WO2002095634A1 - Systeme de recompenses - Google Patents

Systeme de recompenses Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2002095634A1
WO2002095634A1 PCT/AU2002/000614 AU0200614W WO02095634A1 WO 2002095634 A1 WO2002095634 A1 WO 2002095634A1 AU 0200614 W AU0200614 W AU 0200614W WO 02095634 A1 WO02095634 A1 WO 02095634A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
rewards
financial
merchant
amount
points
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/AU2002/000614
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Edward John Knight
Original Assignee
Edward John Knight
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
Priority claimed from AU46137/01A external-priority patent/AU744565B3/en
Priority claimed from AU2001100038A external-priority patent/AU2001100038A4/en
Application filed by Edward John Knight filed Critical Edward John Knight
Priority to AU2002308399A priority Critical patent/AU2002308399B2/en
Priority to NZ530216A priority patent/NZ530216A/en
Publication of WO2002095634A1 publication Critical patent/WO2002095634A1/fr

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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 relates to a rewards system for rewarding a Member's loyalty to a group of Merchants and thereby encouraging the Member to return and repurchase from any Member of the Merchant group.
  • Rewards systems for encouraging repeat purchases have a long commercial history and vary in complexity from the offer of a discount to sophisticated points-based systems.
  • the purpose of all such rewards systems is to provide the Member with an incentive to purchase goods and/or services from a particular Merchant by providing the Members with a reward each time the Members purchase goods and/or services from the Merchant .
  • Such points-based rewards systems operate by providing Members registered with the system with a card which serves to identify the Member and thereby identify the account to which points are to be allocated as a result of a purchase.
  • the Members receive, in general by mail, information which identifies the items and/or services available to the Members together with an indication as to the number of points required to claim the item and/or service.
  • the systems also suffer from relatively large administration costs because they carry out periodic mailing to Members of printed points statements and catalogues of the available items and/or services.
  • Product is used in a broad sense to mean any form of goods or services provided by a Merchant for sale or hire or engagement at a published or established price.
  • a Member is a person who has chosen to become registered with the rewards system and is entitled to receive rewards for purchases made by the Member from any Merchant associated with the rewards system.
  • “Merchant” Is a seller, retailer, wholesaler, service provider or professional practitioner appointed to the rewards system and entitled to provide Members with rewards points as a result of purchase of a product, and to redeem rewards points selected for use by a Member during purchase of a product.
  • “Territory” Means a defined geographic area allocated to a particular Merchant as the exclusive rewards schemes representative for their particular trade, profession or merchandise .
  • “Operator” Means, the firm, Company person or persons who are the principle operators of the rewards system.
  • w Rewards The terms “reward” and “rewards” are used to mean points, or any other commodity which notionally corresponds to a predetermined financial amount and which is received as a reward by a Member as a consequence of an act of purchasing a product.
  • Point A point is a Members unit of value notionally equal to a predetermined monetary amount. It is equivalent to currency and can be used by Members of the system to purchase products corresponding in monetary value to the points to be redeemed in exchange or part exchange for the product.
  • EFT refers to "electronic funds transfer” .
  • POS point of sale
  • EFTPOS refers to "electronic funds transf r at point of sale” .
  • PCPOS refers to "personal computer point of sale”.
  • the system in accordance with the present invention makes it possible to open up to a Member a substantially unlimited, freely available choice of reward products on which to expend rewards points, whilst at the same time offering the possibility of eliminating the need for catalogues, rewards statements, inventories of merchandise, storage, administration and related facilities. This allows the system to offer lower costs to participating Merchants and increase the value of rewards to Members. In particular forms, information of account balances and items of transaction statements can made available in a user-friendly format with accurate accountability.
  • a rewards system for rewarding Member loyalty said system including; at least one point of sale terminal for receiving information indicative of an offered rewards amount offered for purchase of a product and for receiving information indicative of a selected rewards amount selected by a user for redemption; communications means for facilitating communications between the at least one point of sale terminal, a rewards financial account associated with the rewards system, and at least one Merchant financial account associated with a Merchant ; and a plurality of user accounts, each user account being associated with a Member; said system being arranged, during a rewards receiving operation, to transfer a financial amount corresponding to an offered rewards amount received by the at least one point of sale terminal to said rewards financial account when said product is purchased by a Member, and to associate said transferred financial amount with, the Member; user account including a rewards balance amount indicative of the balance of financial amounts transferred to and from said rewards financial account and associated with the Member; and said system being arranged, during a rewards redeeming operation, to transfer at least a proportion of the respective cumulative financial amount associated with a
  • th system is arranged, during a rewards receiving operation, to transfer said financial amount corresponding to the offered rewards amount from a financial account of the seller of the product to said rewards financial account .
  • each said rewards balance amount is in the form of points, each point representing a predetermined financial amount.
  • the rewards system is arranged, during a rewards receiving operation, to calculate the appropriate financial amount corresponding to the offered rewards amount, and to transfer the appropriate financial amount from the merchant's bank account to said rewards financial account.
  • the rewards system is arranged, during a rewards redeeming operation, to calculate the appropriate financial amount corresponding to the selected rewards amount, and to transfer the appropriate financial amount from the rewards financial account to the Merchant financial account.
  • the rewards system is preferably arranged to deduct from the rewards balance amount associated with a Member, a rewards amount corresponding to the financial amount transferred from the rewards financial account to the Merchant financial account as a result of purchasing a product by the Member during a rewards redeeming operation.
  • the at least one terminal is also arranged to receive Member identification information indicative of the identity of a Member, the user accounts are arranged to store Member identification information, and the rewards system is arranged to compare/ the received Member identification information with the stored Member identification information.
  • the at least one terminal is also arranged to receive a PIN number, the user accounts are arranged to store PIN numbers and associate each PIN number with a user account, and the rewards system is arranged to verify the identity of the Member by comparing the received PIN number with the stored PIN number.
  • the at least one terminal is preferably also arranged to transmit payment information from a Member and the rewards system is arranged to forward the payment information to a financial institution associated with the Member for the purpose of carrying out electronic payment for a reward or payment of a product.
  • the financial control means is arranged to coordinate transfer of financial amounts between the rewards financial account and the Merchant financial accounts.
  • the rewards financial account preferably includes a Members points reward account including a financial amount attributable to Members associated with the rewards systems, and a system financial account including information, indicative of a financial amount attributable to operators of the rewards system.
  • the rewards system is preferably arranged such that, during a rewards receiving operation, a proportion of said financial amount transferred to the rewards financial account is transferred to the system financial account as an administration fee, and the remainder of said financial amount transferred to the rewards financial account is transferred to the Members points reward account and associated with a Member.
  • the rewards system preferably further includes a customer application arranged to receive requests from the at least one terminal and to generate reports in response to the requests, each said report being generated on the basis of user entered criteria and including information indicative of at least one Member, at least one Merchant and/or transactions between the at least one Member, the at least one Merchant and the rewards system; a funds management application arranged to manage the financial amount in the rewards financial account; and a help application arranged to receive requests for assistance from Members and/or Merchants associated with the system.
  • the help application preferably includes voice recognition software.
  • the rewards system preferably also includes a database application arranged to store the user accounts information.
  • the customer application, the funds management application and/or the help application may be accessible using a point of sale terminal, a telephone or an Internet enabled computing device.
  • the rewards system may also include a controller arranged to coordinate functions in the rewards system.
  • the communications network preferably includes a first communications network arranged to carry communications signals between the at least one terminal and the controller, and a second communications network arranged to carry communications signals between the controller, the rewards financial account and Merchant the financial accounts.
  • th _ t least one point of sale terminal includes a card reading device arranged to cooperate with an identification card so as to retrieve Member identification information from the identification card.
  • the at least one point of sale terminal may be an EFTPOS type terminal, a PCPOS type terminal or an Internet enabled computing device.
  • a method of rewarding Member loyalty including the steps o t providing at least one point of sale terminal; receiving at a point of sale terminal information indicative of an offered rewards amount offered for purchase of a product; receiving at a point of sale terminal information indicative of a selected rewards amount selected by a user for redemption; providing communications means for facilitating communications between the at least one point of sale terminal, a rewards financial account associated with the rewards system, and at least one Merchant financial account associated with a Merchant; providing a plurality of user accounts, each user account being associated with a Member; during a rewards receiving operation, transferring a financial amount corresponding to an offered rewards amount received by the at least one point of sale terminal to said rewards financial account when said product is purchased by a
  • each user account including a rewards balance amount indicative of the balance of financial amounts transferred to and from said rewards financial account and associated with the Member; during a rewards redeeming operation, transferring at least a proportion of the respective cumulative financial amount associated with a Member and corresponding to a selected rewards amount received by the at least one point of sale terminal from the rewards financial account to a Merchant financial account associated with a Merchant of a product when the product is purchased from the Merchant by the Member.
  • a rewards system which rewards Members of the system for utilising Merchants as their Merchants of preference for the purchase of products; the system comprising one or more Members and one or more Merchants; and wherein a Merchant issues points to the benefit of a Member at the time the Member purchases a product from the Merchant.
  • said system includes an operator for administration of the system; the operator not participating in the system as a Merchant.
  • the Merchant effectively purchases (funds) the points that represent the reward from the Operator at the time of purchase of the product.
  • the product provided by a Merchant is at a published or established price.
  • the member has the freedom to purchase any product or service displayed or advertised for sale by the Merchant by using rewards points.
  • every redemption transaction is treated as a normal buy transaction where rewards points are earned according to the usual points award rules.
  • the Member comprises a person who has chosen to become registered with the system and is entitled to receive points for purchases made by the Member from any Merchant associated with the system.
  • each Merchant appointed to the system- is entitled to provide and redeem Members points as a result of purchase of a product.
  • a Member can purchase a product from a Merchant in exchange for a specified number of reward points,- each of the points representing a predetermined financial amount.
  • the predetermined financial amount is applied to points utilised in a points redemption transaction between the Member and the Merchant.
  • the predetermined financial amount is applied to points utilised in a buy transaction between the Member and the Merchant.
  • the predetermined financial amount is applied to both a redemption transaction and a buy transaction between the Member and the Merchant.
  • the predetermined financial amount is an agreed monetary value against the purchase of a product.
  • the operator allocates each Merchant an exclusive territory.
  • the territory is demarked by the nature of goods sold by the Merchant .
  • the territory is demarked by a marketing channel .
  • the territory is demarked geographically.
  • the Merchants are selected for participation and territories are arranged to be substantially contiguous whereby a Member can obtain a broad array of products from Merchants within any given territory.
  • the predetermined financial amount is set by the operator of the system.
  • an electronic transaction terminal adapted to process transactions; the terminal further adapted to process rewards transactions for the above rewards system.
  • a media for use with the above rewards system wherein the media includes a storage element for storage of identity of Members.
  • a database for use with the above rewards system wherein the database includes a storage element for statistics relating to the spending profile of the Member and selling profile of the Merchant.
  • the media further includes means to facilitate electronic debit and credit transactions through the above terminal.
  • FIG. 1 is block diagram of a rewards system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
  • Figure 2 is a flow diagram indicating a rewards receiving operation of the embodiment shown in Figure 1
  • Figure 3 is a flow diagram indicating a rewards redeeming operation of the embodiment shown in Figure 1;
  • Figure 4 is a block diagram of a buy transaction in accordance with an example of an implementation of the present invention
  • Figure 5 is a block diagram of a redemption transaction
  • the present invention relates to a rewards system which operates such that during a rewards receiving operation, a financial . amount in points ' corresponding to a proportion of the purchase price of a product is transferred to a Members points rewards account when a product is purchased.
  • a rewards redeeming operation at least a proportion of the amount in an operators pool account is transferred to a Merchant account when a product is purchased.
  • a rewards system 10 which includes user interface devices in the form of point of sale terminals 12, 14 and a processing unit 15.
  • the point of sale terminals 12, 14 are of any suitable type capable of acting as an interface between a Member and the rewards system 10 and, in particular, of the type capable of receiving reward information and user identification information at a point of sale, and capable of forwarding the reward information and user identification information to the processing unit 15.
  • the rewards system 10 is arranged such that Members who have registered with the rewards system 10 become Members of the rewards system 10, with each Member being allocated a Member rewards account.
  • the Member rewards accounts are arranged to store information indicative of the points value attributable to each Member as a result of purchases made by the Members and rewards received by the Members.
  • the Member rewards accounts do not store financial amounts per se but instead store points which represent financial amounts stored in a financial account associated with Members of the rewards system 10 -
  • Merchants registered with the system may be provided with a plurality of identification cards which may be issued to new Members at the point of sale.
  • the card When a card is first used, the card is activated and a Member rewards account is activated and allocated to the Member.
  • the allocated Member rewards account is then associated with the Member details provided by the Member when the Member formally registers with the rewards system 10.
  • the rewards system 10 may also be arranged such that Merchants who have registered with the system become registered Merchants authorised by operators of the system to offer rewards as a result of an act of purchasing a product and to accept rewards as at least part payment for purchase of a product.
  • the rewards system 10 communicates with at least one financial institution, in this example a first bank 16 and a second bank 18.
  • the first and second banks 16, 18 hold an account for Member accumulated rewards points and accounts 30,
  • the rewards system 10 includes a first communications network 20 which may be any communications network suitable for carrying communications signals between the point of sale terminals 12, 14 and the processing unit 15.
  • the first communications network 20 is arranged to carry communications signals from a variety of user interface devices, such as EFTPOS terminals, PCPOS terminals, telephones and Internet enabled personal computer devices.
  • user interface devices such as EFTPOS terminals, PCPOS terminals, telephones and Internet enabled personal computer devices.
  • communications networks may be utilised for carrying communications signals between the user interface devices and the processing unit 15, each communications network being specific to particular communications signals from a particular user interface device .
  • the EFTPOS terminal 12 is arranged to receive identification information indicative of the identity of a Member, to receive rewards information indicative of the rewards amount applicable for a purchase, to forward the identification information and the rewards information to the processing unit 15, and to receive and forward payment information to a financial institution associated with a Member for the purpose of carrying out electronic payment of a product.
  • the EFTPOS terminal 12 may be a standard EFTPOS terminal which has been provided with interface software to enable the EFTPOS terminal 12 to communicate with the processing unit 15 through the communications network 20 in accordance with the present invention.
  • the EFTPOS terminal 12 may be specifically designed to operate in accordance with the present invention.
  • the PCPOS terminal 14 is arranged to receive identification information indicative of the identity of a Member, to receive information indicative of the rewards amount applicable for a purchase, to forward the identification information and the rewards information to the processing unit 15, and to receive and forward payment information to a financial institution associated with a Member for the purpose of carrying out electronic payment of a product .
  • EFTPOS and PCPOS terminals 12, 14 are arranged to facilitate electronic payment of a product, this is not an essential requirement of the invention, and other methods of payment are also applicable, such as payment by cash or credit card.
  • a Member is identified at the point of sale by virtue of an identification card issued to the Member by operators of the rewards system 10, the card containing identification information unique " to the Member.
  • the card may be of the type including a magnetic strip for recording information or the card may be of the type known as "smart cards" and which include an integrated circuit for recording information.
  • the point of sale terminals 12, 14 would be provided with card reading devices .
  • identi ica ion cards are not an essential requirement of the invention and Members could be identified merely by manually communicating the appropriate identification information to a representative of a Merchant at the point of sale.
  • registered Merchants may be identified by virtue of an identification card issued to the Merchants by operators of the system.
  • the processing unit 15 includes a controller 22 which generally serves to coordinate functions in the processing unit 15.
  • the controller 22 is arranged to receive communications from the user interface devices, in particular from the EFTPOS terminal 12 and the PCPOS terminal 14, to interrogate and instruct applications of the processing unit 15, to carry out actions in response to such interrogations or in response to instructions from the terminals, and to direct information from the processing unit 15 through the communications network 20 to the user interface devices.
  • the controller 22 communicates with a financial control application 24 which serves as an interface .between the controller 22 and the financial institutions 16, 18.
  • the main function of the financial control application 24 is to instruct the transfer of financial amounts between accounts in the financial institutions 16, 18.
  • the financial control application 24 also calculates ' the number of points corresponding to each financial amount transferred between financial accounts in the financial institutions 16, 18, and forwards information indicative of the calculated number of points to the controller 22 for crediting to or debiting from the appropriate Member account.
  • this application interfaces with financial institutions, it will be subject to the security rules set by the banking system.
  • the financial control application 24 communicates with the financial institutions 16, 18 through a second communications network 26 which may be any communications network suitable for carrying communications signals between the processing unit 15 and the financial institutions 16, 18.
  • the first bank 16 includes a rewards financial account 28 associated with the rewards system 10, and a plurality of Merchant accounts 30, each of which is associated with a Merchant of goods and/or services.
  • the second bank 18 includes a plurality of Merchant accounts 32, each of which is associated with a Merchant of goods and/or services .
  • the rewards financial account 28 includes a Members points reward account including, information indicative of a points value attributable to Members of the rewards system 10, and a system financial account including information indicative of a financial amount attributable to the operators of the rewards system 10.
  • the controller 22 communicates with a database application 34, a customer application 36, a help application 38 and a funds management application 40.
  • Each of the applications 34, 36, 38, 40 may be in the form of a separate Computing device arranged to communicate with the controller 22, or may be in the form of a software application with each software application stored on the same computing device.
  • the database application 34 serves to store Member account information in the form of a plurality of Member rewards accounts, with each Member rewards- account including information indicative of transactions attributable to the Member to and from the Members points reward account.
  • the transaction information stored in each Member rewards account is in the form of a cumulative total of points, with each point corresponding to a predetermined financial amount, for example 10 cents.
  • the database application 34 operates such that a transaction to the Members points reward account and attributable to a particular Member results in the addition of a number of points corresponding to the transaction to the cumulative total of points in the respective Member rewards account.
  • the database application also operates such that a transaction from the Members points reward account to a Merchant financial account and attributable to a particular Member results in the subtraction of a number of points corresponding to the transaction from the cumulative total of points in the respective Member rewards account.
  • the database application 34 also includes details of PIN numbers associated with the Members, and PIN numbers of Merchants registered with the rewards system 10.
  • the customer application 36 is arranged to store Member and Merchant information such as the names and addresses of the Members and Merchants and other demographic information relating to the Members and Merchants.
  • the customer application 36 is also arranged to interrogate the other applications 34, 38, 40 in the processing unit 15 in response to requests to generate reports. Such reports may be forwarded to the requesting user interface device through the first communications network 20 or to requestors by any other suitable communications method, for example by e-mail, standard mail or facsimile.
  • the customer application 36 may be arranged to cooperate with the database application 34 so as to provide points balance information and/or transaction history -information on request.
  • the customer application 36 may also serve to generate purchasing activity data of Members which can be combined with Member demographic information to carry out targeted sales promotion.
  • the help application 38 is arranged to receive and respond to requests for assistance from Members and/or
  • help application 38 may be supported by human operators and/or may include voice recognition software.
  • the customer application 36 and the help application 38 are accessible through the first communications network 20 using any suitable user interface device, in this example by using the EFTPOS terminal 12, the PCPOS terminal 14 and a personal computing device 41 which may be located at the home or workplace of a Member.
  • the help application 38 may also be accessible using a telephone 42 , the user interacting with the help application using the voice recognition software of the help application 38.
  • the funds management application 40 communicates with the controller 22 and the first bank 16 and serves to manage the financial amount in the rewards financial account 28 with a view to generating revenue for the operators of the rewards system 10.
  • Steps of a rewards receiving operation are indicated by reference numerals 46 to 62 in Figure 2.
  • the Member first negotiates a product price and the number of points to be offered for the product with a representative of a Merchant. Once the Member and the representative have agreed on the product price and the number of points offered, the Member pays for the product by cash, credit card, EFTPOS transfer or any other suitable payment method acceptable by the Member and the Merchant. The Member then provides the Merchant with information identifying the Member by supplying the Merchant with an identification card and the Merchant introducing the identification card into the card reading device of the point of sale terminal 12, 14.
  • the Member identification card is a particularly desirable way to identify the Members, other identification methods may be used, the important aspect being that the point of sale terminal is provided with information indicative of the identity of the Member so that the rewards system 10 is able to allocate the appropriate number of points to the Members account in the database application 34.
  • the information is forwarded from the point of sale terminal 12, 14 to the controller 22 through the first communications network 20, whereupon the controller 22 communicates with the database application 34 to verify that the information used to identify the Member correlates with information indicative of the Member in the database application 34.
  • the Member provides the point of sale terminal 12, 14 with a PIN number.
  • Information indicative of the PIN number is then forwarded through the first ' communications network 20 to the controller 22 which then compares the entered IN number with the PIN number stored in the database application 34 and associated with the Member .
  • the rewards system 10 is also arranged to require verification of the identity of the Merchant, for example by receiving information identifying the Merchant and a PIN number associated with the Merchant.
  • verification of a Merchant occurs when the Merchant first connects with the rewards system.
  • verification of the Merchant may occur as part of each act of purchasing a product.
  • the number of points offered for the product is entered into the point of sale terminal, for example by the representative of the Merchant.
  • a financial amount corresponding to the number of points offered is then calculated by the financial control application 24 and the financial control application 24 transfers the calculated financial amount from the Merchant account 30, 32 associated with the Merchant to the rewards financial account 28.
  • a proportion of the calculated financial amount is allocated to the system financial account as an administration fee, and the remainder of the calculated financial amount is allocated to the Members points reward account.
  • the financial control application 24 also calculates the number of points corresponding to the financial amount transferred to the Members points reward account and instructs the controller 22 to add the appropriate number of points to the Member rewards account in the database application 34.
  • a rewards redeeming operation will now be described wherein a Member of the rewards system 10 redeems rewards as part of an act of purchasing a product.
  • Steps of the rewards redeeming operation are indicated by reference numerals 64 to 82 in Figure 3.
  • the Member first negotiates the product price with a representative of the Merchant. Likewise with the rewards receiving operation, the Member is then identified by providing an identification card and by entering a PIN number. Following positive identification of the Member, the Member selects the number of points to be used for the purchase and the controller 22 communicates with the database application 34 so as to determine whether the number of points selected by the Member are available to the Member. If the selected number of points are available to the Member, the financial control application 24 calculates a financial amount corresponding to the selected number of points and transfers the calculated financial amount from the Members points reward account to a Merchant financial account 30, 32 associated with the Merchant. The controller 22 then communicates with the database application 34 so as to deduct the selected number of points from the Member rewards account. The difference, if any, between the price of the product and the calculated financial amount is then determined and the difference is paid by the Member by any suitable method, for example by cash, credit card, EFTPOS or a combination of any of these methods.
  • the rewards system 10 may be arranged so that the Member also receives rewards points as a result of purchase of a product even when the product is purchased at least partly using rewards points.
  • the present rewards system encourages Members to return and repurchase by providing Members registered with the system with rewards which are directly backed by a financial amount and which may be utilised to purchase goods and/or services from a plurality of Merchants registered with the system. In this way and by only allowing a predetermined proportion of Merchants to be registered with the system the registered Merchants are provided with an advantage in the marketplace over non- registered Merchants.
  • the present rewards system provides Members with a powerful incentive to repurchase from a Merchant in a more cost effective way than rewards systems known hitherto since it is not necessary to provide Members with expensive printed material such as catalogues of goods and/or services on offer. ith the present system, all products and/or services which are on offer for sale from registered Merchants are available for purchase using the rewards. Similarly, all products and/or services which are on offer for sale from registered Merchants can serve to generate rewards for the Members, It will also be appreciated that in order to reduce fraud, the rewards system may be arranged so as to distinguish between total points held and points available for redemption, wherein points only become available for redemption after a predetermined period of time. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that since the rewards received by Members registered with the rewards system are backed by financial amounts, the Members are able to negotiate the sale price of products with Merchants.
  • Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate steps in a rewards system 100 for both buy and redemption transactions in accordance with the above described embodiment.
  • one rewards point costs a merchant 101 twelve cents of which ten cents is allocated to Operators rewards funds pool account 102 and two cents is allocated to the rewards system operator account 103. It will be appreciated that other amounts can and will be used depending on local conditions under which the rewards system is operating. In many circumstances the predetermined monetary value to be attributed to a point would be determined by contractual arrangement between each merchant 101 and the rewards system operator.
  • Fig. 4 an example of a buy transaction 104 is provided wherein product X is purchased entirely for currency (i.e. there is no redeeming of points involved) from merchant 101 by Member 105.
  • the triggering of the purchase and allocation of points is achieved by the Member 105 causing his rewards card 109 to be swiped through EFTPOS terminal 107 resulting ultimately in electronic communication between the merchant's bank account 109 and the operator's bank account 110 whereby, in this example, funds to a value of twelve cents per point purchased by merchant 101 for allocation to the benefit of Member 105 at the rate of twelve cents per point are deposited to the operator's bank account 110. More specifically, two cents of this amount is placed in the operator's account 103 whilst ten cents is deposited into the rewards funds pool account controlled by the operator.
  • the points are allocated to the rewards point database 111 to the benefit of Member 105, such points being available for Member 105 to utilise in subsequent redemption operations to be described below.
  • redemption transaction 115 is illustrated and wherein like components are numbered as for Fig. 4.
  • Member 105 purchases product X entirely on the basis of redemption of points via merchant 101.
  • the rewards card 109 need be swiped through the EFTPOS terminal 107 with the end result that funds to the value of product X are passed from the Member's pool account 102 to the merchant's bank account 108 and points corresponding to the value of product x are deducted from the rewards point database 111 from the account corresponding to Member 105.
  • Every redemption transaction is treated as a normal buy transaction where rewards points are earned according to the usual points award rules. It will be observed that characteristics of the above referenced example include: (a) The Merchant need only purchase reward points for issue to a Member at the time a commercial buy transaction is entered into by a Member. (b) A Member can redeem reward points credits at any participating merchant as part of an otherwise conventional buy transaction, and treating the rewards points at predetermined value as legal tender.
