System and method for a targeted payment system discount program

• US 6,332,126 B1
• Filed: 08/01/1996
• Issued: 12/18/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Loftesness, Scott J., Duncan, John, Johnson, Kurt W., Mayes, Dan, Peirce, Roger L., Dobbs, Mary K., Rhoads, Bruce C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Stamber, Eric W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Myhre, James W.
• Application Number:
  US08/690,765
• Time in Patent Office: 1,965 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.25
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0239 Online discounts or incentives

Abstract

A system and method for operating a computer based targeted payment system discount program. Consumer information from consumer payment system institutions is used to match qualified consumers to targeted merchant discount offers. Offers are automatically prioritized based on their expected value to consumers and consumers receive the highest priority offers for which they qualify. The default prioritization can be altered or overridden by the consumer'"'"'s payment systems institution. Discounts are automatically applied during the processing of the qualifying purchase without the need for coupons or additional actions by either the merchant or consumer.

Claims

1. A method for implementing a targeted payment system discount program on a general-purpose digital computer at a processing institution having data storage memory comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving and storing consumer information concerning participating consumers supplied by one or more payment systems institutions each of which supplies payment means to a subset of the participating consumers;

(b) receiving and storing information on merchant discount offers from at least one merchant or acquirer which includes discount information, transaction requirements, and consumer target criteria;

(c) identifying qualifying consumers for a merchant discount offer by computer matching the consumer target criteria for the merchant discount offer with the consumer information concerning participating consumers;

(d) comparing consumer transactions of qualifying consumers with the transaction requirements of the merchant discount offer; and

(e) returning a calculated discount to qualifying consumers who meet the transaction requirements of the merchant discount offer via a payment systems institution.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the consumer information is supplied by a plurality of payment systems institutions.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the information on merchant discount offers is obtained from a plurality of merchants or acquirers.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the information on merchant discount offers is obtained from a plurality of merchants or acquirers.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of automatically notifying participating consumers of said merchant discount offers for which they qualify.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the participating consumers are notified of only a subset of the merchant discount offers for which they qualify.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the subset of merchant discount offers for which the participating consumers qualify and of which they are notified is determined based on a prioritization of discount offers using a prioritization function of expected transaction volume, total discount, and total purchase amount.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said prioritization function is equal to expected response dollar volume, wherein the expected response dollar volume is calculated based on a plurality of parameters relating to each of said merchant discount offers.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is a merchant'"'"'s past transaction dollar volume.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is a merchant'"'"'s industry'"'"'s past transaction dollar volume.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is the discount percentage of a merchant discount offer.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is the ratio of the discount amount of a merchant discount offer to the average purchase amount at the offering merchant.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is the ratio of the discount amount to the minimum purchase requirement of a merchant discount offer.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is the ratio of the minimum purchase requirement of a merchant discount offer to the average purchase amount at a merchant.

15. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is the average purchase amount at a merchant.

16. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is a function of limitations placed on the discounts available under a merchant discount offer.

17. The method of claim 8 wherein one of said parameters is the number of discounted purchases which can be made under a merchant discount offer.

18. The method of claim 8 comprising the further step of using a computer and information on actually transacted dollar volumes resulting from merchant discount offers to modify the prioritization function.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein a payment systems institution modifies the parameters of a merchant discount offer.

20. The method of claim 1 comprising the further step of automatically modifying a merchant discount offer for which a consumer cardholder otherwise qualifies based on criteria provided by a payment systems institution.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said criteria include at least one of the following:

demographic characteristics of a participating consumer, type of payment means involved, characteristics of a merchant discount offer, and characteristics of a merchant.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said modifying prevents a particular participating consumer from receiving a merchant discount offer for which he otherwise qualifies.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein said modifying affects prioritization of merchant discount offers and thus changes the merchant discount offers which a participating consumer is actually presented with.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein said modifying affects the order in which the merchant discount offers are printed on a participating consumer'"'"'s statement.

25. The method of claim 6 comprising the further step of preventing particular participating consumers from receiving particular merchant discount offers.

26. The method of claim 6 comprising the further step of modifying prioritization of merchant discount offers, thereby changing the merchant discount offers which a participating consumer is actually presented with.

27. The method of claim 1 comprising the further step of modifying the order in which merchant discount offers are printed on a consumer cardholder'"'"'s statement.

28. The method of claim 1, comprising the further steps of:

(a) automatically determining the number of qualifying participating consumers identified in the identifying step for a merchant discount offer; and

(b) supplying a merchant with the number of qualifying consumer cardholders for the merchant discount offer so that the merchant can assess the likely success of the merchant discount offer.

29. The method of claim 1, comprising the further step of automatically reporting periodically to a merchant the response rate among participating consumers to the merchant'"'"'s discount offer.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the participating consumer'"'"'s payment transaction history.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the participating consumer'"'"'s prior responses to merchant discount offers.

32. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the participating consumer'"'"'s zip code.

33. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the participating consumer'"'"'s Area of Dominant Influence.

34. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the participating consumer'"'"'s state.

35. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the participating consumer'"'"'s spending limit.

36. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the amount the participating consumer has available to spend.

37. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the number of months since the participating consumer'"'"'s last change of residence.

38. The method of claim 1 wherein one item of the consumer information is the participating consumer'"'"'s travel information.

39. The method of claim 1 wherein a merchant discount offer is restricted to a limited number of participating consumers.

40. The method of claim 1 wherein a merchant discount offer is restricted to a limited number of participating consumers and comprising the further step of distributing said restricted merchant discount offers in a systematic manner.

41. The method of claim 1 comprising the further steps of:

(a) receiving custom indicia; and

(b) automatically displaying said custom indicia in a payment system institution'"'"'s communication to a consumer cardholder.

42. The method of claim 1 comprising the further steps of:

(a) receiving descriptive text; and

(b) automatically displaying said descriptive text in a payment system institution'"'"'s communication to a participating consumer.

43. The method of claim 1 wherein said merchant discount offers can be limited to particular outlets of a merchant.

44. The method of claim 1 wherein merchants provide form information concerning the form of said merchant discount offers including whether said merchant discount offers (a) involve a flat or percentage discount, (b) apply to single or multiple purchases, (c) have a maximum discount, (d) require minimum purchases, or (e) have a maximum purchase amount.

45. The method of claim 1 comprising the further steps of:

(a) receiving an offer overlay describing said information regarding a merchant discount offer; and

(b) automatically printing overlays on consumer statements based on the offer overlay information.

46. The method of claim 1 comprising, if the merchandise involved in a merchant discount offer transaction is later returned, the further step of subtracting a calculated discount via a payment systems institution.

47. A system for implementing a targeted payment system discount program at a processing institution comprising:

(a) means for data storing in a computer memory consumer information concerning participating consumer, which is supplied by one or more payment systems institutions each of which supplies payment means to a subset of the participating consumers;

(b) means for data storing in a computer memory, information on merchant discount offers from at least one merchant or acquirer which includes discount information, transaction requirements, and consumer targeting criteria;

(c) means for identifying qualifying consumers for a merchant discount offer by computer matching the consumer target criteria for the merchant discount offer with the consumer information concerning participating consumers;

(d) means for comparing consumer transactions of qualifying consumers with the transaction requirements of the merchant discount offer; and

(e) means for returning a calculated discount to qualifying consumers who meet the transaction requirements of merchant discount offer via a payment systems institution.

48. The system of claim 47 wherein the consumer information on consumer cardholders is received from a plurality of payment systems institutions.

49. The system of claim 47 wherein the information is received from a plurality of merchants or acquirers.

50. The system of claim 47 wherein a payment systems institution modifies the parameters of a merchant discount offer.

51. The system of claim 47 further comprising means for automatically modifying a merchant discount offer for which a participating consumer otherwise qualifies based on criteria provided by a payment systems institution.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein said criteria include at least one of the following:

demographic characteristics of a participating consumer, type of credit instrument involved, characteristics of a merchant discount offer, and characteristics of a merchant.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein said modifying prevents a particular participating consumer from receiving a merchant discount offer for which he otherwise qualifies.

54. The system of claims 51 wherein said modifying of prioritization of merchant discount offers, changes the merchant discount offers which a participating consumer is actually presented with.

55. The system of claims 51 wherein said modifying affects the order in which merchant discount offers are printed on a participating consumer'"'"'s statement.

56. The system of claim 47 further comprising means for preventing particular participating consumer from receiving particular merchant discount offers.

57. The system of claim 47 further comprising means for modifying prioritization of merchant discount offers, thereby changing the merchant discount offers which a participating consumer is actually presented with.

58. The system of claim 47 further comprising:

(a) means for automatically determining the number of qualifying consumers identified in the identifying step for a merchant discount offer; and

(b) means for supplying a merchant with the number of qualifying consumers for a merchant discount offer so that the merchant can assess the likely success of the merchant discount offer.

59. The system of claim 47 further comprising:

(a) means for receiving custom indicia; and

(b) means for automatically displaying said custom indicia in a payment systems institution'"'"'s communication to a participating consumer.

60. The system of claim 47 further comprising:

(a) means for receiving descriptive text; and

(b) means for automatically displaying said descriptive text in a payment systems institution'"'"'s communication to a participating consumer.

61. The system of claim 47 further comprising:

(a) means for receiving offer overlay information regarding a merchant discount offer; and

(b) means for automatically printing offer overlays on consumer statements based on the offer overlay information.

62. The system of claim 47 further comprising, if the merchandise involved in a merchant discount offer transaction is later returned, means for subtracting a calculated discount via a payment systems institution.

63. A computer-implemented method at a processing institution of targeting offers for merchant discounts to consumers, comprising:

receiving consumer information for at least one consumer, said consumer information being received from one or more consumer payment institutions;

receiving merchant discount offer information respecting one or more offers for merchant discounts, said merchant discount offer information received from one or more merchants or acquirers, said merchant discount offer information comprising targeting criteria for determining, at least in part, whether said one or more offers for merchant discounts will be available for said at least one consumer;

determining, responsive to said consumer information and said merchant discount offer information, if at least one of said offers for merchant discounts will be available to said at least one consumer; and

providing said merchant discount to said at least one consumer via one of said one or more consumer payment institutions.

64. A computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 63 further comprising;

providing said at least one consumer an indication that said merchant discount is offered to said at least one consumer.

65. A computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 64 wherein providing said indication comprises providing information to said consumer in a printed mailing.

66. A computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 64 wherein providing said indication comprises providing information to said consumer in an electronic communication.

67. A computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 66 wherein said electronic communication includes a visual component.

68. A computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 66 wherein said electronic communication includes an audio component.

69. A computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 63 wherein said consumer payment institutions comprise an on-line electronic payment system.

70. A computer-implemented method in accordance with claim 63 wherein providing said merchant discount comprises:

by a merchant offering said merchant discount, transmitting transaction data for a sale to said at least one consumer; and

determining whether said merchant discount is available for said sale to said at least one consumer.

71. A computer-implemented method at a processing institution of fulfilling a discount on a sale made by a merchant to a consumer, said merchant one of a plurality of merchants, said consumer one of a plurality of consumers, said plurality of merchants determined responsive to merchant discount offer information received from one or more merchants or acquirers, said merchant discount information comprising targeting criteria for determining, at least in part, consumers to which offers should be made available, said plurality of consumers determined responsive to consumer information from one or more consumer payment institutions and said merchant discount information, said computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving transaction data for said sale, said transaction data transmitted by said merchant;

determining whether said discount is eligible on said sale by said merchant based on said transaction data;

determining whether said consumer qualifies for said discount, and, if so;

generating a credit in the amount of said discount in favor of said consumer; and

transmitting transaction information for said credit to an interchange, which then processes the credit transaction information.

72. In a system for providing offers for merchant discounts to consumers, said system including a processing institution, wherein in said system consumer information is supplied by one or more payment systems institutions to said processing institution, merchant discount offers are supplied by at least one merchant or acquirer to said processing institution and include consumer targeting criteria and transaction requirements criteria, consumer transactions that qualify for said merchant discount offers are determined responsive to, at least, said consumer targeting criteria and said transaction requirements criteria, and said discount is returned through one of said one or more payment systems institutions, a method carried on by one of said merchants comprising:

providing information about a discount offer, said information comprising transactions for which said discount should be made available and targeting criteria for determining consumers to which said discount should be offered;

participating in a said sales transaction, said sales transaction being one for which said discount is made available, said sales transaction with one of said consumers to which said discount is offered; and

reporting said sales transaction to said processing institution, whereupon said processing institution determines if said consumer qualifies for said discount offer for said sales transaction and said processing institution provides an indication via an interchange for one of said one or more payment systems institutions to provide said discount to said consumer.

73. In a system for providing offers for merchant discounts to consumers, said system including a processing institution, wherein in said system consumer information is supplied by one or more payment systems institutions to said processing institution, merchant discount offers are supplied by at least one merchant or acquirer to said processing institution and include consumer targeting criteria and transaction requirements criteria, consumer transactions that qualify for said merchant discount offers are determined responsive to, at least, said consumer targeting criteria and said transaction requirements criteria, and said discount is returned through one of said one or more payment systems institutions, a method carried on by one of said payment systems institutions comprising:

extracting information respecting prior transactions of consumers;

providing said information respecting prior transactions of consumers to said processing institution, whereupon said processing institution generates a record for an offer for a discount at a merchant available for one of said consumers;

receiving from said processing institution via an interchange, an indication to grant a credit to said one of said consumers for said discount;

granting said credit in favor of said one of said consumers for providing said discount.

74. In a system for providing targeted offers for discounts by merchants to consumers and including a processing institution for selecting said offers, a method comprising:

providing first information respecting a first group, said first information provided by a first information provider, wherein said processing institution selects discounts for transactions that will be offered by selected merchants to selected consumers responsive to said first information and second information, second information provided by a second information provider;

wherein said first information and said second information, taken together, comprise consumer targeting criteria, transaction requirement criteria, and previous transaction information for at least one of said selected consumers; and

wherein a discount is returned to one of said selected consumers upon participating in one of said transactions with one of said merchants, by a payment system institution for said one of said consumers.