Patent ID: 8639571

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for converting a request for a rebate into an instant credit against a follow-on purchase at a vendor, the rebate being offered by a rebate sponsor and being associated with purchase transaction details of a first item purchase by a customer, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving, in electronic form, the request at a server connected to the Internet; (b) confirming under software control at the server that any applicable terms for receiving the rebate that are associated with the first item purchase have been satisfied by the customer, wherein the confirming step includes the software corroborating the purchase transaction details of the request with contents of a data store; (c) obtaining the follow-on purchase information of the customer either from the server or by tracking the follow-on purchase information through use of a particular credit card, the follow-on purchase information including a follow-on purchase price; (d) selectively allowing at least a portion of a value of the rebate as the instant credit against the purchase price of the follow-on purchase if the applicable terms, as confirmed at the server, have been satisfied; (e) completing the follow-on purchase at a net charge to the customer which is equal to the purchase price minus the instant credit; and (f) accounting to the vendor by offsetting the instant credit to the customer with money received by the vendor from an account of the rebate sponsor.