UNIVERSAL LOYALTY REWARDS AND CURRENCY CONSOLIDATION

1 . A method for administering a loyalty rewards program for a plurality of customers and merchants, comprising:

receiving, using a loyalty server computer, a request to create a loyalty account for a first customer;

creating, using the loyalty server computer, a loyalty reward account and associated customer identifier corresponding to the first customer;

providing to the customer a loyalty device associated with the loyalty account, wherein the customer identifier is stored within the loyalty device;

receiving, using the loyalty server computer, a first purchase information from a first merchant point of sale computer, the first purchase information comprising a purchase price, the customer identifier, and a merchant identifier, wherein the first merchant accepts any one of a plurality of payment forms from the customer to pay for the first purchase;

increasing, using the loyalty server computer, a point balance of the loyalty account based on the purchase price of the first purchase if the first merchant is a participant in the loyalty rewards program;

receiving, using the loyalty server computer, second purchase information from a second merchant point of sale computer to redeem at least a portion of the point balance toward a second purchase being made by the customer, said second purchase information comprising a second purchase price, the customer identifier, and a second merchant identifier;

reducing, using the loyalty server computer, the point balance of the loyalty account based on the second purchase; and

transmitting, using the loyalty server computer, a confirmation to the second merchant point of sale computer that the loyalty account has a sufficient balance to pay for the second purchase;

wherein said reducing and transmitting stages are performed if the second merchant is a participant in the loyalty rewards program; and

wherein said reducing and transmitting stages are performed if the second merchant is not a participant in the loyalty rewards program.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said increasing stage comprises increasing the point balance of the loyalty account by a percentage of the first purchase price if the first merchant is a participant in the loyalty rewards program.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said increasing stage comprises:

increasing the point balance of the loyalty account based on a first formula if the first purchase is made at a first merchant; and

increasing the point balance of the loyalty account based on a second formula if the first purchase is made at a second merchant.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein said increasing stage comprises:

increasing the point balance of the loyalty account by a first percentage of the first purchase price if the first purchase is made at a first merchant; and

increasing the point balance of the loyalty account by a second percentage if the first purchase is made at a second merchant.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein said increasing stage comprises:

increasing the point balance of the loyalty account based on a first formula if the first purchase is made during a first date range; and

increasing the point balance of the loyalty account based on a second formula if the first purchase is made during a second date range.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from a customer computer, a request to make at least a portion of said point balance available for redemption toward future purchases; and

transferring, using the loyalty server, said portion of said point balance to a prepaid access card account, said prepaid access card account associated with said loyalty device.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the merchant point of sale computer is located within a physical retail location.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the merchant point of sale computer comprises a web server and said first purchase is made using an online shopping interface.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said loyalty device comprises a magnetic stripe card.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said loyalty device comprises a keyfob device.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said loyalty device comprises an electronically stored information packet on a personal mobile device.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said personal mobile device comprises a mobile phone.

13 . A system for providing universal loyalty rewards to a customer, comprising:

a loyalty server configured to:

receive purchase information for purchases made by the customer at multiple merchants, said purchase information comprising a customer identifier associated with a customer loyalty account maintained on the loyalty server;

increase a point balance in the loyalty reward account associated with the customer for purchases made at a merchant participating in the loyalty rewards program, wherein the merchant accepts multiple forms of payment from the customer for the purchase; and

transfer at least a portion of the points to be available for use toward purchases at both the participating merchants and non-participating merchants when requested by a customer computer.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the server is further configured to load said transferred points into a prepaid access card account associated with a prepaid access card assigned to the customer, said prepaid access card being accepted at both participating merchants and non-participating merchants.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the loyalty server is configured to increase the point balance of the loyalty account by a percentage of a first purchase price if the first merchant is a participant in the loyalty rewards program.

16 . The system of claim 13 ,

wherein the loyalty server is configured to increase the point balance of the loyalty account based on a first formula if a first purchase is made at a first merchant; and

wherein the loyalty server is configured to increase the point balance of the loyalty account based on a second formula if the first purchase is made at a second merchant.

17 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the loyalty server is configured to:

increase the point balance of the loyalty account by a first percentage of a first purchase price if the first purchase is made at a first merchant; and

increase the point balance of the loyalty account by a second percentage if the first purchase is made at a second merchant.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the loyalty server is configured to:

increase the point balance of the loyalty account based on a first formula if the first purchase is made during a first date range; and

increase the point balance of the loyalty account based on a second formula if the first purchase is made during a second date range.

19 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the loyalty server is further configured to:

receive, from a customer computer, a request to make at least a portion of said point balance available for redemption toward future purchases; and

transfer said portion of said point balance to a prepaid access card account, said prepaid access card account associated with said loyalty account.

20 . A system for providing universal loyalty rewards to a customer, comprising:

a merchant server for providing an online shopping interface;

a loyalty server for administering the loyalty rewards program; and

a loyalty API loaded on said merchant server and in communication with said online shopping interface, said loyalty API being configured to communicate with said loyalty server;

wherein said loyalty API transmits purchase information to said loyalty server, said purchase information related to a purchase made by the customer using the online shopping interface;

wherein the loyalty server adds points to the customer's loyalty account based on the purchase information; and

wherein, upon request of a customer computer, the loyalty server is configured to transfer at least a portion of the points to be available for use toward purchases at both participating merchants and non-participating merchants when requested by a customer computer.