Abstract:
A computer-implemented method and computer system are proposed for assisting a consumer associated with a plurality of payment cards. When the consumer wishes to make a payment transaction, a computer system with access to information about the payment cards and access to at least one consequence database storing information relating to consequences of the making payment using the payment cards, determines consequences of making the payment using each of a plurality of the payment cards. According to the determined consequences, the computer system makes an automatic selection of one of the payment cards to use for the purchase. The computer system&#39;s selection may be presented to the consumer as a proposal. Upon the consumer accepting the proposal, the payment transaction is performed using the selected payment card.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to computer systems and computer-implemented methods for making payments using payment cards. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Many online payments to an online merchant are made by a payment card holder entering their payment card details into a webpage supported by a merchant server operated by the user. This system has a number of disadvantages. First, the payment card holder may be unwilling to divulge his or her credit card details to the online merchant. Second, the process of entering the card details is time-consuming. 
         [0003]    To address these problems, it is known to provide a digital wallet system. For example, MasterCard International Incorporated provides the MasterPass® system. A card holder sets up one or more “digital wallets” on a wallet-hosting server (here referred to as a “digital wallet server”). There are two forms of digital wallet server. One is a server operated by an organisation which is not itself a card issuer, but which is a trusted partner of the card issuer (in existing implementations, the organisation may be MasterCard International Incorporated itself). The other form is a server operated by a card issuer (conventionally, a wallet on such a server is referred to as a “partner-hosted wallet”). Both the server(s) operated by MasterCard International Incorporated, and the servers operated by card issuers use the same APIs (developed by MasterCard International Incorporated), so that the user sees no difference in using the two forms of wallet-hosting server. 
         [0004]    A card holder registers his or her payment card(s) with a digital wallet. Having done this, the card holder can interact with a participating online merchant. At the check-out stage, the online merchant displays a button on the merchant website which the card holder can click on in order to make a payment using the card holder&#39;s digital wallet. The online merchant then redirects the user to a “switch” operated by MasterCard International Incorporated. Using a cookie located on the card holder&#39;s computer, the “switch” is able to determine which wallet-hosting server hosts a wallet associated with the card holder. The switch then establishes a connection between the card holder&#39;s computer and the appropriate wallet-hosting system, which presents the card holder with a MasterPass sign-in page (e.g. as a pop-up window), where there is an authentication process (e.g. entry of a pre-agreed password). This log-in process may use the same login credentials (e.g. password) which the user also uses to obtain access to other online banking activities. 
         [0005]    Following the authentication process, if more than one digital wallet has been created for a given card holder, the card holder chooses the digital wallet he or she would like to use. If more than one payment card is associated with the digital wallet, he or she chooses one of the payment cards. He or she may further confirm a shipping address he or she wishes to use (e.g. by selecting from previously entered addresses). The wallet-hosting system then securely transfers the card holder&#39;s payment and shipping information to the online merchant&#39;s domain. The merchant&#39;s domain submits the card holder&#39;s payment information to the acquiring bank, for a separate authorization process in which the acquiring domain communicates with the issuing bank to ask the bank to authorize the transaction. Thus, the card holder is not required to enter their card details (except at the stage of initially registering with the wallet-hosting system), and the online transaction process is streamlined with only a single redirection, and consistent branding for the entire payment process, irrespective of the online merchant. 
         [0006]    The MasterPass system has been further extended to in-store payments using a mobile communication device associated with a card holder. Upon the card holder wishing to make a payment, an application on the card holder&#39;s mobile device communicates with a point-of-sale (POS) terminal operated by a merchant. When the card holder wishes to make a payment using the digital wallet, a communication path is established between the mobile device and the server operating the digital wallet. The mobile device sends details of the intended transaction (e.g. the transaction value, and an ID number of the merchant) to the server. As for the online shopping use of MasterPass described above, if more than one digital wallet has been created for a given card holder, the server asks the card holder to choose the digital wallet he or she would like to use. If more than one payment card is associated with the digital wallet, the server asks the card holder to choose one of those payment cards. Upon the user choosing, the server passes details of the selected card to the mobile device which forwards them to the POS terminal. The POS terminal takes a payment in the same way in which it would handle a payment transaction using a physical payment card: the details of the selected card the POS terminal receives from the mobile device, and the details of the transaction are passed to an acquirer bank associated with the merchant in the form of a cryptogram. The acquirer bank seeks authorization for the transaction from the issuer bank of the payment card, and, if the transaction is authorized, the issuer bank debits the payment amount (optionally plus a handling charge) to a payment account associated with the selected payment card, and the acquirer bank credits the payment amount (optionally plus a handling charge) to the payment account of the merchant. At a subsequent time, the issuer bank makes a payment to the acquirer bank, for example as part of a clearing operation. 
