WO2010051602A1

WO2010051602A1 - New reward points system and associated universal free market

Info

Publication number: WO2010051602A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/001464
Authority: WO
Inventors: Amir Salemi
Original assignee: Amir Salemi
Priority date: 2008-11-10
Filing date: 2009-11-10
Publication date: 2010-05-14

Abstract

An integrated, universal reward points system and associated market analogous of the existing international, debit or credit card-based commerce system and operated as an adjunct to that system, said system encompassing commerce at all levels in all developed countries and operated by a co-ordinating authority (Co-ordinator) through a plurality of administrative organisations in geographical regions, business conducted between participating customers and traders generating Universal Expenditure Points (UEP) which may be universally redeemed via a wide range of activities, including various form of auction or may be traded, transferred to converted to monetary value.

Description

NEW REWARD POINTS SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED UNIVERSAL FREE MARKET

This invention relates to a unified system for the generation and redemption of rewards value accumulated by customers through participation in commercial rewards programmes.

In various branches of commerce, it is now common for purveyors of goods and services to promote their businesses through the establishment of loyalty programmes. In a typical loyalty programme, a business allots points to clients and customers on a basis related to the value of their custom, the points being redeemable for further goods or services. Such programmes began in a simple way with coupons to be clipped from a tea packet or a magazine, coupons inserted into cigarette packets or green stamps provided by a supermarket. Designated numbers of such coupons or stamps could be exchanged for goods detailed in a catalogue published by the supplier. At an early stage, it became common for persons not intending to use such coupons to collect them for others, such as family members, to contribute them to a co-operative enterprise, such as a women's auxiliary, or to sell them. ThUs, a simple market was established

A much later arid more sophisticated example is the airline frequent flier programmes (FFP) established around 1980 which allot points to travellers on the basis of miles travelled. These were a direct result of the deregulation of the United States airline system in 1978 and the availability 'of computer systems and database software to manage the very large volume of data generated. Hotel chains and car rental companies quickly followed suit, often in conjunction with airlines. Almost from the outset, a market in FFP points was created and coupon' brokers would purchase FFP tickets from programme members and sell them at a substantial discount to bargain hunters. Regardless of the fact that all airlines include in their FFP material language to the effect that FFP mileage points' and tickets may not be sold, bartered or otherwise transferred, the market grew to an annual value in excess of SUSl 50 million. The market continues to Operate, but on a much diminished scale

The examples quoted in the preceding illustrate a clear desire by the public for there to be a free market in credits derived from reward programmes; for credits to be used, purchased or sold as dictated by their desires or circumstances. Loyalty reward programmes are now ubiquitous in the commercial world and a typical urban dweller might easily acquire rewards as a result of a large component of his or her monthly budget expenditure. A case can be argued that, although effectively virtual, there should be a kind of acquirable point that is personal property and can be acquired through eligible expenditure, optionally independently or dependently of merchants and financial institutions (banks, retail stores, manufacturers etc.) and able to be redeemed and tradable in a competitive and free market. This would extend broadly beyond any one programme provided by a single business entity or group to include all points generated as a result of eligible expenditure in all rewards programmes.

Systems for the integration of loyalty programmes are well known in the art. An example is that taught by Postrel in US 6,829,586 in which a system is provided for the accumulation and redemption of reward points from a plurality of independent reward points issuing entities. Each entity tracks a user's reward points in a reward point account stored on a rewards server (such as a frequent flier account or credit card loyalty account). A trading server accumulates some or all of the user's earned reward points from the reward servers and credits the accumulated points into a single reward exchange account associated with the user. The user may then select an item for purchase with the accumulated reward points. The item is provided to the user in exchange for a subset or all of the reward points. Obviously, a user must be enrolled in a system before utilising it. The term, point, is intended to refer to a unit of earned value having a cash equivalent or negotiable worth acquired by participation in a rewards system. Mechanisms are provided for: accumulation of reward points generated by a user's transactions in an individual account in a reward server; transmission of a request by the user via the user's computer to a central trading server to obtain reward points from the reward server; transfer of the user's reward points by the reward server to an individual account in the central trading server; recording of the increased reward points balance in the user's account in the trading server; recording of the reduced reward points balance in the user's account in the rewards server; transferring of consideration relating to the transferred reward points by the rewards server to the trading server; adjustment of the user's reward exchange balance in the account in the trading server in response to receipt of the consideration; transmission of an order for goods or services by the user via the user's computer to an associated merchant computer; communication of the order by the merchant computer to the trading server; confirmation by the trading server to the merchant computer of an appropriate reward exchange balance in the user's account; request by the trading server to the merchant computer for the ordered goods or services to be delivered to the user, adjustment by the trading server of the user's reward exchange balance in the account in the trading server; and transmission by the trading server of the order consideration to the merchant computer. Provision is alternatively made for the user to redeem reward points directly from the rewards server.

In a further example taught by Bauer et al in US 7,392,224, a program is provided that generates a reward for a cardholder based upon purchases made with a debit card. The reward amount may be applied to subsequent purchases made by the cardholder with the debit card. Additionally, all or a portion of the reward amount may be delivered to a third party, such as a charitable institution. A reward is accrued for every purchase conducted at any merchant made using the debit card, hi particular, this reward is a varied percentage of the value of every debit card purchase and may result in an additional reward for purchases that meet selected criteria. Except for the smallest, almost all suppliers of goods and services are now connected in a more or less radial arrangement to one or more issuers of credit cards. Generally, such card issuers are banks which utilise a particular credit card franchise for the purpose of issuing consumer credit. It is not uncommon for credit card issuers and credit card franchises to issue rewards to encourage their use. Credit card issuers are also networked or interlinked in a more or less circular arrangement for the purpose of providing settlement for credit card transactions honoured by other card providers. Such radial and circular interconnections by computer means are well known in the art. It is now common for the user of a credit card issued by a first bank in one country to conduct transactions with merchants in another country, the merchants being paid by second and third banks which are reimbursed by the first bank. Such radial and circular networkings and interlinkages are fully distributed throughout international commerce and constitute suitable infrastructure for establishment of a universal market in points- based commerce. hi the prior art cited, the system is apparently limited to only a number of merchants, reward servers and the trading server, hi order to consummate a rewards point-oased transaction, a user of the system may be required to communicate with all three parties. This arrangement does not provide the greatest degree of user convenience or permit the greatest utilisation of reward points. Similarly, as is the case with most reward points programmes, reward points are not useable with or exchangeable between other systems or programmes, reward points cannot be exchanged for money and, except in particular cases, reward points cannot be earned through cash purchases, and rewards are limited to those offered by participating traders.

The object of the present invention is to provide an integrated and universal system which automatically receives from the computers of merchants or other reward scheme operators, such as card issuers, details of all transactions, records these in central servers and translates them into a cash equivalent or negotiable worth. Such cash equivalent or negotiable worth is referred to generally herein as Universal Expenditure Points (UEP). The value standing to a user's account is then available for the conduct of a wide range of commercial activity based wholly or partially upon payment in UEP. Where appropriate, the universal system is integrated with the existing system of debit or credit card-based commerce. According to the present invention, an integrated, universal system is provided to permit the automatic recording of all commercial transactions made by a participating customer with participating merchants, card issuers or the like operating reward points systems. Reward points are awarded to the customer by the participating merchants, card issuers or the like, the reward points subsequently being converted into a cash equivalent or negotiable worth in accordance with agreed formulae. The value from conversion of the reward points is referred to as Universal Expenditure Points (UEP). The UEP so generated is subsequently redeemed by the customer's conducting further commercial transactions with merchants, card issuers or the like participating in the system with payment being made in UEP or any combination of UEP with conventional payment forms. Obviously, in a simplification, UEP may be, effectively, virtual, hi this embodiment, all transactions in all payment forms are reported by participating merchants, card issuers and the like to the appropriate regional servers, are converted to UEP on a fixed 'basis and credited to customers' UEP accounts. Such virtual UEP is not redeemable from the merchants, card issuers or the like with which transactions were conducted, but may be exchanged or traded and are used to qualify customers for a range of benefits, including bidding in UEP-based auctions.

