CA2980029A1 - Synthetic closed loop prepaid credits - Google Patents

Abstract

An independent or third-party rewards platform is used to reward a consumer for not only buying a closed loop prepaid card, e.g. gift card, or loyalty credit card purchase from a primary company, but for delaying the use of the gift card or loyalty purchase amount. The consumer may be rewarded with credit or reward currency from the primary company or with an incentive, e.g. reward currency, from a secondary company independent of and with no affiliation to the primary company. Accordingly, the primary company provides an incentive for the consumer to keep using the closed loop prepaid card or loyalty credit card purchase.

Description

Synthetic Closed Loop Prepaid Credits TECHNICAL FIELD
[01] The present invention relates to a consumer rewards system, and in particular to a system in which rewards are earned for the purchase of synthetic closed-loop prepaid credits to be used at specific merchants and tracked through a user's credit card.
BACKGROUND

[02] Credit card companies may have systems that generate rewards. These rewards are typically in the form of "Points" or such other loyalty currency, or cash-back that is paid out in certain predetermined intervals (together "Conventional Credit Card Rewards"). The Conventional Credit Card Rewards are generally earned by the customer at the time of their purchase. These Conventional Credit Card Rewards are typically funded by a combination of the credit card issuing bank, the credit card processor, e.g.
Visa or MasterCard, and in certain cases, the underlying merchant where the purchase is completed (together the "Rewards Funders"). A recent development within this arena has been the rise of card-linked offers ("CLO"), where increasingly the underlying merchants are funding incremental reward, in addition to the regular credit-card points or rewards earned. However, whether through Conventional Credit Card Rewards or through a CLO, it is often unclear if such reward was a primary consideration in driving the purchase behavior or simply an additional expense incurred by the Rewards Funders and bonus for the consumer.

[03] Recent developments have seen the rise of: digital coupons, e.g.
Coupons.comTM, RetailmenotTM, and Save.caTM; affiliate cash-back or loyalty reward programs, e.g.
EbatesTM, Air MilesTM shopping; activated card linked offers, e.g.
CardlyticsTM; and channels offering discounts or incentives on the purchase of closed-loop digital prepaid cards ("CLDPC"), e.g. CardSwap.caTM, Raise.comTM, and CardPool.comTM; with the above units collectively defined as "Top Up Vouchers" and programs collectively defined as "Pre-Shop Incentive Programs". A common objective of Top Up Vouchers is to offer consumers the reward prior to the actual purchase, as a more effective method of inducing a consumer to complete a purchase, versus the post-purchase rewards typically earned with credit cards - this essentially moves the reward incentive up in the purchase consideration funnel. Across the various forms of Top Up Vouchers, CLDPC's typically achieve 95%+ conversion to purchase ¨ a conversion rate substantially higher than that of all other forms. This superior conversion performance can be attributed to the fact that a CLDPC is the only form where consumers must commit to the underlying merchant by spending funds upfront to collect their incentive. In effect, purchasing an incentivized CLDPC is akin to the consumer having a deep-in-the-money option with a high intrinsic value. This actual "investment" by the consumer is a critical element of existing CLDPC's and what will be applied in the design of Synthetic Closed Loop Prepaid Credits SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[04] The present disclosure relates to creating a synthetic product that appears to attach CLDPC's to a consumer credit card, thereby enabling consumers to purchase and earn the incremental rewards typically associated with CLDPC's without the inconveniences of carrying and using a separate prepaid payment method.
Consumers can exclusively purchase such product, defined as a "Synthetic Prepaid Loyalty Credit" or "SPLC", through an online platform that is directly linked with their credit card account.

[05] Accordingly, the present invention relates to a method of rewarding a consumer via a third-party rewards platform for purchasing a synthetic prepaid loyalty credit (SPLC) for an associated merchant with a credit card comprising:

[06] providing an application interface enabling a consumer to purchase the SPLC
through a communication channel accessible via the consumer's credit card website or the rewards platform website;

[07] generating a unique identifier for each customer without collecting any personally identifiable information, and providing a record of the SPLC
purchase and the corresponding unique identifier to the rewards platform;

[08] providing a reward from the rewards platform to the customer for completing a trigger activity of making a qualifying purchase above a threshold value using the credit card at the associated merchant.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[09] The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which represent preferred embodiments thereof, wherein:

[10] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the synthetic prepaid loyalty card reward system in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[11] While the present teachings are described in conjunction with various embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited to such embodiments. On the contrary, the present teachings encompass various alternatives and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.

[12] With reference to Figure 1, the desired objective for a Merchant 1 is to attract a Consumer 2 to their location, i.e. online or in person. A Synthetic Prepaid Loyalty Credit (SPLC) 9 purchased via an authorized SPLC channel 7 is the tool used to achieve this objective. The SPLC 9 combines the current card-linked offers process with Closed Loop Digital Prepaid Cards (CLDPC) to increase the effectiveness of Merchant 1 funded rewards by combining the convenience of card-linked rewards with the higher conversion rate of a CLDPC. This is done by linking the SPLC 9 to the Consumer's 2 Credit Card 3 which can be redeemed at the affiliate Merchant 1 to earn the reward.
An independent or third-party Rewards Platform 4, owned and operated by an authorized company, is used to track the purchase and rewards affiliated with SPLC's 9 by the Consumer 2, on an anonymized basis. The Consumer 2 may earn rewards in the form of:
loyalty currency from an issuer of the credit card 3, loyalty currency from the Rewards Platform 4, or cash back rebate directly to their SPLC linked Credit Card 3, each as an incentive for purchasing the SPLC 9. Rewards are only earned once the Consumer completes a "Qualifying Purchase" for an amount greater than the "Trigger Value" at the affiliated Merchant 1 using the SPLC 9 affiliated Credit Card 3 as the payment form.

[13] Accordingly, this integrated system offers benefits to both Consumers 2 and Merchants 1. For Consumers 2, the benefits include the ability to earn valuable rewards typically associated with CLDPC's with increased ease and convenience, including: (i) no longer needing to both, remember to carry a CLDPC and access it at the time of the transaction, (ii) removing the hassle associated with splitting the balance of a purchase over multiple payment methods, and (iii) automatic redemption from the Consumer's 2 Credit Card 3 without impacting typical check out behaviour increases the utility and usability. The benefit to Merchants 1 is (i) the enhanced convenience of SPLC's versus CLPDC's will result in higher consumer adoption, (ii) the consumer investment into the SPLC's provides them a vested interest to redeem the value at the Merchant 1, thereby decreasing the risk of the consumer 2 not making a purchase or seeking to make the purchase with a competitor, (iii) a decrease in fees associated with issuing gift cards, and (iv) expediting the Consumer 2 checkout process.

[14] The Rewards Platform 4 is controlled by an authorized company independent of the Merchant 1, the Merchant Marketing group 5, and the Credit Card company 10, and facilitates communications between the Merchant Marketing group 5, the SPLC
channel 7, and the Credit Card Company 10 in relation to facilitating the SPLC 9 process. The Reward Platform 4 uses these channels to create SPLC 9 reward offers, present these offers to and facilitate their purchase by Consumer 2, and reward Consumers 2 for successfully redeeming the SPLC up to the Trigger Value. Each Merchant Marketing group 5 is the marketing department of their affiliated Merchant 1 which has the authority to fund Consumer 2 rewards to increase sales at the Merchant 1. The Rewards Platform 4 provides a communication interface to offer rewards and track eligibility to earn such reward as influenced by the Merchant Marketing group 5 on the SPLC Channel 7 accessed by Consumers 2 through the Credit Card Company 10, using communication channels B1, B2, C3, D, G, I, and H, e.g. internet, telephone, etc. The SPLC Channel 7 also acts as a communication platform where Consumers 2 can view reward offers through a link on their Credit Card Company 10 website accessed by channel Cl and then make purchases directly through channel C2. The Reward Platform 4 also issues the reward value to the Credit Card Company 10 to be relayed to the Consumer 2 after successfully completing a Qualifying Purchase as well as share the Qualifying Purchase information to with Merchant Marketing Group 5 to receive the reward payment.

[15] Consumers 2 communicate with their Credit Card Company 10 through channel A, which already exists as the normal channel a consumer 2 contacts their Credit Card Company 10. They shall access the SPLC Channel 7 through connection Cl, either as embedded within or using a secure link with channel A. In essence, such transfer shall be seamless from the consumer experience, and the SPLC Channel 7 shall feel like a feature offering from the Credit Card Company 10.

[16] The Rewards Platform 4 communicates directly with the Merchant Marketing group 5 and the SPLC Channel 7. This includes, but is not limited to, communication link B1 which includes the Reward Platform 4 establishing rewards in cooperation with the Merchant Marketing group 5 to be displayed on the SPLC Channel 7 using link B2 that Consumers 2 can activate with the purchase of an SPLC 9. The SPLC incentive offers established in the link B1 will may be established in advance, and shall influence, but not necessarily dictate, what is subsequently presented for the consumers 2 to via the link B2. Through channel B1, the Merchant Marketing group 5 will also specify which, if any, purchases are to be excluded from the offer and will not be eligible qualifying purchases.

[17] The SPLC Channel 7 can be accessed by the Consumer 2 via their Credit Card Company website 10 through channel Cl. The channel Cl directs the Consumer 2 to the SPLC Channel 7 where they can view the offers presented from various Merchants 1.
When forwarding the Consumer 2 to the SPLC Channel 7 the Credit Card company creates a unique identifier ("Ur) for each individual consumer 2 that may not contain any personally identifiable information ("PII"). This unique identifier will be associated with the account, i.e. Consumer 2, for all future transaction and along with the transaction details will be the only information provided by the Credit Card company 10 to the SPLC Channel 7. Consumers 2 will not need to create an account to make purchases on the SPLC Channel 7 as all the transactions will be through a site already linked to their Credit Card 3. Thus, the identities of the Consumer 2 will not be revealed to the Reward Platform 4 to complete the transaction.

[18] Consumers 2 can purchase SPLC's 9 directly from the SPLC Channel 7 through channel C2. Once the Consumer 2 requests the purchase on the SPLC Channel 7 the purchase request information is relayed to the Rewards Platform 4 through channel C3.
The information relayed to the Rewards Platform 4 shall include: the unique identifier, the transaction time and date, the SPLC value, transaction ID, and the SPLC
merchant, along with any other transaction specific related field that may be required to authenticate or support the transaction. Once the information is verified and the transaction is approved by the Rewards Platform 4 the confirmation will be sent to the SPLC Channel 7 via C3, which customers 2 will be able to view via the website of their Credit Card Company 10.

[19] The Rewards Platform 4 sends a communication to the Credit Card Company 10 following the purchase of an SPLC 9 by the Consumer 2 so the Reward platform 4 may track when the Consumer 2 earns their reward via channel D. The Rewards Platform 4 may provide the Credit Card Company 10 one or more of the following: (a) the unique identifier of the Consumer 2; (b) the merchant ID corresponding to the SPLC 9;
(c) the reward start date, if any; (d) the reward end date; (e) a minimum purchase value defining a qualifying purchase (i.e. the Trigger Value); and (f) the transaction ID. The Rewards Platform 4 then awaits a response from the Credit Card Company 10 if the Consumer 2 completes a purchase at a specific Merchant 1 that is greater than or equal to the Trigger Value within the reward activation and expiry date using the Credit Card 3 used to purchase the SPLC 9. The Consumer 2 may receive a communication either from the Reward Platform 4 directly or through the Credit Card company 10 depending on the communication selected by the Consumer for how they want to receive the information. This communication will indicate to the Consumer 2 that they have successfully completed a Qualifying Purchase to earn their SPLC 9 reward subject to certain restrictions.

[20] The Consumer 2 completes a qualifying activity to earn their reward by using their SPLC 9 linked Credit Card 3 to make a qualifying purchase at the affiliated Merchant 1 through channel E (a "Qualifying Activity"). Other qualifying activities may include one or more of the following: store visits, email signups, social media following, social media posts, which are all traceable and verifiable. Channel E enables the consumer 2 to use their Credit Card 3 to make a purchase from the Merchant 1 either online or in-store. Once the Consumer 2 purchases the SPLC 9 from the SPLC
Channel 7 it becomes associated with the Credit Card 3 used to make the purchase and the partial or full value of the SPLC 9 shall be credited to the Consumer's 2 Credit Card 3 account, subject to authorization from the Rewards Platform 4.

[21] The Merchant 1 sends the Credit Card 3 information of Consumer 2 to the Credit Card Company 10 through channel F following each transaction to receive payment for the purchase. The Merchants 1 do not need to know they are informing the Credit Card company 10 about the completion of a reward or redemption of their SPLCs 9.
From the Merchant's 1 operational perspective, these transactions will be no different than any other customer making a purchase using a credit card.

[22] Once the Credit Card Company 10 receives the transaction information from the Merchant 1, the Credit Card Company 10 relays the information to the Reward Platform 4. Through Channel G, the Credit Card Company 10 will provide notification to the Reward Platform's 4, if the Consumer 2 completes the Qualifying Activity at the Merchant 1 between the start and end date. The Qualifying Activity can vary depending on reward offer as well as the Merchant 1, but the most common Qualifying Activity will be the Consumer 2 making a purchase with value equal to or greater than a trigger value, e.g. the purchase price of the SPLC 9 or a predetermined percentage (75% or more) of the purchase price of the SPLC 9. The Rewards Platform 4 will have the ability to recover the reward value from the Consumer's 2 Credit Card 3 through channel K, subject to negative actions by the Consumer 2. Upon receiving notification of a negative action, the Rewards Platform 4 shall determine if the Consumer 2 still qualifies for the reward associated with the purchase of the SPLC.

[23] At a time subsequent to completing the required Qualifying Activity (or Activities), the Rewards Platform 4 shall issue the reward to the Consumer 2.
The Rewards Platform 4 will provide the unique consumer identifier, the transaction ID, the merchant ID, and any applicable credit amount equivalent to the value of the reward for this transaction to the Credit Card Company 10 through channel I. The Credit Card Company 10 subsequently relays the reward value to the Consumer 2 by adding the value onto their account through channel J. The Consumer 2 may then receive another communication either directly from the Rewards Platform 4 or through the Credit Card Company 10 stating that their reward is available and has been delivered to them.

[24] Once the Consumer 2 successfully earns their reward by, e.g. redeeming the value of their SPLC 9 at the Merchant 1, the redemption of their SPLC 9 is triggered ("Trigger Action"). This occurs in the form of a credit/refund on their credit card statement equal to the value of the SPLC 9 purchase. Merchant 1 will appear on the Consumer's 2 Credit Card 3 statement as a charge for the full value of the transaction.
The value of the SPLC 9 will then appear as a credit on the statement up to the full value of the SPLC 9. For example, if a consumer purchases a $100 SPLC for Home Depot and then makes a $150 purchase at a Home Depot store with the same Credit Card 3;
the Consumer's 2 Credit Card 3 statement will show a $150 charge at Home Depot and the $100 SPLC 9 credit from the Rewards Platform 2 netting out to a $50 charge when the Consumer 2 pays their credit card bill. This may occur prior to the issuance of any rewards associated and earned with the SPLC 9.

[25] The Reward Platform 4 will inform the Merchant Marketing group 5 through Channel H if the Consumer 2 completes the Trigger Action and earns a reward.
The Reward Platform 4 may relay elements of the transaction information, include purchase dates and amounts, for the Marketing Merchant group 5 to verify the completion of the action. Once the Marketing Merchant group 5 has verified the completion of the Trigger Action, it shall issue payment that covers the cost of the issued rewards and a pre-designated amount to the Reward Platform 4 through Channel H. The pre-designated amount will be the Reward Platform's compensation for facilitating the reward system.
This amount will be taken out of the reward value offered by Merchant Marketing group in the initial deal negotiated through channel B1. The reward value will typically be sent to the Credit Card company 10 before or the Rewards Platform 4 receives the funds from the Marketing Merchant group 5 to avoid delaying reward payments to Consumers 2.

[26] Following the successful redemption of an SPLC 9 by a Consumer 2 and the reward being issued, the Reward Platform 4 will ask the Credit Card company 10 through channel K to inform them if there are any negative actions by the Consumer 2 at the Merchant 1. The Rewards Platform 4 will provide (a) the unique identifier of the Consumer 2; (b) the merchant ID corresponding to the SPLC 9; (c) a minimum purchase value defining a qualifying negative action; and (d) the transaction ID to the Credit Card Platform. The Reward Platform 4 will ask if there are any negative actions (e.g. refunds or cancellations) by any Consumer 2 that matches the information provided. If there are negative actions that result in a net amount spent below the Trigger Value of the initial SPLC 9 then the Rewards Platform 4 will recover the value of the reward through channel K and refund it to the Marketing Merchant group 5 through channel H.

[27] Each SPLC 9 shall have a pre-designated time limit for the Consumer 2 to complete the Qualifying Activity (or Activities) to earn the reward. If a Consumer 2 fails to complete the necessary Qualifying Activities within such period, the SPLC 9 shall expire ("Expiry") and be cancelled. The Reward Platform may then either: (i) Refund the full amount of the SPLC 9 back to the Credit Card 3 (net of any applicable fees), (ii) issue a credit for the amount of the SPLC 9 into the SPLC Channel 7 that the Consumer 2 can apply toward the purchase of a future credit SPLC 9, or (iii) deliver to the Consumer 2 a physical or digital closed-loop prepaid card for Merchant 1 in equivalent amount with such option also potentially resulting in the Consumer 2 earning equivalent or reduced reward as associated with the expired SPLC 9.

[28] As each communication channel may experience some degree of delay the Consumer 2 may not receive their reward value immediately after completing the Trigger Action.

[29] The above summary represents the most basic application of this invention. In this case the Consumer 2 has only purchased one SPLC 9, redeems the full trigger value in one qualifying purchase prior the SPLC expiry date, earns the full reward value, and does not refund any portion of the purchase. Per Exhibit 1, an example Consumer 2 Credit Card 3 statement, the Consumer 2 purchases the SPLC 9 and redeems the full value at the affiliated Merchant 1 in one qualifying purchase. The full $100 of the SPLC 9 is then credited to the Consumer 2 and the full $10 (10% of SPLC value) reward value is credited the following day after the Reward Platform 4 receives and verifies the transaction information.

[30] A common variation of the base case will be the Consumer 2 spending the value of the SPLC 9 over multiple qualifying purchases, each a Qualifying Activity.
In Exhibit 2, the Consumer 2 makes three qualifying purchases with the total value spent surpassing the trigger value after the third transaction. Once the trigger value has been reached, the SPLC 9 is credited to the Consumer 2 and the reward is earned. This variation encourages Consumer's 2 to use SPLC's 9 habitually for everyday transactions rather than only large purchases.

[31] The SPLC 9 reward value is paid out to the Consumer 2 when either the full value of the SPLC 9 is redeemed or when the SPLC 9 redemption period expires. If the redemption period expires prior to the full redemption of the SPLC 9 value then the Consumer 2 may still earn a reward equivalent to the reward rate of the net value of the SPLC 9 redeemed. In Exhibit 3 the Consumer 2 makes one qualifying purchase at the Merchant 1 below the full SPLC 9 value. In this case the SPLC has a 30-day redemption period which expires before the Consumer 2 redeems the full SPLC value. The credit is triggered once the redemption period expires and the amount redeemed at the Merchant 1 is credited to the Consumer 2 and the difference between the full value and the amount spent is also refunded. Thus, regardless of how much of the SPLC
9 is redeemed the full amount will always be credited to the customer at the expiry or completion of an SPLC 9 offer. In this case within Exhibit 3, the Consumer 2 earns their reward on the partial value of the SPLC, i.e. 10% of the $72.35 spent at the Merchant 1 earns the Consumer 2 a $7.24 reward.

[32] These variations, multiple transactions and partial redemption, may occur within the same SPLC 9 redemption period. In Exhibit 4, the Consumer 2 makes multiple qualifying purchases but the subtotal of the purchases does not exceed the trigger value of the SPLC 9. In this case the SPLC 9 value is credited to the Consumer 2 and the reward is determined based on the amount redeemed.

[33] Another important variation of the base case is when the Consumer 2 refunds some or all of their SPLC 9 purchase at the Merchant 1. As the objective of the SPLC 9 is to increase purchases at the affiliated Merchant 1, the Consumer's 2 reward will be adjusted to account for refunds during the redemption period. In Exhibit 5 the Consumer 2 refunds part of their first qualifying purchase, this "qualifying refund" is tracked along with other qualifying purchases, so the net value of the all qualifying purchases and refunds must be higher than the trigger value to trigger the SPLC.

[34] In cases where the net value of all qualifying purchases and refunds remains below the trigger value at the SPLC 9 expiration, then the Consumer 2 may still qualify for a partial reward. In Exhibit 6, the Consumer's 2 three qualifying purchases and one qualifying refund net out to $90.30 at the expiration point. Therefore, the reward the consumer earns is $9.03, 10% of the net value of all qualifying activities rather than just qualifying purchases.

[35] The Rewards Platform 4 will be able to retract rewards issued to Consumers 2 if their SPLC 9 purchase is refunded after the Consumer's 2 account is credited and reward is issued. In Exhibit 7, the Consumer 2 earns their full reward value reward by redeeming the full SPLC 9 value at the Merchant 1. After the Consumer 2 refunds the qualifying purchase, the Rewards Platform 4 is notified and retracts the reward issued from the Consumer's 2 credit card account.

[36] In cases where post-redemption refunds are for a lower value than the value, the reward retraction will only be for the amount earned on refunded value. In Exhibit 8, the Consumer 2 spends a total of $165.48 at the Merchant 1 with their SPLC 9 linked Credit Card 3, to earn a 10% reward on the $100 SPLC. After receiving the SPLC 9 credit and full reward value the Consumer refunds $80.06 of their purchases.
This nets out to $85.42 of the SPLC 9 redeemed at the Merchant, meaning the Consumer 2 did not actually earn the full reward value and the excess reward ($1.46) issued to the Consumer 2 is withdrawn from their account.

[37] The preceding cases all deal with Consumers 2 who only have one SPLC
9, however a more realistic use of this reward system will be cases where Consumers 2 have multiple SPLC 9 offers linked to their Credit Card 3 simultaneously. In Exhibit 9, a Consumer 2 has three SPLC's 9 with three different affiliated Merchants 1 linked to their card. This is a realistic scenario with each SPLC 9 redemption case varying based on expected Consumer 2 behavior. In this case, the Home Depot SPLC 9 reaches the trigger value after two qualifying purchases, following the issuance of the SPLC 9 credit and reward value the Consumer 2 refunds one of the transactions, dropping the net amount below the trigger value. The reward value is then recalculated and the excess reward issued is retracted from the Consumer's 2 Credit Card 3. Simultaneously, the Consumer 2 is also redeeming the full McDonald's SPLC 9 value over the course of four transactions to earn the full reward value. Additionally, the Consumer 2 purchases a Hudson's Bay SPLC 9 and makes two qualifying purchases and one qualifying refund. The SPLC 9 expires at the end of the 30-day redemption period and the reward issued to the Consumer is based on the net value of the qualifying activities by the Consumer 2.

[38] The above examples, along with any other variations of the base case give this invention the flexibility to be used by Consumers in conjunction with a variety of different purchase behaviors. These examples are not meant to be comprehensive list of all possible variations, but rather illustrate how the system will support these expected variations.

Exhibit 1:
Case 1: Full Value- One Transaction -r !=,!;
Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 468440 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 08-Jul 994850 Home Depot (Qualifying Purchase) $154.88 > Trigger 08-Jul 144062 SPLC Credit -$100.00 09-Jul 934042 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$10.00 Net Payment Due $144.88 Exhibit 2:
Case 2: Full Value- Multiple Transactions Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 155292 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 04-Jul 352255 Home Depot (Qualifying Purchase) $42.19 11-Jul 507786 Home Depot (Qualifying Purchase) $28.83 16-Jul 790471 Home Depot (Qualifying Purchase) $56.71 $127.73>Trigger 16-Jul 291761 SPLC Credit $100.00 17-Jul 253620 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$10.00 Net Payment Due $117.73 Exhibit 3:
Case 3: Partial Value- One Transaction (30 Day Expiry) ki = :
Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 297494 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 22-Jul 736440 Home Depot (Qualifying Purchase) $72.39 02-Aug 207912 SPLC Credit -$72.39 02-Aug 161281 SPLC Refund -$27.61 03-Aug 248262 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$7.24 (10% of QP) Net Payment Due $65.15 Exhibit 4 Case 4: Partial Value- Multiple Transactions (30 Day Expiry) ¨
õ ¨
Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 730882 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 15-Jul 323687 Home Depot $32.60 25-Jul 772117 Home Depot $49.52 02-Aug 815518 SPLC Credit -$82.12 02-Aug 227488 SPLC Refund -$17.88 03-Aug 542399 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$8.21 (10%) Net Payment Due $73.91 Exhibit 5 Case 5: Full Value- Multiple Transactions (with refund) (30 Day Expiry) Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 308154 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 15-Jul 100287 Home Depot (Qualifying Purchase) $88.08 17-Jul 302550 Home Depot (Refund) -$28.25 28-Jul 323181 Home Depot (Qualifying Purchase) $59.52 28-Jul 815562 SPLC Credit -$100.00 29-Jul 900401 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$10.00 Net Payment Due $109.35 Exhibit 6:
Case 6: Partial Value- Multiple Transactions (with refund) (30 Day Expiry) rivAi ik:',11141 Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 979771 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 15-Jul 927831 Home Depot (Qualifying) $89.04 17-Jul 111936 Home Depot (Refund) -$56.33 25-Jul 159619 Home Depot (Qualifying) $16.40 30-Jul 190551 Home Depot (Qualifying) $41.19 02-Aug 810233 SPLC Credit -$90.30 02-Aug 958649 SPLC Refund -$9.70 03-Aug 488541 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$9.03 (10%) Net Payment Due $81.27 Exhibit 7 Case 7: Post Reward Full Consumer Refund (30 Day Expiry) 14;:f..;., Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 454908 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 >Trigger Value 15-Jul 661018 Home Depot $128.54 15-Jul 257914 SPLC Credit -$100.00 16-Jul 560978 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$10.00 Net Payment Due $118.54 22-Aug 864960 Home Depot (Refund) -$128.54 23-Aug 903034 SPLC Reward Withdrawal $10.00 Net Payment Due -$118.54 Reduces Purchase Value below SPLC
so Reward is withdrawn Exhibit 8:
Case 8: Post Reward Partial Consumer Refund (30 Day Expiry) . _ .
Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 02-Jul 962515 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 27-Jul 673250 Home Depot $165.48 27-Jul 128830 SPLC Credit -$100.00 28-Jul 434992 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$10.00 Net Payment Due $155.48 12-Aug 442889 Home Depot (Refund) -$80.06 13-Aug 899112 SPLC Reward Withdrawal $1.46 Net Payment Due -$78.60 Reduces Purchase Value below SPLC so part of Reward is withdrawn Exhibit 9 Case 9: 3 SPLC with Partial Rewards, Multiple Transactions, Refunds Ch a n n e 1(s ) Transaction Date Reference Number Description of Transaction Amount 05-Jan 376672 SPLC Channel (Home Depot) $100.00 C1,C2,C3,D
07-Jan 451298 Home Depot $52.33 E,F,G
13-Jan 593783 SPLC Channel (McDonald's) $50.00 C1,C2,C3,D
14-Jan 866400 McDonald's $8.92 E,F,G
18-Jan 175385 Home Depot $164.11 E,F,G
-18-Jan 527994 SPLC Credit (HD) $100.00 G,1,1 19-Jan 177317 SPLC Home Depot Reward -$10.00 G,1,1 26-Jan 524988 SPLC Channel (Hudson's Bay) $250.00 C1,C2,C3,D
31-Jan 625231 McDonald's $13.77 E,F,G
-01-Feb 103939 Home Depot (Refund) $164.11 E,F,G
02-Feb 949916 SPLC Reward Withdrawal (HD) $4.77 K
Net Payment Due $369.79 07-Feb 185799 McDonald's $24.06 E,F,G
07-Feb 168194 Hudson's Bay $176.43 E,F,G
08-Feb 482524 Hudson's Bay (Refund) -$53.29 E,F,G
11-Feb 249250 McDonald's $19.60 E,F,G
11-Feb 928199 SPLC Credit (MD) -$50.00 G,I,J
12-Feb 912573 SPLC McDonald's Reward -$6.00 G,I,J
18-Feb 228888 Hudson's Bay $37.86 E,F,G
26-Feb 377579 SPLC Credit (HB) $161.00 G,I,J
26-Feb 645925 SPLC Refund (HB) -$89.00 G,I,J
27-Feb 783574 SPLC Hudson's Bay Reward -$11.27 G,I,J
_ Net Payment Due $112.61 Home Depot McDonald's SPLC SPLC
Purchase $100.00 Purchase $50.00 Qual Purchase 1 $52.33 Qual Purchase 1 $8.92 Qual Purchase 2 $164.11 Qual Purchase 2 $13.77 Subtotal $216.44 >Trigger Value Qual Purchase 3 $24.06 Qual Purchase 4 $19.60 SPLC Credit -$100.00 Subtotal $66.35 >Trigger Value SPLC Reward -$10.00 Net $206.44 SPLC Credit -$50.00 SPLC Reward -$6.00 Refund -$164.11 Net $60.35 Updated Subtotal $52.33 <Trigger Value $
Reward Deduction 4.77 Net $47.10 Hudson's Bay SPLC
Purchase $250.00 Qual Purchase 1 $176.43 Qual Refund 1 -$53.29 Qual Purchase 2 $37.86 Subtotal $161.00 Expiration SPLC Credit -$161.00 SPLC Refund -$89.00 SPLC Reward -$11.27 Net $149.73 Glossary of Terms (a) CLO is "activated" by a "monetary deposit" or "investment". This represents a higher activation threshold versus conventional click per deal or blanket opt-in. The higher activation thresholds results in ability to offer superior rewards and achieve superior results [keep ambiguous, as better results for both consumers and merchants]
(b) SPLC = enhanced prepaid: It is easier to carry and redeem (redemption benefits consumer and also merchant operations and financials) (c) "Expiry" ¨ Expiry is a critical feature that creates urgency (which is a typical existing feature on most deals) but our expire also retains lock-in, which is usually something that is lost with expiry. For example, expiry could trigger and alternate lock-in event such as issued of prepaid card (lock-in for merchant) or issue of SPLC credit (lock-in for Reward Platform) (d) The Rewards Platform acts as a bridge between the credit card company and merchant pertaining to the transfer of PII.
(e) Trigger Action may stack to generate reward: Consumer may complete three separate independent transactions, where the cumulative value of the money spent achieves the threshold amount to trigger the reward.
(f) Trigger Action may stack to generate stacking rewards. For example, the consumer may complete each transaction to earn $5 credit. But if all three transactions are completed before the Expiry date, then in addition to the $5 credit per transaction, the consumer also earns an additional $10 bonus.
(g) Reward may be partial: If total balance spent is $100, and the consumer only spends $60, then the reward that is issued could be the ratio of $spent/$total x total reward <=60% of target.
(h) Link directly to the credit card provides unique ability to claw back reward even after issued. This is critical, as will allow the issue of the rewards faster, and the recover from consumers who negate the trigger activity, if necessary.

(i) The Trigger Action could involve a purchase with a value less than the full amount of the SPLC purchase, e.g. a threshold value which is a designated percentage of a full balance of the SPLC purchase. The reward may be variable and based on a ratio of an amount of the qualifying purchase to an amount of the full balance of the SPLC purchase, e.g. the threshold value is a certain percentage, e.g. 75%, of the full balance of the SPLC
purchase, and the reward becomes the same percentage value, e.g. 75%, of the full reward.

Claims (16)

WE CLAIM:

1. A method of rewarding a consumer via a third-party rewards platform for purchasing a synthetic prepaid loyalty credit (SPLC) for an associated merchant with a credit card comprising:
providing an application interface enabling a consumer to purchase the SPLC
with the credit card through a communication channel accessible via the consumer's credit card website or the rewards platform website;
generating a unique identifier for each customer without collecting any personally identifiable information, and providing a record of the SPLC purchase and the corresponding unique identifier to the rewards platform; and providing a reward from the rewards platform to the customer for completing a trigger activity of making one or more qualifying purchases totaling above a threshold value using the credit card at the associated merchant.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is a full balance of the SPLC
purchase.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is a designated percentage of a full balance of the SPLC purchase.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the reward is variable and based on a ratio of an amount of the qualifying purchase to an amount of the full balance of the SPLC
purchase.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the reward is provided when the ratio is greater than 0.75; and wherein the reward comprises the ratio x the full balance of the SPLC purchase.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reward expires after a designated period of time; and wherein the ability to redeem the SPLC does not expire.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein both the SPLC and the reward expire after a designated period, and further comprising providing a refund to the consumer for the SPLC at the end of the designated period.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising providing an application interface enabling the consumer to pay a fee to extend the designated period.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the application interface enables the consumer to extend the designated period by purchasing another SPLC for the same associated merchant.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of providing a reward comprises:
determining from the credit card company whether the consumer has completed the trigger activity with the credit card at the associated merchant above; and when the trigger activity has been completed, transferring the reward from the reward platform to the credit card company for rewarding the consumer.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising expiring the SPLC
and the reward when the trigger activity is not completed within a designated period of time.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the step of providing the reward also includes, prior to transferring the reward to the credit card company:
the rewards platform contacting the associated merchant when the trigger activity is completed;
and receiving compensation from the associated merchant for providing the reward to the credit card company.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the step of providing the reward also includes subsequent to transferring the reward to the credit card company:
the rewards platform contacting the associated merchant when the trigger activity is completed;
and receiving compensation from the associated merchant for providing the reward to the credit card company.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising recapturing the reward by the reward platform from the consumer through the credit card company when the consumer cancels the trigger activity by obtaining refunds making total qualifying purchases below the threshold amount.

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein the reward comprises a monetary credit on the customer's credit card bill.

16. The method according to claim 10, wherein the reward comprises loyalty currency.