System and method for providing promotional pricing

• US 7,392,222 B1
• Filed: 08/03/2004
• Issued: 06/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Rossiter, Janet L., Hamilton, Stacy M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dass; Harish T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Scarito; John D
• Application Number:
  US10/909,407
• Time in Patent Office: 1,421 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3672 initialising or reloading thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0226 Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

A system and method for providing promotional pricing is disclosed. One or more pricing offers may be provided to a plurality of credit accounts, wherein the pricing offers may be directed to transactions associated with particular products and/or merchants. It may be determined whether a transaction associated with a credit account qualifies for certain pricing offers based on predetermined criteria. A balance incurred through a transaction may be assigned to a promotional bucket associated with a particular pricing offer if the transaction qualifies for the particular pricing offer, or the balance may be assigned to a default bucket if the transaction does not qualify for any pricing offer, thereby causing a total balance to be distributed among the default bucket and the promotional buckets. Payments associated with the credit account may be allocated to the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets according to a payment hierarchy.

Claims

1. A method for providing promotional pricing, the method comprising:

providing one or more pricing offers to one or more customers who have one or more credit accounts, wherein at least one of said pricing offers is directed to a transaction comprising one or more of the following;

a purchase of a specific product,

a purchase of any product within a defined class of products,

a purchase from a specific merchant,

a purchase from any merchant within a defined class of merchants,

a purchase in a specific date and time range, and

a purchase in a specific amount range;

determining whether the transaction associated with at least one credit account of a customer qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers based on at least one predetermined criterion;

assigning a balance incurred through the transaction to a promotional bucket associated with said at least one of said pricing offers if said transaction qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers, or assigning said balance incurred to a default bucket if said transaction does not qualify for (a) said at least one of said pricing offers or (b) any one of the one or more pricing offers, thereby causing a total balance associated with the at least one credit account to be distributed among said default bucket and one or more promotional buckets;

allocating payments associated with the at least one credit account to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets according to a predetermined payment hierarchy wherein the predetermined payment hierarchy determines the allocation of payments amongst the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets;

retroactively adjusting said predetermined payment hierarchy causing at least one past payment to be re-allocated among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on one or more preferences associated with the customer; and

updating the at least one credit account based on said retroactively adjusted payment hierarchy.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of said one or more pricing offers is defined by at least one pricing feature comprising one or more of the following:

an annual percentage rate;

a transaction fee;

a finance charge;

a balance payback method;

a payment hierarchy placement;

a transaction amount restriction;

a qualifying transaction type; and

a qualification period.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said one or more pricing offers are associated with transaction types comprising one or more of the following:

general purchases;

specific purchases;

balance transfers;

convenience check transactions;

cash transactions;

quasi-cash transactions;

existing debt; and

foreign purchases.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

making one or more hypothetical adjustments to the at least one credit account based on said one or more preferences associated with the customer wherein the one or more hypothetical adjustments comprise one or more adjustments in said predetermined payment hierarchy altering a payment allocation and a balance distribution among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets; and

displaying an impact of the one or more hypothetical adjustments on the at least one credit account involving said altering of said payment allocation and said balance distribution among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets.

5. The method according to claim 4 further comprising:

determining a status of said at least one credit account based on said one or more hypothetical adjustments.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of updating the at least one credit account further comprises re-calculating, for at least one of said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets, pricing information comprising one or more of the following:

an annual percentage rate;

an effective annual percentage rate;

a jurisdiction-specific annual percentage rate;

a transactional fee;

a finance charge; and

a rewards amount.

7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

communicating to the customer pricing information related to the transaction via electronic means; and

providing said customer an option to modify said pricing information.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said pricing information comprises one or more of the following:

an annual percentage rate, a transaction fee, and a rewards amount and

wherein the electronic means comprises at least electronic alerts.

9. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

tracking a stream of payments and transactions associated with the at least one credit account based on a history of the at least one credit account and one or more retroactive payment hierarchy adjustments applied to said history; and

determining pricing information for said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets of the at least one credit account corresponding to said stream of payments and transactions and said one or more retroactive payment hierarchy adjustments, wherein said pricing information comprises an annual percentage rate.

10. The method according to claim 1 further comprising communicating to the customer at least one piece of pricing information comprising one or more of the following:

one or more annual percentage rates associated with either said one or more promotional buckets or said default bucket;

one or more effective annual percentage rates associated with said one or more promotional buckets or said default bucket;

one or more aggregated annual percentage rates associated with the at least one credit account;

one or more effective annual percentage rates associated with the at least one credit account; and

one or more jurisdiction-specific annual percentage rates associated with said the at least one credit account.

11. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

reporting a first annual percentage rate calculated according to a first standard and a second annual percentage rate calculated according to a second standard, the second standard being derived from a government regulation.

12. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

transferring at least part of a balance associated with one bucket to another bucket wherein said one bucket comprises any one of the one or more promotional buckets or the default bucket and said another bucket comprises the default bucket or any one of the one or more promotional buckets.

13. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

adjusting fees and charges for said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets retroactively.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one pricing offer of said one or more pricing offers is associated with a rewards program.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein said adjusted payment hierarchy is determined based on one or more business rules.

16. A method for providing promotional pricing, the method comprising:

providing one or more pricing offers to one or more customers who have one or more credit accounts;

determining whether a transaction associated with at least one credit account of a customer credit account qualifies for said one or more pricing offers based on at least one predetermined criterion;

assigning a balance incurred through said transaction to a promotional bucket associated with said one or more pricing offers if said transaction qualifies for said one or more pricing offers, or assigning said balance incurred to a default bucket if said transaction does not qualify for said one or more pricing offers, thereby causing a total balance associated with said credit account to be distributed among said default bucket and one or more promotional buckets;

applying fees and charges to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on said one or more pricing offers; and

allocating payments associated with the at least one credit account to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets according to a predetermined payment hierarchy wherein (a) the predetermined payment hierarchy determines the allocation of payments amongst the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets and (b) said predetermined payment hierarchy is retroactively adjustable to cause at least one past payment to be re-allocated among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on one or more preferences associated with the customer.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein said predetermined payment hierarchy is adjustable based on one or more business rules.

18. The method according to claim 16 further comprising:

communicating, to the customer, pricing information related to the transaction via electronic means, wherein said pricing information comprises an annual percentage rate and wherein the electronic means comprises at least electronic alerts; and

providing said customer an option to modify said pricing information.

19. The method according to claim 16 further comprising:

tracking a stream of payments and transactions associated with said the at least one credit account based on a history of said the at least one credit account and one or more retroactive payment hierarchy adjustments applied to said history; and

determining pricing information for said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets of said the at least one credit account corresponding to said stream of payments and transactions and said one or more retroactive payment hierarchy adjustments.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the pricing information comprises an annual percentage rate, a transaction fee, and a rewards amount.

21. A method for providing promotional pricing, the method comprising:

providing one or more pricing offers to one or more customers who have one or more credit accounts, wherein at least one of said pricing offers is directed to a transaction comprising one or more of the following;

a purchase of a specific product,

a purchase of any product within a defined class of products,

a purchase from a specific merchant,

a purchase from any merchant within a defined class of merchants,

a purchase in a specific date and time range, and

a purchase in a specific amount range;

determining whether the transaction associated with at least one credit account of a customer qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers based on at least one predetermined criterion;

assigning a balance incurred through the transaction to a promotional bucket associated with said at least one of said pricing offers if said transaction qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers, or assigning said balance incurred to a default bucket if said transaction does not qualify for (a) said at least one of said pricing offers or (b) any one of the one or more pricing offers, thereby causing a total balance associated with the at least one credit account to be distributed among said default bucket and one or more promotional buckets;

allocating payments associated with the at least one credit account to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets according to a predetermined payment hierarchy wherein the predetermined payment hierarchy determines the allocation of payments amongst the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets;

retroactively adjusting said payment allocation among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets thereby causing at least one past payment to be re-allocated among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets; and

re-calculating, for said at least one credit account, pricing information comprising one or more of the following;

an annual percentage rate;

an effective annual percentage rate;

a jurisdiction-specific annual percentage rate;

a transactional fee;

a finance charge; and

a rewards amount.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein said predetermined payment hierarchy is adjusted based on customer preferences.

