Method, system and computer readable medium for facilitating a transaction between a customer, a merchant and an associate
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving, at an associate processing device operated by an associate business entity, a request from an individual for payment of at least one product or service offered by a merchant;
accessing, by the associate processing device, an account associated with the individual, wherein the account is configured to store data pertaining to a plurality of associate cards, and wherein the account comprises an account value provided by the associate business entity corresponding to an amount of associate card data that the individual has stored in the account;
receiving, at the associate processing device, data that is provided by the individual and associated with an associate card, wherein the received data is used to identify a value of the associate card and to identify a distribution region for the associate card;
recording, in the account by the associate processing device, the received data associated with the associate card;
recording, by the associate processing device, the distribution region for the associate card according to the received associate card data;
incrementing, by the associate processing device, the account value according to the received associate card data; and
in response to the account value equaling a threshold value, enabling fulfillment of the request.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for facilitating a transaction between at least one user, at least one merchant, at least one associate is provided. The method includes the steps of the associate processing device transferring into the user processing device a first merchant link for a first merchant Web site on a first merchant processing device. The first merchant link is framed with associate information. The user selects the first merchant link. The associate processing device transfers into the user processing device information regarding a first product from the first merchant Web site. The user selects the first product to purchase. The user provides purchase information for purchasing the first product. The user processing device transfers the purchase information to the associate processing device. The associate processing device adds promotional information to the purchase information responsive to the user identification value. The associate processing device transfers the promotional information and the purchase information to the merchant processing device.
148 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
receiving, at an associate processing device operated by an associate business entity, a request from an individual for payment of at least one product or service offered by a merchant; accessing, by the associate processing device, an account associated with the individual, wherein the account is configured to store data pertaining to a plurality of associate cards, and wherein the account comprises an account value provided by the associate business entity corresponding to an amount of associate card data that the individual has stored in the account; receiving, at the associate processing device, data that is provided by the individual and associated with an associate card, wherein the received data is used to identify a value of the associate card and to identify a distribution region for the associate card; recording, in the account by the associate processing device, the received data associated with the associate card; recording, by the associate processing device, the distribution region for the associate card according to the received associate card data; incrementing, by the associate processing device, the account value according to the received associate card data; and in response to the account value equaling a threshold value, enabling fulfillment of the request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A system of encouraging an individual to purchase a product or service, the system comprising:
-
an associate processing device operated by an associate business entity; and a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the associate processing device, wherein the computer-readable storage medium comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed; receive a request from the individual for payment of at least one product or service offered by a merchant, access an account associated with the individual, wherein the account is configured to store data pertaining to a plurality of associate cards, wherein the account comprises an account value provided by the associate business entity corresponding to an amount of associate card data that the individual has presented to the associate processing device for storage in the account, receive, from the individual, data associated with an associate card, wherein the received data is used to identify a value of the associate card and to identify a distribution region for the associate card, record the received data associated with the associate card record the distribution region for the associate card according to the received associate card data, increment the account value according to the received associate card data, and in response to the account value equaling a threshold value, enable fulfillment of the request. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A system of encouraging an individual to purchase a product or service, the system comprising:
-
an associate processing device operated by an associate business entity; and a computer-readable storage medium in communication with the associate processing device, wherein the computer-readable storage medium comprises one or more programming instructions that, when executed; receive a request from the individual for payment of at least one product or service offered by a merchant, access an account associated with the individual, wherein the account is configured to store data pertaining to a plurality of associate cards, wherein the account comprises an account value provided by the associate business entity corresponding to an amount of associate card data that the individual has presented to the associate processing device for storage in the account, and wherein the plurality of associate cards is not distributed by the merchant, receive, from the individual, data associated with an associate card, wherein the received data is used to identify a value of the associate card and to identify a distribution region for the associate card, record the received data associated with the associate card, record the distribution region for the associate card according to the received associate card data, increment the account value according to the received associate card data, and in response to the account value equaling a threshold value, enable fulfillment of the request. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
-
Specification