Method and apparatus for processing financial transactions subject to different financing terms
AssigneeAmerican Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
InventorsJulia Menichilli, Marq Williams, Marla Flatbush
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A financial payment vehicle, such as a charge or credit card, provides lower financing terms on purchases that meet specified criteria (i.e. a minimum threshold transaction amount, a purchase from a particular industry or at particular merchants, and/or other enrollment qualifications) and further provides standard financing terms for purchases that do not meet the criteria.
Claims25
A method for processing a financial transaction, performed by a credit provider, the method comprising:
- receiving, from a merchant, a request to authorize a financial transaction between a purchaser and the merchant using a payment vehicle authorized by the credit provider, the request including a transaction amount due to the merchant for the financial transaction;
- transmitting, to the merchant, an approval of the financial transaction;
- determining whether the financial transaction is qualified for lower financing terms, based on an amount of the financial transaction, an enrollment status of the merchant and an enrollment status of the purchaser;
- charging the purchaser for the financial transaction according to standard terms when the financial transaction is not qualified for the lower financing terms;
- and
- charging the purchaser for the financial transaction according to the lower financing terms when the financial transaction is qualified for the lower financing terms.
A method, performed by a credit provider, for processing financial transactions over a financial transaction network, the method comprising:
- processing standard financial transactions according to standard financial terms;
- establishing a credit financing program in which qualified financial transactions by qualified purchasers are financed at lower financial terms;
- enrolling at least one merchant for the credit financing program, wherein the at least one merchant processes standard financial transactions and qualified financial transactions in the same manner;
- enrolling a plurality of qualified purchasers for the credit financing program;
- approving a standard financial transaction initiated by a qualified purchaser;
- approving a qualified financial transaction initiated by the qualified purchaser with an enrolled merchant;
- and
- generating a billing statement for the qualified purchaser, the billing statement including the standard financial transaction charged according to the standard financial terms and the qualified financial transaction charged according to the lower financial terms.
An apparatus for processing financial transaction, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory in communication with the processor, the memory for storing and retrieving processing instructions for directing the processor to:
- identify qualified purchasers who receive reduced financing terms for qualified purchasing transactions;
- process standard purchasing transactions with standard financing terms;
- receive, from a merchant, a request to complete a purchasing transaction with a purchaser;
- transmit an approval of the purchasing transaction to the merchant;
- determine whether the purchasing transaction is a qualified purchasing transaction based on an amount of the credit transaction, an enrollment status of the merchant and an enrollment status of the purchaser;
- bill the purchaser for the purchasing transaction according to the reduced financing terms when the purchasing transaction is a qualified purchasing transaction and the purchaser is an enrolled purchaser;
- and
- bill the purchaser for the purchasing transaction according to the standard financing terms when either the purchasing transaction is not a qualified purchasing transaction or the purchaser is not a qualified purchaser.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.