Payment service provision with reduced transaction costs

Abstract

A method for providing on-line payment services is provided where a payment service provider pays for a plurality of purchases that are made by a user during a plurality of on-line shopping sessions. An authorization is received for the payment service provider to collect a reimbursement amount from a financial institution of the user. The reimbursement amount is at least equal to a cumulative amount of the payments for the plurality of purchases made by the user during the plurality of on-line shopping sessions. The payment service provider collects the reimbursement amount in a single transaction from the financial institution of the user and pays a fee to the financial institution of the user. The fee is based on the single transaction carried out to collect the reimbursement amount rather than being applied to each of the plurality of purchases or assessed as a percentage of the reimbursement amount, which allows the payment service provider to reduce the costs associated with providing payment services.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A payment system, comprising:
 a non-transitory memory;   one or more hardware processors coupled to the memory and operable to read instructions from the memory to perform the steps of:
 transmitting payments, over a network to at least one merchant, for a plurality of purchases that are made by a user; 
 receiving, from the user, an authorization to collect a reimbursement amount from a first financial institution of the user, wherein the reimbursement amount is at least equal to a portion of a cumulative amount of the payments transmitted to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases made by the user; 
 attempting to collect the reimbursement amount in a single transaction, from the first financial institution of the user over the network, subsequent to the transmitting of the payments to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases made by the user; 
 receiving, in response to attempting to collect the reimbursement amount from the first financial institution, a collection denial from the first financial institution over the network; 
 reclassifying the reimbursement amount in response to the collection denial to create a reclassified reimbursement amount that is associated with insufficient funds at the first financial institution; and 
 attempting to collect, over the network from a second financial institution of the user that is a credit financial institution, the reclassified reimbursement amount in a single transaction, wherein a second financial institution fee that is based on the single transaction carried out to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount is paid to the second financial institution of the user over the network in response to the second financial institution allowing the collection of the reclassified reimbursement amount. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more hardware processors are operable to read instructions from the memory to perform the steps of:
 reviewing a user history; and   determining a maximum amount for the reimbursement amount, wherein the attempting to collect the reimbursement amount in the single transaction from the first financial institution of the user over the network is performed in response to determining that the reimbursement amount is within a predetermined amount of the maximum amount.   
     
     
         3 . The payment system of  claim 1 , wherein the transmitting payments to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases that are made by the user requires a prior authorization, received from the user prior to the plurality of purchases being made, to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user. 
     
     
         4 . The payment system of  claim 3 , wherein the prior authorization, received from the user through the user device over the network prior to the plurality of purchases being made, to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user further comprises a prior authorization to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount and the second financial institution fee from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user. 
     
     
         5 . The payment system of  claim 1 , wherein the first financial institution of the user comprises a banking financial institution. 
     
     
         6 . The payment system of  claim 1 , wherein the user is disqualified from having subsequent multiple purchases paid for prior to collecting a reimbursement amount for those subsequent multiple purchases in response to the second financial institution denying the collection of the reclassified reimbursement amount. 
     
     
         7 . The payment system of  claim 1 , wherein the attempting to collect the reimbursement amount is in response to the expiration of a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
         8 . A machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, are adapted to cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:
 transmitting payments, over a network to at least one merchant, for a plurality of purchases that are made by a user;   receiving, from the user, an authorization to collect a reimbursement amount from a first financial institution of the user, wherein the reimbursement amount is at least equal to a portion of a cumulative amount of the payments transmitted to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases made by the user;   attempting to collect the reimbursement amount in a single transaction, from the first financial institution of the user over the network, subsequent to the transmitting of the payments to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases made by the user;   receiving, in response to attempting to collect the reimbursement amount from the first financial institution, a collection denial from the first financial institution over the network;   reclassifying the reimbursement amount in response to the collection denial to create a reclassified reimbursement amount that is associated with insufficient funds at the first financial institution; and   attempting to collect, over the network from a second financial institution of the user that is a credit financial institution, the reclassified reimbursement amount in a single transaction, wherein a second financial institution fee that is based on the single transaction carried out to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount is paid to the second financial institution of the user over the network in response to the second financial institution allowing the collection of the reclassified reimbursement amount.   
     
     
         9 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of machine-readable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, are adapted to cause the one or more processors to perform the method further comprising:
 reviewing a user history; and   determining a maximum amount for the reimbursement amount, wherein the attempting to collect the reimbursement amount in the single transaction from the first financial institution of the user over the network is performed in response to determining that the reimbursement amount is within a predetermined amount of the maximum amount.   
     
     
         10 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the transmitting payments to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases that are made by the user requires a prior authorization, received from the user prior to the plurality of purchases being made, to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user. 
     
     
         11 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the prior authorization, received from the user through the user device over the network prior to the plurality of purchases being made, to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user further comprises a prior authorization to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount and the second financial institution fee from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user. 
     
     
         12 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the first financial institution of the user comprises a banking financial institution. 
     
     
         13 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the user is disqualified from having subsequent multiple purchases paid for prior to collecting a reimbursement amount for those subsequent multiple purchases in response to the second financial institution denying the collection of the reclassified reimbursement amount. 
     
     
         14 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the attempting to collect the reimbursement amount is in response to the expiration of a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
         15 . A method for providing on-line payment services, comprising:
 transmitting payments, by a payment service provider over a network to at least one merchant, for a plurality of purchases that are made by a user;   receiving, by the payment service provider from the user, an authorization to collect a reimbursement amount from a first financial institution of the user, wherein the reimbursement amount is at least equal to a portion of a cumulative amount of the payments transmitted by the payment service provider to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases made by the user;   attempting to collect the reimbursement amount in a single transaction, by the payment service provider from the first financial institution of the user over the network, subsequent to the transmitting of the payments by the payment service provider to the at least one merchant for the plurality of purchases made by the user;   receiving, in response to attempting to collect the reimbursement amount from the first financial institution, a collection denial from the first financial institution over the network;   reclassifying the reimbursement amount in response to the collection denial to create a reclassified reimbursement amount that is associated with insufficient funds at the first financial institution; and   attempting to collect, by the payment service provider over the network from a second financial institution of the user that is a credit financial institution, the reclassified reimbursement amount in a single transaction, wherein the payment service provider pays a second financial institution fee that is based on the single transaction carried out to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount to the second financial institution of the user over the network in response to the second financial institution allowing the collection of the reclassified reimbursement amount.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 reviewing, by the payment service provider, a user history; and   determining, by the payment service provider, a maximum amount for the reimbursement amount, wherein the attempting to collect the reimbursement amount in the single transaction by the payment service provider from the first financial institution of the user over the network is performed in response to the payment service provider determining that the reimbursement amount is within a predetermined amount of the maximum amount.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the transmitting payments to the at least one merchant by the payment service provider for the plurality of purchases that are made by the user requires a prior authorization, received by the payment service provider from the user prior to the plurality of purchases being made, to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the prior authorization, received by the payment service provider from the user prior to the plurality of purchases being made, to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user further comprises a prior authorization to collect the reclassified reimbursement amount and the second financial institution fee from the second financial institution of the user in response to the user not having sufficient funds at the first financial institution of the user. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first financial institution of the user comprises a banking financial institution. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the payment service provider disqualifies the user from having subsequent multiple purchases paid for prior to collecting a reimbursement amount for those subsequent multiple purchases in response to the second financial institution denying the collection of the reclassified reimbursement amount.