# US 2014/0195325 A1 · Credit card and service organization cooperative program > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0195325 A1 - Document ID: US20140195325A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/735,928 - Filed: 2013-01-07 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-07 - Inventors: Pietro G. Denevi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195325A1 ## CPC - G06Q 30/0279: Fundraising management - G06Q 20/24: Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after" - G06Q 20/387: {Payment using discounts or coupons (relating to marketing G06Q30/02)} - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR ## Abstract A user is issued a special credit card by a credit card company or the like. Participating merchants offer discounts on transactions completed using the special credit card; those discounts are not available for transactions involving other credit cards. The transaction history for the special credit card is monitored and, once a condition is satisfied, a rebate is provided by the credit card company. The rebate is not provided to the credit card user. Instead, the rebate is provided to a non-profit service organization that, in turn, administers distribution of the rebate to a non-profit or charitable organization specified by the credit card user. For example, a user can designate a specific school (e.g., the local elementary school) to receive the rebate. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer system comprising: a processor; and memory coupled to the processor, the memory have stored therein instructions that, if executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to execute operations comprising: receiving information identifying a credit card as part of a transaction comprising a purchase of merchandise having a price, wherein the price of the merchandise is discounted if the transaction is completed using the credit card; accessing account information for the credit card, the account information comprising a transaction history for the credit card; issuing a rebate if the account information satisfies a condition; and forwarding the rebate to a first organization instead of to a user of the credit card. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first organization is a non-profit organization that administers distribution of the rebate to a second organization specified by the user of the credit card. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first organization is selected from the group consisting of: a school; and a non-profit organization affiliated with a school. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer system of claim 1, wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of: a total value of purchases made with the credit card exceeds a threshold amount; a total number of purchases made with the credit card exceeds a threshold number; and an amount of purchases made on a periodic basis exceeds a threshold amount. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first organization provides advertising services for merchants that discount merchandise purchased using the credit card. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The computer system of claim 5, wherein the merchants provide a fee to the first organization in exchange for the advertising services. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first organization receives funds to cover administrative costs, the funds selected from the group consisting of: a fee that is charged to the user of the credit card; and a portion of the rebate. ### Claim 8 A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for causing a computing system to perform a method comprising: receiving a credit card number for a credit card as part of a transaction comprising a purchase of merchandise having a price; applying a discount to reduce the price of the merchandise if the purchase is completed using the credit card; and sending the credit card number and the price after the discount to a first organization with access to a transaction history for the credit card, wherein a rebate is issued if the transaction history satisfies a condition, and wherein the rebate is forwarded to a second organization that is identified in account information for the credit card. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the second organization administers distribution of the rebate to a third organization specified by the user of the credit card. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the second organization is selected from the group consisting of: a school; and a non-profit organization affiliated with a school. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of: a total value of purchases made with the credit card exceeds a threshold amount; a total number of purchases made with the credit card exceeds a threshold number; and an amount of purchases made on a periodic basis exceeds a threshold amount. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the first organization provides advertising services for merchants that discount merchandise purchased using the credit card. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the merchants provide a fee to the first organization in exchange for the advertising services. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the first organization receives funds to cover administrative costs, the funds selected from the group consisting of: a fee that is charged to a user of the credit card; and a portion of the rebate. ### Claim 15 A method comprising: assigning a credit card to a user; completing a transaction with a merchant using the credit card; determining if the merchant is a participant in a program affiliated with a non-profit organization; if the merchant is a participant in the program, then applying a discount to reduce an amount of the transaction and otherwise not applying the discount, wherein the discount is also not applied to transactions made using another credit card, wherein further a final amount of the transaction is transmitted from the merchant over a network to a network-connected organization with access to a transaction history for the credit card; associating a rebate with the credit card if the transaction history satisfies a condition; and forwarding the rebate to a non-profit organization designated by the user instead of to the user. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the non-profit organization distributes the rebate to a second organization specified by the user of the credit card. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the second organization is selected from the group consisting of: a school; and a non-profit organization affiliated with a school. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of: a total value of purchases made with the credit card exceeds a threshold amount; a total number of purchases made with the credit card exceeds a threshold number; and an amount of purchases made on a periodic basis exceeds a threshold amount. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the non-profit organization provides advertising services for merchants that discount merchandise purchased using the credit card, wherein the merchants provide a fee to the non-profit organization in exchange for the advertising services. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the non-profit organization receives funds to cover administrative costs, the funds selected from the group consisting of: a fee that is charged to the user of the credit card; and a portion of the rebate.