Patent ID: 8332317

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, by a service provider system comprising one or more computers, identification of a payment account to be used in fulfilling payment requests submitted by a subscriber to a service provider; responsive to receiving the identification of the payment account, confirming, by the service provider system, a legitimate association of the payment account with the subscriber; upon confirming the legitimate association of the payment account with the subscriber, storing, by the service provider system, an indication that the payment account is confirmed as a confirmed account for use in funding future payment requests from the subscriber; and prior to storing the indication that the payment account is confirmed as a confirmed account: receiving, by the service provider system, a payment request on behalf of the subscriber specifying the payment account as the source of funds, the payment account being unconfirmed prior to storing the indication that the payment account is confirmed, determining, by the service provider system, that the unconfirmed payment account is not indicated as a confirmed account, in response to determining that the unconfirmed payment account is not indicated as a confirmed account, determining, by the service provider system, that the payment request complies with at least one pre-acceptance transaction rule, wherein each of the at least one pre-acceptance transaction rule specifies at least one respective criterion for allowing payment request processing utilizing the unconfirmed payment account prior to storing the indication that the unconfirmed payment account is confirmed for use in funding future payment requests from the subscriber, and directing, by the service provider system, payment from the unconfirmed account in accordance with the payment request after determining that the payment request complies with the at least one pre-acceptance transaction rule.