Patent ID: 7735726
Filing Date: 2010-06-15
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for supporting financial transaction instruments and for accepting the financial transaction instruments toward purchases of items, the method comprising: maintaining a database storing a plurality of accounts; providing a plurality of financial transaction instruments to a relief organization, each of the plurality of the financial transaction instruments including an identifier linking each of the plurality of financial transaction instruments to a different corresponding one of the plurality of accounts; receiving monetary value from the relief organization to fully fund an initial prepaid financial balance for each of the plurality of accounts, wherein the relief organization is configured to distribute each one of the plurality of financial transaction instruments to a different beneficiary to allow the different beneficiary to use the initial prepaid financial balance for the different corresponding one of the plurality of accounts linked to the one of the plurality of financial transaction instruments toward at least one purchase of one or more items offered for retail sale; reading with a point-of-sale terminal located at a retail site operated by a retail organization the identifier of the one of the plurality of financial transaction instruments presented at the point-of-sale terminal; accessing, via the point-of-sale terminal, the different corresponding one of the plurality of accounts linked to the identifier read with the point-of-sale terminal, wherein the different corresponding one of the plurality of accounts defines approved items for the different beneficiary, wherein the database is electrically accessible via the point-of-sale terminal; determining whether selected items presented for purchase at the point-of-sale terminal are approved items as defined by the different corresponding one of the plurality of accounts; applying the one of the plurality of financial transaction instruments toward a cost of ones of the selected items determined to be approved items via the point-of-sale terminal, wherein applying the one of the plurality of financial transaction instruments includes applying up to all of the initial prepaid financial balance associated therewith toward the cost of the ones of the selected items determined to be approved items; and refunding to the relief organization any of the initial prepaid financial balance funded by the relief organization remaining in the different corresponding ones of the plurality of accounts after application of the one of the plurality of financial transaction instruments toward the cost if any of the initial prepaid financial balance funded by the relief organization remains; wherein all the steps of maintaining, providing, receiving, reading, accessing, determining, applying, and refunding are performed by the retail organization.