Systems and methods for providing flexible incentive rewards

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a financial account with incentives. In one implementation, a method is provided that includes receiving a selection of at least one identified merchant from a customer, the customer being associated with the financial account. The method also includes providing a first incentive to the financial account for one or more purchases made with the financial account at a merchant other than the identified merchant. Further, the method may include providing a second incentive to the financial account for one or more purchases made at the identified merchant with the financial account, wherein the first incentive is different than the second incentive.

1 .- 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A system for incentivizing use of financial accounts comprising:
 a processor; and   a storage device storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations comprising:
 identifying a financial account associated with a customer, 
 determining a profitability score for a financial account issuer associated with the financial account based upon at least a profitability grid, a profitability model formula, and historical data associated with financial accounts of the customer, 
 allocating the customer to a profitability group based on the profitability score, 
 associating an incentive with the profitability group proportionate to the profitability score, and 
 providing the incentive to the customer based on purchase transactions made using the financial account. 
   
     
     
         30 . The system of claim  1 , wherein the storage device stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations including creating the profitability grid by dividing profitability score determinations for a plurality of customers into a predetermined number of groups. 
     
     
         31 . The system of claim  1 , wherein the profitability model formula is a multivariate logistic regression model. 
     
     
         32 . The system of claim  1 , wherein historical data comprises cost of rewards, profit margins, length of relationships, financial forecasts, number of reward points redeemed, number of reward points that remain outstanding, number of reward points that have expired, and/or reward points redemption statistics. 
     
     
         33 . The system of claim  1 , wherein the profitability group is one of a plurality of profitability groups each associated with a profitability range. 
     
     
         34 . The system of claim  1 , wherein the storage device stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations including:
 identifying a set of preferred merchants;   receiving a selection from a customer of one or more of the preferred merchants;   determining a preferred incentive for the customer for transactions at the selected one or more preferred merchants based on the profitability score and a merchant profitability; and   providing the preferred incentive to the customer based on purchase transactions made using the financial account at least one of the selected one or more preferred merchants.   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the storage device stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to perform operations including determining the merchant profitability based on statistics regarding transactions made by a plurality of customers at the selected preferred merchants. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 35 , wherein the statistics include number of transactions made, frequency of transactions, and forecasts of projected transactions. 
     
     
         37 . A method for incentivizing use of financial accounts comprising:
 identifying a financial account associated with a customer;   determining, by a processor, a profitability score for a financial account issuer associated with the financial account for a plurality of incentives for the financial account based upon at least a profitability grid, a profitability model formula, and historical data associated with financial accounts of the customer;
 allocating, by the processor, the customer to a profitability group based on the profitability score; 
 associating, by the processor, an incentive with the profitability group proportionate to the profitability score; and 
 providing, by the processor, the incentive to the customer based on purchase transactions made using the financial account. 
   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising creating the profitability grid by dividing profitability score determinations for a plurality of customers into a predetermined number of groups. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the profitability model formula is a multivariate logistic regression model. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein historical data comprises cost of rewards, profit margins, length of relationships, financial forecasts, number of reward points redeemed, number of reward points that remain outstanding, number of reward points that have expired, and/or reward points redemption statistics. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 37 , wherein the profitability group is one of a plurality of profitability groups each associated with a profitability range. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising:
 identifying a set of preferred merchants;   receiving, by the processor, a selection from a customer of one or more of the preferred merchants;   determining, by the processor, a preferred incentive for the customer for transactions at the selected one or more preferred merchants based on the profitability score and a merchant profitability; and   providing the preferred incentive to the customer based on purchase transactions made using the financial account at at least one of the selected one or more preferred merchants.   
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , further comprising determining the merchant profitability based on statistics regarding transactions made by a plurality of the customers at the one or more selected preferred merchants. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43 , wherein the statistics include number of transactions made, frequency of transactions, and forecasts of projected transactions. 
     
     
         45 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:
 identifying a financial account associated with a customer;   determining a profitability score for a financial account issuer associated with the financial account for a plurality of incentives for the financial account based upon at least a profitability grid, a profitability model formula, and historical data associated with financial accounts of the customer;   allocating the customer to a profitability group based on the profitability score;   associating an incentive with the profitability group proportionate to the profitability score; and   providing the incentive to the customer based on purchase transactions made using the financial account.   
     
     
         46 . The medium of  claim 45 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to perform operations including:
 identifying a set of preferred merchants;   receiving a selection from a customer of one or more preferred merchants;   determining a preferred incentive for the customer for transactions at the selected one or more preferred merchants based on the profitability score and a merchant profitability; and   providing the preferred incentive to the customer based on purchase transactions made using the financial account at at least one of the selected one or more preferred merchants.