Patent ID: 8285641

Claim:
A system for managing a transmission of funds for a payment initiator, comprising: an input portion that inputs first information from a payment initiator, the first information including payment source information and payee information; a payment platform database that includes payment platform information; and a processor, the processor communicating with the input portion and the payment platform database so as to input the first information and access select payment platform information, the processor: identifying a single payment source based on the payment source information, the single payment source being selected from a plurality of payment sources, the single payment source being the source of funds for the transmission of funds; identifying, automatically without human involvement, a payee account based on the payee information; performing, after identifying the single payment source and the payee account, an optimization determination to determine a payment mechanism to use to transfer the funds from the single payment source to the payee account, the processor using the first information and payment platform information in the optimization determination, the optimization determination performed automatically without human involvement; and effecting the transmission of funds from the single payment source to the payee account using the payment mechanism; and the processor identifying a single payment source includes the processor performing a second optimization process to determine the single payment source, the first optimization process being distinct from the second optimization process; and the processor inputs a plurality of selected payment sources, and performs the second optimization determination to determine which one of the selected payment sources is the single payment source.