Patent Application
20120109729
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. Copyright 2010, Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC.
Embodiments of the inventive subject matter relate generally to data processing systems, more particularly to the systems for administering loyalty programs.
Many airlines have loyalty programs. Such loyalty programs typically award consumers with frequent-flier miles (also referred to as “miles”, “points”, etc.) when they purchase airline tickets, and other goods and services. Consumers can redeem the frequent-flier miles for additional airline tickets, rental cars, hotel stays, and more. Thus, frequent-flier miles are like “credits” for use in purchasing airline tickets, and other goods and services. Typically, frequent-flier miles are only redeemable at one airline (i.e., the airline that awarded the miles). As consumers accrue and redeem miles with a particular airline, the consumers typically develop loyalty to that airline. As a result, airline loyalty programs are constantly looking for new and creative ways to award and redeem frequent-flier miles.
Some embodiments of the inventive subject matter are illustrated in the Figures of the accompanying drawings in which:
This document describes inter alia systems and operations for paying investment interest in the form of loyalty currency. The following discussion is divided into five sections. The first section introduces some embodiments of the inventive subject matter, while the second section describes an example operating environment (e.g., components, systems, etc.). The third section describes operations of some embodiments, and the fourth section describes some additional embodiments. The fifth section provides some general comments.
Typically, loyalty programs award loyalty currency on a “per transaction” basis. For example, a loyalty program may award loyalty currency when a consumer does any of the following: 1) purchases airline tickets, 2) makes purchases on a credit card that is associated with the loyalty program, 3) purchases rental cars though loyalty program promotions, 4) purchases hotel stays through loyalty program promotions, etc. Therefore, if consumers want to accrue more loyalty currency, they must continuously enter into various transactions. Some consumers may find transaction-based loyalty programs cumbersome or otherwise unappealing.
Some embodiments of the inventive subject matter enable loyalty programs to offer opportunities for earning loyalty currency without continuously entering transactions. According to some embodiments, consumers can purchase interest-bearing investment products tied to a loyalty program, where the investment products periodically pay interest in the form of loyalty currency. Such embodiments enable consumers to periodically receive loyalty currency based on a single purchase (i.e., the purchase of the investment product). The investment product can be an annuity, an interest-bearing investment account, etc. Because some embodiments facilitate payment of investment interest as loyalty currency, consumers can address their travel needs as part of an overall investment strategy.
In some instances, consumers may want to give away loyalty currency to help others travel. For example, parents may want to give loyalty currency to their children. Some embodiments of the inventive subject matter enable consumers to purchase investment products that pay loyalty currency to beneficiaries. Thus, parents can purchase certificates of deposit (or other investment products) that pay loyalty currency to their children. In turn, the children can use the loyalty currency for travel and other goods and services. When gifted loyalty currency is redeemed, some embodiments facilitate messaging between benefactors and beneficiaries (e.g., parents and children). For example, when a child prints a boarding pass, the boarding pass may include a message from a parent. Such messaging can provide satisfaction to benefactors and generally enhance travel experiences.
After purchasing the investment product, the consumer 102 leaves the bank 104, and waits for interest to accrue under the terms of the investment product (see stage 2). Under the terms, interest is paid as loyalty currency. Thus, after interest accrues, the consumer 102 collects the loyalty currency and uses it to purchase airline tickets (see stage 3).
The following sections provide additional details about these and other embodiments of the inventive subject matter.
This section describes an example operating environment and provides structural aspects of some embodiments.
The banking server 202 processes information related to investment products that pay interest in the form of loyalty currency. A bank or other financial service institution may own and operate the banking server 202. The loyalty program server 206 processes information related to members of the loyalty program, such as an airline's loyalty program. An airline or an independent loyalty program may own and operate the loyalty program server 206. The airline server 204 and retailer server 214 process information related to redeeming loyalty currency. The airline check-in kiosk 210 processes information related to passengers checking-in for airline flights. An airline may own and operate the airline server 204 and airline check-in kiosk 210. A retailer or service provider may own and operate the retailer server 214.
As described in further detail in the next section (see below), the components 202-212 facilitate sales of investment products that pay interest in the form of loyalty currency. The loyalty currency is redeemable for airline tickets, rental cars, hotel stays, consumer goods and services, etc. The components also enable consumers to give away loyalty currency, and receive other benefits.
The network 212 can be a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). The communications network 212 can include any suitable technology, such as Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Ethernet, 802.11g, SONET, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), Hybrid Fibre-Coaxial (HFC) network, etc. Additionally, the components 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, & 214 can connect (via hardware and/or software components) to the communications network 212 and exchange data with other devices in the loyalty program network 200 or other networks (not shown). In some embodiments, the servers and consumer computers include technologies for utilizing the world wide web. For example, any of the components in
The consumer computers 208, servers 202, 204, 206 & 214, and kiosk 210 can include any suitable computing devices, such as mainframe computers, blade computers, minicomputers, personal computers, etc. However, in some instances, one or more of the components 202, 204, 206, 210 & 214 can be implemented as software executing on a computing device. Thus, in some instances, a plurality of the components 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, & 214 can run on a single computing device.
Although the network includes only one of each of the components 202, 204, 206210 & 214, some embodiments include a plurality of these components. Furthermore, any of these components can be subdivided. For example, in some embodiments, a plurality of banking servers 202 work together to perform the operations described herein.
In some embodiments, one or more of the components 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, & 214 include machine-readable storage media including instructions for performing operations described herein. Machine-readable storage media includes any tangible mechanism that provides (e.g., stores and transmits) information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer system). For example, machine-readable storage media includes semiconductor read only memory (ROM), semiconductor volatile random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, non-volatile flash memory devices, etc.
This section describes operations associated with some embodiments of the invention. In certain embodiments, the operations are performed by executing instructions residing on machine-readable storage media (e.g., software), while in other embodiments, the operations are performed by hardware and/or other components (e.g., firmware). In some embodiments, the operations are performed in series, while in other embodiments, one or more of the operations can be performed in parallel. Moreover, some embodiments perform less than all the operations shown in the flow diagrams.
During stage 1, the loyalty program server 304 signs-up consumers for accounts with a loyalty program. In some instances, consumers go to a webpage hosted by the loyalty program server 304. Using the webpage, consumers provide personal information needed for creating an account with a loyalty program. In turn, the server 304 creates a loyalty program account for the consumers. The loyalty program account enables the consumers to accrue and redeem loyalty currency.
During stage 2, the loyalty program sells loyalty currency to a bank or other financial services institution. In some instances, the loyalty program sells loyalty currency to the bank at a price lower than it sells loyalty currency to consumers. Thus, the bank can use the lower price to create attractive investment products. The loyalty program server 304 and banking server 302 can conduct this sale electronically. In some instances, the loyalty program server 304 creates an administrative account for the bank, and then deposits any purchased loyalty currency into the administrative account. Later, the bank can electronically transfer loyalty currency to consumer accounts as interest payments for investment products. Thus, the servers 302 & 304 exchange information about the sale of loyalty currency.
During stage 3, the bank sells consumers investment products that pay interest as loyalty currency. For example, a bank may sell a $1000 certificate of deposit that has a 3% interest rate and one-year term. When the certificate of deposit matures, the bank will pay the 3% interest in loyalty currency. In some instances, the bank sells investment products via a webpage (see
During stage 4, after interest accrues under the terms of the investment product, the bank pays the interest as loyalty currency. Thus, during stage 4, the banking server 302 instructs the loyalty program server 304 to deposit a specific amount of loyalty currency into the consumer's loyalty program account. In response to this request, the loyalty program server 304 deposits the loyalty currency in the consumer's loyalty program account (see stage 5).
While
During stage 6, an airline sells airline tickets in return for loyalty currency. The airline server 402 may facilitate the sale via a webpage. That is, the airline server 402 may host a webpage at which consumers can purchase airline tickets. Alternatively, the airline server 402 may be connected to computers at a ticket counter or other point-of-sale. In any case, the airline server 402 records information indicating a ticket sale (e.g., flight information, pricing, etc.).
