International incentive system

• US 20030120544A1
• Filed: 12/02/2002
• Published: 06/26/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Kuth, Rainer, Zindel, Christoph, Gritzbach, Ralph
• Application Number:
  US10/307,858
• Publication Number:
  US 20030120544A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0225 Avoiding frauds

Abstract

In an incentive system, i.e., a method for organizing and distributing tangible incentives, wherein concerns (incentive providers) grant activity-dependent or sales-dependent premiums to the subscribers in order to promote certain objectives of the concern, the reward system is organized on the basis of securities, particularly stocks.

Claims

1. A method for organizing and distributing tangible incentives comprising the steps of:

awarding incentive premiums, selected from the group consisting of activity-dependent premiums and sales-dependent premiums, to subscribers selected from the group consisting of employees of the incentive provider, customers of the incentive provider, and vendors to the incentive provider, based on a reward system; and

organizing said reward system to award securities as said incentive premium.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising awarding stocks as said incentive premium.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising awarding a plurality of stocks in a securities fund as said premium.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 comprising awarding share points in said security fund as said premium.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising maintaining a deposit of said securities at an independent banking house, independent of said incentive provider.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 comprising allowing said incentive provider to directly increment a value of an account of a subscriber at said independent banking house to award said incentive premium to said subscriber.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 comprising allowing digital access to said account by said incentive provider.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 comprising encrypting said digital access with a standardized encryption algorithm.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 comprising maintaining a subscriber account for each subscriber, and awarding points to said subscriber account dependent on incentive-based activity by the subscriber associated with the subscriber account, and prescribing a total point number which must be accumulated in subscriber account to credit an award of securities to the subscriber associated with the subscriber account.