Integrating Payment and Loyalty Functions at POS Terminals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional loyalty programs and payment systems require customers to carry multiple cards for identification, payment, and rewards, leading to inconvenience and inefficiency, as they are operationally separate and cannot easily integrate payment and loyalty functions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allows customers to use a single payment device at a point of sale (POS) terminal to pay for transactions and participate in a loyalty program, where the POS terminal captures payment and mobile device information, transmitting it to a processing platform that searches customer records for loyalty data, applies discounts, and processes payments, enabling seamless integration of payment and loyalty functions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If customers use separate loyalty cards and payment cards, then loyalty program functionality and payment functionality are maintained separately, but customers must carry multiple cards and swipe multiple cards at POS terminals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines separate loyalty card functionality and payment card functionality into a single integrated card. The card contains both a loyalty program identifier (for accessing loyalty benefits and rewards) and a payment account identifier (for processing payments). This merging eliminates the need for customers to carry and swipe multiple separate cards at point-of-sale terminals, directly resolving the contradiction by maintaining functional separation through integrated identification while improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated card serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as both a loyalty program membership card and a payment card. The card enables customers to access loyalty benefits, accumulate rewards, and process payments using a single universal medium. This multi-functionality directly addresses the contradiction by allowing one card to fulfill the roles previously requiring separate cards, thereby improving convenience without compromising the distinct functional capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If loyalty programs and payment systems are operationally separate, then each system can be managed independently, but integration requires complex systems and multiple cards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the operational frameworks of loyalty programs and payment systems by integrating their identification mechanisms into a single card. The card contains both loyalty program identifiers and payment account identifiers, allowing the processing platform to handle both loyalty benefits and payment transactions through a unified interface. This merging reduces system complexity by eliminating the need for separate card reading and processing systems while maintaining the adaptability of independent program management through the integrated identification structure.
3Stability of the object's composition
If information on cards is permanent and cannot be easily changed, then card security and stability are maintained, but customers cannot easily update loyalty program enrollment or payment information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic information storage on the card, allowing data to be changed and updated. The card can store loyalty program identifiers and payment account identifiers that can be modified through magnetic stripe rewriting or other data update mechanisms. This dynamic capability enables customers to enroll in loyalty programs, update payment information, and modify card details without obtaining new cards, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining stable card composition and enabling adaptable information updates.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is directed to a system and method for administration of a customer loyalty program at a point of sale terminal. The system, in one embodiment, contains a database of customer records for the loyalty program where each customer record contains information about a customer's payment device and information about a customer's mobile device. The system may locate a customer record in a database based on payment device or mobile device information captured at the point of sale terminal and apply any applicable loyalty program discounts. The system may then forward the payment device information to a third-party payment processor for payment processing. The system may print out a receipt at the point of sale terminal indicating any discounts and containing a promotional message. The system may also send a promotional message to the customer's mobile device using the mobile device information stored in the customer's record.