Exchange of non-negotiable credits of an entity's rewards program for entity independent funds

• US 8,313,023 B1
• Filed: 06/25/2012
• Issued: 11/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: JBSHBM, LLC
• Original Assignee: Brian K. Buchheit, Sean I. Mcghie
• Inventors: MCGHIE, SEAN I., BUCHHEIT, BRIAN K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Labaze, Edwyn
• Application Number:
  US13/531,904
• Time in Patent Office: 148 Days
• Field of Search: 235/380, 235/375, 235/379, 235/487, 235/486, 705/14, 705/39
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/06 Private payment circuits, e.g. involving electronic currency used among participants of a common payment scheme
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/28 Pre-payment schemes, e.g. "pay before"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/381 Currency conversion
• 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 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0227 Frequent usage incentive value reconciliation between diverse systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0232 Frequent usage rewards other than merchandise, cash or travel
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0233 Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played

Abstract

In one embodiment, a rewards program for credit cards (e.g., payment artifacts) can be established. Non-negotiable credits are accrued in response to one of the payment artifacts being used for purchases of goods or services with venders. Restrictions on use prevent the non-negotiable credits from being directly applied for a purchase of at least one goods or services of a commerce partner, which is an independent entity from the entity. A quantity of the non-negotiable credits are subtracted in response to the purchase of the goods or services that cost a quantity of entity independent funds, which result from a conversion of the subtracted quantity of non-negotiable credits into the entity independent funds in accordance with a credit to fund conversion ratio. The entity provides compensation for the subtracted quantity of the non-negotiable credits. The commerce partner receives at least a portion of the compensation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at least one of one or more computers identifying non-negotiable credits earned as part of a rewards program of an entity that provides a payment artifact, the non-negotiable credits being accrued or earned by charging amounts to an account linked to the payment artifact, the amounts charged being for goods or services purchased using the payment artifact, wherein the reward program credits are stored as digitally encoded information in at least one storage device, wherein the goods or services purchased are purchased from at least one different entity than the entity;

at least one of one or more computers receiving a request to transfer or convert a quantity of the non-negotiable credits to entity independent funds of a commerce partner, the commerce partner being a company that is not the entity; and

responsive to the request to transfer or convert the quantity of non-negotiable funds, at least one of one or more computers transferring or converting at least a subset of the non-negotiable credits into entity independent funds that the commerce partner accepts for goods or services that the commerce partner provides, wherein in absence of the non-negotiable credits being converted or transferred into the entity independent funds the commerce partner does not accept the non-negotiable credits for the goods or services that the commerce partner provides.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting or transferring of the subset of the non-negotiable credits into entity independent funds permits access to the entity independent funds thereby enabling purchases of the goods or services that the commerce partner provides.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein charging amounts to the account linked to the payment artifact occurs as part of a set of previous interactions involving a member participating in the rewards program and the entity that provides the payment artifact.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more computers are computers for serving content of a Web site, wherein the Web site is used for converting or transferring the quantity of non-negotiable funds into the entity independent funds.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a point of sale device is a device from which the request to transfer the quantity of the non-negotiable credits originates.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the transferring or converting of the subset of non-negotiable credits, at least one of the one or more computers subtracting the subset of non-negotiable credits from a total number of available non-negotiable credits earned through the rewards program.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computers identifying a ratio for transferring or converting the non-negotiable credits into entity independent funds; and

at least one of the one or more computers transferring or converting the subset of the non-negotiable credits into entity independent funds in accordance with the identified ratio.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment artifact is a credit card, and wherein the non-negotiable credits are reward program points for the rewards program associated with the credit card.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein per terms of the rewards program, the non-negotiable credits have no cash or monetary value, wherein the non-negotiable credits are accrued in proportion to the amount charged to the account.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-negotiable credits have a restriction on use related to an expiration date, whereby the non-negotiable credits either have an expiration date, have an expiration date triggered by a previously defined condition related to a status of the account linked to the payment artifact, or the entity has expressly reserved a right of imposing an expiration date on already accrued non-negotiable credits.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a single one of the one or more computers performs the identifying of the non-negotiable credits, the receiving of the request, and the converting or transferring of the non-negotiable credits to entity-independent funds.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the one or more computers performs the identifying of the non-negotiable credits, the receiving of the request, and the converting or transferring of the non-negotiable credits to entity-independent funds.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more computers comprises computing equipment having at least one processor executing program instructions that are digitally encoded in at least one storage device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity charges members participating in the rewards program a fee for converting or transferring the non-negotiable credits into entity-independent funds.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity-independent funds are loyalty points of a program of a company or organization that is not the entity.

