Unique Bank Card Numbers for Promotional Offer Settlement
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Solution Overview
Problem
The promotional offer industry faces challenges with fraud and inefficiencies in the redemption and settlement process, including manual coupon counting, delayed reimbursement, and significant costs due to convoluted processes that tie up funds for manufacturers and retailers, leading to potential losses and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that uses one-time-use unique bank card numbers associated with promotional offers, transmitted to consumer devices for redemption, with blockchain recording and payment allocation within days or weeks, reducing fraud and streamlining the settlement process through electronic transactions and real-time verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If manual coupon counting and reconciliation processes are used, then labor costs are reduced by outsourcing to countries with inexpensive labor, but the settlement time increases significantly and fraud risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual coupon counting system with an electronic digital tracking system. Each promotional offer is assigned a unique identifier that is electronically tracked through issuance, redemption, and settlement stages. This substitution eliminates the need for physical coupon collection, transportation, and manual counting, thereby reducing both labor costs and settlement time simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates digital copies and representations of promotional offers in the form of unique electronic identifiers. Instead of handling physical coupons, the system uses digital tokens that can be issued, tracked, and redeemed electronically. This copying approach allows for automated processing and instant settlement without the time-consuming physical handling and counting processes.
2Reliability
If manual coupon verification processes are used, then fraud can be detected through auditing, but the process complexity and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a real-time feedback mechanism where each promotional offer's status (issued, redeemed, settled) is continuously tracked and recorded in a centralized system. This automated feedback loop provides immediate visibility into the status of all promotional offers, enabling instant fraud detection without requiring complex manual auditing processes. The system automatically flags anomalies such as duplicate redemptions or unauthorized issuances.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-verification through its automated tracking mechanism. Each promotional offer carries unique identifiers that automatically verify its authenticity and redemption status without requiring external manual verification. The centralized system automatically reconciles redemptions with issuances, providing self-service fraud prevention that reduces both process complexity and costs while maintaining high reliability.
3Reliability
If traditional settlement processes are used, then manufacturers can control promotional spending, but funds are tied up for months causing cash flow problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-allocating funds and pre-establishing settlement rules before promotional campaigns begin. The system pre-configures spending limits, allocation rules, and settlement timelines, enabling automated real-time control during the campaign. This allows manufacturers to maintain spending control while avoiding the months-long delays of traditional post-campaign reconciliation, as settlements are processed automatically according to pre-established parameters.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic control mechanisms that allow real-time adjustment of promotional spending based on actual redemption rates and campaign performance. The system continuously monitors and adjusts fund allocation dynamically during the promotional period, enabling manufacturers to maintain control while accelerating settlement. This dynamic approach replaces the static, delayed control of traditional methods with flexible, real-time management that improves cash flow while maintaining spending discipline.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for managing the promotional offer industry offer, redemption, and settlement processes in ways that facilitate improvements in the reconciliation and settlement process, thereby facilitating rapid and accurate settlement. A method for facilitating rapid and accurate settlement includes steps of associating a unique bank card number with a promotional offer, transmitting the bank card number to a consumer computing device over an electronic communications network as a received promotional offer, whereby a consumer operating the consumer computing device is enabled to use the bank card number at a point of sale to redeem the received promotional offer, receiving an indication that the bank card number was used at the point of sale to redeem the received promotional offer, and allocating payment for redemption of the received promotional offer within one week of receipt of the indication that the bank card number was used at the point of sale.