During stage 7, the airline server 402 collects loyalty currency or other value from the loyalty program server 304. For example, the airline server 402 debits loyalty currency from a consumer's loyalty program account to pay for the airline tickets. In other embodiments, instead of debiting loyalty currency, the airline server 402 may receive cash or other value from the loyalty program server 304. In any case, the components enable consumers to pay for airline tickets using loyalty currency.
Instead of using loyalty currency for purchasing airline tickets, consumers can use loyalty currency to purchase other goods and services, such as rental cars, hotel stays, consumer products, etc. In some instances, the airline server 402 facilitates loyalty currency redemption for goods and services not offered by the airline. However, in other instances, other computers can interact with the loyalty program server 304 to facilitate loyalty currency redemption. For example, in some embodiments, a retailer server may interact with the loyalty server 402 in a process for redeeming loyalty currency for consumer goods. The retail server can be connected to computers at various points of sale, such as cash registers in retail stores, computing devices on the internet via webpages, etc. As part of completing consumer transactions, the retail server can interact with the loyalty program server 304 to determine whether a consumer has enough loyalty currency to complete a transaction, and to collect payment for the transaction from the loyalty server 402. In turn, the loyalty server 402 can debit the consumer's loyalty account to reflect the purchase.
This section continues with details about configuring investment products that pay interest as loyalty currency.
In the discussion above, “banks” sell the investment products that bear interest in the form of loyalty currency. However, in some embodiments, the investment products may be sold by any suitable financial institution, such as traditional brokerages, discount brokers, online brokers, etc. Thus, references to “banks” and “banking servers” are intended to include other financial institutions, and servers for such financial institutions. According to some embodiments, before these financial institutions can offer investment products for sale, they must configure the products.
At block 502, a banking server presents investment product types for selection in a user interface.
At block 504, the banking server detects selection of an investment product type. In some instances (see
At block 506, the banking server presents options for the investment product. As shown in
At block 508, the banking server detects selection of options for the investment product. In some instances, administrators enter option information in the option fields 606, as shown in
At block 510, the banking server configures the investment product according to the selected options. For example, the banking server may configure a certificate of deposit for a selected amount (e.g., $10,000), paying interest at a selected rate (e.g., 3%), over a selected time (2 years), etc. After configuring investment products, the bank can offer the products for sale to consumers. From block 510, the flow ends.
In some embodiments, instead of paying interest in the form of loyalty currency, the banking server can specify particular travel packages to be provided after interest has accrued. Narrowing travel choices may help some consumers, such as those who do not know much about travel, those who have trouble making choices, etc. In
This section continues by describing how processes for selling investment products may be augmented to register consumers for loyalty programs, configure gifting options, and more.
In
At block 704, a banking server determines whether a consumer has an account with a loyalty program. If the consumer does not have a loyalty program account, the banking server registers the consumer for an account with the loyalty program (see operation at block 706). In some embodiments, the banking server can register consumers without redirecting users (e.g., bank service personnel and/or consumers) outside the banking server's interface. That is, the banking server's user interface supports selection and sale of investment products, and it supports registering consumers for loyalty program accounts. To accomplish such support, the banking server can convey consumer information to a loyalty program server. In response, the loyalty program server can notify the banking server whether accounts have been successfully created. Thus, the banking server can facilitate operations for registering consumers for loyalty program accounts.
If the consumer already has an account, the flow skips block 706 and continues to block 708.
At block 708, the banking server records payment for the investment product. For example, if the point of sale is in a bank, a bank teller enters information indicating payment has been received. In other instances, such as web-based transactions that do not include service personnel, the banking server can receive payment electronically, such as via electronic funds transfer, credit card payment, etc. The flow continues at block 710.
At block 710, the banking server determines whether the consumer will be gifting loyalty currency that was earned as interest from the investment product. If the consumer will be gifting loyalty currency, the flow continues at block 712. Otherwise, the flow continues at block 714.
