Internet payment system and method

摘要

A system and method for facilitating payment for online purchases is disclosed. The system allows consumers/customers who shop online to select, at the time of checkout, direct payment from an account as the payment option. An electronic bill (ebill), independent of any confidential financial information pertaining to the consumer, is automatically displayed and emailed to the consumer. The consumer pays the ebill at their bank the same way they pay their utility bill, which then results in a payment confirmation sent from the bank to the payee. Payment information from the bank is sent to the system to update the purchase transactions. Once the payment information is processed, the consumer and merchant accounts are balanced and both receive automatic notification of the payment.

主权项

1. A system for conducting an online transaction between a merchant and a consumer using a payment processing system as an intermediary, comprising:
a payment processing system configured to:
receive, from a merchant, transaction information related to an online transaction with a consumer, the transaction information including:
identification of the consumer;payment processing system account identification for the merchant; anda transaction amount;send an invoice for the online transaction based on the transaction information previously received, the invoice including:
the transaction amount; andpayee information specifying the payment processing system as a payee to which payment for the transaction is made via a financial institution of the consumer;cause the invoice for the online transaction to be displayed to the consumer;receive, from the financial institution, payment information indicating the consumer has directed the financial institution to pay the invoice in favor of the payee;allocate a payment for the transaction amount from an account of the payment processing system to an account of the merchant as specified by the payment processing account identification previously received for the merchant, andcause, after allocation of the payment, a balance of the account of the merchant and a list of pending transactions to be displayed to the merchant.