Patent ID: 8630948

Claim:
A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable instructions for routing a payment, the computer-readable instructions comprising instruction that, when executed by a computer: receive, from a customer, an indication that said payment is to be made to a payee; choose a payment processor that will process said payment and that will make said payment to said payee, said payment processor being chosen based on volume pricing terms and historical record of payments to the payment processor, wherein the chosen payment processor is chosen from a first payment processor and a second payment processor, each of which charges a particular per-payment fee to process a payment to said payee, and wherein the computer-readable instructions further comprise instructions that: determine that the chosen payment processor offers a future volume pricing discount for handling a number of payments, wherein the chosen payment processor is the first payment processor with a higher per-payment fee to process the payment to said payee than the second payment processor; and determine how close a financial institution that routes the payment to the chosen payment processor is to meeting the number of payments to the payment processor based upon the volume pricing terms and the historical record of the chosen payment processor; and route said payment to the chosen payment processor based on the determinations.