Patent Publication Number: US-2019197521-A1

Title: Merchant-centric gift card processing

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure. 
     Gift cards and e-gift codes have become popular as an alternative to cash or other physical gifts. Some givers may feel that a gift card for a particular merchant may be more likely than cash to be used for something for the recipient. Other givers may know that a recipient likes that merchant and can use the gift card as a reason to visit there, whether a brick and mortar store or online. In some cases, a merchant may award gift cards to a customer for some past behavior, such as reaching a level of purchases with the merchant. However, recipients/customers may often lose or forget gift cards which can cause them to become frustrated. Gift cards may also raise escheatment issues when funds are held by third parties on behalf of a customer. 
     Further, gift cards and gift codes are subject to high fraud rates resulting from, among other methods, card bots sweeping through active card numbers, three-way call balance checks, package tampering, and card switching. 
     SUMMARY 
     Features and advantages described in this summary and the following detailed description are not all-inclusive. Many additional features and advantages will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the drawings, specification, and claims hereof. Additionally, other embodiments may omit one or more (or all) of the features and advantages described in this summary. 
     In some embodiments, a system of specially programmed servers and algorithms allows a merchant collect gift funds or award funds to a customer by submitting a specialized transaction that flags a customer&#39;s open loop financial card so that future purchases made at that merchant may draw down the stored credit amount as a statement credit or instant savings. In this way, the gift amount is automatically available to the customer whenever a future purchase is made at the designated merchant. Because the gift amount is actually processed and held by the merchant, escheatment complications may be reduced because no third parties hold the funds on behalf of the customer. As opposed to a prior art system, no gift card portal or third party processor is required because all processing follows a normal flow-of-business through the merchant&#39;s acquirer and the customer&#39;s card issuer. Because of this processing flow and the ability to generate credit transactions, discounted gift amounts can be processed, for example, a $100 gift can be purchased for $80, with the merchant subsidizing the added value. 
     Further, the system may allow real time acknowledgement of the use of the gift by generating information that can sent to the customer via a text message, email, social media message, or other communication. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of prior art system elements for providing a store credit 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a store credit system in accordance with the current disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a customer service terminal in accordance with the current disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram illustrating a monitor in accordance with the current disclosure; and 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a method of managing store credit in accordance with the current disclosure. 
     
    
    
     The figures depict a preferred embodiment for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art may readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is an illustration of a prior art system  100  that is used to provide a gift card to a customer using a merchant system  102 . The merchant system  102  may include a point of sale (POS) system  103  coupled to a customer service terminal  104  by a network connection  106 . The POS system  103  may include or be coupled to enterprise resource planning (ERP) functions such as inventory control, payroll, sales tracking, etc. In this illustration, the POS system  103  is be coupled to one or more POS devices  118  that are used to perform checkout functions for retail, in-person, sales. The customer service terminal  104  may be used to activate a gift card for use at the merchant, or in some cases for use at another merchant. 
     In this scenario, a swipe device  108  may be used to activate a prepaid card  110  (i.e. a closed loop card) via service provider  114  at a pre-paid card issuer  116 . The service provider  114  may be an acquirer or a processor that receives transaction information, provides clearing and settlement services, or other transaction-related services. The prepaid card issuer  116  may receive the purchase price of the gift card from the merchant and hold the value of the prepaid card  110 . When the user swipes the prepaid card, the prepaid card issuer  116  approves the transaction and delivers the funds back to the merchant during a settlement process. In the case where the prepaid card funds do not cover the cost of the transaction, the customer may have to provide a second card or cash to cover the remaining balance. 
     The merchant system  102  may be connected to the service provider  114  via a private network  112  or a virtual private network offering a high security connection for privacy and tamper-resistance. The same or a similar network  112  may connect the service provider  114  to the issuer  116 . 
     Also as discussed above, the system  100  may require that the customer retain and remember to use the prepaid card  110  (or electronic gift code) when making a purchase with the merchant or an affiliate. The customer may be required to use the prepaid card  110  in a timely manner before any service fees are accumulated that may reduce or eliminate the value assigned to the card. Because the prepaid card  110  is anonymous, should the prepaid card  110  be lost or stolen, its associated value may also be lost, at least to the person to whom the card was issued, but perhaps not to a person who subsequently uses the prepaid card  110 . This situation represents a double liability to the merchant—the original customer may be upset that the value was lost and in some regard blame the merchant, while the merchant or issuer  116  is still liable for the remaining value on the lost card. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram that may represent a system  120  that provides a solution to the problems associated with using prepaid cards  110 . Additional elements of the system  120  described below may provide for both the merchant-specific use of gift card value and an automatic application of funds whenever the user performs a transaction with the merchant or an authorized affiliate. Further, the system  120  may increase protection of merchants from fraudulent card use and protects customers from the risk of lost or stolen prepaid cards because the merchant actually retains the funds, i.e. credit, associated with the transaction and because the funds are associated with a customer&#39;s PAN. For example, a person attempting to gain funds through a fraudulent means may not want his or her primary open loop card associated with the fraud because discovery of the fraud would lead directly to the offender. Further, the same person might not want to risk associating the store credit with a stolen card because the card might be canceled at any moment. 
     The system  120  may include a merchant system  122  that is explained further below. The system  120  may also include the service provider  114  which may be an acquirer or a processor that receives transaction information, provides clearing and settlement services, or other transaction-related services with the same and/or expanded functionality as that discussed above. 
     A monitor  130  may screen transactions being processed by the service provider  114 . The monitor  130  may be coupled to a database  133  that may store credit value information  134  for one or more users as well as data related to conditions for using the stored value. In various embodiments, the monitor  130 , database  133 , or both may be part of the service provider&#39;s domain. In other embodiments, these elements may be independently operated. One or more issuers  131 ,  132  may issue, among other financial instruments, open loop cards for credit and debit services as are normally provided to its card holders. In the described embodiment, the issuers  131 ,  132  may not be a party to the application of store credit to a transaction other than the ultimate settlement. 
     Logically, the monitor  130  may be a computing device such as a server that is designed and built to monitor the transactions being processed. The monitor  130  server may have a high throughput design such that transactions will not be delayed. Further, users looking to use the credit value may not desire to wait so speed in processing and communication may be of increased importance in the monitor  130  server. In some embodiments, the monitor  130  may be on a dedicated monitor server and in other embodiments, the monitor  130  may be a dedicated processor inside one of more servers which may be geographically local or dispersed in a cloud like computing system. 
     The merchant system  122  may include, as above, a POS device  118  and a POS system  103 . In an embodiment, these two elements of the merchant system  122  may be the same the prior art system in order to increase backwards compatibility and reduce installation costs. 
     A customer service terminal  124  may be capable of providing prior art prepaid cards  110  but may also be modified as described more below to allow a customer to provide a physical card  126  or card personal account number (PAN) using a card swipe, tap, or, dip or manual entry of a PAN or other financial instrument identifier. The customer service terminal  124  may also include custom software and/or hardware that allows use of new transaction classes tailored to the generation of gift and/or credit value including both user interface elements and transaction processing elements. This process may create in essence a direct message to the service provider  114 . This direct message may allow the service provider to create a ledger-type entry of the credit amount to be associated with cardholder PAN and the merchant, as well as rules for redemption. 
     The card  126  may be an existing card of the customer&#39;s, for example, an open-loop credit or debit card or similar financial instrument offered through one of the issuers  131 ,  132 . The card may be a physical object such as a plastic card that resembles a traditional credit card or may be a virtual card or virtual account that is an electronic representation on a computing device that is capable of interfacing with the various networks in the system  120  such as a token stored in a virtual wallet which may operate through a mobile computing device such as a smart phone or other mobile wearable devices. 
     In operation, a merchant may offer a gift or store credit to a customer in the form of a gift from a purchaser or for another reason such as a returned item. The customer service terminal  124  may capture the amount of gift credit to be provided to the customer. In an embodiment, the process may involve use of a custom transaction code supported by the service provider  114 . As opposed to a credit (return value) transaction, the gift credit transaction may simply make an accounting entry at the monitor  130  to trigger monitoring for qualifying transactions without triggering an actual settlement operation. 
     After the gift amount has been entered, the customer may indicate an open loop credit or debit card with which the gift may be associated. In one embodiment, the customer may be given a code or website that can be used by the recipient to enter the open loop card at a later time. For example, the code may be a one-time code that can be used to designate an open loop card of a recipient of the gift. Unlike a gift card code that could be swept or tampered, since the value is not in the code but with the open loop card with which the value is ultimately associated, tampering would have little worth for an attacker, for at least the reasons discussed above. In some embodiments, the point of sale device may be used to indicate the account for which the gift may be associated. In other embodiments, a portable computing device may be used to indicate the account for which the gift may be associated. 
