WO2004006144A1

WO2004006144A1 - A system and method for interfacing a network of sellers and buyers

Info

Publication number: WO2004006144A1
Application number: PCT/AU2003/000856
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gary J. Smith; Peter R. Aynsley; Roger A. Levitt
Original assignee: Reward Systems, Inc
Priority date: 2002-07-03
Filing date: 2003-07-03
Publication date: 2004-01-15
Also published as: US20040215507A1; AU2003243815A1

Abstract

Fully funded reward program that rewards businesses that purchase goods and services from member merchants by depositing a portion of the purchase price in a bank account, which may only be used to fund travel for the business. A method includes establishing a network of sellers and buyers in which the buyers receive a sales based reward and the sellers pay a sales based commission to an administrator. The administrator is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers. The sales based commission is divided between a buyer component, which becomes the sales based reward, and an administrative component. The buyer component is deposited into a segregated reward bank account such that the balance in the reward barn account is fully funded.

Description

TLTLE: A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERFACING A NETWORK OF

SELLERS AND BUYERS. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for interfacing a network of sellers and buyers.

The invention has been developed primarily for business-to-business (b2b) commerce and business to consumer commerce (b2c) and will be described hereinafter with reference to that application. However, the invention is not limited to that particular field of use and is suitable for facilitating commerce between participating merchants and other entities, be those entities businesses, associations, groups or the like. BACKGROUND

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.

Merchants wishing to retain custom, particularly from more valued clients, have developed many techniques to achieve this end. One such technique is som form of loyalty or reward program, many of which are known to exist. The most common of these progra s is the so-called frequent ilyer program, Individuals who make flight purchases, as well as other purchases, earn points which may be used by the individual earner to obtain airline travel. However, the businesses on whose behalf the individual may be flying do not benefit from this kind of reward program. In addition, these reward programs typically have many limitations on use - such as blackout dates for flights - and other undesirable and unattractive restrictions. Another kind of reward program is often associated with credit card usage. In one such program, a consumer is provided an annual rebate amounting to a very small percentage of ail purchases made with the credit card. Another credit card usage reward program provides a consumer with a single point for each dollar spent with the particular credit card. In this program, the consumer may then redeem the points for travel with either a specified travel agent or with a particular airline, depending on the reward program, As above, if the credit card is being used for business purposes, the business receives no benefit from the points which are earned by individual users, even though the individual user of the credit card receives a benefit. To compound matters, in some jurisdictions it is possible for taxation implications to arise should an employee take advantage of the benefits that do arise. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising: establishing a network of sellers and buyers in which the buyers receive a sales based reward and the sellers pay a sales based commission to an administrator, the adrniniBtrator being unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; receiving the sales based commission to be divided between a buyer component which becomes the sales based reward and an administrative component; and depositing the buyer component into a segregated member rewards bank account such that a balance in the rewards bank account is fully funded. Preferably, the establishing step comprises: registering the sellers; and processing applications from the buyers.

In one embodiment at least some of the sellers are the exclusive or preferred provider of a particular one or more goods and/or services.

In another embodiment the member rewards bank account may solely be used to purchase travel from a nominated travel agent,

In an embodiment the method further comprises forwarding a buyer authorization to transfer a sum from the segregated member rewards bank account to a travel agent trust account to fund a buyer's travel reservation.

In an embodiment the member rewards bank account is maintained by a third party unaffiliated with the administrator,

In an embodiment the method further comprises facilitating buyers purchasing goods and/or services from sellers by providing an Internet web site that includes a virtual mall of sellers, In this embodiment, the virtual mall includes links to Internet web sites of the sellers from which the buyer may purchase goods and/or services,

In an embodiment the method further comprises facilitating buyers purchasing, goods and/or services from sellers by instituting a marketing campaign targeting the buyers.

In an embodiment the method further comprises providing buying pattern analysis to the buyers based on transaction information provided by sellers. In this embodiment the buying pattern analysis is delivered via an Internet website. In an embodiment the method further comprises being responsive to the buying habits of respective buyers for providing purchase recommendations to those buyers, In other embodiments, however, the method further comprises being responsive to the buying habits of the buyers for providing purchase recommendations to the buyers. In an embodiment the method further comprises supplying the buyers a membership card and ghosting a payment card with the membership card such that rewards transaction may be directly conducted without the payment card.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising: establishing a block of sellers through which buyers receive a reward based on purchases made from the sellers and the sellers pay a commission to a program administrator based on the purchases, the program administrator being unaffiliated with the buyers and the sellers; and retaining an unaffiliated third party to process the sales based contribution by dividing the sales based contribution between a buyer component which becomes the reward and an adrn nistrative component, and to deposit the buyer component into a member rewards bank account that may only be accessed by the buyer such that a reward value is fully funded and secure.

In an embodiment, the rewards bank account may only be accessed with authorization by the buyer. In this embodiment, the buyer's authorization is provided to the administrator and the administrator subsequently accesses the reward bank account.

In an embodiment the member rewards bank account may solely be used to purchase travel from a nominated travel agent. In this embodiment, the travel agent has a client account and the purchase of the travel includes the buyer authorizing the administrator to access the rewards bank account to transfer a predetermined amount to the client account.

In an embodiment the method further comprises forwarding a buyer authorization to transfer a sum from the member rewards bank account to a travel agent trust account to fund a buyer's travel reservation.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising: registering a plurality of members; registering a plurality of participating merchants; and receiving from a participating merchant a member transaction report including a financial value of purchases made by a plurality of individuals affiliated with one of the members and a deposit data specifying a participation contribution based on purchases made by the plurality of individuals affiliated with the member that was deposited in a reward program holding bank account.

In an embodiment the method comprises reconciling a bank entry in the holding bank account with the deposit data and the transaction data.

In an embodiment the method comprises retaining an unaffiliated third party to manage the reward program holding bank account, including instructing the unaffiliated third party to transfer a portion of the participation contribution from the reward program holding bank account to a member rewards bank account whenever any of the participating merchants deposits the participation contribution into the reward program holding bank account, In an embodiment, retaining the unaffiliated third party further includes instructing the unaffiliated third party to debit the member rewards bank account balance based on a travel purchase made by another individual affiliated with the member entity reported by and made through a nominated travel agent.

In an embodiment, retaining the unaffiliated third party further includes instructing the unaffiliated third party to transfer a second portion of the participation contribution from the reward program holding bank account to a reward program administration bank account.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a system comprising; a member interface to provide member transaction information, and to receive travel payment authorization from a plurality of individuals affiliated with a member entity; a merchant interface to receive transaction reports from a plurality of participating merchants; a travel agent interface to provide funds transfer notices to a nominated travel agent; a bank interface to receive from a bank member account summaries and merchant deposit summaries; and an unaffiliated third party interface to forward the travel payment authorization to the unaffiliated third party.

In an embodiment the system further comprises a mall interface to present links to Internet web sites of participating merchants, In this embodiment, the member interface further provides buying habit analysis and provides recommendations as to how to more effectively use the reward program.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising: establishing a network of sellers and buyers in which the buyers receive a sales based reward and the sellers pay a sales based commission to an administrator, the administrator being unafϊiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; receiving the sales based commission to be divided between a buyer component which becomes the sales based reward and an administrative component; and depositing the buyer component into a segregated member rewards bank account such that a balance in the member rewards bank account is fully funded.

In an embodiment at least some of the sellers are the exclusive or preferred provider of a particular one or more goods and/or services, In an embodiment the member rewards bank account may solely be used to purchase travel from a nominated travel agent.

In an embodiment the machine readable medium has further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising forwarding to an unaffiliated third party a buyer authorization to transfer a sum from the segregated member rewards bank account to a travel agent trust account to fund a buyer's travel reservation.

In an embodiment the machine readable medium has further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising facilitating buyers purchasing goods and services from sellers by instituting a marketing campaign targeting the buyers.

In an embodiment the machine readable medium has further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising providing buying pattern analysis to the buyers based on transaction information provided by sellers.

In an embodiment the machine readable medium has further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising providing purchase recommendations to the buyers based on the buying habits of the buyers. In other embodiments, however, the machine readable medium has further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising providing purchase recommendations to respective buyers based on the buying habits of those buyers.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided a method comprising: providing a user interface of a virtual mall through which e-commerce activities may be conducted; renting space in the virtual mall to a plurality of merchants; and hosting a database storing offerings from the plurality of merchants. ϋi an embodiment the user interface is consistent across the plurality of merchants.

In an embodiment the method comprises authorizing access to a rented portion of the database to each merchant to permit the merchant to update its offerings, ϊn this embodiment, renting space in the virtual mall requires no independent on line presence by the merchant and a portion of savings achieved by the merchants from renting space in the virtual mall is distributed to members of a rewards program administered by a virtual landlord.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided a method for a plurality of sellers to offer for sale goods and/or services to a plurality of buyers, the method comprising: establishing a network of the sellers and the buyers; offering for sale to the buyers the goods and/or services; being responsive to each sale for determining a reward to be allocated to the respective buyer; being responsive to each sale for determining a commission to be paid by the seller to an administrator who is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; and being responsive to the payment of each commission to the administrator for depositing into a segregated member rewards bank account a reward amount that is derived from the respective reward, wherein the bank account provides a fully funded source for the reward.

In an embodiment the commission includes the reward amount, and the method further comprises: being responsive to each sale for transferring the commission into an intermediate bank account; and transferring the reward amount from the intermediate account to the rewards bank account.

In an embodiment the administrator has a commission bank account and the method comprises the additional step of transferring the balance of the intermediate account to the commission bank account.

According to a eighth aspect of the invention there is provided a system for a plurality of sellers to offer for sale goods and or services to a plurality of buyers, the system comprising: a database for establishing a network of the sellers and the buyers, wherein sellers within the network offer for sale to the buyers the goods and/or services; a sales registering network that is responsive to each sale for determining:

(a) a reward to be allocated to the respective buyer; and

(b) a commission to be paid by the seller to an administrator who is , unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; and a funds transfer device that is responsive to the payment of each commission to the administrator for depositing into a segregated member rewards bank account a reward amount that is derived from the respective reward, wherein the bank account provides a fully funded source for the reward. According to a ninth aspect of the invention there is provided a method for a plurality of sellers to offer for sale goods and/or services to a plurality of buyers, the method comprising: defining a network of the sellers and the buyers; categorizing each of the sellers and each of the buyers; and being responsive to the categorizations for offering for sale to the buyers a selection of the goods and/or services.

In an embodiment the method further comprises: being responsive to each sale for determining a reward to be allocated to the respective buyer; being responsive to each sale for determining a commission to be paid.by the seller to an administrator who is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; and being responsive to the payment of the commission to the administrator for depositing into a segregated member rewards bank account a reward amount that is derived from the reward, such that the bank account provides a fully funded source for the reward.

In an embodiment the buyers and/or the sellers are categorized by one or more of: geographic location; business specialization; pre-existing seller relationships or arrangements; charity preference; delivery method; or the like, and the method further comprises allowing the seller to access the bank account to redeem part or all of the funds in the account to one or more predetermined accounts. In this embodiment, the one or more predetermined accounts are accounts in the name of respective travel agents, and the funds are transferred to those accounts as consideration for the provision of travel services by those agents to respective buyers. In an embodiment the method further comprises : a first of the buyers providing authorization to another of the buyers to redeem the rewards accumulated by the first buyer by accessing some or all of the funds in the rewards bank account of the first buyer; and the another of the buyers transferring the funds to one of the predetermined accounts as consideration for the provision of travel services by the one or more agents to the another of the buyers.

According to a tenth aspect of the invention there is provided a method for an issuing party to issue an airline ticket, the method comprising: establishing a database containing information indicative of a network of sellers and buyers in which the buyers respectively receive a sales based reward and the sellers respectively pay a sales based commission to an administrator, the _^ administrator being unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; - Q . being responsive to the buyers receiving the sales based rewards for updatin the information to be indicative of one or more characteristics of the reward; providing an administrator bank account into which the sellers pay the sales based commissions and which is responsive to the payments for dividing the commissions between a buyer component and an administrative component; depositing the buyer component into a segregated member rewards bank account to define a balance for that account; reconciling the balance of the segregated member rewards bank account with the information such that the balance in the reward bank account fully funds the rewards; being responsive to a buyer ordering the airline ticket from the issuing party for paying a predetermined sum from the member reward bank account to an issuing bank account; and being responsive to the payment of the predetermined sum for issuing the ticket to the respective buyer.

According to an eleventh aspect of the invention there is provided a method for interfacing a network of sellers and buyers that is administered by an administrator that is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers and which is responsive to the buyers paying for goods and/or services from the sellers for receiving a sales based commission from the respective sellers that is divided into a buyer component and an administrative component, such ^'that the buyer component is deposited into a segregated member rewards bank account to define a revised balance in that account, the method comprising: hosting a database containing information indicative of predetermined characteristics of the sellers and buyers; being responsive to both the revised balance and the buyers paying for goods and or services from the sellers for updating the information to allocate a sales based reward to the respective buyer such that the rewards are fully funded by the revised balance. According to a twelfth aspect of the invention there is provided an interface for a network of sellers and buyers that is administered by an administrator that is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers and which is responsive to the buyers paying for goods and or services from the sellers for receiving a sales based commission from the respective sellers that is divided into a buyer component and an administrative component, such that the buyer component is deposited into a segregated member rewards bank account to define a revised balance in that account, the interface comprising: a database server for hosting a database containing information indicative of predetermined characteristics of the sellers and buyers; an account server that is responsive to both the revised balance and the buyers paying for goods and/or services from the sellers for updating the information to allocate a sales based reward to the respective buyer such that the rewards are fully funded by the revised balance.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and ύie claims, the words 'comprise', 'comprising', "include', 'including', and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of "including, but not limited to", BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention described herein is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to "an" or "one" embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a computer networked environment in which the embodiments of the reward program methods and systems described herein may be implemented;

Figure 2 illustrates the transactions between participants in the reward program methods and systems described herein;

Figure 3 illustrates a generalized flow of actions taken by participants according to the reward program methods and systems described herein; Figure 4 illustrates a generalized flow of actions taken when a business registers to become a member of the rewards program according to the methods and systems described herein;

Figure 5 A illustrates a generalized flow of actions taken when an individual of a member business makes a purchase from a participating merchant according to the reward program methods and systems described herein;

Figure 5B is a flow diagram showing routing of funds in an electric point of sale funds transfer according to one embodiment of the invention; Figure 6 A illustrates a generalized flow of actions taken when purchasing travel from a nominated travel agent according to the reward program methods and systems described herein;

Figure 6B is a flow diagram illustrating a generalized flow in the event that a member seeks to cancel travel previously booked through the rewards program; Figures 7A and 7B illustrate an embodiment of a virtual merchant mall;

Figure 8 illustrates schematically a further embodiment of the invention;

Figure 9- illustrates schematically another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 10 illustrates schematically another embodiment of the invention

Figurel 1 illustrates schematically another embodiment of the invention; and Figure 12 illustrates schematically another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Businesses purchase a variety of goods and services from many different supplying merchants. Businesses may make a purchasing decision based on various factors, including the quality of the good or service provided and the price of the good or service. Other considerations may include payment terms, shipping rates and methods, etc. Many businesses have little or no loyalty to a particular seller, and buy solely based on price, delivery time or other factors.

Many businesses have a large amount of travel expenses. Travel expenses are typically the third largest controllable expense for most businesses, Reduction of travel expenses may therefore significantly improve a business' bottom line.

The systems and methods described herein provide a reward program to serve as an incentive for businesses to frequent participating sellers to receive sales based rewards which may, in. one embodiment, be redeemed as cash that is applied against travel expenses. Significantly, in various embodiments, the reward may be earned for payment of business expenses, business procurement, or both.

To motivate businesses to direct their purchases to participating merchants, member businesses are provided a sales based reward in the form of reward points that are fully funded by a deposit of a percentage of purchases made from participating merchants into a reward program bank account which, in one embodiment, is shared by all member businesses and maintained and managed by an auditor unaffiliated with either the reward program administrator or the participating merchants. Although the bank account is opened by the reward program, only authorised individuals affiliated with the member business are provided control of the transfer of funds out of the member rewards bank account. In the embodiments herein, the authorized individual initiates the transfer through a prearranged protocol - such as an encrypted web- delivered message, a PIN protected electronic message delivered from an ATM, or another secure path - with the administrator. In some embodiments, the administrator then cross checks with the travel agent or other party to whom the payment is intended, and then access the account to affect the desired transfer. All actions are recorded to create an audit trail, and to facilitate periodic or ad hoc monitoring and auditing of relevant actions by the auditor, the buyers, the sellers and the administrator. The member rewards bank account is segregated from the administrator, in that it is managed by an unaffiliated third party such as an accountant, an escrow agent, a trustee and or other third party auditing methods or entities. In this way, member businesses are ensured that the funding for the sales based reward that has been earned will not be depleted by the reward program administrator should the reward program fall on difficult times or cease doing business. While in one embodiment, a single rewards account is physically maintained at the bank, each member's share, transaction history, etc is separately maintained and accessible by the member at the reward program center. In one embodiment, a member business receives rewards from the merchants based on a percentage of the monetary value of purchases made by the business from a participating seller. In one embodiment, the member business may redeem the sales based reward solely for purchasing travel through having some or all of the balance in the member rewards bank account transferred to a designated travel agent. In one embodiment, the travel may only be purchased from a travel agent nominated by the reward program. To receive the sales based reward, an individual affiliated with a member business need only provide a program identification number when making a purchase. The business may purchase goods and services from sellers by any means at the business' disposal, including by bank check, credit card, electronic fund transfer, Internet e-commerce, bank wire, automated teller machine (ATM) card, etc.

La an embodiment, separate member rewards bank accounts are maintained for each member business.

By participating in this reward program network, merchants are provided a mechanism for increasing and/or maintaining a steady stream of customers and a concomitant increase in revenue. In one embodiment, the merchant is required to pay a participation contribution to the reward program administrator in the form of a sum amounting to a designated percentage of gross sales to member buyers. In another embodiment, the contribution is a one-time payment for original business from a member buyer, while in a further embodiment the participation contribution is a combination of a fixed fee - levied once or periodically- and a designated percentage of the sales. The designated participation contribution to be paid by member merchants varies depending on the arrangements made between the reward program administrator and the merchant. The participation fee may vary depending on the kind of good or service provided by the merchant. Some example participation fees follow: restaurants 25%; office supplies 15%; travel agents 2%; computer hardware 10%; etc. The kinds of merchants who may participate in the program are extensive, and include, for example: local, cellular and long distance telephone providers; electrical, petroleum gas and natural gas providers; truck and automobile dealers; magazine and newspaper publishers; and virtually any provider of a good or service mat a person, business or other entity may require. These merchants are motivated to pay the participation contribution to increase their customer base and their revenue stream because of a resulting reduction in marketing and other customer acquisition costs. Because buyers are attracted to sellers by virtue of the sellers* participation in the reward program, the merchant may reduce or possibly eliminate investing in other advertising and marketing beyond the participation contribution, A benefit to participating merchants is that no sums are expended in advance of the increased customer traffic; only after a transaction with a member business is conducted is the merchant participation contribution paid. In this embodiment, that benefit applies to both any upfront component or any ongoing component of the contribution fee,

Another benefit to participating merchants is increased customer loyalty and customer retention. Businesses initially attracted to participating merchants to obtain a fully funded reward will continue to transact business with participating merchants to grow their member rewards bank account balance. That participating merchants may be the exclusive provider of a particular good or service within a region and/or the program as a whole also increases return customers and loyalty.

To obtain business participation in the reward program described herein, the reward program adniimstrator advertises and otherwise markets the program to businesses. The marketing includes informing and educating businesses that a certain percentage reward based on regularly made purchases of goods and services will be deposited into a fully funded business reward bank account which the business may . use to buy travel from an assigned travel agent when purchases are made from participating merchants. Because of the advertising and other marketing conducted by the rewards program, the participating merchants will have a resultant increase in customers.

The assigned travel agent is selected on the basis of being not only able to service the travel needs of member businesses, but also to do that in a cost competitive manner and to optimize the benefits of scale that come through the use of this embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the travel agent is selected by the reward program administrator: where the latter is able to make use of the number of the travel arrangements collectively sought by all member businesses to negotiate a more cost effective result than any one single member business would typically be in a position to achieve.

The reward program administrator may provide and maintain an extensive advertising and marketing campaign to promote the reward program. As such, the marketing expenses of participating merchants are reduced or, potentially, eliminated. The vast reduction in marketing expenses to participating merchants contributes to motivating the merchant to participate in the reward program. Sums that would typically go toward the merchant marketing its goods and services are available for payment of a participation contribution to be paid to the reward program. This permits significantly higher reward percentages than in traditional reward programs where the reward comes directly from the bottom line. The reward program is funded by extracting a designated percentage from the merchant participation fee to pay for marketing, administration, etc. The remainder of the merchant participation fee is used to fund the reward program bank account of member businesses. In one example, company AAA buys $ 1 ,000 worth of telephone - 16 - equipment from merchant BBB. The reward program may require the merchant to provide a 10% participation fee based on this sale, amounting to $100. Of this participation fee, the reward program may allocate 60% to the buyer as a reward and

40% to cover reward program administration expenses. So, in this example, of the SI 00, $60 is transferred to the business' member rewards bank account, and $40 is transferred to a reward program administration bank account. In this example, buyers of telephone equipment would be enticed to purchase from this seller to receive a 6% reward, The 60/40 allocation of reward to administration fee from the participation contribution is only an example: other allocations may bemade. Businesses are motivated to join the reward program to receive as a reward a percentage of regularly made purchases. The reward may vary depending on the kind of purchase made. Some example rewards follow: restaurants 15%; office supplies 10%; travel 1 %; computer hardware 5%; etc. In addition, some merchants may incentivise Internet purchases by offering a greater reward for Internet purchases than for purchases by other means, such as by facsimile or in person. For example business may earn for purchasing copier paper a 10% reward online and 8% reward if purchased in person. Other incentive plans may also be included in the reward program.

Figure 1 illustrates a computer networked environment in which the embodiments of the reward program methods and systems described herein may be implemented. At the heart of the methods and systems described herein is a reward program center (RPC) 100. In one embodiment, the methods described herein may be implemented as software referred to as reward program software (RPS) 112. The RPS may be executed by a computer such as computer 102, Computer 102 may be any computer that can execute software programs, and generally has features and components commonly found in server computers. In one embodiment, computer 102 includes processor 104 and memory 106. Processor 104 may be any computer processor, and memory 106 may be any random access memory (RAM) or other readable and writeable memory device. Processor 104 executes the RPS utilising memory 106. Infbrmation, including the RPS may be read from and/or written to storage device 110. Storage device 110 may be any device by which a machine may read from a machine readable medium including, but not limited to, a magnetic disk drive such as a hard disk drive, a magnetic tape device such as a digital audio tape (DAT) device, an optical disk drive such as a readable and writeable compact disk

(CDRW) drive and a readable and writeable digital versatile disk drive (DVD) stick and card memory devices, silicon devices such as electronically erasable programmable memory (EEPROM) and read only memory (ROM) devices, etc. that may be internal, such as storage device 110 and, in other embodiments, directly coupled, accessible locally or remotely via a network, and accessible via electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (for example, carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.). In one embodiment, storage device 110 ma be a plurality of disk drives comprising a disk array or other configuration. , The processor may communicate instructions to video controller 130 to display text, images, etc. on display monitor 132. Video controller 130 maybe any video graphics controller, and display monitor 132 may be any display monitor, including, but not limited to, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display monitor and a thin film transistor (TFT) display screen. An RPC user may access computer 102 via any computer input device, such as, for example, keyboard 124 and mouse 126 which are coupled to the processing unit by, in one embodiment, Universal Serial Bus (USB) controller 122.

Computer 102 also includes at least one network interface controller 120 which allows for communication with a wide area network (WAN) 180 such as the Internet. As used herein, WAN is deemed to include the Internet, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), satellite networks, or any other network covering a substantial geographical area. In various embodiments, information may be received through NIC 120 via land lines such as Tl lines, T3 lines, coaxial cable, Ethernet, twisted-pair, fiber optic such as a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), or other physically present connection. In other embodiments, the connection via NIC 150 may be wireless in the form of microwave, satellite, radio wave - such as WiFi - and the like. The format of the data sent by and received by the RPC may be any data format including, for example, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Universal Datagram protocol (UDP), Internet Protocol (IP) Packets, etc. ϋi one embodiment, the RPS may include Internet web site software that provides for the communicating and display of Internet web pages on remote computers and remote computing devices. The Internet software may be written in any well known computer language, such as, for example, the hypertext mark-up language (HTML), Java server pages (JSP), the extensible mark-up language (XML), etc. and may be communicated via well known communications protocols, such as, for example, the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Server communications and transactions may be supported by secure HTTP (S-HTTP), secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption, and other well known and or priority security techniques.

5 To maintain information about the members of the program, about purchase transactions, about bank account balances, about merchant participation fee deposits, and the like, one or more databases may be included in the RPC and stored on storage device 110, such as, for example, member database (MDB) 114. These databases may be relational, may be programmed using the structure query language (SQL), or may o be constructed according to any well known database languages and techniques.

Processor 104, memory 106, storage device 110, video controller 130, USB controller 122, and NIC 120 are coupled to one another via and communicate with one another over bus 136. Bus 136 ma be any bus that provides for communication of and between components within a computer. Although only one bus is depicted, 5 multiple buses may be used in computer 102. In addition, other components and controllers (not depicted) and multiple instances of depicted components and controllers may be included in computer 102.

The RPC may include a single computer, such as computer 102 as shown, or may include multiple computers arranged as a group, cluster, subnetwork, local area 0 network (LAN) or other group of multiple computers. The RFC may also include other well known devices, such as, for example, gateways, bridges, routers, firewalls, etc. which may be included in a computer network environment. So as not to obscure the focus of the description, these and other well known devices are not depicted in

Figure 1. 5 In various embodiments, each of merchants' computers 150, bank computer

160, auditor computer 165, travel agents' computers 170, unaffiliated third party's computer 155 and customer service center computer 190 and maybe a server computer similar to computer 102, a group of computers including, for example, a subnetwork, cluster, LAN, etc, or may be a single personal computer. Buyers' 0 computers 140 are computers of individuals who may be affiliated with a member entity such as business 144, an association, a club, a group, a municipality, a government agency, a sole practitioner and the like. Buyers' computers 140 are typically personal computing devices having components similar to those described regarding computer 102. In addition, buyers' computers 140 ma be any computing device, such as, for example, personal computers, portable computers, laptop computers, computing tablets, set-top boxes, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the like. While as discussed below, it is contemplated that buyer may choose to initiate purchase over the WAN 180, in one embodiment, the rewards program is expected to accommodate any common form of purchasing of goods and/or services. Thus, reward points would be earned in face-to-face transactions, telephone orders or any other conventional transaction format. Accordingly, it is not necessary for buyer to change their buying habits to obtain at least some of the advantages of the rewards program, assuming of course, they are already purchasing from a participating merchant,

]Ά one embodiment, each of the merchants' computers 150, bank computers 160, auditor computer 165, travel agents' computers 170, customer service center 190, RPC 100 and business 144 may communicate and transfer data over WAN 180. In some embodiments, some of these entities may communicate with one another directly, For example, auditor computer 165 may have a direct connection to bank computer 160 and the unaffiliated third party's computer 155. The direct connection may be made by leased line, dial up connection and the like. In some cases, the bank may service the unaffiliated third party. In various embodiments, a kiosk 1 5 may be connected to the WAN 180. The kiosk is effectively dedicated hardware remotely distributed to permit members to access the RPC 100. The kiosk may include a general purpose computer with appropriate resident software, which in one embodiment may permit establishment of a virtual private network between the kiosk 175 and the RPC 100. The kiosk may employ anyone or more of touch screen technologies, magnetic card reading, a speech recognition interface, infra red signaling interface or radio frequency signaling interface between the kiosk and e.g., a smart card, etc. Various authentication technologies such as PINs and passwords maybe used to improve security.

Customer service center 190 may be maintained by the reward program administrator and may provide support to participating buyers, sellers, travel agents and banks. The customer service center may provide access to information concerning all aspects of the reward program, including bank account balances, travel reservation information, purchase history, participation fee history, etc, The customer service center may be accessible by computer via the Internet, and may e accessed via telephone such that human operators may provide the information requested by referring to computers connected with the RPC.

The RPC may provide various interfaces to each of the participating entities in

5 the reward program system. The reward program center may provide a web site with various web pages that allow member businesses to access information concerning the reward program. For example, the RPC may provide an Internet web interface by which the individuals may, depending on their authorisation level, view the current balance in the member business reward bank account, view all recent transactions o with participating merchants within a specified time frame, view authorized travel reservations, view currently pending travel payment requests, etc. The web site Interface may also allow authorised individuals of member businesses to approve or otherwise authorize an unaffiliated third party to transfer funds from the business reward bank account to a client account specified by the travel agent to make payment 5 for travel reservations made by one or more individuals of the member entity. Travel reservations include, without limitation, airline travel, car rental, hotel booking, restaurant reservations, or any other goods or services typically offered by a travel agent,

Other interfaces that are more low level may be provided to each of the 0 merchants, travel agents, and banks. In this way, various data concerning the transactions involved in the reward program system may be communicated, and electronic fund transfers may be made and/or facilitated, More specifically, a merchant interface maybe configured to receive transaction reports from participating merchants whenever member buyers make purchases from the merchant. A travel 5 agent interface may be configured to receive travel reservation notices from nominated travel agents regarding travel reservations made by individuals affiliated with member businesses and to provide fund transfer notices to nominated travel agents. A bank interface may be configured to receive member account summaries and merchant deposit summaries on a regular basis from a participating bank. The 0 bank interface may also be configured to allow the RPC to forward travel payment requests made by authorized individuals from member businesses which instruct the unaffiliated third party to transfer funds from a member rewards bank account to the trust bank account or other bank account of a nominated travel agent. An unaffiliated third party interface may forward a travel payment request to the unaffiliated third party. Each of these interfaces may be secured by well known encryption and other methods to provide for safe transfer of sensitive information between each of the participants. Figure 2 illustrates the transactions between participants in the reward program ■ methods and systems described herein. According to the systems and methods described herein, an individual 240 of a member business may provide an identification number along with a payment 242 to a participating merchant 250 to obtain goods or services 252. The participating merchant then makes a deposit 254 of a participation fee based on the monetary value of the sale, which may also be referred to as a commission or a sale incentive, into a bank account in bank 260. In one embodiment, this bank account is a temporary holding account into which all merchant deposits are made. The deposit, in one embodiment, includes various tracking information such as the identification number for the individual making the purchase, a business identifier, and other pertinent information. Merchant 250 also provides transaction information 256 to reward program center 200, In one embodiment, the transaction infbrmation includes the identification number of the individual making the purchase, a textual or other identification of the goods and or services purchased by the individual from the participating merchant, the amount of the payment made by the individual, and the amount of the participation contribution deposited by the merchant into the temporary holding area bank account. In various embodiments, not all of this information may be required as part of the transaction information, and/or additional transaction information maybe provided.

In various embodiments, the RPC 200 may receive from the bank and or from the auditor a nightly account summary 262 of all deposits made into the temporary holding area bank account; the account summary may also be provided by the bank, unaffiliated third party and/or auditor upon request of the RPC 200; and may be provided on a regular basis such as hourly, four times a day, or immediately upon the receipt of deposits, or immediately when a system defined balance has been exceeded, or according to any other desirable scheme. The RPC 200 may reconcile the transaction information 256 with the deposit information received in account summary 262 to ensure that the proper participation, fee is being paid by participating merchants. The RPC 200 updates its internal databases based on the transaction information and the account summary.

In this embodiment, the rewards accumulated in response to transaction information 256 are not confirmed as being available for redemption until such time as that information has been reconciled with account summary 262 to confirm that the rewards are fully funded. That is, rewards are not available unless there is a financial holding - such as that provided by a positive cash balance in a bank account - that is equivalent to the reward accumulated. In other embodiments, the full funding is gained through use of cash and/or other financial instruments that are easily liquefied either in a primary or secondary market. For example, publicly traded shares, government bonds, treasury notes, bills of exchange or the like, ϋi those embodiments where instruments other than cash are used, the individual member is only entitled to redeem down to a certain percentage of the rewards - typically about 80% to 90% - to accommodate the more volatile nature of this funding.

Records of the rewards accumulated by the members are maintained in MDB 114. These rewards are comprised of collections of "unit rewards' or "reward points", and each member will have available for redemption a respective number of points. As the individual makes further purchases, the member's accumulation of reward points will increase in accordance with the level of purchases and the level of reward offered by the merchants from whom those purchases were made. For convenience, in this embodiment each reward point is equated to a convenient unit of the local currency. For example, in this embodiment where the local currency is USD, each reward point is able to be redeemed as US$1.00 of travel expenses. This redemption value correlates with the minimum funding required within the segregated members reward bank account to maintain the fully funded nature of the reward points. While, in this embodiment, the reward point equates to US$1.00, the member business is able to accumulate a balance that includes a portion of a point. The minimum gradation of the unit is 0,01, which equates with a redemption value of US$0.01.