At block 712, because the consumer will be gifting loyalty currency, the banking server collects data about a beneficiary, and configures itself to provide the loyalty currency to the beneficiary after the interest accrues. In some instances, the banking server can record a message that will appear on the beneficiary's boarding pass, purchase receipt, and/or other documentation associated with redemption of the loyalty currency. Alternatively, the banking server or service person can prompt the consumer to provide one or more messages at a webpage hosted by the loyalty program computer (i.e., the loyalty program's website).
If the beneficiary does not have an account with the loyalty program, the banking server can facilitate creation of such an account, as similarly described in block 706. In some instances, the banking server allows the consumer to gift only a portion of the total loyalty currency earned as interest, depositing the remaining loyalty currency in the consumer's loyalty account. The banking server can deposit loyalty currency by communicating with a loyalty program server (see discussion of block 714 below). For embodiments where interest is paid as a travel package, the banking server can instruct the loyalty program server to provide the travel package. From block 712, the flow ends.
At block 714, because the consumer will not be gifting loyalty currency, the banking server configures itself to deposit loyalty currency in the consumer's loyalty program account. To deposit the loyalty currency, the banking server transmits a message to the loyalty program server, where the message requests such a deposit. In some instances, the deposit request is much like an electronic funds transfer because the bank is transferring its loyalty currency (e.g., purchased as described in
As described above, consumers may want to give away their loyalty currency to family members, friends, or other beneficiaries. Loyalty programs and their partners (e.g., airlines) benefit by supporting gifting, as gifting increases loyalty program membership, and builds loyalty to particular loyalty program partners. Consumers also derive benefits from giving away loyalty currency. For example, consumers may give away loyalty currency to personally reunite with loved-ones, or to feel satisfaction associated with giving gifts. To enrich the gifting experience, some embodiments facilitate messaging between benefactors and beneficiaries. For example, some embodiments print gift messages on boarding passes and send SMS text messages when passengers interact with airline computers. However, other embodiments facilitate messaging for airline tickets that were not purchased with gifted loyalty currency. The following discussion of
In
At block 804, the airline server checks-in the passenger for the flight. The flow continues at block 806.
At block 806, the airline server determines whether there is a message for the passenger. As described in the discussion of
At block 808, the airline check-in-and kiosk provides a boarding pass including the message.
Although some embodiments print messages on boarding passes, other embodiments deliver the message by other facilities, such as email, text message (e.g., via Short Messaging Service protocol), voice message, etc. In some embodiments, even if there is no message, the kiosk notifies a benefactor or social contact that the passenger has checked-in for the flight. Such a notification may prompt the benefactor or social contact to contact the passenger via phone, text, etc. The flow continues at block 810.
At block 810, the airline check-in kiosk determines whether the passenger wants to leave a message for the benefactor or other social contact. If the passenger does not want to leave a message, the flow ends. Otherwise, the flow continues at block 812.
At block 812, the airline check-in kiosk detects a message from the passenger. For example, the kiosk may present a touch-screen keyboard or other input device with which the passenger can enter a message. Alternatively, the kiosk may present a list of pre-recorded messages from which the passenger can choose. After detecting the message, the kiosk can transmit the message to the benefactor or other recipient. In some instances, the kiosk transmits the message via SMS, e-mail, voicemail, or any other suitable messaging paradigm. From block 812, the flow ends.
While some embodiments can provide messaging on boarding passes, other embodiments can provide messaging on retail receipts and other sales documents. For example, in some instances, a retail server at a point of sale can perform operations similar to those in
The investment products discussed herein can include any suitable investment products. In some embodiments, the investment products include, but are not limited to the following:
The various embodiments of the inventive subject matter can compete interest according to any suitable interest formula, such as formulas for simple interest and/or compound interest. Interest rates can be fixed, variable, and some combination of fixed and variable.
This document refers to various computers as “servers.” Although these servers may operate according to a “client-server” architecture, such operations is not necessary. Thus, any of the servers described herein can operate in any fashion capable of performing the operations described herein.
This document describes numerous details about embodiments of the invention. However, some embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, for sake of clarity, this description omits well-known circuits, structures, and techniques. In this document, references to “some embodiments” or “an embodiment” mean that an operation or structure is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, separate references to “an embodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Thus, the present invention can include any combination of the operations, structures, and concepts described herein.
