Payment method decision engine

A method, comprising:

• accepting a request from an on-line user to find a product or a service;
• in response to the request, conducting a computerized search to find price information for the product or service;
• calculating with at least one computer a first result in a non-cash currency for a rewards program and at least one additional result in a second currency for the product or service, wherein the second currency is selected from the group consisting of a non-cash currency, a domestic currency, a foreign currency, a real currency, a virtual currency and money;
• and
• presenting at least one result of the search to the on-line user, wherein the results of the search are based on data from at least two rewards programs, each of the at least two rewards programs using a non-cash currency, the data including one or more items selected from the group consisting of historical usage data from the user, a desired future usage by the user and a status of the user.

A computer program embodied on a computer-readable, non-transitory medium for conducting a search for a product or service, the computer program containing code segments for steps comprising:

• a code segment for receiving a search request from a user to find a product or a service;
• a code segment for conducting a computerized search to determine a price for the product or service, in response to the request;
• and
• a code segment for presenting at least one result of the search to the user, wherein the computer program further comprises a code segment for calculating a first result in a first currency and a second result in a different currency for the product or service, wherein at least one of the currencies is a non-cash currency for a rewards program and wherein the at least one result of the search is based on at least two rewards programs, each of the at least two rewards programs using a non-cash currency.

A system, comprising:

• a computer;
• a user database connected to the computer, the user database comprising information of a plurality of users concerning user preferences for products, services and at least one rewards program;
• a rules database connected to the computer, the rules database comprising information of a plurality of merchants and providers of products and services, said rules database also comprising information for rewards programs of the plurality of merchants and providers and including data from at least two rewards programs, each of the at least two rewards programs using a non-cash currency;
• a computer program embodied on a computer-readable non-transitory memory accessible to the computer, the computer program comprising a search engine for searching for prices for the products and services, and a pricing engine for calculating prices, values and costs for the products and services,
• wherein the computer program is adapted to calculate a first price in a first currency and a second price in a different currency for at least one product or service, wherein at least one of the currencies is a non-cash currency for a rewards program, and to present results of the searching.

A system, comprising:

• a computer;
• a user database connected to the computer, the user database comprising information of a plurality of users concerning user preferences for products, services and at least two rewards programs;
• a rules database connected to the computer, the rules database comprising information of a plurality of merchants and providers of products and services, said rules database also comprising information for rewards programs of the plurality of merchants and providers, and including data from at least two rewards programs, each of the at least two rewards programs using a non-cash currency;
• a computer program embodied on a computer-readable, non-transitory memory accessible to the computer, the computer program comprising a search engine for searching for prices for the products and services, and a pricing engine for calculating prices, values and costs for the products and services,
• wherein the computer program is adapted to calculate a first price in at least one currency and a second price in more than one currency for a desired product of service, the second price including at least one non-cash currency, for at least one product or service, and to present results of the searching.