23. A system for providing promotional pricing, the system comprising:

a memory and a computer processor with said computer processor operable to;

provide one or more pricing offers to one or more customers who have one or more credit accounts, wherein at least one of said pricing offers is directed to a transaction comprising one or more of the following;

a purchase of a specific product,

a purchase of any product within a defined class of products,

a purchase from a specific merchant,

a purchase from any merchant within a defined class of merchants,

a purchase in a specific date and time range, and

a purchase in a specific amount range;

determine whether the transaction associated with at least one credit account of a customer qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers based on at least one predetermined criterion;

assign a balance incurred through the transaction to a promotional bucket associated with said at least one of said pricing offers if said transaction qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers, or assigning said balance incurred to a default bucket if said transaction does not qualify for (a) said at least one of said pricing offers or (b) any one of the one or more pricing offers, thereby causing a total balance associated with the at least one credit account to be distributed among said default bucket and one or more promotional buckets; and

allocate payments associated with the at least one credit account to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets according to a predetermined payment hierarchy wherein the predetermined payment hierarchy determines the allocation of payments amongst the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets;

retroactively adjust said predetermined payment hierarchy thereby causing at least one past payment to be re-allocated among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on one or more preferences associated with the customer; and

update the at least one credit account based on said retroactively adjusted payment hierarchy.

24. The system according to claim 23 with said processor further operable to:

simulate one or more hypothetical adjustments to the at least one credit account based at least in part on said one or more preferences associated with the customer; and

display an impact of the one or more hypothetical adjustments on the at least one credit account involving altering a payment allocation and a balance distribution among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets.

25. The system according to claim 24 with said processor further operable to:

determine a status of the at least one credit account based on said one or more hypothetical adjustments.

26. The system according to claim 23, wherein said computer processor operability to update the at least one credit account further comprises computer processor operability to re-calculate, for at least one of said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets, pricing information comprising one or more of the following:

an annual percentage rate;

an effective annual percentage rate;

a jurisdiction-specific annual percentage rate;

a transactional fee;

a finance charge; and

a rewards amount.

27. The system according to claim 23 with said processor further operable to:

communicate to the customer at least one piece of pricing information comprising one or more of the following;

one or more annual percentage rates associated with either said one or more promotional buckets or said default bucket;

one or more effective annual percentage rates associated with either said one or more promotional buckets or said default bucket;

one or more aggregated annual percentage rates associated with said the at least one credit account;

one or more effective annual percentage rates associated with said the at least one credit account; and

one or more jurisdiction-specific annual percentage rates associated with said the at least one credit account.

28. The system according to claim 23 with said processor further operable to:

transfer at least part of a balance associated with one bucket to another bucket wherein said one bucket may comprise any one of the one or more promotional buckets or the default bucket and said another bucket may comprise the default bucket or the any one of the one or more promotional buckets.

29. A system for providing promotional pricing, the system comprising:

a memory and a computer processor with said computer processor operable to;

provide one or more pricing offers to one or more customers who have one or more credit accounts;

determine whether a transaction associated with at least one credit account of a customer qualifies for said one or more pricing offers based on at least one predetermined criterion;

assign a balance incurred through said transaction to a promotional bucket associated with one or more pricing offers if said transaction qualifies for said one or more pricing offers, or assigning said balance to a default bucket if said transaction does not qualify for said one or more pricing offers, thereby causing a total balance associated with the at least one credit account to be distributed among said default bucket and one or more promotional buckets;

apply fees and charges to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on said one or more pricing offers; and

allocate payments associated with said the at least one credit account to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets according to a predetermined payment hierarchy wherein (a) the predetermined payment hierarchy determines the allocation of payments amongst the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets, and (b) wherein said predetermined payment hierarchy is retroactively adjustable to cause at least one past payment to be re-allocated among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on one or more preferences associated with the customer.

30. The system according to claim 29 with said processor further operable to:

communicate, to the customer, pricing information related to the transaction via electronic means, wherein said pricing information comprises an annual percentage rate and wherein the electronic means comprises at least alerts; and

provide said customer an option to modify said pricing information.

