System and method to automate payment for a commerce transaction
First Claim
1. A method for automatically effecting payment for a user of an electronic auction web site maintained by at least one computing device to an operator associated with the electronic auction web site, said method comprising the steps of:
- executing a sequence of events, the sequence of events including the steps of providing the user with an option to authorize a payment system to execute an automatic payment method after the conclusion of an electronic auction provided by the electronic auction web site, wherein the automatic payment includes automatically deducting funds from a payment account storing funds therein and corresponding to the user;
receiving authorization from the user prior to the beginning of the electronic auction to execute an automatic payment method after the conclusion of the electronic auction; and
determining whether to execute the automatic payment method for the user after the conclusion of the electronic auction based on whether the user has provided authorization to execute the automatic payment method; and
executing the automatic payment method after the conclusion of the electronic auction, if it is determined to execute the automatic payment method and the user has provided authorization for executing the automatic payment method, the executing step comprising the steps of;
automatically deducting funds from the payment account corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site; and
automatically transferring at least a portion of the deducted funds into an account corresponding to the operator associated with the electronic auction web site.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a computerized electronic auction payment system and method for effecting a real-time payment for an item won in an electronic auction by setting up and maintaining electronic auction payment accounts for prospective bidders and sellers. The prospective bidders provide funds to their electronic auction payment accounts maintained by the computerized electronic auction payment system, prior to being deemed as winning bidders, via direct deposit, using a credit card, or sending a check, money order, or other financial document to an operator of the computerized electronic auction payment system. In one embodiment, upon being deemed as a winning bidder, the winning bidder accesses a payment page, enters the total amount of funds to be transferred to the seller, and authorizes the computerized electronic auction payment system to effect a real-time payment by debiting his, i.e., the winning bidder'"'"'s, respective electronic auction payment account and crediting the electronic auction payment account of the seller, and/or another account specified by the seller. In an alternate embodiment, the prospective bidder authorizes the computerized electronic auction payment system to effect a real-time payment to the seller upon the prospective bidder being deemed the winning bidder (i.e., immediately following the conclusion of the auction). That is, without the winning bidder having to access the payment page.
96 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for automatically effecting payment for a user of an electronic auction web site maintained by at least one computing device to an operator associated with the electronic auction web site, said method comprising the steps of:
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executing a sequence of events, the sequence of events including the steps of providing the user with an option to authorize a payment system to execute an automatic payment method after the conclusion of an electronic auction provided by the electronic auction web site, wherein the automatic payment includes automatically deducting funds from a payment account storing funds therein and corresponding to the user;
receiving authorization from the user prior to the beginning of the electronic auction to execute an automatic payment method after the conclusion of the electronic auction; and
determining whether to execute the automatic payment method for the user after the conclusion of the electronic auction based on whether the user has provided authorization to execute the automatic payment method; and
executing the automatic payment method after the conclusion of the electronic auction, if it is determined to execute the automatic payment method and the user has provided authorization for executing the automatic payment method, the executing step comprising the steps of;
automatically deducting funds from the payment account corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site; and
automatically transferring at least a portion of the deducted funds into an account corresponding to the operator associated with the electronic auction web site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for automatically effecting payment for a user of an electronic commerce web site, said method comprising the steps of:
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setting up a payment account for the user, said payment account configured for storing funds therein and for effecting payment for network-based commerce transactions;
automatically deducting funds from the payment account due to at least one network-based commerce transaction without receiving a request from the user to deduct funds following a termination event of the at least one network-based commerce transaction; and
automatically transferring at least a portion of the deducted funds to an account associated with an operator of the electronic commerce web site, wherein the payment account and the electronic commerce web site are maintained by an electronic commerce and payment computing architecture, said computing architecture having computing devices for maintaining the payment account and the electronic commerce web site, said computing devices being in operative communication with each other via at least one non-Internet connection. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A network-based commerce system comprising:
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a marketplace machine configured to receive and send data from and to a network, said network including a database engine server, and an automatic payment service module;
wherein the marketplace machine provides a buyer an option to enable an automatic payment service, and wherein the automatic payment service module automatically provides payment to a seller upon a termination event of a network-based commerce transaction. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method to facilitate network-based commerce, comprising:
at a marketplace machine, providing a buyer an option to enable an automatic payment service, an automatic payment service module associated with the automatic payment service for automatically providing payment to a seller upon a termination event of a network-based commerce transaction. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Specification