Method, system, and storage medium for pre-screening customers for credit card approval at a point of sale
First Claim
1. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:
- receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and
during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location;
transmitting said customer data to a server;
searching a database for said customer data;
performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer;
providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation through at least one of a discount for a purchase and a reduced interest rate;
opening said credit card account upon acceptance of said invitation by said customer; and
selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said opened credit card account.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method, system and storage medium for pre-screening customers for a credit card at a point of sale. The method includes receiving the customer data at a point of sale system and, during a check out process: transmitting the customer data to a server; searching a database for the customer data; and based upon results of the searching, performing a credit worthiness check and providing said customer with an invitation to open a charge account. If the customer accepts the invitation, a charge account is opened before a payment method is selected whereby the customer can place the items selected for purchase on the new charge account while at the point of sale system. The system includes at least one point of sale system coupled to a communications link; a server coupled to the point of sale system via the communications link; a data storage device in communication with the server; and a link to a credit information server.
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Citations
64 Claims
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1. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:
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receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location; transmitting said customer data to a server; searching a database for said customer data; performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer; providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation through at least one of a discount for a purchase and a reduced interest rate; opening said credit card account upon acceptance of said invitation by said customer; and selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said opened credit card account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for pre-screening customer data by a selling entity for a customer at a point of sale location, the storage medium including instructions for causing the selling entity to implement a method comprising:
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receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location; transmitting said customer data to a server; searching a database for said customer data; performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer; providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation to comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation through at least one of a discount off of a purchase and a reduced interest rate; opening said credit card account, upon acceptance of said invitation by said customer; and selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:
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receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location; transmitting said customer data to a server to cause searching of a database for said customer data; receiving a pre-approval of said customer data including a result of a credit worthiness check performed to determine the credit pre-approval of said customer, said credit worthiness check performed without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer; providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said credit card account. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for pre-screening customer data by a selling entity for a customer at a point of sale location, the storage medium including instructions for causing the selling entity to implement a method comprising:
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receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location; transmitting said customer data to a server to cause searching a database for said customer data; receiving a pre-approval of said customer data including a result of a credit worthiness check performed to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said credit worthiness check performed without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer; providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation to comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said credit card account. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:
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receiving said customer data at a point of sale system by a point of sale data entry device; and during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location; transmitting said customer data to a server; searching a database for said customer data; performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer; providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account at said point of sale location, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said opened credit card account. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:
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receiving said customer data at a point of sale system by a point of sale data entry device; and during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location; transmitting said customer data to a server; searching a database for said customer data; performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer; providing said customer with an invitation to open a charge card account at said point of sale location, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said opened charge card account. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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Specification