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; the payment authorisation requests are conducted as a result of orders by financial account holders via a plurality of different online merchant systems, and the financial account holders hold accounts with a plurality of different issuing banks. The method comprises conducting an account identification procedure comprising: identifying, from said plurality of different issuing banks, an issuing bank associated with a financial account holder; on the basis of said identification of the issuing bank, retrieving issuing bank transmission data to enable the transmission of account identification request data, said issuing bank transmission data being dependent upon the identified issuing bank and identifying a selected account identification system associated with the identified issuing bank; on the basis of the retrieved issuing bank transmission data, transmitting an account identification request for use in the authorisation of at least one payment transaction, said at least one payment transactions being initiated as a result of a financial account holder conducting at least one order via at least one online merchant system; and receiving an account identification response in response to the account identification request, said account identification response identifying a financial account identity capable of being used in said at least one payment transaction. Thus embodiments of the invention provide a means of identifying an issuing bank from a plurality of issuing banks as one which is to be utilised in a given transaction and facilitate a user specifying, in real time in relation to the given transaction, a particular bank account that is to be used to deduct funds for that transaction.