Patent Application
20130132156
The present disclosure relates to a system and method in which a financial transaction processing system provides electronic consumer surveys from a survey provider to a consumer following a financial transaction.
Financial transaction processing systems operate to facilitate transactions between at least a consumer, an issuer, and a merchant. When a consumer engages in a financial transaction with a merchant, such as by using a credit card, the financial transaction system sends an authorization request to an issuer, such as the consumer's bank. Upon receiving authorization or denial from the issuer, the financial transaction processing system notifies the merchant accordingly and the financial transaction is completed.
Survey providers create consumer surveys for consumers to complete for any variety of reasons, such as to obtain marketing information, analyze shopping habits, to assist with advertising, or to test new products in the market. Those who benefit from these consumer surveys include the survey providers, research and marketing firms, merchants, and even the consumers themselves. Providing consumers with a survey at a relevant and opportunistic time is a goal of survey providers.
Some effort has been made to capture real-time, point of sale (POS)-oriented consumer surveys that are specifically tied to the merchant's POS capabilities. However, known systems do not leverage payment account information to trigger a consumer survey. Moreover, known consumer surveys are either physical mail deliveries or Internet based upon accessing specific web pages on the World Wide Web. Generally, the customization or targeting of these surveys are limited to information about the customer while coming to, exploring, and leaving a given website. ComScore has a panel of people who permit tracking of their web experience, but this is generally limited to the people who have opted into the panel for some form of consideration. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,181,412.
Thus, a need exists for delivery of consumer surveys that are triggered by a financial transaction and that pertain to a consumer's specific shopping experience based upon a variety of predetermined characteristics.
Systems and methods for providing real-time electronic consumer surveys are disclosed herein.
It is noted initially that, as used herein, the term “financial card” can include, for example, magnetic stripe bearing card, smart card, magnetic stripe and smart card combination, prepaid card, credit card, debit card, combination credit/debit card, Visa(R), MasterCard®, American Express®, Diners Club, Discover® Card, merchant card, or any other card suitable for a cardholder to use to make purchases of goods and/or services. Also, as used herein, the terms “cardholder,” “card user,” and “card recipient” can be used interchangeably and can include any user making purchases of goods and/or services. Further, as used herein in, the term “issuer” or can include, for example, a financial institution (i.e., bank) issuing a card, a merchant issuing a merchant specific card, a stand-in processor configured to act on-behalf of the card-issuer, or any other suitable institution configured to issue a financial card.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide an advantageous feature by which a financial transaction processing system provides consumers with electronic consumer surveys through a mode of electronic messaging upon completion of a financial transaction with a merchant. A survey provider transmits to the financial transaction processing system an electronic consumer survey, which is then transmitted to the consumer from the financial transaction processing system upon a triggering event, such as upon obtaining transaction authorization from an issuer.
According to an exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure provides a system and method by which a financial transaction processing system provides an electronic consumer survey to a consumer. When a consumer/cardholder engages in a financial transaction with a merchant that is a party to the financial transaction processing system, such as by using a credit card (e.g., MasterCard®), the financial transaction processing system transmits an authorization request to an issuer, such as the financial institution (e.g., bank) that issued the consumer's credit card. Upon receiving an authorization or denial of the financial transaction from the issuer, the financial transaction processing system notifies the merchant of the authorization or denial and also transmits an electronic consumer survey to the consumer via a mode of electronic messaging after completion of the financial transaction. Of course, it is possible that the survey be sent upon receipt of an authorization request.
The electronic consumer survey can be provided to the consumer at various times upon completion of the financial transaction. In some embodiments, the electronic consumer survey can be transmitted immediately following the transaction (whether merely initiated or completed). In other embodiments, the consumer survey can be transmitted based upon time-distribution desires or requirements predetermined by the survey provider. In yet other embodiments, the electronic consumer survey can be transmitted after a time delay, such as after a numbered minutes, hours, or days subsequent to the completion of the financial transaction. While the distribution timing of electronic survey is not limited to any one time, it can be based upon a time predetermined by a survey provider or set by default.
The distribution of electronic consumer surveys is also based upon a plurality of predetermined factors. For example, the electronic consumer surveys can be provided to a consumer based upon the merchant from which the financial transaction is occurring, but may also use additional criteria such as demographic information of the consumer (non-personally identifiable information (PII) received from, e.g., a credit bureau), geographical location of the transaction, time and date of the transaction, monetary amount of the transaction, specific department within the merchant, or any other suitable predetermined criteria.
The electronic consumer survey can be transmitted to the consumer via any mode of electronic messaging. For example, the electronic consumer survey can be transmitted as a short message service (SMS) (i.e., a text message) to the cellular device (i.e., cellular phone) of the consumer or as an electronic mail (e-mail) to the consumer, or it can be transmitted to a nearby kiosk or terminal, such as one at the location of the merchant where the financial transaction occurs or a consumer's computer. The electronic consumer survey can also be transmitted through an application on a Smartphone, for example.
These and other features of the present disclosure will be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of various implementations when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description of exemplary embodiments are intended for illustration purposes only and are, therefore, not intended to necessarily limit the scope of the disclosure.
The financial processing system 100 is implemented in a financial system 50 for providing real-time consumer surveys to a consumer 110 (illustrated in e.g.,
The communication interface device 101 of the financial processing system 100 provides one or more communication paths from the financial processing system to and from other systems. For example, the communication interface device 101 can provide a communication path to or from a communication network 130 (illustrated in
The computer processing device 102 of the financial processing system 100 is configured to receive transaction information from the merchant 120, electronic consumer surveys from the survey provider 160, and specified consumer criteria (also from the survey provider 160), via the communication interface device 101 and to further communicate with the database 103 (discussed in more detail below). The computer processing device 102 is also configured to compare consumer transaction information received from the merchant 120 with consumer criteria and to select a respective electronic consumer survey for distribution to the consumer 110. The computer processing device 102 can be any type of processing device that is suitable for performing the functions discussed herein, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a personal computer, an array of a plurality of CPUs or personal computers, or any other processing device. The computer processing device 102 can operate via implementations of hardware, of software, or of a combination of both hardware and software. The types of computer processing devices and methods for carrying out the processing will be apparent to persons having skill in the relevant art(s).
The database 103 of the financial processing system 100 is configured to store a variety of information pertaining to the financial processing system 50. For example, the database 103 is configured to store predetermined consumer criteria 180 received from the survey provider 160 and store electronic consumer surveys 190 (also received from the survey provider 160). The database 103 is further configured to store personal account numbers 195 (associated with financial cards) of consumers, as well as general and merchant-specific spending and response characteristics of consumers linked to their personal account numbers. Additionally, the database 103 is configured to store consumer profiles, including information provided by the consumers. The database 103, while illustrated in
The consumer profiles stored within the database 103 include specific information provided by individual consumers. Such information can include, e.g., name, contact information, preferred modes of electronic communication for distribution of electronic surveys. In other words, a consumer can provide the system with detailed information that can assist in the system's distribution of real-time electronic consumer surveys.
The financial processing system 100 communicates with the merchant 120 and the issuer 150 via communication network 130. Specifically, the financial processing system 100 receives specific transaction information pertaining a financial transaction between the merchant 120 and consumer 110, which is transmitted through the communication network 130 upon initiation of the financial transaction. The financial processing system 100 processes the transaction by forwarding the transaction information through a particular financial network 140 and transmitting an authorization request to the issuer 150. The issuer can be, for example, a bank that had issued the credit card that the consumer 110 used in the financial transaction. The issuer 150 will then return either an authorization or denial of the financial transaction to the financial processing system 100 via the communication network 130. Once the financial processing system 100 receives authorization of the financial transaction from issuer 150, and if the transaction information meets predetermined criteria (described in more detain herein), the financial processing system 100 is configured to transmit an electronic consumer survey 190 (received from survey provider 160) via the communication network 130 to the consumer. The electronic consumer surveys, in some embodiments, can be received from a survey provider 160 and stored within the database 103 of the financial processing system 100 prior to any financial transactions. Thus, further communication between the survey provider 160 and financial processing system 100 could be limited. In other embodiments, the electronic surveys would not be released from the survey provider 160 until a financial transaction occurs thereby triggering communication between the financial processing system 100 and survey provider 160.
