PAYMENT SYSTEM.

摘要

Embodiments of the invention provide a method of processing payment authorisation requests for payment transactions to be conducted via a data communications network on behalf of online merchants, the payment authorisation requests being conducted as a result of orders by financial instrument holders via a plurality of different online merchant systems, each of said online merchants having an online merchant identity. The method is conducted by a trusted central intermediary system which is arranged to transmit payment authorisation requests to each of a plurality of different online merchant Internet Payment Service Provider (IPSP) systems; each merchant IPSP system is arranged to transmit payment authorisation requests to at least one of a plurality of acquiring bank payment processor systems, and each of said plurality of acquiring bank payment processor systems is responsible for processing payment authorisations for at least one of said acquiring banks. The method comprises: receiving from a first online merchant system, responsible for originating payment authorisation requests for a first online merchant, a payment authorisation request relating to authorisation of a payment transaction, said received payment authorisation request being initiated as a result of a financial instrument holder conducting an order via the first online merchant system; in response to receiving said request: a) generating a payment authorisation request comprising transaction data including: i) a financial instrument identity to be used in the payment transaction by the financial instrument holder; and ii) an online merchant identity, associated with the first online merchant, as the payment transaction beneficiary; and iii) one or more transaction details including a payment amount; and b) retrieving transmission data to enable the transmission of payment authorisation request data to a selected merchant IPSP system associated with the first online merchant; and on the basis of the retrieved transmission data, transmitting said generated payment authorisation request to the selected merchant IPSP system, wherefrom a further payment authorisation request may be generated and transmitted to an acquiring bank payment processor system responsible for processing payment authorisations for the acquiring bank with which the first online merchant is associated. Embodiments of the invention enable a user to select a payment method on a per transaction basis, whilst removing the requirement for the user to provide payment details to individual online merchant systems or to their merchant IPSP systems. Thus, providing that online merchants, or their merchant IPSPs, subscribe to a service arranged to perform the method, users only have to submit their respective payment details, preferably only once, to a separate, trusted entity.