SYSTEM FOR ADMINISTERING AN INCENTIVE AWARD
First Claim
1. A method for administering an incentive award system, comprising the steps of:
- an issuing bank issuing a credit, debit card, or an award card to a participant;
the issuing bank setting up an interest bearing account for the participant to receive the incentive award;
designating specific merchants who have agreed to make awards of a specified amount to the participant;
A specified merchant selling goods to the participant;
if the issued card is a credit or debit card, charging the sales to the credit or debit card account;
determining an award amount based on the charges or cash paid; and
sending the award amount to the issuing bank to be credited to the participant account.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for administering an incentive award system in which a bank issues a credit or debit card account to a participant and sets up an interest bearing account for the participant to receive the incentive award. Specific merchants are designated who have agreed to make awards of a specified amount to the participant. After sale of goods to the participant and charging the sales to the credit or debit card account, an award amount is determined based on the charges, which is sent to the issuing bank to be credited to the participant account. In preferred embodiments, the participant account has time restrictions against withdrawal of funds. In other embodiments, the award amount is determined by an oversight organization that calculates the mount of the award as a percentage of the transaction, which may be lower for non-merchant brands.
-
Citations
8 Claims
-
1. A method for administering an incentive award system, comprising the steps of:
-
an issuing bank issuing a credit, debit card, or an award card to a participant; the issuing bank setting up an interest bearing account for the participant to receive the incentive award; designating specific merchants who have agreed to make awards of a specified amount to the participant; A specified merchant selling goods to the participant; if the issued card is a credit or debit card, charging the sales to the credit or debit card account; determining an award amount based on the charges or cash paid; and sending the award amount to the issuing bank to be credited to the participant account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
Specification