  • a buy transaction may be paid for in whole or in part by points redemption.
  • Data entry for attributing rewards points in relation to member can utilise existing commercial data entry components such as EFTPOS terminals and also utilise the existing communications infrastructure between merchants and financial intermediaries.
  • a suitable specification for the database portion of the software of the example is :
  • the merchant (through R.R. EFTPOS software) has connection to a batch database installed "fund pool" for managing the flow of units of value, "points" (money) to and from the central control bank.
  • the management transaction or batch database extracts funds from the merchant's own bank account and accumulates and divides the funds U.O.V. funded by merchant and directs 16.666% to Operators account and 83.333% to Members' pool account.
  • the merchant can: a) Send funds amounting to a specific number of points to be processed through the Operators batch database, which will automatically ' deduct the transaction fee from the monetary value of each point (U.O.V.) and transfer 16.66% of the value of each point to the Operators business account and
  • the Operators Pool Account account will hold all the monetary value of the rewards points to the Operators orders, which orders are confirmed and governed by the operating rules of membership, one of which disallows a Member from drawing points in cash either directly or through the services of an appointed merchant. 5 INCOMING & OU GOING TRANSACTION FLOWS:
  • the Member pays for the goods received either by: a) Cash, credit card or hire purchase agreement.
  • the merchant will: a) Where goods are purchased by cash, etc. enter the transaction details in the merchant's EFTPOS
  • swipe the Member's card - security procedure will take place, i.e. Pin No., identification, etc. and the agreed number of points rewarded on the amount of the Member's purchase will be automatically transferred from the
  • Fraud management parameters will be built into the software and show by highlight in audit trail.
  • the software system will have spare capacity providing options for future expansion and development of the program.
  • the software system will have both a local and a wide area network base to answer adequate reporting and management function requirements with the ability for user reporting and query devslopmentr:
  • each reward point can be attributed a value in the hands of the Member of 10 cents with an additional 2 cents attributable to the control entity.
  • Each Real Reward point is set at a specific amount to the Member of 10 cents per point.
  • the Real Reward Member knows the exact value of points given by a merchant against each purchase by virtue of their set specific amount of 10 cents per point and by statements issued with each transaction.
  • the Real Reward Member can check their points balance at any time using a series of tools including a call centre, Internet, SMS and faxback.
  • the Real Reward Member pays for a range of services such as checking points balance via charges against their points balance. Monthly membership fees are also charged against Members points balance.
  • Security uses three separate forms of identification including a PIN, a card and a Member's or merchants contact details.
  • Rewards points capture and processing can rely on current 3DES (Encryption Standard) on JAVA and MULTOS compatible hardware and such equivalent standards that may apply from time to time for existing point of sale transaction capturing devices such as EFTPOS machines
  • the system is a no -proprietary, independently operated scheme that rewards loyalty to a group of geographically located merchants across the full spectrum of industry types.
  • the system is designed as both business-to-consumer and business-to-business.
  • the Merchant has control over how many points are given in exchange for the purchase of goods and services normally sold by that particular Merchant. For example, points given can range from a high percentage for non- discounted goods and services to no points for "loss leaders" .
  • Real Reward redemption transaction constitutes a full margin sale upon which further reward points may accrue.
  • Real Reward points can be amalgamated with other Member's points (with their agreement) for example by say a family to make one purchase.
  • Real Reward Members can purchase goods and services or part cash/part reward points.
  • Real Reward points are not tied to a merchant's brand or point-of-sale system.
  • Redemption of points are managed by instructions issued by the Operators control centre to the merchant, merchant bank and The Rewards bank.
  • the Member reward points account is not an account maintained in actual currency. Rather, the points held in the rewards points account equate to a specified purchasing value, which value is backed by the Members pool of funds maintained and controlled by the operator. Stated another way points are not currency per se, but equate to a predetermined monetary value. It is also to be understood that a Member will not be able to redeem points for currency but only for product as defined earlier in the specification.
  • the rewards system can be applied to electronic transaction systems as currently available at point of sale terminals in many shopping outlets.

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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 système (10) et un procédé de récompenses permettant de récompenser la fidélité d'un membre. Ce système (10) comprend au moins un terminal de point de vente (12, 14) pour recevoir une information indicative d'un montant de récompense offert pour l'achat d'un produit et pour recevoir une information indicative d'un montant de récompense sélectionné par un utilisateur pour remboursement. Ce système comprend également des moyens de communication (20, 26) pour faciliter les communications entre le ou les terminaux de point de vente (12, 14), un compte financier de récompenses (28) associé au système de récompenses (10), au moins un compte financier de commerçant (30, 32) associé à un commerçant et une pluralité de comptes d'utilisateur, chaque compte d'utilisateur étant associé à un membre. Ce système (10) est conçu pour, durant une opération de réception de récompense, transférer un montant correspondant à un montant de récompense offert reçu par le ou les terminaux de point de vente, au compte financier de récompenses (28) lorsque le produit est acheté par un membre, et pour associer le montant transféré à ce membre. Chaque compte d'utilisateur comprend un montant de solde des récompenses indicatif du solde des montants transférés vers et du compte financier de récompenses (28) et associés au membre. Ce système (10) est également conçu pour, durant une opération de remboursement de récompense, transférer du moins une partie du montant cumulatif respectif associé à un membre et correspondant à un montant de récompense sélectionné reçu par le ou les terminaux de point de vente, du compte financier de récompenses (28) à un compte financier de commerçant (30, 32) associé à un commerçant, lorsque le produit de ce commerçant est acheté par le membre.
PCT/AU2002/000614 2001-05-18 2002-05-20 Systeme de recompenses WO2002095634A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2002308399A AU2002308399B2 (en) 2001-05-18 2002-05-20 A rewards system
NZ530216A NZ530216A (en) 2001-05-18 2002-05-20 A rewards system

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU46137/01A AU744565B3 (en) 2001-05-18 2001-05-18 A rewards system
AU46137/01 2001-05-18
AU2001/100038 2001-05-29
AU2001100038A AU2001100038A4 (en) 2001-05-18 2001-05-29 A reward system

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2002095634A1 true WO2002095634A1 (fr) 2002-11-28

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/AU2002/000614 WO2002095634A1 (fr) 2001-05-18 2002-05-20 Systeme de recompenses

Country Status (2)

Country Link
NZ (1) NZ530216A (fr)
WO (1) WO2002095634A1 (fr)

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WO2005006105A2 (fr) * 2003-07-09 2005-01-20 Hillinger Schmiedl Gadermayr Systeme d'acquisition et de traitement de donnees
WO2010051602A1 (fr) * 2008-11-10 2010-05-14 Amir Salemi Nouveau système de points de récompense et marché libre universel associé
TWI462041B (zh) * 2009-03-30 2014-11-21 Yuh-Shen Song 無卡金融交易系統
TWI470569B (zh) * 2005-10-24 2015-01-21 Citibank Na 藉助電腦管理交易卡客戶帳戶的方法及系統
US20190392475A1 (en) * 2018-06-25 2019-12-26 Fidelity Information Services, Llc Systems and methods for electronic loyalty-based transactions over electronic monetary exchange networks

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US6119933A (en) * 1997-07-17 2000-09-19 Wong; Earl Chang Method and apparatus for customer loyalty and marketing analysis
US6138911A (en) * 1996-12-03 2000-10-31 Carlson Companies, Inc. In-store points redemption system and method
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US5734838A (en) * 1995-05-04 1998-03-31 American Savings Bank, F.A. Database computer architecture for managing an incentive award program and checking float of funds at time of purchase
WO1997046961A1 (fr) * 1996-06-06 1997-12-11 Provident Bancorp, Inc. Systeme point-de-vente de totalisation de points d'achats
US6138911A (en) * 1996-12-03 2000-10-31 Carlson Companies, Inc. In-store points redemption system and method
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Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2005006105A2 (fr) * 2003-07-09 2005-01-20 Hillinger Schmiedl Gadermayr Systeme d'acquisition et de traitement de donnees
WO2005006105A3 (fr) * 2003-07-09 2005-10-20 Hillinger Schmiedl Gadermayr Systeme d'acquisition et de traitement de donnees
TWI470569B (zh) * 2005-10-24 2015-01-21 Citibank Na 藉助電腦管理交易卡客戶帳戶的方法及系統
WO2010051602A1 (fr) * 2008-11-10 2010-05-14 Amir Salemi Nouveau système de points de récompense et marché libre universel associé
TWI462041B (zh) * 2009-03-30 2014-11-21 Yuh-Shen Song 無卡金融交易系統
US20190392475A1 (en) * 2018-06-25 2019-12-26 Fidelity Information Services, Llc Systems and methods for electronic loyalty-based transactions over electronic monetary exchange networks

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