processed for payment, for example, by passing the transaction data to an appropriate issuer 122. The electronic payment platform 102 may receive the transaction response and notify the merchant 110 of the status. Assuming the transaction is approved, execution may continue at block 256 where the electronic payment platform 102 inquires the database 104 to determine whether the merchant 110 has an offer pending. For example, the database 104 may contain information on a campaign 106 sponsored by the merchant 110. The electronic payment platform 102 may also determine whether a spend limit has been exceeded for the current campaign. If there is no offer pending, or a spend limit for a pending campaign has been exceeded the no branch may be taken from block 256 and execution continues at block 246 were another transaction record may be processed.
If a valid campaign is pending and there are available funds, execution and continue at block 258, where the payment instrument may be checked to determine whether the consumer, as identified by the payment instrument, is registered. If no, execution continues at block 246. If yes, execution may continue at block 262 determine if the consumer's previous transactions, in view of his or her current transaction, meet the conditions for an award under the current campaign. If no, execution continues at block 262 where updates to the consumer information in campaign database 106 may be recorded and execution continues at block 246.
If, at block 260 the conditions for a campaign have been met, the “yes” branch may be taken from block 260 to block 264 where an award in the amount specified by the campaign can be made to the designated payment instrument. In an embodiment, the award is a cash amount that is given directly to the consumer as a credit to his or her payment instrument. Execution may continue at block 266 where funds for the award may be taken from a merchant funding account 120. In an embodiment, rather than settling funds as each award is made, the award amounts may be accumulated and, for example, settled at the end of each business day. As discussed above, an amount greater than the actual award given to consumer may be transferred in order to cover contractual costs associated with administering a loyalty campaign as agreed to in a hosting agreement.
Execution may continue at block 262 where the campaign database 106 may be updated to indicate that the consumer has completed the campaign and an award has been granted. In various embodiments, the consumer may be able to continue working toward an additional award, while in other embodiments, the consumer may not be allowed to participate in a particular campaign more than once.
While the flow shown depicts the award evaluation more or less in real time compared to the transaction processing, in another embodiment, the transaction data may be stored and evaluated at a later time, for example, overnight when transaction processing volumes may be reduced.
The system and method solve the technical problem of creating and managing monitoring systems, controls, and databases for each merchant that wishes to participate in an incentive program. Instead, redundant systems are eliminated and a single point of contact is developed and maintained for merchants to administer their respective incentive programs without the added cost and technological investment in hardware and financial systems. The use of such a system benefits both merchants and consumers when simple, easy to use, and easy to operate systems are in place for engaging consumers.
