AU2005203778A1 - Method for earning and redeeming rewards for financial transactions - Google Patents

Description

23-RUG-2005 11:30 From:WYNNES PRT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:02~8379999 P.14 0 METHOD FOR EARNING AND REDEEMING REWARDS FOR FINANCIAL

TRANSACTIONS

c FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to financial transactions, banking and financial institution activities. The present invention has particular but not exclusive en ¢q application as a reward program and system for credit unions and other financial tt institutions to promote the use of credit or debit cards or other banking products by 0 their members and customers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Current methods of rewarding credit and debit card owners by their financial institutions involves accumulating reward points based on a specified ratio or formula of amount of money transacted per reward points earned. The earned reward points are accumulative but often have an expiry period. Reward points from some financial institutions will expire if they are not used within a specified time (eg. 3 years) of their issue. Depending on the number of reward points earned and accumulated they may be redeemed for specified products. The specified products will be allocated a set number of points and the card owner must redeem this number of points to obtain the product. Points are redeemed for products usually by telephone redemption. The number and range of products available for redemption have increased since the inception of the reward points system. Many financial institutions have arrangements or agreements with merchants whereby their products are made available for redemption and purchased by the financial institutions for an agreed price.

COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-RUG-2005 11:31 From:NYNNES PFlT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:0262837999 m ~2 0 o The current reward programs have limitations in that the financial institutions require more staff to man the telephones and redeem reward points for their customers and members and staff to obtain new or alternative products for

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redemption by their customers and members. The current reward methods are 5 focused on the merchant and the available redeemable products may not be what

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the customer or member wants or prefers.

(c OBJECT OF THE INVENTION Cl it is an object of the present invention to provide an alternate method for earning and redeeming rewards that overcomes at least in part one or more of the above mentioned disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect the present invention broadly resides in a method for earning and redeeming rewards including performing a commercial transaction with an institution's credit, debit card or using other banking products; calculating a reward value from the transaction with the institution's reward value redemption formula; allocating an amount of money corresponding to the calculated reward value from the institution and awarding the equivalent reward points to the card owner; redeeming part or all of the earned rewards by using the institution's card to access the allocated monies to make a purchase from a merchant.

COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-AUG-2005 11:31 From:WYNNES PAT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:0262837999 P.6/18 S-3- 0 0 Preferably each institution determines their own reward value redemption formula to reward members or customers according to their own business goals and resources.

c Different cards from the same institution may have a different reward value 00 5 redemption formula for their usage. Different transaction types may earn a different reward value even with using the same card.

O The credit or debit card or a separate rewards card issued by the institution Smay be used to access allocated money from the earned rewards. Preferably the Cl institution card accessing the allocated monies is a separate rewards card where monies are accessed via an EFTPoS type transaction. Preferably allocated monies are accessed using the institution's rewards card and a personal identification number (PIN). Preferably the allocated monies are used to pay for the purchases after the institution's rewards card and a personal identification number is entered on an EFTPoS machine and the transaction has been approved by the institution.

The institution is preferably a bank, credit union, building society or other financial institution.

Record keeping and allocation of monies is preferably managed by a wholesale financial management entity that services and assists financial institutions with their accounts. The wholesale financial management entity preferably records the rewards for each person and collects the allocated monies from each institution.

Preferably the wholesale financial management entity has a settlement account for each participating institution where allocated monies are held for members or clients of the financial institution.

In another aspect the invention broadly resides in a system for earning and redeeming rewards including COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-FUG-2005 11:31 From:WYNNES PRT&TM FTTORN 0733421292 To:0262837999 P.7/18 -4- 0 0 a recordal and calculation means managed by a financial institution for the recordal and calculation of a reward value from a transaction with the institution's credit or debit card using the institution's reward value redemption formula; settlement account means for the collection and accumulation of allocated 00 5 monies from the financial institution and awarding the equivalent reward points to the card owner; said allocated monies accessible by the card owner and used to pay for O purchases from merchants, wherein the reward value recorded by the recordal and Scalculation means is operatively linked to the amount of allocated monies for each £C card owner.

The settlement account means may be a means managed by a separate financial management entity.

The recordal and calculation means is preferably a database that can be used to calculate and record earned reward values.

