Distributed Ledger Reconciliation for Duplicate Card-Linked Offers

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current systems lack a standardized method to reconcile and apply multiple card-linked offers from the same merchant, leading to duplicate rewards and a lack of merchant control over offer redemptions across platforms, which disincentivizes merchants from providing offers on multiple platforms and creates an suboptimal consumer experience.

Innovation Solution

A distributed ledger system, such as a blockchain, is used to programmatically identify and reconcile duplicate card-linked offers by registering transactions in a shared immutable ledger, ensuring only one provider rewards the customer, while preserving customer privacy and ensuring deterministic and auditable transaction matching.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If multiple card-linked offers are provided across different platforms without a standardized reconciliation system, then consumers can access multiple offers from the same merchant, but duplicate rewards are issued and merchants lose control over offer redemptions

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveConsumer access to multiple offersVSAvoidDuplicate reward prevention

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple offer platforms into a single standardized reconciliation system that processes all card-linked offers through a common framework. This allows consumers to access offers from multiple platforms while ensuring that only one reward is issued per transaction through centralized coordination of offer redemption across all platforms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a universal reconciliation system that handles multiple types of offers (cash back, discounts, rewards) from multiple merchants and platforms through a single standardized process. This multi-functional system maintains merchant control while enabling broad consumer access to offers across different platforms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Adaptability or versatility

If merchants provide offers on multiple platforms without control mechanisms, then consumer choice increases, but merchants cannot control the number of offers available or claimed

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveOffer availability across platformsVSAvoidMerchant control over offers

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the standardized reconciliation system provides merchants with real-time information about offer claims, redemption status, and duplicate detection results. This allows merchants to monitor and control their offer distribution across multiple platforms while maintaining broad availability for consumers.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a standardized reconciliation system as an intermediary between merchants and multiple offer platforms. This mediator coordinates offer distribution, tracks redemptions, and prevents duplicates while allowing merchants to maintain control policies without directly managing each platform's offer delivery.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If a standardized reconciliation system is implemented across multiple platforms, then duplicate rewards are prevented and merchant control is established, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveOffer reconciliation accuracyVSAvoidReconciliation system structure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the reconciliation system into distinct modular components: offer registration modules, transaction detection modules, duplicate identification modules, and reward coordination modules. This segmentation allows each component to perform a specific function independently, improving reliability while managing complexity through modular design that can be implemented across different platforms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS11494798B1Facilitating the application of a ledger to programmatically identify duplicate data objects indicative of multiple card-linked offers provided against a single transaction

Publication Date: 2022.11.08 BYTEDANCE INC

AI summary

A method, apparatus and computer program products are provided for facilitating the application of a ledger, or data structure in general, to programmatically identify duplicate data objects, such as those indicative of card-linked offers provided against a single transaction, and more specifically, to the utilization of a global ledger to identify stacking of card-linked offers. One example method includes receiving an indication of an interaction between two devices, generating distributed ledger data, the distributed ledger data indicative of a previous interaction between the primary device and an entity, causing transmission of the distributed ledger data to each of a plurality of nodes in a offerer network, after a predetermined amount of time, causing performance of a comparison within the distributed ledger data to determine that the entity and a second entity comprise corresponding data objects, applying a rule to generate an adjusted value.