Systems and Methods to Facilitate Loyalty Reward Transactions

• US 20120191525A1
• Filed: 01/23/2012
• Published: 07/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa International Service Association (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa International Service Association (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Singh, Shantnu, Dreyer, Michael, Ciurea, Peter, VonDerheide, James Alan, Fordyce, Edward W. III
• Granted Patent: US 10,007,915 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.33
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0233 Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward

Abstract

A communications system for financial transactions, such as payment transactions made via credit accounts, debit accounts, prepaid accounts, bank accounts, stored value accounts and the like, is enhanced and/or used to support reward transactions. Thus, the reward communications can be processed as transactions over the communications system in a way similar to and/or together with credit/debit transactions.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, in a computing apparatus, a message using a communication system configured to communicate financial transactions; and

processing, via the computing apparatus, the message for an operation on a reward account configured to track a balance of loyalty rewards earned by a user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is configured to use a financial account as a proxy of the reward account in the communication system configured to communicate financial transactions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message identifies a financial account of the user, the financial account having been issued for financial transactions of the user;

and the reward account is identified via the financial account.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the message is configured to indicate that the operation is to be performed on the reward account identified via the financial account, instead of on the financial account itself.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the message specifies a first message type to request the operation on the reward account;

and if the first message type is replaced with a second message type, the message requests a corresponding operation on the financial account.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein an issuer of the financial account is different from an administrator of the reward account;

and the processing of the message comprises communicating with the administrator of the reward account regarding the operation.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the computing apparatus comprises an issuer processor;

the processing of the message comprises identifying the reward account based on the financial account specified in the message; and

the method further comprises performing the operation on the balance of loyalty rewards.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is configured to request the operation on the reward account;

the computing apparatus comprises a transaction handler; and

the processing of the message comprises;

identifying, by the transaction handler, a processor based on an identifier of the reward account; and

providing, by the transaction handler, the message to the processor.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the message identifies no more than two accounts;

and the operation includes one of;

crediting an amount of rewards into the reward account; and

redeeming an amount of rewards from the reward account.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the message comprises a plurality of fields in accordance with a communications protocol;

the plurality of fields include a first field;

a first code placed in the first field is configured to identify the operation on the reward account;

a second code placed in the first field is configured to identify an operation on a payment account selected from the group consisting of;

a credit account, a debit account, and a prepaid account; and

the reward account is associated with the payment account.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

settling, by the transaction handler, funds for the operation on the reward account.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the transaction handler is configured to process transactions, each of the transactions to make a payment from an issuer to an acquirer in response to an account identifier, as issued by the issuer to the user, being submitted by a merchant to the acquirer, the issuer to make the payment on behalf of the user, and the acquirer to receive the payment on behalf of the merchant.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation comprises an authorization to redeem an amount of rewards from the reward account as a payment to a merchant.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation comprises a transfer of an amount of rewards from the reward account to a destination account.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the reward account and the destination account use different reward measurement units.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the destination account is one of:

a second reward account of the user, a reward account of a second user, and an account of a merchant.

17. A tangible computer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a computing apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:

communicating, via the computing apparatus, an operation on a reward account, using a communication system configured to communicate financial transactions, the reward account configured to track a balance of loyalty rewards earned by a user.

18. The computer storage medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

generating a message to be communicated using the communication system, wherein the message is configured to use a financial account as a proxy of the reward account in the communication system configured to communicate financial transactions; and

the message requests no operation on the financial account.

19. A computing apparatus, comprising:

a transaction handler configured to process transactions, each of the transactions including a payment from an issuer to an acquirer in response to a financial account identifier, as issued by the issuer to a user, being submitted by a merchant to an acquirer processor of the acquirer, an issuer processor of the issuer configured to make the payment on behalf of the user, and the acquirer processor configured to receive the payment on behalf of the merchant; and

a data warehouse configured to store data recording the transactions;

wherein the transaction handler is further configured to identify a first message, among second messages configured for operations on financial account identifiers, the first message configured to request an operation on a reward account represented by a financial account identifier specified in the first message, the reward account configured to track a balance of loyalty rewards earned by the user; and

wherein the transaction handler is further configured to process the first message for the operation requested in the first message.

20. The computing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the transaction handler is configured to identify an administrating processor of the reward account and communicate the operation to the administrating processor for authorization.