Patent ID: 8666793

Claim:
A method comprising: authorizing, by a computer system, a subscriber of a service to consume a quantity of the service, the authorizing being performed prior to allowing consumption of the service and comprising: receiving, by the computer system, a request to authorize the subscriber to consume the quantity of the service, wherein a cost of consuming the quantity of the service at the time of receiving the request is C1; determining, by the computer system, a time of a service pricing change, wherein a cost of consuming the quantity of the service after the time of the service pricing change is C2; determining, by the computer system, a quantity of resources available to the subscriber for paying for the service, wherein the quantity of resources has a value of at least C1; and calculating, by the computer system, a delay time period for the subscriber based on the quantity of resources available to the subscriber, the delay time period being configured to delay a time of receipt of a reauthorization request for the subscriber beyond the time of the service pricing change by the delay time period, wherein the authorization is valid for a time period up to the time of the service pricing change plus the delay time period.