Systems and methods to combine transaction terminal location data and social networking check-in

Abstract

A system and method configured to provide enhanced services based on check-in information obtained in a social network system and transaction location information observed in a payment processing system. In one aspect, the transaction location may be used to validate, verify or authenticate the check-in location declared in the social network system. In another aspect, the transaction location can be used as a basis to automate a check-in in the social network system in accordance with a preference of a user. In a further aspect, the transaction location and the check-in location can be correlated to detect inaccurate data, correct the inaccurate data, and/or augment the data in a data warehouse about the locations of transaction terminals.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computing system having at least one microprocessor and memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one microprocessor to perform operations, the computing system comprising:
 a transaction handler configured to interconnect issuer processors and acquirer processors in a payment processing network, wherein each of the issuer processors is configured to control consumer accounts issued to consumers and make payments on behalf of the consumers using the consumer accounts, and each of the acquirer processors is configured to receive payments on behalf of merchants using merchant accounts set up for the merchants;   a data warehouse configured to store transaction data recording payment transactions processed by the transaction handler, and the data warehouse further configured to store information about a transaction terminal of a merchant, the information about the transaction terminal including a location of the transaction terminal and an identifier of the merchant;   a portal coupled with the transaction handler to access the transaction data recorded by the transaction handler, the portal further coupled with a social network system to access check-in information of a plurality of users in the social network system, wherein
 the check-in information indicates physical presence of the users declared by the users in the social network system using mobile applications running on mobile devices of the users, and 
 the check-in information includes positions of the mobile devices at which the physical presence of the users are declared; and 
   a correlator coupled with the portal to correlate payment transactions initiated on the transaction terminal with check-in declarations that indicate physical presence of the users at a store location of the merchant;   wherein the correlator is configured via the instructions to determine whether the information about the transaction terminal, stored in the data warehouse, agrees with locations and merchant identifications provided in the check-in declarations.   
     
     
         2 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the portal is further configured to receive a message from the social network system indicating presence of a user at a check-in location of the merchant in accordance with a check-in declaration made by the user in the social network system. 
     
     
         3 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein in response to the message from the social network system indicating presence of the user at the check-in location of the merchant, the transaction handler is configured to monitor payment transactions made using account information of the user. 
     
     
         4 . The computing system of  claim 3 , wherein in response to a detection of a payment transaction initiated using the account information of the user on the transaction terminal of the merchant, the computing system is configured via the instructions to validate the check-in declaration of the user. 
     
     
         5 . The computing system of  claim 4 , wherein the social network system or a system of the merchant is configured to reward the user for the check-in declaration validated by the computing system. 
     
     
         6 . The computing system of  claim 3 , wherein in response to the message from the social network system indicating presence of the user at the check-in location of the merchant, the portal is configured to store an offer in the data warehouse in association with the account information of the user. 
     
     
         7 . The computing system of  claim 6 , wherein the offer is provided by the social network system to the user in response to the check-in declaration made in the social network system; the portal is configured to receive the offer from the social network system for storing in associating with the account information of the user in the data warehouse; and the transaction handler is configured to detect a payment transaction made using the account information of the user. 
     
     
         8 . The computing system of  claim 7 , wherein the transaction handler is configured to provide a benefit of the offer to the payment transaction in response to a determination that benefit redemption requirements of the offer are met by the payment transaction. 
     
     
         9 . The computing system of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 a message broker configured to generate a notification about application of the benefit to the payment transaction; and   a media controller configured to transmit the message in parallel with processing of the payment transaction.   
     
     
         10 . The computing system of  claim 1 , wherein the portal is further configured to enroll a user to associate a social network account of the user with account information of a consumer account issued to the user; and the computing system is further configured via the instructions to perform check-in operations in the social network system on behalf of the user, in response to payment transactions made using the account information. 
     
     
         11 . The computing system of  claim 10 , wherein in response to a payment transaction initiated using the account information of the consumer account issued to the user, the computing system is configured via the instructions to determine the identifier of the merchant from the information stored in the data warehouse about the transaction terminal and declare, in the social network system, presence of the user at the check-in location of the merchant. 
     
