Systems and methods for dynamically determining activity levels in a selected geographical region

A computer-implemented method for identifying active locations within a geographic region using an active locations (AL) computing device including a processor in communication with a memory, said method comprising:

• receiving, from a user computing device, a selection of a geographical region;
• retrieving transaction data from a payment processing network, the transaction data including a plurality of transaction records, each transaction record associated with communications between an issuer and an acquirer over the payment processing network to process a corresponding payment transaction, the acquirer configured to receive payment transaction authorization requests from a merchant conducting the payment transaction with a cardholder, each transaction record including a transaction location within the selected geographical region and a time stamp, wherein the plurality of transaction records for the selected geographical region are received substantially continuously and in real-time;
• retrieving environmental data including data representing environmental conditions at the selected geographical region, wherein the environmental data includes current traffic conditions across the selected region;
• retrieving social media data including events occurring within the selected geographical region;
• calculating a velocity of transactions at a plurality of locations in the selected geographical region from the transaction records;
• calculating a velocity of events at the plurality of locations in the selected region from the social media data;
• determining activity levels at each of the plurality of locations for the selected geographical region based on the velocity of transactions and the velocity of events;
• represent the activity levels for the plurality of locations as a user interactive heat map for the selected geographical region;
• applying a user-controlled filter to the heat map, wherein the user-controlled filter is configured to selectively overlay the current traffic conditions on the heat map;
• and
• transmitting the filtered heat map for the selected geographical region to the user computing device to cause the filtered heat map to be displayed on the user computing device.

At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by an active locations (AL) computing device including at least one processor in communication with a memory, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

• receive, from a user computing device, a selection of a geographical region;
• retrieve transaction data from a payment processing network, the transaction data including a plurality of transaction records, each transaction record associated with communications between an issuer and an acquirer over the payment processing network to process a corresponding payment transaction, the acquirer configured to receive payment transaction authorization requests from a merchant conducting the payment transaction with a cardholder, each transaction record including a transaction location within the selected geographical region and a time stamp, wherein the plurality of transaction records for the selected geographical region are received substantially continuously and in real-time;
• retrieve environmental data including data representing environmental conditions at the selected geographical region, wherein the environmental data includes current traffic conditions across the selected region;
• retrieve social media data including events occurring within the selected geographical region;
• calculate a velocity of transactions at a plurality of locations in the selected geographical region from the transaction records;
• calculate a velocity of events at the plurality of locations in the selected region from the social media data;
• determine activity levels at each of the plurality of locations for the selected geographical region based on the velocity of transactions and the velocity of events;
• represent the activity levels for the plurality of locations as a user interactive heat map for the selected geographical region;
• apply a user-controlled filter to the heat map;
• and
• transmit the filtered heat map for the selected geographical region to the user computing device to cause the filtered heat map to be displayed on the user computing device.