Patent ID: 7761338

Claim:
A method for an automation goods and services provider having a plurality of business units and a host server to process purchase requests of an automation goods and services charge card account holder, the requests relating to offerings of at least one of any of the plurality of business units, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting, by the host server, a signal representing availability of an offering of at least one of the plurality of business units, the offering selected from the group consisting of automation goods and automation virtual services, the offering to be provided by the at least one business unit; receiving, by the host server, account information from the account holder; eliciting, by the host server, order information based on the transmitted availability signal; checking, by the host server, whether value in the account is sufficient to cover the purchase request; transmitting, by the host server, a signal directing fulfillment of the order; and decrementing, by the host server, the account balance by the value of the order, wherein the method steps for processing purchase requests of the automation goods and services charge card account holder are performed by the host server, and wherein the value in the account represents currency-neutral credits purchased by the account holder using actual currency, the currency-neutral credits being converted from actual currency at the time of purchase.