Methods and systems for dynamically generating coupons associated with presentation instruments

• US 8,700,446 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2008
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kiefer, Stuart
• Primary Examiner(s): Ebersman, Bruce I
• Application Number:
  US12/057,759
• Publication Number:
  US 20090248483A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,209 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/346 Cards serving only as information carrier of service
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/42 for ticket printing or like apparatus , e.g. apparatus for dispensing of printed paper tickets or payment cards
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0806 Details of the card record carriers per se G06K

Abstract

This disclosure describes, generally, methods and systems for dynamically generating coupons. The method may include associating a coupon value with a manufacturer'"'"'s offer onto a presentation instrument. The presentation instrument may include a barcode to store terms of the manufacturer'"'"'s offer and a storage device to store coupon value information. The method may further include distributing the presentation instrument to a customer, scanning the barcode to verify the terms of the offer have been fulfilled, and presenting the presentation instrument to a merchant to access the coupon value information stored on the storage device. Furthermore, the method includes receiving funds in the amount of the coupon value from the manufacturer, and transferring the received funds to the merchant.

Claims

1. A system for dynamic coupon generation, the system comprising:

at least one memory device having a set of instructions stored thereon; and

at least one processor communicatively coupled with the at least one memory device, wherein the set of instructions cause the processor to, in association with a tangible presentation instrument having a tangible barcode and a tangible magnetic stripe having different information stored thereon;

associate the tangible barcode of the tangible presentation instrument with information about a manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer that has an expiration date;

encode the tangible magnetic stripe of the tangible presentation instrument with information about an account from which funds for the manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer will be received;

distribute the tangible presentation instrument to a customer;

present the customer with registration instructions associated with the tangible presentation instrument, wherein the registration instructions are disposed on a face of the tangible presentation instrument;

receive a registration request for the tangible presentation instrument, wherein the registration request includes at least one of the customer'"'"'s demographic information, the customer'"'"'s personal information, the customer'"'"'s spending habits, and survey information from the customer;

based on the received registration request, increase a particular coupon value associated with the tangible presentation instrument;

transmit a particular message to the customer selected from the group consisting of;

a message notifying the customer of a coupon offer expiration date when approaching;

a message notifying the customer of a new coupon offer when available for redemption with the tangible presentation instrument; and

a message notifying the customer of a loyalty offer when available, the loyalty offer based on the customer'"'"'s usage of the tangible presentation instrument;

receive coupon offer information obtained by scanning the tangible barcode to verify fulfillment of terms of the manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer;

receive coupon offer account information from a merchant, wherein the coupon offer account information is read from the tangible magnetic stripe;

coordinate the reception of funds in an amount of the coupon value from the manufacturer;

transfer the received funds to the merchant;

track coupon redemption history associated with the tangible presentation instrument;

generate additional offers specific to the tangible presentation instrument based on the customer'"'"'s coupon redemption history; and

associate the additional offers with the tangible presentation instrument.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the registration request is received via at least one of a website, an interactive voice recognition (IVR) system, a call center, and branch office.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the presentation instrument comprises at least one of a form factor card, a stored value card, a prepaid credit card, and a mobile device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions further cause the processor to collect a fee for transferring the received funds from the manufacturer to the merchant.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the messages are transmitted using at least one of a text message and a voicemail message.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the presentation instrument is reusable by the customer by associating the presentation instrument with an additional coupon value.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the merchant is an on-line merchant.

8. A system for dynamic coupon generation, the system comprising:

a stored value host configured to associate a coupon value with a manufacturer'"'"'s offer onto a presentation instrument, wherein the presentation instrument includes a barcode and a magnetic stripe having different information stored thereon, the barcode having information about a manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer associated therewith and the magnetic stripe having information about an account associated with the manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer encoded thereon;

a coupon processing host coupled with the stored value host configured to distribute the presentation instrument, and to transmit a particular message to a mobile device of a customer selected from the group consisting of;

a message notifying the customer of a coupon offer expiration date when approaching;

a message notifying the customer of a new coupon offer when available for redemption with the presentation instrument; and

a message notifying the customer of a loyalty offer when available, the loyalty offer based on the customer'"'"'s usage of the presentation instrument;

an interface coupled with the coupon processing host configured to receive input associated with a registration request for the presentation instrument, and transmit the registration request to the coupon processing host, wherein the registration request includes at least one of the customer'"'"'s demographic information, the customer'"'"'s personal information, the customer'"'"'s spending habits, and survey information from the customer;

a bar code scanning device coupled with the coupon processing host and configured to scan the bar code to receive coupon offer information to verify fulfillment of terms of the manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer; and

a point of sale device, at a location of a merchant, coupled with the stored value host and configured to receive a swipe of the presentation instrument to receive information about the account and transmit the information to the stored value host;

wherein the coupon processing host is further configured to receive the registration request, verify the request, and upon verification, transmit the registration request to the stored value host; and

wherein the stored value host is further configured to, based on the received registration request, increase the coupon value associated with the presentation instrument, to receive funds in an amount corresponding to multiples of the coupon value from the manufacturer when requested and transfer the received funds to the merchant, and to track coupon redemption history associated with the presentation instrument, generate offers specific to the presentation instrument based on the customer'"'"'s coupon redemption history, and associate additional offers with the presentation instrument.

9. At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium for dynamic coupon generation, having sets of instructions stored thereon which, when executed by at least one machine, cause the at least one machine to:

associate a coupon value with a manufacturer'"'"'s offer onto a presentation instrument, wherein the presentation instrument includes a barcode and a magnetic stripe having different information stored thereon;

associate the barcode with information about a manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer that has an expiration date;

encode the magnetic stripe with information about an account from which funds for the manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer will be received;

effect distribution of the presentation instrument to a customer;

receive coupon offer information scanned from the barcode to verify fulfillment of terms of the manufacturer'"'"'s coupon offer;

present the customer with registration instructions associated with the presentation instrument;

receive a registration request for the presentation instrument, wherein the registration request includes at least one of the customer'"'"'s demographic information, the customer'"'"'s personal information, the customer'"'"'s spending habits, and survey information from the customer; and

based on the received registration request, increase a particular coupon value associated with the presentation instrument;

transmit a particular message to the customer selected from the group consisting of;

a message notifying the customer of a coupon offer expiration date when approaching;

a message notifying the customer of a new coupon offer when available for redemption with the presentation instrument; and

a message notifying the customer of a loyalty offer when available, the loyalty offer based on the customer'"'"'s usage of the presentation instrument;

receive account information read from the magnetic stripe;

receive funds in an amount of the coupon value from the account;

transfer the received funds to a merchant;

track coupon redemption history associated with the presentation instrument;

generate additional offers specific to the presentation instrument based on the customer'"'"'s coupon redemption history; and

associate the additional offers with the presentation instrument.