CA2974233A1

CA2974233A1 - Cash rebates program

Info

Publication number: CA2974233A1
Application number: CA2974233A
Authority: CA
Inventors: David S. Bull
Original assignee: 8940347 Canada Inc
Current assignee: 8940347 Canada Inc
Priority date: 2017-07-21
Filing date: 2017-07-21
Publication date: 2019-01-21

Abstract

The Invention is an improvement on traditional Consumer Rewards Programs and deals only with Cash Rebates that are recouped from unrelated Merchants each day via Bank Transfer and distributed to participants. Rebates are available for use when recouped; usually in two to three days. Customers can apply Rebates to future purchases at Merchants on the program. Customers must become members to participate and always have money in their account. They pay a One-time Membership Fee; a portion of which is allocated to their account. Identification is via a plastic card and/or download of a Smartphone App. Merchants are displayed on a website accessible via Internet or the Smartphone App. Merchants are searched via Business Type, Distance and Rebates offered. Merchants and Members earn Residual ongoing income for referring other Merchants and/or Members that is posted to their account as Rebates are recouped from their referrals. Therefore The Cash Rebates Apo Program This invention provides Consumers with a network of unrelated merchants who give rebates that can be redeemed within days of the original transaction, at any merchant on the network via an online accessible account. It also provides any of the participants to refer others to the program and earn on-going income with a simple scan of the existing participants QR Code.

Description

, Patent Application CA 2,974,233 English Title; Cash Rebates App Program French Title; Rabais en especes APP Programme Statement pursuant to subsection 37(1) of the Patent Rules;
The Applicant is the Inventor and a Shareholder of the Owner of the Patent;
8940347 Canada Inc. as stated on Form 3 ¨ Petition for Grant of a Patent Abstract of the Disclosure;
The Invention is an improvement on traditional Consumer Rewards Programs and deals only with Cash Rebates that are recouped from unrelated Merchants each day via Bank Transfer and distributed to participants. Rebates are available for use when recouped;
usually in two to three days. Customers can apply Rebates to future purchases at Merchants on the program.
Customers must become members to participate and always have money in their account. They pay a One-time Membership Fee; a portion of which is allocated to their account.
Identification is via a plastic card and/or download of a Smartphone App.
Merchants are displayed on a website accessible via Internet or the Smartphone App.
Merchants are searched via Business Type, Distance and Rebates offered.
Merchants and Members earn Residual ongoing income for referring other Merchants and/or Members that is posted to their account as Rebates are recouped from their referrals.
Therefore The Cash Rebates App Program This invention provides Consumers with a network of unrelated merchants who give rebates that can be redeemed within days of the original transaction, at any merchant on the network via an online accessible account.
It also provides any of the participants to refer others to the program and earn on-going income with a simple scan of the existing participants OR Code.
Background Consumer Rewards programs are widely used and designed to retain existing customers for businesses; they are not designed to bring new customers. They predominantly use a points system, or miles, as incentives that can only be redeemed in the stores or related corporate stores in which they are issued; i.e. they are a "closed loop" of businesses using a currency that is not interchangeable or usable at unrelated entities and can only be redeemed within their own businesses.

,

2 These types of programs are confusing to consumers as they do not know the value of the reward being offered as points being offered do not share a common industry value; hence the need for a Program using a common currency that everyone understands that can be used in many unrelated Merchants that is readily available within days of being earned.
Summary of the Invention The Cash Rebates App Program brings a readily understood currency (cash) in a form of a Rebate to the Consumer Rewards industry; that can be used by Members of the Program at totally unrelated businesses who enrol in the network.
Rebates are made available to Members within days of being earned and are held in a Trust account to assure participants of security of funds.
Funds generated by Rebates are transferred from Merchants to Members via the banking system and redeemable at Merchants when making Purchases; via bank transfer directly into the Merchant's bank account.
State of the art systems use QR Codes to identify Merchants and Members and tag activity on the program; as well as use these features to enable Members and Merchants to enrol others onto the Program and be paid for these referrals on an on-going basis.
Consumers have multiple sources of Income under this Program; i.e. Rebates, referral of Members and referral of Merchants.
Detailed Description 1. The Program is operated via a series of computer databases which are linked via the Internet. Each database remains the property of the entities that own the software and consist of but are not limited to Internet Advertising; recording of transactions, membership and balances of rebates held by Members.
2. Merchant transactions are held within the software but are not the owned by each Merchant.

3. Specific geographic zones are created based on population parameters within a defined geographical area.

4. Zones are notified to members as soon as a minimum number of merchants is reached in the zone.

5. Promotional advertising to members is controlled by Administrators of the Program to ensure it is performed in an effective and non-intrusive manner. Merchants will not be allowed to use the Program as a means to contact members without Administrator consent.

6. Merchants register their Goods and Services in one or more Categories and Business types as defined in the Program.

7. Merchant Terms of Use are specified on the Website and referred to in their Individual Agreement.

8. Member Terms of use are specified on the Application for Membership and posted on the Website.

9. Members register specific Personal Details to ensure security of their Membership and the setting up of an Individual Account specific to their own transactions.

10. Members must use a PIN (Personal Identification Number) on every transaction to authorize entries to their specific individual account.

11. Merchants are required to remit an amount (Rebate) that is agreed to in a separate Merchant Agreement, AFTER a Sale is Made via Electronic Transfer of Funds through the Banking System.

12. The Amount paid as a Rebate is Stipulated by the Merchant; with defined minimums and recorded in their individual Merchant Agreement and split between the Member and payment of advertising costs via this Program.

13. Rebates applicable to members are deposited into a Member Trust account which is held in a Trust bank account and recorded in virtual individual accounts for each Member.

14. Member Trust account balances are held at "arm's length" and independently managed by a Board of Trustees with No Outside Influence or control by the management of the Cash Rebates App program in order to ensure Autonomy and security of Members' Trust account amounts.

15. Reporting of transactions is made available online to Trustees of activities that support the Member Trust Account.

16. Withdrawals from the Member Trust Account are made by Members by redeeming a partial or full amount of the balance held in their trust account towards the Purchase of goods and Services from any of the Merchants on the Network. A PIN is required for every transaction.

17. Members can Close their Account and receive a refund of the Member Trust account balance Less a Nominal Administration Fee.

18. Rebates are forwarded to the Members Trust account AFTER a Sale is Made to enable rebates to be applied to future purchases at any Merchant in the Network. This ensures Members Always Have Rebates Available in their Account.

19. Having a Continuous balance available at all times for use at any Merchant Encourages Members to Buy from the Network of Merchants

20. Calculations of Rebates pertaining to the Sale are performed by Software supplied to the Merchant that encompasses extensive reporting to both Merchant and Members as well as registration of New Members and cancellation of Existing Memberships.

21. Membership entitles Members to earn Additional Rebates for recruiting Other Members as well as recommendations for Merchants to join the Network.

22. Members are Acquired through Direct Sales methods of various kinds in addition to recruitment from Existing Members, Merchants offering Membership to their Existing Clients Base; Charitable Organizations and Causes that depend on Donations to Function as well as Service Clubs and other means. All of these methods receive a share of the Revenue Generated.

23. Members find Merchants on Internet based systems via Cell Phones or on a website allowing Distance Parameters from their Location to be specified as well as Rebate Parameters, to allow members to choose the Merchant they want to visit.

24. Members can provide reviews of merchants they have dealt with by responding to a list of performance parameter questions. Review reporting is only allowed on a merchant by an entity that has completed a transaction with a Merchant.

25. Merchants use the Internet based systems to advertise their Rebate as well as describe Products and Services and can include video to enhance their advertising to attract Members.

26. Merchants are required to Pay for their Presence on the Network via a nominal monthly fee.

27. Merchants can elect to Recruit their existing Customer Base as Members of the Program and share in a portion of the Revenue Generated by their own Customers that Shop at other Merchants on the Network.

28. An Exclusive Territory is placed around Each Merchant to ensure that Competitors within the Territory Cannot join the program unless other Agreements are in effect for specified Business Areas

29. Charitable Organizations and Causes that Depend on Donations to operate;
can participate in the Program by recruiting Members from their Donor Base, as well as Advertise the Program on the Media they currently use. In addition, they can recommend Merchants to join the Network. A portion of the Stream of Revenue generated via both Members and Merchants is provided as stipulated in individual Agreements with Charitable organizations.

