FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to computer-implemented methods and systems for providing a best price guarantee to a customer of a financial institution.

BACKGROUND

Many retailers attempt to sell goods or services to potential customers with a guarantee that the retailer is offering the lowest price. If the customer makes a purchase from the retailer and finds that a competitor of the retailer is offering the product or service at a lower price and the customer can provide proof of the competitor's lower price, then the retailer will refund or rebate the difference between the purchase price and the competitor's lower price. The retailer's price matching policy is an attempt to encourage prospective buyers to purchase goods immediately and without checking competitors for lower prices. For purchases from multiple retailers, a customer must visit each retailer with proof of lower prices by competitors in an attempt to collect a refund from each retailer.

Theoretically, a retailer's price matching policy attempts to simplify customer purchases by allowing customers to buy any item from the retailer with customer having the security of knowing that the customer is paying the lowest price in the market for that product or service. Unfortunately, the conventional price protection program places a heavy burden on customers such that they must: (1) continually monitor advertisements for lower prices, (2) save a qualifying advertisement as evidence of the lowest price offer, (3) bring the advertisement to the original retailer, and (4) fill out a claim form with the appropriate information. Moreover, not all retailers offer price matching policies. There are no conventional computer systems that can track this comparative pricing data upon a purchase by a customer and generate a request to pay the customer when a lower price has been identified.

A need, therefore, exits for an improved program that provides a customer with the lowest available price, wherein the program applies to any retail item purchased by the customer, no matter which retailer sold that item. Moreover, there is a need for a program wherein every purchase by a customer can be automatically tracked to determine the existence of a lower advertised price with an option to have a claim form or payment file automatically generated and provided to the customer in the event of a lower price offer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments described herein overcome the drawbacks of conventional computer systems and price matching policies provided by retailers. An exemplary solution described herein comprises computer systems and computer-implemented methods that can operate more efficiently than conventional systems and can dynamically generate and transmit data files to achieved the desired result. Customers with a credit or debit card issued by a financial institution may use their card to make retail purchases subject to a best price guarantee of the financial institution at any location. By providing the financial institution, or a third party associated with the financial institution, the purchase information, a customer may be guaranteed to receive a rebate or refund if the price of the system identifies that the retailer lowered the price or if another retailer is offering a lower price for that item. Other exemplary embodiments described herein provide automatic monitoring of prices on purchased products, automatic claim form generation in the event of qualifying price decrease. The embodiments described herein, therefore, can provide a viable option for customers who want to take advantage of a price matching policy, but do not otherwise have the time or energy to participate in such a program.

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method for a financial institution to provide a best price guarantee to customers is provided. The method comprises receiving, by a server, purchase information from a financial customer, wherein the purchase information comprises a purchase price and purchased product description and wherein the customer has a credit or debit card issued by the financial institution; storing, by the server, the purchase information in a first database; locating, by the server, from a second database, stored product information corresponding to the received purchased product description, wherein the stored product information comprises a lowest price datum; comparing, by the server, the lowest price datum to the purchase price; and, if the lowest price datum is less than the purchase price, generating a claim form for the financial customer.

In another exemplary embodiment, a system for providing a best price guarantee to consumers is provided comprising a server of a financial institution adapted to receive purchase information from a financial customer, wherein the purchase information comprises a purchase price and purchased product description and wherein the customer has a credit or debit card issued by the financial institution; a first database communicatively coupled to the server and adapted to store the purchase information; and a second database communicatively coupled to the server and adapted to store product information, wherein the product information comprises a lowest price datum; wherein the server locates the product information from the second database corresponding to the purchase information located at the first database, and wherein the server compares the lowest price datum to the purchase price, and wherein, the server generated a claim form for the financial customer if the lowest price is less than the purchase price.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for providing a refund to a customer for a lower price of a purchased product is provided. The method comprises providing a system, wherein the system comprises distinct software modules, and wherein the distinct software modules comprise a customer identification module, a product identification module, a price identification module, and a claim submission module; receiving, by the customer identification module, information input from the customer that identifies the customer; receiving, by the product identification module, a description of a product purchased by the customer; comparing, by the product identification module, the description of the product to a listing of description of products to identify a matched product; identifying, by the price identification module, available prices for the matched product within a predetermined time period; identifying, by the price identification module, a lower price for the purchased product; generating, by the claim submission module, a claim form for providing the customer with a refund based upon the identified lower price, wherein the customer purchased the purchased product using a credit card or a debit card issued by a financial institution, and wherein the financial institution offers the operation of computer program product to the customer.

In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises receiving, by a server of the financial institution, purchase information regarding a customer who completed a transaction to purchase a product or service using a credit or debit card issued by the financial institution, wherein the purchase information comprises a purchase price and purchased product or service description of the purchased product or service and an identifier of the financial customer's credit or debit card issued by the financial institution; storing, by the server, the purchase information in a first database; locating, by the server, from a second database, stored product or service information corresponding to the received purchased product description from a completed purchase transaction, wherein the stored product information comprises a lowest price datum; tracking, by the server, the lowest price datum within a predetermined time period from the purchase of the product or service; comparing, by the server, the lowest price datum to the purchase price; and when a difference between the lowest price datum and the purchase price of the completed purchase transaction is within the predetermined time period from the purchase of the product or service, generating and transmitting a data file based on the data representing a difference between the lowest price datum and the purchase price that initiates a payment to the customer.

In yet another embodiment, a system comprises a server of a financial institution adapted to receive purchase information regarding a customer who completed a transaction to purchase a product or service using a credit or debit card issued by the financial institution, wherein the purchase information comprises a purchase price and purchased product or service description of the purchased product or service and an identifier of the financial customer's credit or debit card issued by the financial institution; a first database communicatively coupled to the server and adapted to store the purchase information from a completed product purchase transaction; and a second database communicatively coupled to the server and adapted to store product or service information, wherein the product information comprises a lowest price datum; wherein the server tracks the product or service information from the second database corresponding to the purchase information located at the first database within a predetermined time period from the purchase of the product or service, and wherein the server compares the lowest price datum to the purchase price, and wherein the server generates and transmits a data file based on the difference between the lowest price datum and the purchase price for the customer when the lowest price is less than the purchase price within the predetermined time period from the purchase of the product or service, wherein the data file initiates a payment to the customer.

In another embodiment, a computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to implement a method comprising receiving, by a customer identification module of the program code executed by the processor, information input that identifies the customer; receiving, by a product identification module of the program code executed by the processor, a product description of a product or service from a cellular phone of the customer; identifying, by the product identification module of the program code executed by the processor, the product based on the product or service description; identifying, by the price identification module of the program code executed by the processor, available prices for the identified product or service within a predetermined time period; identifying, by the price identification module of the program code executed by the processor, a lower price for the purchased product or service; and generating, by a claim submission module of the program code executed by the processor, a data file initiating a payment to the customer with a refund based upon the lower price identified during the predetermined time period.

In yet another embodiment, a computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to implement a method comprising receiving, by a customer identification module of the program code executed by the processor, information input that identifies the customer; receiving, by a product identification module of the program code executed by the processor, a product description of a product or service from a cellular phone of the customer; identifying, by the product identification module of the program code executed by the processor, the product based on the product or service description; identifying, by the price identification module of the program code executed by the processor, available prices for the identified product or service within a predetermined time period; identifying, by the price identification module of the program code executed by the processor, a lower price for the purchased product or service; and generating, by a claim submission module of the program code executed by the processor, a data file initiating a payment to the customer with a refund based upon the lower price identified during the predetermined time period.

Additional features and advantages of an embodiment will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the exemplary embodiments in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

