Retail Price Hedging

• US 20080015964A1
• Filed: 10/25/2006
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Shuster, Gary
• Granted Patent: US 8,577,698 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/36R
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Retail consumers may hedge the price of volatile commodities such as gasoline via the advance purchase of a policy, which may be represented by a hedge card. The card may be priced to cover uncertainty in the price of the commodity over a defined future period, plus a small profit for the card issuer, optionally plus a pre-paid residual cash value. The card may permit the purchase of a defined amount of the commodity at a price not to exceed a defined ceiling over the defined future period. The card issuer may contact with one or more fuel providers to apportion the risks and benefits of the hedge card. In the alternative, the card issuer may contract with the consumer only, and may rebate commodity purchase amounts in excess of the defined price ceiling directly to the hedge card holder.

Claims

1. A method for providing price insurance for retail consumers of a product, the method comprising:

defining one or more price insurance policies each comprising account information for one of a plurality of retail consumers of a product and insurance policy limits comprising a defined product, a defined price ceiling for the product, and a defined limit on quantity of product covered;

receiving purchase information concerning a retail purchase transaction for the product by an insured one of the plurality of retail consumers, the purchase information comprising an account identifier, a measurement of product quantity purchased or to be purchased, and a retail price for the product; and

providing a signal if the retail price exceeds the price ceiling, the signal configured to cause at least one of (a) adjusting the retail price to an adjusted price not greater than the price ceiling, or (b) crediting a credit amount calculated to compensate for an excess of the retail price over the price ceiling.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining the one or more price insurance policies each comprising a monetary premium amount to be paid by insured ones of the retail consumers.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining the one or more insurance policy limits each comprising a defined period of time covered.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the signal configured to credit the credit amount directly to insured ones of the retail consumers.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the signal configured to credit the credit amount directly to at least one retail seller in exchange for the retail seller discounting the retail purchases of the product to a price not exceeding the defined price ceiling.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the purchase information from a plurality of point-of-sale terminals configured for dispensing the product to the retail consumers.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising providing the signal to the point-of-sale terminals configured to cause the point-of-sale terminals to dispense the product at a price not exceeding the defined price ceiling.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining credit accounts for purchase of the product at a price not exceeding the price ceiling, each of the credit accounts established for a corresponding one of the plurality of retail consumers in association with the price insurance policies.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking credit cards issued to the plurality of retail consumers, the credit cards configured for credit purchases of the product and for use in tracking the purchase information by providing a purchaser account identifier at points-of-sale.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a plurality of prepaid purchase accounts for purchase of the product at a price not exceeding the price ceiling, each of the purchase accounts established for a corresponding one of the plurality of retail consumers in association with the price insurance policies.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking debit cards issued to the plurality of retail consumers, the debit cards configured for debit purchases of the product and for use in tracking the purchase information by providing a purchaser account identifier at points-of-sale.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting one or more financial instruments to mitigate aggregate risk created by the plurality of price insurance policies.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining the price ceiling to be a fixed price for a defined period.

14. A digital storage medium for causing a computer to perform a method for providing price insurance for retail consumers of a product, the digital storage medium comprising:

a digital storage medium; and

instructions encoded within the digital storage medium, the instructions configured for causing a computer to;

define one or more price insurance policies each comprising account information for one of a plurality of retail consumers of a product and insurance policy limits comprising a defined product, a defined price ceiling for the product, and a defined limit on quantity of product covered;

track purchase information concerning retail purchases of the product by each of the plurality of retail consumers, the purchase information comprising an account identifier, a measurement of product quantity purchased or to be purchased, and a retail price for the product; and

providing a signal if the retail price exceeds the price ceiling, the signal configured to cause at least one of (a) adjusting the retail price to an adjusted price not greater than the price ceiling, or (b) crediting a credit amount calculated to compensate for an excess of the retail price over the price ceiling.

15. The digital storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured for defining the one or more price insurance policies each comprising a monetary premium amount to be paid by insured ones of the retail consumers.

16. The digital storage medium of claim 14 wherein the instructions are further configured for defining the one or more insurance policy limits each comprising a defined period of time covered.

17. The digital storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured for receiving the purchase information from a plurality of point-of-sale terminals configured for dispensing the product to the retail consumers.

18. The digital storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further configured to communicating information to the point-of-sale terminals configured to cause the point-of-sale terminals to dispense the product at a price not exceeding the defined price ceiling.

19. The digital storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured for maintaining a credit account for purchase of the product for insured ones of the plurality of retail consumers in association with the price insurance policies.

20. The digital storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured for tracking credit cards issued to the plurality of retail consumers, the credit cards configured for credit purchases of the product and for use in tracking the purchase information by providing a purchaser account identifier at points-of-sale.

21. The digital storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured for maintaining a plurality of prepaid purchase accounts for purchase of the product established for insured ones of the plurality of retail consumers in association with the price insurance policies.

22. The digital storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured for tracking debit cards issued to insured ones of the plurality of retail consumers, the debit cards configured for debit purchases of the product and for use in tracking the purchase information by providing a purchase account identifier at points-of-sale.

23. The digital storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further configured for selecting one or more financial instruments to mitigate aggregate risk created by the plurality of price insurance policies.