FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of loyalty partnerships between companies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Under loyalty programs, companies reward their customers who frequently make use of the company products or services. Loyalty programs may give a customer advanced access to new products, special sales coupons or free merchandise and the like.

Loyalty programs are offered by airlines as well. A commonly used program is a frequent- flyer program. Many airlines have frequent- flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program to accumulate points (also called miles, kilometers or segments) which may then be redeemed for subsequent air travel or other rewards. Under loyalty partnerships, few airlines team up to share the program with the customers. There are online platforms for exchanging points between loyalty program accounts held by an existing customer. There are also online platforms for settling fares and monies due between airlines.

The present invention provides a device and method for loyalty partnership which increases the efficiency of the partnership to benefit the companies under the partnership as well as the customers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary to provide a basic understanding of the present invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention, and is not intended to identify key features of the invention. Rather, it is to present some of the inventive concepts of this invention in a generalized form as a prelude to the detailed description that is to follow. According to a first aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium for a website portal is provided. The partnership is between two or more member companies, the medium comprising: stored computer-readable instructions for causing a computer processor with server support to perform operations comprising:

tracking real-time stored data on earning and redemption for the customer within the member companies under the loyalty partnership;

retrieving the stored data;

validating the customer's identity;

invoicing transactions;

enabling the customer having earned points in one member company's loyalty program to redeem points for a reward on another member company under a partnership loyalty program business rule; and

settling accounts to the latest status for subsequent earning and redemption by the customer.

Advantageously the novel and inventive website portal provides a seamless and reliable operation. The portal overcomes the requirement for the member companies to settle these transactions piecemeal where each pair of the companies negotiate file transfers individually, account for and invoice earning and redemption transactions. In case of claims by the customers for loyalty points which were not credited correctly, the portal eliminates the requirement for each company to account for and manually investigate by negotiating the file transfers, accounts for the earning, redemption and invoicing transactions. This saves time and cost for the companies and provides better transparency of the accounts to the customers. The online portal under the invention provides the loyalty program for any kinds of member companies, for all member companies under same business type or different, for the member companies being all in one country or more. The rewards may be in the form of product or services as applicable and as selected by the customer.

According to an alternate embodiment, the partnership loyalty program business rule is the another member company's loyalty program business rule. This advantageously enables the member companies to retain their individual loyalty program business rule even when under the partnership.

According to an embodiment, the companies are airlines. The points may be as miles or kilometers or segments travelled. According to an alternate embodiment, the companies are related to road transport.

According to an embodiment, the one member company and the another member company relate to different kinds of businesses. This feature advantageously enables companies related to multiple kinds of businesses to team up in the partnership program. According to an embodiment, the operations further comprise: maintaining a deposit amount in trust for at least one company so that the at least one company is required to settle account only when the deposit amount falls below a predetermined level. This feature advantageously eliminates the need to frequently deposit payments as during every transaction.

According to an embodiment, the operations further comprise: enabling transactions in a plurality of currencies at the real-time conversion rates. This feature enables ease of use of the portal from any country. According to an embodiment, the member companies are not restricted to one country. According to an embodiment, the member companies include chain of product or service providers in a plurality of countries so that the points earned in one country can be redeemed in another country as well particularly during travelling or relocating.

According to an embodiment, the operations further comprise: displaying at least one advertisement item during usage of the portal by the customer. This feature is beneficial for the earning extra from the advertisements which may be shared with the customer as well such as in the form of earning bonus points.

According to a second aspect, method is provided for partnership between two or more member companies, the method employing a non-transitory computer readable medium containing stored computer-readable instructions and a computer processor with server support, the method comprising: tracking real-time stored data on earning and redemption for the customer within the member companies under the loyalty partnership; retrieving the stored data; validating the customer's identity; invoicing transactions; enabling the customer having earned points in one member company's loyalty program to redeem points for a reward on another member company under a partnership loyalty program business rule; and settling accounts to the latest status for subsequent earning and redemption by the customer. The advantages are as described under the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will be described by way of non-limiting embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, emphasis is placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. The various embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood when considered with respect to the following detailed description, appended claims and drawings wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates a flowchart diagram for an earning module as according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart diagram for retroactive claims as according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart diagram for redemption as according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart diagram for billing as according to an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One or more specific and alternative embodiments of the present invention will now be described in sufficient detail so that those skilled in the art can make and use the invention and with reference to the attached drawings. It shall be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that this invention may be practiced without such specific details. Some of the details may not be described at length so as not to obscure the invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention a non-transitory software method and device is provided that allows advertisement items to be displayed while the consumer is in the financial transaction step starting from selecting a payment mode and until receiving confirmation of a successful payment. Herein, 'non-transitory' indicates 'enduring or long-lived' and potentially excludes computer-readable media that store data only for short periods of time and/or only in the presence of power, such as register memory, processor cache and Random Access Memory (RAM). Transitory signals are non-patentable. The non-transitory computer readable medium for a website portal provides the partnership between two or more member companies. The portal tracks real-time stored data on earning and redemption for the customer within the member companies under a loyalty partnership. The portal then validates the customer identity followed by invoicing transactions. The portal thereby enables the customer having earned points in one member company's loyalty program to redeem points for the reward on another member company under a partnership loyalty program business rule. The portal further settles the accounts to the latest status for subsequent redemption by the customer. The partnership loyalty program business rule is a common set of business rule as agreed upon by the member companies. Alternately, the partnership loyalty program business rule may be the redemption member company's loyalty program business rule instead of a common rule for all the member companies. All the member companies may be airlines or road transport. However, this is not a limitation. The portal may cater to companies with other kinds of business in products or services as well. The businesses for all member companies may be same or different. For the business being in travel industry, the points earned may be in terms of miles or kilometers or segments travelled. The portal may maintain a deposit amount in trust for at least one company so that the company is required to settle their account only when the deposit amount falls below a predetermined level. Transactions are enabled in a plurality of currencies at the real-time conversion rates, for convenience of use of the portal from any corner of the world. The member companies may also include chain of product or service providers all under the same company, in a plurality of countries. The portal also provides display of advertisement items during usage of the portal by the customer. The earnings by advertisement could be shared with the customer such as in the form of bonus or by any other means.

According to an embodiment, loyalty partnerships between airlines is described here where under the loyalty partnership, multiple airlines team up to share the program with the customers. The integrated device and method of the air loyalty partnership provides a single electronic platform or web portal to consolidate tracking and settlement of earning and redemption transactions between airlines. In other words, the partnership enables a customer of a first airline's loyalty program to earn or redeem points for a flight on a second airline. Advantageously, in the portal centrally coordinates the multi-airline, multi-lateral earning. It simultaneously validates and confirms reservation in real-time for a points redemption transaction on a partner airline. The portal conducts net settlement from deposit account for transaction of points between airlines. The portal provides an allowance for customer initiated transfer of points. The portal is entirely automated and allows for direct earning of points into another program rather than transfer. The portal allows for payment settlement of monies due in currencies and includes four key settlement currencies: SGD, HKD, USD, EUR, JPY and RMB. The portal is built for payment settlement of any currency including loyalty points.

The device comprises several modules and sub-modules which work together to minimize processing requirements for the airlines.

The airline loyalty partnership portal is represented by four modules - an earn module 100 as in Fig 1, a rectroactive claims module 200 as in Fig 2, a redemption module as in Fig 3 and a billing module as in Fig. 4.

For earning points, the web portal at earn module 100 in Fig. 1 extracts flight records from each member airline, separates out the transactions by loyalty program number and performs business rule calculations on each transaction based on the rules applicable to that loyalty program. It then recombines the transactions from the flight files of multiple airlines, both by home carrier for purposes of mileage crediting and by flying or operating carrier for purposes of invoicing and settlement. Files may be shared by SFTP (secure file transfer protocol). The sub-module 2 describes that home airline customer must complete flight on flying airline and the customer's home airline loyalty program number must be captured in the booking prior to flight. It then proceeds to sub-module 4 where the flying airline extracts flown records with home airline numbers or the flying airline extracts all flown records. It then proceeds to sub-module 6 where the airline consolidates flown transaction file to portal. Daily batch file may be obtained via SFTP containing a minimum set of data points such as customer name, flight number, origin, destination, flight date, etc. It then proceeds to sub-module 8 where the portal creates internal records, checks for duplications if any, validates records against partnership rules and the like. The validation criteria may be based on: fare/product class, route pair, flight number exclusions, codeshare rules, tier bonuses, and the kind. If the accrual is found eligible, the sub-module 12 consolidates accrual file to home airline's loyalty platform. It then proceeds to sub-module 14 where the home airline validates the customer by validating the customer account, customer name match and the kind. If valid, it proceeds to sub-module 38 where the home airline calculates & credits points/miles to customers. If the membership is found not valid or accrual found ineligible, as in sub-module 20, the home airline sends accrual handback file to the portal. The batch file via SFTP includes reject records as well. It then proceeds to the sub-module 16 where the portal updates accrual status in its internal records and checks if activity eligible to earn points/miles. If failed, it proceeds to sub- module 32 where the portal updates the failed record status which is not subject to settlement. In such a case of failure, manual intervention as at sub-module 34 is required where if eligible, proceeds to sub-module 12 as before. If the outcome is positive, it proceeds to sub-module 28 where the portal updates the record status such that the verified records are subject to settlement. It then proceeds to sub-module 30 for settlement & invoicing where settlement reports are generated by user. The sequence then completes as in sub-module 36. After the verification, the portal also consolidates accrual handback file back to flying airline as in sub-module 24 which then proceeds to the sub-module 26 where the flying airline updates records with credit/reject status in its flown transactions database. This is a necessary step to prevent double dipping across both home & flying airlines' programs.

Under Fig 2 for the retroactive point/mileage claims module 200, as in the sub-module 40 the home airline members submit retro claims on program website under the validation criteria based on the account status and flight date being within retro claim period. It proceeds to the sub- module 42 where the home airline loyalty portal optionally pre-validates the claims with possible validation criteria may be such as: flight not already credited to customer, no pending claim for same flight and flight not more than specified days before customer's enrolment date. It then proceeds to the sub-module 44 where the home airline consolidates retro request file to the portal such as by batch file via SFTP. It then proceeds to the next sub-module 46 where the portal creates internal retro record, does initial validation to check if the flight date is within retro claim period, if no duplicate credited record exists and if the flight date is after partnership start date. If eligible, it proceeds to the sub-module 52 where the portal updates internal records, validates them against partnership rules with criteria like fare/product class, route pair, flight number exclusions, codeshare rules, tier bonuses and the like. If not eligible, the portal proceeds to the sub-module 50 where the claim is rejected straightaway and the records are held until they are extracted into retro response file back to home airline to be forwarded for checking eligibility to earn points/miles. If validated as eligible to earn points/miles, it proceeds to the sub-module 56 where the portal updates record status as being verified and proceeds to settlement and invoicing as in sub-module 58 and then to the completed sub-module 66. The updated portal status is transferred to sub- module 60 where the portal consolidates retro response file to home airline for the home airline processes response file and updates claim status as in sub-module 62 followed by sub-module 64 where the customers may view status of their claims on their program website portal. If not validated as eligible to earn points/miles, the portal proceeds to the sub-module 68 where the portal updates the record with the failed status and feeds the information to the sub-module 60. It also calls for manual intervention as at sub-module 70 to recheck the eligibility of the retro claim. If found eligible for retro claim, the portal proceeds to sub-module 74 where the portal sends consolidated retro request file to the flying airline. Then as in sub-module 76, the flying airline retrieves valid matching records in flown database such as based on the PNR, flight date, O/D, name match, and duplicate validation by checking if record has already been tagged as credited. If the transaction is found valid, as in sub-module 80 the flying airline tags records in its flown database as credited and as in sub-module 72, the flying airline consolidates valid/reject responses into retro response file to portal before proceeding to sub-module 52. Under the redemption module 300 at Fig 3, a customer enters the web portal and selects a route they wish to fly as well as indicating the miles of which airline they wish to use. The web portal performs a route lookup to determine which partners of that airline fly the route. It then obtains route and fare information and converts the fare to a number of loyalty points required, based on the airline's business rules which are encoded in the web portal. The portal then simultaneously validates the customer's identity and points balance, deducts the points from the customer's account, and finalizes the reservation with the other airline. Under the sub-modules 82 and 84, the customer enters homepage and logs into account. Once the login is authenticated, sub-module 86 customer chooses partner rewards and as at sub-module 88 re-direct customer to separate booking flow. It then proceeds to sub-module 90 the customer submits search details. It then proceeds to sub-modules 92, 94 and 96 for schedule and availability query, schedule & inventory search, schedule & availability results. Sub-module 98 determines award levels required for each search result and conversion ratio rounding adjustment. In sub-module 100, the platform displays availability & award levels to customer which then proceeds to authenticate and query for points balance as at sub-module 102. If the customer does not have enough points/miles, the booking process ends as at sub-module 106. However, if the customer has enough points/miles, the portal proceeds to sub-module 108 where the customer selects flight and optionally the ancillaries. It then proceeds to sub-modules 110 and 112 for holding inventory and confirming inventory, pending payment. Sub-module 108 further proceeds to sub-module 114 where the customer proceeds to pay and then sub-module 116 deducts points/miles from customer. If the operation fails, it proceeds to sub-modules 118, 114 and 120 where the balance is untouched, booking is unsuccessful and points/miles to customer are returned. If the operation is successful, the portal proceeds to the sub-module 117 to deduct credit card balance from customer, if required. If fails, proceeds to sub-module 115 and then to sub-modules 128 and 130 for cancellation of request and releasing inventory, cancels booking. If sub-module 117 is successful, the portal proceeds to sub-modules 122, 124, 126 recording successful booking, confirming request & response, confirming booking followed by ending transaction.

In billing module 400 at Fig 4, the settlement of monies due for points transactions is consolidated and coordinated through the web portal as well. The portal takes each individual transaction record for an airline and determines whether an amount is payable from the airline, or receivable by the airline for that transaction. It then nets the payables and receivables for that airline against each other airline with which the airline does business, so that the airline is only required to settle based on the overall movement in their account. The web portal maintains a deposit amount in trust for each airline so that the airline is not required to settle their account every period, but only when the deposit amount falls below a certain predetermined level. The sub-module 131 from the earn module 100 updates status of successful accruals from all members and creates activity statements as at sub-module 132 which proceeds to sub-module 134 where the portal user sees new accrual credit and statement of activities such as cost of points and exchange rates and also proceeds to sub-module 152 where the customer sees new accrual debit with statement activities such as cost of points, exchange rates and service fees to portal. The sub- module 152 then proceeds to the sub-module 148 where the portal user sees new statement activities for redemption bookings, such as booked fare class, fares, fees, taxes and exchange rate. The sub-module 134 proceeds to sub-module 148 where the program user sees new statement of activities under redemption debit such as the booked fare class, fares, fees, taxes, exchange rate and points redeemed. From the retroactive module 200, the sub-module 140 updates status of successful retro claims from all members. As at sub-module 142, the portal creates activity statements and furnishes to sub-module 150 where the customer sees new retro debit statement activities such as cost of points, exchange rates and service fees of the portal and furnishes the member with a monthly consolidated statement & invoice, with taxes as at sub-module 154. The activity statement at sub-module 142 is also furnished at sub-modules 136 and 138 where respectively the portal user sees new retro credit statement activities such as with cost of points, exchange rates and the portal receives a monthly consolidated statement & invoice. From the redemption module 300, the sub-module 144 enables the portal to receive point balance deducted & booking information once booking is confirmed and then the portal creates activity statements as at sub-module 146. The activity statements are accessible from sub-module 148 and sub- module 156 where the customer sees new redemption bookings statement activities with booked fare class, fares, fees, taxes, exchange rate and the like. As to further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.

While the foregoing description presents specific embodiments of the present invention along with many details set forth for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many variations or modifications in details of design, construction and operation may be made without departing from the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and all changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.