The present invention is directed to a transaction network that facilitates and simplifies purchase transactions between any number of customers and any number of merchants. The transaction network is primarily utilized in the sale and purchase of digital content via a network such as the Internet. The transaction network registers and authenticates customer purchase activities and maintains customer account data including payment information. Once registered, a customer will generally not register again for further purchase activities at participating merchant sites. Additionally, the transaction network provides a single, central authentication mechanism for all participating merchant sites using a single customer identifier and password. Further, the transaction network accumulates purchase information across all of the merchant sites and the ultimate payment processing of those purchase transactions. Payment processing generally occurs on a periodic basis, enabling the accumulation of multiple purchase transactions within a participating customer's account. The network additionally preferably provides customers with centralized, automated services for customer account management, product refunds, subscription management, and multiple purchasing accounts linked to the same payment account.
The present invention provides a universal information appliance management system capable of executing transactions, including financial transactions, across a distributed network. The present invention allows content/service providers to control distribution of the content or services they furnish, and provides novel business process features such as automatic micro-billing of events and instances wherein minuscule requests and tasks of very low value may be billed and monies collected where doing so was otherwise impractical. The information appliance management system also provides dynamic support for multiple simultaneous payment algorithms and for easily modifying or updating the payment algorithms as desired. Further, the present invention provides for automatic offline or online transactions with deferred connections such that payment for a transaction may be secured prior to actually completing the transaction such that the user may obtain the paid for content even without an immediate network connection. Additionally, the present invention provides central authentication of objects of the system such that one object may verify the validity of any other object.
A payment processing system includes a data center, a postage metering system and a control system in operative communication with the data center and the postage metering system. The postage metering system is located remotely from the data center. The control system obtains payment data via the postage metering system where the payment data includes a payee and a payment amount. Further, the control system dispatches payment from the data center to the payee for the payment amount.
Undoing a function requested by a first client station on a computer object stored on a server station of a communication network is provided. The execution of the function is adapted to manipulate the object from an earlier state to a manipulated state. The undoing is performed by receiving a request to undo the execution of the function. The earlier state of the manipulated object is obtained. Then, a response is sent to the first client station via the communication network, the response comprising a sum of money less than or equal to an execution cost associated with the function.
The invention includes a method of financing eCommerce purchases including: receiving over the Internet buyer registration information. Then evaluating a credit rating for the buyer and passing over the Internet the credit rating to a seller, and then receiving over the Internet from the seller seller's credit options for the buyer. The next steps are determining other credit provider's credit options for the buyer, creating a database of the credit options for the buyer. After receiving over the Internet an order for the buyer, then querying the database with query criteria specific to the order, thereby resulting in a report of credit options for the buyer for the order. Passing over the Internet the report to the buyer; receiving over the Internet the buyer's selection of a credit option; passing over the Internet a payment schedule for the buyer to an intermediary; and receiving payment remitted from the buyer.
A My Page management server is a server that provides a personal world wide web (WWW) page named My Page for a user who has been registered as a member. The My Page management server includes a product registration unit that acquires information of a product which the user purchased, a link generation unit that generates, on the My Page, a link indicator which is linked to a product questionnaire about the product which the user purchased, based on the acquired information of the product, and a product questionnaire management unit that presents the linked product questionnaire to the user upon receiving a request for the product questionnaire from the user.
