WO2011158124A2

WO2011158124A2 - Online time based post payment system

Info

Publication number: WO2011158124A2
Application number: PCT/IB2011/002199
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brijesh Tripathi; Pritesh Gupta
Original assignee: Ape Payment Oy
Priority date: 2010-06-14
Filing date: 2011-06-13
Publication date: 2011-12-22
Also published as: WO2011158124A3

Abstract

A collaborative online payment method and system for payment of online content displayed over a browsing device in a communication network comprises sending a shared payment request to a payment system by a user, wherein the shared payment request is sent by the user to access the online content. The system authorizes the user's browsing device to access the online content by the payment system, wherein the authorization occurs after payment is processed from the user's account. The payment system sends a payment sharing request to the browsing devices of the members of a consented group, which members send confirmation acknowledgements to the payment system. The payment system authorizes the acknowledged members of the consented group to access the online content.

Description

ONLINE TIME BASED POST PAYMENT SYSTEM FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates in general to an online payment system and in particular, to a method and system for navigation- free and zero-click online payment. More particularly, the present invention enables multiple users to request and access purchased online content in a collaborative manner.

BACKGROUND

[0002] A significant increase in the number of online Internet payments over the past few years has lead to the development of various online payment systems. The payment systems enable any user to make payments over the Internet for any content or service offered by online merchants. The amount of downloadable content available over the Internet also has increased significantly in size and improved remarkably in quality. Thus, the content price has risen as well. Large video files like movies, documentaries, audio collections (e.g. discographies), album collections etc. are also on sale and have higher prices than ordinary single file content. A large variety of paid content is available on the Internet and the payment systems facilitate the ability of the user to buy such content conveniently. The content could be used either by a single user or multiple users or even shared by multiple users simultaneously.

[0003] Collaborative payment is economically beneficial for the user because per item cost for a group view would be generally lesser than individual cost. Collaborative payment also is attractive for the online content provider because this increases the number of viewers accessing the content.

[0004] With regard to payments for various services and content, a single user generally creates an account within the payment system from which account payment is made for the purchase of any content or service. Generally the user must input a password or personal identification number (PIN) in order to make the payment. A PIN or password is required to authenticate that payment is made only by the user. This leads to a cumbersome process of inputting PIN or password information repeatedly and ease of browsing is compromised to a great extent. Moreover, a user always has to make an individual payment for any content whether the uoinein is ιυι siiamig oi ioi muiviuuai use. Depending on the content or service, a more convenient and favorable approach would be for a group of users to divide payment amongst themselves. Because dividing the amount equally would make a payment system cumbersome, such divided payments typically are discouraged by the payment systems and vendors as well.

[0005] An Internet-based payment process conventionally requires inputting information with regard to a credit or a debit card, or an Internet banking facility provided by a bank. Authorizing payment requires that a user enter certain details only known to the user, such as a ΡΓΝ number, card number, password, passkey code, etc. to keep the transaction secure. These processes require recalling multiple passwords, passkeys etc., and providing personal details for executing online payments. Therefore these processes are cumbersome, especially for authorizing infrequent payments or payments of small sums of money. Even more cumbersome is a scenario in which paid online video content requires streamed downloading simultaneous to payment processing. Furthermore, disclosing personal payment account details typically creates risk exposure to fraud which may deter a user from purchasing content having a very small purchase price.

Additionally, in view of high transaction costs, the use of a credit card for making small payments is economically impractical.

[0006] The state of the art systems for such payments, such as PayPal™, provide a user with an account and a PIN, password or other identification code for authorizing a payment. While making the payment, the user is either redirected to a third party Webpage or the payment system Webpage or a pop up entry form opens to enable a user to enter the password or PIN to authorize the payment. This eliminates the need to enter any banking or credit card details.

[0007] Certain payment systems do not involve any third party and only the payment system account is used from the same Webpage where online content is available. In such circumstances, the need to authorize the payment by entering certain identification still exists.

[0008] The prior methods discussed above lack ease of use because they fail to eliminate or even address the time consuming and cumbersome processes of password and/or PIN input required for transacting even for very small transactions cannot be eliminated.

[0009] Some payment systems enable a one-time password input that relieves the user from encountering multiple payment authorization check steps. For example, as disclosed in United States Patent No. 7,596,530, a system requues omy a one-ume login io enauie payments. In this system, when a user initiates a request for paid online content, the payment automatically occurs. The payment occurs once the online content is requested, and the online content may be downloaded immediately or may be accessible for a certain limited period of time. In this system, however, the payment nonetheless requires action by a single user and division of payment over multiple users is unsupported and unavailable.

[0010] Also in some prior art systems, making a payment from a user account requires

pulling funds from a credit card or E-banking account attributed to that user without any option of accessing additional funds in an account of another user. Such a feature would provide increased flexibility to any payment system. Especially in the domain of offered online services, a wide range of applications could be developed if sharing of payment, division of payment, and user-to-user transfers were facilitated in a collaborative payment system. Thus a need exists for a collaborative online payment system that provides multiple users ease of use and flexibility in payment options, including shared payment options.

SUMMARY

[0011] The present invention comprises a collaborative online the payment system that

provides a method for accessing online content/service and paying for the online content/service automatically in a collaborative manner, such that the payment can be shared by multiple users desiring to access the same content/service. Online content includes, without exhaustion, examples such as video files, audio files, and downloadable files. Online services may include services such as, for example, online storage or sharing of data, etc., through which multiple users can share the payment for the common storage space. For example, a news Website could provide each of ten (10) users with the same content at a lesser per-user shared price than a higher per-user individual price. According to an embodiment of the invention, in the case of insufficient funds in a single first user account, a second user within a group inclusive of the first user may consent to pay for the insufficient amount via payment withdrawal from a second user account. The withdrawn account attributed to the second user in the group is replenished automatically as soon as the first user account contains a sufficient account balance. [0012] The present method provides features to the memueis oi a uonseineu gioup mi uunig economically shared payment, ease of use, ease of joining and navigation, free and unimpeded browsing. The members of the consented group agree in advance of payment to include each other in the consented group and to share cost. For example, a first user, while browsing any online content via a browsing device, is presented with a number of links from which to choose, for example a video Website which provides hyperlinks to several videos. The user clicks on the hyperlink of desired video online content to play the video. The action of clicking the hyperlink leads to a series of messages being exchanged between the browsing device, the payment system and the online content provider. The browsing device sends a shared payment request to the payment system for displaying the video and sends requests to other users to share the payment. Upon receipt of this shared payment request, the payment system responds with a payment confirmation message for initiating the video display. If sufficient funds are available in a first user account, the payment confirmation message is generated for the payment issued from the first user account. However, in the event that the first user account contains an insufficient balance, the payment system withdraws a divided payment by debiting a second user account attributed to a group member who consented to sharing such a payment. The payment system sends a payment sharing request to all users of the consented group. Upon receipt of this payment sharing request on their browsing devices, the users in the group who are consenting members receive a display of two hyperlinks on their Web browsers. The two links enable acceptance or declination of the payment sharing. By clicking on either one of the links, a group member sends a confirmation acknowledgement to the payment system. The amount of payment is then divided among the group members consenting to pay, and the system automatically debits the divided amount from the account of each consenting member. Furthermore, according to an agreed arrangement between the payment system and the online content provider, the aggregated payments transfer to the account of the online content provider.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0013] FIG. 1 is a diagram which depicts the environment in which one embodiment of the present invention may be practiced.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a diagram representing the system elements of a payment system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [0015] FIG. 3A is a flowchart depicting the method sie s oi prauui iig me inveinion according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0016] FIG. 3B is a flowchart depicting the method steps of practicing the invention

according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0017] FIG. 3C is a flowchart depicting the method steps of practicing the invention

according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0018] 3D is a flowchart depicting the method steps of practicing the invention according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0019] FIG. 4 represents the features of one embodiment of group dynamics for the

consented group.

[0020] FIG. 5A represents one embodiment of a Web browser GUI depicting user interaction with the Web browser.

[0021] FIG. 5B represents one embodiment of a Web browser GUI depicting user interaction with the Web browser.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] In the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a

thorough understanding of the invention. A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. Various aspects and features of example embodiments of the invention are described in detail hereinafter.

[0023] The present invention discloses a method and a system for facilitating a collaborative online payment for procuring online content or service(s) without real-time human intervention for coordinating the collaborative online payment. Collaborative online payment refers to sharing of an online payment transaction among various members of a collaborative group for procurement of online content or service(s).

[0024] Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[0025] FIG. l is a diagram schematically depicting one embodiment of the environment in which the invention may be practiced. The environment of the invention comprises a user 102 browsing content over a browsing device 104 wherein the content is provided by an online content provider. 106 and wherein online pay mem ioi me uomem is maue uy a payment system 108. A browsing device may be any device that enables access to a Website over internet, local area network, telecommunication network or any other communication network. Examples of browsing devices include but are not limited to laptops, personal desktop computers, mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and Internet kiosks. The process takes place over a communication network 1 10. A user 102 browses a merchant Website 1 12 on the browsing device 104 where the online content is available. The user 102 can be any entity or individual who wishes to use the browsing device 104 for browsing online content and sharing the payment for the online content.

[0026] The browsing device 104 can be any device which can be used to access a Website over the communication network 1 10 for display on a graphical user interface on the browsing device 104. According to an embodiment of the invention, the browsing device 104 used by the user 102 is a laptop computer. . A Website is a collection of related Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed with a common domain name or Internet Protocol (IP) address in an Internet Protocol-based network. A Website is hosted on at least one Web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet (World Wide Web) or a private local area network.

[0027] A Webpage is a text file that contains not only text, but also a set of HTML tags that describe how the text should be formatted when a browser displays the text on a screen. The tags are simple instructions that tell the Web browser how the page should look when displayed. The tags tell the browser to do things like change the font size or color, or arrange text and/or visual elements in columns. The Web browser interprets these tags to decide how to format the text onto the screen. Webpages are accessed and transported with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which optionally may employ encryption (HTTP Secure, aka HTTPS) to provide security and privacy for the user of the Webpage online content. The user's application, often a Web browser, renders the page online content onto a display terminal according to the webpage HTML markup instructions. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. A "markup language" is a computer language that describes how a page should be formatted.

[0028] A Web browser, like Netscape Navigator™ or Microsoft™ Internet Explorer™, is a computer program (also known as a "software application", or simply an "application") that is enabled to go to a Web server on the Internet and request a page, so that the browser can pull the Webpage through the netwoi aim inio me usei s maumiie. AISO, a Web browser can interpret the set of HTML tags within the Webpage in order to display the Webpage on a user's display screen as the page is intended to be displayed.

[0029] A graphical user interface is an interface for the interaction of a user with the software program or application without the need to enter programming commands. Graphical display of buttons, windows, menus and icons enables task completion via a pointing device such as a mouse cursor. GUI examples can be operating systems like Microsoft™ Windows98™, Microsoft™ Windows Vista™, Web browsers like Netscape Navigator™ or Microsoft™ Internet Explorer™ and applications like Windows™ Media Player™.

[0030] Returning now to the description of the elements of FIG. 1, the user 102 may select online content from a plurality of content or services offered by the online content provider 106 via the merchant Website 112. The online content provider 106 acts as a repository of the online content and a seller account registered with a payment system 108 that receives electronic payment for requested online content for sale on the merchant website 1 12. To gain access to the online content, a user 102 must pay the online content provider 106 an established amount known to the user 102 either by display of a price on merchant Website 112 or any other method of notifying the user 102 of the price, such as an electronically transmitted message. The payment system 108 enables the user 102 to perform this online payment and access the desired online content or service.

[0031] According to an embodiment of the invention, the online content provider 106

registers the merchant Website 1 12 with the payment system 108 for facilitating online payment in accordance with an arrangement between the online content provider 106 and the payment system 108. The arrangement typically is an agreement between the online content provider 106 and the payment system 108, which may include defining an online payment schedule, e.g. a timeline according to which the payment system 108 remits the accumulated amount or portions thereof to the seller account of the online content provider 106. The agreement may include the parameters required for enabling charging by the payment system 108, for authenticating the browsing devices 104, for validating a pre-defined passkey, and for other pre-defined operations. A passkey could be any alphanumeric code, password or any other encrypted message generated by the payment system 108 that could authenticate the browsing device 104without a the user 102 having to create a user account on the merchant Website 112 The user 102 browses the merchant Website 112 on a Web browser 1 14 installed in the browsing device 104. The browsing device 104, a Web server 1 16 and the payment s siem iuo aiso aie uomieuieu io aim m communication with each other over the communication network 1 10.