The survey provider 160 can be, for example, a research or marketing firm, a consumer products company, the merchant 120 itself, or any other entity wishing to receive feedback from consumers. Moreover, while the survey provider 160 is illustrated as being external to the financial processing system 100, in some embodiments, the survey provider 160 can be implemented within the financial processing system 100. The electronic consumer survey provided by the survey provider 160 can be based upon the merchant 120 as well as additional survey criteria 180 predetermined by the survey provider, and stored within the database 103 of the financial processing system 100. The criteria 180 can include, for example, geographical information of the merchant 120, the amount of the financial transaction, date and time information of the transaction, and/or demographic information of the consumer received by a demographic tracking agency 170 (e.g., a credit bureau), shown e.g., in
Upon receiving authorization of the financial transaction from the issuer 150, the financial processing system 100 finalizes the transaction and transmits the electronic consumer survey to the consumer 110 via the mode of electronic messaging specified by the consumer in the consumer profile stored in the database 103 of the financial processing system 100. Along with the electronic consumer survey, the financial processing system 100 also transmits an incentive/reward that is guaranteed to the consumer 110 if the consumer 110 completes the survey. The mode of electronic messaging can be, for example, an SMS text message or an e-mail message. The consumer 110 can also specify/request that the survey to be transmitted to a kiosk or terminal available to the consumer 110, or to a smart card application such as one on a consumer's Smartphone or tablet. Additional modes of electronic messaging will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). The financial processing system 100 transmits the survey to the consumer 110 within a time period, upon completion of the financial transaction, predetermined by the survey provider 160. The predetermined time for transmission upon completion of the financial transaction can be, for example, immediately following the transaction or after a significant time period such as one hour or several days. In some embodiments, the financial processing system 100 receives distribution time-frame requirements from the survey provider 160 and stores the requirements within the database 103.
The demographic information regarding the consumer 110 provided to the financial processing system 100 by the demographic tracking agency 170 can be used in conjunction with specific consumer criteria provided by the survey provider 160, and with the consumer's transaction information in order to determine if the consumer 110 is eligible for receiving a survey. For example, the survey provider 160 can provide a list of multiple electronic consumer surveys to the financial processing system 100 in addition to criteria that a consumer must meet to receive a survey. Criteria can include, for example, (1) a specific range of a monetary amount of a financial transaction, (2) that the transaction occurred during a certain time frame, (3) that the consumer is of a certain gender, and (4) is of a certain age. The financial processing system 100 can then search the database 103, upon the triggering of a financial transaction, for demographic information pertaining to the consumer 110 received from the tracking agency 170, and compare the demographic information and transaction information with the predetermined criteria to determine which electronic consumer survey should be transmitted to the consumer 110.
As a specific example, the financial processing system 100 can receive predetermined criteria indicating that a survey is to be provided to e.g., female consumers in the age bracket of 25-34 years who spend in excess of $100.00 during the months of June, July, and August at retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target, etc. Upon the triggering of a financial transaction, the processing system 100 compares the transaction information (e.g., merchant, transaction amount, etc.), along with demographic information pertaining to the consumer 110 received from the tracking agency 170 to determine if the consumer 110 and transaction meet the specific criteria. If the consumer transaction and any consumer demographic information meets the required criteria predetermined by the survey provider 160, a survey is distributed via the mode of electronic messaging provided by the consumer 110 along with an incentive for the consumer's potential completion of the survey. Incentives can include, e.g., discounts, coupons, merchant-funded offers, or other special offers. For example, the financial processing system 100 would transmit a survey to the consumer if the consumer is, e.g., a female of age 27 (as determined by demographic information) who spent $190.00 at Target in the month of July, the financial processing system 100 would transmit a survey to the consumer. The financial processing system 100 would not, however, transmit a survey to a consumer if the consumer and/or transaction information did not meet the specified criteria. For example, if the consumer 110 is male (as determined by demographic information), then a survey would not be distributed as the consumer and/or transaction information did not meet the female requirement specified by the survey provider 160. If the consumer is female, for example, with an age within the specified age bracket, but only spent e.g., $50.00, for example, a survey would not be distributed since the consumer and/or transaction information did not meet the spending requirement specified by the survey provider 160 in this example.
Thus, the distribution of surveys is consumer specific, based upon the consumer's specific shopping characteristics and/or habits, and based upon specific criteria predetermined by the survey provider 160.
At step 201 of
At step 202, the financial processing system triggers communication with a survey provider for receiving specific consumer criteria for the consumer or transaction to meet and surveys. The survey provider can be, for example, a marketing or research firm, a consumer products manufacturer, the financial processing system, or the merchant taking part in the financial transaction.
At step 203, the financial processing system transmits transaction information along with an authorization request to the issuer of the personal account number (associated with a financial card) of the consumer seeking approval of the transaction made by the consumer at the merchant. The issuer can be, for example, the consumer's financial institution, such as the bank or a company that issued a credit card the consumer used in the financial transaction.
At step 204, the financial processing system receives approval or denial of the consumer transaction from the issuer. The nature of the notification of approval or denial of the transaction will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). At step 205, the financial processing system transmits the approval or denial as a notification to the merchant, and at step 206, the financial processing system receives notification from the merchant that the financial transaction with the consumer has been completed.
The financial processing system, at step 207, transmits an electronic consumer survey to the consumer if the financial transaction meets predetermined criteria established by the survey provider, either when the authorization request is received, or after the authorization/denial message is generated. Predetermined criteria can be, for example, the monetary amount of the transaction, geographic location, the time and date of the transaction, etc. The transmission of the survey can be performed using various electronic methods that would be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s), such as SMS text messaging or e-mail.
At step 301 of
At step 303, the financial processing system receives a transaction authorization request from a merchant triggering a comparison of information (discussed in more detail herein). The transaction can be, for example, a POS transaction or an electronic transaction such as one over the Internet. Upon receiving the transaction request, the financial processing system, at step 304, compares at least the transaction information included in the transaction request of step 303 with the consumer criteria received by the survey provider at step 301 and stored at step 302. In addition to the consumer criteria, the financial processing system can also compare the transaction information with other information, such as demographic information obtained from a demographic tracking agency that includes, for example, the gender, age, income, or education of the consumer. Other types of information that would be beneficial to compare will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). Comparing the transaction information with at least the stored consumer criteria can result in the financial processing system determining if a survey should be distributed or identifying a particular survey from a plurality of different surveys.
Upon determining that a consumer is eligible to receive a survey, the financial processing system, at step 306, transmits the electronic consumer survey to the consumer of the financial transaction via a consumer specified mode of electronic messaging. The mode of electronic messaging can transmit the electronic consumer survey, for example, by SMS text message or electronic mail, or to a kiosk or terminal accessible by the consumer. The electronic consumer survey can also be transmitted to the consumer through a smart card application, such as existing on a Smartphone or a tablet. The electronic consumer survey can also be transmitted to the consumer at any time upon completion of the survey that is specified by the survey provider. In some embodiments, as illustrated in
Once the consumer completes the electronic survey, the financial processing system, at step 306, receives the complete electronic survey from the consumer and stores the completed survey in the database. In some embodiments, the financial processing system processes the spending and response characteristics of the consumer and stores it in a database linked with the personal account number of the consumer. Upon receipt and storage of the completed survey, the financial processing system, at step 307, transmits the completed and stored electronic consumer survey to the survey provider, and at step 308 transmits the guaranteed incentive to the consumer. Incentives can include e.g., a refund, credit request, or other incentive to be sent to the issuer of the financial transaction, or discounts, coupons, merchant-funded offers, or other special offers. In the case of certain incentives, it may be more efficient to transmit the incentive directly to the consumer instead of the issuer.
The method depicted by the flowchart 400 of
At step 402, if the transaction information meets specific criteria requirements predetermined by the survey provider, the financial processing system will receive an electronic consumer survey from the survey provider. Alternatively, the survey provider can provide different surveys based on the transaction information and specific criteria requirements. The types and nature of the criteria requirements will be apparent to persons having skill in the relevant art(s). Upon completion of the transaction and upon receiving the electronic survey from the survey provider, the financial processing system transmits the electronic consumer survey to the consumer by way of a consumer specified/preferred mode of electronic messaging, along with an incentive/reward that is consumer guaranteed in return for survey completion. The electronic consumer survey can be transmitted, for example, by SMS text message or electronic mail, or to a kiosk or terminal accessible by the consumer. The electronic consumer survey can also be transmitted to the consumer through an application, such as existing on a Smartphone or a tablet. The electronic consumer survey can also be transmitted to the consumer at any time upon completion of the survey that is specified by the survey provider.
Upon consumer completion of the electronic survey, at step 404, the financial processing system receives the consumer completed electronic survey and stores it in the database of the system (as shown in
Where methods described above indicate certain events occurring in certain orders, the ordering of certain events may be modified. Moreover, while a process depicted as a flowchart, block diagram, etc., may describe the operations of the system in a sequential manner, it should be understood that many of the system's operations can occur concurrently. For example, although the financial processing system 100 is disclosed and illustrated (e.g., in
Techniques consistent with the present disclosure provide, among other features, a system and method of providing real-time consumer surveys. While various exemplary embodiments of the disclosed system and method have been described above it should be understood that they have been presented for purposes of example only, not limitations. It is not exhaustive and does not limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practicing of the disclosure, without departing from the breadth or scope. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