The proposed system is analogous of the existing, international, debit or credit card-based commerce system In common with the existing debit or credit card-based commerce system, it has the capacity to encompass commerce at all levels in all developed countries and may be operated as an adjunct to the debit or credit card-based commerce system. Importantly, the system also has the capacity to capture reward points resulting from transactions conducted via cash, bank debit cards, credit cards, cheque or money order payments independently of the type of merchant, card issuer or the like, the reward points being converted to UEP. The proposed system is administered and operated by a co-ordinating authority (Co-ordinator) which operates suitable servers and administrative organisations in a number of geographical regions. Regional servers are preferably linked to Co-ordinator and interlinked one to another on a continuous basis. Co-ordinator solicits card issuers of all types to participate in the system and, as appropriate, to issue cards which permit transactions to be conducted via cash, cheque, money order, credit card, bank debit card or accumulated UEP or any combination thereof. Card issuers, which may be banks, retail store chains, airlines, car hire companies or the like, will participate in the proposed scheme because, to not do so, would place 'them in a position of commercial disadvantage in relation to their competitors. Co-ordinatόr simultaneously solicits existing operators of reward points schemes to participate in the proposed system and proposes to non-operators of reward points schemes that they should establish such schemes and participate in the proposed system. Points scheme operators, which may be card issuers or merchants participating in any branch of comrherce will participate in 'the proposed scheme because, to not do so, would place them in a position of commercial disadvantage in relation to their competitors. In agreeing to participate in the system, reward points scheme operators agree to terms, conditions and the acceptance of certain restrictions and liabilities and, as a result, will have the capability to perform UEP transactions with customers Non reward points scheme-operating merchants will participate in the proposed system in exactly the same way as they would with normal debit or credit card transactions and using more or less the same terminal equipment. Co-ordinator simultaneously solicits auction providers to conduct auctions using a defined operating system and those wishing to do so make specific arrangements and agreements with Co-ordinator. Normal retail merchants wishing to operate UEP-based auctions are required to make special arrangements with Co-ordinator. Participating card issuers issue special credit and debit cards to their participating customers, each of which contains encoded data which identifies the card, the card issuer, the customer, the regional server to which the card is linked, the type of commercial activity the customer is authorised to undertake, limitations applicable to the commercial activity of the customer, personal identification number or other access code, a digital image of the customer's face or other identification means (if appropriate), and card expiry date. In nominating to participate in the system, customers agree to accept certain restrictions and liabilities. Details of every transaction made by participating customers via cash, cheque, credit or debit cards or the like are recorded in said regional servers and are transmitted to the database of Co- ordinator. Co-ordinator calculates the cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) of each transaction and adds this to the customer's account. Obviously, banks and financial institutions may participate by capturing details of particular classes of commercial transaction in the accounts of participating customers and transmitting this data to the appropriate regional servers. Such commercial transactions include those paid for by cheque, credit card, debit card and EFTPOS. Return of goods or cancellation of services is dealt with via processes which are simply the reverse of those for purchase transactions. Also obviously, banks and financial institutions may create UEP accounts linked directly to the bank accounts of customers and credit UEP to those accounts as they are generated by customer bank account activity, balances of the UEP accounts being transmitted to the appropriate regional server on a regular basis. Also obviously, participating merchants not linked to a regional server may have EFTPOS terminals which can be used to write transaction details on UEP cards issued to customers, the customers subsequently transferring the transaction details to appropriate regional servers via card readers linked to their personal computers. UEP is then calculated by the regional servers in the normal way and credited to the UEP accounts of the customers. Similarly, return of goods or cancellation of services is dealt with via processes which' are simply the reverse of those for purchase transactions. Also obviously, participating customers may conduct transactions with non-participating merchants, subsequently transmitting transaction details to the appropriate regional server via their personal computers, transaction data being converted to UEP and credited to customers' UEP accounts In this embodiment, receipts for transactions, bank transaction records and the like are presented to the regional server or its representatives to validate the transactions. Similarly, return of goods or cancellation of services is dealt with via processes which are simply the reverse of those for purchase transactions.

Card issuers each have a standing account with Co-ordinator and are provided with regular statements identifying system transactions made with them by customers and detailing the cash equivalent or negotiable worth calculated for each quantum of transaction. Conversion of points resulting from a transaction to cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) is effected in accordance with a formula agreed between Coordinator and a merchant, card issuer or reward points scheme operator and the formula is optionally specific to the merchant, card issuer or reward points scheme operator or specific to the type of goods purchased in a particular transaction. Data from a transaction by a participating customer with a participating merchant involving the granting of reward points by the merchant is automatically transmitted to the issuer of the card presented to the merchant by the customer. The formula for conversion to UEP of reward points granted by a participating merchant is optionally a matter between the merchant and Co-ordinator or between a card issuer and Co-ordinator.

Participating card issuers and merchants agree with Co-ordinator to make payment for UEP as it is redeemed by customers. Where a participating customer makes a transaction with a participating card issuer or merchant and the transaction is paid for in UEP, Co-ordinator makes payment to the card issuer or merchant for the goods or services provided in the transaction and charges contributing parties each for their relevant proportions of the UEP redemption. A contributing party may be any participating card issuer, merchant or the like which has previously granted reward points to the customer. In charging contributing parties for redemption of UEP, Co- ordinator commences with the oldest credit of UEP in the customer's account and proceeds to the next oldest, and so on, until the full value of the redemption has been achieved. Participating card issuers and merchants are each provided with one or more card reading terminals which are connected to the appropriate regional server. Participating card issuers and merchants are able to conduct a wide variety of commerce simply by accepting cards tendered by customers and without concerning themselves as to the inner workings of the system. Participating reward points scheme operators and participating customers are optionally required to pay an initial registration fee and an annual fee to help defray the operating cost of the system. Where participating customers bid for the purchase of goods or services via an auction system, payment of an auction participation fee may be required. Where this is applicable, a customer is required to deposit and maintain a minimum auction account balance with Co-ordinator and the appropriate auction participation fee is paid by Co-ordinator to the appropriate merchant or auction sponsor from the customer's auction account as the customer lodges an auction bid. Provision is optionally made for the customer's auction account to be automatically topped up as required from a customer's bank account or credit card Each customer is allocated an access code permitting him or her to access the auction account for the purpose of ascertaining the balance therein. Co-ordinator is paid a small percentage of all transactions and this is deducted from payments due to merchants or auction sponsors.

The various aspects of the present invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following description of preferred embodiments given in relation to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the relationship of said Co-ordinator, participating card issuers, participating merchants and their customers;

Figure 2 is a logic diagram of the steps involved in registering a customer to participate in the proposed system; Figure 3 is a logic diagram of the steps involved in processing a transaction by a participating customer.

Figure 4 is a logic diagram of the steps involved in return of goods by a participating customer to a participating merchant;

Figure 5 is a logic diagram of the steps involved in a participating customer bidding in an auction conducted by a participating merchant for the sale of goods or services.