[0032] According to an embodiment of the invention, the user 102 can share the online

payment made for the online content with members 1 17 of a consented group 1 18 to which the user 102 and the members 1 17 belong. Consented group 1 18 is an entity including, but not limited to, the user 102 and the members 1 17, wherein the user 102 and the members 1 17 agree to share the cost of the online content or service(s) and make collaborative online payments. According to an embodiment of the invention, the user 102 may join a consented group 1 18 while registering with the payment system 108. During registration, the payment system 108 may prompt the user 102 to elect whether or not to join the consented group 1 18. The user 102 then may chose from a list of options including, but not limited to, joining an existing consented group 1 18, joining multiple consented groups 1 18, creating a new consented group 1 18, joining no consented group 1 18 and searching for consented groups 1 18 with known members 1 17.

[0033] A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that any alterations in the method of joining, time of joining and any other parameter related to consented group 1 18 structure will not affect the novelty of the invention in any manner. In one embodiment, a user 102 may not require any permission to join a consented group 1 18 from group members 1 17. Analogously, common social networking Websites generally enable any person to join a group or community depending on the similar interests of other people already in the community. A community named "Clint Eastwood Fans" may comprise members who enjoy watching movies of Clint Eastwood. Similarly, various consented groups 1 18 may comprise members 1 17 who are defined as individuals registered with the payment system 108 and who already have joined consented group 1 18 before a user 102 joins the consented group 1 18.

[0034] Once the user 102 joins the consented group 1 18, the user 102 is enabled with sharing privileges for online payment for online content. According to an embodiment of the invention, the user 102 browses the online content on a merchant Website 1 12 from the browsing device 104 in communication with the communication network 1 10. A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the merchant Website 1 12 is typically a collection of Webpages on which interactive hyperlinks for various online content display to the user 102. Further, the Webpage is the part of merchant Website 1 12 displayed to the user 102 while browsing on the browsing device 104. The merchant Website 1 12 is implemented on a Web server 116 of the online uonieni pioviuei ιυυ. me nsi oi hyperlinks displayed on the merchant Website 1 12 enables the user 102 to select one of the available online services or online content as desired. Online payment for that online content or service can be shared by other members 1 17 of the consented group 118.

[0035] Clicking on a hyperlink to request online content activates a sharing Web script at the Web server 1 16. The sharing Web script stored on the merchant Website 112 is a Web script which activates sending of a shared payment request to the payment system 108. A Web script is a code written in any of the scripting languages. Examples include but are not limited to HTML, JAVASCRIPT, ASP.NET and ACTIONSCIPT3.0 for

communication between the Web server 116 and the merchant Website 1 12, the Web server 1 16 and the Web browser 114 or any communication of the Web server 116 over the communication network 110. Further, according to the embodiment, in an agreement between the payment system 108 and online content provider 106, an externally- embedded software code is embedded on the merchant Website 1 12 by the payment system 108. The externally-embedded software code is understandable by a browsing device 104 and enables the merchant Website 112 to communicate with Web browser 1 14 running on the browsing device 104 and with the payment system 108. The externally- embedded software code is a set of instructions that enables the Web server 116 to send and receive communication messages from the Web browser 114, to encode and decode communication messages and to communicate with the Web server 116. It would be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the externally-embedded software code may be coded in any of the server-side scripts such as ASP, COLDFUSION MARKUP

LANGUAGE, ANSI C, JAVASERVER PAGES, PHP, PERL, SMX, PYTHON, LASSO, RUBY or any other server-side script.

[0036] The shared payment request sent from a browsing device 104 to the payment system 108 is an HTTP protocol for requesting information from the payment system 108. The shared payment request includes, but is not limited to, details of the browsing device 104 and the requested online content. The details of the browsing device 104 further include, but are not limited to, identification details of the browning device 104 for use by the payment system 108 and identification details of the user 102 and the members 117 of the consented group 1 18. The online content details preferably comprise, but are not limited to, the price of the online content and type of the online content. Examples of

identification details of the browsing device 104 could be any identification criteria such as MAC address, IP address or any other criteria mai luenuiy me uiowsmg ueviue iut over the communication network 110. The consented group 118 details comprise the identification of the user 102 and other members 1 17 of the consented group 1 18 that would share the online payment. Taking an example of a case in which a user 102 has joined multiple consented groups 118, the user 102 may choose a specific consented group 118 of which he is a member to share in making the online payment. The shared payment request results in authorizing the browsing device 104 of the user 102 to access the online content from the merchant Website 1 12.

