System and method for combining coupons with financial accounts

Abstract

A system for linking coupons to financial accounts using a mobile device that includes a financial institution database that stores an account of an account holder, a communication interface of a financial institution that receives, via a network, coupon data associated with one or more discounts from a mobile device of the account holder, a linking processor that associates the coupon data with the account of the account holder, an authorization network interface that receives transaction data relating to transactions associated with the account of the account holder, a comparison processor of a financial institution that determines compares the coupon data with the transaction data to determine whether a qualifying transaction has occurred, and a discount processor of a financial institution that provides a credit to an account holder when a qualifying transaction has occurred.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory in communication with the one or more processors and storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the system to:
 receive, via a network and from a mobile device of an account holder of an account, one or more sets of coupon data associated with one or more discounts, wherein each of the one or more sets of coupon data comprises a merchant name and a transaction limit on a number of times a coupon is permitted to be used by the account holder; 
 associate the one or more sets of coupon data with the account based on authorization data received from the mobile device, the authorization data comprising data that identifies the account holder; 
 determine a match between the authorization data and account information of an account associated with the account holder; 
 receive, from one or more merchants, transaction data relating to one or more transactions associated with the account, the transaction data comprising one or more merchant identifiers for the one or more transactions; 
 identify the account from the transaction data received from the one or more merchants; 
 access the account of the account holder; 
 determine whether the account has been linked to any coupon data; 
 when the account has been linked to at least a first set of coupon data of the one or more sets of coupon data, compare the first set of coupon data with the transaction data to determine whether a merchant name associated with the first set of coupon data at least partially matches a merchant identifier of the transaction data; and 
 generate a reduced transaction amount by reducing a transaction amount based on a discount associated with the first set of the sets of the coupon data after determining that the merchant name associated with the first set of coupon data matches the merchant identifier of the transaction data; and 
 charge a payment card of the account holder by the reduced transaction amount. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one more sets of coupon data comprises a threshold value and the one or more processors are configured to determine whether a qualifying transaction has occurred based on the threshold value. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the threshold value is a minimum purchase amount, the transaction data comprises a transaction amount for one of the transactions, and the one or more processors are configured to determine that a qualifying transaction has occurred when the transaction amount is greater than or equal to the minimum purchase amount. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile device captures the one or more sets of coupon data by scanning a bar code on a paper coupon. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a statement processor that generates an account statement that includes a credit. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sets of coupon data comprises information derived from optical character recognition on the mobile device. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more sets of coupon data comprises an image of a coupon captured by the mobile device, and wherein the memory storing further instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the system to recognize the coupon data from the image of the coupon. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the account has been linked to any coupon data further comprises:
 determining whether the transaction limit associated with the first set of coupon data has been met;   when the transaction limit has been met, deleting the first set of coupon data from the account and determining that the account has not been linked to the first set of coupon data to prevent the transaction amount from being reduced by the one or more discounts associated with the first set of coupon data; and   when the transaction limit has not been met, determining that the account has been linked to the first set of coupon data and reducing the transaction limit by one increment.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the system to compare the one or more sets of coupon data received from the mobile device of the account holder with previously stored coupon data to verify that each of the sets of coupon data is valid before associating a respective set of coupon data with the account. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to associate the first set of coupon data with the account of the account holder by storing the one or more sets of coupon data with a link to the account of the account holder in a database. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the system is further configured to associate the first set of coupon data with the account of the account holder by adding information to the account of the account holder indicating that the account of the account holder is linked to the coupon data. 
     
     
         12 . A system for automatically applying coupons linked to a first financial account to associated transactions, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory in communication with the one or more processors and storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the system to:   receive, from a merchant system, first transaction data relating to a first transaction associated with the first financial account, the first transaction data comprising a merchant identifier, a transaction amount, and a first financial account identifier;   identify the first financial account from the first financial account identifier;   determine whether the first financial account was previously linked to any coupon data;   responsive to determining that the first financial account has been previously linked to coupon data associated with a first coupon, compare the coupon data associated with the first coupon with the first transaction data to determine whether a merchant name associated with the coupon data is associated with the merchant identifier of the first transaction data; and   responsive to determining that the merchant name is associated with the merchant identifier of the first transaction data, automatically reduce the transaction amount based on a discount associated with the coupon data by generating a reduced transaction amount and charge a first payment card by the reduced transaction amount to complete the first transaction.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the system to:
 responsive to determining that either (i) the first financial account has not been previously linked to any coupon data or (ii) the merchant name is not associated with the merchant identifier of the first transaction data, charge the first payment card by the transaction amount to complete the first transaction.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the coupon data directly linked to the first financial account is further associated with at least a second coupon, the coupon data associated with the second coupon comprising a second merchant name, a second discount, and a second transaction limit;   determining whether the account holder previously linked any coupon data to the first financial account further comprises:   identifying the coupon data associated with the second coupon;   determining whether the second transaction limit associated with the coupon data associated with the second coupon has been met;   when the second transaction limit has been met, deleting the coupon data associated with the second coupon from the first financial account; and   when the second transaction limit has not been met, determining that the first financial account has been linked to the coupon data associated with the second coupon and reducing the second transaction limit by one increment; and   the one or more processors are further configured to cause the system to: responsive to determining that the first financial account has been previously linked to the coupon data associated with the second coupon, compare the coupon data associated with the second coupon with the first transaction data to determine whether the second merchant name is associated with the merchant identifier of the first transaction data.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the system to:
 receive, from a mobile device of the account holder, geographic location information indicative of a merchant location where the first transaction was completed by charging the first payment card by the reduced transaction amount;   tokenize the geographic location information to form anonymous tracking information; and   provide the anonymous tracking information to at least the merchant system.   
     
     
         16 . A system, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory in communication with the one or more processors and storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, are configured to cause the system to:   receive first transaction data relating to a first transaction associated with a first financial account, the first transaction data comprising a merchant identifier, a transaction amount, and first financial account data;   identify a first financial account from the first financial account data;   determine whether the first financial account was previously linked to any coupon data;   responsive to determining that the first financial account has been previously linked to coupon data associated with a first coupon, determine whether a merchant name associated with the coupon data at least partially matches the merchant identifier of the first transaction data; and   responsive to determining that the merchant name at least partially matches the merchant identifier of the first transaction data, automatically reduce the transaction amount based on a discount associated with the coupon data by generating a reduced transaction amount and charge a first financial account by the reduced transaction amount to complete the first transaction.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the system to:
 responsive to determining that either (i) the first financial account has not been previously linked to any coupon data or (ii) the merchant name is not associated with the merchant identifier of the first transaction data, deduct or charge the transaction amount from first financial account to complete the first transaction.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the coupon data directly linked to the first financial account is further associated with at least a second coupon, the coupon data associated with the second coupon comprising a corresponding merchant name, a corresponding discount, and a second transaction limit.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein:
 determining whether the account holder previously linked any coupon data to the first financial account further comprises:   identifying the coupon data associated with the second coupon;   determining whether the second transaction limit associated with the coupon data associated with the second coupon has been met;   when the second transaction limit has been met, deleting the coupon data associated with the second coupon from the identified first financial account; and   when the second transaction limit has not been met, determining that the first financial account has been linked to the coupon data associated with the second coupon and reducing the second transaction limit by one increment; and   the one or more processors are further configured to: responsive to determining that the first financial account has been previously linked to the coupon data associated with the second coupon, compare the coupon data associated with the second coupon with the first transaction data to determine whether the corresponding merchant name is associated with the merchant identifier of the first transaction data.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are further configured to cause the system to:
 receive, from a mobile device of the account holder, geographic location information indicative of a merchant location where the first transaction was completed by charging a first payment card by the reduced transaction amount;   tokenize the geographic location information to form anonymous tracking information; and   provide the anonymous tracking information to at least a merchant system.