Patent Application
20210166279
The invention relates generally to a system and method for implementing a donation application, and more particularly to a system and method for providing a digital charitable donation to a charity based on geo-location and proximity.
Cash donation-collection initiatives have seen decreased contributions as more consumers become cashless, with preferences for credit cards and digital wallets. Also, consumers face the issue of not fully trusting a collector to donate 100% of the contributions. In addition, with the marketplace moving towards digital wallets, consumers are increasingly relying on mobile phones as the primary or preferred form of payment. As a result, customers do not have an easy way to make on-the-spot contributions to charities as they go about their day.
These and other drawbacks currently exist.
According to one embodiment, the invention relates to a computer-implemented system and method for sending a digital donation to a charitable organization as a standalone transaction. The system of an embodiment of the present invention includes a mobile device comprising: a memory that stores data associated with an account and a user; and a microprocessor, executing a mobile application, the microprocessor coupled to memory and programmed to: identify whether the mobile device is near the charitable organization based on location proximity; display a prompt on the mobile device to send a digital donation to a receiving device associated with the charitable organization in response to the mobile device's proximity to the charitable organization; identify a donation amount for the charitable organization; receive a confirmation message informing the charitable organization of the donation; and debit the donation amount from an account associated with the user.
The invention also relates to a method that may be conducted on a specially programmed computer system comprising one or more computer processors, mobile devices, electronic storage devices, and networks.
The invention also relates to a computer readable medium containing program instructions for executing a method that sends a digital donation to a charitable organization as a standalone transaction, comprising the steps of: identify whether the mobile device is near the charitable organization based on location proximity; display a prompt on the mobile device to send a digital donation to a receiving device associated with the charitable organization in response to the mobile device's proximity to the charitable organization; identify a donation amount for the charitable organization; receive a confirmation message informing the charitable organization of the donation; and debit the donation amount from an account associated with the user.
The computer implemented system, method and medium described herein can provide the advantage of helping account holders facilitate contributions to charitable organizations without an underlying transaction, according to various embodiments of the invention. The system provides a convenient and easy way to provide tips to service providers as well as charitable contributions when customers do not have small bills or other change. This type of experience may enhance loyalty to the financial institution much more than a conventional credit or debit card. These and other advantages will be described more fully in the following detailed description.
In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the present invention, reference is now made to the attached drawings. The drawings should not be construed as limiting the present invention, but are intended only to illustrate different aspects and embodiments of the invention.
The following description is intended to convey an understanding of the present invention by providing specific embodiments and details. It is understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments and details, which are exemplary only. It is further understood that one possessing ordinary skill in the art, in light of known systems and methods, would appreciate the use of the invention for its intended purposes and benefits in any number of alternative embodiments, depending upon specific design and other needs.
An embodiment of the present invention enables a consumer to electronically send tips to another person (e.g., service provider, vendor, merchant, other recipient, etc.) via a mobile application. Consumers regularly use mobile devices as a payment mechanism for small and large purchases. As a result, consumers are carrying less or no cash with them and oftentimes may not have small bills or change for tipping. An embodiment of the present invention may use near field technology to detect when a consumer enters and/or leaves a proximity (e.g., geofence, boundary, etc.). Based on this detection (e.g., after the consumer leaves the geofence), an embodiment of the present invention prompts a user to provide a tip to a service provider. The customer may act on the prompt and send a tip electronically to the service provider. The service provider may respond with a simple “thank you” message to acknowledge the tip. Other forms of acknowledgement may also be transmitted. Notably, the system does not require a consumer to “friend” or seek the phone number or other identification associated with the service provider in order to send a tip. In addition, the system does not require an underlying transaction where a tip is merely added to an existing bill.
An embodiment of the present invention provides device to device communication using wireless, contactless, near field, radio and other communication technology. For example, a mobile device may use wireless technology including NFC (near field communication), BLE (bluetooth low energy) WiFi, LTE, etc.) to send a digital tip to a mobile device or other device associated with a service provider in response to an interaction detected by near proximity of a customer's mobile device to service provider's mobile or other device.
An embodiment of the present invention is directed to establishing communication using a communication channel based on close proximity with a receiving device, e.g., mobile device, wearable device, service provider device, terminal, point of sale device, etc. The communication channel may involve near field communication, low energy proximity sensing, beacons, sensors, wireless technology, etc. An embodiment of the present invention is directed to sending a digital tip by establishing connectivity with a mobile device associated with a service provider. The connectivity may be established by various technologies, including proximity sensing, wireless and/or other communication technologies. For example, a customer's mobile device may communicate with a service provider's mobile device for authentication and then enable the customer to perform a set of tipping functions. According to another example, a customer may approach a mobile device or other device of a service provider and the customer may interact with a NFC reader associated with the service provider.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an authentication process may be performed. For example, a customer device may be authenticated as a verified customer and/or preauthorized to send digital tips. Also, the service provider's device may be authenticated as someone who is authorized to receive tips, etc. Authentication may be directed to authentication of a device to ensure that the proper device is receiving the digital tip. According to another example, in connection with the interaction, the customer may also provide a password, login, credentials, biometric and/or other form of customer authentication. Also, other forms of biometric or other methods of verifying identification may be implemented.
Current applications in the market have popularized peer-to-peer (P2P) electronic payments. An embodiment of the present invention, however, specifically targets the tipping process and is focused on quick interactions and small dollar amounts. In addition, whereas most P2P payment applications require customers to become “friends” with or know some amount of personal information about the recipient of the payment, an embodiment of the present invention facilitates sending money between two strangers who are expected to interact briefly and not repeatedly. For example, an embodiment of the present invention may proactively notify the customer when a worker who can accept digital tips is nearby so that the customer can tip them upon receiving service. An embodiment of the present invention may draw from various funding sources than existing applications because of its affiliation with a financial institution. Not only can it draw from bank accounts and credit cards, but also it can draw from a points banks of a financial institution's loyalty program. Other loyalty programs and points systems may be included. In addition, other types of currency and value may be transmitted or exchanged.
The embodiments of the present invention may also be expanded to various other scenarios in which the relationship of cash giver to cash recipient is many to one. For example, if someone is fundraising for a charity event, she could receive donations via an application of an embodiment of the present invention without having to “friend” each and every donor. According to another example, a musician performing in the subway could receive money via the application from commuters passing by who appreciate the performance.
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An embodiment of the present invention may be provided by various entities, such as a financial institution, service provider, merchant, etc. For example, a merchant app may be offered by a service provider, represented by Service Provider 140, or a third party service provider. The customer may also access a payment system provided by a financial institution 120 such as a retail bank, according to one embodiment of the invention. The payment system may be embodied primarily or entirely in a payment server 122 (which may include one or more databases represented by 124) owned and/or operated by the financial institution 120 that interfaces with a number of other servers and entities via one or more networks.
Payment server 122 enables user or account holder 130 to make payments by interfacing with other servers owned and/or operated by the financial institution 120 and/or other entities. The app server 128 may interface with other servers owned and/or operated by the financial institution. For example, payment server 122 may interface with a credit card server and associated database that stores and processes credit card transactions for credit card holders of the financial institution 120. Payment server 122 may also interface with a rewards program server and associated database that stores and processes rewards information for account holders at the financial institution 120. The foregoing description is merely one example of a configuration for such functions and is not intended to be limiting.
Various embodiments of the invention may also utilize an established payment network such as the VISA network, MasterCard network, NYCE network, or other similar network to transmit information between various entities using the system. For example, payment server 122 may use the VISA network for authorization and settlement of transactions. However, use of such established credit and debit networks is not required according to various embodiments of the invention. Payment Server 122 may be configured to use other networks for executing payment transactions and transmitting information to the cardholders, merchants, and financial institutions. Payments can be made by rendering such other payment network's digital tender on the mobile device 132, 134.
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Having described an example of the hardware, software, and data that can be used to run the system, an example of the method and customer experience will now be described. The method will be described primarily as an example in which a customer downloads a software application (sometimes referred to as an “app”) and uses it for accumulating points and/or making purchases. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the invention can be applied to related circumstances, such as where the entity providing the app is a business other than a merchant, or where the merchant app functionality is provided through a browser on the customer's mobile device rather than through a software application (app) downloaded to the customer's mobile device, and with purchases from various providers.
