SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE TRANSFER OF LOYALTY POINTS
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- acquiring, by a loyalty computing device, balance data related to loyalty point balances of sponsored consumer loyalty accounts associated with sponsoring companies, wherein said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts comprise at least one of manufacturer loyalty points issued by a manufacturer, merchant loyalty points issued by a merchant or a third set of loyalty points;
determining, by said loyalty computing device, said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet at least a portion of qualifications for a loyalty point transfer based on rules;
deducting, by said loyalty computing device, at least a portion of said loyalty point balances of said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet said qualifications; and
,crediting, by said loyalty computing device, a host consumer loyalty account associated with a host company with at least a portion of said loyalty point balances, wherein at least one of said sponsoring companies or said host company initiated a transfer of said loyalty points.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention includes a loyalty program on a network-wide level, wherein the program facilitates a transfer of loyalty points from at least one consumer account associated with a sponsoring company to at least one consumer account associated with a host company. In one embodiment, the invention analyzes the loyalty point balances of consumer accounts associated with a sponsoring company, and based upon certain criteria or rules, the system determines particular loyalty point balances which are below a certain threshold amount or which have remained inactive for a certain time period. After determining particular consumer accounts which meet the criteria or rules, the system establishes a new host account in a host system for each qualifying consumer. The system then deducts all or any portion of the remaining loyalty point balance in the particular consumer'"'"'s sponsored account and credits the corresponding host account with a corresponding loyalty point balance. By transferring the consumer accounts to a host system, the sponsoring company eliminates or reduces the loyalty point balances from its system, thereby reducing the sponsoring company accounting liabilities and providing new options for the consumers to redeem the points.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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acquiring, by a loyalty computing device, balance data related to loyalty point balances of sponsored consumer loyalty accounts associated with sponsoring companies, wherein said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts comprise at least one of manufacturer loyalty points issued by a manufacturer, merchant loyalty points issued by a merchant or a third set of loyalty points; determining, by said loyalty computing device, said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet at least a portion of qualifications for a loyalty point transfer based on rules; deducting, by said loyalty computing device, at least a portion of said loyalty point balances of said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet said qualifications; and
,crediting, by said loyalty computing device, a host consumer loyalty account associated with a host company with at least a portion of said loyalty point balances, wherein at least one of said sponsoring companies or said host company initiated a transfer of said loyalty points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A loyalty computing device comprising:
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a network interface communicating with a memory; said memory communicating with a processor; and said processor, when executing a computer program, is configured to perform a method comprising; acquiring, by a loyalty computing device, balance data related to loyalty point balances of sponsored consumer loyalty accounts associated with sponsoring companies, wherein said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts comprise at least one of manufacturer loyalty points issued by a manufacturer, merchant loyalty points issued by a merchant or a third set of loyalty points; determining, by said loyalty computing device, said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet at least a portion of qualifications for a loyalty point transfer based on rules; deducting, by said loyalty computing device, at least a portion of said loyalty point balances of said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet said qualifications; and
,crediting, by said loyalty computing device, a host consumer loyalty account associated with a host company with at least a portion of said loyalty point balances, wherein at least one of said sponsoring companies or said host company initiated a transfer of said loyalty points.
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17. A tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of computer-executable instructions that, if executed by a computing device, cause said computing device to perform a method comprising:
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acquiring, by a loyalty computing device, balance data related to loyalty point balances of sponsored consumer loyalty accounts associated with sponsoring companies, wherein said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts comprise at least one of manufacturer loyalty points issued by a manufacturer, merchant loyalty points issued by a merchant or a third set of loyalty points; determining, by said loyalty computing device, said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet at least a portion of qualifications for a loyalty point transfer based on rules; deducting, by said loyalty computing device, at least a portion of said loyalty point balances of said sponsored consumer loyalty accounts that meet said qualifications; and
,crediting, by said loyalty computing device, a host consumer loyalty account associated with a host company with at least a portion of said loyalty point balances, wherein at least one of said sponsoring companies or said host company initiated a transfer of said loyalty points.
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Specification