Customer loyalty program with shared data and sub-programs

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for increasing participation in loyalty programs. In embodiments, the customer opts into a loyalty program. The customer is then provided with information about his or her loyalty participation and also is provided with information about one or more other customer's participation in the loyalty program. In another embodiment, one or more loyalty members can form their own competition or group within the loyalty program. The members can create loyalty sub-program rules for a competition and allow fellow loyalty members to participate in the competition. The customizable loyalty sub-program competitions further enhance member participation.

1 . A method for providing a customer loyalty program, the method comprising:
 receiving a registration for two or more loyalty program participants;   receiving information about one or more loyalty programs for a loyalty manager;   receiving a selection of one of the loyalty programs from the two or more loyalty programs;   associating the two or more loyalty program participants with the two or more loyalty programs;   receiving transaction information for one or more of the loyalty program participants;   processing the transaction information with one or more loyalty program rules for the two or more loyalty program participants; and   providing loyalty program information for two or more loyalty program participants.   
     
     
         2 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein a web page is provided with loyalty program information for two or more loyalty program participants. 
     
     
         3 . The method as described in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a request for loyalty program information; and   determining one or more loyalty programs associated with the loyalty program participant sending the request.   
     
     
         4 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein receiving a registration comprises:
 receiving participant personal information for a participant;   receiving a selection of one or more loyalty programs by the participant;   creating a participant profile; and   creating pointers between the loyalty program and the participant.   
     
     
         5 . The method as described in  claim 1 , wherein receiving information about one or more loyalty programs comprises:
 receiving loyalty program criteria;   creating a loyalty program;   storing one or more loyalty program rules;   accepting one or more participants for the loyalty program; and   creating pointers between the loyalty program and the one or more participants.   
     
     
         6 . The method as described in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a creation of a loyalty sub-program from a participant.   
     
     
         7 . The method as described in  claim 6 , further comprising:
 presenting a loyalty program administrator with one or more rules for the loyalty sub-program; and   receiving an approval of the loyalty sub-program.   
     
     
         8 . The method as described in  claim 6 , wherein receiving the creation of the loyalty sub-program from a participant comprises:
 receiving loyalty sub-program criteria;   creating a loyalty sub-program under a loyalty program;   storing one or more loyalty sub-program rules;   accepting one or more participants for the loyalty sub-program; and   creating pointers between the loyalty sub-program and the one or more participants.   
     
     
         9 . A loyalty program system comprising:
 a merchant register, the merchant register operable to communicate loyalty program data with one or more loyalty member computers;   a participant interface, the participant interface operable to communicate participant data with one or more participant computers;   a loyalty data database, the loyalty data database operable to store loyalty program data and participant data;   a rules engine in communication with the merchant register, the participant interface, and the loyalty data database, the rules engine operable to receive a request for a loyalty sub-program from the participant computer, the rules engine operable to create one or more loyalty sub-program rules in the loyalty data database, the rules engine operable to receive transaction information associated with the loyalty sub-program and process the transaction information with the one or more loyalty sub-program rules.   
     
     
         10 . The loyalty program system as described in  claim 9 , wherein the participant interface is operable to receive a request from a participant computer to display a result for the loyalty sub-program. 
     
     
         11 . The loyalty program system as described in  claim 10 , wherein the participant interface is operable to send the request to the rules engine, the rules engine is operable to extract loyalty program information for two or more participants in the loyalty sub-program, operable to send the loyalty program information to the participant interface, and wherein the participant interface is operable to send the loyalty program interface to the participant computer. 
     
     
         12 . The loyalty program system as described in  claim 9 , wherein the loyalty data database comprises:
 a loyalty program rules database, the loyalty program rules database operable to store information about one or more loyalty programs; and   a customer profile database, the customer profile database operable to store information about one or more loyalty program participants.   
     
     
         13 . The loyalty program system as described in  claim 12 , wherein the loyalty program rules database comprises:
 a merchant ID field, the merchant ID field comprising one or more merchant IDs;   a loyalty program ID field, the loyalty program ID field comprising one or more IDs for one or more loyalty programs associated with the merchant identified by the merchant ID;   a merchant loyalty rules field, the merchant loyalty rules field comprising one on or more loyalty program rules associated with the loyalty program identified by the loyalty program ID; and   a member IDs field, the member IDs field comprising one or more pointers between one or more loyalty program participants participating in the loyalty program identified by the loyalty program ID.   
     
     
         14 . The loyalty program system as described in  claim 12 , wherein the customer profile database comprises:
 a member ID field, the member ID field comprising one or more member IDs;   a member name ID field, the member name ID field comprising a name for the loyalty program participant identified by the member ID;   a member personal information field, the member personal information field comprising one or more items of personal information for the participant identified by the member ID; and   a loyalty program selection field, the loyalty program selection field comprising one or more pointers between the loyalty program participant and one or more loyalty programs the participant is participating in identified by a loyalty program ID.   
     
     
         15 . The loyalty program system as described in  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a participant registration component in communication with the rules engine, the participant registration component operable to receive information about one or more loyalty program participants;   a program creation component in communication with the rules engine, the program creation component operable to receive one or more loyalty program rules from a loyalty manager; and   a loyalty program interface in communication with the rules engine; the loyalty program interface operable to communicate with one or more participants.   
     
     
         16 . The loyalty program system as described in  claim 15 , wherein the loyalty program interface is operable to generate a web page having information about two or more loyalty program participants displayed thereon. 
     
     
         17 . A computer-readable medium having stored thereon one or more instructions for a method executable by a computer system for creating a loyalty sub-program, the instructions comprising:
 instructions for receiving a request from a loyalty program participant to create a loyalty sub-program;   instructions for receiving one or more loyalty sub-program rules from the loyalty program participant;   instructions for creating the loyalty sub-program;   instructions for receiving a selection of the loyalty sub-program from the two or more loyalty program participants;   instructions for associating the two or more loyalty program participants with the loyalty sub-program;   instructions for receiving transaction information for one or more of the loyalty program participants;   instructions for processing the transaction information with the one or more loyalty sub-program rules for the two or more loyalty program participants; and   instructions for providing loyalty program information for two or more loyalty program participants to a loyalty program participant.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium as defined in  claim 17 , wherein instructions for associating the two or more loyalty program participants with the loyalty sub-program comprises:
 instructions for creating two or more pointers between a first database record in a loyalty program rules database having a loyalty program ID associated with the loyalty sub-program and a member ID; and   instructions for creating a pointer between a second database record in a customer profile database having a member ID associated with one of the loyalty program participants and the loyalty program ID.   
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium as defined in  claim 17 , wherein instructions for providing loyalty program information for two or more loyalty program participants to a loyalty program participant comprises:
 instructions for generating a web page having displayed thereon loyalty points for two or more loyalty program participants associated with the loyalty sub-program; and   instructions for sending the web page to a loyalty program participant.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium as defined in  claim 17 , wherein instructions for processing the transaction information with the one or more loyalty sub-program rules for the two or more loyalty program participants comprises:
 instructions for determining one or more loyalty program participants associated with the transaction information;   instructions for determining the loyalty sub-program associated with the one or more loyalty program participants associated with the transaction information;   determining the loyalty sub-program rules; and   processing the transaction information with the loyalty sub-program rules to assess loyalty sub-program points.   
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable medium as defined in  claim 17 , wherein a loyalty manager manages the loyalty program, and wherein the loyalty program has one or more loyalty sub-programs.