     The merchant may further specify during the gift or award transaction the merchant, e.g., brand or brands, with which the gift value may be redeemed. In an embodiment, special programming of the customer service terminal  124  may allow different brands to be specified for a particular gift/credit amount. For example, a refund on a returned item may limited to the branded store where the item was purchased while a gift amount may be open to a family of associated brands. 
     The customer service terminal  124 , in an embodiment, via the POS system  103 , may then submit the credit transaction to the service provider  114 . The service provider  114 , or monitor  130 , may accept the credit transaction and store the credit amount, the merchant (brand), PAN and any other restrictions or information, such as a cell phone number of the customer, in the database  133 . It may be noted that actual funds may not be transferred at this time, only the data associated with the store credit. Only as subsequent transactions are qualified and the store credit is applied, for example, via a statement credit, are the funds transferred from the merchant during settlement. 
     In another embodiment, a gift amount may be purchased in an online transaction with a customer service function  124  that accepts another form of payment, such as a different open loop card, a stored value gift card, awards points, or existing merchant credit. In such an embodiment, a code as discussed above may be used to allow the eventual recipient to tie the value to an open loop card of the recipient&#39;s choice. 
     In another embodiment, the merchant may offer a discount on the price of the gift so that a customer may purchase a $50 face value gift value for $40, or some other discounted amount. Because the merchant performs the transaction from the receipt of the funds to the creation of the credit value message, the two are essentially independent of each other. Should the merchant decide to offer a discount to, for example, preferred customers, the merchant may use a marketing budget to offset the value. In a traditional prior art gift card environment, the pre-paid card issuer is responsible for the face value of the gift card and may have no motivation to offer a discounted card. 
     After this initial data entry, the monitor  130  may review authorization and settlement streams for a transaction that matches the terms of the gift/award. For example, the database can be searched for components of the transaction including the required merchant, the required PAN, and value in the customer&#39;s gift account  134 . In some embodiments, the gift/award is indicated with an indication that may be part of the transaction. The indication may follow a protocol that may have been created in advance and communicated to the parties of the transaction. In this embodiment, the system may be efficient and reliable as all parties may understand what to expect in dedicated places in the transaction communication. Thus, the technical problem of how to quickly and accurately identify gift transactions may be addressed. 
     When a gift account is identified that matches these criteria, the monitor  130  may mark the transaction and post a credit to the customer&#39;s credit card with the matching PAN, while reducing the value in the gift amount by the amount of the purchase, up to the value in the account. In an embodiment, this credit may be made in real time during the processing of the transaction so that the credit is realized at the POS device  118  during the purchase. In another embodiment, the credit may be made in the form of a statement credit as part of the customer&#39;s normal credit card billing cycle. 
     The monitor  130  may also be connected to a messaging system  136 . The messaging system as illustrated in  FIG. 2  may be part of the merchant system  122  but in other embodiments the messaging system  136  may be operated by the service provider  114  or an outside service (not depicted). Logically, the messaging system may include one or more servers designed and built to communicate messages as part of the system. The servers may be geographically local or may be spread out geographically, 
     In an embodiment, data provided by or known about the customer or recipient may include contact information such as an email address, a mobile phone number, or social media information. In such a case, the monitor  130  may communicate a signal to the messaging system  136  which in turn may notify the recipient that a current or recent purchase will have the gift credit applied to the transaction. In this way, the merchant may be able to reinforce the brand message each time a gift credit is applied to a purchase or when the gift amount has been fully utilized. 
     The credit provider may be able to design a graphical interface that is unique as part of the credit providing process. A backend system may be available for the credit issuers of the system to design communications that may be used to indicate that credit is coming from a unique issuer. For example, a trademark may be included as part of the communication. In other embodiments, an advertising campaign may be included as part of the communication. For example, if the credit is related to a football related advertising campaign, the football advertising copy may be included as part of the communication. Of course, the communication may also include sounds, vibrations and other sensory notifications alone or in combination. 