         [0007]    Typically, the details which the server passes to the mobile device are a “token”, which is an encrypted form of the personal account number (PAN) of the card (typically a 16 digit number which is printed on the payment card if it has physical form). The token is specific to the mobile device. It is generated according to a technology called MDES (MasterCard Digital Enablement Service). 
         [0008]    There is a continued need to enhance a digital wallet system, to provide further advantages to the card holder. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention aims to provide new and useful computer systems and computer-implemented methods for making payments using payment cards. 
         [0010]    In general terms, the invention proposes that, when a consumer associated with a plurality of payment cards wishes to make a payment transaction (a purchase to a merchant), a computer system with access to information about the payment cards and access to at least one consequence database storing information relating to consequences of the making payment using the payment cards, determines consequences of making the payment using each of a plurality of the payment cards. According to the determined consequences, the computer system makes an automatic selection of one of the payment cards to use for the purchase. 
         [0011]    Optionally, the computer system&#39;s selection may be presented to the consumer as a proposal before it is used for the purchase. Upon the consumer accepting the proposal, the payment transaction is performed using the selected payment card. 
         [0012]    The computer system may use one or more rationales to decide which payment card to select. The consequence database stores information for use by the computer system to determine the appropriateness of each of the payment cards according to these rationale(s). If there are multiple rationales, the computer server determines which of the rationales is most compelling. 
         [0013]    First, one of the payment card selection rationales may be based on offers made to the consumer if a given payment card is used. Specifically, the computer system may use information about an offer (such as a discount, a cashback, or a reward) the merchant makes if the purchase is made using a payment card meeting one or more criteria relating to the payment transaction and/or the payment card. For example, the criteria may include a criterion that the payment transaction is for more than a certain value, and/or is within a certain time window; and/or the criteria may include a criterion that the payment card is of a certain type, or is issued by a certain issuing bank, or is supported by a certain payment network. The computer system determines if the criteria are met for each of the consumer&#39;s payment cards, and accordingly determines what offer is available if that card is used for the payment transaction. One of the payment card selection rationales may be based on the corresponding offers. In a simple case, for example, the computer system could select the payment card for which the value of the offer was maximal. In other words, it could be based on the savings/rewards the consumer could receive immediately. 
         [0014]    Secondly, one of the payment card selection rationales may be based on loyalty points. Specifically, the server may use information about loyalty points the consumer would earn in a loyalty program by using a certain payment card. The consequence database may include information about how many loyalty points the consumer has already accumulated in the program. 
         [0015]    Thirdly, one of the payment card selection rationales may be based on payment card usage requirements. Specifically, the server may use information about card usage requirements of the payment cards, and the consequences of not using the payment card according to the usage requirements. For example, if a certain payment card requires that the payment card is used according to certain conditions to avoid at least one negative consequence (e.g. if the consumer has to use the payment card to make payment totalling above a certain threshold by a certain date to avoid the card being cancelled or a penalty charge being made), then the server may take these consequence(s) into account. 
         [0016]    Note that these three payment card selection rationales are such that the payment card recommendation is unbiased as between different payment cards, and entirely in the consumer&#39;s best interests. Note also that this list of possible rationales is not exclusive, and also that more than one of the rationales can be used: in effect a further rationale can be developed based on any combination of a plurality of the rationales explained above, for example such that the consequences based on both offers and loyalty points, so that the best available card option can be recommended based on both these factors. 
         [0017]    In any of these possibilities, the computer system may additionally use information about the consumer&#39;s past transactions. 
         [0018]    For example, the computer system may use the information to develop a model of the consumer&#39;s behaviour, which permits the computer system to make a probabilistic prediction about the consumer&#39;s future payments. These could be used in calculating the consequences of using a certain payment card. 
         [0019]    For example, if the computer system predicts that the consumer will, with a certain likelihood, make a further purchase from the same merchant during a certain future time period, this may have a bearing on the value the consumer is likely to receive from the merchant&#39;s offer(s). 
         [0020]    In other words, the computer system may suggest a payment card to use based on savings/rewards the consumer may make during a time period extending into the future, e.g. the total savings/rewards during a certain number of weeks, months or even years in the future, based on a probabilistic prediction of the consumer&#39;s behaviour during that future time period. 
         [0021]    In another example, if the computer system predicts that the total transactions the consumer will make in the future are beyond a certain level, this may have a bearing on whether the consumer will be able to make sufficient payments using a certain one of the payment cards to meet the card usage requirements for that payment card. If the computer system predicts that a given consumer will have plenty of future possibilities to use the payment card to meet the card usage requirements, then it is less likely to suggest that the payment card is used for the present transaction. 
         [0022]    Note that the computer system may determine whether sufficient historic information is available to make a prediction about the consumer&#39;s future payments. If this information is not available, e.g. because the consumer is a new customer, then the consequences may be calculated without taking into account predictions of future behavior e.g. based on the offers which the merchants makes only in relation to the present transaction. Alternatively, the consequences may be calculated using a prediction of the consumer&#39;s future behavior which is made based on historic information describing past transactions by “similar consumers”, that is other consumers for whom historic information is available and who meet one of more similarity criteria indicative of being similar to the consumer, according to whatever data relating to the consumer may exist. For example, if the consumer is known to have one or more demographic properties (e.g. gender; an age within a certain age range; or an income bracket), the similar consumers may be consumers who have one or more of these demographic properties. 
         [0023]    The computer system may use the information of past transactions in several ways to make the probabilistic prediction. One possibility is for the computer system, e.g. as card transactions are made by the consumer, to accumulate a database of historic data describing those transactions. When the consumer wishes to make a new transaction using one of the payment cards, the computer system may use information about the new transaction and the historic data, in combination with information from the consequences database, to predict the consumer&#39;s future behavior probabilistically. 
         [0024]    Alternatively, the computer system may form an adaptive model of the payment transaction behavior of each consumer, and update the adaptive model successively for successive payment transactions. For example, the model may be updated whenever the consumer requests a new payment transaction, or following successful completion of a payment transaction. In this case, the computer system may not need a database of historic data: in effect, this information is embedded in the adaptive model. In other words, if the adaptive model is defined by model parameters, then the model parameters encode the historic data, such that the model generates data indicative of the payment behavior of the consumer. 
         [0025]    Note that the data indicative of the payment behavior of the consumer may be used in additional ways. For example, the computer server may provide it (e.g. sell it) to merchants and/or payment card issuers to provide them with consumer intelligence. The data for multiple consumers could be combined statistically. This may both anonymize it, and make it possible to discover trends in consumer transaction behavior. The data would be useful to help merchants understand the purchases consumers have made from other merchants, and develop retail strategies accordingly. Furthermore, the data might help merchant and payment card issuers to develop offers in coalition. 
         [0026]    In one example, the computer system may be a computer system which implements a digital wallet. In another example, combinable with the first, the computer system is a computer system operated by a payment network. In a further example, the computer system may be a merchant server, or conceivably even a point-of-sale terminal. Embodiments of these examples may be implemented with no change to the existing payment transaction patterns. 
         [0027]    The invention may be expressed as a computer implemented method, or as a computer system arranged to perform the method, such as one including a processor and a data storage device storing program instructions operative, when performed by the processor, to cause the processor to perform the steps of the method. 
         [0028]    As used in this document, the term “payment card” refers to any cashless payment device associated with a payment account, such as a credit card, a debit card, a prepaid card, a charge card, a membership card, a promotional card, a frequent flyer card, an identification card, a prepaid card, a gift card, and/or any other device that may hold payment account information, such as mobile phones, Smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), key fobs, transponder devices, NFC (near field communication)-enabled devices, and/or computers. Furthermore, the “payment card” may exist only as a data structure (i.e. without physical existence), which is registered with a digital wallet or cloud wallet. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0029]    An embodiment of the invention will now be described for the sake of example only with reference to the following figures, in which: 
           [0030]      FIG. 1  shows schematically a computerized network including a server which is an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0031]      FIG. 2  shows the structure of a module of the server of the computerized network of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0032]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of steps performed by the computerized network of  FIG. 2  in a method which is an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0033]      FIG. 4  shows information flow during the method of  FIG. 3 . 
