HK1184263A - Systems that allow multiple retailers the ability to participate in restricted spend card programs - Google Patents

Abstract

A system is provided for multiple retailers to participate in restricted spend financial transaction card programs. A retailer infrastructure includes a point of sale server coupled to a store concentrator and to a product tables/price book(s). An adjudication processor is coupled to the retailer infrastructure and includes: a switch, a market basket analysis server that validates items in a market basket and a process control server. The market basket analysis server is coupled to product catalogs and validates eligible items in the market basket. Content attributes in the market basket are communicated between the market basket analysis server and the switch. A catalog management server is coupled to the adjudication processor. The switch, market basket analysis server, catalog management server and the process control server are configured to provide adjudication.

Description

System for allowing multiple retailers the ability to participate in restricted consumer card programs

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. application No.61/422,507, filed on 12/13/2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to facilitating participation by multiple retailers in restricted consumption programs, and more particularly, to a system that enables multiple retailers to participate in restricted consumption card programs without requiring maintenance of approved item lists, thereby saving significant human costs.

Background

Many managed healthcare providers offer discounts for prescription drugs to their buyers. However, only a few managed healthcare providers also offer their buyers discounts for Over-The-Counter (OTC) medications. Thus, it is common for buyers to visit emergency rooms for minor illnesses (e.g., runny nose and coughing). These visits, and the medications prescribed during these visits, are typically very expensive and are typically paid for by the managed healthcare provider.

Many of these visits and their associated expenditures can be eliminated if a buyer is given a monthly fixed amount for spending on OTC products (e.g., OTC cough syrups, antihistamines, aspirin, etc.). A modest managed healthcare provider offering OTC benefits to its buyers has traditionally attempted to achieve the offering (of OTC benefits) through the use of paper coupons or forms given to the buyers and redeemed at retail stores. These conventional methods are typically fraught with errors and do not provide the following capabilities: any reporting capabilities associated with the method are provided.

In one system and method for facilitating redemption of a benefit by a purchaser, a financial transaction card is provided that includes associating an identification code with the purchaser. The identification code is stored on the financial transaction card. An account record associated with the identification code is accessed and a determination is then made to determine whether the item presented for purchase by the buyer qualifies for a financial discount. If the item is determined to qualify for a financial discount, an appropriate discount for the item is calculated.

Current approaches involve multiple entities related to the managed healthcare provider and multiple entities in the retailer sense, but fail to provide the complexity inherent in many-to-many scenarios of creating, associating, and managing a list of eligible items. A single managed healthcare organization is quite intuitive with a list of items plus a single retailer brand. However, multiple organizations with more than one list of items accepted at multiple retailers is a more complex scenario. In the case of using the current method, the list itself is identified. However, even if the resulting list output is necessary in order to perform item matching based on the presented payment or ID mechanism at the time of purchase, current methods fail to create, associate, and manage the list.

Most U.S. healthcare programs provide a range of benefits for healthcare-related OTC projects at retail stores. Examples include (but are not limited to): allergy medications, cough and cold medications, pain medication, vitamins, and the like.

The federal government has limited the use of welfare funds directed to a retailer brand (merchant) through the ministry of health and public services, and more particularly through the centers for medical insurance and medical assistance; many retailer brands are required to provide this benefit. Furthermore, the federal government does not restrict retailers in the sense of what items are offered, so long as the items are a subset of the entire approved list and they are provided to all buyers.

The current methods do not involve: how to create a qualified item list, how to associate it with a card plan, and how to continue to manage. Current methods only involve determining whether an item presented for a buyer's purchase qualifies or disqualifies based on a list; a listing provided by a managed healthcare provider, or a listing provided by an employer under the flexible benefit card (flex benefit card) example.

