Method for customising a travel itinerary

An apparatus for customizing a travel itinerary for an account holder, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory including computer program code;
• the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
• receive current transaction data when settling a current travel transaction initiated by the account holder with a current merchant;
• retrieve, from a database, a plurality of historical transaction data relating to a plurality of historical transactions settled for the account holder prior to the current travel transaction;
• identify at least one of the plurality of historical transactions that relate to the current transaction data to recognize preferences of the account holder;
• generate at least one merchant relevance score based on the plurality of historical transaction data, and based on time and date data corresponding to a time and date when the account holder may be at a certain venue;
• customize a travel itinerary based on the preferences of the account holder and the at least one merchant relevance score, the travel itinerary including at least one merchant with whom the account holder can initiate a future transaction;
• and
• transmit a ranked indication of the at least one merchant included in the customized travel itinerary to a transaction device of the account holder.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer program code which when executed by a computer causes the computer to execute a method comprising:

• receiving current transaction data when settling a current travel transaction initiated by the account holder with a current merchant;
• retrieving a plurality of historical transaction data relating to a plurality of historical transactions settled for the account holder prior to the current travel transaction;
• identifying at least one of the plurality of historical transactions that relate to the current transaction data to recognize preferences of the account holder;
• generating at least one merchant relevance score based on the plurality of historical transaction data, and based on time and date data corresponding to a time and date when the account holder may be at a certain venue;
• customizing a travel itinerary based on the preferences of the account holder and the at least one merchant relevance score, the travel itinerary including at least one merchant with whom the account holder can initiate a future transaction;
• and
• transmitting a ranked indication of the at least one merchant included in the customized travel itinerary to a transaction device of the account holder.