Systems and methods for distributing targeted incentives to financial institution customers

Abstract

An incentive distribution system is used in distributing, tracking and redeeming product incentives offered by manufacturers and distributors of consumer goods through a financial institution. A financial institution distributes an incentives list to each of its customers, based on information relating to the customers, containing the incentives relating to the category for which the customer qualifies. Qualifying criteria includes transactional activity within the account held with the financial institution distributing the incentives, demographic data relating to the customer, and various account data. The system tracks purchases made by a customer at a participating retailer or dealership and updates the customer's qualifications based on these purchases. Further, the financial institution acts as a redemption warehouse by debiting the accounts of the manufacturers and distributors offering the incentives and crediting the accounts held by the retailers and dealerships honoring the incentives.

1 . A method of processing an incentive being offered to a customer of a financial institution by a participant, comprising:
 identifying the customer;   identifying an item associated with a transaction with the customer;   determining if the customer qualifies for any incentive in the transaction with the item;   receiving data on the incentive being offered to the customer, the incentive being selected based on an analysis of financial institution account transaction activity data of the customer;   offering the incentive to the customer; and   completing the transaction of the item, wherein the completing comprises recognizing the incentive offered to the customer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining if the customer qualifies for any incentive comprises sending a query to another entity, the query including an identification of the customer and the item. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the customer comprises identifying the customer through a payment method for the item. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein identifying the customer comprises obtaining credit card information. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein identifying the customer comprises obtaining membership card information. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein identifying the customer comprises obtaining smart card information. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein identifying the customer comprises obtaining debit card information. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein identifying the customer comprises obtaining information linking the customer with the financial institution. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating a summary of the transaction. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining if the customer qualifies for any incentive comprises identifying a second item associated with the transaction. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving financial institution account transaction activity data comprises receiving demographic data of the customer. 
     
     
         12 . A method of distributing incentives to customers, comprising:
 receiving incentive information from participants, the incentive information specifying desired characteristics of customers receiving incentives;   obtaining rankings of customers of at least one financial institution, the rankings being produced by analyzing financial institution account transaction activity data of the customers with at least one financial institution;   mapping the rankings of the customers with the desired characteristics of customers receiving incentives; and   identifying incentives to be provided to select customers.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising distributing the incentives to the customers. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising tracking usage of the incentives. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising validating the incentives. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising redeeming the incentives. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the financial institution account transaction activity data comprises data associated with a plurality of account types. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the account types comprise at least one of: demand deposit accounts, interest bearing accounts, and loan accounts.