METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONICALLY REDEEMING COUPONS

摘要

An apparatus receives a user identification code and a candidate coupon identification code from a client via a communication channel. Subsequently, the apparatus determines if the candidate coupon identification code is associated with a redeemable coupon by consulting a list of redeemable coupon identification codes. The list is a relatively small random subset of the total number of possible coupon identification codes in order to reduce fraud. If the candidate coupon identification code is redeemable, a control circuit awards a predetermined number of incentive points to an account identified by the user identification code. The incentive points may then be used to purchase merchandise or to reduce the price of merchandise from participating merchants.