VISA U.S.A. Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20110270665 | Expiring Virtual Gift Card Statement Credit Exchange for Loyalty Reward - A statement credit reward system receives a request to redeem reward points from an account holder in exchange for a virtual gift card, where the account holder's request may be in response to an offer from a merchant for the card. The statement credit reward system receives transaction information corresponding to one or more transactions conducted by the account holder with one or more merchants. The transaction information may contain a qualifying transaction conducted by the account holder with a merchant. The statement credit reward system will attempt to match a statement credit trigger with the qualifying transaction. If a match is not found, the statement credit reward system adds the predetermined number of reward points back into the account holder's balance of reward points. If a match is found, the statement credit reward system credits the monetary amount of the statement credit trigger to the account holder's balance. | 11-03-2011 |
20110087547 | Systems and Methods for Advertising Services Based on a Local Profile - In one aspect, a computing apparatus includes: a transaction handler to process transactions; a data warehouse to store transaction data recording the transactions processed at the transaction handler; a profile generator to generate, based on the transaction data, a profile including a plurality of values representing aggregated spending in various spending areas to summarize transactions in a geographical area; and a portal to receive advertisement data from an advertiser and to create an advertisement campaign based on the profile to deliver advertisements to users in the geographical area on behalf of the advertiser using one or more media channels. | 04-14-2011 |
20110035266 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONDUCTING PROMOTIONAL PROGRAMS - A method for using promotional programs and merchant values is disclosed. In one example, the method includes receiving an authorization request message including a merchant verification value through a payment processing network, where the authorization request message is associated with a purchase by a consumer. A merchant-specific promotional program is then determined using the merchant verification value, and the merchant specific promotional program is performed. For example, the promotional program can be a sweepstakes and the task may be determining of the consumer is an instant winner. | 02-10-2011 |
20100306032 | Systems and Methods to Summarize Transaction Data - Systems and methods to summarize transaction data via cluster analysis and factor analysis. In one aspect, a method includes identifying at least one set of clusters based on a cluster analysis of transaction records to group entities, identifying a plurality of factors based on a factor analysis of the transaction records to reduce correlations in spending variables, classifying an entity according to the at least one set of clusters, and computing values of the factors based on the transaction records of the entity. | 12-02-2010 |
20100023437 | Centralized Electronic Commerce Card Transactions - A central transaction server in electronic commerce card authorization system enables the electronic commerce card association to manage and monitor the authentication system. The central transaction server acts as an intermediary for all communications between the access control server used for authentication. If any portion of the authentication system fails, the central transaction server compensates by providing appropriate responses to other portions of the system. The centralized transaction server translates all incoming traffic into a format compatible with the intended recipient, enabling portions of the system to be upgraded without breaking compatibility with the non-upgraded portions. The centralized transaction server also enables the integration of formally separate portions of the authentication system into a single unit. The directory and the authentication history servers can be integrated into the central transaction server, and the central transaction server can initiate charges to the electronic commerce card automatically, bypassing the card acquirer. | 01-28-2010 |