Rebate automation

US9031859B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Visa U.S.A. Inc. · US

Inventors

• Diane C. Salmon · Lafayette, US
• James Alan VonDerheide · Pasadena, US
• Edward W. Fordyce, III · Sedalia, US
• David Chauncey Shepard · Novato, US
• Gregory Michael Adams · Auckland, NZ
• Laura DiGioacchino · San Mateo, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 20, 2010
• Grant date: May 12, 2015
• Expiry date: Feb 17, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q30/0238
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A computer receives information that a request is made to authorize a transaction for a sale of a product by a merchant to an account holder in a transaction conducted on a consumer account issued to the account holder. When the computer confirms that the transaction is authorized and that the transaction occurs within a predetermined time period for which there is a rebate associated with the product and a corresponding sponsor financially responsible for the rebate, the computer communicates that the rebate is to be debited to an account of the sponsor and either: (i) given as a discount by the merchant at the point of sale to the account holder; or (ii) credited to an account issued to the account holder by the issuer.