Patent ID: 8005763

Claim:
A system for providing distributed control to process purchase transactions, comprising: a point of service device having a plurality of rules and a plurality of meta-rules; and a portable device having a plurality of rules and a plurality of meta-rules; wherein the portable device and the point of service device are configured to use their plurality of rules and plurality of meta-rules to determine an outcome for a purchase transaction; and wherein the portable device and the point of service device are further configured so that when the portable device and the point of service device are unable to determine the outcome for the purchase transaction, the point of service device uses its plurality of meta-rules to either determine whether one or more of the plurality of rules in either the portable device or the point of service device can be altered locally in order to determine the outcome or request a service provider system to help determine the outcome using the plurality of rules and the plurality of meta-rules in the service provider system, wherein the plurality of meta-rules in the point of service device includes a meta-rule for replacing at least one rule in the plurality of rules in the point of service device with another rule, wherein the outcome is a reward, wherein the point of service device and the portable device are configured to mutually authenticate each other prior to information exchange.