The following systems and methods are needed: it allows several retailers to participate in restricted payment plans created by several healthcare plans (or sponsors) without the need to manage multiple lists of eligible items. There is also a need for the following systems and methods: it allows several retailers to participate in a restricted payment plan created by several healthcare plans without the need to execute rules associated with each item from several lists and the customer purchases the item in real time at their stores.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to provide the following system: it enables multiple retailers to participate in limited-use financial transaction card programs without the need to maintain approved item lists, thereby saving significant human costs.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the following system: it enables multiple retailers to participate in limited-consumption financial transaction card programs without the retailer being responsible for approving the accuracy of the contents of the item list, thereby eliminating business and compliance risks.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the following system: it more readily allows retailers to participate in a large number of restricted consumption programs.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide the following system: which are used to provide a large number of targeted, limited consumption programs to enhance the healthcare programs provided by their products and services.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide the following system: which enables multiple retailers to participate in restricted-consumption financial transaction card programs without the need to manage multiple catalogs of eligible items associated with multiple financial transaction card programs.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the following system: which enables multiple retailers to obtain current information relating to approved item lists using a near real-time approach.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the following system: it allows multiple retailers to utilize an online (in-line) analysis server that analyzes project eligibility against stored project list data.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the following system: which allows multiple retailers to utilize online financial approval requests for items that are adjudicated to be approved, which are forwarded and processed by any payment issuer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide the following system: for creating a prescription for a medication based on data generated at a retailer from a point-of-sale transaction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide for the creation and management of a list of items having a unique identifier for each item corresponding to an item approved by a sponsor to qualify for payment using a sponsor's financial transaction card.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in a system for multiple retailers to participate in restricted spend financial transaction card programs. The retailer infrastructure includes a point-of-sale server coupled to a store concentrator (store concentrator) and a product table/price book. The adjudication processor is coupled to the retailer infrastructure and includes: a switch, a market basket analysis server that verifies items in a market basket (market basket); and a process control server. A market basket analysis server is coupled to the product catalog and validates eligible items in the market basket. The content attributes in the shopping basket are transmitted between the shopping basket analysis server and the switch. A catalog management server is coupled to the adjudication processor. The switch, market basket analysis server, catalog management server, and process control server are configured to provide adjudication.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an overall system architecture of one embodiment of the present invention outside of a retailer network infrastructure.

FIG. 2 is an overall system architecture of one embodiment of the present invention within a retailer network infrastructure.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the operation of a shopping basket analysis server used in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of shopping basket adjudication in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of the operation of a switch of an arbitration processor in one embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Systems and methods are provided for facilitating automation of the following processes by multiple retailers: items presented at the point of purchase 16 are matched against the buyer's selected financial transaction card to determine whether purchase of the presented items by the presented financial transaction card is permitted. More specifically, the present invention provides for matching items to a plurality of item lists of sponsors associated with a payment/settlement program.

By the present invention, systems and methods are provided for implementing a financial transaction card plan with a buyer. The buyer is restricted to purchasing the selected item from the selected merchant, and the merchant is part of a private host-to-host network that has the ability to send and receive messages to and from the network computer. Each buyer has a unique identification code corresponding to the list of selected items and the list of selected merchants.

By the present invention, systems and methods are provided for implementing an adjudication process that allows shopping baskets to be used with a catalog of products. Each catalog contains a list of universal product codes ("UPCs"), each identifying items that may be purchased by a financial transaction card (also referred to as a consumption wallet). The wallet is an identifier of a financial account. By way of non-limiting example, the financial account may be a bank account, credit card, debit card, pre-paid card, third party funding source, and the like. As a non-limiting example, the financial transaction card may be (selected from at least one of the following): credit financial transaction cards, debit financial transaction cards, gift financial transaction cards, fund transfer financial transaction cards, other types of payment authorization documents capable of performing fund transfers, and the like. In one embodiment, a financial transaction card, including but not limited to a debit or credit card, has a plurality of financial transaction institutions or wallets. The card may also have only one consumption wallet. The items in the shopping basket are arbitrated for one or more associative directories.

As shown in fig. 1, the arbitration processor 10 includes: a market basket analysis server 12, a process control server 14, a switch 16, a product catalog 18, and customer account data 20.

More generally, in FIG. 1, the retailer infrastructure, labeled 22, includes the retailer: POS lane interior 24, hereinafter (retailer 24). The retailer 24 includes a point of sale server (POS)26 having a bar code scanner 28 coupled to a store concentrator 30 and a product table/price book 32. The retailer product group 34 communicates with the product table/price book 32 and the catalog management server 36. The retailer product group 34 is a retailer: part of the POS Ops 38.

Catalog management processor 40 includes catalog management server 36. The retailer infrastructure 22 also includes a retailer network 42 having a retailer switch 44.

The retailer switch 44 is coupled to the adjudication processor 10. The market basket analysis server 12 is coupled to the product catalog 18 and validates eligible items in the market basket, as discussed more fully below. The transmission of the contents of the shopping basket from the retailer switch 44 between the shopping basket analysis server 12 and the switch 16 includes (but is not limited to): UPC, price, quantity, etc. The catalog management server 36 communicates with the market basket analysis server 12 in the form of a product catalog 18.

A financial transaction card issuer, hereinafter referred to as financial processor 46, is coupled to the adjudication processor 10 and includes a financial transaction card number 48 and an issuer processor (transaction) 50.

The welfare processor 52 includes a requirement processor (accumulator) 54 coupled to the switch 16. The welfare processor 52 communicates with the switch 16. The market basket analysis server 12 can contact the benefits processor 52 in real time via the switch 16 and receive the request authorization. Welfare processor 52 may communicate via standard prescription languages (NCPDP5.1 and NCPDP d.0).

The account information 56 includes buyer account data 20 provided to the market basket analysis server 12 and relating to the financial transaction card number 48 originating from the financial processor 46 (transaction) including the issuer processor 50. The issuer processor 50 communicates with the switch 58 and the switch 16 that require financial approval of the transaction.

As previously mentioned, the present invention facilitates automation of the following processes by multiple retailers: the items presented at the POS26 are matched against the payment mechanism selected by the buyer to determine whether purchase of the presented items by the presented payment mechanism is permitted. More specifically, the present invention provides for matching items to a plurality of item lists of sponsors associated with a payment/settlement program.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, retail infrastructure 22 includes adjudication processor 10. The overall system architecture in the embodiment of fig. 2 includes a switch 58 for communicating with the retailer processes behind the retailer firewall.

The arbitration process utilizes components in the arbitration processor 10. The switch 16, market basket analysis server 12, catalog management server 36, and process control server 14 provide arbitration in combination. In one embodiment, the adjudication process may also authorize the financial transaction.

Financial transactions triggered by in-lane (in-lane) purchasing activity are typically transmitted from the retailer switch 44 to the switch 16 in the form of ISO 8583. The switch 16 breaks the ISO8583 message into messages suitable for processing by subsequent processing components, such as the market basket analysis server 12.

In one embodiment, the switch 16 transmits the shopping basket content data and transaction identification information to the shopping basket analysis server 12 in the form of data that has been parsed and formatted by the switch 16.

The market basket analysis server 12 compares the market basket contents to the product catalog 18. The product catalog 18 has been previously loaded from the catalog management server 36 to the market basket analysis server 12. Product catalog 18 contains a list of items of approved products identified by UPC and short description. The shopping basket row item content data is iteratively processed by the shopping basket server 12.

With the present invention, arbitration for multiple directories 18 can be handled. With the present invention, the catalog 18 is directly related to the account wallet. The wallet may be associated with restricted consumption based on a catalog 18 for adjudicating a list of items. For example, a financial transaction card may support consumption for a food item catalog and also support consumption for an over-the-counter drug item catalog. One or more spending purses, each having a particular spending balance from a particular issuer, may be identified to a single financial transaction card.

With the present invention, the merchant 24 collects the shopping basket and, after swiping or scanning the buyer's financial transaction card, packages the shopping basket, sends it to the adjudication processor 10, and either (i) the merchant processes the purchase request or (ii) the adjudication processor processes the purchase request. The communication between the retailer 24 and the adjudication processor 10, both internal and external, may be via the ISO8583 message format, XML web service format, etc., all as a real-time exchange. As a non-limiting example, the input may be accomplished by at least one of: the method includes swiping a financial transaction card through a slot of a card reader coupled to the mobile device, swiping a slot of the mobile device, scanning, by wireless communication, contacting the financial transaction card with the mobile device, by typing information at the mobile device, photographing, selecting a financial transaction card from an application of the mobile device, and forming a presentity.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the retailer communicates with the retailer switch 44 which pushes transaction data to the adjudication processor 50. The switch 16 receives the transaction and processes it to reach a conclusion. The switch 16 is a gateway for all types of transactions. The transaction may be of one of a variety of types. In one embodiment of the invention, the transaction may be an adjudication request, an authorization request, or a POS outcome transaction. The switch 16 determines the nature and format data of the transaction request 56 and routes the request to subsequent processing as determined by the request type.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the operation of the shopping basket server 12 having steps 60-80. The market basket analysis server receives market basket transaction data from the switch 16 and determines whether the market basket transaction is valid. If not, the processing request is rejected. If so, the shopping basket server 12 retrieves the transaction credentials from the process control data. If the credential is invalid, the processing request is denied. When the voucher is valid, a determination is made to see if there are eligible items in the shopping basket. If not, return to not requiring processing. If so, authorization is required and then the required processing is returned.

