Patent ID: 7937291

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving transaction data for each of a plurality of transactions of a plurality of merchants, wherein each respective transaction is between a respective consumer and a corresponding respective merchant, and the transaction data for each respective transaction includes a respective indicator usable to distinguish the respective merchant for the respective transaction; receiving a query of a first consumer, the query requesting an announcement about at least one transaction of a target merchant of the plurality of merchants with a second consumer, wherein the target merchant is located within a spatial zone delineated by at least one specified distance relative to a position of a portable consumer device of the first consumer, and the query including data usable to determine an indicator of the target merchant; receiving a transmission including information usable to determine a position of the portable consumer device; using at least the information in the transmission to determine the position of the portable consumer device; determining a location of the target merchant relative to the determined position of the portable consumer device; identifying the target merchant by comparing the location of the target merchant relative to the at least one specified distance to find a match; determining the indicator of the target merchant using data included in the query; identifying the at least one transaction from the plurality of transactions by finding at least one match between the indicator of the target merchant and the corresponding respective indicator in the transaction data; and forming the announcement for delivery to the first consumer, the announcement including information based on the transaction data of the at least one transaction.