     
         12 . The computing system of  claim 10 , wherein in response to a payment transaction initiated using the account information of the consumer account issued to the user, the portal is configured to determine, at a time of processing the payment transaction, whether the user is currently checked-in with the merchant identified from the payment transaction; if the user is not currently checked-in with the merchant, a reminder is delivered to the user of an opportunity to check-in. 
     
     
         13 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein the payment transactions initiated on the transaction terminal are correlated with the check-in declarations via offers, the offers being associated with consumer accounts in response to check-in declarations and applied to the payment transactions made using the consumer accounts. 
     
     
         14 . The computing system of  claim 2 , wherein in response to a determination that the information about the transaction terminal, stored in the data warehouse, does not agree with the locations and merchant identifications provided in the check-in declarations, the computing system is further configured via the instructions to augment the information about the transaction terminal using the locations and merchant identifications provided in the check-in declarations. 
     
     
         15 . The computing system of  claim 14 , wherein the computing system is configured to compute a location of the transaction terminal based on an average of the locations provided in the check-in declarations. 
     
     
         16 . The computing system of  claim 15 , wherein the locations provided in the check-in declarations are determined by global positioning system receivers of the mobile devices of the users. 
     
     
         17 . The computing system of  claim 16 , wherein in determining the average, the locations provided in the check-in declarations are weighted based on time gaps between the check-in declarations and the payment transactions initiated on the transaction terminal. 
     
     
         18 . The computing system of  claim 16 , wherein the average is computed after filtering outliers of the locations provided in the check-in declarations. 
     
     
         19 . A method implemented via a payment processing network having issuer processors, acquirer processors, and a transaction handler configured to interconnect the issuer processors and the acquirer processors, wherein each of the issuer processors is configured to control consumer accounts issued to consumers and make payments on behalf of the consumers using the consumer accounts and each of the acquirer processors is configured to receive payments on behalf of merchants using merchant accounts set up for the merchants, the method comprising:
 storing, in a data warehouse coupled with the transaction handler, transaction data recording payment transactions processed by the transaction handler;   storing, in the data warehouse, information about a transaction terminal of a merchant, the information about the transaction terminal including a location of the transaction terminal and an identifier of the merchant;   accessing, by a portal coupled with the transaction handler and a social network system, the transaction data recorded by the transaction handler and check-in information of a plurality of users in the social network system, wherein
 the check-in information indicates physical presence of the users declared by the users in the social network system using mobile applications running on mobile devices of the users, and 
 the check-in information includes positions of the mobile devices at which the physical presence of the users are declared; and 
   correlating, by a correlator coupled with the portal, payment transactions initiated on the transaction terminal with check-in declarations that indicate physical presence of the users at a store location of the merchant; and   determining, by the correlator, whether the information about the transaction terminal, stored in the data warehouse, agrees with locations and merchant identifications provided in the check-in declarations.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a computing apparatus to perform operations at least in a payment processing network having issuer processors, acquirer processors, and a transaction handler configured to interconnect the issuer processors and the acquirer processors, wherein each of the issuer processors is configured to control consumer accounts issued to consumers and make payments on behalf of the consumers using the consumer accounts and each of the acquirer processors is configured to receive payments on behalf of merchants using merchant accounts set up for the merchants, the instructions configured to instruct the computing apparatus at least to:
 store, in a data warehouse coupled with the transaction handler, transaction data recording payment transactions processed by the transaction handler;   store, in the data warehouse, information about a transaction terminal of a merchant, the information about the transaction terminal including a location of the transaction terminal and an identifier of the merchant;   access, by a portal coupled with the transaction handler and a social network system, the transaction data recorded by the transaction handler and check-in information of a plurality of users in the social network system, wherein
 the check-in information indicates physical presence of the users declared by the users in the social network system using mobile applications running on mobile devices of the users, and 
 the check-in information includes positions of the mobile devices at which the physical presence of the users are declared; and 
   correlate, by a correlator coupled with the portal, payment transactions initiated on the transaction terminal with check-in declarations that indicate physical presence of the users at a store location of the merchant; and   determine, by the correlator, whether the information about the transaction terminal, stored in the data warehouse, agrees with locations and merchant identifications provided in the check-in declarations.