Micro payments

• US 9,524,496 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2007
• Issued: 12/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Olliphant, Hugo, Mak, Ernest, Ravuri, Muralidhar, Boyd, Mark J., At-Taras, Musaab
• Primary Examiner(s): RANKINS, WILLIAM E
• Application Number:
  US11/962,511
• Publication Number:
  US 20080235123A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,287 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/29 characterised by micropayments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• 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

In one example embodiment, a system and method is shown that includes receiving financial data generated by a widget residing on a web page, the financial data including at least one of donation, or purchase data. The system and method may further include transmitting a display update to update the widget, the updating based upon the financial data. Some example embodiments may include, selecting a widget using an input device to generate data including at least one of donation or purchase data. Moreover, the system and method may include transmitting the at least one of donation or purchase data. Further, the system and method may include storing the at least one of donation or purchase data to a cookie.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a server from a persistent storage medium on a client device of a user, financial data corresponding to a transaction initiated by the user, the financial data being generated by a widget executing on a web page and indicating an amount to be billed in exchange for a good or service;

transmitting, from the server to the client device, an update of the widget based on the financial data, the update comprises current financial data indicating a total amount to be billed in exchange for one or more goods or services and is displayed by the widget as a partial screen update of the web page;

retrieving, by the server, the financial data that corresponds to the transaction initiated by the user from the persistent storage medium;

periodically recording and aggregating, by the server, the financial data retrieved from the persistent storage medium to create aggregated financial data; and

billing, by the server, an account of the user based on the aggregated financial data, the billing predicated on a billing threshold being met by the aggregated financial data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing threshold includes at least one of a monetary value, a date value, or a number of transactions value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial data is generated using techniques including at least one of an Asynchronous JavaScript and eXtensible Markup (AJAX) language technique, or a Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language (DHTML) technique.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating widget code to execute on the client device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the financial data comprises at least one of a digital content tag or an amount tag.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a funding source of the user associated with the account of the user; and

adjusting the billing threshold based on the indication of the funding source.

7. A computer system for tracking purchase data, the computer system comprising:

a receiver to receive, from a persistent storage medium on a user system of a user, financial data that corresponds to a transaction initiated by the user, the financial data being generated by a widget that resides on a web page and indicating an amount to be billed in exchange for a good or service;

a transmitter to transmit, from the server to the user system, an update of the widget based on the financial data, the update comprises current financial data indicating a total amount to be billed in exchange for one or more goods or services and is displayed by the widget as a partial screen update of the web page;

a retriever to retrieve the financial data that corresponds to the transaction initiated by the user from a persistent storage medium on the user system;

a recording engine to periodically record and aggregate the financial data retrieved from the persistent storage medium to create aggregated financial data; and

a billing engine to bill an account of the user based on the aggregated financial data, the billing predicated on a billing threshold being met by the aggregated financial data.

8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the billing threshold includes at least one of a monetary value, a date value, or a number of transactions value.

9. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the financial data is generated using an technique including at least one of Asynchronous JavaScript and eXtensible Markup (AJAX) language technique, or a Dynamic Hyper Text Mark Up (DHTML) technique.

10. The computer system of claim 7, further comprising a widget generator to generate widget code to be placed into the web page.

11. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the financial data comprises at least one of a digital content tag or an amount tag.

12. An apparatus for tracking purchase data, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving, by a server from a persistent storage medium on a client device of a user, financial data corresponding to a transaction initiated the user, the financial data being generated by a widget executing on a web page and indicating an amount to be billed in exchange for a good or service;

transmitting, from the server to the client device, an update of the widget based on the financial data, the update comprises current financial data indicating a total amount to be billed in exchange for one or more goods or services and is displayed by the widget as a partial screen update of the web page;

retrieving, by the server, the financial data that corresponds to the transaction initiated by the user from a persistent storage medium;

periodically recording and aggregating, by the server, the financial data retrieved from the persistent storage medium to create aggregated financial data; and

billing, by the server, an account of the user based on the aggregated financial data, the billing predicated on a billing threshold being met by the aggregated financial data.

13. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a server from a persistent storage medium on a user device of a user, financial data corresponding to a transaction initiated the user, the financial data being generated by a widget executing on a web page and indicating an amount to be billed in exchange for a good or service;

at a first time, an update of the widget based on the financial data, the update of the widget to display a portion of the financial data;

transmitting, from the server to the user device, an update of the widget based on the financial data, the update comprises current financial data indicating a total amount to be billed in exchange for one or more goods or services and is displayed by the widget as a partial screen update of the web page;

retrieving, by the server, the financial data that corresponds to the transaction initiated by the user from a persistent storage medium;

periodically recording and aggregating, by the server, the financial data retrieved from the persistent storage medium to create aggregated financial data; and

billing, by the server, an account of the user based on the aggregated financial data, the billing predicated on a billing threshold being met by the aggregated financial data.