Customer data aggregation

• US 10,290,016 B1
• Filed: 03/31/2014
• Issued: 05/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Square Inc (Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.))
• Inventors: Rose, Cody
• Primary Examiner(s): Alvarez, Raquel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anderson, Scott C
• Application Number:
  US14/230,286
• Time in Patent Office: 1,870 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3224 Transactions dependent on location of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/326 Payment applications installed on the mobile devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants

Abstract

An aggregating server obtains information about a method of payments by a customer and aggregate all instances of payment by that customer with respect to one or more merchants. That is, the server can associate various methods of payment at a merchant with the same customer (e.g. credit card information, information associated with a digital wallet application payment, device identifier along with geo-fence data, etc.) Thereafter, information at the server regarding frequency of visits, money spent, menu preferences, etc. can also be shared with the merchant in order to provide information for increasing customer satisfaction during further visits by the customer. Also, the server can determine whether the customer qualifies for a loyalty or discount programs based on past visits.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a payment service including at least one server, a first request from a point-of-sale (POS) terminal of a merchant to begin a current transaction session with a customer, the first request;

identifying a payment card that has been received by the POS terminal, the payment card being associated with a customer profile of a plurality of customer profiles stored in a data store maintained by the payment service, and

requesting instructions for at least one incentive to be associated with the current transaction session for the customer;

identifying, in the data store maintained by the payment service, records of past transaction sessions associated with the payment card and the customer profile, wherein the past transaction sessions were conducted by the customer at a plurality of POS terminals associated with a plurality of distinct merchants;

analyzing, by the payment service, the records of past transaction sessions to identify a trend in behaviors and preferences for the customer, the trend being associated with at least types of products or types of services for which the customer has previously conducted transactions;

determining, by the payment service, whether the trend satisfies a threshold for offering the at least one incentive with the current transaction session between the merchant and the customer;

upon determining that the trend satisfies the threshold, generating, by the payment service, instructions for the at least one incentive to be applied to the current transaction;

delivering, by the payment service for display on the POS terminal during the current transaction session, the instructions for the at least one incentive to be applied to the current transaction;

wherein the instructions causes the POS terminal to modify an aspect or payment amount of the current transaction session;

receiving, at the payment service and from the POS terminal, a second request to complete the current transaction session using the at least one incentive; and

upon receiving the second request, interacting, via the payment service, with a card issuer associated with the payment card to cause the card issuer to transfer an amount of funds due for the current transaction session to a financial account of the merchant.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising storing the records of past transaction sessions by:

detecting at least one alternate identity for the customer with the payment service; and

supplementing the records of past transaction sessions with past transaction sessions associated with the at least one alternate identity and the merchant.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one incentive comprises at least one of purchase recommendations to make to the customer, discounts to apply for the customer, or loyalty programs to recommend to the customer.

4. A computer-implemented method comprising:

storing, in a data store of a payment service provider, records of past transactions between a plurality of customers and a plurality of merchants, wherein the plurality of customers and the plurality of merchants are each distinct and have a corresponding profile with the payment service provider;

receiving, by the payment service provider, a first request from a merchant point-of-sale (POS) terminal of a merchant to begin a current transaction session with a customer, the first request including customer identifying information;

identifying, by the payment service and based on the customer identifying information, at least one customer trend or attribute for the customer from the records of past transactions;

determining, by the payment service provider, whether the at least one customer trend or attribute matches a threshold for offering at least one incentive with the current transaction session between the merchant and the customer;

generating, by the payment service provider, instructions for the at least one incentive upon determining that the customer trend or attribute satisfy the threshold;

delivering, by the payment service provider for display on the merchant POS terminal during the current transaction session, the instructions for the at least one incentive causing the POS terminal to automatically modify the current transaction session at the POS terminal; and

receiving, by the payment service provider, a second request from the merchant POS terminal to complete the current transaction session with the customer with one or more of the at least one incentive applied thereto.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the records of past transactions are stored in response to the payment service provider receiving a check-in indication from the customer, the check-in indication identifying the merchant.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein

the corresponding profile of the customer includes the customer identifying information,

the customer identifying information includes an identification of a payment instrument, and

determining the records of past transactions by the payment service provider is partly based on past transactions conducted using the payment instrument.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the identifying the at least one customer trend or attribute from the records of past transactions with the payment service provider includes identifying customer behaviors and preferences with respect to past transactions associated with the customer.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the information regarding the at least one customer trend or attribute includes an indication that the customer is eligible for a loyalty bonus.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the information regarding the at least one customer trend or attribute includes an indication of a customer'"'"'s past order history.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the information regarding the at least one customer trend or attribute includes an indication of a customer'"'"'s preferences.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

store, in a data store of a payment service provider, records of past transactions between a plurality of customers and a plurality of merchants, wherein the plurality of customers and the plurality of merchants are each distinct and have a corresponding profile with the payment service provider;

receive a request, by the payment service provider, from point-of-sale (POS) terminal of a merchant to begin a current transaction session with a customer using a financial instrument, the request including customer identifying information;

identify, based on the customer identifying information, at least one customer trend or attribute for the customer from the records of past transactions;

determine whether the at least one customer trend or attribute matches a threshold for offering at least one incentive with the current transaction session between the merchant and the customer;

generate instructions for the at least one incentive if the at least one customer trend or attribute satisfies the threshold;

provide for display on the point-of-sale (POS) terminal of the merchant during the current transaction session, the instructions for the at least one incentive to customize the current transaction session at the POS terminal; and

receive, by the payment service, a second request from the merchant POS terminal to complete the current transaction session with the customer with one or more of the at least one incentive applied thereto.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the execution of the computer-readable instructions by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determine a primary identity of the customer based on the customer identifying information;

determine at least one alternate identity for the customer with the payment service provider; and

include in the records of past transactions any past transaction associated with the primary identity and the at least one alternate identity.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the at least one incentive comprises purchase recommendations for the customer.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the execution of the computer-readable instructions by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

determine at least one other merchant that corresponds to the merchant;

include in the records of past transactions any past transaction transactions between the customer and the at least one other merchant.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the execution of the computer-readable instructions by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

identify merchant programs available to customers, wherein each of the merchant programs comprise at least one of a discount program or a loyalty program, and

generate the instructions to include one or more of the merchant programs based on a comparison of the at least one customer trend or attribute to each of the merchant programs.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the merchant programs are associated with at least one of (i) the merchant and (ii) at least one other merchant associated with the merchant.