Patent ID: 7627521

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for processing a microtransaction, the method comprising: receiving a purchase request having one or more electronic information packets comprising purchase information of a purchase initiated by a customer interacting with a merchant, the customer using a transaction account, the purchase request including a purchase amount; accessing a microtransaction threshold amount; determining whether the purchase amount is below the microtransaction threshold amount; when the purchase amount is above the microtransaction threshold amount, processing the purchase information through a first interchange entity as a non-microtransaction; and when the purchase amount is below the microtransaction threshold amount: electronically routing the purchase information to a second interchange entity, and processing the purchase information to effect the microtransaction between the customer and the merchant, wherein: the second interchange entity aggregates the microtransaction with other microtransactions to form an aggregated transaction and outputs the aggregated transaction to the first interchange entity, and the first interchange entity processes the aggregated transaction as a single transaction.