EP1417608A2 - Procede et appareil permettant d'acceder a un programme interactif de fidelisation par prime par le biais d'un reseau de radiocommunications - Google Patents

Procede et appareil permettant d'acceder a un programme interactif de fidelisation par prime par le biais d'un reseau de radiocommunications

Info

Publication number
EP1417608A2
EP1417608A2 EP00974722A EP00974722A EP1417608A2 EP 1417608 A2 EP1417608 A2 EP 1417608A2 EP 00974722 A EP00974722 A EP 00974722A EP 00974722 A EP00974722 A EP 00974722A EP 1417608 A2 EP1417608 A2 EP 1417608A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
reward
program
terminal device
rewards
wireless terminal
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP00974722A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Heikki Heinaro
Ari Pekka Varonen
Jukka Nihtila
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nokia Oyj
Original Assignee
Nokia Oyj
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nokia Oyj filed Critical Nokia Oyj
Publication of EP1417608A2 publication Critical patent/EP1417608A2/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

  • the present invention pertains to interactive incentive reward programs where consumers accumulate credit coupons or points through the purchase of reward program provider goods and services. The points are then used for redemption to acquire rewards, typically m the form of free programs subscriber goods or services. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for performing an interactive exchange of incentive reward program information through a wireless communications network.
  • a common practice to increase loyalty of existing customers and attract new customers is to provide an incentive reward program.
  • members e.g. consumers
  • program provider/participants such as participating airlines, rental car companies, hotels, gasoline stations, credit card companies, etc.
  • customers can redeem them for various goods or services .
  • One possibility is to redeem accumulated points for a
  • CONFIR * ⁇ CO ⁇ reward chosen from a specific list of rewards identified by the rewards program. Members may order a particular reward by mail or request a gift certificate which can then be used to redeem the reward at a participating retail outlet or reward provider location. Other redemption techniques provide for the transfer of points to different reward programs for redemption.
  • WAP Wireless Application Protocol
  • the present invention satisfies the aforementioned deficiencies by providing a method and apparatus for accessing a reward program with a wireless communication device, such as a mobile phone.
  • a wireless communication device such as a mobile phone.
  • the invention allows members of reward programs to make service inquiries through a mobile phone connection.
  • Essential reward offers from service providers are searched and the reward offers are communicated to the member' s mobile phones in response to an inquiry placed by the member, including reward offers which are payable with accumulated points and which are located in the same geographic area as the requesting member.
  • the present invention provides reward program members with the location of the nearest service providers able to redeem accumulated points for a particular reward when the need for a particular service emerges for the member. In addition, it provides a member with the locations of the nearest service providers so that the member can frequent those providers and accumulate additional reward points.
  • the present invention provides location dependent reward program information to mobile communication devices such as mobile phones.
  • a reward request may be initiated either by an external application, a mobile phone user, or by the network, such as m response to a pre-stored query which is executed when a threshold point total is reached.
  • the location of a mobile phone can be determined by cell -based and/or coordinate based methods.
  • the position of a mobile phone user can be determined with an accuracy of one cell or a number of cells.
  • coordinate based methods the subscribers position is determined m latitude and longitude coordinates. There is also a possibility to get positioning information from satellites, which enhances the accuracy of positioning.
  • the present invention advantageously allows members to modify the search region to include a larger or a smaller region, thereby increasing or decreasing the potential number of reward providers m the specific region.
  • the present invention also allows members to receive reward offers through a mobile telephone automatically when specific threshold point amounts are reached.
  • the members can further specify the types or categories of rewards the member is interested m receiving, and information pertaining to such reward types will be provided automatically.
  • the present invention advantageously enables reward program members to place reward service requests via a mobile phone.
  • Requests are communicated to reward service providers, e. g. participants of reward programs, which can accept or reject particular requests depending on service or product availability.
  • reward service providers e. g. participants of reward programs, which can accept or reject particular requests depending on service or product availability.
  • the required point quantity for obtaining the requested goods or services are frozen m the requesting member' s account until a trade verification is complete. After trade verification is complete, such as by manual signature or mobile payment method, etc., the reward service provider will be credited by the amount of points used.
  • the reward service provider can provide members with information concerning modifications or substitutions of reward offers upon a member' s request or automatically upon accumulation of a threshold amount of points. Such information can be conveyed through the central controller or by updating a database contained m the central controller.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram of the servicing region of a mobile network cell
  • FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of the processing of a reward offer request
  • FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of the processing of an automatic reward offer
  • FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the processing of a reward service request .
  • FIG. 1 is an overall system block diagram of an apparatus 10 for accessing an interactive incentive rewards program m accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention.
  • a central controller 100 is responsible for operations and communications between different parties, namely, reward program members such as consumers , and reward program participants such as service providers, e.g. participating airlines, rental car companies, hotels, gasoline stations, credit cad companies, etc.
  • Central controller 100 includes databases containing information about reward offers, reward program members, reward service providers, reward accounts, etc. to maintain operations.
  • the central controller is linked to one or more reward program owners 200, such as credit card companies, airlines, hotels, long distance providers, etc. which run particular member rewards programs, and to reward service providers 400 for exchanging information therewith.
  • the program owner or operator may also be a reward service provider.
  • the airline will be the program owner 200 and a service provider 400, and service companies which are participants m the program may include hotels, car rental companies, as well as restaurants, etc.
  • the connection to the service providers and reward program owners may be through any manner such as via an Internet connection using a public switched phone network, dedicated data lines, or via wireless transmission such as to the use of a cellular or satellite network.
  • reward service providers 400 are depicted m FIG. 1, it will be appreciated that any number of service providers can be included.
  • central controller 100 is also interfaced or connected with the reward program owner 200 such as credit card companies, long distance carriers, airlines, hotels, etc.
  • This connection is used to check or update reward account status of members depending on the particular method or guidelines used by the reward program owner to calculate the accumulation of points.
  • This connection is also used for reward program maintenance, modification, etc., to update and otherwise adjust particular members' accounts with the reward program owner.
  • Other components of the overall system are a mobile phone network 300 and wireless communications devices 500 such as mobile phones, PDAs, portable computers, etc. and the wireless devices are used as terminals for reward program members.
  • the number of wireless communication devices 500 as well as the number of mobile networks 300 used m the inventive method can be as large as required.
  • the mobile network 300 connects the mobile phones to the central controller 100 and generates location information which is used by the central controller for performing reward program searches .
  • Apparatus 10 and the methods described below obtain and communicate information concerning member rewards programs to members based upon selected parameters and queries. For example, a member can seek the location of the nearest program participants (e.g. merchants, service providers, etc.) relative to a location of the member so that the member can conveniently redeem accumulated reward points or accumulate additional points by soliciting such program participants .
  • a member can seek the location of the nearest program participants (e.g. merchants, service providers, etc.) relative to a location of the member so that the member can conveniently redeem accumulated reward points or accumulate additional points by soliciting such program participants .
  • the member's location can be determined by various techniques. For example, m cell -based systems as shown m FIG. 2, an approximate location of the member can be determined from the location of a cell tower 310 m communication with the member's terminal device, e.g. phone 500.
  • tower 310 services a particular geographic region, such as the region defined by radius S. Once a particular tower 310 is identified, reward service providers within that region are determined. If additional providers are required, the region can be expanded, e.g. to the regions having radii Rl and R2. Alternatively, to reduce the number of location providers, the region can be reduced to a region having a radius less than radius S .
  • circular regions have been described, it will be appreciated that regions having various shapes can be used.
  • the search area can be increased by incorporating areas serviced by towers adjacent the subject tower 310.
  • a member position can be determined by obtaining longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates and a search area can be defined based on or including such obtained member location for seeking reward providers .
  • a program member submits a reward offer request to the central controller 100.
  • the submitted request can be a vocal instruction or a text message entered on a keypad of a wireless communication device such as a PDA, computer or mobile phone, and transmitted, for example, by SMS or over a CDMA mobile network.
  • the submitted instruction may specify the type or category of reward the member is seeking and will contain the member's reward program account number or other identification information to allow access to a member's reward program account file in the reward program owner database 200.
  • a car rental reward is sought in step 3.1.
  • step 3.2 a general location of the member is determined and attached to the request, which is then transmitted to the central controller 100.
  • the location of the member is determined, as explained above, using location service area (LSA) identification employed in known SoLSA techniques.
  • LSA location service area
  • the LSA is a location service area which, in the preferred embodiment, is the cell coverage area of a particular mobile network cell through which the wireless communication device (mobile phone) communicates at the time the reward offer request is placed.
  • Other location determining techniques which can be employed are the techniques discussed in WO-9205672 Method of Location in a Mobile Radio System (Televerket) 1992; U.S. Patent No.
  • the request is then processed by the central controller 100 and a reward program owner's database 200 (e.g airline carrier, credit card company, etc.) is searched, using the member' s account number or identification, to determine the member's account status.
  • a query or petition request is next conveyed to locate the requested reward (e.g. car rental services) within a geographic area encompassing the identified location of the requesting member (step 3.3) .
  • the query or petition request can be either conveyed to a database located within the central controller 100, or to a reward service provider database 400.
  • the central controller database will contain reward information which can be updated, as desired, through interaction and connection with the service provider databases 400. If rewards are located, the reward information is then transmitted by the mobile network to the member's mobile phone 500.
  • the request located a rental car service provider m the vicinity of the member and provides parameter information such as the location of the rental car service provider, the address, the type of car available, and the amount of points needed for the service. Rather than a reward, the locations of the nearest service providers will be provided so that the member can frequent such providers to accumulate or "earn" additional reward points.
  • a larger search area can be designated and a further search can be conducted.
  • the new LSA could include the original cell coverage (shown m FIG. 2 as the region defined by radius S, or larger coverage areas (defined by radii Rl or R2) .
  • a search area can also be reduced such as, for example, if an initial search results m numerous reward offers.
  • the reward redemption method and apparatus disclosed herein can also be used to provide automatic conveyance of reward information based on certain parameters specified by a member. For example, a particular member may be interested m receiving redemption program information concerning a particular service (e.g. gasoline reward offers) .
  • a particular service e.g. gasoline reward offers
  • services are available based on an accumulation of a predetermined amount of points. For example, a gasoline reward may require the accumulation of 20,000 points.
  • points are accumulated in the member's account.
  • the reward program owner 200 When a threshold amount of points is earned, the reward program owner 200 will notify the central controller 100, which will then conduct a search either m its internal database or among the reward service provider databases 400 to retrieve available rewards (requiring 20,000 points or less) m the specified categories (gasoline) and alert the member of the nearest provider gas stations. In this manner, a member can instantly redeem accumulated points.
  • step 4.1 a member submits a request to receive automatic gas reward offers .
  • the member then proceeds to accumulate reward points m any manner of ways, such as through the use of a credit card issued by or affiliated with the reward program owner (step 4.2) .
  • the accumulated points are credited to the member's account m the reward program owner's database 200.
  • central controller 100 conducts a search among reward service provider databases 400 to locate participating gasoline stations m proximity to the member's current location and then communicates the location of the located gas stations to the member.
  • a mobile phone user submits an actual reward service request to the central controller.
  • the requested reward service is a hotel reservation.
  • the central controller 100 communicates the request to reward service providers (400) which accept or reject the request depending on service availability. This function can be made manually by the reward service provider or automatically based, for example, on the operating hours of the service provider database.
  • the central controller sends verification about acceptance or rejection to the requesting member as well as to the particular service provider. If the reward is accepted (e.g. a hotel reservation is available), the reservation can be confirmed by a manual signature at a remote location or at the service provider's location.
  • the reservation can be confirmed through mobile payment methods through the use, for example, of a serial bus, parallel bus, infrared interface or low power RF interface such as Blue Tooth or e-commerce methods, as is known in the art.
  • the amount of points used to obtain the requested services will then be subtracted from the member's account m the reward program owner's database (200) .

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  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
  • Development Economics (AREA)
  • Strategic Management (AREA)
  • Finance (AREA)
  • Game Theory and Decision Science (AREA)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
  • Economics (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un procédé et un appareil permettant d'acceder a un programme interactif de fidelisation par prime par le biais d'un réseau de radiocommunications afin d'informer les affiliés de leur possibilité de se voir accorder des primes offertes par des participants au programme de primes. Un module de commande interface une base de données de propriétaire de programme de primes et une ou plusieurs bases de données de fournisseur de services de primes avec un réseau mobile. Le réseau permet la communication avec des dispositifs terminaux, tels que des téléphones mobiles utilisés par des affiliés. En réponse a une demande de primes d'un affilié par le biais d'un téléphone mobile d'affilié, le module de commande central va pouvoir accéder au compte de cet affilié et déterminer son solde, accéder aux bases de données de fournisseur de services de primes afin de repérer, en réponse à la demande, les fournisseurs de primes se trouvant a proximité de l'affilié, et à communiquer les informations concernant les primes definies par le biais du réseau mobile aux téléphones mobiles d'affiliés. L'affilié se voit accorder ensuite les primes.
EP00974722A 1999-11-23 2000-11-20 Procede et appareil permettant d'acceder a un programme interactif de fidelisation par prime par le biais d'un reseau de radiocommunications Withdrawn EP1417608A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US44820999A 1999-11-23 1999-11-23
US448209 1999-11-23
PCT/IB2000/001717 WO2001039053A2 (fr) 1999-11-23 2000-11-20 Procede et appareil permettant d'acceder a un programme interactif de fidelisation par prime par le biais d'un reseau de radiocommunications

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1417608A2 true EP1417608A2 (fr) 2004-05-12

Family

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EP00974722A Withdrawn EP1417608A2 (fr) 1999-11-23 2000-11-20 Procede et appareil permettant d'acceder a un programme interactif de fidelisation par prime par le biais d'un reseau de radiocommunications

Country Status (3)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1417608A2 (fr)
AU (1) AU1293601A (fr)
WO (1) WO2001039053A2 (fr)

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US9495690B2 (en) 2012-04-04 2016-11-15 Visa International Service Association Systems and methods to process transactions and offers via a gateway
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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU1293601A (en) 2001-06-04
WO2001039053A3 (fr) 2004-02-19
WO2001039053A2 (fr) 2001-05-31

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