     To utilize the gift or award credit, the customer may not be required to do anything other than use the open-loop card with which the credit was associated to make a purchase at the designated merchant or brand. Because no actual value may be transferred until settlement, the issuer  131  may not be aware of the application of the credit value to the purchase until the transaction is cleared prior to the customer statement being prepared. That is, the application of the credit may not involve pre-purchase transfer of value either from the merchant to the service provider  114  or the issuer  131 , unlike prior art gift card credit solutions. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the customer service terminal  124  illustrating one embodiment suitable for use in the system  120 . A central processing unit (CPU)  140  may execute instructions stored in a memory  142 . The CPU  140  and memory, as well as other peripheral devices may be connected via a data bus  143 . The customer service terminal  124  may have peripheral devices including a display  144 , an input/output (I/O) unit  146 , a keyboard or other user interface input element such as a cursor control device  150  such as a touchpad or mouse, and, in an embodiment, a card device  152 . The display  144  may present data to a user such as a customer service person and/or a customer. The display  144  may include a touchscreen so that persons interacting with the customer service terminal  124  may be able to input data via the touchscreen or a different peripheral. In an embodiment, the display  144  may mounted on a swivel so that the display  144  may be rotated for viewing by and/or interaction with a customer. 
     The I/O unit  146  may be a network interface card or a section of a processor that supports communication between the terminal  124  and external systems, in particular the POS system  103 . The I/O unit  146  may be or include a network interface card supporting IEEE 802.x communication protocols, such as 802.3 for wired Ethernet communication and 802.11 for wireless (WiFi) communication. The keyboard  148  may provide for manual data entry of text, for example, entry of customer data, capture of return information, or manual entry of PAN data for the customer&#39;s open loop card. 
     The cursor control device  150  may be a mouse or touchpad that allows the operator (customer service person or customer) to move a data entry point on the display  144 . A card device  152  may allow a customer to dip, tap, or swipe his or her card in order to associate that card&#39;s PAN with the refund transaction. 
     The memory  142  may contain executable code in several categories. In one category may be code modules, such as an operating system  154 , that provide generic functionality to the customer service terminal  124 . The operating system  154  may support communication functions between internal and external peripheral and devices, may support memory management, and may support basic input/output functions such as the ability to display text and graphics and receive user input. Other code modules may support custom functions that differentiate the customer service terminal  142  from a generic computer. Such code modules may include a card entry module  156 , a rules capture module  158 , and message formatting  159 . 
     The card entry module  156  may support interactions with the card device  152 , for example, supporting collection of PAN and/or token information from a customer&#39;s open loop card  126 . The card entry module  156  may accept more than simply a PAN, such as from reading a magnetic strip. For example, when the card  126  is a chip card, the card  126  may generate a cryptogram associated with the credit return function that card entry module  156  may capture for use by in an authorization message to the service provider  114  to create the credit entry. 
     As discussed more below, rules or algorithms may be used to define the environment for which the gift or credit may be used. These rules may include what merchant or store brands may be used for qualifying purchases, purchase limits, day-of-week or time-of-day limits, etc., The rules entry module  158  may be used to guide a customer service representative through entry of the refund and generation of corresponding rules, such as those just mentioned. Similarly, in an online environment, the rules may specify to a purchaser what limits may be placed on use of the value. 
     A message formatting module  159  may ensure that a credit message that will ultimately be processed by the service provider  114  has all required data and that the data is correctly formatted. For example, when using a tokenized PAN, a cryptogram may be required to be included in the message, where a PAN taken from a magnetic strip may not have a cryptogram. The message formatting module  159  may identify the specific type (or sub-type) of stored credit message and apply the appropriate syntax rules for constructing the appropriate message. As mentioned previously, a protocol and an application programming interface may be used to assist in ensure the credit data is in a known format such that it may be reviewed and processed in a known and efficient manner. 
     The customer service terminal  124  may provide an experience not found in a prior art terminal  104 . The terminal  124  may support additional features and functions such as a new store credit transaction that may involve both entry of a PAN as well as entry of rules governing use of the stored credit. Further, the customer service terminal may have advanced display and sound capabilities that may be utilized to generate additional interest and provide additional information to a user. 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the monitor  130 . As mentioned previously, the monitor  130  may be a dedicated device and may include a central processing unit (CPU)  160  that executes code stored in a memory  162 . The monitor  130  may also include an input  164  coupled to a data source that provides transaction settlement and clearing messages. One such data source may be the service provider  114 . The input  164  may include hardware and firmware that signal level interfaces, handshaking, message protocol, error management, etc. In an embodiment, the input may be an IEEE 802.x network interface card, such as those available from Intel Corporate or similar products. 