To obtain travel using the member rewards bank account, individual 240 associated with a member may contact, in any traditional means, a travel agent 270 and make a travel request 244, such as a flight reservation, a hotel reservation, a car rental reservation, etc. When presenting the travel request to the travel agent, the individual must provide the individual's reward program identification number so that payment for the travel maybe transferred from an appropriate business' member rewards bank account, In one embodiment, the travel agent 270 may send travel purchase infbrmation 272 to the RPC 200, In another embodiment, the reward program center may refer to and/or provide access to a third party travel reservations web site. Upon making a travel request, the individual is provided a record locator or other travel request identifier by the travel agent to identify the particular travel reservation.,

The individual uses the travel request identifier to authorize payment of the travel reservation from the member rewards bank account through an unaffiliated third party via RPC. The individual makes a travel purchase authorization 246 with the RPC 200, which causes the RPC 200 to forward funds transfer instructions 202 to an auditor and or bank 260 to transfer reward program dollars from the business' member rewards bank account to a trust account of the travel agent, as shown by funds transfer 264. The RPC 200 may send a funds transfer confirmation 206 to the authorized individual and also send a funds transfer confirmation 204 to the travel agent.

The embodiment described above keeps in RPC 200 records of the rewards that are accumulated, - that is, the reward points - that are due to individual participating member businesses based upon the purchasing activities by the business from participating merchants. The real time, or at least regular, reconciliation between the reward accumulation and the funding in the corresponding account or accounts held at bank 260 ensures that the rewards that are able to be redeemed by the member businesses are fully funded. Additionally, as the account or accounts at bank 260 are held in trust or operated in accordance with trust conditions, member businesses are provided with a greater degree of assurance that the accumulated rewards will remain fully funded for their lifetime.

In this embodiment the rewards have a lifetime of three years from creation. Each member is able to access RPC 200 to determine the age and stage of the respective rewards that have been accumulated by that member. Typically, this is done online, in that an authorized individual representing .the member uses a web based access portal to seek reports on the status of the available rewards, and the rewards transactions history, such as redemptions, accumulations and cessations. In other embodiments, the rewards have a lifetime of other than three years while, in further embodiments, the rewards have an indefinite lifetime. In this embodiment, when a reward reaches the end αf its lifetime - that is, it ceases to be available for redemption by the member business - it reverts to the administrator. In other embodiments, the rewards revert to another party such as a charity, a family member, a government or other party. In this embodiment, once the reward has reverted to another party the corresponding funds are transferred from the member reward bank account to the account of that another party.

Figure 3 illustrates a generalized flow of actions taken by participants according to the reward program methods and systems described herein. A member buyer, also referred to as an individual affiliated with a member business, purchases goods or services for the member business from a participating merchant, as shown in block 310, The merchant notifies the reward program center of the purchase and deposits a participation contribution in a temporary holding bank account, as shown in block 320. In one embodiment, an unaffiliated tiiird party transfers a portion of the participation contribution to a business member reward bank account and another portion to the reward program administrative bank account, as shown in block 330, In another embodiment, the bank may do this automatically based on initial instructions provided when the bank accounts were opened. An individual affiliated with the member business may make a travel reservation with a nominated travel agent, as shown in block 340. h one embodiment, only a single travel agency is nominated for a geographic region. However, in other embodiments, the member business is able to nominate a desired travel agent or, alternatively, is able to select one travel agent from a list of participating travel agents.

The individual may authorize payment for travel via a reward program center web site, as shown in block 350. Depending on the authorization level and privilege level of the individual who made the travel reservation, the same or another individual of the member business may be required to authorize the redemption of the rewards and the subsequent transfer of a corresponding quantum of funds to pay for travel. The unaffiliated third party facilitates fund transfers from reward program bank account to the nominated travel agent based on member instructions received via the reward program center, as shown in block 360, In one embodiment, this facilitation may be a simple pass through of the authorization request made by the authorized individual. The travel agent, upon learning of the fund transfer, may provide travel documents to the individual that placed the travel reservation, as shown in block 370. The travel documents in this embodiment include one or more of a ticket, voucher, or other coupons - be that in hard copy or electronic form - for redemption by the authorized party at the commencement of the travel or each leg of the travel.

For example, in one instance, the travel documents include an itinerary for the individual that is accompanied by one or more printed airline tickets for predetermined legs of the trip, vouchers for accommodation for given dates at given hotels on route, and coupons for meals and/or other travel needs. For example, in another instance, the agent issues an airline e-ticket that is emailed to the individual.

It will be appreciated that many other instances and combinations arise, and are accommodated, for die different travel arrangements required by the different individuals.

The process in the event the member requests a refund is discussed below in connection with Figure 6B.

Figure 4 illustrates the flow of actions taken when a business registers to become a member of the reward program according to the methods and systems described herein. The reward program center provides a member application to a prospective member business, as shown in block 410. In one embodiment, an application may be sent by e-mail, in another embodiment, application maybe provided in an electronic form on a web site. In one embodiment the member application may be a well known format such as a portable document format (PDF) which is downloadable by the applicant from the reward program web site. The application may include specification of individuals, contact information such as mailing address, telephone number, email address, as well as designation of authorization levels of each of the individuals, such as those allowed to approve travel purchases. The reward program center receives and processes the member application, including assigning unique membership identifiers to all individuals specified in the application, creating a unique member business identifier, and assigning personal identification numbers (PINs) and passwords or other access codes, as shown in block 420. For larger businesses, different levels of access to data stored by the reward program center and different authorization levels may be designated and assigned at this time. The reward program center updates the member database, adding member data including the member business identifier, the individual identifiers, PINs, and passwords, as shown in block 430. A travel agent is assigned to the member business, as shown in block 440.

Upon successful registration, the reward program center notifies the member business and, in some embodiments, constituent members, of a successful application, including providing identifiers for the individuals of the member business, the assigned travel agent, and, in some embodiments, a list of participating merchants, as shown in block 450. In addition, in some embodiments, the passwords and PINs of each of the individuals included in the membership application may also be provided.

In one embodiment, the notification may be made by mailing membership cards having an identification number printed thereon to the member business. In addition to or in place of this mailed notification, email notification may be sent to individuals affiliated with the member business, providing a login name to the reward program web site, a temporary password and an identification number. In one embodiment, the password, login identification number, customer identifier, etc., are sent as separate e- mails for additional security. In another embodiment, during an initial login of an individual of the member business on the reward program center web site, the individual may select a password, or replace a default password with an individual selected password. From this point forward, purchases made on behalf of the member business by individuals should be made with the reward program identification number, so that reward points are earned for every business purchase that is made from participating merchants. As discussed above, those reward points are fully funded by a corresponding dollar amount being held in the member reward bank account.

In one embodiment, purchases may be made by presenting and sliding a membership card through a card reader to identify the transaction as a reward program transaction, ϊn yet another embodiment, when presenting a reward program card, a PIN may be requested such that payment is authorized for the goods and/or services by access to an account or purchase method defined in a member database entry for the business member. This maybe implemented using electronic point of sale funds transfer (EPOS) techniques such that the membership card may serve as a debit card, credit card, or have similar effect.

Figure 5A illustrates the flow of actions taken when an individual of a member business makes a purchase from a participating merchant according to the reward program methods, and systems described herein. An individual affiliated with a member business purchases one or more goods and/or services from a participating merchant including providing the individual's reward program identifier, as shown in block 510. The participating merchant provides - or arranges to provide at a later time - the one or more goods and/or services to the individual or to the member

5 business, depending on the kind of purchase. The merchant also notifies the reward program center of the transaction, and transfers a merchant participation contribution to a designated reward program holding bank account, as shown in block 520. The reward program center receives the transaction data from the merchant, as shown in block 530, The reward program center updates one or more of its various databases o based on the transaction data, including the member database, the participating merchant database, and possibly other databases, as shown in block 540. The reward program center updates the merchant database based on the transaction data, as shown in block 550. The reward program center reconciles the merchant's participation contribution with the transaction data by reviewing reward program holding account, 5 balance information received from the bank, unaffiliated third party and/or auditor, as shown in block 560, The unaffiliated third party transfers a portion of the merchant participation fee as a business' member reward to a business' member rewards bank account and transfers another portion of the merchant's participation fee to a reward program administrative bank account, as shown in block 570. In one embodiment, 0 any deposits made by a participating merchant to the designated bank account may every evening, for example, automatically be divided by the unaffiliated third party into reward program designated percentages - that is, in the appropriate proportions - and distributed by the unaffiliated third party to the member business reward bank account and the reward program administrative bank account. To achieve this 5 automatic distribution, the participating merchants may include a merchant identifier and the business member identifier when making the deposit such that the unaffiliated third party may accurately maintain a ledger of funds in the member rewards bank account and appropriately divide and transfer the administrative component to the reward program administrative account based in the appropriate proportions for the 0 particular merchant and/or business member.

Figure 5B is a flow diagram showing routing of funds in an electric point of sale funds transfer according to one embodiment of the invention. A member may have a membership card that is associated with a payment card such as a conventional credit or debit card. By swiping that card which ghosts (or substitutes for the payment card with or without knowledge of the issuer) at the time of the transaction the member initiates an electronic point of sale funds transfer (EPOS) based on the payment card, at block 575. At block 580, a switching agent identifies the issuer of the underlying payment card and that the transaction is subject to rewards credit and forwards the information to the issuer for authorization. At block 585, the issuer authorizes the transaction and remits the purchase amount less the issuer fee to the switching agent. For example, if the transaction is for $100 and the issuer fee is $2, the switching agent would receive $98. Then at block 590, the switching agent sends the participation contribution with the appropriate identifying information to the program holding account for distribution by the unaffiliated third party and remits the net of the issuer fee and participation contribution to the merchant. Continuing the prior example, if the contribution is 10%, $10 would arrive in the holding account and $88 would go to the merchant. The subsequent accounting follows as described above with reference to Figure 5 A.

In some cases, the customer bears the issuer fee or any other transaction cost. Accordingly, for the above example of a notional $100 transaction, the customer makes a payment of $102 such that the switching agent receives $100. Consequently, $10 would arrive in the holding account, and $90 would go to the merchant. In one embodiment, the reward program holding bank account is created by the unaffiliated third party pursuant to instructions received from the reward program administrator, This account is only accessible by and is controlled by the unaffiliated third party. In this way, merchant participation fees received into the reward program holding bank account can be divided according to agreements reached between the reward program administrator and participating merchants by the unaffiliated third party, and or automatically by the bank under the supervision of the unaffiliated third party. This watchful eye adds confidence to reward program participating merchants and business members that funds are being transferred, credited and awarded properly. As used herein, the term "unaffiliated third Party" is deemed to include any third party whose actions are audited independently of the buyer members, participating merchants, the nominated travel agent and the rewards administrator.

Figure A illustrates the flow of actions taken when purchasing travel from a nominated travel agent according to the reward program methods and systems described herein, An individual affiliated with a member business makes travel arrangements with a nominated travel agent, including providing the individual's reward program identifier, as shown in block 610. The travel agent places the travel reservation and obtains a record locator or other travel reservation identifier, as shown in block 620, The travel agent provides the record locator or other travel reservation identifier to the traveling member, as shown in block 630. An authorized individual of a member business may log onto the reward program center web site to instruct the reward program to redeem a predetermined amount of the reward points available to that business. Once it is confirmed that the points are available for redemption, the funds are taken from the member bank account to pay for travel specified by a record locator supplied by the member, as shown in block 640. The unaffiliated third party instructs or otherwise facilitates the bank's transfer of funds from the member rewards bank account to a travel agent trust account, as shown in block 650. The reward program center may send a confirmation of funds transfer to the travel agent, as shown in block 660, The travel agent provides the individual who will be traveling with necessary travel documents and/or confirmation that the travel reservation has been funded, as shown in block 670.

In some embodiments the authorized individual of a member business is able to use the reward accumulation in the members reward bank account as part payment for costs incurred with the travel agent. This occurs, for example, when the reward accumulation is less than that required to pay for the total cost of the desired travel. It also occurs through the individual within the member business exercising a choice to that affect. In some cases, a member business allocates predetermined percentages of the reward accumulation to selected groups or divisions within the organization, and is only permitted to authorize the corresponding use of the reward accumulation for travel by those respective groups. In some instances, a group chooses to use only part of its allocation to spread the benefit over more than one reporting period.

The methods described regarding Figures 4, and 6A may be supported via an Internet web site provided by the reward program. In one embodiment, authorized individuals may log in according to well known methods to check on the balance in the member reward bank account. In addition, tracking, monitoring and other accounting functions may be provided regarding purchases made from participating merchants and nominated travel agent. This information may be provided in real-time to authorized individuals immediately upon receipt and processing of transaction information, travel purchase infbrmation, and bank account summaries received electronically from the participating merchants, unaffiliated third party, bank, and nominated travel agent, Figure 6B is a flow diagram illustrating flow in the event that a member seeks to cancel travel previously booked through the rewards program. The member notifies the travel agent of the desire to cancel travel, provides the relevant confirmation such as the record locator, etc., at block 675. At block 680, the travel agent cancels the travel and disburses any cancellation fees or related service charges from the trust account to the relevant travel provider and/or the travel agent's account depending on the then applicable cancellation policy. Then at block 685, the travel agent transfers funds from the trust or other account back to the member rewards account using the appropriate member number to ensure proper credit within the member rewards account. This refund policy prevents circumnavigation of the rewards program by booking and canceling travel. At block 690, the travel agent sends a confirmation of refund details to the unaffiliated third party for appropriate credit in the member rewards account. Finally, at block 695, the travel agent notifies the RPC to add back the refund to the business' member reward points, and a corresponding change is made to the relevant records within MBD 114, Figures 7A and 7B illustrate an embodiment of a virtual merchant mall, ha one embodiment, a mall interface may be provided to reward program members. The mall interface may present a graphical depiction of a shopping mall, referred to as virtual mall 700. The virtual mall may, in one embodiment, display store names superimposed on the virtual mall. In another embodiment, the virtual mall may be organized into departments or categories such that a kind of good and/or service to be provided is displayed as by text such as, for example, "General Business Expense" 704A, "payroll" 704, "Telecommunications" 706A, "Marketing" 702A. In another embodiment, the kind of good and/or service may be defined as a readily cognizable graphic icon, thumbnail, etc. When traversing the various departments, when a text item such as Hyper-Mall 712A is traversed or passed over, it may cause a designator 710 to activate and a corresponding portion of a graphical rendering of a Virtual building such as portion 712B to activate by highlighting and creating a walk out label 720 which also states Hyper- Mall. Similar actions occur for 702A, 704A, 706A, 702B, 704B and 706B. When a walk out label is clicked on or otherwise activated a more detailed web page is provided.

When the text or icon of a department is clicked on, the kind of stores that make up the contents of the department may be provided. The floor may include text labels for various kinds of merchants such as "Banking" 742A, "Business Financing"

744A, and "Car Parking" 746A amongst others. Similarly, those portions of a virtual building 750 may be activated to go to a particular merchant web site, such as by clicking on ''Banking¹' 742B,"Business Financing" 744B, and "Car Parking^1, 746B.

When a member that is logged on to the web site clicks on a store or merchant in the virtual mall, the member may be redirected to the web site of the participating merchant. The member may then shop for and make purchases to earn rewards.

In some embodiments, where the individuals respectively enter unique identifiers and passwords, virtual mall 700 is responsive to the selections of repeat purchasers for arranging the individually popular selections in a prominent manner to facilitate ease of subsequent selection. For example, the "top" virtual floor of mall 700 is specifically labeled as "My Favorite Shops", Placing the cursor on this virtual floor provides a text list of the relevant virtual stores that are used by the individual. In other embodiments, mall 700 is configurable by the individuals such that virtual stores are able to be arranged in locations and groupings desired by that individual. In the event that a new merchant is virtually placed in mall 700, an icon or other text are placed on a new floor so as to be clearly and separately identifiable by the individual.

In further embodiments, the merchants are able to select a virtual floor for their placement, with the more prominent floors resulting in an increase in the deposit 254, all of the increase in which forms an increase in the administration fee for that merchant.

The use of the preferred embodiments of the invention does not preclude the merchant from competing on price as well as the reward that is open to be realized by the member businesses. If _a merchant wishes to raise or lower the purchase price for a particular good and or service, this is accommodated, and results in a correspondingly variation in the deposit 254 which is typically a fixed percentage of the payment from the member business. However, the desire of the member business to consider the price only when contemplating the purchase will be moderated by the need to also take advantage of the cost savings to be realized from the reward accumulation in the bank account in bank 260.

In one embodiment, the member may receive a greater reward for making purchases from participating merchants after connecting to the merchant's web site via the reward program virtual mall. For example, a merchant may advertise that a buyer making a purchase from its web site after connecting to the reward program virtual mall may receive a 10% of purchase reward, while telephone and facsimile orders may only result in the receipt of an 8% reward. The same increased award may be provided for Internet based purchases regardless of whether they initiated in the reward program virtual all. In these embodiments, the reward program is not providing fulfillment or any order processing; the reward program web site is merely providing an interface through which buyers may connect with sellers; it is the sellers' web sites that service the buyers' orders.

In one embodiment, a Hyper-Mall is provided to permit those merchants without an established Internet presence to participate in e-commerce activities without the typical up front costs associated with creating such a presence. In the Hyper-Mall, merchants are able to rent space in a manner metaphorically similar to renting of space in a brick and mortar mall. However, in one embodiment, the virtual retail space is configured the same for all merchants such that the presentation, indexing and so forth is consistent from one to the next within the Hyper-Mall. The Hyper-Mall landlord maintains a database and front end interface for the merchants and customers in the Hyρer»Mall as well as hosting the relevant data. Thus, a database is provided and maintained by the Hyper-Mall landlord in which merchants may store product listings, prices, etc., related to their offering through the Hyper- Mall. This is at odds with traditional virtual malls that effectively sell advertising space and merely provide a hyper link to the merchants existing site. Within the Hyper-Mall, order fulfillment remains the merchants' responsibility, but the e- commerce payment and execution maybe out sourced to a single contractor such as one engaged by agreement with the Hyper-Mall landlord, User ease is improved because a consistent interface may be provided for the diverse goods or services sold through the Hyper- Mall, Moreover, this provides e-commerce access independent of the scale of the underlying operator. In one embodiment, within the Hyper-Mall, commonality of presentation of the different merchant's goods and services will allow members to review, select and order far more efficiently than other embodiments of the shopping mall on the Internet. The same factors will save merchants considerable development, listing, maintenance, update and service fees which will allow them to offer increased contributions to the business rewards program, This, in turn, will allow those merchants to offer an increased incentive for potential purchasers to make use of the trade channel provided by those merchants.

In one embodiment, the reward program may create and host the Hyper-Mall while contracting out e-commerce transaction processing to a third party such as a bank. Rent for this space in the Hyper-Mall may be paid by an increased merchant participation fee, be based on required storage space in the RPC database, cost of goods sold, units sold and by other techniques. In one embodiment, the merchant is provided access to at least their section of the Hyper-Mall database so they can update product listings, pricing, etc. In this embodiment, the merchant provides order/service fulfillment, while the reward program creates and hosts the sites. In other embodiments, the reward program may provide these services by directing the merchant to participating exclusive reward program web site designers, web hosting companies, e-commerce providers, etc. Participation in the reward program may be desirable to a merchant that wishes to increase its Internet sales without expending resources on its own extensive marketing campaign. That is, by participation in the reward program, including inclusion in the virtual mall and providing increased rewards to member businesses that make purchases via the Internet, merchants may increase their Internet derived revenue without investing in outside marketing or advertising.

As an added feature, in one embodiment, the reward program center web site may run an internal analysis of member's purchase histories to determine how the member business may better utilize the reward program. For example, if no telephone service purchases are included in a member's purchase history, the reward program center may provide an alert to authorized individuals when logging on to the reward program center web site. The alert may be provided in a designated alert web page, web page frame, or according to other well known techniques, The alert may suggest that the member business use participating merchants to buy e.g., telephone service or other goods and/or services under represented by the member's purchase history to receive a reward based on purchases which, based on a 10% reward, may result in significant contribution to and resulting decrease in travel expenses. The preferred embodiments of the invention provide methods and systems for implementing a fully funded reward to organizations and/or individuals. The reward accumulation is secured by actual monetary funds retained in one or more bank accounts in bank 260 from the sales of goods and services from merchants to purchasers. It is only as the reward accumulations are redeemed that the monetary value is realized. This is distinct from those prior art rewards that are not secured by underlying monetary funds, and which create a contingent liability for the party administering the rewards.

The monetary funds that are maintained within the bank account or accounts are available in one embodiment to accrue interest. In this embodiment, that interest is accrued into the account, such that the actual funds available in that account is greater than the corresponding reward accumulation held in RPC 200, In another embodiment, however, data of any accrued interest is contained with the relevant account summary 262, and is added to the reward accumulation in RPC 200. In this another embodiment, the administration, fee does not apply to the interest and, as such, the entirety of the interest is added to the reward accumulation of the member.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated schematically in Figure 8, where corresponding features are denoted by corresponding reference numerals. This embodiment has,been developed to take advantage of the fully funded nature of the sales based rewards that are able to be accumulated by members through purchases from participating merchants. In this embodiment the authorized individual need not be affiliated with a business member, and is able to accumulate sales based rewards as an individuals. In this embodiment, those sales based rewards are fully funded at the time of creation. Referring particularly to Figure S, an authorized individual 800 is enrolled to use the embodiment similarly to how a business member enrolls. Accordingly, that individual, upon purchasing goods and or services from the participating merchant 250, initiates a similar series of transactions to that illustrated in Figure 1 between the merchant 250, the bank 260, and RPC 200. The end result of which is a sales based reward that is maintained by RPC 200 for that individual and which is fully funded by the balance held in the member rewards bank account. As the individual purchases other goods and or services from merchant 250 - or any other participating merchant - the sales based reward available to be redeemed will accumulate, as will the balance in the member reward bank account. At the time of creating each reward, that reward is fully funded by the corresponding deposit 254 that is made into the rewards program bank account in bank 260,

While in this embodiment bank 260 is an entity that meets the regulatory requirements for a bank in a given jurisdiction, in other embodiments, bank 260 is a non-bank financial institution with the ability to maintain a cash account or accounts to accommodate the deposits 254 from the participating merchants. Examples of non- bank financial institutions include a credit union, an insurance company, an investment house, a funds manager, an investment bank, a merchant bank, a finance company, a building society and the like.

