Internet billing method

Abstract

The present disclosure may include, for example, a method for facilitating establishment of a remitting agreement between equipment used by a vendor and equipment used by a provider, enabling, by way of the equipment used by the provider, the equipment used by the vendor to communicate with equipment used by a customer permitting the customer to purchase a product or service of the vendor, and initiating between the equipment used by the provider and the equipment used by the vendor a remittance from an account associated with the vendor of a portion of a transaction amount associated with a purchase transaction made by the equipment used by the customer. Additional embodiments are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 facilitating, by network access equipment used by a provider, establishment of a remittance agreement between vendor computer equipment used by a vendor and the network access equipment used by the provider;   enabling, by the network access equipment used by the provider, the vendor computer equipment used by the vendor to communicate with customer computer equipment used by a customer permitting the customer to purchase a product or service of the vendor; and   receiving, by the network access equipment used by the provider, transactional information associated with the customer;   facilitating, by the network access equipment used by the provider, a remittance transaction with the vendor computer equipment used by the vendor using a billing account designated by the customer, wherein the facilitating of the remittance transaction is performed based on the transactional information without providing, over a communication network, an account number for the billing account.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the remittance transaction relates to a portion of a transaction amount associated with a purchase transaction made by the customer computer equipment used by the customer. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vendor computer equipment used by the vendor receives a message indicating that the customer computer equipment used by the customer initiated and authorized an order for the product or service of the vendor, and wherein the vendor initiates a delivery of the product or service to the customer after receiving the message. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transactional information comprises identifying information relating to the customer, identifying information relating to the customer computer equipment, a transaction amount, a reference to identify the purchase, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the transactional information is transmitted by the customer computer equipment used by the customer, or the vendor computer equipment used by the vendor. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the billing account designated by the customer is charged a transaction amount by way of the network access equipment used by the provider, and wherein the transactional information designates a type of the billing account. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the billing account designated by the customer is associated with communication services provided by the provider to the customer. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the billing account designated by the customer is charged a transaction amount by way of computer equipment used by a party other than the provider. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the billing account is selected from among a group of billing accounts designated by the customer. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the selecting is based on a transaction amount of the remittance transaction. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions, which, responsive to being executed by vendor computer equipment used by a vendor, causes the vendor computer equipment used by the vendor to perform operations comprising:
 participating in a communication session over a communication network with customer computer equipment used by a customer, wherein the communication session is enabled by network access equipment used by a provider;   receiving, during the communication session, information indicating that the customer computer equipment used by the customer initiated an order for a product or service, wherein the order comprises a purchase transaction;   transmitting, to the network access equipment used by the provider, transactional information relating to the purchase transaction; and   facilitating a remittance transaction with the network access equipment used by the provider using a billing account designated by the customer.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the facilitating of the remittance transaction is performed without providing, over a communication network, an account number for the billing account. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise initiating a process to deliver the product or service to the customer after receiving the information. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the product or service is delivered to the customer by a process other than electronic transmission. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the product or service is delivered to the customer by electronic transmission. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the billing account designated by the customer is associated with communication services provided by the provider to the customer. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the billing account is selected from among a group of billing accounts designated by the customer. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 17 , wherein the selecting is based on a transaction amount of the remittance transaction. 
     
     
         19 . A method comprising:
 participating, by vendor computer equipment used by a vendor, in a communication session over a communication network with customer computer equipment used by a customer, wherein the communication session is enabled by network access equipment used by a provider;   receiving, by the vendor computer equipment used by the vendor during the communication session, information indicating that the customer computer equipment used by the customer initiated an order for a product or service, wherein the order comprises a purchase transaction; and   facilitating, by the vendor computer equipment used by the vendor, a remittance transaction with the network access equipment used by the provider using a billing account designated by the customer, wherein the facilitating of the remittance transaction is performed without providing, over the communication network, an account number for the billing account.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the billing account is selected from among a group of billing accounts designated by the customer.