Patents Assigned to American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
  • Patent number: 8260722
    Abstract: A random number generating algorithm is seeded with an unpredictable number. The seed value is computed by subjecting variable data to a Secure Hashing Algorithm, and truncating the right most, or left most, 16 bytes from the message digest generated. The algorithm generates the unpredictable number by using the seed value as a counter value in the random number generator, and performing a data encryption standard operation. In one exemplary embodiment, the unpredictable number is modified to a predetermined maximum unpredictable number value as determined by the sender and receiver of the unpredictable number.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Lee J. Peart, Peter D. Saunders
  • Publication number: 20120221392
    Abstract: The system provides location based coupon-less offers based upon a location of a card member (CM). A location of a CM may be determined based upon one or more of a travel itinerary, a GPS signal, a proximity of a mobile communication device to a cellular base station, and/or a zip code. An offer from a merchant registered to provide coupon-less offers may be transmitted to a mobile communication device based upon the location. An offer, once accepted by a CM, may be matched to a record of charge associated with a transaction account held by the CM. A credit may be applied to the CM's transaction account and a debit may be applied to a transaction account of the registered merchant. One or more offer categories and/or one or more offer category classes may be transmitted to the mobile communication device based upon the CM's location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Miles Baker, Diane Derocher, Sastry VSM Durvasula, Sherree Newhouse, Manjushri H. Puranik, Sripriya V. Tiku
  • Publication number: 20120221941
    Abstract: The content management application is an intranet application which provides a process for implementing changes to an internet website of a company by providing the company the ability to define and enforce a common style of page layout. The application can be accessed via a desktop browser and multiple users may access the application for multiple reasons at the same time. The application also dynamically generates new page designs and new component design with various people assigned to groups or teams enabling the continuous creation and processing of content. Once the content is created and reviewed, it is then launched onto the company's internet site for viewing by the internet users accessing the company's web page.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrea Bimson, Jin Chyang, Meena Gopakumar, Lorraine Miranda, Biswajit Sarkar, Shashikant Rao, Kaustubh Kunte
  • Publication number: 20120221452
    Abstract: Commercial size of spending wallet (“SoSW”) is the total business spend of a business including cash but excluding bartered items. Commercial share of wallet (“SoW”) is the portion of the spending wallet that is captured by a particular financial company. Commercial Soft is a modeling approach that utilizes various data sources to provide outputs that describe a company's spend capacity. These outputs can be appended to data profiles of customers and prospects and can be utilized to support decisions involving prospecting, new account evaluation, and customer management across the lifecycle. Company financial statements are utilized to identify and calculate total business spend of a company that could be transacted using a commercial credit card. A spend-like regression model may then be developed to estimate annual commercial SoSW value for customers and prospects within a credit network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc.
    Inventors: Kathleen Haggerty, Charles Christopher Lyon, Robert E. Phelan, Jon Kevin Ruterman, Geraldine A. Turner, Chao M. Yuan, Arnab Biswas
  • Publication number: 20120221391
    Abstract: A system and method provide rewards or loyalty incentives to card member customers. The system includes an enrolled card member customer database, an enrolled merchant database, a participating merchant offer database and a registered card processor. The registered card processor receives a record for charge for a purchase made with an enrolled merchant by an enrolled card member customer and uses the record of charge to determine whether the purchase qualifies for a rebate credit in accordance with an offer. If the purchase qualifies for a rebate credit, the registered card processor provides the rebate credit to an account of the enrolled card member customer. The registered card processor also provides for electronic notification of rewards offers in response to purchases conforming to a specific set of merchant criteria. The system provides a coupon-less way for merchants to provide incentives to customers, and notify customers of other available offers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: David Wolf, Sripriya V. Tiku, Scott M. Roen, Jennifer M. Russo
  • Publication number: 20120222086
    Abstract: The present invention facilitates the dynamic provisioning of computing and data assets in a commodity computing environment. The invention provides a system and method for dynamically provisioning and de-provisioning computing resources based on multi-dimensional decision criteria. By employing specialized computing components configured to assess an asset and requester of an asset, a provisioning engine is able to transform the input from the computing components into a specific configuration of computing resource provisioning and security controls. According to the rules and policies applying to a security domain, the provisioning engine may dynamically allocate computing resources in a manner that is both safe and efficient for the asset.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Merkow, James F. Petrone
  • Publication number: 20120221399
    Abstract: A system and method provide rewards or loyalty incentives to card member customers. The system includes an enrolled card member customer database, an enrolled merchant database, a participating merchant offer database and a registered card processor. The registered card processor receives a record for charge for a purchase made with an enrolled merchant by an enrolled card member customer and uses the record of charge to determine whether the purchase qualifies for a rebate credit in accordance with a discount offer from the enrolled merchant. If the purchase qualifies for a rebate credit, the registered card processor provides the rebate credit to an account of the enrolled card member customer. The system provides a coupon-less way for merchants to provide incentive discounts to enrolled customers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company Inc.
