Patent ID: 7571139

Claim:
A system comprising: a merchant transceiver, comprised of a transceiver antenna, that (a) sends a first radio frequency communication to a customer transceiver and (b) receives a second radio frequency communication conveying a customer/transmitter identifier from said customer transceiver; a point-of-sale device processor, in communication with said merchant transceiver, that (a) captures transaction data and (b) transmits an authorization request to a transaction processing system; and a transaction processing system comprising a memory having program instructions, and a processor configured to use said program instructions to (a) receive said authorization request, (b) determine, from said customer/transmitter identifier and a merchant identifier, a payment method corresponding to a payment processor, (c) transmit an authorization request to said payment processor for authorization and (d) transmit to said point-of-sale device said payment processor's response to said authorization request, wherein a merchant is associated with a given brand, wherein the merchant identifier is the same for all stores associated with the given brand, wherein each customer/transmitter identifier is associated with a customer account and wherein each customer account identifies a pre-assigned payment method for each merchant identified in the customer account and, in multiple customer accounts, the pre-assigned payment methods vary for transactions with merchants associated with different brands.