Patent ID: 7546261

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of assisting the transfer of funds between a buyer and a seller, comprising: (a) prompting the seller to enter information, by an interface in communication with one or more processors, from a face of a check associated with a bank account of the seller, through manual input, the information comprising at least a first character string corresponding to a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) line on the check, a second character string corresponding to a bank account number associated with the check, and a third character string corresponding to a check number associated with the check; (b) creating, by the one or more processors, a doubly-marked MICR line from the first character string by identifying and marking out (1) a first portion of the first character string that corresponds to the second character string, and (2) a second portion of the first character string that corresponds to the third character string; (c) determining, by the one or more processors, a routing number for the check by identifying within the doubly-marked MICR line a contiguous string of characters that satisfies a checksum test; (d) causing a credit card of the buyer to be charged to collect funds for one or more items purchased by the buyer from the seller; and (e) depositing at least a portion of the funds into the bank account of the seller using the routing determined in (c).