Food card to restrict purchases
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of providing restricted-purchase food card benefits, comprising steps of:
- determining whether a shopper presenting a restricted-purchase food card for payment is eligible for use thereof, and if so, performing steps of;
determining, for each item presented by the shopper for purchase, whether the presented item qualifies for payment using the food card, and if so, adding a cost of the presented item to an eligible amount; and
using, for the payment of the eligible amount, at least a portion of a stored monetary value associated with the food card and reducing the stored monetary value by the used portion, wherein the food card is donated to the shopper such that the shopper can use the stored monetary value as payment for items that are automatically restricted to items qualifying for payment using the food card.
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Abstract
Restricted-purchase stored-value food cards which donors can purchase and donate, with assurance that purchases with those cards will be automatically restricted to particular food items (such as food items that would also qualify for food stamp benefits under a government program). Use of the food card to purchase items such as cigarettes and alcohol, for example, may be prohibited. By automatically restricting the purchases to eligible items, the donor'"'"'s charitable intent can be fulfilled. The cards may be used by a shopper, for example, to supplement government food stamp benefits.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of providing restricted-purchase food card benefits, comprising steps of:
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determining whether a shopper presenting a restricted-purchase food card for payment is eligible for use thereof, and if so, performing steps of;
determining, for each item presented by the shopper for purchase, whether the presented item qualifies for payment using the food card, and if so, adding a cost of the presented item to an eligible amount; and
using, for the payment of the eligible amount, at least a portion of a stored monetary value associated with the food card and reducing the stored monetary value by the used portion, wherein the food card is donated to the shopper such that the shopper can use the stored monetary value as payment for items that are automatically restricted to items qualifying for payment using the food card. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of enabling donors to donate food cards to shoppers while automatically restricting purchases made therewith to qualifying food items, comprising steps of:
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enabling a donor to purchase a restricted-value food card for donation to a shopper, wherein the food card has a stored monetary value associated therewith and wherein the donor pays, as a purchase price of the food card, the stored monetary value; and
enabling the shopper to use the donated food card to purchase qualifying food items, in an amount equal to the stored monetary value, such that the purchased food items are automatically restricted to food items from an eligibility list.
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- 15. A restricted-purchase food card, comprising a magnetic stripe readable by a magnetic stripe reader, the magnetic stripe encoded with information identifying the card as a restricted-purchase food card and with information from which an amount of available funds associated with the card can be determined, wherein the food card is adapted for use with payment processing that automatically restricts purchases made with the card to selected food items, such that a donor of the card can be assured that a shopper using the card for payment can only purchase the selected food items with the card.
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17. A computer program product for providing restricted-purchase food card benefits, the computer program product comprising computer-readable code embodied on one or more computer-usable media, the computer-readable code comprising instructions that when executed on a computer cause the computer to:
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determine whether a shopper presenting a restricted-purchase food card for payment is eligible for use thereof, and if so, to;
determine, for each item presented by the shopper for purchase, whether the presented item qualifies for payment using the food card, and if so, adding a cost of the presented item to an eligible amount; and
use, for the payment of the eligible amount, at least a portion of a stored monetary value associated with the food card and reduce the stored monetary value by the used portion, wherein the food card is donated to the shopper by a donor, such that the shopper can use the stored monetary value as payment for items that are automatically restricted to items qualifying for payment using the food card. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification