OA21158A - System and method for network usage product provisioning. - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method for network usage product provisioning are described. The method includes retrieving data points associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber including a subscriber profile 5 having been output by a data processing system retrieving and processing features relating to the prepaid mobile subscriber from one or more data stores. One of the data stores includes a category of transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber. The method includes determining subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points. The method includes, if the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible for the network usage product, 10 interacting with an intelligent network of a mobile telephone network to provision the network usage product to an account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NETWORK USAGE PRODUCT PROVISIONING

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application daims priority from South African provisional patent application number 2020/05064 filed on 17 August 2020, which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a System and a method for network usage product provisioning.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

A “prepaid mobile subscriber” may be any user of a prepaid mobile communication service hosted on a mobile téléphoné network. The prepaid mobile subscriber may hâve a communication device with which the prepaid mobile subscriber may be able to conduct téléphonie transactions such as making phone calls, sending short messaging service (SMS) messages, using mobile data and the like. The conducting of transactions over a mobile téléphoné network incurs charges for the subscriber. These charges may be debited against an account (which may be an airtime account) associated with the subscriber. Typically, on prepaid accounts, the prepaid services require the balance of the subscriber’s airtime account to be positive for the subscriber to be able to conduct téléphonie transactions. The positive balance of a prepaid subscriber’s airtime account is typically colloquially referred to as “airtime”.

In some cases, subscribers may choose to purchase mobile bundles such as SMS, data or voice minute bundles using their airtime or through other mechanisms. Each mobile bundle is associated with a particular category of mobile téléphoné network utilisation, such as sending SMSs, sending and receiving data packets or making téléphoné calls. Mobile bundles are typically associated with a usage limit, such as 30 SMSs, 500 MB of data or 100 voice minutes, which may be recorded against a bundle account associated with the respective category of utilisation. Utilisation of the mobile téléphoné network in a particular category may be recorded against (or deducted from) the relevant mobile bundle usage limit stored in the relevant bundle account, as opposed to being deducted from the subscriber’s airtime account.

However, once a mobile bundle’s usage limit has been reached, further utilisation of the mobile téléphoné network within that category might be deducted from the subscriber’s positive airtime account balance (i.e. from the subscriber’s airtime). Once the balance of the subscriber’s airtime account approaches or reaches zéro, the subscriber may be barred from conducting further téléphonie transactions.

Should the subscriber wish to conduct further téléphonie transactions once his or her airtime has been depleted, the subscriber may hâve to perform an “airtime top-up” so as to increase the balance of the subscriber’s airtime account. Similarly, once a mobile bundle has been depleted, the subscriber may need to purchase another mobile bundle. An airtime top-up may be performed by, for example, purchasing vouchers or tokens which can be input or redeemed for an amount of airtime. Mobile bundles may be subsequently purchased using the airtime or may be purchased using spécial tokens.

However, there may be cases where, for a variety of reasons, a subscriber is unable to purchase vouchers or tokens to top-up the balance of the subscriber’s account or to purchase further mobile bundles after déplétion. In some cases, “out of bundle” utilisation of the mobile téléphoné network in a particular category (i.e. sending SMS messages after déplétion of an SMS bundle) may be automatically applied and/or may incur much higher costs than “in bundle” utilisation. This may lead to unsuspecting subscribers having their airtime depleted rapidly as they continue to utilise the mobile téléphoné network in categories for which associated mobile bundles hâve been depleted.

This may leave subscribers without means to conduct further téléphonie transactions until they are able to purchase airtime vouchers or tokens. There is accordingly scope for improvement.

The preceding discussion of the background to the invention is intended only to facilitate an understanding of the présent invention. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgment or admission that any of the material referred to was part of the common general knowledge in the art as at the priority date of the application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an aspect of the invention there is provided a computer-implemented method comprising: retrieving data points associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber including a subscriber profile having been output by a data processing System retrieving and processing features relating to the prepaid mobile subscriber from one or more data stores, wherein one of the data stores includes a category of transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber; determining subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points; and, interacting with an intelligent network of a mobile téléphoné network to provision the network usage product to an account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.

The method may include determining a value associated with the network usage product for which the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible, including retrieving or determining a total crédit limit value based on the data points, and including storing the crédit limit value in a field of a subscriber record configured for querying before provisioning the network usage product.

The method may include storing the subscriber eligibility in a field of a subscriber record configured for querying before provisioning the network usage product.

The method may include: receiving a payload from a software application executing on a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber, wherein the payload includes data éléments obtained from the communication device; and, extracting the data éléments from the payload and storing them in a subscriber record, wherein retrieving data points associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber includes retrieving the extracted data éléments from the subscriber record.

Retrieving data points associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber may include retrieving a net présent value associated with a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber, including retrieving the net présent value from a table maintained by a mobile network operator.

The subscriber profile may change over time in response to changes in transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber, and wherein the method includes retrieving an updated subscriber profile and determining one or both of an updated subscriber eligibility and an updated total crédit limit value based on the updated subscriber profile.

The provision of the network usage product to the account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber may be associated with a predefined condition, wherein the method includes: monitoring one or both of the account and subscriber record for fulfilment of the predefined condition; and, if non-compliance with the predefined condition is detected, transmitting a lock instruction to an EMM module executing on a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber and configured to lock or disable predefined functionality on the communication device.

The method may include transmitting a network usage product offer message to a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber, wherein the network usage product offer message includes a list of pre-approved amounts based on a value of the network usage product for which the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible, and wherein transmitting the network usage product offer message includes generating dynamic USSD menus unique to the prepaid mobile subscriber based on one or more of: the subscriber eligibility and the subscriber profile, wherein generating dynamic USSD menus includes personalizing one or both of USSD pages and tree structures based on information unique to the prepaid mobile subscriber.

The network usage product may be a network usage advance, such as an airtime advance or bundle advance which is provisioned to the account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber in advance of received payment from the prepaid mobile subscriber.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is provided a System including a memory for storing computer-readable program code and a processor for executing the computer-readable program code, the System comprising: a data point retrieving component for retrieving data points associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber including a subscriber profile having been output by a data processing System retrieving and processing features relating to the prepaid mobile subscriber from one or more data stores, wherein one of the data stores includes a category of transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber; a subscriber eligibility component for determining subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points; and, an IN-integration component for interacting with an intelligent network of a mobile téléphoné network to provision the network usage product to an account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program code for performing the steps of: retrieving data points associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber including a subscriber profile having been output by a data processing System retrieving and processing features relating to the prepaid mobile subscriber from one or more data stores, wherein one of the data stores includes a category of transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber; determining subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points; and, interacting with an intelligent network of a mobile téléphoné network to provision the network usage product to an account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.

Further features provide for the computer-readable medium to be a non-transitory computerreadable medium and for the computer-readable program code to be exécutable by a processing circuit.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

Figure l is a schematic diagram which illustrâtes an exemplary System for network usage product provisioning according to aspects of the présent disclosure; Figure 2 is a flow diagram which illustrâtes an exemplary method for network usage product provisioning according to aspects of the présent disclosure; Figure 3A is a flow diagram which illustrâtes an exemplary method for network usage product provisioning including updating subscriber eligibility and/or crédit limit values based on a changing subscriber profile; Figure 3B is a flow diagram which illustrâtes an exemplary method according to aspects of the présent disclosure; Figure 4 is a block diagram which illustrâtes exemplary components which may be provided by a System for network usage product provisioning according to aspects of the présent disclosure; and, Figure 5 illustrâtes an example of a computing device in which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the présent disclosure provide an airtime and mobile bundle (collectively “network usage”) advance service platform (ASP). The ASP provides a value-added service, termed “network usage advance service” to eligible prepaid subscribers of a mobile téléphoné network. A network usage advance may be a provision of services before payment has been received or in advance of payment in a prepaid model. A network usage advance may for example enable mobile téléphoné network usage by an associated prepaid mobile subscriber in advance of received payment from that prepaid mobile subscriber. The ASP may thus be confïgured to provision an amount of airtime (termed “an amount of airtime advance”) and/or mobile bundles to a prepaid mobile subscriber in advance of received payment (i.e. on crédit). The crédit may be payable by the subscriber upon a subséquent airtime recharge or top-up. As such, embodiments of the présent disclosure may allow a prepaid mobile subscriber (hereafter “subscriber”) having insuffîcient airtime to make and complété an urgent téléphoné call or otherwise use the mobile téléphoné network (e.g. for SMS messages, data or other communication).

Transactions that may be performed or conducted on a mobile téléphoné network may be categorised according to the manner in which the mobile téléphoné network is utilised. Different categories of utilisation may include SMS messaging, data utilisation (e.g. internet browsing, etc.), making and receiving voice calls, unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) sessions and the like.

The term “airtime advance” may include any crédit transaction made against an account associated with a subscriber by a mobile network operator (MNO) or other appropriate service provider on behalf of the subscriber so as to increase a balance of an account (typically an airtime account dedicated to receiving the airtime advance) associated with the subscriber. An “airtime advance” may be a loan of an amount of airtime made to the subscriber by an MNO and which the subscriber is obliged to pay back at a later stage.

Similarly, the term “mobile bundle advance” may include the on-credit (i.e. ahead of payment) provisioning of a usage limit in respect of one or more categories of mobile téléphoné network utilisation. In particular, “mobile bundle advance” may include the on-credit provisioning of a usage limit in respect of one or more categories of mobile téléphoné network utilisation for prepaid (as opposed to post-paid or contract) subscribers. Exemplary categories of utilisation may include sending SMS messages, transmitting and receiving data messages and making voice calls. The usage limit associated with each category of utilisation may for example be a number of SMS messages, an amount of data (e.g. in bytes) and a number of minutes for which voice calls may be made.

Airtime advance and mobile bundle advances may be collectively referred to as network usage advances.

Aspects of the présent disclosure provide Systems and methods for network usage product provisioning including providing a network usage advance service to prepaid mobile subscribers to facilitate advances on airtime and/or mobile bundles which are payable by the subscribers when they next perform an airtime top up. Provided the subscriber meets eligibility rules, the subscriber may be able to make a network usage advance request through one of several avai labié interfaces.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram which illustrâtes an exemplary System (100) for network usage product provisioning according to aspects of the présent disclosure. Network usage products include network usage advances, such as airtime and bundle advances.

The System (100) may include a service provider platform (102) and an MNO platform (104). The MNO platform (104) may be provided by a mobile network operator (MNO). The service provider platform (102) may be provided by a third-party service provider which provides network usage advance services to the MNO and its prepaid subscribers. In other implémentations, the service provider platform (102) may be built-in to or integrated with the MNO platform (104) (without the need for a third-party service provider). The System (100) may further include a communication device (106) associated with an entity, such as a mobile handset associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber, who typically purchases airtime and mobile bundles to make use of a mobile téléphoné network (110) provided by the MNO. Although only one communication device (106) is illustrated, it should be appreciated that in a practical implémentation there may be a plurality of each of these.

The MNO platform (104) and mobile téléphoné network (110) may collectively provide the infrastructure by way of which communication devices (106) can communicate with each other and the broader public switched téléphoné network (PSTN) and the Internet. The mobile téléphoné network (110) may for example include one or more base station subsystems while the MNO platform (104) may provide back-end Systems such as a USSD/GPRS gateway, SMSC and c

associated components (VLR, HLR, etc.).

The MNO platform (l 04) may include a prepaid gateway (113), an intelligent network (IN) (114) and a charging System (116). The prepaid gateway (113) may be configured, amongst other things, 5 to detect requested usage of the mobile téléphoné network by a subscriber associated with a subscriber identifier, to capture information associated with the requested usage, such as the subscriber identifier, to transmit the captured information to the charging System (116), to receive permitted usage information from the charging System (116), to permit and monitor usage of the network (110) in accordance with the permitted usage information and to report actual usage 10 information to the charging System (116).

The IN (114) may be implemented according to any suitable network architecture (e.g. that specified in the ITU-T Q.1200 sériés recommendations, or the like). The IN (114) may allow the MNO to provide various value-added services, such as network usage advance services, in addition 15 to the standard telecom services such as PSTN, GSM, etc. The IN (114) may include one or more network nodes on the service layer, distinct from the switching layer of the core network, as opposed to solutions based on intelligence in the core switches or equipment. The IN (114) may be supported by the Signalling System #7 (SS7) protocol between network switching centres and other network nodes owned by network operators.

The charging System (116) may be implemented as a node within the IN (114) that is responsible for collecting data on service usage and to generate reports thereon for billing, either on demand or automatically. In some implémentations, the charging System (116) may be an online charging System (OCS). The charging System (116) may be configured to authenticate and authorize 25 network usage requests associated with subscriber identifiers received from the prepaid gateway (113), détermine and transmit permitted usage information (such as a maximum call duration, etc.) to the prepaid gateway (113) and to receive and charge the subscriber in accordance with actual usage information from the prepaid gateway (113). The charging System (116) may be implemented as or hâve access to a high-throughput database that maintains multiple accounts for 30 each subscriber. The purpose, type and usage of the accounts may be defined by the MNO, in some cases upon request by the service provider.

Each subscriber may be associated with one or more of: a main account, a dedicated account, a premium dedicated account, a loan tracking account (also referred to as a principal tracking 35 account) and a fee tracking account. Different implémentations may require the provision of different accounts. These accounts may be airtime accounts in that their value is denominated in airtime (which is typically équivalent to a value of currency, such as ZAR, USD, NGN, etc.). Each subscriber may further be associated with one or more data bundle, SMS bundle and voice minute bundle accounts which accounts may hâve their values denominated in bytes, a number of SMS messages and a number of minutes and seconds, respectively.

Airtime top-ups may be provisioned to the main account and usage of the mobile téléphoné network (110) (such as making phone calls, sending SMS messages, transmitting and receiving data packets) by the subscriber may typically be charged against the main account. Network usage advances (such as airtime advances) may be provisioned to one of: the main account, the dedicated account or, in some implémentations, the premium dedicated account depending on a network usage advance service class (referred to herein as a service class) with which the subscriber is associated. Once the network usage advance has been provisioned, further use of the mobile téléphoné network may be charged against the account to which the network usage advance was provisioned until the balance thereof has been depleted.

Data bundles purchased by the subscriber may be provisioned to a main data bundle account after which the transmission and réception of data packets by the subscriber’s communication device (106) via the mobile network (110) may be recorded (or deducted from) the main data bundle account. Data bundle advances may be provisioned either to the main data bundle account or, in some implémentations, to a dedicated data bundle account. Once provisioned, further transmission/reception of data packets may be recorded against the main data bundle account or the dedicated data bundle account, as the case may be, until the balance thereof has been depleted to zéro. The same may apply, mutatis mutandis, for the SMS and voice minute bundle accounts.

The tracking accounts may be used to keep track of amounts owed by subscribers in respect of network usage advances that the subscribers hâve requested and received. A non-zero balance of any one of the tracking accounts (be it loan tracking or fee tracking) may indicate an outstanding network usage advance. The value or amount of balance may indicate the amount in respect of the network usage advance owed by the subscriber. In some cases, a single tracking account may be provided for tracking outstanding amounts of ail types of network usage advances provided to the subscriber.

The accounts described herein may be implemented as fields of a high-throughput database. The fields may be associated with a subscriber identifier and can be updated or modified in real-time

ΙΟ in response to network usage or top-up events. Different fields of the database may represent different accounts associated with a particular subscriber.

In some implémentations, the charging System (H 6) may include or be embodied by a data structure, such as a table maintained by relational database management system (RDBMS), having rows which are associated with subscribers (identified by way of a subscriber identifier, such as an MSISDN or other suitable identifier) and columns which are associated with account identifiers which identify and correspond to different types of accounts, such as each of the respective accounts described in the foregoing.

The charging System (116) may hâve access to and/or maintain a rating tariff table (117) in which different types of accounts are associated with different tariffs. In some implémentations, the rating tariff table (117) may associate a subset of the above accounts (i.e. those accounts configured for recording usage of the mobile téléphoné network by the subscriber) with a plurality of tariffs, each being associated with a type of network usage (e.g. phone calls in ZAR per minute, sending SMS messages in ZAR per message and transmitting/receiving data packets in ZAR per megabyte).

In some implémentations, the charging system (116) and/or IN (114) may therefore be configured to apply different tariffs to different accounts. For example, as mentioned above, usage of the mobile téléphoné network (110) by the subscriber may be charged against any one of the subscriber’s: main account, dedicated account, or premium dedicated account. However, the tariff applied to or charged for such usage may differ based on the account that is being charged. The charging system (116) and/or IN (114) (or node within the intelligent network or another part of the MNO platform) may be configured to apply first tariff data in respect of usage recorded against a premium dedicated account and second tariff data in respect of usage recorded against either a main account or the dedicated account.

In some implémentations, the IN (114) and/or charging system (116) therefore maintains different accounts for the same subscriber which are configured for provision of different classes or types of network usage advance service (e.g. by virtue of the different tariffs).

The MNO platform (104) may include a front-end API (126) by way of which the service provider platform (102) may interface with components or nodes of the MNO platform (104), such as the charging system (116). The front-end API (126) may interface with or provide access to an IN21158 intégration component for aspects of the interface.

The MNO platform (l 04) may include a communication gateway (144) which may for example include the GPRS/USSD gateway which facilitâtes the exchange of USSD messages between subscribers and various applications. The communication gateway (144) and/or GPRS/USSD gateway may expose an API (e.g. one or more of SMPP, ParlayX, a proprietary HTTP-based API or the like).

The service provider platform (l 02) may be provided by any suitable computing device or devices. The service provider platform (l 02) may be configured to interface with the MNO platform (l 04). For example, the service provider platform (102) may be configured to interface with the intelligent network (IN) (l 14) and/or charging System (l 16) of the MNO platform (104) via an appropriate IN intégration component (114A). Interfacing with the IN (114) and/or charging System (116) may enable the service provider platform (102) to access and update selected data records stored therein.

The service provider platform (102) may include a subscriber channel (121) for interfacing with the mobile téléphoné network (110) and in tum the communication devices (106). The service provider platform (102) may transmit and receive data and/or messages to and from the respective communication devices (106) via the subscriber channel (121) and the mobile téléphoné network (110). The service provider platform (102) may for example be configured to receive network usage advance requests from the communication devices (106) and to transmit notifications relating to network usage advances to the communication devices (106).

The subscriber channel (121) may for example include an SMSC intégration component (121 A) and a USSD intégration component (121B), which may provide a USSD gateway adapter which may be configured to interface with (e.g. consume) one or more APIs provided by the communication gateway (144) ofthe mobile operator platform (104). The subscriber channel (121) may further include a menu-tree dialog module (121C) configured for generating dynamic menus unique to the subscriber based on, for example, the subscriber eligibility, the subscriber profile (described in greater detail below) and the like. The menu-tree dialog module (121C) may be configured to manage the lifecycle of a USSD, SMS, IVR, etc. session with the subscriber; delete old menus, create new menus, remember last menus visited, etc.; dynamically correlate keypad numbers with options to the USSD pages (in the case of a USSD session); personalize the pages (and tree structure) based on information unique to the subscriber (e.g. based on subscriber profile, eligible network usage advance value (or total crédit limit), eligibility, etc., menu browsing pattern and the like). The USSD gateway adapter of the USSD intégration component (121B) may be configured to connect with a communication gateway (144) of the mobile operator platform (l 04) to send and receive USSD messages. The USSD gateway adapter may for example be configured to: translate different APIs to a common internai représentation for USSD messages and vice versa; route incoming USSD messages (e.g. from the USSD gateway) to the menu-tree dialog module (121C); route an outgoing USSD message from the menu-tree dialog module (121 C) to the USSD gateway and the like.

USSD sessions may be menu-based, allowing subscribers to browse through different options associated with network usage advances. When a subscriber uses the service for the first time via USSD, the service provider platform (102) may for example be configured to request the subscriber to input his or her preferred language. The service provider platform (102) may further be configured to generate dynamic USSD menus which are uniquely associated with the subscriber (e.g. which display amounts, usage limits and values which are based on the subscriber profile and/or eligibility). Thus, in navigating the USSD menus, the subscriber may be presented with only those dénominations for which he/she is eligible. This may enhance the subscriber’s expérience in interacting with the service provider platform (102).

The service provider platform ( 102) may be configured for communication of subscriber requested amounts of network usage advance by way of USSD short codes; i.e. subscribers may request an airtime advance by using a predefined short code (e.g. *123#) together with the network usage advance amount requested (e.g. USD10) by using the USSD short code *123*10#.

The subscriber channel (121) and its associated components and modules may be configured to provide functionality which allows subscribers to: check their network usage advance balance (which could be different from the main airtime account balance); check the transaction history; check their status: e.g. eligibility, network usage advance for which the subscriber is eligible, outstanding loan values, etc.; obtain information about the service; change language preference; opt in/out from the service; rate the service and the like.

The service provider platform (102) may hâve access to a subscriber database (122) in which a record (124) associated with each subscriber is stored. Each subscriber record (124) may include and be associated with a subscriber identifier, such as an MS1SDN or a dérivative thereof. In some implémentations, each subscriber record (124) includes data points associated with the subscriber including, for example, one or more sets of crédit data, such as an outstanding network usage advance status, a network usage advance eligibility, a total crédit limit and a service class assignment (i.e. an indication of a service class to which the subscriber has been assigned), which may make up or be included in the subscriber profile. The total crédit limit may be a total crédit limit value denominated in a value of airtime or local currency. The crédit limit value represents a value of a network usage advance for which a subscriber associated with the subscriber identifier is eligible in advance of payment. Each subscriber record (124) may additionally store identifiers of accounts which are associated with the subscriber. The subscriber record may for example include account identifiers for each of: the main account, dedicated account, premium dedicated account, loan tracking account and fee tracking account. Each subscriber record may additionally store an association or linking of each of the account identifiers to one or more service classes. For example, the premium dedicated account may be associated with a first service class while the dedicated account and fee tracking account may be associated with a second service class. Each subscriber record (124) may additionally store data éléments received from a communication device associated with the relevant subscriber, such as a device identifier, software application identifier and the like. Each subscriber record may further store other information unique to the subscriber, such as a subscriber's name, national identity number, menu browsing pattern built up over time, spoken language, préférences and the like.

The service provider platform (102) may hâve access to a service class assignment data structure (128) in which each service class is linked to corresponding service class data (such as account identifiers and/or tariff data) and associated rules for provisioning in accordance with the service class (e.g. which accounts to adjust, how to adjust them, which tariffs to apply, etc.).

The service provider platform (102) may include or hâve access to a data Processing system (130) configured for large-scale processing of data records.

The data processing system (130) may include a data receiving component (132) for receiving raw data records including a first type of data records having static values (e.g. customer démographie records such as Know Your Customer (KYC) records) and a second type of data records relating to transactional records with timestamps of events (e.g. Call Detail Records (CDR)). The raw data records relate to télécommunications and the entities are subscribers. The first type of data records are subscriber data records with static values of subscriber attributes and the second type of data records are call detail records of events.

The data processing System (130) may include a transforming component for transforming data records to standardized formats.

The data processing System (130) may include a filtering component (136) for filtering relevant data records. The filtering component applies filtering rules to extract relevant records from transactional records including one or more of the group of: records relating to events including: calls; messages; monetaiy events; data usage events; lifecycle events; advance usage events; loan events; mobile wallet events and the like.

The data processing System (130) may include a data store persisting component (138) for persisting the transformed data records into two different data stores, including a first data store (140) for static data relating to subscribers for retrieval based on static values including a unique identifier of a subscriber, and a second data store (142) for transactional data (including transactional records) for retrieval based on timestamps of events.

The first data store (140) may be configured for efficient retrieval based on static values (such as unique identifier). For example, the first data store (140) may be configured to store information using the unique identifier of the subscriber as a key so as to enable efficient retrieval of the subscriber’s static data.

The second data store (142) is partitioned for time periods and/or by type of event. The second data store (142) may be configured for efficient retrieval based on timestamps of events. For example, in one implémentation, the second data store (142) may be configured to store information using the timestamp of the transactional records as a key. Storing information with only the timestamp as the key may enable efficient retrieval of transactional data for a batch of entities, or ail subscribers. For example, in another implémentation, the second data store (142) may be configured to store information using the timestamp of the transactional records and the unique identifier of the subscriber as a key (e.g. a compound key). This may enable efficient retrieval of transactional data per entity. In either of the two examples above, the retrieval of transactional data per entity, or entities, at different points in time and as new transactional data are continuously added, and the subséquent création of features based on this transactional data, may be very efficient.

The data processing System (130) may include a unique identifier component (145) for generating a unique identifier for each subscriber as a combination of a Mobile Station International

Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN) and a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) activation date.

The data processing System (l 30) may include a grouping component (146) for grouping different categories of transactional records according to unique identifiers of subscribers and a table persisting component for persisting the categories to different tables including maintaining a table (148) of stable size for efficient access of a category of transactional records that is most frequently accessed. The category of transactional records that is most frequently accessed is open transactions that are ongoing. The grouping component is configured to group categories of open crédit advances and closed crédit advances (or “outstanding network usage advances”), and the category of transactional records that is most frequently accessed are open crédit advances available for subséquent analysis.

The data processing System (130) may include a subscriber profile component (150) for retrieving features relating to a subscriber from the data stores for processing to provide an output relating to the subscriber. An output relating to the subscriber may include a subscriber profile. An output relating to the subscriber may include a list with subscriber identifiers and crédit data such as one or more of crédit scores, crédit limits, outstanding network usage advances, subscriber eligibility and optional additional information. The output may be an extraction of potential borrowers’ profiles, development of crédit scoring models, and methods of crédit scoring subscribers and assigning crédit limits.

The subscriber profile may be a collection of aggregate and static values derived from the subscriber data processed by the data ingestion components described above. These values may be called features and describe the subscriber’s behaviour given a reference time point. The subscriber profile may be in the format required for crédit risk analysis and limit assignment. The features may be aggregates of transactional events (recharges, advances, etc.), categorical and cardinal features based on KYC, and several combinations of these. The features may describe several dimensions of subscriber behaviour on different time frames. Dimensions of user behaviour may include recency, loyalty, frequency, aggregates of amounts and durations. The dimensions may also include minimum, maximum, counts, means, standard déviations, médians, quartiles and trends of counts, amounts, duration, ratios and average amounts and activity. Time frames, at which dimensions may be expressed before the reference point may be, for example, recent weeks, fortnights, months, quarters, semesters and/or years. In addition, several features may describe the dimensions across the full duration of a service/product usage by the subscriber. A subscriber profile is unique to the associated subscriber and may indicate the crédit risk associated with the subscriber. The subscriber profile comportent (150) may include feature génération with dimensions of behaviour of the subscriber at a given reference point in time, including: a feature retrieving component for retrieving features from different tables; a feature joining component forjoining the features; and a feature transforming component for transforming the features to the reference point in time. The subscriber profile component (150) may hâve access to the subscriber database (122) and individual subscriber records (124) stored therein and may be configured to access and replace the subscriber profiles of individual subscriber records with updated subscriber profiles as may be required. The subscriber profile may be an indication of crédit worthiness or an indication of the risk associated with the subscriber.

The data processing system (130) may be configured to receive and process raw data records continuously to update the data stores and tables for continually processing by the subscriber profile component for outputting updated subscriber profiles. Subscriber profiles may therefore be current and updated to date based on the subscriber’s latest behaviour, while still considering historié behaviour as well.

The subscriber communication device (106) may be any suitable computing device with a communication functionality, such as a mobile phone or mobile handset. The communication device (106) may be associated with a device identifier which uniquely identifies the communication device (106), such as an IMEI or the like. In some implémentations, the communication device (106) includes an enterprise mobility module (EMM) module (119) configured for remote control, and particularly remote locking or disabling, of the communication device by an authorised enterprise, such as the service provider.

The various gateways of the mobile operator platform (104) interface with corresponding components of the service provider platform (102) so as to provide a level of intégration between the two. Accordingly, the service provider platform ( 102) may transmit notifications to and receive requests from the subscriber via the mobile operator platform (104) and its associated infrastructure. Furthermore, the service provider platform (102) may interact with the mobile operator platform (104), for example, to access and/or update or manipulate account information of an account associated with the subscriber.

The system (100) described above may implement a method for network usage product provisioning. An exemplary method for network usage product provisioning is illustrated in the flow diagram of Figure 2. The method may be conducted by the service provider platform (102) or one or more computing devices thereof. In the example embodiment of Figure 2, the network usage product is a network usage advance.

The method may include receiving (202) a network usage advance trigger. Aspects of the présent disclosure anticipate various network usage advance triggers, including, for example receiving a request for the network usage advance from a communication device (l 06) of the subscriber; receiving an attempted transaction notification from a mobile network operator (e.g. generated by the prepaid gateway and/or charging System) indicating that a balance of an account associated with the subscriber is insufficient for a subscriber requested transaction (such as trying to make a phone call or send a message); the method automatically determining that the balance of an account associated with the subscriber has reduced to a predetermined low level, and the like.

Requests for a network usage advance may be received via SMS message, USSD message, interactive voice response (IVR) message, application data message and the like. In some implémentations, a request for the network usage advance received from the subscriber communication device (106) may include a subscriber requested amount. Further, the request may be received via a USSD session which may hâve been initiated using a USSD short code including the subscriber requested amount, for example *123*20#, where ‘20’ is the amount of airtime advance being requested.

In some cases, the subscriber may be offered a network usage advance should the balance of an account associated with the subscriber reduce to a predetermined low level. Exemplary accounts which may be monitored include an airtime account (e.g. main airtime account) and one or more bundle accounts (e.g. SMS bundle account, data bundle account, voice minute bundle account, etc.).

The method includes retrieving (203) data points associated with a subscriber. The retrieved data points include one or more of: a subscriber profile; a subscriber eligibility; a crédit limit value; other relevant crédit data; a net présent value (NPV) of a subscriber communication device (106); and, data points received from the subscriber communication device (106). The subscriber profile may be output by a data processing System (130) retrieving and processing features relating to the subscriber from one or more data stores (140, 142), including for example a table (148) which includes a category of transactional records. The data stores (140, 142) may be configured for efficient retrieval, as described above. The data points may be retrieved from a subscriber record (124) which is uniquely associated with the subscriber. Retrieving the data points may include querying a subscriber database (122) using a subscriber identifier to identify a subscriber record from where the data points are to be retrieved.

The method may include determining (204) whether the subscriber is eligible for a network usage advance. This may include determining subscriber eligibility for the network usage advance based on the data points. Subscriber eligibility may be a binary field, for example, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ (or ‘eligible’ and ‘inéligible’), which indicates whether or not the subscriber is eligible for the network usage advance. Determining subscriber eligibility may include querying the value of a subscriber eligibility field in a subscriber record (124) associated with the subscriber. In some cases, e.g. in the case of a first-time subscriber, the field may be blank, and determining subscriber eligibility may include using other data points, such as the subscriber profile, to calculate or otherwise détermine eligibility. This may include processing the subscriber profile to détermine eligibility. In some cases, this may for example include inputting the subscriber profile into an eligibility determining algorithm. In other cases, this may for example include inputting the subscriber profile into a crédit scoring algorithm which outputs a crédit score based on the subscriber profile, and basing eligibility on the resulting crédit score.

Eligibility may be contingent on values of other data points too, for example, communication device NPV, subscriber âge, the presence of outstanding network usage advances or the like. Determining subscriber eligibility using the data points may include inputting the data points into an eligibility algorithm that outputs an eligibility based on the inputs and storing or updating the subscriber eligibility in a field of a subscriber record configured for querying before provisioning the network usage product. Determining (204) whether the subscriber is eligible for a network usage advance may include requiring the subscriber to be part of an eligible subscriber base.

The method may include determining (206) a value associated with the network usage advance for which the subscriber is eligible. In the case of an airtime advance, the value associated with the network usage advance may be an amount of airtime to be advanced, which may be denominated in a local currency. In the case of a mobile bundle advance, the value associated with the network usage advance may be the monetary value of the bundle advance, which may be denominated in a local currency. Determining the value associated with the network usage advance for which the subscriber is eligible may include retrieving or determining a total crédit limit value based on the data points. For example, for some subscribers there may be a crédit limit value stored in their corresponding subscriber record that détermines a maximum value of network usage advance for which the subscriber is eligible. Some subscribers, e.g. first-time users, may not yet hâve a crédit limit value, and the method may include determining the crédit limit value based on the data points, for example including using the subscriber profile and/or net présent value of a communication device (106) associated with the subscriber. This may include processing the data points including the subscriber profile to détermine the crédit limit value. In other cases, this may include determining the crédit limit value based on a crédit score. In some embodiments, the crédit limit value may be based on an NPV associated with the subscriber communication device (106). The value associated with the network usage advance for which the subscriber is eligible may be based on the crédit limit value.

In some implémentations, the method may include transmitting (208) a network usage advance offer message to a communication device (106) of the subscriber. In the case of a low balance trigger, the message may for example read “Your balance is low! Get an airtime advance of {AMOUNT} and pay back on your next recharge. Send YES now or dial *123# to check the available options.”

In some cases, the network usage advance offer message may include a list of pre-approved amounts based on the value of the network usage advance for which the subscriber is eligible. The list of pre-approved amounts may be based on the subscriber profile and may include a maximum amount based on the value associated with the network usage advance for which the subscriber is determined to be eligible and one or more lesser amounts.

For example, in the case of an airtime advance, the maximum amount and the value associated with the network usage advance for which the subscriber is determined to be eligible may be the same (e.g. USD20 of airtime). In the case of a mobile bundle advance, the maximum amount may be a usage limit (e.g. 50 GB) having a value which is equal to the value of network usage advance for which the subscriber is determined to be eligible (e.g. USD20).

The network usage advance offer message may be transmitted to the subscriber in an SMS message, USSD message, IVR message, application notification message or the like. The list of pre-approved amounts may be presented to the subscriber for sélection and acceptance of one of the amounts or rejection of ail of the amounts.

Transmitting the network usage advance offer message may include generating (209) dynamic menus unique to the subscriber based on, for example, the subscriber eligibility, the subscriber profile and the like. This may include personalizing pages (and tree structure) based on information unique to the subscriber (e.g. based on subscriber profile, eligible network usage advance value, eligibility, etc., browsing pattern associated with the subscriber and the like).

