SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING REGISTRATION, DETERMINATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF POSITIVE BEHAVIOR INCENTIVES

• US 20100106581A1
• Filed: 08/24/2009
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• 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: Shamak, Larry, Perry, Denee, Etheredge, Christine C., Kaplan, Jessica A., Leung, Jason K., Kapoor, Deepak K., Koo, E. Bai
• Application Number:
  US12/546,509
• Publication Number:
  US 20100106581A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.170
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0224 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

The system evaluates a set of incentives based upon a variety of factors and/or predetermined rules and consumers are provided incentives when they satisfy one or more criteria of making payments for their transaction accounts. The one or more criteria include making an early payment, paying more than a minimum amount due, and making the payment through an automatic payment scheme. If a received payment satisfies one or more predefined criteria, one or more incentives are selected for the consumer, tracked, and provided to the consumer. The system analyzes payment information to determine attributes and positive (desirable) behavior and provides incentives to the consumer based on such positive behaviors.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, by a computer, consumer information associated with a plurality of consumers, wherein each consumer in the plurality of consumers is associated with a transaction account;

analyzing, by the computer, the consumer information to identify a negative consumer behavior associated with at least a subset of the plurality of consumers;

developing, by the computer, an incentive designed to influence the subset of the plurality of consumers to modify their behavior to a positive consumer behavior;

determining, by the computer, that a first consumer satisfies an incentive eligibility rule, wherein the determining comprises analyzing consumer information associated with the first consumer and wherein the incentive comprises an incentive eligibility rule;

updating, by the computer, the consumer information associated with the first consumer to associate the first consumer with the incentive; and

producing, by the computer, output based at least partially upon the incentive in order to provide notice to the first consumer of the incentive.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer information comprises at least one of consumer demographic data, consumer profile data, first transaction account history, second transaction account history, a first transaction account type, a payment received for the transaction account or consumer payment history.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the consumer information is obtained from at least one of a billing system, an accounting system, a transaction account authorization system, a collections system, an account management system, a customer relationship management system, a credit bureau, a third-party, a service provider, or a merchant.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an acceptance by the first consumer of terms associated with the incentive.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the acceptance is received via at least one of a consumer web portal, a mobile device, voice data, a facsimile or a postal service.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the output comprises at least one of an account statement associated with the transaction account or a bill associated with the transaction account.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the output comprises an email message, a short message service (SMS) message, a message on a consumer portal, an electronic bill, a voice message, a facsimile, a letter, or a consumer notification message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the output comprises a customized uniform resource locator (URL).

9. The method of claim 8, wherein first consumer at least one of accepts the terms associated with the incentive by selecting the customized URL or redeems a reward associated with the incentive by selecting the customized URL.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising registering the first consumer for a program in response to receiving a registration request from the consumer, wherein the incentive eligibility rule is at least partially based upon registering for the program.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the program comprises a plurality of incentives wherein each incentive in the plurality of incentives is designed to influence the subset of the plurality of consumers to modify their behavior to the positive consumer behavior.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the incentive comprises at least one of transaction account terms associated with accepting the incentive, a positive behavior attribute associated with the exhibiting the positive behavior, or a positive behavior reward.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the incentive comprises a positive behavior attribute associated with the exhibiting the positive behavior, wherein the positive behavior attribute comprises at least one of:

paying an amount for a bill that is more than a minimum amount due for the bill, paying an amount for a bill more than a percentage of a total outstanding balance indicated on the bill, paying a total amount over several billing cycles, paying a bill through an automatic payment channel, paying a bill earlier than a due date, paying a bill on-time, or paying a bill within a predefined timeframe.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the positive behavior attribute comprises receiving a response to the notice in at least one of real-time or near real-time.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the response comprises a payment.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the incentive comprises a positive behavior reward, wherein the positive behavior reward comprises at least one of a lower Annual Percentage Rate (APR), an achievement credit toward a lower APR, a discount on finance charges, a rebate on finance charges, a discount on fees, a rebate on fees, a cash bonus, a cash-back amount, loyalty points, an increased credit line, an increased spend line, a statement credit, a gift voucher, or providing a reward to a second account.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

obtaining updated consumer information, determining, based at least partially upon the updated consumer information that the positive behavior attribute is satisfied; and

producing reward output based at least partially upon on the positive behavior reward, wherein the reward output at least one of notifies the first consumer of the positive behavior reward, updates a first consumer transaction account based upon the positive behavior reward, or updates a second account based upon the positive behavior reward.

18. A tangible computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

obtaining, by the computer, consumer information associated with a plurality of consumers, wherein each consumer in the plurality of consumers is associated with a transaction account;

analyzing, by the computer, the consumer information to identify a negative consumer behavior associated with at least a subset of the plurality of consumers;

developing, by the computer, an incentive designed to influence the subset of the plurality of consumers to modify their behavior to a positive consumer behavior;

determining, by the computer, that a first consumer satisfies an incentive eligibility rule, wherein the determining comprises analyzing consumer information associated with the first consumer and wherein the incentive comprises an incentive eligibility rule;

updating, by the computer, the consumer information associated with the first consumer to associate the first consumer with the incentive; and

producing, by the computer, output based at least partially upon the incentive in order to provide notice to the first consumer of the incentive.

19. A system comprising:

a network interface communicating with a memory;

the memory communicating with a processor; and

the processor, when executing a computer program, is configured to;

obtain consumer information associated with a plurality of consumers, wherein each consumer in the plurality of consumers is associated with a transaction account;

analyze the consumer information to identify a negative consumer behavior associated with at least a subset of the plurality of consumers;

develop an incentive designed to influence the subset of the plurality of consumers to modify their behavior to a positive consumer behavior;

determine that a first consumer satisfies an incentive eligibility rule, wherein the determining comprises analyzing consumer information associated with the first consumer and wherein the incentive comprises an incentive eligibility rule;

update the consumer information associated with the first consumer to associate the first consumer with the incentive; and

produce output based at least partially upon the incentive in order to provide notice to the first consumer of the incentive.