Open payment network

Abstract

Systems and methods discussed herein relate to an Open Payment Network that allows a plurality of retailers to provide goods and services to users of applications including e-wallets and allows the users to pay for purchases using currency including digital currency earned as credits, points, or other rewards as well as traditional bank-backed currency in the form of cash, credit, or debit. In addition, a user who has registered for the system through a profile or using an individual application or applications can query the system and obtain a quote to determine how much value currency from a variety of sources (e.g., applications) has towards the purchase of a particular good or service at a real or virtual retail location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a point of sale, a transaction request for at least one good or service, wherein the transaction request comprises a first requestor identifier and a second requestor identifier;   sending, by the point of sale, to a transaction processing platform, a request comprising the first requestor identifier, the second requestor identifier, and a point of sale identifier;   receiving, by the point of sale, a response to the transaction request, wherein the response to the transaction request is based on a determination that the first requestor identifier, the second requestor identifier, and the point of sale identifier correspond to information retrieved by the transaction processing platform and are associated with at least one requestor identifier and the point of sale identifier, wherein the second requestor identifier was associated with the first requestor identifier prior to the point of sale receiving the transaction request; and   completing, by the point of sale, in response to receiving the response to the transaction request, the transaction request based upon the determination.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction request is one of a currency conversion request, a quotation for purchase, a request for purchase, a request for a balance, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction request is received by the point of sale from a portable communication device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the point of sale identifier is associated with at least one of a point of sale terminal, a corporate entity, a geographic region, a business unit, a department, a store type, a brand, a store target customer group, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction request is received by the point of sale from a card, fob, or keypad entry at the point of sale. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending, by the point of sale, to the transaction processing platform, prior to completing the transaction request, and subsequent to receiving the response to the request, a fee. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the point of sale:
 receiving a fee from the transaction processing platform; and   sending at least a portion of the fee to a portable communication device.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the transaction request comprises a request for currency conversion, wherein the request for currency conversion comprises an amount of currency and a request to convert that amount into a currency accepted by the point of sale. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the amount of currency is indicated by at least one of an international currency, airline miles, digital currency, frequent buyer points, customer loyalty points, social media points, as well as points and credits earned from activities associated with the requestor identifier. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the amount of currency comprises a first portion associated with a first vendor, wherein the first vendor is associated with the point of sale, and a second portion associated with a second vendor. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the second vendor is not associated with the first vendor. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the amount of currency is associated with a first vendor associated with but different from a second vendor associated with the point of sale, wherein the second vendor associated with the point of sale is at least one of a parent company, subsidiary, or sister company of the first vendor. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction request is directed to a purchase transaction, a redemption transaction, a quote, a balance inquiry, a conversion value inquiry, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         14 . A system comprising:
 a processor;   a memory;   a plurality of data stores, wherein the system is networked with a plurality of merchant systems and a plurality of applications;   a first application associated with a first application provider;   a second application associated with the system and on a transaction processing platform, wherein the second application and the system are associated with a second application provider which is distinct from the first application provider, wherein the processor executes instructions to cause the system to:
 receive a transaction request, wherein the transaction request includes transaction information comprising a requestor identifier associated with a requestor, a first application identifier associated with the first application provider, and a merchant identifier associated with a first merchant; 
 determine whether conversion information associated with the first application identifier and the first merchant is in the plurality of data stores; 
 based on information associated with the first application identifier and the first merchant, send a response message to the requestor, wherein the first application provider, the second application provider, and the first merchant are different entities. 
   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein a transaction identifier is assigned by the second application after receiving the transaction request. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the conversion information associated with the first application provider and the first merchant comprise rules regarding conversion of first value tokens associated with a user and the first application provider to second value tokens associated with the first merchant. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein upon a determination that the conversion information is not stored in the plurality of data stores, the second application sends a second transaction request for such information to the first application. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein upon a determination that the conversion information is stored in the plurality of data stores, the second application applies the conversion information prior to sending the response message. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the second application determines whether a format of the transaction request is a valid format for sending the transaction request to the first application and upon determination that the transaction request is not in the valid format, the second application determines the valid format and reformats the transaction request to a second transaction request of the valid format for the first application. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the transaction request is a redemption, wherein the first transaction request is received from a server associated with the first merchant, wherein the second application receives a redemption confirmation from a first merchant server and an account associated with the user and the first application provider is debited a first amount corresponding to the first value tokens. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 16 , further receiving at a second application server a third transaction request with transaction information associated with a third application and said first merchant. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 16 , further receiving at a second application server a third transaction request with transaction information associated with the first application and a second merchant.