Abstract:
A system and method making use of a network to exchange points issued by various companies. This invention makes use of a network to allow consumers to exchange their points issued by one source for use at a minimum of one website for points issued by and for use at a minimum of at least one other website, following reviewing the exchange rates set between the two kinds of issued points. The site at which this exchange transaction takes place has a database of its own as would both issuing sites make use of databases to monitor the proper holder of or verify the value of various issued points. Points are then transferred at rates set by the exchange transaction site according to agreements reached with the issuing companies. Customers are then enabled to use the points that they acquire by exchange.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to electronic commerce, and, more particularly, to a method and system for allowing customers to exchange points issued for use in electronic commerce or other uses.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    The Internet has allowed consumers to directly access information on companies and their products, in addition to transacting purchases using credit cards and other means. Companies with websites or which advertise on the websites of others appreciate that the Internet therefore presents a great opportunity to market to Internet users and make sales on-line. The distribution of coupons is a key component in such marketing plans. The ability of a company to attract consumers by distributing coupons and deliver other rewards systems is an essential competitive aspect that companies must master to succeed in Internet commerce.  
           [0005]    To date, it has been difficult for point service consumers to convert their points from one company&#39;s points to those of another company.  
           [0006]    “Points” are units which can be used to purchase goods, obtain services, earn prizes of various kinds in addition to many other uses. Said points are similar in effect to coupons, vouchers, gift certificates or similar payment related mechanisms and are often used in customer reward or incentive systems.  
           [0007]    Consumers wishing to make purchases or payments to many sites could buy electronic money to use in paying for services via the Internet at a number of sites, however, this is not the same as points in that electronic money would have to be purchased by the consumer from an electronic money provider to be used.  
           [0008]    Alternatively, credit card payments can be made by consumers however, this too would involve payment from said consumer. Rather than buying electronic money, customers often prefer to receive coupon type discounts that make products and services cheaper, said discounts costing the consumer nothing to obtain. Consumers&#39; desire to exchange points is not addressed by services to date however.  
           [0009]    A problem by company site operators is the acquisition of information about what consumers wish to buy that said company does not offer.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The present invention addresses these and other problems.  
           [0011]    This invention relates to a method and system for allowing consumers to exchange points issued to them by companies. More particularly, the present invention allows the user to convert their points from those issued by one company to points which can be used in making purchases from another company.  
           [0012]    Points can be issued to consumers for use on a network system such as the internet.  
           [0013]    Such points are often issued to encourage the consumer to make a purchase from their company or for many other possible reasons.  
           [0014]    The present invention allows consumers who have received such points to convert said points to the points used by another company.  
           [0015]    This is carried out by converting the points at a set point conversion rate to an intermediate point value which is then converted at a set point conversion rate to the points ultimately sought by the consumer holding points originally.  
           [0016]    A further benefit of the present invention is that the point provider can request that a time limit be set for the use of certain points issued to the consumer.  
           [0017]    The company can therefore use this function to allocate the amount of points that they wish used for a particular period, such as summer clothing sales, and thereby prevent the points from being used in buying clothes in the fall.  
           [0018]    This overcomes the difficulties that companies face in not only setting an advertising budget for a particular time period but also the difficulty in trying to target a certain group of customers depending on the season without having consumers from a prior season whom may comprise a different target group affect the results.  
           [0019]    A further benefit of the present invention to companies is that where they agree to allow their points to be converted to points issued by other companies and said other company agrees to accept such conversion, the point exchange server can report to the company initially issuing the points, what points the consumer converted said points into.  
           [0020]    Thereby, the company initially issuing the points can use such report to consider offering new services so that a consumer will spend all of the issued points on buying products of the point issuing company, not another company.  
           [0021]    In other words, information on consumer needs can be received and acted on by a company issuing points.  
           [0022]    Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and system for allowing consumers to convert the points that they have accrued to points which can be used in transactions with other companies.  
           [0023]    According to the present invention consumers can exchange points for use with companies other than said points&#39; issuing company or said points&#39; designated company by means of a communication network.  
