Methods and systems for applying promotion codes to payment transactions
First Claim
1. A method implemented by a payment card network for applying a promotional program to a payment card transaction, the payment card transaction including a purchase made by a cardholder from a card acceptor using a payment card over the payment card network, said method implemented on at least one server coupled to a database, the at least one server including at least one legacy transaction processing module, a database interface module, a merchant screening module, a promotion code processing module, and a merchant accounting system module, said method comprising the steps of:
- storing, in the database, promotion data including (i) a plurality of promotional programs offered by at least one merchant participating in the payment card network and (ii) promotion codes corresponding to each of the plurality of promotional programs;
receiving, at the database interface module from a cardholder-controlled computing device, an input identifying a selected one of the promotional programs;
transmitting, from the database interface module to the merchant screening module in response to the received input, a registration of an account of the cardholder for the selected promotional program;
transmitting, from the database interface module to the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes corresponding to the selected promotional program;
receiving, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to receiving the input identifying the selected promotional program, an authorization request for the payment card transaction, the authorization request formatted according to payment card industry standards and including transaction data, the transaction data including a merchant identifier associated with the card acceptor and a transaction amount of the payment card transaction;
routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the authorization request to the merchant screening module;
determining, by the merchant screening module, that the authorization request corresponds to the registration;
routing, in response to the determination that the authorization request corresponds to the registration, the authorization request to the promotion code processing module;
validating, by the promotion code processing module, that the transaction data qualifies for the selected promotional program;
routing, by the promotion code processing module, the authorization request to an issuer computing device associated with an issuer of the payment card;
receiving, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module from the issuer computing device, an authorization response from the issuer, the authorization response indicating that the account of the cardholder is in good standing and covers the transaction amount;
routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the authorization response to a merchant computing device;
receiving, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to the authorization of the payment card transaction, a clearing record from the merchant computing device, the clearing record formatted according to payment card industry standards and including at least a portion of the transaction data;
routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the clearing record to the merchant screening module;
determining, by the merchant screening module, that the clearing record corresponds to the registration;
routing, in response to the determination that the clearing record corresponds to the registration, the clearing record to the promotion code processing module;
applying, by the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes associated with the selected promotional program to at least the portion of the transaction data, wherein the application of the promotion codes results in a special price for the payment card transaction;
routing, subsequent to the application of the promotion codes, the clearing record to the merchant accounting system module;
calculating, by the merchant accounting system module, a differential between the transaction amount and the special price;
generating, by the merchant accounting system module, payment files configured to debit or credit funds corresponding to the differential directly between an account of the card acceptor and an account of the issuer; and
settling, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the transaction amount between an acquiring bank of the card acceptor and the issuer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for applying promotion codes to a payment transaction is provided. The method uses at least one input device in communication with a database. The payment transaction includes a purchase made by a cardholder using a payment card over a payment card network. The method includes storing promotion data within the database including at least one merchant participating in the payment card network, each promotional program offered by the at least one merchant to the cardholder, and promotion codes associated with each promotional program offered to the cardholder. The method further includes accessing the promotion data using the at least one input device, receiving a selected promotional program from the cardholder using the at least one input device, and automatically applying the promotion codes associated with the selected promotional program to the payment transaction.
21 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method implemented by a payment card network for applying a promotional program to a payment card transaction, the payment card transaction including a purchase made by a cardholder from a card acceptor using a payment card over the payment card network, said method implemented on at least one server coupled to a database, the at least one server including at least one legacy transaction processing module, a database interface module, a merchant screening module, a promotion code processing module, and a merchant accounting system module, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing, in the database, promotion data including (i) a plurality of promotional programs offered by at least one merchant participating in the payment card network and (ii) promotion codes corresponding to each of the plurality of promotional programs; receiving, at the database interface module from a cardholder-controlled computing device, an input identifying a selected one of the promotional programs; transmitting, from the database interface module to the merchant screening module in response to the received input, a registration of an account of the cardholder for the selected promotional program; transmitting, from the database interface module to the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes corresponding to the selected promotional program; receiving, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to receiving the input identifying the selected promotional program, an authorization request for the payment card transaction, the authorization request formatted according to payment card industry standards and including transaction data, the transaction data including a merchant identifier associated with the card acceptor and a transaction amount of the payment card transaction; routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the authorization request to the merchant screening module; determining, by the merchant screening module, that the authorization request corresponds to the registration; routing, in response to the determination that the authorization request corresponds to the registration, the authorization request to the promotion code processing module; validating, by the promotion code processing module, that the transaction data qualifies for the selected promotional program; routing, by the promotion code processing module, the authorization request to an issuer computing device associated with an issuer of the payment card; receiving, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module from the issuer computing device, an authorization response from the issuer, the authorization response indicating that the account of the cardholder is in good standing and covers the transaction amount; routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the authorization response to a merchant computing device; receiving, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to the authorization of the payment card transaction, a clearing record from the merchant computing device, the