     In an embodiment, the parser  172  may receive a stream of settlement and clearing messages and process those messages into data elements including, but not limited to a transaction identifier, customer PAN, merchant identifier, and transaction value. This data extraction and formatting process may also involve excluding various transaction types that may not be relevant to the target transaction, such as ATM withdrawals, etc. Additional transactions may be screened at a high level. For example, the parser  172  may exclude transactions from countries where such a process may be prohibited. 
     The results from the parser  172  may be provided to a database interface  166  that may formulate queries to the database  133  and receive search results. The queries may simply look for a dataset that match a union of merchant ID, customer PAN, and a positive credit value. When a single match is found, the results may be passed to a rules engine  174 . The database interface  166  may also handle both expected responses and error conditions, such as no match and multiple matches, respectively. In the latter case, some error resolution process may be entered or the transaction may be flagged for later follow up. For example, if more than one credit is available for use, the customer may be contacted regarding which account to use, or another rule may be applied, such as the oldest value is used first. Multiple credit values may be accumulated, for example, if gift value is purchased at more than one merchant but the merchants are linked by brand, multiple value entries may be available for a single purchase. 
     The rules engine may further qualify the transaction, for example, confirming that the transaction is within a prescribed date range. The rules engine  174  may also calculate any discount to the transaction, taking into account the effect of local taxes or other discounts already applied. The rules engine  174  may also calculate the reduction in stored credit for the PAN and generate the database transaction for use by the database interface  166  to make the update. In general, the full amount of stored credit may be applied to a transaction up to the amount of the purchase. If the transaction value is less than the full amount of stored credit, the amount of the transaction may be deducted from the stored value amount and the database updated with the remaining value. In some cases, special rules may be enforced such as the reduction is valid on a single purchase only so that if the transaction value is less than stored value amount, the remaining stored value may simply be discarded. Other rules may include day-of-the-week restrictions that, for example, a restaurant may impose. 
     A message generator  176  may receive transaction data from the rules engine  174  for use in generating transaction messages that actually cause the credit to be applied to the transaction, either as an instant discount or as a settlement amount. These messages may be queued and sent via an output  168  that manages the message protocol including confirmations and errors. The message generator  176  may also communicate with a notification generator  178  responsive to successful application of a credit to a transaction. The notification generator  178  may format one or more messages that ultimately are sent to the customer. The messages may include email, text messages, social media posts or combinations of these and others. The output  170  may manage communication protocols and other message-level tasks. 
     In an embodiment, for larger or more media-savvy companies, the message indicating a transaction has occurred may be sent to the messaging system  136  of the merchant platform  122  so that the merchant can manage the delivery and branding of the information about use of the stored value. A backend system may be provided with a user interface which may indicate to a merchant a variety of data at a glance such as the amount of credit redeemed, the credit campaign which is being used most often, the credit campaign outstanding, etc. The backend also may be used to design the details of a campaign, such as the rules used by the rules engine, the amount of the campaign, the look of the communication to customers, etc. 
     For other perhaps smaller or less sophisticated merchants in another embodiment, the notification generator  178  may directly communicate a stored credit activity message to the customer via one of more of the message channels. In such an embodiment, the notification generator  178  may publish an application programming interface (API) or allow other access that enables the merchant to manage the branding of the message without carrying the overhead of a separate messaging system  136 . 
