Merchant and customer interaction system using short message service for customer rewards

1. A method for merchants to provide rewards to consumers using short message service (SMS), comprising:

receiving in a computer based mobile customer interaction (MCI) system a reward message and a qualifying threshold from the merchant;

receiving in the MCI system a text message from a phone of a consumer;

determining by the MCI system whether the text message contains a reward keyword and whether the text message contains a reward code;

responsive to the text message containing the reward keyword and containing the reward code, determining by the MCI system whether the text message is a qualifying message;

responsive to the text message being a qualifying message, incrementing by the MCI system a qualifying number and determining whether the qualifying number is equal to or greater than the qualifying threshold; and

responsive to the qualifying number being equal to or greater than the qualifying threshold, sending by the MCI system a text message to the consumer containing the reward message.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reward keyword is a predetermined keyword for signaling a referral, and wherein the reward code is a referred phone number, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

sending by the MCI system a text message containing a first referred text message to the referred phone number, the first referred text message containing instructions for claiming a reward; and

determining by the MCI system whether the referred phone number claims the reward.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the contents of the first referred text message are received in the MCI system from the merchant.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

responsive to the referred phone number not claiming the reward and responsive to a total number of phone numbers referred by the consumer being greater than a rejected referral threshold, blocking by the MCI system further referrals from the consumer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reward keyword is a brand text keyword associated with the merchant, and wherein a merchant code is a unique code known to the merchant, and wherein the merchant code is provided to the customer by the merchant when the customer performs a business transaction with the merchant, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

determining by the MCI system whether the reward code matches the merchant code.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

generating by the MCI system a random unique merchant code for the merchant each business day; and

sending by the MCI system a text message to the merchant each business day, the text message containing the new unique merchant code.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the text message contains a time of transaction, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

determining by the MCI system whether a previous text message has already been received containing the same reward code and same time of transaction.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the reward keyword, reward code, and time of transaction are printed on a receipt provided by the merchant to the consumer.

9. A computer readable medium storing instructions thereon that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform a method for merchants to provide rewards to consumers using short message service (SMS), the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a reward message and a qualifying threshold from the merchant;

receiving a text message from a phone of a consumer;

determining whether the text message contains a reward keyword and whether the text message contains a reward code;

responsive to the text message containing the reward keyword and containing the reward code, determining whether the text message is a qualifying message;

responsive to the text message being a qualifying message, incrementing a qualifying number and determine whether the qualifying number is equal to or greater than the qualifying threshold; and

responsive to the qualifying number being equal to or greater than the qualifying threshold, sending a text message to the consumer containing the reward message.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the reward keyword is a predetermined keyword for signaling a referral, and wherein the reward code is a referred phone number, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

sending a text message containing a first referred text message to the referred phone number, the first referred text message containing instructions for claiming a reward; and

determining whether the referred phone number claims the reward.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the contents of the first referred text message are received from the merchant.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:

responsive to the referred phone number not claiming the reward and responsive to a total number of phone numbers referred by the consumer being greater than a rejected referral threshold, blocking further referrals from the consumer.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the reward keyword is a brand text keyword associated with the merchant, and wherein a merchant code is a unique code known to the merchant, and wherein the merchant code is provided to the customer by the merchant when the customer performs a business transaction with the merchant, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

determining whether the reward code matches the merchant code.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising

generating a random unique merchant code for the merchant each business day; and

sending a text message to the merchant each business day, the text message containing the new unique merchant code.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the text message contains a time of transaction, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

determining whether a previous text message has already been received containing the same reward code and same time of transaction.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the reward keyword, reward code, and time of transaction are printed on a receipt provided by the merchant to the consumer.

17. A computer system for merchants to provide rewards to consumers using short message service (SMS), the computer system comprising:

a memory;

a computer program, stored in said memory, that when executed by the computer system enables the functioning of:

a module for receiving a reward message and a qualifying threshold from the merchant;

a module for receiving a text message from a phone of a consumer;

a module for determining whether the text message contains a reward keyword and whether the text message contains a reward code;

a module for, responsive to the text message containing the reward keyword and containing the reward code, determining whether the text message is a qualifying message;

a module for, responsive to the text message being a qualifying message, incrementing a qualifying number and determining whether the qualifying number is equal to or greater than the qualifying threshold; and

a module for, responsive to the qualifying number being equal to or greater than the qualifying threshold, sending a text message to the consumer containing the reward message.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the reward keyword is a predetermined keyword for signaling a referral, and wherein the reward code is a referred phone number, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

a text message containing a first referred text message sent to the referred phone number, the first referred text message containing instructions for claiming a reward; and

a module for determining whether the referred phone number claims the reward.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the contents of the first referred text message are received from the merchant.

20. The system of claim 18 , further comprising:

a module for, responsive to the referred phone number not claiming the reward and responsive to a total number of phone numbers referred by the consumer being greater than a rejected referral threshold, blocking further referrals from the consumer.

21. The system of claim 17 , wherein the reward keyword is a brand text keyword associated with the merchant, and wherein a merchant code is a unique code known to the merchant, and wherein the merchant code is provided to the customer by the merchant when the customer performs a business transaction with the merchant, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

a module for determining whether the reward code matches the merchant code.

22. The system of claim 21 , further comprising:

a module for generating a random unique merchant code for the merchant each business day; and

a module for sending a text message to the merchant each business day, the text message containing the new unique merchant code.

23. The system of claim 21 , wherein the text message contains a time of transaction, and wherein determining whether the text message is a qualifying message further comprises:

a module for determining whether a previous text message has already been received containing the same reward code and same time of transaction.

24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the reward keyword, reward code, and time of transaction are printed on a receipt provided by the merchant to the consumer.