Systems and methods for conversion of loyalty program rewards

A computer-based method of funding an account associated with a player, comprising:

• associating in computer memory of the one or more computing devices, a stored value account of a player with a player identifier of a gaming environment, wherein the stored value account holds a balance of funds comprising an unrestricted balance portion and a restricted balance portion, wherein unrestricted balance portion comprises player loaded funds, wherein the balance of funds is maintained by an issuer processor computing system on a bank card network, wherein the stored value account is associated with a stored value payment vehicle linked to the player and usable for transactions at a plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network, wherein the unrestricted balance portion is usable for stored value payment vehicle payment transactions at any of the plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network, wherein the restricted balance portion is only usable for stored value payment vehicle payment transactions at a subset of the plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network based on one or more of a merchant ID (MID) and a merchant category code (MCC) of each of the plurality of merchants of the subset;
• receiving, by a transaction facilitator computing system, a first points-to-value conversion request, wherein the first points-to-value request comprises a request to load restricted funds to the stored value account associated with the stored value payment vehicle;
• querying, by the transaction facilitator computing system, a player loyalty profile to determine an amount of loyalty points accumulated by the player, wherein the accumulated loyalty points are issued to the player by a gaming environment;
• and
• adding, by the transaction facilitator computing system, value to the stored value account based on the amount of loyalty points accumulated by the player, wherein the value increases the restricted balance portion by a first amount;
• causing a decrease in the amount of loyalty points accumulated by the player by a second amount responsive to the increase of the restricted balance of the stored value account by the first amount;
• receiving, by a transaction facilitator computing system, a second points-to-value conversion request, wherein the second points-to-value request comprises a request to load unrestricted funds to the stored value account associated with the stored value payment vehicle;
• adding, by the transaction facilitator computing system, value to the stored value account based on the amount of loyalty points accumulated by the player, wherein the value increases the unrestricted balance portion by a third amount, wherein the third amount is less than the first amount;
• and
• causing a decrease in the amount of loyalty points accumulated by the player by the second amount responsive to the increase of the unrestricted balance of the stored value account by the third amount.

A system for a gaming environment comprising:

• a stored value payment vehicle issued to a player, wherein restricted funds and unrestricted funds accessible by the stored value payment vehicle are simultaneously maintained in a stored value account as a restricted balance and an unrestricted balance, respectively, and are accessible through a payment network, wherein the unrestricted funds are usable for stored value payment vehicle payment transactions at a plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network and the restricted funds are only usable for stored value payment vehicle payment transactions at a subset of the plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network based on one or more of a merchant ID (MID) and a merchant category code (MCC) of each of the plurality of merchants of the subset;
• a loyalty account assigned to the player, wherein the loyalty account is maintained by a customer management system, wherein the loyalty account assigned to the player is associated with the stored value account and holds accumulated loyalty points on behalf of the player, wherein the accumulated loyalty points are issued to the player by the gaming environment;
• and
• at least one processor and non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon which when executed by a processor cause the processor to:
• selectively cause the restricted balance maintained in the stored value account to be increased by a first amount;
• selectively cause the accumulated loyalty points held by the gaming account to be decreased by a second amount based on a first conversion rate and the first amount;
• selectively cause the unrestricted balance maintained in the stored value account to be increased by a third amount;
• and
• selectively cause the accumulated loyalty points held by the gaming account to be decreased by the second amount based on a second conversion rate and the third amount, wherein the first amount is greater than the third amount.