     The notification generator  178  may prepare customer notifications indicating when value is added to an open loop card as well as when value is applied to a transaction. In an embodiment, the customer may be able to communicate a message to the notification generator  178  which triggers a response with the remaining balance of the credit value associated with one or all merchants. For example, the customer may simply text “balance” to the notification generator  178  to receive the remaining value for all merchants with outstanding balances. In another embodiment, the customer may text or otherwise message either the merchant&#39;s messaging system  136  or communicate a text with “merchant_name” to the notification generator  178  to receive in response a balance for that specific merchant. Logically, the notification generator  178  may also operate according to a published API for efficient and reliable results. In an embodiment, a representational state transfer (REST) paradigm may be used for the interface. 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart of an exemplary method of managing application of gift or other credit value for a user. At block  200 , a credit instruction may be received via, for example, a customer service terminal  124 . In one embodiment, the customer service terminal  124  may be in a retail environment but in another embodiment, the customer service terminal  124  may be in a telephone center or other customer service support environment. In yet another embodiment the credit instruction may be received via an online transaction. The credit instruction may include an amount of credit to be applied and any rules for use such as a merchant or merchant brand at which the store credit may redeemed. In an embodiment, at block  202 , the customer&#39;s open loop card identifier may be physically read using a card device  152  or may simply be entered via a user interface of the customer service terminal  124 . The card number may be a customer card&#39;s PAN or may be a token entered, for example, via a token device such as Apple Pay. 
     After the credit instructions and open loop card identifier are captured, a credit message may be formatted at block  204  and sent to a downstream partner such as service provider  114 . At block  206 , the downstream partner may identify the message and store the credit message information, for example, in a database  133 . Once a store credit has been entered, at block  208  a monitor  130  may be activated to screen transactions processed by the service provider  114  in order to identify those transactions that qualify for application of store credit. 
     At block  210 , transactions being processed by the service provider  114  may be reviewed and analyzed for content, in this case, for merchants for whom store credit has been instantiated. That is, any transaction involving a merchant that is holding store credit may cause the process to continue to block  212 , while a merchant that does not hold store credit may cause the process to loop back to review another transaction. At block  212 , a check may be made to determine that the PAN associated with the transaction matches a PAN for which stored credit is available. If so processing may continue at block  214 , if not, processing may return to block  210 . Any additional filters for application of the store credit such as, but not limited to, specific merchant brand, items purchased (e.g., not all items may be eligible for application of the credit), time of day or day of week. As may be apparent, the order of steps  210  and  212  may be changed or the screening process may be implemented in block so that only one test is made. 
     A determination of stored value may be made at block  214 . At this point a check for positive value may be made including commitments on current funds not yet settled. When value exists, processing may continue at block  216 . In some embodiments, the remaining value may also be communicated. When no value exists, at block  222 , the account may be removed from the search space so that the PAN is no longer screened for that merchant. In addition, in some embodiments, a notification of no balance may be communicated. 
     At block  216 , the monitor  130  may generate a credit for the PAN up to the value of either the transaction or the store credit remaining for that PAN. If an amount of store credit exceeds the value of the transaction, the store credit value may be reduced by the amount credited in the transaction. If value remains at block  220 , processing continues at block  210 . If no store credit remains, execution continues at block  222  and the PAN is removed from the search space as discussed above. 
     A technical effect may be the addition of the monitor  130  to the prior art payment processing system, including the parser  172 , rules engine  174  and notification generator  178 . These capabilities may expand the functionality of the prior art system with features and functions supporting the application and use of credit linked to an open loop card. Another technical effect may be the physical and programmatic changes to a prior art systems resulting in the customer service terminal  124 . Yet another technical effect may be the APIs and protocols used to communicate the credit offer details and use which may result in a more efficient computing system. Finally, the back end user interface may provide a technical solution of how to easily create and monitor an electronic, open loop credit campaign. 
     The use of the system  120  benefits both merchants and customers. Merchants may be able to improve the customer experience of store credits and gift value purchases while receiving other tangible benefits such as retention of funds until an actual refundable transaction is settled. Further, the merchant no longer needs to pay a separate pre-paid card issuer  116  for accepting and managing the store or gift credit value. This may not only improve cash flow but may also reduce escheatment issues associated with unused funds. Fraudulent refunds may be reduced when perpetrators are faced with enrolling value with either their own card, allowing them to be tracked, or another person&#39;s card such that the value may become inaccessible. 
     Customers may benefit by eliminating the need to remember to carry and use separate stored value and gift cards. The customer may also have reduced concerns associated with lost or stolen stored value cards because the value is associated with his or her credit card account, not the card itself so that even the loss of the open loop card may not result in loss of stored value. 
     The figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles described herein 
     Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciate still additional alternative structural and functional designs for the systems and methods described herein through the disclosed principles herein. Thus, while particular embodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the precise construction and components disclosed herein. Various modifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the systems and methods disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope defined in any appended claims.