WO2016166573A1

WO2016166573A1 - Credit hours rights loyalty program system and method of bank card with profit share scheme

Info

Publication number: WO2016166573A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/052766
Authority: WO
Inventors: Youssef ABDELZAHER
Original assignee: Abdelzaher Youssef
Priority date: 2015-04-16
Filing date: 2015-04-16
Publication date: 2016-10-20

Abstract

The idea about a system and method of co-brand bank card loyalty program defined, sponsored between issuing bank and partner education institution or partners education institutions or partner education institutions network, that provide rewards in the form of education loyalty currencies called learning hours rights; the learning hours rights will be accumulated to bigger education loyalty currencies called credit hours rights which will be accumulated to bigger rewards form called Education course right, given to the co brand loyalty program member when he make specified amount of purchases using the co brand bank card at partner education institutions or non partner institutions,this education course right will be redeemed by the co brand cardholder when he take education course at this partner education institution or one of partners education institutions or one of members in the partner education institutions network, In return for the education loyalty currencies given to the co brand bank cardholder by that partner education institution, the bank will share predetermined part of profits called interchange fees with that partner education institution according to an interchange fees share agreement.

Description

Credit Hours Rights Loyalty Program System and method of Bank Card with Profit Share Scheme

Abstract

The invention about a system and method of co-brand bank card loyalty program defined , sponsored between issuing bank and partner education institution or partners education institutions or partner education institutions network , that provide rewards in the form of education loyalty currencies called learning hours rights ; the learning hours rights will be accumulated to bigger education loyalty currencies called credit hours rights which will be accumulated to bigger rewards form called Education course right , given to the co brand loyalty program member when he make specified amount of purchases using the co brand bank card at partner education institutions or non partner institutions ,this education course right will be redeemed by the co brand cardholder when he take education course at this partner education institution or one of partners education institutions or one of members in the partner education institutions network , In return for the education loyalty currencies given to the co brand bank cardholder by that partner education institution , the bank will share predetermined part of profits called interchange fees with that partner education institution according to an interchange fees share agreement .

Field of Invention

This invention relates directly to Loyalty programs used through co-brand banking cards , More specifically to the use of Education learning measurement units which are learning hours , credit hours as loyalty currencies in a co-brand bank card loyalty program that will be sponsored between bank and education institution , the new loyalty currencies will be named learning hour right LHR , Credit Hour right CHR , Beside that , it relates directly to interchange fees , where the bank will share predetermined part of interchange fees with the education institution according to the interchange fees share agreement .

Background Art

There are different loyalty programs used around the world either by one institution or sponsored through more than one institution using the co-branding concept to achieve synergy like the one subject of the invention which is the co-brand banking card where the issuing bank make co brand agreement with partner institution or institutions whether commercial or non commercial institutions , commercial institutions can be hypermarkets , airlines company ..etc and non commercial institutions can be charity ..etc . we will discuss first meaning of loyalty program , co-brand banking card , background of credit hour system which provides the base of our new loyalty currencies ; learning hour right LHR and credit hour right CHR , interchange fees , different types of loyalty currencies used in these loyalty programs and make a comparison between these currencies and our new loyalty currencies through an example , then lastly we will mention what are the new feature s added through our invention .

Loyalty program : is a marketing program in which a reward whether it is points , discounts , rebates or flyer miles is given by merchant to consumers when he make purchase from it using plastic cards with magnetic stripe or barcode or smart chip on it for reading card info , these cards called loyalty cards which is issued by loyalty programs management companies or banks or any commercial institutions , in order to induce them to recur purchases again to redeem the earned reward given before , so here the purchasing behavior of consumers is induced artificially toward the interest of the merchant which is the core meaning of loyalty program .

Co-brand bank card : is any type of banking card whether it is debit card ( plastic card attached to banking account ), credit card ( plastic card attached to credit facility banking account ) or prepaid card ( plastic card non attached to banking account or credit facility account , preloaded with money value ) issued by a bank ( issuing bank ) that gives rewards or loyalty currencies like points , miles , cash back , discounts , rebates or learning hours rights , credit hours rights ( subject of the invention ) , these loyalty currencies are defined through loyalty program which are sponsored between two or more institutions , first institution is the issuing bank and other institutions can be commercial institutions or non profit organizations , commercial institutions like hypermarkets , airlines airways ..etc and non profit organization like charitable organizations , co-brand banking card platform are used by institutions to achieve synergy as every party will increase their sales levels by using each other customers base , by using co-sponsored loyalty programs .

A course credit (often credit hour, or just credit or "unit") is a unit that gives weight to the value, level or time requirements of an academic course taken at a school or other educational institution.

ECTS and the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process)

ECTS ( European credit transfer and accumulation system ) is the credit system for higher education used in the European Higher Education Area, involving all countries engaged in the Bologna Process. ECTS is one of the cornerstones of the Bologna process. Most Bologna countries have adopted ECTS by law for their higher education systems. ECTS credits

60 ECTS credits are attached to the workload of a fulltime year of formal learning (academic year) and the associated learning outcomes. In most cases, student workload ranges from 1 ,500 to 1 ,800 hours for an academic year, whereby one credit corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of work.

ECTS credits are based on the workload students need in order to achieve expected learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes are verifiable statements of what learners who have obtained a particular qualification, or completed a program or its components, are expected to know, understand and be able to do. As such they emphasize the link between teaching, learning and assessment .

Workload indicates the time students typically need to complete all learning activities (such as lectures, seminars, projects, practical work, self-study and examinations) required to achieve the expected learning outcomes.

The question is from where it comes the 60 ECTS credits for a full time year of formal learning , how learning outcomes are formulated , what factors deciding the amount of workloads ?

These questions are answered through following points :

Educational programs and Qualifications are structured in light of the European and national qualification framework which are based on agreed level descriptors, with learning outcomes and credits related to such levels.

The Bologna Framework ( European higher education area framework ) has agreed cycle descriptors with learning outcomes and credit ranges. The Bologna cycle descriptors are known as the 'Dublin Descriptors'

The first two Bologna cycles are associated with the following ECTS credit ranges:

First cycle qualifications typically include 180-240 ECTS credits.

Second cycle qualifications typically include 90-120 ECTS credits, with a minimum of 60 ECTS credits at the level of the 2nd cycle.

These credit ranges follow the ECTS key feature stating that 60 ECTS credits are attached to the workload of a typical full-time academic year of learning within a formal learning program. This rule applies to all higher education qualifications independent of their level. Based on the ECTS key feature that 60 credits are allocated to the workload of a full-time academic year, 30 ECTS credits are normally allocated to a semester and 20 ECTS credits to a trimester. Qualifications which have formal programs lasting three fulltime academic years are allocated 180 ECTS credits.

The curriculum design of any qualification or educational program begins by reaching an agreement on the 'Profile' of the specific study program and the associated learning outcomes, profile is meant the description of the program in terms of its main features and its specific aims.

On the basis of the qualification profile, the academic staff design the curriculum by defining the Learning Outcomes and allocating credits to the program components.

Credit allocation to educational components is based on their weight in terms of the workload needed for students to achieve the learning outcomes in a formal context.

In estimating students' workload, institutions must consider the total time needed by students in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes. The learning activities may vary in different countries, institutions and subject areas, but typically the estimated workload will result from the sum of: the contact hours for the educational component (number of contact hours per week x number of weeks)

the time spent in individual or group work required to complete the educational component successfully (i.e. preparation beforehand and finalizing of notes after attendance at a lecture, seminar or laboratory work; collection and selection of relevant material; required revision, study of that material; writing of papers/projects/dissertation; practical work, e.g. in a laboratory)

the time required to prepare for and undergo the assessment procedure (e.g. exams)

the time required for obligatory placement ( work placements ; internship or apprenticeship )

The estimation of workload should be regularly refined through monitoring and student feedback.

Credit hours awarding .

Learners are awarded ECTS credits only when appropriate assessment has shown that they have achieved the required learning outcomes for a component of a program or for the qualification. Credits are awarded by authorized awarding institutions. The full number of credits is always awarded if the student achieves a passing grade.

Credit hours transfer system

"Credits awarded in one program may be transferred into another program, offered by the same or another institution. This transfer can only take place if the degree-awarding institution recognizes the credits and the associated learning outcomes. Partner institutions should agree in advance on the recognition of periods of study abroad."

In ECTS, credit recognition for the purpose of accumulation and transfer are facilitated by ECTS key documents like the Course Catalogue, the Learning Agreement and the Transcript of Records , student application form , diploma supplement .

Interchange fees

Interchange fees which is a fees taken by issuer bank and set by interchange network for every card transaction done by cardholder at any commercial institutions like merchants ..etc , have a complex pricing structure, which is based on the card brand, regions or jurisdictions, the type of credit or debit card, the type and size of the accepting merchant, and the type of transaction (e.g. online, in-store, phone order, whether the card is present for the transaction, etc.). Further complicating the rate schedules, interchange fees are typically a flat fee plus a percentage of the total purchase price (including taxes). In the United States, the fee averages approximately 2% of transaction value.

Difference in concept between credit hour rights , points and miles loyalty programs we will give examples to provide easier understanding of difference in concept :

Miles Loyalty Program : HSBC bank issue co-brand bank card with the cooperation of British Airways to provide loyalty program that gives 1 mile for every 10 GBP purchases at merchants besides giving 500 miles for purchasing British Airways ticket to Scotland by the card , and when he reach 5000 miles , he can redeem it for ticket to Wales province , so here the cardholder will incentivized to make frequent purchases from British Airways and other merchants to gain the ticket , so here British Airways increase loyalty through increasing ticket sales of British Airways by giving miles .

Points Loyalty Program : HSBC bank issue co-brand card with carrefour to provide 1 point for every 10 GBP purchase from Carrefour , and every one point has 1 GBP redemption value , so cardholder can use points to redeem it for products from carrefour , so here carrefour increase loyalty through increasing its merchandise sales by giving points .

Credit Hour rights Loyalty Program : HSBC bank issue co-brand card with University of Buckingham to provide

1 learning hour right for every 10 GBP purchases at any merchant ( non-partner ) , 1 learning hour right for every 8 GBP value of payment of any enrollment in non-core education course or payment of university campus other services & products like curriculum books , dorm rooms rent fees , parking plots fees , cafeteria meals fees ,

1 learning hour right for every 7 GBP value payment of enrollment in core education courses at the university , redemption process will be as follows : every accumulated 30 learning hours rights will be turned to 1 credit hour right , every accumulated 60 credit hours rights will be turned to 1 full education year right for ether bachelor or master or doctorate level at any study field at University of Buckingham ; engineering , law , business studies , 240 credit hours rights needed for bachelor studies , 120 credit hours rights needed for master & 180 credit hours rights

Needed for doctorate studies .

By demonstrating the 3 loyalty programs , we conclude the following in the table below :

As we see the comparison above in the table , the credit hours rights loyalty program is a little bit different than other loyalty programs as follows ; a- the loyalty currency structure is complex as there are actually two loyalty currencies , LHR & CHR , smaller currency( LHR ) accumulated to bigger currency ( CHR) which accumulated and reached 120 , 180 and 240 CHR to get the End educational product , master , doctorate and bachelor level courses respectively .

b- the addition of the new feature which is the embedded profit share agreement between issuer bank and partner educational institution to share the interchange fees for every transaction done by cardholder , the question here why? As described in the meaning of loyalty program , the partner institution ( whether Carrefour , British Airlines , Buckingham university ) will benefit from the consumer or cardholder purchasing behavior who will be induced artificially toward the partner institution products as a result of the loyalty currencies rewards given to them ( points , miles , Learning hours and credit hours rights ) , the Answer is NO for the credit hours rights loyalty program because as we see in the table , the educational products mostly have high price and and by its nature needed rarely rather than merchandise and airline tickets products ( one person need only to complete university studies whether bachelor , master or doctorate level just one time , although there are mini independent courses like skills courses , professional certificates and languages courses ) , so these factors will be reflected on the low recurring purchase rate from partner institution ( table ) , higher purchases from non-partner than partner institutions as we see in the 80/20 purchase mix ( table )

c- As a result of the high price of educational products , the cardholder will have higher accumulation and redemption time intervals or periods than other loyalty programs beside he will show more saving behavior than other loyalty programs ( or less consumption behavior ) toward the partner educational institution products ( consumption /saving behavior , at table ) . Brief description of the drawing

FIG. 1 is a ilow chart depicting the opening of a new account ,

FIG. 2 is a debit card for use in accord with the instant invention

FSG 3a Authorization and approval of 1000 GBP co brand card transaction

F\G 3b flow chart depicting process flows associated with an aspect of the invention

As drawings belong to another invention ( mentioned in reference)which use "rewards points" here at my invention , learning hours rights rewards are used , so It will replace ail " reward points " blocks

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting cardholder transaction flow for the first period

( learning hours rights rewards will replace reward points , No" pos cash back" at block 341 , "Month 1 " at header will be replaced by "period 1 " as redemption period may range from few months to years for educational products as we said before at introduction )

FIG. 5 is a flow chart depicting cardholder transaction flow after the first period

( "month2 " at header will be replaced by period 2 , " monthl " will be replaced by period 1 at block 200 , learning hours rights rewards will replace reward points

FIG 6a Earning learning hours rights rewards process ( 1000 GBP co brand card transaction )

FIG 6b learning hours rights rewards redemption process

FIG 6c Member Account web page format , main icon ( bold font ) with droplet icons ( normal font ) FIG 6d Total Rewards Account format , N = Numbers, L1 = Link to Figure 6e , L2 = Link to figure 6f ,

(-)=blank

FIG 6e My Rewards Account format , N = Numbers , L3 = Link to figure 6g , (-)=Blank

FIG 6 f Family Reward Account Format , N=Numbers, L4= Link to figure 6h , (-)=Blank , W=Wife,

S=Son , D=Daughter , GF=Grand Father , GM=Grand Mother

FIG g My Transactions Web Page Format , D=Description , DT=Date , T=Time , R= Ratio , N= Numbers , (-)=Blank

FIG 6h Family Transactions Web Page Format , D=Description , DT=Date , T=Time , R= Ratio , N= Numbers , (-)=Blank

FIGS.7A ,7B are flow charts comparing on-line versus off-line processing .

( "participating merchant sales " will be replaced by "partner education institution sales " , learning hours rights rewards will replace reward points )

FIG 8a Clearing and Financial settlement of 1000 GBP CO brand card transaction FIG 8b Profit ( interchange fees ) share agreement concept

FIG 9 Hypothesized diagram showing Authorization , Approval , and Actual processing of "

Accumulated credit hours rights Transfer to Another University " application by Cardholder through the " Universities credit hours rights / cash Settlement Network "

Detailed description of the invention

The invention about a system and method of co-brand bank card loyalty program defined , sponsored between issuing bank and partner education institution or partners education institutions or partner education institutions network , that provide rewards in the form of education loyalty currencies called learning hours rights ; the learning hours rights will be accumulated to bigger education loyalty currencies called credit hours rights which will be accumulated to bigger rewards form called Education course right , given to the co brand loyalty program member when he make specified amount of purchases using the co brand bank card at partner education institutions or non partner institutions .this education course right will be redeemed by the co brand cardholder when he take education course at this partner education institution or one of partners education institutions or one of members in the partner education institutions network , In return for the education loyalty currencies given to the co brand bank cardholder by that partner education institution , the bank will share predetermined part of profits called interchange fees with that partner education institution according to an interchange fees share agreement . we will refer to the goods or services purchased at non-partner institutions like retailers goods , gas services at gas stations , even non-partner education institutions products & services , with the term ( goods ) . we will divide the educational products of the partner educational institutions into two sections ; primary product or service & non-primary product or service ; we will refer to enrollment in main or core education program of that education institution or institutions like secondary school , college , university , research universities as the

primary product or services term , and the enrollment in non-core educational programs or payment of services like mini education courses , books purchases from bookstore at university campus , dorm rooms rent fees , cafeteria meals , parking plots with the non-primary product or service , we will use those terms in the process description .

As we said before , it can be several educational institutions that jointly sponsor and market the co-branded bank card credit hour rights loyalty program with the bank and we refer to it as partners , we will use two types of partners In the description drawings : partner 1 and partner 2 , partner 1 will gives preferential rates of earning

learning hour rights for primary product or services and less preferential rates of earning learning hours rights to non-primary product or service , but partner 2 will gives fixed normal rate of earning learning hour rights for both primary and non-primary product or service , so in the following drawings , we will not use the primary or non-primary product or service distinction in the partner 2 example , but for partner 1 we will do the distinction , and for non-partner institutions goods , we will not also make distinction as the fixed normal rate of earning learning hours rights will apply . we will demonstrate the relations between the different learning hours rights earning rates between the partners primary , non-primary product or service and the non-partner institutions goods in the following relation: primary product or service preferential learning hours rights earning rate is larger than the preferential learning hours rights earning rate of non-primary product or service which is larger than normal learning hours rights earning rate of non-partner institutions goods . for example primary product or service preferential rate = 1 learning hour right for every 7 GBP value , non-primary product or service preferential rate = 1 learning hour right for every 8 GBP value , non-partner institutions goods normal rate = 1 learning hour right for every 10 GBP value .

The partner or partners educational institutions (university for example) may make two loyalty programs ; one launched by itself and the one launched and sponsored with bank through issuing the co-brand bank card , the one launched by itself will be geared to the norma! students oi the university by making sort of university membership club program in which the students apply for membership club card that will give him privilege to him in the form oi learning hours rights rewards .

At the loyalty program launched by the university itself , same reward amount rates as for the primary or non- primary product or service section of the loyalty program launched through the co-branded bank card platform will be applied or it can be different reward amount rates , in addition to that , it can include loyalty referral method ; that is any student referring another person to apply to enroll in the core educational product in university , he will gain bonus learning hours rights rewards added to his reward account .

The two loyalty programs of the partner educational institution ; the one launched by itself , other launched through co-branded bank card platform , will be attached at the same membership account at the partner educational institution website , so as to accelerate the credit hour rights accumulation to gain free enrollment in the core educational product of the partner institution . The loyalty program will include options like gifting accumulated credit hours rights to an affiliate , buy / sell from / to another person , redemption to the same education institution by cash or

transferring credit hours rights to another university .

Referring to figure 1 , The process begins with opening financial account a t block 2 and depositing initial funds in it at block 3 by the cardholder at the issuer bank ; this financial account can be any kind of bank deposit account whether it is current or checking account , saving account , demand deposit account , share drafts accounts , money market account , the bank here is used as a representative institution of the whole financial sector , as the invention can be used by any financial institution like credit card companies , car loan companies , insurance companies , mortgage loans companies , saving associations , credit unions ..etc. , After opening financial account at block 2 , the issuer bank will issue the co-brand debit card at block 4 to the cardholder after associating the co-brand card with the opened financial account , here the bank card used can be any type of bank card but we will use debit card type as a representative card.

Referring to figure 2 , In designing co-brand debit cards 300 , The identity of the issuer bank is preferably depicted on the face of the card by means of a logo 301 . Since issuer banks desire to maximize the utility of bankcards , giving their cardholders the greatest amount of choice in how to conduct transactions, most issuer banks enable their cards to be used to conduct ATM withdrawals as well as to perform both on- and off-line transactions. In order to communicate to cardholders where the cards are accepted, the cards will contain the logos of those ATM, debit or credit networks where the cards can be used like visa , mastercard , maestro , visa electron , cirrus , plus . In addition to the name of the issuer bank and networks where the cards can be used, such bank cards contain the logo of partner educational institution or institutions 302 . using logos of issuer bank and partner educational institution providing advertising for both .

As we said above , the cardholder will open financial account at block 2 , deposit initial funds in it at block 3 , and then will be issued the co-brand debit card at block 4 between the issuer bank and the partner educational institution or institutions , but before issuing the co-brand card to the card holder , the bank demand irom the cardholder that he must apply for membership account in the loyalty program offered by the partner educational institution or one of the partner educational institutions if there are more than one partner , and get membership I.D which will be given to him when he make registration for the membership account at the partner educational institution website either by email or it will be printed on the membership card issued by the partner educational institution , so the cardholder will give the bank the printed email including the membership i.D or the membership card because the bank will link or associate the membership I.D of the partner educational institution with his co-branded debit card , this process Is important to Identify the cardholder as a member in the loyalty program of co-brand card In the credit hour right reward earning process . The cardholder will go either to the partner educational institution premises or premises of one of the partner educational institutions if there are more than one partner for making the registration or he will visit the website of that partner education institution to make the registration , at the registration process he will make his profile by providing the personal information , educational info ; primary phase till postgraduate phase , GPA achieved at the latest educational phase , any professional certificates taken , if he is transferring credit from another university to the partner university , any proficiency tests taken and its scores like TOEFL , ILETS , G AT , language skills courses taken , work experiences info to show details like part time or permanent time job , internship or apprenticeship or employment job , credit hours for that ( if any ) , family information ; wife , son , daughter , parents names of main member, this field of information is important for the sake of family program feature included in the loyalty program that will enable the main member to add up to 5 accounts of his or her family members to his membership main account so that any rewards earned by those members will be pooled at main member reward account to accelerate reward accumulation & redemption . Every information profile will have field for uploading relevant needed documents .

Referring to figure 3b , it shows the process of authorization of the card transaction done by the cardholder at the pos terminal of a non-partner merchant or partner educational institution , We will explain in detail the process in sequence beginning from authorization process of card transaction , approval process , learning hours rights rewards earning process , cardholder acknowledgement of learning & credit hours rights rewards balance through partner educational institution website or periodic statement sent to him by mail , clearing & financial settlement process between the merchant and issuer bank through interchange network , financial settlement between issuer bank and partner educational institution of interchange fees ( profit share scheme agreement ) , credit hour rights redemption process , but before that , we will get a brief of the different institution working as intermediaries to facilitate the aforementioned processes .

Referring to figure 3a , it shows an exemplary diagram of 1000 GBP card transaction done by the cardholder that flows through different intermediaries , those intermediaries facilitate authorization and approval of that transaction ; it begins by the merchant who send card transaction information to Acquirer bank or merchant bank ( is the bank where the merchants open account in it & process daily card transactions for several merchants for authorization & approval from issuer banks through interchange network , there are thousands of merchants dealing with different issuer banks , merchant bank also facilitate financial settlements with issuer banks through the interchange system or electronic payment network like visa and mastercard ) who send it to issuer bank ( the bank where the cardholder open account in it and who issue the card ) through the facilitation of the interchange network or the electronic payment network operated by visa or mastercard company ..etc ( it facilitates the authorization process from the merchant bank to the issuer bank , approval process from issuer bank to merchant or acquirer bank , clearing and financial settlement between the aforementioned parties ) . As Merchants ( merchandise goods ) belong to the retailing industry which is one of the predominant users of pos systems , these pos systems typically includes a cash register (which in recent times comprises a computer, monitor, cash drawer, receipt printer, customer display and a barcode scanner) and the majority of retail POS systems also include a debit/credit card reader. It can also include a conveyor belt, weight scale, integrated credit card processing system, a signature capture device and a customer pin pad device. More and more POS monitors use touch-screen technology for ease of use and a computer is built into the monitor chassis for what is referred to as an all-in-one unit .

Pos systems can be customized to the different sectors which require specialized pos systems including hardware and software , one of these sectors is the education sector , Education pos systems can include servicing the payment of student enrollment fees in different education programs at university , purchasing books in the bookstore of university campus .payment of rental fees of campus dormitory rooms , cafeteria meals , parking plots .

Referring to figure 3b again , which is a flow chart depicting the process flows associated with an embodiment of the invention , the customer uses co-brand debit card at block 10 , This use may be to make a purchase of goods at a non-partner institutions like ( merchant , non-partner educational institutions ..etc) or purchase of primary or non-primary product or service of partner educational institution or institutions , At pos terminal of non-partner institution or partner education institution , the officer scan information of (goods ) or scan or input information of

( primary or non primary product or service ) purchased by cardholder , this information appear on the pos software , he demand the co-brand debit card from the cardholder , then he swipe it in the slot of the pinpad device which read the card information encoded in the magnetic strip behind the card if it is card using magnetic strip method for encoding information or read card information loaded on memory of the smart chip or emv chip ( golden chip) if it is smart chip or emv chip -embeded card .

Depending on networks and capabilities authorized for cardholder and indicated on the card , cardholder may be presented with message indicating two modes of transaction in the pos terminal : to choose the credit option (offline transaction ) , at block 20 or to choose debit (online transaction)at block 30 .

on-line debit transactions at the point of sales leverage the existing ATM processing infrastructure (cards, network switches, gateways, processing software, etc.) to directly debit the cardholder's bank account as if a withdrawal had been made at an ATM. Transaction requests are routed to the issuer bank via a regional or national/international switch interchange. When a cardholder swipes the ATM/debit card at the point of sale, they are required to enter a personal identification number (PIN) which is authenticated by the issuer bank, following the financial account or a linked credit account being verified as being in good standing and with sufficient funds. After the account and ATM/debit card are validated and authenticated, on-line authorization of the transaction begins. On-line authorization is performed in real time by the issuer bank own systems against current account balances and daily limits. Completed transactions are used to update directly the cardholder and financial account database . The off-line debit card works like a credit card at the point of sale with approval and clearing taking place through the credit card association networks and requiring the cardholder's signature to complete the transaction. Instead of receiving a separate itemized bill, however, the amount of purchase is deducted from the cardholder's checking account and the details of the transaction are recorded on his monthly statement, as though a check has been written to the merchant. An off-line debit card is accepted at merchants wherever the equivalent credit card is; in fact, the retailer often cannot differentiate between them. The off-line transaction process mimics the credit card transaction process; that is, it involves two transaction messages— one for authorization and one for settlement. The settlement information takes two to three days to reach the issuer. The authorization for this type of transaction is generally obtained on-line, but the transaction itself is transmitted and processed via either the credit card system or the ACH, incurring a delay in posting of the completed transaction

Referring again to figure 3b , information concerning the transaction captured at the point of sale is transferred to an accounts database at block 40 . The transaction information may include : description of goods or services , quantity no. , price per item , total value , UPC no. , SKU no. ,ISBN no. of books , goods manufacturer name , publishing house name , educational institution name .merchant name .educational institution I.D, merchant I.D , pos terminal I.D ...etc , The information concerning the transactions for each cardholder is collected for further analysis. The information can be employed to generate demographic information regarding the customers of certain goods or services or merchants or institutions and the purchasing patterns of those customers ( cardholders ) at block 90 . The accounts database, as well as the systems for performing the steps of the invention after the capture of the transaction data, are typically maintained on a computer or combination of computers, under the control of the issuer bank . Of course, these steps may be performed using various combinations of hardware and software, as would be appreciated by one skilled in the art .

To calculate the reward which is here in the form of learning hour right , the collected transaction information is compared to a set of rules stored in memory of a computer controlled by the issuer bank . This rule can be modified by the issuer bank to permit a flexible application of reward . For example , as we said before there are 3 reward rates : preferred reward rate for primary product or services ( partner university ) , normal reward rate for non-primary product or service ( partner university ) , normal reward rate for non-partner institutions ( merchants or non-partner university ..etc) , these reward rates can be changed from time to time ( evry education year for example ) in the loyalty program by agreement between issuer bank and partner university to account for changing variables like inflation rates , opportunity cost , competition forces .

Referring again to FIG. 3b , the learning hour right reward is calculated at the reward data warehouse at block 41 . The information is sorted into predetermined parameters. The parameters are ordered based upon the particular rule applicable for that given program. In one embodiment, the transaction information is sorted at block 60 by the identity of the institution and the type of goods purchased whether it is goods purchased at non-partner institutions like merchant or primary or non-primary product or service purchased at one of the partner educational institutions If there are more than one partner educational institution in the co-branded loyalty program, those partners will be differentiated as partneM , patner2 and so on by the partner I.D which is one of the card transaction information that will be captured and sent to issuer bank as we said before , so if card transaction is done at partner 1 , so the processing will move to block 70. In this embodiment, partner 1 has elected to provide an increased learning hour right reward for specific preferred product or service ; that means providing preferred reward rate for purchases of primary product or service . Those primary products or services are identified at block 71. The reward corresponding to the purchase of those primary products or services is calculated at block 100 . The non-primary products or services purchased at partner 1 are identified at block 72. The reward rate ( normal reward rate for non-primary products or services of partner institution )applicable to these purchases is also calculated at block 100 and the learning hours rights rewards for purchases made at partner 1 are totaled at block 100 .

The purchases made at partner 2 are identified at block 73 . In this instance, partner 2 has elected to provide a fixed amount of learning hour reward right ( fixed normal reward rate of partner institution )for all purchases . This reward is calculated at block 100 and totaled with the other earned rewards at block 100 .

Any purchases made at non-partner institutions like merchants are identified at block 80 . The learning hour right reward ( fixed normal reward rate of non-partner institutions ) accrued for these purchases, if any, are calculated at block 110 . If such a reward is accrued, they presented as output at (block 11) and delivered to block120 for processing.

The information regarding the learning hour right reward, regardless of its source, is collected for processing at block 120 . Periodically, an account statement is generated at block130 and forwarded to the cardholder. Preferably, the statements are transmitted monthly. As we said before , the cardholder can get information about his transactions details , rewards balance by logging to his membership account at the partner university website , beside the monthly account statement sent to him . At block 140 , the system determines whether the cardholder has any rewards available. According to the loyalty program , when 30 learning hours rights accumulated , it will be converted to 1 credit hour right , then when 60 credit hours rights accumulated , it will be converted to 1 education year right or accumulated 120 , 180 , 240 credit hours rights will be converted to master , doctorate , bachelor level education course right , respectively . These accumulation and redemption predetermined rules will be stored in the rebate or reward database central server including the rebates or rewards balances database which will be linked to the member rewards account module at the partner university website . Typically, the available credit hours rights rewards will be attributable to uses of the debit card in prior periods. However, bonus learning hours rights rewards may be delivered to the reward account at opening to encourage his card usage. If so, an amount corresponding to the purchases made at one of the partners is credits to the financial account. The amount credited is then deducted from the available rewards stored in the accounts database 140 . This was the rewards redemption mechanism , when there are recurring purchases and available rewards balance at reward account , the new card purchase amount or the available rewards balance amount whichever less , will be credited to cardholder bank account and opposite effect will be done by debiting same amount from the reward account , so it results in redeeming rewards earned from prior periods , but as we said before the educational product have high price & less recurring nature than merchandise goods , so here the interval period between one redemption and other may range from few months to few years ( for example main member accumulate rewards for redeeming it for business education course at bachelor level , then he accumulate rewards again for master degree in business studies at partner university ) .

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting cardholder transaction flow for the first period that a cardholder owns the co- brand debit card 300. The cardholder uses the co-brand debit card at block10. The debit card is used in conjunction with a conventional transaction-processing network capable of processing either on- or off-line debit transactions or both types of transactions. Such transaction processing networks are commonly used at a broad variety of merchants or institutions including: educational institutions , retail stores, gasoline stations, restaurants and eating establishments, health care facilities, entertainment and sporting events, professional offices, on-line retailers, transportation and travel providers. As is known in the art, each of these processing methods has different flow paths of the payment information, different input and output fields and is processed differently at the issuing financial institution. Depending on the flow of the transaction, there are different values associated with the transactions as well as different levels of security for the cardholder and the merchant ( non-partner ) or partner educational institution and payment surety for the merchant or educational institution .

If the purchase is made at a partner, the system proceeds to the processing in block 20 . The status as a preferred partner educational institution (either partner 1 or 2 ) is determined at block 321 . The preferred partner educational institutions( partner 1 ) records the nature of the goods or services purchased by the cardholder. If the purchase is of the preferred partner 's primary product or service, the processing proceeds to block 322 . If the transaction is being handled as an "off-line" transaction, processing proceeds to block 330 . If the transaction is to be handled as an "on-line" transaction, the processing proceeds to block 331 .

Information concerning the purchase, including the identity of the partner, the goods or services purchased and the time and date of purchase, is recorded on the accounts database 40 .

If the purchase made by the cardholder with the debit card is at the preferred partner educational institutions ( partner 1 ) , but is of non-primary product or service, the processing proceeds to block323. If the transaction is being handled as an "off-line" transaction, processing proceeds to block 332. If the transaction is to be handled as an On-line" transaction, the processing proceeds to block 333.

Information concerning the purchase, including the identity of the preferred partner educational institution ( partner 1 ), the goods or services purchased and the time and date of purchase, is recorded on the accounts database 40. If the purchase made by the cardholder with the debit card, but at a non-partner institution like merchant , the processing proceeds to block 340. The purchase of goods or services is performed at block 341. If the transaction is being handled as an "off-line" transaction, processing proceeds to block 334. If the transaction is to be handled as an "on-line" transaction, the processing proceeds to block 335. Information concerning the purchase, including the identity of the merchant , the goods or services purchased and the time and date of purchase, is recorded on the accounts database 40.

The partner educational institution acquirer bank (the entity that captures the transaction information at the point of sale) interrogates all debit card transactions conducted at the point of sale and identifies all loyalty/rewards debit card transactions using the cards' unique BIN number. This identification typically occurs on a daily basis and is captured on a separate file that the acquirer sends electronically directly to the issuer bank. These transactions are flagged as partner card transactions .

All transactions done by debit card cardholders at partner educational institutions , previously flagged are used as input to a system that calculates learning hour right reward based on criteria found in the transaction data.. The output of this system consists of future value that the cardholder can redeem when making future purchases using the debit card only at the partner educational institution or institutions . The value that can be redeemed at the partner institutions is posted on the accounting system and where it is maintained on the account statement processing system .

All transactions done by debit card cardholders at other non-partner institutions like merchants , are used as input to a system that calculates learning hour right reward based on criteria found in the transaction data. The parameters used to calculate the value to be granted to the cardholder from this system can be different from those parameters used to calculate learning hour right rewards to be granted to the cardholder from partner educational institution . The output of this system is also forwarded to the accounting system for posting on the account statement processing system .

From the reward processing system, the accrued value accumulated by the cardholder is forwarded to two sub-systems: one subsystem generates the statement (see block 130 of FIG. 3) and the other subsystem redeems the reward against the purchases (see block 140 of FIG. 3). To provide the cardholder with information about his accumulated and redeemed awards, a statement is produced and is provided to the cardholder. The statement can be sent via mail, displayed on an ATM or other terminal device, electronically mailed to the cardholder or available via the cardholder's PC to be retrieved.

The value to be redeemed for future purchases at the partner education institution is captured in a file. This file includes the following fields: previous rewards earned, reward amounts redeemed, current rewards earned, total reward available for redemption at the partner education institution ; the total reward amount earned since a prior date and an expiration date for the current value in the program accrued to date.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the cardholder transaction information related to the usage of the debit card is analyzed at blocks 55 and 60. Preferably, this step is performed by a general purpose computer at the issuer bank institution operating under the direction and control of appropriate software. Of course, a specific purpose computer, or a combination of hardware, software, firmware, microcomputers, minicomputers, personal computers, etc., either directly combined or connected via a network, telephone line, cable line, direct electrical connection, satellite transmission, the Internet, or other such system, may be employed to practice the invention.

The processing of the cardholder transaction information is depicted at block 60. The information concerning purchases at a preferred partner educational institution ( either partner 1 or 2 ) is analyzed at block 64. The purchases at the preferred partner educational institution ( if partner 1 , it will be either primary or non-primary product or service , if partner 2 , no distinction for nature of product or service is required ) are identified at block 61. If the program calls for a different reward rate for a primary product or service of the preferred partner educational institution (typically higher than the reward for other non-primary products or services from partner 1 or all product or services from partner 2 or non-partner merchants goods ), the purchases of the primary products are identified at block 62. This information is transferred to block 67 at which point the learning hour right reward is calculated.

The purchases at the preferred partner education institution ( either non-primary products or services of partner 1 or all products or services of partner 2 ) are identified at block 63. If the program calls for a different reward rate for a non-primary product or service of the preferred partner educational institution , the purchases of the non-primary products are identified at block 63. This information is transferred to block 67 at which point the learning hour reward is calculated. Of course, in programs where there is no reward distinction among products purchased at the preferred partner educational institution , in order to simplify the processing, all the purchases identified at block 61 may be transferred to block 67 directly for learning hour reward calculation. Purchases made at non-partner merchants for example , are identified at block 65. This information is transferred to block 68 where the appropriate reward is calculated. The reward information from

blocks 67 and 68 are transferred to the rebate balance database69. An account statement is generated at block 70 and transmitted to the cardholder. At this time, the reward for the current period, which had been dormant (i.e., unable to be redeemed) is activated, such that it can be redeemed against future purchases in accord with the rules of the particular card program.

The cardholder transaction information can also be analyzed for various data mining and database marketing purposes useful to the issuer bank institution, the partner education institution or institutions . In particular, balance behavior, product and/or purchase amount behavior, demo-graphic information concerning purchasing patterns and the like can be determined at block 66.

The learning hour rights rewards calculated at blocks 67 and 68 are transferred to block 69, at which point the reward amounts are stored in a rebate database. The program aggregates all of the transactions conducted by all of the cardholders using their debit cards at all institutions into a database. This database can either be a separate file or can be combined with the file maintained by the issuer bank in the normal course of business and that is used as the master source for all accounting functions. The information from the rebate database is used to create an account statement at the end of the period that is sent to the cardholder.

As shown in FIG. 5, which is a flow chart depicting the cardholder transaction flow for a following period after the first period, the cardholder transaction information is collected as discussed above with regard to FIG. 4 for analysis at block 200. The cardholder transaction information is transferred to block 210 and the purchases made at the preferred partner educational institution or institutions are identified at block 211. The purchases of the primary product of the partner educational institution are identified at block 212 while the purchases at the preferred partner education institution or institutions that are of non-primary products are identified at block 213.

With these purchases identified, the system determines at block 214 whether the cardholder has any activated reward amount for prior periods. If so, an award is transferred to the cardholder at block 215 and the cardholder's financial account is credited accordingly. The award is typically the lesser of the total amount of activated reward in the cardholder reward account or the total purchase price of a qualifying purchase. Of course, it may be desirable to provide a user with additional learning hour reward amounts to encourage card usage. After the award has been credited to the financial account, the corresponding amount is debited from the cardholder credit hours rights rewards account at block 216. The system then calculates the learning or credit hours rights rewards for the purchases at the partner at block 217. The newly calculated learning or credit hour rights rewards are stored in the rebate database 232.

If, at block 214, the cardholder did not have any activated learning or credit hours rights reward amounts from the prior period in the reward account, the system then calculates the learning or credit hours rights rewards for the purchases at the partner at block 217. The newly calculated learning or credit hours rights reward amounts are stored in the rebate database 232. Since no learning or credit hours rights rewards amount was available in the cardholder's reward account, there was no award credited to the financial account.

Purchases made at non-partner merchants are identified at block 230. This information is transferred to block 231 where the appropriate reward is calculated. The newly calculated learning or credit hours rewards amounts are stored in the rebate database 232. The learning or credit hours rewards amounts for the purchases made at the preferred partner education institution or institutions and those made at non-partner merchants are summed at block 232.At the end of the period, an account statement is generated at block 233.

FIGS.7A and 7B depict the processing of the system of an aspect of the instant invention both on-line and offline. At block 700, the debit card information and transaction data is captured. This is typically performed at the point of sale at the non-partner merchant or at point of sale of partner education institution or institutions . The cardholder may be given the option of selecting whether to process the transaction as a "debit" transaction or a "credit" transaction, that is. An on-line or an off-line transaction, respectively. If the cardholder selects the online processing (or if this is selected automatically), the user is required to input a personal identification number (PIN) at the point of sale and the transaction data and debit card information is transferred to the transaction database 701. The transaction is reviewed by the issuer bank to determine whether there are sufficient funds in the financial account (or sufficient funds in view of any overdraft protection) and if the PIN number is correct. If not, the transaction is rejected. If so, approval is granted and processing proceeds to block 702.

Certain card programs are subject to transaction handling apart from the rest of the debit card programs handled by the issuer bank . At block 702, the transaction data is sorted, culling out transactions that are subject to special treatment at block 703. The transaction data for the remaining programs, including the debit card program in accord with the instant invention, proceeds to block 704. A transaction summary log is created at block 705. The transaction summary log includes the transaction data formatted for posting and analysis of various features of the data.

The transaction data in the transaction summary log is separated into data to be handled by the savings account processing system of the issuer bank at block 707 and the data to be handled by the checking account processing system of the issuer bank at block 706. The transaction data for the debit card system of the instant invention is preferably handled by the checking system. The separated information is transferred at block 708 for storage on the issuer bank computer at block 709. This stored information related to transactions on the debit card are forwarded to the checking system of the issuer bank at block 710 and formatted into useful form for further analysis. A batch file is created at block 711. Using this batch file, the checking system edits and posts all transactions— updating the various accounts at the issuer bank at block 719.

If the cardholder elects to process the transaction as an off-line transaction at block 700, or if the non-partner merchant or partner education institution or institutions are not equipped to perform on-line transactions, the transaction data is transferred to a credit card processor at block 712. The information is then transferred to the issuer bank at block 713. The issuer bank sorts the transaction data into a useable format at

block 714 which is forwarded at block 715 for verification at block 716. In particular, at block 716, the issuer bank confirms that there are adequate funds in the financial account for the purchase and gives authorization for the purchase. This approval is transferred back to the card processor ate block 712 and the approval notice is transferred to the non-partner merchant or partner education institution or institutions at 700.

After approval is granted, the transaction data is transferred a second time to the card processor at block 712 (this time, for the actual purchase, not just the approval). The card processor transfers the information to the issuer bank at block713, which delivers the information to the transaction database at block 714. The financial account processing system of the issuer bank then forwards the information to the appropriate subsystem within the issuer bank at block 715, in this case, the checking system at the issuer bank .

The transaction data of the actual purchase is matched with the transaction data which had been submitted for approval. If there is no match, the checking system retains the transaction data in a batch file for a selected period of time, such as seven days at block 718. If no match is discovered in that time, it is assumed that the transaction has not been completed. If there is a match at block 717, the checking system updates the accounts at block 719 with the transaction data.

After the accounts have been updated with the transaction data at block 719, the debit card reward processing system calculates the effect of the reward on the cardholder's financial account, as depicted in FIG. 7B. The purchases made with the debit card are identified at block 720. Data concerning all the transactions are sorted at block 721. The unique BIN number ( first 6 digits printed on the bank card of 16 digits , bank identification number BIN ) of the debit card is used to determine which transaction are related to cards other than those associated with the debit card reward program. These transactions are transferred to block 723 and handled elsewhere.

If the transaction is identified as a transaction for a debit card that is associated with the debit card reward program, the reward is calculated at block 725. As discussed above, selected parameters of the transaction data regarding each purchase made by the user are chosen as part of defining the particular program.

Predetermining levels of the selected parameters are established. Information, that is, the transaction data, is captured for each purchase made by the user using the debit card. The captured information is compared to the predetermined levels at block 725 and learning or credit hours rights reward s are calculated based, at least in part, on the comparison of the captured information to the predetermined levels. The calculation at block 725 relates to any reward amount that is uniformly applicable to any purchases made with the card. For example, 10 learning hours rights reward is generated for any purchase made with the card , it would be calculated at block 725. Thus, the selected parameter is any purchase with the debit card and the selected level is zero.

As currently preferred, an additional reward is generated for the purchase of certain goods at certain institutions . Thus, an additional "selected parameter" is type of institution at which transaction is done & type of goods at this institution . The selected level is anything above zero purchases of those goods at those institutions . After calculating the reward for all purchases, purchases that match these criteria ( institution and good type ) are singled out and the additional reward applied. The user's purchases that match " institution and goods type" criteria for the current period are compared to the selected level (in this case, zero) , and assigned reward rate will be applied according to type of institutions and goods . for example all purchases transactions by card will be given 10 learning hours rights rewards (10 LHR) whatever its type ( first parameter at block 25 ) , then additional reward will be applied according to " institutions and goods type " criteria , so if it is payment of main education course enrollment ( primary product or services at partner university ) , the preferred reward rate 1 LHR Π GBP value will be applied , if it is payment of non-core educational course enrollment at partner university ( non-primary products or services at partner university ) , normal reward rate applied 1 LHR / 8 GBP value , if it is purchase of non-partner merchant , normal rate applied 1 LHR / 10 GBP value ( additional parameter ) . A returns of goods of non-partner merchants or de-enrollments in main education courses in one of partner education institution or institutions may have a negative effect on the learning hour reward. After the reward is calculated at block 725, the system determines whether there were returns( de-enrollments ) such that the reward is less than zero at block 746. If the reward is less than zero, this information is transferred to the Affinity Master Update to adjust the learning or credit hours rights rewards amounts stored in that cardholder's reward account. If the reward is greater than (or equal to) zero, the transaction data related to the debit card usage is transferred to block 726. Transaction data from partner education institutions recorded at the point of purchase at block 727 is also transferred to block 726. The transaction data from the issuer bank is matched to the transaction data from partner education institutions to determine whether any purchases were of primary product or service that would be entitled to an additional reward. Currently, debit card on-line processing systems do no record the nature of the goods sold at the point of sale and transfer this data to the issuer bank with the transaction data. Consequently, it is required that the match be performed at block 726 if an additional, products-specific reward is desired. If this information is transferred with the transaction data to the issuer bank, this matching step may not be required.

If there is not a match for a purchase between the issuer bank's transaction data and the partner education institution's transaction data, the processing proceeds to block 728. If the transaction is less then a specified number of days old, such as seven, the unmatched data is stored in an "unmatched rewards" file at block 729. As shown with respect to block 731 , this unmatched transaction data is then sent back to block 726 in an attempt to match any later received partner education institution data.

If the transaction data is greater than a specified number of days old, no reward is calculated for this transaction and the reward process ends at block 730. A report is created at block 732 and the report is sent to the issuer bank and the partner institution for analysis at block 733. The partner institution and the issuer bank then attempt to determine why the transaction went unmatched.

If the transaction data matches at block 726, the additional reward for the matched transactions is calculated at block 734. This information is transferred to the affinity master update file at block 735 and the learning hour reward amounts are calculated.

The system determines whether any reward is available for this cardholder. If not, the system zeros out the reward for that period (so that the user does not get a negative reward for any returns or de-enrollments) at block 740 and updates the affinity master file at block 735.

If a reward is available, the system determines whether any purchases are subject to the reward at block 741. As currently preferred, the reward is redeemable only by purchasing primary product or services at a partner institution . The system determines whether the selected products or services were purchased at block 741. If not, no reward will be applied and the affinity master update file is updated accordingly at block 735. If the selected products or services were purchased during the current period, the amount stored reward applicable to the purchases is posted to the financial account at block 743 and the affinity master update file is update accordingly at block 735. The checking system edits and posts the reward to the financial account at block 745. A report of the learning or credit hours rights rewards earned and used during the current period is generated at block 744 and sent to the partner education institution .

The system generates statements or billing reports on a periodic basis. Currently, it is preferred that the report be generated monthly. At block 736, the system stores cycle codes that automatically indicated that the reports should be generated, such as on the 15^th day of the month, etc. The information required for the report is extracted from the affinity master update file and the transaction database at block 737. The reports are printed at block 738.

We will demonstrate through the following diagrams (figure 6a , 6b , 6c , 6d , 6e , 6f , 6g , 6h ) the reward earning process , accumulation and redemption reflected on the member account interface beside getting a look at member reward account at partner university website .

Referring to figure 3a , we see an example of 1000 GBP card transaction done by the cardholder and its authorization and approval process flow through different intermediaries . when the issuer bank receive actual card purchase information through its loyalty program administration systems which is integrated to banking transactions system , the card transaction information is compared to set of predetermined rules to determine what reward rate will be applied ,

As we see in figure 6a , the bank loyalty program administration system backed by its reward database server which is part of the central reward server located at the issuer bank premises , will be connected to the reward account module embedded in the partner university website ( sometimes called balance checker ) to feed members reward accounts by all their card transactions and its earned rewards . as we see 3 types of card transactions that have 1000 GBP value & its resulted earned rewards that will appear at the member account interface ; 1000 GBP card transaction of primary goods or services done at the partner university , so according to reward earning mechanism predetermined rules saved at reward database server at issuer bank loyalty system , preferred reward rate will be applied ;1 learning hour right / 7 GBP value , so earned rewards resulted from 1000 GBP card transaction will be 143 learning hours rights . if this card transaction done at partner university but of non-primary products or services , so according to reward predetermined rules , the normal reward rate of partner university will be applied ; 1 learning hour right / 8 GBP value , so earned rewards resulted from 1000 GBP card transaction will be 125 learning hours right , if same transaction done by purchasing non-partner merchants goods , so according to predetermined reward rules , normal reward rate of non-partner institutions will be applied ; 1 learning hour right /10 GBP value , so earned rewards resulted from 1000 GBP card transaction will be 100 learning hours rights .

Referring to figure 6b , it shows the learning hours rights rewards accumulation and redemption process showed at the member account interface , According to predetermined reward redemption rules saved at reward database server at bank loyalty system , when the main member accumulate 30 learning hours rights rewards earned through his reward account only or through both his reward account plus his family reward accounts if the family program included in the loyalty program of the co-brand card ( according to family program , the main member can add up to 5 family members accounts to his main reward account so that earned rewards through their accounts can be pooled to his reward account for quicker reward accumulation and redemption ) , it will turn to 1 credit hour right reward , accumulated 60 credit hours rights will turn to full one education year right at any education field at any level ( bachelor , master , doctorate degree ) & accumulated 240 credit hours rights will turn to full 4 year education course ( like 4 year business studies to earn bachelor degree ) .

Referring to figure 6c , it shows the member account web page format which will be accessed through login & password interface at the partner website , it is composed of main icons with bold font , each main icon will have droplet icons with normal font , as we see the first main icon is the profile icon which will have one droplet icon ; My profile , this droplet icon will contain all relevant information about main member account that are previously filled at registration process like personal profile , education profile , work experience profile beside family profile . second main icon is the family accounts will have 5 droplet icons for the 5 family members ( wife , son , daughter , parents of main member ; father & mother for example ) , this family accounts icon will be added after making add family members application through the application center main icon from the part of the main member , after he make the add application , he will receive message in the inbox at message center main icon notifying him of family account main icon addition . third main icon is the rewards accounts which will have 3 droplet icons ; my reward account , family reward accounts & total reward account .

