Patent ID: 7515697

Claim:
An exchange system for settling accounts of users including buyers and sellers of telecommunication services in a plurality of communications networks, wherein the buyers and sellers input requests and offers using access stations connected to a wide area network, said exchange system comprising: an exchange server node connectable to the access stations of the buyers and sellers through the wide area network for matching the sellers' offers and the buyers' requests; at least one switch node for routing telecommunications traffic between the communications networks in response to matched offers and requests; a database connected to said exchange server node and storing information including account balances of the exchange system and each of the buyers and sellers; and a financial module connected to said exchange server node for processing financial tasks that include adjustment of account balances of the exchange system and each of the buyers and sellers stored in the database, determination of a credit limit or risk premium for each of the buyers, and a netting of financial accounts of each of the buyers and sellers.