US Patent 8725633 System and method of operating a debit card reward program

A system and method for facilitating debit card transactions is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method for facilitating debit card transactions may comprise the steps of: issuing, by a first financial institution, a debit card to a cardholder, the debit card being associated with a financial account held at or administered by a second financial institution that is different from the first financial institution; receiving a transaction request for a card transaction initiated by the cardholder, the transaction request indicating a mode for processing the transaction request as specified by the cardholder; routing the transaction request, based at least in part on the specified processing mode; processing the transaction request against the financial account to approve or reject the transaction request; and debiting an amount of an approved transaction request from the financial account, the debiting occurring either immediately upon or subsequent to the approval.