System and method for providing coupon-less discounts based on a user broadcasted message

• US 9,576,294 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2012
• Issued: 02/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Gebb, Luke, Muthukrishnan, Sathish B., Tiku, Sripriya, Wolf, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Luis A
• Application Number:
  US13/468,931
• Publication Number:
  US 20120226545A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,748 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14.34, 705/14.3, 705/14.36, 705/14.38, 705/14.1, 705/14.49, 705/14.66, 705/14.67
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/384 using social networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4015 using location information
• 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 30/0234 Rebates after completed purchase

Abstract

The systems and methods provide an offer to a user that may be accepted by the user through an action by the user. The action may be, for example, a broadcast through a social media channel. The parameters of the offer may defined that the broadcast comprise an offer identifier and may require that a user take subsequent action to fulfill the offer. The systems and methods may also be configured to monitor one or more broadcast channels, identify the source of a broadcast, identify transaction accounts associated with the source, evaluate transaction data associated with the transaction account, and provide benefits to the source and/or the transaction account.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

linking, by a computer based system, a transaction account of a user with a first third party broadcast platform and a second third party broadcast platform,

wherein the transaction account of the user is associated with first profile information for the first third party broadcast platform and second profile information for the second third party broadcast platform;

receiving, by a broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system residing with a broadcast channel, a first set of broadcasts from the first third party broadcast platform;

identifying, by the broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system and based on the offer indicator, a first subset of broadcasts from the first set of broadcasts;

wherein a broadcast in the first subset of broadcasts comprises the offer indicator,

wherein the offer indicator is associated with an offer,

wherein the offer indicator is associated with offer information that defines the offer,

wherein the offer is converted to be configured for use in the broadcast, and

receiving, by the broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system, a second set of broadcasts from the second third party broadcast platform;

identifying, by the broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system and based on the offer indicator, a second subset of broadcasts from the second set of broadcasts;

wherein a broadcast in the second subset of broadcasts comprises the offer indicator,

parsing each broadcast of at least one of the first set of broadcasts or the second set of broadcasts, by the computer based system, to identify the offer indicator and a source of the broadcast;

correlating, by the computer based system and in response to the identifying the offer indicator and based on the associating the transaction account of the user and at least one of the first profile information or second profile information, the offer with the transaction account of the user and the source of the broadcast, wherein the user is the source of the broadcast;

associating, by the computer based system, the offer defined by the offer indicator to the transaction account of the user in response to the correlating;

generating, by the computer based system, notification instructions,

wherein the notification instructions are provided to at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform, and

wherein the at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform transmits a notification of the offer and the offer based on the notification instructions to the user in the at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform;

receiving, by the computer based system, transaction information associated with the transaction account of the user;

comparing, by the computer based system, the offer to the transaction information; and

crediting, by the computer based system, an amount associated with the offer to the transaction account of the user based on the broadcast, in response to the transaction information satisfying the offer information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast is transmitted via a push based short message service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast is published through at least one of You Tube, Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer indicator comprises a # and a keyword.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the keyword comprises an indicator associated with a merchant.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

inviting, by the computer based system, the user to associate the transaction account with the first third party broadcast platform and use the offer, in response to the transaction account not being synched to the first third party broadcast platform associated with the offer;

or

inviting, by the computer based system, the user to register for the transaction account and synch the transaction account with the first third party broadcast platform and use the offer, in response to the user not being associated with the transaction account.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the first set of broadcasts and the second set of broadcasts comprises monitoring the broadcast from the source.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer indicator includes a hashtag.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast is transmitted through Twitter, and wherein the offer indicator is a hashtag.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer indicator is defined by a merchant and comprises text associated with the merchant.

11. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first third party broadcast platform is capable of parsing broadcasts received by the first third party broadcast platform and compiling the first set of broadcasts into the first subset of broadcasts as a result of the parsing, and

wherein the first third party broadcast platform is capable of transmitting the first subset of broadcasts to the computer based system.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer indicator is defined by a manufacturer and comprises text associated with a product.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer indicator comprises at least one of a picture, a graphical element, or a sound.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer comprises a first parameter defining the nature of the broadcast and a second parameter defining how to accept the offer.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

verifying, by the computer based system, that the transaction account of the user is eligible to sync with the first third party broadcast platform and the second third party broadcast platform;

verifying, by the computer based system, that the transaction account of the user is eligible to receive offers via the first third party broadcast platform and the second third party broadcast platform,