With reference to Figure 1 , an integrated, universal system is provided to permit the automatic recording of all commercial transactions made by a participating customer with participating merchants, card issuers or the like operating reward points systems. Reward points are awarded to the customer by the participating merchants, card issuers or the like, the reward points subsequently being converted into a cash equivalent or negotiable worth in accordance with agreed formulae. The value from conversion of the reward points is referred to herein as Universal Expenditure Points (UEP). The UEP so generated is subsequently redeemed by the customer's conducting further commercial transactions with merchants, card issuers or the like participating in the system with payment being made in UEP or any combination of UEP with normal payment forms. Said system is analogous of the existing, international, debit or credit card-based commerce system, the functioning of which is well known in the art. hi common with the existing debit or credit card-based commerce system, said system has the capacity to encompass commerce at all levels in all developed countries and may be operated as an adjunct to the credit card-based commerce system. Importantly, said system also has the capacity to capture reward points granted as a result of transactions conducted via cash, bank debit card, bank credit card, UEP cards, cheque or money order payments, the reward points being converted to UEP. Said system is administered and operated by a co-ordinating authority (Co-ordinator) 1 which operates suitable servers and administrative organisations 2, 3, 4 in a number of geographical regions 5, 6, 7 (delineated in broken 'line). Said regional servers are preferably interlinked to each other via links 51, 52 and to said Co-ordinator on a continuous basis via links 8, 9 Said Coordinator, via said regional servers and links 19, 20, 21 solicits card issuers 10, 1 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 of all types to participate in said system and to issue cards which permit transactions to be conducted via cash, cheque, money order, bank debit card, credit card, UEP or any combination thereof. Said card issuers, which may be banks, retail store chains, airlines, car hire companies or the like, will participate in said scheme because, to not do so^ would place them in a position of commercial disadvantage in relation to their competitors. Simultaneously via said regional servers and links 22, 23, 24, said Co-ordinator solicits operators 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 of reward points schemes to participate in said system and proposes to non-operators of reward points schemes that they should establish such schemes and participate in said system. Said reward points scheme operators are typically purveyors of goods or services. They will participate in said scheme because, to not do so, would place them in a position of commercial disadvantage in relation to their competitors, hi registering to participate in said system, said operators agree to permit their said reward points to be converted to a cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) which is available for universal redemption. In calculating said UEP resulting from a particular transaction, said Co-ordinator applies a formula agreed between it and the participating party. Said formula is optionally specific to said participating party or specific to a particular class of goods or services involved in said transaction. Normal (non reward points scheme- operating), retail merchants (not shown) will participate in said system in exactly the same way as they would with normal debit or credit card transactions and using more or less the same terminal equipment. Said normal auction sponsors wishing to operate auctions are required to make special arrangements with said Co-ordinator as described in relation to Figure 5. Any kind of UEP-based business may only be made by prior arrangement and agreement with said Co-ordinator. With reference to Figure 2, customers 34 to 42 selected from suitable commercial databases in geographical region 5 (delineated in broken line) are made e- mail offers by said card issuers 10, 1 1, 12, 12a via link 43 to participate in said system. In an alternative embodiment, said offers are made by conventional mail with provision for response by conventional mail or e-mail via link 43. If a said customer rejects said offer, said offer lapses. If a said customer accepts said offer, said card issuer accesses its regional server 2 via link 44 and transmits said proposed customer's details. If said customer is not an existing customer, he or she is registered as a participant in said regional server and s message confirming said registration is sent by said regional server to said card issuer via link 44 and to said customer via link 45. If said customer is an existing customer, a check of said customer's details is made in said regional server and, if a perfect match exists, a message confirming said registration is sent by said regional server to said card issuer via link 44 and to said customer via link 45. If a perfect match is not found to exist, a message is sent by said regional server to said card issuer via link 44 requesting that the disagreeing data be referred to said customer for clarification. Collated data for management information purposes is sent by said regional server to said Co-ordinator via link 46.

With reference to Figure 3, participating card issuers 10, 11, 12, 12a issue cards to their participating customers 34 to 42 in geographical region 5. Each said card contains encoded data which identifies the card, the card issuer, the customer, the regional server to which the card is linked, the type of commercial activity the customer is authorised to undertake, limitations applicable to the commercial activity of the customer, personal identification number or other access code, a digital image of the customer's face or other identification means (if appropriate), and card expiry date. Commercial transactions are undertaken by said customers with card issuers 10, 11, 12, 12a or points scheme-operating merchants 25, 26, 27, 27a. Payment for said commercial transactions is optionally made using any of credit cards, bank debit cards, cash, cheque, money order, UEP or any combination of these. The functioning of credit and debit transactions is well known in the art. In this case, all transaction data is transferred to said regional server, the equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) is calculated for each quantum of transaction according to an agreed formula and the customers' UEP accounts are credited accordingly. Said formula optionally varies from merchant to merchant or varies according to the nature of the goods or services purchased in a transaction. In UEP-only transactions, a customer must have in his or her said UEP account sufficient credit to cover the transaction. Participating customers are provided with a digital address permitting them to access their accounts for the purpose of ascertaining their UEP balances. In UEP plus credit or debit card transactions, part of a transaction is paid via UEP with the balance being met via conventibnal credit or debit card. In nominating to participate in the proposed system, customers agree to accept certain restrictions and obligations. Such restrictions optionally include a prohibition on the making of UEP-only transactions outside of the customer's normal geographic area. Such obligations optionally include a requirement to maintain a supporting credit card or bank account in a prescribed, current state in relation to UEP plus credit or debit transactions. Provision is optionally be made for a penalty to be applied to a customer who attempts to make a prohibited UEP-only transaction. Such penalty optionally includes deduction from said customer's UEP account or deduction of a pecuniary penalty from said customer's credit card or bank account balance. In cash, cheque or money order only transactions, a customer tenders cash, a cheque or money order in payment together with his or her card. Said card' is read in a suitable reader to capture the customer's data. In the figure, typical transaction 'paths between said customers and said reward points scheme operators are depicted schematically in broken line 47, 48, 49, 50. Regardless of the type of transaction, in^" all cases, the customer's data is captured from the customer's card and details of the transaction are added to create a total transaction data.

Where a said transaction is with a points scheme operator, said total transaction data is transmitted to the appropriate said card issuer, said card issuer transmitting said total transaction data on to said regional server via links 53, 54, 55. Where said transaction is credit or debit only, said card issuer reimburses said points scheme operator directly in the normal way. Simultanously, said regional server calculates points relating to the current transaction, converts these to a cash equivalent or negotiable worth and credits this to said UEP account of said customer. Where said transaction is paid for via UEP plus credit or debit, said regional server remits to the bank account of said card issuer an appropriate amount from said UEP account of said customer and advises said card issuer of the remittance via link 44. Where said remittance is less than the total value of the transaction, said card issuer debits the customer's account (card credit or bank deposit), adds this to the amount remitted by said regional server, remits the total to the bank account of said points scheme operator and advises said points scheme operator of the remittance via links 53, 54, 55. Simultaneously, said regional server debits the account of said points scheme operator with the points relating to the current transaction, converts these to a cash equivalent or negotiable worth and credits this to said UEP account of said customer. Also simultaneously, said regional server calculates a cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) from the reward points resulting from the transaction and credits this to said customer's UEP account. Also simultaneously, said regional server debits the accounts of the various said rewards scheme operators with their contributed proportions of the value of said customer's UEP account, commencing with the earliest dated. At the end of each month, a settlement account is sent electronically by said regional server to appropriate' said rewards scheme operators for' the value of reward points redeemed during the month immediately preceding, with payment due within an agreed period. Obviously, where the value of reward points is not redeemed, no payment is required to be made by the originating rewards scheme operator. Data relating to all transactions is transmitted by said regional servers to said Co-ordinator where it is analysed and stored for use in future commercial promotion activities.

