[0001] The invention generally relates to transaction and payment cards, including credit cards, bank cards, debit cards, telephone calling cards and the like, and more particularly to a transaction card or payment card which can be activated to have an alternative or secondary use as a credit card by adding a credit feature.
[0002] Today, credit card usage is virtually a part of a customer's daily life because customers recognize the many advantages of obtaining credit cards. For example, credit cards are safer to carry than money, and they can help a customer to establish a good credit rating. Additionally, they can serve as a source of convenience should the customer need to make an unexpected purchase for which they may not have the cash immediately available. As a result of this growing trend, the credit card industry is a booming and profitable industry; thus, customers are constantly inundated with many different credit card offers. For example, customers are offered department store credit cards, gasoline product cards (oil companies), telephone calling cards, VISA® credit cards, MASTERCARD® credit cards, AMERICAN EXPRESS® credit cards, debit cards, and/or the like.
[0003] One of the most appealing features of a credit card purchase is that it allows customers to buy now and pay later. Another advantage is that some credit cards permit customers to establish direct relationship with specific types of business, for example, a telephone calling card or a gasoline product payment card. With a gasoline product card, a cardholder has the convenience of purchasing gasoline products from a specific oil company, without conducting a cash transaction, and receiving one itemized bill at the end of the billing period. The itemized billing statement is beneficial for providing businesses or entrepreneurs with a detail summary, at the end of the month or year, of the amount of gasoline which was purchased during the time period and an easy method to calculate business-related mileage driven during the time period. Another enticement of credit card usage is that some credit card issuers offer to their customers “reward points or reward offers” as an incentive to increase the amount of the customer's purchases or to increase the frequency in which the customer transacts purchases with their credit card.
[0004] While customers realize the benefits of obtaining several different types of credit cards and establishing several different types of relationships Faith different types of industries, customers can sometimes be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of credit cards that they need to carry in order to perform daily activities. Although VISA® and MASTERCARD® are widely accepted, no one card has been accepted universally. Regardless of the fact that VISA® and MASTERCARD® can be used to perform other types of transactions, the usage of a VISA® or MASTERCARD® for the purchase of gasoline or a telephone call usually does not allow the customer to establish a direct relationship with the individual companies enacting the transaction.
[0005] Furthermore, using VISA® and/or MASTERCARD® to make a purchase can be more expensive for a merchant because this transaction is treated as a purchase on the VISA® or MASTERCARD® credit card account for which the merchant often pays a transaction fee. Similarly, customers may incur additional expenses when using VISA® and/or MASTERCARD® to perform different types of transactions. For instance, when a customer uses her VISA® credit card to make a telephone call, the telephone company determines the amount of the telephone call and bills the amount directly to the customer's VISA® account. The amount is then entered as a purchase onto the customer's VISA® account and if the customer fails to pay the entire balance by the next billing cycle, the customer also incurs an additional charge based on the current interest rate associated with the account until the entire VISA® account is paid in full. Therefore, a need still exists for a cost-effective method which provides a customer the convenience of using one card which can be easily activated to perform different functions, establish different relationships with different industries (e.g., a phone card, a gas card, a catalog purchasing card, or a dining card) and offer rebate incentives.
[0006] Traditionally, the procedure for obtaining a credit card normally requires several steps which can delay the customer's receipt of a functioning credit card for approximately 26-50 days. The normal credit card issuance process begins when the prospective customer receives direct marketing material in the mail or at a merchant's location. Within the next 7-14 days, the prospective customer reads the approximately 500-800 word application, completes the application and returns the application to the credit card issuer through the mail system. Once mailed, it takes another 3-4 days for the paper application to travel through the postal system. The credit card issuer receives the paper application, and over the next 10-20 days, the credit card issuer processes the application to determine whether to accept or decline the customer's application. Thereafter, the customer receives a Written response within 5 to 7 days as to whether their application is accepted or declined. If the application is accepted, a functioning credit card often will be included in the written response. After 1 to 5 days, the customer will read the 800-1500 word credit card agreement and then will activate the credit card telephonically before it can be used. However, not all credit card issuers take the additional measure of requiring telephonic activation; some may use a less secure method of mailing active cards.
[0007] The Customer Activated Multi-Value (CAM) card provides a customer with a transaction card pith a primary use that is not a credit use, to which the customer can add a credit card feature, as well as other features which can be added to enhance the transaction card's usage. The Customer Activated Multi-Value card can be activated as a non-credit transaction card (e.g., a phone card, a gasoline product card, a catalog purchasing card, a dining card, or the like) or as a transaction card with a credit card feature. Activation of the CAM card as a transaction card allows the customer to purchase goods and services from one specific vendor or several specific vendors and to establish a relationship with each vendor for goods or services rendered (for example, a stored-value telephone calling card or gasoline product purchasing card).
[0008] An additional enhancement of the CAM card is a rewards feature. The “reward dollars” can be redeemed or spent at the specific vendor or at any other merchant that accepts the transaction logo or mark displayed on the card. Another feature of the CAM card is that it provides the customer with the option to add a credit card feature to the transaction card. By adding the secondary credit card feature to the CAM card, the customer is able to interact with any merchant that accepts traditional credit cards such as VISA®, MASTERCARD®, AMERICAN EXPRESS®, DISCOVER® or the like. In addition, the “reward dollar” points may be used as a credit against the secondary credit feature to reduce the balance of the secondary credit card feature. Even if the credit feature is not activated, customers can still earn reward dollars, cashing them in at retail outlets that accept logos printed on the card, such as MASTERCARD®, VISA®, AMERICAN EXPRESS®. DISCOVER®), any other major credit card, debit card, or the like. In this instance, the open-to-buy amount is equal to the amount of reward dollars accrued.
[0009] The reward dollars of the present invention differs from the reward points disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,372, assigned to Meridian Enterprises, Inc. (the “Meridian patent”). In order to receive “credits” to or through his or her credit instrument, a participant in the incentive award program disclosed in the Meridian patent must initially reach certain goals or levels of performance. Unlike the Meridian patent, the CAM card does not require the customer to achieve a certain goal or level of performance in order for the customer to receive a credit towards their primary transaction card or secondary credit card feature. The CAM card customer automatically receives a credit every time the customer uses her primary transaction card to transact a purchase. A certain percentage of the total amount spent during each transaction will be used as a credit towards the balance of the customer's secondary credit card feature, or transaction card feature.
[0010] Furthermore, the activation process for the CAM is an automated process which significantly reduces the time in which a customer normally has to wait before she can use an active credit card. The automated activation process of the CAM card provides customers with a secure, quick and easy activation process for selecting one or more of the described options. The overall activation process from the date on which the prospective customer receives the direct mail marketing piece, which includes an inactive CAM card, to the date the prospective customer has a functioning transaction card and/or credit card is reduced from an estimated average of 26-50 days to 1-5 days. The number of distinct steps that the customer performs to possess a functioning credit card decreases by approximately 80%. The process for having an active credit card decreases from an estimated average of 10 steps practiced in the traditional process to two steps employed by the novel automated activation process of the CAM card. Upon receipt of the CAM card, the prospective customer reads the marketing material and if she wishes to add the credit card feature she then reads the 800-1500 word cardmember agreement. The prospective customer telephones the CAM activation center and the customer's activation request is automatically processed over the telephone by a live operator or voice response unt (VRU). As an alternative embodiment, the customer may use a personal computer, the Internet or the like to activate the CAM card.
[0011] One object of the present invention is a transaction card which has a “sustainable and independent use” and to which a credit card feature can be added at the prospective customer's request.
[0012] Another object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of the overall process of obtaining a credit card by reducing the time from when a prospective customer receives the marketing information to the time the customer has a functioning transaction card and credit card.
[0013] Another object of the present invention is to decrease the number of distinct steps that a customer performs to receive a functioning credit card from an estimated average of 10 steps to 2 steps.
[0014] It is a further object to provide transaction cards imprinted with the prospective customer's name in a direct mail marketing piece versus traditional methods of direct marketing materials including a paper application or response form that is mailed back to the transaction card provider where the transaction card is not sent to the customer until the paper application or response is processed and approved.
[0015] Another object is to have customers activate their transaction card and add their credit card feature automatically versus applying for a transaction card or credit card by completing a paper application which is sent through the mail; thus easing the application process and enhancing the card's security features.
