METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONFIGURATING AND ESTABLISHING A SECURE CREDENTIAL-BASED NETWORK LINK BETWEEN A CLIENT AND A SERVICE OVER A DATA-PACKET-NETWORK

摘要

A system for establishing a direct network connection between a first and a second node over a data-packet-network includes a third network node having connection to the data-packet-network for providing an electronic interface accessible to the first node; a navigation agent directed by the third network node for navigating over the network to the second node to gather information; and at least one machine-readable instruction containing the instruction for directing and implementing the direct network connection. The electronic interface may be a Web page providing bill consolidation and payment services to a client operating the first node and wherein the connection established via the instruction enables transparent login payment of a bill at the second node, which may be a direct billing party interface of the client registered and listed on the Web page.