Patent ID: 8244648

Claim:
A method associated with a point of service device and a portable device, the method comprising: interacting with the portable device in a transaction, wherein the point of service device is associated with a plurality of rules and plurality of meta-rules; and determining, by the point of service device, if the rules can be altered locally to determine an outcome for the transaction, and if the rules cannot be altered locally, then requesting a service provider system to help determine the outcome for the transaction, wherein the portable device and the point of service device are further configured so that when the portable device and the point of service 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 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.