Usage promotion method for payment card transaction system
First Claim
1. In a payment card data interchange system of the type which includes a central processor, card issuers, providers of goods or services, and data transfer lines which interconnect the central processor with the card issuers and the providers, a method for promoting payment card usage by automatically awarding credits to card holders in the amount of their purchases, on a random basis, which comprises the steps of:
- a. reading digital data representing an issuer data file containing information regarding all card issuers in the system;
b. reading digital data representing a parameter library data file describing selected transaction parameters;
c. reading digital data representing a transaction log data file of each transaction processed by the system;
d. comparing the digital data of the transaction log data file, the issuer data file and the parameter library data file to generate digital data representing a data file of all eligible transactions;
e. reducing the number of eligible transactions to generate digital data representing a reduced data file of eligible transactions; and
f. randomly selecting transactions from the reduced data file of eligible transactions to generate digital data representing a data file of potential winning transactions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A usage promotion method for use with a payment card data interchange system in which a computer examines card transaction data files to select transactions conforming to specified criteria. The computer eliminates arbitrarily all but a fraction of the selected transactions, selects winning transactions by using the bytes of the computer'"'"'s system clock, and produces a verifiable list of winning transactions which, after manual verification, are used to create credits to the accounts of the card holders of the winning transactions.
242 Citations
12 Claims
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1. In a payment card data interchange system of the type which includes a central processor, card issuers, providers of goods or services, and data transfer lines which interconnect the central processor with the card issuers and the providers, a method for promoting payment card usage by automatically awarding credits to card holders in the amount of their purchases, on a random basis, which comprises the steps of:
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a. reading digital data representing an issuer data file containing information regarding all card issuers in the system; b. reading digital data representing a parameter library data file describing selected transaction parameters; c. reading digital data representing a transaction log data file of each transaction processed by the system; d. comparing the digital data of the transaction log data file, the issuer data file and the parameter library data file to generate digital data representing a data file of all eligible transactions; e. reducing the number of eligible transactions to generate digital data representing a reduced data file of eligible transactions; and f. randomly selecting transactions from the reduced data file of eligible transactions to generate digital data representing a data file of potential winning transactions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification