Patent ID: 7043441

Claim:
A method performed by a guarantor of payment for purchases, the method comprising receiving from a user a request to send to said user at least one certificate, said request containing at least information that verifies the identity of said user, responsive to said request, and upon authenticating said user, determining a maximum amount and a period of time during which said guarantor is willing to guarantee payment for purchases by said user, sending to said user a certificate guaranteeing payment up to said maximum amount for a purchase by said user from a supplier in a transaction carried out over a network, so that said user is enabled to enter into said transaction using said certificate as a form of payment that will be accepted by said supplier, said short term certificate including expiration information corresponding to said period of time, receiving said certificate and an electronic record of said transaction from said supplier, making payment to said supplier for said purchase a) without having received from said supplier any request for assurance relative to said certificate or relative to said guarantor's guarantee to make said payment, and b) without providing any such assurance to said supplier, and billing said user for said purchase through a regular billing channel between said guarantor and said user.