RECEIPT INSURANCE SYSTEMS AND METHODS

• US 20120109693A1
• Filed: 01/06/2012
• Published: 05/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Victor Smith
• Original Assignee: Victor Smith
• Inventors: Smith, Victor
• Granted Patent: US 8,560,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

Receipt insurance systems and methods provide protection to consumers against losses which may result from failure to possess a physical receipt or proof of purchase for retail purchase transactions. In one embodiment, a third party receipt insurer insures or guarantees consumers or purchasers of benefits associated with having possession of a receipt or other proof of purchase for a retail purchase without the need for possession of a physical or paper receipt. A receipt insurance agreement between a receipt insurance provider and a consumer protects the consumer against a loss of consumer rights or personal property insurance rights resulting from a lost receipt by electronically storing for retrieval, if necessary, an electronic record of all of the receipt information.

Claims

1. A receipt insurance credit card payment system for purchase transactions by use of receipt-insured-credit-cards as payment in conjunction with hardware and software for purchase transaction data processing and management, the receipt insurance credit card payment system comprising:

an insurance agreement between a receipt insurer and a credit card issuer in connection with a credit card account to provide a receipt-insured-credit-card by which a cardholder of a receipt-insured-credit-card issued by a receipt-insured-credit-card issuer is insured under the insurance agreement against loss of rights related to a receipt for a purchase transaction made with the receipt-insured-credit-card;

the receipt-insured-credit-card configured for acceptance as payment by a retailer for a purchase transaction as a charge against a receipt-insured-credit-card;

means for transfer of receipt data for purchase transactions by receipt-insured-credit-cards from the retailer to the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer or to the receipt insurer or to the cardholder, the retailer receiving an economic benefit from the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card for acceptance of receipt-insured-credit-cards for purchase transactions.

2. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the insurance policy is incorporated into terms of issuance between the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer and cardholders of receipt-insured-credit-cards.

3. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the receipt insurance of the insurance agreement is implemented by acceptance and use of the receipt-insured-credit-card for purchase transactions by the cardholder.

4. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the cardholder pays for the use of the receipt-insured-credit-card under a cardholder agreement with the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card.

5. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the retailer agrees to the terms of the insurance agreement by acceptance of a receipt-insured-credit-card as payment for a purchase transaction.

6. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the retailer receives consideration from the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card for acceptance of a receipt-insured-credit-card as payment for a purchase transaction as part of a transaction fee agreement.

7. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 6 wherein the retailer receives consideration from the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card on a per transaction basis for acceptance of a receipt-insured-credit-card as payment for a purchase transaction as part of a transaction fee agreement.

8. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 6 wherein the retailer receives consideration from the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card as a percentage based transaction charge for acceptance of a receipt-insured-credit-card as payment for a purchase transaction as part of a transaction fee agreement.

9. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card receives receipt data from the retailer on purchase transactions for which a receipt-insured-credit-card is accepted as payment by the retailer.

10. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the receipt insurer receives receipt data from the retailer on purchase transactions for which a receipt-insured-credit-card is accepted as payment by the retailer.

11. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the cardholder may access receipt data from the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer on purchase transactions for which a receipt-insured-credit-card is accepted as payment by the retailer.

12. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the cardholder may access receipt data from the receipt insurer on purchase transactions for which a receipt-insured-credit-card is accepted as payment by the retailer.

13. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card may access receipt data from the receipt insurer on purchase transactions for which a receipt-insured-credit-card is accepted as payment by the retailer.

14. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the receipt data includes monetary amounts of purchase transactions and itemized purchase transaction information.

15. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein substantially all receipt data on purchase transactions made with a receipt-insured-credit-card can be accessed by reference to the receipt-insured-credit-card with which the purchase transaction was made.

16. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 further comprising cardholder access to receipt data on purchase transactions made with a receipt-insured-credit-card via the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer.

17. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 further comprising cardholder access to receipt data on purchase transactions made with a receipt-insured-credit-card via the receipt insurer.

18. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 further comprising retailer access to receipt data on purchase transactions made with a receipt-insured-credit-card via the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer.

19. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 further comprising retailer access to receipt data on purchase transactions made with a receipt-insured-credit-card via the receipt insurer.

20. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer is a credit card company.

21. The receipt insurance credit card payment system of claim 1 wherein the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer is a bank.

