US 7,584,149 B1Granted

System and method for securing data through a PDA portal

AssigneeAmerican Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

InventorsFred Bishop, Trey Neemann, Theodore S Voltmer, Fauziah B Ariff

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Consumers may utilize computing devices to assist in the purchase and/or loyalty process, and in particular, the consumer may utilize a PDA to facilitate the purchase and/or loyalty process. During the purchase and/or loyalty process, the consumer may need to insure that any content downloaded or used in association with the PDA is secure in how it is collected, assembled, and delivered to the PDA device. This system and method secures the data from its source to when it is actually viewed or used by the authorized user. The PDA may have direct access to an Internet web site portal that offers secure personal content from a content provider, such as, for example, an on-line banking or financial institution. Using the web site portal, the content provider may offer personal or confidential data, such as financial information, to PDA users in a secure (e.g., encrypted) environment. The exemplary system and method may establish a PDA portal link to the web site for collecting specified information for a user and transmitting the information to the remote device. To receive the information, the PDA contacts the portal and establishes a connection, authenticates itself to the network and allows the user to complete secured transactions or transmissions over the network.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A method for implementing a loyalty program using a first host computer which facilitates securing a portion of content from a source to a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), said method comprising the steps of:

receiving, by said first host computer, a consumer identifier (consumer ID) and a retailer identifier (retailer ID);
receiving, by said first host computer, product description data which includes a purchase price, and a retailer item identifier;
calculating, by said first host computer, a first set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to said retailer item identifier;
calculating, by said first host computer, a second set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to a manufacturer item identifier related to said retailer item identifier;
calculating, by said first host computer, a third set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to affiliated Service Establishment (SE) numbers;
combining, by said first host computer, said first set of reward points, said second set of reward points, and said third set of reward points within a loyalty account associated with said consumer ID, wherein said PDA is used to exchange said reward points for an item;
receiving, by said first host computer, a request for first content from said PDA;
retrieving, by said first host computer, said first content, wherein said first content is encrypted;
decrypting, by said first host computer, said first content;
locating, by said first host computer, an embedded link within said first content, wherein said embedded link includes navigation information for retrieving second content;
encrypting, by said first host computer, said first content;
retrieving, by said first host computer, said second content from a second host computer using said embedded link, wherein said second content is retrieved prior to transmitting said encrypted first content to said PDA;
transmitting, by said first host computer, said encrypted first content and said second content to said PDA, wherein at least one of:
said encrypted first content and said second content includes an item for purchase using said reward points;
receiving, by said first host computer and from said PDA, a purchase request for said item from said PDA;
and
using, by said first host computer, at least a portion of said reward points to complete said purchase request.

14 more elements

A first host computer with a processor and memory that stores executable code for implementing a loyalty program on a network-wide level which facilitates securing a portion of content from a source to a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), said executable code causing said processor to perform the following steps of:

receiving a consumer identifier (consumer ID) and a retailer identifier (retailer ID);
receiving product description data which includes a purchase price, and a retailer item identifier;
calculating a first set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to said retailer item identifier;
calculating a second set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to a manufacturer item identifier related to said retailer item identifier;
calculating a third set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to affiliated Service Establishment (SE) numbers;
combining said first set of reward points, said second set of reward points, and said third set of reward points within a loyalty account associated with said consumer ID, wherein said PDA is used to exchange said reward points for an item;
receiving a request for first content from said PDA;
retrieving said first content, wherein said first content is encrypted;
decrypting said first content;
locating an embedded link within said first content, wherein said embedded link includes navigation information for retrieving second content;
encrypting said first content;
retrieving said second content from a second host computer associated with said embedded link, wherein said second content is retrieved prior to transmitting said encrypted first content to said PDA;
transmitting said encrypted first content and said second content to said PDA, wherein at least one of:
said encrypted first content and said second content includes an item for purchase using said reward points;
receiving, from said PDA, a purchase request for said item from said PDA;
and
using at least a portion of said reward points to complete said purchase request.

14 more elements

A tangible computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon, said tangible computer executable instruction when read by a first host computer causes the first host computer to perform steps comprising:

receiving a consumer identifier (consumer ID) and a retailer identifier (retailer ID);
receiving product description data which includes a purchase price, and a retailer item identifier;
calculating a first set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to said retailer item identifier;
calculating a second set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to a manufacturer item identifier related to said retailer item identifier;
calculating a third set of reward points based on said consumer ID and said purchase price corresponding to affiliated Service Establishment (SE) numbers;
combining said first set of reward points, said second set of reward points, and said third set of reward points within a loyalty account associated with said consumer ID, wherein a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is used to exchange said reward points for an item;
receiving a request for first content from said PDA;
retrieving said first content, wherein said first content is encrypted;
decrypting said first content;
locating an embedded link within said first content, wherein said embedded link includes navigation information for retrieving second content;
encrypting said first content;
retrieving said second content from a second host computer using said embedded link, wherein said second content is retrieved prior to transmitting said encrypted first content to said PDA;
transmitting said encrypted first content and said second content to said PDA, wherein at least one of:
said encrypted first content and said second content includes an item for purchase using said reward points;
receiving, from said PDA, a purchase request for said item from said PDA;
and using at least a portion of said reward points to complete said purchase request.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/276,800Filed 15 Mar 2006 · division
Priority: 26 Feb 2001
Granted: 1 Sep 2009
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification8 codes

G06Q 20/20
Payment architectures: point-of-sale [POS] network systems
G06Q 20/322
Using wireless devices: aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
G06Q 20/387
Payment protocols; Details thereof: payment using discounts or coupons
G06Q 30/02
Commerce: marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Family

Application60/271,457Us provisional application · filed 26 Feb 2001
Application60/279,817Us provisional application · filed 29 Mar 2001
Application09/836,213Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 17 Apr 2001
Application10/084,744Parent of this division · filed 26 Feb 2002
US 7,222,101 B2Parent of this division
US 7,398,225 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part
Application10/084,744Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 2002/0143626 A1Published application
US 2002/0194068 A1Published application
US 7,584,149 B1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.