AU2021104430A4

AU2021104430A4 - System and method for customer retention

Info

Publication number: AU2021104430A4
Application number: AU2021104430A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Anthony Fitzgerald
Original assignee: Stay Or Go Holdings Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Stay Or Go Holdings Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-04
Filing date: 2021-07-22
Publication date: 2021-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 2029-07-22

Abstract

A customer retention system configured to provide a marketplace where customers can instantly access a better deal from their current provider such as a bank, while they are searching for and considering offers from new providers. The customer retention system is configured to fulfill the outcome end-to-end for the customers and the providers, and monitor the outcome over time to ensure it remains competitive. The system includes a data capturing device configured to capture market, provider and customer data from at least one data source. Further including a profiling and assessment device configured to build a customer profile for the at least one customer. Further, the system includes an offers generating device configured to: determine one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile in real-time. 400 CAPTURE MARKET AND CUSTOMER DATA FROM AT LEAST ONE DATA SOURCE 402 BUILD A CUSTOMER PROFILE FOR AT LEAST ONE CUSTOMER 404 DETERMINE ONE OR MORE OFFERS FOR THE AT LEAST ONE CUSTOMER BASED ON THE CAPTURED MARKET AND CUSTOMER DATAAND THE CUSTOMER PROFILE 406 PRESENT THE ONE OR MORE OFFERS TO THE AT LEASTONECUSTOMER 408 CAPTURE AN ACCEPTANCE OR APPLICATION OF THE AT LEAST ONE CUSTOMER FOR A PRODUCT AND PRICING OF AT LEAST ONE OFFER OF THE ONE OR MORE OFFERS 410 FIGURE 4

Description

CAPTURE MARKET AND CUSTOMER DATA FROM AT LEAST ONE DATA SOURCE 402

BUILD A CUSTOMER PROFILE FOR AT LEAST ONE CUSTOMER 404

DETERMINE ONE OR MORE OFFERS FOR THE AT LEAST ONE CUSTOMER BASED ON THE CAPTURED MARKET AND CUSTOMER DATAAND THE CUSTOMER PROFILE 406

PRESENT THE ONE OR MORE OFFERS TO THE AT LEASTONECUSTOMER 408

CAPTURE AN ACCEPTANCE OR APPLICATION OF THE AT LEAST ONE CUSTOMER FOR A PRODUCT AND PRICING OF AT LEAST ONE OFFER OF THE ONE OR MORE OFFERS 410

FIGURE 4

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CUSTOMER RETENTION TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The presently disclosed subject matter generally relates to the field of customer service. Particularly, the present subject matter relates to system and method for customer retention. The system and method may enable customers to access a better deal from their provider such as, a bank. Further, the system and method disclosed herein may enable the provider (e.g. a bank) to retain, deepen and acquire customer relationships.

BACKGROUND

[0002] It would be attractive, practically and commercially, to provide a system that may enable providers to retain their customers.

[0003] Customer attrition is a critical and sustained issue for product and service providers. Although a number of systems exist to reduce customer attrition, their effectiveness is limited by an inability to accurate intercept customers at risk of attrition at the critical moment - when they are in market considering other providers.

[0004] Loyal customers such as, but not limited to, banking customers often find themselves on products and pricing that are less competitive than that offered to new customers, however few take action due to the complexity and effort of re-evaluating, renegotiating or switching. Providers, such as banks, want to do more to retain and strengthen these customer relationships, however existing intermediaries, such as comparison sites and brokers, provide little support - instead their systems, methods and business models drive customer switching and churn.

[0005] Proactive retention systems attempt to predict which customers are at risk of attrition via statistical models of customer data or the identification of attrition trigger events. These systems then implement marketing strategies to retain these customers. The inability to predict which customers are at risk of attrition with any high degree of certainty is the key issue with proactive retention. Consequently, the retention marketing investment is often directed towards the wrong customers.

[0006] Reactive retention systems intercept customer account closure requests and then seek to persuade the customer not to close their account. The key issue with reactive retention is timing, specifically the retention effort often occurs after the customer has opened an account with a new provider.

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate the above discussed disadvantages of the prior art, or at least offer a useful alternative.

SUMMARY

[0008] To overcome the above-mentioned limitations and problems, the present disclosure provides a customer retention system configured to provide a marketplace where customers can instantly access a better deal from their current provider such as, but not limited to, a bank, while they are searching for and considering offers from new providers such as, new banks. Further, the customer retention system is configured to present information in clear and simple terms so the customer can quickly decide whether to stay with their current provider or go with someone new. Further, the customer retention system is configured to fulfill the outcome end-to-end for the customers and the providers, and monitor the outcome over time to ensure it remains competitive. This way, the customer retention system may help providers (such as incumbent banks) to retain existing customers and acquire a greater share of their business. In some embodiments, the customer retention system may help new providers (such as new banks) to acquire customers in a highly targeted way.

[0009] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a customer retention system (hereinafter referred as system). The system includes a data capturing device configured to capture market and customer data from at least one data source, wherein the market and customer data comprises data about at least one customer, provider data, and market data. The system also includes a profiling and assessment device configured to build a customer profile for the at least one customer. Further, the system includes an offers generating device configured to: determine one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile in real-time; and present the determined one or more offers to the at least one customer in real-time. Furthermore, the system includes a communication device configured to capture an acceptance or application of the at least one customer for a product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers.

[0010] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the one or more offers may include at least one of retention offers, consolidation offers and acquisition offers. Further the consolidation offers may include an offer from an incumbent provider for the customer to consolidate their accounts with the incumbent provider.

[0011] In some embodiments, the market and customer data may include at least one of a plurality of marketplace parameters, customers' objectives, customers' requirements, customers' product and account data, and credit bureau data. Further, the marketplace parameters may be associated with a provider of the plurality of providers.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the offers generating device is further configured to monitor the one or more fulfilled offers of the one or more offers to ensure the one or more fulfilled offers remain competitive with respect to other offers being provided in a market. The one or more fulfilled offers may include at least one of an accepted offer, an applied for and approved offer, and an existing account.

[0013] In some embodiments, the one or more offers are personalised offers determined by the offers generating device for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the offer generating device generates the one or more offers by defining a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates; and running the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters. The providers' marketplace parameters may include at least one of parameters predefined by the provider and stored within the system or sourced from the provider in real-time via an application programming interface (API) call to at least one of the providers and a nominated third party.

[0015] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the communication device is further configured to provide a feedback on the customer profile to the at least one customer. Further, the communication device may advise incumbent providers of the plurality of providers to update a product and pricing for the at least one customer. The communication device may also refer at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers, wherein the at least one application includes agreed product and pricing. Furthermore, the communication device may deliver a performance reporting to the plurality of providers.

[0016] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the customer retention system also includes a marketing device. The marketing device may identify at least one market change and notify the at least one customer about the at least one market change. Further, the marketing device may determine and provide a periodic review of the one or more fulfilled offers to the at least one customer. The market change may include market changes that are relevant to the at least one customer, and hence changes that the at least one customer might be notified about. An example would be a pricing change to their product, or a significant improvement in competitor products.

[0017] In some embodiments, the communication device may also validate a correct fulfilment of an offer for the benefit of the customer and the provider. Further, the communication device may assist providers to ensure they have correctly fulfilled the offer.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the customer retention system also includes a user registration device configured to enable a plurality of users to register with the customer retention system, wherein the plurality of users comprises the plurality of customers and the plurality of providers.

[0019] Further, in some embodiments, the system may also include a storage device configured to store and update market and customer data, providers' data, offer acceptances and applications, and the one or more offers.

[0020] In some embodiments, the customer retention system is configured to be integrated into the user interface of a channel. The non-limiting examples of the channel may include a website, a mobile application, and a desktop application.

[0021] Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for customer retention by using a customer retention system. The method includes capturing, by a data capturing device, market and customer data from at least one data source. The market and customer data may include data about at least one customer, provider data, and market data. The method also includes building, by a profiling and assessment device, a customer profile for the at least one customer. Further, the method includes determining, by an offers generating device, one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile. The method also includes presenting, by the offers generating device, the determined one or more offers to the at least one customer. The method further includes capturing, by a communication device, an acceptance or application of the at least one customer for the product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers.

[0022] In some embodiments, the one or more offers comprise at least one of retention offers, consolidation offers, and acquisition offers. Further, the consolidation offers may include an offer from an incumbent provider for the customer to consolidate their accounts with the incumbent provider.

[0023] In some embodiments, the market and customer data may include at least one of a plurality of marketplace parameters, customers' objectives, customers' requirements, customers' product and account data, and credit bureau data. The marketplace parameters may be of a provider and hence may also be referred as provider marketplace parameters. Further, provider marketplace parameters may include provider's offers, and provider's one or more rules regarding which customers are presented with what offers (i.e. their marketplace strategy).

[0024] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the method also includes: monitoring, by the offers generating device, one or more fulfilled offers of the one or more offers to ensure the one or more fulfilled offers remain competitive with respect to other offers being provided in a market, wherein the one or more fulfilled offers comprise at least one of an accepted offer, an applied for and approved offer, and an existing account.

[0025] According to another aspect of the present disclosure the one or more offers are personalised offers determined by the offers generating device for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile.

[0026] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, defining, by the offer generating device, a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates. Further, the method includes running, by the offer generating device, the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters, wherein the providers' marketplace parameters comprise at least one of parameters predefined by the provider and stored within the system or sourced from the provider in real-time via an application programming interface (API) call to at least one of the provider and a nominated third party.

[0027] According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the method also includes providing, by the communication device, a feedback on the customer profile to the at least one customer.

[0028] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the method also includes advising, by the communication device, incumbent providers of the plurality of providers to update a product and pricing for the at least one customer. The method further includes referring, by the communication device, at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers. The at least one application may include agreed product and pricing. Further, the method may include delivering, by the communication device, a performance reporting to the plurality of providers.

[0029] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the method also includes identifying, by a marketing device, at least one market change and notifying, by the marketing device, the at least one customer about the at least one market change. The method may also include determining and providing, by the marketing device, a periodic review of the one or more fulfilled offers to the at least one customer.

[0030] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the method also includes enabling, by a user registration device, a plurality of users to register with the customer retention system, wherein the plurality of users comprises the plurality of customers and the plurality of providers.

[0031] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method also includes validating, by the communication device, a correct fulfilment of an offer for the benefit of the customer and the provider. The method may also include assisting, by the communication device, the providers to ensure they have correctly fulfilled the offer.

[0032] In some embodiments, the method may include storing and updating, in a storage device, market and customer data, providers' data, applications, and the one or more offers.

[0033] In some embodiments, the method may also include integrating, the customer retention system, into a user interface of a channel comprising at least one of a website, a mobile application, and a desktop application.

[0034] Other and further aspects and features of the disclosure will be evident from reading the following detailed description of the embodiments, which are intended to illustrate, not limit, the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] The illustrated embodiments of the disclosed subject matter will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. The following description is intended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain selected embodiments of devices, systems, and processes that are consistent with the disclosed subject matter as claimed herein.

[0036] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary environment, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary environment, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] Figure 1C is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary environment, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] Figure 1D is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary environment, according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0040] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating various system elements of an exemplary customer retention system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0041] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating various system elements of another exemplary system for retaining and/or acquiring one or more customer, in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0042] Figure 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating a method for providing one or more offers to at least one customer by using the exemplary customer retention system of Figure 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The following detailed description is made with reference to the figures. Exemplary embodiments are described to illustrate the disclosure, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a number of equivalent variations in the description that follows.

[0044] The functional units described in this specification have been labelled as devices. A device may be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as processors, digital signal processors, central processing units, field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices, cloud processing systems, or the like. The devices may also be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified device may include executable code and may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions, which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, function, or other construct. Nevertheless, the executable of an identified device need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different locations which, when joined logically together, comprise the device and achieve the stated purpose of the device.

[0045] Indeed, an executable code of a device could be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different applications, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated herein within the device, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, as electronic signals on a system or network.

[0046] Reference throughout this specification to "a select embodiment," "one embodiment," or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosed subject matter. Thus, appearances of the phrases "a select embodiment," "in one embodiment," or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.

[0047] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the disclosed subject matter can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the disclosed subject matter.

[0048] In accordance with the exemplary embodiments, the disclosed computer programs or devices can be executed in many exemplary ways, such as an application that is resident in the memory of a device or as a hosted application that is being executed on a server and communicating with the device application or browser via a number of standard protocols, such as, but not limited to, TCP/IP, HTTP, XML, SOAP, REST, JSON and other sufficient protocols. The disclosed computer programs can be written in any existing or future developed programming languages that execute from memory on the device or from a hosted server, such as, but not limited to, BASIC, COBOL, C, C++, Java, Pascal, or scripting languages such as JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Perl or other sufficient programming languages (or an existing or future developed programming language).

[0049] Some of the disclosed embodiments include or otherwise involve data transfer over a network, such as communicating various inputs or files over the network. The network may include, for example, one or more of the Internet, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), analogue or digital wired and wireless telephone networks (e.g., a PSTN, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a cellular network, and Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL)), radio, television, cable, satellite, and/or any other delivery or tunnelling mechanism for carrying data. The network may include multiple networks or sub networks, each of which may include, for example, a wired or wireless data pathway. The network may include a circuit-switched voice network, a packet switched data network, or any other network able to carry electronic communications. For example, the network may include networks based on the Internet protocol (IP) or asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and may support voice using, for example, VoP, Voice-over-ATM, or other comparable protocols used for voice data communications. In one implementation, the network includes a cellular telephone network configured to enable exchange of text or SMS messages.

[0050] Examples of the network include, but are not limited to, a personal area network (PAN), a storage area network (SAN), a home area network (HAN), a campus area network (CAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a virtual private network (VPN), an enterprise private network (EPN), Internet, a global area network (GAN), and so forth.

[0051] The customer retention system of the present disclosure may be a single device or may include multiple devices for: capturing market and customer data comprising data about at least one customer from at least one data source; building a customer profile for the at least one customer; determining one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile of the at least one customer; presenting the determined one or more offers to the at least one customer; and capturing an acceptance or application of the at least one customer for the product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers. The customer retention system may also provide a feedback on the customer profile to the at least one customer; and advise incumbent providers of the plurality of providers to update a product and pricing for the at least one customer. In some embodiments, the customer retention system may refer at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers, wherein the at least one application includes agreed product and pricing. Further, the customer retention system may deliver a performance reporting to the plurality of providers. In some embodiments, identify at least one market change. Further, the customer retention system may be configured to notify the at least one customer about the at least one market change. The customer retention system may include software, hardware, firmware, and combination of these.

[0052] As used herein, a provider refers to a company, organisation, or person providing one or more products or services such as, but not limited to, financial services, banking services, telecommunications services, energy services, real-estate services, and so forth to a plurality of customers in a market (also referred as a marketplace). Further, the provider may refer to a person or company involved in providing one or more services or selling goods to the plurality of customers. The non-limiting examples of the provider may include a bank, a financial institution, a product selling company, an energy provider, a telecommunications provider, a transport provider, a cab pool service provider, and so forth. Further, the providers may include service providers and product providers.

[0053] As used herein, a customer may refer to a person who purchases, or uses goods or services of a provider. Further, the customer may include a consumer or a business. Further, in some embodiments, the customer may refer to a person who is searching (for buying or using) for one or more product or services in a marketplace. The marketplace may be an online marketplace offering one or more products and services to the customer (or a plurality of customers). In some embodiments, the marketplace may refer to offline marketplace. An example of the marketplace may include a marketing and a comparison website that may allow the customers (or users) to find and/or compare a plurality of providers for a product (e.g. a car) or a service (e.g. home insurance). The market in some embodiments may include one or more marketplaces (online or offline) providing or selling or comparing a product or service. The non-limiting examples of an online marketplace may include a comparison website, a marketing website, ecommerce website, or a mobile application (app).

[0054] As used herein, the term "customer profile" may include the customer's requirements, objectives, information about one or more providers the customer has a relationship with, one or more products, and accounts of the customer with each of the one or more providers, customer's usage information of each account, profitability of each account and the customer as a whole, risk profile of the customer that may include a credit risk profile and an attrition risk profile, and a customer loyalty score.

[0055] As used herein, the term "a data capturing device" may include a single device or multiple devices for capturing market and customer data comprising data about at least one customer from at least one data source. The data capturing device may include software, hardware, firmware, and any combination of these.

[0056] As used herein, the term "a profiling and assessment device" may include a single device or multiple devices for building a customer profile for the at least one customer. The profiling and assessment device may include software, hardware, firmware, and combination of these.

[0057] As used herein, the term "an offers generating device" may include a single device or multiple devices for determining one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile of the at least one customer; and presenting the determined one or more offers to the at least one customer. The offers generating device is further configured to monitor one or more fulfilled offers to ensure the one or more fulfilled offers remain competitive with respect to other offers being provided in a market. The one or more offers may be personalised offers. The offers generating device may generate the one or more offers by defining a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates; and running the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters, wherein the providers' marketplace parameters comprise at least one of parameters predefined by the provider and stored within the system or sourced from the provider in real-time via an application programming interface (API) call to at least one of the provider and a nominated third party. The offers generating device may include software, hardware, firmware, and combination of these.

[0058] As used herein, the term "retention offer" includes an offer from an incumbent provider that has the purpose of retaining one or more existing accounts associated with the customers.

[0059] As used herein, the term "consolidation offer" comprises an offer from an incumbent provider that has the purpose of retaining one or more existing accounts associated with the customers, and acquiring one or more accounts or customers currently held with one or more competitors.

[0060] As used herein, the term "fulfilled offers" comprise offers that have been accepted by the customer, applied for by the customer and approved by the provider, or an existing account held by the customer.

[0061] As used herein, the term "market changes" comprise events that may be relevant to a customer, such as pricing changes, new products, new features, and new providers. The non-limiting examples of the market change may include a pricing change to their product, or a significant improvement in competitor products.

[0062] As used herein, the term "provider data" comprises information about a provider such as information about provider's products and offers (the offers may be standard and personalised offers), and the parameters that define how the provider may compete in the marketplace to retain and acquire customers.

[0063] As used herein, the term "market data" comprises information about the market such as the information of the providers within the marketplace, providers' products and offers, market indexes, rates and statistics.

[0064] As used herein, the term "personalised offer" are offers that are tailored to an individual customer and may not be available to other customers.

[0065] As used herein, the term "marketplace parameters" comprises the offers and rules used by the customer retention system when determining which offers are available and presented to each customer. The marketplace parameters may be of a provider and hence may also be referred as provider marketplace parameters. Further, provider marketplace parameters may include provider's offers, and provider's one or more rules regarding which customers are presented with what offers (i.e. their marketplace strategy).

[0066] As used herein, the term "customer journey" comprises the path of sequential steps and interactions that a customer goes through for example while interacting with a channel such as a website, an application, and so forth.

[0067] As used herein, the term "communication device" refers to a single device or multiple devices for capturing an acceptance or application of the at least one customer for the product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers. In some embodiments, the communication device is further configured to: provide a feedback on the customer profile to the at least one customer; advise incumbent providers of the plurality of providers to update a product and pricing for the at least one customer; refer at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers, wherein the at least one application includes agreed product and pricing; and deliver a performance reporting to the plurality of providers. Further, the communication device may validate a correct fulfilment of an offer for the benefit of the at least one customer and the provider; and assist the providers to ensure they have correctly fulfilled the offer. The communication device may include software, hardware, firmware, and combination of these.

[0068] As used herein, the term "marketing device" refers to a single device or multiple devices configured to: identify at least one market change; notify the at least one customer about the at least one market change; and determine and provide a periodic review of the one or more fulfilled offers to the at least one customer. The marketing device may include software, hardware, firmware, and combination of these.

[0069] As used herein, the term "user registration device" refers to a single device or devices configured to enable a plurality of users to register with the customer retention system, wherein the plurality of users comprising the plurality of customers and the plurality of providers. The user registration device may include software, hardware, firmware, and combination of these.

[0070] As used herein, the term "storage device" refers to a single device or devices configured to store and update market and customer data, providers' data, offer acceptances and applications, and the one or more offers. The storage device may include software, hardware, firmware, and combination of these.

[0071] The present disclosure provides a customer retention system configured to provide providers with a channel to capture customer attrition just before it happens.

[0072] The present disclosure provides a customer retention system configured to enable providers to intercept existing customers as they actively consider switching, and then present to them personalised retention offers. The system may provide a user interface or may be embedded within the user interface of online marketplaces, comparisons sites, or other channels. The customer retention system may consequently capture customers as they research alternative products. The system builds a comprehensive profile of a customer, including the products they have with different providers, how they use these products, their profitability, and their risk profile. Using this customer profile and the customer retention system, incumbent providers are able to present and fulfil personalised offers to the customer in real-time, mitigating the risk of attrition.

[0073] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary environment 100A, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the environment 100A includes a customer 102, a computing device 104 associated with the customer 102, a customer retention system 106, a plurality of providers 108A-108N, and at least one data source 110. A person ordinarily skilled in the art will understand that the environment 100A may include more than one customer 102. The customer 102 can be any person looking for products or services by using the computing device 104. An example of the customer 102 may include a person looking for options of a credit card. The customer 102 may use a mobile application or a website on the computing device 104 for searching for products or services. In some embodiments, the customer 102 may access the customer retention system 106 via the mobile application or the website on the computing device 104. The at least one data source 110 may provide market and customer data to the customer retention system 106. The non-limiting example of the at least one data source 110 may include a survey, an online database, a server, a customer database, an online marketplace, a website, and so forth. Further, the at least one data source 110 may include open banking platforms, or other open data platforms - i.e. where a government or industry implement a framework where customers can consent to share the data a provider holds on them with a third party - in Australia, it is the Consumer Data Right. Further, the at least one data source 110 may be based on screen scrapping where a customer provides their login details to a third party so that the third party can scrap the customer's account data via the provider's platform. The computing device 104 may be any suitable device configured to enable the customer 102 to connect to a network 112, such as internet, and access the customer retention system 106. The non-limiting example of the computing device 104 may include, but are not limited to, a computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a smart television (TV), a smart watch, and so forth. The customer 102 may access the customer retention system 106 via a mobile application, a desktop application or a website on the computing device 104 to search, compare, or select a better product or service (such as, but not limited to credit card, home insurance, health insurance, car, etc.).

[0074] The customer 102 may access the customer retention system 106 on the computing device 104 via the network 112. In some embodiments, the system 106 may ask the customer 102 (and the providers 108A-108N) to register with the system 106. In some embodiments, the customer 102 may access the customer retention system 106 as a website by entering a uniform resource locator (URL) in a browser application on the computing device 104. The non-limiting examples of the browser application may include such as, but not limited to, Safari, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and so forth. In alternative embodiments, the customer 102 can access the customer retention system 106 as an application such as, but not limited to, a mobile application or a desktop application on the computing device 104.

[0075] In some embodiments, the customer 102 can download the customer retention system 106 on the computing device 104 from the network 112. For example, the customer can download the system 106 as an application from such as, but not limited to, the Google Play store or Apple App store through the network 112. The customer retention system 106 may enable a plurality of users to register with the customer retention system 106. The plurality of users comprises a plurality of customers including the customer 102, and the plurality of providers 108A-108N.

[0076] Hereinafter, the terms "customer retention system", "system" or "retention system" may be used interchangeably without change in its meaning or functionality. The customer retention system 106 may be configured for capturing market and customer data comprising data about the customer 102, market data, and provider data from the at least one data source 110. The market data may include information about the market such as the information of the providers 108A-108N within the marketplace, providers' products and offers, market indexes, rates and statistics. The provider data may include information about a provider (e.g. provider 108A) such as information about provider's products and offers (the offers may be standard and personalised offers), and the parameters that define how the provider may compete in the marketplace to retain and acquire customers. In some embodiments, the market and customer data may include at least one of a plurality of marketplace parameters, customers' objectives, customers' requirements, customers' product and account data, and credit bureau data. The marketplace parameters may be associated with a provider and hence may also be referred as provider marketplace parameters. Further, provider marketplace parameters may include provider's offers, and provider's one or more rules regarding which customers are presented with what offers (i.e. their marketplace strategy). The system 106 may build a customer profile for the customer 102. The customer profile of the customer 102 may include the customer's requirements, objectives, information about one or more providers the customer 102 has a relationship with, one or more products, and accounts of the customer with each of the one or more providers, customer's usage information of each account, profitability of each account and the customer as a whole, risk profile of the customer that may include a credit risk profile and an attrition risk profile, and a customer loyalty score.

[0077] In some embodiments, the customer retention system 106 may determine one or more offers in real-time for the customer 102 based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile of the customer 102. The system 106 may present the determined one or more offers in real-time to the customer 102. The one or more offers may include at least one of retention offers, consolidation offers and acquisition offers. In some embodiments, the consolidation offers may include an offer from an incumbent provider for the customer 102 to consolidate customer's accounts with the incumbent provider. The system 106 may generate the one or more offers by defining a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates; and running the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters. The providers' marketplace parameters may include at least one of parameters predefined by the provider and stored within the system or sourced from the provider in real-time via an application programming interface (API) call to at least one of the providers and a nominated third party.

[0078] The system 106 may also capture an acceptance or application of the customer 102 for a product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers. In some embodiments, the customer retention system 106 may refer at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers 108A-108N. The at least one application may include agreed product and pricing. In some embodiments, the at least one application may include details such as name, address, contact number, product/service requirement (e.g. a credit card, home lending, energy, telecommunication, a health insurance), financial information (e.g. income, expenses, assets, liabilities), etc. of the customer 102.

[0079] The system 106 is further configured to monitor the one or more fulfilled offers of the one or more offers to ensure that the one or more fulfilled offers remain competitive with respect to other offers being provided in a market. The one or more fulfilled offers may include such as, but not limited to, an accepted offer, an applied for and approved offer, and an existing account.

[0080] In some embodiments, the system 106 may identify at least one market change. The market change may include one or more market changes that are relevant to the customer 102, and hence changes that they might be notified about. An example would be a pricing change to their product e.g. a credit card, or a significant improvement in competitor products. Further, the system 106 may be configured to notify the at least one customer 102 about the at least one market change. Further, the system 106 may be configured to determine and provide a periodic review of the one or more fulfilled offers to the customer 102.

[0081] The system 106 may provide a feedback to the customer 102 on the customer profile. The system 106 may also advise incumbent providers of the plurality of providers 108A-108N to update a product and pricing for the customer 102. The system 106 may refer at least one application of the customer 102 to at least one provider of the plurality of providers. The at least one application may include agreed product and pricing. Further, the system 106 may be configured to deliver a performance reporting to the plurality of providers 108A-108N.

[0082] The system 106 may also validate a correct fulfilment of an offer for the benefit of the customer 102 and the provider (e.g. 108A). The system 106 may also assist providers 108A-108N to ensure they have correctly fulfilled the offer.

[0083] Further, the system 106 may store and update market and customer data, providers' data, offer acceptances and applications, and the one or more offers. The system 106 is configured to be integrated into a user interface of a channel comprising at least one of a website, a mobile application, and a desktop application.

[0084] The customer retention system 106 may enable the plurality of providers 108A-108N to intercept existing customers as they actively consider switching, and then present to the customers (such as the customer 102) personalised retention, consolidation or acquisition offers.

[0085] In some embodiments, the system 106 may be embedded within a customer channel. The customer channel may be a means that allow the customer 102 to find better deals. The non-limiting examples of the customer channel may include an online marketplace, a comparison website, a broker, an offer finding application, a provider's website, a provider's application, and so forth. Figure 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary environment 100B, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the system 106 may be embedded within an online marketplace 114 (for example, in a user interface of online marketplaces and comparisons sites). In some embodiments, the system 106 may define the online marketplace 114 including product categories and features; and customer segmentation dimensions, such as needs, product usage, profitability, and risk. The online marketplace 114 may exist in the form of data structures and algorithms on a server and database. In some embodiments, the system 106 may define and maintain a plurality of customer retention strategy rules, customer acquisition rules, and customer consolidation rules by participating providers such as the providers 108A-108N. In some embodiments, the rules may define how the provider may participate within the marketplace, and therefore what offers may be presented to different customers. The customer retention strategy rules may relate to products and customers within the online marketplace 114. These rules may be stored in a secure database or a storage device of the system 106.

[0086] The retention system 106 is integrated within a user interface (UI) of a channel through which customers search for a better deal on marketplace products. In some embodiments, the channel may be a website, a mobile application, and a desktop application. In some embodiments, the retention system 106 may seamlessly integrate one or more offers such as, retention offers into the UI of a comparisons site, marketplace (online or offline marketplace), etc. The examples of the online marketplace 114 may further include an online comparison site, a personal financial management (PFM) application, a broker, or any other third-party distribution channel. A non-limiting example of the broker may include an insurance broker. The broker may refer to a broker's website, a broker's application or a person accessing the system 106 for finding and providing a deal to the customer 102. The customer 102 may access the online marketplace 114 (or other customer channels) via the computing device 104 such as smartphone and desktop computers etc. Integration may include APIs to the retention system 106 functions that are performed on a central server, and user interface augmentation.

[0087] The customer channel i.e. the online marketplace 114 can be augmented with the system 106 or a retention method of the present disclosure for capturing the necessary information to build a customer profile for use by the system 106. Customer surveys and data sharing APIs are examples of methods that may be used for capturing the information. The system 106 may consequently capture customers data as the customers (such as the customer 102) research alternative products via such a marketplace. The system 106 may build a comprehensive profile of the customer 102, including the products they have with different providers, how they use these products, their profitability, their risk profile, and their customer loyalty score.

[0088] The customer journey of the channel and user interface are augmented such that personalised offers may be presented to, and accepted by a customer while they are searching for alternatives. The customer journey may include a path of sequential steps and interactions that a customer goes through for example while interacting with the channel. One or more offers comprising at least one of retention offers and consolidation offers may be served to the channel via an application programming interface (API) to the online marketplace 114. In some embodiments, the one or more offers comprising at least on of retention offers and consolidation offers may be fulfilled via an API to the retention system 106. In some embodiments, the retention system 106 may determine and present acquisition offers to the customer 102. The acquisition offers are the offers presented by the other providers of the providers 108A-108N.

[0089] In some embodiments, using this profile and the retention system 106, incumbent providers such as the providers 108A-108N are able to present and fulfil personalised offers to the customer 102 in real-time, mitigating the risk of attrition.

[0090] In an exemplary scenario, the online marketplace 114 may be a credit card marketplace that may allow a plurality of customers to search and/or compare one or more credit cards. For a credit card marketplace, the at least one data source 110 may include a database of current, publicly available credit card offers, a database of personalised credit card offers (not publicly available) for customer retention, consolidation and acquisition, parameters that determine when specific personalised offers will be available, and so forth. For example, the customer 102 visits the website of the customer retention system 106 to find a better credit card (in comparison to his/her existing credit card(s)). The system 106 may ask the customer to complete a survey requesting what credit cards the customer 102 currently have and how the customer 102 use those existing credit cards. The system 106 based on the captured data (i.e. the survey data) may determine one or more personalised offers comprising retention, consolidation and acquisition offers for which the customer 102 is eligible. The system 106 may also determine one or more offers (retention, consolidation and acquisition) that are most suitable for the customer 102 based on the market and customer data and the customer profile and then the system 106 presents these offers to the customer 102 for consideration. In some embodiments, the offers are anonymized as commercial arrangements may need to be implemented with credit card providers. In some embodiments, the system may allow the customer 102 to register their interest in an offer, and the user might not be required to accept the offer.

[0091] Figure 1C is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary environment 100C, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the environment 100C includes a provider (108A), a provider channel 116A configured to interface and interact with the customer retention system 106. The non-limiting examples of the provider channel may include a provider's website and a provider's application. In the environment 100C, the customer retention system 106 interfaces directly with a provider (108A) the provider's corresponding channel (116A) e.g. the provider's website or app, the provider's frontline support software. There can be more than one provider and more than one provider channel that can interface with the customer retention system 106. For example, there may be a provider 108B that may have a provider channel (116B, not shown).

[0092] Figure 1D is a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplary environment 100D, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the customer 102 can deal with a provider person 118. The non-limiting examples of the provider person 118 may include a frontline staff at a provider of the providers 108A 108N, or a broker. The provider person 118 may use a computing device 120 to access and interact with the customer retention system 106. In an exemplary scenario, the customer 102 may advise the provider person 118 that they are not satisfied with their existing product or service and the provider person 118 may capture and enter the customer 102's requirements into the customer retention system 106 for searching for at least one offer as per customer's requirement. The customer retention system 106 may present the provider person 118 with one or more offers for the customer 102 to assist the provider to retain the customer 102.

[0093] Figure 2 is a block diagram 200 illustrating various system elements of the exemplary customer retention system 202, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The customer retention system 202 (or system 202) primarily includes data capturing device 204, a profiling and assessment device 206, an offers generating device 208, a communication device 210, a marketing device 212, a user registration device 214 and a storage device 216.

[0094] The data capturing device 204 is configured to capture market and customer data comprising data about at least one customer, market data, and provider data from at least one data source. The market data may include information about the market such as the information of the providers 108A-108N within the marketplace, providers' products and offers, market indexes, rates and statistics. The provider data may include information about a provider (e.g. provider 108A) such as information about provider's products and offers (the offers may be standard and personalised offers), and the parameters that define how the provider may compete in the marketplace to retain, consolidate and acquire customers. In some embodiments, the market and customer data comprising at least one of a plurality of marketplace parameters, customers' objectives, customers' requirements, customers' product and account data, and credit bureau data. The marketplace parameters may be of a provider and hence may also be referred as provider marketplace parameters. Further, the provider marketplace parameters may include provider's offers, and provider's one or more rules regarding which customers are presented with what offers (i.e. their marketplace strategy).

[0095] The profiling and assessment device 206 may be configured to build a customer profile for the at least one customer. The customer profile of the at least one customer may include the customer's requirements, objectives, information about one or more providers the customer 102 has a relationship with, one or more products, and accounts of the at least one customer with each of the one or more providers, customer's usage information of each account, profitability of each account and the at least one customer as a whole, risk profile of the at least one customer that may include a credit risk profile and an attrition risk profile, and a customer loyalty score. In some embodiments, when a provider is a financial institution such as a bank, then the profiling and assessment device 206 may complete credit assessment of the at least one customer.

[0096] The offers generating device 208 is configured to enable the providers (See 108A-108N in Figure 1A) to configure their offers and marketplace parameters via one or more configuration means. The non-limiting examples of the configuration means may include an online provider portal and a file upload.

[0097] The offers generating device 208 is configured to determine one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile of the at least one customer in real-time. Further, the offers generating device 208 is configured to present the determined one or more offers to the at least one customer in real-time. In some embodiments, the one or more offers comprising at least one of retention offers, consolidation offers and acquisition offers. The one or more offers may include personalised offers determined by the offers generating device 208 for the at least one customer.

[0098] In an embodiment, the offers generating device 208 may determine the one or more offers for the customer by defining a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates; and by running the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters (i.e. what offer to present to which type of customer. The providers' marketplace parameters comprise at least one of parameters predefined by the provider and stored within the system or sourced from the provider in real-time via an application programming interface (API) call to at least one of the providers and a nominated third party. The one or more offers may be based on one or more offer conditions. The one or more offer conditions are conditions that a provider may place on an offer for the customer (such as the customer 102) to be eligible for the offer. For example, the customer 102 may need to spend $5,000 on their credit card issued by the provider 108A in the first 3 months, the customer 102 may need to keep their bank account open for at least 2 years with the provider 108A (e.g. a bank), or the customer 102 may need to close an account with a competitor of the provider 108A. The one or more offer conditions may be part of the provider data or the provider marketplace parameters.

[0099] In some embodiments, the offers generating device 208 is further configured to monitor the one or more offers to ensure the one or more fulfilled offers remain competitive with respect to other offers being provided in a market. The one or more fulfilled offers may include such as, but not limited to, an accepted offer, an applied for and approved offer, and an existing account. Further, the offers generating device 208 is further configured to monitor and enforce customer compliance with offer conditions. For example, if there's an offer condition that the customer must spend $5,000 on their credit card within the next 3 months, the offers generating device 208 may track the customer's spending to ensure they comply with the offer condition(s).

[00100] The communication device 210 may communicate with the customer to advise if they are on track to comply or not, and if the customer fails to comply, the offers generating device 208 may assist the provider to ensure that customer no longer receives the benefit of the offer. The communication device 210 is configured to capture an acceptance or application of the at least one customer for a product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers. In some embodiments, the communication device 210 is further configured to provide a feedback to the at least one customer on the customer profile. The communication device 210 is also configured to advise incumbent providers of the plurality of providers to update a product and pricing for the at least one customer. Further, the communication device 210 is configured to refer at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers 108A-108N. The at least one application may include agreed product and pricing. In some embodiments, the at least one application may include details such as name, address, contact number, product/service requirement (e.g. a credit card, home lending, energy, telecommunication, a health insurance), financial information (e.g. income, expenses, assets, liabilities), etc. of the customer 102.

[00101]The communication device 210 may also be configured to deliver a performance reporting to the plurality of providers; validate a correct fulfilment of an offer for the benefit of the at least one customer and the provider; and assist the providers to ensure they have correctly fulfilled the offer.

[00102] In some embodiments, the communication device 210 may enable the providers to see, and bid on the customer's entire need (e.g. multi-product) rather than a single product. For example, incumbent providers can see that their customer has product holdings with other providers and can therefore construct retention offers that require the customer to consolidate all products / needs to them (a consolidation offer). In another example, a new provider can see the customer's entire need, which may include multiple products or services and make an offer for the customer's entire business / need.

[00103] The marketing device 212 is configured to identify at least one market change that may be relevant to the at least one customer; and notify the at least one customer about the at least one market change. Further, the marketing device 212 is further configured to determine and provide a periodic review of the one or more offers to the at least one customer.

[00104] The user registration device 214 may be configured to enable a plurality of users to register with the customer retention system 202. The plurality of users may include the plurality of customers and a plurality of providers. As discussed with reference to Figures 1A-1D, the user registration device 214 may ask the user such as the customer 102 to register with the system 202 when the user accesses the system 202 or the customer channel integrated with the system 202.

[00105] The storage device 216 is configured to store and update market and customer data, providers' data, applications, and the one or more offers. A person ordinarily skilled in the art will understand that the system 202 may include more or less devices than shown in the Figure 2.

[00106]The customer retention system 202 may enable providers to more effectively implement retention strategies. The customer retention system 202 may enable the plurality of providers in accurate identification of customers at risk of attrition; to intercept 'at risk' customers moments before they apply for a product with a different provider. Further, the customer retention system 202 may individually profile'at risk'customers and determine an appropriate personalised retention offer in real-time. The customer retention system 202 may seamlessly integrate a retention offer within the user interface that the customer is using to research alternative providers and products and implement and enforce retention offer conditions, such as the requirement to consolidate accounts currently held with a competitor provider. The one or more offers may be based on offer conditions. The offer conditions may include conditions that a provider may place on an offer for a customer to be eligible for the offer. For example, an offer condition of the provider 108A may be that the customer 102 may need to spend $5,000 on their credit card issued by the provider 108A in the first 3 months, and/or the customer 102 may need to keep their bank account open for at least 2 years with the provider 108A (e.g. a bank), and/or the customer 102 may need to close an account with a competitor of the provider 108A. The one or more offer conditions may be part of the provider data or the provider marketplace parameters.

[00107] Figure 3 is a block diagram 300 illustrating various system elements of an exemplary customer retention system for retaining and/or acquiring one or more customer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the system enables incumbent providers to: intercept customers who are at risk of attrition as they are searching for an alternative product from a new provider; and deliver these customers with personalised retention offers, seamlessly integrated within a user interface such as, in an online marketplace used by the customer for comparing a product or service of a provider.

[00108]As shown, the customer retention system is configured to define a marketplace including: product categories and features; and customer segmentation dimensions, such as needs, product usage, profitability, and risk. This marketplace may exist in the form of data structures and algorithms on a server and database.

[00109] The customer retention system may also define one or more customer retention strategy rules, customer acquisition rules, and customer consolidation rules that may be maintained by participating providers. The customer retention strategy rules may relate to products and customers within the marketplace. These rules may be stored in a secure database, or may be provided via an API.

[00110]In some embodiments, the customer retention system is integrated within a customer channel through which customers search for a better deal on marketplace products. An online comparison site, a personal financial management (PFM) application, and a mortgage broker are examples of such customer channel. The customer channel (such as an online marketplace) may be accessed via computing devices such as, but not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop, and a desktop computer. Integration includes application programming interfaces (APIs to customer retention system functions that are performed on a central server, and user interface augmentation.

[00111] The channel (also referred to as a customer channel) integrated with the retention system may be configured for (or may be augmented with a method for) capturing the necessary information to build a customer profile against the marketplace segmentation. Customer surveys and data sharing APIs are examples of methods that may be used for capturing the information of the customers.

[00112] Further, the customer journey on the channel and user interface may be augmented such that personalised retention offers may be presented to, and accepted by a customer while they are searching for alternatives. The system may generate the personalised retention offers for the customer based on at least one of the captured data and customer journey. The customerjourney may include customer's interaction activities (current or past) with a particular channel. The system may present the personalised retention offers to the customer via the user interface. In some embodiments, the retention offers are served to the channel via an API to the marketplace device. In some embodiments, the retention offers are fulfilled via an API to the retention system. The customer retention system may accurately identify customers at risk of attrition, and enables appropriate retention offers to be delivered to a customer at the most critical moment - just before they apply for a product from a new provider. The customer retention system may support providers in customer retention, customer consolidation, and enhancing the value proposition of comparison sites, marketplaces and personal financial management (PFM) services.

[00113] In an embodiment, the customer retention system may enable a provider (e.g. a bank) to configure their customer retention strategy for a given product within the marketplace (such as the online marketplace 114 of Figure 1B) by utilising one of the available customer channels. In some embodiments, the provider may use a customer channel such as, but not limited to, an online provider portal, an application, or a configuration file. A secure online portal is one example of a channel. The customer retention strategy may define what personalised offer to present to each customer when they are at risk of attrition. When a customer has been presented with and has accepted a retention offer via the retention system, the system may send a request to the provider to fulfil the retention offer. The provider actions the retention offer fulfilment. The provider may receive a reporting from the retention system regarding the effectiveness of its customer retention strategy. The provider may choose to adapt its customer retention strategy to improve its effectiveness.

[00114] In an exemplary scenario, when a customer searches online for a better deal, the customer may visit a website that compares deals across the market. The customer may share some information about their needs and existing arrangements with the website. The customer retention system receives this information and creates a profile for the customer. The customer retentions system may determine one or more offers for the customer based on the profile and the information shared by the customer. The customer retention system then may present the one or more offers comprising an offer from their existing provider, as well as some offers from new providers to the customer. The offer from their existing provider may be significantly better than what the customer have today (i.e. at present times) and can be accepted by the customer simply by clicking 'accept'. The offers presented to the customer may include some other offers from new providers that are better, however the customer may need to apply and switch. In some embodiments, the customer decides to accept the offer from their existing provider which is good enough and can be completed much more easily.

[00115]Figure 4 is a flowchart diagram illustrating a method 400 for presenting one or more offers to at least one customer by using the exemplary customer retention system of Figure 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As discussed with reference to Figures 1A, 1B, 2, and 3, the customer 102 can access the customer retention system 202 (or 106) from the computing device 104 as a website or through the marketplace 114. In some embodiments, the customer 102 can access the customer retention system 202 as a mobile application. In some embodiments, the user registration device 214 may enable a plurality of users, such as the customer 102, to register with the customer retention system 202. The plurality of users may include the plurality of customers and the plurality of providers. The method 400 initiates at step 402.

[00116] When the customer 102 accesses the online marketplace 114, the system 202 (or 106) may ask the customer 102 to provide some information such as, via a survey or one or more questions. At step 402, the system 202 captures market and customer data from at least one data source. The market and customer data may include customer data, provider data and market data. The customer data may include information about a customer such as the customer 102, and their product needs, preferences and usage. The provider data may include information about a provider, their products, offers (standard and personalised offers), and the parameters that define how the provider may compete in the marketplace to retain, consolidate and acquire customers (i.e. their retention, consolidation and acquisition strategies). The market data may include information about the market, the providers within it including those that may not be directly participating, the products they offer including grandfathered products no longer for sale that customer may hold, and other information, for example the current 'cash rate', 'interchange rates' (in the case of the credit card market). In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the data capturing device 204 captures the market and customer data comprising at least one of a plurality of marketplace parameters, customers' objectives, customers' requirements, customers' product and account data, and credit bureau data.

[00117] Then at step 404, the system 202 builds a customer profile for the at least one customer 102. In some embodiments, the profiling and assessment device 206 builds the customer profile for the customer 102. The customer profile may include information about the customer such as, but not limited to, customer behaviour and product usage, customer needs, customer profitability, customer loyalty score. In some embodiments, the customer profile may include a credit assessment. In an exemplary scenario, when the provider is a bank or financial institution, then the profiling and assessment device 206 may complete credit assessment of the customer. In some embodiments, the profiling and assessment device 206 may complete a credit assessment of the at least one customer 102.

[00118] At step 406, the system 202 determines one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile. In some embodiments, the offers generating device 208 may determine the one or more offers based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile of the customer 102. In some embodiments, the one or more offers may be determined by the offers generating device 208 by defining a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates; and running the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters (i.e. what offer to present which type of customer). The providers' marketplace parameters may be predefined by the provider and stored within the system 202, or sourced from the provider in real-time via an API call to the provider or a nominated third party. The system 202 may allow the providers to configure their offers and marketplace parameters e.g. via an online provider portal (i.e. provider channel), or via a file upload into the system 202. Further, the system 202 may enable the providers to see, and bid on the customer's entire need (e.g. multi-product) rather than a single product. The system 202 may allow the incumbent providers to see that their customer has product holdings with other providers and allow them therefore to construct retention offers that require the customer to consolidate all products / needs to them (a consolidation offer). Further, the system 202 may allow a new provider to see the customer's entire need (which may include multiple products) and make an offer for the customer's entire business / need.

[00119] At step 408, the system 202 may present the one or more offers to the customer 102. In some embodiments, the offers generating device 208 presents the one or more offers to the customer 102. In some embodiments, the one or more offers are personalised offers determined by the offers generating device 208 for the customer 102.

[00120]At step 410, the system 202 captures an acceptance or application of the customer 102 for a product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers. In some embodiments, the communication device 210 captures the acceptance or application of the customer 102 for the product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers.

[00121]In an exemplary scenario, a customer, such as the customer 102 of Figures 1A-1D, accesses the customer retention system 106 e.g. via a URL in the browsing application or via a mobile application on the computing device 104. The customer 102 may consent to share their bank account data via their associated Government right e.g. Australian Government's Consumer Data Right. The system 106 may present the customer 102 with one or more personalised retention offers from their current credit card provider. The system 106 may also present the customer 102 with, personalised acquisition offers from other credit card providers. The system 106 may enable the customer 102 to review details about each offer of the presented offers, including offer conditions, such as the need to consolidate accounts held with competitors. The system 106 may allow the customer 102 to accept the retention offer, or apply for an acquisition offer. The offer conditions may include one or more conditions that a provider may place on an offer for the customer 102 to be eligible. For example, the customer 102 may need to spend $5,000 on their credit card in the first 3 months, the customer 102 may need to keep his/her account open for at least 2 years, or they may need to close an account with a competitor of the provider. Offer conditions are part of the provider data or the provider marketplace parameters.

[00122] Further, the customer retention system 106 may monitor and enforce customer compliance with the offer conditions. For example, if there's a condition that the customer must spend $5,000 on their credit card of the provider within the next 3 months, the system 106 may track the customer's spending to ensure they comply with the offer condition. The system 106 may communicate with the customer 102 to advise if they are on track to comply or not, and if the customer 102 fails to comply, the system may assist the provider to ensure that customer no longer receives the benefit of the offer.

[00123] Further, the customer retention system 106 may validate correct fulfilment of an offer of the one or more offer. For the benefit of the customer 102 and the provider (e.g. provider 108A), the system 106 may assist the providers 108A-108N to ensure that they have correctly fulfilled the offer, i.e. a correct product and pricing, and the correct awarding of event driven incentives such as, fee waivers, discounts, bonus reward points.

[00124] The customer retention system 106 may accurately identify customers at risk of attrition, and enables appropriate retention offers to be delivered to the customers (such as the customer 102) at the most critical moment - just before they apply for a product from a new provider. The customer retention system 106 may be useful for providers such as banks, telecommunications services, energy retailers, and insurance companies, as well as online comparison sites, marketplaces and personal financial management (PFM) service providers.

[00125] The disclosed systems and methods enable a plurality of providers to retain customers and deepen relationships through consolidation with them in real-time while those customers are considering switching.

[00126] Further, the disclosed systems and methods may enable the customers to access personalised offers that would otherwise not be available to the customers.

[00127] It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Various, presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art, which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

[00128] The above description does not provide specific details of manufacture or design of the various components. Those of skill in the art are familiar with such details, and unless departures from those techniques are set out, techniques, known, related art or later developed designs and materials should be employed. Those in the art are capable of choosing suitable manufacturing and design details.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. A customer retention system comprising: a data capturing device configured to capture market and customer data from at least one data source, wherein the market and customer data comprises data about at least one customer, provider data, and market data; a profiling and assessment device configured to build a customer profile for the at least one customer; and an offers generating device configured to: determine one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile in real-time; and present the determined one or more offers to the at least one customer in real time; and a communication device configured to capture an acceptance or application of the at least one customer for a product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers.
2. The customer retention system of claim 1, wherein the one or more offers comprise at least one of retention offers, consolidation offers and acquisition offers, wherein the consolidation offers comprise an offer from an incumbent provider for the customer to consolidate customer's accounts with the incumbent provider.
3. The customer retention system of claim 2, wherein the market and customer data comprises at least one of a plurality of marketplace parameters, customers' objectives, customers' requirements, customers' product and account data, and credit bureau data.
4. The customer retention system of claim 2, wherein the offers generating device is further configured to monitor the one or more fulfilled offers of the one or more offers to ensure the one or more fulfilled offers remain competitive with respect to other offers being provided in a market, wherein the one or more fulfilled offers comprise at least one of an accepted offer, an applied for and approved offer, and an existing account.
5. The customer retention system of claim 3, wherein the one or more offers are personalised offers determined by the offers generating device for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile.
6. The customer retention system of claim 1, wherein the offer generating device generates the one or more offers by: defining a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates; and running the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters, wherein the providers' marketplace parameters comprise at least one of parameters predefined by the provider and stored within the system or sourced from the provider in real-time via an application programming interface (API) call to at least one of the provider and a nominated third party.
7. The customer retention system of claim 1 wherein the communication device is further configured to: provide a feedback on the customer profile to the at least one customer; advise incumbent providers of the plurality of providers to update a product and pricing for the at least one customer; refer at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers, wherein the at least one application includes agreed product and pricing; and deliver a performance reporting to the plurality of providers.
8. The customer retention system of claim 4 further comprising a marketing device configured to: identify at least one market change; notify the at least one customer about the at least one market change; and determine and provide a periodic review of the one or more fulfilled offers to the at least one customer.
9. The customer retention system of claim 1 further comprising a user registration device configured to enable a plurality of users to register with the customer retention system, wherein the plurality of users comprises the plurality of customers and the plurality of providers.
1O.The customer retention system of claim 1, wherein the communication device is further configured to: validate a correct fulfilment of an offer for the benefit of the at least one customer and the provider; and assist the providers to ensure they have correctly fulfilled the offer.
11.The customer retention system of claim 1 further comprising a storage device configured to store and update market and customer data, providers' data, offer acceptances and applications, and the one or more offers.
12.The customer retention system of claim 1 is configured to be integrated into a user interface of a channel comprising at least one of a website, a mobile application, and a desktop application.
13.A method for customer retention by using a customer retention system, the method comprising: capturing, by a data capturing device, market and customer data from at least one data source, wherein the market and customer data comprises data about at least one customer, provider data, and market data; building, by a profiling and assessment device, a customer profile for the at least one customer; determining, by an offers generating device, one or more offers for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile; presenting, by the offers generating device, the determined one or more offers to the at least one customer; and capturing, by a communication device, an acceptance or application of the at least one customer for a product and pricing of at least one offer of the one or more offers.
14.The method of claim 13, wherein the one or more offers comprise at least one of retention offers, consolidation offers, and acquisition offers, wherein the consolidation offers comprise an offer from an incumbent provider for the customer to consolidate their accounts with the incumbent provider.
15.The method of claim 14, wherein the market and customer data comprises at least one of a plurality of marketplace parameters, customers' objectives, customers' requirements, customers' product and account data, and credit bureau data.
16. The method of claim 14 further comprising monitoring, by the offers generating device, one or more fulfilled offers of the one or more offers to ensure the one or more fulfilled offers remain competitive with respect to other offers being provided in a market, wherein the one or more fulfilled offers comprise at least one of an accepted offer, an applied for and approved offer, and an existing account.
17.The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more offers are personalised offers determined by the offers generating device for the at least one customer based on the captured market and customer data, and the customer profile.
18. The method of claim 13 further comprising: defining, by the offer generating device, a marketplace, including rules and parameters, under which it operates; and running, by the offer generating device, the customer profile through the marketplace, which contains each providers' marketplace parameters, wherein the providers' marketplace parameters comprise at least one of parameters predefined by the provider and stored within the system or sourced from the provider in real-time via an application programming interface call to at least one of the provider and a nominated third party.
19.The method of claim 13 further comprising: providing, by the communication device, a feedback on the customer profile to the at least one customer; advising, by the communication device, incumbent providers of the plurality of providers to update a product and pricing for the at least one customer; referring, by the communication device, at least one application of the at least one customer to at least one provider of the plurality of providers, wherein the at least one application includes agreed product and pricing; and delivering, by the communication device, a performance reporting to the plurality of providers.
20.The method of claim 13 further comprising: identifying, by a marketing device, at least one market change; notifying, by the marketing device, the at least one customer about the at least one market change; and determining and providing, by the marketing device, a periodic review of the one or more fulfilled offers to the at least one customer.
21.The method of claim 13 further comprising enabling, by a user registration device, a plurality of users to register with the customer retention system, wherein the plurality of users comprises the plurality of customers and the plurality of providers.
22.The method of claim 16 further comprising: validating, by the communication device, a correct fulfilment of an offer for the benefit of the at least one customer and the provider; and assisting, by the communication device, the providers to ensure they have correctly fulfilled the offer.
23.The method of claim 13 further comprising storing and updating, in a storage device, market and customer data, providers' data, offer acceptances and applications, and the one or more offers.
24. The method of claim 13 further comprising integrating, the customer retention system, into a user interface of a channel comprising at least one of a website, a mobile application, and a desktop application.