Method and system for facilitating micropayments in a financial transaction system

A method for processing financial accounts, comprising:

• storing, in a database, of a processing device, a plurality of accounts, the plurality of accounts including a consumer account associated with a consumer and a plurality of merchant accounts including a transacting merchant account associated with a merchant, wherein the consumer account and the transacting merchant account each include an amount of virtual currency associated with the account;
• receiving, by a receiving device, a transaction request for a financial transaction between the consumer and the merchant, the transaction request including the consumer account, the merchant account, and a transaction amount of virtual currency;
• approving or denying, by the processing device, the transaction request based on at least the amount of virtual currency associated with the consumer account and the transaction amount of virtual currency;
• transferring, by the processing device, the transaction amount of virtual currency from the consumer account to the merchant account upon approval of the transaction;
• processing, by the processing device, the consumer account or the merchant account, wherein the processing includes converting at least part of the associated amount of virtual currency into a real currency when the account meets a predetermined criteria;
• and
• transmitting, by the processing device, the approval or denial of the transaction request.

A system for processing financial transaction using a universal virtual currency, comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive a transaction request for a financial transaction, the transaction request including at least information associated with a consumer, information associated with a merchant, and a transaction amount;
• a database configured to store account information including consumer account information corresponding to the consumer and merchant account information corresponding to the merchant, each account information including an associated value of a universal virtual currency;
• a database configured to store at least one processing rule defining rules or guidelines for how to process the financial transaction;
• a processor configured to process the financial transaction in accordance with the at least one processing rule, wherein processing the financial transaction includes adjusting the associated value of universal virtual currency in the consumer account information and the merchant account information based on the transaction amount;
• and
• a transmitting component configured to transmit a response to the transaction request, the response including at least a notification of success or failure of the processing of the financial transaction,
• wherein the universal virtual currency can be exchanged for real currency.

A method for processing financial transactions using a universal virtual currency, comprising:

• receiving, by a communication component in a transaction system, a transaction request for a financial transaction, the transaction request including at least information associated with a consumer, information associated with a merchant, and a transaction amount;
• identifying, from a database of account information in the transaction system, consumer account information corresponding to the information associated with the consumer and merchant account information corresponding to the information associated with the merchant, each account information including an associated value of universal virtual currency;
• retrieving from a plurality of processing rules a processing rule corresponding to the financial transaction, the processing rule defining rules or guidelines for how to process the financial transaction;
• processing, by a processor in the transaction system, the financial transaction in accordance with the retrieved processing rule, the processing step including adjusting the associated value of universal virtual currency in the consumer account information and the merchant account information based on the transaction amount;
• and
• transmitting, by the communication component, a response to the transaction request, the response including at least a notification of the success or failure of the processing of the financial transaction,
• wherein the universal virtual currency can be exchanged for real currency.