System and method for automated electronic scrip transactions
First Claim
1. A method of performing a transaction between a merchant and a member with electronic scrip, comprising:
- receiving information relating to the transaction between the merchant and the member, including a transaction amount;
automatically debiting an account of the member by the transaction amount;
automatically crediting a predetermined merchant portion of the transaction amount to an account of the merchant; and
automatically crediting a predetermined balance portion of the transaction amount to at least one of a sponsoring organization account and a scrip distributor account.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for performing and settling an electronic scrip transaction between a merchant and a member includes a database storing accounts for one or more participating merchants, scrip distributors, sponsoring organizations, and members. The system also includes merchant terminals, scrip distributor terminals, sponsoring organization terminals, and a system manager terminal, which are interconnected to one another, as well as to the database, over a network, and a member scrip card, such as a magnetic stripe card or a smart card. Transaction information, including the transaction amount, is entered at a merchant terminal and sent over the network to a scrip distributor terminal or system manager terminal, and the member'"'"'s account is automatically debited by the transaction amount. Additionally, merchant loyalty point credit or tuition credit can be awarded and stored for the member in connection with the transaction amount. The merchant'"'"'s account is automatically credited with a merchant portion of the transaction amount, and the accounts of one or both of the scrip distributor and the sponsoring organization are credited with respective portions of the balance according to percentages on a look-up table also stored in the database.
65 Citations
69 Claims
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1. A method of performing a transaction between a merchant and a member with electronic scrip, comprising:
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receiving information relating to the transaction between the merchant and the member, including a transaction amount; automatically debiting an account of the member by the transaction amount; automatically crediting a predetermined merchant portion of the transaction amount to an account of the merchant; and automatically crediting a predetermined balance portion of the transaction amount to at least one of a sponsoring organization account and a scrip distributor account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 67, 68)
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52. A system for performing a transaction between a merchant and a member with electronic scrip, comprising:
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means for receiving information related to the transaction between the merchant and the member, including a transaction amount; means associated with the information receiving means for automatically debiting an account of the member by the transaction amount; means associated with the information receiving means for automatically crediting a predetermined merchant portion of the transaction amount to an account of the merchant; and means associated with the information receiving means for automatically crediting a predetermined balance portion of the transaction amount to at least one of a sponsoring organization account and a scrip distributor account. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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69. A method for performing a transaction between a merchant and a member with electronic scrip, comprising:
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providing a scrip clearing center having data processing resources, including one or more signal processing units with associated signal memory for on-line storage of scrip accounts for each of a plurality of scrip participants, consisting at least in part of a scrip distributor, a scrip purchasing organization, participating merchants, and members; storing scrip account information in the scrip clearing center by the system manager for at least one member consisting at least in part of a scrip account number associated with the purchasing organization and providing the member a scrip card associated with the scrip account; storing pre-paid electronic scrip credit by the system manager in a scrip account of the scrip purchasing organization purchased from the scrip distributor at a negotiated merchant discount; allowing a transfer of a portion of the pre-paid electronic scrip credit from the scrip account of the scrip purchasing organization to the member'"'"'s scrip account upon receipt by the scrip purchasing organization of payment for said portion of the pre-paid electronic scrip credit on behalf of the member; receiving information relating to a transaction between one of the participating merchants and the member by the system manager via a network from a merchant terminal, consisting at least in part of a merchant identifier, member identification and scrip account data for the member from the scrip card, a transaction request, and the transaction amount; confirming a balance adequate to cover the transaction amount by the system manager in the member'"'"'s scrip account; and if the balance is adequate, debiting the member'"'"'s scrip account for the transaction amount by the system manager, sending a confirmation of the debit to the merchant terminal via the network by the system manager, and crediting a predefined merchant portion of the transaction amount to an account of the merchant, a predefined scrip purchasing organization portion of the transaction amount to an account for the scrip purchasing organization, and a predefined scrip distributor portion of the transaction amount to a scrip distributor account by the system manager, according to look-up table parameters stored in the scrip clearing center.
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Specification