CN1922625A - Method and system for trading target discounts - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a method for operating a computer database system for the purpose of enabling a vendor to offer and trade targeted discounts to people according to criteria specified by the vendor. The method may be divided into a set of modules. The first module enables the vendor to enter a targeted discount offer that includes a product or service to which a discount is applied, a discount amount (a constant amount or a percentage of a purchase), and a set of targeting conditions for receiving this discount. A second module enables a buyer to claim (accept) the targeted discount. A third module executes an expected value payment wager, wherein the expected value is set at the discount amount. A fourth module enables a buyer to know that she has temporarily won a payoff in the wager corresponding to the discount she claimed. A fifth module enables a buyer to claim that she is eligible for the payment corresponding to the discount. A sixth module can check the buyer to determine if she meets the membership conditions for the discount offer. A seventh module enables a winning eligible buyer that has passed the inspection to be paid the payoff corresponding to the discount.

Description

Method and system for trading target discounts

Cross-references to related applications

This application is retroactive to provisional patent application 60/529,071, filed December 11, 2003, and US Utility Model Application, filed March 29, 2004.

Statement Regarding Federally Funded Research

not applicable

Background Art - Field of Invention

The present invention relates to methods for implementing discounts.

Background Art - Description of Related Technology

Sellers often tailor discounts to specific groups of people. An example is "membership selling", where, say, an insurance company gives special treatment to members of a particular association.

As a condition of offering targeted discounts, vendors typically require that the individual receiving the discount show that she is a member of a particular group. For example, an individual may have to show her AAA card in order to get a discount on a hotel room.

Methods and systems are disclosed for enabling sellers to trade targeted discounts more easily and at lower cost. The disclosed methods and systems enable sellers to use more price discrimination by reducing transaction costs for targeted discounts.

The key difference between the discount method disclosed in the present invention and previous methods is the use of the expected value payment method of US Patent 5,269,521.

The authors previously mentioned in PCT application US00/18715 that the Expected Value Payment Method (EVPM) can be used to trade coupon/rebate payments that apply to all buyers. Coupons/rebates that apply to all buyers are not a means for price differentiation.

But the authors have not previously disclosed how EVPM can be integrated into methods and systems for providing discounts to specific groups, thereby creating a new means for price differentiation.

For example, the methods disclosed herein make it possible for the first time for a large number of vendors to make discounts available to people based on income or net worth.

It is therefore an aspect of the present invention to provide a general method for enabling vendors to charge people according to their ability to pay, which has long been an economist's undecided ideal. This undecided concept makes sense for many products and services, especially those where the margins are high and the seller can offer lower charges to increase sales or for fairness. For example, a producer of an e-book may want to charge relatively affluent consumers $20 for the book and relatively poor students $4 for the book. $4 is better than based on no sales.

Student discounts are a well-known attempt to charge people based on their ability to pay. A similar concept is the idea of "means tested" prices, as is the use of food stamps and other programs that attempt to differentiate prices based on ability to pay.

But these and most price differentiation methods are premature and not universal. For example, not all students are poor, so not all students need discounts. Means tests usually also require, at a minimum, basic proof of the buyer's wealth, which translates into high transaction costs and, in most cases, reluctance to divulge personal wealth. For example, who wants to give the seller a tax bill to get a $5 discount on a book?

The method of the present invention provides a solution to the means-tested pricing problem, enabling sellers to more easily base their charges on an individual's financial situation.

Contents of the invention

The present invention is a method for operating a computer database system to enable vendors to offer and trade targeted discounts to people based on criteria specified by said vendor. The method can be divided into a set of modules.

The first module enables a vendor to enter a target discount offer, which includes the product or service to which the discount applies, the discount amount (either a constant amount or a percentage of purchase), and a set of target conditions for receiving this discount. The second module enables the buyer to claim (accept) the target discount. A third module executes an expected value payment wager, wherein the expected value is set by the discount amount. A fourth module enables the buyer to learn that she has provisionally won said payoff in said wager corresponding to said discount she claimed. A fifth module enables the buyer to declare that she is eligible for said payment corresponding to said discount. A sixth module can check the buyer to determine if she meets the membership conditions of the discount offer. A seventh module enables the winning eligible buyer who has passed the check to be paid the payment corresponding to the discount.

Modules can be added to facilitate adjustments and trade discounts where the key target condition is that the buyer has a net income and/or net worth within the range specified by the seller. Procedures can also be added to prevent spoofing.

Modules can be added to facilitate adjustments and trade discounts where the key target condition is the buyer's first purchase from the seller.

Modules can be added to facilitate adjustments and trade discounts where a key target condition is that the buyer has performed at a certain level of academic performance.

Description of drawings

There are no drawings.

Detailed description of the invention

content

initial definition

How to write this manual

Part 1: Core modules include core inventive methods and systems.

Part 2: An embodiment where buyers claim EV target discounts by matching numbers related to their proof of purchase to published random numbers.

Part 3: Embodiment where a buyer claims an EV target discount by communicating with the target discount transaction system.

Section 4: Embodiment wherein the seller provides the buyer's EV target discount claim to the target discount transaction system.

Section 5: Embodiment wherein the condition for accepting the target discount is means-tested.

Section 6: Embodiment where acceptance of the target discount is conditional on the buyer's first purchase from the seller.

Section 7: Embodiment where acceptance of the target discount is conditioned on the buyer or the buyer's child being at a particular level of academic performance.

Part 8: Method for Transferring Payment from Seller to Qualified Buyer.

How to write this manual

The description is organized as a set of descriptions of modules-sub-processes which together comprise the method of the invention.

Modules are high-level descriptions used for clarity. Modules themselves can be broken down into smaller groups of steps and rearranged, as will be apparent to a technical writer or programmer.

Modules may be implemented in a single "central" database system, or they may be implemented by "separate" computing entities that communicate with each other.

The purpose of this specification is to disclose the key novel elements and steps of the method and system of the invention. There is no ideal way to present these elements and steps, so those skilled in technical writing or programming will know better ways to organize and present the disclosure.

illustrative example

Provide examples. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that these examples are illustrative only and do not limit the scope of application of the present invention.

standardized selection

Many of the options described in this specification, such as being able to set payouts for EV payout bets, can actually be standard. Those skilled in the art will readily understand the circumstances under which an option can be converted to a default option such that the user must use the option.

Implement the invention so that it can be used by multiple vendors

The invention can be implemented for use by a single vendor. It may also be implemented as an online database system used by multiple vendors. This multi-vendor application is the more important application, so it is assumed that the invention is implemented in this way in this description.

Target discounts offered to organizations

It is also readily possible to adapt the present invention to enable vendors to offer targeted discounts to organizations. For example, a publishing house may want to offer discounts to poor organizations such as Ghana. The method of the present invention for registering a buyer claiming a discount may include the steps of registering an organization and registering an individual who acts as a purchasing representative for the organization. For simplicity, it is assumed that the recipient of the target discount is an individual.

initial definition

Define several terms here, then add definitions as necessary.

product. The term product means any product or service.

Target Discount (TD). Discounts offered only to individuals who qualify for special targeting criteria.

target condition. Defines the criteria for who is eligible for TD.

EV Target Discount (EV TD). Target discount paid by staking as expected value.

EV TD bet. EV pays out the stake, where EV=TD. Also known as TD betting.

Target Discount Method (TDM). The present invention is used in the method of trading EV TD.

Target Discount Trading System (TDTS). The present invention is a computer database system operating according to TDM, a database system for trading EV TD's.

Discount Amount (DA). The amount of the discount, which can be a constant amount or a percentage of sales.

seller. The company (or other entity or agency) that provides the EV TD. Also known as a supplier. Vendors may be represented personally.

buyer. A person (or organization) who purchases a product with TD. Buyers may also be referred to as TD recipients. The buyer is also called Benin (? Ben).

inspector. A system authorized user who (1) determines whether a buyer is eligible to receive a TD, and (2) provides the system with a review decision.

TD statement. The statement of the buyer, owed to its EV TD, includes the actions of the buyer or the seller on behalf of the buyer to reveal the outcome of its EV TD bet.

Payment (payoff) statement. A statement by the buyer, who owes him payment for his EV TD stake.

Part 1

The core module of the present invention

1.1 Module to Enable Vendors to Enter Target Discount Offers

1.2 Enable buyers to find targeted discount offers

1.3 Enable buyers to claim targeted discounts

1.4 Execution Payout Staking, where EV is equal to the discounted amount

1.5 Enables the buyer to know that he has provisionally won payment

1.6 Enable buyers to claim payment

1.7 Enables inspectors to verify that buyers meet supply conditions

1.8 Enabling Winning Qualified Buyers to Be Paid

1.9 Enable reporting to sellers showing responses to TD offers

1.1 Module to enable sellers to enter target rebate offers

The first module of the method of the invention is the procedure for enabling the vendor to enter the TD offer into the database system - TDTS, which implements the transaction of the offer.

As part of this module (or as a separate module), the present invention includes a process for establishing a vendor account that is used to authenticate the vendor so that the vendor can then enter and modify TD offers. The seller account process may include a sub-process for establishing a savings or credit account that is used to transfer the discount to the buyer as well. Since the vendor account process is well known, it will not be described in detail.

With a seller account established, the seller is able to create and store TD offers.

Therefore, the present invention also provides a method (or system) of inputting a TD supply comprising a set of data into a TDTS, comprising:

●Name of the vendor (company or other entity) that generated the TD supply

●A product (several products) or vendor's description supplied by TD, instead of specifying a single product, a vendor may specify a group of products, or further may specify all products sold by the vendor, in which case the vendor may only require Specify the name of the vendor. The description may specify the venue for the purchase. It may specify the amount of money spent by the buyer.

• A discount amount, which is a constant amount, or a percentage of money spent on products offered by the application TD.

●Expiry date of TD offer

● Target criteria that define who is eligible for TD

• Expected Value (EV) Staking Terms, which define the EV Staking used to pay the TD.

• The date/time when the TD bet outcome will be revealed (ie when the buyer is able to find out the outcome).

• The type of evidence needed to verify that the buyer meets the target conditions (unless it is left to the inspector to determine what evidence is required).

As mentioned, many of the above terms can be standard. TDTS stores provisioning data and timestamps it. The offer may be identified with additional data including an offer name or other offer ID. This module may also include steps for enabling vendors to change offers, and for instructing the TDTS to maintain a record of previously entered offers.

instantiate

Suppose Starbucks Coffee wants to offer a 10% discount to those earning less than $15,000 per year. Starbucks set up the account, then enter:

Seller: Starbucks

Product discount applies to: All Starbucks beverages

Discount Amount: 10%

Expires: May 10, 2004

Target condition: Income <= $15,000

Wagering Terms: Buyer has a.001 probability of winning 1,000x Discount Amount (DA)

Betting result reveal time: 60 days after purchase

Required Evidence: Tax Bill

       1.2 Enable buyers to find targeted discount offers

The present invention may provide a module for enabling potential customers to find the TD, but in many embodiments this module is not required. A TD offer is like a coupon offer, so it can be used in many ways. The invention for generating and redeeming coupons does not necessarily have to include a module for enabling coupons to be found, as coupons can be presented in a variety of ways, eg newspaper advertisements or in stores, outside the present invention. Likewise, the present invention for generating and trading TD offers can handle TD offers that occur outside the present invention.

The buyer does not have to find the TD offer in the TD offer database system, this is implementation dependent. This offer can be presented to the buyer for assertion through various front ends, the database aspect of the invention being hidden from the buyer. It may be noted that aspects and systems of the present invention may also present an audio interface to the buyer.

The lookup of offers can also be made an integral part of the invention. Thus, the present invention may provide a method (or system) for enabling a user to find a TD offer and a description of the product to which the offer applies, and further for enabling the user to object to initiate the declaration of TD.

The method of the present invention can also be implemented as a guide system for generating, finding and redeeming TD offers. Such a guide enables buyers to search by any of a variety of criteria used by vendors to describe/define vendor TD offerings. What matters for an offer is the eligibility criteria, so the guide can also enable buyers to search for offers using eligibility criteria as search criteria. Accordingly, the present invention may provide a method (or system) for enabling a user to find TD offers using search criteria such as product name, vendor name, eligibility criteria, and other identifying characteristics of the offer, and further for Enables the user to initiate the declaration of a TD offer by selecting the offer as it appears in the guide.

                                                   

The present invention also provides a module for enabling buyers to claim EV TD.

This claim type is different from claiming payouts from TD Wagers. Claiming EV TD can be thought of as accepting the chance to win an EV payout bet if EV is equal to TD. Therefore, claiming EVTD is similar to accepting/declaring a lottery whose outcome has not yet been revealed.

To claim a TD, the user or a vendor on the user's behalf takes action to at least reveal the outcome of the user's TD wager. Accordingly, the present invention provides a method (or system) for enabling a user to claim an EV TD by at least enabling the user to find outcomes corresponding to payout wagers offered by the TD.

Therefore, the present invention provides a method (or system) for:

-enabling the user to request TD wagering results, or

- provide a public nonce used to determine the stake, or

- Use of externally generated and published random numbers to determine wagers, said numbers being represented internally in the inventive system to correspond to the user's TD wagers.

Depending on the embodiment, the user or a vendor on behalf of the user may also be required to enter a set of claim data to complete the EV TD claim process. Depending on the embodiment and the particular implementation, this declared data will vary.

In sections 2, 3, 4, different embodiment types are described, which correspond to three rather different ways in which the present invention may enable a user to declare an EV TD.

Differences in the claim process can lead to additional differences in how buyers are verified (EV TD claimers), how EV pay wagers are performed, and/or how buyers find out if they have won TD pay wagers.

Make declarations identifiable to prevent double declarations

Claims should be made identifiable so that users cannot double claim TDs. There are many methods for achieving this, which are discussed in sections 2, 3, and 4.

Enables users to state how they fit into the conditions of TD supply

In some types of TD offers, the TD amount changes based on the qualifications of the buyer. For example, a TD offer may be a $10EV discount for people earning <= $10,000, and a $10EV discount for people earning between $10,000 and $20,000. Thus, depending on the embodiment, and under the conditions of the TD offer, the present invention may enable buyers to enter how they fit into the conditions of the TD offer before knowing the outcome of the TD wager.

Accordingly, the present invention may further provide a method (or system) for varying the execution of TD wagers based on the buyer's qualification statement.

The method of the present invention may also use a two-bet approach, where the buyer enters a qualifying statement after winning the first payout bet. The terms of the second wager can then be set according to the qualification statement entered by the buyer.

Note that in many embodiments and implementations, a buyer's statement of eligibility may not be necessary at all until the buyer attempts to claim payment.

Maintain user claim history

To prevent spoofing, it may be useful to store all assertion attempts by the user. Users who claim at a rate that is statistically significantly higher than the average can be indicative of fraud. Thus, as part of the process for enabling a user to claim an EV TD, the present invention may provide a method (or system) for storing claims as part of a user's claim history, which may be made accessible to a system operator. .

The present invention may also provide for additional user types, fraud detection inspectors or fraud detection experts, who are authorized by the system to review the user's claim history to detect fraud.

The present invention can also provide the buyer himself with a display of the buyer's TD declaration history, or a statistical summary of the declaration history.

          1.4 Execution Payout Staking, where EV is equal to the discounted amount

The present invention provides a module for performing TD betting.

For simplicity, it is assumed that the EV of the wager is equal to the TD amount, however it is recognized that the EV wager terms may include adjustments so that the EV is lower than the TD amount to accommodate the TD transaction fee.

There is nothing to add to the field of determining EV payout stakes. As just pointed out, the present invention provides a method (or system) for:

- registering the user's EV payout wager on TD, and internally generating/providing a random number to the extent required by the user's TD wager, and storing the outcome of this wager, and/or

- Provide a public random number somehow related to the user's TD bet, such as by the meta-rule of the present invention, which can be used to determine the bet (this public number can be applied to more than one user's TD Stakes), and/or

- Use of an externally generated and published random number that is internally stored and corresponds in some way to a user's TD wager (this public number may apply to more than one user's TD wager) to determine the wager.

As mentioned earlier, TD can be a percentage, such as 10%. In this case, the payout for the TV bet is a multiple of the percentage and the probability of winning is set at 1/multiple. Alternatively, the discount may be a fixed amount, such as $5, and the probability of the buyer winning is set as (fixed amount)/(payment). Use a two or more level staking process for EV payouts

Instead of a single EV payout bet, the TD betting process can use two separate bets (or can use a series of "parlay" bets), where the second bet is a parlay bet, where for two or more bet series The EV is equal to TD.

One reason for using more than one bet is that winning outcomes and related winning buyers can be recorded, which can enable the system to flag buyers who are cheating. A second reason why streak wagers may be used is that the initial wager payment may not be sufficient to justify an inspection, but may prove sufficient to induce the buyer to provide payment statement information, particularly purchase amount information, in order to A higher payout can use it in a second bet. A third reason why streak bets can be used is that it can enable vendors to risk payouts in the first bet rather than in the second bet (see Section 1.8), which is desirable for a significant percentage of vendors.

Accordingly, the present invention may provide a method or (system) for:

- Execute a first EV payout bet corresponding to the buyer's purchase such that EV < TD amount offered by the seller, this first bet has a first payout,

- if the vendor wins the bet, the vendor is requested to enter a set of payment request data,

- If no declaration data is submitted, cancel the TD for the buyer,

- If the buyer submits payment statement data,

- registering the payment claim data for possible later use in the buyer's inspection, storing the claim data in the buyer's user profile, and possibly using the purchase amount to set the terms of the second payment bet, and

- Perform a second EV payout wager, where the buyer's probability of winning equals (first payout)/(higher payout), and EV equals the TD amount offered by the seller.

                   1.5 Enables the buyer to know that he has provisionally won payment

The present invention provides a buyer who has claimed an EV TD with a way to find out if he has won the TD bet, i.e. if he has provisionally won a payment. Temporarily, because, in order to collect payment, the buyer must still prove that it satisfies the conditions of the TD supply.

In some embodiments, there need not be an explicit communication process involved in the present invention for informing buyers of wager outcomes. Buyers can check open sources that publish random numbers that determine TD wagers, just as lottery players can check open sources that publish "winning" numbers for lottery tickets.

Thus, the present invention may or may not provide a method (or system) for informing the buyer that he has provisionally won payment.

As described in Section 1.3, there are a number of methods by which the present invention may enable a user to find out if he has won a TD bet. The method used depends on the example and the particular implementation. Some of these methods are described in Sections 2, 3 and 4.

1.6 Enable Buyer to Claim Payment

The present invention provides a module for enabling a winning buyer to claim that he is eligible for payment from his won TD wagers.

Once the buyer knows that he has won the TD bet, he needs to claim his payment if he has met the conditions of the offer.

The buyer may need to enter a set of declaration data, some of which may have been entered during the previous process of declaring the EV TD.

The present invention can provide various communication channels, such as physical mail, which are used to enable buyers to make payment claims.

The present invention provides a method (or system) for storing payment claims.

Payment statement data, if newly given by the buyer, is entered into the system by the buyer and/or a system administrator who has received the data.

Payment statement data includes proof of purchase data, which includes:

- the product or service purchased

- the company from which it is purchased

-buyers

- Sales amount (how much has been paid or will be paid)

- date of purchase

The payment statement data also includes proof that the buyer meets the conditions of the target, where the buyer submits proof that he meets the conditions of the target supply. This information, usually in hard copy form, is sent to the Inspection Center, which may also be referred to as the TD Cashout or Payment Request Center. For example, tax bill information or proof of citizenship or age usually must be in the form of a photocopy of an official document. The physical submission is identified to correspond to the buyer's payment statement, and the system operator enters into the system proof of the required statement data to correspond to the statement.

The buyer may also be required to pay an inspection fee. Accordingly, the system may include means for receiving fees.

In addition, the buyer may be required to establish a penalty bond if the inspector finds that the buyer does not meet the conditions of TD's supply. Accordingly, the system may include means for receiving (and in some cases forfeiting) the bond.

Maintain the user's payment statement history

In order to prevent fraud, it is useful to store all attempts by the user to claim payment. Users who make payment claims at a rate that is statistically significantly higher than average may be indicative of fraud. Accordingly, as part of the process for enabling a user to claim a payment, the present invention may provide a method (or system) for storing payment claims as part of the user's payment claim history, the payment A claim statement can be a subset of a user's statement history and can be made accessible to a system operator.

The present invention also provides access to a user's claim history by a special type of user, fraud detection inspector or fraud detection device, which is authorized by the system to recheck the user's payment claim history to detect fraud.

The present invention also provides a method for displaying the payment declaration history of the buyer to the buyer himself, or statistically summarizing the declaration history.

         1.7 Enables inspectors to verify that buyers meet supply conditions

The invention includes a module for checking payment claims.

When a buyer has submitted a payment statement, the present invention assigns the statement data a status indicating that the statement data will be checked by an inspector authorized by the system. Therefore, in order to enable the inspector to determine whether the winning buyer has met the offer conditions, the present invention provides a module for:

- Inform the system authorized inspectors that the declaration will be inspected

-enabling this inspector to inspect claim data as well as,

- View the corresponding TD offer.

Outside the system of the present invention, inspections are performed and the decision of the inspection is entered into the system by the inspector.

The system of the present invention may enable an inspector to enter an inspection report explaining why he has rejected a claim, i.e. the system may include a standard menu of explain options (like a form letter reply) from which the inspector may choose to explain his claim. refusal, or may enable him to enter his own custom-made written explanation.

If the inspector approves the declaration, the system forwards the inspector's decision to the payment transfer process, which is used to transfer payment to the buyer.

Store inspection results for use in future inspections or non-EV payments

The present invention also provides for the storage of inspection decisions in the buyer's user profile to reduce possible future inspection costs, i.e., for future TD payments, the user is not fully inspected, the inspector can call the user profile, and use information reported from previous inspections.

When a user's eligibility has been verified, it is possible to provide his TD without taking a check, further without taking EV payments. The main reason for using EV payments is to justify the inspection costs, so if inspections have already been carried out, EV payments may not be necessary and definite payments can be used.

Whether inspections can be avoided and whether prior inspections can be used depends on the particular TD.

Thus, the present method and system may include EV payments and confirmed payments in the event of previous inspections. The method and system of the present invention may enable a buyer to request a firm payment where a firm payment is involved. This request may be approved by automated means or by the system operator (who may require reimbursement for her labor outside of the TD process)

Methods of transferring certain payments are well known.

Check part of payment statement

It is expected that in most implementations of the invention, claimants must establish a bond to ensure that their claims are valid. In the event of an invalid declaration, this security deposit is a penalty.

A misinterpretation of this idea is that, in order to increase checking efficiency, the declarer establishes a large deposit (so to speak, pays a deposit), and uses a certain preset selection method (eg, random selection of declarations) to check only a part of the declaration. Unchecked claims are assumed to be valid.

Thus, the present invention may provide a method (or system) that enables a winning buyer to submit a deposit to an escrow type account that will be released upon no check or positive check, and on a negative escrow It will be confiscated under the inspection results.

Additionally, the present invention may provide a method (or system) for:

- an account that enables a winning buyer to submit a deposit to be classified as a contract type, and

- select the winning buyer randomly and by other predetermined criteria for checking, and

- If the winning buyer is not selected for inspection, then assume the buyer meets the conditions of the TD offer, pay the winning buyer payment, and release the bond from the contract account,

- if the winning buyer is selected for checking, then test the buyer to see if it satisfies the conditions of the TD offer, and

. If the winning buyer passes inspection, the winning buyer is paid and the deposit is released from the contract account,

. If the winning buyer fails the test, the buyer's deposit is forfeited. Pay attention to the use of the deposit of the present invention (pay the deposit)

The present invention uses expected payments to reduce the number of buyer checks. Checks can be reduced by simply using a method of having buyers post a bond to vouch for the integrity of their claims, and then auditing the proportion of those buyers.

It is not felt that this is the dominant method in the market because it requires one to build a large margin up front, but one should be aware of its possibility.

The posting of a bond is more likely to be a major addition to the invention where the TD amount is large and one may be worth setting up a bond to collect the TD amount. The method of the present invention enables the buyer to recover the security deposit so that it does not have to be held in a contract account for an extended period of time.

1.8 Enables winning eligible buyers to be paid

The present invention includes a module for transferring payments to winning eligible buyers.

When the inspector approves the payment request, the method of the present invention registers that the buyer is owed payment. How TDTS enables payments to be transferred from sellers to eligible buyers depends on whether the seller or TDTS assumes the payment risk in the staking.

Two general methods are described below for transferring payment from the seller (payer of the discount) to the eligible buyer, and in Section 8, an additional method is described.

Note that the present invention is not limited to these methods, but may include other known methods for transferring money from a payer to an eligible buyer, such as insurance methods.

In all cases below, TDTS includes the well-known debit balance and/or credit account process if TDTS collects payment from the vendor. Furthermore, TDTS includes well-known mechanisms for accepting payments, and for notifying vendors when they have low or excessive balances. Furthermore, TDTS includes well-known mechanisms for suspending a vendor's TD supply when that vendor's balance falls below a limit.

Example 1. Sellers assume risk in TD bet

TDTS does not necessarily have to collect payment from a vendor if the vendor assumes payment risk. In this sense, a TDTS may be an accounting machine that registers payment obligations but does not transfer actual payments.

In this case, the TDTS includes the steps of notifying the seller of its payment obligations, and of notifying the winning eligible buyer of the payment amount owed from the given seller.

For example, assume Starbucks is offering $1 TD, and assume that based on this offer, Bening wins $1,000 in the TD bet, and assume Bening satisfies the offer condition. TDTS could then notify Starbucks of Benin that it owes him $1,000, and that it owes Benin $1,000.

Optionally, the TDTS may include a method for transferring payment from the seller to the winning eligible buyer. These methods include:

- establish a debit balance (or credit) account for the seller,

- credit funds to this account and,

-Transfer payment from seller account to eligible buyer.

Example 2. TDTS assumes risk in TD bets

If the TDTS assumes payment risk, it includes the method discussed above for establishing a vendor payment account. Whenever a buyer requests a supply from a seller, the TDTS deducts money from the seller's payment (debit balance) account and transfers it to the TDTS account, and the system pays the buyer from this TDTS account.

But the process is more complicated than the one described above; it differs from traditional payment transfer systems. The problem is that Sela is offering the EV TD only to qualified buyers, but the buyers who accept its offer include qualified buyers and non-qualified buyers.

Assume Sela offers $1 TD. Now, assume that 2,000 buyers accept her offer.

How much does Sela owe TDTS? It is unfair if she pays $1 per claim because she is only presumed to be paying as a qualified buyer. She does not know and TDTS does not know what percentage of TD-supplied claimants are eligible.

The TDTS cannot know whether a particular buyer is eligible unless this uncertainty is resolved by the claimant who won the TD wager and submitted its payment claim data.

Therefore, in order to compensate ineligible claimants, the TDTS may apply a discount factor to the EV TD amount that Sela offers buyers. This discount factor is applied to the TD supply statement.

Whenever a buyer declares a TD, Sela does not owe the full amount of the EV stated in the offer, but a discounted rate. For example, if the EV amount offered to eligible buyers is $1, and the discount factor is 10%, then the TDTS Registry Sela owes 10 cents per TD supply statement.

The goal of the discount factor is to represent the proportion of the initial requester who is a qualified buyer. In order to achieve a fair discount factor, the general idea is to collect statistics on what percentage of claimants are eligible.

A TDTS may include one or more formulas to determine a discount factor for a given vendor and that vendor's supply. The formula uses data on how many claimants convert to winning qualifying buyers (how many winning claimants are qualifying buyers). These statistics can be gleaned from responses to offers within TDTS similar to Sela's offers. TDTS may input this response data into a discount formula.

Other methods, such as a survey method, may also be used to generate discount factor data, which may also be input into the discount formula.

The point here is that if TDTS assumes payment risk, it includes:

- A discount formula (or formulas) for deriving the discount factor, which is applied to the EV amount offered in the TD offer.

Optionally, in some implementations, the TDTS does not include a discount formula, but includes a means for enabling a system administrator to enter a discount factor.

In addition, when a buyer claims TD, TDTS will:

- Applies appropriate discount factors to EV payments

- debit the final resulting amount from the seller's debit balance account,

- This amount is transferred to the TDTS account which is used to pay the winning eligible buyer.

In addition, during the inspection process, when the inspector approves the declaration, TDTS will:

- The registered buyer is owed payment from the TDTS account used to pay the winning buyer

Example 3. TDTS enables sellers to choose to take risks in EVPM bets

TDTS can enable buyers to choose whether to bear payment risk. The system only includes the various payment processes described above. In this case, TDTS enables Sela to check a box in the process of setting up her account wherein she represents payment risk in all payment offers to the seller. Optionally, the TDTS form for entering TD offers includes a box in which Slea indicates that she will assume payment risk for the particular offer.

         1.9 Enable reporting showing vendor responses to TD offers

The present invention may include a module for providing reports of TD claiming activities to vendors.

A seller wants to evaluate the response to her TD offering.

Therefore, the present invention may provide a method (or system) for generating a report, which may include, but is not limited to, the following information:

- state the number of people provided by TD,

- the number of claimants who won the TD bet,

- the number of claimants who won the TD bet and successfully passed the inspection,

- the total amount of money spent on TD supplies,

- Demographic status of the claimant.

This included information can also be displayed as a function of time, for example, how many claims are made to the TD supply per day.

Part 2

Example where a buyer claims an EV target discount by matching the number associated with their proof of purchase to a published random number

part 2 content

1. Affirm TD's low initial transaction cost method

2. Enter declaration data

3. Method for preventing counterfeiting and spoofing

4. Methods for Preventing Identity Switching Spoofing

Affirm TD's approach to low initial transaction costs

One method for enforcing TD staking and enabling buyers to claim TD is to have a receipt - or other proof of purchase - bear a number that at some point in the future matches a published random number that is used in order to determine the TD bet. In other words, to turn a receipt into a lottery ticket with a specific expected value, where the holder checks a publicly published random number to see if the ticket is the winner.

For example, assume a TD bet has a preset probability of 0.01 for a winning outcome. And assume that the public random number being used is the last two digits of a particular specified lottery number announced on a particular date. Finally, assume that Benin purchased a movie ticket, which also has a match number printed on it, such as "17". Well, if on a particular day, a particular stated lottery number ends with "17," then Benin's ticket is the winner.

This method of turning a proof of purchase into a lottery ticket with a specific EV - where EV = TD - can be applied to any purchase situation, whether purchased in person, by phone, by mail or online.

Public random numbers may be generated by an external agent, such as a lottery authority, or by the system of the present invention, or by a publicly published formula.

Advantages of this method

An advantage of this approach is its low initial transaction cost for the buyer, especially when making the purchase in person, such as buying movie tickets. The advantage for the seller is that the discount payout is lower than advertised on average because a significant portion of buyers will forget to check whether they won or lost their TD bet, and another portion of buyers will lose their proof of purchase.

steps of the method

The present invention may provide a method (or system) that enables a vendor to:

- set the probability that the buyer wins the TD bet,

- Associating a matching number (or set of matching numbers) with the buyer's own purchase receipt (or other proof of purchase),

- said matching number is to be matched with a publicly displayed random number selected at random from a specified range of numbers such that the probability of the matching number matching the random number is equal to the probability of the buyer winning the TD bet,

- The publicly revealed random number is revealed to the buyer on a known specific date so that the buyer can check the published random number to see if he has won the TD bet.

For example, by printing the number on the receipt, the seller can associate the matching number with the receipt. Another method is to use a published formula that converts the data on the receipt to a random number, which may or may not be printed on the receipt. Another approach is to provide the buyer with a separate random number carrier, similar to a lottery ticket, that contains the random number and is tied in some way to the ticket.

A time after the buyer has the possibility to return the purchase, for example 30 days after the purchase, the public nonce is usually displayed. Additionally, buyers may make purchases just to see if they will win the corresponding TD wager. In the event of a losing TD bet, he may return the purchase.

An example of the method used

As an example of how the above approach can be implemented, assume a movie theater offers a discount of $2 per ticket to anyone with a household entry of less than $20,000.

The theater uses the method described above, so each movie ticket is printed with a single matching number from 00-99, eg "17".

Assume that the terms of the TD bet are that the buyer has a 0.01 probability of winning $200, which equates to an EV of $2.

Assuming that the publicly displayed random number is the last two digits of the specified daily Pick 3 number game (Pick 3Lotto game), the numbers applied to the TD bet are displayed for the Pick 3Lotto game on a certain day after the movie ticket is purchased numbers. For example, a ticket purchased on Monday has a matching number that matches the last two digits of the Pick 3 number for Tuesday's card game. Assume that Benin buys movie tickets. Then one day after the movie, the prescribed Pick 3 numbers are displayed, and Bening can check to see if he has won. If he has won, he may take steps to claim payment.

"Instant Win" Selection

In the event that the purchase cannot be returned, the vendor may provide instant TD betting results. Buyers may be offered "instant wins" such as scratch off lottery tickets. In some way, the lottery ticket is linked to the receipt, or the salesperson makes this connection work. If the non-refundable purchase is electronic, for example, an online purchase of a song, then the instant win may be provided by automated means.

Enter TD declaration data

According to the above method, after the buyer has found out that he has won the TD wager, the system of the present invention can enable him to enter the payment declaration data. However, the above method may include the additional step of requiring the buyer to enter information before he can find out whether he has won a TD bet, in other words, the buyer may be required to enter certain data to claim TD.

• The buyer may be required to provide identification in relation to the receipt.

• The buyer may be required to make a statement of eligibility in relation to the receipt.

This information can be recorded electronically to be associated with the receipt, or an employee of the vendor can print the information on the receipt. Associating such information with receipts can be used to discourage spoofing.

Enter payment statement data

According to the above method, after the buyer has found out that he has won the TD wager, the system of the present invention can enable him to enter the payment declaration data. As mentioned, some of this data could potentially be provided prior to revealing the TD wager results.

