Patent ID: 8538831

Claim:
A system, comprising: memory; and a processor coupled to access the memory and configured to: form a first electronic transmission, sent from a merchant and addressed to an auctioneer, of an option to receive data related to communicating with a consumer when the consumer is located in a zone, the first electronic transmission including a merchant indicator usable to determine a return address of the merchant and further including an announcement condition for forming a bid for the option, the announcement condition including presence of the consumer within the zone; when the announcement condition is satisfied, form the bid, wherein the bid is addressed to the auctioneer; when the bid is a winning bid, receive the data at the return address of the merchant; and send a communication to a portable consumer device of the consumer, the communication including a message from the merchant and including at least a portion of the data from the auctioneer, wherein the communication is directly sent to the portable consumer device without sending to the auctioneer, and wherein the communication includes indicia of a discount for the consumer to receive when the consumer engages in a transaction upon an account issued to the consumer by an issuer and the transaction is conducted at a point-of-interaction terminal of the merchant.