The system may include a separate database managed by a financial management entity and records the calculated reward values earned by each person, In another aspect the invention broadly resides in a system for earning and redeeming rewards including a recordal and calculation means managed by a financial institution for the recordal and calculation of a reward value from a transaction with the institution's credit or debit card using the institution's reward value redemption formula; settlement account means operated by a financial management entity for the collection and accumulation of allocated monies from the financial institution corresponding to the calculated reward value, said allocated monies used by the financial management entity to settle the transactions effected by the cardholders COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-FAUG-2005 11:31 From:WYNNES PFATSTM FTTORN 0733421292 To:026237999 P.6"16 0 0 using their reward card when redeeming their reward points by making a purchase Sfrom a merchant, wherein the reward value recorded by the recordal and calculation means is operatively linked to the amount of allocated monies for each card owner.

c In another aspect the invention broadly resides in a system for earning and redeeming rewards including a recordal and calculation means managed by a financial management entity Sfor the recordal and calculation of a reward value from a transaction with a financial Sinstitution's credit, debit card or other banking product using the institution's reward Ci value redemption formula; settlement account means maintained by the financial management entity for the collection and accumulation of allocated monies from the financial institution for the corresponding calculated reward points awarded to card owners, said allocated monies used by the financial management entity to settle the transactions effected by the cardholders using their reward card when redeeming their reward points by making a purchase from a merchant, wherein the reward value recorded by the recordal and calculation means is operatively linked to the amount of allocated monies for each card owner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of how rewards are earned by the credit or debit card owner; and COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-RUG-2005 11:32 From:WYNNES PRT&TM FTTORN 0733421292 To:0262837999 P.9/18 0 Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of how rewards are redeemed Sthrough purchases from merchants.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a diagrammatic representation of the preferred embodiment of how a credit or debit card owner Searns rewards from financial transactions with their card and how the rewards can be Sredeemed through EFTPoS purchases for merchant's products.

Ci The preferred reward system rewards credit or debit card owners with credit or debit cards issued by a particular financial institution for use of their cards. The financial institution can extend this to also reward their members and customers for using other financial or insurance products. The credit or debit cards issued by the financial institution such as a bank, credit union, building society or other suitable financial institutions is usually associated with card providers such as Visa and MasterCard. The financial institution provided as an example in Figure 1 is Qantas Staff Credit Union and the card provider is Visa. When a person performs a commercial transaction with their credit or debit card, the transaction is recorded with the associated financial institution and a reward value is calculated with the institution's reward value redemption formula on the amount transacted.

The institution's reward value redemption formula determines the reward value per transacted amount. The institution's reward value redemption formula may vary between different financial institutions depending on their business goals and resources. Different credit or debit cards issued by the institution may use different reward value redemption formula providing different reward values for similar transactions for different cards. As well, the reward value redemption formula may COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-FRUG-2005 11:32 From:WYNNES PRT&TM RTTORN 0733421292 To:262837999 P.10/18 n-7- 0 o provide different reward values for different types of transactions. The reward value b1 redemption formula is preferably determined by each financial institution.

When the reward value is calculated for a transaction, it is then recorded preferably by a financial management entity and an amount of money equating to the 5 reward value is collected from the financial institution and allocated to the financial 00 institution's settlement account. The collected monies for the reward points issued Sby the financial institution to each credit or debit card owner forms a settlement o account that may be held by the financial management entity. The amount of Ccollected monies in the settlement account in respect of each credit or debit card owner corresponds to the total reward value issued by the financial institution and recorded by the financial management entity.

The financial management entity may be any suitable entity that provides a financial service to the financial institutions and assists in managing their accounts.

The financial management entity provided as an example in Figure 1 is CreditLink Services Ltd.

When rewards are earned by the credit or debit card owner they may be redeemed at any merchant with EFTPoS capability. The credit or debit card owner has an EFTPoS card which is linked to their collected and allocated monies from the rewards system and they may use the EFTPoS card to perform a transaction in purchasing a product. When the EFTPoS transaction is performed the recorded reward value is reduced and the amount of money transacted is debited from the settlement account and transferred to the merchant's account. The reward value is reduced in line with the amount of money debited from the settlement account and corresponding to the transaction amount, COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-FUG-2005 11:32 From:WYNNES PRT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:0~62837999 P.11ZIS in 8- 0 o In another embodiment the EFTPoS rewards system can be accessed via the bt institution's credit or debit cards that are EFTPoS enabled.

The rewards program may be extended to other financial products such as mortgages.

With the preferred embodiment, the merchant's bank, known as the acquiring bank, makes a claim on the card issuing institution for transactions that are o authorized by the issuing financial institution at the time the sale is effected. Funds Sare exchanged and the acquiring bank debits the merchant's account, while the card C issuing institution credits the reward account of the cardholder with the relevant points value and credits the settlement account with the dollar value. The cardholder earns reward points which corresponds to monetary amounts but not money itself.

ADVANTAGES

The method and system for earning and redeeming rewards provides the advantage that it is focused around the card holder and allows the card owner to redeem their rewards for a wide range of products of their choosing. The method does not involve particular agreements or arrangements with one or more merchants or telephone redemption of earned rewards.

VARIATIONS

It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth.

COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-AUG-2005 11:32 From:WYNNES PAT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:0262837999 P.12 18 0 o Throughout the description and claims this specification the word "comprise" Sand variations of that word such as "comprises" and "comprising", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

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00 o,- COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23

Claims (1)

1. 23-RUG-2005 11:32 From:NYNNES PAT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:02628379999 P.13zie t) -10 o 0 o CLAIMS 1. A method for earning and redeeming rewards including Sperforming a commercial transaction with an institution's credit or debit card; calculating a reward value from the transaction with the institution's reward value redemption formula; Sallocating an amount of money corresponding to the calculated reward value o from the institution and awarding the equivalent reward points to the card owner; Credeeming part or all of the earned rewards by using the institution's card to access the allocated monies to make a purchase from a merchant. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein each financial institution determines their own reward value redemption formula to reward members or customers according to their own business goals and resources. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein different cards from the same institution may have a different reward value redemption formula for their usage and different transaction types may earn a different reward value even with using the same card, 4. A method as claimed in any one of the above mentioned claims, wherein the credit or debit card or a separate rewards card issued by the institution may be used to access allocated money from the earned rewards. COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-FUG-2005 11:33 From:WYNNES PAT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:0262837999 P.14/16 o 5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1, 2 and 3. wherein the institution Scard accessing the allocated monies is a separate rewards card where monies are accessed via an EFTPoS type transaction. 6. A method as claimed in any one of the above mentioned claims, wherein the allocated monies are used to pay for the purchases after the institution's rewards Scard and a personal identification number is entered on an EFTPoS machine and the o transaction has been approved. 7. A method as claimed in any one of the above mentioned claims, wherein the record keeping and allocation of monies is managed by a wholesale financial management entity that services and assists financial institutions with their accounts, said entity records the rewards for each person and collects the allocated monies 'from each financial institution. A system for earning and redeeming rewards including a recordal and calculation means managed by a financial institution for the recordal and calculation of a reward value from a transaction with the institution's credit or debit card using the institution's reward value redemption formula; settlement account means for the collection and accumulation of allocated monies from the financial institution and awarding the equivalent reward points to the card owner; said allocated monies accessible by the card owner and used to pay for purchases from merchants, wherein the reward value recorded by the recordal and calculation means is operatively linked to the amount of allocated monies for each card owner. COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23 23-RUG-2005 11:33 From:WYNNES PAT&TM ATTORN 0733421292 To:026837999 P.15/18 -12- O O 3 9. A system for earning and redeeming rewards including a recordal and calculation means managed by a financial management entity C for the recordal and calculation of a reward value from a transaction with a financial 5 institution's credit, debit card or other banking product using the institution's reward 00 value redemption formula; O settlement account means maintained by the financial management entity for o the collection and accumulation of allocated monies from the financial institution for Ci the corresponding calculated reward points awarded to card owners, said allocated monies used by the financial management entity to settle the transactions effected by the cardholders using their reward card when redeeming their reward points by making a purchase from a merchant, wherein the reward value recorded by the recordal and calculation means is operatively linked to the amount of allocated monies for each card owner. A method or system for earning and redeeming rewards as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS TWENTY THIRD DAY OF AUGUST 2005 CREDITLINK SERVICES LTD by their Patent Attorneys WYNNES PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS COMS ID No: SBMI-01438499 Received by IP Australia: Time 11:36 Date 2005-08-23