An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a system that electronically sends tips to another person via a mobile application on a mobile device. After a customer approaches and is serviced by a service industry worker, when the customer leaves the proximity of the worker, the customer's mobile phone may prompt the customer to deliver a tip to the worker. The customer may act on the prompt, which will send money electronically to the worker. In response, the worker may send an electronic message thanking the customer if the worker so chooses. Also, a customer may search for workers nearby and send them tips manually instead of responding to the notification-based flow.
An embodiment of the present invention may also generate proactive notifications to users of available tip recipients and also facilitate P2P payments without needing to be friends through the application. An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a user interface optimized for fast interaction and small dollar amounts. Users may also pay with loyalty points as a funding source in addition to credit card accounts, bank accounts and/or other accounts.
At step 210, a customer may interact with a service provider. For example, the customer may interact with a valet, coat check, bell hop, hotel worker, etc. The service provider may include generally anyone who interacts with the customer separate and apart from an underlying transaction with the service provider. This may also include services that are rendered well after a bill has been paid. In this instance, a tip cannot be retroactively added after a transaction has been completed. For instance, the interaction would not include a tip on a dinning bill, coffee receipt, etc.
At step 212, a customer may leave or enter a geofence or other boundary around the service provider. After the customer interacts with the service provider, the customer may be detected as leaving a geographic area surrounding or around the service provider. In this example, a service provider may have a mobile device that identifies a boundary using near field technology, for example. Accordingly, shortly after the customer leaves, the customer may be prompted to provide a tip so that the service provider will readily know who and why the tip would be given,
Other mechanisms for identifying when a customer has received service may be implemented. For example, a customer may be prompted based on a time period. The customer may be identified as having completed an interaction (e.g., hotel checkout, payment of restaurant bill, etc.).
At step 214, the customer may receive a prompt to tip a service provider. Upon detection of the customer leaving a boundary around the service provider (or other identification of completion of service), the customer may receive an alert or prompt. In response, the customer may provide a tip using a mobile device, a merchant app, a third party app, via phone order and/or other forms of communication.
For example, a customer may be prompted to send a tip after a time period of 10-15 minutes, for example, after a transaction or indication of completion of service. In addition, a customer may receive a message asking about service, e.g., “were you pleased with your service today?” Upon receiving a favorable response, the system may then prompt the customer to send a tip.
At step 216, the customer may customize a tip amount and/or message. Upon receiving the prompt, the customer may enter a tip amount or confirm a suggested tip amount. An embodiment of the present invention may also recognize the type of service the customer received and then suggest an appropriate tip amount. The customer may also predetermine a single tip amount or multiple tip amounts, etc. For example, the customer may predefine a tip amount for a particular service. According to another example, the customer may predefine a schedule of tip amounts for corresponding services. Also, based on prior tips, an embodiment of the present invention may learn the customer's tip amount preferences and suggest amounts based on historical customer data.
At step 218, the customer may receive an acknowledgement from the service provider. The customer may receive a “thank you” message from service provider. Also, when the service provider receives and accepts the tip, an automatic acknowledgement may be sent to the customer for confirmation.
To protect the privacy of the customer as well as the service provider, the messages may be removed after a short time period, e.g., 10 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, or other time period, etc., after the message has been open, read or otherwise acknowledged. Accordingly, the service provider or customer could not continue to contact either party through the system.
At step 310, a customer may be identified as entering a geofence, or other boundary. The customer may be detected by the customer's mobile device geo location functionality. For example, near field technology may be used to detect and identify the customer. Other mechanisms for detecting a customer may be implemented.
At step 312, a service provider may be alerted that the customer is approaching. For example, as the customer approaches a service provider, the service provider may receive a notification. The notification may include the customer's first name (or alias, nickname, identifier, etc.) so that the service provider may address the customer by name. For some services, additional information may be provided, including information to assist the service provider as well as customer preference data. For example, if the service provider is a valet service, as the customer approaches, the customer's name may be provided as well as the customer's ticket number that identifies the customer's car. Also, instead of a ticket number, the customer's car model, color, partial license plate number, etc.
At step 314, the service provider and the customer may interact. The interaction may generally involve a service that does not require a payment including credit card or other transaction. Such services may include coat check, valet service and other service that do not directly charge the customer. Some services may include an underlying transaction but not directly with the service provider (e.g., a doorman may be paid by the building but there is no direct transaction between the doorman and the customer). Other services may be rendered well after a bill has been paid.