16. A method comprising:

at least one of one or more computers establishing a rewards program for credit cards, the credit cards being referred to herein as payment artifacts, wherein each of the payment artifacts are provided by an entity to one or more card holders, wherein card holders participating in the rewards program are referred to herein as members;

at least one of one or more computers accruing non-negotiable credits, referred to as membership reward points, in response to one of the payment artifacts being used for purchases of goods or services with venders accepting the payment artifact, wherein a quantity of non-negotiable credits accrued is directly proportional to amounts spent for the purchases using the payment artifact, wherein the non-negotiable credits have restrictions on use, wherein the restrictions on use prevent the non-negotiable credits from being directly applied for a purchase of at least one goods or services of a commerce partner, wherein the commerce partner is an independent entity from the entity; and

at least one of one or more computers subtracting a quantity of the non-negotiable credits in response to the purchase of the goods or services, the purchase costing a quantity of entity independent funds, the entity independent funds resulting from a conversion of the subtracted quantity of non-negotiable credits into the entity independent funds in accordance with a credit to fund conversion ratio, wherein the entity provides compensation for the subtracted quantity of the non-negotiable credits, wherein the commerce partner receives at least a portion of the compensation.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the compensation is in negotiable funds.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein a conversion agency converts the non-negotiable credits into the entity independent funds.

19. The method of claim 18, where the conversion agency is not the entity.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein each of the one or more computers comprises computing equipment having at least one processor executing program instructions that are digitally encoded in at least one storage device.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein a single one of the one or more computers performs the accruing and subtracting of the non-negotiable credits.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the entity charges members participating in the rewards program a fee for converting or transferring the non-negotiable credits into entity independent funds.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the entity-independent funds are loyalty points of a program of the commerce partner.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the entity-independent funds are negotiable funds.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein per terms of the rewards program, the non-negotiable credits have no cash or monetary value, and wherein the non-negotiable credits have at least one restriction on use related to an expiration date, whereby the non-negotiable credits either have an expiration date, have an expiration date triggered by a previously defined condition related to a status of the account linked to the payment artifact, or the entity has expressly reserved a right of imposing an expiration date on already accrued non-negotiable credits.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein the entity provides the non-negotiable credits to incentive the card holders to utilize the payment artifacts for the purchase with venders, wherein the entity charges the venders that accept the payment artifact in accordance with a vender charged ratio of the amounts spent.

27. A method comprising:

at least one of one or more computers establishing an account for non-negotiable credits provided by an entity to one or more users, wherein the established account is a rewards program account, wherein the non-negotiable credits are reward program points, wherein the entity provides credit cards to the one or more users, wherein usage of the credit cards earns the reward program points;

at least one of one or more computers detecting interactions in which one of the credit cards is utilized for one or more purchases, each of the interactions earning a quantity of non-negotiable credits, wherein the quantity of non-negotiable credits from the interactions are added to the account, wherein in absence of a conversion operation that converts the non-negotiable credits to entity independent funds, the at least one commerce partner does not accept the non-negotiable credits for a sale of goods or services provided by the commerce partner; and

at least one of one or more computers subtracting a quantity of the non-negotiable credits from the account, the subtracted quantity of non-negotiable credits corresponding to a quantity of entity independent funds in accordance with a conversion rate established for the conversion operation that converts the non-negotiable credits to the entity independent funds, wherein the quantity of entity independent funds resulting from the conversion operation are able to be exchanged with the commerce partner for goods or services provided by the commerce partner.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the entity-independent funds are negotiable funds.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the entity-independent funds are loyalty points of a program of the commerce partner.

30. A computer program product comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable medium;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to establish a rewards program for credit cards, the credit cards being referred to herein as payment artifacts, wherein each of the payment artifacts are provided by an entity to one or more card holders, wherein card holders participating in the rewards program are referred to herein as members;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to accrue non-negotiable credits, referred to as membership reward points, in response to one of the payment artifacts being used for purchases of goods or services with venders accepting the payment artifact, wherein a quantity of non-negotiable credits accrued is directly proportional to amounts spent for the purchases using the payment artifact, wherein the non-negotiable credits have restrictions on use, wherein the restrictions on use prevent the non-negotiable credits from being directly applied for a purchase of at least one goods or services of a commerce partner, wherein the commerce partner is an independent entity from the entity; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to subtract a quantity of the non-negotiable credits in response to the purchase of the goods or services, the purchase costing a quantity of entity independent funds, the entity independent funds resulting from a conversion of the subtracted quantity of non-negotiable credits into the entity independent funds in accordance with a credit to fund conversion ratio, wherein the entity provides compensation for the subtracted quantity of the non-negotiable credits, wherein the commerce partner receives at least a portion of the compensation.