    Inventors: Ruth L. Aloni, Benzion T. Axelrod, Jean L. Bowman, Jack J. Funda, Jonathan S. Polon, Sripriya V. Tiku
  • Publication number: 20120221397
    Abstract: A system for authorizing a reward card transaction includes an account server configured to receive an authorization request for a transaction performed using the reward card. The system also is configured to compare the amount of the transaction to an available balance in a bank account linked to the reward card and authorize the transaction based on the comparison. The system further is configured to transmit an authorization for the transaction. A system updating a credit limit on a reward card includes an updating module configured to receive amounts of authorized reward card transactions and amounts of authorized bank account transactions. The system also is configured to update a credit limit on a reward card based on the reward card transaction amounts and/or the bank account transaction amounts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2009
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy John Roe, Alisa J. Copeman, Wendy MacDonald, James H. Marsden
  • Publication number: 20120221606
    Abstract: The initial systems analysis of a new data source fully defines each data element and also designs, tests and encodes complete data integration instructions for each data element. A metadata cache stores the data element definition and data element integration instructions. The metadata cache enables a comprehensive view of data elements in an enterprise data architecture. When data is requested that includes data elements defined in a metadata cache, the metadata cache and associated software modules automatically generate database elements to fully integrate the requested data elements into existing databases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Eddie J. Alvarez, Stephen K. Dantu, Sastry VSM Durvasula, Marat S. Khalfin, Deep Thomas
  • Publication number: 20120217298
    Abstract: A wireless financial transaction instrument, such as a card, has a magnetic stripe, a display, and an on-board power supply, such as a battery, and is usable with a dual capture point of sale terminal. Information is received by such a terminal from the card wirelessly, and also from the magnetic stripe, and the data received contactlessly is preferably used to verify that read from the stripe. The display can display the account number on command, or to display a current balance, or amount of credit remaining, or any combination of these items of information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: David S. Bonalle, Michael D. Donovan, Sherrie G. Jackson, Scott Glen Paylor, Medina J. Senghore, Tracey R. Thomas
  • Publication number: 20120221364
    Abstract: A system is provided for automatically billing a designated account for fees associated with the costs of tickets and other similar services. Passenger Record Number data and similar data is provided through a Computerized Reservation System and an accounting system to a Fee Allocator program which automatically interprets the data, determines appropriate fees based on the data and a user profile, and bills the fees to an appropriate account based on the user profile. Billing data provided to the account also facilitates the process of reconciling the fees to the travel ticket costs. Enhanced descriptive billing statements can be created simplifying the process of reconciling fees to the travel ticket costs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Lisa Steury, John Berkley, Frank Scarpaci, Corinna Cooke, Bill Rozenwaser, Corbett Bloom
  • Publication number: 20120221472
    Abstract: Instead of a PIN which is associated with an account and provides access to an account, a dynamically generated card identifier (dynamic CID) is used to verify that the consumer currently possesses the transaction card at the time of purchase and/or is the true card owner. At the time of purchase, a token generates a dynamic CID, which changes with each transaction. A consumer enters the dynamic CID into a pre-existing CID field in an electronic order form. The merchant then sends the dynamic CID to a card authorization system within an authorization request. The card authorization system issues a response to a merchant system via a pre-existing authorization message indicating that the transaction card and dynamic CID have been validated, thereby adjusting the fraud risk associated with the transaction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventor: Glade Raymond Erikson
  • Publication number: 20120217306
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing an opaque, transparent or translucent transaction card having multiple features, such as a holographic foil, integrated circuit chip, silver magnetic stripe with text on the magnetic stripe, opacity gradient, an invisible optically recognizable compound, a translucent signature field such that the signature on back of the card is visible from the front of the card and an active thru date on the front of the card. The invisible optically recognizable compound is preferably an infrared ink comprising an infrared phthalocyanine dye, an infrared phosphor, and a quantum dot energy transfer compound. The infrared ink can be detected by a sensor found in an ATM or card assembly line.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Lisa Ann Morrill Webb, William J. Faenza, JR.
