METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR OFFERING PURCHASE INCENTIVES
First Claim
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1. An interface control system for a purchase award program to provide an apportionment of a dollar amount to at least two pre-tax accounts, the interface control system comprising:
- interface means for receiving an identifier transmitted during a purchase transaction, and for transmitting the apportionment of the dollar amount to the at least two pre-tax accounts, the identifier being associated with a customer account in the purchase award program;
means for verifying coupled to the interface means for verifying a customer'"'"'s membership in the purchase award program from the identifier received by the interface means;
qualification means coupled to the interface means for controlling the selection of the at least two pre-tax accounts for apportionment of a dollar amount, the qualification being based at least in part on participation of a pre-tax account provider with the purchase award program;
means for storing a customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of the dollar amount to the at least two pre-tax accounts; and
means for processing coupled to the interface means and the storing means for processing the customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of the dollar amount to the at least two pre-tax accounts.
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Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention advantageously provides rebates in association with purchases. These rebates are then automatically apportioned and distributed into various accounts, such as charitable and investment accounts, in accordance with the purchaser'"'"'s directives.
97 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An interface control system for a purchase award program to provide an apportionment of a dollar amount to at least two pre-tax accounts, the interface control system comprising:
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interface means for receiving an identifier transmitted during a purchase transaction, and for transmitting the apportionment of the dollar amount to the at least two pre-tax accounts, the identifier being associated with a customer account in the purchase award program; means for verifying coupled to the interface means for verifying a customer'"'"'s membership in the purchase award program from the identifier received by the interface means; qualification means coupled to the interface means for controlling the selection of the at least two pre-tax accounts for apportionment of a dollar amount, the qualification being based at least in part on participation of a pre-tax account provider with the purchase award program; means for storing a customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of the dollar amount to the at least two pre-tax accounts; and means for processing coupled to the interface means and the storing means for processing the customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of the dollar amount to the at least two pre-tax accounts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system for a purchase award program, the system comprising:
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a memory for storing a customer'"'"'s selection of at least two accounts, and for storing a customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of an award to the at least two accounts, the award being associated with a purchase transaction and selected from a group consisting of a dollar amount, a rebate and a credit value; and a processor configured to; receive an identifier transmitted during the purchase transaction, the identifier being associated with a customer account in the purchase award program, verify a customer'"'"'s membership in the purchase award program using the identifier, retrieve the customer'"'"'s selection of the at least two accounts and the customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment from the memory, and process the customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of the award to the at least two accounts. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when read by a processor, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
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receiving electronic notification of a qualified purchase transaction associated with a customer account in a purchase award program; retrieving a customer'"'"'s selection of a first and second account for apportionment of a purchase award; retrieving a customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of the purchase award, the customer'"'"'s directive for the first account is an apportionment of the purchase award as a dollar amount, the customer'"'"'s directive for the second account is an apportionment of the purchase award as a credit value; and processing the customer'"'"'s directives for apportionment of the purchase award to the first and second account. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification