Title of Invention

AN APPARATUS FOR EXECUTING TRANSACTION AND PLURALITY OF LOYALTY PROGRAM

Abstract

An apparatus for executing transactions and plurality of loyalty programs having:- i. plurality of credit cards, and ii. administration module comprising - a. plurality of clients accounts, b. plurality of credit card holder accounts, c. a transaction processor, d. plurality of clients loyalty accounts, e. plurality of clients card holders loyalty accounts, f. plurality of loyalty program processors,. . (-) wherein the transaction processor is operatively coupled to access the transaction amount, credit limit and transaction balance associated with the credit card holder accounts, (-) wherein the loyalty processor is operatively coupled to access the transaction type associated with client loyalty account and card holder loyalty account. 2. An apparatus for executing transactions and a loyalty program using smart card comprising: (a). a credit card associated with the credit card holder account, (b). a credit card associated with plurality of credit card holder loyalty accounts, (c). a credit card associated with plurality of clients' loyalty accounts.

Full Text

PRIOR ART - Currently the smart cards and credit cards are used for the following applications worldwide for various type of transactions like credit transactions, debit transactions and non-financial transactions. Its application"s scope is wide and expansive including. • Payment solutions • Wireless communications • eCommerce • Healthcare 8B Social services • Phonecards • Mass Transit • Toll • Utilities & Metering • Identification & Security • Loyalty and Retail • Pay TV and so on Currently the Loyalty applications are available as special packages or are embedded with the Card itself. So, the organizations wishing to run Loyalty applications can either buy the application and integrate with their card or procure a ready made card which comes with a built in loyalty application Another variant is that smart cards come with multiple application slots, hence more than one organization wanting to deploy an application (banking, telecom, loyalty, customer ID etc) to the same customer base, then each organization puts its proprietary application on a separate application slot on the same card, end result is that multiple applications co-exist in the same card, but are totally independent in the application and the deployment. Hence the emergence of a mobile phone SIM card that doubles as a debit card. A third variant is that each organization floating an independent application on independent cards to the same customer, the result is that the end customers end up carrying multiple cards, the scenario is very much similar to that of credit cards today, wherein the same customer carries multiple credit cards. E.g of the current system : In case of the BPCL petro card, which is a loyalty card, the consumers get a prepaid card worth their payment. This card cannot be used for any other loyalty program of other petro companies. Also, If other Oil companies want to replicate the same, they have to start right from the start i.e collect database, system design, Architecture, Application design, Infra structure etc. DEFICIENCY IN PRIOR ART :- • There is no universal loyalty application which allows multiple organizations to deploy loyalty program using the same loyalty application and card. i.e. one loyalty application on a single card for a single customer. • Every organization has to start from scratch if they need to go in for loyalty cards • The same cards cannot be used by the consumer for loyalty programs of two different organizations OBJECT OP THE INVENTION IS TO - • Provide Technology based Universal Loyalty application/ platform which enables co-existence of Loyalty applications by Partner organizations. • Introduces the dimension of sharing of customer loyalty amongst partnering organizations. • Product is a ready-to-start loyalty platform, which can be used by partner organizations to deploy their loyalty programs. • Same card can be used by the consumers in participating in the programs floated by partner organizations • Capture and analyze information to assist decision support systems • Incorporate targeted loyalty and marketing schemes • Share loyalty with other corporations • Allow Corporations to quantify loyalty • Allow partners and customers of a corporation, to exchange loyalty • Increase market visibility E.g of loyalty program as per the invention is :- Say A ltd., is a company engaged in sales of printers. Say B store is a departmental store. If A and B are Partners in the same forum then A ltd., can offer a program to its customers where in the customers of A can exchange their money or money"s worth at B , the departmental Store, subject to the mutual concurrence of A 8c B So, this loyalty application provides for sharing the customer Loyalty, allows single card to be used for applications of different organizations and each organization need not start building or customizing the application from the scratch. INNOVATIONS WHICH IS PART OF INVENTION ARE :- This solution developed as per the invention can be called an innovative creation due to its features, novelty and originality, which distinguish an idea from being innovative or not. The following justification also holds good from the perspective that invention encompasses these two important criteria which marks it as an innovative development. In order to achieve the above objectives, a digital currency model has to be created with the following objectives: • Can capture the flow of information and products, along with the flow of currency. • Allows co-existence of multiple currencies, each tightly controlled and trackable. • Encompasses, but conditionally restricts all the functionality of traditional currency. • Implements the concept of liquid credit. • Is of a generic design. • Allows for easy integration into current business processes. • Allows for both online and offline usage of the system. FEATURES THAT DEPICT THE NOVELTY AND ORIGmALITY OF THE INVENTION ARE :- This novel solution, embeds the value based Loyalty schemes directed at target consumers with the secure / easy to use smart card Technology. The application is designed to suit all industries. Hence the design is generic and has universal application. The key feature of the application is that the Organisations can corroborate to address the consumer needs, thereby realizing the life-time value of the consumer. All organizations which are members of the forum generated by this invention can enact their programs through a single Smart Card thereby eliminating the need for consumers to carry multiple Smart Cards, which is the situation in case of Credit Cards. The smart card application per se is an advanced technology which is capable of handling computing requirements using the micro processor. The program is capable of running in the offline (i.e. without the need to connect to a central host / server) mode also i.e. during the course of the cycle of the program being enacted, consumers can transact offline. Ready made Analytical Tools - this built in feature helps Organizations to analyze data in a graphical manner. The Hierarchical setup of Suppliers and consumers which is addressed in this invention is a very unique thought. The classification of industries into Groups and subgroups and the classification of channel into Tiers is ample proof of unique understanding and applicability to a variety of Business domains. 9. The feature of enabling the organizations to design schemes just by drag and drop, and deploying at virtually zero time, is again an unprecedented, unique way of deploying schemes to target consumers. 10. Facility to design Banners and Flyers by the Application user. DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION The system includes a Multi-Loyalty smart-card held by card-holders, member client capable of reading the Smart Card in a smart-card reader alongwith Members Software loaded in a PC and Administrative module controlling, authoring and mentioning all transactions. The fundamental requirements to access and use the Members" software as per the invention are the following : 1. A smart-card customized for the Card-holder 2. A smart-card reader 3. The software called "Members" software" While the smart-card reader and the members software can be installed on any PC, the smart-card which is the Proprietary device and is the authenticating tool to access the software and transacting has a unique software which is burnt into it while personalizing the card and this smart-card is unique in the sense that, once it has been burnt with the software which is called the "Applet", cannot be altered or tampered and can be used to access only the Members" software or in different words, the Members" software can be opened up for use by using only this smart card which has been personalized with the specific software which is burnt into it. So, the smart-card together with the Applet built into it becomes the tool for a card-holder to access and transact on the Members" software. In conclusion, this software will work only with the combination of the Proprietary smartcard the installed smart card reader and the installed Members" software. Administration Module which is the functional module is operatively connected to Member Clients and Card-Holders in such a way that it has approve or reject a transaction as is required to carry out the invention. Registration of new Client Initially any company that wants to use the services to promote any Loyalty Program has to register itself. This registration process is a part of Administration Module (AM). Once the company is registered, it is called as the Client and will be provided with a package called the Client Software using which the Client will be able to do all its transactions and promote any Loyalty Program for the company. In AM there is also an option of viewing all the clients that are registered. The administrator can see the address of the Client, Data Source using which invoice details of the client is fetched, The Top Level Group and Bottom Level Group assigned to the Client. Here the administrator can also update the address of the client. Following are the steps of registering a Client :- Step 1 : Client"s Name Client"s Office Address Step 2 : Branch Name Branch Address Step 3 : Creation of a default user with administrator privileges for the client Step 4 : Linking the Client to one Top Level Group (TLG, explained later) Step 5 : Creation of DSN. Issuing Cards to the Clients :- The client through the client software request for new cards. That request will be visible in Administration Module. The First phase personalization of the Cards is done i.e cardholder code, Name, Card ID, Branch code, Client code will be written to the card and dispatch it to the client. To do the first phase personalization the administrator uses the cards option on the left-hand side toolbar that is available. The user can see all the requests for cards and when clicked can see the details of the request. The Administrator can click on the Personalize button and do the first phase personalization of the cards one by one. Once all the cards in a particular request are personalized, the request will be removed from the screen. During the first phase personalization following details are captured and written on to the card: Card ID Version of the Card Holder Module Type of Card - parent/child Client Code to whom the card belongs to Top Level Group Bottom Level Group Groups :- There are two types of groups: □ Top Level Groups □ Bottom Level Groups n Top Level Group* Top level groups are industry specific and are pre-defined only. The Clients will be assigned to any of these top-level groups (one or many top-level groups). The maximum number of top-level groups are 256 (0-255). The top-level group has two parts to it; □ Top Level Group Block n Top Level Group Code Top Level Group Block is all multiples of 5. It denotes the industry header and can be assigned to the Clients. If the group block is assigned to the Client, that Client can use all the codes under that block. Top Level Group Code is used to denote the further classification of the industry. For example, in IT industry (Top Level Group Block) we might have IT resellers, IT dealers, etc. So Top Level Group Codes can be assigned to these sub classifications. a Bottom Level Group* Bottom Level groups are company specific and are defined by the clients as per their supply chain structure. The Bottom level groups are classified into two: D Bottom Level Group Blocks □ Bottom Level Group Code Bottom Level Group Blocks are multiples of 5. It denotes a particular level in the supply chain of the client. For example, a level might be Dealers. Under Dealers Level, there might be more than one classification of dealers. There can be a maximum of 13106 Bottom Level Blocks. Bottom Level Group Code are sub classification of the Bottom Level Group Block. One Bottom Level Group Block will have four Bottom Level Group Codes. Bottom Level Group Codes are not assigned to the Clients. They should be assigned only to the account holders (combination of TLGC and BLGC). There can be a maximum of 52428 Bottom Level Group Codes (13106*4)+4. There can be a maximum of 65534 Bottom Level Groups (13106 + 52428). .Assigning the Bottom Level Group Block to the Top Level Group :- The Bottom Level Group Block has to be assigned to either the Top Level Group Code or Top Level Group Block of the same client. The assignment process is done in three steps : Assigning the Client to the Top Level Group. Assigning the Bottom Level Group Block to the Client. Assigning the Bottom Level Group Block to the Top Level Group. The administrator can see all the Top Level Groups and Bottom Level Groups available by clicking on the Groups button on the left hand side toolbar. When he clicks on any of the Top Level Group he can see the name and description of the Top Level group, whether it can be used in currency and account holder definition or not, to which clients this Top Level group is assigned and what are the bottom level groups that are linked to the selected Top Level Group. When he selects a bottom level group blocks, he can see whether it can be used in currency definition and account holder definition, the codes under that selected bottom level block, the Clients to whom it is assigned and the top level to which it is linked. In the same screen, the user has an option of Approving Groups. The client whenever wants a bottom level group, he makes a request through the client software. This request appears in Administration module and the Administrator has an option of either Accepting or Rejecting the request for new group. In the same screen, the user has an option of Assigning Groups to various clients. The Administrator in this screen can link a client to various Top Level Groups. Note:- 1. One Client can be assigned to more than one Top Level Groups to which it is assigned and it can any number of Bottom Level Group Blocks. 2. One Bottom Level Group Block can be assigned to only one Client and one Top Level Group. 3. Any number of clients can be assigned to the same Top Level Group. 4. If the client is need of more bottom level groups, it has to place a request. Using the Administration Module, the request will be either approved or rejected depending upon the availability of the group codes. Data Sources :- The client creates schemes to issue points and if he wishes to issue points based on the sales, AM will have to connect to the server provided by the client where all the Invoice data required will be dumped by the user. To connect to that remote serve AM need to know the information about the server name, Username, password, etc. All this required information is provided while creating a DSN for an client. Clients should have a DSN to connect to their server. While creating a DSN the user also provides the SQL Queries using which the data has to be fetched, the data input and output format. To create a new DSN the user has an option in the Data sources Screen. In that screen he can also modify and delete a DSN. Settings: - Settings is the screen where the Administrator can manage all the Geographical information and the versions of the client module and Geographical data. Here the Administrator can create new country, state, city and industry. Update country, state, city, industry, geographical version, and Client module version. If the Administrator wants the client to download the latest version of the Geographical data then he can change the version of the geographical data and when the client logs in through Client module it will force the user to download the latest version of the Geographical information. In the same screen the user also has an option of configuring the frequency at which the POS Scheme for every client has to be executed. ePoints :- ePoints is one of the most important component handled in the invention. The Clients will create some ePoints and issue it to the their customers which they can redeem for some benefits at a later point of time. In DDCR the administrator can see all the Client and the Exchange created by them. The Client cannot use the ePoints unless and until AM have approved it. In this screen the Administrator can update the status of the currency to Approved or Rejected. The Administrator can also see all the information of the ePoints created by the Client. The foundation for the cDooRe application is ePoints and Group Definitions. ePoints is a regulatory system which can be equated to a Monetary system in real life. There can be as many ePoints defined with distinct characteristics like days to live, flow definition i.e who can transfer to whom?, maximum hops for redemption, maximum hops for refresh, whether product attached, whether survey attached, whether banner attached etc. These ePoints are used to define schemes and these ePoints flow through the distribution chain. Group Definitions have wider implications - There are basically two levels of Group Definitions, the Top-level group and the Bottom level group. The Client organizations are given blocks of Bottom level groups for classifying their channel while the Top-level group is determined by the Administrative body of eDooRs. The idea here is that each organization and their channel can be linked up at an industry level. For e.g if one wants to do an analysis on the entire channel market in IT industry, it is possible by this way of linking up. Three critical information which an ePoint can attach is the Survey, Product and Banners. While defining an ePoint the client can decide the features which has to be added in the ePoint, either one or some or all of them ePoints are circulated into the market through schemes. Schemes define the parameters for earning points and for redeeming them. Each cardholder earns points when he satisfies the conditions specified in the scheme. Then the points become transferable according to the rules set in the ePoints definition. The access to each cardholder to his information and to transact is done through a smart card. So also, the ePoints can be transferred from one card to another. This transfer is an important feature since it is done in an offline mode without the use of Internet connectivity. Broad Features of eDooRa Software : Universal Loyalty Application Software - The application is tailor-made for any multi level marketing industry. Any Principal / Distributor wishing to design and promote marketing programs for their target customers can readily implement the software with out having to go through any major restructure Definition and grouping of Cardholders - The cardholders or the customers can be personalized with the historical information. The customers themselves are prompted to give their latest personal information when starting their transaction with eDooRs. They can be grouped or regrouped according to marketing or Scheme subtleties. Definition and Management of ePoints - As explained earlier, ePoints can be defined with distinct features like how it has to flow, what information that it should capture like product, survey or banner. ePoints can be flushed into the market depending on the volume of transactions that is expected and can be pumped in as and when required Personalization of Cards - The first level of personalization of cards will be done by the eDooRs administrative body with respect to the client to whom it is issued. Then the second level of personalization is done through the client application with regard to the customer to whom it is to be issued. The third level of personalization is done by the customers themselves in terms of their personal and other information Definition and Management of Issue and Redemption schemes with the help of easy to use Scheme engines - There are basically 2 types of scheme structures that can be defined. Firstly, the Issue schemes. The Issue schemes define how the points can be issued into the market place i.e the condition for earning points and the number of points for satisfying a single or multiple condition. Secondly, the Redemption schemes. The Redemption schemes define the manner in which the points can be converted into money or money"s value. Definition of Parameter tables to provide basis for issue of points including qualitative parameters - The feature of Parameter tables allows the client to set Non standard parameters while designing schemes. Even qualitative parameters like No. of cold calls made, No. of ads displayed etc can be quantified and honored Promotion through Banners/Ads - URL links can be given while designing schemes. So, whenever a customer receives or transacts points on eDooRs he can be taken to the URL defined to get to know about the latest updates or any other promotional ads. Information captures through surveys - Schemes can also attach surveys. These surveys are prompted when a customer transacts on eDooRs. The information on these surveys will be available to the client in a structured format for further analysis. Updated information for Decision Support Systems - The client application is tightly integrated with the client"s backend systems and hence the information is available at predetermined intervals, the frequency of which is configurable by the client. Benefit* of eDooR»: 1. Generic Application - Can be used by any MLM organization. Less set up time for clients. 2. Option to share loyalty with other corporates for cross promotions, with mutual agreement. 3. Least time to market and cost effective mechanism to deploy Marketing and Loyalty Programs - A scheme can be designed on a Tabletop and released within seconds of framing. This will be available to all the target customers the moment they come online after the release of the schemes. The feature of flyers enables a picturesque and detailed brochure of schemes that can be viewed by the customers. 4. Complex schemes can be framed with custom-made easy to use scheme engine , which has Simulation features also 5. Targeted Loyalty - Schemes can be targeted at specific sectors of customers. The target can be as low as a single cardholder. The scheme details remain confidential to the targeted customers 6. Stock tracking - As explained earlier, the ePoint may be defined to capture stock information. So, if a scheme is designed on the product movement, each hop of the product is captured and the client has hands on information on how the product has moved from layer to layer and from customer to customer. This is a very valuable information in terms of determining the actual Distribution network for the product 7. Cost effective way of advertisement - by using Banners. The feature of Banners allows the client to specify a URL where the Promotions can be made. Every scheme can have a different Banner. 8. Cost effective and no Resource based information collection - by using Surveys. No extra resource required to collate information and structuring them. 9. Wealth of information for multi-dimensional analysis - Track Distribution Network, width and depth of scheme deployment, scheme payouts, Pipeline stocks, Profiling of customers, Product flow etc 10. Out of the box analysis tools like Flow analysis, Pipeline analysis, Scheme effectiveness, Redemption analysis and Survey analysis. Easy to customize other custom requirements 11. Exploiting the Life time value of the customer through industry corroboration - Long term Loyalty relations can be designed when industries corroborate among themselves to provide Life time value to the customers at large 12. Tight monitoring of Points flow and scheme deployment through definitions and flexibility for redesigning/redefining 13. Offline features - Internet is not always mandatory. Points can be transferred on an offline basis. DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION WITH FLOWCHART The administration module which is the functional module is operatively connected to member client and card holders in such a way that it has to approve or reject a transaction as is required to carryout the invention, with smart card having a burnt member"s software within and the registered member clients having the client software. Fig-1 & 2: Deposit Process. Fig-3-9: Card to Card off-line Transfer. Fig-10-12: Online Transfer. Fig 13-15: Withdrawal Process. Fig 16: Unlock password (Offline). Fig 17: Unlock Password (Online). Fig 18-19: Wallet Refresh, Fig-1-2: Deposit process is a process in which an amount corresponding to the cash/quantity thus checked in is transferred to the account of the customer having the following steps:- Step 10: Input acceptance for going on line. Step 11: Flow stop if step 10 is not acceptable to go online and gives an appropriate indication to user. Step 12: If when it is determined in step 10 that user is willing to go on-line, the card is checked for refreshing. Step 13: Refresh the card if not refreshed. Step 14: Next seek and display the amount and product to be deposited Step 15: The transfer amount displayed is transferred and deposit is affected into the account of the member. Step 16: If step 15 fails, the procedure terminates with an error warning and is ready after auto reset. Fig-3-9 is a process of transaction between cards i.e., card to card transfers involving following steps:- Step21: Step 22: Step 23 Step 24 Step 25 Step 26 Step 27 Step 28 Step 29 Step 30 Check whether transferable. If not transferable, the process terminates with an indication. Check for password control or not. Seek password if password control for matching. If not matched give error code indication. From step 24 if no password control or if password matches, seek the transfer particulars. Subtract transfer amount from the card. Seek the card particulars to get the points. Check the validity of two cards. Complete the transfer by transferring points from one card to another card. Fig-3-9 On-line transfer illustrates the sequence of on-line transfer:- Step 31: Check whether transferable. Step 32: If not transferable the process terminates with an error indication. Step 33: Check for password control or not. Step 34: Seeks password if password control for matching. Step 35: If not matched give error code indication. Step 36: If password matches or no password control, seek the transfer and validate the points. Step 37: Display transfer particulars, Fig 13-15 illustrates the sequence of withdrawal process:- Step 41: Checks whether transferable. Step 42: If not transferable the process terminates with an error indication. Step 43: Validates the transfer process, terminates the procedures if validation fails. Step 44: Displays the withdrawal process if successfully completed. Fig 16 illustrates the sequence of password unlock off-line having the step 51 displays the sequence of authentication of password off-line. Fig 17 illustrates the