Method and system for providing reward status

• US 8,554,610 B1
• Filed: 08/29/2003
• Issued: 10/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nguyen, Loc, Costello, Tana
• Primary Examiner(s): Lastra, Daniel
• Application Number:
  US10/651,908
• Time in Patent Office: 3,693 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 705/14.1
• US Class Current: 705/14.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to providing a status for one or more rewards using a format in a plurality of display formats. Portable device information associated with a portable device and acceptance point device information associated with an acceptance point device are determined. A status for one or more rewards is determined based on the portable device information and the acceptance point device information. A display format is then determined from a plurality of display formats based on the portable device information and acceptance point device information. A status is then displayed using the display format.

Claims

1. A method for determining offline a status for one or more rewards and providing the status using a plurality of display formats including both graphical display and text display formats, the plurality of display formats being supported by an acceptance point device, and each display format displaying the status in a different format, the method comprising:

determining, by the acceptance point device, portable device information associated with a portable device;

determining, by the acceptance point device, acceptance point device information associated with an acceptance point device;

determining, by the acceptance point device, loyalty program information associated with one or more loyalty programs;

determining, by the acceptance point device, a status for one or more rewards for the portable device based on the portable device information, the acceptance point device information, and the loyalty program information, wherein the status for the one or more rewards is determined offline from a host computer and wherein determining the status comprises determining a current status in the one or more loyalty programs relative to a reward status and a desired status;

determining, by the acceptance point device, a display format in the plurality of display formats, wherein the display format is transaction specific and used to output the status and the display format determines how the status is displayed, wherein the display format is supported by the acceptance point device and determined based on variable fields in the portable device information and the acceptance point device information, wherein the determining the display format comprises comparing the variable fields with the plurality of display formats to select a corresponding display format in the plurality of display formats, wherein determining the display format further comprises determining the display format based on the current status, the reward status, and the desired status, and wherein the constraints of a display of the acceptance point device and at least a user preference are used to determine the display format; and

outputting the status, by the acceptance point device, using the display format, wherein the display format includes both graphics and text, the graphics including a graph that has an X axis and a Y axis.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable device information comprises information for one or more portable device rewards in which the portable device is eligible.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the acceptance point device information comprises information indicating one or more acceptance point device rewards that are offered by the acceptance point device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the status comprises comparing the one or more portable device rewards the portable device is eligible for with the one or more acceptance point device rewards offered by the acceptance point device to determine the status of the one or more rewards.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the display format is determined in order to display the desired status as a better option than the reward status.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical display formats comprise at least one of a chart, table, picture, and bar chart.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the status using the display format comprises at least one of displaying, printing, and sending the status.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the desired status is associated with a different reward than the reward status.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of display formats includes a purchase roadmap.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of display formats includes a shopping list of products.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the status comprises a current status, a reward status, and a desired status.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the acceptance point device is a standalone physical point of sale device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the acceptance point device determines the display format based upon the content of the status.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the font size of the display format will depend on the status.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the transaction comprises a current transaction, further wherein the display format for the current transaction comprises a different size font than the display format for transactions before the current transaction.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the status includes a triggering amount that is needed to obtain a reward in the one or more rewards.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired status is determined by a merchant.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the desired status determined by the merchant is selected from a plurality of loyalty programs that the portable device is not currently eligible for.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying, by the acceptance point device, at least one loyalty program that is included in the acceptance point device information and that is not included in the portable device information; and

influencing a user to perform a desired action by offering the user rewards associated with the at least one identified loyalty program that is included in the acceptance point device information and that is not included in the portable device information.

20. An apparatus for determining offline and displaying a status in one or more loyalty programs, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver configured to communicate with a portable device to determine portable device information associated with the portable device;

loyalty program information associated with one or more loyalty programs that are supported by the apparatus;

storage containing a plurality of display formats, the plurality of display formats including both graphical display and text display formats;

logic to determine offline a status comprising a current status, a reward status, and a desired status for one or more rewards of the one or more loyalty programs for the portable device based on the portable device information and the loyalty program information, wherein the current status, the reward status, and the desired status are determined offline from a host computer;

logic to determine a display format in the plurality of display formats, wherein the display format is transaction specific and is used to output the status and the display format determines how the status is displayed, and wherein the display format is determined based on variable fields in the portable device information and the loyalty program information, wherein the determining the display format comprises comparing the variable fields with the plurality of display formats to select a corresponding display format, wherein the determining the display format further comprises determining device constraints associated with the acceptance point device, wherein determining the display format further comprises determining the display format based on the current status, the reward status, and the desired status, wherein the display format is selected based on at least a user preference; and

an output device configured to output the current status, reward status, and desired status based on the display format, wherein the display format includes both graphics and text, the graphics including a graph that has an X axis and a Y axis.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the portable device comprises portable device information for one or more rewards in which the portable device is eligible.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the one or more rewards for the portable device are detellnined based on the loyalty program information for the one or more rewards in which the portable device is eligible.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the logic to determine the status comprises logic to compare the rewards the portable device is eligible for to the rewards offered by the acceptance point device to determine the current status and the reward status.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the current status comprises a triggering amount, the triggering amount being an amount that is needed to earn the one or more rewards.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the output device is configured to output the triggering amount.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the output device comprises at least one of a printer, display device, and message sender.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the acceptance point device comprises point of sale devices, computing devices, personal digital assistants, kiosks, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), pocket personal computers (PCs), laptop computers, and tablet computers.

28. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the logic to determine a display format comprises logic to determine the display format for the desired status so that a user is stimulated to performs actions to reach the desired status.

29. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the logic to determine the display format in the plurality of display formats, further comprises logic to analyze the current status, the reward status, or the desired status.

30. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the output device is configured to print the current status, reward status, and desired status on a receipt, and wherein the display format comprises darkened squares to represent the current status and empty squares to represent the desired status.

31. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

logic to identify at least one loyalty program that is included in the loyalty program information and that is not included in the portable device information; and

influencing a user to perform a desired action by offering the user rewards associated with the at least one identified loyalty program that is included in the loyalty program information and that is not included in the portable device information.

32. A system for determining display formats for loyalty transactions, the system comprising:

a plurality of portable devices, each portable device including portable device information specific to the portable device; and

a plurality of acceptance point devices, each acceptance point device including acceptance point device information specific to the acceptance point device and a plurality of display formats including both graphical display and text display formats;

loyalty program information associated with one or more loyalty programs that are supported by the system;

wherein the plurality of portable devices participate in transactions with the plurality of acceptance point devices, each transaction with an acceptance point device and including status information determined offline from a host computer, wherein the status information comprises a current status in the one or more loyalty programs relative to a reward status and a desired status;

wherein each transaction has a display format in the plurality of display formats and is used to output the status information, the display format determined by the acceptance point device in the plurality of acceptance point devices, and the display format for the status information for each transaction varies depending on variable fields in both portable device information for a portable device in the plurality of portable devices, an acceptance point device information for the acceptance point device in the plurality of acceptance point devices, and loyalty program information for each transaction, the display format being transaction specific and the display format determines how the status information is displayed;

wherein each acceptance point device determines the display format for each transaction by comparing the variable fields with the plurality of display formats to select a corresponding display format, wherein the determining further comprises determining device constraints associated with the acceptance point device, wherein the display format is determined based at least in part on a user preference; and

wherein determining the display format comprises determining the display format based on the current status in the one or more loyalty programs relative to the reward status and the desired status,

wherein each acceptance point device outputs the status information for the transaction using the display format, wherein the display format includes both graphics and text, the graphics including a graph that has an X axis and a Y axis.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the status information for a transaction is determined using the portable device information and acceptance point device information.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the desired status comprises a desired action that a user must complete to receive a different reward.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein each acceptance point device identifies at least one loyalty program that is included in the acceptance point device information and that is not included in the portable device information, wherein each acceptance point device influences a user to perform a desired action by offering the user rewards associated with the at least one identified loyalty program that is included in the acceptance point device information and that is not included in the portable device information.