  • Patent number: 8255252
    Abstract: A system and method for facilitating consistent management of a repeatable contract audit, resolution and recovery process is disclosed. A methodology that tightly defines the contract audit, resolution and recovery events enables an audit team to evaluate supplier performance against a contract, ascertain the existing health of a contract, and identify opportunities to improve and/or re-engineer a contracting process. The method begins with a meeting with a client, followed by a meeting with the supplier, and progresses to a process review, data collection, and a data analysis, which results in recommendations that are presented to the supplier based on the findings of the audit team. The audit team then works with the supplier to resolve any issues identified by the data analysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Arpit Chug, Naveen Jain, Rakesh Kanda, Chetan Lohani, Shachindra Pandey
  • Patent number: 8255268
    Abstract: The present invention improves upon existing systems and methods by providing a passive profile creation method. The data accessible to a financial processor, such as spend level data, is leveraged using sophisticated data clustering and/or data appending techniques. Associations are established among entities (e.g., consumers), among merchants, and between entities and merchants. In one embodiment, a system and method for passively collecting spend level data for a transaction of a first entity, aggregating the collected spend level data for a plurality of entities; and clustering the first entity with a subset of the plurality of entities, based on aggregated spend level data of the first entity is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Rajendra R. Rane, Melissa Schwartz
  • Patent number: 8255982
    Abstract: The present invention facilitates access to a restricted service related to secure transactions via a network. The present invention allows a user to select a minimum security level of authentication for its own login to a restricted service. The user's selected minimum security level of authentication may be registered in an authentication method system, so that the user must use the selected minimum security level for authentication in order to gain access to the restricted service. Alternatively, the user may specify that the selected minimum security level for authentication may be over-turned by the user, or optionally re-set to a new authentication method depending on the needs of the user. As such, the present invention allows the user the flexibility to select its own authentication method for accessing a restricted service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: James M. Foley, Rick D. Johnson, Anant Nambiar
  • Patent number: 8255794
    Abstract: A method for generating markup language documents, e.g., XML documents, uses a code generator that creates programs configured to create dynamic XML documents at run time, avoiding many of the complexities arising from the use of conventional “XML GENERATE” statements. In one embodiment, this process involves (1) creating a template document using a markup language, wherein the template document includes a set of tags associated with the markup language documents; (2) parsing the template document to determine a working storage structure corresponding to the tags in the template document; and (3) generating an application program in the programming language (e.g., COBOL), wherein the application program includes a definition of the working storage structure, and is configured to generate, during run-time, a markup language document corresponding to the original template document.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Srinivas Dasari, Kevin T. Harvey, Cathy Sockrider
  • Publication number: 20120215685
    Abstract: The present invention provides an automated system configured to facilitate transfers of cash value from one or more lines of credit to one or more deposit accounts or payment systems. An automated system ensures that requested funds are available in a customer's one or more lines of credit and electronically deposits the requested funds into one or more designated deposit accounts or payment systems. An automated system provides a means for customers to manage lines of credit, setup transfer transactions, define rules governing transfers and view transactional history. The automated system, in network connection with the lending organization's backend systems, may authenticate customer identities and credit accounts as well as insure that the requested funds are available for transfer into a deposit account.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas C. Baker, Diane M. Derocher, Lawrence Stanton Hoffman, Bruno Jimenez, Yogesh R. More, Pauline Raffaele, Andrea M. Saporito, Jennifer Lynne Wybraniec
  • Publication number: 20120215606
    Abstract: Information can be shared across a pre-approved (PA) channel and a non pre-approved (NPA) channel to reduce unnecessary offers of a transactional instrument or transactional instrument upgrade to prospects. All prospects listed in the NPA channel that have been evaluated in the PA channel may be removed from a NPA offeree list. This may be done by matching the NPA prospect list with a list of prospects who have been evaluated in the PA channel. The list of prospects evaluated in the PA channel may include, for example, prospects who were pre-approved for an offer as well as prospects who were considered for a pre-approved offer but who were denied the offer. Prospects in the NPA channel that are removed from the NPA offer list may be dropped from further NPA processing, as such prospects are either unprofitable or do not meet a transactional account company's standards for credit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Atul K. Srivastava, Yanyan Guo, Michael A. Vapenik
  • Publication number: 20120215614
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method including determining, by a computer based system for managing a rewards program, an assignment for transaction account data associated with a first transaction account. Thereafter, the first transaction account is assigned to a first population of a plurality of populations based on the transaction account data. Thereafter, an offer comprising an offer criteria is received from an offeror. Thereafter, the offer criteria is analyzed to identify a subset of the plurality of populations. The subset comprises the first population. Thereafter, the offer is communicated to the subset of the population.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2011
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Applicant: American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Hochstatter, John Leonard, Christopher McKinzie