Method for payment and merchant systems with advanced cancellation functionality

Abstract

A method for payment and merchant systems facilitates payment of a small amount, making the payment of a user safer. A payment system for at least one online store relies on a user device identifier, for recording at least one identifier of a user device, for receiving and confirming a direct debit order, and for storing the direct debit order. The method monitors and identifies a total amount of debit amounts associated with the identifier and requests a user of the user device to register after a predetermined time interval and / or when a predetermined value of the total amount payable is exceeded in order to settle at least a portion of the total amount payable. Such payment system methods also provide unique solutions to cancel purchases, detect abusers of the cancel, grant trust tokens, and provide quality metrics for digital content, as well as merchants providing such content.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a payment method and merchant system that facilitates users to pay small amounts to purchase, for example, digital content or subscribe to digital content, making the user's payment more secure. In particular, the present invention relates to a unique solution for such a payment method to cancel purchases or subscriptions by detecting abusers of cancellations, and measures taken against individuals who abuse cancellations of digital content and / or subscriptions, and cancellation tracking for determining user satisfaction indicators and merchant satisfaction indicators, and processes and actions based on these indicators for improving the quality of digital content items provided by merchants. Background Art

[0002] Shopping systems are known in which a plurality of web servers are interconnected via a network (usually the Internet) to enable purchasers to purchase goods and / or services. Traditionally, a customer selects a particular virtual marketplace, searches for goods and services there, places them in a virtual shopping cart and pays for the items at the end of the shopping process. The payment procedure is usually very complex, since the individual user or purchaser must be fully authenticated. To this end, name and address are usually required. For the payment transaction, the user must enter account or credit card information so that the amount due can be debited. The registration process, i.e. entering name and address and / or account or credit card information, is complex. One of the main problems is that for small transactions ranging from a few cents to one euro (0.01 euro to 1.00 euro), customers are simply reluctant to register. The effort required to obtain goods or information on the marketplace for a few cents is too great and is not proportional to what is being purchased. Therefore, for payments below 1 euro, there is no real market, since it cannot exist due to the ratio of effort to reward.

[0003] In addition, individual users want to be sure that their data is treated confidentially. Usually, users will only disclose their information when they trust the relevant marketplace. Therefore, it is difficult for small businesses to set up such a marketplace or online store.

[0004] For the processing of money for purchases, service providers have been established that offer payment systems with which users can register only once and carry out corresponding payment transactions in numerous online stores through one such service provider. Registration in such a central payment system is also very complex. In addition, such payment transactions incur costs, which the online stores in particular have to bear.

[0005] Overall, it is clear that the obstacles and barriers to entry associated with such purchases on the Internet are so numerous and high that potential buyers are often deterred from making such purchases. This applies especially to goods and services purchased for very small amounts. For example, requiring a user to fully register to view a one-page test report that costs about 50 cents is extremely problematic.

[0006] The inventors of the present invention conceived such a payment system that ensures secure payment transactions for use with, for example, a corresponding shopping system and a method for performing multiple payment transactions, as described in U.S. application No. 15 / 806,945, filed on November 8, 2017, which was granted U.S. Patent No. 11,170,378 on November 9, 2021, which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application No. 14 / 283,885, filed on May 21, 2014, a divisional application of the pending U.S. application No. 13 / 394,485, filed on March 6, 2012, and a U.S. national phase of PCT application No. PCT / EP2010 / 005435, filed on September 3, 2010, which claims U.S. Patent No. DE filed on October 28, 2009. The entire disclosures of the German application No. DE 102009050985.2 filed on September 8, 2009 are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0007] In particular, such a payment system for at least one online shopping system comprises: an identification device for recording at least one identification number of a shopper system; an interface device for receiving and confirming a direct debit order from at least one online store, wherein the debit order comprises information related to a debit amount, i.e., a price, to be paid to the online store; a storage device for storing the direct debit order and the associated identification number; a processing device for monitoring the sum of the debit amounts associated with the identification number and requesting a user of the shopper system to register at predetermined time intervals and / or when a predetermined value of the total amount payable is exceeded in order to settle at least a part of the total amount payable.

[0008] The basic concept of this payment system is that it records purchases made by users in the form of direct debit orders and also stores identification information that enables a preferably unique identification of the shopper system used, i.e. an identifier. Thus, initially, no information is requested about the user of the shopper system. In theory, any user can use the shopper system to make purchases and payment transactions.

[0009] Once a predetermined time interval has elapsed and / or a predetermined amount of the total amount due has been exceeded, the payment system requires the user to register in order to pay at least part of the total amount due. Thus, the user can shop completely anonymously and completely secure against fraud at the same time. Individual purchases are associated with the shopper system used by the user, for example a user device such as a personal computer or a mobile communication device. Only after a predetermined period of time has elapsed or a predetermined amount of the total amount due has accumulated, the user must disclose his identity or at least enter information enabling the debt to be settled.

[0010] The payment system minimizes the entry barriers to paid content on the Internet, as it enables users to consume now and pay later. Users can accumulate multiple very small amounts due (micropayments) and then pay these amounts immediately after the relevant amount has been accumulated. This also saves technical resources, as the relevant measures do not have to be executed for each minimum payment transaction. In addition, the payment system can be used to enter new markets, such as markets that process payments characterized by very small monetary amounts (e.g., less than 1 euro). Such a payment system also makes the processing of small payments economical. The bank's minimum debit fee is sometimes several times higher than the value of the purchased content (e.g., an average of 0.20 euros per transaction). Such a payment system can act as a global shopping cart (e.g., on multiple websites) and can aggregate purchases. These fees are then settled cumulatively, thereby minimizing the relative fees per transaction. For example, for 20 purchases, a direct debit transaction is only processed once, reducing the incidental costs incurred in performing direct debits. The processing device may be configured such that, prior to registration, the system does not request any personal data from the user of the shopper system and, in particular, does not request any payment information prior to sending an authorization signal to the system of the online store indicating that the payment system does not consider the shopper system to be untrustworthy.

[0011] The method of this payment system facilitates users to pay small amounts of money to purchase, for example, digital content or subscribe to digital content, making the user's payment safer. In addition, the improvement to this payment system described herein is a unique solution for canceling purchases or canceling subscriptions and detecting individuals who abuse the cancellation of digital content and / or subscriptions and taking action.

[0012] The identification device may provide a program executable on the shopper system to record at least one identification number. The communication protocol itself is typically capable of recording a suitable tag, which preferably uniquely identifies the shopper system. However, it is preferred that a program is provided that reads or generates a suitable identification number to identify the shopper system and is executable on the shopper system.

[0013] The interface device may include a blacklist of identification numbers and may be configured such that the device rejects direct debit orders associated with identification numbers included in the blacklist, while the processing device may be configured to store identification numbers of shopper systems in the blacklist for users who have not registered after a predetermined time interval and / or when a predetermined total amount due is exceeded, to at least partially settle the total amount due. Thus, the payment system may exclude individuals or users who are bad payers, thereby potentially reducing the losses incurred. Since the payment system is preferably used to settle very small debit amounts, the financial risk is very small.

[0014] The shopping system may comprise at least one online store, e.g. a web-accessible merchant, having a system, e.g. a web server, to provide a sales portal, e.g. based on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), wherein at least one object is embedded in the sales portal for processing debit orders and having a communication link to a payment system. Thus, interaction between the online store and the sales portal is possible without the user having to take additional measures for this. The online store embeds suitable objects, i.e. executable software codes, i.e. software codes, e.g. HTML codes, in the Internet presence of the above-mentioned store, for providing the web pages of the online store and processes the payment process through the objects communicating with the payment system.

[0015] The embedded object may be configured to output information about the payment system, in particular payment requirements and / or account balances. Thus, the user does not need to make further efforts to view his account balance with the payment system. The relevant information is presented as part of the Internet presence of the respective online store. Likewise, in the event that the payment system wishes to send information to the user, the payment system does not need to take any active steps. Instead, it may wait for the user to use his shopper system to visit an online store that communicates with the payment system. In this case, the online store issues the appropriate information of the payment system to the user of the shopper system.

[0016] This method for performing multiple payment transactions may include: storing a shopper system and user device identifier, performing purchase transactions of specific purchase amounts in an online store through the identification number, the payment system storing the purchase amount (e.g., price) in combination with the identification number, the payment system monitoring the total amount payable for the purchase transaction through the shopper system transmitting an authorization signal to the merchant system, and when the total amount payable exceeds a predetermined value and / or after a predetermined time interval, issuing a request to the user of the shopper system to settle at least part of the total amount payable.

[0017] The method optionally includes registering the user after making the request. Thus, unlike conventional systems, there is no immediate registration of the settlement of each purchase amount. Instead, the payment system accumulates the purchase amount over a relatively long period of time and then only requests settlement at a later time.

[0018] Registration may include recording bank account and / or credit card information.

[0019] The identification number may be a hardware identification number. Preferably, the identification number is a hardware identification number of the shopper system. Such an identification number is a fixed component of a conventional shopper system and can be used for its unique identification. It is also relatively complex to modify the number to deceive the payment system according to the present invention.

[0020] The hardware identification number may include at least a portion of a MAC (Media Access Control) address and / or a processor identification number and / or a hard disk identification number and / or an IP address and / or other unique device number (e.g., a unique device identifier (UDID) of a smartphone).

[0021] Identification of the shopper system may be performed using only the hardware identification number. Optionally, other mechanisms may be provided to identify the user and / or shopper system. For example, a "local shared object" may be placed on the shopper system. The object may be a Flash cookie (Flash cookies are information that is retained when a user visits a Flash web page. Cookies are computer software that enables a website to identify the visitor when a website is visited again). In order to protect the identifier from being tampered with, the object may be digitally signed. The signature may be implemented using a certificate from a public key infrastructure (PKI).

[0022] For example, the time interval may be greater than 10 days and / or greater than 1 month and / or greater than 3 months.Preferably, the time interval is calculated from the entry or execution of the first debit order associated with the specific identification number.

[0023] However, the above-described payment system does not address or disclose a method for cancelling the subscribed downloadable digital content and / or subscription after the order is placed, such as within minutes, hours, days, or weeks after the order is placed. Furthermore, it is not easy to discern how such cancellation can be achieved in view of the communication exchanges that occur between the user, the merchant, and the payment system, especially in view of the fact that the user is unknown prior to the account being created. Furthermore, the above-described payment system does not provide a description of a manner of detecting and handling abusers of cancellation of downloadable digital content and abusers of subscribing to downloadable content within hours or days. Summary of the invention

[0024] The present invention provides additional functionality that is lacking in the existing methods of payment systems conceived by the inventors and described in the inventions cited above, wherein such additional functionality enables users to cancel purchases or subscriptions to digital content, and provides detection methods and implementation measures for users who abuse the cancellation of subscriptions to digital content and / or digital content services.

[0025] According to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed payment system method, a processor of such a payment system (a) receives, through a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price of a requested item that the user device is to purchase from a network-accessible merchant; (b) determines a credit indicator associated with the user device based on the user device identifier; (c) transmits an authorization signal for the requested item to the network-accessible merchant without requiring payment for the purchase when the credit indicator satisfies a predetermined condition; (d) monitors a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device; and (e) sends a request signal to the user device to settle the purchase when the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount. (f) in response to receiving a cancellation request from the user device, performing a determination of a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier based on at least one of: a duration since acceptance of the purchase request for the item, a number of previous cancellations, a time period during which the previous cancellations occurred, a time interval since the last cancellation, a credit indicator, a frequency of previous cancellations, and whether the user device identifier is included in a maintained list of abuser device identifiers; and (g) based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator, performing a determination of whether to grant or deny the cancellation request.

[0026] The present invention provides further additional functionality, wherein such additional functionality enables determination of user satisfaction indicators and merchant satisfaction indicators based on tracking of cancellations of purchased or subscribed digital content items, and performing other actions to notify users and merchants about those digital content items and merchants with higher cancellation rates so that they can make informed decisions, and transmit notifications indicating these indicators to a network server providing an Internet search service, which may affect the ranking of search results for the digital content.

[0027] According to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed payment system method for determining and using a user satisfaction indicator, a processor of such a payment system (a) receives, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price of a requested digital content item purchased by the user device from a network-accessible merchant; (b) monitors a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device; (c) when the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device does not exceed a predetermined threshold amount, transmits an authorization signal for the requested digital content item to the network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase; and (d) when the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, transmits a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier, and in response to receiving payment of at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier, transmits to the network-accessible merchant an authorization signal for the requested digital content item. (e) determining a user satisfaction index for the purchased digital content item based on tracking at least one of: (i) the number of times the digital content item is purchased by multiple user devices, including the user device; (ii) the number of times the purchase of the digital content is permitted to the multiple user devices, and (iii) the number of times the purchase of the digital content is forwarded by at least one of the multiple user devices to another user device; and (f) based on the determined user satisfaction index, performing at least one other action: transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index to a merchant providing the digital content item, preparing a notification indicating the user satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to purchase the digital content item using the payment system, limiting the number of authorization signals for the requested digital content item that are subsequently transmitted to the merchant, and transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index for the digital content item to a network server providing an Internet search service.

[0028] According to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed payment system method for determining and using a merchant satisfaction indicator, a processor of such a payment system (a) receives, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price of a requested digital content item purchased by the user device from a network-accessible merchant; (b) monitors a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device; (c) when the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device does not exceed a predetermined threshold amount, transmits an authorization signal for the requested digital content item to the network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase; (d) when the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, transmits a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier, and in response to receiving payment of at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier, transmits an authorization signal for the requested digital content item to the network-accessible merchant; and (e) determines a merchant satisfaction indicator based on tracking at least one of the following: (i) the number of times that multiple user devices purchased multiple digital content items from a merchant, including digital content requested by the user devices; (ii) the number of times that multiple user devices revoked authorizations for the purchased multiple digital content items; (iii) the number of times that at least one of the multiple digital content items was forwarded by at least one of the multiple user devices to another user device, and (iv) the number of multiple user devices that purchased more than one of the multiple digital content items from the merchant; and (f) based on the determined merchant satisfaction index, performing at least one other action: transmitting a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a merchant that provided the digital content items, preparing a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to use the payment system to purchase one of the multiple digital content items provided by the merchant, limiting the number of authorization signals subsequently transmitted to the merchant for the requested digital content items that are available from the merchant, and transmitting a notification indicating merchant satisfaction to a network server that provides an Internet search service.

[0029] Further embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The invention will now be described in more detail using several exemplary embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0031] Figure 1 A shopping system including a shopper system, an online store, and a payment system is shown;

[0032] Figure 2 Shows Figure 1 Various components of an exemplary embodiment of a payment system;

[0033] Figure 3 Shows Figure 1 and Figure 2 Example database entries for a payment system of;

[0034] Figure 4 A flow chart of an exemplary order generation process according to the present invention is shown.

[0035] Figure 5 A flow chart showing an exemplary process according to the present invention that enables detection of users who abuse the right to cancel a purchased item, and exemplary action actions taken against such users in subsequent cancellations.

[0036] Figure 6 A flow chart of an exemplary process for determining favorable user satisfaction indicators and merchant status indicators to perform further corresponding actions is shown.

[0037] In the following description, the same reference numerals are used for identical and similarly acting parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Figure 1 A shopping system according to the present invention is shown. A shopper system 10 (e.g., a user device such as a laptop, PC, or mobile terminal) is connected to an online store 20 (e.g., a network-accessible merchant) via a network (in the present case, the Internet 1). The online store 20 and the shopper system 10 are also in communication connection with a payment system 30 via the Internet 1. Typically, many other systems are connected to the Internet 1.

[0039] Figure 2 The various components of the payment system 30 are shown. The payment system 30 according to the present invention has: an identification device 31 for recording at least one identifier, i.e., an identification number of the shopper system 10; an interface device 32 for receiving and confirming a direct debit order 6 from an online store 20, wherein the debit order includes information related to a debit amount to be paid to the online store 20, i.e., a purchase price; a storage device 32 for storing the direct debit order and the associated identification number ID; and a processing device 34 for processing incoming payment transactions.

[0040] Now refer to Figure 4 The flowchart in describes the various devices in more detail. An exemplary embodiment of a purchase processed by the payment system 30 according to the present invention proceeds as follows:

[0041] The user enters a specific Internet address in a browser running in the shopper system 10 operated by the user. The browser establishes contact with the server of the online store 20 and represents the online store 20 on the Internet. The Internet presence contains an embedded object that is communicatively connected to the interface device 32 of the payment system 30. Therefore, the payment system 30 can record the identification number ID of the shopper system 10 via the embedded object. In the present case, this is, for example, the MAC address of the shopper system 10. Therefore, if Figure 4 As shown in step 101, the MAC address of the shopper system 10 is recorded.

[0042] Subsequently, it is checked whether the shopper system 10 is creditworthy, for example by determining a credit indicator (step 102). This determination can be made, for example, by the payment system 30, in particular the processing device 34, determining whether an account exists for the received MAC address. If a corresponding account exists, it is determined whether a debit amount has been added to the account. If this is the case, the individual debit amounts are totaled. If the debit amount does not exceed a predetermined amount (for example, 3 euros), or if the earliest debit order occurred before a predetermined time period, for example, three months ago, a credit indicator that meets the predetermined conditions is generated, so that the payment system 30 can transmit an authorization signal to the online store 20, instructing the user to proceed with his purchase (step 104).

[0043] However, if the debit amount exceeds a predetermined amount (e.g., 3 Euros), or if the oldest debit order is more than a predetermined time interval, e.g., three months ago, the user of the shopper system 10 is requested to settle the increased debit amount (step 111). If the user pays the outstanding total amount due (step 112), a credit indicator that satisfies the predetermined condition is generated, enabling the payment system 30 to transmit an authorization signal to the online store, enabling the user to proceed with his purchase (step 104). Otherwise, a credit indicator that will not satisfy the predetermined condition is generated, and the payment system 30 will not transmit an authorization signal to the online store 20, i.e., the online store 20 is warned to reject the user's purchase request (step 113).

[0044] Furthermore, to determine the credit indicator, the payment system 03 may additionally verify whether the identifier of the shopper system 10 is included in a maintained blacklist of user device identifiers, for example, if the user device does not register after a predetermined time interval and / or exceeds a predetermined outstanding total amount due. Such a blacklist may include the user identifier of the shopper system for other reasons, for example, if the identifier represents a stolen user device, a device located or originating outside a specific geography or embargoed country or region.

[0045] Thus, if the credit of the shopper system 10 is acceptable, the transmitted authorization signal alerts the online store 20 that the user may make the requested purchase through the shopper system 10 (step 104). For example, paid reviews of movies or other digital content may be accessed. In another exemplary embodiment, the user may be able to make telephone calls through the Internet 1, or activate or subscribe to various other services.

[0046] For example, when the purchase is completed, the online shop 20 transfers the relevant reservation in the form of a direct debit order to the payment system 30, in particular to the interface device 32 (step 105). In step 106, it is checked whether an account of the shopper system 10 already exists. In practice, it is determined whether an account has already been established by determining whether the payment system 30 has already established an account for the read MAC address. If an account does not exist, a suitable account is established (step 114). In step 107, the payment system 30, in particular the storage device 33, stores the direct debit order in conjunction with the MAC address. Thus, an entry is added to the created account, which provides information about which purchases have been made using the recorded MAC address.

[0047] The user of the shopper system 10 can then decide whether he wishes to make more purchases (step 108). If the user wishes, he can call up another Internet presence of another online store 20 by entering another Internet address. Then, the user's MAC address is again recorded and then passed to the payment system 30 (step 101).

[0048] As described in the exemplary embodiment above, initially, the payment system 30 records each direct debit order as anonymously as possible. The payment system 30 confirms each debit order to the online store 20, such as through an authorization signal, so that the online store 20 can basically assume the completed payment. The payment system 30 can identify the shopper system 10 entirely based on the MAC address.

[0049] Therefore, the storage device 33 stores the direct debit order in conjunction with the corresponding MAC address. To this end, the payment system 30 comprises a corresponding database in which a corresponding table is stored. Figure 3 An exemplary extract of a table stored therein is shown. The table comprises, for example, three columns, in particular, a first column containing the identification of a specific direct debit order, a second column containing the amount to be debited, and a third column containing the date on which the payment system 30 received the direct debit order. Figure 3 Each row in the table corresponds to a direct debit order. Figure 3 As can be seen from the table, on July 1, 2009, 20 cents were debited to identification number 222. In addition, on September 20, 2009, 5 cents were debited to the same MAC address.

[0050] The processing device 34 can use these entries to determine the total amount due from the debit amount for a particular identification number ID. For example, the total amount due for identification number 222 is 25 euro cents.

[0051] Thus, for example, the payment system 30 may be configured such that a user of the shopper system 10 must settle his debt if his debt is greater than 1 Euro. Therefore, in step 102, for the user of the shopper system with identification number 222, it is checked whether the total amount due to the system is greater than 1 Euro. Figure 3 This is not the case in the exemplary embodiment shown, so a credit indicator that meets predetermined conditions is generated, enabling the payment system 30 to transmit an authorization signal to the online store 20, thereby enabling the user to make further purchases without clearing the debt.

[0052] In the exemplary embodiment described above, in step 102, it is checked whether the shopper system 10 has accumulated a total amount due that is greater than a certain value (e.g., 1 Euro). In addition, the processing device 34 may check in step 102 whether the user of the shopper system 10 has used the payment system 30 for longer than a certain predetermined time interval. For example, the processing device 34 may check whether the first direct debit order for a certain identification number ID is more than 3 months old. The payment system 30 may be configured to issue an immediate request to settle the outstanding amount in this case.

[0053] The payment system 30 may also be configured so that the system provides the user with the possibility to settle their accumulated direct debit orders at any time. Preferably, the user is encouraged to make actual payments to the payment system 30 at the earliest possible point in time by offering a discount.

[0054] The payment system 30 may also include an account monitoring device that monitors the actual incoming payments and deposits them into the shopper system 10. For example, registration according to the invention may be performed when the user enters a username. In exchange, the payment system 30 displays an account number to the user and asks him to transfer the total amount due to the corresponding account, indicating his username. The transferred amount is then credited to the account of the shopper system 10 he uses.

[0055] In another exemplary embodiment, the username or payment reason reference is automatically generated. Thus, the user remains as anonymous as possible.

[0056] In another exemplary embodiment, the user can enter address data and his real name and, together with these data, his account number, so that the payment system 30 can debit past accumulated direct debit orders. These entries can also be used to execute future direct debit orders in the short term or in the form of batch debits at the end of the month, quarter or year.

[0057] In the above exemplary embodiment, the MAC address is used to identify the shopper system 10. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that an IP address, an identification number of an operating system, an identification number of a processor, or other identification numbers capable of accessing the identity of the shopper system 10 may be used instead of the MAC address. In order to increase the reliability of the payment system 30, multiple of these identification numbers ID may also be used in theory. In addition, only a portion of the above identification numbers may be used to generate a unique key for identifying the shopper system 10. Furthermore, payment system 30 may be configured to additionally receive information from online store 20 regarding the item requested for purchase from shopper system 10 and further evaluate whether the user device was previously provided access to the requested item.

[0058] In accordance with Figure 1 In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the shopping system is defined as having only one shopper system 10 and one online store 20. Typically, multiple shopper systems 10 access one online store 20. In addition, there are multiple online stores 20 that use one or more payment systems 30 according to the present invention.

[0059] Exemplary embodiments have been described above in which the identification of the shopper system 10 points to a specific identification ID that gives a MAC address, an IP address, an identification number of an operating system, an identification number of a processor, or other identification numbers that provide access to the identity of the shopper system 10, or includes parts thereof. A combination of these approaches may be taken. Thus, different identification numbers IDs may be requested that are associated with, for example, a MAC address or an IP address or an identification number of a processor. Finally, the identification number ID provided by the shopper system 10 is used.

[0060] A personal identification number ID may also be requested based on a sequence. The sequence may be based on the probability of a particular shopper's system 10 providing a number or string of characters. Thus, the payment system 30 may first search for the MAC address. If that is not certain, a processor identification number, etc. may be requested. A cookie may also be set.

[0061] Thus, a database can be uniquely assigned to a user by means of a digitally signed cookie. The signature data may include a combined value formed from all previously known user data to make misuse more difficult. Cookies may be stored on the shopper system 10 using a variety of techniques (e.g., as HTTP Cookies or Flash Cookies) to prevent subsequent deletion as much as possible. If the cookie is deleted in the cookie storage when contacting the payment system 30 later, it can be recreated. The cookie may also include a parameter indicating whether the user is already registered or logged in. The user may log in to the interface of the payment system 30 at any time to check their account information.

[0062] In another embodiment of the present invention, the payment system 30 may use a code provided by the user to identify itself to the payment system. This code may be used as an identification ID and used in place of a hardware identification number, such as a MAC address, of the shopper system 10. It is also contemplated to use a code entered for the identification ID above, such as a hardware identification number of the request.

[0063] The code may be, for example, an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity). The user of the shopper system 10 enters the IMSI of his mobile phone, and the payment system 30 establishes an account associated therewith or adds a debit amount to an existing account. The payment system 30 may verify the correctness of the given code (i.e., the IMSI). For example, the above-mentioned payment system sends a message to the relevant mobile phone via SMS (Short Message Service). The payment system 30 may then request the user to confirm receipt of the message, for example by returning a message or entering a code. Wherein if the message is not confirmed, the use of the payment system 30 is prohibited. The above-mentioned verification may only be performed once, preferably when an account is established, or at each payment transaction.

[0064] In order to reduce the risk of non-paying users as much as possible (e.g.: a user uses the payment system 30 until he is asked to settle his debt. He then fails to settle his debt, but is exempted from further use of the payment system 30), the payment system 30 may include an evaluation device for contributing and / or generating a credit indicator. The evaluation device records statistical data about direct debit orders and / or issued identification numbers ID, preferably continuously. Further data providing information about the type of purchase and / or the location of the user can be recorded and evaluated. For example, the user's IP address is used to roughly determine his location. In addition, using the IP address of the Internet provider used by the user, individuals with mature responsibility, etc. can be determined. The evaluation device can use the collected statistical data to adjust the payment threshold.

[0065] For example, a user who, according to his IP address, is assigned to a group with a good credit rating can make direct debit orders until the negative balance of his account exceeds 2 euros. A user who, according to his IP address, is assigned to a group with a poor credit rating can only make direct debit orders with a total amount payable not exceeding 1 euro. In theory, if a user is assigned to a group with a very poor credit rating, the payment system 30 can completely prevent debits before registration. The statistical data are maintained by the evaluation device, preferably stored in a database, and can be analyzed accordingly when contacting the user for the first time and used to determine credit indicators.

[0066] As described above, the credit indicator ID may at least partially include data stored in a cookie and saved in the shopper system 10, or be derived from the data. Preferably, the relevant data is stored multiple times on the shopper system 10 to prevent deletion of the data. For example, multiple cookies may be stored in the shopper system 10, wherein a first cookie is stored directly therein by the payment system 30 and a second cookie is stored therein by the online store 20. Therefore, the payment system 30 may request the identification ID directly from the shopper system 10 and compare the requested value with the value provided by the online store 20. In order to enhance security and anonymity, the identification ID may be provided to the online store 20 in an encoded form, making it impossible for the online store 20 to directly assign the user to a specific identification ID. Once the user visits the same online store 20 again, the store requests the identification ID and passes the identification ID to the payment system. The shopper system 10 may also be directed to the website of the payment system 30, which requests another cookie with another or the same identification ID.

[0067] For a person skilled in the art it is obvious that there are also possibilities for assigning an identification number ID to the shopper system 10. For example, the communication protocol on which the Internet is based can be modified so that it allows unambiguous conclusions about the shopper system used. The browsers commonly used cache the requested website in order to be able to access it quickly and easily. It is necessary to provide the separately cached elements with a (network) identification number so that when the shopper system 10 calls up the website again, an updated version of the object provided with the identification number is requested. This request of the shopper system 10 enables the payment system 30 to uniquely identify the shopper system 10. It is also possible to modify the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) so that it gives the identification number ID or a part thereof.

[0068] The disclosed payment service 30 is described as separate from the functionality of the online store 20 with the functionality of the payment system. However, it is readily understood that such a payment system may be incorporated into the operation of the online store. For example, the operation of such an online store may include: receiving request information and an identifier of a shopper system over a network, wherein the request information represents a request to transmit specific digital content to the shopper system, the digital content transmission being subject to a fee; further receiving information from the shopper system indicating acceptance of a fee for the digital content; storing information related to the fee in association with the shopper system identifier; monitoring a total outstanding balance of the fee associated with a user device identifier; transmitting a request signal for settling at least a portion of the total outstanding balance when the total outstanding balance exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, or when the total outstanding balance is for a period of time exceeding a predetermined time interval; and transmitting the requested specific digital content to the user device when the total outstanding balance does not exceed the predetermined threshold amount, or when the total outstanding balance is for a period of time exceeding a predetermined time interval. Advanced Cancel Function

[0069] Figure 5 A flow chart depicting an advantageous exemplary cancellation process 200 that may be used with the payment system of the present invention. Figure 5 In the process 200, a cancellation or refund request including a user device identifier is received from a user device at step 210. In response to receiving, the payment system determines a cancellation abuse identifier value ("CAI") for the received user device identifier at step 220. The CAI for the user device identifier can be based on at least one of the following: for example, a duration since accepting approval of a purchase request for an item, a number of previous cancellations, a time period during which the number of previous cancellations occurred, a time interval since the last cancellation, a credit indicator, a frequency of previous cancellations, and whether the user device identifier is included in a maintained list of abuser device identifiers.

[0070] After determining the CAI, the payment system determines in step 230 whether the CAI exceeds a rejection threshold. If the rejection threshold is exceeded, then in step 240, process 200 transmits a rejection cancellation request message to the user device and process 200 ends. Alternatively, if the CAI does not exceed the rejection threshold in step 230, the payment system determines in step 250 whether the CAI is within the enhanced review range. If the CAI is within the range, process 200 proceeds to step 255 and transmits certain inquiries to the user device related to, for example, satisfaction with the requested item, order request / purchase, and / or cancellation reason. In step 255, exemplary inquiries that can be transmitted to the user device include, for example: "We see that you don't like the digital content, please explain in detail why so that the publisher can improve its offer" or "Why do you want to return the content? Your answer will help improve the quality."

[0071] Then, in step 260, the payment system receives a corresponding response entered by the user and transmitted by the user device in reply to the query sent in step 255. Alternatively, if process 200 determines in step 250 that the CAI is not within the enhanced scrutiny area, process 200 proceeds directly to step 270.

[0072] In step 270, process 200 determines whether to grant or deny the cancellation request based on whether the CAI is not within the scope of enhanced scrutiny from step 250, or based on whether the response to the query received in step 260 meets certain criteria. If it is determined in step 270 that the cancellation request is denied, then a notification is made by transmitting a denial of the cancellation request message to the user device accordingly, thereby executing step 275. Conversely, if it is determined in step 270 that the cancellation request is granted, then step 280 is executed to notify the user device that the cancellation request has been accepted and to notify the merchant that the cancellation has been granted, which effectively notifies the merchant that they will not receive any funds for the canceled item. Advantageously, the determination in step 270 to grant or deny such cancellation is performed without substantially (a) identifying the user associated with the user device or its identifier, (b) registering or logging into a payment system or network-accessible merchant computer by the user associated with the user device or its identifier, and / or (c) whether the network-accessible merchant has sent the item to the user device or its identifier.

[0073] After performing step 280, process 200 proceeds to step 285 and adjusts the outstanding purchase balance associated with the user device identifier before ending the process. According to process 200, cancellation can be advantageously independent of (a) whether the user device receives the requested digital content item or a subscription to digital content is provided to the user device; (b) whether the user device confirms deletion of any digital content received for the canceled item; and / or (c) the payment system does not substantially receive payment.

[0074] As described above, one option for determining the CAI in step 220 is to advantageously be based at least in part on the total number of prior cancellation requests associated with the user device identifier and / or the number within a particular time period (e.g., days or months), such that as the number of prior cancellation requests increases, the CAI will potentially increase into the range for enhanced scrutiny, or the CAI exceeds a rejection threshold.

[0075] In one particular exemplary embodiment, the CAI may be based on a user cancellation request rate, e.g., a rate of the number of cancellation requests associated with a user device identifier (or user) over a period of time (e.g., a day, a week, a month, or six months). The user cancellation request rate may be compared to a general user cancellation request rate, where the general user cancellation request rate may be based on, for example, a rate of all user devices (or users) globally or within a particular geographic region relative to the number of purchases made by the user using the payment system during the time period. If the CAI slightly exceeds the general user cancellation request rate by a predetermined amount, e.g., up to 15%, then the digital content item from the merchant will be placed on hold. Figure 3 If the CAI exceeds the general user cancellation request rate by a predetermined amount, the user cancellation request will be subject to enhanced scrutiny in step 250. Figure 3 is rejected in steps 270 and 275.

[0076] In another exemplary embodiment, the CAI described above will be based on a user session cancellation request rate, for example, a ratio of the number of cancellation requests associated with a user device identifier (or user) relative to the number of purchases made using the payment system during a predetermined duration (e.g., a particular time interval) or at least one of the times of a single session during which the user device interacts with a website or group of websites.

[0077] The cancellation rate for a particular digital content item, e.g., the ratio of the number of permitted cancellations associated with that digital content item relative to the number of permitted user cancellations for all digital content items in a predetermined category of digital content items (e.g., digital publications), can be used as the basis for a factor in a user satisfaction indicator as described below.

[0078] By tracking cancellations of specific digital content items, and cancellations associated with corresponding merchants (e.g., publishers) that provided the digital content items, the payment system can use this information as a factor in evaluating the quality of the digital content items and merchants. This evaluation of the quality of digital content or merchants is particularly beneficial when cancellations occur within a day, week, month, or up to six months of the purchase date.

[0079] The cancellation rate of digital content items purchased from a particular merchant can be used as a factor in a merchant satisfaction indicator of the quality of the digital content items provided by the merchant, whereby a low cancellation rate can indicate the provision of higher quality digital content items, while a high cancellation rate can indicate the provision of lower quality digital content. One exemplary method for quantifying the quality of digital content items provided by a merchant is to determine a merchant cancellation request rate for the merchant based on the ratio of the number of cancellations requested for the particular merchant over a period of time (e.g., one month, three months, or six months).

[0080] The merchant cancellation request rate may also be used as a measure of the quality of the digital content items provided by the merchant in the form of a merchant satisfaction indicator, for example based on a comparison of the merchant cancellation request rate with a category request rate, the category request rate being based on, for example, the ratio of the merchant's total number of requested returns of digital content items in the same predetermined category as the merchant's digital content items (e.g., digital publications) relative to the number of digital content items purchased using the payment system from all or a representative portion of the merchants in the predetermined category during the same time period.

[0081] For example, in the event that the merchant cancellation request rate exceeds the category cancellation request rate by a predetermined percentage (e.g., 25% or more), the payment system may use the merchant satisfaction indicator to limit or otherwise moderate the number of transmissions of authorization signals for purchases requested by the user device until the merchant satisfaction indicator for the merchant improves. In addition, if one or more digital content items or digital content provided by a particular merchant are subject to an extremely high number of cancellation requests, the payment system may stop sending authorization signals for purchases of the digital content items or digital content items provided by the merchant.

[0082] In an alternative embodiment, if the merchant cancellation request rate exceeds a first predetermined percentage range of category cancellation request rates, e.g., 15% to 25%, an automatic or manual alert may be transmitted to the merchant advising that it is experiencing a high cancellation rate generally or for a particular digital content item (as the case may be), and the percentage of authorization signals transmitted by the payment system for purchasing digital content items from the merchant may be reduced, e.g., to 50% of its then current authorization signal transmission rate. The message to the merchant may suggest that the merchant consider discontinuing offering the digital content item that is experiencing a high cancellation rate, or reducing the price of the digital content item if cancellation feedback has indicated that the price of the digital content item is too high.

[0083] Then, if the merchant cancellation request rate continues to increase by a second percentage range relative to the category cancellation request rate, e.g., 25% to 35%, a second notification is transmitted to the merchant accordingly, while reducing the percentage of authorization signals provided by the payment system for purchasing digital content items from the merchant to, e.g., 25% of its then current rate. Furthermore, if the merchant cancellation request rate continues to further increase relative to the category cancellation request rate to greater than, e.g., 35%, the payment system will cease sending authorization signals to the merchant for requests for digital content provided by the merchant.

[0084] The quality of the digital content item can also be based on other favorable user satisfaction indicators of digital content purchases, including, for example, tracking the following: (a) the user device does not cancel the purchase, but forwards or otherwise shares the digital content with other user devices; (b) the user device does not cancel and does not forward or share the digital content with other users; and (c) a high cancellation rate occurs for a particular digital content item. These user satisfaction indicators can also be used as merchant satisfaction indicators for the merchant that provides the digital content item. Another merchant satisfaction indicator is the number of times a user device purchases a digital content item from a particular merchant multiple times within a predetermined period of one or more periods (e.g., a day, a week, a month, or up to six months) of the first or subsequent purchase date.

[0085] The purchase of digital content by a user without cancellation indicates the user's satisfaction with the purchased digital content, while the purchase of digital content by a user and forwarding of the digital content generally indicates that the user's satisfaction is relatively high. In a similar manner, the purchase of digital content from a merchant without cancellation by the user indicates satisfaction with the digital content provided by the merchant, while forwarding the digital content purchased from the merchant or the purchase of multiple identical digital content items by the user within a predetermined time period generally indicates that the quality of the digital content provided by the merchant is relatively high.

[0086] Based on the determined user satisfaction indicator, the processor of the payment system may perform at least one other action: (i) transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction indicator to a merchant providing the digital content item, (ii) preparing the notification indicating the user satisfaction indicator for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to purchase the digital content item using the payment system, (iii) limiting the number of authorization signals for the requested digital content item that are subsequently transmitted to the merchant, and (iv) transmitting the notification indicating the user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item to a network server providing an Internet search service.

[0087] The user satisfaction index can be based on a number or star system implemented, for example, by a payment system. In this example, a 5-star or 5-point user satisfaction index can be used, where 5 stars or 5 points are given for each purchase of a digital content item (not cancelled) that is forwarded or shared to another user device (or user), 4 stars or 4 points are given for each purchase of a digital content item that is not cancelled or forwarded, and 1 star or 1 point (or 0 stars or 0 points) is given for each approval of a cancellation request for the purchased digital content item. The average rating can then be based on the sum of all points or stars awarded for the digital content item divided by the number of purchases of the digital content item.

[0088] This rating system may also be used in conjunction with the merchant satisfaction metric, but an additional 5 stars or points may be awarded when a user device purchases multiple digital content items (without cancellations) over a period of, for example, a day, a week, a month, or up to six months.

[0089] Based on the determined user satisfaction indicator, the payment system may perform at least one other action: (i) send a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction indicator to the merchant, (ii) prepare the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction indicator for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to use the payment system to purchase one of a plurality of digital content items offered by the merchant, (iii) limit the number of authorization signals subsequently transmitted to the merchant for the requested digital content items that are available from the merchant, and (iv) transmit the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction to a network server providing an Internet search service.

[0090] Additionally, the quality of the purchased digital content and / or associated merchant may also be based on responses received from the user device to a short questionnaire that may be displayed in response to a cancellation request including, for example, a question such as “Why is the user attempting to cancel this digital content purchase?” Exemplary response options may include i) poor quality, ii) too expensive, iii) does not cover topics that I thought the digital content would cover; and / or iv) other.

[0091] As described above, notifications indicating user satisfaction indicators and / or merchant satisfaction indicators can, for example, be transmitted to a network service that provides Internet search services, such as services available from, for example, Google LLC, Microsoft Corp., or Apple Inc., to achieve ranking, and wherein digital content from the merchant can appear in a list of results generated in response to a search query requested by a user device. For example, such a favorable quality metric can be used as a resource for a ranking engine of a search system and method described in U.S. Patent No. 9,002,832, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. For example, information indicating user satisfaction indicators and / or merchant satisfaction indicators can also be provided in search results presented to a user device to enable its user to make an informed decision about whether to purchase certain digital content items.

[0092] Figure 6 A flow chart of an exemplary method 300 is shown for determining and advantageously using user satisfaction and / or merchant satisfaction to help users identify and purchase higher quality content and those merchants that provide higher quality content. Figure 6At step 310, the payment system receives, via a network (e.g., the Internet), a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested digital content item for purchase by the user device from a network-accessible merchant. Then, at step 320, the payment system monitors an outstanding balance that may be owed by the user device.

[0093] In step 330, the payment system determines whether the sum of the outstanding balance owed by the user device (or a user known to be associated with the user device) and the received purchase price of the digital content of interest exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, such as 3 Euros. If, in step 330, it is determined that the calculated sum does not exceed the predetermined threshold amount, the method also proceeds to step 340, in which the purchase is added to the outstanding balance owed as an updated outstanding balance, and then, in step 350, the payment system transmits an authorization signal to the merchant for providing the digital content of interest to the user device.

[0094] However, if, in step 330, it is determined that the sum of the outstanding balance owed by the user device and the received purchase price of the digital content of interest exceeds the predetermined threshold amount, the method also proceeds to step 360 for performing a settlement operation as described above to pay at least a portion of the outstanding balance owed. Then, in step 370, if it is determined that no payment has been received or insufficient payment has been received, the method 300 ends. Otherwise, if, in step 370, it is determined that sufficient payment has been received by the payment system, the method 300 proceeds to step 350 for transmitting an authorization signal to the merchant to provide the digital content of interest to the user device.

[0095] After transmitting the authorization signal in step 350, method 300 determines a user satisfaction index and / or a merchant satisfaction index, as described above in step 380. The user satisfaction index for the purchased digital content item may be based on tracking at least one of: (i) a number of times the digital content item is purchased by a plurality of user devices including the user device; (ii) a number of times cancellation of a purchase of the digital content item is granted to the plurality of user devices, and (iii) a number of times the purchase of the digital content item is forwarded by at least one of the plurality of user devices to another user device.

[0096] Similarly, the determined merchant satisfaction indicator may be based on tracking at least one of: (i) a number of times a plurality of user devices purchase a plurality of digital content items from a merchant, including digital content requested by the user devices; (ii) a number of times a plurality of user devices cancel approvals of the purchased plurality of digital content items, (iii) a number of purchases in which at least one of the plurality of user devices forwards at least one of the plurality of digital content items to another user device, and (iv) a number of user devices in the plurality of user devices that purchase more than one digital content item from a merchant.

[0097] It should be understood that step 380 may be performed shortly after step 350, or after a period of time to allow the user of the user device to determine whether they wish to cancel the purchase, which may take a few minutes, such as 30 minutes, a few hours, such as 4 to 12 hours, or a few days, such as 1 to 14 days. In addition, step 380 may advantageously be performed periodically or intermittently by the payment system to consider a sufficient number of purchases and cancellations for many user devices, thereby increasing the amount of data processed to determine the user satisfaction index and / or the merchant satisfaction index.

[0098] After determining the user satisfaction index and / or the merchant satisfaction index in step 380, method 300 proceeds to step 390, where the payment system advantageously performs further actions to benefit the user and the merchant based on the user satisfaction index and / or the merchant satisfaction index. For example, with respect to the determined user satisfaction index, the payment system may perform at least one other action: (i) transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index to a merchant providing such digital content item, (ii) preparing a notification indicating the user satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to purchase such digital content item using the payment system, (iii) limiting the number of authorization signals for the requested digital content item that are subsequently transmitted to the merchant, and (iv) transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index to a network server providing an Internet search service.

[0099] Accordingly, with respect to the determined merchant satisfaction index, the payment system may perform at least one other action: transmitting a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a merchant providing the digital content item, preparing a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to use the payment system to purchase one of a plurality of digital content items provided by the merchant, limiting a number of authorization signals subsequently transmitted to the merchant for the requested digital content item that is available from the merchant, and transmitting a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a network server providing an Internet search service.

[0100] After step 390 , method 300 ends.

[0101] The determination and tracking of user satisfaction indicators and merchant satisfaction indicators, and the above-mentioned actions taken based on these indicators, only incentivize merchants to provide digital content of higher quality and reasonable price. The user is incentivized to cancel the purchase of digital items of poor quality or overpriced without any adverse consequences (assuming that the user does not abuse such cancellation), and can also be optionally rewarded with redeemable trust tokens for his / her behavior, as further described below.

[0102] More about Figure 5In method 200, the payment system (or a merchant that provides digital content or subscriptions using such a payment system) may provide the user with alternative options rather than simply rejecting the user's cancellation request in step 240 and / or step 275, and may use the cancellation request alternatively or additionally to increase the business of the payment system and / or merchant, and / or build trust with the user. To this end, the payment system may provide the user with options rather than rejecting the user's cancellation request to encourage the user to further interact with the payment system or other entity through payment to build such trust, including, for example, inviting the user to (a) answer certain questions related to and / or unrelated to the digital content to be canceled; (b) share his / her payment system account or certain purchased digital content with friends and / or family and provide their contact information to the payment system; (c) conduct a payment system survey or third-party survey; and / or (d) take some other or further action. Where the user agrees to and successfully completes one or more of these exemplary options, the user is considered to be establishing trust with the payment system, whereby the payment system may (i) grant the user's cancellation request and then perform steps 280 and 285; and / or (ii) grant the user or user device a plurality of “trust tokens” (similar to reward points).

[0103] This trust token can then be used to obtain free or discounted digital content and / or subscriptions, future cancellations of one or more purchases of digital content and / or subscriptions, and / or other benefits. A user or user device can also earn additional trust tokens for reaching a threshold for purchasing digital content / subscriptions, sharing digital content / subscriptions with a specified number of friends and / or family; or sharing a user's payment system for use by friends and / or family. Trust tokens can also be earned by a user device or user who contributes information about the quality of digital content provided by a merchant, in the form of canceling purchases of digital content items that have a high cancellation rate. In this way, users are rewarded for making the payment system aware of low-quality digital content. These options are intended to incentivize the user or his / her friends and family to use the payment system, and / or to legally collect useful data.

[0104] The payment system may further optionally limit when a user may request a cancellation, including allowing cancellation requests: (a) within a specific time period, such as minutes, hours, or days, after purchasing the digital content; (b) for a limited number of items purchased within a specific duration, such as a limit of three items in a two-week period, or relative to the total number of items purchased, such as only one-tenth of the purchased items; and / or (c) for a refund or credit of only a percentage of the purchase price, such as only 80% of the purchase price.

[0105] Embodiments of the subject matter and functional operations described in this specification may be implemented in digital electronic circuits, tangibly embodied computer software or firmware, computer hardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or a combination of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification may be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible non-transitory program carrier, for execution by a data processing device or for controlling the operation of the data processing device. Alternatively or additionally, the program instructions may be encoded on an artificially generated propagation signal, for example, a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, which is generated to encode information for transmission to a suitable receiver device for execution by a data processing device. The computer storage medium may be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access storage device, or a combination of one or more of them.

[0106] The terms "processor" and "data processing apparatus" include all kinds of apparatus, devices and machines for processing data, such as a programmable processor, a computer or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus may include special-purpose logic circuits, such as an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). In addition to hardware, the apparatus may also include code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, for example, code constituting processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them.

[0107] The term "engine" refers to one or more software modules implemented on one or more computers in one or more locations, which together provide certain well-defined functions that are implemented by the algorithms implemented in the modules. The software of the engine can be encoded in one or more functional blocks, such as libraries, platforms, software development kits, or objects. The engine can be implemented on any suitable type of computing device including one or more processors and computer-readable media, such as a server, mobile phone, tablet computer, notebook computer, music player, e-book reader, laptop or desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone or other fixed or portable device. In addition, two or more engines can be implemented on the same one or more computing devices.

[0108] A computer program (which may also be referred to or described as a program, software, software application, module, software module, script, or code) may be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative or procedural languages, and may be deployed in any form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for a computing environment. A computer program may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program may be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programs or data, such as one or more scripts stored in a markup language document, in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or in multiple collaborative files, such as files storing one or more modules, subroutines, or portions of code. A computer program may be deployed to execute on one computer or on multiple computers located in one location or distributed in multiple locations and interconnected by a communications network.

[0109] The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable computers executing one or more computer programs to perform functions by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by special purpose logic circuits, and the apparatus can also be implemented as special purpose logic circuits, such as FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) or ASICs (application specific integrated circuits).

[0110] For example, a computer suitable for executing a computer program can be based on a general or special microprocessor or both, or any other type of central processing unit. Typically, a central processing unit will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both. The basic elements of a computer are a central processing unit for executing instructions and one or more storage devices for storing instructions and data. Typically, a computer will also include or be operably coupled to one or more large-capacity storage devices for storing data, such as a disk, a magneto-optical disk, or an optical disk, to receive data from the large-capacity storage device or to transmit data to it, or both. However, a computer does not need to have such a device. In addition, a computer can be embedded in another device, such as a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device, such as a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive, to name just a few examples.

[0111] Computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media and storage devices, including, for example, semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and memory may be supplemented by or incorporated in special purpose logic circuitry.

[0112] To provide interaction with a user, embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification may be implemented on a computer having a display device, such as a monitor, for displaying information to the user, and a keyboard and pointing device, such as a mouse or trackball, that the user can use to provide input to the computer. Other types of devices may also be used to provide interaction with the user; for example, the feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user may be received in any form, including sound, voice, or tactile input. In addition, the computer may interact with the user by sending documents to and receiving documents from a device used by the user; for example, by sending a web page to a web browser on a user's client device in response to a request received from the web browser.

[0113] Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification may be implemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component, such as a data server, or includes a middleware component, such as an application server, or includes a front-end component, such as a client computer with a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matter described in this specification, or includes any combination of one or more such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, such as a communication network. Examples of communication networks include local area networks ("LANs") and wide area networks ("WANs"), such as the Internet.

[0114] A computing system may include clients and servers. Clients and servers are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises through computer programs running on respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

[0115] Although this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be interpreted as limitations on any invention or the scope that may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features that may be peculiar to a particular embodiment of a particular invention. Certain features described in this specification in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination. In addition, although features may be described above as working in certain combinations, and even initially claimed as such, in some cases, one or more features of the claimed combination may be deleted from the combination, and the claimed combination may be a sub-combination or a variation of a sub-combination.

[0116] Similarly, although operations are described in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring that the operations be performed in the particular order or order shown, or that all of the operations shown be performed, to obtain the desired results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system modules and components in the above-described embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0117] Specific embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve the desired results. As an example, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings do not necessarily require the particular order or sequence shown to achieve the desired results. In some implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

[0118] It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments of the invention described above, as variations may be made thereto and still fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[0119] The present invention is further described by the following numbered paragraphs: 1. A computer-implemented method for a payment system, comprising: receiving, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible to the network; determining a credit indicator associated with the user equipment based on the user equipment identifier; When the credit indicator satisfies a predetermined condition, transmitting an authorization signal for the requested item to a network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with a user device; When the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, transmitting a request signal to a user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier; In response to receiving a cancellation request from the user device, determining a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is performed based on at least one of: a duration since accepting approval of a purchase request for an item, a number of previous cancellations, a time period during which the number of previous cancellations occurred, a time interval since a last cancellation, a credit indicator, a frequency of previous cancellations, and whether the user device identifier is included in a maintained list of abuser device identifiers; and Based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator, a determination is performed whether to grant or deny the cancellation request. 2. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 1, wherein the step of determining a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is performed so that as the number of previous cancellation requests for the user device identifier increases, a cancellation request is more likely to be denied. 3. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 1, wherein before performing the step of determining to grant or deny the cancellation request, performing the step of determining whether additional information from the user device is required based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator. 4. The computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 3 further includes transmitting one or more inquiries to the user device based on the result of determining whether additional information from the user device is required before granting or denying the cancellation request, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is based at least on the additional information received from the user device. 5. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 3, wherein the one or more queries to the user device are to obtain user feedback about the item. 6. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 1, wherein when the cancellation request is granted, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly for the cancelled item and a notification of the cancellation is transmitted to the merchant. 7. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 1, wherein when the cancellation request is granted, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly if the payment system has not received payment, wherein the item is digital content. 8. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 1, wherein the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted in the absence of a signal from the user device confirming deletion of the item. 9. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 1, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed if the user associated with the user device is not registered or logged into the payment system or a network-accessible merchant computer. 10. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 1, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed without identifying a user associated with the user device. 11. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 1, wherein a step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed in the absence of the network-accessible merchant transmitting the item to the user device, wherein the item is digital content or a subscription to a digital service. 12. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 1 further includes inviting the user to perform at least one of the following steps: (a) answering certain questions related or unrelated to the digital content to be canceled; (b) sharing his / her payment system account or certain purchased digital content with friends and / or family and providing his / her contact information to the payment system; (c) conducting a third-party survey; and / or (d) taking some other or further action. 13. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 12, wherein upon the user agreeing to and successfully completing one or more invited projects, the user is granted at least one of: (i) a cancellation request by the user; and / or (ii) multiple trust tokens. 14. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 13, wherein the trust token can be exchanged for free or discounted digital content and / or subscriptions, and / or allow future cancellation of one or more purchases of digital content and / or subscriptions, and / or other benefits. 15. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 1, wherein the step of determining a cancellation abuse indicator associated with a user device identifier is based on a ratio of the number of cancellation requests associated with the user device identifier relative to the number of purchases made using the payment system during at least one of a predetermined duration and a session time in which the user device interacts with a website or group of websites. 16. A computer-implemented method for a payment system comprising the following steps: receiving, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested digital content item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible through the network; determining a credit indicator associated with the user equipment based on the user equipment identifier; When the credit indicator satisfies a predetermined condition, transmitting an authorization signal for the requested item to a network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with a user device; transmitting a request signal to a user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount when the total outstanding purchase amount accumulates over a period of time exceeding a predetermined time interval; In response to receiving a cancellation request from the user device, performing a determination of a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier based on at least one of: a duration since accepting approval of a purchase request for an item, a number of previous cancellations, a time interval since a last cancellation, a credit indicator, a frequency of previous cancellations, and whether the user device identifier is included in a maintained list of abuser device identifiers; and Based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator, a determination is performed whether to grant or deny the cancellation request. 17. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 16, wherein the step of determining the cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is performed such that as the number of previous cancellation requests for the user device identifier increases, a cancellation request is more likely to be denied. 18. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 16, wherein before performing the step of determining to grant or deny the cancellation request, performing the step of determining whether additional information from the user device is required based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator. 19. The computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 18 also includes transmitting one or more inquiries to the user device based on the result of determining whether additional information from the user device is required before granting or denying the cancellation request, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is based at least on the additional information received from the user device. 20. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 18, wherein the one or more queries to the user device are to obtain user feedback about the item. 21. The computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 16 further includes inviting the user to perform at least one of the following steps: (a) answer certain questions related or unrelated to the digital content to be canceled; (b) share his / her payment system account or certain purchased digital content with friends and / or family and provide his / her contact information to the payment system; (c) conduct a third-party survey; and / or (d) take some other or further action. 22. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 21, wherein upon the user agreeing to and successfully completing one or more invited projects, the user is granted at least one of: (i) a cancellation request by the user; and / or (ii) multiple trust tokens. 23. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 22, wherein the trust token can be exchanged for free or discounted digital content and / or subscriptions, and / or allow the right to cancel one or more future purchases of digital content and / or subscriptions, and / or other benefits. 24. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 16, wherein when the cancellation request is granted, a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly for the cancelled item, and notification of the cancellation is transmitted to the merchant. 25. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 24, wherein when the cancellation request is granted, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly if the payment system has not received payment, wherein the item is digital content. 26. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 24, wherein in the absence of a signal from the user device confirming deletion of the item, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted. 27. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 16, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed if the user associated with the user device is not registered or logged into the payment system or network-accessible merchant computer. 28. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 16, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed without identifying a user associated with the user device. 29. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 16, wherein a step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed in the absence of the network-accessible merchant transmitting the item to the user device, wherein the item is digital content or a subscription to a digital service. 30. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 16, wherein the step of performing determination of a cancellation abuse indicator associated with a user device identifier is based on a ratio of a number of cancellation requests associated with the user device identifier relative to a number of purchases made using the payment system during at least one of a predetermined duration and a session time in which the user device interacts with a website or group of websites. 31. A computer-implemented method for a payment system, comprising: receiving, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested digital content item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible through the network; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with a user device; transmitting, to a network-accessible merchant, an authorization signal for the requested digital content item without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase when a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device does not exceed a predetermined threshold amount; transmitting a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier when the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, and sending an authorization signal to the network-accessible merchant for the requested digital content item in response to receiving payment of at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier; determining a user satisfaction index for a purchased digital content item based on tracking at least one of: (i) a number of times a plurality of user devices, including the user device, purchases the digital content item; (ii) a number of times cancellations of purchases of the digital content item are granted to the plurality of user devices, and (iii) a number of times the digital content item is forwarded by at least one of the plurality of user devices to another user device; and Based on the determined user satisfaction index, at least one other action is performed: transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index to a merchant providing the digital content item, preparing the notification indicating the user satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to purchase the digital content item using a payment system, limiting the number of authorization signals for the requested digital content item that are subsequently transmitted to the merchant, and transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index for the digital content item to a network server providing an Internet search service. 32. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 31, wherein an increase in the number of permitted cancellations for the digital content item has the effect of decreasing a user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item. 33. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 32, wherein the user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item is based in part on a cancellation rate, wherein the cancellation rate is determined as the number of permitted user cancellations of the digital content item relative to the number of permitted user cancellations of all digital content items in a predetermined category of digital content items. 34. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 33, wherein the predetermined category of digital content items is digital publications. 35. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 31, wherein an increase in the number of purchases by which a user device forwards the digital content item to other user devices has the effect of increasing a user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item. 36. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 35, wherein an increase in the number of purchases by a user device that do not grant cancellation and / or do not forward a digital content item to other user devices has the effect of increasing a user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item. 37. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 36, wherein an increase in the number of purchases in which the user device forwards the digital content item to other user devices has a greater effect of increasing the user satisfaction index, and the increased number of purchases of the digital content item is the same as the number of purchases without allowing cancellation or forwarding of the digital content item to other user devices. 38. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 31, wherein in response to receiving a notification indicating a user satisfaction indicator for the digital content, a network server providing an Internet search service transmits the notification indicating the user satisfaction indicator to a ranking engine, wherein the ranking engine ranks the digital content of the search results of the user search request based at least in part on the user satisfaction indicator. 39. A computer-implemented method for a payment system, comprising: receiving, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested digital content item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible through the network; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with a user device; sending an authorization signal for the requested digital content item to a network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase when a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device does not exceed a predetermined threshold amount; sending a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier when the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, and sending an authorization signal to the network-accessible merchant for the requested digital content item in response to receiving payment of at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier; Merchant satisfaction is determined based on tracking at least one of: (i) a number of times a plurality of user devices purchase a plurality of digital content items from the merchant, including digital content requested by a user device; (ii) a number of times a plurality of user devices cancel a purchase of the plurality of digital content items; (iii) a number of times a purchase of at least one of the plurality of digital content items is forwarded by at least one of the plurality of user devices to another user device, and (iv) a number of the plurality of user devices that purchase more than one of the plurality of digital content items from the merchant; and Based on the determined merchant satisfaction index, at least one other action is performed: transmitting a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a merchant providing the digital content item, preparing the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to use the payment system to purchase one of a plurality of digital content items provided by the merchant, limiting a number of authorization signals subsequently transmitted to the merchant for the requested digital content item that is available from the merchant, and transmitting the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a network server providing an Internet search service. 40. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 39, wherein an increase in the number of granted cancellations for digital content items purchased from a merchant has the effect of decreasing a merchant satisfaction indicator for the merchant. 41. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 40, wherein the merchant satisfaction indicator of the merchant is based on a cancellation rate, wherein the cancellation rate is determined as a percentage of permitted cancellations for purchases of digital content items purchased from the merchant relative to a percentage of permitted cancellations for purchases of a predetermined category of digital content items purchased from a plurality of merchants including the merchant. 42. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 41, wherein the predetermined category of digital content items is digital publications. 43. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 39, wherein an increase in the number of forwardings from a user device to other user devices of purchases of the digital content item purchased from a merchant has the effect of increasing a merchant satisfaction indicator for the merchant. 44. A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 39, wherein an increase in the number of purchases of digital content from the merchant without permitting cancellation of the digital content item and / or without forwarding the digital content item to other user devices has the effect of increasing the merchant satisfaction index of the merchant. 45. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 44, wherein an increase in the number of user devices that purchase more than one of the plurality of digital content items from a merchant has the effect of increasing a merchant satisfaction indicator for the merchant. 46. ​​A computer-implemented method as described in paragraph 39, wherein in response to receiving a notification indicating a merchant satisfaction indicator for digital content items provided by the merchant, a network server providing an Internet search service transmits the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction indicator to a ranking engine, wherein the ranking engine ranks search results for digital content items provided by the merchant based at least in part on the merchant satisfaction indicator. 47. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 39 further includes limiting the authorization signal transmitted within a predetermined time period in response to a request by a user device for a digital content item from the merchant to a first amount if the merchant satisfaction level is below a first predetermined threshold. 48. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 39 further includes limiting the authorization signals transmitted in response to a user device request for a digital content item from a merchant over a predetermined time period to a first amount if a cancellation rate exceeds a first threshold, wherein the cancellation rate is determined as a percentage of permitted cancellations for purchases of digital content items purchased from the merchant relative to a percentage of permitted cancellations for purchases of digital content items of a predetermined category of digital content items purchased from multiple merchants including the merchant. 49. The computer-implemented method of paragraph 48 further comprising the step of limiting the authorization signals transmitted within the predetermined time period to a second amount in response to the determined cancellation rate exceeding a second predetermined threshold, wherein the second amount is less than the cancellation rate and the second predetermined threshold is greater than the first predetermined threshold. Reference numerals

[0120] 1. Internet

[0121] 10Shopper System

[0122] 20 Online Stores

[0123] 30Payment Systems

[0124] 31 Identification Device

[0125] 32 interface devices

[0126] 33 Storage devices

[0127] 34 Processing device

[0128] ID Number

[0129] Step 101: The payment system records the MAC address of the shopper's system

[0130] 102Step 102: Is the Shopper System Trustworthy?

[0131] 104 Step 104: User performs purchase transaction

[0132] 105Step 105: Online store transfers associated items

[0133] 106Step 106: Does an account exist for the MAC address?

[0134] 107 Step 107: Payment system stores direct debit order

[0135] 108 Step 108: Further purchases?

[0136] 111Step 111: Payment Request

[0137] 112Step 112: Does the user pay?

[0138] 113Step 113: Block Access

[0139] 114Step 114: Create an Account

[0140] 200 Cancel Request Process

[0141] 210 Step 210: Receiving a Cancellation Request

[0142] 220 Step 220: Determine CAI

[0143] 230 Step 230: CAI exceeds rejection threshold determination

[0144] 240 Step 240: Transmitting a rejection cancellation request to the user device

[0145] 250 Step 250: Determine whether CAI is within the scope of enhanced scrutiny

[0146] 255 Step 255: Transmitting a query to the user device

[0147] 260 Step 260: Receive a query response from the user device

[0148] 270 Step 270: Grant or deny cancellation request

[0149] 275 Step 275: Send a rejection cancellation request to the user device

[0150] 280 Step 280: Send a cancellation request to the user device and the merchant

[0151] 285 Step 285: Adjust the outstanding purchase balance associated with the user device identifier

[0152] 300 Methods for determining and using user satisfaction indicators and merchant satisfaction indicators

[0153] 310 Step 310: Receive user device ID and purchase price of digital content of interest

[0154] 320 Step 320: Monitor the outstanding balance of the user device

[0155] 330 Step 330: Outstanding balance + purchase price ≥ threshold?

[0156] 340 Step 340: Add the purchase price to the outstanding balance

[0157] 350 Step 350: Sending an authorization signal

[0158] 360 Step 360: Perform payment settlement operations

[0159] 370 Step 370: Has payment been received?

[0160] 380 Step 380: Determine a user satisfaction index and / or a merchant satisfaction index

[0161] 390 Step 390: Perform further actions based on the user satisfaction index and / or the merchant satisfaction index

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for a payment system, comprising: receiving, via a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible to the network; determining a credit indicator associated with the user equipment based on the user equipment identifier; transmitting an authorization signal for the requested item to the network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase when the credit indicator satisfies a predetermined condition; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device; When the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, transmitting a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier; In response to receiving a cancellation request from the user device, determining a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is performed based on at least one of: a duration since accepting approval of a purchase request for an item, a number of previous cancellations, a time period during which the number of previous cancellations occurred, a time interval since a last cancellation, the credit indicator, a frequency of previous cancellations, and whether the user device identifier is included in a maintained list of abuser device identifiers; and Based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator, a determination is performed whether to grant or deny the cancellation request.

2. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 1, wherein the step of determining a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is performed so that as the number of previous cancellation requests for the user device identifier increases, the cancellation request is more likely to be denied.

3. As claimed in claim 1 or 2, in particular as claimed in claim 1, the computer-implemented method, before performing the step of determining whether to grant or reject the cancellation request, performs the step of determining whether additional information is required from the user device based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator.

4. The computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular as claimed in claim 3, further comprises transmitting one or more inquiries to the user device based on the result of performing a determination as to whether additional information from the user device is required before granting or rejecting the cancellation request, wherein the step of performing a determination as to whether to grant or reject the cancellation request is based at least on the additional information received from the user device.

5. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular claim 3, wherein one or more queries to the user device are for obtaining user feedback on the project.

6. A computer-implemented method as described in any of the preceding claims, in particular as described in claim 1, wherein when the cancellation request is granted, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly for the canceled item and a notification of the cancellation is transmitted to the merchant.

7. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular claim 1, wherein: When the cancellation request is granted, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly if the payment system has not received payment, wherein the item is digital content.

8. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular claim 1, wherein: In the absence of a signal from the user device confirming deletion of the item, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted.

9. A computer-implemented method as described in any of the preceding claims, in particular as described in claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed in the event that the user associated with the user device is not registered or logged into the payment system or the network-accessible merchant computer.

10. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular claim 1, wherein: In the event that a user associated with the user device is not identified, a step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed.

11. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular claim 1, wherein: In the event that the network-accessible merchant does not transmit the item to the user device, a step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed, wherein the item is digital content or a subscription to a digital service.

12. A computer-implemented method as described in any of the preceding claims, in particular as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of inviting the user to perform at least one of the following steps: (a) answering certain questions related or unrelated to the digital content to be canceled; (b) sharing his / her payment system account or certain purchased digital content with friends and / or family and providing his / her contact information to the payment system; (c) conducting a third-party survey; and / or (d) taking some other or further actions.

13. A computer-implemented method as described in any of the preceding claims, in particular as claimed in claim 12, wherein, upon the user's agreement to and successful completion of one or more invited projects, the user is granted at least one of the following: (i) the user's cancellation request; and / or (ii) multiple trust tokens.

14. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular claim 13, wherein the trust token can be exchanged for free or discounted digital content and / or subscriptions, and / or allowing the right to cancel one or more purchases of digital content and / or subscriptions in the future, and / or other benefits.

15. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in particular claim 1, wherein: The step of performing determination of a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is based on a ratio of the number of requested cancellations associated with the user device identifier relative to the number of purchases made using the payment system during the session time, during at least one of a predetermined duration and a session time in which the user device interacts with a website or group of websites.

16. A computer-implemented method for a payment system comprising the steps of: receiving, via a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible to the network; determining a credit indicator associated with the user equipment based on the user equipment identifier; transmitting an authorization signal for the requested item to the network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase when the credit indicator satisfies a predetermined condition; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device; When the total outstanding purchase amount accumulates over a period of time exceeding a predetermined time interval, transmitting a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount; in response to receiving a cancellation request from the user device, performing a determination of a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier based on at least one of: a duration since accepting approval of a purchase request for an item, a number of previous cancellations, a time interval since a last cancellation, the credit indicator, a frequency of previous cancellations, and whether the user device identifier is included in a maintained list of abuser device identifiers; and Based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator, a determination is performed whether to grant or deny the cancellation request.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the step of determining a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is performed such that as the number of previous cancellation requests for the user device identifier increases, the cancellation request is more likely to be denied.

18. A computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 16 or 17, in particular as claimed in claim 16, wherein before performing the step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request, a step of determining whether additional information from the user device is required based on the determined cancellation abuse indicator is performed.

19. The computer-implemented method as described in any one of claims 16 to 18, in particular claim 18, further includes transmitting one or more inquiries to the user device based on the result of determining whether additional information from the user device is required before granting or rejecting the cancellation request, wherein the step of determining whether to grant or reject the cancellation request is based at least on the additional information received from the user device.

20. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 19, in particular claim 18, wherein one or more queries to the user device are for obtaining user feedback on the project.

21. The computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 20, in particular as claimed in claim 16, further comprising the step of inviting the user to perform at least one of the following steps: (a) answering certain questions related or unrelated to the digital content to be canceled; (b) sharing his / her payment system account or certain purchased digital content with friends and / or family and providing his / her contact information to the payment system; (c) conducting a third-party survey; and / or (d) taking some other or further actions.

22. A computer-implemented method as described in any one of claims 16 to 21, in particular as claimed in claim 21, wherein, if the user agrees to and successfully completes one or more invited projects, the user is granted at least one of the following: (i) the user's cancellation request; and / or (ii) multiple trust tokens.

23. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 22, in particular claim 22, wherein the trust token can be exchanged for free or discounted digital content and / or subscriptions, and / or allows the right to cancel one or more purchases of digital content and / or subscriptions in the future, and / or other benefits.

24. A computer-implemented method as described in any one of claims 16 to 23, in particular as described in claim 16, wherein when the cancellation request is granted, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly for the canceled item, and a notification of the cancellation is transmitted to the merchant.

25. The computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 16 to 24, in particular claim 24, wherein: When the cancellation request is granted, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted accordingly if the payment system has not received payment, wherein the item is digital content.

26. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 25, in particular claim 24, wherein: In the absence of a signal from the user device confirming deletion of the item, the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier is adjusted.

27. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 26, in particular claim 16, wherein: In the event that a user associated with the user device is not registered or logged into the payment system or the network-accessible merchant computer, a step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed.

28. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 27, in particular claim 16, wherein: In the event that a user associated with the user device is not identified, a step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed.

29. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 28, in particular claim 16, wherein: In the event that the network-accessible merchant does not transmit the item to the user device, a step of determining whether to grant or deny the cancellation request is performed, wherein the item is digital content or a subscription to a digital service.

30. The computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 16 to 29, in particular claim 16, wherein: The step of performing determination of a cancellation abuse indicator associated with the user device identifier is based on a ratio of the number of requested cancellations associated with the user device identifier relative to the number of purchases made using the payment system during the session time, during at least one of a predetermined duration and a session time in which the user device interacts with a website or group of websites.

31. A computer-implemented method for a payment system, comprising: receiving, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested digital content item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible through the network; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device; transmitting, to the network-accessible merchant, an authorization signal for the requested item of digital content without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase when the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device does not exceed a predetermined threshold amount; transmitting a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier when the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, and sending an authorization signal to the network-accessible merchant for the requested digital content item in response to receiving payment of at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier; Determining a user satisfaction indicator for the purchased digital content item based on tracking at least one of: (i) a number of times the digital content item was purchased by a plurality of user devices including the user device; (ii) the number of times that the purchase of the digital content was cancelled by the plurality of user devices, and (iii) the number of times the digital content was forwarded by at least one of the plurality of user devices to another user device; and Based on the determined user satisfaction index, at least one other action is performed: transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index to a merchant providing the digital content item, preparing a notification indicating the user satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to purchase the digital content item using the payment system, limiting a number of authorization signals for the requested digital content item that are subsequently transmitted to the merchant, and transmitting a notification indicating the user satisfaction index for the digital content item to a network server providing an Internet search service.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, wherein an increase in the number of permitted cancellations for the digital content item has the effect of decreasing a user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item.

33. A computer-implemented method as claimed in claim 31 or 32, in particular as claimed in claim 32, wherein the user satisfaction indicator of the digital content item is partly based on a cancellation rate, which is determined as the ratio of the number of permitted user cancellations of the digital content item relative to the number of permitted user cancellations of all digital content items in a predetermined category of digital content items.

34. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 31 to 33, in particular claim 33, wherein the predetermined category of digital content items is a digital publication.

35. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 31 to 34, in particular claim 31, wherein an increase in the number of purchases by which the user device forwards the digital content item to other user devices has the effect of increasing a user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item.

36. A computer-implemented method as described in any of claims 31 to 35, in particular claim 35, wherein an increase in the number of times that the user device does not allow cancellation of and / or does not forward the purchase of the digital content item to other user devices has the effect of increasing a user satisfaction indicator for the digital content item.

37. A computer-implemented method as described in any one of claims 31 to 36, in particular as described in claim 36, wherein an increase in the number of purchases in which the user device forwards the digital content item to other user devices has a greater effect of increasing the user satisfaction index, and the increased number of purchases of the digital content item is the same as the number of purchases without allowing cancellation or forwarding of the digital content item to other user devices.

38. A computer-implemented method as described in any one of claims 31 to 37, in particular as described in claim 31, wherein in response to receiving a notification indicating a user satisfaction index for the digital content, a network server providing an Internet search service transmits the notification indicating the user satisfaction index to a ranking engine, wherein the ranking engine ranks the digital content of the search results of the user search request based at least in part on the user satisfaction index.

39. A computer-implemented method for a payment system, comprising: receiving, over a network, a user device identifier and information indicating a price for a requested digital content item for purchase by the user device from a merchant accessible through the network; monitoring a total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device; sending an authorization signal for the requested digital content item to the network-accessible merchant without simultaneously requiring payment for the purchase when the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device does not exceed a predetermined threshold amount; sending a request signal to the user device to settle at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier when the total outstanding purchase amount exceeds a predetermined threshold amount, and sending an authorization signal to the network-accessible merchant for the requested digital content item in response to receiving payment of at least a portion of the total outstanding purchase amount associated with the user device identifier; The merchant satisfaction is determined based on tracking at least one of: (i) a number of times a plurality of user devices purchase a plurality of digital content items from the merchant, including digital content requested by the user devices; (ii) a number of times a plurality of user devices grant cancellations of the purchased plurality of digital content items; (iii) a number of times a purchase of at least one of the plurality of digital content items is forwarded by at least one of the plurality of user devices to another user device, and (iv) a number of the plurality of user devices that purchase more than one of the plurality of digital content items from the merchant; and Based on the determined merchant satisfaction index, at least one other action is performed: transmitting a notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a merchant providing the digital content item, preparing the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index for transmission to a user device that subsequently attempts to use the payment system to purchase one of a plurality of digital content items provided by the merchant, limiting a number of authorization signals subsequently transmitted to the merchant for the requested digital content item that is available from the merchant, and transmitting the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a network server providing an Internet search service.

40. The computer-implemented method of claim 39, wherein an increase in the number of granted cancellations for digital content items purchased from a merchant has the effect of decreasing a merchant satisfaction index for the merchant.

41. A computer-implemented method as described in claim 39 or 40, in particular claim 40, wherein the merchant satisfaction indicator of the merchant is based on a cancellation rate, the cancellation rate being determined as a ratio of a percentage of permitted cancellations for purchases of digital content items purchased from the merchant relative to a percentage of permitted cancellations for purchases of a predetermined category of digital content items purchased from a plurality of merchants including the merchant.

42. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 39 to 41, in particular claim 41, wherein the predetermined category of digital content items is a digital publication.

43. A computer-implemented method as claimed in any one of claims 39 to 42, in particular as claimed in claim 39, wherein an increase in the number of purchases of the digital content item purchased from a merchant that are forwarded from the user device to other user devices has the effect of increasing the merchant satisfaction index of the merchant.

44. A computer-implemented method as described in any one of claims 39 to 43, in particular claim 39, wherein an increase in the number of purchases of digital content from the merchant without allowing cancellation of the digital content item and / or without forwarding the digital content item to other user devices has the effect of increasing the merchant satisfaction index of the merchant.

45. A computer-implemented method as described in any of claims 39 to 44, in particular claim 44, wherein an increase in the number of user devices that purchase more than one digital content item from a plurality of digital content items from a merchant has the effect of increasing a merchant satisfaction index of the merchant.

46. ​​A computer-implemented method as described in any one of claims 39 to 45, in particular as described in claim 39, wherein in response to receiving a notification indicating a merchant satisfaction index for digital content items provided by the merchant, a network server providing an Internet search service transmits the notification indicating the merchant satisfaction index to a ranking engine, wherein the ranking engine ranks search results for digital content items provided by the merchant based at least in part on the merchant satisfaction index.

47. The computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 39 to 46, in particular claim 39, further comprising: If the merchant satisfaction level is below a first predetermined threshold, authorization signals transmitted within a predetermined time period in response to a request by the user device for a digital content item from the merchant are limited to a first amount.

48. The computer-implemented method according to any one of claims 39 to 47, in particular claim 39, further comprising: Authorization signals transmitted in response to a request by the user device for a digital content item from a merchant are limited to a first amount within a predetermined time period if a cancellation rate exceeds a first threshold, the cancellation rate being determined as a ratio of a percentage of cancellations permitted for purchases of digital content items from the merchant relative to a percentage of cancellations permitted for purchases of digital content items of a predetermined category from a plurality of merchants including the merchant.

49. The computer-implemented method of any one of claims 39 to 48, in particular claim 48, further comprising a step of limiting the authorization signals transmitted within a predetermined time period to a second amount in response to the determined cancellation rate exceeding a second predetermined threshold, wherein the second amount is less than the cancellation rate and the second predetermined threshold is greater than the first predetermined threshold.

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