Patent ID: 8386309

Claim:
A method for processing coupons, comprising: scanning, at a point-of-sale (POS) terminal located at a retail store, coupon information of a coupon; determining data elements comprising product code information of an item to be purchased and the coupon information of the coupon; transmitting the data elements through a network to an intelligent clearing network (ICN) server for validation and redemption, where the ICN server is at a location that is remote from the retail store; validating, at the ICN server, the coupon information based at least in part on the product code information; in response to validating the data elements at the ICN server, transmitting first coupon related information through the network to the POS terminal, in response to successful redemption of the coupon, transmitting redeemed coupon related information to the ICN server through the network, wherein the redeemed coupon related information comprises identification information from the product purchased, an application identifier, and retailer identification information; in response to receiving the redeemed coupon related information, storing, by the ICN server, the redeemed coupon related information in a redeemed coupon database; generating a coupon audit report based on the redeemed coupon database; transmitting the coupon audit report to a manufacturer; and in response to receiving approval for at least a portion of the coupon audit report, debiting a bank account assigned to the manufacturer based on the portion of the coupon audit report that was approved and crediting a bank account assigned to the retailer based on the portion of the coupon audit report that was approved.