Variable Revenue Sharing For Multiple Account Payment Instruments
First Claim
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1. A method for facilitating allocation of payments among multiple transaction instrument partners, comprising:
- receiving at a network a transaction authorization request from a merchant;
determining a total amount of a merchant fee to be charged for a total transaction amount;
subtracting from the total amount of the merchant fee a predetermined portion for retention by the network;
transmitting a balance of the merchant fee to a transaction instrument issuer; and
allocating portions of the balance of the merchant fee among two or more transaction instrument partners by;
determining an interchange amount as a function of the transaction amount;
determining a first portion of the transaction to be charged to a first transaction instrument partner;
determining a second portion of the transaction to be charged to a second transaction instrument partner;
receiving from the first transaction instrument partner the first portion of the transaction amount less a first interchange share retained by the first partner;
receiving from the second partner the second portion of the transaction amount less a second interchange share retained by the second partner; and
retaining at the issuer at least a portion of the balance of the interchange amount.
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Abstract
A method and system are disclosed for facilitating allocation of payments among multiple transaction instrument partners. The method and system comprises receiving at a network a transaction authorization request from a merchant; determining the total amount of merchant fee to be charged for the total transaction; subtracting from the total amount of the merchant fee a predetermined portion for retention by the network; transmitting the balance of the merchant fee to a card issuer; and allocating at the issuer portions of the balance of the merchant fee to be allocated among two or more transaction instrument partners.
114 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating allocation of payments among multiple transaction instrument partners, comprising:
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receiving at a network a transaction authorization request from a merchant; determining a total amount of a merchant fee to be charged for a total transaction amount; subtracting from the total amount of the merchant fee a predetermined portion for retention by the network; transmitting a balance of the merchant fee to a transaction instrument issuer; and allocating portions of the balance of the merchant fee among two or more transaction instrument partners by; determining an interchange amount as a function of the transaction amount; determining a first portion of the transaction to be charged to a first transaction instrument partner; determining a second portion of the transaction to be charged to a second transaction instrument partner; receiving from the first transaction instrument partner the first portion of the transaction amount less a first interchange share retained by the first partner; receiving from the second partner the second portion of the transaction amount less a second interchange share retained by the second partner; and retaining at the issuer at least a portion of the balance of the interchange amount. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. (canceled)
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4. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:
determining the first interchange share as a function of the first portion of the transaction amount transmitted by the first partner. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A method for allocating interchange payments among multiple transaction instrument partners, comprising:
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transmitting a transaction authorization request from a merchant; receiving the transaction authorization request at a network; transmitting the transaction authorization request from the network to a transaction instrument issuer and a transaction processor; determining at the processor the merchant category, the validity of the transaction instrument, and the order in which funds to honor the transaction should be drawn from one or more transaction instrument partners; transmitting at least a part of the transaction authorization request from the issuer to at least one of first and second transaction instrument partners based on information obtained by the issuer from the processor; transmitting from the at least one transaction instrument partner to the issuer at least a portion of the requested transaction amount less an interchange share retained by the at least one transaction instrument partner; and transmitting from the issuer to the merchant the requested transaction amount less an interchange share retained by the issuer. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A system for allocating interchange payments among multiple transaction instrument partners, comprising:
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a plurality of transaction instrument partners that contain funds to fund transaction requests; and a transaction instrument issuer that receives a transaction amount authorization request from a merchant; determines an interchange amount as a function of the transaction amount; determines a first portion of the transaction to be charged to a first transaction instrument partner; receives from the first partner the first portion of the transaction amount less a first interchange share retained by the first partner; determines whether a second portion of the transaction is to be charged to a second transaction instrument partner, and, if so, receives from the second partner the second portion of the transaction amount less a second interchange share retained by the second partner; and retains at least a portion of the balance of the interchange amount. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium including control logic stored therein for use in facilitating allocation of payments among multiple transaction instrument partners, comprising:
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first control logic means for enabling the computer to receive at a network a transaction authorization request from a merchant; second control logic means for enabling the computer to determine a total amount of a merchant fee to be charged for the total transaction; third control logic means for enabling the computer to subtract from the total amount of the merchant fee a predetermined portion for retention by the network; fourth control logic means for enabling the computer to transmit a balance of the merchant fee to a processor; and fifth control logic means for enabling the computer to allocate at the processor portions of the balance of the merchant fee to be allocated among two or more transaction instrument partners. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium including control logic stored therein for use in allocating interchange payments among multiple transaction instrument partners, comprising:
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first control logic means for enabling the computer to receive at an issuer a transaction amount authorization request from a merchant; second control logic means for enabling the computer to determine an interchange amount as a function of the transaction amount; third control logic means for enabling the computer to determine a first portion of the transaction to be charged to a first transaction instrument partner; fourth control logic means for enabling the computer to determine a second portion of the transaction to be charged to a second transaction instrument partner; fifth control logic means for enabling the computer to receive from the first partner the first portion of the transaction amount less a first interchange share retained by the first partner; sixth control logic means for enabling the computer to receive from the second partner the second portion of the transaction amount less a second interchange share retained by the second partner; and seventh control logic means for enabling the computer to retain at the issuer at least a portion of the balance of the interchange amount. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification