Real-time awards determinations
First Claim
1. In an electronic transaction processing system that includes a payment system operator processing a plurality of transactions each between a merchant and a consumer upon an account issued to the consumer by an issuer, and each being submitted by the merchant to an acquirer for processing by the payment system operator who requests the issuer to obtain payment for the transaction from the account and the issuer forwarding the payment to the acquirer to pay the merchant for the transaction, a computer implemented method comprising:
- electronically receiving an authorization request for a purchase amount, requested by one said merchant, for one said transaction upon one said account of one said consumer;
electronically determining if the one said transaction is eligible for an award in a promotion by at least comparing data within the authorization request to at least one award criterion to find a match;
after a found match;
forming a first electronic transmission, for delivery to the issuer of the one said account, including;
the authorization request; and
data about the match;
electronically receiving an authorization response, responsive to said authorization request, authorizing the one said transaction for a discount amount, wherein at least one alternate source is responsible to pay a difference between the purchase amount and the discount amount;
forming a second electronic transmission with information for delivery to the one said merchant engaged in the one said transaction, including;
the received authorization response; and
data indicating that the difference will be paid by the at least one alternate source; and
electronically facilitating, for the one said transaction, the transfer to the one said merchant of the payment of the discount amount from the one said account.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods for facilitating transactions with real-time awards determinations for a cardholder. Each transaction includes transaction information, where the transaction information includes: cardholder information, merchant information, and a transaction amount. An engine determines if an award should be granted based on award criteria, such that the engine compares the transaction information with each award criterion in order to determine if the award should be granted in real-time with the transaction by the cardholder.
163 Citations
23 Claims
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1. In an electronic transaction processing system that includes a payment system operator processing a plurality of transactions each between a merchant and a consumer upon an account issued to the consumer by an issuer, and each being submitted by the merchant to an acquirer for processing by the payment system operator who requests the issuer to obtain payment for the transaction from the account and the issuer forwarding the payment to the acquirer to pay the merchant for the transaction, a computer implemented method comprising:
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electronically receiving an authorization request for a purchase amount, requested by one said merchant, for one said transaction upon one said account of one said consumer; electronically determining if the one said transaction is eligible for an award in a promotion by at least comparing data within the authorization request to at least one award criterion to find a match; after a found match; forming a first electronic transmission, for delivery to the issuer of the one said account, including; the authorization request; and data about the match; electronically receiving an authorization response, responsive to said authorization request, authorizing the one said transaction for a discount amount, wherein at least one alternate source is responsible to pay a difference between the purchase amount and the discount amount; forming a second electronic transmission with information for delivery to the one said merchant engaged in the one said transaction, including; the received authorization response; and data indicating that the difference will be paid by the at least one alternate source; and electronically facilitating, for the one said transaction, the transfer to the one said merchant of the payment of the discount amount from the one said account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. In an electronic transaction system that includes a payment system operator processing a transaction between a merchant and a consumer upon an account, a computer implemented method comprising:
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electronically receiving an authorization request of a merchant for the transaction of a purchase amount upon the account; and if the consumer engaged in the transaction is electronically determined to be eligible to receive an award, forming an electronic transmission having information for delivery to the merchant that includes; an authorization of a discounted purchase amount for the transaction upon the account; and data indicating that a portion of a difference between the purchase amount and the discounted purchase amount will be funded by an alternate source. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus comprising a computer readable medium including stored instructions executable by a computing device to:
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electronically receive an authorization request of a merchant for a transaction of a purchase amount upon an account of a consumer; if the transaction is determined to be eligible for an award, form an electronic transmission having information for delivery to the merchant that includes; an authorization response authorizing the eligible said transaction for a discount amount that is less than the purchase amount; and data indicating that a difference between the purchase amount and the discount amount will be funded by an alternate source. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification