Patent ID: 8762238

Claim:
A transaction-processing system for processing a plurality of recurring transactions involving merchant offerings among parties including buyers and sellers, the system comprising: a transaction databank arrangement and a computer arrangement, wherein the transaction databank arrangement and the computer arrangement are both remote from the buyers and the sellers, and wherein, for each particular recurring transaction from the plurality of recurring transactions: the particular recurring transaction is between a particular buyer and a particular seller, the transaction databank arrangement stores data representing billed quantities of merchant offerings for the particular recurring transaction, and the computer arrangement: receives transaction-based data from the particular buyer and the particular seller, stores the received transaction-based data in the transaction databank arrangement, the transaction-based data including conditions upon which payment for invoices can be selectively authorized for the particular recurring transaction on behalf of the particular buyer, receives an electronic communication including data representing an invoice for the particular recurring transaction from the particular seller, the electronic communication being devoid of any identification for the particular recurring transaction that is provided to the particular seller by the particular buyer, audits a payment of the invoice as a function of data in the invoice and the conditions upon which payment for invoices can be authorized for the particular recurring transaction, authorizes the payment of the invoice as a function of the audit of payment of the invoice, and updates the data representing the billed quantities of the merchant offerings for the particular recurring transaction in the transaction databank arrangement to include a billed quantity of merchant offerings in the invoice, the billed quantity of merchant offerings in the invoice representing a quantity of items from the invoice for which payment is authorized.