Industry size of wallet

Abstract

Consumer spend by industry is modeled based on the industry sizes of wallet of consumers having a high share of wallet with a financial institution. A size of wallet is calculated for each consumer in a plurality of consumers. A share of wallet for each consumer is also calculated. A subset of the plurality of consumers whose share of wallet is above a given percentage of their size of wallet is then determined. For each consumer in the subset, an industry size of wallet is determined. A correlation between the industry size of wallet of a given consumer and one or more characteristics of the given consumer is then derived using the industry size of wallet for the consumers in the subset.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 determining, by a computer-based system for modeling consumer spend, an industry size of wallet for each consumer using a fixed weighting factor and a graded weighting factor in conjunction with lifestyle variables,   wherein the graded weighting factor varies in accordance with the value of at least one of the lifestyle variables.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating the size of wallet for each consumer in the plurality of consumers by modeling, by the computer-based system, spending patterns using internal customer data and consumer panel data. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating the size of wallet for each consumer in the plurality of consumers by estimating, by the computer-based system, credit-related information of each consumer based on tradeline data of each consumer, previous balance transfers of each consumer, and a model of consumer spending patterns to arrive at estimated credit-related information. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the calculating the size of wallet for each consumer in the plurality of consumers further comprises offsetting, by the computer-based system, the previous balance transfers from the estimated credit-related information. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein,
 calculating a share of wallet comprises calculating the share of wallet associated with a given financial institution; and   determining a subset of the plurality of consumers comprises identifying consumers whose share of wallet associated with the financial institution is greater than approximately 90%.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining an industry size of wallet comprises:
 determining the amount of spend within the industry using one or more accounts associated with a financial institution; and   equating the amount of spend within the industry with the industry size of wallet.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, by the computer-based system, a subset of the plurality of consumers whose share of wallet is above a given percentage of their size of wallet;   deriving, by the computer-based system, a correlation between an industry size of wallet for a given consumer and one or more characteristics of the given consumer using the industry size of wallet for the consumers in the subset,   wherein the characteristics of the consumer include at least one of:
 total size of wallet of the consumer; 
 residence location; 
 credit bureau tenure; 
 age; 
 gender; 
 household size; and 
 number of active transaction cards in a household of the consumer. 
   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the deriving a correlation comprises:
 identifying consumers having substantially similar industry sizes of wallet; and   examining spend habits of the identified consumers to ascertain common characteristics that influence spend in the industry.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the industry is at least one of a travel industry, a restaurant industry, or an everyday spend industry. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the industry is at least one of an airline industry, a lodging industry, or a vehicle rental industry. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising developing a model based on correlations between the industry size of wallet and the characteristics of the consumer. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating, by the computer-based system, a size of wallet for each consumer in a plurality of consumers. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the lifestyle variables comprise at least one of a location rank, a length of each consumer's tenure with a credit bureau, each consumer's gender. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the industry size of wallet further comprises using each consumer's household size. 
     
     
         15 . A method comprising:
 calculating, by a computer-based system for targeting consumers, an external size of an industry size of wallet of each consumer using a fixed weighting factor and a graded weighting factor in conjunction with lifestyle variables,   wherein the graded weighting factor varies in accordance with the value of at least one of the lifestyle variables.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the industry size of wallet of each consumer is calculated by modeling, by the computer-based system, spending patterns using internal customer data, and consumer panel data. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the industry size of wallet of each consumer is calculated by:
 estimating, by the computer-based system, credit-related information of each consumer based on tradeline data of each consumer, previous balance transfers of each consumer, and a model of consumer spending patterns to arrive at estimated credit-related information; and   offsetting, by the computer-based system, the previous balance transfers from the estimated credit-related information.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising targeting, by the computer-based system, one or more consumers having a relatively high external size of the industry size of wallet and a given minimal total share of wallet with offers to increase an industry share of wallet associated with the financial institution. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the calculating an external size of the industry size of wallet of the consumer comprises subtracting industry spend of the consumer associated with the financial institution from the industry size of wallet of the consumer. 
     
     
         20 . A computer readable storage medium bearing instructions, the instructions, when executed by a processor for modeling consumer spend by industry, cause said processor to perform operations comprising:
 determining, by the processor, an industry size of wallet for each consumer using a fixed weighting factor and a graded weighting factor in conjunction with lifestyle variables,   wherein the graded weighting factor varies in accordance with the value of at least one of the lifestyle variables.