Patent ID: 7966257

Claim:
In a system with a transaction handler coordinating accounts issued by issuers to corresponding respective account holders each making a requests for an authorization of a transaction on a corresponding said account to a corresponding merchant, the corresponding merchant having an acquirer with whom the transaction handler also coordinates the corresponding said accounts, a computer implemented method comprising: electronically forming, at a merchant processor, a first transmission destined for the acquirer of the one said merchant including a request for an authorization of a transaction against one said account for a corresponding said account holder; electronically receiving, at the merchant processor, a second transmission from the acquirer of the one said merchant including a denial of the request for the authorization of the transaction for the one said account in response to the request for the authorization of the transaction for the one said account; in response to the received denial, electronically forming a third transmission, at the merchant processor, destined for the transaction handler and including a request of the merchant for information about the one said account; electronically receiving, at the merchant processor, a fourth transmission from the transaction handler including the requested information about the one said account; and as an automatic response to the electronically receiving the requested information and without querying the corresponding said account holder, electronically comparing, at the merchant processor, the received requested information with a predetermined criterion to determine whether to complete the transaction against the one said account of the corresponding said account holder.