# US 11,908,279 B2 · Systems and methods for tracking of non-wagering account associated with gaming environment

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- Number: US 11,908,279 B2
- Document ID: US11908279B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/102,938
- Filed: 2023-01-30
- Published: 2023-06-01
- Granted: 2024-02-20
- Earliest claimed: 2012-09-28
- Assignees: Sightline Payments LLC
- Applicants: Sightline Payments LLC
- Inventors: Kirk E. Sanford; Thomas M. Sears; Omer Sattar
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11908279B2

## CPC

- G07F 17/3251: {involving media of variable value, e.g. programmable cards, programmable tokens}
- G06Q 20/227: {characterised in that multiple accounts are available, e.g. to the payer}
- G06Q 20/349: {Rechargeable cards}
- G06Q 20/387: {Payment using discounts or coupons (relating to marketing G06Q30/02)}
- G06Q 30/0226: Incentive systems for frequent usage, e.g. frequent flyer miles programs or point systems
- G06Q 50/34: Betting or bookmaking, e.g. Internet betting
- G07F 17/3227: {Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters}
- G07F 17/3237: {about the players, e.g. profiling, responsible gaming, strategy/behavior of players, location of players}
- G07F 17/3239: {Tracking of individual players}
- G07F 17/3241: {Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance (computer security G06F21/00)}
- G07F 17/3244: {Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes}
- G07F 17/3255: {Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements}
- G07F: COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS (coin sorting G07D3/00; coin testing G07D5/00; {handling coins or paper currencies apart from payment activated apparatus G07D; payment architectures, schemes or protocols G06Q20/00})
- G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

## Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for associating a player identifier with a financial account. The financial account can holds funds that are accessible through the player's use of a payment vehicle. Information associated with transactions using the payment vehicle can be used for player relationship purposes.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A player tracking system, comprising:
a player tracking computing system comprising one or more processors and non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause the player tracking system to:
link a loyalty profile of a player with a general purpose reloadable prepaid card issued to the player maintained by an issuer processor computing system on a bank card network;
communicate with a loyalty computing system of a gaming environment to update the loyalty profile of the player based on transaction-related information received from the issuer processor computing system, wherein the transaction-related information is associated with at least one payment transaction initiated at one of the plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network, wherein the general purpose reloadable prepaid card is used during the at least one payment transaction to access funds maintained in a financial account, wherein the one of the plurality of merchants is unaffiliated with the gaming environment;
generate a player intelligence report for the player based at least partially on the transaction-related information received from the issuer processor computing system, wherein the player intelligence report identifies the one or more of the plurality of merchants; and
provide the player intelligence report to a computing system associated with the gaming environment, and wherein the player intelligence report comprises at least some of the transaction-related information.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The player tracking system of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed further cause the player tracking computing system to:
receive an incentive from the loyalty computing system, wherein the incentive comprises a transaction parameter; and
apply the incentive to at least one of the plurality of payment transactions when the transaction parameter is satisfied.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The player tracking system of claim 2, wherein the incentive is a coupon.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The player tracking system of claim 2, wherein the transaction parameter identifies one or more merchants.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The player tracking system of claim 2, further comprising the issuer processor computing system.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The computer-based method of claim 2, wherein the incentive is only applicable for a single payment transaction.

### Claim 7

A computer-based method, the method performed by a transaction facilitator computing system comprising instructions stored in a memory, which when executed by a processor of the transaction facilitator computing system, cause the transaction facilitator computing system to perform the method comprising:
storing in computer memory of the transaction facilitator computing system, a unique identifier for a player that is associated with a loyalty program of a gaming environment, wherein the unique identifier is associated with a general purpose reloadable prepaid card issued to the player by a financial institution on a bankcard network, and wherein the general purpose reloadable prepaid card is usable by the player for payment transactions at any of a plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network;
generating a player intelligence report for the player based at least partially on the use of the general purpose reloadable prepaid card at one or more of the the plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network; and
providing the player intelligence report to a computing system associated with the gaming environment;
linking a transaction incentive to the player, wherein the transaction incentive is applicable to a payment transaction at one of the plurality of merchants associated with the bank card network; and
when the general purpose reloadable prepaid card is used in the processing of a payment transaction at any of the plurality of merchants:
(i) receiving transaction-related information associated with the use of the general purpose reloadable prepaid card in the processing of the payment transaction at the merchant, wherein the transaction-related information comprises a merchant identifier; and
(ii) determining, as a function of the identity of the merchant identifier whether the transaction incentive is applicable to the payment transaction.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The computer-based method of claim 7, wherein the transaction incentive is only applicable for a single payment transaction.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The computer-based method of claim 8, further comprising:
causing the transaction incentive to be applied to the payment transaction when the transaction incentive is determined to be applicable.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The computer-based method of claim 7, wherein the transaction incentive is a merchant-specific coupon.

### Claim 11 (depends on 7)

The computer-based method of claim 7, wherein a value of the transaction incentive is based on a loyalty status of the player.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The computer-based method of claim 11, further comprising:
reporting the application of the transaction incentive to a computing system of the gaming environment.

### Claim 13

A computer-based method of player tracking, the method performed by one or more computing devices comprising instructions stored in a memory, which when executed by one or more processors of the one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform the method comprising:
storing in computer memory of the one or more computing devices, a player identifier of a player for a gaming environment, wherein the player identifier is associated with a general purpose reloadable prepaid card of the player, wherein the general purpose reloadable prepaid card is usable by the player for payment transactions at any of a plurality of merchants associated with a bank card network;
subsequent to the use of the general purpose reloadable prepaid card for one or more payment transactions, receiving transaction-related information associated with the one or more payment transactions;
generating a player intelligence report for the player based at least partially on the transaction-related information, wherein the player intelligence report identifies the one or more of the plurality of merchants; and
providing the player intelligence report to a computing system associated with the gaming environment, and wherein the player intelligence report comprises at least some of the transaction-related information.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The computer-based method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the plurality of merchants is on premise at the gaming environment.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The computer-based method of claim 14, wherein at least one of the plurality of merchants is not on premise at the gaming environment.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The computer-based method of claim 13, further comprising:
assigning a loyalty value to the use of the general purpose reloadable prepaid card based on the transaction-related.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The computer-based method of claim 16, wherein the loyalty value is a point value, and wherein the point value is based on the transaction-related information.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The computer-based method of claim 17, wherein the point value assigned to uses of the payment vehicle for a first transaction type is higher than the point value assigned to uses of the payment vehicle for a second transaction type.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The computer-based method of claim 13, wherein the player identifier is a loyalty account number of the player.

### Claim 20 (depends on 13)

The computer-based method of claim 13, wherein the transaction-related information comprises at least a merchant name and a transaction date.