System and method for redeeming rewards and incentives

• US 7,370,811 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2006
• Issued: 05/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Capital One Services LLC (Capital One Financial Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Capital One Financial Corporation
• Inventors: Fox, Eric, Greenberg, Robert Jerome, Turner, Jessica Ann, Rosenblatt, Charles Aaron, Jain, Chitra
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thien Minh
• Application Number:
  US11/482,417
• Publication Number:
  US 20060249575A1
• Time in Patent Office: 676 Days
• Field of Search: 235/493, 235/492, 235/449, 235/380, 235/381, 235/383, 235/375, 235/382, 235/382.5
• US Class Current: 235/493
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/08 using markings of different kinds or more than one marking of the same kind in the same record carrier, e.g. one marking being sensed by optical and the other by magnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• 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 30/0216 Investment accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/025 by means, e.g. cards, providing billing information at the time of purchase, e.g. identification of seller or purchaser, quantity of goods delivered or to be delivered

Abstract

Transaction card comprising a substrate having a front face and a back face, a first magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a credit account, the first magnetic stripe being located along an edge of the back face, a second magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a rewards account, the second magnetic stripe being located along another edge of the back face, and account information located on the front face, the account information being associated with the credit account and the rewards account.

Claims

1. A transaction card, comprising:

a substrate having a first face and a second face;

a first magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a first account, the first magnetic stripe being located along an edge of the second face;

a second magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a second account, the second account being a reward account, the second magnetic stripe being located along another edge of the substrate and the second magnetic stripe operable for redeeming a reward; and

account information located on the substrate, the account information being associated with the first account and the reward account, wherein

the reward account and a third account fund a transaction when the data on the second magnetic stripe is read.

2. The transaction card as set forth in claim 1, wherein

at least two of the first account, the second account and the third account are associated with different entities.

3. The transaction card as set forth in claim 2, wherein

the entity associated with the first account is a first financial institution and the entity associated with the third account is a second financial institution.

4. The transaction card as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the reward account is linked to another reward account, the other reward account including a second plurality of reward units redeemable using the second magnetic stripe.

5. The transaction card as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the reward is issued by an entity, and

the reward is redeemable using the second magnetic stripe with a merchant not associated with the entity.

6. The transaction card as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the first account is either a savings account, a checking account, a credit account, a money market account, a college fund account or a stored value account.

7. The transaction card as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the reward account includes a reward balance, and

the reward balance is increased after conducting a transaction with the first account.

8. The transaction card as sat forth in claim 1, wherein

the reward is a predetermined amount of a transaction, the transaction being funded by the first account.

9. A method for processing a transaction initiated with a merchant using a transaction card having at least two magnetic stripes, the method comprising:

receiving data associated with the transaction, the data including a purchase amount; and

determining according to the received data whether a first magnetic stripe or a second magnetic stripe was read at the merchant, the second magnetic stripe being associated with a rewards account and operable for redeeming at least one reward unit.

10. The method for processing a transaction as set forth in claim 9, further comprising:

converting the purchase amount to an amount of reward units, if it is determined that the second magnetic stripe was read at the merchant; and

determining whether the rewards account has a balance of reward units at least equal to the amount of converted reward units.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:

accessing another account for funding at least a portion of the purchase amount, if it is determined that the rewards account has a balance of reward units less than the amount of converted reward units.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11, further comprising:

one of increasing a credit line of the other account by the amount of the converted reward units or decreasing a balance of the other account by the amount of converted reward units.

13. The method as set forth in claim 10, further comprising:

accessing a plurality of other accounts for funding at least a portion of the purchase amount, if it is determined that the rewards account has a balance of reward units less than the amount of converted reward units.

14. The method as set forth in claim 13, wherein

the plurality of other accounts are used to fund the at least the portion of the purchase amount.

15. The method for processing a transaction as set forth in claim 9, wherein

determining according to the received data whether the first magnetic stripe or the second magnetic stripe was read at the merchant includes

evaluating data stored in at least one predetermined data field of the second magnetic stripe, and

comparing the data to data stored in a table.

16. A transaction card, comprising:

a substrate having a first face and a second face;

a first magnetic stripe for storing data associated with an account, the first magnetic stripe being located along an edge of the second face;

a second magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a rewards account, the second magnetic stripe being located along another edge of the second face and operable for redeeming at least one reward unit;

first account information located on the first face, the first account information being associated with the account; and

second account information located on the first face, the second account information being associated with the rewards account.

17. A transaction card, comprising:

a substrate having a first face and a second face;

a first magnetic stripe for storing data associated with an account, the first magnetic stripe being located along an edge of the second face;

a second magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a rewards account, the second magnetic stripe being located along another edge of the substrate and operable for redeeming at least one reward unit;

first account information located on the substrate, the first account information being associated with the account; and

second account information located on the substrate, the second account information being associated with the rewards account.

18. A transaction card, comprising:

a substrate having a first face and a second face;

a first magnetic stripe for storing data associated with an account, the first magnetic stripe being located along an edge of the second face;

a second magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a rewards account, the second magnetic stripe being located along another edge of the substrate and operable for redeeming at least one reward unit;

first account information located on the substrate, the first account information being associated with the account; and

second account information located on the substrate, the second account information being associated with the rewards account, wherein

the account and the reward account fund a transaction when the data on the second magnetic stripe is read.

19. A transaction card, comprising:

a substrate having a first face and a second face;

a first magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a first account, the first magnetic stripe being located along an edge of the second face;

a second magnetic stripe for storing data associated with a second account, the second account being a reward account, the second magnetic stripe being located along another edge of the substrate and the second magnetic stripe operable for redeeming a reward;

first account information located on the substrate, the first account information being associated with the first account; and

second account information located on the substrate, the second account information being associated with the rewards account, wherein

the reward account and a third account fund a transaction when the data on the second magnetic stripe is read.