System and method of point-of-sale manufacturer rebate program
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method of processing manufacturer reimbursements for consumer purchases, comprising:
- conducting a purchase transaction between a consumer and a merchant;
submitting the purchase transaction to a reimbursement program administrator, wherein the program administrator analyzes the purchase transaction to identify a qualifying product and associated rebate for the qualifying product;
notifying the merchant to collect funds from the consumer equal to an amount of the purchase transaction less the rebate for the qualifying product;
accessing rebate funds originating from a manufacturer of the qualifying product; and
transferring the rebate funds to the merchant to reconcile the purchase transaction.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A manufacturer rebate-processing program uses a program administrator to implement the rebate program. A rebate program card is issued to consumers to identify the rebate-qualifying product. The consumer presents the card to the merchant when making a purchase. The purchase transaction information from the merchant is forwarded to the rebate program administrator, which in turn forwards a rebate request to the manufacturer for the rebate-qualifying product. The rebate-qualifying product may be a prescription drug or a non-prescription health-care-related item. The program administrator further identifies restricted-use accounts, such as health savings accounts, to pay a qualifying portion of the consumer purchase transaction. The program administrator receives rebate funds from the manufacturer and reconciles the consumer purchase transaction with the rebate funds from the manufacturer. The rebate funds may be deposited into a merchant account or a consumer account to reconcile the consumer purchase transaction.
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Citations
42 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method of processing manufacturer reimbursements for consumer purchases, comprising:
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conducting a purchase transaction between a consumer and a merchant;
submitting the purchase transaction to a reimbursement program administrator, wherein the program administrator analyzes the purchase transaction to identify a qualifying product and associated rebate for the qualifying product;
notifying the merchant to collect funds from the consumer equal to an amount of the purchase transaction less the rebate for the qualifying product;
accessing rebate funds originating from a manufacturer of the qualifying product; and
transferring the rebate funds to the merchant to reconcile the purchase transaction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer implemented method of processing manufacturer reimbursements for consumer purchases, comprising:
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conducting a purchase transaction between a consumer and a merchant;
submitting the purchase transaction to a reimbursement program administrator, wherein the program administrator analyzes the purchase transaction to identify a qualifying product and associated rebate for the qualifying product;
notifying the merchant to collect from the consumer a portion of the funds due for the purchase transaction;
accessing rebate funds originating from a manufacturer of the qualifying product within the purchase transaction; and
reconciling the purchase transaction with the rebate funds from the manufacturer. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of processing reimbursements for consumer purchases, comprising:
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receiving a consumer purchase transaction including a qualifying product;
submitting the consumer purchase transaction received from a merchant to a program administrator, wherein the rebate program administrator analyzes the consumer purchase transaction to identify the qualifying product and determines a rebate for the qualifying product from a sponsoring manufacturer;
notifying the merchant to collect from the consumer a portion of the funds due for the purchase transaction; and
reconciling the purchase transaction with the rebate funds from the manufacturer. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A computer program product usable with a programmable computer processor having a computer readable program code embodied therein, comprising:
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computer readable program code which receives a consumer purchase transaction including a qualifying product;
computer readable program code which submits the consumer purchase transaction received from a merchant to a program administrator, wherein the rebate program administrator analyzes the consumer purchase transaction to identify the qualifying product and determines a rebate for the qualifying product from a sponsoring manufacturer;
computer readable program code which notifies the merchant to collect from the consumer a portion of the funds due for the purchase transaction; and
computer readable program code which reconciles the purchase transaction with the rebate funds from the manufacturer. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A computer system for processing reimbursements for consumer purchases, comprising:
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means for receiving a consumer purchase transaction including a qualifying product;
means for submitting the consumer purchase transaction received from a merchant to a program administrator, wherein the rebate program administrator analyzes the consumer purchase transaction to identify the qualifying product and determines a rebate for the qualifying product from a sponsoring manufacturer;
means for notifying the merchant to collect from the consumer a portion of the funds due for the purchase transaction; and
means for reconciling the purchase transaction with the rebate funds from the manufacturer. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification