MULTI-VENDOR MULTI-LOYALTY CURRENCY PROGRAM

• US 20140129310A1
• Filed: 01/15/2014
• Published: 05/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa International Service Association (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fordyce, Edward W. III
• Granted Patent: US 9,727,887 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.17
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0229 Multi-merchant loyalty card systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Loyalty programs can be operated within a payment processing system having multiple vendors, thereby providing access to detailed transaction data and with the flexibility for customization of the loyalty programs themselves, by establishing a communication for the transfer of data via a customer-facing channel. When the payment processing system processes a transaction between a merchant and an account holder, in addition to obtaining payment for the merchant from the account via an acquirer and an issuer, respectively, a transaction handler tabulates and stores different types of loyalty currencies in a loyalty reward account associated with the account holder if the account holder is enrolled in a loyalty program and criteria for applying the loyalty program are satisfied. The account holder is provided access to the loyalty account via the customer-facing channel.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

accessing a customer profile of a first customer to implement loyalty program business rules provided by a first sponsor for a first loyalty program;

processing, via a computing device, transaction data for a first transaction of a plurality of transactions using the loyalty program business rules to compute a first amount of a first loyalty currency and a second amount of a second loyalty currency, the first and second currencies being different types of loyalty currencies; and

adding, via the computing device, the first amount to a first loyalty currency balance of a loyalty account of the first customer and the second amount to a second loyalty currency balance of the loyalty account.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing, for each transaction of the plurality of transactions, an item in the transaction to loyalty data in a loyalty database to find an associated loyalty reward.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the transaction data comprises using data from at least one customer transaction history to compute the first and second loyalty currency amounts.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sponsor is an issuer of the loyalty account of the first customer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sponsor is a merchant with whom the first customer has previously conducted one of the plurality of transactions.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising facilitating redemption from the first loyalty currency balance via a customer-facing channel.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating with the first sponsor via a customer-facing channel.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing access for a plurality of sponsors, including the first sponsor, to a plurality of respective loyalty programs to permit customization of rules for each respective loyalty program by the respective sponsor.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising facilitating redemption of at least a portion of the first or second loyalty currency balance via one of a plurality of interfaces.

10. A computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed on a computer system, cause the computer system to:

compare, via a computing device, transaction data in a request to process a transaction between a first merchant and a first customer with respective requirements of a plurality of loyalty programs including a first loyalty program;

process the transaction data using loyalty program business rules and customer transaction history data to compute a first loyalty currency amount and a second loyalty currency amount, the first and second loyalty currency amounts corresponding to different types of loyalty currencies; and

in response to the transaction data meeting the requirements of the first loyalty program, award, via the computing device, the first loyalty currency amount to a first loyalty currency balance of the first customer and the second loyalty currency amount to a second loyalty currency balance of the first customer.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to access a customer profile of the first customer to implement the loyalty program business rules.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to provide access for a plurality of sponsors to a plurality of respective loyalty programs, including providing access for a first sponsor to the first loyalty program, in order to permit customization of rules for the respective loyalty program by the respective sponsor.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to generate promotions based on the loyalty program business rules, and send the promotions to a plurality of customers including the first customer.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to provide a plurality of respective interfaces for a plurality of sponsors, each respective interface implemented as a website of the corresponding sponsor, and each website configured to interact with customers.

15. A system, comprising:

at least one processor; and

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

receive a request to process a transaction between a first merchant and a first customer, the request comprising transaction data;

compare the transaction data with the respective requirements of a plurality of loyalty programs;

process the transaction data using loyalty program business rules to compute a first loyalty currency amount and a second loyalty currency amount, the first and second loyalty currency amounts corresponding to different types of loyalty currencies; and

in response to the transaction data meeting the requirements of a first loyalty program, award the first loyalty currency amount to a first loyalty currency balance of an account of the first customer and the second loyalty currency amount to a second loyalty currency balance of the account.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the at least one processor to store transaction histories of a plurality of customers including the first customer, and wherein the processing of the transaction data further comprises using data for the first customer from the transaction histories to compute the first and second loyalty currency amounts.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the at least one processor to access a customer profile of the first customer to implement the loyalty program business rules.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the at least one processor to:

provide access to a plurality of respective sponsors, including a first sponsor of the first loyalty program, of the plurality of loyalty programs to permit customization of rules for the respective loyalty program by the respective sponsor; and

receive the loyalty program business rules from the first sponsor.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the at least one processor to access a profile of the first customer to implement the loyalty program business rules.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising a transaction handler configured to process each transaction of a plurality of transactions including the transaction between the first merchant and the first customer.