Performing automatically authorized programmatic transactions

• US 8,150,768 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2009
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gupta, Vikas, Vermeulen, Allan H., Wei, Eugene, Jassy, Andrew R., Bezos, Jeffrey P., Krause, Duane J., Schappell, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US12/541,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20090307134A1
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: 705/44
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/023 the neutral party being a clearing house
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/085 involving remote charge determination or related payment systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/367 involving electronic purses or money safes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3672 initialising or reloading thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

Techniques are described for facilitating interactions between computing systems, such as by performing transactions between parties that are automatically authorized via a third-party transaction authorization system. In some situations, the transactions are programmatic transactions involving the use of fee-based Web services by executing application programs, with the transaction authorization system authorizing and/or providing payments in accordance with private authorization instructions previously specified by the parties. The authorization instructions may include predefined instruction rule sets that regulate conditions under which a potential transaction can be authorized, with the instruction rule sets each referenced by an associated reference token. After one or more of the parties to a potential transaction supply reference tokens for the parties, the transaction authorization system can determine whether to authorize the transaction based on whether the instruction rule sets associated with the reference tokens are compatible or otherwise satisfied.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for automatically authorizing transactions between parties based on predefined instructions, the method comprising:

receiving a request for authorization of a transaction between a first party and a second party that includes an associated financial payment from the first party to the second party, the request including an indication of a first token of the first party that is provided for use in determining whether to authorize the transaction, the first token being associated with one or more predefined rules of the first party and with a string of multiple characters; and

under control of one or more configured computing systems, automatically determining to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party, and facilitating providing of the associated financial payment from the first party to the second party based on the automatic determining.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first token is further associated with a first payment instrument, and wherein the associated financial payment from the first party to the second party is obtained from the associated first payment instrument.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the facilitating of the providing of the associated financial payment includes automatically obtaining the associated financial payment from the associated first payment instrument.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the associated first payment instrument is a financial account of the first user.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the facilitating of the providing of the associated financial payment includes automatically providing the associated financial payment to an indicated financial account of the second party.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the indication of the first token included in the received request is the multiple characters associated with the first token.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the multiple characters associated with the first token are a unique identifier for the first token, and wherein the first token is for use in referencing the one or more predefined rules of the first party.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the first token is the multiple characters.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the multiple characters associated with the first token are a number with multiple digits.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple characters associated with the first token are text.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more predefined rules include a set of multiple predefined rules, and wherein the multiple characters associated with the first token are meaningful to the first party in representing the set of predefined rules.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more configured computing systems operate under control of a transaction authorization system that performs the automatic determining to authorize the transaction, wherein the transaction authorization system stores the one or more predefined rules in a manner associated with the first token, and wherein the automatic determining to authorize the transaction includes retrieving the stored one or more predefined rules associated with the first token, and determining for each of at least one of the retrieved predefined rules that the predefined rule is satisfied for the transaction.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the automatic determining to authorize the transaction further includes obtaining a second token of the second party for use in determining whether to authorize the transaction, retrieving one or more other predefined rules associated with the second token, and determining for each of at least one of the retrieved other predefined rules of the second group that the predefined rule is satisfied for the transaction.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the automatic determining to authorize the transaction further includes determining that the one or more predefined rules associated with the first token are compatible with the one or more other predefined rules associated with the second token, so as to authorize the associated financial payment from the first party to the second party.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the multiple characters associated with the first token are an identifier of the first token for use by the transaction authorization system in identifying the one or more predefined rules associated with the first token, and wherein the multiple characters associated with the first token are specified by an entity distinct from the transaction authorization system prior to the receiving of the request.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising, before the receiving of the request, defining the first token and the associated one or more predefined rules in response to one or more instructions received from the first party.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the defining of the first token and the associated one or more predefined rules includes associating the string of multiple characters with the first token.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the defining of the first token is performed such that the first token is anonymous, so as to prevent the second party from obtaining information about the associated one or more predefined rules from the first token.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the defining of the first token is performed such that the first token is anonymous, so as to prevent the second party from obtaining information about the first party from the first token.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic determining to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party includes determining that the one or more predefined rules authorize transactions between the first and second parties.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic determining to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party includes determining that each of the one or more predefined rules is valid under current conditions at a time of the automatic determining.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more predefined rules include multiple rules that each specify one or more criteria for determining whether an indicated transaction is authorized.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the automatic determining to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party includes determining that each of the multiple rules is satisfied for the transaction.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the determining that one of the multiple rules is satisfied includes determining that the rule is satisfied by one or more of information about the second party and information about the transaction.

25. The method of claim 22 wherein the one or more criteria for each of the multiple rules is related to at least one of regulating types of transactions that the rule is enabled to authorize, of regulating types of payment to be provided that the rule is enabled to authorize, and of regulating types of other parties with whom the rule is enabled to authorize the first party to conduct transactions.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the automatic determining to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party includes interactively obtaining information from the first party.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the obtaining of information from the first party includes obtaining confirmation from the first party to complete the transaction, the obtaining of the confirmation being performed in accordance with information specified in the one or more predefined rules.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction further includes a third party and one or more additional associated financial payments that are each by one of the first, second and third parties and are each to a distinct one or more of the first, second and third parties, and including facilitating providing of each of the additional associated financial payments.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction includes the second party providing a requested service to the first party in exchange for the associated financial payment, and wherein the providing of the service by the second party to the first party is completed before the receiving of the request.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the transaction includes the second party providing a requested service to the first party in exchange for the associated financial payment, and wherein the providing of the service by the second party to the first party is performed after the automatic determining to authorize the transaction.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein the request is received by a transaction authorization system that operates the one or more configured computing systems, and wherein the received request is sent by the first party.

32. The method of claim 1 wherein the request is received by a transaction authorization system that operates the one or more configured computing systems, and wherein the received request is sent by the second party after receiving the first token from the first party as part of the transaction.

33. The method of claim 1 wherein the request is received by a transaction authorization system that operates the one or more configured computing systems, and wherein the first token for the received request is provided by a third party distinct from the first party and the second party, the third party being authorized by the first party to use the first token.

34. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a transaction authorization computing system to automatically authorize transactions between parties, by performing a method comprising:

under control of the configured transaction authorization computing system,

receiving a request for authorization of a transaction between a first party and a second party that includes an associated financial payment from the first party to the second party, the request including an indication of a first token of the first party that is provided for use in determining whether to authorize the transaction, the first token being associated with one or more predefined rules of the first party and with a string of multiple characters;

automatically determining to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party; and

providing an indication that the transaction is authorized based on the automatic determining.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the first token is further associated with a first payment instrument, and wherein the method further comprises facilitating providing of the associated financial payment to the second party from the first payment instrument based on the automatic determining.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the transaction includes the second party providing a requested service to the first party in exchange for the associated financial payment, and wherein the method further comprises facilitating providing of the service to the first party by the second party based on the automatic determining.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the transaction authorization computing system, and wherein the contents are instructions that when executed configure the transaction authorization computing system to perform the method.

38. A computing system configured to automatically authorize transactions between parties, comprising:

one or more processors;

a transaction validater component that is configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, receive a request for authorization of a transaction between a first party and a second party that includes an associated financial payment from the first party to the second party, the request including an indication of a first token of the first party that is provided for use in determining whether to authorize the transaction, the first token being associated with one or more predefined rules of the first party and with a string of multiple characters, and to automatically determine whether to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party; and

a transaction handler component that is configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, provide an indication that the transaction is authorized based on the automatic determining if the transaction is automatically determined to be authorized.

39. The computing system of claim 38 wherein the first token is further associated with a first payment instrument, wherein the transaction validater component automatically determines to authorize the transaction based at least in part on the satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party, and wherein the transaction handler component is further configured to facilitate providing of the associated financial payment to the second party from the first payment instrument based on the automatic determining to authorize the transaction.

40. The computing system of claim 38 wherein the transaction includes the second party providing a requested service to the first party in exchange for the associated financial payment, wherein the transaction validater component automatically determines to authorize the transaction based at least in part on the satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party, and wherein the transaction handler component is further configured to facilitate providing of the service to the first party by the second party based on the automatic determining to authorize the transaction.

41. The computing system of claim 38 wherein the transaction validater component and the transaction handler component each include software instructions for execution by the one or more processors of the computing system.

42. The computing system of claim 38 wherein the transaction handler component consists of a means for providing an indication that the transaction is authorized based on the automatic determining if the transaction is automatically determined to be authorized, and wherein the transaction validater component consists of a means for receiving a request for authorization of a transaction between a first party and a second party that includes an associated financial payment from the first party to the second party, the request including an indication of a first token of the first party that is provided for use in determining whether to authorize the transaction, the first token being associated with one or more predefined rules of the first party and with a string of multiple characters, and for automatically determining whether to authorize the transaction based at least in part on satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules of the first party.

43. A computer-implemented method for facilitating transactions based on predefined instructions, comprising:

obtaining information about a transaction involving multiple parties, the information including an indication of a first payment associated with the transaction and a first token for a first of the multiple parties, the first token being associated with a first financial account, with multiple characters that identify the first token, and with one or more predefined rules; and

under control of one or more configured devices, sending the obtained information to a remote transaction authorization system as part of a request for completion of the transaction based upon satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules associated with the first token.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein the completion of the transaction by the remote transaction authorization system includes at least one of an automated determination by the transaction authorization system that the transaction is authorized based at least in part on the satisfaction of the one or more predefined rules associated with the first token and of the transaction authorization system initiating obtaining of the associated first payment from the first financial account.

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising, under control of one or more configured computing systems of the transaction authorization system, receiving the sent information as part of the request for completion of the transaction, automatically determining that the one or more predefined rules associated with the first token are satisfied, and automatically performing the completion of the transaction.

46. A computer-implemented method for facilitating use of tokens with predefined instructions for completing transactions, comprising:

under control of one or more configured computing systems,

obtaining information from a first user to define one or more rules for the first user for use in determining whether to authorize financial payments from an indicated financial account for later transactions, the one or more defined rules having an associated first token that includes an indicated string of multiple characters for use in referencing the one or more defined rules of the first user;

automatically determining that the string of multiple characters for the first token is unique with respect to strings of multiple characters for other tokens of other users; and

providing an indication to the first user that the string of multiple characters is available for use as part of the first token for referencing the one or more defined rules of the first user, so as to enable the first token to later be identified for an indicated transaction involving the first user so that the one or more defined rules are used to automatically determine whether to authorize a financial payment for the indicated transaction.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein the one or more configured computing systems are part of a transaction authorization system, and wherein the method further comprises, at a later time after the providing of the indication to the first user:

receiving a request for authorization of a first transaction between the first user and a second party that includes a first financial payment from the first user to the second party, the request including an indication of the first token for use in referencing the one or more defined rules of the first user;

retrieving the one or more defined rules based on the included indication of the first token;

automatically determining to authorize the first transaction based at least in part on the one or more predefined rules being satisfied; and

facilitating obtaining the first financial payment from the indicated financial account for the first transaction based on the automatic determining.