Method and system for facilitating merchant-initiated online payments

• US 8,175,938 B2
• Filed: 06/21/2004
• Issued: 05/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Olliphant, Hugo, Chastagnol, Franck, Su, Yi-Ling, Wu, William, Brown, Chris, Dang, Thach, Veino, Thomas, Gunby, Carol, Chu, Peter, Chen, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): Poinvil, Frantzy
• Application Number:
  US10/873,704
• Publication Number:
  US 20050228750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,878 Days
• Field of Search: 705 10- 44
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/02 involving a neutral party, e.g. certification authority, notary or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A method and system for facilitating merchant-initiated online payments are disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a payment service provider'"'"'s server receives a user'"'"'s request, via a merchant'"'"'s server, to establish a merchant-initiated payment relationship or agreement. Accordingly, the payment service provider presents the user with options to customize the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement. After the agreement has been established and the terms customized, the merchant server communicates a merchant-initiated payment request to the pavement service provider for a transaction entered into with the user. The payment service provider'"'"'s server processes the payment request after verifying that processing the payment does not exceed the user-customized terms of the agreement.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating a merchant-initiated payment for an online transaction between a merchant and a user, the method comprising:

using at least one processor, establishing a merchant-initiated payment agreement at a payment service provider, the merchant-initiated payment agreement defining terms of a merchant-initiated payment relationship between the merchant and the user, the merchant-initiated payment agreement being established in response to receiving, from the user, a relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement, the establishing of the merchant-initiated payment agreement including linking the merchant-initiated payment agreement with a payment account of the merchant or user stored at the payment service provider, the payment service provider being a separate entity from the merchant;

after establishing the merchant-initiated payment agreement, receiving at the at least one processor, from the merchant, a payment request associated with the transaction, the payment request including a unique identifier to identify the merchant-initiated payment agreement stored at the payment service provider;

verifying that the payment request received from the merchant complies with the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

based on a verification of the payment request complying with the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, automatically and without user intervention, processing the payment request using the at least one payment processor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the relationship request includes at least one term defining an authority given to a payment service provider to make payments to the merchant on behalf of the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one further term included in the relationship request identifies a particular product or service for which the payment service provider is authorized to make payments on behalf of the user under the established merchant-initiated payment agreement.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the payment request received from the merchant requests payment under one or more terms of the established merchant-initiated payment agreement.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the payment request is generated by a merchant server in response to the user selecting the established merchant-initiated payment relationship as a payment type for processing the transaction with the merchant via a website hosted by the merchant.

6. The method of claim 1, further including:

during or after the establishing of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, presenting the user with an option to customize at least one term of one or more terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

receiving user input indicating a customized at least one term.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said presenting the user with the option to customize the at least one term includes presenting the user with the option to modify a funding source for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user is presented with the option to select the funding source that is preferred from a list of funding sources available to the user.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the user is presented with the option to disable the funding source.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the user is presented with the option to select, from the list of funding sources available to the user, one or more funding sources to disable.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the user is presented with the option to at least one of add and delete the funding source.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein said presenting the user with the option to customize the at least one term includes presenting the user with the option to customize the authority given to a payment service provider to make payments to the merchant on behalf of the user.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the user is presented with the option to set a maximum payment amount, for a particular time period, that the payment service provider is authorized to pay the merchant on behalf of the user.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the user is presented with the option to set a maximum payment amount, for a single transaction, that the payment service provider is authorized to pay the merchant on behalf of the user.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the user is presented with the option to set a maximum number of payment requests, for a particular time period, for which the payment service provider is authorized to make the merchant-initiated payment to the merchant on behalf of the user.

16. A method of facilitating processing a payment for an online transaction, the method including:

receiving a payment request from a merchant server at one or more processors of a payment service provider, the payment request including a unique identifier to identify a previously established merchant-initiated payment agreement between a merchant and a user established at the payment service provider and defining terms including an authority granted by the user to a payment service provider to make payments to the merchant on behalf of the user the payment service provider being separate from the merchant server;

using the one or more processors, accessing a database to identify the previously established merchant-initiated payment agreement stored at the payment service provider, based on the unique identifier;

verifying that processing the payment request received from the merchant server does not violate the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

based on a verification of the payment request not violating the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, automatically and without user intervention, processing the payment request.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein verifying that processing the payment request does not exceed the authority granted under the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes verifying that processing the payment would not exceed a maximum payment amount set by the user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said maximum payment amount set by the user is the maximum payment amount over a predetermined time period.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said maximum payment amount set by the user is the maximum payment amount for a single transaction.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein verifying that processing the payment request does not exceed the authority granted under the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes verifying that processing the payment would not exceed a maximum number of payment requests processed over a predetermined time period.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein verifying that processing the payment request does not exceed the authority granted under the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes verifying that the payment request is in connection with a product or service for which the payment service provider is authorized to make a payment.

