Method and system to facilitate a payment in satisfaction of accumulated micropayment commitments to a vendor

Abstract

Methods and systems for facilitating payments between payors and payees are presented. In an example, a plurality of payment commitments made to a payee is accessed. The plurality of payment commitments are made by a plurality of payors to the payee and contribute to a total commitment receivable value of the payee. The total commitment receivable value is calculated based on the plurality of payment commitments made to the payee. A priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee relative to other total commitment receivable values of other payees is determined. A payment process is initiated based at least in part on the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee. The payment process includes a transfer of the total commitment receivable value from one of the payors to the payee.

1 . A method comprising:
 accessing a plurality of payment commitments made to a payee by a plurality payors, the plurality of payment commitments contributing to a total commitment receivable value of the payee;   calculating the total commitment receivable value of the payee based on the plurality of payment commitments made to the payee;   determining a priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee relative to other total commitment receivable values of other payees; and   initiating a payment process based at least in part on the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee, the payment process comprising a transfer of the total commitment receivable value from one of the payors to the payee.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , the determining of the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee being based at least in part on an identity of the payee. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising placing into a funding queue a queue entry representing the total commitment receivable value of the payee, the funding queue comprising a plurality of queue entries corresponding to the other total commitment receivable values of the other payees. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , the determining of the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee being based on an elapsed period of time since the queue entry was placed in the funding queue. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , the determining of the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee being based on a first in, first out priority scheme relating to the funding queue. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the total commitment receivable value of the payee triggers a crossing of a threshold, the initiating of the payment process being at least in part in response to the determining of whether the total commitment receivable value of the payee triggers the crossing of the threshold. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , the threshold being applied on one of a system level, a user level, and a funding transaction level. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , the initiating of the payment process being at least in part in response to a total commitments payable value of one of the plurality of payors exceeding a threshold, the total commitment payable value being based on a plurality of payment commitments made by the one of the payors. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , the initiating of the payment process being at least in part in response to the total commitment receivable value being satisfiable by the total commitment payable value. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , the initiating of the payment process being at least in part in response to the total commitment receivable value crossing a second threshold. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , the initiating of the payment process further comprising receiving from the one of the payors a selection of the payee. 
     
     
         12 . A system comprising:
 at least one processor; and   modules including instructions to be executed by the at least one processor, the modules comprising:   a micropayment database to store a plurality of payment commitments made to a payee by a plurality of payors, the plurality of payment commitments contributing to a total commitment receivable value of the payee;   a calculation module to calculate the total commitment receivable value of the payee based on the plurality of payment commitments made to the payee; and   a payment allocation module to determine a priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee relative to other total commitment receivable values of other payees, and to initiate a payment process based at least in part on the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee, the payment process comprising a transfer of the total commitment receivable value from one of the payors to the payee.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee being based on an attribute of the payee. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a funding queue to store a plurality of queue entries corresponding to the other total commitment receivable values of the other payees;   the payment allocation module to place into the funding queue a queue entry representing the total commitment receivable value of the payee.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee being based on an elapsed period of time since the queue entry was placed in the funding queue. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee being based on a first in, first out priority scheme relating to the funding queue. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a threshold assessment module to determine whether the total commitment receivable value of the payee triggers a crossing of a threshold;   the payment allocation module to initiate the payment process in response to the total commitment receivable value of the payee triggering the crossing of the threshold.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , the threshold assessment module to apply the threshold on one of a system level, a user level, and a funding transaction level. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , the payment allocation module to initiate the payment process at least in part in response to a total commitments payable value by one of the plurality of payors exceeding a threshold, the total commitment payable value of the payor based on a plurality of payment commitments made by the payor. 
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
 accessing a plurality of payment commitments made to a payee by a plurality of payors, the plurality of payment commitments contributing to a total commitment receivable value of the payee;   calculating the total commitment receivable value of the payee based on the plurality of payment commitments made to the payee;   determining a priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee relative to other total commitment receivable values of other payees; and   initiating a payment process based at least in part on the priority of the total commitment receivable value of the payee, the payment process comprising a transfer of the total commitment receivable value from one of the payors to the payee.