Patent ID: 8381971

Claim:
A system for providing a rebate to a consumer, comprising: memory for storing information associated with a consumer account; a processor electronically coupled to the memory and operable to: receive a purchase request including a purchase amount, wherein the purchase request is initiated by a debit card or credit card transaction; process at least a portion of the information stored in the memory associated with the consumer account together with the purchase amount; determine whether the consumer should receive a rebate based on one or more rebate criteria, the one or more rebate criteria comprising a determination of whether a purchase amount meets a predetermined minimum purchase amount and a determination of the location of the consumer; determine the rebate, using a predetermined method for determining a rebate amount, if the determination is made that the consumer should receive a rebate; and generate a rebate message, the rebate message including instructions to provide the consumer with the rebate if the determination is made that the consumer should receive a rebate and to complete the transaction without a rebate if the determination is made that the consumer should not receive a rebate, wherein the predetermined minimum purchase amount is an amount greater than zero and the rebate message is forwarded to a merchant and comprises an instruction to the merchant to reduce a purchase amount by a rebate amount, wherein the merchant receives an amount that is less than the purchase amount based on the rebate amount.