At step 316, the service provider may receive a notification of a tip from the customer. The notification may inform the service provider that a tip was given by a customer. The customer may be notified by a first name, alias, image, picture, and/or other identifier.
At step 318, the service provider may view the tip. The tip amount may be displayed on the service provider's mobile device. Other information about the tip and/or the customer may be provided.
The tip amount may be added to a fund. For example, the service provider may manage a fund where the tip amount may be added. The service provider may also directly transmit or later transfer funds to an account with a financial institution, merchant, etc. The funds may also be directly transferred as credit associated with a particular merchant or other entity. For example, a service provider may receive $2 store credit for each dollar transferred into a particular account. Such deals and offers may be provided by affiliate and/or partner merchants. Other variations may be implemented.
At step 320, the service provider may send a thank you or other acknowledgement message. In addition, customized suggestions may be provided to the customer. For example, when a doorman is tipped by the customer, a hotel chain may provide an offer, incentive, promotions, etc. Other content may be provided as well. Also, a parent company associated with the service provider may provide a coupon, incentive or other offer as a thank you to the customer for tipping a service provider. The incentive may be provided with the acknowledgement as well as a later follow-up (e.g., subsequent email offer if the customer opts in to receiving targeted content, etc.). The offers may be customized and targeted to a specific customer. The parent company may also view tipping history for a particular customer as well as service provider.
At step 322, the notification may be removed within a predetermined time period. In some instances, a customer may favor a particular service provider, e.g., favorite doorman, valet, etc. For such service providers, the notification may be stored and included in a favorites list. The customer may then use that list to provide additional tips, e.g., Holiday Tip, etc. Other service providers may warrant a periodic tip that may be scheduled by the customer. For example, a customer may hire a law service company where the customer may desire to tip a particular gardener independently of the lawn service fee.
An embodiment of the present invention is directed to a scenario when the service provider does not have a mobile application that provides tipping functionality. In this case, the tipper may generate a code and send the code to the service provider who can then download the mobile application. Other variations may be realized and implemented.
At step 410, a tipper may receive a service. As discussed above, the service may include any service that does not require an underlying transaction with a service provider.
At step 412, the tipper may generate a code. If a recipient does not have a tipping application, the tipper may generate a code to send a digital tip.
At step 414, the service provider may receive and/or scan the code. For example, the service provider may take a picture or otherwise access the code. Other methods for accessing the code may be used.
At step 416, the service provider may be directed to download a mobile device app. The service provider may be directed to an application store on a mobile or other device.
At step 418, the service provider may download the mobile device app or other application. According to another embodiment, the tip functionality may be provided by other sources, such as a merchant app, bank app, third party app, etc. For example, the tip functionality may be part of another app, e.g., hotel app, restaurant app, merchant app, etc. In this example, a hotel chain may enable a tipping widget for the customer (who may already have the hotel app downloaded) to facilitate tipping to hotel staff. Other variations may be implemented.
At step 420, the service provider may receive the tip amount in a tip fund or other account or receiving account.
At step 422, the service provider may connect the tip fund to an account. The tip fund may be connected to an account at a bank, financial institution, such as a debit account, credit account, etc. The account may also include a stored value account, merchant specific account, private label account. The service provider may also contribute to a group account, as well as associate the tip fund to multiple accounts. For example, service providers may pool their tips into a single account for later distribution. Other variations may be realized.
At step 424, the service provider may then transfer the fund amount to a bank or other account.
An embodiment of the present invention is directed to facilitating charitable donations using a mobile device. The system of an embodiment of the present invention may be integrated with an electronic wallet, an account associated with a financial institution and/or other account that is associated with funds, credit, points, incentives, etc.
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According to an embodiment of the present invention, an organization, such as a charitable organization, may integrate wireless technology to support close proximity transactions. Through this technology, the system of an embodiment of the present invention enables users to set a predefined donation amount (e.g., $1.00 or other amount). Users may also select a donation amount at the time of the donation. In addition, the organization may predetermine a minimum amount, range and/or other monetary condition.
When a user is in the proximity of an organization or representative from an organization, the user may initiate a charitable donation feature to identify the organization based on proximity, range, etc. The organization may be identified using near field technology, close range technology and/or wireless technology. For example, the user may donate a pre-defined amount, set another donation amount if they choose and/or other monetary condition. When the user donates, the mobile device may make a predetermined audio and/or visual indication (e.g., a preset sound, flash, etc.). For example, a user may wave the mobile device in the air to indicate to the charity representative that the donation was made. The innovative system provides an easy way for users to donate money when a user does not have cash on hand.
At step 2210, a user may initiate a charitable donation functionality using a mobile device. According to an exemplary scenario, as a potential donor passes a donation collector, the potential donor may connect with the collector's device. This may occur by tapping the potential donor's mobile device to the collector's device, thereby connecting to the charity's account. Other ways of interacting between the potential donor's mobile device and the charitable donor's device may be implemented.
At step 2212, the mobile device may initiate a proximity function. For example, the mobile device may detect a nearby charitable organization. The system may use NFC technology, beacon technology and/or other wireless technology to locate and/or identify a charity or other entity that receives donations.
At step 2214, based on the proximity function, a charitable organization may be identified. The mobile device may also display information about the organization, e.g., website, rating, social media page, etc. If the user has donated before with a charity, the user may be alerted and further informed of prior donation amounts and other details. The user may also request additional information about the organization, e.g., rating from a third party source.
At step 2216, the user may identify an amount for donation. The potential donor may then designate an amount of funds to be transferred from an associated digital wallet or other linked financial accounts (e.g., bank account, credit card, stored value account, cryptocurrency, etc.) to the charitable organization. The potential donor may configure the account to automatically donate a set amount of currency from a set account by default, or the potential donor may prefer to designate the funding and account information for each individual contribution. Donors may be prompted to donate a certain amount or may be presented with optional contribution amounts, which may be configured by the donation collection agent.
For most organizations, the user may donate a predetermined amount, e.g., $2.00. For other organizations, including ones that are of particular interest to the user (e.g., environment, animal rights, etc.), the user may apply a different amount, e.g., $10.00. The system may also apply a variable amount depending on the user's affinity as well as the need from the charity. Other factors may be considered.
At step 2218, the user may receive confirmation of the donation. After donating, the user may hear a specific sound from the mobile device or receiving entity, which may be configurable by the user or by the charity, to convey to that user, the donation agent, and any other people around that a payment has been made. The sound may be issued after a user waves their phone in the air, hits a button, or uses any other mechanism to confirm that they want their donation to be publicized. For example, the user's mobile phone may start flashing or present an icon, animation, and/or other audio and/or visual indication that signifies that a donation has been made.
At step 2220, the user may perform one or more follow-up actions. For example, the user may request additional information about the charity. The system may provide a follow-up interface that provides links to the charitable organization, additional information about how the funds are used, progress reports on projects and efforts, reviews/comments, feedback from other contributors and/or other information.
The user may also set up recurring payments, seek additional information from the receiving charity, interact/connect with representatives and associated organizations, clubs, associations, interest groups, etc.
The user may also update a social media status to indicate to friends that a donation was made to a charity/organization at a certain location. The status update may also include information about the charity. According to another example, the user may text, email and/or otherwise communicate the donation and information about the particular charity to one or more other recipients.
Account Module 2310 enables a user to link an account with the system. The account may be associated with an electronic wallet linked to a financial account. The account may be a credit account, a debit account, etc. The account may be associated with a loyalty account, points, and/or other type of currency or value.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a user may associate the charitable contribution feature to an account associated with a financial institution. The user may also set-up a specific contribution account. In this example, a user may set a personal goal of giving $1000 to charity. The user may fund the charity account with the $1000. As the year progresses, the system may remind the user of the funds in the charity account to encourage and remind the user to donate to meet the personal goal.
The account may be associated with a single user, as well as a group of users, such as a household where multiple members may make contributions.
An embodiment of the present invention may also apply security features, including password, PIN, biometrics, swipe pattern, security question and/or other forms of authentication and verification.
A user may maintain a User Profile that specifies interests, preferences as well as demographic and personal information. The system may recognize that the user has donated to environmental organizations in the past and the user has expressed an interest in environmental causes. Based on this information, the user may be notified of nearby and/or approaching charitable donation opportunities. In this example, the user may receive a notification that an organization with a focus on the environment is nearby (e.g., a map graphic may be displayed).