31. A computer readable medium having code for causing a processor to provide promotional pricing, the computer readable medium comprising:

code adapted to provide one or more pricing offers to one or more customers who have one or more credit accounts, wherein at least one of said pricing offers is directed to a transaction comprising one or more of the following;

a purchase of a specific product,

a purchase of any product within a defined class of products,

a purchase from a specific merchant,

a purchase from any merchant within a defined class of merchants,

a purchase in a specific date and time range, and

a purchase in a specific amount range;

code adapted to determine whether the transaction associated with at least one credit account of a customer qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers based on at least one predetermined criterion;

code adapted to assign a balance incurred through the transaction to a promotional bucket associated with the at least one of said pricing offers if said transaction qualifies for said at least one of said pricing offers, or to assign said balance to a default bucket if said transaction does not qualify for (a) said at least one of said pricing offers or (b) any one of the one or more pricing offers,

thereby causing a total balance associated with said at least one credit account to be distributed among said default bucket and one or more promotional buckets; and

code adapted to allocate payments associated with the at least one credit account to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets according to a predetermined payment hierarchy wherein the predetermined payment hierarchy determines the allocation of payments amongst the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets;

code adapted to retroactively adjust said predetermined payment hierarchy thereby causing at least one past payment to be re-allocated among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on one or more preferences associated with the customer; and

code adapted to update the at least one credit account based on said retroactively adjusted payment hierarchy.

32. The computer readable medium according to claim 31 further comprising:

code adapted to provide a simulator allowing one or more hypothetical adjustments to the at least one credit account based on said one or more preferences of the customer regarding said predetermined payment hierarchy which alters a payment allocation and a balance distribution among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets.

33. The computer readable medium according to claim 32 further comprising:

code adapted to determine a status of said the at least one credit account based on said one or more hypothetical adjustments.

34. The computer readable medium according to claim 31, wherein said code adapted to update said the at least one credit account further comprises code adapted to re-calculate, for at least one of said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets, pricing information comprising one or more of the following:

an annual percentage rate;

an effective annual percentage rate;

a jurisdiction-specific annual percentage rate;

a transactional fee;

a finance charge; and

a rewards amount.

35. The computer readable medium according to claim 31 further comprising—

code adapted to communicate to the customer at least one piece of pricing information comprising one or more of the following;

one or more annual percentage rates associated with either said one or more promotional buckets or said default bucket;

one or more effective annual percentage rates associated with either said one or more promotional buckets or said default bucket;

one or more aggregated annual percentage rates associated with the at least one credit account;

one or more effective annual percentage rates associated with the at least one credit account; and

one or more jurisdiction-specific annual percentage rates associated with the at least one credit account.

36. The computer readable medium according to claim 31 further comprising:

code adapted to transfer at least part of a balance associated with one bucket to another bucket wherein said one bucket may comprise any one of the one or more promotional buckets or the default bucket and said another bucket may comprise the default bucket or any one of the one or more promotional buckets.

37. A computer readable medium having code for causing a processor to provide promotional pricing, the computer readable medium comprising:

code adapted to provide one or more pricing offers to one or more customers who have one or more credit accounts;

code adapted to determine whether a transaction associated with at least one credit account of a customer credit account qualifies for said one or more pricing offers based on at least one predetermined criterion;

code adapted to assign a balance incurred through said transaction to a promotional bucket associated with a particular pricing offer if said transaction qualifies for said one or more pricing offers, or assigning said balance to a default bucket if said transaction does not qualify for said one or more pricing offers, thereby causing a total balance associated with said the at least one credit account to be distributed among said default bucket and one or more promotional buckets;

code adapted to apply fees and charges to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on said one or more pricing offers; and

code adapted to allocate payments associated with said the at least one credit account to said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets according to a predetermined payment hierarchy wherein (a) the predetermined payment hierarchy determines the allocation of payments amongst the default bucket and the one or more promotional buckets, and (b) wherein said predetermined payment hierarchy is retroactively adjustable to cause at least one past payment to be re-allocated among said default bucket and said one or more promotional buckets based at least in part on one or more preferences associated with the customer.

38. The computer readable medium according to claim 37 further comprising:

code adapted to communicate, to the customer, pricing information related to the transaction via electronic means, wherein said pricing information comprises an annual percentage rate and wherein said electronic means comprises at least electronic alerts; and

code adapted to provide said the customer an option to modify said pricing information.