Chasing rewards associated with accounts

• US 20030182218A1
• Filed: 02/22/2003
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Blagg, Lynn Holm
• Application Number:
  US10/371,852
• Publication Number:
  US 20030182218A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/227 characterised in that multiple accounts are available, e.g. to the payer
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/367 involving electronic purses or money safes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0233 Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method for linking accounts corresponding to different products together to create a group so that group processing can be performed at the group level while independent processing of the accounts is performed at the account level. The method links the accounts into a group by linking a financial record for each account to group master data for the group. The group master data includes information about the group, including group control settings, aggregate data, and a group identifier. A group typically includes a key account and one or more dependent accounts. The relationship between a dependent account and the group is specified by a dependent strategy. A dependent strategy specifies group level processing options for the account. The relationships between the accounts and the group are flexible to accommodate changes in the status of the group cardholders. Alternative embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is described by the appended claims and is supported by the foregoing description.

Claims

1. A method for chasing rewards maintained in association with one or more accounts, the method comprising:

receiving a redemption request associated with a first account;

identifying a second account that includes a reward related to the redemption request; and

satisfying the redemption request at least in part from the second account.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the second account includes querying for accounts with the reward related to the redemption request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first account and the second account are included within an account group, the method further comprising:

accessing a dependent strategy associated with the second account, wherein the dependent strategy indicates that reward chasing via the first account is supported.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first account and the second account are included within an account group, the method further comprising:

accessing a dependent strategy associated with the first account, wherein the dependent strategy indicates that reward chasing is supported.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the first account and the second account are included within an account group, and wherein a third account is included within the account group, the method further comprising:

identifying the third account; and

accessing a dependent strategy associated with the third account, wherein the dependent strategy indicates that reward chasing is not supported.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the dependent strategy indicates that the first account is eligible to access reward value from a qualifying account.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the dependent strategy indicates that the second account is eligible to release reward value to a qualifying account.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the a first reward is associated with the first account and a second reward is associated with the second account, and wherein the first reward is maintained in relation to the first account at the account level and the second reward is maintained in relation to the second account at the account level.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the reward related to the redemption request is selected from a group consisting of point based rewards, and cash based rewards.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first account and the second account are included within an account group, the method further comprising:

determining that the reward associated with the redemption request cannot be satisfied from the first account.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the identifying a second account that includes a reward related to the redemption request is done based at least in part on the inability to satisfy the redemption request from the first account.

12. A method for satisfying a unitary redemption request from rewards available from a plurality of accounts, the method comprising:

receiving a redemption request in relation to a first account, wherein the redemption request identifies a reward;

determining that the reward cannot be satisfied by the first account;

identifying a second account that can satisfy at least a portion of the reward; and

satisfying at least a portion of the reward from the second account.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the reward is selected from a group consisting of:

frequent flyer miles, merchandise points, value applicable to certain purchases, value applicable to merchandise from a particular retailer, and value applicable to services available from one or more suppliers.

14. The method of claim 12, the method further comprising:

linking the first account and the second account into an account group, wherein a first dependent strategy is defined relating the first account to the account group and a second dependent strategy is defined relating the second account to the account group.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second dependent strategy indicates that reward chasing initiated through the first account is allowed.

16. The method of claim 15, the method further comprising:

delinking the first account from the account group, wherein the second dependent strategy is modified to indicate that reward chasing initiated through the first account is not allowed.

17. The method of claim 12, the method further comprising:

determining that a combination of the first account and the second account cannot satisfy the reward; and

identifying a third account that can satisfy at least a portion of the reward; and

satisfying at least a portion of the reward from the third account.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein identifying the third account is done based on an indicator associated with the second account.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein identifying the third account is done based on an indicator associated with the first account.

27. The method of claim 17, the method further comprising:

associating the first account with a second account, wherein the second party is at least partially liable for the second account, and wherein the first party becomes at least partially liable for the second account.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the reward is a first reward, and wherein the second account is associated with a second reward, the method further comprising:

satisfying the request to redeem the reward, wherein the request is at least partially satisfied from the first reward and at least partially satisfied from the second reward.

29. The method of claim 28, the method further comprising:

augmenting the first reward based at least in part on transactions associated with the first account; and

augmenting the second reward based at least in part on transactions associated with the second account.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the request to redeem the reward is a first request, the method further comprising:

receiving a second request to redeem a reward, wherein the second request is initiated by the first party; and

satisfying the second request in part from the first reward and in part from the second reward.

20. A method for redeeming rewards, the method comprising:

servicing a first account, wherein the first account is associated with a first party and a reward;

receiving a request to redeem at least a portion of the reward, wherein the request is initiated by a second party;

in response to the request to redeem, identifying the first account and a relationship between the first account and the second party; and

satisfying the request to redeem.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the reward is a first reward, wherein the second party is associated with a second account that is associated with a second reward, wherein the request to redeem the reward includes a unified request to redeem at least portions of the first and second rewards.

22. The method of claim 20, the method further comprising:

associating the first account with a second account, wherein the second account is associated with the second party, and wherein the second party becomes associated with the first account.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the reward is a first reward, and wherein the second account is associated with a second reward, the method further comprising:

satisfying the request to redeem the reward, wherein the request is at least partially satisfied from the first account and at least partially satisfied from the second account.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least partial satisfaction from the second account is based in part on an inability to fully satisfy the request to redeem the reward from the first account.

25. The method of claim 24, the method further comprising:

augmenting the first reward based at least in part on transactions associated with the first account; and

augmenting the second reward based at least in part on transactions associated with the second account.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the request to redeem the reward is a first request, the method further comprising:

receiving a second request to redeem a reward, wherein the second request is initiated by the first party; and

satisfying the second request in part from the first account and in part from the second account;

wherein satisfying the request in part from the second account is based in part on an inability to fully satisfy the request from the first account.

31. A method for chasing rewards associated with accounts, the method comprising:

identifying a first account associated with a reward;

receiving a redemption request associated with a second account; and

satisfying the redemption request by accessing at least a portion of the reward.

32. The method of claim 31, the method further comprising:

augmenting the reward based on activity in the first account.

33. The method of claim 31, the method further comprising:

determining that chasing can be applied to the first account.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the first account and the second account are included in an account group, and wherein the reward remains linked to the first account.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein a dependent strategy at least partially governs the interaction of the first account with the account group, and wherein the dependent strategy indicates that the reward can be chased.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein the reward is selected from a group consisting of:

frequent flyer miles, discount points, value applicable to certain purchases, insurance benefits, and merchandise.

37. A method for making rewards obtainable, the method comprising:

identifying a reward associated with a first owner;

receiving a redemption request from a second owner; and

accessing the reward and satisfying the redemption request from the second owner.

38. The method of claim 40, the method further comprising:

augmenting the reward based on activity associated with the first owner.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the first account and the second account are included in an account group, and wherein the reward is available via the account group.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein a dependent strategy at least partially governs the interaction of the first account with the account group, and wherein the dependent strategy indicates that the reward is to be available via the account group.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein the first account and the second account are included in an account group, and wherein the reward remains linked to the first account.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein the reward is selected from a group consisting of:

frequent flyer miles, discount points, value applicable to certain purchases, insurance benefits, and merchandise.