Patent ID: 7533060
Filing Date: 2009-05-12
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a commerce system, an order that includes one or more order items, wherein a plurality of payment authorizations that correspond to the order are received from one or more external payment providers; acquiring the plurality of payment authorizations that correspond to the order, wherein each of the plurality of authorizations includes an authorization amount; creating a payment deposit that corresponds to shipping one or more of the order items, the payment deposit including a deposit amount; in response to determining that the deposit amount does not equal one of the authorization amounts, determining whether a plurality of payment deposits are allowed to be applied to one of the plurality of payment authorizations; in response to determining that the plurality of payment deposits are allowed to be applied to one of the payment authorizations, determining whether one of the authorizations includes a remaining authorization amount that equals the deposit amount; selecting, by a processor included in the commerce system, an optimum payment authorization for which to apply the payment deposit, the optimum payment authorization included in the plurality of payment authorizations, wherein the selecting results in minimizing a number of payment transactions to one or more of the external payment providers wherein, and wherein the selecting is performed based upon determining that the optimum payment authorization corresponds to the remaining authorization amount that equals the deposit amount; and transferring funds corresponding to the deposit amount based upon the optimum payment authorization.