The funds in the rewards program bank account are invested by bank 260 to gain a return over time and are invested in one or more of cash, long and short term fixed interest instruments, local stocks, foreign stocks and property. Any returns upon the principle funds provided by deposits 254 are, in this embodiment, retained within the rewards program bank account. The account summary 262 is periodically generated to ensure correspondence between the funds contained within the rewards program bank account for an individual and the respective sales based reward indicated by RPC 200.

If the return on the investment of the funds for any given period is negative - in that it detracts from the balance of actual funds within the rewards program bank account ~ that too is reflected in account summary 262 and the points available for redemption are reduced such that those remaining are fully funded at that point in time.

In this embodiment, individual 800 is able to provide RPC 200 with a funds transfer authorization 801. One of the available functions of authorization 801 is to vary the nature of the investment being undertaken by bank 260 of the funds in the rewards program bank account that are fully funding the rewards that have been accumulated by individual 800. For example, if at a given time individual 800 has a relatively risk averse profile, authorization 801 includes a partial or total bias for authorizing an investment of the funds in low risk instruments such as cash and fixed interest securities. Alternatively, should individual 800 has a relatively risk accepting profile, authorization 801 includes a partial or total bias for authorizing an investment of the funds in higher risk instruments such as stocks and promissory notes. For those extremely risk adverse individuals, bank 260 offers to guarantee the level of funds within the rewards program bank account for those respective members will not fall below the level that would be the case if the funds were not placed at risk.

Bank 260 is then in a position to take on the risk of investing the funds and, if

5 obtaining greater than 0% return, retaining those funds.

RPC 200 is responsive to authorization 801 for providing a corresponding funds transfer instruction 202 that is acted upon by bank 260 to bring about the investment selection desire by individual 800, When bank 260 next generates account summary 262, this will include data indicative of any change in the investment. RPC

10 200 is responsive to that data for providing individual 800 with a funds transfer confirmation 802.

In this embodiment individual 800 is able to change the nature of the investment style of bank 260 at an time. In some embodiments, there is a transaction fee levied to individual 260 to cover costs associated with re-weighting the asset

15 classes to meet the desired risk profile.

The rewards accumulated by individual 800 in this embodiment are not able to be redeemed until the retirement of the individual from the workforce, or the death of that individual. The definition of retirement is determined typically on a jurisdiction- by-jurisdiction basis. To redeem the rewards, individual 800 provides a

20 corresponding funds transfer authorization 802 that includes data indicative of the required transfer and the beneficiary or beneficiaries 803 to whom the transfer or transfers are to be made. In some jurisdictions there will be a need for additional evidence to establish the retirement status of the individual. Typically, the beneficiary 803 will have a separate bank account into which the transfer is to occur, and this

25 detail is included within authorization 801. RPC 200 is responsive to authorization 802 for providing bank 260 with funds transfer instructions 202. In turn, bank 260 affects transfer of the funds. The beneficiary is, in some embodiments, other than individual 800. Moreover, while in this embodiment the beneficiary holds an account with bank 260, in other embodiments the beneficiaries account is held with another

30 financial institution.

Upon retirement, individual 800 is able to select to have the entirety of the relevant funds from bank 260 paid immediately to beneficiary 803. Alternatively, individual 800 is able to select to have the funds paid as an annuity. The rewards are also able to be bequeathed to another party via an instrument such as a will or other assignment. Alternatively, the rewards are able to be gifted to another.

The Figure 8 embodiment allows an individual to build up a retirement benefit over a long period of time, and is derived from consumption of goods and/or services that would have occurred in any event. Moreover, as the funds that fully fund the reward are invested, also over that same time, there is considerable opportunity for capital growth in addition to further accumulations from purchases with participating merchants. Moreover, the rewards, when redeemed, result in a cash payment to the beneficiary, In some embodiments, individual 800 is able to contribute other funds into the reward program bank account to supplement the growth of the funds that are to provide retirement savings for that individual. Again, the records for the reward, as held within MDB 114, is regularly reconciled with the funds held within the member reward account to ensure the reward remains fully funded. In the Figure 8 embodiment, each participating merchant that has a retail presence other than solely an online presence provides an information kiosk 804 at the point of sale. This kiosk is linked to RPC 200 by way of a two-way communication link 805 that, in this embodiment, is integrated with the communication link that conveys transaction information 254. In other embodiments a separate link, with the appropriate security levels, is used. It will be appreciated that kiosk 804 is an equivalent of the kiosk 175 shown in Figure 2,

Kiosk 804 includes an interface for the individual in the form of a touch screen display (not shown) for allowing the individual to access the relevant portions of MDB 114 within RPC 200 to obtain the most recent data about their accumulated rewards. The kiosk is also available for the individual to initiate transactions or , transfers or other desired actions, In other embodiments alternative interfaces are provided, such as a display that is linked to a keyboard or a simplified keyboard, or a display that is linked to a device for moving a cursor on the display, such as a trackball, a mouse, a platen, or the like. . Kiosk 804 is a stand alone unit that is typically fixedly mounted to the floor within the merchant's premises. In other embodiments, however, kiosk S04 is moveable or mounted to a counter, shelf or other platform so as to be conveniently accessible by those individuals wishing to utilize the kiosk. In one embodiment, kiosk 804 is a handheld wireless device (not shown) having a touch screen display and which is issued to each individual upon entering the merchant's premises. As the individual moves about the premises, the wireless device is responsive to remote signals for alerting the individual - visibly or audibly, or both - of particularly advantageous rewards that are available based upon goods in the near vicinity.

Accordingly, the individual is actively provided with relevant information about the surrounding goods and any special inducements that may be available at that time, In an. embodiment where the merchant is a supermarket, kiosk 804 is incorporated into the supermarket trolley. The above embodiments have been primarily described with reference to commercially smaller single site merchants. It will be appreciated however, that the invention is also applicable to other merchants such as chain stores, supermarkets and other distribution type merchants. Particularly where such financially larger merchants are involved, the embodiments of the invention provide a context for the implementation of other advantageous functionalities for the individuals or member businesses. For example, in this context, fixed kiosks 804 are used not only as described above, but also to convey to the individual when using the kiosk, details of anytime limited inducements for specific products, services or combinations thereof. The kiosks also allow a manufacturer of, say, goods, to directly approach individual users of the kiosk in an attempt to secure a sale over a competing product that may provide a lesser reward or no reward. This functionality is typically best suited for large retail outlets where a number of similar products fro different competing manufacturers are available for purchase.

The kiosks also provide the individual with the ability to seek reports on the accumulated rewards or on transactions that have taken place. The individual is also able to access details of flights that have been funded through the redemption of rewards, or to provide a funds transfer authorization.

In some embodiments, the fixed kiosks also provide the functionality of an ATM or a site for transferring electronic funds onto a SMART card. For typical embodiments, the kiosks are able to be linked to RPC 200 via the internet, while in other embodiments alternative WAN connectivity is achieved by LEO uplinks or others.

The manufacturers or suppliers of goods and/or services are able to utilize the kiosks to provide targeted marketing based upon characteristics of the individual who is using the kiosk, or other factors such as the geographic location of the kiosk. For example, the manufacturer of a particular good may desire to increase sales in a particular geographic region. To do so, the incentive -that is, the level of rewards made-available to the individual or member upon purchase of the goods -is increased relative to the incentive provided in other geographic regions. In this embodiment, the manufacturer pays the sales based commission upon the sale occurring with the merchant. However, in other embodiments, the merchant pays the commission and the manufacturer subsidizes that incentive through a payment to the merchant. In the Figure 10 embodiment, which will be described in more detail below, both the merchant and the manufacturer are able to independently or collaboratively provide a sales based reward to the individual or the participating business member.

In the Figure 8 embodiment, RPC 200 includes a user interface (not shown) for allowing the authorized individuals to access via a web delivered service the relevant information contained within MBB 114. In other words, the individuals are able, via any internet connection, to access the functionality of kiosk 804. The RPS 112 also allows the user interface to provides the individuals with additional research functionality, such as the ability to:

• Locate a participating merchant or merchants in a given geographic area. • Locate a particular good and or service or class of goods and/or services,

• Determine which participating merchant offers the most favorable reward for the purchase of a given good and/or service.

■ Determine which participating merchant offers the most favorable inducement and/or reward for the purchase of a given good and/or service or a given combination of goods and/or services.

• For any proposed purchase, rank the merchants in accordance with one or more predetermined criteria to create a "hierarchy of convenience.

This user interface provides mdividuals with greater flexibility and overview in determining, based upon that individual's needs, the goods and/or services that are to be purchased, and the participating merchant with whom the purchase transaction is to occur. It also allows the merchants to more accurately direct their rewards so as to appeal to a particular market segment. For example, if a participating merchant sells white goods and has only a single retail outlet in a given geographic location, that merchant is able to provide a greater relative reward - say, on the delivery fee - to individuals in other locations to further encourage purchases from those locations.

Reference is now made to Figure 10 where corresponding features are denoted by corresponding reference numerals. In this embodiment, a manufacturer 809 produces and supplies goods (not shown) to merchant 250 who has kiosk 804 in its premises. In other embodiments, merchant 250 does not have kiosk 804. Manufacturer provides RPC 200 with rewards infbrmation 810 in the form of an electronically packaged and encrypted signal having a pre-agreed format. This signal contains data indicative of: • Unique identifiers for each product type - or for high value items, each product - supplied by the manufacturer to the merchant. • The commission that is to be paid by the manufacturer into the member rewards bank account upon the completion of the sale of the product or type of product to a buyer. In this embodiment the commission is a fixed percentage of the agreed sale price. However, in other embodiments alternative commissions are used, such as a fixed fee, a combination of a fixed fee and a percentage of the sale price, or a sliding scale that is based upon the sale price.