Where a said transaction is made by a registered customer with a non reward points scheme-operating, retail merchant having no card reader or EFTPOS terminal (not shown in the figure), no UEP is generated. However, if said transaction is paid for using credit card, debit card or UEP (where a card reading unit is employed), said total transaction data is transmitted directly to the appropriate said card issuer, said card issuer transmitting said total transaction data on to said regional server via links 53, 54, 55. Said regional server calculates a cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) for the reward points resulting from the transaction and credits this to said customer's UEP account. Where said transaction is credit or debit only, said card issuer reimburses said retail trader directly using normal transaction procedures and simultaneously transaction data is transferred to said regional server via link 44. Said regional server calculates a cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) relating to the transaction and credits this to said customer's UEP account. Where said transaction is paid for via UEP plus credit or debit, said regional server remits to the bank account of said card issuer an appropriate amount not greater than the balance of said UEP account of said customer and advises said card issuer of the remittance via link 44. Where said remittance is less than the total value of the transaction, said card issuer debits the customer's account (credit card or bank deposit), adds this to the amount remitted by said regional server and remits the total to the bank account of said merchant or trader. 'Simultaneously, said regional server debits the accounts of the various said points scheme operators with their contributed proportions of the debited value of said customer's UEP account, commencing with the earliest dated, then proceeding to the next earliest and so on. Also simultaneously, said regional server calculates a cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) of that part of the transaction paid by credit or debit" card and credits this to said customer's UEP account. It should be noted that a said transaction made by a said registered customer with a said non reward points scheme-operating, retail merchant, UEP may only be used in whole or part payment if said merchant employs a card reading terminal that permits the nomination of payment by UEP. In the preferred embodiment, payment by UEP is nominated by button selection in the same way as 'Savings' or 'Credit' is nominated in using a Visa Card. At the end of each month, a settlement account Is generated and sent electronically by said regional server to appropriate said points scheme operators for the value of rewards points redeemed during the month immediately preceding, with payment due within an agreed period. Data relating to such transactions is transmitted by said regional servers to said Co-ordinator where it is analysed and stored for use in future commercial promotion activities.

' Where a similar transaction is made using cash, cheque or money order in payment, the procedure outlined above for transactions with a registered reward points scheme operator is followed, except that there is no requirement for reimbursement of said trader or merchant. In this case, said total transaction data is transmitted directly to the appropriate said card issuer which transmits it on to said regional server via links 53, 54, 55. Said data is transmitted by said regional server via link 46 to said Co-ordinator where it is analysed and stored for use in future commercial promotion activities.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), banks and financial institutions participate by capturing details of particular classes of commercial transaction in the accounts of participating customers and transmitting this data to the appropriate regional servers. The data is converted to UEP which is credited to the UEP accounts of the participating customers concerned. Such commercial transactions include those paid for by cheque, credit card, debit card and EFTPOS. Return of goods or cancellation of services is dealt with via processes which are simply the reverse of those for purchase transactions. In another alternative embodiment (not shown), banks and financial institutions create UEP accounts linked directly to the bank accounts of customers and credit UEP to those accounts as they are generated by customer bank account activity, balances of the UEP accounts being transmitted to the appropriate regional server on a regular basis for the calculation of UEP to be credited to the UEP accounts of the participating customers concerned. In another alternative embodiment (not shown), participating merchants not linked to a regional server have EFTPOS terminals which can be used to write transaction details on UEP cards issued to participating customers, the customers subsequently transferring the transaction details to appropriate regional servers via card readers linked to their personal computers. UEP is then calculated by the regional servers in the normal way and credited to the UEP accounts of the customers. Similarly, return of goods or cancellation of services is dealt with via processes which are simply the reverse of those for purchase transactions In another alternative embodiment (not shown), participating customers conduct transactions with non-participating merchants, subsequently transmitting transaction details to the appropriate regional server via their personal computers, transaction data being converted to UEP and credited to customers' UEP accounts. In this embodiment, receipts for transactions, bank transaction records and the like are presented to the regional server or its representatives to validate the transactions. Similarly, return of goods or cancellation of services is dealt with via processes which are simply the reverse of those for purchase transactions.

Said participating card issuers each maintains a standing account with said Coordinator via regional server 2 and are provided with regular statements identifying system transactions made with them by customers and detailing the cash equivalent or negotiable worth (UEP) calculated for each quantum of transactions according to an agreed formula. Said formula optionally varies from merchant to merchant or varies according to the nature of the goods or services purchased in a transaction. For example, a merchant may be induced to become a reward points scheme operator by being permitted to have a low value of conversion of reward points to UEP for a specified period. Similarly, a rewards scheme-operating merchant selling goods having a high mark-up may agree to a higher value conversion rate. As a condition of participation in said system, card issuers are required to agree to make payment for the value of reward points upon demand of said Co-ordinator (via said regional servers) following redemption by customers. ' Said participating merchants are each provided with one or more card reading terminals connectable to the servers of said card issuers. Said merchants are able to conduct a wide variety of commerce simply by accepting cards tendered by customers and without concerning themselves as to the inner workings of the system. Participating rewards scheme operators and participating customers are optionally required to pay an initial registration fee and an annual fee to help defray the operating cost of the system. Said fees are optionally distributed in an agreed proportion between said Co-ordinator and card-issuing financial institutions. '

With reference to Figure 4, provision is made ^' for the return of goods (or cancelled services) by a said customer, the process being managed 'by said regional server and generally the reverse of that involved in a purchase transaction. In this case, where the customer 34 made the original purchase transaction with a said rewards scheme operator 25, making payment partially with UEP and partially with credit,' and the goods are returned to the same organisation, identification data is captured from said customer's card and details of the return transaction are added to create a total transaction data. Said total transaction data is transmitted by said reward points scheme operator to the appropriate said card issuer 10 via links 53, 54 and thence to said regional server via link 44. Said regional server deducts the appropriate amount of UEP from said customer's account 2a in said regional server and credits it to the account 2b of said points scheme operator. Said regional server then directs the appropriate said card issuer via link 56 to debit the account maintained by said card issuer in relation to said points scheme operator receiving said returned goods by that proportion of the value of said goods originally paid for by credit, said regional server crediting the balance of the value of said goods paid for via UEP to said customer's account in said regional server. As previously, transaction data is transmitted by said regional server to said Co-ordinator via link 46 where it is analysed and stored for use in future commercial promotion activities. Where said original purchase transaction was with a said non points scheme- operating merchant (not shown) and paid for wholly or partly using UEP, said account maintained by the appropriate said card issuer in relation to said merchant receiving said returned goods is simply debited by that proportion of the value of said goods paid by credit or debit and the balance of the value of said goods paid for via UEP is credited to said customer's UEP account in said regional server. The accounts in said regional server of said parties contributing to said customer's reinstated UEP are appropriately credited.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), in a simplification of said system, UEP is, effectively, virtual, hi this embodiment, all transaction data resulting from transactions paid for via all payment forms are reported by participating merchants, card issuers and the like to the' appropriate regional servers, where it is converted to UEP on a fixed basis and credited to customers' UEP accounts. Such virtual UEP is not redeemable from the merchants, card issuers or the like with which transactions were conducted, but may be traded or exchanged and are used to qualify customers for a range of benefits, including bidding in UEP-based auctions. With reference' to Figure 5, provision is made for points scheme operators or merchants to offer goods or services on an auction basis. The mechanism of said auction offers' optionally takes a number of forms. Organisations offering goods or services for sale by auction may conduct paper-based or electronic promotions which detail the goods, the nature of the auction arrangement and conditions which apply to it. Such auction sale arrangements are managed by said Co-ordinator 1 via regional server 2 on behalf of participating reward points scheme operators 25 or non points scheme- operating merchants 57. Participating customers who have been made aware of the availability of auction-based commerce through paper-based or electronic promotional material and who wish to participate in this field of activity, are guided to register by utilising a hyperlink or the like to access an electronic registration process in said regional server. Said access occurs via links 59, 54, 44. In registering to participate in auction-based commerce, said customer agrees to establish and maintain a prescribed minimum balance in a separate auction fee account maintained at said regional server and to accept the deduction of bidding or auction fees from said auction fee account when such deduction is required. Deposits are made to said auction fee account by automatic deduction from a credit card or bank account whenever the balance of the auction fee account falls below the prescribed minimum. Said customer is also allotted a unique identification code to be used in the making of auction bids. Auctions of various types are advertised electronically, optionally to all participating customers, to a particular class of participating customers or in a separate electronic auction catalogue which all participating customers can access. Items for sale by auction may be sold with or without a reserve price and auctions may be open ascending price, open descending price, sealed-bid first-price, sealed-bid second-price and various other novelty types. Depending upon the value of the item offered for sale, payment of an auction fee is optionally required to be paid for each bid. Such fees are typically in the range $US2.00 to $US50.00 and are deducted from said auction fee account of each bidder and paid by said regional server to the particular auction sponsor. Should an' auction not proceed to sale, as might be the case where bids do not reach the reserve price set for an article, the auction fee is optionally refunded or retained by said auction sponsor. Obviously, the refunding of smaller auction fees will not be cost effective. A sponsor merchant 57 or reward points scheme operator 25 wishing to sell goods or services by auction promotes these in the manner described and provides details to said regional server respectively via links 58 or 53, 54,' 44 with a request to conduct the sale under specified terms and conditions. Said regional server establishes what is effectively a homepage for the auction sale which receives and processes bids from customers (typical bidding customer is depicted as 34). Bids are optionally UEP-based, with participating customers competing using UEP ^'bids, money-based bids in conventional payment forms, or a combination of both. In the embodiment where UEP is virtual (having no redeemable value), bids are based upon quanta of UEP which, in the case of a winning bidder, are extinguished. An auction sponsor derives income from bidding or auction fees paid by bidders, said fees always being paid in conventional monetary form. Unsuccessful bidders do not lose any UEP, but said bidding or auction fees paid by them are not refunded. Said bidding or auction fees are deducted, as appropriate, from said auction fee accounts of said bidders and credited to the account of said sponsor merchant or reward points scheme operator at said regional server. Should said bidding customer's bid be successful, said regional server advises said customer to this effect and requests payment. Said customer has the facility to nominate payment in the various forms described in relation to Figure 3. Using the transaction mechanisms previously described payment is made using credit, bank debit, UEP or any combination of these. In alternative embodiments, special arrangements are made for payment for high value items by cash, cheque or money order. Following the making of payment by said customer to said sponsoring merchant or reward points scheme operator, said regional server arranges for delivery of said goods or services. Said Co-ordinator is paid a small percentage of all transactions, including auctions, and this is deducted from payments due to card issuers, merchants or other reward points scheme operators.

Although in the figures separate interlinkages may be depicted between the various individual computers, regional servers and the like, such interlinkages should be taken as normal internet connections.

In the preferred embodiment, data transmitted by said regional servers to Coordinator 1 is analysed and stored for use in future commercial promotion activities. Such commercial activities include regular paper-based and/or electronic promotions directly to a customer based upon purchases or' enquiries made previously by that customer.

In the preferred embodiment, said Co-ordinator 1 or regional servers 2, 3, 4 operate one or more on-line auction sites which said customers are invited to participate in. Said customers register to participate in a particular auction site, are assigned an access code for that site and are optionally required to pay a registration fee. Said auction sites are accessible by all participating customers which are optionally regularly promoted to all or particular customer groups. Said auction sites contains details of a wide range of goods or services offered for sale by sponsoring merchants or points scheme operators. Such goods include perishable foods, airline or other travel tickets, theatre tickets, accommodation, holidays or the like that are shortly to expire. Even at a discounted sale price, said sponsoring merchants or rewards scheme operators have a strong interest in achieving a last-minute sale for such goods or services before they cease to have commercial value. A said customer accesses a said auction site through the use of an access code and registers a bid by simply clicking on a bid panel for a particular good or service and inserting a bid value. Successful bidders are advised electronically, the transaction is completed and the purchased goods or services are delivered in the same way as a normal purchase. Payment is optionally made using the transaction mechanisms previously described via credit, bank debit, UEP or any combination of these. In alternative embodiments, special arrangements are made for payment for high value items by cash, cheque or money order.

In an alternative embodiment, a special, on-line site is operated by said Co- ordinator or regional servers 2, 3, 4 solely for the purpose of trading points or UEP. Typically, offers are made on said site for the sale or purchase of points or UEP at set prices, at prices above a reserve or without reserve. Participating customers, sponsoring merchants or points scheme operators are able to purchase or sell points or UEP and do so in the same way as said normal on-line auction. Payment for points or UEP purchases is optionally made using any of the transaction mechanisms previously described, excepting, for obvious reasons, the use of UEP. In the same embodiment, provision is optionally made for the free transfer of points or UEP from one account to another, both said accounts being identified by their said access codes. Said Coordinator or said regional servers optionally charge a small fee for effecting or facilitating such transfers.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), a separate internet website is established and customers using said system and maintaining UEP account balances are invited to register to use said website. Customers registering to use said website are automatically and continuously classified according to their UEP balances; for example, a holder of 1 to 1 ,000 UEP credits may fall into Classification 1 , a holder of

1,001 to 5,000 UEP credits may fall into Classification 2 and a holder of 5,001 to 10,000 UEP credits may fall into Classification 3, and so on. Said website functions as a portal to a large number of existing search engines and websites covering a very broad and extensive range of subject matter. In the preferred embodiment, said website is established, operated and continuously monitored by said Co-ordinator. Said registered customers are encouraged to conduct all internet searches via said website, thereby, when said website is established, generating a very high number of daily 'hits'. Said high number of 'hits' makes said website attractive to businesses who pay to post their advertising on it. The revenue generated through said sale of advertising and other online revenues (for example, routing website traffic to other websites) are optionally distributed in various proportions to said customers registered to use said website. In the preferred embodiment, an appropriate proportion of said revenue is retained by said Co-ordinator and the balance distributed to said customers registered to use said website in set proportions according to said classification of said customers. Additionally, a small bonus in UEP is optionally paid to said customers for each 'hit' on said website. Also in the preferred embodiment, said distributed proportion of the revenue is converted to UEP and allocated to the accounts of said registered customers, either in set proportion according to said classification of said customers or in direct proportion to their UEP balances at a set time each day. Optionally, for all or said customers or some who have nominated for it to be done, said Coordinator or' said regional server simultaneously converts said UEP credits to cash values in set proportions according to said UEP classification of said customers, debits the UEP balances of said customers and credits their bank accounts, credit card accounts or other agreed accounts with the said cash values. Obviously, the incentive for said customers to register and to use said website is the credits of UEP so generated or the revenue that is distributed as described above. Said advertising on said website is optionally general or specific. Said specific advertising consists of pop-up advertising relating to classes of goods or services a particular customer may have previously demonstrated interest in. For example, a customer who has previously 'hit' on websites advertising European travel may see pop-up advertising relating to travel or accommodation in Europe. Where said UEP credits distributed to said customers by said website are not immediately converted to cash values, they are recorded in said customer UEP accounts in said regional server or said Co-ordinator and are paid for by said regional server or said Co-ordinator when they are redeemed. Obviously, second or multiple UEP credits may be generated through future businesses and trades conducted or paid for using UEP.

