Patent ID: 8010405

Claim:
A method comprising: displaying a payment option and a reward option on a point-of-sale device; receiving a selection of the reward option at the point-of-sale device; invoking a reward control application in the point-of-sale device after receiving the selection of the reward option, wherein the reward control application is configured to allow the redemption of rewards in an auto redemption mode or in a manual redemption mode and is configured to allow the point-of-sale device to operate in the auto redemption mode or in the manual redemption mode, wherein the auto redemption mode automatically redeems rewards when the rewards are available for redemption, and wherein the manual redemption mode allows for a loyalty program participant to choose when the rewards are redeemed; receiving a purchase amount for a purchase transaction conducted using the point-of-sale device; after receiving the purchase amount for the purchase transaction conducted using the point-of-sale device, retrieving loyalty program information from a loyalty program participant, wherein the loyalty program information is retrieved by the point-of-sale device, further wherein the loyalty program information is for a loyalty program offered by a sponsoring party, wherein the sponsoring party comprises one of an issuer or a credit card association; checking whether the loyalty program participant is entitled to participate in the loyalty program offered by the sponsoring party; while the reward control application is in the manual redemption mode, identifying rewards that are available for redemption based on the loyalty program information, wherein the reward control application in the point-of-sale device identifies the rewards; while the reward control application is in the manual redemption mode, sorting the available rewards based upon the respective values of the available rewards; while the reward control application is in the manual redemption mode, additionally sorting the available rewards based upon the respective expiration dates of the available rewards after sorting the available reward based upon the respective values, to determine a predetermined order; while the reward control application is in the manual redemption mode, displaying the rewards in the predetermined order on the point-of-sale device to the loyalty program participant for review; while the reward control application is in the manual redemption mode, receiving selection information from the loyalty program participant regarding the displayed rewards, wherein the selection information is received by the point-of-sale device; and while the reward control application is in the manual redemption mode, processing the selection information to determine whether to effect immediate redemption of a selected reward or defer the rewards for subsequent redemption, wherein the reward control application in the point-of-sale device processes the selection information.