Patent ID: 8676694

Claim:
A method of processing a transaction carried out over a network between a financial account holder and a participating entity, the method comprising: (a) receiving a purchase request of a buyer from the participating entity indicating that the buyer desires to carry out a transaction with the participating entity, the transaction including the buyer purchasing one or more selected items; (b) authenticating the buyer as the financial account holder via a processor; (c) after successful authentication of the buyer, receiving transaction details from the participating entity, the transaction details including a cost for the selected items; (d) authorizing completion of the transaction with a remote funding source based on the received transaction details and establishing an authorization code therefor with the remote funding source, the authorization code uniquely identifying the transaction; and, (e) communicating the authorization code for the transaction to the participating entity; wherein the method is performed by a third party different than the financial account holder and the participating entity.