The terms, 'points' and 'reward points' are used interchangeably herein.

Claims

1. An integrated, universal reward points system and associated market analogous of the existing international, debit or credit card-based commerce system and operated as an adjunct to that system, said system encompassing commerce at all levels in all developed countries and comprising:

(a) establishment of a co-ordinating authority (Co-ordinator) which operates a plurality of suitable servers and administrative organisations (regional servers) in a number of geographical regions;

(b) establishment of links between said regional servers, one to another, and to the server of said Co-ordinator;

(c) solicitation by said Co-ordinator via said regional servers and said links of card issuers of all types to participate in said system by issuing cards permitting transactions to be conducted via cash, cheque, money order, credit card, bank debit card, redeemed reward points value or any combination thereof and by establishing reward points 'schemes;

(d) solicitation by said Co-ordinator via said regional servers and said links of merchant operators of reward points schemes to participate in said system;

(e) solicitation by said Co-ordinator via said regional servers and said links of merchant non-operators of reward¹ points schemes to establish such schemes and to participate in said system;

(f) conclusion of operating agreements between said Co-ordinator and said participants in said system under the terms of which said participants agree to permit reward points issued by them to be converted in accordance with agreed formulae to a cash equivalent or negotiable worth, referred to as Universal Expenditure Points (UEP), which is available for universal redemption, said formulae being optionally specific to classes of said participants or specific to transactions involving particular classes of goods and/or services;

(g) solicitation by said Co-ordinator of auction sponsors or solicitation^' by said auction sponsors of said Co-ordinator for the operation of auction-type sales schemes with payment to be made using UEP; ^* (h) solicitation by said Co-ordinator of sponsors of other particular types of business activity or solicitation by said sponsors of those types of business activity of said Co-ordinator for the operation of sales schemes involving those particular types of business activity with payment to be made using UEP; (i) solicitation by said card issuers of customers selected from suitable commercial databases in geographical regions to participate in said system;

(j) non-response, rejection or acceptance by said solicited customers of said offer to participate in said system;

(k) transmission to said regional servers by said card issuers of customer acceptances and their details;

(1) checking by said regional servers of details of said accepting customers transmitted by said card issuers;

(m) registration by a said regional server of said accepting customers as participants in said system, where said accepting customers are previously unknown to said regional server or where said customers are known and their details transmitted by said card issuer agree fully with those held by said server, the sending via said links to said card issuer of a message confirming said registrations and, where electronic links are available, the sending via said links to said customers of messages confirming said registrations. (n) the non-registration of accepting customers if said customers are known to said regional server and their details transmitted by said card issuer do not agree fully with those held by said regional" server, and the sending of a message by said server to said card issuer via said link requesting that said disagreeing data be referred to said customers for clarification; (o) transmission by said regional server of collated data to said Co-ordinator via said links, said data being analysed and used for management information purposes or stored for use in future commercial promotional activities; (p) issuance by participating card issuers of cards to said registered participating customers, each said card containing encoded data identifying the card, the card issuer, the customer, the regional server to which said card is linked, the type of commercial activity said customer is authorised to undertake, limitations applicable to said customer commercial activity,' personal identification code or other access code, a digital image of said customer's face or other identification means (as appropriate), and the card expiry date;

(q) undertaking by said participating customers of commercial transactions with said participating card issuers or said participating merchants, payment optionally being made using any of credit cards, bank debit cards, cash, cheque, money order, UEP or any combination of these;

(r) consolidation of a said customer's card data with data generated by a said commercial transaction to create total transaction data and the transmission of said total transaction data to said regional server via said link; (s) awarding to said customers of rewards points by said reward points scheme operators according to the value of said transactions, participating merchants, card issuers or the like having become reward points scheme operators as a result of their participation in said system;

(t) calculation by said regional server of UEP relating to all said transactions by applying said agreed formulae to the value of each said transaction and crediting said calculated UEP to the UEP accounts of said customers; (u) transmission, where a said transaction is made with a reward points scheme operator and payment is made using a conventional debit or credit card, of said total transaction data to the appropriate said card issuer via said links ' and transmission of said data by said card issuer to said regional server via said links, said card issuer reimbursing said reward points scheme operator directly¹ in the conventional way;

(v) remittance, where a said transaction is made by a registered customer with a reward points scheme operator and payment is made using UEP and a conventional debit or credit card, by said regional server to the bank account of said card issuer of an appropriate amount from said UEP account of said customer and advising said card issuer of said remittance via said link; debiting, where said remittance is less than the total value of said transaction, by said card issuer of said customer's credit card account or bank deposit account with the balance of transaction value, adding of this to said amount remitted by said regional server, remittance of the total amount to the bank account of said reward points scheme operator, and transmission via said links of advice to said rewards scheme operator of said remittance; simultaneous debiting by said regional server of the account of said reward points scheme operator with the quantum of points relating to said transaction, conversion of these to UEP according to said formula and crediting of the calculated UEP to said customer's UEP account; and, simultaneous debiting by said regional server of the accounts of the various reward points scheme operators with their contributed portions of the value of said customer's UEP payment, commencing with the earliest dated of said portions; and transmission electronically at the end of each month of a settlement account by said regional server via said links to the appropriate said reward points scheme operators for the value of all reward points redeemed during the preceding month, payment being due within an agreed period;

(w) non-generation of UEP where a said transaction is made by a said registered customer with a said non reward points scheme-operating, retail merchant having no card reader; use of UEP in whole or part-payment of a said transaction made by a said registered customer with a said non reward points scheme-operating, retail merchant is possible if said merchant employs a card reading terminal that permits the' nomination of payment by UEP, payment by UEP being nominated by button selection in said terminal in the same way as 'Savings' or 'Credit' is nominated in making payment using a Visa Card.

(x) transmission of said total transaction data directly to the appropriate said card issuer by a non reward points scheme-operating retail merchant with which a transaction is made by a registered customer and in which payment is made using credit card, bank debit card or UEP, said card issuer transmitting said total transaction data on to said regional server, both said transmissions being made via said links; said regional server calculating me quantum of UEP relating to said transaction and crediting this to said customer's UEP account; reimbursement of said merchant directly by said card issuer where said transaction is paid for by credit card or bank debit only, normal transaction procedures being used and, simultaneous transmission of said total transaction data to said regional server via said link, said regional server calculating UEP relating to said transaction and crediting this to said customer's UEP account; remittance by said regional server to the bank account of said card issuer, where said transaction is paid for using UEP plus credit card or bank debit card, of an appropriate amount not greater than the balance of said UEP account of said customer and transmission of advice to said card issuer of said remittance via said links; debiting by said card issuer of said customer's credit card or bank deposit account by the amount required to make up the total value of said transaction, adding of this to the amount remitted by said regional server and remittance of the total to the bank account of said merchant or trader; simultaneous debiting by said regional server of the accounts of the various said reward points scheme operators with their contributed proportions of the debited value of said customer's UEP account, commencing with the 'earliest dated portion, then proceeding to the next earliest and so on; simultaneous calculation by said regional server of the quantum of UEP relating to said transaction and crediting of this to said customer's UEP account; generation by said regional server at the end of each month and transmission' via said link to appropriate said reward points scheme operators of a settlement account for the value of reward points redeemed during the month immediately preceding, payment being due within an agreed period.

(y) non-requirement for reimbursement of a said participating merchant where a said transaction ^!is made by a registered customer using cash, cheque or money order, said total transaction data "being transmitted via said link's directly to the appropriate said card issuer, said card issuer transmitting it on to said regional server via said links; simultaneous debiting by said regional server of the account of said merchant reward points scheme operator with the quantum of points relating to said transaction, conversion of these to UEP according to said formula and crediting of the calculated UEP to said customer's UEP account; transmission by said regional server of said total transaction data via said links to said Co-ordinator where it is analysed for management information purposes and stored for use in future commercial promotion activities.

2. The system of Claim 1 in which said participating card issuers maintain standing accounts with said Co-ordinator via said regional servers and are provided with regular statements identifying system transactions made with them by said customers and detailing UEP calculated for each quantum of transactions according to said agreed formulae.

3. The system of Claim 1 in which said formulae optionally vary from merchant to merchant or vary according to the nature of the goods or services purchased in a said transaction; an initial low rate of conversion of transaction value to UEP being optionally offered to a new said merchant for a specified period as an inducement for said merchant to become a reward points scheme operator; rewards scheme- operating merchants selling goods having higher mark-ups optionally agreeing to higher rates of conversion of transaction value to UEP.

4. The system of Claim 1 in which, as a condition of participation in said system, said card issuers are required to agree to make payment for the value of redeemed reward points upon demand of said Co-ordinator, via said regional servers.

5. The system of Claim 1 in which said participating merchants are each provided with one or more card reading terminals connectable to the servers of said card issuers, said merchants being able to conduct a wide variety of commerce simply by accepting cards tendered by customers and without concerning themselves as to the inner workings of the system.

6. The system of Claim 1 in which said participating reward points scheme operators and participating customers are optionally required to pay an initial registration fee and an annual fee to help defray the operating cost of said system, said fees being optionally distributed in an agreed proportion between said Co-ordinator and said card-issuing financial institutions.

7. The system of Claim 1 in which, when said participating customers undertake commercial transactions with said participating card issuers or said participating merchants and payment is optionally made wholly or partly in UEP, said customers are redeeming said reward points issued by said reward points scheme operators, said reward points having been converted to UEP by said regional server to provide a universal medium of payment.'

8. The system of Claim 1 in which said card issuers may be banks, retail store chains, airlines, car hire companies or the like.

9. The system of Claim 1 in which said reward points scheme operators are typically purveyors of goods or services and may be card issuers.

10. The system of Claim 1 in which said merchants participate in said system in exactly the same way as they would with normal credit card of bank debit card transactions and using more or less the same terminal equipment.

11. The system of Claim 1 in which provision is made for said participating reward points scheme operators or non reward points scheme-operating merchants to conclude an agreement with said Co-ordinator to offer goods or services on an auction basis, such auction sale arrangements being managed by said Co-ordinator via a said regional server; as a condition of registration to participate in said auction- based commerce, said participating customers agree to establish and maintain a prescribed minimum balance in a separate auction fee account maintained at said regional server and to accept the deduction of auction fees from said auction fee account when such deduction is required, said customers being allotted unique access codes to be used in the making of auction bids; depending upon the value of an item offered for sale, said auction fee being optionally required to be paid for each individual auction bid, said auction fees being deducted from said auction fee account of each bidder and credited by said regional server to the account it maintains for the particular auction sponsor; said auction fee being optionally refunded or retained by said auction sponsor should an auction not proceed to sale, the refunding of smaller auction fees obviously not being cost effective; auctions are optionally based upon payment in UEP," in which situation participating customers offer competing bids in UEP; where a said bidding customer's bid is successful, said regional server advises said customer to this effect and requests payment, said customer having the facility to nominate payment in all of the various forms provided by said system; using the transaction mechanisms provided by said system, payment is made using credit card, bank debit card, UEP or any combination of these; following the making of payment by said customer to said sponsoring merchant or reward points scheme operator, said regional server arranges for delivery of said goods or services.

12. The system of Claim 11 in which said organisations offering goods or services for sale by auction conduct paper-based or electronic promotions which detail the goods, the nature of the auction arrangement and conditions which apply to it.

13. The system of Claim 11 in which said participating customers who have been made aware of the availability of auction-based commerce through said promotions and who wish to participate in this field of activity are guided to register by utilising a hyperlink or the like to access an electronic registration process in said regional server, said access occurring via said links.

14. The system of Claim 11 in which deposits are made to said auction fee accounts of said participating customers by automatic deduction from a credit card or bank deposit account whenever the balance of said auction fee account falls below a prescribed minimum.

15. The system of Claim 11 in which auctions of various types are advertised electronically, optionally to all said participating customers, to a particular class of said participating customers or in a separate electronic auction catalogue which all said participating customers can access.

16. The system of Claim 11 in which the mechanism of said auction offers takes a number of forms, items for sale by auction being optionally sold with or without a reserve price 'and auction procedures optionally include open ascending price, open descending price, sealed-bid first-price, sealed-bid second-price and various other novelty types.

17. The system of Claims 11 and 15 in which an auction-sponsoring merchant or reward points scheme operator wishing to sell goods or services by auction promotes these in the said manner and provides details to said regional server via said links with a request to conduct the sale under specified terms and conditions, said regional server establishing what is effectively a homepage for each said auction sale, said homepage receiving and processing bids from said customers.

18. The system of Claim 11 in which special arrangements are made for payment for high value items by cash, cheque or money order.

19. The system of Claim 1 in which said Co-ordinator or said regional servers operate one or more on-line auction sites in the said manner, said auction sites containing details of a wide range of goods or services offered for sale by said sponsoring merchants or said points scheme operators, said goods include perishable foods, airline or other travel tickets, theatre tickets, accommodation, holidays or the like that are shortly to expire and for which a last-minute sale is sought before they cease to have commercial value; a said customer bidding by accessing a said auction site through the use of said access code registering a bid by simply clicking on a bid panel for a particular good or service and inserting a bid value; electronic advice being transmitted electronically to successful bidders, transactions being completed via said transaction mechanisms and payment being made via credit card, bank debit card, UEP or any combination of these and purchased goods or services being delivered in the same way as for normal purchases.

20. The system of Claim 1 in which said Co-ordinator is paid a small percentage of the value of all transactions, this being deducted from payments due to card issuers, merchants or other reward points scheme operators.

21. The system of Claim 11 in which said access code allocated to each said participating customer also permits said customer to access his or her auction account for the purpose of ascertaining the balance therein.

22. The system of Claim 11 in which said auction fees fall typically in the range $US2.00 to $US50.00 per individual auction bid. '

23. The system of Claim 11 in which said Co-ordinator is paid a small percentage of the value of all said auction transactions and this is deducted from payments due to said merchants or said auction sponsors.

24. The system of Claim 1 in which commercial transactions may only be made and paid for in UEP by said registered participants in said system and by prior arrangement with and agreement of said Co-ordinator.

25. The system of Claim 1 in which provision is made for the return of goods or cancellation of services by a said customer, the process being managed by said regional server and generally being the reverse of that involved in a said purchase transaction; where said customer made the original purchase transaction with a said reward points scheme operator and made payment partially with UEP and partially with credit card, and the goods are returned to the same organisation, identification data is captured from said customer's card and details of the return transaction are added to create a total transaction data, said total transaction data being transmitted by said reward points scheme operator to the appropriate said card issuer via said links and by said card issuer to said regional server via said links; said regional server deducts the appropriate quantum of UEP from said customer's UEP account in said regional server and credits it to the account of said reward points scheme operator, said regional server then directs the appropriate said card issuer via said link to debit the account maintained by said card issuer in relation to said reward points scheme operator receiving said returned goods by that proportion of the value of said goods originally paid for by credit, said regional server crediting the balance of the value of said goods paid for via UEP to said customer's account in said regional server; transaction data being transmitted by said regional server to said Coordinator via said link where it is analysed and employed for management information purposes and stored for use in future commercial promotion activities.

26. The system of Claim 25 in which, where said original purchase transaction was made with¹ a said rion reward points scheme-operating merchant and paid for wholly or partly using UEP, said account maintained by the appropriate said card issuer in relation to said merchant receiving said returned goods is simply debited by that proportion of the value of said goods paid by credit card or bank debit card and the balance of the value of said transaction paid for via UEP is credited to said customer's UEP account in said regional server, the accounts in said regional server of said parties contributing to said customer's reinstated UEP credit being appropriately credited.

27. The system of Claim 1 in which said link and said links providing interconnection of computers of all said participating parties take the form of conventional internet connections.

28. The system of Claim 1 in which an on-line site is operated by said Co-ordinator or said regional servers solely for the purpose of trading UEP, offers typically being made on said site for the sale or purchase of UEP' at set prices, at prices above a reserve or without reserve; said participating customers, said sponsoring merchants or said reward points scheme operators are able to purchase or sell UEP and do so in the same way as with said normal on-line auction, payment for UEP purchases being optionally made using any of the said transaction mechanisms excepting UEP; provision also being optionally made for the free transfer of UEP from one account to another, both said accounts being identified by their said access codes, said Coordinator or said regional servers optionally charging a small fee for effecting or facilitating such transfers.

29. The system of Claim 1 in which a separate internet website is established and continuously monitored by said Co-ordinator and customers using said system and maintaining UEP account balances are invited to register to use said website, registered customers using said website being automatically and continuously classified according to their UEP balances; said website functioning as a portal to a large number of existing search engines and websites covering a very broad and extensive range of subject matter and said registered customers being encouraged to conduct all internet searches via said website, thereby, when said website is established, generating a very high number of daily 'hits', said high number of 'hits' making said website attractive to businesses which pay to post their advertising on it; an appropriate proportion of the revenue generated through said sale of advertising and other online revenues (for example, routing website traffic to other websites) is retained by said Co-ordinator and the balance distributed to said customers, said distributed revenue balance being converted to UEP and allocated to the accounts of said registered customers, either in set proportion according to said classification of said customers or in direct proportion to their UEP balances at a set time each day; optionally, for all or said customers or for some who have nominated for it to be done, UEP credits are simultaneously converted to cash values by said Co-ordinator or said regional server in set proportions according to said UEP classification of said customers, the UEP balances of said customers being debited and their bank accounts, credit card accounts or other agreed accounts being credited with the said cash values; said

UEP credits distributed to said customers by said website, where not immediately converted to cash values, are recorded in said customer UEP accounts maintained by said regional server or said Co-ordinator and paid for by said regional server or said Co-ordinator when they are redeemed.

30. The system of Claim 29 in which said registered customers using said website are automatically and continuously classified according to their UEP balances; typically, a holder of from 1 to 1 ,000 UEP credits falling into Classification 1 , a holder of from 1,001 to 5,000 UEP credits falling into Classification 2, a holder of from 5,001 to 10,000 UEP credits falling into Classification 3, and so on

31. The system of Claim 29 in which a small. bonus in UEP is optionally paid to said customers for each 'hit' on said website.

32. The system of Claim 29 in which said advertising on said website is optionally general or specific, said specific advertising consisting of pop-up advertising relating to classes of goods or services in which a particular customer may have previously exhibited interest through having previously 'hit' on related websites.

33. The system of Claim 1 in which said customers registering to participate in said system agree to accept certain restrictions and obligations including, where transactions are conducted in which payment is made only in UEP, participating customers must maintain in their UEP accounts balances sufficient to cover said transactions.

34. The system of Claim 1 in which said customers registering to participate in said system agree to accept certain restrictions and obligations including an optional prohibition on the making of UEP-only transactions outside of a customer's normal geographic area, or an optional obligation to maintain a supporting credit card or bank account in a prescribed, current credit state in relation to UEP plus credit or debit transactions, provision optionally being made for the levying of a penalty upon a said customer attempting to make a prohibited transaction, such penalty optionally including deduction from a UEP account or deduction of a pecuniary penalty from a credit card or bank account balance.

35. The system of Claim 1 in which additional UEP may be' generated through the conduct of transactions in which payment is made using UEP.

36. The system of Claim 1 in which said customers are solicited by said card issuers electronically and by conventional mail with provision for response by the same methods;

37. The system of Claim 1 in which the terms, 'points', and, 'reward points', have a common meaning.

38. The system of Claim 1 in which the term, regional server, means a regional administrative organisation operating a server interconnected with said Co-ordinator and other said regional servers for the purpose of operating the said system.

39. The system of Claim 1 in which the term, 'merchant', is employed as a general term to indicate any vendor of a good or service using the said system.

40. The system of Claim 1 in which, except where clearly impractical, any step associated with an organisational or operational procedure of the said system is intended to be useable in relation to any other step associated with an organisational or operational procedure of the said system.

41. The system of Claim 1 in which UEP is inferred from reward points or transaction value for the purpose of creating a universal means of exchange, but the ultimate effect is the same as if reward points or transaction values themselves were recorded in place of UEP.

42. The system of Claim 41 in which said reward points or transaction values are processed in accordance with a formula to create UEP.

43. The system of Claim 1 in which UEP is, effectively, virtual, transaction data from transactions paid for via all payment forms being reported by participating merchants, card issuers and the like to the appropriate regional servers where it is converted to UEP on a fixed basis and credited to customers' UEP accounts, said virtual UEP not being redeemable from merchants, card issuers or the like with which transactions were conducted, but able to be traded or exchanged and to be used by participating customers to qualify for a range of benefits, including bidding in UEP-based auctions.

44. The system of Claim 1 in which banks and financial institutions participate by capturing details of particular classes of commercial transaction in the accounts of participating customers and transmitting this data to the appropriate regional servers, said data being converted' to UEP and credited to the UEP accounts of the participating customers concerned, such commercial transactions including those paid for by cheque, credit card, debit card and EFTPOS.

45. The system of Claim 1 in which banks and financial institutions create UEP accounts linked directly to the bank accounts of participating customers and credit UEP to those accounts as they are generated by customer bank account activity, balances of said UEP accounts being transmitted to the appropriate regional server on a regular basis for the calculation of UEP to be credited to the UEP accounts of said participating customers.

46. The system of Claim 1 in which participating merchants not linked to a regional server have EFTPOS terminals which can be used to write transaction details on UEP cards issued to participating customers, said customers subsequently transferring said transaction details to appropriate regional servers via card readers linked to their personal computers, UEP then being calculated by said regional servers in the normal way and credited to the UEP accounts of said customers.

47. The system of Claim 1 in which participating customers conduct transactions with non-participating merchants and subsequently transmit transaction details to the appropriate regional server via their personal computers for conversion to UEP and crediting to their UEP accounts, receipts for said transactions, bank transaction records or the like being presented by said customers to said regional server or its representative to validate said transactions.

48. The system of Claims 44, 45, 46 or 47 in which return of goods or cancellation of services is dealt with via processes which are simply the reverse of those for purchase transactions.

49. The system of Claims 1, 11 and 43 in which, where UEP is virtual (having no redeemable value), said auction bids are based upon quanta of UEP which, in* the case of a winning bidder, is extinguished, auction sponsors deriving income from bidding or auction fees paid by said auction bidders in conventional monetary form, unsuccessful bidders not losing UEP, but forfeiting - said bidding or auction fees.