           [0034]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of steps performed by the computerized network of  FIG. 2  in another method which is an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0035]      FIG. 6  shows information flow during the method of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0036]      FIG. 7  shows schematically a second computerized network including a computer server which is an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0037]      FIG. 8  is a flow diagram of steps performed by the computerized network of  FIG. 7  in another method which is an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0038]      FIG. 9  shows the structure of a server system which may be used in the computerized networks of  FIGS. 1 and 7 . 
           [0039]      FIG. 10  shows the structure of a portable communications device which may be used in the computerized networks of  FIGS. 1 and 7 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0040]    Referring firstly to  FIG. 1 , a computerized system is shown including a digital wallet server  7  which is an embodiment of the invention. The system permits a card holder (here a “consumer”) who is associated with one or more payment cards to make a purchase from an online merchant. Although the embodiment is explained below with reference only to a single consumer, in a typical embodiment a large number of consumers (e.g. at least 100) may use the embodiment at any given time. 
         [0041]    The consumer operates a communication device which may be either a mobile device  1  or a personal computer (PC)  3 . Both are shown in  FIG. 1 , but in reality the consumer will use one or the other. The communication device  1 ,  3  includes a screen  1   a ,  3   a  and one of more data input devices  1   b ,  3   b . The communication device  1 ,  3  is operative to communicate with a communication network  5  such as the internet. The merchant operates a merchant server  6  which is also connected to the internet. The consumer uses the communication device  1 ,  3  to select one or more products (a term which is used here to includes goods and/or services) using the merchant website. 
         [0042]    As described below, upon the card-holder wishing to make a purchase, the card-holder issues a command to the merchant server  6  to initiate a process  100  (explained below with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 ) which is an embodiment of the present invention. For example, the merchant server  6  may control the communication device  1 ,  3  to display an icon which the consumer can click to initiate the process. The result of the process is to select a payment card for the consumer which will be used in a payment transaction. The merchant server  6  will perform the transaction according to the conventional procedure described above, involving an acquirer bank server  12 . 
         [0043]    Certain steps of the process  100  are performed by a digital wallet server  7 . Note that in other embodiments, the function of the digital wallet server  7  may be split across multiple servers. The digital wallet server  7  is operative to communicate with the communication device  1 ,  3  and the merchant server  6 . The digital wallet server  7  comprises a consumer and merchant interface module  9  for providing an interface to the communication device  1 ,  3 , and to the merchant server  6 . 
         [0044]    The digital wallet server  7  further includes a card selection unit  11 . The structure of the card selection  11  is explained in more detail below with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0045]    The digital wallet server  7  is optionally able to communicate with other computer systems  13 ,  15 ,  17 ,  19 ,  20 . These include a tokenization system  13 , typically associated with a payment card issuer, for generating a token to transmit to the consumer devices  1 ,  3  or to the merchant server  7 . 
         [0046]    The digital wallet server  7  is also able to communicate with an offer management system  15  for storing offers made by merchants. These offers may be discounts and/or rewards which merchants offer if a purchase is made with a payment card having certain characteristics. 
         [0047]    The digital wallet server  7  is also able to communicate with a loyalty management system  17  which stores details of loyalty programs, of which the consumer may be member. 
         [0048]    The digital wallet server  7  is also able to communicate with a transaction history management system  19 . This is typically operated by a payment card issuer. 
         [0049]    The digital wallet server  7  is also able to communicate with a Payment Card Management System  20 . This is a known entity responsible for managing all types of payment cards and payment card programs. The card selection unit  11  interfaces with system  21  to get consumer card related information. 
         [0050]    Some or all of the tokenization system  13 , offer management system  15 , the loyalty management system  17 , and the transaction history management system  19  are typically in contact with (e.g. obtain information from) the merchant operating the merchant server  6 , and/or with service providers, and/or with further offer providers, and optionally also with third party systems such as other merchants. 
         [0051]    Turning to  FIG. 2 , the structure of the card selection unit  11  is shown. It includes a card selection module  23 , a transaction management module  25 , a card identification module  27 , and a consumer behavior modification module  29 . It also includes a module  31  for providing a communication interface to external service providers, and a module  33  for providing a communication interface to third party systems. 
         [0052]    Turning to  FIG. 3 , a method  100  performed by the embodiment of  FIG. 1  is shown. The flow of information in each of these steps is shown in  FIG. 4 , where the numbers on the arrows correspond to the steps of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0053]    In step  101 , the consumer who has used the communication device  1 ,  3  to select product(s) at the online merchant website supported by the merchant server  6 , decides to make the payment for the product(s). He or she enters a command into the consumer interface of the communication device  1 ,  3 , which transmits a command to the merchant server  6  to make a payment using a digital wallet which is supported by the digital wallet server  7 . Note that optionally, there may be other digital wallet servers (not shown), e.g. operated by other payment networks, some or all of which may have the same structure as the digital wallet server  7 ; if the consumer selects one of those digital wallets, the merchant server  6  would contact the corresponding server, and perform a method having some or all of the steps of method  100 . 
         [0054]    In step  102 , a processing module embedded within the merchant website captures consumer information, the payment amount and merchant information and sends it to the consumer and merchant interface module  9  of the digital wallet server  7 . 
         [0055]    In step  103 , the consumer and merchant interface module  9  of the digital wallet server  7  sends all the captured information to the card selection unit  11 . At this point there is typically a consumer authentication step, as for a conventional digital wallet, using digital wallet identification information. 
         [0056]    In step  104 , the card identification module  27  identifies the payment cards associated with the consumer. It is here assumed that there are a plurality of such payment cards. The consumer behavior modification module  28  is associated with an adaptive system which is used to predict future behavior by the consumer, and the adaptive system may be modified based on the information received in step  103 . 
         [0057]    The card selection unit  11  identifies the best payment card to be used in the transaction for the requesting consumer according to the following steps. 
         [0058]    In step  105 , the transaction management module  23  communicates with the offer management system  15  (using the module  31 ) to identify the offers available for consumer&#39;s payment cards. In a variation of the embodiment the offer management system  15  is replaced by an internal module of the card selection unit  11 . 
         [0059]    In step  106 , the transaction management module  23  communicates with the loyalty management system  17  (using the module  31 ) to calculate the loyalty points for a transaction based on loyalty cards linked with consumer&#39;s profile and/or consumer&#39;s payment cards. In a variation of the embodiment the loyalty management system  17  is replaced by an internal module of the card selection unit  11 . 
         [0060]    In step  107 , the transaction management module  23  communicates with the Transaction History management system  19  (using the module  31 ) to identify the consumer&#39;s behavior based on his or her past transactions. Optionally, this may include making a prediction about the consumer&#39;s future behavior, for example using a component of the consumer behavior management module  29 . This component may be an adaptive model. 
         [0061]    In optional step  108 , the transaction management module  23  may use the module  33  to communicate with one or more third parties. These may include other banks, from which the transaction management module  23  may obtain details of further payment options and optionally offers associated with them, so as to identify other payment options which may be more beneficial than all the pre-registered payment cards. It may also communicate with the third party merchants to obtain information about one or more offers made by the third party merchants to supply similar goods to those covered by the payment transaction. 
         [0062]    In step  109 , the card selection module  23 , based on all the information captured in steps  105 - 107  (and step  108  if performed), predicts the best payment card of the digital wallet to be used for the requested transaction (if step  108  was performed, this may take into account other payment options for which information was obtained). Two examples of the computing operation this may involve are given below. The card selection module  23  will take into consideration various factors such as, but not limited to the past consumer behavior, transaction time, various promotional events etc. The system will always try to make sure that the consumer is getting the best deal out of his payment transaction. The past consumer behavior may be encoded by the adaptive system maintained by the consumer behavior modification module  29 . 
         [0063]    In step  110 , the card selection module  23  passes the best payment card to the consumer and merchant interface module  9 . If step  108  was performed, this may include passing on data describing the other payment options for which information was obtained and their associated offers, and/or the third party merchant offers. 
         [0064]    In step  111 , the consumer and merchant interface module  9  forwards the data to the payment portal of the merchant website with the best payment card for the requested transaction. If step  108  was performed, this may include passing on data describing the other payment options for which information was obtained and their associated offers, and/or the third party merchant offers. 
         [0065]    In step  112 , the merchant server  6  sends instructions to the communication device  1 ,  3  to display the best payment card. If step  108  was performed, this may include displaying data describing the other payment options for which information was obtained and their associated offers, and/or the third party merchant offers. 
         [0066]    In step  113 , the consumer sees and (typically) chooses the payment card suggested by the portal for making the payment. After this confirmation, the consumer will be redirected to merchant website for continuing with his payment, according to a conventional method, using the selected payment card. If step  108  was performed, the consumer may alternatively select one of the other payment options for which information was obtained, and/or one or more of the third party merchant offers. 
