Billing statement customer acquisition system
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- selecting a customer account record of a first entity, the customer account record including a customer identifier and an amount due;
determining if an individual associated with the customer identifier is a customer of a second entity; and
providing, if the individual is not a customer of the second entity, an acquisition offer via a billing statement to the individual that includes an offer to pay at least a portion of the amount due in exchange for a promise from the individual to become a customer of the second entity.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A customer acquisition system is disclosed that allows an offeror service provider to acquire new customers by making acquisition offers to customers through the billing statements of other businesses (“billing statement issuers”). An “acquisition offer” is an offer by the offeror service provider to pay an amount owed by the customer to the billing statement issuer, or a portion thereof, provided the customer agrees to become a customer of the offeror service provider. Predetermined criteria are used to automatically include an acquisition offer for eligible potential new customers of the offeror service provider with a billing statement or on associated promotional materials, and allows the customer to accept the acquisition offer using the billing statement. The customer acquisition system optionally ensures that the customer is not an existing customer of the offeror service provider before extending an acquisition offer. The acquisition offers can be tailored to the amount owed by the customer, and targeted to customers based on financial, geographic or historical data.
79 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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selecting a customer account record of a first entity, the customer account record including a customer identifier and an amount due; determining if an individual associated with the customer identifier is a customer of a second entity; and providing, if the individual is not a customer of the second entity, an acquisition offer via a billing statement to the individual that includes an offer to pay at least a portion of the amount due in exchange for a promise from the individual to become a customer of the second entity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to:
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select a customer account record of a first entity, the customer account record including a customer identifier and an amount due; determine if an individual associated with the customer identifier is a customer of a second entity; and provide, if the individual is not a customer of the second entity, an acquisition offer via a billing statement to the individual that includes an offer to pay at least a portion of the amount due in exchange for a promise from the individual to become a customer of the second entity. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system, comprising:
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a data storage device; and a processor operatively coupled to the data storage device, the processor configured to; select a customer account record of a first entity, the customer account record including a customer identifier and an amount due; determine if an individual associated with the customer identifier is a customer of a second entity; and provide, if the individual is not a customer of the second entity, an acquisition offer via a billing statement to the individual that includes an offer to pay at least a portion of the amount due in exchange for a promise from the individual to become a customer of the second entity. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to:
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receive an offer with a billing statement to have at least a portion of an amount due paid by a third party in exchange for becoming a customer of the third party; transmit an indication of acceptance of the offer for the third party to pay at least a portion of the amount due; become a customer of the third party; and receive an indication that the third party paid the at least a portion of the amount due. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A system, comprising:
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a data storage device; and a processor operatively coupled to the data storage device, the processor configured to; receive an offer with a billing statement to have at least a portion of an amount due paid by a third party in exchange for becoming a customer of the third party; transmit an indication of acceptance of the offer for the third party to pay at least a portion of the amount due; become a customer of the third party; and receive an indication that the third party paid the at least a portion of the amount due. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to:
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receive data that indicates a third party and a maximum amount that the third party will pay for receiving a new customer; select a credit card account from a plurality of credit card accounts, the credit card account indicating a customer, an outstanding balance, and a minimum amount due; determine whether the minimum amount due is less than or equal to the maximum amount; transmit a billing statement to the customer that includes an offer to the customer to become a customer of the third party if the minimum amount due is less than or equal to the maximum amount; receive an acceptance of the offer from the customer; and apply the minimum amount due to the credit card account in response to the received acceptance without receiving the minimum amount due from the customer.
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30. A system, comprising:
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a data storage device; and a processor operatively coupled to the data storage device, the processor configured to; receive data that indicates a third party and a maximum amount that the third party will pay for receiving a new customer; select a credit card account from a plurality of credit card accounts, the credit card account indicating a customer, an outstanding balance, and a minimum amount due; determine whether the minimum amount due is less than or equal to the maximum amount; transmit a billing statement to the customer that includes an offer to the customer to become a customer of the third party if the minimum amount due is less than or equal to the maximum amount; receive an acceptance of the offer from the customer; and apply the minimum amount due to the credit card account in response to the received acceptance without receiving the minimum amount due from the customer.
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31. A computer readable medium storing instructions configured to direct a processor to:
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transmit a billing statement to an existing customer of a first entity, the billing statement including at least one amount due, the billing statement including an offer to the customer to become a customer of a second entity in exchange for payment by the second entity of at least a portion of the at least one amount due; receive an acceptance of the offer from the customer; and apply the minimum amount due to the billing statement in response after receiving the acceptance. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A system, comprising:
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a data storage device; and a processor operatively coupled to the data storage device, the processor configured to; transmit a billing statement to an existing customer of a first entity, the billing statement including at least one amount due, the billing statement including an offer to the customer to become a customer of a second entity in exchange for payment by the second entity of at least a portion of the at least one amount due; receive an acceptance of the offer from the customer; and apply the minimum amount due to the billing statement in response after receiving the acceptance.
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Specification