Credit card rewards program system and method
First Claim
1. A computerized method for rewarding use of a payment product by the payment product holder, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) issuing a payment product from an issuer to a holder, said payment product representing funds available to said holder, said payment product providing means of payment for at least one purchase transaction by said holder,(b) comparing said at least one purchase transaction using said payment product with pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria of said issuer to determine whether said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction in compliance with said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria, said comparing being performed by a data processor;
(c) calculating and storing a first value redeemable by said holder for at least one benefit based on said at least one purchase transaction when said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction, said calculating and storing being performed by a data processor;
(d) determining one or more travel distance associated with said qualifying purchase transaction and calculating and storing a second value redeemable by said holder for said at least one benefit based on said determined travel distances, said calculating and storing being performed by a data processor, and(e) providing access to said stored value and said stored additional value to said holder to facilitate redemption of at least a part of at least one of said first value and said second value,wherein said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria provide that a qualified purchase transaction is a transaction in which a ticket or a travel pass for any of various authorized travel modes is purchased, said authorized travel modes including at least two of air, water, bus, vehicle and locomotive.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A platform and program for enhancing the value and desirability of a credit card (or other payment product) to a card holder and encouraging increased use of the card as a payment device by rewarding the card holder based not only on qualifying purchases but on miles traveled in connection with travel ticket or travel pass purchases. The inventive program leverages qualifying transaction information and other data (e.g., Level 3 Data) which automatically flow with such transaction information. The rewards redeemed by the card holder according to the inventive platform and program are not tied to a particular provider of goods or services, and reward fulfillment is managed through the card issuer or its fulfillment agent.
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Citations
64 Claims
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1. A computerized method for rewarding use of a payment product by the payment product holder, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) issuing a payment product from an issuer to a holder, said payment product representing funds available to said holder, said payment product providing means of payment for at least one purchase transaction by said holder, (b) comparing said at least one purchase transaction using said payment product with pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria of said issuer to determine whether said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction in compliance with said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria, said comparing being performed by a data processor; (c) calculating and storing a first value redeemable by said holder for at least one benefit based on said at least one purchase transaction when said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction, said calculating and storing being performed by a data processor; (d) determining one or more travel distance associated with said qualifying purchase transaction and calculating and storing a second value redeemable by said holder for said at least one benefit based on said determined travel distances, said calculating and storing being performed by a data processor, and (e) providing access to said stored value and said stored additional value to said holder to facilitate redemption of at least a part of at least one of said first value and said second value, wherein said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria provide that a qualified purchase transaction is a transaction in which a ticket or a travel pass for any of various authorized travel modes is purchased, said authorized travel modes including at least two of air, water, bus, vehicle and locomotive. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computerized method for effecting a rewards program based on use of a payment product, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) retrieving payment product data associated with a payment product issued by an issuer to a holder, said payment product data including a holder identification and an accrued rewards value balance, (b) retrieving transaction data associated with at least one purchase transaction using said payment product, (c) comparing said transaction data against pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria to determine whether said at least one purchase transaction using said payment product is a qualifying purchase transaction in compliance with said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria, said comparing being performed by a data processor, (d) calculating a first value redeemable by said holder for at least one benefit based on said at least one purchase transaction when said at least one purchase transaction using said payment product is a qualifying purchase transaction, said calculating being performed by a data processor, (e) retrieving travel-related purchase data associated with travel-related purchases included in said qualifying purchase transaction, (f) determining from said travel-related purchase data one or more travel distances associated with said qualifying purchase transaction and calculating a second value redeemable by said holder for said at least one benefit based on said determined travel distances, said determining and calculating being performed by a data processor, (f) updating said accrued rewards value balance based on at least one of said calculated first value and said calculated second value, (g) comparing said accrued rewards value balance against a pre-selected threshold amount associated with said at least one benefit to ascertain whether said accrued rewards value balance is sufficient to entitle said holder to receive said at least one benefit, said comparing being performed by a data processor, and (h) providing said holder with access to said accrued rewards value balance to facilitate redemption of at least a part of said accrued rewards value balance for said at least one benefit, wherein said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria provide that a qualified purchase transaction is a transaction in which a ticket or a travel pass for any of various authorized travel modes is purchased, said authorized travel modes including at least two of air, water, bus, vehicle and locomotive. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computerized system for rewarding use of a payment product by the payment product holder, the system comprising:
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a payment product issued from an issuer to a holder, said payment product representing funds available to said holder, said payment product providing means of payment for at least one purchase transaction by said holder, at least one data processor adapted to (i) compare said at least one purchase transaction using said payment product with pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria of said issuer to determine whether said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction in compliance with said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria, (ii) calculate and store a first value redeemable by said holder for at least one benefit based on said at least one purchase transaction when said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction, (iii) determine one or more travel distances associated with said qualifying purchase transaction, and calculate and store a second value redeemable by said holder for said at least one benefit based on said determined travel distances, and provide access to said stored first value and said stored second value to said holder to facilitate redemption of at least a part of at least one of said first value and said second value, wherein said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria provide that a qualified purchase transaction is a transaction in which a ticket or a travel pass for any of various authorized travel modes is purchased, said authorized travel modes including at least two of air, water, bus, vehicle and locomotive. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A computerized system for effecting a rewards program based on use of a payment product, the system comprising:
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at least one data processor adapted to (i) retrieve payment product data associated with a payment product issued by an issuer to a holder, said payment product data including a holder identification and an accrued rewards value balance, (ii) retrieve transaction data associated with at least one purchase transaction using said payment product, (iii) compare said transaction data against pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria to determine whether said at least one purchase transaction using said payment product is a qualifying purchase transaction in compliance with said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria, (iv) calculate a first value redeemable by said holder for at least one benefit based on said at least one purchase transaction when said at least one purchase transaction using said payment product is a qualifying purchase transaction, (v) retrieve travel-related purchase data associated with travel-related purchases included in said qualifying purchase transaction, (vi) determine one or more travel distances associated with said qualifying purchase transaction, and calculate and store a second value redeemable by said holder for said at least one benefit based on said determined travel distances, (vii) update said accrued rewards value balance based on at least one of said calculated first value and said calculated second value, (viii) compare said accrued rewards value balance against a pre-selected threshold amount associated with said at least one benefit to ascertain whether said accrued rewards value balance is sufficient to entitle said holder to receive said at least one benefit, and (ix) provide said holder with access to said accrued rewards value balance to facilitate redemption of at least a part of said accrued rewards value balance for said at least one benefit, wherein said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria provide that a qualified purchase transaction is a transaction in which a ticket or a travel pass for any of various authorized travel modes is purchased, said authorized travel modes including at least two of air, water, bus, vehicle and locomotive. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A computer program product comprising a computer usable physical medium storing a computer executable program to:
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(a) compare at least one purchase transaction effected using a payment product issued to a holder from an issuer against pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria of said issuer to determine whether said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction in compliance with said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria, (b) calculate and store a first value redeemable by said holder for at least one benefit based on said at least one purchase transaction when said at least one purchase transaction is a qualifying purchase transaction, (c) determine one or more travel distances associated with said qualifying purchase transaction, and calculate and store a second value redeemable by said holder for said at least one benefit based on said determined travel distances, and (d) provide access to said value and said second value to said holder to facilitate redemption of at least a part of at least one of said first value and said second value for said at least one benefit, wherein said pre-defined rewards eligibility criteria provide that a qualified purchase transaction is a transaction in which a ticket or a travel pass for any of various authorized travel modes is purchased, said authorized travel modes including at least two of air, water, bus, vehicle and locomotive. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64)
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Specification