Rebate automation

Abstract

A computer receives information that a request is made to authorize a transaction for a sale of a product by a merchant to an account holder in a transaction conducted on a consumer account issued to the account holder. When the computer confirms that the transaction is authorized and that the transaction occurs within a predetermined time period for which there is a rebate associated with the product and a corresponding sponsor financially responsible for the rebate, the computer communicates that the rebate is to be debited to an account of the sponsor and either: (i) given as a discount by the merchant at the point of sale to the account holder; or (ii) credited to an account issued to the account holder by the issuer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 storing, in a computing device, offer data associating an offer with a payment account of a user, the offer including a benefit applicable to a predefined purchase;   receiving, in the computing device, a communication transmitted from a merchant via an acquirer of the merchant, the communication identifying the predefined purchase in response to the user presenting a payment device associated with the payment account;   in response to the communication received in the computing device, communicating, by the computing device, with an issuer of the payment account for authorization of a payment transaction in the payment account, wherein the payment transaction has a transaction amount that is a full price of the purchase less the benefit provided by the offer in accordance with the offer data; and   communicating, by the computing device, with at least one sponsor of the offer to initiate a payment transaction from an account of the sponsor to the merchant for the benefit provided by the offer to the payment transaction in the payment account of the user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the offer includes a rebate for the predefined purchase of a predetermined item. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the communication identifies the predetermined item via product level data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the product level data includes one of: a stock keeping unit, a universal product code, an identifier of a manufacturer, a model number, a serial number, a log number, an international standard book number, and an identifier of a commodity. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the benefit is sponsored by a plurality of sponsors; and the method further comprises:
 debiting a predetermined portion of the benefit respectively to an account of each of the plurality of sponsors.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communicating with the at least one sponsor of the offer to initiate the payment transaction is made in a batch mode for a plurality of purchases to which the offer is applied. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communicating with the at least one sponsor of the offer to initiate the payment transaction is performed periodically. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting, by the computing device, a return of the predefined purchase by the user; and   in response to the return being detected, generating, by the computing device, a refund transaction from the merchant to the account of the sponsor.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 before the communicating with the at least one sponsor of the offer to initiate the payment transaction, verifying, by the computing device, that the benefit of the offer is applicable to the payment transaction based at least in part on the offer data stored in the computing device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the communicating with the at least one sponsor of the offer to initiate the payment transaction includes communicating to the sponsor verification information for applying the benefit of the offer to the payment transaction. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting, by the computing device, an authorization of the payment transaction in the payment account to the merchant via the acquirer.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the merchant provides items purchased via the payment transaction in the payment account upon receiving the authorization for the full price of the purchase less the benefit provided by the offer. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting a notification to the user about the benefit applied to the payment transaction.   
     
     
         14 . A computing apparatus, comprising:
 a transaction handler of a payment processing network, configured to at least:
 store, in a database, offer data associating an offer with a payment account of a user, the offer including a benefit applicable to a predefined purchase; 
 receive, in the transaction handler, a communication transmitted from a merchant via an acquirer of the merchant, the communication identifying the predefined purchase in response to the user presenting a payment device associated with the payment account; 
 in response to the communication received in the transaction handler, communicate, by the transaction handler, with an issuer of the payment account for authorization of a payment transaction in the payment account, wherein the payment transaction has a transaction amount that is a full price of the purchase less the benefit provided by the offer in accordance with the offer data; and 
 communicate, by the transaction handler, with at least one sponsor of the offer to initiate a payment transaction from an account of the sponsor to the merchant for the benefit provided by the offer to the payment transaction in the payment account of the user. 
   
     
     
         15 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the benefit is sponsored by a plurality of sponsors; and the transaction handler is further configured to:
 debit a predetermined portion of the benefit respectively to an account of each of the plurality of sponsors.   
     
     
         16 . The computing apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the offer includes a rebate for the predefined purchase of a predetermined item. 
     
     
         17 . The computing apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the communication identifies the predetermined item via product level data. 
     
     
         18 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , further configured to:
 detect, by the computing apparatus, a return of the predefined purchase by the user; and   in response to the return being detected, generate, by the computing apparatus, a refund transaction from the merchant to the account of the sponsor.   
     
     
         19 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , further configured to verify that the benefit of the offer is applicable to the payment transaction based at least in part on the offer data stored in the computing apparatus and communicate to the sponsor verification information for applying the benefit of the offer to the payment transaction. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a computing device to at least:
 store, in the computing device, offer data associating an offer with a payment account of a user, the offer including a benefit applicable to a predefined purchase;   receive, in the computing device, a communication transmitted from a merchant via an acquirer of the merchant, the communication identifying the predefined purchase in response to the user presenting a payment device associated with the payment account;   in response to the communication received in the computing device, communicate, by the computing device, with an issuer of the payment account for authorization of a payment transaction in the payment account, wherein the payment transaction has a transaction amount that is a full price of the purchase less the benefit provided by the offer in accordance with the offer data; and   communicate, by the computing device, with at least one sponsor of the offer to initiate a payment transaction from an account of the sponsor to the merchant for the benefit provided by the offer to the payment transaction in the payment account of the user.