The PRC 200 stores and selectively downloads selected portions of the data contained within rewards information 810 to kiosk 804 where it is easily available to be accessed by an authorized individual. In those embodiments where the individuals are able to remotely access RPC 200 via a web site, that site also provides selected access to the data within infbrmation 810 to assist the individual in their purchasing decision. As the goods of the manufacturer are purchased from merchant 250, the transaction information 256 is, as described above, provided to RPC 200 and deposit 254 is sent to bank 260. RPC 200 is responsive to information 256 for identifying those goods of manufacturer 809 that are contained within rewards information 810 for sending to manufacturer 809 sales information 811, This latter information contains the transaction data about the sale of the good or goods concerned, and details of the member business or individual making the purchase. Manufacturer 809 is responsive to the sales information 811 for making a deposit 812 into the members reward account. Once RPC 200 receives the account summary 262, and reconciles this against the transaction infbrmation 256, the rewards accumulation in MDB 114 for that member is increased by the combined reward contributed by both the manufacturer and the merchant. In other embodiments the merchant's contribution is reduced by the manufacturer's contribution. That is, the manufacturer subsidizes the merchant's contribution to the reward. Manufacturer 809 is able to be selective about the reward contribution based upon one or more of:

• Merchant: in that the manufacturer is able to enter into an agreement with preferred merchants such that buyers from those merchants will receive a greater reward than from other merchants. * Geography: in that a manufacturer may desire to increase sales in a particular region or area.

• Demographics: in that regions or times of day are collectively selected to provide an incentive to the target market

• Time: in that a purchase at or outside a particular time of the year, month, week, day or hour is able to provide a greater reward than would otherwise be the case. Manufacturer 809, in providing the reward, is able to more accurately understand and identify the buyers of the goods and thereby better disposed to assist those buyers when next making a purchasing decision, The buyers are provided with greater choice and flexibility, in that they are able to select beforehand, or immediately prior to a proposed purchase, the combination of good arid merchant that offers for that individual the most suitable balance of price, reward, location and other factors.

In an embodiment, the manufacturer is also the merchant, in that the manufacturer sells directly to customers and not through a wholesaler, retailer or other arms length distribution channel.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figure 11, and corresponding feature are denoted by corresponding reference numerals. In this embodiment, a government body 830 interacts with RPC 200 in a manner similar to manufacturer 809 of Figure 10. In this way, body 830 is able to encourage the purchase of goods and/or services having predefined characteristics by offering a suitable reward to the purchaser. In this embodiment, the goods and/or services are those that have been certified as having a local content of greater than a certain percentage, or a local-labor content at or above a certain level. In other embodiments, the reward is made proportional not only to the purchase price, but also to the percentage of the local content, In further embodiments, the government body provides rewards to buyers for the purchase of other goods and or services to promote their use. For example, in an embodiment, body 830 offers a reward on the purchase and installation costs of domestic smoke alarms that are certified under the relevant standard.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figure 12, and corresponding feature are denoted by corresponding reference numerals. In this embodiment, a trade union organization 840 interacts with RPC 200 in a manner similar to manufacturer 809 of Figure 10 or government body 830 of Figure 11. In this way, organization 840 is able to encourage the purchase of goods and/or services having predefined characteristics by offering a suitable reward to the purchaser. In this embodiment, the goods and or services are those that have been certified as being produced by the members of the union organization, or which have a local content of greater than a certain percentage.

In all of the embodiments of Figures 10, 11 and 12, the manufacturer, government body, and union organization are also able to gain benefit by enrolling into the system of the invention all the personnel within those respective organizations. This use of enrollments works similarly to the Figure 9 embodiment that is described below.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 9 and is for facilitating the creation of an income stream for enrollers of member lists such as charities and community groups. It will be appreciated that corresponding features are denoted by corresponding reference numerals. A charity 900 make use of an agent 901 who approaches or otherwise engages with individuals 902 for the purposes of encouraging those mdividuals to contribute to charity 900. As contributions are received, they are deposited in their entirety into the rewards program bank account at bank 260, Thereafter, bank 260 transfers predeteπnined and pre-agreβd amounts of e funds into:

• An account in the name of the charity, such that those funds are available for use by the charity.

• An account in the name of the agent. •. An administration account ia the name of the administrator. In this embodiment, 90%, 6% and 4% of the funds are respectively transferred into the account in the name of the charity, the agent and the administrator. In other embodiments, alternative proportions are pre-agreed. In one embodiment, the bank transfers a flat fee to the account in the name of the agent for each separate donation deposited with bank 260.

Bank 260 then provides, in real time or in batches, whether periodically or otherwise, account summary 252 to RPC 200 such that reconciliation with the transaction information 256 is able to occur, Charity 900 is linked to RPC 200 via an internet link 902 that allows reporting and other information to be accessed from RPC 200 to determine the level of contributions that have been made, amongst others. Similarly, agent 902 is linked to RPC 200 via an internet link 903 that allows reporting and other information to be accessed from RPC 200 to determine the level of sales based rewards that have been accumulated through the contributions that have been realized by that agent. As in the other embodiments, agent 901, as an accumulator of rewards, is able to redeem those rewards. It will be appreciated that agent 901 is in this embodiment an individual. However, in other embodiments, agent 901 is a business.

In those embodiments where charity 900 is a community group having an annual fee, the agent is able to be rewarded in a similar manner. That is, for each new member the agent introduces to the group, a reward accumulates and is derived from the annual fee, whether as a percentage or a flat fee. Accordingly, agents - whether they be affiliated with the community group or not - are encouraged to introduce new members to the group. The Figure 9 embodiment applies also to agents who generate income streams through the sale of insurance or other instruments. That is, the rewards are able to be accumulated by the agent in addition to or in lieu of other revenue such as commissions. Moreover, while the embodiment described above for charities provides a once off reward, the embodiment as applied to insurance products provides the reward additionally upon renewal of an insurance product, not just upon the initial contribution.

In another embodiment, the operation of charity 900 is assisted by the method and system of the invention in an alternative manner. More particularly, the charity enrolls its constituents and contributors to become authorized individuals within the system of the invention. In return, the administrator agrees to provide a monetary contribution to the charity for each enrollment, where that contribution is derived from the administration fee component of the commissions generated from the rewards accumulated by those enrollments. In an embodiment, the administrator agrees to repeat this contribution periodically, for example annually. While this has been described with reference to charity 900, it will be appreciated that it is also applicable to community groups, educational institutions, businesses, government agencies, and the like. Some advantages of the preferred embodiments are:

• The creation of a direct online link from manufacturers or merchants of goods and or services to the end purchasers. This then allows a smoothed path for the advice of offers and delivery of rewards.

• Delivery of funding into an "end of working" or retirement plan via non- compulsory, non-member funded contributory rewards.

• The creation of a further reward by investment through managed accounts for the individual member of the reward funds. That is, as the sales based rewards are fully funded by the funds held in the bank or other financial institution, it is possible for those funds to be interest bearing. In other embodiments, the funds are placed at greater risk such as through investment in stocks and/or bonds. In any event, the member businesses or the authorized individuals are only in a position to draw the account to zero.

• The creation of an alternative compensation stream - in the form of sales based rewards - for agents or enrollers of member lists, For example agents for insurance companies or finance companies, or enrollers for organizations such as charities and community groups.

• Allows additional contributions of non-reward generated funds to be deposited into the pool of reward generated funds. That is, the individual is able to take advantage of the funds management not just with the rewards generated funds. * The creation of a term of contract with the individual by holding the rewards until certain events of time, or volume, or age occur.

• Provides cash as a redemption of the rewards in agreed circumstances. For example, upon retirement or death of the individual. • Can be transferred or bequeathed to qualifying related parties.

• Provides online choices to the member for the management and growth of the funds underlying their rewards during the term of their qualifying circumstances. • Allows access, reports and opportunities for growth through remote electronic terminals connected to the Internet or rewards system, such as kiosks ATMs and LEO uplinks.

• Provides continuously updated reports of the member's point's value in their account through the Internet when they open their computer desktops, switch on other mobile devices and or receive SMS .

^■ Provides a desktop link via the Internet to allow members to optimize their rewards, and the corresponding level of funds in the rewards program account, by a search engine that links to merchants through a hierarchy of convenience. The reward program center (RPC) 1 0, as presently envisaged, includes: • A dedicated web server provided by a single 933 MHz Pentium πi processor with 256 Mb of RAM, a 9.1 GB Ultra3 10,000 RPM hard drive (dedicated for operating system use only) and a 18.2 GB Ultra3 10,000 RPM hard drive (dedicated for storing the web site content, application data and log files). • A shared database server provided by a single 933 MHz Pentium HI processor with 256 Mb of RAM, two 9.1 GB Ultra3 10,000 RPM hard drives configured RAID 1 (dedicated for operating system use only), three 18.2 GB Ultra3 10,000 RPM hard drive configured RAID 5 (for storing application software, application data and log files) and a dual redundant hot swap power supply.

All equipment is rack mounted in fully enclosable lockable racks. In this embodiment the major software components for the above servers include:

• Microsoft 2000 Server • Microsoft Internet Information Services (OS) Version 5

• Microsoft Index Server

• Microsoft Transaction Server Microsoft Windows Script 5.5

MDAC 2.6

Compaq SmartStart V5.4

Compaq Insight Manager Agents

ARCServe 2000 Advanced Edition Open Filed Agent for Windows

2000

Webolyser

AspEmail

AspEncrypt • AsρGrid3.1

AspJpeg

Authentix 5.3

Iriformentum ActiveFile

AspUpload • Xupload

Jupload

Other proprietary software

The web server is connected to a website hosting web server via a 100 MB switched Ethernet port, and the connection between the website hosting web server and the internet is via HTTP and HTTPS protocols. Direct internet connectivity with the database server is not permitted, although there is connection between the website hosting web server and the database server by the following: ODBC (1433); Microsoft

NetBIOS protocols; and Microsoft RPC and COM protocols.

In this embodiment, internet application and network monitoring are performed using proprietary software.

Due to the nature of the embodiments of the invention, the hardware is designed for operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and at a minimum of 99% availability. Where possible use is made of high reliability and fault tolerant hardware and software combinations, as well as best practice design and redundancy. Typically, this comprises at least 100%, and more likely 200%, redundancy.

It will be appreciated that the above hardware specifications are for an embodiment only, and are indicative of what is required to accommodate many - 45 - hundreds of thousands of member businesses and merchants. However, for embodiments accommodating greater numbers, the above configuration is able to be scaled accordingly.

The embodiments of the invention described above do not require any upfront payment from any of the participants, be they buyers, sellers, manufacturers, or a combination thereof. Payments or contributions do not commence until such time as a sale occurs and, as such, there is a lower barrier to participation by all parties. Moreover, even once a payment occurs, it is part of the sale price of the good and/or service, and is borne by the parties in accordance with their respective requirements at the time of purchase. For ber businesses or individuals there is typically a once of or yearly fee. However, this too does not require the payment of any fee. Rather, the rewards next accumulated by the respective party are redeemed by the acbninistrator until the agreed fee has been fully contributed. The rewards subsequently accumulated are available to the business or individual for later redemption. In an embodiment upfront or periodic fees are levied, or offered as an alternative.

