Method and system for offering a credit product by a credit issuer to a consumer at a point-of sale

• US 8,554,669 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2007
• Issued: 10/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bill Me Later Incorporated (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Keithley, Thomas H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Edward
• Application Number:
  US11/651,141
• Publication Number:
  US 20080167956A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,464 Days
• Field of Search: 705/39, 705/35
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A method for offering at least one credit product by at least one credit issuer to a consumer at a point-of-sale between a merchant and the consumer. The method includes the steps of: providing a credit issuer data set including a plurality of data fields to a central database; initiating a transaction between the consumer and the merchant at the point-of-sale; offering, to the consumer at the point-of-sale, the at least one credit product; and presenting, to the consumer at the point-of-sale, at least one data field in the credit issuer data set. The at least one data field presented to the consumer is populated with data directed to the credit product, the credit issuer, or any combination thereof. An apparatus and system are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system, comprising:

a central computing device with a storage mechanism, having instructions which, when executed by a processor mechanism of the central computing device, causes the processor mechanism to;

build a central database including a plurality of data fields;

receive a credit issuer data set from at least one credit issuer including a plurality of data fields for population in the central database;

associate the credit issuer data set with the at least one credit issuer; and

transmit at least one data field in the credit issuer data set in a form capable of at least partially supporting presentation of at least one credit product offer, by a merchant on an electronic interactive interface of the merchant at an online point-of-sale location, to a consumer using a consumer computing device, wherein the at least one credit product offer is presented to the consumer on the merchant'"'"'s electronic interactive interface displayed on the consumer computing device;

obtain application input data via the electronic interactive interface of the merchant from the consumer computing device of the consumer applying for the at least one credit product offer, wherein the consumer receives a result on the electronic interactive interface on the consumer computing device; and

process a transaction at the merchant'"'"'s online point-of sale location without redirecting the consumer using the consumer computing device from the online point-of-sale location of the merchant such that the merchant maintains control over the consumer at the online point-of-sale location of the merchant at all times during the transaction, as well as during any credit transaction or credit product presentation, application and consummation between the consumer and the at least one credit issuer, while the at least one credit issuer maintains control over the credit issuer data set.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the data field includes data reflecting at least one of the following:

(i) terms relating to the credit product;

(ii) conditions relating to the credit product;

(iii) card member agreement data;

(iv) credit product offer data;

(v) credit issuer data;

(vi) application data, or any combination thereof.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of data fields are presented to the consumer during the transaction.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the plurality of data fields are populated with data reflecting terms and conditions relating to the credit product and card member agreement data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the interactive interface is in the form of at least one of the following:

a web page, an electronic document, a window, a pop-up window, or any combination thereof, which displays the at least one data field to the consumer at the consumer computing device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the interactive interface is configured to accept consumer input data from the consumer using the consumer computing device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface is in communication with the central database and configured to:

(i) display the at least one data field populated with data reflecting credit product offer data; and

(ii) accept consumer input data.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface is in communication with the central database and configured to:

(i) display the at least one data field populated with data reflecting credit product application data; and

(ii) accept consumer input data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface is in communication with the central database and configured to:

(i) display the at least one data field populated with data reflecting terms and conditions data relating to the credit product and card member agreement data; and

(ii) accept consumer input data.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface is in communication with the central database and configured to display the at least one data field populated with data reflecting the at least one credit product offer.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface is in communication with a central system, which is in communication with the central database, and wherein the central system is configured to at least one of the following:

(i) authenticate the consumer;

(ii) verify the consumer;

(iii) approve or deny a consumer application;

(iv) verify the transaction;

(v) process consumer data;

(vi) process merchant data;

(vii) process credit issuer data;

(viii) process transaction data;

(ix) process credit product data, or any combination thereof.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the consumer application input data includes at least one data field populated with data reflecting the consumer.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the central computing device is configured to:

obtain at least one data field from the consumer computing device of the consumer during the transaction; and

transmit data in a form sufficient to pre-populate a data field of a consumer interaction page at the online location of the merchant.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the consumer interaction page is at least one of the following:

an application, a survey, a questionnaire, an acknowledgement, a form, a modifiable form, a template, or any combination thereof.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a computing device, with a storage mechanism, having instructions which, when executed by a processor mechanism of the computing device, causes the processor mechanism to:

obtain offer input data from the consumer computing device of the consumer directed to the credit product offer;

transmit data in a form for presentation, on the interactive interface and to the consumer, at least one of the following;

