Patent ID: 7580699

Claim:
A method for providing and accessing membership accounts via a mobile device in a store network, the method comprising: a wireless access point sending a member identification request to a mobile device upon the mobile device being detected by the wireless access point; receiving, at the wireless access point, a member identification response from the mobile device in response to the member identification request, if a member identification is stored in a memory of the mobile device; the member identification response comprising the member identification; receiving, at the wireless access point, a new member identification request in response to the member identification request, if no member identification is stored in the memory of the mobile device; the new member identification request requesting a new member identification; if the member identification is received: the wireless access point forwarding the member identification to a membership database; authenticating, at the membership database, the member identification; and authorizing, at the membership database, the user of the mobile device to access a membership account associated with the member identification; if the new member identification request is received: the wireless access point forwarding the new member identification request to the membership database; generating, at the membership database, a new member identification; sending, from the membership database through the access point, the new member identification to the mobile device for storage in the memory; and authorizing, at the membership database, the user of the mobile device to access a membership account associated with the new member identification.