System and method for express redemption of accrued rewards
First Claim
1. A method of redeeming, across a computer network, accrued rewards from a loyalty transaction account for a benefit, in connection with use of a financial transaction instrument, the method comprising the steps of:
- linking the financial transaction instrument to be used by a customer to the loyalty transaction account of the customer;
receiving from the customer a request to redeem rewards from the loyalty transaction account for the benefit;
automatically authorizing use of the financial transaction instrument to fulfill the benefit requested by the customer;
recognizing, across the computer network, fulfillment of the benefit by the merchant through the use of the financial transaction instrument to obtain the benefit; and
automatically updating the loyalty transaction account to reflect fulfillment of the benefit obtained by the customer.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Process for implementing redemption of accrued rewards from a loyalty rewards account for a benefit that is instantaneously fulfilled. The process includes linking a financial transaction instrument to the loyalty rewards account of a customer and receiving from the customer a request to redeem rewards from the loyalty rewards account for a benefit. In addition, the process automatically authorizes use of the financial transaction instrument to fulfill the benefit requested by the customer, and recognizes, across a computer network, fulfillment of the benefit by a merchant. The loyalty rewards account is automatically updated to reflect fulfillment of the benefit obtained by the customer.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of redeeming, across a computer network, accrued rewards from a loyalty transaction account for a benefit, in connection with use of a financial transaction instrument, the method comprising the steps of:
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linking the financial transaction instrument to be used by a customer to the loyalty transaction account of the customer;
receiving from the customer a request to redeem rewards from the loyalty transaction account for the benefit;
automatically authorizing use of the financial transaction instrument to fulfill the benefit requested by the customer;
recognizing, across the computer network, fulfillment of the benefit by the merchant through the use of the financial transaction instrument to obtain the benefit; and
automatically updating the loyalty transaction account to reflect fulfillment of the benefit obtained by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to redeem, across a computer network, accrued rewards from a loyalty transaction account for a benefit, in connection with use of a financial transaction instrument, said control logic comprising:
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first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to link the financial transaction instrument to be used by a customer to the loyalty transaction account of the customer;
second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to accept from a customer a request to redeem rewards from the loyalty transaction account for the benefit;
third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to authorize automatically use of the financial transaction instrument to fulfill the benefit requested by the customer;
fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to recognize, across the computer network, fulfillment of the benefit by the merchant through the use of the financial transaction instrument to obtain the benefit; and
fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to update automatically the loyalty transaction account to reflect fulfillment of the benefit obtained by the customer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of redeeming, across a computer network, accrued rewards from a loyalty transaction account for a benefit, in connection with use of a financial transaction instrument by the customer, the method comprising the steps of:
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linking the financial transaction instrument to be used by the customer to the loyalty transaction account;
receiving from the customer a request to redeem rewards in the loyalty transaction account for the benefit;
automatically associating a credit for the requested benefit with the financial transaction instrument linked to the loyalty transaction account;
recognizing, across the computer network, use of the financial transaction instrument at a merchant in a transaction to obtain the benefit, based on a request by the merchant for approval to process the transaction;
approving the request by the merchant to process the transaction for the benefit based on the credit associated with the financial transaction instrument; and
updating the credit associated with the financial transaction instrument based on the transaction in which the customer obtains the benefit. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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Specification