Method and system for merchant processing of purchase card transactions with expanded card type acceptance

1. A computer-implemented method for processing purchase card transactions submitted by a plurality of merchants, wherein each of the plurality of merchants is associated with one of a plurality of acquirers, the method comprising:

defining, in a card product database, a master card product list including a plurality of card types, each card type corresponding to a group of purchase cards and having associated therewith a set of merchant-independent transaction processing parameter values for the group of purchase cards;

for each of the plurality of acquirers, defining, in the card product database, an acquirer-level card product list, each acquirer-level card product list including a subset of the plurality of card types;

for each of the plurality of merchants:

associating, in a merchant database, the merchant with at least one of the card types included in the acquirer-level card product list of the associated acquirer; and

for each card type associated with the merchant, setting values in the merchant database for a set of merchant-specific transaction processing parameters; and

for each purchase card transaction submitted by one of the plurality of merchants:

identifying, at a host computer communicably coupled to the merchant database, a card type for the purchase card used in the purchase card transaction from the at least one card type associated with the merchant; and

using the merchant-specific transaction processing parameter values and the merchant-independent transaction processing parameter values associated with the identified card type to control processing of the purchase card transaction by the host computer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the merchant-independent transaction processing parameters include a routing destination parameter.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the master card product list includes a first card type and a second card type each corresponding to a group of purchase cards, the first card type having a first value for the routing destination parameter and the second card type having a second value for the routing destination parameter, the second value being different from the first value.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a first acquirer-level card product list of a first acquirer includes the first card type and not the second card type, and a second acquirer-level card product list of a second acquirer includes the second card type and not the first card type.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

at least two of the plurality of card types each correspond to a purchase card, each of the at least two card types having associated therewith a different value for at least one of the merchant-independent transaction processing parameters;

a first merchant card type list for a first one of the plurality of merchants includes a first one of the at least two card types; and

a second merchant card type list for a second one of the plurality of merchants includes a second one of the at least two card types.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

the purchase card bears a first badge associated with a first card issuing entity and a second badge associated with a second card issuing entity;

the first one of the at least two card types has associated values for the merchant-independent transaction processing parameters that cause the transaction to be processed as a transaction for a card product of the first card issuing entity; and

the second one of the at least two card types has associated values for the merchant-independent transaction processing parameters that cause the transaction to be processed as a transaction for a card product of the second card issuing entity.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the master card product list includes a private label card type corresponding to a private label purchase card issued by a first one of the plurality of acquirers on behalf of an issuing retailer; and

a first merchant card type list for a first one of the merchants includes the private label card type, wherein the first merchant is not an outlet of the issuing retailer.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a second merchant card type list for a second one of the merchants includes the private label card type, the second merchant being an outlet of the issuing retailer.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the issuing retailer is associated with the first acquirer and the first merchant is not associated with the first acquirer.

10. A computer system for processing purchase card transactions submitted by a plurality of merchants, wherein each of the merchants is associated with one of a plurality of acquirers, the system comprising:

a data store having:

(1) a master card product list including a plurality of card types, each card type corresponding to a group of purchase cards and having associated therewith one or more merchant-independent transaction processing parameters;

(2) a plurality of acquirer-level card product lists, each acquirer-level card product list including a respective subset of the plurality of card types; and

(3) a plurality of merchant card product lists corresponding to the plurality of merchants, each merchant card product list including at least one of the card types included in the acquirer-level card product list of the associated acquirer, each card type in each merchant card product list further having associated therewith one or more merchant-specific transaction processing parameters;

control logic configured to identify a card type for a purchase card used in a purchase card transaction submitted by a merchant, the card type being identified from a merchant card product list corresponding to the merchant submitting the purchase card transaction; and

control logic configured to process the purchase card transaction using the one or more merchant-independent transaction processing parameters and the one or more merchant-specific transaction processing parameters associated with the identified card type.