Systems and methods for proximity based communication

• US 10,217,151 B1
• Filed: 07/23/2014
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Greiner, Hans-Jurgen, Hiremath, Mallikarj U., Ringger, Kevin H., Simha, Mukund Shankar
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunham, Jason B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bargeon, Brittany E
• Application Number:
  US14/339,284
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• Field of Search: 705 2641
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/23 for mobile advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

The system may transmit a signal originating from a BLUETOOTH low energy (“BLE”) beacon at a merchant location. The signal may include a first identifier associated with the merchant location and a merchant device. A customer device may receive the signal within a predetermined distance of the BLE beacon. The system may receive a transmission sent by the customer device in response to the signal from the BLE beacon. The transmission may include a second identifier associated with the user. The system may identify the user associated with the customer device based on the second identifier. The user may be at the merchant location.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer based system and from a customer device associated with a customer, a registration to receive notifications,

wherein the customer device includes a mobile gaming app;

providing, by the computer based system and to the customer device, a customer identifier associated with a customer transaction account number of the customer;

providing, by the computer based system and to a merchant device, a merchant identifier associated with a merchant account number of a merchant;

determining, by the computer based system, a list of customers of interest associated with the merchant at a merchant location;

providing, by the computer based system, the customer transaction account number for each customer of the list of customers of interest to the merchant;

determining, by the computer based system, a list of merchant identifiers for which the customer is a customer of interest;

providing, by the computer based system, the merchant account number and the list of merchant identifiers to the customer device;

receiving, by the computer based system and from the customer device, the customer identifier and data related to the customer of interest, in response to the customer device receiving a BLUETOOTH low energy (“

BLE”

) identifier of the merchant location including the merchant identifier,

wherein the merchant identifier identifies the merchant for which the customer is the customer of interest;

acquiring, by the computer based system, a score from the mobile gaming app;

determining, by the computer based system and based on the score, that the customer is a top gamer associated with the merchant at the merchant location;

identifying, by the computer based system, the customer with a top gamer identifier based on the determining that the customer is the top gamer;

transmitting, by the computer based system, the top gamer identifier to the mobile gaming app on the customer device,

wherein the mobile gaming app on the customer device provides the top gamer identifier and the data related to the customer of interest to the merchant device associated with the merchant location;

determining, by the computer based system, that the customer of interest is on the list of customers of interest associated with the merchant at the merchant location,

wherein the customer device compares the merchant identifier against the list of merchant identifiers for which the customer is the customer of interest,

wherein the merchant device analyzes the data related to the customer of interest and top gamer data of the top gamer to determine that a direct communication between the merchant device and the customer device should be established,

wherein the merchant device establishes the direct communication between the merchant device and the customer device, and

wherein the merchant device adjusts a discount on a sign next to a product based on an analysis of data associated with the customer of interest and the top gamer data, while the customer device is in the merchant location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the BLE identifier comprises a universally unique identifier, a major number, and a minor number associated with the merchant location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data related to the customer of interest comprises an image of the customer, a name of the customer, demographic information about the customer, spend level information of the customer, spending frequency of the customer, social media information about the customer and interests of the customer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer is identified as the customer of interest in response to a customer transaction history comprising a spend at the merchant location greater than a predetermined spend over a predetermined time period.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the customer is identified as the customer of interest in response to a customer transaction history comprising a frequency of visits to the merchant location greater than a predetermined frequency over a predetermined time period.

6. The method of claim 1, further including transmitting, by the computer based system, content to the customer device via a BLE beacon.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the direct communication includes an offer provided from the merchant device to the customer device, wherein the offer is only valid while the customer device continues to be within range of a BLE beacon at the merchant location.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the merchant device notifies a manager to personally greet the customer.

9. A computer based system, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor, the non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by the processor and from a customer device associated with a customer, a registration to receive notifications,

wherein the customer device includes a mobile gaming app;

providing, by the processor and to the customer device, a customer identifier associated with a customer transaction account number of the customer;

providing, by the processor and to a merchant device, a merchant identifier associated with a merchant account number of a merchant;

determining, by the processor, a list of customers of interest associated with the merchant at a merchant location;

providing, by the processor, the customer transaction account number for each customer of the list of customers of interest to the merchant;

determining, by the processor, a list of merchant identifiers for which the customer is a customer of interest;

providing, by the processor, the merchant account number and the list of merchant identifiers to the customer device;

receiving, by the processor and from the customer device, the customer identifier and data related to the customer of interest, in response to the customer device receiving a BLUETOOTH low energy (“

BLE”

) identifier of the merchant location including the merchant identifier,

wherein the merchant identifier identifies the merchant for which the customer is the customer of interest;

acquiring, by the processor, a score from the mobile gaming app;

determining, by the processor and based on the score, that the customer is a top gamer associated with the merchant at the merchant location;

identifying, by the processor, the customer with a top gamer identifier based on the determining that the customer is the top gamer;

transmitting, by the processor, the top gamer identifier to the mobile gaming app on the customer device,

wherein the mobile gaming app on the customer device provides the top gamer identifier and the data related to the customer of interest to the merchant device associated with the merchant location;

determining, by the processor, that the customer of interest is on the list of customers of interest associated with the merchant at the merchant location,

wherein the customer device compares the merchant identifier against the list of merchant identifiers for which the customer is the customer of interest,

wherein the merchant device analyzes the data related to the customer of interest and top gamer data of the top gamer to determine that a direct communication between the merchant device and the customer device should be established,

wherein the merchant device establishes the direct communication between the merchant device and the customer device, and

wherein the merchant device adjusts a discount on a sign next to a product based on an analysis of data associated with the customer of interest and the top gamer data, while the customer device is in the merchant location.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the customer is identified as the customer of interest in response to a transaction history comprising a frequency of visits to the merchant location greater than a predetermined frequency over a predetermined time period.

11. The system of claim 9, further including transmitting, by the processor, content to the customer device via a BLE beacon.

12. A non-transitory computer program product having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computer based system, causes the computer based system to be capable of performing operations comprising:

receiving, by the computer based system and from a customer device associated with a customer, a registration to receive notifications,

wherein the customer device includes a mobile gaming app;

providing, by the computer based system and to the customer device, a customer identifier associated with a customer transaction account number of the customer;

providing, by the computer based system and to a merchant device, a merchant identifier associated with a merchant account number of a merchant;

determining, by the computer based system, a list of customers of interest associated with the merchant at a merchant location;

providing, by the computer based system, the customer transaction account number for each customer of the list of customers of interest to the merchant;

determining, by the computer based system, a list of merchant identifiers for which the customer is a customer of interest;

providing, by the computer based system, the merchant account number and the list of merchant identifiers to the customer device;

receiving, by the computer based system and from the customer device, the customer identifier and data related to the customer of interest, in response to the customer device receiving a BLUETOOTH low energy (“

BLE”

) identifier of the merchant location including the merchant identifier,

wherein the merchant identifier identifies the merchant for which the customer is the customer of interest;

acquiring, by the computer based system, a score from the mobile gaming app;

determining, by the computer based system and based on the score, that the customer is a top gamer associated with the merchant at the merchant location;

identifying, by the computer based system, the customer with a top gamer identifier based on the determining that the customer is the top gamer;

transmitting, by the computer based system, the top gamer identifier to the mobile gaming app on the customer device,

wherein the mobile gaming app on the customer device provides the top gamer identifier and the data related to the customer of interest to the merchant device associated with the merchant location;

determining, by the computer based system, that the customer of interest is on the list of customers of interest associated with the merchant at the merchant location,

wherein the customer device compares the merchant identifier against the list of merchant identifiers for which the customer is the customer of interest,

wherein the merchant device analyzes the data related to the customer of interest and top gamer data of the top gamer to determine that a direct communication between the merchant device and the customer device should be established,

wherein the merchant device establishes the direct communication between the merchant device and the customer device, and

wherein the merchant device adjusts a discount on a sign next to a product based on an analysis of data associated with the customer of interest and the top gamer data, while the customer device is in the merchant location.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the BLE identifier comprises a universally unique identifier, a major number, and a minor number associated with the merchant location.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the data associated with the customer of interest comprises an image of the customer.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the customer is identified as the customer of interest in response to a customer transaction history comprising a spend at the merchant location greater than a predetermined spend over a predetermined time period.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the customer is identified as the customer of interest in response to a customer transaction history comprising a frequency of visits to the merchant location greater than a predetermined frequency over a predetermined time period.