Portable hand-held multi-function device for storing, managing and combining rewards

#The present invention relates to a multi-function card such as a smart card, usable by a consumer for one or more functions such as a debit card, credit card, medical card, insurance card, club card, check card, or a loyalty card for use in a customer loyalty programs, and in particular to such programs that allow users to earn, barter, trade, manage and/or redeem reward points and other types of value (such as reward points obtained from bank-issued credit card programs such as CITIBANK or airline frequent flyer programs such as DELTA) into a number of individual reward or access accounts and a reward exchange account stored on the multi-function card, for obtaining products and services in exchange for those points or other value. This would allow users to use their accumulated values such as frequent flyer reward points, which are stored on the multi-function card, for products or services. In particular, this invention provides a real-time interactive and portable platform for managing the user's individual and aggregated reward accounts on a portable multi-function card such as a smart card, and for storing and/or modifying user profile information on the smart card by an authorized merchant, system operator, or other entity.

#Consumers in today's world typically carry many cards on their person, such as credit cards, debit cards, frequent shopper or loyalty cards, smart cards, access cards, identification cards, medical benefit cards, etc. Each of these cards allows the user to execute a commercial transaction as well known in the art. Carrying such a multitude of cards around is cumbersome, and many times the consumer does not have the card he may need for a specific purpose. In addition, having a multitude of cards leads to a fragmented system of commerce. That is, there is no easy way to tie together programs from various cards such that an activity executed with one card (such as a credit card purchase) provides a desired result with another disparate card (such as increasing loyalty points in a general account).

#Loyalty programs implemented with a consumer card, such as frequent flyer programs, frequent shopper programs, and the like, award loyalty points to its users based on purchases of goods or services made under the program. A typical example is an airline frequent flyer program that awards one point for each mile traveled on the airline. In this case, a round trip ticket from New York to California would result in the customer getting approximately 6,000 points in his airline account. A purchase made at a drugstore might be discounted if a consumer produces his frequent shopper card for that store. Similarly, credit card issuers such as CITIBANK award points for each dollar spent using their card.

#FIG. 1 is representative of the prior art marketing arrangements used in reward programs;

#FIG. 2 is a representation of the co-branded partners in a prior art award program;

#FIG. 3 is a sample of the prior art reward summary from an airline frequent flyer system;

#The present invention is based on the use of a multi-function card, such as a smart card, which may be utilized by a user for any of various applications programmed therein, such as a credit card, debit card, check card, loyalty card, insurance card, medical card, etc. The smart card also allows for reward points and/or other types of values to be accumulated and stored on the user's card every time the card is used for associated application. For example, if a user uses his smart card to pay for a hotel that normally gives reward points, those reward points may be stored on the smart card in an account associated with that hotel. Likewise, when the card is used for the purchase of an airline ticket, the reward points awarded by that airline would be added to the smart card in a reward account associated with the airline. The user may then redeem the accumulated reward points by inserting the card into a smart card reading device or terminal associated with a computer connected to the Internet or other authorized communication system (e.g. an ATM or other reader). Information provided to the user regarding the user's reward points is updated after every transaction.

#Multi-Function Card Layout

#FIG. 11 illustrates a functional block diagram of a multi-function card under this invention. The card has processing circuitry such as a microprocessor or microcomputer, program storage, data memory, and input output functions adapted to perform the functions as described herein. This example illustrates three applications—card application 1 1106, card application 2 1108, and card application 3 1110—although many more applications may be implemented as desired. Typical examples of card applications are a credit card application, debit card application, check card application, medical card application, insurance card application, and the like. For example, this card may have a CITIBANK VISA application, an AMERICAN EXPRESS application, and a WALGREENS DRUGSTORE application stored thereon.