           [0024]    Companies which agree to allow their points to be converted to other points may also use the present invention to allow their point recipients to convert points with minimal effort on the part of the company issuing the points. Said companies may also use the present invention to obtain information on their clients needs. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0025]    [0025]FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the general configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration within a card;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating exemplary functions of a server;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5A is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary processing procedure;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 5B is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary processing procedure; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an information recording medium of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0032]    Hereinbelow, a detailed description will be given of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0033]    (First Embodiment)  
         [0034]    The preferred embodiment of the present invention is carried out as appears in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 includes a terminal computer  101 , server  102 , an associated database  102   a  to server  102 , server  103 , associated database  103   a  of server  103 , server  104  and associated database  104   a  of server  104 .  
         [0035]    Terminal computer  101  could be any computer which possesses Internet related capabilities, such as an iMac, IBM compatible desktop or laptop computer, palm computer, cell phone or similar computer.  
         [0036]    Servers  102 ,  103  and  104  can be commercial servers such as those made by Sun Microsystems or other servers for use in providing Internet related services such as hosting interactive web pages and other Internet services. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, databases  102   a ,  103   a  and  104   a  can be commercial databases located in separate servers from servers  102 ,  103  and  104  capable of connection with and use by Internet servers in sending, receiving and recording information.  
         [0037]    Databases  102   a ,  103   a  and  104   a  can also be contained in servers  102 ,  103  and  104 .  
         [0038]    Consumers use terminal computer  101  to form a communication link with server  103 (S 1 ). Server  103  being capable of performing point exchange.  
         [0039]    Consumer either inputs into a communication box the type of points that they possess and may wish to convert or selects from the displayed information what kind of points for which they wish to see the point conversion rate.  
         [0040]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, consumer may input various kinds of points which may have set time limits for use or special naming for different classes of points offered in relation to transactions with the same company.  
         [0041]    In the case of input, terminal computer  101  communicates to server  103 , the input data(S 2 ).  
         [0042]    Server  103  responds by providing the exchange rate for such points to other points(S 3 ) and allows consumer to input the number of points that they wish to convert and identification information relating to their ownership of such points as needed(S 4 ).  
         [0043]    Server  103  is equipped to be able to form communication links with other servers  102  and  104 .  
         [0044]    For purposes of the present invention, other servers  102  and  104  are those, which belong to point issuing companies.  
         [0045]    Server  103  then forms a communication link with server  102 (S 5 ) and communicates a query requesting confirmation of ownership of points input by consumer from terminal  101 (S 6 ).  
         [0046]    Server  102  then communicates with database  102   a (S 7 ) to confirm the ownership of points(S 8 ) and assign ownership to the company at server  103 (S 9 ).  
         [0047]    In the event of points being confirmed as belonging to consumer according to identification information received from server  103 , ownership of points is recorded as belonging to server  103  and server  102  communicates to server  103  information necessary for server  103  to utilize such points(S 10 ).  
         [0048]    Server  103  then communicates with database  103   a  information necessary for server  103  to make use of points(S 11 ).  
         [0049]    Server  103  also communicates to database  103   a  that consumer is now the owner of points administered by server  103 , the amount or number of points having been calculated by server  103  based upon exchange rate previously shown to consumer(S 12 ).  
         [0050]    Server  103  then forms a communication link with server  104 (S 13 ).  
         [0051]    Server  103  then communicates a request to server  104  to acquire a set amount or number of points from server  104 (S 14 ), number being the result of calculation by server  103 .  
         [0052]    Server  104  then communicates to database  104   a  to confirm that points are available in the sought amount and(S 15 ), if so, indicates to server  104  that points are available(S 16 ).  
         [0053]    Server  104  then communicates a request to server  103  that identifying information be selected by consumer for use of points of server  104 (S 17 ).  
         [0054]    Server  103  then communicates to terminal  101  a request for selecting identifying information(S 18 ) and allows consumer to input from terminal  101  identifying information selected(S 19 ). Server  103  then relays information to server  104 (S 20 ).  
         [0055]    Server  104  then records into database  104   a  identifying information(S 21 ) and assigns amount or number of points to consumer.  
         [0056]    Upon completion of assignment of points of server  104 (S 22 ), server  103  then communicates to database  103   a (S 23 ) that assignment of points of server  103  to consumer should be erased(S 24 ).  
         [0057]    Server  103  then communicates information to terminal  101  confirming consumer&#39;s ownership of points of server  104  and loss of ownership of points of server  102 (S 25 ).  
         [0058]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, consumer may provide identifying information to be used in relation to points sought of server  104  as a part of their initial request for conversion of points of server  102  to points of server  104 .  
         [0059]    Also, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, point issuing servers such as server  102  and server  104  can be set to have no limit on the number of points that they will recognize from another site, thereby obviating the step of confirming whether sufficient points are available from the issuing server of the points sought.  
         [0060]    The present invention may also be used to convert issued points belonging to the consumer to points of the converting server, server  103  to be kept in an account for future conversion into other points or for use at the site hosted by server  103  or related sites which recognize the points of server  103 .  
         [0061]    As indicated above, point issuing servers can have their points customized into different names, categories, and validity time-spans of points as well as other similar designations which will then appear in such form on server  103 .  
         [0062]    In the event that points of a set time limit are converted to points of server  103 , the points of server  103  may be set to have a time limit as well.  
         [0063]    According to the present invention consumers can exchange points for use with companies other than said points&#39; issuing company or said points&#39; designated company by means of a communication network.  
         [0064]    Companies which agree to allow their points to be converted to other points may also use the present invention to allow their point recipients to convert points with minimal effort on the part of the company issuing the points. Said companies may also use the present invention to obtain information on their clients needs.  
         [0065]    [Second Embodiment] 
         [0066]    Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.  
         [0067]    The following description will be made only on differences between the first embodiment and the second embodiment, while omitting the description on the configuration substantially similar to the first embodiment.  
         [0068]    [0068]FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the concept of a point card system in the second embodiment.  
         [0069]    The point card system of this embodiment illustrates an example in which the P-points converted in the P-site server disclosed in the first embodiment are stored in a point card.  
         [0070]    First, in FIG. 2, the point card system comprises a card dispatcher  200  for dispatching a P-point card  230  which is a point card in a P-site; and the prepaid card  230  which is dispatched by the card dispatcher  200 .  
         [0071]    The card dispatcher  200  comprises a card information reader/writer  202  for writing and reading information into and from an information recording medium  240  formed in the card  230 ; and a computer  201  provided with a driver for driving the card information reader/writer  202 .  
         [0072]    The card  230  has the information recording medium  240  embedded in its body for recording information. The information recording medium  240  may be, for example, CDROM, floppy disk, MO, ZIP, and so on.  
         [0073]    Further, the card  230  itself may be configured as an information recording medium.  
         [0074]    After a variety of information has been written into the information recording medium  240  in the card  230  using the card dispatcher  200  as mentioned, a plurality of the cards  230  are sold in convenience stores and so on.  
         [0075]    In this event, a variety of point cards  230  have been provided in accordance with desired numbers of points, for example, 1000P, 5000P, 10000P and so on, so that the user may purchase a point card of the amount suitable for him.  
         [0076]    As the user purchases a desired point card  230 , the card  230  can be read using a user terminal  210  such as a normal personal computer.  
         [0077]    Specifically, the user terminal  210  comprises a card information reader  212  for reading the card  230 ; and a computer  211  provided with a driver for driving the card information reader  212 .  
         [0078]    In the illustrated example, the user terminal  210  is connected to a network  220 , and connected to the aforementioned P-site server  223 , server  222 , server  224  through the network  220 .  
         [0079]    The user inserts the card  230  into the card information reader  212  to display a variety of information on a display screen of the computer  211 .  
         [0080]    Here, the contents of information recorded in the card  230  are explained with reference to FIG. 3.  
         [0081]    The information recording medium  240  in the card  230  contains a plurality of pieces of goods advertisement information  241  related to each of the shops; a plurality of pieces of questionnaire information  242  related to each of the shops; a variety of other contents  243 ; point information  244  related to points in the P-site; a card serial number  245  unique to the card; a record reading automatic execution (initiation) program  246  for automatically executing (initiating) record reading for automatically displaying the contents on the display screen when the card is inserted; a control program  247  for controlling these components; and other information  248 .  
         [0082]    The goods advertisement information  241  is comprised of URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information  241   a  which is independent address information unique to this advertisement information, and describes the address of a home page hosted by the advertiser on the P-site server; video information  241   b  and audio information  241   c  which represent the contents of advertisement; and a proprietary program  241   d  including a program for prompting the computer  211  to calculate the number of points, and so on.  
         [0083]    The questionnaire information  242 , like the goods advertisement information  241 , is comprised of URL information  242   a  which is unique independent address information, and a proprietary program  242   b.    
         [0084]    The point information  244  in turn includes the number of points possessed in this card, information on a store in which the card is sold, and so on.  
         [0085]    The other information  248  preferably includes, for example, program information for prompting a consumer to browse advertisement information upon reading the information recording medium  240 , and prompting the computer  211  to add service points to the number of points previously allocated to the card itself when accessing to a server corresponding to URL information;  
         [0086]    program information for prompting the consumer to browse questionnaire information upon reading the information recording medium  230 , and transmitting replay information to the questionnaire information to a server corresponding to URL information when accessing to the server, and prompting the computer  211  to add service points to the number of points previously allocated to the card itself; program information for prompting the consumer to browse one or both of advertisement information and questionnaire information upon reading the information recording medium  240 , and prompting the computer  211  to add first service points to the number of points previously allocated to the card itself when accessing to a server corresponding to first URL information, and to add second service points to the number of points previously allocated to the card itself when accessing a server corresponding to second URL information; and so on.  
         [0087]    This embodiment implements a feature of adding the number of points in the card  230  as described above, when the card  230  is inserted to display the advertisement and questionnaire information on the user terminal  210 , and the consumer accesses URL indicated by an advertisement or a questionnaire. For this purpose, the P-site server  223 , which is the destination of URL, is provided with a variety of processing means (processing programs) as illustrated in FIG. 4.  
         [0088]    Specifically, the P-site server  223  comprises a card management table  223   a  for managing all dispatched cards; a point number calculating program  223   b  which is point number calculation processing means for calculating the number of points in response to an access from the user terminal  210  to update the number of points in the card management table  223   a ; a URL management table  223   d  which stores URL information possessed by each goods advertisement information and each questionnaire information for each of the shops uniquely and independently on each card; and an access detection program  223   c  which is an access detection processing means for comparing, based on an access from the user terminal  210 , URL information and a card serial number on the URL management table  223   d  with URL information, to which the access is specified, to authenticate a user, and for prompting the computer  211  to start executing the point number calculation program  223   b  only when a match results from the comparison.  
         [0089]    The card management table  223   a , in accordance with each card serial number uniquely appended to a dispatched card, is corresponded to user information; the number of card points as indicated by the rate in the P-site when the card was dispatched; the current number of points indicative of the current total number of points; the number of used points which have been used in each shop; the number of additional points in accordance with each shop which is added when the consumer browses an advertisement of the shop; the number of additional points in accordance with each shop which is added when the consumer responds to a questionnaire; and so on.  
         [0090]    The URL management table  223   d  manages URL information unique to each goods advertisement information and questionnaire information.  
         [0091]    Next, referring to FIG. 5A, 5B, description will be made on the concept of a processing procedure from an access from a user terminal to the addition of points on the server side in the point card system configured as described above.  
         [0092]    First, as the card  230  is inserted into the card information reader  212  of the user terminal  210  (S 40 ), the aforementioned automatic execution program in the information recording medium  240  of the card  230  instructs the user terminal  210  to display a menu screen on the display screen of the computer  211  (S 41 ).  
         [0093]    Next, as the user selects any of advertisements displayed on the menu screen through a manipulation such as clicking (S 42 ), the selected advertisement is displayed (S 43 ).  
         [0094]    Next, assuming that the selected advertisement has a number of questionnaire information related to the advertisement, as the user selects certain questionnaire information (S 44 ), the selected questionnaire information is displayed (S 48 ).  
         [0095]    On the other hand, when the user does not select any questionnaire information or when the advertisement has no questionnaire information, URL information for advertisement, uniquely allocated to the advertisement, is displayed on the advertisement display screen or on the next screen, or the like (S 45 ).  
         [0096]    As the user enters the displayed URL information for advertisement, a connection is established between the user terminal  210  and the P-point server  223  (S 47 ).  
         [0097]    Next, on the server  223 , an authentication process is performed for determining whether or not the URL information for advertisement entered at the user terminal matches URL information corresponding to the card having the serial number, which has been previously registered in the URL management table in the server  223  when the card was dispatched (S 52 ).  
         [0098]    When the URL information matches, a corresponding number of points (for example, plus  1 P for browsing an advertisement) is added to the current number of points of the user corresponding to the card serial number, for example, 1000P (S 53 ).  
         [0099]    Next, the value of the number of points in the card management table is updated based on the number of additional points (S 54 ).  
         [0100]    Then, a notification is made so that the content corresponding to the URL is displayed on the user terminal  210 , while the updated number of points is also displayed on the user terminal  210  (S 55 ).  
         [0101]    In this way, the unique URL content is displayed on the computer  211  of the user terminal  210  (S 56 ).  
         [0102]    On the other hand, if a number of questionnaire information is displayed and the use enters selected questionnaire information at the aforementioned S 48 , URL information for the questionnaire is displayed on a questionnaire display screen or on the next page, or the like (S 50 ).  
         [0103]    Then, as URL for the questionnaire is entered (S 51 ), similar processing to that at S 47 -S 56  is performed.  
         [0104]    It should be noted however that in this case, unlike the processing for an advertisement, unique URL for questionnaire is accessed, and information on the result of a questionnaire replied by the user is transmitted from the user terminal  210  to the server  223 .  
         [0105]    Also, when the number of points is added at S 53 , if a corresponding number of points has been set to plus  5 P, for example, this  5 P is added when the user replies to the questionnaire.  
         [0106]    By thus setting the number of additional points to a different value in accordance with the category of information, it is possible to encourage the user to use the points.  
         [0107]    Similarly, as the user performs desired manipulations to advertisements and questionnaires of other shops, some points are added or not to the card.  
         [0108]    Of course, it goes without saying that a purchase at an associated shop results in a decrease in the number of points.  
         [0109]    Further additionally, the P-site server may charge an extra advertisement fee or a commission in accordance with an number of additional points, each time the number of points is added, from an advertiser of an advertisement for which the number of points is added.  
         [0110]    In this way, an income can be ensured in the form of commission, while prompting advertisers to acquire users, in addition to an advertising revenue at the time of the site participation contract.  
         [0111]    [Third Embodiment] 
         [0112]    Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. 6.  
         [0113]    [0113]FIG. 6 illustrates a recording medium which has recorded thereon processing programs processed by the server of the point exchange system in the aforementioned first embodiment; an information recording medium, not in the form of card, which has recorded thereon the contents of the information recording medium contained in the card in the second embodiment; an information recording medium which has recorded thereon processing programs processed by the server; or a combination of any or all of these programs.  
         [0114]    This information recording medium  300  may be any of a variety of media, for example, a hard disk, CD-ROM, DVDRAM, DVDROM, MO, ZIP, and so on.  
         [0115]    The information recording medium  300  includes program information  301 - 1  for prompting the consumer to access a first server (see the first embodiment) which provides the consumer with a service of exchanging the points through a terminal; a program information  301 - 2  for displaying an exchange rate between the consumer&#39;s points and at least one kind of points in another form; program information  301 - 3  for prompting the consumer to select points which the consumer wants to exchange, from available points, using the first server; program information  301 - 4  for prompting the consumer to notify the first server that the consumer exchanges the consumer&#39;s points to the available points; program information  301 - 5  for prompting the consumer to enter authentication information that the consumer utilizes the consumer&#39;s points; program information  301 - 6  for exchanging the consumer&#39;s points to the available points based on the exchange rate; and program information  301 - 7  for providing the consumer with the available points.  
         [0116]    Further, additionally or separately, the information recording medium  300  includes program information  301 - 8  for establishing a communication link between the first server and the second server which has issued points of a enterprise; program information  301 - 9  for establishing a communication link between the first server and a third server which issues points requested by the consumer or which can issue the points; program information  301 - 10  for transmitting authentication information for the points to the second server; program information  301 - 11  for allowing the second server to assign ownership of the consumer&#39;s points to the first server; program information  301 - 12  for transmitting a request from the first server to the third server to assign requested points; program information  301 - 13  for transmitting a request for recording the novel authentication information when the available points are assigned from the first server to the third server; and program information  301 - 14  initiated when the assignment has been executed without problem to receive from the third server a confirmation that the available points have been assigned.  
         [0117]    In this way, the aforementioned system and so on may be recorded on an information recording medium.  
         [0118]    While the apparatus and method according to the present invention have been described in connection with several specific embodiments thereof, a variety of modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to the embodiments described in the specification without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
         [0119]    For example, while the respective embodiments described above have shown that the points in the point card are exchange points in the P-site, they may be simple points.  
         [0120]    Preferably the points included would include points for prepaid Internet use of certain websites, mileage from frequent flier programs, coupon type points, points issued by stores to customers and numerous other types of points.  
         [0121]    Further, it goes without saying that the present invention also encompasses a combination of the foregoing respective embodiments, or a combination of the respective embodiments and modifications thereto.