According to another example, a user may be an avid hiker. As the user is approaching a nature trail, the user may receive an alert that informs the user that an associated conservatory associated with the nature trail could use some help in restoration activities.
The system may also recognize a user's activity and interest via various sources, including purchases, transactions, social media, activities, associations, trips, vacations, etc. This information may be used to target and customize nearby and approaching charitable contribution opportunities. The system of an embodiment of the present invention may connect a user with organizations that are aligned with the user's interest and willingness to contribute.
Report Module 2312 may enable a user to generate various reports. For example, a user may generate documentation necessary for taxes. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a user may make small payments throughout the year to a charitable organization that adds up at the end of the year. The system may provide documentation to support charitable contributions to receive a tax benefit. The user may also generate reports to determine whether the user should contribute more to meet a goal or other threshold.
History Module 2314 may present a potential donor with an interface that provides a history of past contributions as well as charities to which they scanned (and whether or not they made a donation). An embodiment of the present invention may use the historical information to generate predictions specific to the user, type of user and/or other customized information.
Recurring Payment Module 2316 enables a user to configure recurring payments for charities. After an initial contribution, the user may schedule recurring payments, which may occur in various intervals, such as weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, annually, etc. Also, the system provides the ability to donate immediately after scanning or to donate a significant amount of time after scanning. Other variations may be implemented.
Social Media 2318 enables the user to prompt friends, family, followers, targeted people or group(s) of people to make a donation. For example, the user share a donation on social media to raise awareness for a certain cause. The user may also join groups to receive additional information on a particular charity to see how funds are being spent and view information on other activities. Also, a donation may be solicited through a solicited user's contribution app. Other ways to share news via social media may be implemented. In addition, the user's digital wallet may provide a tokenized financial contribution to a charitable organization.
Employer Module 2320 provides an interface for users who work for organizations that provide matching contributions. An embodiment of the present invention may provide contribution data to an employer's charitable contribution platform. In this example, the system may register the contribution amounts automatically. The system may also transmit data to an employer's payroll platform to request automatic contributions from their paycheck rather than from their financial accounts.
Alerts/Notification Module 2322 enables a user to program alerts and notifications. For example, a user may request a message when the user is within a certain distance to a charitable contribution opportunity. The user may request to view notifications about a particular organization's events, news, etc.
At step 2410, a charitable organization may set up an account. For example, a charity may create an account to receive funds via an application of an embodiment of the present invention.
At step 2412, the organization may configure a device, such as a mobile device, to collect and/or receive funds via NFC or other wireless functionality. The device may be a mobile device (such as a tablet, smart phone, etc.) intended for travel with a designated donation collector. The device may also be a stationary device located in front of a non-profit building or anywhere else where collections may be solicited.
At step 2414, the organization may link to a third party service. For example, a charity may link the account to charity-evaluation site, such a site may provide insights to consumers as they consider donating to the charity's cause. An embodiment of the present invention may provide the insight data by connecting to an API, by providing a link directly to the site, or may allow the charity organization to enter their own summary of their charitable cause.
While this solution is intended for charitable contributions, it may be used for entrepreneurial efforts. For example, the various features of the innovative system may apply to a public benefit corporation and other crowdfunding type platforms. Such efforts may involve gathering money, funds resources for the public where a user provides payment of a certain amount for the agreement to be provided with some type of gift, reward and/or other incentive at a later point. Other businesses, corporations, organizations, non-profit establishments may use the technology described herein may use the technology to solicit additional funds.
An embodiment of the present invention may provide users with a number of charities collecting funds within a certain proximity of their location (facilitated by location services, GPS, geofence, proximity, etc.). The user may then drill down to obtain details of those charities and make contributions as they see fit.
Although the foregoing description has focused primarily on a financial institution assembling relevant data sets, processing the data, and sending the relevant data at appropriate times to its customer, the system may be operated and maintained by other types of commercial entities who may configure the system to provide similar advantages to their customers. In additional, while the foregoing description has focused primarily on the customer spend, the principles of the invention can be applied to other vendors and entities where the operating entity can assemble and provide relevant, timely information to enhance the customer's experience.
