Patent ID: 9704174
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: G06Q,G07F

Claim:
1. A method comprising: a computer, comprising hardware and software, responsive to a conversion request from a member, converting a first quantity of loyalty program points of a loyalty program possessed by the member held in a first account to a second quantity of different loyalty program points possessed by the member held in a second account in accordance with a fixed ratio, wherein the loyalty program points and the different loyalty program points are non-fungible, non-negotiable units of exchange, wherein the loyalty program is a loyalty program of an entity, wherein the different loyalty program is a different loyalty program of a commerce partner, wherein the entity and the commerce partner are different legal entities and are not parent or subsidiary entities of each other, wherein the converting is explicitly permitted by terms of a mutual agreement established between the entity and the commerce partner, wherein the converting of the loyalty program points to the different loyalty program points both possessed by the member, who is necessarily a member of both the loyalty program and of the different loyalty program, occurs in accordance with terms defined within the mutual agreement, wherein terms of the mutual agreement define the fixed ratio, wherein applicability of the mutual agreement is confined to conversions between the loyalty program points and the different loyalty program points such that the mutual agreement does not cover conversions of the loyalty program points to cash valuations and does not cover conversions of the loyalty program points to any unit of value other than the different loyalty program points; and responsive to the converting: wherein the converting performs a transformation that changes the first quantity of loyalty program points in the first account into the second quantity of different loyalty program points in the second account, wherein the transformation changes a physical medium utilized to store respective value from that used for the first account to that used for the second account, wherein the transformation further changes a state of a thing being transformed as transformation necessarily triggers accounting and tax events for both the entity and the commerce partner as values in the first account and in the second account are altered, wherein before the transformation, an inherent property of the first quantity of the loyalty program points did not permit the member to purchase goods/services that the commerce partner provides due to redemption restrictions imposed by the terms of the first loyalty program, wherein after the transformation an inherent property of the second quantity of the different loyalty program points of the second account permits the member to purchase the goods/services that the commerce partner provides by expending the second quantity of the different loyalty program points of the second account, wherein after the transformation, the second quantity of different loyalty program points in the second account are not subject to terms, conditions, or restrictions of the loyalty program, but are instead subject to those of the different loyalty program controlled by the commerce partner.