Patent ID: 8533045

Claim:
A method, performed by a coupon processing appliance having a processor, a memory, a laser barcode scanner, a network interface, and a coupon destruction device, for redeeming coupons, the method comprising the steps of: storing, by the processor, in the memory of the coupon processing appliance, a local copy of an electronic database of registered coupons received from a server, each registered coupon having at least one redemption requirement; receiving, by the processor, a transaction log for a product purchase transaction from a point of sale system; receiving, by the processor, identifying information about a surrendered coupon presented for redemption from the point of sale system; matching, by the processor, the surrendered coupon to a corresponding coupon in the local copy of the electronic database of registered coupons; checking, by the processor, whether the surrendered coupon previously has been redeemed in the product purchase transaction; identifying, by the processor, the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon; analyzing, by the processor, the transaction log to confirm that the at least one redemption requirement for the corresponding coupon has been satisfied during the product purchase transaction; flagging, by the processor, that the surrendered coupon has been used during the product purchase transaction so that a duplicate copy of the surrendered coupon cannot be reused during the product purchase transaction; matching, by the processor, the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction; instructing, by the processor, the coupon destruction device to destroy the surrendered coupon after matching the surrendered coupon with the product purchase transaction; sending, by the processor, the transaction log to the server in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device; and instructing, by the processor, the server to authorize reimbursement to a redeeming retailer of the surrendered coupon from an issuer of the surrendered coupon for an amount of the surrendered coupon in response to the surrendered coupon having been matched to the product purchase transaction and destroyed by the coupon destruction device.