If the main member click on the total reward accounts for example , he will directed to the total reward account web page ( figure 6d ) , this page shows the total reward ending balance which result from adding ending reward balance for both of main member account ( my reward account ) and family reward account , each of these ending reward balance will result from adding these items ( beginning reward balance + earned rewards + buy ) then deducting from it these items ( sell + gift + transfer to another university + redeem for full course + redeem for cash ) , each of these items will have value N and this value is a link , if the main member for example click on beginning balance number or earned rewards number or any item in the row of My rewards account N , L1 , he will be directed to My reward accounts web page ( figure 6e ) , he can reach this page by clicking on my rewards droplet icon at the rewards accounts main icon ( figure 6c) , by clicking on N, L2 , he will be directed to family reward accounts web page ( figure 6f ) , he can reach it also through the family reward accounts droplet icon at rewards accounts main icon ( figure 6c )

Referring to figure 6e & 6f , we will discuss from where it comes each value N at each item at "My reward account ^* and" family reward account " page ;

Beginning reward balance ( main member & family member account ) ; when the main member open his membership account , he will receive welcoming message beside notification message that he have bonus learning or credit hours rights rewards for opening his account , these messages will be received at his inbox at message center ( figure 6c ) , as for the family members accounts , he may or may not receive bonus learning or credit hours rights rewards at account opening because it is suppose that it is given only for main members not linked family members accounts , the family member can get separated in the future and become main member , at that time , he will get his bonus rewards , but some universities ( for example ) can give bonus rewards to family members account at opening for competition reasons .

Buy ( main member only ) : the main member can make " buy rewards " application through the application center ( figure 6c ) , so he will receive notification message in inbox at message center that process is done , this process will have two opposite effects : decreasing cash value at cash account ( droplet icon at assets main icon ) , increasing rewards value at My reward account ( droplet icon at rewards account main icon ) , as for family members accounts , no buy transactions are authorized for them as they are linked account not main account .

Sell ( main members only ) ; same application & messaging mechanism , two opposite effects ; cash value increase at cash account ( Assets ) , rewards value decrease at My rewards account ( rewards account ) , no sell transactions are authorized to family members accounts

Redeem for cash ( main members only ) : same application & messaging mechanism , two opposite effects ; cash value increase ( cash account at assets ) , rewards value decrease ( My rewards droplet at rewards accounts main icon ) .

Redeem for full course ( main members only ) :same application and messaging mechanism , two opposite effects ; rewards value decrease ( My rewards accounts droplet icon at rewards accounts main icon ) , and increase in full education course right certificate account ( Assets main icon contain two droplet icons ; cash account , full education course right certificate account ) , so this certificate represents an official e-document that gives its holder the right for full education course at that partner university , for example accumulated 240 credit hours rights redeemed for full 4-year education course right certificate .

Gift ( main member only ): if for example the main member Gift or transfer his accumulated credit hours rights to another main member ( for example one of his family member accounts ( his son ) get separated from his main account , so he become ( son account ) main member and the father account ( first main member ) gift his accumulated credit hours rights to his account so as to enable him to gain full education course right ) , it will be same application and messaging mechanism , two effects ; decrease rewards at first main member account ( transferor), increase rewards at second main member account ( transferee) .

Transfer to another university : this feature enable the main member to redeem his accumulated credit hours rights to gain full education course at another university other than the partner university at co-brand bank card loyalty program or the first university who give him promise to full education course right in case of accumulating required credit hours rights , this process will be facilitated by organized mechanism called credit hours rights / cash settlement network system ( refer to ending paragraph , refer to figure ) , same application and messaging mechanism , two effects : decrease rewards value at reward account of the main member at transferor university , increase rewards value at rewards account of main member at transferee university .

Earned rewards ( main member , family member ): if the main member click on Earned rewards value N , L3 at figure 6e( My reward account page ) , N ,L4 at figure 6f ( family reward account page ) , he will be directed to figure 6g , 6h respectively .

Transactions : there are two web pages , figure 6g , 6h , it shows the card transactions details ( description D , date DT , time T , location L , amount N , transaction category D ) and its resulted earned rewards details ( reward rate type D , R , Earned rewards N , total earned rewards N ) , the earned rewards will be calculated by determining transaction category ( non-partner merchant goods or primary product or services of partner university or non-primary product or services of partner university ) and then apply the reward rate type ratio D , R of this transaction category for the transaction amount N ( as we said before , preferred reward rate ( partner university ) , normal reward rate ( partner university ) , normal reward rate ( non-partner institutions ) ) . if we add all earned rewards of each transaction , we will get total earned rewards N either for figure 6g "my transactions " page or figure 6h "family transaction page " , so these values will be reflected on earned rewards item at figure 6e , 6f .

Message center : will contain two droplet icons ; inbox & out box , the member will receive following messages ; welcoming messages , bonus rewards for account opening , bonus rewards for earlier deadline registration for course , bonus rewards for referral of any person for course enrollment , learning to credit hours rights conversion alert message , membership account user manual link , loyalty program INFO & FAQS link , contact information link .notification of buy/sell/redeem/gift/transfer application process ..etc ) , outbox for sending any info request .

Contact : it will include needed phone numbers and addresses; hot line number , co-brand bank card loyalty program coordinator number , technical support desk number , university main and branch offices numbers and addresses .

Settings : for editing any of account information , account view customization ..etc.

After we explain the authorization of card transaction information whether offline or online from merchant or acquirer bank to the issuer bank , approval process from issuer bank to merchant bank , learning hours rights rewards earning , accumulation & redemption process , loyalty program member account web page format at partner education institution ( partner university ), we will turn to last phases which are clearing & financial settlement of the card transaction then explaining profit share ( interchange fees ) agreement framework .

At clearing process , the merchant bank send the purchase information to the electronic payment network( visa or mastercard ) which receive it , and the clearing system of it validates information and approve sending the purchase information to cardholder bank or issuer bank which prepare data for cardholder statement , the electronic payment network provides also comprehensive reconciliation to both the merchant bank and the issuer bank ( Clearing process details not shown in figure 8a for simplicity reasons) .

At financial settlement process , the merchant bank sends the clearing data to the interchange network which calculates net settlement position of each member bank ( it is to be supposed that the issuer bank and the merchant bank are both members of the same electronic payment network ) and send advisement to both members banks , then it make transfer funds order to its settlement bank or clearing bank which facilitates the exchange of funds between the member banks through the automated clearing house system of the central bank of the country in which card transaction initiated ( England central bank , federal reserve system at USA , for example ) , the merchant bank then pays the merchant for cardholder purchase , and the issuer bank bills cardholder for purchases . ( Financial settlement process details not shown in figure 8a for simplicity reasons) ,

As we see In figure 8a , the simple financial settlement process of the 1000 GBP card transaction initiated by the cardholder at either non-partner merchant or partner university Pos terminal , the issuer bank deducts the value of card transaction 1000 GBP from cardholder bank account , then sends it to merchant / Acquirer bank of the non-partner merchant / partner university through facilitation of the interchange network after deduction of its interchange fees ( average 2 % , 20 GBP , goes to issuer bank as revenue ) , small assessment fees also deducted ( goes to visa or master card company as revenue , not shown in diagram , we will assume this fee as zero for simplicity reason ) beside the acquirer / merchant bank take its processing fees ( goes to merchant or acquirer bank as revenue , shown in diagram as 0.5 % of 1000 GBP transaction value , 5 GBP ) , so the merchant/acquirer bank add the remaining card transaction proceeds after deduction of the three fees ; interchange fees , assessment fees and merchant or acquirer processing fees , all of these fees composed one bulk fees called merchant discount fees , to the non-partner merchant / partner university bank Account ( 1000- 20 -0- 5= 975GBP) .

Profit share scheme agreement ( interchange fees )

Referring to figure 8b , the issuer bank will make profit share agreement with the partner education institution or each one of several partners education institutions participating at this loyalty program to share a specified percentage of interchange fees ( profit share agreement , 75%/25% ) that issuer bank get for every purchase transaction done by the cardholders using the co-brand card whether at non-partner merchants or one of the partners in this program , so as we see here for the 1000 GBP card transaction ( figure Ba ) , the interchange fees ( 20 GBP) will be shared between the issuer bank and partner university according to agreed profit share agreement percentage , 75% to issuer bank and 25% to partner university , so 5 GBP amount will go to the partner university and the issuer bank will keep the remaining amount 15 GBP , the profit share agreement will be applied even if the commercial institution at which the card transaction happened was the same partner education institution ( partner university ) who will receive his profit share cut , it will be done as follows : issuer bank will deduct 20 GBP from 1000 GBP , 975 GBP will go to partner university after merchant /acquirer processing fees deduction 5 GBP & according to profit agreement , the issuer bank will give 5 GBP to same partner university , keep the 15 GBP , so at end , partner university will have ( 975 + 5 = 980 GBP) .

Referring again to figure 8b , we show the profit share agreement concept for just one card transaction , but actually this process will happen as batch transactions not just one transaction , profit share agreement effecting mechanism as follows : there will be web application ( like website but with extra security features ) set up by the issuer bank and connected to loyalty program administration system servers at the issuer bank , this web application will contain different modules that will serve needs for both the issuer bank and the partners education institutions for online administration and reporting beside marketing analysis , so both will have access to the web application through login and password interface , web application will include 3 modules effecting the profit share agreement mechanism ; reporting module , billing module & electronic fund transfer module .As for reporting module , it will include card transaction details ( description , date , time , location name , Location I.D ( merchant I.D , partner university I.D ) , pos terminal I.D , amount , purchased products or services category ) and profit share agreement relevant details ( resulted interchange fees from these transactions , applied profit share agreement percentage 75%/25% , , issuer bank share , partner university share respectively ) , As for billing module , it will generate batch transactions invoices ( monthly for example )that will be sent from partner university to issuer bank and it will includes all aforementioned details at reporting module , finally the electronic fund transfer module for making batch electronic fund transfer for the profit share (monthly for example ) from issuer bank to the partner university in response to the batch monthly invoice . We will display some frequently asked questions crossing minds about this invention :Q1 if the credit hours rights loyalty program depends upon purchasing behavior induced by long-tern saving concept ( as we said before at introduction section ) , I will not spend more by the card for the sake of that loyalty program and keep that money ( extra or induced spent money by card) at bank and get interest on it ,Q2 I think bank card with cash back rewards program is better than this invention ,Q3 I am secondary school student , if I did not get the required GPA to enter the study field I want in that partner university after I accumulated the required credit hours rights for that study field course or that partner university is closed for any reason ( insolvency or for any regulatory reasons like taxes evasion if any ..etc) Q4 I worked in a job at company in California , USA , I got better job offer at New york city , so I transfer to this city to live in , My accumulated credit hours rights at that loyalty program will be redeemed for education course at that partner university that is located at California state and it does not have branch at New York city.

All aforementioned FAQS will be answered in order as follows : A1 you can still gain learning hours rewards with the daily normal spending level by card and still also keep money ( induced or extra spending money ) at bank and get interest on it , but this loyalty program will take account of opportunity cost ( interest rate ) through increasing its reward rates yearly ( preferred reward rate , normal reward rate for partner university , normal reward rate for non-partner merchants ) .A2 the cash back reward resulted from using bank card with this reward scheme will be used to repay part of credit limit if it is credit card or it will be can deposited in cardholder bank account where can take interest on it , as for the learning hours loyalty program , it will provide different reward features to be competitive to other reward card programs like increasing reward rates yearly , bonus rewards for membership account opening , for earlier deadlines enrollment in any education courses at partner university , bonus rewards for referral of any person enrolling in any course at partner university , family reward program which will add family members accounts to main member account and pooling their earned rewards at main member reward account .A3 , A4 As we see in member reward account web page format at figure 6d,6e,6f , these problem will be resolved by using redeem rewards for cash option or transfer rewards to another university option .

As for the latter option , which is transferring accumulated credit hours rights from partner university to either other partner university if there are more than one university participating at the loyalty program of the co- brand card or to other university in any place in the world through applying organized mechanism called universities credit hours rights /cash settlement network ( figure 9 ) .

Referring to figure 9 , This is hypothesized diagram which shows the credit hours rights transfer process flow from the partner university to other university in any place in the world , it begins when the main member choose to transfer his accumulated credit hours to the other university by making " transfer to another university^* application at the application center and receiving notification message at inbox at message center that process is done ( figure 6c ) , this will be reflected on the main member reward account page by putting negative value N in the ^* transfer to another university " item ( figure 6d , 6e ) , so ending reward balance will decrease .

Referring again to figure 9 , the aforementioned network will have several participants and its structure will be as follows :every participating university .either Assignor or Assignee , in this network will link its relevant systems to its supervisor educational regulatory body and its Acquirer bank systems , regulatory education bodies will link their relevant systems to Acquirer banks systems , every Acquirer bank of each university will link its relevant systems to the network operator system of credit hours rights /cash settlement process .

Definitions and functions of network participant institutions :

Network operator : it is commercial institution that will organize and facilitate the credit hours rights /cash settlement process between the "Assignor university^* and the Assignee university " , Each of these university will be supervised by " education regulatory body" and it will have its bank " Acquirer bank " , All aforementioned institutions will be members at the network operator institution and thus will have membership I.Ds to be known on the network system . visa or mastercard company can play this role .

Assignor university : ; the university that will transfer its obligations or liabilities in the form " credit hours rights " and its rights or assets ^* accumulated cash from profit share agreement or interchange fees share agreement ^* to the Assignee university . Assignor university will be member of the network operator and thus will have membership I.D and will pay member fees .

Assignee university : the university that will receive the transferred credit hours obligations from the Assignor university , In return for this obligation ; obligation of credit hours rights from the Assignor university toward the loyalty program member who posses this credit hours rights , the assignee university will receive the Assets cash ( cash resulted from profit share agreement ) that was belonging to the Assignor university . Assignee universities will be member at the network operator and thus it will have membership I.D and will pay member fees .

Acquirer bank : the bank at which the university open account in it and who will process aforementioned transactions ( transfer credit hours rights /cash from Assignor university to Assignee university or vice versa ) , and it will be member at the network operator and thus it will have membership I.D and will pay member fees.

Education regulatory body : it will approve and supervise the aforementioned process ( credit hours rights /cash transfer ) and it will guarantee that every university will fulfill its credit hours obligations toward cardholders , Also it will have membership I.D and will pay member fees . Relevant systems : it means computer systems of each participant institution that will be relevant to the credit hours rights /cash settlement process .

Credit hours standardization process : As every country have its specified credit hours system to quantify learning process and even every university inside this country can have different organization of this credit hours system , by this way the aforementioned process will be complicated unless all credit hours units from different universities of different countries will be subjected to " standardization process " . for example cardholder accumulate 120 credit hours rights at university x , business course at university x in country x will require 120 credit hours , the same business course at university z in country z will require 120 credit hours , after credit hours standardization process at network operator , the cardholder can get equivalent 100 credit hours rights at university ( lesser credit hours units ) or he can get equivalent 140 credit hours rights at university z ( more units )or he can get equivalent 120 credit hours rights at university z , this will depends upon different factors at each university : what are the learning objectives of that education course ? how much workloads allocated to that course ? one credit hour equal how much learning or working hours ? are there credit hours given to examination or mandatory work placement like internship or apprenticeship in each course ?.all these factors will become database at network operator database servers that will be used as parameters in the credit hours standardization process beside other database like profile about each member in the network operator ( universities , regulatory educational bodies , acquirer banks ) .

Referring again to figure 9 , the transfer process to be completed ; it must be approved by the receiving university " assignee university ^* .approved by the education regulatory bodies of both the assignor and assignee university , credit hours standardization process applied at network operator , so the university will send authorization message of the cardholder transfer application to its regulatory educational body , if there are no regulatory barriers to this process , it will be sent through the acquirer bank of assignor university , network operator , acquirer bank of assignee university , regulatory body of assignee university , also if there are no regulatory barriers , it will then be sent to the Assignee university , if it is approved , the approval message will be sent back to the assignor university , after that , the actual credit hours rights / cash transfer process will be initiated by the assignor university which will be checked again by the education regulatory body to be ascertained that actual process done as stipulated in authorization and approval message , then forwarded to Assignor university acquirer bank which will check 3 things : regulatory approvals , cash available at university account to be transferred , credit hours rights rewards transfer file , if all things is ok ,it will be sent to the network operator who will apply the " credit hours standardization" process , then facilitate transfer process file including the resulted equivalent credit hours rights units ( after standardization) to the Acquirer bank of assignee university who will check cash transfer from the acquirer bank of assignor university and process the standardized credit hours rights file transfer to the assignee university after its educational regulatory body check . Also the Education regulatory body which supervise the assignor university , will be informed of the resulted credit hours rights after standardization process by Assignor university Acquirer bank who will be informed by the network operator . As we said before , the co-brand card loyalty program will be sponsored by the issuer bank and one partner

education institution or more than one partner education institution or network of education institutions , so this network can be the universities network operator that will make " credit hours rights /cash settlement " process ( figure 9) , the network operator can be new company established by the electronic payment network companies like visa , master card ..etc , this network operator company will have logo , so as we see in figure 2 , the co-brand card will contain the logos of : issuer bank , universities network operator company , electronic debit or credit networks ( visa , mastercard ) .

The present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiments of the invention, which are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation. It will be appreciated that modifications, variations, and features within the scope of the invention, given the benefit of the disclosure, will occur to one of ordinary skill in the art .

References

ECTS users guide - European commission http://ec.europa.eu/education/tools/docs/ects-guide en.pdf

System and method of operating debit card reward program http://www.google.com/patents/US7392224

Anatomy of a transaction - mastercard

http://blog.unibulmerchantse rvices.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/How-lv1asterCa rd-Processes-74B-Transa ctions-a-Year-l.jpg Loyalty group http://www.lovaltygroup.nl/onlinesvstem en.html

Credit hour -Interchange fees Hypes of bankcards - pos systems -bank card number-EMV (cards)-chip and pin-contactless payment - magnetic stripe card-smart card-Education http://en.wikipedia.org

Drawings reference

Figure 1,2,3,4,5,7a,7b : System and method of operating debit card reward program http://www.google.com/patents/US7392224

Claims

1- A computer implemented method of a loyalty program , the method comprising :

The loyalty program provides rewards in the form of education loyalty currencies called learning hours rights given by an education institution or institutions to an eligible person when he make specific purchases or spend specific amount of money by any means of payment at an institution whether commercial institution or non commercial institution including the education institution or the education institutions , these learning hours rights will be accumulated to bigger education loyalty currencies called credit hours rights which will be accumulated by turn to bigger rewards form called education course right , this education course right will be redeemed by the eligible person when taking education course at that education institution or those education institutions

That loyalty program will be defined and sponsored by one or more than one institution whether commercial institution or non commercial institution , at least the education institution or the education institutions must be included in that matter .

2- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the learning hours rights can comprise other names like working hours rights , or any other names that provide same meaning and function .

3- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the credit hours rights can comprise any other names that provide same meaning and function .

4- the method according to claim 1 , wherein the learning hours rights comprise abbreviation as LHR and credit hours rights comprise abbreviation as CHR .

5- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the commercial institution comprises commercial Bank, profit seeking education institution , hypermarket , gas station , investment bank , insurance company , mortgage company , real estate company .

6- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the non commercial institution comprises charity , non profit seeking education institution .

7- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least the education institution or institutions comprise one education institution or more than one education institution or education institutions network .

8- The method according to claim 7 , wherein the education institution comprises university , faculty , research center , school , professional education certificates center .

9- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the education course comprises main education course like bachelor , master or doctorate degree level study in business or mini education course like business basic principles . 10- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the eligible person comprises any member in the loyalty program sponsored by the at least one education institution , or an education institution and other institution whether the commercial or the non commercial institution .

11- The method according to claim 1 , wherein by any means of payment comprises cash , check , wire transfer , co brand debit bank card payment at pos , co brand credit card payment at internet pos , mobile payment using near field technology .

12- The method according to claim 1 , wherein the loyalty program , defined and sponsored by more than one institution whether the commercial or the non commercial institution and the at least one education institution included in that matter , can be effected including the way of co brand agreement .

