Patent ID: 7249055

Claim:
A method for conducting an auction website operated by a sponsoring financial institution comprising: registering potential buyers and sellers for the auction website by verifying that the potential buyers and sellers have at least one active account with the sponsoring financial institution; upon verification of at least one active account, issuing an individual registration identification to each of the potential buyers and sellers having at least one active account with the sponsoring financial institution, wherein the individual registration identification is associated with the at least one active account; facilitating access to the auction website through a network; listing goods of registered sellers on the auction website; accepting bids from registered potential buyers for listed goods of registered sellers through the auction website; recognizing (i) a final bid amount for at least one good listed by a registered seller and (ii) a registered buyer who bids the final bid amount for the at least one good; prompting the registered buyer of the at least one good to select a buyer's payment account and the registered seller of the at least one good to select a seller's payment account; comparing the final bid amount to a pre-determined threshold amount to determine a preferred payment process, wherein the preferred payment process when the final bid amount is above the pre-determined threshold amount includes: debiting the buyer's selected payment account for the final bid amount; and depositing the final bid amount into an escrow account; and facilitating settlement between the buyer payment account and the seller payment account both held at the sponsoring financial institution, wherein facilitating settlement between the buyer's payment account and the seller's payment account includes: setting a first time period within which the seller must deliver the good to the buyer; when the seller delivers the good to the buyer within the first time period, setting a second time period within which the buyer inspects the goods to determine conformance; and when either (i) the buyer acknowledges conformance of the good within the second time period or (ii) the second time period expires with no further contact from the buyer, retrieving the final bid amount from the escrow account; and crediting the final bid amount to the seller's payment account.