Release of funds based on criteria

• US 20070073618A1
• Filed: 09/29/2005
• Published: 03/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Yu, Kevin, Tien, Alan, Chong, Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 8,706,618 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/40
• 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 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

A method and system to transfer payment to a seller of a network-based commerce transaction are described herein. The method includes generating a risk model based on seller-specific criteria, and releasing funds from a holding account to the seller based on the risk model.

Claims

1. A computer-system to transfer payment to a seller of a commerce transaction, the computer-system comprising:

a funds release module to;

generate a risk model based on seller-specific criteria; and

automatically release funds from a holding account to the seller based on the risk model, wherein an amount of the funds that are released from the holding account varies according to the seller-specific criteria.

2. The computer-system of claim 1 wherein timing for release of the funds from the holding account varies according to the seller-specific criteria.

3. The computer-system of claim 1 wherein the release of the funds is further based on buyer-specific criteria and transaction-specific criteria.

4. The computer-system of claim 1 wherein the holding account includes an escrow account.

5. The computer-system of claim 1 wherein the release of the funds is independent of buyer approval.

6. The computer-system of claim 1 wherein the seller-specific criteria includes a security proxy selected from a group including:

collateral associated with the holding account from the seller, a social security number of the seller, a financial services provider account number of the seller, a feedback number associated with a commerce system, a complaint rate, a seller transaction history, and a tenure time associated with the commerce system.

7. The computer-system of claim 1 wherein the release of the funds to the seller is completed in a plurality of stages over a period of time, wherein the plurality of stages and the period of time is determined by the seller-specific criteria.

8. A computer-implemented method to transfer payment to a seller of a commerce transaction, the computer-implemented method comprising:

generating a risk model based on seller-specific criteria; and

automatically releasing funds from a holding account to the seller based on the risk model, wherein an amount of the funds that are released from the holding account varies according to the seller-specific criteria.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein timing for release of the funds from the holding account varies according to the seller-specific criteria.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein releasing of the funds is further based on buyer-specific criteria and transaction-specific criteria.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein the holding account includes an escrow account.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein releasing of the funds is independent of buyer approval.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein the seller-specific criteria includes a security proxy selected from a group including:

collateral associated with the holding account from the seller, a social security number of the seller, a financial services provider account number of the seller, a feedback number associated with a commerce system, a complaint rate, a seller transaction history, and a tenure time associated with the commerce system.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein releasing of the funds to the seller is completed in a plurality of stages over a period of time, wherein the plurality of stages and the period of time is determined by the seller-specific criteria.

15. A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of claim 8.

16. A computer system to transfer payment to a seller of a commerce transaction, the system comprising:

means for generating a risk model based on seller-specific criteria; and

means for automatically releasing funds from a holding account to a seller based on the risk model, wherein an amount of the funds that are released from the holding account varies according to the seller-specific criteria.

17. The computer system of claim 16 wherein the means for generating the risk model and the means for releasing funds including a funds release module.