13- The method according to claim 12 , wherein the co brand agreement of the loyalty program comprise one between a bank and the at least one education institution .

14- The method according to claim 13 , claim 7 , wherein the bank can be named by many names including issuing bank and the education institution or more than one education institution or the education institutions network can be named by many names including partner institution or partners education institutions or partner education institutions network respectively , and any institution other than the partner or the partners education institutions or the partner education institutions network will be named by many names including non partner institution ,

wherein the eligible person comprising any member in the loyalty program of the co brand agreement who will earn the learning hours rights when he make specific purchases by any means of payment comprising the co brand bank card at the partner education institution or on the partners education institutions or one of education institutions which are members in the partner education institutions network or at the non partner institution , these learning hours rights will be accumulated to the credit hours rights which in turn will be accumulated to the education course right , this education course right will be redeemed by the co brand loyalty program member when he take education course at the partner or partners education institutions or one of the member education institutions in the partner education institutions network ,

In return for the education loyalty currencies comprising learning hours rights , credit hours rights given by the partner or partners education institutions or one of member education institutions in the partner education institutions network , the issuing bank will share predetermined part of the profits , according to profit share agreement between the issuing bank and the partner education institution or the partners education institutions or the partner education institutions network , generated by every transaction done by the co band bank card used by co brand loyalty program member at the partner education institution or partners education institutions or one of the member education institutions in the partner education institutions network or the non partner institution . The process of the aforementioned method will be as follows :

The person subscribing at the co brand loyalty program sponsored between the issuing bank and the partner education institution or the partners education institutions or the partner education institutions network , will go through phases comprising the exact order , registration and getting membership account and I.D , opening bank account and getting co- brand bank card and attaching the membership account I.D to it , purchasing at pos terminals of partner or non partner institutions and earning the learning hours rights , Accumulating learning hours rights to credit hours rights and credit hours rights to education course right , redeeming education course right for education course from the partner education institution or partners education institutions or one of members in the partner education institutions network .

The aforementioned opened bank account comprise any type of bank account and the aforementioned co brand bank comprise any type of bank card .

The aforementioned profit share agreement between the issuing bank and the partner education institution will be effected through the following process :

the issuing bank and the partner education institution will get periodic reports of details of the transactions done by the co brand bank card holders , earned learning hours rights , profits generated from such transactions to the issuing bank and the issuing bank and the partner education institution share of such profits according to the profit share agreement ,

After that , the partner education institution will send periodic batch invoices of entitled profits to the issuing bank which by turn will send the cash to the partner education institution bank account .

the aforementioned periodic batch invoices comprise weekly , monthly , semi annually or annually batch invoices .

15- The method according to claim 14 , wherein the co brand bank card can have designs including the following :

issuing bank name and logo at the upper left corner , partner education institution or partner s education institutions or partner education institutions network name and logo at the upper right corner , and the electronic payment network company name and logo will be in the right lower corner .

16- The Method according to claim 14 , wherein the co brand loyalty program member use the co brand bank card to make specific purchases at partner education institution comprising enrollment in main education course which will have categorization comprising primary product or service of partner education institution , enrollment in mini education courses , paying dormitory rooms rent fees , parking plots fees , cafeteria meals fees at the partner education institution campus , can have categorization comprising non primary products or services , and purchases of goods or services at non partner institutions can have categorization comprising goods .

17- The Method according to claim 14 and 16 , wherein the partner education institution or partners education institutions or one of the members in the partner education institution network , will give preferential learning hours rights earning rates for purchasing its primary products or services , less preferential learning hours rights earning rates for its non primary products or services and normal learning hours rights earning rates for purchases of goods of non partner institutions .

18- The Method according to claim 14 , wherein the co brand loyalty program member needs education course right in order to redeem it for education course , which requires

accumulating specific number of credit hours rights and ever y credit hour right by turn requires accumulating specific number of learning hours rights .

19- The method according to claim 14 , 15 ,16 , 17 and 18 , wherein all of which are determined and specified in the loyalty program by the issuing bank and the partner education institution or partners education institutions or partner education institutions network .

20- The Method according to claim 14 , wherein the profits are the interchange fees and the profit share agreement are the interchange fees share agreement .

21 -The method according to claim 14 , wherein the partner education institutions network will be in the form of company established by an interchange or electronic payment network company , its main function comprise facilitating credit hours rights liabilities and cash asset settlement process between member education institutions where it begins when the credit hours rights owner request transferring them from one member education institution in the network to another , the partner education institutions network company will play the role of network operator .

22- The method according to claim 21 , wherein the credit hours rights liabilities and cash asset settlement process will be facilitated through different intermediaries :

assignor education institution , assignee education institution , Acquirer banks of Assignor and assignee education institutions , education regulatory bodies of assignor and assignee education institutions and the network operator , these different intermediaries will form the network , the network structure will be as follows :

Every member education institution whether Assignor or assignee will link its relevant systems to its supervisor education regulatory body and its acquirer bank relevant systems , the education regulatory bodies will link their relevant systems to Acquirer bank relevant systems , every Acquirer bank of each education institution will link its relevant systems to the network operator relevant system .

23- The Method according to claim 22 , wherein the network operator will facilitate and organize the credit hours rights liabilities and cash assets settlement process between the assignor education institution and the assignee education institution .

24- The Method according to claim 23 , wherein the credit hours rights liabilities comprise the co brand loyalty program member entitlement to the credit hours rights at the assignor education institution , which is considered obligation or liability upon the assignor education institution toward him or her .

25- The method according to claim 23 , wherein the cash assets comprise cash inflows resulted from interchange fees taken by the assignor education institution according to the interchange fees share agreement .

26 - The Method according to claim 22 , wherein the assignor education institution is the education institution from which the credit hours rights obligations and cash assets will be transferred to the assignee education institution , it is a member in the network and thus has membership I.D and pay membership fees .

27 - The Method according to claim 22 ,wherein the assignee education institution is the education institution to which credit hours rights obligations and cash assets will be transferred from the assignor education institution , it is a member in the network and thus has membership I.D and pay membership fees .

28 - The Method according to claim 22 , wherein the Assignor Acquirer bank is the bank at which the assignor education institution opens account in it , who will process the credit hours rights and cash assets transfer from assignor to assignee education institution , it is a member in the network and thus has membership I.D and pay membership fees .

29- The Method according to claim 22 , wherein the Assignee Acquirer bank is the bank at which the assignee education institution opens account in it , who will process the credit hours rights and cash assets transfer from assignee to assignor education institution , it is a member in the network and thus has membership I.D and pay membership fees .

30 -The method according to claim 22 , wherein the education regulatory body is the organization which will approve and supervise the credit hours rights and cash assets transfer process , will guarantee that every member education institution in the network operator will fulfill its credit hours rights obligations toward its owners , it is a member in the network and thus has membership I.D and pay membership fees . 31- The method according to claim 22 , wherein the relevant systems refer to computer systems of each member in the network that will be relevant to the credit hours rights and cash assets settlement process .

32- The method according to claim 22 , wherein the credit hours rights and cash settlement process will be as follows :

the transfer process to be completed , it must be approved by the assignee education institution approved by the education regulatory bodies of both the assignor and assignee education institutions , credit hours standardization process applied at network operator , so the Assignor education institution will send authorization message of the co brand loyalty program member and owner of credit hours rights transfer application to its education regulatory body , if there are no regulatory barriers to this process , it will be sent through the acquirer bank of assignor education institution , network operator , acquirer bank of assignee education institution , regulatory body of assignee education institution , also if there are no regulatory barriers , it will then be sent to the Assignee education institution , if it is approved , the approval message will be sent back to the assignor education institution ,

After that , the actual credit hours rights liabilities and cash asset transfer process will be initiated by the assignor education institution which will be checked again by the education regulatory body to be ascertained that actual process done as stipulated in authorization and approval message , then forwarded to the Assignor education institution acquirer bank which will check 3 things : regulatory approvals , cash available at assignor education institution bank account to be transferred , credit hours rights rewards transfer file , if all things is ok ,it will be sent to the network operator who will apply the " credit hours rights standardization" process , then facilitate transfer process file including the resulted equivalent credit hours rights units ( after standardization) to the Acquirer bank of assignee education institution who will check cash transfer from the acquirer bank of assignor education institution and process the standardized credit hours rights file transfer to the assignee education institution after its educational regulatory body check . Also the Education regulatory body which supervise the assignor education institution , will be informed of the resulted credit hours rights after standardization process by Assignor education institution Acquirer bank who will be informed by the network operator .

33- The Method according to claim 32 , wherein the credit hours rights standardization process comprise turning all credit hours rights units from different education institutions of different countries into standardized credit hours rights units for facilitating the credit hours rights liabilities and cash asset settlement process due to the different credit hours systems applied throughout the world which translated to different credit hours rights units .

34 - The Method according to claim 33 , wherein the credit hours rights standardization process will depends upon different factors at each education institution : what are the learning objectives of that education course ? how much workloads allocated to that course ? one credit hour equal how much learning or working hours ? are there credit hours given to examination or mandatory work placement like internship or apprenticeship in each course ? ,

35- The Method according to claim 34 , wherein aforementioned factors will be translated into database at network operator database servers that will be used as parameters in the credit hours rights standardization process beside other database like profile about each member in the network that is , assignor and assignee education institutions , education regulatory bodies , acquirer banks .

36 - A computer-implemented system of a loyalty program , the system comprising :

-At least one computer processor coupled to at least one storage medium , the at least one computer processor will be adapted to perform the following :

-Registration and getting membership account and ID , Earning the learning hours rights when purchasing at pos terminals of partner or non partner institutions , Accumulating learning and credit hours rights to education course right , redeeming education course right for education course from partner or partners education institutions or one of members in the education institutions network partner , feeding the co brand loyalty program members accounts interfaces by their transactions and education loyalty currencies ( Learning hours rights, credit hours rights ) details information .

-Effecting the profit share agreement between the issuing bank and the partner education institution through the following process :

the issuing bank and the partner education institutions will get periodic reports of details of the transactions done by the co brand bank card holders , earned learning hours rights , profits generated from such transactions to the issuing bank and the issuing bank and partner education institution share of such profits according to the profit share agreement ,