Patent ID: 7051001

Claim:
A method for assumption by a service provider of at least one merchant function in a financial transaction between a customer and a merchant, comprising: receiving information about the financial transaction consisting at least in part of an electronic payment order for the merchant by a service provider's server from the customer at a customer's computing device via a network; identifying an intended recipient of the information by the service provider's server for the merchant consisting of one of a merchant's bank and a customer's bank; if the merchant's bank is the intended recipient, reformatting the electronic payment order for a merchant's on-line terminal by the service provider's server, sending the reformatted payment order to the merchant's on-line terminal by the service provider's server, endorsing the electronic payment order by the service provider's server, preparing a deposit to an account of the merchant by the service provider's server, sending the deposit with the endorsed payment order to a merchant's bank's server by the service provider's server, posting a credit for the deposit to the merchant's account by the merchant's bank's server, and making details of the deposit available to the merchant by the merchant's bank's server; and if the customer's bank is the intended recipient, sending the electronic payment order with a request for payment to a customer's bank's server by the service provider's server, debiting an account of the customer for the amount of the payment order by the customer's bank's server, sending an ACH credit to the merchant's bank's server by the customer's bank's server, sending a transaction approval to the service provider's server by the customer's bank's server, reformatting the transaction approval for the merchant's on-line terminal by the service provider's server, and sending the reformatted approval to the merchant's on-line terminal.