(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2004/0111343 A1
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Jun. 10, 2004
`Lindvall et al.
`
`US 2004O111343A1
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MERCHANT
`ACCOUNT ACQUISITION AND APPROVAL
`(75) Inventors: Lisa Lindvall, New York, NY (US);
`Gintas P. Balodis, New York, NY
`(US); Bruce Fraedrich, Glendale, AZ
`(US); Elizabeth Langwith, New York,
`NY (US)
`Correspondence Address:
`SNELL & WILMER
`ONE ARIZONA CENTER
`400 EAST WAN BUREN
`PHOENIX, AZ 85004.0001
`
`(73) Assignee: American Express Travel Related Ser
`vices Company, Inc.
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`(22) Filed:
`
`10/447,597
`May 29, 2003
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/430,829, filed on Dec.
`4, 2002.
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51) Int. Cl. ................................................. G06F 17/60
`(52) U.S. Cl. ................................................................ 705/35
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`A merchant account acquisition and approval System and
`method generally includes an online application proceSS for
`card acceptance. The merchant views, completes and
`receives a merchant account number and rate in real time. A
`PIN may be used to identify a particular type of merchant
`and grant access to a specific Set of terms and conditions for
`card acceptance. The merchant may enter the PIN to view
`the terms and conditions online prior to acceptance of the
`card acceptance agreement. Merchants from a Similar locale
`or business, Such as a franchisee and government entity, can
`receive similar prices, terms and conditions.
`
`
`
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`Patent Application Publication Jun. 10, 2004 Sheet 1 of 3
`
`US 2004/0111343 A1
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`
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`Patent Application Publication Jun. 10, 2004 Sheet 2 of 3
`
`US 2004/0111343 A1
`
`2OO Y
`
`DISPLAY MERCHANT --2O2
`ACCOUNT APPLICATION
`WELCOME PAGE
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`GOVERNMENT
`APPLICATION?
`
`2OL
`
`STANDARD
`MERCHANT
`APPLICATION?
`
`2O7
`
`DISPLAY SPECIALIZED
`TERMS AND CONDITIONS
`AGREEMENT
`
`2O6
`
`DISPLAY STANDARD
`TERMS AND CONDITIONS
`AGREEMENT
`AGREE
`
`
`
`DISPLAY REQUEST
`FOR COMMENTS
`
`
`
`
`
`222
`
`OPTIONAL
`WELCOMELETTER
`
`
`
`22O
`
`DISPLAY
`NEW MERCHANT
`ACCOUNT NUMBER
`
`28 AGREE
`DECLINE DISPLAY PRICING
`INFORMATION
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`2O8.
`
`21O
`
`212
`
`21l
`
`COLLECT MERCHANT
`INFORMATION
`
`COLLECT BANKACCOUNT
`INFORMATION
`
`COLLECT AUTHORIZED
`SIGNER INFORMATION
`
`VERIFY ALL
`INFORMATION
`
`216
`
`()
`YES
`
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`Patent Application Publication Jun. 10, 2004 Sheet 3 of 3
`
`US 2004/0111343 A1
`
`200
`
`3O3
`
`
`
`No
`
`DISPLAY STANDARD TERMS
`AND CONDITIONS
`AGREEMENT
`DECLINE
`3OL-
`
`(A)
`
`COLLECTSTATE
`INFORMATION
`
`MASTER
`AGREEMENT
`N PLACE?
`
`YES
`COLLECTPIN
`
`3O1
`
`25O2
`
`3O6
`
`3O5
`
`NO. DISPLAYERROR
`MESSAGE
`
`RETURNTO
`STEP2O2
`
`YES
`DISPLAY STATES MASTER --3O7
`DISPLAYREQUESTDECUNEERREN
`AGREE
`COLLECT AUTHORIZED
`SIGNER INFORMATION
`
`312
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`352
`
`
`
`OPTIONAL
`WELCOMELETTER
`
`
`
`32O.
