Payment Card Haptic Feedback for Reward Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals face difficulties in tracking which payment card to use in a retail establishment to obtain rewards or benefits, as they often carry multiple cards and need to remember prior usage history.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that uses a payment card with a haptic feedback mechanism, lights, and a smartphone's GPS and database to detect when the card is in a retail establishment and provide feedback to the user about prior transactions, ensuring the correct card is used for benefits and rewards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If an individual carries multiple payment cards to access different reward programs, then the availability of reward benefits increases, but the difficulty of tracking which card to use in a particular retail establishment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides real-time feedback to the user through a mobile device, notifying them which payment card has been previously used at a particular retail establishment. This feedback mechanism enables users to make informed decisions about which card to use to maximize rewards, directly resolving the tracking difficulty while maintaining multiple card options.
Solution Approach 2:
A mobile computing device serves as an intermediary between the payment cards and the user. The mobile device receives data from sensors detecting the presence of multiple payment cards and processes this information to identify which card was previously used at the current location, presenting this information to the user to guide their card selection.
2Measurement precision
If real-time tracking of payment card location is implemented, then the accuracy of reward program tracking improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous real-time tracking, the system uses periodic detection through sensors that are activated when the user opens their wallet or carrying case. The sensors detect the presence of payment cards at these periodic intervals, providing sufficient information for reward tracking while significantly reducing energy consumption compared to continuous monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The payment cards themselves contain sensors that can detect their own presence and state within the wallet. This self-service capability eliminates the need for an external continuous tracking system, as the cards autonomously provide their location and usage status information when queried by the mobile device.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects described herein may allow for method of detecting when a payment card is in a retail establishment by establishing communication between the payment card and a real-time position tracking system; determining whether one of a plurality of accounts linked to the payment card has been used in one or more prior purchasing transactions in the retail establishment; detecting, movement of the payment card with respect to the individual carrying the payment card while the payment card is in a carrying device carried by the individual; and providing, by the payment card, haptic feedback and visible feedback to the individual carrying the payment card.