Patent ID: 8100332

Claim:
At a payment system including one or more processors and system memory, payment system controlled by a business association in accordance with established by-laws that govern the business association, the business association including a plurality of member businesses that have joined together to form the business association, the by-laws defining the operation characteristic of the payment system, including transfer rules that govern how funds can be transferred between accounts within the payment system, the payment system connected to one or more other computer systems at other financial institutions via network communication, the payment system managing accounts for a plurality of registered users of the payment system, each account being partitioned into a plurality of different parts including at least a receiving account and a sending account, a method for transferring funds between accounts within a payment system, the method comprising: an act of receiving an electronic request requesting an electronic transfer of funds from a first account to a second account managed by the payment system, the request received from another computer system via network communication, the request including security information and a requested amount of funds that is to be transferred; an act of verifying that the security information identifies an account-holder of the first account; an act of verifying that the balance of the first account is sufficient to transfer the requested amount of funds, the balance of the first account representing previously cleared funds transferred into the first account; and an act of accepting the requested electronic transfer of funds, including: an act of using the security information to identify the second account; and an act of transferring the requested amount of funds from the first account to the second account subsequent and in response to verifying the credentials and verifying the first account balance, transferring the requested amount of funds placing the requested amount of funds under the control of the account-holder of the second account essentially immediately upon completion of the transfer, including: an act of the processor debiting the balance of the first account by the requested amount of funds; and essentially simultaneously to debiting the balance of the first account, an act of the processor crediting the second account by the requested amount of funds.