It should be appreciated that in some implémentations, no network usage advance offer message 5 is sent, and the network usage advance may be provisioned automatically without any subscriber intervention.

The method may include receiving (210) an indication of a subscriber preferred amount from the communication device (106) of the subscriber. The subscriber preferred amount may hâve been 10 selected by the subscriber from the list of pre-approved amounts. The indication of the subscriber preferred amount may be received via an SMS message or application notification message or via a USSD or IVR session or the like.

The method includes interacting (211) with an intelligent network (114) of a mobile téléphoné 15 network ( 110) to provision the network usage advance to an account associated with the subscriber.

This may include, if the subscriber is eligible for the network usage advance, crediting (212) an account associated with the subscriber with a crédit amount. The crédit amount may be based on the value of the network usage advance for which the subscriber is eligible. Where a subscriber preferred amount is received, the crédit amount may be the subscriber preferred amount.

In the case of an airtime advance, crediting (212) an account associated with the subscriber with a crédit amount may include crediting an airtime account with the amount of airtime. In some implémentations, the subscriber may be associated with a main airtime account and a dedicated airtime account and crediting an account associated with the subscriber with a crédit amount may 25 include crediting the dedicated airtime account with the crédit amount (being the amount of airtime). In some cases, the subscriber may be associated with a service class and crediting the account may include crediting an account associated with the relevant service class (for example based on a service class assignment data structure).

In the case of a mobile bundle advance, crediting (212) an account associated with the subscriber with a crédit amount may include crediting a bundle account associated with the particular category of mobile téléphoné network utilisation with a usage limit in respect of the particular category of mobile téléphoné network utilisation. Depending on the bundle, the usage limit may be: a number of SMS messages which may be transmitted from a communication device (106) 35 associated with the subscriber; a number of bytes of data which may be exchanged between the communication device (106) and a data communication network (110); or, a total duration of téléphoné calls that may be initiated from the communication device (106).

Crediting (212) the account associated with the subscriber with the crédit amount may enable continued use of the mobile téléphoné network (110) by the subscriber in advance of receîved payment. In the case of a bundle advance, the continued use may be confined to the particular category of mobile téléphoné network utilisation with which the bundle is associated. For example, if the network usage advance relates to a data bundle, it may be that only the exchange of data messages will be permitted. On the other hand, an airtime advance may permît continued usage of the mobile téléphoné network (110) in accordance with any category (e.g. making calls, sending SMS messages, exchanging data messages and the like).

Crediting (212) the account associated with the subscriber with the crédit amount may include recording an outstanding loan value against an account associated with the subscriber and/or against the subscriber record (124). In some implémentations, for example the subscriber may be associated with a main airtime account and a dedicated airtime account and the outstanding loan value may be recorded against the main airtime account by debiting the main airtime account (or deducting from the main airtime account) with the outstanding loan value. The outstanding loan value may include the value associated with the network usage advance, as well as a fee. Recording an outstanding loan value against an account associated with the subscriber may facilitate tracking and recovery of outstanding loans associated with the subscriber. Subséquent airtime top-ups or recharges may be recorded against the main airtime account to increase the balance thereof and hence to recover the outstanding loan value (partially or completely). In other implémentations, the subscriber is associated with a loan tracking account and/or fee tracking account and the outstanding loan value may be recorded against one or both of these accounts. Subséquent airtime top-ups or recharges may be recorded against the tracking account(s) to decrease the balance(s) thereof and hence to recover the outstanding loan value (partially or completely).

In some embodiments, the network usage advance provisioned to the account associated with the subscriber may be associated with a predefined condition, and the method may include monitoring (214) the account and/or subscriber record for fulfllment of the predefined condition. The predefined condition may for example include that the value associated with the network usage advance is repaid within a predefined time period, or that instalments are made on or before particular points in time or the like. If (215) the predefined condition is not met, or if noncompliance with the predefined condition is detected, the method may include transmitting (216) a lock instruction to an EMM module (119) executing on the subscriber communication device (106), which upon receipt locks or disables predefined functionality on the communication device.

The System (100) described in the foregoing may implement a method for network usage product provisioning including updating subscriber eligibility and/or crédit limit values for a particular subscriber based on the changing subscriber profile. An exemplary method for network usage product provisioning including updating subscriber eligibility and/or crédit limit values based on the changing subscriber profile is illustrated in the flow diagram of Figure 3A. The method may be conducted by the service provider platform ( 102) or one or more computing devices thereof. A network usage product in the example embodiment of Figure 3A is a network usage advance.

The method may include a data processing System continually receiving and processing (302) raw data records including a first type having static values and a second type relating to transactional records with timestamps of events. The data records may be filtered and transformed to standardized formats. The transformed data records may be persisted or stored into a first data store for static data relating to subscribers for retrieval based on static values, and a second data store for transactional data (including transactional records) for retrieval based on timestamps. Different categories of transactional records may be grouped according to the unique identifiers of subscribers. The categories are persisted to different tables including maintaining a table of stable size for efficient access of a category of transactional records that is most frequently accessed. The persisted data may be used for retrieving features relating to a subscriber from the data stores for processing to provide a subscriber profile relating to the subscriber.

The method may include retrieving and processing (304) persisted data using appropriate key values to output a subscriber profile relating to the subscriber. The method may include storing the subscriber profile in one or more fields of a subscriber record configured for querying before provisioning a network usage product.

The method may include determining (308) an eligible subscriber base, including determining subscriber eligibility for each of a plurality of subscribers. Determining the eligible subscriber base may include using dynamic mechanisms and may be performed periodically or upon the occurrence of certain predefined events. The dynamic mechanisms may include using one or more of events, top-ups, airtime advance requests and airtime advance payments, an outstanding loan status, a crédit limit value (e.g. being below a predetermined threshold), the subscriber profile and the like to constantly re-evaluate the subscriber’s eligibility. This information may be contained in a subscriber profile. Updating the eligible subscriber base may include removing from the eligible subscriber base subscribers who hâve not performed any top-up activity for a configurable number of days or who otherwise no longer meet the eligibility requirements. Determining the subscriber eligibility may include storing the subscriber eligibility in a field of a subscriber record configured for querying before provisioning a network usage product.

The method may include determining (310) the crédit limit data including a total crédit limit value associated with the subscriber based on the subscriber profile and/or recent subscriber transactions. The crédit limit value may change based on a changing subscriber profile or based on outstanding network usage advances that are still to be repaid. Determining the crédit limit value may include deducting the value of a network usage advance provisioned to the account associated with the subscriber to reflect a lower crédit limit value. Updating the crédit limit value may include adding the value of a repaid network usage advance to reflect an increased crédit limit value, up to a maximum crédit limit value. Determining the crédit limit value may include retrieving and using a net présent value of a communication device (l 06) associated with the subscriber to détermine the crédit limit value. For example, the crédit limit value may be required to be less than the net présent value associated with the communication device. Determining the crédit limit value may include storing the crédit limit value (or updated crédit limit value) in a field of a subscriber record (124) configured for querying before provisioning a network usage product.

The subscriber profile may change over time in response to changes in transactional records associated with the subscriber. The method may repeat (311) such that changes in subscriber behaviour resuit in an appropriately updated profile, eligibility and crédit limit value. Repeating the method may include retrieving an updated subscriber profile and determining one or both of an updated subscriber eligibility and an updated total crédit limit value based on the updated subscriber profile.

At some stage, the subscriber may repay the outstanding loan value by performing an airtime recharge or top up. The method may include using any recharge amount associated with the airtime recharge or top-up to recover the outstanding loan value recorded against an account associated with the subscriber. If the recharge amount is less than the outstanding loan value, then multiple recharges may be required to recover the full outstanding loan value. If the recharge amount is greater than the outstanding loan value, then a remaining portion of the outstanding loan value may be available to the subscriber for further utilisation of the mobile téléphoné network. In some implémentations, the recharge amount may be credited to the main airtime account to increase the balance thereof towards or above zéro.

Figure 3B is a flow diagram which illustrâtes an example method according to aspects of the présent disclosure. The method may include receiving (305) a payload from a software application executing on a communication device associated with the subscriber. The payload includes data éléments obtained from the communication device, such as a device identifier, a software application identifier, a third-party account identifier (e.g. social media handle, login, etc.). The method may include extracting the data éléments from the payload and storing (306) them in a subscriber record (124) associated with the subscriber profile. The method may include retrieving (307) the net présent value associated with the subscriber communication device from a table maintained by a mobile network operator using the data éléments, for example the device identifier. The net présent value may for example be retrieved for use in determining a total crédit limit associated with the subscriber. The method may include activating and linking (309) an EMM module (119) on subscriber communication devices for each subscriber in the eligible subscriber base to corresponding subscriber records (124). Linking the EMM module (119) may include storing a software application identifier associated with a software application including or having access to the EMM module in the subscriber record (124). The EMM module (119) may be provided by a software application or an operating system of the subscriber communication device (106) and is configured for remote locking of the subscriber communication device upon instruction by the service provider platform (102).

According to aspects of the présent disclosure, subscribers with low airtime balance while activating or purchasing any bundle or during renewal may hâve their bundle activated or renewed automatically even if the subscriber has insufficient airtime. The subscriber may repay the loan associated with such a ‘bundle completion’ upon a next recharge. For example, if a subscriber tries to activate a bundle but does not hâve sufficient airtime, the subscriber may be prompted to accept a network usage advance offer for the subscription or activation to be completed. If the subscriber accepts, the bundle subscription request will be processed & completed, and the subscriber’s relevant bundle account will be credited with the right usage limit and another account associated with the subscriber (e.g. the main airtime account) may be debited with an outstanding loan value associated with the network usage advance.

It may however be that the subscriber does not hâve sufficient airtime for bundle renewal on the day of renewal, in which case the subscriber may be offered a network usage advance for the renewal to be completed. If the subscriber accepts, the network usage advance will be provided,

e.g. by crediting a bundle account with the associated usage limit and debiting another account associated with the subscriber (e.g. a tracking account) with an outstanding loan value associated with the network usage advance.

Various components may be provided for implementing the method described above with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 4 is a block diagram which illustrâtes exemplary components which may be provided by a System for network usage product provisioning according to aspects of the présent disclosure. The System includes a service provider platform (102) which may be provided by one or more computing devices.

The service provider platform (l 02) may include a processor (402) for executing the functions of components described below, which may be provided by hardware or by software units executing on the service provider platform (102). The software units may be stored in a memory component (404) and instructions may be provided to the processor (402) to carry out the functionality of the described components. In some cases, for example in acloud computing implémentation, software units arranged to manage and/or process data on behalf of the service provider platform (102) may be provided remotely.

The service provider platform (102) may include a data point retrieving component (406) configured to retrieve data points associated with a subscriber. The data point retrieving component (406) may retrieve the data points from a subscriber record (124). The data points include a subscriber profile having been output, for example, by a data processing System (130) retrieving and processing features relating to the subscriber from one or more data stores, wherein one of the data stores includes a category of transactional records which may be associated with the subscriber. The retrieved data points may optionally include one or more of data éléments received in a payload from a subscriber communication device (106) and a net présent value of the subscriber communication device (106).

The service provider platform (102) may include a subscriber eligibility component (408) arranged to détermine subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points.

The service provider platform (102) may include an IN-integration component (114A) arranged to interact with an intelligent network (114) of a mobile téléphoné network (110) to provision the network usage product to an account associated with the subscriber.

The service provider platform (102) may include an updating component (410) configured to update one or both of subscriber eligibility and crédit limit values based on a changing subscriber profile, for example as described above with reference to Figures 3A and 3B.

Figure 5 illustrâtes an example of a computing device (500) in which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented. The computing device (500) may be embodied as any form of data processing device including a personal computing device (e.g. laptop or desktop computer), a server computer (which may be self-contained, physically distributed over a number of locations), a client computer, or a communication device, such as a mobile phone (e.g. cellular téléphoné), satellite phone, tablet computer, personal digital assistant or the like. Different embodiments of the computing device may dictate the inclusion or exclusion of various components or subsystems described below.

The computing device (500) may be suitable for storing and executing computer program code. The various participants and éléments in the previously described System diagrams may use any suitable number of subsystems or components of the computing device (500) to facilitate the functions described herein. The computing device (500) may include subsystems or components interconnected via a communication infrastructure (505) (for example, a communications bus, a network, etc.). The computing device (500) may include one or more processors (510) and at least one memory component in the form of computer-readable media. The one or more processors (510) may include one or more of: CPUs, graphical processing units (GPUs), microprocessors, field programmable gâte arrays (FPGAs), application spécifie integrated circuits (ASICs) and the like. In some configurations, a number of processors may be provided and may be arranged to carry out calculations simultaneously. In some implémentations various subsystems or components of the computing device (500) may be distributed over a number of physical locations (e.g. in a distributed, cluster or cloud-based computing configuration) and appropriate software units may be arranged to manage and/or process data on behalf of remote devices.

The memory components may include System memory (515), which may include read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). A basic input/output System (BIOS) may be stored in ROM. System software may be stored in the System memory (515) including operating System software. The memory components may also include secondary memory (520). The secondary memory (520) may include a fixed disk (521), such as a hard disk drive, and, optionally, one or more storage interfaces (522) for interfacing with storage components (523), such as removable storage components (e.g. magnetic tape, optical disk, flash memory drive, extemal hard drive, removable memory chip, etc.), network attached storage components (e.g. NAS drives), remote storage components (e.g. cloud-based storage) or the like.

The computing device (500) may include an extemal communications interface (530) for operation of the computing device (500) in a networked environment enabling transfer of data between multiple computing devices (500) and/or the Internet. Data transferred via the extemal communications interface (530) may be in the form of signais, which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, radio, or other types of signal. The extemal communications interface (530) may enable communication of data between the computing device (500) and other computing devices including servers and extemal storage facilities. Web services may be accessible by and/or from the computing device (500) via the communications interface (530).

The extemal communications interface (530) may be configured for connection to wireless communication channels (e.g., a cellular téléphoné network, wireless local area network (e.g. using Wi-Fi™), satellite-phone network, Satellite Internet Network, etc.) and may include an associated wireless transfer element, such as an antenna and associated circuitry. The extemal communications interface (530) may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) in the form of an integrated circuit that stores an international mobile subscriber identity and the related key used to identify and authenticate a subscriber using the computing device (500). One or more subscriber identity modules may be removable from or embedded in the computing device (500).

The computer-readable media in the form of the various memory components may provide storage of computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules, software units and other data. A computer program product may be provided by a computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program code exécutable by the central processor (510). A computer program product may be provided by a non-transient or non-transitory computer-readable medium, or may be provided via a signal or other transient or transitory means via the communications interface (530).

Interconnection via the communication infrastructure (505) allows the one or more processors (510) to communicate with each subsystem or component and to control the execution of instructions from the memoiy components, as well as the exchange of information between subsystems or components. Peripherals (such as printers, scanners, caméras, or the like) and input/output (I/O) devices (such as a mouse, touchpad, keyboard, microphone, touch-sensitive display, input buttons, speakers and the like) may couple to or be integrally formed with the computing device (500) either directly or via an I/O controller (535). One or more displays (545) (which may be touch-sensitive displays) may be coupled to or integrally formed with the computing device (500) via a display or video adapter (540).

The foregoing description has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the précisé forms disclosed. Persons ski lied in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure. Any of the steps, operations, components or processes described herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software units, alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, a software unit is implemented with a computer program product comprising a non-transient or non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which can be executed by a processor for performing any or ail of the steps, operations, or processes described. Software units or functions described in this application may be implemented as computer program code using any suitable computer language such as, for example, Java™, C++, or Perl™ using, for example, conventiona! or object-oriented techniques. The computer program code may be stored as a sériés of instructions, or commands on a nontransitory computer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a hard-drive, or an optical medium such as a CDROM. Any such computer-readable medium may also résidé on or within a single computational apparatus, and may be présent on or within different computational apparatuses within a System or network.

Flowchart illustrations and block diagrams of methods, Systems, and computer program products according to embodiments are used herein. Each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may provide functions which may be implemented by computer readable program instructions. In some alternative implémentations, the functions identified by the blocks may take place in a different order to that shown in the flowchart illustrations.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic représentations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and représentations, such as accompanying flow diagrams, are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs or équivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or the like.

The described operations may be embodied in software, fïrmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof.

The language used in the spécification has been principally selected for readability and 5 instructional purposes, and it may not hâve been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any daims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention set forth in any accompanying claims.

Finally, throughout the spécification and any accompanying daims, unless the context requires otherwise, the word ‘comprise’ or variations such as ‘comprises’ or ‘comprising’ will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Claims (18)

1. l. A computer-implemented method comprising:

   retrieving data points associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber including a subscriber profile having been output by a data processing System retrieving and processing features relating to the prepaid mobile subscriber from one or more data stores, wherein one of the data stores includes a category of transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber;

   determining subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points; and, if the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible for the network usage product, interacting with an intelligent network of a mobile téléphoné network to provision the network usage product to an account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.
2. 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subscriber profile is a collection of aggregate and static values derived from subscriber data processed by the data processing System.
3. 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the features describe the subscriber's behaviour given a reference time point, wherein the features describe several dimensions of subscriber behaviour on different time frames, wherein dimensions of subscriber behaviour include recency, loyalty, frequency, aggregates of amounts and durations.
4. 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subscriber profile is unique to the subscriber and indicates the crédit risk associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.
5. 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, including determining a value associated with the network usage product for which the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible, including retrieving or determining a total crédit limit value based on the data points, and including storing the crédit limit value in a field of a subscriber record configured for querying before provisioning the network usage product.
6. 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, including storing the subscriber eligibility in a field of a subscriber record configured for querying before provisioning the network usage product.
7. 7. The method as claimed in claim 1, including:

   receiving a payload from a software application executing on a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber, wherein the payload includes data éléments obtained from the communication device; and, extracting the data éléments from the payload and storing them in a subscriber record, wherein retrieving data points associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber includes retrieving the extracted data éléments from the subscriber record.
8. 8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein retrieving data points associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber includes retrieving a net présent value associated with a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.
9. 9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein subscriber profile changes over time in response to changes in transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber, and wherein the method includes retrieving an updated subscriber profile and determining one or both of an updated subscriber eligibility and an updated total crédit limit value based on the updated subscriber profile.
10. 10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the provision of the network usage product to the account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber is associated with a predefined condition, wherein the method includes:

    monitoring one or both of the account and subscriber record for fulfilment of the predefined condition; and, if non-compliance with the predefined condition is detected, transmitting a lock instruction to an EMM module executing on a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber and configured to lock or disable predefined functionality on the communication device.
11. 11. The method as claimed in claim 1, including transmitting a network usage product offer message to a communication device associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber, wherein the network usage product offer message includes a list of pre-approved amounts based on a value of the network usage product for which the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible.
12. 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein transmitting the network usage product offer message includes generating dynamic menus unique to the prepaid mobile subscriber based on one or more of: the subscriber eligibility and the subscriber profile.
13. 13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein generating dynamic menus includes personalizing one or both of pages and tree structures based on information unique to the prepaid mobile subscriber.
14. 14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the network usage product is a network usage advance, which is provisioned to the account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber in advance of received payment from the prepaid mobile subscriber.
15. 15. A System including a memory for storing computer-readable program code and a processor for executing the computer-readable program code, the System comprising:

    a data point retrieving component for retrieving data points associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber including a subscriber profile having been output by a data processing System retrieving and processing features relating to the prepaid mobile subscriber from one or more data stores, wherein one of the data stores includes a category of transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber;

    a subscriber eligibility component for determining subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points; and, an ΓΝ-integration component for, if the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible for the network usage product, interacting with an intelligent network of a mobile téléphoné network to provision the network usage product to an account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.
16. 16. The System as claimed in claim 15, including the data processing System, wherein the data processing System is configured to receive and process raw data records continuously to update the data stores and tables for continually processing by a subscriber profile component for outputting an updated subscriber profile.
17. 17. The System as claimed in claim 16, wherein the subscriber profile component includes feature génération with dimensions of behaviour of the subscriber at a given reference point in time, including: a feature retrieving component for retrieving features from different tables; a feature joining component for joining the features; and a feature transforming component for transforming the features to the reference point in time.
18. 18. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program code for performing the steps of:

    retrieving data points associated with a prepaid mobile subscriber including a subscriber profile having been output by a data processing System retrieving and processing features relating to the prepaid mobile subscriber from one or more data stores, wherein one of the data stores includes a category of transactional records associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber;

    determining subscriber eligibility for a network usage product based on the data points; and, if the prepaid mobile subscriber is eligible for the network usage product, interacting with an intelligent network of a mobile téléphoné network to provision the network usage product to an

    5 account associated with the prepaid mobile subscriber.