# US 12,118,582 B2 · Technical improvements to payment card linked rewards programs > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,118,582 B2 - Document ID: US12118582B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/329,484 - Filed: 2023-06-05 - Published: 2023-11-30 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2020-12-05 - Applicants: Social Media, LLC - Inventors: Dacotah Harvey; Jordan Michael Code; Jose Carlos Villares Vaillant; Nancy Torres; Carlos Villares; Omar Ramos Muniz; Yilka Rivera; José Luis Rivera Torres; Gustavo Villares; Peter Karl Melhado; Luke Todesco; Vikram Dhiman; Zachary Fahrer; Andrew Erickson Draxton - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12118582B2 ## CPC - G06Q 30/0207: Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates - G06Q 30/0229: {Multi-merchant loyalty card systems} - G06Q 20/354: {Card activation or deactivation} - G06Q 20/387: {Payment using discounts or coupons (relating to marketing G06Q30/02)} - G06Q 30/0233: {Method of redeeming a frequent usage reward} - G06Q 30/06: Buying, selling or leasing transactions - 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 A rewards system operator receives one or more files from a payment card processor containing payment card transaction information for qualifying payment card transactions made with linked payment cards at one or more merchants participating in a rewards program. The rewards system operator directly debits the merchants for any fees owed under the rewards program. The rewards system operator gives users of the linked payment cards a reward for making qualifying purchases under the rewards program. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions, which, when executed, cause a rewards platform computing system to: receive a payment card setup file from a card user computing device, the payment card setup file including a card number of a payment card, the payment card setup file being received by one or more rewards platform computing devices that are part of the rewards platform computing system; associate the card number in the payment card setup file with a card user who is a member of a rewards program and store the card number and card user information in one or more rewards platform databases; receive a merchant setup file from a merchant computing device, the merchant setup file including an authorization to direct debit an amount owed by a merchant participating in the rewards program from a merchant bank account, the merchant setup file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices that are part of the rewards platform computing system; associate the merchant with the authorization to direct debit the amount owed by the merchant and store the merchant and the authorization in the one or more rewards platform databases; instruct one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a card number file including the card number of the payment card to one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices of a payment card transaction reporter, the payment card transaction reporter being configured to receive files including payment card transactions from a payment input device at the merchant and process the payment card transactions for the merchant over an electronic payment processing network; instruct the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a merchant file including a merchant identifier for the merchant to the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices; receive a qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices, the qualifying transaction file including payment card transaction information for at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant; the qualifying transaction file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices; instruct the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a debit file to a direct debit service provider computing device of a direct debit service provider no later than 72 hours after the rewards platform computing system receives the qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices, the debit file including the amount owed by the merchant for the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant as well as instructions to direct debit the amount from the merchant bank account; and associate an additional amount of reward credits with the card user in the one or more rewards platform databases, the additional amount of reward credits being provided for the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the rewards platform computing system to receive a rewards redemption offer file from a third party rewards redemption platform computing device of a third party rewards redemption platform using a standardized input/output interface, the rewards redemption offer file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices, the rewards redemption offer file including a list of one or more goods and/or services that the card user can receive in exchange for at least some of the reward credits. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the rewards platform computing system to instruct the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a reward credits file to a third party rewards redemption platform computing device of a third party rewards redemption platform using a standardized input/output interface, the reward credits file including the number of reward credits the card user has available to exchange for goods and/or services on the third party rewards redemption platform. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 wherein the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant is a second or subsequent payment card transaction made by the card user at the merchant within a defined time period, and wherein the additional amount of reward credits associated with the cards user is greater than an amount of reward credits associated with the card user for an initial payment card transaction made by the card user at the merchant during the defined time period. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the rewards platform computing system to send the debit file to the direct debit service provider no later than 24 hours after the rewards platform computing system receives the qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 wherein the payment card transaction reporter is a payment card processor and the payment card transaction reporter computing device is a payment card processor computing device. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 1 wherein the payment card transaction reporter is a payment card association and the payment card transaction reporter computing device is a payment card association computing device. ### Claim 8 A method comprising: receiving a payment card setup file from a card user computing device, the payment card setup file including a card number of a payment card, the payment card setup file being received by one or more rewards platform computing devices that are part of a rewards platform computing system; associating the card number in the payment card setup file with a card user who is a member of a rewards program and storing the card number and card user information in one or more rewards platform databases; receiving a merchant setup file from a merchant computing device, the merchant setup file including an authorization to direct debit an amount owed by a merchant participating in the rewards program from a merchant bank account, the merchant setup file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices that are part of the rewards platform computing system; associating the merchant with the authorization to direct debit the amount owed by the merchant and storing the merchant and the authorization in the one or more rewards platform databases; instructing one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a card number file including the card number of the payment card to one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices of a payment card transaction reporter, the payment card transaction reporter being configured to receive files including payment card transactions from a payment input device at the merchant and process the payment card transactions for the merchant over an electronic payment processing network; instructing the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a merchant file including a merchant identifier for the merchant to the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices; receiving a qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices, the qualifying transaction file including payment card transaction information