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Systems and methods for redeeming rewards associated with accountsRelated Patent Categories: Data Processing: Financial, Business Practice, Management, Or Cost/price Determination, Automated Electrical Financial Or Business Practice Or Management Arrangement, Distribution Or Redemption Of Coupon, Or Incentive Or Promotion ProgramSystems and methods for redeeming rewards associated with accounts description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20080097856, Systems and methods for redeeming rewards associated with accounts. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This U.S. patent application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/386,027 entitled "System and Methods for Redeeming Rewards Associated With Accounts" and filed on Mar. 10, 2003. U.S. application Ser. No. 10/386,027 is a continuation-in-part of the following applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/237,572 entitled "Multiple Credit Line Presentation Instrument," filed on Sep. 9, 2002; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/172,378 entitled "Systems and Methods for Accessing and Modifying Usage Parameters Associated with a Financial Transaction Account," filed on Jun. 13, 2002. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/172,378 is a continuation-in-part of the following applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/298,417 entitled "Methods for Processing a Group of Accounts Corresponding to Different Products," filed on Apr. 23, 1999; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/298,505 entitled "Method for Linking Accounts Corresponding to Different Products Together to Create a Group," filed on Apr. 23, 1999; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/298,521 entitled "Method for Defining a Relationship Between an Account and a Group," filed on Apr. 23, 1999. U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/298,417, 09/298,505 and 09/298,521 claim priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/083,004 entitled "Methods and System for a Family Financial Services Card," filed Apr. 24, 1998. The aforementioned patent applications are commonly assigned with the present application to First Data Corporation. [0002] The application is further related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/371,852 entitled "Chasing Rewards Associated With Accounts," and filed on Feb. 22, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/319,422 entitled "Authorizing Transactions Associated With Accounts," and filed on Dec. 12, 2002; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/373,637 entitled "Systems and Method for Authorizing Transactions," and filed on Feb. 24, 2003. All of the aforementioned patent applications are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and the entirety of each of the aforementioned applications is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The present invention relates to rewards associated with accounts. More particularly, the present invention provides systems and methods for performing reward redemptions. [0004] Rewards may be accrued in association with various accounts. For example, frequent flyer miles may be accrued in association with a credit card account, and based on activity in the credit card account. These frequent flyer miles may then be exchanged by the owner of the credit card account for travel. However, in general, the frequent flyer miles may not be exchanged by another individual unrelated to the credit card account. [0005] As another example, such frequent flyer miles can be donated to a charitable organization, such as, the Make-a-Wish.TM. foundation. These miles can then be used by someone other than the owner of the credit card account. However, the frequent flyer miles can no longer be used by the account owner as they are no longer associated with the account, but rather convert to the charitable organization. [0006] As yet another example, value exchangeable for merchandise can be accrued in relation to another credit card account. This can become problematic as this value remains a liability on the books of an issuer of the credit card account. Further, existing mechanisms for controlling or reducing this liability by forcing redemption of the value are cumbersome, and unfriendly to an account owner. In addition, the forced redemption often involves direct intervention by the entity maintaining the account. This increases the costs of account maintenance. [0007] Thus, there exists a need in the art to address the various problems outlined above. As will be appreciated from the following disclosure, the systems and methods according to the present invention address these, and a number of other problems related to accruing and redeeming rewards. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0008] Among other things, the present invention provides systems and methods for fulfilling reward redemptions. As such, the present invention provides systems and methods for accruing and/or redeeming various rewards. [0009] In some cases, the systems and methods include receiving redemption requests associated with an account. The redemption request can be satisfied from a reward associated with the account, by accessing a reward associated with another account, and/or by accessing a reward pool associated with a group of accounts. Redeeming a reward from another account can involve grouping the related accounts and allowing members of the group to perform the settlement function, or by transferring value between accounts and thereby providing a standard reward settlement mechanism. Various of the systems and methods further provide for performing automatic reward redemptions, either by an entity maintaining the account to which the reward is associated, or through use of a fulfillment entity. [0010] Such reward redemptions can include redeeming rewards accrued in relation to account(s) based on activity of one or more parties associated with the account(s). These rewards can include point based rewards and/or cash based rewards. Such rewards can include, but are not limited to, frequent flyer miles, travel vouchers, travel certificates, travel tickets, reduced interest rates, value exchangeable at a particular retailer or group of retailers, cell phone minutes, mobile commerce value, sick days, vacation days, cash value rewards, and the like. Indeed, based on the disclosure provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a myriad of account types and reward types to which the present invention may be applied. For example, the accounts can be financial accounts, employee accounts, travel accounts, and/or other accounts associated with accruing rewards. Thus, as one example, the account can be a credit card account that accrues frequent flyer miles based on purchases applied to the credit card account. [0011] One particular embodiment of the present invention provides methods for accruing frequent flyer rewards held in an airline account or under contract with an airline. The methods include providing an account associated with a frequent flyer reward that is augmented based at least in part on activity of a party. A request is received to associate another party with the account, and this added party is associated with the account. Upon association, the frequent flyer reward accrues based at least in part on activity of the added party. The methods further include receiving one or more requests to redeem the frequent flyer reward. In some instances, activity by either or both of the parties associated with the account can augment the frequent flyer reward. Such activity can include, for example, travel and/or use of a credit card. [0012] Another embodiment of the present invention provides methods for acquiring frequent flyer rewards. The methods include providing at least two accounts that are each associated with frequent flyer rewards. Each account accrues a frequent flyer reward based on activity of the party or parties associated with the respective accounts. The methods further include associating the two accounts such that a combination of the frequent flyer rewards from the respective accounts is accessible by a party associated with one of the accounts. In some instances, the method includes aggregating the frequent flyer reward from one account with the frequent flyer reward from the other account in a reward pool. As such, the reward pool can be linked with either one of the accounts, or with an account group in which the accounts are associated. [0013] In some instances, the methods further include reception of a reward redemption request from a party associated with one of the accounts. This redemption request can be satisfied using the reward associated with the account with which the party is associated. Alternatively, where the redemption request requires an amount greater than the reward associated with the account to which the party is associated, the redemption request can be satisfied using the reward pool, or an account in the account group other than that which the party is associated. [0014] In yet other embodiments, methods for redeeming rewards are provided. Such methods include receiving a reward redemption request that indicates the type of reward to be redeemed. An account that accrues that type of reward is identified, and a reward of the indicated type is accessed to at least partially satisfy the reward redemption request. Thus, as just one of many examples, a reward redemption request for a plane ticket obtainable using frequent flyer miles is received. Based on this redemption request, one or more accounts that accrue such frequent flyer miles is accessed. A portion of the frequent flyer miles from these one or more accounts are deducted from these account and used to satisfy the redemption request. [0015] Of note, the reward redemption request is not necessarily associated with any of the accounts from which the rewards are obtained. In particular cases, the redemption request is received in relation to an account associated with an account group, and the accounts from which the reward is deducted are also associated with the account group. In such cases, settlement of the reward transfer can be handled privately between members of the account group. In another instance, no settlement is provided, rather an open sharing system is implemented. Alternatively, in other cases, the account to which the redemption request is related is not related to the account(s) from which the reward is deducted. In such cases, a public settlement mechanism may be utilized to transfer value for the reward from one account to another. As just some examples, the accounts can be sick days accounts maintained with an employer or insurance company, vacation days accounts maintained with an employer, financial accounts associated with one or more financial products, and the like. [0016] In a particular instance, the identified account is a first account, the reward associated with the first account is a first reward, and the reward redemption request is associated with a second account. In such cases, a reward associated with the second account can also be accessed to at least partially satisfy the reward redemption request where the second reward is associated with the second account. In another instance, the identified account is a first account and the reward redemption request is associated with a second account. As such, the methods can further include converting the reward associated with the first account to a common value, and transferring the common value from the second account to the first account. In some cases, a certain type of reward can be shared, while another type of reward is not shared. As just one example, all frequent flyer miles might be shared, while cash back bonuses are not shared. [0017] In yet other cases, the identified account is a first account, the reward type is a first reward type, and the reward redemption request is associated with a second account that accrues a second reward type. In such cases, the methods can further include converting the reward of the first reward type to a common value, converting a reward of the second reward type to the common value, and transferring the common value from the second account to the first account. [0018] In further embodiments, other methods for redeeming rewards are provided. Such methods include receiving a reward redemption request associated with an account that includes a reward amount. It is determined that the reward amount is greater than a reward associated with the account. The reward redemption request is then pended, or stored in a pending state until a later event allows for the reward redemption request to be satisfied. [0019] In some cases, the reward redemption request remains pending until the reward associated with the account is augmented and becomes larger than that required to satisfy the redemption request. In other instances, the reward associated with the account is augmented and, while still less than that required by the redemption request, is within a predefined amount of the redemption request, thus allowing the redemption request to be satisfied on credit. [0020] Alternatively, a reward accrual velocity, or the rate at which the reward has been augmented over some period, can be calculated. This reward accrual velocity can be used to calculate a point in time where the reward will be sufficient to satisfy the reward redemption request. Where the future date is within a predefined period, the reward redemption request can be satisfied on credit. Thus, for example, where a sufficient reward will be accrued within the next month, the redemption request can be satisfied immediately and the deficit portion of the reward deducted from the account over the succeeding month(s). [0021] Thus, in some instances, the methods further include determining that the reward amount is less than the reward associated with the account, and satisfying the reward redemption request, while in other instances, the methods include determining that the reward amount is within a predefined amount of the reward associated with the account, and satisfying the reward redemption request. The predefined amount can be a reward amount, a time period, or the like. Continue reading about Systems and methods for redeeming rewards associated with accounts... 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