If the purchase is electronic, the present invention may provide steps for enabling the winning buyer to submit proof of purchase electronically. If the proof of purchase is a physical receipt and there is no electronic copy to submit, then the buyer must physically send the proof of purchase to the inspection center where the system operator enters the proof of purchase information into the system.

Other information used to demonstrate that the buyer meets the TD target conditions is usually also physically sent to the inspection center. For example, tax bill information may have to be sent to a cashing center in hard copy.

Method for preventing counterfeiting and spoofing

If the number is actually printed or attached to the receipt, or if a separate number item is actually associated with the receipt, the number may be faked to produce a winning number. Furthermore, the proof of purchase itself can be falsified. Methods for preventing counterfeiting are well known. In addition to the physical method, the method of the invention includes the step of storing the numbers associated with the receipt, rendering counterfeiting meaningless, since the buyer cannot alter the stored record. The method of the present invention may also include predetermined formulas for linking receipt data to matching numbers, also rendering counterfeiting meaningless.

Method for preventing identity exchange fraud

Another spoof that can be used for all embodiments of this specification is called an identity exchange spoof.

Continue to illustrate with the movie ticket example above. Assume, Bening above has won his TD wager and can collect $200 if he proves his household income is <$20,000. However, further assuming that Benin's family income exceeds $100,000, then Benin must find someone else, whose family income is <$20,000, to exchange status with him to claim the payment. Assume, Benin finds this person, calls him Iggy, and Iggy then claims payment using, for example, a family tax bill as evidence that he meets the TD provisioning conditions.

There are many ways to prevent this cheating. Not exhaustive, but several are described, some of which also apply to other embodiments of this specification. The following description is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which may include any suitable authentication technique that prevents post-sale identity exchange.

If the purchase is in person, the buyer may be required to show identification, and the buyer's ID may be identified, for example, by credit card receipt, or check receipt, or smart card record, or by the buyer's name written on the receipt by a salesperson at the point of sale. Name and receipt are linked.

If the purchase is online, or by phone or by mail, these same kinds of means of identification can be used. Additionally, if the purchase is electronic, a biometric sample may be obtained from the buyer and stored for later comparison with a corresponding sample from the claimant of the payment (a variety of such are described in U.S. Patent Application 10/700836 technology, which is incorporated by reference).

Many question-answer techniques can also be used whereby the buyer is asked only questions he should be able to answer. The claimant can then be asked the same questions (a variety of such techniques are described in US Patent Application 10/700836, which is incorporated by reference). If the purchase is in person, another method can be used, although it is not possible. This is to take a photo of the person who declared the payment for the salesperson who sells the product to the buyer. The salesperson must verify that the claimant of payment and the buyer are the same person. Using claim history and two-level betting process to detect cheating

As described above in Sections 1.3, 1.4 and 1.6, the present invention may provide for maintaining claim history. Fraud Detection Inspectors may examine a user's claim history to possibly detect identity exchange fraud. For example, identity exchange fraud may be suspected if the claimed buyer has an income of less than $5,000 and has a claim record showing a $5,000 purchase. In order to register more claims and more purchase data, and therefore more information that can be used to detect fraud, a multi-stage betting process (see Section 1.4) can be used, so buyers have more opportunities to enter information describing their purchases and their own. Statement of payment.

Part 3

Example where the buyer asserts the content of the EV target discount portion 3 by communicating with the target discount transaction system

1. Deal guide method for offering targeted discounts

2. Example

3. Method for preventing double declaration fraud

4. Methods used to prevent identity exchange fraud

Deal guide method for offering targeted discounts

All the modules of Part 1 can be implemented in the trading guide system.

Such guidance enables vendors to notify TD of offers. And it enables buyers to find supplies, claim supplies, execute TD payment bets, and claim payments. In addition, it enables inspectors to review payment claims and entry decisions, validate or deny payment claims, and authorize or block payment to buyers.

As described in Part 1, the present invention provides a module for enabling vendors to enter offers (see Part 1, Section 1.1), which can pass various parameters, names and conditions, such as vendor name, product name, location, price to spend amount of money etc. (see also Section 1.2) to define and identify. Offers may also be identified by a unique serial number-type code, eliminating the need for search criteria other than the code.

A guidance system for trading EV TDs may also enable buyers to enter search criteria to find TD offers using whatever parameters/information sellers use to define and describe offers.

This type of guidance also enables buyers who have found an offer to select the offer to indicate that the buyer is claiming the relevant TD, ie is accepting the offer.

After a period specified by the seller (or by default), the trade guide can then execute the corresponding TD bet and inform the buyer of the outcome.

The guidelines may further enable the winning buyer to submit payment statement data, which are then passed on to system authorized inspectors for inspection.

This guidance may further enable inspectors to inform winning buyer inspection decisions.

The guidelines include a buyer registration process so that Benin's request can be identified, and the system can communicate with Benin about winning results, if any, and the system can store Benin's registration information for use in other declarations of offers , and for verification purposes, and for analysis by the anti-spoofing process.

This type of guidance system can be used regardless of how the product was purchased.

instantiate

The hypothetical guide system enables Benin to use search criteria to find offers. Assume further that he enters the term Westin Hotel and finds a large number of matching offers. Conceivably, he could then narrow his search by the location of the Westin Hotel, by the size of the room, or by other criteria. Assume then that he has narrowed his search to an offer or offers corresponding to a particular product, a set of single rooms in Santa Monica.

As discussed in Section 1.2, he may further narrow his search according to his qualifications.

So, assume, he has found the 10% TD that he would be eligible for if he purchased a single room in Westin, Santa Monica.

The present invention can be implemented to enable Benin to claim TD before or after it makes a purchase, or during the purchase process (such as when a coupon is redeemed during the purchase).

If Bening is planning to buy, the guide will enable him to enter the planned date of his purchase, since this date is required by the system to set the date on which Bening's TD wager results will be revealed.

If Benin declares TD at the time of purchase, the guide can receive automatic information about the purchase from the merchant system making the sale; ie, this merchant system communicates with the guide. The merchant system can send Benin to the guide, or the guide can send Benin to the merchant system. Either way, the merchant and guide system can communicate about Beninese purchases.

If, after the purchase, Benin declares TD (eg, after the purchase, when the rebate form is sent), the guide enables him to select and claim the TD offer by clicking a button or equivalent, depending on the implementation.

The guide may also include the step of enabling Benin to print the encashment form corresponding to the TD he is declaring. In this case, he has to enter some of all declaration data on a paper form and send/fax the form to the cashing center. In this case, the system that receives the paper submission operates on a system that can input the declaration data into the system of the present invention. Some sellers may prefer this method because it discourages buyers from claiming their EV TD.

After Benin declares the TD supply, the system executes the TD bet, and at a predetermined period after the purchase date, reveals the outcome of the bet. For non-refundable purchases, such as hotel room stays, of course, if the purchase has already occurred, and it happens to be an unplanned purchase, then the result can be displayed immediately.

The guide can communicate Benin results in any of a number of well-known ways including screen alerts and mail.

If the result is a win, then the guidance instructs Benin on how to enter a payment statement including proof of purchase. Note that in some implementations, such as when an online merchant system database is in communication with the guide, proof of purchase may be automatically verifiable.

The same guidance system can be used to inform the inspector that an inspection request is needed, and can further enable the inspector to enter a decision and communicate that decision to the buyer, as described in Section 1.7.

Payment of payments may be effected as described in Section 1.8 and Section 8.

Methods used to prevent double declaration spoofing

Buyers can attempt to cheat the above system by re-declaring TD offers.

Multiple claims by a single user can be prevented by identifying that user and eliminating or reducing duplicate claims.

What if multiple identities are used for the same purchase? For example, what if three family members sharing a hotel room claim a discount on that hotel room?

To prevent this spoofing, a meta-rule of the present invention may be that the name of the proof of purchase must match the buyer claiming the TD. Where a cash purchase is involved, and there is no name associated with the proof of purchase, the meta-rule may be that the proof of purchase must have the buyer's name written on it by the salesperson or by some other equivalent means of identifying who the buyer is. Thus, it can be seen that this spoof is basically equivalent to the identity exchange spoof described in Section 2.

Method for preventing identity exchange fraud

The method described in Section 2 for preventing identity exchange fraud can also be used in the guidelines embodiments of this Section 3.

Part 4

Embodiment where the seller provides the buyer's EV target rebate claim to the content of the target rebate transaction system part 4

1. How the seller submits the buyer's EV TD declaration

2. Methods used to prevent identity exchange fraud

Method for the seller to submit the buyer's EV TD declaration

All modules of Part 1 may be implemented in a transaction system that enables sellers to submit TD declarations on behalf of buyers.

This system can be used regardless of if a product is purchased, and it is particularly useful where the vendor has the computing infrastructure to send claims to the TDTS. By analogy, consider supermarkets scanning coupons for customers, or online merchants enabling buyers to take advantage of coupons. Although, in this case, the discount is a TD discount and the payment is done through EV payment stakes.

At a minimum, if a vendor submits a declaration, the vendor must document:

- Buyer's contact data to contact him in case he wins a TD bet

- A product name that applies to a TD offer, or other information used to identify a purchase that applies a TD offer so that the TDTS can place a wager on that TD claim and report the outcome of that bet.

Initially, with this method, it is not necessary to record the buyer's qualifications. This is because there can be only one qualification type.

Alternatively, if there is more than one qualification type, random selection can be performed so that the buyer has a 1/N probability of winning. If he wins, he can submit more claim information to be verified and possibly achieve a second payout bet.

Assume that Benin is buying books at a store. At check-in, the salesperson asked him if he wanted to take advantage of the TD offer. Benin replied "yes".

The clerk wants Benin for his phone number or email address or other contact information. The clerk enters this information into the register, which is assumed to be a computer terminal capable of entering information for the TD declaration.

This contact data is related to specific purchase data and both data are sent together as a statement to the TDTS. Then, the TDTS registers the contact and purchase information linked together as a claim, and with a probability of 1/N that Benin wins, an EV payment bet is performed. (If eligibility is clear and TD offer terms are set, then the probability can be set as (fixed TD amount)/payment.)

If Benin wins, TDTS will contact him by any known means and tell him the result and instruct him on how to provide payment declaration information. This same process can be applied to any sales channel whether online, telephone or mail order.

In the case that the point of sale does not have a computer that can store and send the declaration data, the salesperson can write down the buyer's contact information and purchase information, and send it to the TDTS mail station (mailstop) or fax station (faxstop) by mail or fax, At the mail station or facsimile station, a system operator can enter this information. In this case it might even be possible to actually choose claims at random, but this possibility is not delved into.

Method for preventing identity exchange fraud

The method described in Section 2 for preventing identity exchange fraud can also be used in this Section 4 embodiment.

Part 5

Embodiment wherein acceptance of the target discount is conditional on means-tested

content

1. Implementation of a means-tested implementation of TD qualifications

2. Steps for Entering Means Tested TD Supply

3. Steps for Locating and Claiming a Means Tested TD Offer

4. Steps for Payment Claims for Means Tested TD Supply Checks

5. Steps for Preventing Identity Exchange Fraud in Means Tested TD Offers

Example of means-tested means-tested eligibility for TD

One type of TD that is widely available is a discount that is determined to be given to people based on their financial situation, in other words, TD is offered to people on a means-tested basis. For example, a textbook vendor may want to offer discounts to students from poor backgrounds. Likewise, a gourmet coffee shop may want to offer discounts on coffee beverages to senior residents, but only to those senior residents with low net worth. Likewise, a hotel chain may want to offer rooms at a substantial discount to lower-income families.

A hindrance to offering these discounts is that it requires people to provide proof of their financial status, which people may not be willing to provide, which may require considerable effort, and may require expensive verification. EV TDs with sufficiently high payments can overcome these problems.

The present invention may include steps for enabling sellers to provide means-tested TDs, and for buyers to claim such TDs. These steps will be described, which can be added to previously described modules.

Steps for Entering Means Tested TD Supply

Steps are described here that add to the steps previously described for entering TD feeds (see Section 1.1). The present invention may provide a form or equivalent for sellers to enter means-tested declarations that buyers must meet to qualify for TD.

Means testing is a broad concept that can cover a wide variety of specific surveys of an individual's financial situation. The term means test is used to refer to the general idea of means test, as well as the specific conditions that buyers must meet, the means test's specific claims and measurements. The present invention may provide a method (or system) for inputting a TD offer including a specified means-tested statement or statements.

A means test may, but is not limited to, require buyers to have:

- Income in the specified range, and/or

- net income within the specified range, and/or

- after-tax income within a specified range, and/or

- a specified range of disposable income (defined in any of a number of ways), and/or

- a static value for the specified range, and/or

- the credit rating of the specified range

The means test may refer not only to the financial situation of the buyer, but also to the financial situation of the buyer's household. Therefore, the means test can be, but is not limited to, all household income and/or net income and/or after-tax income and/or disposable income and/or static value and/or credit rating, etc. requirements falling within the specified range. A family can be defined in any of a number of ways. If some measure of the household's financial status is used as means-testing, the system may also enable the seller to specify the buyer's household financial status if the buyer is financially separated from the household.

The offer form may further enable sellers to set discounts that correspond to certain measures of the buyer's financial situation. Thus, a seller may set more than one discount amount to correspond to more than one measure of a buyer's financial situation, such as a 20% discount for buyers with after-tax income below $10,000, and a 10% discount for buyers with tax Buyers with an income between $10,000 and $20,000.

Another means test that the present invention may enable a seller to specify a TD offer is to require the buyer or the buyer's family to be receiving specified social assistance.

Different kinds of economic status are required for where the buyer lives or works or is from. Thus, means-test requirements can be for an individual's residence, country, state, province, city, zip code, or neighborhood. For example, a textbook publisher may want to offer a TD discount to students in Ghana, or students who are citizens of Ghana, or students who live east of St. Louis.

Another means-finding requirement, however, may be a "negative survey," which defines a product or service that the buyer has not been able to purchase in the past. For example, a vendor may want to make TD offerings available to poor people, rather than those who waste their money on certain types of products and services. For example, a seller may stipulate that buyers cannot spend more than $30,000 on their car or $10,000 on jewelry. Thus, the means-tested request may include a list of products that the user cannot purchase, or an amount of money that the user cannot spend on a particular set of products.

The means test may include conditions in addition to the means test requirements. A particularly useful criterion is buyer age. For example, a TD discount may be offered to someone whose household income is less than $20,000 and who is 15 years of age or younger. Thus, means-tested TD can enable poor children or students to receive discounts.

As part of the means-tested TD provision, the seller may specify the type of proof required to verify that the buyer meets the means test, such as a tax bill or specified documentation stating that the buyer's household receives social assistance.

Steps for Locating and Claiming a Means Tested TD Offer

A means-tested TD offer can be advertised in a number of ways. Thus, buyers can find offers outside the system of the present invention.

Provisions can also be entered into the guide as described in Section 3. In this case, the guide may enable buyers to enter search criteria including means-tested information to find TD offers. For example, a buyer may enter his after-tax income to find the TD offer applied to him. Steps for Payment Statements for TD Supply Checks with Means Tests

The steps for checking a payment statement, where a buyer must satisfy a means test, are essentially the same as those previously described for implementing any payment statement check. The present invention may also provide dedicated forms for enabling the inspector to enter: financial information about the buyer, such as tax bill information, and for explaining why the buyer meets or does not meet means-testing requirements. Steps for Preventing Identity Exchange Fraud in Means Tested TD Offers

An example of identity exchange deception for means-testing is described in Section 2 above. Generally speaking, in this scam, a "wealthy" person (one who does not meet the means test) claims TD and wins the TD bet. Wealthy buyers then go to poor people (means-tested people) to request TD wagering payments.

The methods described in Section 2 for preventing identity exchange fraud can also be used to prevent this fraud in the means-testing embodiment of this Section 5.

Another method can also be used in which a statistical test is applied to the number of TD claims made by buyers. As described in Sections 1.3 and 1.6, the buyer's claim history can be edited and statistical surveys can be applied to this history.

Buyers who claim TD at a rate statistically higher than average can be a sign that they are cheating. For example, if a poor buyer places a TD claim on $20,000 in the purchase, it may indicate that he is actually sponsoring a purchase by someone wealthy.

Therefore, the present invention may provide a method (or system) for:

- store the user's TD and payment statement in the user history,

- subject the request data to statistical checks to provide a statistical measure of the accuracy of the declared history,

- Flagging users whose claim history has a statistical measure greater than a predetermined limit.

If a user has been flagged, the inspector can automatically disqualify the user, or investigate further. Another way to prevent TD feed fraud is to only detect other purchases that buyers have made, and disqualify users who have made certain types of purchases that may or may not be defined in the TD feed .

Part 6

Embodiment wherein acceptance of the target discount is conditional on the buyer's first purchase from the seller

content

1. Implementation of the first-time buyer condition for TD eligibility

2. Steps for entering TD offers with first purchase conditions

3. Steps for preventing double declaration

Examples of First Time Buyer Conditions Qualifying for TD

One available TD is a discount targeted at first-time buyers from the vendor. A vendor may want to offer a discount to potential first-time customers as an inducement to try the vendor's product. For example, a restaurant might want to offer a 50% discount to people trying the restaurant for the first time. Such a discount can be called a try-off (? Price reduction) (trybate).

A hindrance to offering a trial offer is that it requires the buyer to provide proof that he is a first-time buyer, a condition that can be costly to prove. One way to verify that the buyer meets such a condition is to use the EV TD discount, and only check it if the buyer wins the TD bet.

Steps for Entering TD Offers with First Purchase Conditions

In addition to the previously described steps for entering a TD offer (see Section 1.1), the present invention may provide a step for entering a TD offer that includes a buyer's first purchase requirement from a seller.

The present invention may also enable sellers to enter first-time offers per household so that first-time buyer conditions are only available once for a household. That is, if one person in a household claims a try offer, no one else in the household can claim the same try offer. Homes can be defined in any number of ways, either by the vendor or by default.

Steps to prevent double declaration

One deception for TD offers with first-time purchase conditions is the identity exchange deception. The methods previously described for preventing this fraud can also be used in embodiments of the present invention that implement a first-time purchase condition.

Another deception is using anyone's real identity while still falsely claiming to be a first-time buyer. In order to prevent this from happening, the TD Supply Statement needs to be registered in the central database, thus eliminating the need for duplicate claims from buyers. As noted above, the present invention may include methods for eliminating double declarations.

Buyers can try to avoid the elimination of double requests by using family members to make purchases. For example, a husband may purchase one night at a restaurant and his wife may purchase a second night. Therefore, in addition to matching names, an additional de-duplication test can be applied. Addresses can be matched and deduplicated. In addition, inspectors can check to see who is in the winning buyer's household, and can potentially disqualify people whose family members live in different places.

If the TD was not de-duplicated initially, the method of the present invention may include a two-level progressive wagering process in which buyers who obtain a "first level wager" are registered. Buyer claims may be disqualified if the buyer has more than one first level win from a particular seller trying offers on EVs. This check is not optimal for multiple claim methods that try to favor, but it can reduce double claim fraud.

Part 7

Embodiment wherein acceptance of the target discount is conditional on the buyer or the buyer's children performing at a specified level academically

content

1. Implementation of the Academic Performance Conditions for TD Eligibility Example

2. Steps for Entering TD Offers with Academic Achievement Conditions

3. Steps for claiming a TD offer with academic achievement conditions

Examples of fulfillment of academic performance conditions

One TD goal that could be used is a discount for students who perform at a certain level in school and/or exams. Such discounts may also be targeted to the parents of the student. For example, a store may offer parents of children who score above 600 on a national achievement test a 3% discount on all products.

A hindrance to offering rebates based on academic performance, including test scores, is that it can be costly to verify the grades associated with the discount.

One way to cost-effectively verify that the buyer meets the academic performance criteria is to use the EV TD discount and check the buyer only if he has earned a TD stake.

Steps for Entering TD Offers with Academic Achievement Conditions

In addition to the aforementioned steps for entering a TD offer (see Section 1.1), the present invention may provide a step for entering a TD offer that includes a requirement that the buyer exhibit a particular level of academic achievement, defined by grades, or above A given test score, such as an achievement test score. A module for entering offers may include fields for specifying a particular grade or overall grade point average or test score, and the corresponding discount.

The offer form may enable vendors to set discounts corresponding to specific performance levels. For example, a movie theater chain may offer:

Overall GPA >= 3.5 10% discount

Overall GPA >= 3.0 5% discount

15% discount for academic tests >= 600

Steps for claiming a TD offer with academic achievement conditions

There is little addition to the description of previously claimed TD offers, except that the system of the present invention includes a search means for buyers to find and claim offers by using a statement of academic performance, such as an overall grade point average, as a search criterion.

Part 8

Method used to transfer payment from seller to eligible buyer

Section 1.8 describes the method used to transfer payment from the source payer, the buyer providing the TD, to the winning eligible buyer. In this section 8, the above method is repeated and additional methods for transferring payments are described. This Part 8 is a copy of the description of U.S. Application 10/811,643, Methods for Transferring Payment in EV Payment and Verification Systems (Methods for Transferring Payment in EVPayment and Verification Systems), to which reference is made above, whose authors and authors of this description same. This work includes this copy for patent purposes.

In this section 8, the invention and the method of the invention refer to the inventive method described in this section 8. Likewise, the invention and the system of the invention refer to the system of the invention described in Section 8 herein.

The method described in this Section 8 applies to situations where the payment system enables the payer to pay a recipient EV Payments if the recipient meets specified conditions verified and/or monitored using the system.

This Section 8 details a method of using two EV payment stakes to transfer payments through the system from payers to recipients. In this approach, the payer risks the payout in a first bet, and the system risks the payout in a second bet.

Additionally, this section 8 describes a method for paying an EV amount based on a percentage of the purchase amount. This description is included here for completeness, but it was disclosed in the above referenced application.

Additionally, this Section 8 describes how to cap EV payments when EV payments are based on a percentage of the purchase amount.

Additionally, this Section 8 repeats the description in one or more of the above referenced applications of how using margin can reduce transaction costs.

Contents of part 8

introduction:

How to write the instructions for part 8

Where is the method of the invention applied?

Reviewed inspection (substantiation) process

example situation

Definitions for Section 8

(Note: "Chapter" below refers to the chapters of this Part 8)

SECTION A: PAYER ASSUME ALL PAYMENT RISK

Section B: The system assumes all payment risks and returns invalid payment claims to the payer

Section C: Two-Bet Process where Payer and System Assume Separate Payout Risks, Where First Bet Payout is Debited from Payer

Section D: The system assumes all payment risks and uses a discount formula to adjust for invalid claims

Section E: Two-stakes process where EV payment equals sales ratio

Section F: Using Margins to Reduce Inspection Costs

Section G: Multi-subclass approach for efficient and user-friendly transactions

Introduction

How to write the instructions for part 8

This description is organized into a description of a set of modules (sub-processes) that together constitute the method of the invention. This module is a high-level description used for clarity. The modules themselves can be broken down into smaller groups of steps and rearranged, as will be apparent to those skilled in technical writing or programming. Modules may be implemented in a single "central" database system, or they may be implemented by "separate" computing database entities that communicate with each other.

