Method and system for issuing, aggregating and redeeming merchant rewards with an issuing bank
First Claim
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1. A method of operating a reward program in conjunction with a network, the network interconnecting with a plurality of merchant computers and at least one issuing bank computer associated with an issuing bank that issues a payment token to a user, the method comprising the steps of:
- a. providing, at the issuing bank computer, a reward account database that stores a plurality of reward accounts, each of said reward accounts associated with a unique combination of a user and a merchant for tracking rewards earned by the user associated with that reward account for transactions with the merchant associated with that reward account, wherein all reward accounts associated with a particular user are accessible with a user ID of a payment token associated with that particular user regardless of which merchant is associated with that reward account,b. a user executing a purchase transaction with a transacting merchant associated with a transacting merchant computer selected from the plurality of merchant computers by presenting a payment token for use by the transacting merchant computer for payment of at least part of the purchase transaction;
c. the transacting merchant computer transmitting via the computer network a transaction request comprising a user ID as obtained from the payment token;
d. the issuing bank computer adding rewards to the reward account in the reward account database that is associated with the transacting merchant and the user identified by the user ID;
e. establishing on the reward account database a reward exchange account associated with the user;
f. selecting rewards from each of a plurality of reward accounts associated with the user for exchange into the reward exchange account; and
g. aggregating the selected rewards into the reward exchange account.
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Abstract
A loyalty reward point system that utilizes the pre-existing infrastructure of network such as a credit card network. A user makes a purchase at a merchant using a token such as a credit card. As part of the purchase transaction, the user is awarded reward points from the merchant based on the purchase, which are stored in an account associated with the merchant and the user by the issuing bank. The reward account is maintained on the issuing bank server on behalf of the merchant and the user, and the number of reward points in the user'"'"'s account for that merchant is increased accordingly. The user may redeem the reward points earned from the transaction with the merchant at a later time, or may redeem the points with another merchant in the same marketing cluster, or may aggregate those reward points with those of other merchants into a reward point exchange account, and then redeem the aggregated reward points for goods or services from any approved merchant on the network, depending on the configuration of the system.
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Citations
66 Claims
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1. A method of operating a reward program in conjunction with a network, the network interconnecting with a plurality of merchant computers and at least one issuing bank computer associated with an issuing bank that issues a payment token to a user, the method comprising the steps of:
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a. providing, at the issuing bank computer, a reward account database that stores a plurality of reward accounts, each of said reward accounts associated with a unique combination of a user and a merchant for tracking rewards earned by the user associated with that reward account for transactions with the merchant associated with that reward account, wherein all reward accounts associated with a particular user are accessible with a user ID of a payment token associated with that particular user regardless of which merchant is associated with that reward account, b. a user executing a purchase transaction with a transacting merchant associated with a transacting merchant computer selected from the plurality of merchant computers by presenting a payment token for use by the transacting merchant computer for payment of at least part of the purchase transaction; c. the transacting merchant computer transmitting via the computer network a transaction request comprising a user ID as obtained from the payment token; d. the issuing bank computer adding rewards to the reward account in the reward account database that is associated with the transacting merchant and the user identified by the user ID; e. establishing on the reward account database a reward exchange account associated with the user; f. selecting rewards from each of a plurality of reward accounts associated with the user for exchange into the reward exchange account; and g. aggregating the selected rewards into the reward exchange account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A rewards system comprising a plurality of merchant computers and at least one issuing bank computer associated with an issuing bank that issues a payment token to a user, the plurality of merchant computers and the issuing bank computer operating on a network, wherein:
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the issuing bank computer is programmed with a reward account database that stores a plurality of reward accounts, each of said reward accounts associated with a unique combination of a user and a merchant for tracking rewards earned by the user associated with that reward account for transactions with the merchant associated with that reward account, wherein all reward accounts associated with a particular user are accessible with a user ID of a payment token associated with that particular user regardless of which merchant is associated with that reward account; a transacting merchant computer selected from the plurality of merchant computers and associated with a transacting merchant is programmed to; execute a purchase transaction with a user who presents a payment token for payment of at least part of the purchase transaction, the payment token having a user ID associated therewith; and transmit via the network a transaction request comprising a user ID as obtained from the payment token; the issuing bank computer is further programmed to add rewards to thereward account in the reward account database that is associated with the transacting merchant and the user identified by the user ID; the reward account database is further programmed with a reward exchange account associated with the user; and the issuing bank computer is further programmed to select rewards from each of a plurality of reward accounts associated with the user for exchange into the reward exchange account and aggregate the selected rewards into the reward exchange account. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeSignature Systems LLC
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Original AssigneeSignature Systems LLC
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InventorsPostrel, Richard
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Primary Examiner(s)MEINECKE DIAZ, SUSANNA M
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Application NumberUS10/809,185Publication NumberTime in Patent Office2,315 DaysField of Search705/14, 705/39US Class Current705/14.3CPC Class CodesG06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation...G06Q 30/0224 based on user historyG06Q 30/0229 Multi-merchant loyalty card...
