Point of Sale Financial Discount System with Instant Eligibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rewards programs are cumbersome for consumers to understand and redeem, lacking instant gratification and clear monetary value, making them difficult to utilize effectively.
Innovation Solution
Systems and methods that provide financial discounts or rewards at the point of sale, using processors to determine eligibility and apply discounts to transactions, allowing users to instantly save money and visualize their savings, while remaining unapparent to merchants.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional rewards programs accumulate points over time, then customers can receive rewards, but the process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming with delayed gratification
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating and storing reward eligibility criteria, customer profiles, and discount rules before transactions occur. This allows instant determination of rewards at point of sale without requiring time-consuming accumulation periods or manual redemption processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary rewards management system that sits between the customer and merchant systems. This intermediary automatically processes reward eligibility, calculates discounts, and applies rewards in real-time, eliminating the need for customers to manually track and redeem points while ensuring reliable reward delivery.
2Reliability
If rewards programs use complex point systems, then providers can control costs, but customers find it difficult to understand and visualize the value
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the parameter of reward presentation by offering multiple display formats (cash value, percentage discount, point equivalents) based on customer preferences and transaction context. This allows providers to control costs through standardized point calculations while customers visualize value in their preferred format, resolving the contradiction between cost control and ease of understanding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms that provide real-time information to customers about their reward eligibility, calculated discounts, and savings value during the transaction process. This immediate feedback loop enhances understandability and visualization while the system maintains cost control through pre-defined reward rules and eligibility criteria.
3Ease of operation
If rewards are provided instantly at point of sale, then customers receive immediate gratification, but the merchant must process complex reward calculations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex reward calculation and processing functions from the merchant system and relocates them to a dedicated rewards management system. The merchant system only needs to transmit transaction data and receive discount amounts, while the complex eligibility verification, calculation, and rule processing are performed externally, reducing merchant system complexity while enabling instant customer rewards.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the reward processing architecture into distinct functional modules: transaction data collection, eligibility verification, discount calculation, and reward application. This segmentation allows each module to handle specific tasks independently, reducing overall processing complexity at the merchant system while enabling instant gratification through automated, modular processing.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed embodiments include methods and systems for providing a discount or reward at the point of sale. In one embodiment a system for providing a discount at the point of sale is disclosed. The system may be configured to receive transaction data relating to one or more purchase transactions and determine discount eligibility of the one or more purchase transactions. The system may also be configured to determine a discount amount based on the determined discount eligibility and the transaction data and apply the discount to the one or more purchase transactions. Further, the system may also be configured to display the applied discount to the user.