Methods and systems for carrying out contingency-dependent payments via secure electronic bank drafts supported by online letters of credit and/or online performance bonds
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of carrying out an electronic transaction that includes a payment from a buyer to a seller via a secure electronic draft, comprising the steps of:
- storing on a server a document comprising the draft and a set of contingencies for releasing payment on the draft to the seller via a financial service provider;
assigning at least one secondary party to the transaction to at least one contingency of the set of contingencies;
linking a website to the server;
providing the buyer and the seller access to the transaction via the website;
providing restricted access to the contingencies to the secondary parties via the website, the restricted access enabling each secondary party to access only the at least one contingency assigned to the secondary party;
authenticating the secondary party at the website;
based on the authentication, retrieving the assigned at least one contingency from the document and displaying the retrieved at least one contingency to the authenticated secondary party;
receiving, via an interaction between the displayed at least one contingency and a user interface of the authenticated secondary party, a request for removal of the contingency assigned to the authenticated secondary party;
responsive to the request, removing the at least one contingency assigned to the authenticated secondary party;
tracking removal of the set of contingencies at the server;
determining that each of the contingencies has been removed; and
based on the determination, releasing the payment to the seller via the financial service provider using the draft from the document.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods of carrying out an electronic transaction that includes payment via a secure electronic draft, include steps of establishing a secure computer site that includes a representation of the draft, the site being controlled by a financial service provider and accessible only to authenticated parties to the transaction; creating a first online letter of credit linked to a drawer of the draft and including predetermined terms, satisfaction of the terms being a precondition to the financial service provider extending credit to the drawer; authenticating each party to the draft requesting access to the draft represented at the computer site, and releasing payment on the draft to a drawee of the draft. At least a portion of the released payment may originate from the credit extended to the drawer. An online performance bond may define liquidated damages to be paid to a drawer upon non-performance of the drawee or to the drawee upon non-performance of the drawer. The payment may be released to the drawee of the draft when both drawer and drawee perform, or the liquidated damages may be paid to the drawer upon non-performance of the drawee or to the drawee upon non-performance of the drawer. The online letter of credit may be the basis for modeling all trade finance products, including various types of letters of credit, performance bonds and insurance in a variety of instances. iDraft™ contingencies plus terms and conditions may define all payment connected trade finance products. Individual products may be defined through proper configuration of the present iDraftC™ functionality and software.
38 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of carrying out an electronic transaction that includes a payment from a buyer to a seller via a secure electronic draft, comprising the steps of:
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storing on a server a document comprising the draft and a set of contingencies for releasing payment on the draft to the seller via a financial service provider; assigning at least one secondary party to the transaction to at least one contingency of the set of contingencies; linking a website to the server; providing the buyer and the seller access to the transaction via the website; providing restricted access to the contingencies to the secondary parties via the website, the restricted access enabling each secondary party to access only the at least one contingency assigned to the secondary party; authenticating the secondary party at the website; based on the authentication, retrieving the assigned at least one contingency from the document and displaying the retrieved at least one contingency to the authenticated secondary party; receiving, via an interaction between the displayed at least one contingency and a user interface of the authenticated secondary party, a request for removal of the contingency assigned to the authenticated secondary party; responsive to the request, removing the at least one contingency assigned to the authenticated secondary party; tracking removal of the set of contingencies at the server; determining that each of the contingencies has been removed; and based on the determination, releasing the payment to the seller via the financial service provider using the draft from the document. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification