Early Payment Rewards System and Method

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a computer-implemented method for reducing funding burden on a credit issuer by offering an early payment rewards program to qualified card holders. The method may include identifying card holders having a payment history illustrating payment of an entire credit balance each month, determining whether each of the identified card holders generates an account-related fee total not exceeding a pre-selected threshold, and selecting the card holders having a history of payment of the entire credit balance each month and generating account-related fees not exceeding the pre-selected threshold. The method may further include offering the early payment rewards program to the selected card holders, wherein upon enrollment in the early payment rewards program the selected card holders receive rewards for early payment behavior. Additional aspects of the method include receiving notification of a payment at an early payment rewards system, determining if the received payment generates early payment rewards, and evaluating the received payment based on retrieved early payment rules to calculate a reward amount. The method may further include adding the calculated reward amount to a participant account.

1 - 30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . A computer-implemented system for processing credit card payments in order to reduce funding burden incurred by credit issuers by rewarding early payment for participating card holders using an early payment rewards system available to the participating card holders over a network, the system comprising:
 a card rewards server including at least one processor, the card rewards server having access to information generated by a card payment server;   at least one computer memory storing data and instructions, wherein the processor of the card rewards server accesses the data and instructions to perform steps including:
 storing early payment rules for determining cardholder eligibility for early payment rewards and determining payment eligibility for generating early payment rewards, wherein the early payment rules include multiple reward tiers based on a payment amount; 
 retrieving a cardholder account history, and applying the early payment rules for determining cardholder eligibility to the cardholder account history to determine whether the cardholder is eligible for early payment rewards; 
 receiving notification of a payment by an eligible cardholder from the card payment server at the early payment rewards system; 
 retrieving stored early payment rules for determining payment eligibility for early payment rewards, 
 applying the early payment rules to the received payment and determining if the received payment generates early payment rewards based on evaluation of the early payment rules with respect to a date of the payment and an amount of the payment; 
 placing the received payment in a rewards tier based on the payment amount when the payment qualifies for early payment rewards; 
 calculating the reward amount based on a formula extracted from the retrieved early payment rules for the rewards tier; and 
 adding the calculated reward amount to a participant account held by the participating card holder, wherein the rewards include at least one of cash, airline miles, reward points, services, goods, rebates, up front payments, statement credit, and discounts. 
   
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31 , further comprising selecting card holders as eligible for the early payment rewards program by identifying card holders having a payment history illustrating payment of an entire credit balance each month. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 32 , further comprising determining whether each of the identified card holders generates an account-related fee total below a pre-selected threshold. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , further comprising selecting the card holders having a history of payment of the entire credit balance each month and generating account-related fees below the pre-selected threshold and offering the early payment rewards program to the selected card holders. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 31 , further comprising determining if the received payment generates early payment rewards by determining if the payor is a participating cardholder. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 31 , further comprising determining if the received payment generates early payment rewards by determining if the received payment qualifies as an early payment. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein evaluating the received payment comprises determining a reward amount based on early payment reward rules specifying a required date of payment. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein evaluating the received payment comprises determining the reward amount based on early payment reward rules specifying a balance percentage paid. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , further comprising setting the balance percentage of the early payment reward rules at one hundred percent. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the formula requires calculating the reward amount based on a number of days prior to a due date on which payment is received. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 37 , further comprising determining the calculated reward amount based upon a total dollar amount paid during a relevant month. 
     
     
         42 . A computer-implemented method for reducing funding burden on a credit issuer by offering an early payment rewards program to qualified card holders, the method comprising:
 providing a card rewards server including at least one processor, the card rewards server having access to information generated by a card payment server;   storing, at least one computer memory, data and instructions, wherein the processor of the card rewards server accesses the data and instructions to perform steps including:
 storing early payment rules for determining cardholder eligibility for early payment rewards and determining payment eligibility for generating early payment rewards, wherein the early payment rules include multiple reward tiers based on a payment amount; 
 retrieving a cardholder account history, and applying the early payment rules for determining cardholder eligibility to the cardholder account history to determine whether the cardholder is eligible for early payment rewards; 
 receiving notification of a payment by an eligible cardholder from the card payment server at the early payment rewards system; 
 retrieving stored early payment rules for determining payment eligibility for early payment rewards, 
 applying the early payment rules to the received payment and determining if the received payment generates early payment rewards based on evaluation of the early payment rules with respect to a date of the payment and an amount of the payment; 
 placing the received payment in a rewards tier based on the payment amount when the payment qualifies for early payment rewards; 
 calculating the reward amount based on a formula extracted from the retrieved early payment rules for the rewards tier; and 
 adding the calculated reward amount to a participant account held by the participating card holder, wherein the rewards include at least one of cash, airline miles, reward points, services, goods, rebates, up front payments, statement credit, and discounts. 
   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising receiving notification of a payment at an early payment rewards system. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising determining if the received payment generates early payment rewards. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 44 , further comprising evaluating the received payment based on retrieved early payment rules to calculate a reward amount. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 45 , further comprising adding the calculated reward amount to a participant account. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising determining whether a received payment generates early payment rewards by determining if a payor is a participating cardholder. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 43 , further comprising determining if a received payment generates early payment rewards by determining if the received payment qualifies as an early payment. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 45 , wherein evaluating the received payment comprises determining a reward amount based on early payment reward rules specifying a required date of payment. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 49 , wherein evaluating the received payment comprises determining the reward amount based on early payment reward rules specifying a balance percentage paid. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 50 , further comprising setting the balance percentage of the early payment reward rules at one hundred percent. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 50 , further comprising determining the calculated reward amount based on a number of days prior to a due date on which payment is received. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 50 , further comprising determining the calculated reward amount based upon a total dollar amount paid during a relevant month. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising setting the pre-selected threshold at zero dollars.