The purpose of this description is to disclose novel aspects of the methods and systems of the present invention. There is no ideal way to display these aspects, so those skilled in technical writing or programming will know better ways to organize and display this disclosure. Provide illustrative examples. Those skilled in the art should understand that these examples are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of application of the present invention. Many of the options described in this description, such as certain terms of EV payout staking, may in fact remain standard. Those skilled in the art can easily see that the user's selections can be transferred to default items. Descriptions of various methods for charging users that may be included in the present invention are omitted because these methods are well known and do not add to the disclosure.

Where is the method of the invention applied?

The method described in this section 8 is applied in a payment system operating according to a method that enables a payer to pay a recipient if the recipient satisfies specified conditions that may be verified and/or monitored using the system EV payments.

Call this method the Expected Value Method for Payment and Proof (EVMPV). The online database system operating according to EVMPV is named Expected Value System for Payment and Proof (EVSPV).

EVMPV is a method for operating an online database system that includes the following elements and steps designed in a novel way to solve a specific problem:

1. Establish Payer ID and Bank Account

2. System account Bank account

3. The payer publishes the payment supply in the system

4. The offer can be found and selected (acceptable) by the recipient, who can then provide

Statement of Payment Provided

5. Registration of the recipient's account, including the recipient's ID

6. Declaration Submission of Registered Recipients

7. Perform EV payment staking to determine whether the submitted claim is worth a payment multiple of its original value

8. If the claim is the winner, then inform the submitter that the claim is tentatively worth the payout of the EV payout stake

9. If the submitter claims a payment from the wager, then the payment claim is registered and the system authorized checker verifies that payment provisioning conditions are met

a. In the event of a negative decision being entered by the inspector, the system registers that the payment statement is disqualified

b. In the case of a positive decision entered by the inspector, the system registers that the claim is worth EV payment wager payouts.

Methods and systems using variations of the above methods are disclosed in patent applications filed by this author, including: Patent Applications 09/536,727 and 10/042,975, which describe a method for bringing sales messages to the attention of qualified viewers and systems; patent application 10/424,190, which describes a method and system for delivering commissions to delegators, and; provisional application 60/529,071, which describes a method for paying targeted discounts to eligible Buyer's Methods and Systems.

All of these applications are incorporated by reference

This Section 8 describes several methods within EVMPV and EVSPV for transferring payments from a payer to a recipient. This Part 8 itself does not cover all the steps of EVMPV, but does cover the payment transfer steps.

Note: In all cases below, if the EVSPV collects payment from the payer, then the EVSPV will include the well known debit balance and/credit account procedures. In addition, EVSPV includes well-known mechanisms for accepting payments, and for notifying the payer, and/or for suspending the payer's offers when the payer's account has a low or excessive balance.

Reviewed inspection (substantiation) process

EVMPV and EVSPV include the following steps for initiating a verification process commonly referred to as an examination process, and for registering the examination results.

A brief review of the inspection process in EVSPV, so it can be referred back to.

When the user has submitted a payment statement, the EVSPV (system) assigns to the statement data a status indicating that the statement data will be checked by an inspector authorized by the system. Therefore, in order to enable the inspector to determine whether the user has fulfilled the provisioning conditions, the present invention provides a module for:

- Inform the system authorized inspectors that the declaration will be inspected

-enabling this inspector to inspect claim data as well as,

- Enables inspectors to view corresponding TD payment feeds.

The inspection would take place outside the system of the present invention, and the inspector would enter the decision of the inspection into the system.

The system may enable an inspector to enter an inspection report explaining why he has rejected a declaration, i.e. the system may include a standard menu of explain options (like a form letter reply) from which the inspector may choose to explain his declaration rejection , or enable him to enter his own custom written interpretation.

If the inspector approves the statement, the system forwards the inspector's decision to the payment transfer process, which is used to transfer the payment to the user.

example situation

In this description, a single case is used to clarify the disclosed methods.

For this case, assume that EVSPV is implemented within an online database that is a "service bureau" for more than one payer.

Second, assume a payer, called BestSitter, provides a babysitting service, and uses EVSPV to make and trade payment offers.

Third, it is assumed that BestSitter has established user accounts, including bank accounts.

Fourth, assume that BestSitter publishes three different payment offers: an offer for qualified potential customers visiting the BestSitter website; an offer for providing discounts to eligible lower-income families; and an offer , which is used to pay people who refer customers.

Note that the invention is not limited to these cases, or the types of payment offers described in these cases. Definitions for Section 8

EVMPV. see above

EVSPV. see above

payer. A person or organization (or agency) that provides EV payments using EVSPV. For convenience, it is also called Paula.

Payer bank account. An account maintained in the system in which a payer deposits money (or a virtua account, which is used to record what the payer owes).

payment supply. A supply, which is used to provide a specified amount of money or a specified percentage of sales to individuals or organizations that meet/fit specified conditions (sales is broadly defined to include any money or commodity transactions).

recipient. The person or organization (or agent) that submits a claim for payment. Also known as a declarer. For convenience, also known as Reece.

System bank account. An account maintained in the system for system money that is used to receive payments from payers and give payments to recipients (and possibly send money to another system account used to hold earnings).

statement. A statement submitted for an EV payment that corresponds to an EV payment offer.

Statement of payment. Submitted Claims for Payments from Winning EV Payment Claims

inspector. A user authorized by the system to (1) determine whether a payment statement is valid, and (2) provide a check decision to the EVSPV.

Section A

The payer bears all payment risks

How EVSPV enables the transfer of payments from sender to recipient depends on who bears the risk of the payment. In this Section A, it is assumed that the payer bears all payment risk.

If the payer assumes all payout risk, it means that the payer must pay the full payout if the claim "wins" the payout wager performed by EVSPV.

In this case, the system does not necessarily have to collect the payment; it could be a billing machine in the sense that it registers the payment obligation but does not transfer the actual payment. Accordingly, the system may include steps for notifying payers of their payment obligations, and for notifying winning eligible claimants of amounts owed by a given payer.

For example, assume BestSitter is offering $10 EV to principals, and assume principal Ray wins $1,000 in payout bets based on this offer, and assume Ray satisfies the offer conditions. EVSPV then notifies Ray that BestSitter owes him $1,000, and that BestSitter owes Ray $1,000.

Optionally, EVSPV may include a process for transferring payment from the payer to the winning eligible claimant. This process includes the following steps:

- establish a bank account for the payer,

- credit funds to this account and,

- Transfer payment from payer account to eligible claimant with winning, checked valid claim.

Use a two-bet ("continuous bet") process

Instead of using a single bet, EVMPV and EVSPV can use a two (or more) bet process.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for operating an EVSPV comprising the steps of:

- Execute the first bet, where Reece's payment statement has a given first EV = x, and first payment = y,

- If Reece's claim loses this first bet, then set the claim value to zero and do not continue to perform the bet on the claim,

- If Reece's claim wins this first bet, then execute the second bet, where Reece's claim has EV=y, and second payout=z,

If Reece's claim loses this second bet, then set the claim value to zero, store the result, and do not proceed with the bet on the claim,

If Reece's claim wins this second bet, then Reece's request is trusted with nonce = z.

An advantage of a streak wager is that the initial wager payout may not be sufficient to justify an inspection, but it may prove to be a sufficient reason to prompt the requester to provide payment statement information, which can be used to set the terms of a second wager, similar to Section 2. The second bet has a higher EV and payout compared to the EV and payout in the first bet (see Section E for examples)

Another advantage of the two-bet process is that the EV payment claimant can be notified if he has won the first level bet, and can be asked if he meets the terms of the payment offer. The claimant's responses may then be registered in the claims database and the user database.

For example, assume that BestSitters offers Reece $1 EV if Reece calls BestSitters, and if babysitting is purchased within 2 weeks of the call. And assume that Reece calls BestSitters using an EVSPV that registers Reece's claim for $1 EV.

Further, assume that this EVSPV executes the first wager, where Reece's claim has a payout of $100, with a probability of 0.01 to win. Furthermore, assume that Reece's claim wins this first bet.

The EVSPV may then ask Reece and ask him if he did purchase babysitting within two weeks of his call to BestSitters. Reece can ignore the query and EVSPV can register the absence of this answer, or Reece can answer "yes" or "no" and EVSPV can also register these answers.

If Reece answers "yes", then EVSPV can execute the second bet. In this second wager, Reece's claim has EV=$100. Assume that the payout is $500 and the probability of winning is 0.2. Finally, assuming Reece's claim wins this second bet, then claim a provisional value of $500 until a check is made to see if Reece has met the conditions of the offer, i.e., to see if Reece actually purchased babysitting within two weeks of the call.

By asking recipients who claim to have won the first level of bets, EVSPS can collect and store data in claims databases and user databases (these databases can be single databases) so that recipients' claim histories can be analyzed, especially to find fraudulent ones. model.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for operating an EVSPV comprising the steps of:

- In the case of a claim winning the first payment bet, the claimer is asked,

- Ask the claimant if the claimant has met the conditions for the EV payment offer,

- storing the claimant's reply or lack of reply in the claim database and/or the user database.

Section B

The system bears all payout risk, where EV is deducted from the payer per bet

In this section B, it is assumed that the EVSPV assumes all payment risk in the payment bet.

If the EVSPV assumes payment risk, it may include the system bank account and the means discussed above for establishing the payer's bank account.

Assume that the payer, Paula, has established a payer bank account.

Thus, each time a recipient submits a statement corresponding to a Polla payment offer, the EVSPV will debit Paula's bank account (eg, debit balance account) the amount of money specified by Polla's offer and transfer it to the EVSPV account. The system issues the payment to the recipient from this EVSPV account.

But the process is more complicated than the one described above; it differs from traditional payment transfer systems. The problem is that Polla will only provide EV payments to eligible claimants, but the claimants who receive its offer include both eligible claimants and non-eligible claimants.

Assume that Paula provides $1EV. Now, suppose 2,000 claimants accept her offer.

How much does Paula owe EVSPV? It's not fair if she pays $1 per claim, since she should only pay for qualifying claimants. She does not know and EVSPV does not know what percentage of claimants are eligible.

Until the uncertainty is resolved when and if the claimant wins its payment bet and submits its payment claim data for inspection, Paula and the EVSPV will not know whether the claimant is eligible.

Therefore, when:

1) The claimant did not submit a payment claim for the winning claim (usually means, the claimant does not believe he is an eligible claimant)

2) the claimant did not submit a payment statement, but then the corresponding check showed that the claimant was not eligible, i.e. the payment statement was invalid,

In order to compensate Paula for the money that was deducted from her account for the invalid claim (filed by the ineligible claimant), the EVMSP and EVSPV may include the step of refunding to Paula the payment temporarily won by the claimant.

For example, assume BestSitters is offering $1 EV to principals. Assume that the principal Ray discovers the supply and chooses the supply, thus claiming $1EV. The EVSPV then debits $1 (determined US dollars) from the BestSitters' bank account and transfers it to the EVSPV account to pay off the winning valid claim. Assume that Ray's claim wins the payout bet with a payout of $1,000. It is then assumed that Ray did not file a claim for the payment. EVSPV then transferred the $1,000 to BestSitters' account. Likewise, if Ray submits a claim for the payment, but finds the claim to be invalid, the EVSPV transfers the $1,000 to BestSitters' account.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for operating an EVSPV comprising the steps of:

-Registration Ray's declaration of payment corresponding to the payment offer of Polar EV,

- debiting a determined dollar amount equal to Paula's supply of EV from Paula's account and transferring the determined amount to the EVSPV account,

- execute payment bets to determine if Reece's claim is the winner,

If the claim loses, the value of the claim is set to zero,

If the claim wins, declare Reece to submit payment claim,

If Reece does not respond to the statement, or if Reece responds that he cannot submit the payment statement, transfer the payment to Paula's account,

If Reece submits a payment statement, pass the statement to the inspector,

If the inspector enters that the statement is invalid, then the payment is transferred to Paula's account,

If the inspector enters that the declaration is valid, then the payment is transferred to Reece (or the transfer of the payment to Reece is authorized).

(To compensate inspectors and encourage users to submit only valid payment claims, the system may include a process for receiving inspection fees from payment claimants, and/or inspection bonds, which are forfeited if the request is invalid.)

Questions about this return method

The method of refunding the payment to the payer is reasonable because, in terms of probability, on average, Paula recovers the money debited from her account to the ineligible claimant.

However, this "refund" process is "lumpy" for refunds of infrequently large payments, which may not be suitable for many payers, especially if the payments are very infrequent. For example, if Paula is offering $1EV, and the payment is $1,000, Paula may have over $1,000 debited from her bank account to pay the ineligible claimant, but she may not even receive a refund of the payment. This situation is unsatisfactory for many payers, especially for small businesses.

A solution to this problem is given below. Two other solutions are described in Sections C and D.

Use a two-bet ("continuous bet") process

One solution is to split one payout bet into two, where the payout for the first bet is low enough that the payer receives a refund of the first payout, which is usually enough to satisfy the payer (Pola). EVMPV and EVSPV can use the two-bet process described in Section A with two key differences.

One difference is that the system assumes the payout risk in both payout bets, debiting the EV amount from Paula's account with a certain amount of money each claim submission (supply acceptance).

The second difference is that if the declarant (Reece) does not reply to the inquiry after winning the first level bet, or if Reece gives a negative answer, answering "I do not meet the conditions for the payment supply", the first bet payment is refunded to payer.

If Reece gives an affirmative answer, the second bet is executed. If Reece's claim wins this second level of wager, the claim is provisionally worth the second payment.

Process the payment of this payment in the same manner as processing the payment statement in Section B above. That is, if the inspector shows that the Reece claim is invalid, then the second level payment is refunded to the payer. If the inspector shows that Reece's statement is valid, then the second level payment is made to Reece.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for operating an EVSPV comprising the steps of:

-Registration of Reece's statement corresponding to Paula's EV payment offer,

- transfer an amount of money (x) equal to the EV provided by Paula's supply from Polla's bank account to the EVSPV account,

- Execute a first wager, where Reece's payment statement has a first EV = x, and a first payment = y,

- If Reece's claim loses this first bet, then set the value of Reece's claim to zero and do not proceed with payment betting on the claim,

- If Reece's statement wins this first bet, then ask Reece to see if he says he meets the conditions for the payment offer,

- if Reece does not reply, or if Reece replies "No", transfer ("refund") the first payment y to Paula's account,

- If Reece replies "Yes", the second bet is performed, where Reece's claim has EV=y and payout=z,

- If Reece's claim loses this second bet, then set the value of Reece's claim to zero and do not proceed with payment betting on the claim,

- If Reece's claim wins this second bet, assign a nonce value = z to Reece's claim

- Declare that Reece submits the payment declaration data,

- If Reece does not reply, or if he says he cannot submit the payment declaration data, transfer ("refund") the second payment z to Paula's account,

- If Reece submits the payment statement data, then send the data to the inspector for inspection

- if the inspector loses that the declaration is found to be invalid, register the declaration as invalid and transfer ("refund") the second payment z to Paula's account,

- If the inspector finds the declaration valid, then pay the second payment z to Reece's account (or authorize Reece to pay).

Section C

A two-stakes process in which the payer and the system take on separate payment risks, where the payer is debited

                    First Bet Payout

Section A describes a two-bet process in which the payer assumes the risk of the payout in the two-bet. Section B describes a two-bet process in which the system assumes the payout risk in both bets.

This Section C describes a two-bet process where the payer risks the payout in the first bet and the system risks the payout in the second bet.

This particular two-stakes approach may be useful because many payers cannot risk losing large payouts, while virtually all payers can risk losing payouts up to a given limit.

Note that EVMPV may include steps to enable the payer to set this limit, or the limit may be set by default. This limit - a fixed amount or a multiple of sales - can then be used as payout for the first bet in a two bet process.

(As in Parts 1 and 2, it is common to refer to the Payer by the name Paula and the EV Payment Receiver/Claimer by the name Reece.)

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for operating an EVSPV comprising the steps of:

- Register Reece's statement corresponding to Polla's EV payment supply with EV=x,

- Execute the first bet, where Reece's claim has EV=x, and the first payment=y,

- If Reece's claim loses this first bet, then set the value of Reece's claim = zero and do not proceed with payment betting on the claim,

- If Reece's claim wins this first bet, then ask Reece to see if he says he has met the conditions for the payment offer,

- if Reece does not reply, or if Reece replies "No", then set the assertion value = zero,

- If Reece replies "yes", then transfer y from Paula's account to EVSPV account,

- perform a second wager, where Reece's claim has EV=y, and a second payout=z,

- If Reece's claim loses this second bet, then the claim has zero value,

- If Reece's claim wins this second bet, then the claim has provisional value = z,

- Declare that Reece submits the payment declaration data,

- If Reece does not reply, or if he says he cannot submit the payment declaration data, then transfer ("refund") the second payment z from the EVSPV account to Paula's account,

- If Reece submits the payment statement data, then send the data to the inspector for inspection,

- if the inspector finds the declaration invalid, registering the declaration as invalid and transferring ("refunding") the second payment z from the EVSPV account to Paula's account,

- If the inspector finds the declaration valid, a second payment z is made to Reece from the EVSPV account.

Importantly, note that the above process does not have to include a step for informing Reece that his claim has won the first bet; the two-bet side can hide it from him. In this implementation, of course, Reece is not asked after the first bet. As above, the first payment will be transferred from Paula's account to the EVSPV account. But in order for Reece to be questioned, Reece's statement must win both bets. If Reece does not respond to this inquiry, or if he does, and finds his claim invalid, then EVSPV transfers the payment to Paula's account.

instantiate

As an illustration of the above process, assume BestSitters opens an account with EVSPV and deposits $200.

Assume BestSitters offers to pay $1EV to anyone who refers a customer.

Assuming Ray accepts the offer, the statement is submitted.

The EVSPV then registers the claim and executes the first bet with EV=$1 and assumes the first payout=$50.

Assume Ray's claim wins the bet.

EVSPV then debits $50 from BestSitter's account and transfers it to the EVSPV account for payment.

The EVSPV then informs Lei that his claim has won the first bet, and asks Lei whether he has met the conditions of the corresponding payment offer.

If Ray does not reply, or replies in the negative, then EVSPV will refund the $50 to the BestSitter account.

If Ray answers in the affirmative, then a second wager is performed, with EV=$50, and assuming a second payout=$1,000.

Then, if Ray wins the bet, EVSPV states that he provides evidence that he introduced the customer.

If Ray does not respond, or does not provide sufficient evidence, then EVSPV transfers $1,000 to the BestSitter account.

If Ray replies and provides sufficient evidence of his introduction, then the system authorizes (or simply pays) the payment of $1,000 to Ray.

                      Section D system assumes all payment risk and uses discount formula to adjust for invalid claims

One way for an EVSPV to transfer payments from a payer to a recipient is to assume all the risk in staking the payment, but eliminate the refund step described in Section B, and instead use a discount formula that yields some sort of discount factor.

In Section B, a method is described wherein each time a recipient submits a claim corresponding to a Polla EV payment offer, EVSPV debits Polla's bank account by the amount of EV offered and transfers it to the EVSPV account. From the EVSPV account, the system will pay valid winning claims.

Repeating Section B, the process is more complicated than that described above; it differs from traditional payment transfer systems. The problem is that Polla only offers EV payments to eligible claimants, but those who accept its offer - ie submit a claim - include both eligible claimants and non-eligible claimants.

Repeatedly, Paula and the EVSPV cannot know whether a claimant is eligible until the uncertainty is resolved by the claimant winning its payment stake and then pass/fail the check.

To compensate/adjust for the situation of an ineligible claimant, the EVSPV may include a process for applying a discount factor to the EV payment amount provided by Paula to the claimant.

Then, whenever a user submits a claim for EV payment for Polla's supply, Polla does not owe the full amount of EV stated in the EVSPV supply, but instead has a discounted rate. For example, if the EV amount offered to eligible claimants is $1, and the discount factor is 20%, then the EVSPV Registrar owes an established 20 cents per claim submitted.

The purpose of the discount factor is to express the percentage of claimants who are eligible claimants. In order to achieve a fair discount factor, the general idea is to collect statistics on what percentage of claimants are eligible.

These statistics can be gleaned from responses to feeds within the EVSPV, which are similar to Bola's feeds. EVSPV may input this reply data into a discount formula.

Other methods, such as survey methods, may also be used to generate discount factor data that is also input into the discount formula.

The discount formula uses data about how many winning claims are eligible claims.

EVSPV may include one or more formulas to determine the discount factor to be applied to the payer's offer.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of operating an EVSPV such that the EVSPV assumes payout risk in an EV payout bet, and further comprising:

- A discount formula process (or processes) for deriving the discount factor to be applied to the EV amount of the Payment Offer.

(Alternatively, in some implementations, EVSPV does not include a discount formula, but includes a means for enabling a system administrator to enter a discount factor.)

Additionally, when a user submits a claim for an EV payment, EVSPV will:

-Apply the appropriate discount factor to the EV payment amount

- debiting the final resulting amount from the payer's bank account,

- Transfer the amount to the EVSPV account, which is used to pay the winning eligible claimants.

In addition, during the inspection process, when the inspector approves the declaration, EVSPV will:

- Registering payments owed to claimants from the EVSPV account used to pay winning claimants.

Note that while the amount debited from Polla's account is (EV) x (discount factor), or EV adjusted by the discount factor in some way, the EV of the payment statement remains the EV provided by Polla.

Thus, a disadvantage of the above process is that Paula and Reece can deceive by pretending to be accomplices. Due to the discount factor, the amount Polla has to pay is not the full EV, and the system executes the bet with Reece receiving the full EV. This system makes up the difference. Therefore, if Paula and Reece cheat, then they will receive (EV)-(EV x discount factor) on average.

Two-bet process using payer and system assuming separate payout risks, where first bet payout adjusted by discount factor is debited from payer account

EVSPV may enable Paula to risk the payout in the first bet, but may apply a discount factor to this first payout. Thus, if the claimant wins this first bet, the system may debit Polla's bank account for the first payment of this first bet adjusted by the above-mentioned discount factor, and pass this discounted first payment to the EVSPV account.

The EVSPV can then assume the risk of the payment in the second bet.

As with the above process, the claimed EV in this second wager is equal to the entire first payout (payout of the first wager), although the discount factor is applied to Paula's payout obligation.

If the claim wins both bets, and if the inspector finds the claim valid, the EVSPV transfers the second bet payment to Reece.

Section E

A two-stakes process where the EV payment is equal to a fraction of sales

Context: Payment feeds where EV payments depend on uncertain events, especially purchase amounts (amount of money in a transaction)

In various EV payment offerings, the amount of the EV payment depends on an indeterminate event or series of events, such as sales.

Specifically, the amount of an EV payment can be a portion of the amount of money involved in an economic transaction, called sales, where sale is a general term that includes any kind of sale, lease, loan, donation, and including in The amount of any amount of money transferred in an economic transaction.

For example, BestSitters may offer Reece a payment to attract customers, where the EV payment is 1% of what Reece spends on babysitting services within the next month. In this case, the sales, and therefore the designated EV payment amount, will not be known until the month has passed.

EVMPV and EVSPV may include steps for processing payments that are contingent on uncertain events, especially payments for a portion of sales.

If using a payout bet, the steps involved are straightforward. In this case, the claimant provides sales information during the inspection process.

For example, if BestSitters offers 1% of sales to Reece, then the bet is executed. Assume that the probability of Reece's claim winning is 1/1000. So, if Reece's claim wins, it's worth 1% x 1,000 = 10,000% = 10x sales.

If Reece's claim prevails, then EVSPV will ask Reece if he has purchased babysitting services in the past month, and if so, how much has he paid for them?

Assume Reece spends $80 and owes him $800.

Therefore, to deal with percentages, payout multipliers are used in EV payout betting. Two-bet process, where uncertainty is resolved after the first bet (sales information is provided)

If a two-bet process is used, the payout multiple may be used for the first bet.

Assume that the procedure of Section C is used, where Paula assumes the payout risk in the first bet and EVSPV assumes the payout risk in the second bet.

The present invention provides a method for operating an EVSPV comprising the steps described below.

If Reece's statement wins the first bet, the EVSPV may ask Reece if a sale was made, and if so, at what cost. Reece can provide an answer, and the second wager terms can be based on this information.

For example, assume that the payout multiplier in the first bet is 10x, such that the declared probability of winning is 1/10. Then, if Reece's claim wins this first bet, the request is temporarily worth 10x the offered EV payment percentage.

EVSPV then asked Reece if a sale was made and, if so, how much it cost. If Reece responds and provides a sales amount, this sales amount can be multiplied by the payment multiple and multiplied by the EV payment percentage to get the first payment, which can be debited from Paula's account.

For example, assume that the offered EV payment percentage is 1%. Assume that the payout multiple is 10x. And assume that Reece says a $600 sale was made.

Then, (1%)×10×$600=$60. This $60 is transferred from Paula's account to the EVSPV account to cover the payment. And this $60 is the EV of the second bet.

Two-bet process, where uncertainty is resolved after the second bet (sales information is provided)

Instead of telling Reece that his claim has won the first bet, it is also possible to simply debit a certain amount of money from Paula's account to transfer to the EVSPV account and then spend it by spending the payment.

But if the sale is unknown, how much definite amount of money will be debited from Paula's account?

One solution is that EVSPV checks Paula's payment supply and, assuming the worst case, Reece reports the maximum possible sale under Paula's supply. In other words, EVSPV can debit the maximum amount from Paula's account.

This method causes an overpayment problem. To address this issue, the return method of the Section B and Section C procedures may be used.

When uncertainties in sales are resolved, overpayments determined to be in dollars may be refunded, but multiplied by the payment multiplier.

For example, assume a payout multiple of 10x for the first bet, and assume a payout offer of 1% of sales. Then owe Reece 10% of the sales.

Assuming a maximum sale of $1,500 under Paula's supply, Reece may be owed $150. EVSPV can debit this amount from Paula's account.

Then, assume that the payout multiple of the second bet is also 10x. Then, if Reece's claim wins the bet, the claim is provisionally worth $1,500.

Now, assume that Reece submits a payment statement stating that he spent $90.

Then, instead of $1,500, Reece is owed $90 for the second payment.

However, if the uncertainty had been resolved after the first bet, then Paula should have paid only $9, which is 10% x $90. And Paula has $150 debited from his account. Therefore owes her $141. However, in reality, it is $141 x 10x = $1410.

Due to the complexity of this method, it seems that after claiming to win the first bet, the uncertainty is resolved, as described above.

Section F

Use margin to reduce inspection costs

Check part of payment statement

It is expected that in most implementations of the invention, claimants must establish a bond or pay an inspection fee, both of which ensure that their claims are valid.

Inspection fees are payable regardless of whether the declaration is valid or invalid. If the declaration is invalid, the security deposit will be forfeited.

The misinterpretation of the security deposit idea is that in order to increase the efficiency of the inspection, the declarer needs to establish a large deposit (it can be said to pay a deposit), and use a certain preset selection method (for example, random selection of declarations) to check only the declared ones. part.

Unchecked claims are assumed to be valid. The checked claim, if invalid, causes the security deposit to be forfeited.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of operating an EVSPV comprising the steps of:

- Perform EV payment staking on claims

- set value = 0 if assertion loses,

- If the claim wins, the claimant needs to submit a deposit of money to ensure that the claim is valid,

If the claimant has not submitted a bond, then set the value of the claim to = zero,

If the claimant submits a bond, then the bond is stored in an account of the contract type so that the bond corresponds to the winning claim,

- subject the claim to a pseudo-random chance checked against a preset selection formula,

- If the winning claim is not selected for testing, then assuming the claimer satisfies the conditions of the EV payment supply, the winning claimant is paid and the bond is released from the contract account and returned to the claimer,

- If the winning claim is selected for testing, request payment claim data from the claimant (check data)

- If the declarant does not provide payment statement data, then set the value of the statement to = 0 and confiscate the declarant's security deposit,

- If the declarer provides payment declaration data, then inform the inspector that the declaration needs to be inspected,

- if the inspector enters a decision that the declaration is invalid, then the declaration value is set = 0 and the declarer's bond is forfeited,

- If the checker enters a decision that the claim is valid, then set the claim value = payout of payout bet and authorize payment of the payout to the claimer and release the bond from the bond account back to the claimer.

Pay attention to the use of deposit of the present invention (about payment of deposit)

EVMPV and EVSPV use expected payments to reduce the number of claim checks.

Checks can be reduced by using only a method of having declarants post a bond to vouch for the truth of their claims, and then auditing a subset of those declarants.

We don't feel this is the dominant approach in the market because it requires people to build up large margins up front, but we are aware of the possibility.

However, the use of security deposits can be an important addition to the payment process for EVMPV and EVSPV by reducing the average cost of inspection.

Additionally, and as separate, useful processes, EVMPV and EVSPV may include the following steps, which enable claimants to choose whether to be paid:

1) EV payment or

2) A definitive payment depending on the claimant who established the bond and has a claim subject to checks based on mostly/somewhat random selection.

This approach works well when EVSPV implementations range from small, say 10EV cents, to large, say $300EV, EV payments. In some cases, claimants prefer to receive firm payments rather than EV payments.

Section G

A multi-seed approach for efficient and user-friendly transactions

Cycle EV Payments

In some cases, the EV Payment Offer may specify that Reece be paid periodically so that he must meet the conditions of the Payment Offer during each defined period. For example, for every month a customer purchases from Polla, Polla may offer to pay Reece a 5% EV referral fee. Then every month, Paula can check to see if the customer remains a customer. When the customer leaves, then no more referral fees will be owed to ReeceEV.

EVMPV and EVSPV can provide periodic payments by treating each period as a separate payment requiring separate declarations. Alternatively, EVMPV and EVSPV can have a single claim cause a series of per-period payment stakes that continue until the claimant asks them to stop. Alternatively, EVMPV and EVSPV may use the first cycle payment to determine the total payment. The possibilities are various and depend on implementation and payment provision.

Allow recipients to transfer EV payments

One problem with EVMPV and EVSPV is that many claimants do not like EV payments, and prefer fixed payments. One way to solve this problem is for the claimant to transfer his EV staking payment to a third party before revealing the outcome of his EV staking. For this transfer, a third party may pay a portion of the claimant's EV through a private transaction, thus enabling the claimant to receive a definite payment instead of an EV payment. In the event of a successful check, if any, the third party then collects payment.

Optionally, EVSPV can facilitate and record the transfer. Additionally, EVSPV can list EV payments to recipients so that recipients can transfer a set of EV payments to third parties.

Accordingly, the present invention may provide a method for operating an EVSPV comprising the steps of:

- one or more designated assignees enabling the user to pay his declared EV,

- Enables the user to state which EV he is really entitled to - ie claim - in which he has to meet the conditions of the EV payment offer.

- List and record all claims to EV payments whose user has indicated that he is truly entitled to receive them,

- Designate the transferee of the claim group for EV payments, whose user has stated that he is truly entitled to receive it,

Show net EV

Owners of EVSPV are usually required to pay for their operations. As mentioned, there are a variety of ways in which users can be billed for EVSPV services. Some of these approaches involve transaction fees. These fees may be reflected in EV, Possibly, and payouts for wagering. That is, the EVSVP can show the claimer/recipient a net EV that is different from the EV advertised by the payer in its payment feed.

A meta-directory for collecting and sorting similar EV payment offers

An EVSPV that trades a particular type of payment offer, such as a system for targeted discount offers, or referral offers, or payment-for-attention offers for attracting customers may not be a monopoly service. There is more than one EVSPV that does essentially the same thing.

Given this reality, it is useful for both the payer and the recipient of the payment to collect all similar offers and put them in a sorted list. In other words, it is useful to create a meta-directory of the offers published in EVSPV.

Such a meta-directory can be created by a central service that processes self-payment claimant queries, then collects matching offers from each EVSPV, and categorizes those offers.

Alternatively, the metadirectory may be created by software on the user's personal machine, whereby the software processes the user's query for payment offers, then collects matching offers from each EVSPV, and categorizes those offers, and displays the sorted values for those offers. list.

The metadirectory obviously helps payment declarers. However, especially in the central service embodiment, it also helps the payer as it can help gather global statistics that can be used to deter fraud and make payment provisioning more efficient.

James Stein's comments on reading this manual

I would suggest something like your discount factor. My suggestion, however, is to periodically refund Polla an amount calculated using the discount factor, rather than stating that Polla originally paid EV x discount factor.

I think the chances of Reece and Paula becoming accomplices are minimal; the only way they can make money is by submitting a lot of claims, and I think the system could monitor this, or limit the number (or number) of claims.

Claims (1)

1. method, it is used for operational computations machine data storehouse system, is purpose so that the seller can provide for people and handle targeted discounts according to the standard that described seller determines, and described method comprises:

(a) sell chief commander's targeted discounts and supply with in the described Database Systems of input, described targeted discounts is supplied with and is comprised product, discount amount and one group of goal condition that is used to receive described discount that discount is suitable for,

(b) described discount amount is appointed as expectancy (EV), is paid described EV by the payment stake that comprises geld,

(c) make the buyer can declare (acceptance) described targeted discounts,

(d) carry out expectancy payment stake, wherein described expectancy be set with described discount amount,

(e) make the buyer can learn that she has won the geld of the described discount of declaring corresponding to her temporarily in described stake,

(f) make the buyer can declare she for the corresponding described geld of described discount be titular person,

(g) can check determining whether she satisfies the membership condition that described discount is supplied with described buyer,

(h) make by described inspection, that win, titular buyer can be by the described geld of payment corresponding to described discount.