31. A method comprising:

a commerce partner agreeing to accept transfers or conversions of quantities of non-negotiable credits to entity independent funds in accordance with a credits-to-funds ratio, wherein the non-negotiable credits have been earned as part of a rewards program of an entity, wherein the commerce partner accepts the entity independent funds for goods or services that the commerce partner provides, wherein in absence of the non-negotiable credits being converted or transferred into the entity independent funds the commerce partner does not accept the non-negotiable credits for the goods or services that the commerce partner provides, wherein the entity-independent funds are loyalty points of a loyalty program of the commerce partner;

at least one of one or more computers detecting a communication over a network to grant a consumer a quantity of the entity independent funds, wherein the quantity of entity independent funds results from a conversion or transfer of at least a subset of the non-negotiable credits into the quantity of entity independent funds in accordance with the credit-to-funds ratio, wherein the subset of the non-negotiable credits are expended as part of the conversion or transfer, and wherein the commerce partner is compensated for providing the entity independent funds to the consumer;

responsive to the communication, at least one of one or more computers granting the consumer the quantity of the entity independent funds; and

the at least one of the one or more computers accepting at least a portion of the quantity of entity independent funds in exchange for the goods or services that the commerce partner provides, wherein the one or more computers do not accept the non-negotiable credits of the entity'"'"'s rewards program for the goods or services in absence of the conversion or transfer.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the granting of the quantity of entity independent funds comprises:

at least one of the one or more computers accessing a loyalty program account for the loyalty program that the commerce partner maintains for the consumer; and

at least one of the one or more computers adding the quantity of entity independent funds, referred to as loyalty points, to an existing quantity of loyalty points for the consumer, wherein records for the loyalty program account are maintained by the one or more computers within one or more non-transitory storage mediums.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computers completing a sale of the goods or services, where the consumer expends at least the portion of the quantity of entity independent funds in exchange for the goods or services that the commerce partner provides.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

at least one of the one or more computers transferring or converting the subset of the non-negotiable credits into the quantity of entity independent funds in accordance with the credit-to-funds ratio.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the entity, the commerce partner, or both charges members participating in the rewards program or the loyalty program a fee for converting or transferring the subset of non-negotiable credits into the quantity of entity-independent funds.

36. The method of claim 31, wherein a single one of the one or more computers detects the communication, grants the consumer the quantity of entity independent funds, and accepts the portion of the quantity of entity independent funds.

37. The method of claim 31, wherein a plurality of different ones of the one or more computers detects the communication, grants the consumer the quantity of entity independent funds, and accepts the portion of the quantity of entity independent funds.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein the one or more computers are owned by or operated for the commerce partner.

39. A computer program product comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to detect a communication over a network to grant a consumer a quantity of entity independent funds, wherein the quantity of entity independent funds results from a conversion or transfer of at least a subset of non-negotiable credits into the quantity of entity independent funds in accordance with a credit-to-funds ratio, wherein the subset of the non-negotiable credits are expended as part of the conversion or transfer, and wherein the commerce partner is compensated for providing the entity independent funds to the consumer, wherein the commerce partner agrees to accept transfers or conversions of quantities of the non-negotiable credits to entity independent funds in accordance with the credits-to-funds ratio, wherein the non-negotiable credits have been earned as part of a rewards program of the entity, wherein the commerce partner accepts the entity independent funds for goods or services that the commerce partner provides, wherein in absence of the non-negotiable credits being converted or transferred into the entity independent funds the commerce partner does not accept the non-negotiable credits for the goods or services that the commerce partner provides, wherein the entity-independent funds are loyalty points of a loyalty program of the commerce partner;

one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to, responsive to the communication, grant the consumer the quantity of the entity independent funds; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to accept at least a portion of the quantity of entity independent funds in exchange for the goods or services that the commerce partner provides, wherein, per the program instructions, the non-negotiable credits are not accepted for the goods or services in absence of the conversion or transfer.

40. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the program instructions to grant of the quantity of entity independent funds comprise:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to access a loyalty program account for the loyalty program that the commerce partner maintains for the consumer; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to add the quantity of entity independent funds, referred to as loyalty points, to an existing quantity of loyalty points for the consumer, wherein records for the loyalty program account are maintained by the one or more computers within one or more non-transitory storage mediums.

41. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to complete a sale of the goods or services, where the consumer expends at least the portion of the quantity of entity independent funds in exchange for the goods or services that the commerce partner provides.

42. The computer program product of claim 39, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums, to transfer or convert the subset of the non-negotiable credits into the quantity of entity independent funds in accordance with the credit-to-funds ratio.

43. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the entity, the commerce partner, or both charges members participating in the rewards program or the loyalty program a fee for converting or transferring the subset of non-negotiable credits into the quantity of entity-independent funds.

44. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein a single computer executes the program instructions to detect the communication, the program instructions to grant the consumer the quantity of entity independent funds, and the program instructions to accept the portion of the quantity of entity independent funds.

45. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein a plurality of different computers communicating with each other execute the program instructions to detect the communication, the program instructions to grant the consumer the quantity of entity independent funds, and the program instructions to accept the portion of the quantity of entity independent funds.

46. The computer program product of claim 39, wherein the one or more computers upon which the program instructions are loaded and executed are owned by or operated for the commerce partner.