The foregoing examples show the various embodiments of the invention in one physical configuration; however, it is to be appreciated that the various components may be located at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a local area network, a wide area network, a telecommunications network, an intranet and/or the Internet. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the various embodiments may be combined into one or more devices, collocated on a particular node of a distributed network, or distributed at various locations in a network, for example. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the components of the various embodiments may be arranged at any location or locations within a distributed network without affecting the operation of the respective system.
Data and information maintained by the servers shown by
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In some embodiments, communication network, e.g., 110, may comprise a satellite communications network, such as a direct broadcast communication system (DBS) having the requisite number of dishes, satellites and transmitter/receiver boxes, for example. The communications network may also comprise a telephone communications network, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). In another embodiment, communication network 110 may comprise a Personal Branch Exchange (PBX), which may further connect to the PSTN.
Although examples of a mobile device 132, 134 and a personal computing device 136 are shown in
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It is appreciated that in order to practice the methods of the embodiments as described above, it is not necessary that the processors and/or the memories be physically located in the same geographical place. That is, each of the processors and the memories used in exemplary embodiments of the invention may be located in geographically distinct locations and connected so as to communicate in any suitable manner. Additionally, it is appreciated that each of the processor and/or the memory may be composed of different physical pieces of equipment. Accordingly, it is not necessary that the processor be one single piece of equipment in one location and that the memory be another single piece of equipment in another location. That is, it is contemplated that the processor may be two or more pieces of equipment in two or more different physical locations. The two distinct pieces of equipment may be connected in any suitable manner. Additionally, the memory may include two or more portions of memory in two or more physical locations.
As described above, a set of instructions is used in the processing of various embodiments of the invention. The servers in
Further, it is appreciated that the instructions or set of instructions used in the implementation and operation of the invention may be in a suitable form such that the processor may read the instructions. For example, the instructions that form a program may be in the form of a suitable programming language, which is converted to machine language or object code to allow the processor or processors to read the instructions. That is, written lines of programming code or source code, in a particular programming language, are converted to machine language using a compiler, assembler or interpreter. The machine language is binary coded machine instructions that are specific to a particular type of processor, i.e., to a particular type of computer, for example. Any suitable programming language may be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the invention. For example, the programming language used may include assembly language, Ada, APL, Basic, C, C++, COBOL, dBase, Forth, Fortran, Java, Modula-2, Pascal, Prolog, REXX, Visual Basic, and/or JavaScript. Further, it is not necessary that a single type of instructions or single programming language be utilized in conjunction with the operation of the system and method of the invention. Rather, any number of different programming languages may be utilized as is necessary or desirable.
Also, the instructions and/or data used in the practice of various embodiments of the invention may utilize any compression or encryption technique or algorithm, as may be desired. An encryption module might be used to encrypt data. Further, files or other data may be decrypted using a suitable decryption module, for example.
In the system and method of exemplary embodiments of the invention, a variety of “user interfaces” may be utilized to allow a user to interface with the mobile devices 132, 134 or personal computing device 136. As used herein, a user interface may include any hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software used by the processor that allows a user to interact with the processor of the communication device. A user interface may be in the form of a dialogue screen provided by an app, for example. A user interface may also include any of touch screen, keyboard, voice reader, voice recognizer, dialogue screen, menu box, list, checkbox, toggle switch, a pushbutton, a virtual environment (e.g., Virtual Machine (VM)/cloud), or any other device that allows a user to receive information regarding the operation of the processor as it processes a set of instructions and/or provide the processor with information. Accordingly, the user interface may be any system that provides communication between a user and a processor. The information provided by the user to the processor through the user interface may be in the form of a command, a selection of data, or some other input, for example.
The software, hardware and services described herein may be provided utilizing one or more cloud service models, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and/or using one or more deployment models such as public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and/or community cloud models.
Although, the examples above have been described primarily as using a software application (“app”) downloaded onto the customer's mobile device, other embodiments of the invention can be implemented using similar technologies, such as transmission of data that is displayed using an existing web browser on the customer's mobile device.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in the context of a particular implementation in a particular environment for a particular purpose, those skilled in the art will recognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto and that the embodiments of the present invention can be beneficially implemented in other related environments for similar purposes.
The application is a Continuation-In-Part (“CIP”) of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/850,073, filed Sep. 10, 2015, the contents of which are incorporated herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14850073 | Sep 2015 | US |
| Child | 15390841 | US |
