Paperless coupon card

• US 8,554,609 B1
• Filed: 03/13/2008
• Issued: 10/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corpus & Company
• Original Assignee: Corpus & Company
• Inventors: Corpus, Thomas A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Edward
• Application Number:
  US12/047,760
• Time in Patent Office: 2,035 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/14, 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems

Abstract

A paperless coupon system and method are provided that facilitate encouraging and rewarding consumer use of coupons, and decreasing the costs associated with coupon distribution and redemption for commercial entities. The system and method involve issuing a machine readable article such as a card, for example, to a user or offeree and registering the card on a website or other communication network to associate the card with an offeree user account, generating and displaying paperless coupons from which the user or offeree can select, and allowing the user to link their selected coupons to their machine readable article and redeem them in an electronic and automatic manner at, and/or after purchase of the related item(s) through their use of the card during the purchase transaction.

Claims

1. A paperless coupon system comprising:

a registration component that registers at least one of a credit, charge, or debit card to an offeree with an offeree user account, and optionally, registers the offeree user account with a separate offeree deposit account;

a coupon generation component that generates coupons comprising promotional offers and discounts applicable to items or services after they have been purchased without pre-selection by a user, wherein the coupons are issued by at least one of an issuer of the at least one credit, charge, or debit card, by an acceptor of the at least one credit, charge, or debit card, and by partners of the issuer of the at least one credit, charge, or debit card or acceptor of the at least one credit, charge, or debit card, wherein the coupons are sourced by a network of cooperative databases corresponding to multiple manufacturers and service providers; and

a redemption component comprising at least one of a credit card or debit card communication network that identifies the items or services which have been purchased using the at least one registered credit, charge, or debit card and that applies the corresponding coupon to the items or services after purchase of the items or services in any one of the following manners;

as a deposit or credit to the offeree user account;

or as a deposit or credit into the offeree deposit account;

wherein the coupons linked thereto are for redemption at multiple different retailers where the at least one credit, charge, or debit card is accepted for payment.

2. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, wherein the credit, charge, or debit card is registered on a website or other accessible communication network, via the registration component.

3. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, wherein the coupon display component displays the coupons on-screen via a website, or other accessible communication network.

4. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, wherein coupons are linked on a website, or other accessible communication network, via the coupon selection component.

5. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, wherein the coupons are non-specific to a particular retailer.

6. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, wherein the issuer of the credit, charge, or debit card comprises a financial institution, a credit card or debit card company, a manufacturer, a service provider, or a retailer.

7. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, wherein the acceptor of the credit, charge, or debit card comprises a financial institution, a credit or debit card company, a manufacturer, a service provider, or a retailer.

8. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, further comprising a partner of the issuer of the credit, charge, or debit card or acceptor of the credit, charge, or debit card which comprises a financial institution, a credit or debit card company, a manufacturer, a service provider, a retailer, a payment processors, a transaction processors, or a merchant network.

9. The paperless coupon system of claim 1, wherein the coupon comprises at least one of a face value discount, a portion of the face value discount, or a multiple value of the face value discount.

10. A method of providing paperless coupons, comprising:

using an accessible communication network, registering at least one of a credit, charge, or debit card with a first offeree user account, and optionally, registering the offeree user account with a separate offeree deposit account;

as performed using a computer, generating a plurality of paperless coupons, wherein the paperless coupons are issued by at least one of an issuer of the at least one of a credit, charge, or debit card, by an acceptor of the at least one of a credit, charge, or debit card, and by partners of the issuer of the at least one of a credit, charge, or debit card or partners of the acceptor of the at least one of a credit, charge, or debit card;

wherein the coupons are sourced by a network of cooperative databases corresponding to multiple manufacturers and service providers and wherein the coupons linked thereto are for redemption at multiple different retailers where the at least one credit, charge, or debit card is accepted for payment;

associating the paperless coupons generated to the at least one registered credit, charge or debit card via the issuer, an item manufacturer, or payment acceptor of the registered card; and

tracking a purchase transaction using the registered credit, charge, or debit card, and applying the paperless coupons via the at least one credit, charge, or debit card that correspond to items or services that were purchased, wherein the applying occurs after the purchase transaction and comprises;

a deposit or a credit of savings corresponding to a value of each applied paperless coupon to the first offeree user account, or a deposit or credit of savings corresponding to a value of each applied paperless coupon into one of the following;

a second offeree user account and the offeree deposit account, wherein the deposit or credit of savings appears on a periodic statement of purchase activity for the offeree user account.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the coupons are non-specific to a particular retailer.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one of a credit, charge, or debit card is registered on a website, or other accessible network, via the registration component.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the coupon display component displays the coupons on-screen via a website, or other accessible network.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein coupons are linked to the first offeree user account associated with the at least one registered credit, charge or debit card via the coupon selection component.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the issuer of the credit, charge, or debit card comprises a financial institution, a credit or debit card company, a manufacturer, a service provider, or a retailer.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the acceptor of the credit, charge, or debit card comprises a Financial Institution, a credit or debit card company, a manufacturer, a service provider, or a retailer.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the partner of the issuer or of the acceptor of the credit, charge, or debit card comprises a Financial Institution, a credit or debit card company, a manufacturer, a service provider, a retailer, a payment processors, a transaction processors, or a merchant network.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the coupon comprises at least one of a discount value, a portion of the discount value, or a multiplied value of the discount value.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein the first offeree user account is associated with any one of a credit card account, a debit card account, a bank account, a charge account, a savings account, and a deposit account;

the second offeree user account is associated with any one of the credit card account, debit card account, bank account, charge account, savings account, and deposit account; and

the offeree deposit account is associated with any type of account that accepts deposits and credits.

20. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and the second offeree user accounts are associated with at least one the following:

the same account or different accounts.