Methods and systems for predicting consumer behavior from transaction card purchases

A computer for predicting behavior of a consumer based on the consumer's purchases made using a transaction card, said computer coupled to a database, said computer configured to:

• record consumer data in said database for each consumer of a global population of consumers including historical purchases made by each consumer using a transaction card;
• define a life event by assigning spending variables to the life event;
• determine a sample group of consumers that are experiencing the life event based on the consumer data stored within said database with respect to the spending variables;
• generate a predictive model based on historical purchases made by consumers within the sample group;
• apply the predictive model to predict each consumer within the global population that will experience the life event;
• and
• output a list of consumers predicted to experience the life event within a predetermined time period.

A network based system for predicting behavior of a consumer based on the consumer's purchases made using a transaction card, said system comprising:

• a client system;
• a centralized database for storing information;
• and
• a server system configured to be coupled to said client system and said database, said server system further configured to:
• record consumer data in said centralized database for each consumer of a global population of consumers including historical purchases made by each consumer using a transaction card;
• define a life event by assigning spending variables to the life event;
• determine a sample group of consumers that are experiencing the life event based on the consumer data stored within said database with respect to the spending variables;
• generate a predictive model based on historical purchases made by consumers within the sample group;
• apply the predictive model to predict each consumer within the global population that will experience the life event;
• and
• output a list of consumers predicted to experience the life event within a predetermined time period.

A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for predicting consumer behavior, said program comprising at least one code segment that:

• records consumer data in the database for each consumer of a global population of consumers including historical purchases made by each consumer using a transaction card;
• defines a life event by assigning spending variables to the life event;
• determines a sample group of consumers that are experiencing the life event based on the consumer data stored within the database with respect to the spending variables;
• generates a predictive model based on historical purchases made by consumers within the sample group;
• applies the predictive model to predict each consumer within the global population that will experience the life event;
• and
• outputs a list of consumers predicted to experience the life event within a predetermined time period.