Patent Office Grants Frequent Buyer Club Patent to BuyerLeverage

Palo Alto, Calif -- September 20, 2004 -- BuyerLeverage announced Thursday that it has received patent #US 6,735,572 for its Frequent Buyer Club technology.

The Frequent Buyer Club allows consumers to profit from and control their purchase information. Consumers grant their preferred portal or financial institution automated and anonymized access to their credit card purchase records, and this information is used, without revelation, to instantly provide consumers with high-value offers, pricing and services from local and national merchants. Consumers direct how advertisers communicate with them, and they receive exclusive, precisely targeted promotions based on their value to those merchants. Hence, user-controlled, anonymous use of personal information brings privileged benefits.

Consumers’ past purchasing history is the proven and accepted best predictor of behavior. For the first time, this information is made available by the consumer without the active participation of merchants who have previously sold to that consumer. As a result, advertisers can use the information to directly target the best customers of their most relevant competitors.

Advertisers reach consumers through several channels, including the Web, email and direct mail. They build their campaigns using an interactive interface, and by querying a database which contains the anonymized & scored purchase records of participating consumers. Because the system continues to receive the records of consumers after they respond to a promotion, participating advertisers learn how well they do in generating new and repeat business. This unprecedented closed-loop feedback allows marketers to understand offer effectiveness and refine ongoing promotions.

Mark Landesmann, CEO of BuyerLeverage said that “this patent approval is an important milestone, and provides us and our corporate partners with an important incentive to support the propagation of the frequent buyer service.”

The company is currently conducting negotiations with leading consumer companies to orchestrate the launch of the service.

About BuyerLeverage:

BuyerLeverage has developed and is marketing a broad portfolio of patented and patent-pending technologies that empower consumer and business communication and commerce. In deploying these services, the company and its partners will usher in a new generation of applications and businesses focused on user-directed information and communications management.

Among its initiatives, BuyerLeverage has developed a patented Frequent Buyer concept: one that allows consumers to profit from their purchase activity, seamlessly and anonymously uploading their credit card and other statements to receive individually tailored and extraordinarily valuable merchant offers.

Other programs likewise allow consumers and business to control their communication and information; for example, connecting consumers who signal (and prove) their intent to purchase a particular high-ticket product with merchants who will offer exceptional discounts and exclusive pre-sale services to access such rare consumers amid the roaring noise of the marketplace.