30. Each individual transaction is recorded by software contained in the membership module of the Program.

31. Extensive Reporting is provided to Charitable organizations to support Revenue being shared.

32. Extensive reporting is provided to Administrators of the Program to monitor effectiveness of the program by specific areas and Business categories and types.
The Embodiments of the Invention in Which an Exclusive Property of Privilege is Claimed are defined as Follows:
1. In a traditional customer rewards program, the reward is usually expressed as points, or miles and, in some cases, cash that is provided to an existing customer base and not assignable to non-related or other external businesses, the claims in this patent application consist of;
a. The ability to share and assign cash rebates earned by a Member that are provided by any merchant on the network to any other merchant on the network b. The ability to express rebates provided by Merchants as a common currency, i.e.
Cash.

Claims

23. Members find Merchants on Internet based systems via Cell Phones or on a website allowing Distance Parameters from their Location to be specified as well as Rebate Parameters, to allow members to choose the Merchant they want to visit.
24. Members can provide reviews of merchants they have dealt with by responding to a list of performance parameter questions. Review reporting is only allowed on a merchant by an entity that has completed a transaction with a Merchant.
25. Merchants use the Internet based systems to advertise their Rebate as well as describe Products and Services and can include video to enhance their advertising to attract Members.
26. Merchants are required to Pay for their Presence on the Network via a nominal monthly fee.
27. Merchants can elect to Recruit their existing Customer Base as Members of the Program and share in a portion of the Revenue Generated by their own Customers that Shop at other Merchants on the Network.
28. An Exclusive Territory is placed around Each Merchant to ensure that Competitors within the Territory Cannot join the program unless other Agreements are in effect for specified Business Areas 29. Charitable Organizations and Causes that Depend on Donations to operate;
can participate in the Program by recruiting Members from their Donor Base, as well as Advertise the Program on the Media they currently use. In addition, they can recommend Merchants to join the Network. A portion of the Stream of Revenue generated via both Members and Merchants is provided as stipulated in individual Agreements with Charitable organizations.
30. Each individual transaction is recorded by software contained in the membership module of the Program.
31. Extensive Reporting is provided to Charitable organizations to support Revenue being shared.
32. Extensive reporting is provided to Administrators of the Program to monitor effectiveness of the program by specific areas and Business categories and types.
The Embodiments of the Invention in Which an Exclusive Property of Privilege is Claimed are defined as Follows:

1. In a traditional customer rewards program, the reward is usually expressed as points, or miles and, in some cases, cash that is provided to an existing customer base and not assignable to non-related or other external businesses, the claims in this patent application consist of;
a. The ability to share and assign cash rebates earned by a Member that are provided by any merchant on the network to any other merchant on the network b. The ability to express rebates provided by Merchants as a common currency, i.e.
Cash.

c. The ability to transfer a portion of the initial one-time Membership Fee to a Member Trust account as an incentive to promote purchases via the system.
d. The ability to acquire rebates via bank transfer on an overnight basis, from Merchants that were earned in authorized transactions by Members; and allocate them to a Member Trust account.
e. The ability to make available the earned Rebates to Members as soon as receipt of bank transfers is obtained from Merchants and placed in a Member Trust account.
f. The ability to restrict the redemption of Rebates earned by Members to a network of participating Merchants on a network as a means to promote commerce within the network.
g. The ability to ensure a Member consistently has funds in a Member Trust account that can never be overdrawn or be in a deficit position.
h. The ability to restrict generation of funds being transferred to a Member Trust Account solely to Rebates earned from Merchants via authorized transactions.
i. The ability to transfer funds to Merchants from the Member Trust account via bank transfer as authorized by the Member during the processing of transactions j. The ability to recruit Members onto the Program via a Unique QR Code or account number assigned to the Participant; that tags the new Member to the recruiting participant as a means of assigning ongoing referral income k. The ability to recruit Merchants onto the Program via a Unique QR Code or account number assigned to the Participant; that tags the new Merchant to the recruiting participant as a means of assigning ongoing referral income I. The ability to search for a merchant via an APP on a smartphone or on the Internet via a combination of multiple parameters; specifically, geo-positioning from a smartphone or computer IP Address; Specific business type and Rebate amount offered by a Merchant.
m. The use of a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to authorize all transactions on the Program and validation of transfers into and withdrawals from the Member Trust account.