Method and system for handling rebate-entitled credit card payment transactions

• US 20060136299A1
• Filed: 12/21/2005
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ruehmkorf Esolution IL GmbH
• Original Assignee: Ruehmkorf Esolution IL GmbH
• Inventors: Ruhmkorf, Horst
• Application Number:
  US11/312,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20060136299A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.170
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0215 Including financial accounts

Abstract

In this method a credit card entitled for rebates initiates a payment transaction with a merchant granting rebates, resulting in a rebate amount being calculated from the purchase sum of the payment transaction and a set rebate rate and the rebate amount being forwarded to a storage area assigned to the rebate entitled card holder and added to the value contained in the storage area. In this way, consumers can purchase by credit card and automatically receive to their credit a rebate from instituted merchants. From the storage area, representing a (virtual) banking account accumulating rebate amounts can then be regularly remitted to an insurance company or a finance investment institute for building up a retirement pension. Contained in a consumer pension organizational entity are, more particularly, a communications server (5) for receiving the transaction information from the card issuer and a data base server (2) for storing and managing the consumer and merchant related information and for calculating the rebate amount.

Claims

1. A method for handling rebate entitled payment transactions by means of credit cards or the like, comprising:

calculating a rebate amount on the basis of a payment transaction made by a credit card entitled for rebate with a merchant from the purchase sum of the payment transaction and a set rebate rate; and

forwarding the rebate amount to an account assigned to the rebate entitled card holder and adding the rebate amount to the value already having accumulated in the account.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rebate is granted by the merchant.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the rebate account is represented by a storage area of a data processing system.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein rebate amounts from payment transactions of a plurality of card holders are remitted to a common pool account or accumulation account and banked from the common pool account to the rebate accounts assigned to the card holders.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein from said rebate account, preferably in regular time intervals, set amounts are transferred to a pension account assigned to the card holder as handled by an insurance or finance institute, particularly for the purpose of forming capital in the scope of a retirement pension or life insurance.

6. The method as set forth in claim 3, wherein the storage area is a component of first storage means, particularly of a data base, in which data as regards rebate entitled card holders is stored and in which each rebate entitled card holder is assigned a storage area in which rebate amounts are accumulated.

7. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein in said calculating access is made to second storage means, particularly to a data base, in which data as regards rebate granting merchants and the rebate rates as applicable thereto is stored.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein in said calculating the payment transaction is initiated by insertion of the credit card in a card reader belonging to the merchant.

9. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein in said calculating the payment transaction is initiated via Internet by the card holder entering the credit card number.

10. A system for handing rebate entitled payment transactions by means of credit cards or the like, comprising

a credit card which has rebate entitlement;

a rebate account assigned to the credit card holder;

means for calculating a rebate amount from a purchase sum of payment transaction activated by the credit card holder and a set rebate rate; and

means for communicating the rebate amount to the rebate account and adding the rebate amount to the amount already stored in the rebate account.

11. The system as set forth in claim 10, wherein one or more rebate-granting merchants are instituted so that a rebate is granted at a set rebate rate for a payment transaction with a rebate entitled credit card.

12. The system as set forth in claim 10, further comprising a pool account bank in which a pool account or accumulation account is installed, the pool account bank being instituted to honor rebate transactions and to honor the remitted rebate amounts in the pool account.

13. The system as set forth in claim 10, further comprising a number of storage areas representing the rebate accounts assigned to the corresponding rebate entitled card holders and instituted to store or accumulate the rebate amounts.

14. The system as set forth in claim 13, further comprising first storage means, particularly a data base, for storing data as regards the rebate entitled consumers and for containing the storage areas.

15. The system as set forth in claim 11, further comprising second storage means, particularly a data base, for storing information as regards the rebate-granting merchants and the rebate rates as applicable to the merchants.

16. The system as set forth in claim 14, wherein the calculating means and the first and second storage means are contained in a data base server.

17. The system as set forth in claim 10, further comprising telecommunications means for receiving and relaying the relative data as to the payment transaction, particularly the purchase sum and the merchant concerned.

18. The system as set forth in claim 17, wherein the telecommunications means is configured to relay the relative data to the data base server.

19. The system as forth in claim 15, wherein the calculation means and the first and second storage means are contained in a data base server.