clearing record formatted according to payment card industry standards and including at least a portion of the transaction data; routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the clearing record to the merchant screening module; determining, by the merchant screening module, that the clearing record corresponds to the registration; routing, in response to the determination that the clearing record corresponds to the registration, the clearing record to the promotion code processing module; applying, by the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes associated with the selected promotional program to at least the portion of the transaction data, wherein the application of the promotion codes results in a special price for the payment card transaction; routing, subsequent to the application of the promotion codes, the clearing record to the merchant accounting system module; calculating, by the merchant accounting system module, a differential between the transaction amount and the special price; generating, by the merchant accounting system module, payment files configured to debit or credit funds corresponding to the differential directly between an account of the card acceptor and an account of the issuer; and settling, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the transaction amount between an acquiring bank of the card acceptor and the issuer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method implemented by a payment card network for applying a promotional program to a payment card transaction, the payment card transaction including a purchase made by a cardholder from a card acceptor using a payment card over the payment card network, said method implemented on at least one server coupled to a database, the at least one server including at least one legacy transaction processing module, a merchant screening module, a promotion code processing module, and a merchant accounting system module, said method comprising the steps of:
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storing, in the database, promotion data including (i) a plurality of promotional programs offered by at least one merchant participating in the payment card network and (ii) promotion codes corresponding to each of the plurality of promotional programs; receiving, at the merchant screening module, a registration of an account of the cardholder for a selected one of the promotional programs; receiving, at the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes corresponding to the selected promotional program; processing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to receiving the registration, an authorization request for the payment card transaction, the authorization request formatted according to payment card industry standards and including transaction data, the transaction data including a merchant identifier associated with the card acceptor and a transaction amount of the payment card transaction; routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, an authorization response to a merchant computing device, the authorization response indicating that an issuer computing device associated with an issuer of the payment card has determined that the account of the cardholder is in good standing and covers the transaction amount; receiving, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to the authorization of the payment card transaction, a clearing record from the merchant computing device, the clearing record formatted according to payment card industry standards and including at least a portion of the transaction data; routing, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the clearing record to the merchant screening module; determining, by the merchant screening module, that the clearing record corresponds to the registration; routing, in response to the determination that the clearing record corresponds to the registration, the clearing record to the promotion code processing module; applying, by the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes associated with the selected promotional program to at least the portion of the transaction data, wherein the application of the promotion codes results in a special price for the payment card transaction; routing, subsequent to the application of the promotion codes, the clearing record to the merchant accounting system module; calculating, by the merchant accounting system module, a differential between the transaction amount and the special price; generating, by the merchant accounting system module, payment files configured to debit or credit funds corresponding to the differential directly between an account of the card acceptor and an account of the issuer; and settling, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the transaction amount between an acquiring bank of the card acceptor and the issuer. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A network-based system for applying a promotional program to a payment card transaction, the payment card transaction including a purchase made by a cardholder using a payment card over a payment card network, the payment card transaction including a purchase made by a cardholder from a card acceptor using a payment card over the payment card network, said system comprising:
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a database for storing information; and at least one server coupled to said database and including at least one legacy transaction processing module, a merchant screening module, a promotion code processing module, and a merchant accounting system module, said server system further configured to; store, in the database, promotion data including (i) a plurality of promotional programs offered by at least one merchant participating in the payment card network and (ii) promotion codes corresponding to each of the plurality of promotional programs; receive, at the merchant screening module, a registration of an account of the cardholder for a selected one of the promotional programs; receive, at the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes corresponding to the selected promotional program; process, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to receiving the registration, an authorization request for the payment card transaction, the authorization request formatted according to payment card industry standards and including transaction data, the transaction data including a merchant identifier associated with the card acceptor and a transaction amount of the payment card transaction; route, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, an authorization response to a merchant computing device, the authorization response indicating that an issuer computing device associated with an issuer of the payment card has determined that the account of the cardholder is in good standing and covers the transaction amount; receive, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module subsequent to the authorization of the payment card transaction, a clearing record from the merchant computing device, the clearing record formatted according to payment card industry standards and including at least a portion of the transaction data; route, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the clearing record to the merchant screening module; determine, by the merchant screening module, that the clearing record corresponds to the registration; route, in response to the determination that the clearing record corresponds to the registration, the clearing record to the promotion code processing module; apply, by the promotion code processing module, the promotion codes associated with the selected promotional program to at least the portion of the transaction data, wherein the application of the promotion codes results in a special price for the payment card transaction; route, subsequent to the application of the promotion codes, the clearing record to the merchant accounting system module; calculate, by the merchant accounting system module, a differential between the transaction amount and the special price; generate, by the merchant accounting system module, payment files configured to debit or credit funds corresponding to the differential directly between an account of the card acceptor and an account of the issuer; and settle, by the at least one legacy transaction processing module, the transaction amount between an acquiring bank of the card acceptor and the issuer. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification