A procedure for tracking transactions carried out between multiple cost centers and an in-house supply facility of a business entity is carried out by setting up the supply facility to function essentially in the same manner as an independent retail merchant through the existing bank card association. Transaction information is then transferred as a batch to a merchant accounting system which transfers the information to the bank card association to the card issuer. The card issuer then provides a funds payment that is transferred through the bank card network to the merchant accounting system and finally to the merchant acquirer. The merchant acquirer, however, then transfers the funds back to the credit card issuer to cancel out the original funds transfer and thereby provide a closed loop funds transfer. Periodically, the merchant accounting system provides a comprehensive collection of the transaction information performed by the stock room to the credit card issuer who in turn generates a transaction report that is provided to the business entity for updating its general ledger. At the close of a month, the totality of transactions for the stock room of the business entity is communicated to the credit card issuer which in turn determines the amount of interchange fees it has received from the merchant acquirer and pays a corresponding amount for the interchange fees back to the merchant acquirer, thus essentially zeroing out the interchange fees in a closed loop manner.
A radio frequency (RF) device (or "tag") for containing specific information relating to a particular good being shipped from one location (e.g., warehouse) to another (e.g., customer). The device includes a circuitized substrate (e.g., a printed circuit board), a semiconductor chip, an antenna and a power regulator, and is designed in one embodiment to be partly inserted within a good (e.g., a cardboard box) containing one or more of the goods being shipped and tracked. Alternatively, the device may be attached by other means (e.g., adhesive). A shipper can simply track the goods containing such devices using wireless communication devices (e.g., satellites) to quickly and readily ascertain the specific location of the goods at any time as well as the appropriate desired information relating to such goods (e.g., quantity, weight, type, etc.).
A financial transaction system. The present invention includes a method for performing a financial transaction, wherein a cardholder makes a purchase from a merchant using credit established at a financial institution. The method begins when the merchant transmits a merchant offer including merchant information about the purchase to the cardholder. The cardholder transmits the merchant information along with cardholder information to the financial institution. The financial institution then transmits payment for the purchase to a merchant account and sends a payment notification to the merchant indicating that payment for the purchase has been made and that the merchant offer has been accepted.
A method and system for executing electronic funds transactions using a merchant based debit (MBD) card in a merchant-centric system that provides for reduced fees to acquiring merchants and remitting a portion of the collected fees to issuing merchants. The system also preferably provides information sharing on consumer transactions with merchants to facilitate consumer based incentive programs and the like. The system operates over conventional card processing infrastructure and utilizes the ACH network, or equivalent, to settle the transaction from a consumer checking account, or a merchant account in the case of a prepaid MBD card. Using the system, merchants may elect to qualify customers based on their own criterion. A portion of the interchange fee is distributed to the issuing merchant associated transaction executed using the merchant based debit card. Embodiments are described for prepaid, fixed value, programmable, and refillable, forms of merchant based debit cards.
A method and system for tracking goods, etc., food products, which involves identifying the received goods at a specified location and thereafter assigning an encoded readable code to each of the goods which can be only accessed by authorized personnel responsible for handling the goods on through to and including shipment, e.g., to customers. A host computer includes a database for encoding received identification data and thereafter encoding same to provide the readable codes. The method and system also allows the customer/recipient to access the codes to discern whether he/she has received the correct goods he purchased.
A computer-assisted method includes hardware, software and telecommunications components that cooperatively achieve the technical effect of an improved electronic purchasing transaction system. In various embodiments of the invention, at least one master account is established for a client. A pool of limited use account identifiers or secondary account identifiers, that are separate and distinct from the master account, is associated with the master account by a purchasing system or account management system. Each of the limited use account identifiers may be used by the client to purchase items from merchants.
