Method and system for providing rewards to a portable computing device at the point of sale

Abstract

A method of providing rewards to a user by storing, in a portable computing device, user profile data which may be accessed by a merchant terminal. A merchant terminal interacts with the portable computing device by accessing the user profile data from the portable computing device, and providing the user with a reward in accordance with the user profile data accessed by the merchant terminal, wherein the merchant terminal provides a relatively greater reward to the user when relatively more user profile data is accessed by the merchant terminal and a relatively lesser reward to the user when relatively less data is accessed by the merchant terminal.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A method of obtaining rewards on a portable device of a user comprising:
 a. storing a user profile in memory of a portable device; and   b. the portable device interacting with a merchant terminal by:
 (i) the portable device providing the user profile data to the merchant terminal; 
 (ii) the portable device receiving from the merchant terminal a reward in accordance with the user profile data provided to the merchant terminal, wherein the reward received from the merchant terminal is relatively greater when relatively more user profile data is provided to the merchant terminal and is relatively lesser when relatively less data is provided to the merchant terminal; and 
 (iii) the portable device storing the reward in the memory of the portable device. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the user profile comprises prior purchase history data comprising details of a plurality of transactions that have been previously executed by the user. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the reward received by the portable device from the merchant terminal is related to a score that is indicative of the relative value of the user, the score being generated by the merchant terminal based on an analysis of the purchase history data in accordance with a scoring algorithm. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the scoring algorithm provides a low score if the user's prior purchase history indicates that the user has executed purchases of items with low margins. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the scoring algorithm provides a high score if the user's prior purchase history indicates that the user has executed purchases of items with high margins. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the reward comprises a coupon, a rebate, a discount or reward points. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the portable device is a smart card. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the portable device is a peripheral device. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising the portable device redeeming the reward with the merchant terminal during a purchase transaction. 
     
     
         25 . A portable device comprising processing circuitry, program storage, and memory; wherein the processing circuitry is programmed via instructions in the program storage to
 a. store a user profile of a user in the memory of the portable device; and   b. interact with a merchant terminal by:
 (i) providing the user profile data to the merchant terminal; 
 (ii) receiving from the merchant terminal a reward in accordance with the user profile data provided to the merchant terminal, wherein the reward received from the merchant terminal is relatively greater when relatively more user profile data is provided to the merchant terminal and is relatively lesser when relatively less data is provided to the merchant terminal; and 
 (iii) store the reward in the memory of the portable device. 
   
     
     
         26 . The portable device of  claim 25  wherein the user profile comprises prior purchase history data comprising details of a plurality of transactions that have been previously executed by the user. 
     
     
         27 . The portable device of  claim 26  wherein the reward received by the portable device from the merchant terminal is related to a score that is indicative of the relative value of the user, the score being generated by the merchant terminal based on an analysis of the purchase history data in accordance with a scoring algorithm. 
     
     
         28 . The portable device of  claim 27  wherein the scoring algorithm provides a low score if the user's prior purchase history indicates that the user has executed purchases of items with low margins. 
     
     
         29 . The portable device of  claim 27  wherein the scoring algorithm provides a high score if the user's prior purchase history indicates that the user has executed purchases of items with high margins. 
     
     
         30 . The portable device of  claim 25  wherein the reward comprises a coupon, a rebate, a discount or reward points. 
     
     
         31 . The portable device of  claim 25  wherein the portable device is a smart card. 
     
     
         32 . The portable device of  claim 25  wherein the portable device is a peripheral device. 
     
     
         33 . The portable device of  claim 25  wherein the processing circuitry is further programmed via instructions in the program storage to redeem the reward with the merchant terminal during a purchase transaction.