Patent ID: 8447693
Filing Date: 2013-05-21
Classification: G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for routing payment transactions electronically, comprising: receiving, using a payments interface processor, by a merchant acquirer a payment transaction directed to a payee payment destination from a payor payment source; interrogating, using the payments interface processor, the payment transaction to identify a payment processing path and to determine, according to pre-defined parameters, whether the payment transaction is eligible for processing via an internal payment transaction processing path of the merchant acquirer, wherein said parameters for determining that the payment transaction is eligible consist at least in part of whether the payment transaction has as a payor payment source an account with the merchant acquirer and as a payee payment destination an account with the merchant acquirer; routing, using the payments interface processor, eligible payment transactions to an internal payment transaction processing path of the merchant acquirer, wherein each eligible transaction is settled without routing the transaction to external card processing networks; processing, using an internal credit card payment transaction processor, the eligible payment transaction having a credit card account as a payor payment source, both as a merchant acquirer of the payment transaction and an issuer of the credit card account; batching, using the internal credit card payment transaction processor, the processed payment transaction and crediting the batched payment transaction to a payee payment destination account on a pre-determined periodic basis; routing, using the payments interface processor, automated clearing house payment transactions to an internal automated clearing house processor of the merchant acquirer for processing; identifying, for non-eligible payment transactions, alternative payment processing paths; determining transaction costs of such alternative payment processing paths; and routing, using the payments interface processor, non-eligible payment transactions to a payment processing path other than the internal payment transaction processing path of the merchant acquirer, wherein a determination of which payment processing path is selected according to parameters consisting at least in part of relative transaction costs.