OFFER ASSIGNMENT

• US 20140025446A1
• Filed: 07/20/2012
• Published: 01/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Nagarajan, Srinath, Donlan, Matthew Laine
• Application Number:
  US13/553,879
• Publication Number:
  US 20140025446A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems, methods and computer program products for offer assignment. An exemplary apparatus is configured to transmit a first offer to a first user based on at least one of user information or account information associated with the first user, wherein the first offer enables the first user to receive at least one of a first discount or rebate on a first purchase from a first merchant; and determine the first user has assigned the first offer to a second user, wherein the first offer enables the second user to receive at least one of a second discount or a second rebate on the first purchase from the first merchant.

Claims

1. An apparatus for offer assignment, the apparatus comprising:

a memory;

a processor; and

a module stored in the memory, executable by the processor, and configured to;

transmit a first offer to a first user based on at least one of user information or account information associated with the first user, wherein the first offer enables the first user to receive at least one of a first discount or rebate on a first purchase from a first merchant; and

determine the first user has assigned the first offer to a second user, wherein the first offer enables the second user to receive at least one of a second discount or rebate on the first purchase from the first merchant.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the module is further configured to:

transmit a second offer to the second user based on at least one of user information or account information associated with the second user; and

determine the second user has assigned the second offer to the first user, wherein the second offer enables the first user to receive at least one of a third discount or rebate on a second purchase from a second merchant, wherein the third discount or rebate is at least one of less than, equal to, or greater than the first discount or rebate.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the module is further configured to:

approve the assignment of the first offer to the second user based on at least one of account information or user information associated with the second user, or a user exclusion rule or a merchant exclusion rule associated with the first offer, at the time of the assignment of the first offer to the second user.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the module is further configured to:

approve the assignment of the first offer to the second user based on at least one of account information or user information associated with the second user, or a user exclusion rule or a merchant exclusion rule associated with the first offer, at the time of the assignment of the first offer to the second user; and

approve the assignment of the second offer to the first user based on at least one of account information or user information associated with the first user, or a user exclusion rule or a merchant exclusion rule associated with the second offer, at the time of the assignment of the second offer to the first user.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the module is further configured to:

approve the assignment of the first offer to the second user and approve the assignment of the second offer to the first user based on at least one characteristic associated with the first offer and at least one characteristic associated with the second offer.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the module is further configured to:

approve the assignment of the first offer to the second user and approve the assignment of the second offer to the first user based on a duration between the assignment of the first offer to the second user and the assignment of the second offer to the first user.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second discount or rebate is at least one of equivalent to or less than the first discount or rebate.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a difference between the second discount or rebate and the first discount or rebate is applied to the first user'"'"'s financial institution account.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first user defines the second discount or rebate.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the module is configured to determine the first user has assigned the first offer to a second user when the module determines the first user has transmitted the first offer to the second user, and wherein the first offer has either been activated or has not been activated prior to the assignment of the first offer to the second user.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second user selects an option to either accept or reject the assignment of the first offer to the second user.

12. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the module is further configured to:

determine whether to transmit a third offer to the first user based on at least one of determining whether the first user assigned the first offer to the second user or determining whether the first user was assigned the second offer from the second user.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first offer is transmitted to the first user based on the first user not being excluded by at least one user exclusion rule and the first merchant not being excluded by at least one merchant exclusion rule, wherein the at least one user exclusion rule comprises at least one of an affinity exclusion rule, a risk exclusion rule, or an account exclusion rule, and wherein the at least one merchant exclusion rule comprises a merchant category code exclusion rule, and wherein the at least one merchant exclusion rule is based at least partially on a list of merchants associated with an excluded merchant category code that are not excluded.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein after the second user executes a purchase transaction associated with the first offer, the first offer and the purchase transaction are processed as part of a batch processing operation, wherein the batch processing operation comprises processing a plurality of financial institution accounts.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the account information comprises a transaction history associated with the first user'"'"'s financial institution account, and wherein the transaction history comprises at least one of a type of a transaction, a frequency associated with the transaction, an amount associated with the transaction, or a merchant associated with the transaction.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the user information comprises personal information associated with at least one of the first user, a family member of the first user, or a friend of the first user, wherein the personal information comprises at least one of demographic information, salary information, contact information, residence address information, job profile information, education information, or social network information.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first offer is presented to the first user on a portable mobile communication device, and wherein the first offer is presented via at least one of a user interface associated with the first user'"'"'s financial institution account, or a user interface associated with the first user'"'"'s social network account, email, or text message.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first offer comprises an offer to receive at least one of the first discount or rebate on at least one of:

a purchase previously made by the first user, a purchase from a merchant from which the first user previously made a purchase, an alternative to the purchase previously made by the first user, an alternative to the purchase from the merchant from which the first user previously made a purchase, or a product or service related to a purchase previously made by the first user.

19. A method for offer assignment, the method comprising:

transmitting a first offer to a first user based on at least one of user information or account information associated with the first user, wherein the first offer enables the first user to receive at least one of a first discount or rebate on a first purchase from a first merchant; and

determining the first user has transmitted the first offer to a second user, wherein the first offer enables the second user to receive at least one of a second discount or rebate on the first purchase from the first merchant.

20. A computer program product for offer assignment, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a set of codes for causing a computer to;

transmit a first offer to a first user based on at least one of user information or account information associated with the first user, wherein the first offer enables the first user to receive at least one of a first discount or rebate on a first purchase from a first merchant; and

determine the first user has transmitted the first offer to a second user, wherein the first offer enables the second user to receive at least one of a second discount or rebate on the first purchase from the first merchant.