sequence of password unlock on-line having the having the step 61 displays the sequence of authentication of password on-line. Fig 18 & 19 illustrates the refresh sequence of the card having step 71 displays the sequence of refresh the card. A smart card having the features of credit card, debit card, cash account, client account and loyalty account, wherein credit card had a limit and transaction balance ie, an aggregate of authorised transaction in a given billing cycle, associated with a cash account which has a cash balance, associated with client account having membership further there was also a need. When a user requested a transaction, the loyalty account would record the transaction, and the credit the client account. The transaction processor receives information regarding the credit card and the user, verifies that the card is valid instrument, gets current transaction balance, if this current transaction balance is greater than the requested transaction amount, then transaction is authorised, after which the transaction processor updates the transaction balance, and updates loyalty account of clients. The transaction processor credits the loyalty accounts of clients. An apparatus for executing a transaction using credit card, a smart card having the features of credit card, debit card and loyalty card, wherein Credit has a limit and transactional balance ie an aggregate of authorised transactions in a given billing cycle associated operatively with administration module such that a debit account having a cash balance, a client account having a client date bare, a loyalty account having loyalty program, wherein when a user requested a transaction on the credit card, the debital account would authorise the transaction only when the requested amount is less than transaction balance(credit limit) wherein the transaction when authorised, the loyalty program associated the transaction with a client account. A card user carrying a credit card a seller capable of receiving the credit card in lieu of merchandise sold, and a administrative system for authoriseing a transaction between user and seller. The seller employs a card reader to access the administration system to obtain authorisation to carry out the transaction. The administration system includes a transaction processor, plurality of loyalty programs, a credit card account, a client account, loyalty account of clients, wherein the transaction processor is operatively coupled to access the card limit and transaction balance associated with the credit card account. Smart card has comprising a memory formed with altered four-memory barks or storage areas for storing and updating data relating to (-) at least one authorised holder of card. (-) credit application of the card (-) debit application of the card (-) loyalty application of the card wherein when a user would insert a smart card into a card reader having a input means, enables the user to select from record applications when informing a transaction. WE CLAIM : 1. An apparatus for executing transactions and plurality of loyalty programs having: - i. plurality of credit cards, and ii. administration module comprising a. plurality of clients accounts, b. plurality of credit card holder accounts, c. a transaction processor, d. plurality of clients loyalty accounts, e. plurality of clients card holders loyalty accounts, f. plurality of loyalty program processors, (-) wherein the transaction processor is operatively coupled to access the transaction amount, credit limit and transaction balance associated with the credit card holder accounts, (-) wherein the loyalty processor is operatively coupled to access the transaction type associated with client loyalty account and card holder loyalty account. 2. An apparatus for executing transactions and a loyalty program using smart card comprising: (a). a credit card associated with the credit card holder account, (b). a credit card associated with plurality of credit card holder loyalty accounts, (c). a credit card associated with plurality of clients" loyalty accounts, (-). the credit card holder account having a credit limit, and a transaction balance indicative of an aggregate of previously authorised transaction amount in a predefined period, {-). the card holder loyalty accounts having a credit balance indicative of an aggregate of previous transactions of predefined transaction types in a predefined period, (-}. client loyal accounts indicative of aggregate of previous transaction of predefined transaction types by credit card holders in a predefined period, (-(. a transaction processor operatively coupled to access the transaction amount, credit limit and transaction balance associated with the credit card holder account and to authorize a requested transaction amount, (-). a loyalty program is operatively coupled to access the authorised transaction amount and transaction type to credit the credit card holder loyalty account and to credit the client loyalty account correspondingly. 3. An apparatus for executing transactions and a loyalty program using smart card as substantially described in the Complete Specification.

Documents:

0874-mas-2002 claims duplicate.pdf

0874-mas-2002 claims.pdf

0874-mas-2002 correspondence-others.pdf

0874-mas-2002 correspondence-po.pdf

0874-mas-2002 description (complete) duplicate.pdf

0874-mas-2002 description (complete).pdf

0874-mas-2002 drawings duplicate.pdf

0874-mas-2002 drawings.pdf

0874-mas-2002 form-1.pdf

0874-mas-2002 form-19.pdf

0874-mas-2002 form-26.pdf

0874-mas-2002 form-4.pdf

0874-mas-2002 form-5.pdf