for at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant; the qualifying transaction file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices; instructing the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a debit file to a direct debit service provider computing device of a direct debit service provider no later than 72 hours after the rewards platform computing system receives the qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices, the debit file including the amount owed by the merchant for the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant as well as instructions to direct debit the amount from the merchant bank account; and associating an additional amount of reward credits with the card user in the one or more rewards platform databases, the additional amount of reward credits being provided for the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 comprising receiving a rewards redemption offer file from a third party rewards redemption platform computing device of a third party rewards redemption platform using a standardized input/output interface, the rewards redemption offer file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices, the rewards redemption offer file including a list of one or more goods and/or services that the card user can receive in exchange for at least some of the reward credits. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 comprising instructing the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a reward credits file to a third party rewards redemption platform computing device of a third party rewards redemption platform using a standardized input/output interface, the reward credits file including the number of reward credits the card user has available to exchange for goods and/or services on the third party rewards redemption platform. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 wherein the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant is a second or subsequent payment card transaction made by the card user at the merchant within a defined time period, and wherein the additional amount of reward credits associated with the cards user is greater than an amount of reward credits associated with the card user for an initial payment card transaction made by the card user at the merchant during the defined time period. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 comprising sending the debit file to the direct debit service provider no later than 24 hours after the rewards platform computing system receives the qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 wherein the payment card transaction reporter is a payment card processor and the payment card transaction reporter computing device is a payment card processor computing device. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8 wherein the payment card transaction reporter is a payment card association and the payment card transaction reporter computing device is a payment card association computing device. ### Claim 15 A rewards platform computing system comprising: at least one processor; and memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one processor to: receive a payment card setup file from a card user computing device, the payment card setup file including a card number of a payment card, the payment card setup file being received by one or more rewards platform computing devices that are part of the rewards platform computing system; associate the card number in the payment card setup file with a card user who is a member of a rewards program and store the card number and card user information in one or more rewards platform databases; receive a merchant setup file from a merchant computing device, the merchant setup file including an authorization to direct debit an amount owed by a merchant participating in the rewards program from a merchant bank account, the merchant setup file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices that are part of the rewards platform computing system; associate the merchant with the authorization to direct debit the amount owed by the merchant and store the merchant and the authorization in the one or more rewards platform databases; instruct one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a card number file including the card number of the payment card to one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices of a payment card transaction reporter, the payment card transaction reporter being configured to receive files including payment card transactions from a payment input device at the merchant and process the payment card transactions for the merchant over an electronic payment processing network; instruct the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a merchant file including a merchant identifier for the merchant to the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices; receive a qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices, the qualifying transaction file including payment card transaction information for at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant; the qualifying transaction file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices; instruct the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a debit file to a direct debit service provider computing device of a direct debit service provider no later than 72 hours after the rewards platform computing system receives the qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices, the debit file including the amount owed by the merchant for the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant as well as instructions to direct debit the amount from the merchant bank account; and associate an additional amount of reward credits with the card user in the one or more rewards platform databases, the additional amount of reward credits being provided for the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The rewards platform computing system of claim 15 wherein the instructions cause the rewards platform computing system to receive a rewards redemption offer file from a third party rewards redemption platform computing device of a third party rewards redemption platform using a standardized input/output interface, the rewards redemption offer file being received by the one or more rewards platform computing devices, the rewards redemption offer file including a list of one or more goods and/or services that the card user can receive in exchange for at least some of the reward credits. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The rewards platform computing system of claim 15 wherein the instructions cause the rewards platform computing system to instruct the one or more rewards platform communication interfaces to send a reward credits file to a third party rewards redemption platform computing device of a third party rewards redemption platform using a standardized input/output interface, the reward credits file including the number of reward credits the card user has available to exchange for goods and/or services on the third party rewards redemption platform. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The rewards platform computing system of claim 15 wherein the at least one payment card transaction made with the payment card at the merchant is a second or subsequent payment card transaction made by the card user at the merchant within a defined time period, and wherein the additional amount of reward credits associated with the cards user is greater than an amount of reward credits associated with the card user for an initial payment card transaction made by the card user at the merchant during the defined time period. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The rewards platform computing system of claim 15 wherein the instructions cause the rewards platform computing system to send the debit file to the direct debit service provider no later than 24 hours after the rewards platform computing system receives the qualifying transaction file from the one or more payment card transaction reporter computing devices. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The rewards platform computing system of claim 15 wherein the payment card transaction reporter is a payment card processor and the payment card transaction reporter computing device is a payment card processor computing device. ### Claim 21 (depends on 15) The rewards platform computing system of claim 15 wherein the payment card transaction reporter is a payment card association and the payment card transaction reporter computing device is a payment card association computing device.