System and method for providing a discount credit transaction network

Claim 1

A method for providing a discount for a credit transaction, for use in a discount credit network comprising a plurality of transaction card issuers each having a plurality of participants holding a transaction card account issued by the card issuer, the method comprising the steps of: (a) assigning each participant a membership number wherein the membership number is associated with the particular participant's transaction card account; (b) providing a computerized discount authorization processor operatively connected to the discount credit network comprising: (i) a database containing the membership numbers and their associated transaction card accounts; and (ii) processing means for correlating the membership numbers to their associated transaction card accounts and transaction card issuers; (c) presenting, by the participant, the membership number to an authorized merchant for a transaction; (d) issuing a first discount authorization request from said authorized merchant through the discount credit network to the discount authorization processor, wherein the first discount authorization request includes transaction data comprising the particular participant's membership number and an amount for the transaction; (e) correlating the membership number to its associated transaction card account and transaction card issuer; (f) issuing a second discount authorization request to the transaction card issuer associated with the transaction card account through the credit network, the second discount authorization request comprising the particular participant's transaction card account and the amount of the transaction; (g) receiving, by the discount authorization processor, an authorization response signal from the transaction card issuer, said signal indicating a response to the proposed transaction; and (h) forwarding the authorization response signal to the authorized merchant.

Claim 2

A method for providing a discount for a credit transaction, for use in a discount credit network comprising a plurality of transaction card issuers each having a plurality of participants holding a transaction card account issued by the card issuer, the method comprising the steps of: (a) assigning each participant a membership number wherein the membership number is associated with the particular participant's transaction card account; (b) providing a computerized discount authorization processor operatively connected to the discount credit network comprising: (i) a database containing the membership numbers and their associated transaction card accounts; and (ii) processing means for correlating the membership numbers to their associated transaction card accounts and transaction card issuers; (c) presenting, by the participant, the membership number to an authorized merchant for a transaction; (d) issuing a first discount authorization request from said authorized merchant through the discount credit network to the discount authorization processor, wherein the first discount authorization request includes transaction data comprising the particular participant's membership number and an amount for the transaction; (e) correlating the membership number to its associated transaction card account and transaction card issuer; (f) issuing a second discount authorization request to the transaction card issuer associated with the transaction card account through the credit network, the second discount authorization request comprising the particular participant's transaction card account and the amount of the transaction; (g) receiving, by the discount authorization processor, an authorization response signal from the transaction card issuer, said signal indicating a response to the proposed transaction; and (h) forwarding the authorization response signal to the authorized merchant.

Claim 13

A system for providing a discount to a credit transaction comprising: (a) a database comprising a plurality of membership numbers assigned to a plurality of participants, wherein each membership number is associated with a transaction card account and wherein each membership number comprises a bank identification number assigned by a VISA® credit card system, thereby allowing the membership number to be processed by a VISA® credit transaction network; (b) an authorized merchant having means for generating a discount authorization request, the discount authorization request comprising a particular membership number and an amount for the credit transaction; and (c) a computerized discount authorization processor operatively connected to receive the discount authorization requests, the discount authorization processor comprising: (i) logic means for correlating the membership number to its associated transaction card account; (ii) means for generating a transaction request to one of a plurality of transaction card issuers associated with the transaction card account, the transaction request comprising the particular participant's transaction card account and the amount of the transaction; (iii) means for receiving an authorization response signal from the transaction card issuer, said response signal indicating a response to the proposed transaction; and (iv) means for applying the discount to the transaction whereby the participant receives a discount for initiating the transaction.

Claim 14

A system for providing a discount to a credit transaction comprising: (a) a database comprising a plurality of membership numbers assigned to a plurality of participants, wherein each membership number is associated with a transaction card account and wherein each membership number comprises a bank identification number assigned by a VISA® credit card system, thereby allowing the membership number to be processed by a VISA® credit transaction network; (b) an authorized merchant having means for generating a discount authorization request, the discount authorization request comprising a particular membership number and an amount for the credit transaction; and (c) a computerized discount authorization processor operatively connected to receive the discount authorization requests, the discount authorization processor comprising: (i) logic means for correlating the membership number to its associated transaction card account; (ii) means for generating a transaction request to one of a plurality of transaction card issuers associated with the transaction card account, the transaction request comprising the particular participant's transaction card account and the amount of the transaction; (iii) means for receiving an authorization response signal from the transaction card issuer, said response signal indicating a response to the proposed transaction; and (iv) means for applying the discount to the transaction whereby the participant receives a discount for initiating the transaction.