TRANSACTION RECURRENCE ENGINE

• US 20100250338A1
• Filed: 04/27/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Madaan, Shiba, Ghosh, Debashis, Banerjee, Sudeshna, Joa, David, Gummuluri, Sreedevi, Newman, Kurt D., Allison, Thayer S. JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,260,645 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• 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 present invention relate apparatuses and methods that allow a financial institution to monitor, group, and store customer transaction data and determine market information therefrom according to recurrence patterns. For example, in one embodiment a financial institution uses a computerized apparatus to monitor recurrences in financial transactions across a plurality of financial accounts maintained by the financial institution for a plurality of different customers, where the computerized apparatus is configured to automatically track recurrences in transaction data.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a transaction processing engine configured to process financial transactions involving a plurality of financial accounts owned by a plurality of different individuals; and

a transaction recurrence engine configured to monitor the financial transactions, track transaction recurrences occurring amongst the financial transactions, and provide output based on the transaction recurrences.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory having information about the plurality of financial accounts stored therein, wherein the plurality of financial accounts comprises a plurality of bank accounts.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output is updated based on new transactions in real time or near real time.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction recurrence engine is configured to analyze the market data and provide business strategy recommendations to a user based on the analysis of the market data.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction recurrence engine is configured to monitor the financial transactions, group the financial transactions based on one or more transaction characteristics, and provide market data based on the grouping of the financial transactions.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more transaction characteristics comprise product type, product brand, merchant, transaction amount, or consumer demographic.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the transaction recurrence engine is configured to compare one or more transaction recurrence characteristics of a first group of financial transactions with the one or more transaction recurrence characteristics of a second group of financial transactions.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more transaction recurrence characteristics comprise total revenue, transaction frequency, or consumer demographic.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction recurrences are tracked as a function of total revenue, transaction frequency, or consumer demographic.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction recurrence engine is configured to receive user input and provide output based at least partially on the user input.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the transaction recurrence engine is configured to receive user input from and provide output to users having a subscription to a transaction recurrence engine service.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction recurrence engine is configured to identify market trends or natural clusters of transaction recurrences based on transaction recurrence data and one or more rules stored in a memory, and wherein the output is based at least partially on the identified market trends or natural clusters of transaction recurrences.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transaction recurrence engine is configured to provide a user with a graphical user interface and use the graphical user interface to display output in the form of a graph, chart, or table.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output comprises an indication that at least one of the plurality of different individuals is likely to take a certain action, and wherein the indication is based at least partially on the transaction recurrences.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output comprises an indication of a partnership or co-branding opportunity, and wherein the indication is based at least partially on the transaction recurrences.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output comprises an indication of a fee optimization opportunity with a particular merchant, and wherein the indication is based at least partially on the transaction recurrences.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the output comprises a suggested fee schedule for interchange fees with a particular merchant, and wherein the fee schedule is based at least partially on the transaction recurrences.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a memory and a processor communicably coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises a transaction recurrence application comprising computer-executable program code configured to instruct the processor to perform the functions of the transaction recurrence engine.

19. A method performed by a financial institution, the method comprising:

using a computerized apparatus to monitor recurrences in financial transactions across a plurality of financial accounts maintained by the financial institution for a plurality of different customers, wherein the computerized apparatus is configured to automatically track recurrences in transaction data.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the financial institution comprises a bank, and wherein the plurality of financial accounts comprises a plurality of bank accounts.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising using the computerized apparatus to monitor the recurrences in financial transactions in real time or near real time.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the computerized apparatus is configured to provide output regarding the recurrences in the financial transactions, and wherein the method further comprises:

generating business strategy recommendations based at least partially on the output.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising using the computerized apparatus to monitor the financial transactions, group the financial transactions based on one or more transaction characteristics, and provide market data based on the grouping of the financial transactions.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more transaction characteristics comprise product type, product brand, merchant, transaction amount, or consumer demographic.

25. The method of claim 19, further comprising using the computerized apparatus to track transaction recurrences as a function of total revenue, transaction frequency, or consumer demographic.

26. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

providing a subscription to another entity, the subscription permitting the entity to access data gathered by the computerized apparatus pertaining to the recurrences in the financial transactions.

27. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

identifying partnership, co-branding, advertising, or fee optimization opportunities or strategies based at least partially on data gathered by the computerized apparatus pertaining to the recurrences in the financial transactions.

28. A method comprising:

monitoring information associated with a transaction;

using a processor to group recurrences of said information, wherein the processor is configured to identify and group transaction recurrences; and

storing said recurrences in a computer-readable storage medium.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the information is monitored in real-time.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

receiving a request for recurrences based on one or more parameters; and

outputting said recurrences according to said one or more parameters.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein information about the recurrences is outputted as a graph, chart, or table.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein said one or more parameters includes a merchant identifier.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

making a determination based on said outputted recurrences.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the determination comprises a correlation between the transaction and a consumer demographic.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the determination comprises a pricing determination.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein the determination comprises a comparative study.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein the determination comprises identification of a market trend.