Conversion operations of non-negotiable credits to funds between an entity and a commerce partner

A method comprising:

• a commerce partner agreeing to permit transfers or conversions of quantities of non-negotiable credits to entity independent funds in accordance with a fixed credits-to-funds ratio, wherein the commerce partner receives compensation from an entity, wherein said compensation is in an amount in cash or credit for each non-negotiable credit redeemed by the commerce partner, wherein the non-negotiable credits are loyalty points of a loyalty program of the entity, wherein the entity independent funds are loyalty points of a different loyalty program of the commerce partner, wherein the commerce partner or an agent/partner acting on behalf of the commerce partner provides commerce partner goods or commerce partner services to members of the different loyalty program in response to members redeeming the entity independent funds, wherein the commerce partner does not provide the commerce partner goods or the commerce partner services in exchange for quantities of the non-negotiable credits in absence of the non-negotiable credits being transferred or converted into the entity independent funds of the different loyalty program, wherein the agent/partner acting on behalf of the commerce partner does not provide the commerce partner goods or commerce partner services in exchange for quantities of the non-negotiable credits in absence of the non-negotiable credits being transferred or converted into the entity independent funds of the different loyalty program, wherein terms-of-use of the different loyalty program permit transfers or conversions of non-negotiable credits to entity independent funds;
• a computer for the different loyalty program detecting a communication over a network to grant a member of the different loyalty program a new quantity of the entity independent funds, wherein the new quantity of entity independent funds results from a conversion operation, said conversion operation being a transfer of at least a subset of the non-negotiable credits into the new quantity of entity independent funds based on the fixed credit-to-funds ratio, wherein the subset of the non-negotiable credits are expended as part of the conversion or transfer;
• responsive to the communication, the computer granting the member the new quantity of the entity independent funds, which are added to an account of entity independent funds maintained for the member;
• and
• the computer redeeming at least a portion of the new quantity of entity independent funds in exchange for user selected ones of the commerce partner goods or user selected ones of the commerce partner services, wherein the computer does not accept the non-negotiable credits of the loyalty program for the commerce partner goods or for the commerce partner services in absence of converting or transferring the non-negotiable credits into entity independent funds.

A method comprising:

• at least one processor, responsive to executing program instructions of at least one memory, accessing a storage device containing information of a non-negotiable credit account of a specific member of a loyalty program of an entity, wherein non-negotiable credits of the non-negotiable credit account are loyalty points of a loyalty program of the entity, wherein non-negotiable credits of the non-negotiable credit account have been earned by the specific member though activities related to the loyalty program, wherein the storage device maintains loyalty program records for the entity, wherein the loyalty program redeems the non-negotiable credits for a restricted list of goods or services;
• at least one processor, responsive to executing program instructions of at least one memory, accessing a second storage device containing information of an entity independent funds account of the specific member of a different loyalty program of a commerce partner, wherein entity independent funds of the entity independent funds account are different loyalty points of a different loyalty program of the commerce partner, wherein entity independent funds of the entity independent funds account have been earned by the specific member though activities related to the different loyalty program, wherein the second storage device maintains different loyalty program records for the commerce partner, wherein said non-negotiable credits and the entity-independent funds have different restrictions-on-use established by terms-of-use of the loyalty program and established by terms-of-use of the different loyalty program, wherein the different loyalty program redeems the entity independent funds for commerce partner goods or for commerce partner services, wherein the commerce partners goods or commerce partner servicers are not in the restricted list of goods or services, wherein an agreement exists between the entity and the commerce partner that permits transfers or conversions of non-negotiable credits to entity independent funds in accordance with a fixed credits-to-funds ratio, wherein the agreement specifies that the entity compensates the commerce partner by paying an amount in negotiable funds for each non-negotiable credit redeemed per the agreement;
• at least one processor, responsive to executing program instructions of at least one memory, performing a conversion operation to transfer a subset of the non-negotiable credits into a new quantity of entity independent funds based at least in part upon the fixed credit-to-funds ratio;
• at least one processor, responsive to executing program instructions of at least one memory, and responsive to the conversion operation, subtracting a quantity of the non-negotiable credits from the non-negotiable credit account of the storage device, said subtracted quantity of non-negotiable credits comprising at least the subset of non-negotiable credits;
• and
• at least one processor, responsive to executing program instructions of at least one memory, and responsive to the conversion operation, adding at least a portion of the new quantity of entity independent funds to the entity independent funds account of the second storage device.