Method and apparatus for merchant search and offer presentation

1. A system comprising:

a processor;

a communication device coupled to the processor, the communication device in communication with a network; and

a medium storing instructions adapted to be executed by the processor to:

receive a search request from a user transmitted over said network;

determine at least one of a location of the user and a desired search location of the user;

determine a plurality of segments into which the user may be grouped, the plurality of segments being defined based on aggregated historical payment transaction data processed by a payment network for a plurality of users;

determine a search response based on: a user profile of the user, the aggregated historical payment transaction data defining the plurality of segments into which the user is grouped, and the at least one of a location of the user and a desired location of the user, wherein said user profile: is created based on data associated with a plurality of payment transactions previously conducted by the user and groups the user into at least one of the plurality of segments; and

send the search response, over said network, to a mobile device associated with the user.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said search response includes information identifying at least a first merchant matching the search request and at least one offer.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said plurality of payment transactions are transactions using a payment account associated with said user and registered in said system.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein said data associated with said plurality of payment transactions include data identifying a date of each transaction, a merchant category associated with each transaction, and an amount of each transaction.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said user profile includes at least one purchase characteristic identifier associated with said user.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein said at least one purchase characteristic identifier is selected from a plurality of purchase characteristic identifiers characterizing a purchasing profile of said user.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein said purchasing profile of said user is derived from data identifying a plurality of historical transactions entered into by said user using a payment account.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein said user profile further includes preference data selected by said user.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein said preference data includes at least one of a location preference and a merchant category preference.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user profile comprises at least one of a category preference, information identifying user browsing habits, a location preference, and a saved search.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the determining a location of the user comprises at least one of:

locating a latitude and longitude of the mobile device associated with the user by a global positioning system; and

receiving location preference record associated with said user.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the determining a response comprises:

determining at least one merchant located within a predefined radius of the at least one of a location of the user and a desired search location of the user.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein sending the response comprises:

sending a response to a client application of said mobile device.

14. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from said mobile device, a request for an offer code; and

transmitting, to said mobile device, the offer code.

15. A method comprising:

receiving a search request from a user transmitted over a network;

determining at least one of a location of the user and a desired search location of the user;

determining a plurality of segments into which the user may be grouped, the plurality of segments being defined based on aggregated historical payment transaction data processed by a payment network for a plurality of users;

determining a search response based on: a user profile of the user, the aggregated historical payment transaction data defining the plurality of segments into which the user is grouped, and the at least one of a location of the user and a desired search location of the user, wherein said user profile: is created based on data associated with a plurality of payment transactions previously conducted by the user and groups the user into at least one of the plurality of segments; and

sending the search response, over said network, to a mobile device associated with the user.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said search response includes information identifying at least a first merchant matching the search request and at least one offer.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein said plurality of payment transactions are transactions using a payment account associated with said user.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein said user profile includes at least one purchase characteristic identifier associated with said user, wherein said at least one purchase characteristic identifier is selected from a plurality of purchase characteristic identifiers characterizing a purchasing profile of said user.