Method and apparatus for issuing and managing gift certificates
First Claim
1. A method for issuing a gift certificate corresponding to a financial account, comprising the steps of:
- identifying and accessing stored account data associated with a financial account, said stored data including an account identifier;
determining a certificate identifier corresponding to said account identifier;
producing a gift certificate including thereon said certificate identifier; and
distributing said gift certificate to an owner of said financial account.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for issuing and redeeming a gift certificate drawn on a credit card or other financial account. The present invention includes a first aspect directed to a merchant card authorization terminal and a second aspect directed to a credit card issuer central controller. According to the first aspect, a method for redeeming a gift certificate drawn on a financial account is disclosed including the steps of receiving a gift certificate for payment of an identified value, transmitting a request for authorization to a central server, receiving an authorization signal, representing an indication that redemption of the gift certificate is authorized, from said central server and receiving a payment from the account issuer based on said identified value. A system is also disclosed for implementing the methods in all aspects of the present invention.
428 Citations
67 Claims
-
1. A method for issuing a gift certificate corresponding to a financial account, comprising the steps of:
-
identifying and accessing stored account data associated with a financial account, said stored data including an account identifier;
determining a certificate identifier corresponding to said account identifier;
producing a gift certificate including thereon said certificate identifier; and
distributing said gift certificate to an owner of said financial account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
determining a security code corresponding to said gift certificate;
printing said security code on said gift certificate;
applying a user-alterable means for obstructing the visibility of said printed security code; and
transmitting said security code to said owner of said financial account.
-
-
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
-
determining a security code corresponding to said gift certificate; and
transmitting said security code to said owner of said financial account.
-
-
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the steps of:
-
producing a security token storing said security code; and
distributing said security token.
-
-
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as a magnetic stripe card.
-
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as a token.
-
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:
-
determining expiration data of said gift certificate;
said gift certificate including thereon an indication of said expiration data; and
storing said expiration data, said account data including said expiration data.
-
-
10. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:
-
determining a maximum redemption value of said gift certificate;
storing said maximum redemption value, said account data including said maximum redemption value.
-
-
11. The method of claim 1 further including the steps of:
-
determining a maximum redemption value of said gift certificate; and
updating said stored account data to reflect a reservation of credit equal to said maximum redemption value.
-
-
12. The method of claim 1 wherein said gift certificate includes an issuer identifier representing the issuer of said gift certificate.
-
13. The method of claim 1 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as an event ticket.
-
14. A method for redeeming a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving a gift certificate for payment of an identified value, said gift certificate issued by an account issuer and including thereon a certificate identifier corresponding to an account identifier, said account identifier associated with a financial account;
transmitting a request for authorization to a central server, said request including said certificate identifier;
receiving an authorization signal from said central server, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized; and
receiving a payment from said account issuer based on said identified value. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
receiving a security code; and
transmitting said security code to said central server.
-
-
16. The method of claim 15 wherein said step of receiving a security code includes the steps of:
-
receiving a magnetic stripe card having a security code stored thereon; and
reading said security code from said magnetic stripe card.
-
-
17. The method of claim 14 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as a magnetic stripe card.
-
18. The method of claim 14 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as a token.
-
19. The method of claim 14 further comprising the steps of:
-
receiving challenge data from said central server;
presenting said challenge data to a bearer of said gift certificate;
receiving response data from said bearer of said gift certificate; and
transmitting said response data to said central server.
-
-
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of receiving a challenge-response authorization signal from said central server indicating an association between said challenge data and said response data.
-
21. The method of claim 19 wherein said response data is unique.
-
22. The method of claim 19 wherein said challenge data and said response data are user definable.
-
23. A method for authorizing the redemption of a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving a request to authorize redemption of a gift certificate for an identified value, said request including a certificate identifier;
determining an account identifier based on said certificate identifier;
accessing stored account data associated with said account identifier;
analyzing said account data to determine whether to authorize the redemption of said gift certificate;
transmitting an authorization signal to a remote terminal, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized;
updating said account data to reflect redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
receiving a security code from a remote terminal; and
comparing said received security code to a stored security code.
-
-
25. The method of claim 23 wherein said stored account data includes an expiration date, said method further comprising the steps of:
-
accessing a current date;
comparing said current date to said expiration date of said stored account data to determine whether to authorize the redemption of said gift certificate.
-
-
26. A method for utilizing a gift certificate comprising the steps of:
-
presenting a gift certificate for redemption, said gift certificate including a printed security code and a user-alterable means for obstructing the visibility of said printed code;
providing a security code associated with said gift certificate;
removing said user-alterable means for obscuring the visibility of said printed security code; and
comparing said printed security code with said security code.
-
-
27. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method for redeeming a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, said processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:
-
receiving a gift certificate for payment of an identified value, said gift certificate issued by an account issuer and including thereon a certificate identifier corresponding to an account identifier, said account identifier associated with a financial account;
transmitting a request for authorization to a central server, said request including said certificate identifier;
receiving an authorization signal from said central server, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized; and
receiving a payment from said account issuer based on said identified value.
-
-
28. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method for authorizing the redemption of a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, said processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:
-
receiving a request to authorize redemption of a gift certificate for an identified value, said request including a certificate identifier;
determining an account identifier based on said certificate identifier;
accessing stored account data associated with said account identifier;
analyzing said account data to determine whether to authorize the redemption of said gift certificate;
transmitting an authorization signal to a remote terminal, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized;
updating said account data to reflect redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value.
-
-
29. An apparatus for issuing a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising:
-
a memory for storing account data associated with a financial account, said account data including an account identifier;
an output device for producing a gift certificate; and
a processor operatively coupled to said memory and said output device, said processor configured to;
access said stored account data;
determine a certificate identifier corresponding to said account identifier; and
produce a gift certificate including thereon said certificate identifier. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
print said certificate identifier on said gift certificate; and
apply a user-alterable means for obstructing the visibility of said certificate identifier.
-
-
32. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said processor is further configured to determine a security code corresponding to said gift certificate;
- and said output device is further configured to;
print said security code on said gift certificate;
apply a user-alterable means for obstructing the visibility of said printed security code.
- and said output device is further configured to;
-
33. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said processor is further configured to:
-
determine a security code corresponding to said gift certificate; and
transmit said security code to said owner of said financial account.
-
-
34. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein said output device is configured to produce a security token storing said security code.
-
35. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said processor is further configured to determine expiration data of said gift certificate;
- said output device is further configured to print an indication of said expiration data on said gift certificate; and
said memory is further configured to store said expiration data.
- said output device is further configured to print an indication of said expiration data on said gift certificate; and
-
36. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said processor is further configured to determine a maximum redemption value of said gift certificate;
- and said memory is further configured to store said maximum redemption value.
-
37. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said processor is further configured to:
-
determine a maximum redemption value of said gift certificate; and
update said stored account data to reflect a reservation of credit equal to said maximum redemption value.
-
-
38. An apparatus for redeeming a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising:
-
a memory for storing gift certificate data including a gift certificate identifier;
a first input device for receiving said gift certificate identifier;
an output device for transmitting;
an authorization request to a central server, said authorization request including said gift certificate identifier and an identified value;
a second input device for receiving an authorization signal from said central server, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized; and
a processor operatively connected to said memory, said first input device, said output device and said second input device for controlling a redemption process. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. An apparatus for authorizing the redemption of a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising:
-
a memory for storing;
account data including an associated account identifier and a certificate identifier; and
a redemption value;
an input device configured to receive a request to authorize a redemption of a gift certificate for said redemption value;
a processor configured to;
determine an account identifier based on said certificate identifier;
analyze said account data to determine whether to authorize the redemption of said gift certificate; and
update said account data to reflect redemption of said gift certificate for said redemption value; and
an output device configured to transmit an authorization signal to a remote terminal, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45)
access a current date;
compare said current date to said expiration date of said stored account data to determine whether to authorize the redemption of said gift certificate.
-
-
46. A system for issuing a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising:
-
means for identifying and accessing stored account data associated with a financial account, said stored account data including an account identifier;
means for determining a certificate identifier corresponding to said account identifier;
means for producing a gift certificate including thereon said certificate identifier; and
means for distributing said gift certificate to an owner of said financial account. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
means for printing said certificate identifier on said gift certificate; and
means for applying a user-alterable means for obstructing the visibility of said certificate identifier.
-
-
49. The system of claim 46 further comprising:
-
means for determining a security code corresponding to said gift certificate;
means for printing said security code on said gift certificate;
means for applying a user-alterable means for obstructing the visibility of said printed security code; and
means for transmitting said security code to said owner of said financial account.
-
-
50. The system of claim 46 further comprising:
-
means for determining a security code corresponding to said gift certificate; and
means for transmitting said security code to said owner of said financial account.
-
-
51. The system of claim 50 further comprising:
-
means for producing a security token storing said security code; and
means for distributing said security token.
-
-
52. The system of claim 46 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as a magnetic stripe card.
-
53. The system of claim 46 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as a token.
-
54. The system of claim 46 further comprising:
-
means for determining expiration data of said gift certificate;
said gift certificate including thereon an indication of said expiration data; and
means for storing said expiration data, said account data including said expiration data.
-
-
55. The system of claim 46 further including:
-
means for determining a maximum redemption value of said gift certificate;
means for storing said maximum redemption value, said account data including said maximum redemption value.
-
-
56. The system of claim 46 further including:
-
means for determining a maximum redemption value of said gift certificate; and
means for updating said stored account data to reflect a reservation of credit equal to said maximum redemption value.
-
-
57. The system of claim 46 wherein said gift certificate includes an issuer identifier representing the issuer of said gift certificate.
-
58. The system of claim 46 wherein said gift certificate is embodied as an event ticket.
-
59. A system for redeeming a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising:
-
means for receiving a gift certificate for payment of an identified value, said gift certificate issued by an account issuer and including thereon a certificate identifier corresponding to an account identifier, said account identifier associated with a financial account;
means for transmitting a request for authorization to a central server, said request including said certificate identifier;
means for receiving an authorization signal from said central server, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized; and
means for receiving a payment from said account issuer based on said identified value. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63)
means for receiving a security code; and
means for transmitting said security code to said central server.
-
-
61. The system of claim 60 wherein said means for receiving a security code includes:
-
means for receiving a magnetic stripe card having a security code stored thereon; and
means for reading said security code from said magnetic stripe card.
-
-
62. The system of claim 59 further comprising:
-
means for receiving challenge data from said central server;
means for presenting said challenge data to a bearer of said gift certificate;
means for receiving response data from said bearer of said gift certificate; and
means for transmitting said response data to said central server.
-
-
63. The system of claim 62 further comprising means for receiving a challenge-response authorization signal from said central server indicating an association between said challenge data and said response data.
-
64. A computer system for authorizing the redemption of a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, comprising:
-
means for receiving a request to authorize redemption of a gift certificate for an identified value, said request including a certificate identifier;
means for determining an account identifier based on said certificate identifier;
means for accessing stored account data associated with said account identifier;
means for analyzing said account data to determine whether to authorize the redemption of said gift certificate;
means for transmitting an authorization signal to a remote terminal, said authorization signal representing an indication that redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value is authorized;
means for updating said account data to reflect redemption of said gift certificate for said identified value. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66)
means for receiving a security code from a remote terminal; and
means for comparing said received security code to a stored security code.
-
-
66. The system of claim 64 wherein said stored account data includes an expiration date, said system further comprising:
-
means for accessing a current date;
means for comparing said current date to said expiration date of said stored account data to determine whether to authorize the redemption of said gift certificate.
-
-
67. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with processing instructions for implementing a method for issuing a gift certificate drawn on a financial account, said processing instructions for directing a computer to perform the steps of:
-
identifying and accessing stored account data associated with a financial account, said stored data including an account identifier;
determining a certificate identifier corresponding to said account identifier;
producing a gift certificate including thereon said certificate identifier; and
distributing said gift certificate to an owner of said financial account.
-
Specification