American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

Sharecomm Limited Liability Company

John R Rose

Gennye Hannover Feldman

Nicole Milne Vollmer

Marc Rubner

Elizabeth Anne Holt

Sven Miller

Clyde Page

Randy Beck

Rachel Heitz

Scott Scovel

Stephen Howland

Dave Lamb

Jeffrey Peterson

Caroline Philpott

The present invention generally relates to a system and method for distributing a transaction instrument. The system includes the steps of: offering for sale, in a retail environment, the transaction instrument; selling a selected transaction instrument; communicating with the issuer of the transaction instrument via an internet accessible web site, and enabling the use of the transaction instrument. The transaction instrument may be, for example, an open pre-paid card. The distribution of the transaction instrument may also include the step of sending a message, through the web site, in substantially real time, causing the pre-paid transaction instrument to be funded but not activated until later through an interactive voice response system, for example. In another example, an associated transaction account may be funded and activated at the time of distribution. Furthermore, an issuer system may be suitably configured to leverage existing Travelers Cheque infrastructure for inventory and related processes.

Systems, methods, and devices for selling transaction instruments via web-based tool

The present disclosure generally relates to a handheld point of sale system for distributing a transaction instrument. Such system may include a browser-based tool configured to facilitate distributing an open transaction instrument at the point of sale in association with purchase of the open transaction instrument by a consumer at the handheld point of sale system. The browser-based tool may also be configured to receive transaction information and to facilitate the distribution of the open transaction instrument by sending the transaction information from the browser-based tool to a host system, wherein the host system authorizes distribution of the open transaction instrument, funds and activates a transaction account associated with the open transaction instrument, and sends an authorization message to the browser-based tool. The browser-based tool may be further configured to receive the authorization and provide an indication of the authorization for the open transaction instrument to be vended to a consumer, wherein an account code is associated with the open transaction instrument and the transaction account.

Handheld device for selling transaction instruments via web-based tools

Systems and methods are configured to facilitate the distribution of transaction accounts through distributors. An exemplary method includes the steps of: issuing a transaction account to a distributor, receiving information from the distributor via the MICR protocol used by the banking and financial services industries, wherein the information reports the distribution of the transaction account, and processing the information via a Travelers Cheque infrastructure. The transaction account may be a pre-paid card and the distributor may be a seller of pre-paid cards. Distribution of the transaction account may be facilitated by use of a sequential number, such as a Travelers Cheque number. Thus, the system may be configured to be compatible with existing Travelers Cheque communication systems already in place. Furthermore, a financial transaction device may include a card that bears a serialized number, such as a Travelers Cheque number, in a manner that can be read by MICR technology.

Systems, methods, and devices for selling transaction accounts

Growing community of inventors

Layton, UT, United States of America

John R Rose