Systems and methods wherein a security deposit facilitates a transaction in which a benefit is applied in exchange for performance of a task

1. A method of facilitating a transaction between a customer and a merchant, comprising:

arranging, by a merchant, for a benefit to be applied to the transaction in exchange for a future performance of a task by the customer, the benefit comprising a subsidy and the task being associated with a subsidy provider other than the merchant, and wherein the benefit is applied to the transaction before performance of the task by the customer;

arranging for the customer to provide a security deposit; and

returning the security deposit to the customer based on the performance task.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transaction comprises a purchase by the customer of at least one of: (i) an item; (ii) a product; and (iii) a service.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the benefit comprises at least one of: (i) a reduction in an amount of payment provided by the customer; (ii) a supplemental item received by the customer, (iii) a substitute item received by the customer, (iv) an amount of payment received by the customer, (v) a payment of an alternate currency to the customer, (vi) an improved transaction term, (vii) an improved warranty term, and (viii) an improved interest rate term.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said arranging for the benefit to be applied to the transaction comprises:

transmitting to the customer an offer to apply the benefit to the transaction in exchange for the future performance of the task by the customer; and

receiving from the customer a response to the offer.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said transmitting is performed in response to receiving an indication that the customer is interested in purchasing an item.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security deposit comprises a payment by the customer.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security deposit comprises a reduction of an amount of credit available to the customer.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said arranging for the customer to provide the security deposit further comprises:

receiving a payment identifier from the customer; and

arranging for the customer to provide payment of the security deposit using the payment identifier.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the payment identifier comprises at least one of: (i) a credit card number, (ii) a debit card number, (iii) a bank account number, and (iv) electronic payment protocol information.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining the benefit.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said determining is based on information associated with the transaction.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein said determining is based on information associated with the customer.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the information associated with the customer comprises at least one of: (i) demographic information, (ii) psychographic information, (iii) an address, (iv) a credit rating, and (v) a transaction history.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein said determining is based on information associated with the task.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein said determining is based on information associated with an indication received from a customer device.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein said determining is based on information associated with an item purchased by the customer in the transaction.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the information associated with the item comprises at least one of: (i) an item price, and (ii) an item category.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein said determining is based on information associated with the merchant.

19. The method of claim 10 , wherein said determining is based on at least one of: (i) information associated with the subsidy provider, and (ii) a customer acquisition rate.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein returning the security deposit to the customer comprises:

providing a payment to the customer.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein returning the security deposit to the customer comprises

arranging for the subsidy provider to provide a payment to the customer.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein returning the security deposit to the customer comprises:

transmitting information associated with the transaction to at least one of: (i) the customer, and (ii) the subsidy provider.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein returning the security deposit to the customer comprises:

receiving information associated with the performance of the task from at least one of: (i) the customer, and (ii) the subsidy provider.

24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

verifying the received information associated with the performance of the task.

25. The method of claim 23 , wherein the information associated with the performance of the task comprises a hash value.

26. The method of claim 23 , wherein said receiving comprises:

receiving the information associated with the performance of the task from a customer device.

27. The method of claim 23 , wherein said receiving comprises:

receiving the information associated with the performance of the task from the customer in a human-recognizable format.

28. An apparatus for facilitating a transaction between a customer and a merchant, comprising:

a processor; and

a storage device coupled to said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:

arrange for a benefit to be applied to the transaction in exchange for a future performance of a task by the customer, wherein the benefit does not comprise a product and the task being associated with a party other than the merchant, and the benefit to be applied to the transaction before performance of the task by the customer;

arrange for the customer to provide a security deposit; and

returning the security deposit to the customer based on the performance task.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 , further comprising:

a communication device coupled to said processor and adapted to communicate with at least one of: (i) a customer device, (ii) a controller, (iii) a merchant device, (iv) a subsidy provider device, (v) a benefit provider device, (vi) an escrow service device, and (vii) a payment device.

30. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein said storage device further stores at least one of: (i) a customer database, (ii) a task database, (iii) a rebate certificate database, and (iv) a rebate code database.

31. A medium storing instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method for facilitating a transaction between a customer and a merchant, said method comprising:

arranging, via a computing device, for a benefit to be applied to the transaction in exchange for a future performance of a task by the customer, the task being associated with a party other than the merchant and wherein the task does not comprise a return of a product, and the benefit to be applied to the transaction before performance of the task by the customer;

arranging for the customer to provide a security deposit; and

returning the security deposit to the customer based on the performance task.

32. A method comprising:

receiving an indication a customer is interested in purchasing an item from a merchant;

based on the received indication, transmitting to the customer via a processing device an offer to apply a benefit, provided by a subsidy provider other than the merchant, to a purchase of the item in exchange for a future performance of a task by the customer;

receiving a payment identifier from the customer;

arranging for the customer to provide payment of a security deposit using the payment identifier;

before verifying performance of the task by the customer, applying the benefit to the purchase;

verifying the performance of the task by the customer; and

returning the security deposit to the customer based on the performance task.

33. A method comprising:

receiving, from a customer, a security deposit to secure a benefit provided by a merchant, wherein the benefit comprises a monetary amount equivalent to the security deposit;

after receiving the security deposit from the customer, providing the benefit to the customer in exchange for a task to be performed by the customer after the customer receives the benefit, the task being associated with a party other than the merchant;

after providing the benefit to the customer, receiving, via a processing device, information indicating that the customer has performed the task; and

after receiving the information, returning the security deposit to the customer.

34. A computer readable medium storing instructions for facilitating a transaction between a customer and a merchant, the instructions configured to direct a processor to:

receive an indication a customer is interested in purchasing an item from a merchant;

based on the received indication, transmit to the customer via a processing device an offer to apply a benefit, provided by a subsidy provider other than the merchant, to a purchase of the item in exchange for a future performance of a task by the customer;

receive a payment identifier from the customer;

arrange for the customer to provide payment of a security deposit using the payment identifier;

before verifying performance of the task by the customer, apply the benefit to the purchase;

verify the performance of the task by the customer; and

return the security deposit to the customer based on the performance of the task.

35. An apparatus for facilitating a transaction between a customer and a merchant, comprising:

a processor; and

a storage device coupled to said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:

receive an indication a customer is interested in purchasing an item from a merchant;

based on the received indication, transmit to the customer via a processing device an offer to apply a benefit, provided by a subsidy provider other than the merchant, to a purchase of the item in exchange for a future performance of a task by the customer;

receive a payment identifier from the customer;

arrange for the customer to provide payment of a security deposit using the payment identifier;

before verifying performance of the task by the customer, apply the benefit to the purchase;

verify the performance of the task by the customer; and

return the security deposit to the customer based on the performance of the task.

36. A computer readable medium storing instructions for facilitating a transaction between a customer and a merchant, the instructions configured to direct a processor to:

receive, from a customer, a security deposit to secure a benefit provided by a merchant, wherein the benefit comprises a monetary amount equivalent to the security deposit;

after receiving the security deposit from the customer, provide the benefit to the customer in exchange for a task to be performed by the customer after the customer receives the benefit, the task being associated with a party other than the merchant;

after providing the benefit to the customer, receive, via a processing device, information indicating that the customer has performed the task; and

after receiving the information, return the security deposit to the customer.

37. An apparatus for facilitating a transaction between a customer and a merchant, comprising:

a processor; and

a storage device coupled to said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:

receive, from a customer, a security deposit to secure a benefit provided by a merchant, wherein the benefit comprises a monetary amount equivalent to the security deposit;

after receiving the security deposit from the customer, provide the benefit to the customer in exchange for a task to be performed by the customer after the customer receives the benefit, the task being associated with a party other than the merchant;

after providing the benefit to the customer, receive, via a processing device, information indicating that the customer has performed the task; and

after receiving the information, return the security deposit to the customer.