WO2001093213A2

WO2001093213A2 - System and method for reporting transaction information in a card-based transaction

Info

Publication number: WO2001093213A2
Application number: PCT/US2001/040774
Authority: WO
Inventors: Babu V. Mani; Gilman R. Stevens
Original assignee: Alcatel Usa Sourcing, L.P.
Priority date: 2000-05-26
Filing date: 2001-05-21
Publication date: 2001-12-06
Also published as: WO2001093213A3; AU2001263510A1

Abstract

A method and system for notifying a subscriber of a transaction that is based on a card issued to the subscriber. A service profile comprising various notification service options is provided for the subscriber. Notification mode, i.e., real-time versus delayed notification, type of notification (e.g., email, voice mail, fax, et cetera), frequency of notification, notification based on frequency of transactions and other options are provided so that a subscriber can elect a particular combination of the notification service options that the subscriber desires. The service profile may be co-located at a transaction record database associated with the card or may be provided as part of an IN-capable Service Control Point (SCP). When an indication from a Point-Of-Sale (POS) apparatus is received in the card transaction record database with respect to a card-based transaction effectuated by a user, a determination is made, based upon the service options available for the subscriber, if the indication contains transaction information that can trigger a notification service for the subscriber. If so, an appropriate notification type is effectuated to inform the subscriber of the transaction.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REPORTING TRANSACTION INFORMATION IN A CARD-BASED TRANSACTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to transaction cards and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing transaction information to a cardholder based on a subscriber service profile.

Description of Related Art

Transaction card fraud is a major issue with consumers (i.e, legitimate cardholders) as well as card issuing companies. Several access control schemes are available today for fraud deterrence. For example, as is well known, calling/phone cards, credit cards, automated teller machine (ATM) cards or debit cards, et cetera, typically require entering a correct Personal Identification Number (PIN) as an access control mechanism. To further increase security, some transaction cards have an integrated circuit (e.g., smart cards) which facilitates encryption of a legitimate cardholder's personal identity information and other data.

Although there have been impressive advances in the existing access control schemes designed to reduce costs to a card-issuing entity and its customers, current solutions are not entirely satisfactory. First, there is no sure way that any current system can guard against all forms of fraud, and there is no tangible means of determining what the actual fraud-related costs are. Moreover, the same technological advances that have increased security by means of encryption are also making it possible for illegitimately deciphering access codes etc. Some of the current authorization/validation schemes require that when a transaction involving a substantial amount of money takes place, the cardholder be contacted directly over the phone. However, unauthorized users may be clever enough to limit the transactions to smaller amounts so that the pattern of fraud does not trigger reporting back to the cardholder.

In addition, although access control schemes such as photo ID, fingerprinting, etc. are useful in preventing fraud where the user is required to be physically present at the site of transaction, such schemes are ineffective for transactions that take place over the phone or via the Internet. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that despite various ongoing developments, transaction card-related fraud is still possible primarily because of the following factors. First, cards and their PINs can still be easily stolen or misplaced. And, second, most access control schemes used in connection with transaction cards can be reverse-engineered with luck and perseverance. Furthermore, once a card and its access control mechanism is misappropriated, the cardholder (or the card-issuing entity) is typically not aware of subsequent, unauthorized transactions until the subscriber receives a billing statement or an appropriate transaction report at the end of a billing/report cycle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a scheme for informing a cardholder/subscriber as expeditiously as possible of a card- based transaction in a subscriber-selectable manner. A service profile is maintained for the subscriber that comprises various notification service options relative to the time, place, and manner of the transaction notification which the subscriber wishes to receive. Notification mode, i..e, real-time versus delayed notification, type of notification (e.g., email, voice mail, fax, phone, et cetera), frequency of notification, notification based on frequency of transactions (with or without a dependency on the amount per each transaction), and other options are provided so that a subscriber can elect a particular combination of the notification service options from a plurality of combinations that the subscriber desires. The service profile may be co- located at a transaction record database associated with the card or may be provided as part of an Intelligent Network (IN)-capable Service Control Point (SCP). The SCP can be alerted by the card transaction record database or, in other exemplary embodiments, the SCP may periodically poll the card transaction record database for service status determination. When an indication from a Point-Of-Sale (POS) apparatus is received in the card transaction record database with respect to a card-based transaction effectuated by a user, a determination is made, based upon the service options available for the subscriber, if the indication contains transaction information that can trigger a notification service for the subscriber. If so, an appropriate notification type is effectuated to inform the subscriber of the transaction. Exemplary embodiments of the POS apparatus include, for example, card readers provided at merchants' locations, interactive televisions (ITVs) and Internet appliances capable of accepting transaction cards by means of Set-Top Boxes (STBs), card receptacles for swiping, optical scanning, etc. Further, based on the service profile options and/or subscriber interaction subsequent to the notification, a law enforcement agency and/or the card company may also be informed of a transaction.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for notifying a subscriber of a transaction that is based on a card issued to said subscriber. The method commences upon receiving from a POS apparatus an indication in a transaction record database associated with the card with respect to the transaction. Preferably, the indication includes transaction information associated with the transaction such as, for example, the amount of money (credit or debit) involved in the transaction, transaction's time/date stamp, card number (or its alias), etc. Thereafter, a determination is made based at least in part on a service profile associated with the subscriber whether at least a portion of the transaction information triggers a notification service for which the subscriber has a subscription. If so, the notification service is invoked to inform the subscriber of the transaction, wherein the time, place and manner of notification is based on the service profile options provided for the subscriber.

In yet another aspect, the present invention is directed to a computer- accessible medium associated with a service node or a transaction card record database, wherein the computer-accessible medium carries a sequence of instructions provided for executing service logic which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the following steps. Upon receiving an indication in the transaction record database with respect to a POS transaction that is based on a card issued to a subscriber, a determination is made based at least in part on a service profile associated with the subscriber if at least a portion of the indication triggers a notification service for which the subscriber has a subscription. Responsive to the determination step, the notification service is invoked to inform the subscriber of the transaction based on the service profile. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention may be had by reference to the following Detailed Description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 A depicts an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; FIG. IB depicts another exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

, FIG. 2 depicts a flow chart which illustrates the steps involved in an exemplary notification method provided in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like or similar elements are designated with identical reference numerals throughout the several views thereof, and the various elements depicted are not necessarily drawn to scale. Referring now to FIG. 1 A, depicted therein is an exemplary communications network arrangement 100A for notifying a subscriber 101 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention when a card-based transaction is effectuated by a user 102. It is contemplated herein that the card may be of any type that can be used for a Point-Of-Sale (POS) transaction (e.g., purchase of goods and/or services, withdrawal or transfer of money, cash equivalents, or indicia/instruments of value) at a facility (i.e., a merchant's premises, a financial facility, sites of automated teller machines (ATMs), service provider' s offices, etc.) or over a network (voice, data, hybrid, and the like). Accordingly, the teachings of the present invention may be practiced in any arrangement which involves the use of cards such as credit cards, debit cards, phone/calling cards, charge cards, bank cards, ATM cards, smart cards, cards with integrated circuits (ICs) and/or photo IDs, et cetera (hereinafter collectively referred to as "transaction cards").

Upon obtaining a transaction card, user 102 (including but not limited to, for example, persons authorized by the subscriber to whom the card is issued, i.e., cardholder; unauthorized or fraudulent users; etc.) engages in a POS transaction using a suitable POS apparatus 104. As exemplified in FIG. 1A, the POS apparatus 104 may comprise, for example, a card reader terminal 106 located at a facility. Also, in other exemplary embodiments, the POS apparatus 104 may be provided as a Set-Top Box (STB) in conjunction with an interactive television (ITV) station (exemplified as ITV blockl08 in FIG. 1 A) wherein, for example, a home shopping application can be engaged for ordering a product or service through the ITV server's network (not shown in FIG. 1 A) . In yet another exemplary embodiment, the POS apparatus 104 may comprise a WWW-based network appliance 110

(i.e., an Internet appliance or information appliance such as, e.g., a personal computer, hand-held computer, laptop or palmtop computer, Web-enabled personal digital assistant (PDA) or a phone, etc.) that can accept a transaction card or card information for effectuating a transaction. Depending upon the type of POS apparatus and transaction card, an appropriate transaction record database 112 is provided in the arrangement 100A for record maintenance, billing, etc. with respect to the transactions associated with the card. A card/user authentication system 114 may also be preferably provided therewith. A data communication path 105 is conventionally disposed between the transaction record database 112 and the POS apparatus 104.

The transaction record database 112 and associated authentication system 114 may be located at the same facility where the POS apparatus 104 is located, or may be remotely disposed. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that the communication path 105 provided for transmitting a transaction-related indication (i.e., card number, amount of the transaction, time/date stamp of the transaction, etc.) from the POS apparatus 104 to the transaction record database 112 may involve a network (e.g., a card reader network or an ATM network, et cetera).

As those skilled in the art should readily recognize, the transaction record database 112 and associated authentication system 114 are conventionally disposed in the arrangement 100A with respect to the card company 116 which issues or causes to issue cards such as the transaction card obtained by the user 102. Although not explicitly depicted, a network may be conventionally involved for effectuating a communication path 111 disposed between the transaction record database 112 and the card company 116. Those skilled in the art should further recognize that the transaction record database 112, authentication system 114, and the card company site 116 may be co-located also.

A service node, e.g., a Service Control Point (SCP) 118, is provided in the exemplary arrangement 100A for implementing a subscriber- selectable notification service in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. Preferably, the SCP node 118 is in data communication with the transaction record database 112 via a network 120 (e.g., a telecommunications network, a packet-switched data network such as the Internet, or a hybrid network). A notification service profile 122 comprising various notification service options available to the subscriber

101 is provided with the SCP 118 such that appropriate service logic is executed for informing or notifying the subscriber of a card-based transaction. By way of example, the following options may be advantageously provided as part of the notification service profile 122:

- Notification mode 124: In real-time mode, a notification may be transmitted to the subscriber immediately in real-time, i.e, as soon as practicable once a card-based transaction is effectuated by a user. In delayed mode, notifications are delayed by a delay factor that is subscriber-selectable.

- Notification system/method 126: This option allows the subscriber to specify the manner of notification. Examples include pagers (with option to send confirmation using two- way paging); email; voice mail; phone (wireless or wireline); facsimile transmission; wireless PDAs, et cetera; or any combination thereof (i.e., multi-device dissemination)

- Frequency of transaction 128 : A notification may be based on the number of transactions per a select period. For instance, the subscriber may be notified when the number of transactions per day reach a threshold. Similar thresholds may be established for number of transactions per week, per billing period, etc. - Frequency of amount charged 130: A notification may be provided to the subscriber based on the total amount charged or transacted per a select period, e.g., per day or per week, etc.

- Combination method 132: Several subscriber-selectable (i.e., subscriber-configurable) notification schemes may be provided using one or several of the foregoing options. Default combinations may also be provided as packaged or prepackaged notification service options. - Transaction area 133: Based on where the transaction takes place, the subscriber may define different notification options as well. For example, when a transaction occurs in a particular area, the subscriber wishes to receive a notification in real- time; on the other hand, when transactions take place in other areas, a delayed notification may be desirable. Accordingly, a plurality of transaction locations (e.g., Location- 1 through Location-N) may be included in the subscriber's notification service profile 122. Clearly, other service options may be bundled with the transaction area 133 option in various permutations and combinations.

Based on the notification service profile 122, the SCP node 118 is provided with the capability to initiate a "call" to the notification device/apparatus 134 specified by the subscriber 101 at the time/interval indicated in the profile. Depending upon the notification device, accordingly, a communication path 117 between the SCP node 118 and the apparatus 134 may be effectuated via a suitable network, e.g., a telecommunications network, a packet-switched data network such as the

Internet, or a hybrid network. In addition, notification may be forwarded to various subscriber-designated third parties such as, e.g., subscriber's secretary, power of attorney, etc., as may be indicated in the notification service profile 122.

Referring now to FIG. IB, reference numeral 100B refers to another exemplary network arrangement wherein the notification system and method of the present invention may be advantageously practiced. It should be apparent that the network arrangement 100B is essentially similar to the network arrangement 100 A depicted in FIG. 1A, except that the service logic and notification service profile 122 are directly available to the transaction record database 112 without the involvement of a dedicated service node (such as the SCP 118 provided in the arrangement 100A). Accordingly, in one implementation, the transaction record database 112 and subscriber notification service profile 122 may be integrated into a single node having processing capability for executing appropriate notification service logic that is loadable from a computer-accessible medium. Computing and networking capability of the integrated node allows it to inform or notify the subscriber of a transaction based on applicable service profile options via a suitable device (e.g., notification apparatus ensemble 134). As is the case with the SCP-generated notification process described hereinabove, the integrated transaction record database node uses an appropriate network (e.g., network 120) to connect to the notification apparatus 134 at the time/interval indicated in the service profile database 122.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of the steps involved in an exemplary notification process of the present invention wherein a subscriber is informed of a card-based transaction on the basis of a suitable subscriber- selectable service option profile when a user engages in such a transaction via a POS apparatus. Upon receiving transaction information (i.e., amount of the transaction, time/date stamp of the transaction, etc.) by way of one or more appropriate indications from the POS apparatus (step 202), the transaction record database associated with the card being used transmits a notification to a service node for further analysis (step 204). The notification preferably includes at least a portion of the transaction information. Based on the transmitted transaction information and the service option profile information, a determination is then made whether a notification option is to be triggered (decision block 206). If not, the notification process terminates (step 214).

Upon determining that a notification option is to be triggered, an appropriate service logic portion is invoked so that a notification is transmitted by the service node to the subscriber's device based on the service profile (step 208). Such notification information may include the amount involved in the transaction; time/date stamp information; place/facility where the POS apparatus is located; type of goods/services or merchandise, if applicable; card number; etc. The subscriber may be provided with the capability to interact with the service node after receiving the notification therefrom in order to indicate further actions such as, for example, reporting the transaction to the card issuing company or alerting a law enforcement agency, if fraudulent card use is suspected (decision block 210 and step 212). In some implementations, such interactive capability may be indicated as part of the subscriber's service profile also. If no further action is provided for, the notification process of the present invention terminates (step 214).

Based on the foregoing, those skilled in the art should appreciate that the present invention's system and method of notifying transaction infonnation based on a subscriber's service profile offers several advantages. First, by practicing the present invention in accordance with the teachings contained herein, it is envisaged that there will be a substantial reduction in fraudulent card transactions because a law enforcement agency may be notified as soon as an unauthorized or unlawful transaction takes place. Clearly, this is beneficial to the consumers as well as the card companies. Further, increased accountability will result on the part of authorized users in situations where the subscriber (i.e., the primary cardholder) allows others to use the subscriber's card or additional cards for which the subscriber is the paying party because of immediate notification of the card transactions. In addition, since it is possible to track or account for each transaction immediately, no surprising entries or items will be expected in billing statements from the card company at the end of a billing cycle.

It is believed that the operation and construction of the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing Detailed Description. While the system and method shown and described have been characterized as being preferred, it should be readily understood that various changes, modifications and enhancements could be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. For example, the teachings of the present invention may be practiced in some instances where the user and subscriber are the same. Thus, user 102 and subscriber 101 exemplified in FIGS. 1A and IB may be the same in such circumstances and transaction notifications may be forwarded to, e.g., a subscribed-designated third party, for instance, subscriber's spouse.

Further, it is possible to suppress the card number when a transaction notification is sent to the subscriber. Instead of the card number, the service logic may supply a subscriber-selectable alias/identification such as, e.g.,

"account 1", "my _card 1", etc. Additionally, where a subscriber has multiple cards or multiple types of cards, different notification options may be provided as part of the subscriber service profile for each card. By way of example, a subscriber may choose to be notified every time a business transaction card is used, but only when a sum total of charges on a personal card exceeds a specified daily/weekly amount. Also, because of the integration of voice networks and Internet Protocol (IP)-based data networks, a plethora of diverse personal communication devices may be employed for purposes of the present invention. For example, such devices may comprise H.323-compatible terminals, Session Initiation Protocol (SΙP)-based phones, and the like. Accordingly, those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that these and other variations, additions, modifications, enhancements, etc. are deemed to be within the ambit of the present invention whose scope is determined solely by the following claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction that is based on a card issued to said subscriber, comprising the steps of: receiving, in a transaction record database associated with said card, an indication from a Point-Of-Sale (POS) apparatus with respect to said transaction, said indication including transaction information associated with said transaction; determining, based on a service profile associated with said subscriber, if at least a portion of said transaction information triggers a notification service for which said subscriber has a subscription; and if so, invoking said notification service to inform said subscriber, based on said service profile, of said transaction.

2. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said POS apparatus comprises a card reader terminal located at a merchant's facility for effectuating said transaction.

3. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said POS apparatus comprises an interactive television (ITV) set having means capable of accepting card information from a user for effectuating said transaction over a network.

4. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said POS apparatus comprises an interactive network appliance having means capable of accepting card information from a user for effectuating said transaction over the Internet.

5. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said transaction information comprises a monetary value associated with said transaction.

6. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said transaction information comprises a time stamp of said transaction.

7. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, further comprising the step of alerting a law enforcement agency with respect to said transaction based on said service profile.

8. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, further comprising the step of alerting, based on said service profile, a card issuing company that issued said card.

9. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via email.

10. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via facsimile transmission.

11. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a pager.

12. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a wireline telephone.

13. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a wireless telephone.

14. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via an Internet appliance.

15. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a personal digital assistant.

16. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a hand-held computer.

17. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber in a substantially real-time mode.

18. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber once per a select period.

19. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 18, wherein said select period comprises a day.

20. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 18, wherein said select period comprises a week.

21. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 18, wherein said select period comprises a billing cycle associated with said card.

22. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber based on a predetermined subscriber-selectable criterion.

23. The method of notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said determination step is effectuated at a Service Control Point (SCP) disposed in an Intelligent Network, said SCP being receiving a service request message from said transaction record database.

24. A system for notifying a subscriber of a transaction in a subscriber-selectable manner, wherein said transaction is based on a card issued to said subscriber, comprising: a Point-Of-Sale (POS) apparatus for generating an indication to a transaction record database, said indication including transaction information associated with said transaction; means for determining, based on a service profile associated with said subscriber, if at least a portion of said transaction information triggers a notification service for which said subscriber has a subscription; and means for invoking said notification service, responsive to said means for determining, to inform said subscriber of said transaction based on said service profile.

25. The system for notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 24, wherein said means for determining and said means for invoking are co-located at a Service Control Point (SCP) disposed in an Intelligent Network, said SCP including said service profile associated with said subscriber.

26. The system for notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 24, wherein said means for determining and said means for invoking are co-located at said transaction record database, said transaction record database including said service profile associated with said subscriber.

27. The system for notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 24, wherein said POS apparatus comprises a card reader terminal located at a merchant's facility for effectuating said transaction.

28. The method for notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 24, wherein said POS apparatus comprises an interactive television (ITV) set having means capable of accepting card information from a user for effectuating said transaction over a network.

29. The method for notifying a subscriber of a transaction as set forth in claim 24, wherein said POS apparatus comprises an interactive network appliance having means capable of accepting card information from a user for effectuating said transaction over the Internet.

30. A computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database, said transaction record database for recording transactions based on a card issued to a subscriber, wherein said computer-accessible medium carries a sequence of instructions provided for executing service logic which, when executed by a processor, causes said processor to perform the steps of: upon receiving an indication in said transaction record database with respect to a Point-Of-Sale (POS) transaction that is based on said card, said indication including transaction information associated with said transaction, determining, based at least in part on a service profile associated with said subscriber, if at least a portion of said transaction information triggers a notification service for which said subscriber has a subscription; and responsive to said determination step, invoking said notification service to inform said subscriber, based on said service profile, of said transaction.

31. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said POS transaction is effectuated by means of a card reader terminal located at a merchant's facility.

32. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said POS transaction is effectuated via an interactive television (ITV) set having means capable of accepting card information from a user for carrying out said transaction over a network.

33. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said POS transaction is effectuated via an interactive network appliance having means capable of accepting card information from a user for carrying out said transaction over the Internet.

34. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said transaction information comprises a monetary value associated with said transaction.

35. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said transaction information comprises a time stamp associated with said transaction.

36. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via email.

37. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via facsimile transmission.

38. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a pager.

39. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a wireline telephone.

40. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a wireless telephone.

41. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via an Internet appliance.

42. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a personal digital assistant.

43. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber via a hand-held computer.

44. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber in a substantially real-time mode.

45. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber once per a select period.

46. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 45, wherein said select period comprises a day.

47. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 45, wherein said select period comprises a week.

48. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 45, wherein said select period comprises a billing cycle associated with said card.

49. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber based on a predetermined combination of subscriber-selectable criteria.

50. The computer-accessible medium associated with a transaction record database as set forth in claim 30, wherein said notification service includes informing said subscriber in a delayed mode.