wherein the verification is based on at least one of user account type, user spending level, user payment history, user spending history, user creditworthiness, or user enrollment in loyalty programs.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the first third party broadcast platform profile information is at least one of a user identifier, an e-mail address, Twitter handle, or a username.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer indicator is defined by at least one of an account issuer or a third party.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, by the computer based system and to the user, the offer in a webpage having a database that is searchable for the offer;

providing, by the computer based system and to the user, the offer indicator for the offer;

displaying, by the computer based system, an indicator of the first third party broadcast platform within the webpage.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a computer based system, cause the computer based system to perform operations comprising:

linking, by the computer based system, a transaction account of a user with a first third party broadcast platform and a second third party broadcast platform,

wherein the transaction account of the user is associated with first profile information for the first third party broadcast platform and second profile information for the second third party broadcast platform;

receiving, by a broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system residing with a broadcast channel, a first set of broadcasts from the first third party broadcast platform;

identifying, by the broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system and based on the offer indicator, a first subset of broadcasts from the first set of broadcasts;

wherein a broadcast in the first subset of broadcasts comprises the offer indicator,

wherein the offer indicator is associated with an offer,

wherein the offer indicator is associated with offer information that defines the offer,

wherein the offer is converted to be configured for use in the broadcast, and

receiving, by the broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system, a second set of broadcasts from the second third party broadcast platform;

identifying, by the broadcast monitoring module of the computer based system and based on the offer indicator, a second subset of broadcasts from the second set of broadcasts;

wherein a broadcast in the second subset of broadcasts comprises the offer indicator,

parsing each broadcast of at least one of the first set of broadcasts or the second set of broadcasts, by the computer based system, to identify the offer indicator and a source of the broadcast;

correlating, by the computer based system and in response to the identifying the offer indicator and based on the associating the transaction account of the user and at least one of the first profile information or second profile information, the offer with the transaction account of the user and the source of the broadcast, wherein the user is the source of the broadcast;

associating, by the computer based system, the offer defined by the offer indicator to the transaction account of the user in response to the correlating;

generating, by the computer based system, notification instructions,

wherein the notification instructions are provided to at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform, and

wherein the at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform transmits a notification of the offer and the offer based on the notification instructions to the user in the at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform;

receiving, by the computer based system, transaction information associated with the transaction account of the user;

comparing, by the computer based system, the offer to the transaction information; and

crediting, by the computer based system, an amount associated with the offer to the transaction account of the user based on the broadcast, in response to the transaction information satisfying the offer information.

20. A computer based system comprising:

a processor;

a tangible, non-transitory memory communicating with the processor; and

the processor, when executing a computer program, is capable of performing operations comprising;

linking, by the processor, a transaction account of a user with a first third party broadcast platform and a second third party broadcast platform,

wherein the transaction account of the user is associated with first profile information for the first third party broadcast platform and second profile information for the second third party broadcast platform;

receiving, by a broadcast monitoring module of the processor residing with a broadcast channel, a first set of broadcasts from the first third party broadcast platform;

identifying, by the broadcast monitoring module of the processor and based on the offer indicator, a first subset of broadcasts from the first set of broadcasts;

wherein a broadcast in the first subset of broadcasts comprises the offer indicator,

wherein the offer indicator is associated with an offer,

wherein the offer indicator is associated with offer information that defines the offer,

wherein the offer is converted to be configured for use in the broadcast, and

receiving, by the broadcast monitoring module of the processor, a second set of broadcasts from the second third party broadcast platform;

identifying, by the broadcast monitoring module of the processor and based on the offer indicator, a second subset of broadcasts from the second set of broadcasts;

wherein a broadcast in the second subset of broadcasts comprises the offer indicator,

parsing each broadcast of at least one of the first set of broadcasts or the second set of broadcasts, by the processor, to identify the offer indicator and a source of the broadcast;

correlating, by the processor and in response to the identifying the offer indicator and based on the associating the transaction account of the user and at least one of the first profile information or second profile information, the offer with the transaction account of the user and the source of the broadcast, wherein the user is the source of the broadcast;

associating, by the processor, the offer defined by the offer indicator to the transaction account of the user in response to the correlating;

generating, by the processor, notification instructions,

wherein the notification instructions are provided to at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform, and

wherein the at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform transmits a notification of the offer and the offer based on the notification instructions to the user in the at least one of the first third party broadcast platform or the second third party broadcast platform;

receiving, by the processor, transaction information associated with the transaction account of the user;

comparing, by the processor, the offer to the transaction information; and

crediting, by the processor, an amount associated with the offer to the transaction account of the user based on the broadcast, in response to the transaction information satisfying the offer information.