SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EVALUATING POSITIVE BEHAVIOR AND OFFERING INCENTIVES BASED UPON LIMITED USE IDENTIFIER TRANSACTIONS

• US 20100106585A1
• Filed: 08/24/2009
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Perry, Denee, Etheredge, Christine C., Kaplan, Jessica A., Leung, Jason K., Kapoor, Deepak K., Shamak, Larry, Koo, E. Bai
• Application Number:
  US12/546,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20100106585A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.170
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• 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 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

The system evaluates a set of incentives based upon a variety of factors and/or predetermined rules and consumers are provided incentives when they satisfy one or more criteria of making payments for their transaction accounts. The one or more criteria include making an early payment, paying more than a minimum amount due, and making the payment through an automatic payment scheme. If a received payment satisfies one or more predefined criteria, one or more incentives are selected for the consumer, tracked, and provided to the consumer. The system analyzes payment information to determine attributes and positive (desirable) behavior and provides incentives to the consumer based on such positive behaviors.

Claims

1. A method, comprising,

receiving, by a computer, a first authorization request including transaction information identifying a transaction, the first authorization request comprising merchant information, an account identifier corresponding to a transaction account, and a transaction amount;

identifying, by the computer, a first pre-authorization record associated with the account identifier;

determining, by the computer, that the transaction amount complies with authorization criteria associated with the first pre-authorization record;

analyzing, by the computer, the transaction information to determine a positive behavior attribute;

associating, by the computer, the positive behavior attribute with an incentive;

updating, by the computer, the pre-authorization record based upon the incentive; and

transmitting, by the computer, an authorization message to the merchant.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating the positive behavior attribute with an incentive comprises determining a desired consumer behavior and determining the incentive based at least partially upon the desired consumer behavior and the positive behavior attribute.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the positive behavior attribute is used to determine that the desired consumer behavior is satisfied.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the incentive comprises a positive behavior reward associated with a reward receiving account.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reward receiving account is the transaction account.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the updating the pre-authorization record comprises updating the pre-authorization record based upon the reward.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating the pre-authorization record comprises updating a use restriction associated with the pre-authorization record.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the positive behavior attribute is used to determine that at least one of the transaction account or a consumer associated with the transaction account is eligible to be offered the incentive.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising producing output based at least partially upon the incentive in order to offer the consumer the incentive.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the account identifier is a limited use identifier.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining that refresh of the limited use account identifier should occur; and

,

in response to determining that refresh should occur, refreshing the authorization criteria by at least one of updating the first pre-authorization record or creating a second pre-authorization record.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining that refresh of the limited use identifier should occur comprises determining that refresh of the limited use identifier should occur based upon at least one of the first pre-authorization record, the incentive, the positive behavior attribute or an award associated with the incentive.

13. The method of claim 4, wherein the reward receiving account is associated with an intermediary.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the transaction facilitator acts as the intermediary between a consumer associated with the transaction account and the merchant.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-authorization record comprises a use restriction based on the transaction information.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining based on the transaction information, that the transaction involves a partial shipment.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising, in response to the transaction involving the partial shipment:

calculating a new pre-authorized amount based at least partially upon a predetermined rule comprising reducing a previous pre-authorized amount by at least a portion of the transaction amount; and

at least one of;

updating the pre-authorization record with the new pre-authorized amount or creating a second pre-authorization record comprising the new pre-authorized amount.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising increasing the new preauthorized amount by a reward amount associated with the incentive.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the reward amount is based at least partially upon at least one of a balance associated with the transaction account, a payment made to the transaction account, a merchant associated with the transaction, a product associated with the transaction, or a payment history associated with the transaction account.

20. The method of claim 4, wherein the reward comprises at least one of a lower Annual Percentage Rate (APR), an achievement credit toward a lower APR, a discount on finance charges, a rebate on finance charges, a discount on fees, a rebate on fees, a cash bonus, a cash-back amount, loyalty points, an increased credit line, an increased spend line, a statement credit, or a gift voucher.

21. A tangible computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving, by the computer, a first authorization request including transaction information identifying a transaction, the first authorization request comprising merchant information, an account identifier corresponding to a transaction account, and a transaction amount;

identifying, by the computer, a first pre-authorization record associated with the account identifier;

determining, by the computer, that the transaction amount complies with authorization criteria associated with the first pre-authorization record;

analyzing, by the computer, the transaction information to determine a positive behavior attribute;

associating, by the computer, the positive behavior attribute with an incentive;

updating, by the computer, the pre-authorization record based upon the incentive; and

transmitting, by the computer, an authorization message to the merchant.

22. A system comprising:

a network interface communicating with a memory;

the memory communicating with a processor; and

the processor, when executing a computer program, is configured to;

receive a first authorization request including transaction information identifying a transaction, the first authorization request comprising merchant information, an account identifier corresponding to a transaction account, and a transaction amount;

identify a first pre-authorization record associated with the account identifier;

determine that the transaction amount complies with authorization criteria associated with the first pre-authorization record;

analyze the transaction information to determine a positive behavior attribute;

associate the positive behavior attribute with an incentive;

update the pre-authorization record based upon the incentive; and

transmit an authorization message to the merchant.