Patent ID: 7536353

Claim:
A transaction processing system for processing a transaction between a purchaser and a merchant across a public network, the transaction processing system comprising: a secure private network component, including: a database storing a purchaser account record, the purchaser account record including one or more delivery addresses and payment information for the purchaser each linked to a unique purchaser identifier, wherein the one or more delivery addresses cannot be changed by the purchaser during a purchase and wherein the purchaser identifier provides no indication of personally identifiable information of the purchaser; and a computer communicatively connected to the database and programmed to process purchase orders; and said public network component, including: a server communicatively connected to the computer and to a plurality of merchant computers through said public network, each of the merchant computers in communication with a purchase computer, the server being programmed to: receive a purchase order including product information, a selected one of the delivery addresses, and the purchaser identifier from one of the merchant computers, wherein at least the purchaser identifier is communicated to the merchant computer by the purchaser; communicate the purchase order to the computer on the secure network component; and wait to receive instructions from the computer concerning the purchase order; and wherein, if the purchaser identifier in the purchase order matches the purchaser identifier stored in the purchaser account record in the database, the computer transmits an approval message to the server including a selected one of the delivery addresses stored in the purchaser account record and excluding any payment information to the server and the computer causes payment for the purchase to be effected.