Systems and methods for commodity exchanges

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems for completing sales to a consumer with a new card that combines the process of dispensing pre-purchased commodities from a customer account at the point of sale as well as the ability to complete the transaction with a credit and debit function. The present invention includes a distributed system having at least a part for sales of a commodity and at least one a part for dispensing of a commodity. The distributed system includes a communication connection between the parts. A first entity uses the first part of the distributed system to sell commodities to a consumer to be dispensed at a later time. The consumer obtains the commodities in differing amounts from the amounts sold from a second entity. The second entity uses the second part of the distributed system and the communication link between the first and second parts of the distributed system to verify amounts available to be dispensed to the consumer.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for facilitating the sale of a commodity from a supplier to a consumer wherein the supplier provides the commodity to a retailer for distribution to consumers, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving from the supplier a price for the commodity;   providing the consumer with the price of the commodity;   receiving from the consumer a first amount of the commodity to purchase;   transferring funds to the supplier for the first amount of the commodity;   crediting a consumer account with the first amount of the commodity;   receiving information regarding a second amount of the commodity to be dispensed to the consumer; and   debiting the second amount of the commodity from the consumer account.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the commodity is gasoline. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of collecting funds from the consumer in at least the amount of funds transferred to the supplier. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further including, before the transferring step, the steps of:
 determining if the consumer has sufficient funds for the first amount of the commodity; and   refusing to transfer funds to the supplier if the consumer does not have sufficient funds.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the determining step includes providing credit to the consumer. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving of information includes:
 receiving a request from the retailer to dispense the commodity to the consumer;
 verifying that consumer account has a sufficient amount of the commodity; 
 providing authorization to the retailer to dispense the commodity to the consumer; and 
   receiving information from the retailer of the second amount of the commodity.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 ,
 wherein the providing of authorization includes providing authorization for a third amount of the commodity;   wherein, when the second amount of the commodity exceeds the third amount of the commodity, the receiving information step includes the step of providing a cost for an amount by which the second amount of the commodity exceeds the third amount of the commodity;   the method further comprising the step of transmitting funds for the cost.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the commodity is a first commodity, the method further comprising the steps of:
 receiving from the supplier a second price for a second commodity;   providing the consumer with the second price of the second commodity;   receiving from the consumer a first amount of the second commodity to purchase;   transferring funds to the supplier for the first amount of the second commodity;   crediting a consumer account with the first amount of the second commodity;   receiving information regarding a second amount of the second commodity dispensed to the consumer; and   debiting the second amount of the second commodity from the consumer account.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the first commodity is a first type of gasoline and the second commodity is a second type of gasoline. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the steps of:
 debiting a first conversion amount of the first commodity from the consumer account;   determining a second conversion amount of the second commodity by applying a conversion ratio to the first conversion amount; and   crediting the second conversion amount of the second commodity to the consumer account.   
     
     
         11 . A system for the sale of a commodity to a consumer comprising:
 a first entity receiving funds from a consumer and transmitting funds to a second entity for the purchase of a first amount of the commodity;   the second entity further providing the commodity to at least one third entity in amounts unrelated to the first amount of the commodity;   the at least one third entity dispensing the commodity to the consumer in at least one second amount, the second amount being less than or equal to the first amount and the total of the at least one second amount being equal to the first amount.   
     
     
         12 . A point of sale system for dispensing and selling at least one commodity, the point of sale system having a connection to a separate system for requesting approval for sales of the at least one commodity, the point of sale system included:
 at least one input for identifying the at least one commodity and a corresponding quantity of the at least one commodity;   at least one input for identifying a customer seeking to purchase the at least one commodity;   a transmitter/receiver for transmitting the at least one commodity and the corresponding quantity over the connection and for receiving an approved quantity of the at least one commodity;   a processor for determining a balance due for the at least one commodity and corresponding quantity, less the approved quantity;   a payment input for receiving funds in the amount of the balance due.