SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISTRIBUTING TARGETED INCENTIVES TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CUSTOMERS
First Claim
1. A method of processing an incentive being offered to a customer of a financial institution by a participant, comprising:
- identifying the customer;
identifying an item associated with a transaction with the customer;
determining if the customer qualifies for any incentive in the transaction with the item;
receiving data on the incentive being offered to the customer, the incentive being selected based on an analysis of financial institution account transaction activity data of the customer;
offering the incentive to the customer; and
completing the transaction of the item, wherein the completing comprises recognizing the incentive offered to the customer.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An incentive distribution system is used in distributing, tracking and redeeming product incentives offered by manufacturers and distributors of consumer goods through a financial institution. A financial institution distributes an incentives list to each of its customers, based on information relating to the customers, containing the incentives relating to the category for which the customer qualifies. Qualifying criteria includes transactional activity within the account held with the financial institution distributing the incentives, demographic data relating to the customer, and various account data. The system tracks purchases made by a customer at a participating retailer or dealership and updates the customer'"'"'s qualifications based on these purchases. Further, the financial institution acts as a redemption warehouse by debiting the accounts of the manufacturers and distributors offering the incentives and crediting the accounts held by the retailers and dealerships honoring the incentives.
367 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of processing an incentive being offered to a customer of a financial institution by a participant, comprising:
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identifying the customer; identifying an item associated with a transaction with the customer; determining if the customer qualifies for any incentive in the transaction with the item; receiving data on the incentive being offered to the customer, the incentive being selected based on an analysis of financial institution account transaction activity data of the customer; offering the incentive to the customer; and completing the transaction of the item, wherein the completing comprises recognizing the incentive offered to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of distributing incentives to customers, comprising:
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receiving incentive information from participants, the incentive information specifying desired characteristics of customers receiving incentives; obtaining rankings of customers of at least one financial institution, the rankings being produced by analyzing financial institution account transaction activity data of the customers with at least one financial institution; mapping the rankings of the customers with the desired characteristics of customers receiving incentives; and identifying incentives to be provided to select customers. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification