Method, system, and storage medium for pre-screening customers for credit card approval at a point of sale

• US 8,112,349 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2009
• Issued: 02/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Synchrony Bank (Synchrony Financial)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Beirne, Kenneth, Serra, Guy, Rocchi, Stefano, Kirmani, Syed
• Primary Examiner(s): Havan, Thu Thao
• Application Number:
  US12/480,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20090287556A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 705 37- 38
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/403 Solvency checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4037 Remote solvency checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0238 at point-of-sale [POS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02

Abstract

An exemplary embodiment of the invention relates to a method, system and storage medium for pre-screening customers for a credit card at a point of sale. The method includes receiving the customer data at a point of sale system and, during a check out process: transmitting the customer data to a server; searching a database for the customer data; and based upon results of the searching, performing a credit worthiness check and providing said customer with an invitation to open a charge account. If the customer accepts the invitation, a charge account is opened before a payment method is selected whereby the customer can place the items selected for purchase on the new charge account while at the point of sale system. The system includes at least one point of sale system coupled to a communications link; a server coupled to the point of sale system via the communications link; a data storage device in communication with the server; and a link to a credit information server.

Claims

1. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:

receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and

during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location;

transmitting said customer data to a server;

searching a database for said customer data;

performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer;

providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation through at least one of a discount for a purchase and a reduced interest rate;

opening said credit card account upon acceptance of said invitation by said customer; and

selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said opened credit card account.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

holding said invitation open for a predetermined period of time; and

providing said customer with information on how to access said invitation at a future date.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said providing said customer information on how to access said invitation at a future date includes printing said information on a receipt at said point of sale system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether said customer has a current credit card account with said selling entity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said credit worthiness check is performed by at least one of a credit bureau and a credit issuer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said credit worthiness check is at least one of a full bureau check and a partial bureau check.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing a credit worthiness check comprises determining at least one of a credit account limit, an annual percentage rate, and an account type, for customers who have met specified criteria for said credit pre-approval determination.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising printing out said invitation and providing a term or a condition of said invitation.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said customer data includes at least one of said customer'"'"'s:

name;

address;

telephone number;

social security number;

photo identification card; and

membership card relating to said selling entity.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a membership status of said customer is active or inactive;

wherein further said credit worthiness check is performed on customer data with an active status.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein data related to a declination of said invitation is transmitted to said server, and a customer record relating to said data is updated.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing said customer with a credit card.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a fraud check, said fraud check including verifying said customer'"'"'s identity.

14. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for pre-screening customer data by a selling entity for a customer at a point of sale location, the storage medium including instructions for causing the selling entity to implement a method comprising:

receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and

during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location;

transmitting said customer data to a server;

searching a database for said customer data;

performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer;

providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation to comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation through at least one of a discount off of a purchase and a reduced interest rate;

opening said credit card account, upon acceptance of said invitation by said customer; and

selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system.

15. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:

holding said invitation open for a predetermined period of time; and

providing said customer with information on how to access said invitation at a future date.

16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein said providing said customer information on how to access said invitation at a future date includes printing said information on a receipt at said point of sale system.

17. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising determining whether a membership status of said customer is active or inactive;

wherein further said credit worthiness check is performed on customer data with an active status.

18. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising determining whether said customer has a current credit card account with said selling entity.

19. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein said credit worthiness check is performed by at least one of a credit bureau and a credit issuer.

20. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein said credit worthiness check is at least one of a full bureau check and a partial bureau check.

21. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein said performing a credit worthiness check comprises determining at least one of a credit account limit, an annual percentage rate, and an account type for customers who have met specified criteria for said credit pre-approval determination.

22. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising printing out said invitation and providing a term or a condition of said invitation.

23. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein said customer data includes at least one of said customer'"'"'s:

name;

address;

telephone number;

social security number;

photo identification card; and

membership card relating to said selling entity.

24. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein data related to a declination of said invitation is transmitted to said server and a customer record relating to said data is updated.

25. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising providing said customer with a credit card.

26. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising performing a fraud check, said fraud check including verifying said customer'"'"'s identity.

27. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:

receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and

during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location;

transmitting said customer data to a server to cause searching of a database for said customer data;

receiving a pre-approval of said customer data including a result of a credit worthiness check performed to determine the credit pre-approval of said customer, said credit worthiness check performed without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer;

providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and

selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said credit card account.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising providing said customer with information on how to access said invitation at a future date.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein said providing said customer information on how to access said invitation at a future date includes printing said information on a receipt at said point of sale system.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein said customer data includes at least one of said customer'"'"'s:

name;

address;

telephone number;

social security number;

photo identification card; and

membership card relating to said selling entity.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising printing out said invitation including a term or a condition of said invitation.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein data related to a declination of said invitation is transmitted to said server to cause a customer record relating to said data to be updated.

33. A storage medium encoded with machine-readable computer program code for pre-screening customer data by a selling entity for a customer at a point of sale location, the storage medium including instructions for causing the selling entity to implement a method comprising:

receiving said customer data at a point of sale system; and

during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location;

transmitting said customer data to a server to cause searching a database for said customer data;

receiving a pre-approval of said customer data including a result of a credit worthiness check performed to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said credit worthiness check performed without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer;

providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account, wherein said providing of said invitation to comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and

selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said credit card account.

34. The storage medium of claim 33, further comprising providing said customer with information on how to access said invitation at a future date.

35. The storage medium of claim 34, wherein said providing said customer information on how to access said invitation at a future date includes printing said information on a receipt at said point of sale system.

36. The storage medium of claim 33, wherein said customer data includes at least one of said customer'"'"'s:

name;

address;

telephone number;

social security number;

photo identification card; and

membership card relating to said selling entity.

37. The storage medium of claim 33, further comprising printing out said invitation including a term or a condition of said invitation.

38. The storage medium of claim 33, wherein data related to a declination of said invitation is transmitted to said server to cause a customer record relating to said data to be updated.

39. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:

receiving said customer data at a point of sale system by a point of sale data entry device; and

during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location;

transmitting said customer data to a server;

searching a database for said customer data;

performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer;

providing said customer with an invitation to open a credit card account at said point of sale location, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and

selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said opened credit card account.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

holding said invitation open for a predetermined period of time; and

providing said customer with information on how to access said invitation at a future date.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein said providing said customer information on how to access said invitation at a future date includes printing said information on a receipt at said point of sale system.

42. The method of claim 39, further comprising determining whether a membership status of said customer is active or inactive;

wherein further said credit worthiness check is performed on customer data with an active status.

43. The method of claim 39, further comprising determining whether said customer has a current credit card account with said selling entity.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein said credit worthiness check is performed by at least one of a credit bureau and a credit issuer.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein said credit worthiness check is at least one of a full bureau check and a partial bureau check.

46. The method of claim 39, wherein said performing a credit worthiness check comprises determining at least one of a credit account limit, an annual percentage rate, and an account type, for customers who have met specified criteria for said credit pre-approval determination.

47. The method of claim 39, further comprising printing out said invitation and providing a term or a condition of said invitation.

48. The method of claim 39, wherein said customer data includes at least one of said customer'"'"'s:

name;

address;

telephone number;

social security number;

photo identification card; and

membership card relating to said selling entity.

49. The method of claim 39, wherein data related to a declination of said invitation is transmitted to said server, and a customer record relating to said data is updated.

50. The method of claim 39, further comprising providing said customer with a credit card.

51. The method of claim 39, further comprising performing a fraud check, said fraud check including verifying said customer'"'"'s identity.

52. A method for pre-screening customer data of a customer by a selling entity at a point of sale location, comprising:

receiving said customer data at a point of sale system by a point of sale data entry device; and

during the course of a single check out process at said point of sale location;

transmitting said customer data to a server;

searching a database for said customer data;

performing a credit worthiness check to determine a credit pre-approval of said customer, said performing is done using a result of said searching and without knowledge of and uninitiated by said customer;

providing said customer with an invitation to open a charge card account at said point of sale location, wherein said providing of said invitation comprises offering said customer an incentive to accept said invitation; and

selectively executing a credit purchase during said check out process at said point of sale system using said opened charge card account.

53. The method of claim 52, further comprising:

holding said invitation open for a predetermined period of time; and

providing said customer with information on how to access said invitation at a future date.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein said providing said customer information on how to access said invitation at a future date includes printing said information on a receipt at said point of sale system.

55. The method of claim 52, further comprising determining whether a membership status of said customer is active or inactive;

wherein further said credit worthiness check is performed on customer data with an active status.

56. The method of claim 52, further comprising determining whether said customer has a current charge card account with said selling entity.

57. The method of claim 52, wherein said credit worthiness check is performed by at least one of a credit bureau and a credit issuer.

58. The method of claim 52, wherein said credit worthiness check is at least one of a full bureau check and a partial bureau check.

59. The method of claim 52, wherein said performing a credit worthiness check comprises determining at least one of a credit account limit, an annual percentage rate, and an account type, for customers who have met specified criteria for said credit pre-approval determination.

60. The method of claim 52, further comprising printing out said invitation and providing a term or a condition of said invitation.

61. The method of claim 52, wherein said customer data includes at least one of said customer'"'"'s:

name;

address;

telephone number;

social security number;

photo identification card; and

membership card relating to said selling entity.

62. The method of claim 52, wherein data related to a declination of said invitation is transmitted to said server, and a customer record relating to said data is updated.

63. The method of claim 52, further comprising providing said customer with a charge card.

64. The method of claim 52, further comprising performing a fraud check, said fraud check including verifying said customer'"'"'s identity.