System and method for providing offers through a social media channel

• US 9,934,537 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2013
• Issued: 04/03/2018
• 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: Berland, Leslie, Forman, Shari, Gebb, Luke, Koul, Priyadarshini, Muthukrishnan, Sathish, Russo, Jennifer, Tiku, Sripriya, Wolf, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Luis A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Andrei, Radu
• Application Number:
  US13/941,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20130304576A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,726 Days
• Field of Search: 705 1453, 705 39, 705 1466, 705 1424, 705 1425, 705 1449
• 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 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0236 Incentive or reward received by requiring registration or ID from user
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

The systems and methods of the disclosure allow user to receive offers through social media channels. The systems and methods are capable of creating offers, ranking the offers based on both transaction data and social media profile activity information, distributing the offers through social media channels, associating the offers with a synced transaction account and providing rewards based on transactions that comply with offers. The rewards may be applied at the time of purchase, in response to authorization information or at settlement as a transaction account credit.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer based system via a reward card engine, a request to link a social media channel profile of a user with a transaction account profile of the user,

wherein the transaction account profile is associated with a transaction account on a transaction account issuer system and a reward program system,

wherein the reward card engine interfaces with an offer registration system, the reward program system, an offer distribution engine, a merchant system and the transaction account issuer system;

creating, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, a token that associates the transaction account profile of the user and the social media channel profile of the user;

linking, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and based on the token, the transaction account profile of the user and the social media channel profile of the user;

receiving, by the computer based system via the offer registration system, offer information from a merchant system of a merchant,

wherein the offer information includes a social media channel selection;

creating, by the computer based system via the offer registration system and based on the token, an offer at least partially based on the offer information;

customizing, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine, the offer to be supplemented with functional features for operation within a social media channel and for transmission through the social media channel based on the social media channel selection;

creating, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine, distribution instructions for the offer;

supplementing, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine and based on the distribution instructions, the offer with the functional features for operation within the social media channel and for transmission through the social media channel;

receiving, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, transaction information for a transaction from the merchant system;

authorizing, by an authorization server of the computer based system, the transaction with the merchant system in response to a user initiating the transaction with the merchant system using the transaction account,

wherein the authorization is based on a first amount of credit associated with the transaction account;

reducing, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, an amount of available credit for the transaction account by a transaction amount included with the authorization;

identifying, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to the authorizing, the merchant as an identified merchant based on the transaction originating with the merchant system;

selecting, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to the accessing, the offer associated with the identified merchant based on the activity information;

transmitting, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine, the distribution instructions and the offer to the social media channel corresponding to the social media channel selection,

wherein the social media channel includes the functional features with the offer and transmits and displays the offer based on the supplementing,

wherein the social media channel displays the offer with an add to card button,

wherein the social media channel receives a selection of the add to card button,

wherein the social media channel submits the selection of the add to card button as activity information to the computer based system;

receiving, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and from the social media channel, the activity information associated with a social media channel profile,

wherein the activity information is indicative of an interaction in the social media channel with the offer;

analyzing, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to the selecting, a transaction amount, offer parameters, an attribute of the transaction account, and a transaction date to determine that the transaction information qualifies for the offer;

applying, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to receiving the selection of the add to card button, the offer as a credit to the transaction in the transaction account during a settlement operation;

adjusting, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, the amount of the available credit for the transaction account, in response to the applying the offer; and

linking, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, the offer with the transaction information associated with the transaction and based on the registering the transaction account with the rewards program.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the social media channel is at least one of Facebook or LinkedIn.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating, by the computer based system, a first ranking of the plurality of offers based the transaction account information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the selection of the user is detected by the social media channel.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the selection is a like and the like is associated with an authentic Facebook profile.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the authentic Facebook profile is a profile of a sponsoring entity.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein adjusting, by the computer based system, the first ranking at least partially based on the selection to create a second ranking that is displayed though Facebook.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the computer based system, an opt-in request from the user through the social media channel for the offer.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising associating, by the computer based system, the offer with the transaction account at least partially based on the opt-in request.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer is at least one of a discount, a rebate, points, or a virtual currency.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting, by the computer based system, social media channel profile information to identify the social media channel profile,

wherein the social media channel profile information is first credential information that identifies the social media channel profile of the user;

requesting, by the computer based system, transaction account profile information to identify at least one of the transaction account or the transaction account profile, associated with the transaction account,

wherein the transaction account profile information is second credential information that identifies at least one of the transaction account or the transaction account profile of the user.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the computer based system, a preference from a user through the social media channel and adjusting a ranking of the plurality of offers at least partially based on the preference.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of offers are ordered in a first ranking at least partially based on transaction data.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first ranking is adjusted at least partially based on at least one of interest information received from the social media channel or location information.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer is administered by at least one of a payment processor, an acquirer, a financial service provider, an offer management company or a social media platform provider.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the social media platform is at least one of Foursquare or Twitter.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, by the computer based system, data sets of the offers in a database as ungrouped data elements formatted as a block of binary (BLOB) via a fixed memory offset;

partitioning, by the computer based system and using a key field, a database according to the class of objects defined by the key field to speed searching for the offer;

linking, by the computer based system, data tables based on the type of data in the key fields;

annotating, by the computer based system, the data sets to include security information establishing access levels;

obtaining, by the computer based system, the offer from the database.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the offer has a monetary value and is applied as at least one of a credit at the time of purchase or a credit to the transaction account.

19. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based system, cause the computer-based system to be capable of performing operations comprising:

receiving, by the computer based system via a reward card engine, a request to link a social media channel profile of a user with a transaction account profile of the user,

wherein the transaction account profile is associated with a transaction account on a transaction account issuer system and a reward program system,

wherein the reward card engine interfaces with an offer registration system, the reward program system, an offer distribution engine, a merchant system and the transaction account issuer system;

creating, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, a token that associates the transaction account profile of the user and the social media channel profile of the user;

linking, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and based on the token, the transaction account profile of the user and the social media channel profile of the user;

receiving, by the computer based system via the offer registration system, offer information from a merchant system of a merchant,

wherein the offer information includes a social media channel selection;

creating, by the computer based system via the offer registration system and based on the token, an offer at least partially based on the offer information;

customizing, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine, the offer to be supplemented with functional features for operation within a social media channel and for transmission through the social media channel based on the social media channel selection;

creating, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine, distribution instructions for the offer;

supplementing, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine and based on the distribution instructions, the offer with the functional features for operation within the social media channel and for transmission through the social media channel;

receiving, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, transaction information for a transaction from the merchant system;

authorizing, by an authorization server of the computer based system, the transaction with the merchant system in response to a user initiating the transaction with the merchant system using the transaction account,

wherein the authorization is based on a first amount of credit associated with the transaction account;

reducing, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, an amount of available credit for the transaction account by a transaction amount included with the authorization;

identifying, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to the authorizing, the merchant as an identified merchant based on the transaction originating with the merchant system;

selecting, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to the accessing, the offer associated with the identified merchant based on the activity information;

transmitting, by the computer based system via the offer distribution engine, the distribution instructions and the offer to the social media channel corresponding to the social media channel selection,

wherein the social media channel includes the functional features with the offer and transmits and displays the offer based on the supplementing,

wherein the social media channel displays the offer with an add to card button,

wherein the social media channel receives a selection of the add to card button,

wherein the social media channel submits the selection of the add to card button as activity information to the computer based system;

receiving, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and from the social media channel, the activity information associated with a social media channel profile,

wherein the activity information is indicative of an interaction in the social media channel with the offer;

analyzing, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to the selecting, a transaction amount, offer parameters, an attribute of the transaction account, and a transaction date to determine that the transaction information qualifies for the offer;

applying, by the computer based system via the reward card engine and in response to receiving the selection of the add to card button, the offer as a credit to the transaction in the transaction account during a settlement operation;

adjusting, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, the amount of the available credit for the transaction account, in response to the applying the offer; and

linking, by the computer based system via the reward card engine, the offer with the transaction information associated with the transaction and based on the registering the transaction account with the rewards program.

20. A system comprising:

a processor,

a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor, the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to be capable of performing operations comprising;

receiving, by the processor via a reward card engine, a request to link a social media channel profile of a user with a transaction account profile of the user,

wherein the transaction account profile is associated with a transaction account on a transaction account issuer system and a reward program system,

wherein the reward card engine interfaces with an offer registration system, the reward program system, an offer distribution engine, a merchant system and the transaction account issuer system;

creating, by the processor via the reward card engine, a token that associates the transaction account profile of the user and the social media channel profile of the user;

linking, by the processor via the reward card engine and based on the token, the transaction account profile of the user and the social media channel profile of the user;

receiving, by the processor via the offer registration system, offer information from a merchant system of a merchant,

wherein the offer information includes a social media channel selection;

creating, by the processor via the offer registration system and based on the token, an offer at least partially based on the offer information;

customizing, by the processor via the offer distribution engine, the offer to be supplemented with functional features for operation within a social media channel and for transmission through the social media channel based on the social media channel selection;

creating, by the processor via the offer distribution engine, distribution instructions for the offer;

supplementing, by the processor via the offer distribution engine and based on the distribution instructions, the offer with the functional features for operation within the social media channel and for transmission through the social media channel;

receiving, by the processor via the reward card engine, transaction information for a transaction from the merchant system;

authorizing, by an authorization server of the processor, the transaction with the merchant system in response to a user initiating the transaction with the merchant system using the transaction account,

wherein the authorization is based on a first amount of credit associated with the transaction account;

reducing, by the processor via the reward card engine, an amount of available credit for the transaction account by a transaction amount included with the authorization;

identifying, by the processor via the reward card engine and in response to the authorizing, the merchant as an identified merchant based on the transaction originating with the merchant system;

selecting, by the processor via the reward card engine and in response to the accessing, the offer associated with the identified merchant based on the activity information;

transmitting, by the processor via the offer distribution engine, the distribution instructions and the offer to the social media channel corresponding to the social media channel selection,

wherein the social media channel includes the functional features with the offer and transmits and displays the offer based on the supplementing,

wherein the social media channel displays the offer with an add to card button,

wherein the social media channel receives a selection of the add to card button,

wherein the social media channel submits the selection of the add to card button as activity information to the computer based system;

receiving, by the processor via the reward card engine and from the social media channel, the activity information associated with a social media channel profile,

wherein the activity information is indicative of an interaction in the social media channel with the offer;

analyzing, by the processor via the reward card engine and in response to the selecting, a transaction amount, offer parameters, an attribute of the transaction account, and a transaction date to determine that the transaction information qualifies for the offer;

applying, by the processor via the reward card engine and in response to receiving the selection of the add to card button, the offer as a credit to the transaction in the transaction account during a settlement operation;

adjusting, by the processor via the reward card engine, the amount of the available credit for the transaction account, in response to the applying the offer; and

linking, by the processor via the reward card engine, the offer with the transaction information associated with the transaction and based on the registering the transaction account with the rewards program.