PERMANENT CATEGORY-BASED PROMOTION FOR CREDIT CARD USAGE
First Claim
1. A method for using a financial alternative to currency to participate in one or more bonus rewards programs offered by a financial institution, the bonus rewards programs being offered in addition to a standard rewards program, the method comprising:
- enrolling in a first bonus rewards program of a plurality of sequential bonus rewards programs offered by the financial institution, the first bonus rewards program being associated with a first category of merchants;
purchasing goods or services, using the financial alternative to currency, from a merchant within the first category of merchants; and
receiving a bonus reward from the financial institution based on the value of the purchased goods or services;
wherein the reward received for the purchases under the first bonus rewards program is of a greater value than a reward received for the purchase under the standard rewards program.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A series of time-bounded bonus rewards programs is disclosed for offering by a financial institution. Consumers enroll in each program and are thereafter provided bonus rewards on consumer purchases with a credit card on goods and services from one or more select merchant categories until the program'"'"'s expiration. These bonus rewards are in addition to or in place of standard rewards the financial institution offers its customers. The selected merchant categories of the bonus rewards programs are relevant to the consumer in the given time frame in that they provide goods and services according to consumers'"'"' needs for that time of year. Incentives are thus provided to consumers to increase their use of the financial institution'"'"'s credit card by providing bonus rewards on purchases that fit consumers'"'"' needs within the time frame of the program.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for using a financial alternative to currency to participate in one or more bonus rewards programs offered by a financial institution, the bonus rewards programs being offered in addition to a standard rewards program, the method comprising:
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enrolling in a first bonus rewards program of a plurality of sequential bonus rewards programs offered by the financial institution, the first bonus rewards program being associated with a first category of merchants;
purchasing goods or services, using the financial alternative to currency, from a merchant within the first category of merchants; and
receiving a bonus reward from the financial institution based on the value of the purchased goods or services;
wherein the reward received for the purchases under the first bonus rewards program is of a greater value than a reward received for the purchase under the standard rewards program. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method implementing a bonus rewards program to one or more consumers for using a financial alternative to currency offered by a financial institution, the bonus rewards program being implemented in addition to a standard rewards program, the method comprising:
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determining a first category of merchants to associate with a first bonus rewards program of a plurality of sequential bonus rewards programs;
accepting enrollment from a consumer to participate in the first bonus rewards program;
receiving information corresponding to a purchase transaction made by the consumer with the financial alternative to currency at a merchant within the first category of merchants; and
awarding the consumer with a bonus reward based on the value of the purchase transaction;
wherein the reward awarded for the purchase under the first bonus rewards program is a greater value than a reward awarded for the purchase under the standard rewards program. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for implementing a series of bonus rewards programs, each bonus rewards program being offered to one or more consumers for using a financial alternative to currency offered by a financial institution, the bonus rewards program being implemented in addition to a standard rewards program, the system comprising:
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a network of merchants comprising a plurality of categories of merchants;
a program sequencer for;
selecting a first category of merchants from the plurality of categories for a first bonus rewards program;
determining an active timeframe for the first bonus rewards program;
selecting a second category of merchants from the plurality of categories for a second bonus rewards program; and
determining an active timeframe for the second bonus rewards program, the active timeframe of the second bonus rewards program disjoint from the active timeframe for the first bonus rewards program;
an enrollment engine for accepting enrollment from consumers into the first bonus rewards program;
a database containing purchasing transaction information for consumers enrolled in the first bonus rewards program and the standard rewards program; and
a rewards processing engine for determining that a purchase transaction was made by an enrolled consumer at a merchant in the first category of merchants during the active timeframe of the first bonus rewards program, and for awarding bonus rewards based on the purchase transaction value, the bonus rewards value exceeding the value of rewards under the standard rewards program. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification