Successive offer communications with an offer recipient

• US 9,909,879 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2012
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: VonDerheide, James Alan, Dhamodharan, Rajasekaran
• Primary Examiner(s): Monfeldt, Sarah
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sharvin, David P
• Application Number:
  US13/427,657
• Publication Number:
  US 20120185315A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,175 Days
• Field of Search: 705 14
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0222 During e-commerce, i.e. online transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Successive offer communications are sent to an offer recipient. A first offer communication includes an offer of a merchant and the second offer communication includes an announcement about the offer. The first and second offer communications are each formatted to be rendered by respective communication device, such as a mobile phone of the offer recipient or a Point of Interaction (POI) terminal. The content of the offer communications may be tailored to the offer recipient based on the offer recipient'"'"'s past transactions within a transaction processing system or a real time geographical location of the offer recipient.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a transaction handler, a first transmission corresponding to a first transaction between a first consumer and a first merchant, the first transmission comprising data corresponding to a first point of interaction terminal of the first merchant, the first transmission including a globally unique identifier of the first consumer, and the first transmission further including information sufficient to determine a hard copy capability of the first point of interaction terminal, wherein the first transmission is an authorization request for the first transaction, sent from the first point of interaction terminal, and wherein the authorization request includes a merchant identifier for the first merchant;

determining the hard copy capability of the first point of interaction terminal by comparing the merchant identifier to at least one database comprising merchant identifiers, wherein the hard copy capability specifies a capability of the first point of interaction terminal in generating a hard copy of offers, and wherein the specified capability includes dimensions of a hard copy output of the first point of interaction terminal, and white space availability on receipts rendered by the first point of interaction terminal;

retrieving, by a computing apparatus, using the globally unique identifier, an offer for the first consumer that is compatible with the hard copy capability and usable towards a future transaction with a second merchant, wherein the offer is retrieved based on business rules of the second merchant, wherein the offer is based on prior transaction data obtained from the database using the globally unique identifier, wherein the offer is further based on data obtained from the first transmission regarding a real-time location of the first consumer, wherein the offer is subject to at least one criterion comprising a category of an account of the first consumer, and the at least one criterion further comprising the transaction handler receiving transaction data about a transaction between the first consumer and a merchant associated with the category, and wherein the business rules comprise a rule for the offer that delineates the hard copy capability as a condition of the offer;

forming a second transmission including the offer for delivery to, and rendering as a hard copy upon, the first point of interaction terminal along with a receipt for the first transaction;

storing data in the database based on tracing the delivery of the second transmission;

retrieving, by the computing apparatus, from the database using the globally unique identifier, a soft copy capability of a mobile electronic device of the first consumer and an announcement, including a reference to the offer, that is compatible with the soft copy capability;

sending a test signal for delivery to the mobile electronic device to determine that the mobile electronic device is ready to receive a transmission, and receiving an acknowledgement of receipt of the test signal by the mobile electronic device;

in response to receiving the acknowledgement of receipt, forming a third transmission including the announcement for delivery to, and rendering as a soft copy upon, the mobile electronic device within a predetermined period of time after the forming of the second transmission;

receiving a fourth transmission including a confirmation that the future transaction has been conducted at a second point of interaction terminal of the second merchant;

retrieving data about a reward corresponding to the future transaction; and

forming a fifth transmission including the data about the reward for delivery to, and rendering as a hard copy upon, the second point of interaction terminal of the second merchant.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a physical location of the first point of interaction terminal;

determining a map from the physical location of the first point of interaction terminal to a physical location of the second merchant, wherein the map is compatible with the hard copy capability of the first point of interaction terminal; and

wherein the second transmission further includes the map.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming of the third transmission further comprises:

receiving a physical location of the mobile electronic device; and

determining a map from the physical location of the mobile electronic device to a physical location of the second merchant, wherein the map is compatible with the soft copy capability of the mobile electronic device; and

wherein the announcement includes the map.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the map comprises instructions for a form of travel selected from the group consisting of:

walking;

public mass transit;

private motorized vehicle;

private non-motorized vehicle; and

a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forming a sixth transmission including the data about the reward for delivery to, and rendering as a soft copy upon, the mobile electronic device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined period of time is selected from the group consisting of:

a period prior to an expiration date of the offer;

a period less than one month after the forming of the second transmission;

a period prior to a date set by the first consumer;

a period in which the mobile electronic device is detected to be within a physical location; and

a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the hard copy rendered at the second point of interaction terminal is rendered along with a receipt for the future transaction.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising forming a sixth transmission for delivery to the first consumer, the sixth transmission including information selected from the group consisting of:

data about the offer rendered as the hard copy upon the first point of interaction terminal;

data about the announcement rendered as the soft copy upon the mobile electronic device;

information about the reward corresponding to the confirmation; and

a total value for a plurality of rewards corresponding to a plurality of confirmations.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a plurality of transmissions each including a transaction upon an account of the first consumer, and wherein the retrieving the offer further includes comparing an offer a criterion of the offer with data included in at least one of the plurality of transmissions to find a match.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a transaction handler, a first transmission corresponding to a first transaction between a first consumer and a first merchant, the first transmission comprising data corresponding to a point of interaction terminal of the first merchant, a globally unique identifier of the first consumer, and a hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal, wherein the first transmission is an authorization request for the first transaction, sent from the point of interaction terminal, and wherein the authorization request includes a merchant identifier for the first merchant;

determining the hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal by comparing the merchant identifier to at least one database comprising merchant identifiers, wherein the hard copy capability specifies a capability of the point of interaction terminal in generating a hard copy of offers, and wherein the specified capability includes dimensions of a hard copy output of the point of interaction terminal, and white space availability on receipts rendered by the point of interaction terminal;

retrieving, by a computing apparatus, using the globally unique identifier, an offer for the first consumer that is compatible with the hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal and usable towards a second transaction with a second merchant subsequent to the first transaction, wherein the offer is based on prior transaction data obtained from the database using the globally unique identifier, wherein the offer is further based on data obtained from the first transmission regarding a real-time location of the first consumer, wherein the offer is subject to at least one criterion comprising a category of an account of the first consumer, and the at least one criterion further comprising the transaction handler receiving transaction data about a transaction between the first consumer and a merchant associated with the category, and wherein business rules comprise a rule for the offer that delineates the hard copy capability as a condition of the offer;

forming a second transmission including the offer for delivery to, and rendering as a hard copy upon, the point of interaction terminal along with a receipt for the first transaction;

storing data in the database based on tracing the delivery of the second transmission;

retrieving, by the computing apparatus, from the database using the globally unique identifier, a soft copy capability of a mobile electronic device of the first consumer, and an announcement, including a reference to the offer, that is compatible with the soft copy capability;

forming a third transmission including the announcement for delivery to, and rendering as a soft copy upon, the mobile electronic device;

receiving a fourth transmission including a confirmation that the second transaction has been conducted;

retrieving, using the offer, data about a reward corresponding to the confirmation; and

forming a fifth transmission including the data about the reward for delivery to, and rendering as a soft copy upon, the mobile electronic device.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a physical location of the point of interaction terminal; and

determining a map from the physical location of the point of interaction terminal to a physical location of the second merchant, wherein the map is compatible with the hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal; and

wherein the second transmission further includes the map.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the forming of the third transmission further comprises:

receiving a physical location of the mobile electronic device; and

determining a map from the physical location of the mobile electronic device to a physical location of the second merchant, wherein the map is compatible with the soft copy capability of the mobile electronic device; and

wherein the announcement further includes the map.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising forming a sixth transmission for delivery to the first consumer, the sixth transmission including information selected from the group consisting of:

data about the offer;

data about the announcement;

information about the reward corresponding to the confirmation; and

a total value for a plurality of rewards corresponding to a plurality of confirmations.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium including stored instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:

receive, by a transaction handler, a first transmission, corresponding to a first transaction between a first consumer and a first merchant, comprising data corresponding to a point of interaction terminal of the first merchant, the first transmission including a globally unique identifier of the first consumer corresponding to an account, and further including a hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal, wherein the first transmission is an authorization request for the first transaction, sent from the point of interaction terminal, and wherein the authorization request includes a merchant identifier for the first merchant;

determining the hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal by comparing the merchant identifier to at least one database comprising merchant identifiers, wherein the hard copy capability specifies a capability of the point of interaction terminal in generating a hard copy of offers, and wherein the specified capability includes dimensions of a hard copy output of the point of interaction terminal, and white space availability on receipts rendered by the point of interaction terminal;

retrieve, by a computing apparatus, using the globally unique identifier, an offer for the first consumer that is compatible with the hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal and usable towards a future transaction with a second merchant upon the account, wherein the offer is retrieved based on business rules of the second merchant, wherein the offer is based on prior transaction data obtained from the database using the globally unique identifier, wherein the offer is further based on data obtained from the first transmission regarding a real-time location of the first consumer, wherein the offer is subject to at least one criterion comprising a category of an account of the first consumer, and the at least one criterion further comprising the transaction handler receiving transaction data about a transaction between the first consumer and a merchant associated with the category, and wherein the business rules comprise a rule for the offer that delineates the hard copy capability as a condition of the offer;

form a second transmission including the offer for delivery to, and rendering as a hard copy upon, the point of interaction terminal along with a receipt associated with the first transmission;

store data in the database based on tracing the delivery of the second transmission;

retrieve, by the computing apparatus, from the database using the globally unique identifier, a soft copy capability of a mobile electronic device of the first consumer and an announcement, including a reference to the offer, that is compatible with the soft copy capability;

receive a physical location of the mobile electronic device;

determine a map from the physical location of the mobile electronic device to a physical location of the second merchant, wherein the map is compatible with the soft copy capability of the mobile electronic device, and wherein the announcement further includes the map; and

form a third transmission including the announcement for delivery to, and rendering as a soft copy upon, the mobile electronic device.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the stored instructions further cause the computing device to:

receive a fourth transmission including a confirmation that the future transaction has been conducted;

retrieve data about a reward corresponding to the confirmation; and

form a fifth transmission including the data about the reward for delivery to, and rendering as a soft copy upon, the mobile electronic device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the third transmission is formed within a predetermined period of time after the forming of the second transmission, and the predetermined period of time is selected from the group consisting of:

a period prior to an expiration date of the offer;

a period less than one month after the forming of the second transmission;

a period prior to a date set by the first consumer;

a period in which the mobile electronic device is detected to be within a physical location; and

a combination thereof.

17. A system, comprising:

a data storage device storing transaction data related to a plurality of transactions processed by a payment engine, the transactions including a first transaction between a first consumer and a first merchant;

an analytics engine to select an offer for a future transaction of the first consumer with a second merchant based at least in part on a portion of the transaction data, and to form an announcement that makes reference to the offer, wherein the offer is based on prior transaction data obtained from the data storage device using an account identifier of the first consumer;

at least one processor; and

memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one processor to;

receive data from a point of interaction terminal of the first merchant, the data including the account identifier, a hard copy capability of the point of interaction terminal, and an authorization request for the first transaction, wherein the authorization request includes a merchant identifier for the first merchant, wherein the hard copy capability specifies a capability of the point of interaction terminal in generating a hard copy of offers, and wherein the specified capability includes dimensions of a hard copy output of the point of interaction terminal, and white space availability on receipts rendered by the point of interaction terminal;

retrieve, from the data storage device using the account identifier, the offer, wherein the offer is based at least in part on data received from the point of interaction terminal regarding a real-time location of the first consumer, wherein the offer is subject to at least one criterion comprising a category of an account of the first consumer, and the at least one criterion further comprising a transaction handler receiving transaction data about a transaction between the first consumer and a merchant associated with the category, and wherein business rules comprise a rule for the offer that delineates the hard copy capability as a condition of the offer;

form a first transmission including the offer for delivery to the point of interaction terminal;

store data in the data storage device based on tracing transmission of the offer to the point of interaction terminal;

retrieve, using the account identifier, the announcement;

send a test signal for delivery to the mobile electronic device;

receive an acknowledgement of receipt of the test signal;

form a second transmission including the announcement for delivery to a mobile electronic device of the first consumer;

receive a confirmation that the future transaction has been conducted;

retrieve data about a reward corresponding to the confirmation; and

form a transmission including the data about the reward for delivery to the mobile electronic device.