Patent ID: 8706622

Claim:
In a payment processing system with issuers issuing accounts to account holders, each said account having one or more attributes, and each of the account holders conducting transactions with respective merchants using corresponding accounts of the account holders, a method comprising: receiving, at a computing device of a transaction handler, an identification of a first said account holder; using the received identification, at the computing device, to retrieve from an account database data about a first said account of the first said account holder, wherein the data includes an indicator of the first said account and an attribute of the first said account; using the indicator, at the computing device, to retrieve from a transaction database a transaction history of the first said account, wherein the transaction history includes a list of past completed transactions conducted on the first said account; using the transaction history, at the computing device, to retrieve from a merchant database a list of a plurality of said merchants that have each engaged in at least one of the past transactions upon the first said account; transmitting, at the computing device, the data retrieved from the account database and the list of the plurality of said merchants for rendition of each on a display; receiving and storing, at the computing device: an update of the attribute provided by the first said account holder; and a selection of the first said account holder of at least one said merchant from among the list of the plurality of said merchants that is to receive the update of the attribute; forming, at the computing device, a transmission for delivery to the issuer of the first said account, the transmission including: the update of the attribute of the first said account provided by the first said account holder; and a request for the issuer of the first said account to validate the update of the attribute; receiving, at the computing device, a transmission from the issuer of the first said account including a validation of the update of the attribute; and forming, at the computing device, a transmission including the corresponding said validated update of the attribute, wherein the update is for delivery to the selected at least one said merchant.