Debitman granted US patent for merchant e-payments
Debitman Card, Inc. has been notified by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office that it has been granted U.S. Patent No. 7,104,443, 'Method And System For Facilitating Electronic Funds Transactions'.
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The patent essentially covers Debitman’s business model for enabling the use of interoperable merchant-branded consumer debit cards. According to the patent, "The invention provides a method and system for executing electronic funds transactions in which merchant issuers of secure merchant based debit cards and merchant acquirers of those cards execute electronic debit transactions via the current ACH network.”
According to Debitman CEO Mike Grossman, the patent covers a wide variety of merchant-issued debit cards, including those that add prepaid, fixed value, programmable, and refillable stored value capabilities. "The patent office has recognized the unique value that Debitman has created and this ensures that the company has a defensible mechanism to protect its intellectual property in the marketplace," Grossman said.