[0016] It is still another object to decrease the chance of credit card fraud by requiring that the prospective customer contact the process center and interact directly with a telemarketing representative.
[0017] It is still another object that the activation process between the customer and the process center include several levels of safety features built into the system in order to deter theft and/or fraud.
[0018] Another object is that the reward dollars may be used as a credit against the secondary credit feature to reduce the balance of the secondary credit card feature.
[0019] It is a further object that even if the credit feature is not activated, customers can still earn reward dollars, cashing them in at retail outlets that accept MASTERCARD® and VISA®.
[0020] It is still another object that, if the customer chooses not to apply for the secondary credit feature, the customer may still select the “rewards dollars” feature where the open-to-buy amount is equal to the amount of reward dollars accrued.
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[0024]
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[0027] The present invention relates to a computer program utilized in conjunction with a transaction card which can be activated automatically and to which the recipient can add a credit card feature as a secondary use card.
[0028] The CAM card system (
[0029] Referring to
[0030] More specifically,
[0031] FIGS.
[0032] If all customer service representatives are busy addressing other customers' request (
[0033] Initially, when a caller contacts the CAM activation process center, the system initiates the Automatic Number Identification (ANI). The ANI automatically checks the telephone number from which the telephone call is made versus the telephone number stored in the system and automatically displayed by the caller identification feature of the system on the GUI (
[0034] Referring to Block (
[0035] Returning to Block (
[0036] Returning to Block (
[0037] Referring back to (
[0038] Referring back to Block (
[0039] The eligibility check determines what services, if any, the customer has already activated. For a customer who has previously activated the CAM card, the eligibility check (
[0040] If the eligibility check is performed and the customer's account is not assigned a flag of H, I or J, this means that the customer has not previously activated any of the credit services (
[0041] Returning back to Block (
[0042] Referring back to Block
[0043] Referring to
[0044] Returning to Block (
[0045] Returning to Block (
[0046] Returning back to Block (
[0047] In Block (
[0048] Referring to
[0049] If the credit bureau is up and running, the system performs the credit check. If the applicant is not approved for the credit card in Block (
[0050] Once the customer's credit line has been established, the customer service representative is instructed by the system (
[0051] Returning back to Block (
[0052] A condition of the CAM card is that if the customer is approved for and accepts the secondary credit card feature, the customer must also agree to accept the primary transaction card feature. As a result, once the system completes the secondary credit card activation process in
[0053] Referring to
[0054] If the customer agrees to activate the primary transaction card (
[0055] If the customer decides not to establish a payment source (
[0056] Returning to Block (
[0057] If in Block (
[0058] Returning back to Block (
[0059] Under Block
[0060] Once the primary transaction card feature and/or the secondary credit card feature has been establish, the system includes the “reward dollars” feature, as an additional feature, to the customers account. The “rewards” points may be used as a credit against the secondary credit feature to reduce the balance of the primary transaction card feature or the secondary credit card feature. On the other hand, the customer may spend her reward dollars in at retail outlets that accept MASTERCARD®, VISA®, AMERICAN EXPRESS®, DISCOVER® or the like. Also, the accrued reward points may be used to obtain certain types of gifts, vacations, or other types of prizes offered through award incentive programs. The reward dollars feature is just one example of the additional use features. Other additional use features are available at the customer's option, such as a travel program, a Christmas savings plan or a gift purchasing program are available at the customer's options.
[0061] The Outbound Telemarketing Activation process is similar to the Inbound Telemarketing Process, with few exceptions. The scripting read by the customer service representative to the customer is different to reflect the outbound nature of call, verification is different (since our in-house representatives are contacting offerees in their own home), and population file is different (those who are already activated, or those who have requested not to be solicited are not called). The Outbound Telemarketing Activation process is initiated by an outbound customer service representative calling a prospective customer. Once the prospect is obtained, the Outbound process is the same as the Inbound process, discussed above and illustrated in FIGS.
[0062] Although the invention has been described Faith particular reference to preferred embodiments which are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. Thus, variations and modifications of the present invention can be effected within the spirit and scope of the following claims.