Providing E-receipts to customers

• US 9,652,808 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2016
• Issued: 05/16/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Siddiqi, Farhan Ahmed, Godsman, David Reed, Johansen, Joseph Neil, Grigg, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): FRANKLIN, JAMARA ALZAIDA
• Application Number:
  US15/041,995
• Publication Number:
  US 20160162999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 460 Days
• Field of Search: 705 39, 705 44, 705 16, 705 261, 705 1423, 705 24, 705 1438, 235380, 235379, 235383, 235375, 235381, 235385, 235487, 235382, 235384, 235493, 235494, 235376, 235492, 235449, 235377, 235435, 235378, 235386, 235451
• 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 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for providing e-receipts to customers. Embodiments receive authorization from a customer for the customer to be enrolled in a point of transaction e-receipt communication program; receive transaction data corresponding to at least one transaction performed by the customer at a point of transaction of a merchant; and initiate communication, to the customer, of an e-receipt based at least in part on the received transaction data. Some embodiments receive authorization from a plurality of enrolling merchants for enrollment in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program; and build a cooperating merchant list comprising information corresponding to a plurality of cooperating merchants cooperating with a financial institution implementing the point of transaction e-receipt communication program.

Claims

1. A financial institution system for providing e-receipts to customers, the system comprising:

a computer apparatus including a processor and a memory; and

a software module stored in the memory, comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to;

receive an unstructured e-receipt from a merchant comprising unstructured transaction data corresponding to at least one transaction performed by the customer at a point of transaction of the merchant;

convert the unstructured transaction data into structured transaction data;

generate a structured e-receipt using the structured transaction data;

determine an online banking transaction that corresponds to the at least one transaction performed by the customer at the point of transaction of the merchant based on comparing the structured transaction data to transaction history data;

associate the structured e-receipt with the online banking transaction;

initiate communication, to the customer, of the structured e-receipt based at least in part on the structured transaction data based on authorization from the customer to be enrolled in a point of transaction e-receipt communication program and based on associating the structured e-receipt with the online banking transaction;

receive customer identification information comprising loyalty account information from the merchant; and

determine an identity of the customer based at least in part on the loyalty account information received from the merchant;

wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer is based at least in part on the determined identity of the customer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions further cause the processor to:

request authorization from the customer for the customer to be enrolled in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the customer'"'"'s authorization for the customer to be enrolled in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program is received from an online banking session of the customer.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the customer'"'"'s authorization for the customer to be enrolled in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program is received from a mobile application session of the customer.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions further cause the processor to:

receive authorization from a plurality of enrolling merchants for enrollment in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program; and

build, based at least in part on the plurality of enrolling merchants, a cooperating merchant list comprising information corresponding to a plurality of cooperating merchants cooperating with a financial institution implementing the point of transaction e-receipt communication program.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the unstructured transaction data corresponds to a cash transaction performed by the customer with the merchant.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer comprises initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to an email address associated with the customer, to an online banking repository associated with the customer and to a mobile application repository associated with the customer.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions further cause the processor to:

receive, from an online banking session of the customer, a request for the structured e-receipt associated with the at least one transaction; and

wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer is in response to receiving the request.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions further cause the processor to:

receive, from a mobile application session of the customer, a request for the structured e-receipt associated with the at least one transaction; and

wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer is in response to receiving the request.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions further cause the processor to:

access a cooperating merchant list comprising information corresponding to a plurality of merchants cooperating with a financial institution implementing the point of transaction e-receipt communication program; and

for each of the plurality of cooperating merchants, request authorization from the customer for transaction data associated with any transactions performed by the customer at the cooperating merchant to be communicated to the financial institution for the purpose of providing e-receipts to the customer.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the executable instructions further cause the processor to:

receive customer identification information from the merchant;

access a participating customer list comprising information corresponding to a plurality of customers participating in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program;

determine whether the received customer identification information corresponds to any of the plurality of customers in the participating customer list;

if so, initiate communication of a confirmation message to the merchant indicating to the merchant that the customer is participating in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program; and

wherein the unstructured transaction data is received from the merchant in response to the merchant receiving the confirmation message.

12. A computer program product for providing e-receipts to customers comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for:

receiving an unstructured e-receipt from a merchant comprising unstructured transaction data corresponding to at least one transaction performed by the customer at a point of transaction of the merchant;

converting the unstructured transaction data into structured transaction data;

generating a structured e-receipt using the structured transaction data;

determining an online banking transaction that corresponds to the at least one transaction performed by the customer at the point of transaction of the merchant based on comparing the structured transaction data to transaction history data;

associating the structured e-receipt with the online banking transaction;

initiating communication, to the customer, of the structured e-receipt based at least in part on the structured transaction data based on authorization from the customer to be enrolled in a point of transaction e-receipt communication program and based on associating the structured e-receipt with the online banking transaction;

receiving customer identification information comprising loyalty account information from the merchant; and

determining an identity of the customer based at least in part on the loyalty account information received from the merchant;

wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer is based at least in part on the determined identity of the customer.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has computer-executable instructions for requesting authorization from the customer for the customer to be enrolled in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the customer'"'"'s authorization for the customer to be enrolled in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program is received from an online banking session of the customer.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the customer'"'"'s authorization for the customer to be enrolled in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program is received from a mobile application session of the customer.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has computer-executable instructions for:

receiving authorization from a plurality of enrolling merchants for enrollment in the point of transaction e-receipt communication program; and

building, based at least in part on the plurality of enrolling merchants, a cooperating merchant list comprising information corresponding to a plurality of cooperating merchants cooperating with a financial institution implementing the point of transaction e-receipt communication program.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the unstructured transaction data corresponds to a cash transaction performed by the customer with the merchant.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer comprises initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to an email address associated with the customer, to an online banking repository associated with the customer and to a mobile application repository associated with the customer.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has computer-executable instructions for:

receiving, from an online banking session of the customer, a request for the structured e-receipt associated with the at least one transaction; and

wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer is in response to receiving the request.

20. A method for providing e-receipts to customers, comprising:

receiving, via a computer processor, an unstructured e-receipt from a merchant comprising unstructured transaction data corresponding to at least one transaction performed by the customer at a point of transaction of the merchant;

converting, via a computer processor, the unstructured transaction data into structured transaction data;

generating, via a computer processor, a structured e-receipt using the structured transaction data;

determining, via a computer processor, an online banking transaction that corresponds to the at least one transaction performed by the customer at the point of transaction of the merchant based on comparing the structured transaction data to transaction history data;

associating, via a computer processor, the structured e-receipt with the online banking transaction;

initiating, via a computer processor, communication, to the customer, of the structured e-receipt based at least in part on the structured transaction data based on authorization from the customer to be enrolled in a point of transaction e-receipt communication program and based on associating the structured e-receipt with the online banking transaction;

receiving, via a computer processor, customer identification information comprising loyalty account information from the merchant; and

determining, via a computer processor, an identity of the customer based at least in part on the loyalty account information received from the merchant;

wherein initiating communication of the structured e-receipt to the customer is based at least in part on the determined identity of the customer.