The adjudication transaction includes: the transaction identifies and is formatted and forwarded to shopping basket information for processing by the shopping basket server. Authorizing the transaction includes: a transaction identification and a request for financial authorization for a particular financial payment account (wallet). The result transaction includes: transaction identification information, processed shopping basket adjudication transactions (shopping basket items tagged to a particular wallet and catalog), and financial authorization information.

The shopping basket server 12 receives the adjudication transaction from the switch 16. The market basket server 12 processes the entire financial transaction card to the extent possible and returns the transaction results to the exchange for further processing as needed. The switch 16 receives the adjudication transaction and determines whether further processing is required. The adjudication transaction may require: the switch 16 obtains financial transaction authorization from one or more issuers. The switch 16 formats the transaction information 60 for routing and processing by the issuer.

The switch 16 waits for the transaction to the retailer 24 to complete until the issuer processes and returns an authorization request. The authorization information is formatted and returned to the retailer 24 and the transaction is added to a permanent data log of all transactions passing through the switch 16. The switch 16 formats the POS result transaction and returns it to the retailer 24 and adds it to a permanent data log of all transactions passing through the switch 16.

Referring to the shopping basket adjudication flow diagram of FIG. 4 having steps 82 to 112, a shopping basket analysis server 12 and switch 16 are used to receive a list of shopping basket items. When the shopping basket is exhausted, an aggregation of items is made, the shopping basket is closed, and an annotated shopping basket is created. If not exhaustive, the items from the shopping basket are compared to the catalog items with the index. When there is no match to a directory entry, the directory 18 is exhausted and the index is incremented. The catalog 18 is then not exhaustive, incrementing the shopping basket list index and tagging the items.

The operation of the switch 16 is shown in steps 114 to 134 of figure 5. The switch 16 receives and transforms transaction data received from the transaction. The switch 16 makes a determination regarding the type of transaction. When the transaction is sanction, the shopping basket is formatted. For POS-OUT transactions, formatting is performed for the POS. The switch 16 then performs the authorization, formats the transaction for the financial processor 46, and then routes 508 the issuer for authorization. An authorization message 509 is received from the financial processor 46. The switch 16 formats it and returns it to the retailer 24 via the retailer switch 44. The transaction is then recorded in a transaction log.

There are multiple authorizations for multiple wallets. When there are multiple authorizations, the switch 16 is configured to couple to multiple financial processors 40. The switch 16 may be coupled to multiple financial processing systems to handle restricted consumption for multiple wallets bound with multiple issuer processors. Based on rules provided by process control server 14, the switch shunts financial transactions to multiple financial card issuers and receives authorization from multiple financial processors.

With the present invention, the shopping basket analysis server 12 isolates the buyer's financial account information from reliance on the compliance of HIPAA and PCI-DSS.

The retailer 24 is isolated from the details of multiple wallets, multiple financial transaction card issuer member demographics, and the like. The PAN of the transaction is bound to an account structure that defines the process control rules used. Process control rules are provided from the process control server 14 to the switch 16 to establish a financial authorized path. The financial transaction card number 48 and the catalog 18 associated with the financial transaction card are provided for use by the basket analysis server 12 with the catalog having the wallet.

The adjudication processor 10 does not send member demographics to the retailer. The financial transaction card number 48 and the catalog 18 associated with the financial transaction card are provided for the basket analysis server 12 to use the catalog, financial transaction card issuer, and wallet associated with the PAN.

In the case of using the present invention, the following steps are taken.

An aggregation of item data, such as a shopping basket, is received. Each item in the shopping basket has a universal product code ("UPC") for uniquely identifying the item, and has a quantity, net price, and value-added tax determined by the retailer price list.

As related to the product/plan catalog 18, each item in the shopping basket is evaluated and compared with items approved for a particular wallet by UPC. Each item in the shopping basket is marked as qualifying or disqualifying for a particular product/plan. Eligible items are grouped according to the product/plan and the total expenditure for all items (less appropriate discounts and subsidies) for each group is calculated. The items, group aggregates, and shopping basket identification information are formatted into an XML data structure, ISO8583, NCPDP5.1, or NCPDP d.0 for further processing by the retailer 24, benefit processor 52, or the like.

The adjudication may be provided at the retailer 24 and may be internal to the retailer, or may be provided external to the retailer and the adjudication may have several retailers connected thereto.

The XML data structure is pushed to the switch 16. Data in a retailer specified format for a system provided in a retailer network is converted using the switch 16 into ISO8583, XML, NCPDP5.1 or NCPDP d.0 format for processing by the issuer processor 50 or the claim processor 54. An XML-based financial authorization request or an ISO 8583-based financial authorization request is initiated, where the financial processor is not part of the internal retailer network and the retailer requires a transaction to be initiated by the present invention. In this example, the system and method of the present invention, the process control server 14 determines the contents of the authorization request for the group aggregate, and the switch 16 builds and sends the XML-based authorization request to the financial processor 46. The switch 14 formats the XML-based authorization request to have the format required by the corresponding issuer processor.

The checkout process of participating retailers 24 is presented with the items that the buyer selected and placed into the shopping basket to make the purchase. The process may be physical passage within a retail store, aggregation of shopping basket items selected and identified by buyers from a catalog at checkout, or presentation of prescriptions at a retail store, online or telephone based pharmacy counters, and the like.

The process of using the retailer physical checkout lane or the retailer physical prescription counter requires that the shopping basket items be scanned or manually entered into the retailer store POS 26. The process of shopping online or over the phone using the catalog 18 requires that items be selected and identified by shopping method and entered as items in a shopping basket.

Regardless of the shopping method, all shopping basket item data (including price, quantity, tax, point-of-purchase driven discounts) are packaged into a single transaction and formatted according to the store point-of-sale system message specification. The single transaction must also include retailer identifying information and purchaser identifying information, which may include, at a minimum:

1. merchant ID

2. Shop ID

3. Terminal ID

PAN-Primary Account number

5. Time stamp

STAN-SYSTEM TRACKING AUDIO NUMBER

7. Line item details < each unique shopping basket item >

a.UPC

b. Net price

c. Tax fee

d. Number of

e. Brief description of the drawings

The transaction proceeds from the POS26 to the store concentrator 30, to the retailer switch 44, and to the switch 16. The transaction data may include item data and customer identifier (financial transaction card number) data, among others. The communication reaches the retailer switch 44 via the retailer 24, the store concentrator 30. All retailers 24 are connected to the network and the data goes from the retailer switch 44 to the retailer 24 and then to another switch within the merchant. The switch 16 utilizes either a retailer switch 44 or an internal retailer switch, and the communication to the retailer 24 has various methods including, but not limited to, ISO8583 or XML data structures.

Transaction data is received from the originating retailer 24. The shopping basket transaction is directed from the shopping basket server 12 to the switch 16. The switch 16 formats the data from whatever retailer structure received into an XML data structure and sends the converted XML structure to the market basket analysis server 12.

The market basket analysis server 12 utilizes the PAN to determine the catalog 18 and wallet for the buyer's account. The buyer's personal information is not retrieved at any point during the adjudication or financial transaction processing. The buyer PAN correlates one or more specific product categories with the shopping basket transaction.

If the switch 16 does not recognize the buyer identifier (e.g., the account number (PAN) of a financial transaction card), an error occurs and there is a rejection. If the PAN has an error, the switch 16 returns a message to the originating retailer 24 rejecting the transaction.

The switch 16 matches the item data received in the shopping basket transaction, one item at a time. The switch 16 appends two indicators to each line item of the shopping basket. A flag is generated that conveys whether the item qualifies, and an indicator of the group (directory) 18 to which the item also belongs is determined.

Upon completion of the processing, the shopping basket transaction is packaged using the totals for each item and each group in the shopping basket and returned to the retailer 24 for processing. In another embodiment, the processed shopping basket is returned to the switch 16.

Upon receiving the processed shopping basket transaction, the shopping basket analysis server 12 matches the buyer identifier with the financial transaction card issuer associated with the buyer identifier.

