Patent ID: 6473740
Filing Date: 2002-10-29
Classification: G06Q,G07F

Abstract:
A method in a computer network for managing purchase transactions for the Web sites of a plurality of merchants using a transaction network, comprising:for each of the plurality of merchant Web sites, under the control of the merchant Web site: displaying items available for purchase, each item having a price; receiving user input from users using Web clients selecting items for purchase; and for each item selection, forwarding a purchase request to the transaction network indicating the price of the selected item; under the control of the transaction network: receiving transaction network purchase requests forwarded from at least two of the plurality of merchant Web sites; for each received purchase request: discerning the identity of the user; and generating a pending transaction record indicating the identity of the user, the price of the selected item, and the identity of the forwarding Web site; periodically determining, for each user whose identity is indicated by a pending transaction record, the sum of the prices of the pending transaction records indicating the identity of the user; where the determined sum for a user exceeds a billing threshold, submitting to a payment processor a request for settlement for the determined sum against an account of the user, whereby the transaction network is capable of permitting profitable management of purchase transactions that are typically unprofitable on an individual basis; receiving settlement indications from the payment processor each indicating payment of an identified submitted a request for settlement; for each received settlement indication, for each transaction record whose price is included in the sum of the billing transaction identified by the received settlement indication: crediting an account of the merchant identified by the transaction record; and removing the pending status of the transaction record.