22. A system to facilitate a merchant-initiated payment for an online transaction between a merchant and a user, the system including:

a server including at least one processor coupled to an at least one memory device, the server being located at a payment service provider, the payment service provider being a separate entity from the merchant,

the at least one processor configured to establish a merchant-initiated payment agreement defining terms of a merchant-initiated payment relationship between the merchant and the user, in response to receiving, from the user, a relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement, and after establishing the merchant-initiated payment agreement, the at least one processor further configured to receive from the merchant, a payment request associated with the transaction, the payment request including a unique identifier to identify the merchant-initiated payment agreement stored at the payment service provider, to verify that the payment request received from the merchant complies with the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

based on a verification of the payment request complying with the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, to automatically and without user intervention, process the payment request.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes terms defining an authority given to a payment service provider to make payments to the merchant on behalf of the user.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein a term included in the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement identifies a particular product or service for which the payment service provider is authorized to make payments on behalf of the user under the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the payment request received from the merchant requests payment according to the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the payment request is generated by a merchant server in response to the user selecting the merchant-initiated payment relationship as a payment type for processing the online transaction with the merchant via a website hosted by the merchant.

27. The system of claim 22, wherein the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes a payment relationship identification number that uniquely identifies the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

28. The system of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

during or after the establishment of the merchant initiated payment agreement, present the user with an option to customize a term of the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

receive user input indicating a user-customized term of the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to present the user with the option to modify a funding source associated with the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the user is presented with the option to select a preferred funding source for the merchant-initiated payment agreement from a list of funding sources available to the user.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the user is presented with the option to disable the funding source associated with the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the user is presented with the option to select, from a list of funding sources available to the user, one or more funding sources to disable for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the user is presented with the option to at least one of add and delete the funding source associated with the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

34. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to present the user with the option to customize the authority given to a payment service provider to make payments to the merchant on behalf of the user.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the user is presented with the option to set a maximum payment amount, for a particular time period, that the payment service provider is authorized to pay the merchant on behalf of the user.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the user is presented with the option to set a maximum payment amount, for a single transaction, that the payment service provider is authorized to pay the merchant on behalf of the user.

37. The system of claim 34, wherein the user is presented with the option to set a maximum number of payment requests, for a particular time period, for which the payment service provider is authorized to make a payment to the merchant on behalf of the user.

38. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium in communication with at least one processor, the machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, provides a method comprising:

receiving a payment request from a merchant server, the payment request including a unique identifier to identify a previously established merchant-initiated payment agreement between a merchant and a user established and stored at the payment service provider and defining terms including an authority granted by the user to the payment service provider to make payments to the merchant on behalf of the user, the payment service provider being separate from the merchant server;

verifying that processing the payment request received from the merchant does not violate the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

based on a verification of the payment request not violating the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, automatically and without user intervention, processing the payment request.

39. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 38, wherein the method further comprises verifying that processing the payment will not exceed a maximum payment amount set by the user.

40. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 39, wherein said maximum payment amount set by the user is the maximum payment amount over a predetermined time period.

41. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 39, wherein said maximum payment amount set by the user is the maximum payment amount for an online transaction.

42. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 38, wherein the method further comprises verifying that processing the payment will not exceed a maximum number of payment requests processed over a predetermined time period.

43. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 38, wherein the method further comprises verifying that the payment request is in connection with a product or service for which the payment service provider is authorized to make a payment.

44. A system to facilitate a merchant-initiated payment for an online transaction between a merchant and a user, the system comprising:

a processor-implemented communications module to receive a relationship request to establish a merchant-initiated payment agreement at a payment service provider, the merchant-initiated payment agreement defining terms of a merchant-initiated payment relationship from a merchant server, the relationship request to establish a merchant-initiated payment agreement including a unique identifier to identify the merchant-initiated payment agreement between the merchant and the user, the payment service provider being a separate entity from the merchant;

a processor-implemented management module to establish, at the payment service provider, the merchant-initiated payment agreement, in response to the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

a processor-implemented payment processing to, using one or more computer processors module to process a plurality of payments in response to the communications module receiving a corresponding plurality of payment requests, each payment request including the unique identifier to identify the merchant-initiated payment agreement stored at the payment service provider, the processor-implemented payment processing module comprising a processor-implemented authorization verification module to verify that the payment request received from a merchant complies with the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, the processor-implemented payment processing module automatically, without user intervention, processing the payment request based on a verification of the payment request complying with the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement and the payment request are digitally signed and encrypted by the merchant server, and the processor-implemented communications module includes:

a processor implemented authentication module to authenticate the digitally signed relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement and the digitally signed payment request; and

an encryption module to decrypt the encrypted request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement and the encrypted payment request.

46. The system of claim 44, wherein the processor-implemented management module includes:

a processor-implemented funding source customization module to facilitate customization of a funding source used to process a payment associated with the payment request.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the processor-implemented funding source customization module facilitates selection of a preferred funding source for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein the processor-implemented funding source customization module facilitates disabling of the funding source for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

49. The system of claim 46, wherein the processor-implemented funding source customization module facilitates at least one of adding and deleting the funding source for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

50. The system of claim 46, wherein the processor-implemented management module includes:

a processor-implemented payment customization module to facilitate customization of a term of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, the term including an authorization granted to a payment service provider to make payments on behalf of the user.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the processor-implemented payment customization module facilitates the customization of a maximum payment amount for a predetermined time period.

52. The system of claim 50, wherein the processor-implemented payment customization module facilitates the customization of a maximum payment amount for a single payment request.

53. The system of claim 50, wherein the processor-implemented payment customization module facilitates the customization of a maximum number of payment requests for which a payment service provider is authorized to make the payment to the merchant on behalf of the user.

54. The system of claim 44, wherein the processor-implemented authorization verification module is to verify that the payment request does not exceed a maximum payment amount set by the user in the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

55. A system to facilitate a merchant-initiated payment for an online transaction between a merchant and a user, the system comprising:

means for receiving, at a payment service provider, a relationship request to establish a merchant-initiated payment agreement from a merchant server, the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement including a unique identifier to identify the merchant-initiated payment agreement between the merchant and the user, the payment service provider being separate from the merchant server;

means for linking, in an account database stored in at least one memory of the payment service provider, one or more terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement with an account of the user to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement in response to the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement; and

means for processing a plurality of payments in response to the communications module receiving a corresponding plurality of payment requests, each payment request including the unique identifier to identify the merchant-initiated payment agreement, the means for processing

comprising means for verifying that processing the payment request received from a merchant does not violate terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement, the means for processing automatically, without user intervention, processing the payment based on a verification of the payment request not violating the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the relationship request to establish a merchant-initiated payment agreement and the payment request are digitally signed and encrypted by the merchant server, and the communications module further includes:

means for authenticating the digitally signed relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement and for authenticating the digitally signed payment request; and

means for decrypting the relationship request to establish the merchant-initiated payment agreement and the payment request.

57. The system of claim 55, wherein the means for establishing the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes:

means for facilitating customization of a funding source used to process a payment associated with the payment request.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the means for facilitating the customization of the funding source facilitates selection of the funding source that is preferred for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein the means for facilitating the customization of the funding source facilitates disabling of the funding source for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

60. The system of claim 57, wherein the means for facilitating the customization of the funding source facilitates adding and/or deleting of the funding source for the merchant-initiated payment agreement.

61. The system of claim 57, wherein the means for establishing the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes:

means for facilitating customization of terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement including an authorization granted to a payment service provider to make payments on behalf of the user.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein the means for facilitating customization of the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes facilitating customization of a maximum payment amount for a predetermined time period.

63. The system of claim 61, wherein the means for facilitating customization of the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes facilitating the customization of a maximum payment amount for a single payment request.

64. The system of claim 61, wherein the means for facilitating customization of the terms of the merchant-initiated payment agreement includes facilitating the customization of a maximum number of payment requests for which the payment service provider is authorized to make a payment to the merchant on behalf of the user.

65. The system of claim 55, wherein the means for verifying is to verify that the payment request does not exceed a maximum payment amount set by the user in the merchant-initiated payment agreement.