(i) terms of the credit product;

(ii) conditions of the credit product;

(iii) a card member agreement, or any combination thereof;

obtain acknowledgement input data from the consumer computing device of the consumer; and

transmit application data in a form for presentation, on the interactive interface and to the consumer.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising obtaining application input data from the consumer computing device of the consumer.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

approve or deny an application of the consumer for the credit product based at least in part upon the application input data;

if approved, establish and open an account for the consumer for the credit product of the credit issuer; and

if denied, communicate denial data to the consumer on the interactive interface.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to determine consumer risk data based at least in part on at least one of the following:

(i) the offer input data;

(ii) the acknowledgement input data;

(iii) application input data, or any combination thereof.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the computing device is the central computing device.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the central database includes a plurality of credit issuer data sets, each having a plurality of data fields populated with data reflecting a specified credit issuer and/or credit product.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprising a credit issuer computing device with a storage mechanism, having instructions which, when executed by a processor of the credit issuer computing device, causes the processor to configure the respective credit issuer data set of the specified credit issuer by the specified credit issuer using the credit issuer computing device.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the central computing device is a computing device of the merchant.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the central processor is further configured to receive credit issuer data from a plurality of different credit issuers.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the central processor is further configured to present at least two credit product offers from at least two of the plurality of different credit issuers to the consumer on the electronic interactive interface on the consumer computing device.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the central processor is further configured to allow the consumer to select one of the credit product offers, wherein the consumer enters data for the selected credit product offer and receives a result on the electronic interactive interface on the consumer computing device.

23. An apparatus, comprising:

means for building a central database on a central computing device;

means for receiving a credit issuer data set from at least one credit issuer including a plurality of data fields for population of the central database;

means for associating the credit issuer data set with the at least one credit issuer; and

means for transmitting at least one data field in the credit issuer data set in a form sufficient to at least partially support presentation of at least one credit product offer, by a merchant on an electronic interactive interface of the merchant at an online point-of-sale location, to a consumer using a consumer computing device, wherein the at least one credit product offer is presented to the consumer on the merchant'"'"'s electronic interactive interface displayed on the consumer computing device;

means for obtaining input data via the electronic interactive interface of the merchant from the consumer computing device of the consumer applying for the at least one credit product offer, wherein the consumer receives a result on the electronic interactive interface on the consumer computing device; and

means for processing a transaction at the merchant'"'"'s online point-of sale location without redirecting the consumer using the consumer computing device from the online point-of-sale location of the merchant such that the merchant maintains control over the consumer at the online point-of-sale location of the merchant at all times during a transaction, as well as during any credit transaction product presentation, application and consummation between the consumer and the at least one credit issuer, while the at least one credit issuer maintains control over the credit issuer data set.

24. A computer-implemented system, comprising:

a merchant computing device with a storage mechanism, having instructions which, when executed by a processor mechanism, cause the processor mechanism to;

receive, from a central database populated with at least one credit issuer data set of a credit issuer, at least one data field from the at least one credit issuer data set; and

transmit, to a consumer using a consumer computing device, an electronic interactive interface of a merchant presenting at least one credit product offer, wherein the at least one credit product is at least partially based upon the at least one data field received from the central database, wherein the transmission and presentation occur before, during or after an electronic transaction between the consumer and the merchant and an online point-of-sale location of the merchant, wherein the at least one credit product offer is presented to the consumer on the merchant'"'"'s electronic interactive interface displayed on the consumer computing device;

obtain application input data via the merchant'"'"'s electronic interactive interface from the consumer computing device of the consumer applying for the at least one credit product offer, wherein the consumer receives a result on the electronic interactive interface on the consumer computing device; and

maintain control over the consumer at the online point-of-sale location of the merchant at all times during the electronic transaction, as well as during any credit transaction or credit product presentation, application and consummation between the consumer and the credit issuer such that the consumer using the consumer computing device is not redirected from the online point-of-sale location of the merchant, while the at least one credit issuer maintains control over the credit issuer data set.