`
`DISPLAY
`NEW MERCHANT
`ACCOUNT NUMBER
`
`318
`
`
`
`DECLINE
`
`DISPLAY PRICING
`INFORMATION
`
`COLLECT MERCHANT
`INFORMATION
`
`COLLECT BANKACCOUNT
`INFORMATION
`
`WERIFY ALL
`INFORMATION
`
`3O8.
`
`51O
`
`351L
`
`31(3
`
`Fig. 3
`
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`US 2004/011 1343 A1
`
`Jun. 10, 2004
`
`SYSTEMAND METHOD FOR MERCHANT
`ACCOUNT ACQUISITION AND APPROVAL
`
`CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`0001. This application claims priority from U.S. Provi
`sional Patent Application Serial No. 60/430,829 filed Dec. 4,
`2002 entitled, “System and Method for Merchant Account
`Approval,” which is hereby incorporated by reference.
`
`FIELD OF INVENTION
`0002 The invention relates generally to a system and
`method for merchant account acquisition and approval and,
`more particularly to a real-time processing System and
`method for acquiring and approving merchants for accep
`tance of transaction cards at any merchant location.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`For many consumers, the most convenient form of
`0.003
`payment for purchases of goods and Services is with a
`transaction card (“card”), having a magnetic Stripe, an
`embossed account number, printed unique card identifica
`tion number (CID) and/or a smart chip. Cardholders may be
`use a card, for example, to facilitate transactions at various
`entities (“merchants'), Such as Service establishments, cus
`tomer activated terminals and kiosks, automated teller
`machines (ATM), point of sale (POS), and instances when
`the physical card is not required, Such as purchases over the
`Internet.
`0004 Generally, in order to accept a card, merchants
`enter into an agreement with a card issuer to accept a brand
`of cards (e.g., AMERICAN EXPRESS(R), VISA(E), Master
`Card(E, DISCOVER CARD(R) and agree to a rate of pay
`ment to the issuer often called the “discount rate” (e.g., a flat
`rate or a percentage of each sale). To use a card, the
`cardmember or cardholder enters into an agreement with a
`card issuer, establishes a card account with the issuer, and
`makes payments to that issuer for purchases or cash
`advances. The card issuer is typically a bank or other
`financial organization (e.g., American Express(E), Bank of
`America(E), Citibank(E), MBNA America(E), Chase Manhattan
`Bank(E) operating under the regulations of a card issuing
`asSociation or entity and its name generally appears on the
`card.
`0005. Due to the numerous advantages of card accep
`tance, “untraditional' merchants, Such as dental and medical
`offices, and utility companies have Started accepting cards
`for payments of billed Services. For the cardmember, paying
`a bill with a card is a fast, easy way to fulfill payment
`obligations. Merchants are realizing benefits from card
`acceptance through immediate payment in full (rather than
`waiting until customers have the cash on hand) and elimi
`nating the risk of bad checks and costly follow-up billing. Of
`course, card issuers also generally benefit from increased
`usage by charging cardmembers interest on Outstanding
`balances and receiving payment from the discount rate
`pursuant to the merchant/issuer agreement.
`0006 Government entities are rapidly joining the list of
`“untraditional' merchants and Starting to accept cards for
`payments. For example, many local, city, county, State and
`federal government offices are now accepting cards for
`
`payments of duplicate driver licenses, identification cards,
`personalized/specialty license plates, vehicle registration
`renewals, payment of taxes, fees and many other govern
`ment-provided or issued goods and Services. However, due
`to the vast number of government entities, it is logistically
`challenging for card issuers to visit each one to set up card
`acceptance agreements. Accordingly, many of the Smaller
`government entities are never approached by issuers, So the
`benefits of card acceptance to the consumer, merchant and
`issuer are never realized.
`0007. The conventional wisdom is for the issuer to
`employ additional Salespeople to target these Smaller gov
`ernment entities, but additional employees are a costly
`Solution. Furthermore, even if the Smaller government
`offices are directly Solicited by the issuer, ensuring that each
`of the offices are set up equally and under Similar terms and
`conditions as the remaining offices within the same locale
`(e.g., city, county or State) is time-consuming, cumberSome,
`and may unfairly disadvantage an office agreeing to terms
`(e.g., discount rate) not as favorable as the remaining offices.
`0008 Moreover, direct solicitation by the issuer often
`results in labor-intensive completion of paper or electronic
`forms that must be returned to an approving authority and
`reviewed prior to the merchant being able to Start accepting
`cards.
`0009 Attempts have been made to solve some of the
`above problems by providing an application System for
`merchant card acceptance using the Internet. For instance,
`U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,349 issued to Zirkel allows the merchant
`to Submit merchant information, Such as the business name,
`address, type of Sales, total Sales, and banking information
`via a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) page on the
`Internet.
`0010 The merchant also enters the credit card brand(s)
`that it wishes to accept from customers as payment. In most
`cases, the card processing account is with a third-party
`provider and therefore the application must be sent to the
`third-party for approval. Zirkel and Similar Systems may
`help to eliminate some of the labor needed to establish a
`merchant account for card acceptance by utilizing an online
`process, however, the System Still requires a Separate
`approving authority prior to merchant account approval.
`0011. In addition, these systems fail to provide a substan
`tially fool-proof way to Set-up merchants within the same
`locale with Similar terms and conditions.
`0012. Accordingly, a system and method for merchant
`account acquisition and approval that is cost and labor
`reducing, easily assessable, and can reach every merchant,
`regardless of their size or locale is needed. In addition, there
`is a need for a real-time processing System and method to
`acquire and approve merchants for acceptance and renewal
`of cards at any merchant location.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`0013 A merchant online application process which gen
`erally includes a merchant account acquisition and approval
`System and method for card acceptance which facilitates a
`merchant being able to view an application, complete an
`application and receive a merchant account number in real
`time. A PIN may be used to identify a particular type of
`merchant and grant access to a Specific Set of terms and
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`US 2004/011 1343 A1
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`
`conditions for card acceptance. The merchant may enter the
`PIN to view the terms and conditions online prior to accep
`tance of the card acceptance agreement. Merchants from a
`Similar locale or business, Such as a franchisee and govern
`ment entity, can receive Similar terms and conditions.
`0.014. The system facilitates acquisition of new merchant
`accounts and renewal of existing merchant accounts. The
`System includes an Internet website having a merchant
`account application, a merchant WorkStation in communi
`cation with the website via the Internet, wherein the mer
`chant WorkStation includes a display for viewing a merchant
`account application retrieved from Said Server and for View
`ing a conditional Statement retrieved from the database, the
`conditional Statement includes a set of default terms or a
`Specific Set of terms Such that a Selection of the conditional
`Statement is dependent upon the type of merchant applying
`for account approval. The merchant may complete the online
`merchant account application, the Server receives the appli
`cation from the WorkStation, the Server generates a merchant
`account number and provides the account number to the
`WorkStation via the network in Substantially real-time upon
`receiving the application.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`0.015
`Certain features, aspects and advantages of the
`present invention may be best understood by reference to the
`following description taken in conjunction with the accom
`panying drawings, wherein like reference numerals repre
`Sent like elements:
`0016 FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system for mer
`chant account acquisition and approval;
`0017 FIG. 2 is a flowchart describing various exemplary
`embodiments of merchant account acquisition and approval
`in accordance with the invention; and
`0.018
`FIG. 3 is a flowchart describing one particular
`exemplary embodiment of merchant account acquisition and
`approval in accordance with the invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY
`EMBODIMENTS
`0019. The present invention provides an improved sys
`tem and method for merchant account acquisition, renewal
`and/or approval. The invention has particular usefulneSS in
`the acquisition and/or renewal of merchants for acceptance
`of transaction cards at merchant locations. Although the
`System and methods disclosed herein may be Suitable for
`acquisition of various kinds of merchants in a variety of
`industries, the present invention is conveniently described
`with reference to the transaction card industry, and more
`particularly to account acquisitions for acceptance of trans
`action cards at government-type entities. It should be rec
`ognized that the invention has similar application to acqui
`Sition, renewal and/or approval of various other types of
`merchants, Such as franchise owners or operators, Store
`fronts, mail orders, phone or home based, e-commerce, and
`corporate-based clientele. The invention may also be appli
`cable to a contracting System and method for other types of
`products in addition to financial cards, Such as, for example,
`membership cards, insurance, health care, Surveys, events,
`fundraising, loyalty Systems, clubs, trade organizations,
`unions, lobbying efforts and/or the like.
`
`0020. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to
`a System that facilitates merchant account approval for
`acceptance of transactions cards at merchant locations using
`a cost-effective online channel for merchant acquisition. The
`invention also includes a cost-effective online channel for
`merchant account renewal of card acceptance agreements
`upon, for example, expiration of those agreements. In gen
`eral, merchants are approved and activated for acceptance of
`transaction cards with a merchant account and account
`number in Substantially real time. Merchants within the
`same locale or business (e.g., franchised merchants and
`State-specific government offices) may be provided with a
`specific PIN (personal identification number) to permit
`access to online viewing of that merchant's Specific terms
`and conditions for card acceptance. For example, one or
`more government entities in a specific State may have
`already established negotiated terms and conditions for card
`acceptance for all the government entities in that State. Thus,
`each government entity of that State can view the agreement
`Specific to that State prior to (or during and/or after) activa
`tion of card acceptance, thereby ensuring that each govern
`ment office of the State receives Similar agreement terms and
`conditions. Other benefits include reduced manpower and
`costs for acquiring merchant accounts because no or fewer
`Salespeople are involved in the Set up and activation of
`merchants, increased revenues with card acceptance by
`capturing merchants that Salespeople would not normally
`Visit (e.g., remotely located merchants or Smaller retail
`merchants); projected time-savings for merchant account Set
`up by elimination of redundant Steps, especially for mer
`chants within the same locale; ease of using an online
`application, Viewing and approval process, and the flexibil
`ity for merchants to choose when to apply or renew for card
`acceptance.
`0021 AS used herein, the following terms have the mean
`ing defined below or their equivalence:
`0022 "Account number” includes any device, code,
`number, letter, symbol, biometric or other identifier/indicia
`Suitably configured to allow the consumer to interact or
`communicate with the System, Such as, for example, autho
`rization/access code, personal identification number (PIN),
`Internet code, other identification code, and/or the like
`which is optionally located on a rewards card, charge card,
`credit card, debit card, prepaid card, telephone card, Smart
`card, magnetic Stripe card, bar code card, transponder, radio
`frequency card and/or the like. The account number may be
`distributed and Stored in any form of plastic, electronic,
`magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or optical
`device capable of transmitting or downloading data from
`itself to a Second device. A customer account number may
`be, for example, a Sixteen-digit credit card number, although
`each credit provider has its own numbering System, Such as
`the fifteen-digit numbering System used by American
`Express. Each company's credit card numbers comply with
`that company's Standardized format Such that the company
`using a sixteen-digit format will generally use four spaced
`sets of numbers, as represented by the number “0000 0000
`0000 0000". The first five to seven digits are reserved for
`processing purposes and identify the issuing bank, card type
`and etc. In this example, the last Sixteenth digit is used as a
`Sum check for the Sixteen-digit number. The intermediary
`eight-to-ten digits are used to uniquely identify the cus
`tomer. A merchant account number may be, for example, any
`number or alpha-numeric characters that identifies a par
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`
`ticular merchant for purposes of card acceptance, account
`reconciliation, reporting, or the like.
`0023 “Card” includes any suitable device having an
`asSociated account, Such as, for example, a transaction card,
`financial card, rewards card, charge card, credit card, debit
`card, bank card, prepaid card, telephone card, Smart card,
`magnetic Stripe card, bar code card, radio frequency card
`and/or key fob. One skilled in the art will appreciate that a
`“card” is not limited to a physical device; rather, the card
`may include an account number associated with an account,
`wherein the account may be located on the card, associated
`with the card and/or accessible from a database located
`remote from the card.
`0024 “Merchant' includes any person, entity, business,
`Service establishment, retailer, wholesaler, franchise owner
`or operator, Storefront, mail order company, phone or home
`based, e-commerce, corporate-based, agency, office, or any
`other establishment where goods and/or Services are Sold or
`provided. "Merchant' also includes government or govern
`ment-type offices, agencies or entities where the eXchange of
`payment may occur. "Merchant may also include public
`Service entities Such as utility and telephone companies, as
`well as public Schools, libraries, and the like.
`0025 Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 for merchant
`account acquisition and approval according to various prin
`ciples of the invention is shown. System 100 generally
`includes a host Server 102, one or more merchant computing
`systems 104, an invitation source 106a-106d, and a com
`munication network 108 therebetween.
`0026. According to various embodiments, merchants
`receive an invitation 106a-106d to apply (or renew) for card
`acceptance at their merchant location(s). For example, the
`merchant may receive an email or hyperlink 106a, enter a
`webpage with a link, pop-up ad or banner ad; or a direct
`mailing 106b from the card issuer inviting them to apply for
`card acceptance. Additionally, the merchant may be visited
`by a salesperson 106c or may be referred to apply for card
`acceptance 106d by an acquaintance, fellow business entity,
`franchiser, peer agency, and/or the like. Merchants use
`computing Systems 104 to access a website and directly
`apply for a merchant account Via communication network
`108 (e.g., the Internet). Host server 102 provides webpages
`(e.g., HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) pages) to
`computing Systems 104 for merchant viewing and entering
`of information, and receives the completed pages for pro
`cessing. In one particular embodiment, the merchant is
`provided a PIN for accessing a predefined set of terms and
`conditions agreement. The PIN may be provided to the
`merchant by invitation source 106a-106d or by host server
`102. Once all the requested information is received and
`processed, the merchant is provided with a merchant
`account number in Substantially real time and can almost
`immediately begin accepting the applied-for card. In most
`cases, the approval process is Substantially transparent to the
`merchant and occurs in Substantially real-time, especially
`when the merchant is part of a larger merchant locale Such
`as a government entity, whereby the predefined terms and
`conditions may have already been approved and/or negoti
`ated. Moreover, the approval process occurs in Substantially
`real-time when the default terms and conditions are utilized.
`Of course, each individual merchant may still have the
`option to decline predefined, pre-approved or pre-negotiated
`
`terms. The foregoing general proceSS will be discussed in
`further detail in the following flow charts and accompanying
`descriptions.
`0027 Host 102 may include, for example, a processor for
`processing digital data, a memory coupled to the processor
`for Storing digital data, an input digitizer coupled to the
`processor for inputting digital data, and an application
`program Stored in the memory and accessible by the pro
`ceSSor for directing the processing of digital data by the
`processor. Host 102 may further include a webservice which
`receives a request for a browser which includes a URL
`(universal resource locator) and an IP address. The webser
`Vice retrieves the appropriate webpages and sends the
`webpages to the IP address.
`0028. One or more databases may be included in host 102
`for Storing merchant data, card acceptance agreements,
`financial institution data and/or like data that can be used in
`association with the invention. One skilled in the art will
`also appreciate that, for Security reasons, any databases,
`Systems, or components of the present invention may
`include any combination of databases or components at a
`Single location or at multiple locations, wherein each data
`base or System includes any of various Suitable Security
`features, Such as firewalls, access codes, encryption, de
`encryption and the like.
`0029. The database may be any type of database, such as
`relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like.
`Common database products that may be used to implement
`the databases include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), any
`of the database products available from Oracle Corporation
`(Redwood Shores, Calif.), Microsoft Access by Microsoft
`Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), or any other database prod
`uct. The database may be organized in any Suitable manner,
`including as data tables or lookup tables. ASSociation of
`certain data may be accomplished through any data asso
`ciation technique known and practiced in the art. For
`example, the association may be accomplished either manu
`ally or automatically. Automatic association techniques may
`include, for example, a database Search, a database merge,
`GREP, AGREP, SQL, and/or the like. The association step
`may be accomplished by a database merge function, for
`example, using a “key field' in each of the manufacturer and
`retailer data tables. A “key field” partitions the database
`according to the high-level class of objects defined by the
`key field. For example, a certain class may be designated as
`a key field in both the first data table and the second data
`table, and the two data tables may then be merged on the
`basis of the class data in the key field. In this embodiment,
`the data corresponding to the key field in each of the merged
`data tables is preferably the same. However, data tables
`having Similar, though not identical, data in the key fields
`may also be merged by using AGREP, for example.
`0030 Merchant computing systems 104 may include, for
`example, a computing unit in the form of a personal com
`puter, although other types of computing units may be used
`including laptops, notebooks, hand held computers, cellular
`phone, personal digital assistant, Set-top boxes, and the like.
`System 104 generally includes a display and input means,
`e.g., keyboard, mouse, touch Screen, Voice recognition Soft
`ware. AS those skilled in the art will appreciate, merchant
`computing System 104 will typically include an operating
`system (e.g., Windows NT,95/98/2000, Linux, Solaris, etc.)
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`
`as well as various conventional Support Software and drivers
`typically associated with computers. System 104 can be in
`a home or business environment with Suitable access to a
`network. In an exemplary embodiment, access is through the
`internet through a commercially-available web-browser
`Software package.
`0.031
`Communication between the merchant computing
`system 104 and the host server 102 is accomplished through
`any Suitable communication means for exchanging data or
`transacting business, Such as, for example, a telephone
`network, intranet, internet, extranet, WAN, LAN, satellite
`communications, online communications, off-line commu
`nications, wireleSS communications, and/or the like. It is
`noted that the network may also be implemented as other
`types of networks, such as an interactive television (ITV)
`network.
`0032. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in
`the art, a merchant acquisition and approval System in
`accordance with the various principles of the invention may
`be embodied as a method, a data processing System, a device
`for data processing, and/or a computer program product.
`Accordingly, the invention may take the form of an entirely
`Software embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or
`an embodiment combining aspects of both Software and
`hardware. Furthermore, the invention may take the form of
`a computer program product on a computer-readable Storage
`medium having computer-readable program code means
`embodied in the Storage medium.
`0033) Any suitable computer-readable storage medium
`may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, optical
`Storage devices, magnetic Storage devices, and/or the like.
`0034.
`It will be understood that each functional block of
`the accompanying diagrams and flowchart illustrations can
`be realized by any number of hardware and/or software
`components configured to perform the Specified functions.
`For example, the present invention may employ various
`integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, pro
`cessing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the
`like, which may carry out a variety of functions under the
`control of one or more microprocessors or other control
`devices. In addition, the invention may be implemented by
`computer program instructions. These computer program
`instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer,
`Special purpose computer, or other programmable data pro
`cessing apparatus to produce a machine, Such that the
`instructions which execute on the computer or other pro
`grammable data processing apparatus create means for
`implementing the functions Specified in the flowchart block
`or blocks.
`0035. These computer program instructions may also be
`Stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a
`computer or other programmable data processing apparatus
`to function in a particular manner, Such that the instructions
`Stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article
`of manufacture including instruction means which imple
`ment the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
`The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto
`a computer or other programmable data processing appara
`tus to cause a Series of operational Steps to be performed on
`the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a
`computer-implemented proceSS Such that the instructions
`which execute on the computer or other programmable
`
`apparatus provide Steps for implementing the functions
`specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
`0036 Software elements may be implemented with any
`programming or Scripting language Such as C, C++, Java,
`COBOL, assembler, PERL, extensible markup language
`(XML), with the various algorithms being implemented with
`any combination of data structures, objects, processes, rou
`tines or other programming elements.
`0037. Further, it should be noted that the present inven
`tion may employ any number of conventional techniques for
`data transmission, Signaling, data processing, network con
`trol, and the like.
`0038) Referring to FIG. 2, a flowchart 200 describing the
`operation of an exemplary merchant account acquisition and
`approval System according to an embodiment of the inven
`tion is shown. The operation generally begins with the
`merchant gaining access to, and the System facilitating the
`display of, a generalized "Merchant Account Application
`Welcome Page” (step 202). Access may be through any of
`the previously described techniques and Systems Such as
`system 100.
`0039 The system may then send a request to the mer
`chant to identify the type of merchant application requested.
`For example, according to the various principles of the
`invention, multiple types of merchants can apply for card
`acceptance and depending on the type of merchant, the terms
`and conditions of card acceptance may vary. Thus, by
`identifying what type of merchant is applying for card
`acceptance, the System can provide the appropriate applica
`tion and agreement. If the merchant Selects a Standard
`merchant application (step 204), then a standard “Terms and
`Conditions' agreement for card acceptance may be dis
`played (step 206). If the merchant is not a standard merchant
`requesting Standard card acceptance (e.g., a franchise opera
`tor, a government office, a corporate purchasing card appli
`cation), then a specialized or pre-negotiated terms and
`conditions agreement for card acceptance may be displayed
`(step 207). The specialized terms and conditions may
`include, for example, terms applicable to the type of busi
`ness structure of the merchant (e.g., franchisee), or may be
`terms and conditions that have been previously negotiated
`(e.g., franchise owner).
`0040. In one particular embodiment, the system may
`have a specialized application for government-type mer
`chants (step 205). These types of merchants may be, for
`example, local, city, county, State or federal government
`departments, agencies or entities. Additional details regard
`ing this type of merchant and application process will follow
`with respect to FIG. 3 and the accompanying description.
`0041 After the terms and conditions agreement is dis
`played (e.g., Steps 206 and 207), the System may request that
`the merchant accept the agreement by Selecting, for
`example, “Agree” or “Decline.” If the merchant declines the
`agreement, it may be advantageous to the card issuer to
`understand why the merchant chose to decline. In this
`manner, the merchant may be requested to provide feedback
`or comments on the reasons for declining the agreement
`(step 209). In the instance where the merchant agrees to the
`displayed terms and conditions agreement, the process for
`gathering application information may begin.
`0042 Generally, the system requests the merchant to
`provide information about the business (step 208). For
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`example, the merchant may provide the busineSS or com
`pany name and any aliases of the business (i.e., DBA, FKA,
`AKA), physical location of the business, mailing address of
`the business, whether the busineSS is home, phone or internet
`based, contact person information, total Sales, average dollar
`per Sale, and any other application-related information
`which may assist the card issuer in establishing a merchant
`account number.
`0043. The system then requests the merchant to provide
`bank account information (step 210). This may be, for
`example, a bank account number, type of account, bank
`routing number, and/or bank name. This information may be
`used by the issuer to deposit payments electronically to the
`merchant's bank account.
`0044) The merchant may also be asked to provide autho
`rized signer information (step 212). For example, contact
`information for an authorized signer of the merchant may be
`requested to Verify that the Signer understands and agrees to
`the application process and/or that the individual agreeing
`for card acceptance is authorized on behalf of the merchant
`to do So.
`0.045 Once a certain portion of the requested information
`is collected, the merchant may be asked to Verify that the
`information is correct (Step 214). The merchant may See a
`replication of an application having the fields completed
`with information provided by the merchant. If the merchant
`chooses to edit any of the information, then the merchant
`may be brought back to a particular section of the applica
`tion and asked to input the correct information (step 216). If,
`however, all the information is accurate, the merchant can
`proceed through the process and may be shown the pricing
`infor