Decentralized computer systems and methods for loyalty points payments using distributed ledgers

1. A method for conducting payment processing involving a loyalty account using a distributed ledger, the method comprising:

retrieving, from a presentation of a payment vehicle linked to a loyalty account issued by a first merchant to a consumer, at a point of sale system of a second merchant: (1) a consumer identification of the consumer, (2) an issuer identification of an issuer of the payment vehicle, and (3) transaction information for a transaction with the second merchant of a good or service;

sending, over a wired or wireless network, (1) the consumer identification, (2) the issuer identification, and (3) the transaction information to an acquirer device associated with the second merchant;

identifying, by the acquirer device, a distributed ledger network in which the issuer is a participant, using the sent issuer identification;

initializing a smart contract of the identified distributed ledger network that maintains a list of agreed conversion rates between different loyalty points and currencies;

converting, using the acquirer device, a transaction amount retrieved from the transaction information for the transaction from an amount in a currency to an amount in loyalty points issued by the first merchant, according to a conversion formula retrieved from a distributed ledger entry of the smart contract of the identified distributed ledger network; and

prompting validators of the distributed ledger network to validate a transaction authorization request for the transaction with the second merchant by comparing the converted transaction amount in loyalty points issued by the first merchant with an amount of loyalty points present in the loyalty account issued by the first merchant to the consumer, wherein the amount of loyalty points present in the loyalty account are retrieved from a generated distributed ledger entry in the identified distributed ledger network, wherein the generated distributed ledger entry includes a public key identifying the consumer, a unique private key, the amount of loyalty points, and terms and conditions associated with the loyalty points,

wherein the transaction authorization request is accessible to the issuer and other participants of the distributed ledger network, and the transaction authorization request is separate from a request from the issuer to the acquirer to settle pending transactions, and

wherein the validators are the other participants of the distributed ledger network.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, if the validators of the distributed ledger network validate that the loyalty account of the consumer has the amount in loyalty points,

generating a new immutable entry to the distributed ledger network, wherein the new immutable entry indicates the remaining loyalty points in the loyalty account of the consumer after deducting the points required for the transaction; and

sending, by the acquirer, a transaction approved message to the point of sale system at the second merchant.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: if the validators of the distributed ledger network cannot validate that the loyalty account of the consumer has the amount in loyalty points,

receiving, by the acquirer, a rejection message from the distributed ledger network; and

sending the rejection message to the point of sale system to deny the transaction.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the rejection message includes an available amount in loyalty points in the loyalty account and/or an amount in currency equivalent to the available amount in loyalty points to the point of sale system.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising,

displaying, by the point of sales system, an available amount in loyalty points in the loyalty account and/or an amount in currency equivalent to the available amount in loyalty points on an interactive graphical user interface (GUI).

6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

updating the loyalty points associated with the consumer identification in an issuer database upon the approval of transaction from the distributed ledger network, wherein the loyalty points at the issuer database are accessed by the consumer and the issuer using interactive graphical user interface (GUI).

7. The method of claim 2 , the method further comprising:

receiving, by the acquirer from the issuer, the request to settle pending transactions, wherein the request comprises of the issuer's account information and routing information associated with a financial institution;

identifying, at the acquirer, at least one of pending transaction for the requesting issuer of the account in currency;

querying the distributed ledger network for, and receiving, information of the amount to be transferred for settlement between the issuer and the second merchant using conversion information available on a distributed ledger entry of the distributed ledger network; and

transferring, funds from the issuer's account to the second merchant's account using standard payment process for the pending transaction, wherein the second merchant's account information is obtained from the distributed ledger identified distributed ledger entry.

8. A decentralized computer system for conducting payment processing with loyalty points using distributed ledger, the system comprising:

a data storage device storing instructions using distributed ledger; and

one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:

retrieving, from a presentation of a payment vehicle linked to a loyalty account issued by a first merchant to a consumer, at a point of sale system of a second merchant: (1) a consumer identification of the consumer, (2) an issuer identification of an issuer of the payment vehicle, and (3) transaction information for a transaction with the second merchant of a good or service;

sending, over a wireless or wired network, (1) the consumer identification, (2) the issuer identification, and (3) the transaction information to an acquirer device associated with the second merchant;

identifying, by the acquirer device, a distributed ledger network in which the issuer is a participant, using the sent issuer identification;

initializing a smart contract of the identified distributed ledger network that maintains a list of agreed conversion rates between different loyalty points and currencies;

converting, using the acquirer device, a transaction amount retrieved from the transaction information for the transaction from an amount in a currency to an amount in loyalty points issued by the first merchant, according to a conversion formula retrieved from a distributed ledger entry of the smart contract of the identified distributed ledger network; and

prompting validators of the distributed ledger network to validate a transaction authorization request for the transaction with the second merchant by comparing the converted transaction amount in loyalty points issued by the first merchant with an amount of loyalty points present in the loyalty account issued by the first merchant to the consumer, wherein the amount of loyalty points present in the loyalty account are retrieved from a generated distributed ledger entry in the identified distributed ledger network, wherein the generated distributed ledger entry includes a public key identifying the consumer, a unique private key, the amount of loyalty points, and terms and conditions associated with the loyalty points,

wherein the transaction authorization request is accessible to the issuer and other participants of the distributed ledger network, and the transaction authorization request is separate from a request from the issuer to the acquirer to settle pending transactions, and

wherein the validators are the other participants of the distributed ledger network.

9. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the issuer is a merchant providing at least one of goods and services.

10. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein entries and/or nodes of the distributed ledger network comprises at least one of a public key identifying the consumer, a unique private key, a header, and a content data including a conversion table.

11. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors is an observer of the distributed ledger network.

12. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein distributed ledger validators and observers expose standard hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) based application program interfaces (APIs).

13. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the distributed ledger network comprises a shared ledger that is shared between network nodes associated with different issuers participating in a loyalty program.

14. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured for, if the validators of the distributed ledger network validate that the loyalty account of the consumer has the amount in loyalty points:

generating a new immutable entry to the distributed ledger network, wherein the new immutable entry indicates the remaining loyalty points in the loyalty account of the consumer after deducting the points required for the transaction; and

sending, by the acquirer, a transaction approved message to the point of sale system at the second merchant.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured for:

receiving, by the acquirer from the issuer, the request to settle pending transactions, wherein the request comprises of the issuer's account information and routing information associated with a financial institution;

identifying, at the acquirer, at least one of pending transaction for the requesting issuer of the account in currency;

querying the distributed ledger network for, and receiving, information of the amount to be transferred for settlement between the issuer and the second merchant using conversion information available on a distributed ledger entry of the distributed ledger network; and

transferring, funds from the issuer's account to the second merchant's account using standard payment process for the pending transaction, wherein the second merchant's account information is obtained from the distributed ledger identified distributed ledger entry.

16. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors is further configured for, if the validators of the distributed ledger network cannot validate that the loyalty account of the consumer has the amount in loyalty points:

receiving, by the acquirer, a rejection message from the distributed ledger network; and

sending the rejection message to the point of sale system to deny the transaction.

17. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform a method for conducting payment processing involving a loyalty account using distributed ledger, the method including:

retrieving, from a presentation of a payment vehicle linked to a loyalty account issued by a first merchant to a consumer, at a point of sale system of a second merchant: (1) a consumer identification of the consumer, (2) an issuer identification of an issuer of the payment vehicle, and (3) transaction information for a transaction with the second merchant of a good or service;

sending, over a wired or wireless network, (1) the consumer identification, (2) the issuer identification, and (3) the transaction information to an acquirer device associated with the second merchant;

identifying, by the acquirer device, a distributed ledger network in which the issuer is a participant, using the sent issuer identification;

initializing a smart contract of the identified distributed ledger network that maintains a list of agreed conversion rates between different loyalty points and currencies;

converting, using the acquirer device, a transaction amount retrieved from the transaction information for the transaction from an amount in a currency to an amount in loyalty points issued by the first merchant, according to a conversion formula retrieved from a distributed ledger entry of the smart contract of the identified distributed ledger network; and

prompting validators of the distributed ledger network to validate a transaction authorization request for the transaction with the second merchant by comparing the converted transaction amount in loyalty points issued by the first merchant with an amount of loyalty points present in the loyalty account issued by the first merchant to the consumer, wherein the amount of loyalty points present in the loyalty account are retrieved from a generated distributed ledger entry in the identified distributed ledger network, wherein the generated distributed ledger entry includes a public key identifying the consumer, a unique private key, the amount of loyalty points, and terms and conditions associated with the loyalty points,

wherein the transaction authorization request is accessible to the issuer and other participants of the distributed ledger network, and the transaction authorization request is separate from a request from the issuer to the acquirer to settle pending transactions, and

wherein the validators are the other participants of the distributed ledger network.