22. A method of insuring a purchaser in a purchase transaction of a product or service against losses resulting from the absence of a physical receipt for the purchase transaction, the method comprising the steps of:

issuing a receipt-insured-credit-card to a purchaser under a receipt-insured-credit-card cardholder agreement, the receipt-insured-credit-card cardholder agreement being associated with insurance for the purchaser for losses resulting from or related to the absence of a physical receipt or proof of purchase for a purchase transaction made with the receipt-insured-credit-card.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the insurance coverage is defined by an insurance agreement which is associated with the receipt-insured-credit-card cardholder agreement.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the insurance coverage is invoked by use of the receipt-insured-credit-card for a purchase transaction by the purchaser.

25. The method of claim 22 wherein the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card receives consideration from the purchaser for issuance of the receipt-insured-credit-card to the purchase.

26. The method of claim 22 wherein the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card compensates a seller of a product or service for acceptance of the receipt-insured-credit-card for a purchase transaction.

27. The method of claim 22 wherein a seller of a product or service agrees to terms of the insurance by acceptance of a receipt-insured-credit-card in connection with a purchase transaction.

28. The method of claim 22 wherein the seller of a product or service transmits receipt data for a purchase made with a receipt-insured-credit-card to the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card.

29. The method of claim 22 wherein the seller of a product or service transmits receipt data for a purchase made with a receipt-insured-credit-card to the purchaser.

30. The method of claim 22 wherein the seller of a product or service transmits receipt data for a purchase made with a receipt-insured-credit-card to a receipt insurer.

31. The method of claim 22 wherein a receipt insurer covers any claims against the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer by a purchaser in connection with any purchases made with a receipt-insured-credit-card.

32. The method of claim 22 wherein a purchaser submits claims for losses resulting from the absence of a physical receipt for a purchase transaction to a receipt insurer.

33. The method of claim 22 wherein a purchaser submits claims for losses resulting from the absence of a physical receipt for a purchase transaction to the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card.

34. The method of claim 22 wherein a purchaser accesses receipt data on purchase transactions made with a receipt-insured-credit-card via the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit card by reference to a receipt-insured-credit-card account.

35. A receipt insurance credit card payment system for purchase transactions by use of receipt-insured-credit-cards as payment in conjunction with hardware and software for purchase transaction data processing and management, the receipt insurance credit card payment system comprising:

an insurance agreement between a receipt insurer and a credit card issuer in connection with a credit card account to provide a receipt-insured-credit-card by which a cardholder of a receipt-insured-credit-card issued by a receipt-insured-credit-card issuer is insured under the insurance agreement against loss of rights related to a receipt for a purchase transaction made with the receipt-insured-credit-card;

the receipt-insured-credit-card configured for acceptance as payment by a retailer for a purchase transaction as a charge against a receipt-insured-credit-card;

means for transfer of receipt data for purchase transactions by receipt-insured-credit-cards from the retailer to the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer or to the receipt insurer or to the cardholder, the credit card issuer receiving an economic benefit from the cardholder for issuance of receipt-insured-credit-cards for purchase transactions.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the insurance coverage is defined by an insurance agreement which is associated with the receipt-insured-credit-card cardholder agreement.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the insurance coverage is invoked by use of the receipt-insured-credit-card for a purchase transaction by the purchaser.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card receives consideration from the cardholder for issuance of the receipt-insured-credit-card to the cardholder.

39. The method of claim 35 wherein the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card compensates a seller of a product or service for acceptance of the receipt-insured-credit-card for a purchase transaction.

40. The method of claim 35 wherein a seller of a product or service agrees to terms of the insurance by acceptance of a receipt-insured-credit-card in connection with a purchase transaction.

41. The method of claim 35 wherein the seller of a product or service transmits receipt data for a purchase made with a receipt-insured-credit-card to the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card.

42. The method of claim 35 wherein the seller of a product or service transmits receipt data for a purchase made with a receipt-insured-credit-card to the purchaser.

43. The method of claim 35 wherein the seller of a product or service transmits receipt data for a purchase made with a receipt-insured-credit-card to a receipt insurer.

44. The method of claim 35 wherein a receipt insurer covers any claims against the receipt-insured-credit-card issuer by a purchaser in connection with any purchases made with a receipt-insured-credit-card.

45. The method of claim 35 wherein a purchaser submits claims for losses resulting from the absence of a physical receipt for a purchase transaction to a receipt insurer.

46. The method of claim 35 wherein a purchaser submits claims for losses resulting from the absence of a physical receipt for a purchase transaction to the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit-card.

47. The method of claim 35 wherein a purchaser accesses receipt data on purchase transactions made with a receipt-insured-credit-card via the issuer of the receipt-insured-credit card by reference to a receipt-insured-credit-card account.