System and method for facilitating a purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website

Abstract

A computer implemented system and method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website utilizes a stored value card transformation computer to convert a stored value card to a different denomination for utilization in another country. An exchange computer retrieves a value rate to calculate the currency different and a time-limited quote is generated which may be transformed into active stored credit in the selected denomination.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website comprising:
 receiving in a stored value card transformation computer, an input credit value from a stored value card, an input denomination and an output denomination, from a user interface;   applying the input denomination and the output denomination to an exchange computer to retrieve a value rate from an exchange datastore, and combining the value rate with an expiration time to generate a time-limited exchange multiplier;   applying the time-limited exchange multiplier to the input credit value to transform the input credit value into time-limited stored credit in the output denomination;   retrieving a value balance of the stored value card from a card issuer's authorization system;   transmitting a hold signal to the card issuer's authorization system;   transmitting a devaluation request to the card issuer's authorization system;   receiving a response from the card issuer's authorization system; and   transforming the time-limited stored credit into active stored credit.   
     
     
         2 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein a target value of the active stored credit is used to calculate the input credit value. 
     
     
         3 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein expiration of the time-limited stored credit value triggers an alert on the user interface. 
     
     
         4 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein transforming the input credit value into the time-limited stored credit generates a quote notification on the user interface. 
     
     
         5 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is automatically populated with the stored value card's current balance as the input credit value. 
     
     
         6 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the input denomination is automatically populated on the user interface based on a user's access location. 
     
     
         7 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface occurs on a personal computer or mobile device. 
     
     
         8 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface occurs on a point of sale terminal. 
     
     
         9 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the card issuer is automatically identified from a list of issuers. 
     
     
         10 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the transformation of the time-limited stored credit triggers a user notification to be generated on a the user interface. 
     
     
         11 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein a transaction fee is added to the input credit value in the hold signal and the devaluation request and excluded from the active stored credit. 
     
     
         12 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface may be configured for the selection of a target country to automatically populate the output denomination. 
     
     
         13 . The computer implemented method for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface may be configured for the selection of an origin country to automatically populate the input denomination. 
     
     
         14 . A computing apparatus for facilitating a consumer's purchase transaction via a merchant's foreign website, the computing apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the apparatus to:
 receive in a stored value card transformation computer, an input credit value from a stored value card, an input denomination and an output denomination, from a user interface; 
 apply the input denomination and the output denomination to an exchange computer to retrieve a value rate from an exchange datastore, and combining the value rate with an expiration time to generate a time-limited exchange multiplier; 
 apply the time-limited exchange multiplier to the input credit value to transform the input credit value into time-limited stored credit in the output denomination; 
 retrieve a value balance of the stored value card from a card issuer's authorization system; 
 transmit a hold signal to the card issuer's authorization system; 
 transmit a devaluation request to the card issuer's authorization system; 
 receive a response from the card issuer's authorization system; and 
 transform the time-limited stored credit into active stored credit. 
   
     
     
         15 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein a target value of the active stored credit is used to calculate the input credit value. 
     
     
         16 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein expiration of the time-limited stored credit triggers an alert on the user interface. 
     
     
         17 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein transforming the input credit value into the time-limited stored credit generates a quote notification on the user interface. 
     
     
         18 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface is automatically populated with the stored value card's current balance as the input credit value. 
     
     
         19 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface is automatically populated with the input denomination of the stored value card based on the user's access location. 
     
     
         20 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface occurs on a personal computer or mobile device. 
     
     
         21 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface occurs on a point-of-sale terminal. 
     
     
         22 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the card issuer is automatically identified from a list of issuers. 
     
     
         23 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the transformation of the time-limited stored credit triggers a user notification to be generated on the user interface. 
     
     
         24 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein a transaction fee is added to the input credit value in the hold signal and the devaluation request and excluded from the active stored credit. 
     
     
         25 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface may be configured for the selection of a target country to automatically populate the output denomination. 
     
     
         26 . The computing apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the user interface may be configured for the selection of an origin country to automatically populate the input denomination.