System and method for automatically effecting payment for a user of an electronic auction system
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method for automatically effecting payment for a user of an electronic auction web site maintained by an electronic auction system, said method comprising the steps of:
- maintaining a plurality of electronic payment accounts by an electronic auction payment system integrated with said electronic auction system, each of said plurality of electronic payment accounts storing funds therein and each being used for user transactions in the electronic auction system;
receiving authorization from the user prior to the beginning of an electronic auction provided by the electronic auction web site to execute an automatic payment method after the conclusion of the electronic auction, wherein the automatic payment method includes at least automatically deducting funds from one of the electronic payment accounts corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site; and
executing the automatic payment method for the user after the conclusion of the electronic auction, if the user has provided authorization prior to the beginning of the electronic auction for executing the automatic payment method, the executing step being performed by at least one processor and 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 at least one account for automatically effecting payment for the user of the electronic auction web site, wherein at least one payment source corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site is used to obtain funds for storing within the payment account prior to deducting funds from the payment account.
1 Assignment
Litigations
1 Petition
Reexamination
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. 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.
78 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for automatically effecting payment for a user of an electronic auction web site maintained by an electronic auction system, said method comprising the steps of:
-
maintaining a plurality of electronic payment accounts by an electronic auction payment system integrated with said electronic auction system, each of said plurality of electronic payment accounts storing funds therein and each being used for user transactions in the electronic auction system; receiving authorization from the user prior to the beginning of an electronic auction provided by the electronic auction web site to execute an automatic payment method after the conclusion of the electronic auction, wherein the automatic payment method includes at least automatically deducting funds from one of the electronic payment accounts corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site; and executing the automatic payment method for the user after the conclusion of the electronic auction, if the user has provided authorization prior to the beginning of the electronic auction for executing the automatic payment method, the executing step being performed by at least one processor and 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 at least one account for automatically effecting payment for the user of the electronic auction web site, wherein at least one payment source corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site is used to obtain funds for storing within the payment account prior to deducting funds from the payment account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A system for automatically effecting payment for a user of an electronic auction web site maintained by an electronic auction system, said system for automatically effecting payment comprising:
-
an electronic auction payment system comprising means for maintaining a plurality of payment accounts each storing funds therein and each being used for user transactions in the electronic auction system, said electronic auction payment system being integrated with said electronic auction system; means for receiving authorization from the user prior to the beginning of an electronic auction provided by the electronic auction web site to execute an automatic payment method after the conclusion of the electronic auction, wherein the automatic payment method includes at least automatically deducting funds from one of the payment accounts corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site; and means for executing the automatic payment method for the user after the conclusion of the electronic auction, if the user has provided authorization prior to the beginning of the electronic auction for executing the automatic payment method, the means for executing the automatic payment method comprising; means for automatically deducting funds from the payment account corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site; and means for automatically transferring at least a portion of the deducted funds into at least one account for automatically effecting payment for the user of the electronic auction web site, wherein at least one payment source corresponding to the user of the electronic auction web site is used to obtain funds for storing within the payment account prior to deducting funds from the payment account. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification