LINKING A FINANCIAL CARD WITH A MERCHANT ACCOUNT
First Claim
1. A method for enabling an owner of a merchant account to accept financial cards as payment, the method comprising:
- associating, by a computer, a merchant account with an owner of the merchant account, wherein the merchant account is not required to be linked to another account owned by the owner of the merchant account;
linking, by the computer, a card to the merchant account, the card having an available balance; and
without transferring funds to or from another account owned by the owner of the merchant account;
decreasing, by the computer, the available balance in response to the owner of the merchant account making a payment using the card; and
increasing, by the computer, the available balance in response to receiving an authorization from an issuer of a financial card of a particular cardholder for a payment to the owner of the merchant account.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments include systems and methods for linking a card with a merchant account. A financial institution that issues the merchant card to a merchant acts as both issuer and acquirer for the merchant. The merchant uses the merchant card to accept other financial cards as payment. Funds due the merchant are added to an available balance of the merchant card rather than depositing the funds in a settlement account. The funds can be added to the available balance before the transactions settle and can be accessed by the merchant. The financial institution also authorizes transactions when the merchant uses the merchant card as a regular cardholder to make payment. The merchant name can be changed on a per transaction basis if desired.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for enabling an owner of a merchant account to accept financial cards as payment, the method comprising:
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associating, by a computer, a merchant account with an owner of the merchant account, wherein the merchant account is not required to be linked to another account owned by the owner of the merchant account; linking, by the computer, a card to the merchant account, the card having an available balance; and without transferring funds to or from another account owned by the owner of the merchant account; decreasing, by the computer, the available balance in response to the owner of the merchant account making a payment using the card; and increasing, by the computer, the available balance in response to receiving an authorization from an issuer of a financial card of a particular cardholder for a payment to the owner of the merchant account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer program product having computer-executable instructions executable by a computing device to perform operations comprising,
associating, by a computer, a merchant account with an owner of the merchant account, wherein the merchant account is not required to be linked to another account owned by the owner of the merchant account; -
linking, by the computer, a card to the merchant account, the card having an available balance; and without transferring funds to or from another account owned by the owner of the merchant account; decreasing, by the computer, the available balance in response to the owner of the merchant account making a payment using the card; and increasing, by the computer, the available balance in response to receiving an authorization from an issuer of a financial card of a particular cardholder for a payment to the owner of the merchant account. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification