Patent ID: 7848977

Claim:
A method of processing a purchase card transaction, comprising: receiving a transaction request at a processing system from a point-of-sale device of a first merchant, wherein the processing system is comprised of at least one computer system, at least one storage system, and at least one switch; the transaction request comprises transaction details linked to a purchase from the first merchant using a private label purchase card, the private label purchase card is: issued by or on behalf of a second merchant and an issuer, and is not issued by or on behalf of the first merchant, wherein at the time of purchase, the first merchant does not have an agreement with the second merchant for use of the private label purchase card; the first merchant and the second merchant are different merchants; and the transaction details comprise at least an identifier relating to the first merchant, an amount, and an account identifier relating to the private label purchase card issued by the second merchant and the issuer, but not the first merchant; evaluating, by the processing system, at least a portion of the account identifier; recognizing, by the processing system, that the account identifier relates to the issuer and does not relate to the first merchant; routing the transaction request to a cross-shopping platform of the processing system; standardizing, by the processing system, a format of the transaction request; using, by the processing system, the transaction request to identify rules relating to the first merchant and the issuer; and processing, by the processing system, the transaction request according to the rules; routing, by the processing system, at least a portion of the transaction request to the issuer, wherein routing at least the portion of the transaction request to the issuer comprises sending the transaction request to a processing platform of the issuer, thereby avoiding an interchange network; and facilitating, by the processing system, a payment from the issuer to the first merchant according to terms mutually agreed upon by the issuer and first merchant.