∑n the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments. It will be evident that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. For example, while the preceding description for the Figure 2 embodiment assumes that only businesses could be members of the rewards program, in one embodiment, mdividuals meeting certain criteria may be allowed to participate. Additionally, while the discussion above has largely assumed that rewards are used to purchase travel, in other embodiments, other classes of goods or services may be purchased via the reward program such as, for example, telecommunications, postage, shipping, insurance, etc. Further, while reference has been made to a single member business or authorized individual and a single merchant, the embodiments of the invention are applicable to multiple members, individuals and merchant. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

Claims

1. A method comprising: establishing a network of sellers and buyers in which the buyers receive a sales based reward and the sellers pay a sales based commission to an administrator, the administrator being unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; receiving the sales based commission to be divided between a buyer component which becomes the sales based reward and an administrative component; and depositing the buyer component into a segregated member rewards bank account such that a balance in the reward bank account is fully funded.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein estabUshing comprises: registering the sellers; and processing applications from the buyers,

3. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the sellers are the exclusive or preferred provider of a particular one or more goods and/or services.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the member rewards bank account may solely be used to purchase travel from a nominated travel agent.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising forwarding a buyer authorization to transfer a sum from the segregated member rewards bank account to a travel agent trust account to fund a buyer's travel reservation.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the member rewards bank account is maintained by a third party unaffiliated with the administrator.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising facilitating buyers purchasing goods and or services from sellers by providing an Internet web site that includes a virtual mall of sellers.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the virtual mall includes links to Internet web sites of the sellers from which the buyer may purchase goods and/or services.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising facilitating buyers purchasing goods and or services from sellers by instituting a marketing campaign targeting the buyers. 10. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing buying pattern analysis to the buyers based on transaction information provided by sellers. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the providing buying pattern analysis is delivered via an Internet we site. -45 -

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising being responsive to the buying habits of respective buyers for providing purchase recommendations to those buyers,

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising being responsive to the buying habits of the buyers for providing purchase recommendations to the buyers. 14. The method of claim 1 further comprising: supplying the buyers a membership card and ghosting a payment card with the membership card such that rewards transaction may be directly conducted without the payment card,

15, A method comprising: establishing a block of sellers through which buyers receive a reward based on purchases made from the sellers and the sellers pay a commission to a program administrator based on the purchases, the program administrator being unaffiliated with the buyers and the sellers; and retaining an unaffiliated third party to process the sales based contribution by dividing the sales based contribution between a buyer component which becomes the reward and an administrative component, and to deposit the buyer component into a member rewards bank account that may only be accessed by the buyer such that a reward value is fully funded and secure,

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the member rewards bank account may solely be used to purchase travel from a nominated travel agent, 17. The method of claim 15 further comprising forwarding a buyer authorization to transfer a sum from the member rewards bank account to a travel agent trust account to fund a buyer's travel reservation.

18. A method comprising: registering a plurality of members; registering a plurality of participating merchants; and receiving from a participating merchant a member transaction report including a financial value of purchases made by a plurality of individuals affiliated with one of the members and a deposit data specifying a participation contribution based on purchases made by the plurality of individuals affiliated with the member that was deposited in a reward program holding bank account,

1 . The method of claim 18 comprising reconciling a bank entry in the holding bank account with the deposit data and the transaction data,

20. The method of claim 18 comprising retaining an unaffiliated third party to manage the reward program holding bank account, including instructing the unaffiliated third party to transfer a portion of the participation contribution from the reward program holding bank account to a member rewards bank account whenever any of the participating merchants deposits the participation contribution into the 5 reward program holding b ank account.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein retaining the unaffiliated third party further includes instructing the unaffiliated third party to debit the member rewards bank account balance based on a travel purchase made by another individual affiliated with the member entity reported by and made through a nominated travel agent, 10 22, The method of claim 20 wherein retaining the unaffiliated third party further includes instructing the unaffiliated third party to transfer a second portion of the participation contribution from the reward program holding bank account to a reward program administration bank account.

23. A system comprising:

15 a member interface to provide member transaction information, and to receive travel payment authorization from a plurality of individuals affiliated with a member entity; a merchant interface to receive transaction reports from a plurality of participating merchants; 20 a travel agent interface to provide funds transfer notices to a nominated travel agent; a bank interface to receive from a bank member account summaries and merchant deposit summaries; and an unaffiliated third party interface to forward the travel payment authorization 25 to the unaffiliated third party.

24. The system of claim 23 further comprising a mall interface to present links to Internet web sites of participating merchants,

25. The system of claim 23 wherein the member interface further provides buying habit analysis.

30 26. The system of claim 23 wherein the member interface further provides recommendations as to how to more effectively use the reward program. 27. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon which when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations comprising: establishing a network of sellers and buyers in which the buyers receive a sales based reward and the sellers pay a sales based commission to an administrator, the administrator being unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; receiving the sales based commission to be divided between a buyer component which becomes the sales based reward and an administrative component; and depositing the buyer component into a segregated member rewards bank account such that a balance in the member rewards bank account is fully funded,

28. The machine readable medium of claim 27 wherein at least some of the sellers are the exclusive or preferred provider of a particular one or more goods and/or services.

29. The machine readable medium of claim 27 wherein the member rewards bank account may solely be used to purchase travel from a nominated travel agent.

30. The machine readable medium of claim 27 having further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising forwarding to an unaffiliated third party a buyer authorization to transfer a sum from the segregated member rewards bank account to a travel agent trust account to fund a buyer's travel reservation.

31. The machine readable medium of claim 27 having further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising facilitating buyers purchasing goods and services from sellers by instituting a marketing campaign targeting the buyers.

32. The machine readable medium of claim 27 having further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising providing buying pattern analysis to the buyers based on transaction information provided by sellers.

33. The machine readable medium of claim 27 having further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising providing purchase recommendations to the buyers based on the buying habits of the buyers.

34. The machine readable medium of claim 27 having further instructions which when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform further operations comprising providing purchase recommendations to respective buyers based on the bu ing habits of those buyers.

35. A method comprising: providing a user interface of a virtual mall through which e-commerce activities may be conducted; renting space in the virtual mall to a plurality of merchants; and hosting a database storing offerings from the plurality of merchants.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the user interface is consistent across the plurality of merchants.

37. The method of claim 35 comprising: authorizing access to a rented portion of the database to each merchant to permit the merchant to update its offerings.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein renting space in the virtual mall requires no independent on line presence by the merchant.

39. The method of claim 35 wherein a portion of savings achieved by the merchants from renting space in' the virtual mall is distributed to members of a rewards program administered by a virtual landlord.

40. A method for a plurality of sellers to offer for sale goods and/or services to a plurality of buyers, the method comprising; establishing a network of the sellers and the buyers; offering for sale to the buyers the goods and/or services; being responsive to each sale for determining a reward to be allocated to the respective buyer; being responsive to each sale for determining a commission to be paid by the seller to an administrator who is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; and being responsive to the payment of each commission to the administrator for depositing into a segregated member rewards bank account a reward amount that is derived from the respective reward, wherein the bank account provides a fully funded source for the reward.

41. A method according to claim 40 wherein the commission includes the reward amount, and the method further comprises: being responsive to each sale for transferring the commission into an intermediate bank account; and transferring the reward amount from the intermediate account to the rewards - 62 - bank account.

42. A method according to claim 41 wherein the administrator has a commission bank account and the method comprises the additional step of transfeixing the balance of the intermediate account to the commission bank account. 43. A system for a plurality of sellers to offer for sale goods and/or services to a plurality of buyers, the system comprising: a database for establishing a network of the sellers and the buyers, wherein sellers within the network offer for sale to the buyers the goods and/or services; a sales registering network that is responsive to each sale for deteimining: (a) reward to be allocated to the respective buyer; and

(b) a commission to be paid by the seller to an admtnistrator who is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; and a funds transfer device that is responsive to the payment of each commission to the administrator for depositing into a segregated member rewards bank account a reward amount that is derived from the respective reward, wherein the batik account provides a fully funded source for the reward.

44. A method for a plurality of sellers to offer for sale goods and/or services to a plurality of buyers, the method comprising: defming a network of the sellers and the buyers; categorizing each of the sellers and each of the buyers; and being responsive to the categorizations for offering for sale to the buyers a selection of the goods and/or services.

45. A method according to claim 44 and further comprising: being responsive to each sale for determining a reward to be allocated to the respective buyer; being responsive to each sale for determining a commission to be paid by the seller to an administrator who is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; and being responsive to the payment of the commission to the administrator for depositing into a segregated member rewards bank account a reward amount that is derived from the reward, such that the bank account provides a fully funded source for the reward.

46. A method according fo claim 44 wherein the buyers and/or the sellers are categorized by one or more of: geographic location; business specialization; pre- existing seller relationships or arrangements; charity preference; delivery method; or the like.

47. A method according to claim 44 and further comprising allowing the seller to access the bank account to transfer part or all of the funds in the account to one or more predetermined accounts.

48. A method according to claim 47 wherein the one or more predetermined _v accounts are accounts in the name of respective travel agents, and the funds are transferred to those accounts as consideration for the provision of travel services by those agents to respective buyers. 4 . A method according to claim 48 further comprising: a first of the buyers providing authorization to another of the buyers to redeem the rewards accumulated by the first buyer by accessing some or all of the funds in the rewards bank account of the first buyer; and the another of the buyers transferring the funds to one of the predetermined accounts as consideration for the provision of travel services by the one or more agents to the another of the buyers. 50. A method for an issuing party to issue an airline ticket, the method comprising: establishing a database containing information indicative of a network of sellers and buyers in which the buyers respectively receive a sales based reward and the sellers respectively pay a sales based commission to an administrator, the administrator being unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers; being responsive to the buyers receiving the sales based rewards for updating the information to be indicative of one or more characteristics of me reward; providing an administrator bank account into which the sellers pay the sales based commissions and which is responsive to the payments for dividing the commissions between a buyer component and an administrative component; depositing the buyer component into a segregated member rewards bank account to define a balance for that account; reconciling the balance of the segregated member rewards bank account with the information such that the balance in the reward bank account fully funds the rewards; being responsive to a buyer ordering the airline ticket from the issuing party for paying a predetermined sum from the member reward bank account to an issuing bank account; and being responsive to the payment of the predetermined sum for issuing the ticket to the respective buyer.

51. A method for interfacing a network of sellers and buyers that is administered by an administrator that is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers and which is responsive to the buyers paying for goods and/or services from the sellers for receiving a sales based commission from the respective sellers that is divided into a buyer component and an administrative component, such that the buyer component is deposited into a segregated member rewards bank account to define a revised balance in that account, the method comprising: hosting a database containing information indicative of predetermined characteristics of the sellers and buyers; being responsive to both the revised balance and the buyers paying for goods and/or services from the sellers for updating the information to allocate a sales based reward to the respective buyer such that the rewards are fully funded by the revised balance.

52. An interface for a network of sellers and buyers that is administered by an administrator that is unaffiliated with either the buyers or the sellers and which is responsive to the buyers paying for goods and/or services from the sellers for receiving a sales based commission from the respective sellers that is divided into a buyer component and an administrative component, such that the buyer component is deposited into a segregated member rewards bank account to define a revised balance in that account, the interface comprising: a database server for hosting a database containing information indicative of predetermined characteristics of the sellers and buyers; an account server that is responsive to both the revised balance and the buyers paying for goods and/or services from the sellers for updating the information to allocate a sales based reward to the respective buyer such that the rewards are fully funded by the revised balance.