The switch 16 creates an XML-based payment authorization request message that includes the financial processor 46 identification and the merchant transaction identification information. The payment authorization is then sent to the financial processor 46. In various embodiments, ISO8583, XML, and ncpdpd.0 data structures are used for authorization request messages between the switch 16 and the financial processor 46.

In various embodiments, the switch 16(i) receives the authorization message from either the financial processor 46 or the requirements processor 54; (ii) creating a data log of authorized transactions based on the transaction identification number; and (iii) create an authorization message with the correct format to forward the message to retailer 24.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

Claims (29)

1. A system for multiple retailers to participate in restricted spend financial transaction card programs, comprising:

a retailer infrastructure comprising a point-of-sale server coupled to a store concentrator and a product table/price book;

an adjudication processor coupled to the retailer infrastructure and comprising: a switch, a market basket analysis server that verifies items in a market basket, and a process control server, the market basket analysis server coupled to a product catalog and verifying qualifying items in the market basket, and transmitting content attributes in the market basket between the market basket analysis server and the switch;

a directory management server coupled to the adjudication processor; and

wherein the switch, the market basket analysis server, the catalog management server, and the process control server are configured to provide adjudication.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the switch, the market basket analysis server, the catalog management server, and the process control server are configured to: authorization for a financial transaction is provided for items in the shopping basket.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein during the adjudication process, catalog and financial account structure information is input and matched with items in the shopping basket, which are then paid for from a buyer's wallet, which is a link to the buyer's financial transaction funds.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein a financial transaction card number and a catalog associated with the financial transaction card are provided for use by the adjudication processor with the catalog having a wallet.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the market basket analyzer is configured to: iterative comparisons of shopping basket items and catalogs are made.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of purses are handled during adjudication.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a financial processor coupled to the adjudication processor.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

an issuer processor that is part of the financial processor and that is in communication with the switch.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the customer account data is configured to: communicating with the shopping basket transaction server and a financial transaction card number that is part of the financial processor.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjudication server uses catalog and financial account structure information as input to match a shopping basket paid from a buyer's financial transaction card.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the content attributes of the item are selected from at least one of UPC, price, and quantity.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the catalog management server is in communication with a product catalog.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein a buyer's financial account data is in communication with the market basket transaction server and a financial transaction card number that is part of the financial processor.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein a restricted consumption wallet associated with a financial transaction card is provided.

15. The system of claim 2, wherein the retailer infrastructure comprises: a set of retailer products in communication with at least one of a product table and a price book, the set of retailer products and the product table and price book in communication with the catalog management server.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein a retailer switch is part of the retailer infrastructure.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein a retailer system collects the shopping baskets and is configured to obtain financial information from a buyer's financial transaction card, packages and sends the shopping baskets to the adjudication processor, and either (i) the retailer processes a purchase request; or (ii) the adjudication processor processes the purchase request.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the retailer infrastructure communicates with the switch that pushes data to the market basket analysis server to obtain information about accounts and catalogs.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the market basket analysis server analyzes the market basket and sends it to the switch.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjudication processor is configured to: multiple authorizations are provided for multiple wallets.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the switch is configured to: when there are multiple authorizations, coupled to multiple financial processors.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the switch is configured to: a plurality of financial transactions are staged and authorizations are received from a plurality of financial processors.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjudication processor is configured to: the buyer's financial account information is isolated from the retailer.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjudication processor is configured to: the retailer is isolated from details regarding multiple purses.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the adjudication processor is configured to: isolating the retailer from buyer demographics.

26. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a welfare processor in communication with the server.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the adjudication processor is configured to: contacting the welfare processor in real time and receiving a request for authorization.

28. A system for multiple retailers to participate in restricted spend financial transaction card programs, comprising:

a retailer infrastructure comprising a point-of-sale server coupled to a store concentrator and a product table/price book, the retailer infrastructure further comprising: an adjudication processor coupled to the retailer infrastructure and comprising: a switch, a market basket analysis server that verifies items in a market basket, and a process control server, the market basket analysis server coupled to a product catalog and verifying qualifying items in the market basket, and transmitting content attributes in the market basket between the market basket analysis server and the switch;

a catalog management server coupled to the adjudication processor, and wherein the switch, the market basket analysis server, the catalog management server, and the process control server are configured to provide adjudication.

29. The system of claim 24, further comprising:

a retailer switch in the retail infrastructure is in communication with the switch of the adjudication processor.