Patent ID: 7536349

Claim:
A method for processing a charge applied to a credit card account, the method comprising: receiving charge data via a card authorization terminal, in which the charge data includes: an indication of a transaction amount, an indication of a merchant, and an indication of a credit card account of an account holder; determining, by a billing server in communication with the card authorization terminal, a reimbursement rule that is associated with the credit card account, in which the reimbursement rule indicates: a reimbursement condition, a reimbursing party, and a period of time for the reimbursing party to remit payment; determining, by the billing server, whether the charge data satisfies the reimbursement rule based on the reimbursement condition and the indication of the merchant; and if the charge data satisfies the reimbursement rule, performing by the billing server the following: determining a reimbursement amount based on the reimbursement rule and the charge data; determining a first charge amount based on a difference between the transaction amount and the reimbursement amount; applying the first charge amount to the credit card account; determining a second charge amount based on the reimbursement amount, determining a financial account of the reimbursing party; transmitting a billing statement for the financial account to the reimbursing party, in which the billing statement includes an indication of the second charge amount; determining whether the reimbursing party has remitted a payment of the second charge amount within the period of time for the reimbursing party to remit payment; and applying the second charge amount to the credit card account if the reimbursing party has not remitted a payment of the second charge amount within the period of time for the reimbursing party to remit payment.