         [0067]    Note that in the embodiment of  FIG. 1 , if the consumer chooses to directly enter the payment card details into the payment interface of the merchant website, then the digital wallet server  7  cannot help him to select the best payment card for the transaction. However, in a variant of the embodiment, the merchant server  7  includes a smart client module having the same structure as the card selection unit  11  of  FIG. 2 , and performing the same function. Upon the consumer inputting data identifying him/herself, or a payment card associated with him/herself, this smart client module will ask the consumer for his digital wallet identification information so that the card selection unit  11  can perform steps identical to steps  104 - 109 , and the merchant server  6  can then perform step  112 . 
         [0068]    In one possible variant of the method above, the merchant server  6  might be integrated with the digital wallet server  7  so that the user in step  101  can select products using a single merchant/digital wallet server. In this case, the steps of passing data between the merchant server  6  and the digital wallet server  7  could be omitted, and the user would just make product selection(s) by using the communication device  1 ,  3 , to communicate with the combined server. 
         [0069]    A method  200  which is a variant of method  100  is shown in  FIG. 5 . The method  200  may also be performed using the communication network of  FIG. 1 , but the flow of information is different. In this case, the communication device  1 ,  3  is provided with a software application, such as an application supplied by a merchant (in a variation, the software application may be supplied by another party, such as an issuer bank, but offers products supplied by one or more merchants). In this case, the path of communication of data may be as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0070]    In step  201  the consumer makes a product selection using the software application. In step  202  the application on the communication device  1 ,  3  directly contacts the module  9  of the digital wallet server  7 , and transmits to it data characterizing the payment, such as the transaction amount and the merchant offering the selected product(s). 
         [0071]    Steps  203 - 210  are the same as steps  103 - 110  of method  100  respectively. In step  211 , the module  9  of the digital wallet server  7  passes the selected payment card to the application on the communication device  1 ,  3  as a recommendation. In step  212 , the application displays the recommendation to the consumer, and the consumer confirms that the selected payment card is to be used. In step  213 , the application on the communication device  1 ,  3  passes details of the order, including the selected payment card, to the merchant server  6 . The merchant server  6  implements the order. 
         [0072]    We now turn to  FIG. 7  which shows a computerized network which is a second embodiment of the invention. Many of the elements of the computerized network of  FIG. 7  are identical to that of  FIG. 1 , and they are given the same reference numerals. However, in contrast to the computerized network of  FIG. 1 , the computerized network of  FIG. 7  contains a point-of-sale (POS) terminal  21  provided at a retail location associated with the merchant. 
         [0073]    The POS terminal  21  is, like the merchant server  6  of  FIG. 1 , in communication with the acquirer bank server  12 . The POS terminal  21  may further have a communication interface (e.g. a NFC interface, QR (quick response) code reader, QR code scanner etc.) to communicate with the card holder&#39;s mobile communication device  1 , when the consumer makes a purchase. 
         [0074]    The method  300  performed by the computerized network of  FIG. 7  is similar to the methods  100  and  200 , and is illustrated in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0075]    In step  301 , the consumer presents the communication device  1  to the point-of-sale terminal  21  to make a payment. 
         [0076]    In step  302 , an application installed on communication device  1  captures from the point of sale terminal  21  the payment amount and other merchant information if available for merchant identification. Otherwise the application can obtain this information from the consumer, or use a GPS function of the communication device to find its geolocation. 
         [0077]    In step  303 , the application transmits the information obtained in step  302  to the module  9  of the digital wallet server  7 . If the captured data includes a geo-location, the card selection unit  11  can use the geo-location to identify the merchant store (e.g. using a database in the digital wallet server  7 ). The digital wallet server passes the information to the card selection unit. 
         [0078]    Steps  304 - 310  are the same as steps  104 - 110  respectively. 
         [0079]    In step  311 , the digital wallet server  7  will respond back to the application with the best payment card for the requested transaction and will also list down other payment options along with their associated offers. 
         [0080]    In step  312 , the consumer sees and chooses the payment card suggested by the application for making the payment. The payment procedure may then proceed, in a conventional fashion, including the communication device  1  passing details of the payment card (or a tokenized version of those details obtained from the digital wallet server  7 ) to the POS terminal  21 . 
         [0081]    We now present two examples of how the card selection unit  11  behaves in real time under different circumstances when implementing either of the methods  100 ,  200  or  300 . The database tables mentioned in below examples reference a subset of data elements which are stored by business entities (Payment Network Provider, Offer Management System, Merchant, Service Provider etc.). There may be more data available in certain cases based on who is providing this implementation. 
       Example 1 
       [0082]    Sam has two credit cards, here called card 1 and card 2. Sam takes his girlfriend to a restaurant and he is not sure which payment card to use for making payment of $65 towards his bill/check. 
         [0083]    Table 1 shows a payment card program table, and Table 2 shows the offer table. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Payment Card Program Table 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 Id 
                 Payment Program Name 
                 Description 
               
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 90001 
                 Card 1 
                 &lt;General program description&gt; 
               
               
                   
                 90002 
                 Card 2 
                 &lt;General program description&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Offer Table 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                 Associated 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Payment Program 
                 Expiry 
                 Discount 
               
               
                 Id 
                 Offer Title 
                 Id 
                 Date 
                 Type 
                 Discount 
                 MCC 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 10001 
                 $5 off on all 
                 90001 
                 Jan. 30, 
                 Flat 
                 5 
                 5411 
               
               
                   
                 transactions 
                   
                 2016 
               
               
                 10002 
                 10% off on all 
                 90001 
                 Jan. 30, 
                 Percentage 
                 10 
                 5812 
               
               
                   
                 transactions above $50 
                   
                 2016 
               
               
                 10003 
                 15% off on all 
                 90002 
                 Mar. 
                 Percentage 
                 15 
                 5691 
               
               
                   
                 transactions above 
                   
                 30, 2016 
               
               
                   
                 $100 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0084]    Here the card selection unit  11  would suggest to Sam that he uses card 1 to make the payment, to take the benefit of 10% off on his bill/check. 
       Example 2 
       [0085]    Sam has two credit cards, here called card 1 and card 2. Sam goes to a clothing store to buy clothes for himself. He is standing at the payment counter to pay a bill of $100. He does not know which credit card to use to get a good deal. 
         [0086]    The payment card program table in this case is the same as Table 1. The offer table is as shown in Table 3. 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
             
               
                   
               
               
                 Offer Table 
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                   
                 Associated 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                 Payment Program 
                 Expiry 
                 Discount 
               
               
                 Id 
                 Offer Title 
                 Id 
                 Date 
                 Type 
                 Discount 
                 MCC 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 10001 
                 $5 off on all 
                 90001 
                 Jan. 30, 
                 Flat 
                 5 
                 5411 
               
               
                   
                 transactions 
                   
                 2016 
               
               
                 10002 
                 10% off on all 
                 90001 
                 Jan. 30, 
                 Percentage 
                 10 
                 5812 
               
               
                   
                 transactions above 
                   
                 2016 
               
               
                   
                 $50 
               
               
                 10003 
                 15% off on all 
                 90002 
                 Mar. 
                 Percentage 
                 15 
                 5691 
               
               
                   
                 transactions above 
                   
                 30, 2016 
               
               
                   
                 $99 and take extra 
               
               
                   
                 10% next time when 
               
               
                   
                 you shop 
               
               
                 10003 
                 20% off on all 
                 90001 
                 Mar. 
                 Percentage 
                 20 
                 5691 
               
               
                   
                 transactions above 
                   
                 30, 2016 
               
               
                   
                 $99 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0087]    If Sam uses card 1 then the goods will cost him $80 but if he choose to use card 2 then it will cost him $85. Thus, initially, it may seem that he should do his payment using card 1 as it will give him the best discount. 
         [0088]    However, if Sam is going to make a second clothing purchase before Mar. 30, 2016 then using card 2 will give him 10% discount without any minimum purchase limit. 
         [0089]    Hence, the Card selection unit  11  may instead suggest Sam to uses Card 2 to make a payment and take the extra benefit of 10% on his next shopping. To decide, the Card selection unit  11  may (in step  107  or  207  of the methods  100 ,  200 ) make a prediction of the chance that Sam will want to make a further purchase from the same merchant by Mar. 30, 2016. 
         [0090]    For example, if the current transaction date is Mar. 15, 2016 then the Card selection unit  11  may calculate that the chance of Sam doing a second clothing purchase by Mar. 30, 2016 is low. In this case, in steps  109 ,  209  of the methods  100 ,  200 , the Card selection unit  11  would generate a proposal that Sam uses card 1. 
         [0091]      FIG. 9  is a block diagram showing a technical architecture of the digital wallet server  7 . The merchant server  6  or the acquirer bank server  12  may also have this technical architecture. 
         [0092]    The technical architecture includes a processor  222  (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage  224  (such as disk drives), read only memory (ROM)  226 , random access memory (RAM)  228 . The processor  222  may be implemented as one or more CPU chips. The technical architecture may further comprise input/output (I/O) devices  230 , and network connectivity devices  232 . 
         [0093]    The secondary storage  224  is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data and as an over-flow data storage device if RAM  228  is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage  224  may be used to store programs which are loaded into RAM  228  when such programs are selected for execution. 
         [0094]    In this embodiment, the secondary storage  224  has a task processing component  224   a  comprising non-transitory instructions operative by the processor  222  to perform various operations of the method of the present disclosure. The ROM  226  is used to store instructions and perhaps data which are read during program execution. The secondary storage  224 , the RAM  228 , and/or the ROM  226  may be referred to in some contexts as computer readable storage media and/or non-transitory computer readable media. 
         [0095]    I/O devices  230  may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma displays, touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, or other well-known input devices. 
         [0096]    The network connectivity devices  232  may take the form of modems, modem banks, Ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards that promote radio communications using protocols such as code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), near field communications (NFC), radio frequency identity (RFID), and/or other air interface protocol radio transceiver cards, and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity devices  232  may enable the processor  222  to communicate with the Internet or one or more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the processor  222  might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method operations. Such information, which is often represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using processor  222 , may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave. 
         [0097]    The processor  222  executes instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk (these various disk based systems may all be considered secondary storage  224 ), flash drive, ROM  226 , RAM  228 , or the network connectivity devices  232 . While only one processor  222  is shown, multiple processors may be present. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as executed by a processor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, or otherwise executed by one or multiple processors. 
         [0098]    Although the technical architecture is described with reference to a computer, it should be appreciated that the technical architecture may be formed by two or more computers in communication with each other that collaborate to perform a task. For example, but not by way of limitation, an application may be partitioned in such a way as to permit concurrent and/or parallel processing of the instructions of the application. Alternatively, the data processed by the application may be partitioned in such a way as to permit concurrent and/or parallel processing of different portions of a data set by the two or more computers. In an embodiment, virtualization software may be employed by the technical architecture  220  to provide the functionality of a number of servers that is not directly bound to the number of computers in the technical architecture  220 . In an embodiment, the functionality disclosed above may be provided by executing the application and/or applications in a cloud computing environment. Cloud computing may comprise providing computing services via a network connection using dynamically scalable computing resources. A cloud computing environment may be established by an enterprise and/or may be hired on an as-needed basis from a third party provider. 
         [0099]    It is understood that by programming and/or loading executable instructions onto the technical architecture, at least one of the CPU  222 , the RAM  228 , and the ROM  226  are changed, transforming the technical architecture in part into a specific purpose machine or apparatus having the novel functionality taught by the present disclosure. It is fundamental to the electrical engineering and software engineering arts that functionality that can be implemented by loading executable software into a computer can be converted to a hardware implementation by well-known design rules. 
         [0100]      FIG. 9  is a block diagram showing a technical architecture of the communication device  1 . It is envisaged that the communication device  1  will be a smartphone or tablet device. 
         [0101]    The technical architecture includes a processor  322  (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage  324  (such as disk drives or memory cards), read only memory (ROM)  326 , random access memory (RAM)  328 . The processor  322  may be implemented as one or more CPU chips. The technical architecture further comprises input/output (I/O) devices  330 , and network connectivity devices  332 . 
         [0102]    The I/O devices comprise a user interface (UI)  330   a , a camera  330   b  and a geolocation module  330   c . The UI  330   a  may comprise a touch screen, keyboard, keypad or other known input device. The camera  330   b  allows a consumer to capture images and save the captured images in electronic form. The geolocation module  330   c  is operable to determine the geolocation of the communication device using signals from, for example global positioning system (GPS) satellites. The I/O devices further include a near field communication (NFC) unit  330   d , and a controller  330   e  for the NFC unit  330   d . The I/O devices may be supplemented by a host CPU  330   f  and a secure element (SE)  330   g . A secure element is a tamper-resistant platform (typically a one chip secure microcontroller) capable of securely hosting applications and their confidential and cryptographic data. 
         [0103]    The secondary storage  324  is typically comprised of a memory card or other storage device and is used for non-volatile storage of data and as an over-flow data storage device if RAM  328  is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage  324  may be used to store programs which are loaded into RAM  328  when such programs are selected for execution. 
         [0104]    In this embodiment, the secondary storage  324  has a task generation component  324   a , comprising non-transitory instructions operative by the processor  322  to perform various operations of the method of the present disclosure. The ROM  326  is used to store instructions and perhaps data which are read during program execution. The secondary storage  324 , the RAM  328 , and/or the ROM  326  may be referred to in some contexts as computer readable storage media and/or non-transitory computer readable media. 
         [0105]    The network connectivity devices  332  may take the form of modems, modem banks, Ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards that promote radio communications using protocols such as code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), near field communications (NFC), radio frequency identity (RFID), and/or other air interface protocol radio transceiver cards, and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity devices  332  may enable the processor  322  to communicate with the Internet or one or more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the processor  322  might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method operations. Such information, which is often represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using processor  322 , may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave. 
         [0106]    The processor  322  executes instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk (these various disk based systems may all be considered secondary storage  324 ), flash drive, ROM  326 , RAM  328 , or the network connectivity devices  332 . While only one processor  322  is shown, multiple processors may be present. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as executed by a processor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, or otherwise executed by one or multiple processors. 
         [0107]    Whilst the foregoing description has described exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many variations of the embodiment can be made within the scope and spirit of the present invention.