[0037] According to an embodiment of the invention, the online content provider 106 is an online video content provider. The online content provider 106 produces multiple hyperlinks to video content for display on the merchant Website 1 12. In a typical scenario, the video online content may be available to any user 102 at an assumed price of $ 1. If the user 102, however, belongs to consented group 118 having ten (10) members 117 and the consented group 1 18 also decides to view the video online content, then collaborative payment of $9 could be made by ten(10) members 102, thereby reducing cost for each individual member to ninety(90) cents. By clicking on a hyperlink to choose an online video content for viewing, a user 102 simultaneously activates a shared payment request sent by the browsing device 104 to the payment system 108. Upon receipt of the shared payment request from the browsing device 104 of the user 102, the payment system 108 authorizes the browsing device 104 to access the video online content. The authorizing process here comprises, but is not limited to, sending a payment confirmation message to the browsing device 104 of the user 102, transferring the payment confirmation message to the online content provider 106 by the browsing device 104 of the user 102 and granting access to the online content by the online content provider 106 to the browsing device 104 of the user 102.

[0038] Turning now to FIGS. 2, 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D, one embodiment of the method of

processing the online payment comprises debiting an account of the user 102. The payment confirmation message is an HTTP request that will allow the transmission of video online content from the Web server 116 to the browsing device 104 of the user 102. The payment confirmation message further comprises authentication of the browsing device 104 of the user 102, and that authentication enables access to the requested online content. After the step of authorizing the browsing device 104 of the user 102, the payment system 108 sends a payment sharing request to the browsing devices 104 of members 1 17 of the consented group 1 18 to whiun me usei iu ueiongs. me payment sharing request further comprises, but is not limited to, the online content details and details of the user 102. Upon receipt of the payment sharing request by the browsing devices 104 of the members 117 of consented group 1 18, the Web browsers 112 display hyperlinks to accept or decline the sharing of payment with the user 102.

[0039] When a member 1 17 clicks on, and thereby selects, the hyperlink to accept or decline the sharing of payment, he activates a confirmation Web script stored at the Web server

116 that generates a confirmation acknowledgement message. The confirmation acknowledgement message is sent from the browsing devices 104 of members 117 to the payment system 108. The confirmation acknowledgement could either be positive confirmation acknowledgement or negative confirmation acknowledgement depending on whether the member 1 17 of the consented group 1 18 clicks accept or decline respectively. Herein, all members 1 17 clicking on the "accept" hyperlink would be termed as payment sharers. Details of the payment sharers are discussed in conjunction with FIG. 4.

Confirmation acknowledgement further comprises, but is not limited to, identification details of the browsing devices 104 of the members 1 17. Examples of such identification details could be any unique identification criteria such as a MAC address, an IP address or any other criteria, that uniquely identifies a browsing device 104 over the

communication network 1 10.

[0040] The confirmation acknowledgement is an HTTP protocol for requesting that the

payment system 108 authorize the browsing devices 104, the users 102 and/or members

117 for viewing the online video content. Upon receipt of the confirmation

acknowledgement from the browsing devices 104 within a consented group 1 18, the payment system 108 authorizes the browsing devices 104 associated with the users 102 and members 117 within the consented group 118 for viewing of the video online content. In some embodiments, the process of authorizing the browsing devices 104 of the users 102 and members 1 17 (i.e. payment sharers) within the consented group 118 further comprises steps of, but not limited to, processing of the online payment by debiting the registered account of a member 117 and/or the user 102 in the consented group, sending the payment confirmation message to the browsing devices 104 of the users 102 and/or members 1 17 of the consented group 118, transferring the payment confirmation message to the online content provider 106 by the browsing devices 104, granting access to the online content by the online content provider IGo io me uiowsmg ueviues iut aim, n appropriate, crediting an account of the user 102 with an appropriate monetary amount.

[0041] For example, if a payment for a consented group 118 is nine(9) dollars and the user 102 already has paid one(l) dollar, the user 102 in this case will be credited with ten(10) cents if at least nine(9) members 1 17 are payment sharers within the consented group 118. The method of processing the online payment by debiting accounts of the users 102 and members 117 consenting to share cost is discussed in detail in conjunction with FIG. 2, FIGS. 3 A, 3B, 3C and 3D. In one embodiment, the payment confirmation message is an HTTP request that will allow video online content to transfer from the Web server 1 16 to the browsing device 104. The payment confirmation message further comprises authentication of the browsing devices 104 of payment sharers (i.e. the users 102 and/or members 1 17) for the online content provider 106, and that authentication enables access to the online content.

[0042] The complete method of the payment system, beginning from clicking of hyperlink by the user 102 until the processing of online payment by the payment system 108, involves communication between the browsing devices 104, the payment system 108, the Web server 1 16 and the Web browser 114. The communication messages use hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) for communication. These messages include, but are not limited to, the shared payment request, the payment sharing request, confirmation

acknowledgement and payment confirmation message. HTTP is the principal protocol that Web browsers 114 use to communicate with the Web servers 1 16 over the Internet (i.e. the communication network 1 10). When a Web browser 1 14 follows a hypertext hyperlink on a Web page, the browser 1 14 is said to generate an HTTP request.

Associated with each HTTP request is the uniform resource locator (URL) of the hypertext hyperlink. The HTTP request is serviced by a server that handles the URLs within the domain of the Web server 1 16. It will be noted that while the use of HTTP is suggested in the preferred embodiment, other communications protocols could be used.

[0043] FIG. 2 is a diagram representing one embodiment of the system elements of the

payment system 108, according to an embodiment of the invention. The payment system 108 comprises a means for communicating 202, a payment system database 204, a group manager 206 and a payment system processor 208. The various system elements have been included herein to describe one embodiment of the payment system 108 for practicing the invention and by no means present a limitation to the system. [0044] The means for communicating 202 is a gateway eiiauimg me pay mem sysiem iuo io receive a shared payment request from a browsing device 104. A gateway in

a communications network 1 10 is a network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocols and could be implemented in software, hardware or both. Also, a protocol translation/mapping gateway interconnects networks 1 10 with different network protocol technologies by performing required protocol conversions. The shared payment request is generated and sent by the browsing device 104 of the user 102 in response to the user 102 clicking on a hyperlink for accessing the online content from a merchant Website 1 12. The means for communicating 202 may receive a shared payment request through various transmission protocols, for example, an HTTP protocol.

[0045] In one embodiment, the HTTP shared payment request contains cookie information or an identification cookie such as but not limited to a cookie for a Web browser 1 14, the online content details, details about the user 102, information about the online content provider 106 and/or information about the merchant Website 1 12. In an embodiment of the invention, an identification cookie is stored on the Web browser 1 14 generated by the payment system 108 when the Web browser 1 14 communicates for the first time with the payment system 108. An identification cookie comprises parameter values including but not limited to a digital signature of the user 102. An identification cookie also may contain a profile of the user 102 and machine number or MAC address of the browsing device 104 of the user 102.

[0046] Upon receipt of the shared payment request, the means of communicating 202

forwards to the group manager 206 the details of the consented group 1 18 and the user 102 details. The group manager 206 is a processor enabled to process information related to the consented group 1 18 by accessing consented group data stored in the payment system database 204. The group manager 206 is a processor that can be any of the commercially available processors including but not limited to Xeon™, AMD™ and Intel™ processors. The group manager 206 receives identification details for the user 102 and the online content details from the means of communicating 202. The group manager 206 accesses data associated with the user 102 and stored in the payment system database 204 for verification and authentication of the browsing device 104 of the user 102 on merchant Website 1 12. Data associated with the user 102 includes, but is not limited to, account balance, the browsing device 104 information, payment records and registration information entered into and stored within the payment system 108. [0047] The payment system database 204 is enableu io sioie umiiie uoinein piuviuei information and all information related to the members 1 17, the users 102, and the consented groups 1 18. Such information includes identification cookies of all of the users 102 and members 1 17, and digital signatures of all users 102, members 1 17, and the online content provider 106. The group manager 206 uses the information available to verify and initiate the process of authorizing a browsing device 104 so that a user 102 can access the online content. The account balance for a user 102 is retrieved from the payment system database 204 and the price of the online content is compared to account balance of the user 102. According to an embodiment of the invention, if the user 102 has an insufficient balance for completing the payment in total, the payment for the online content is shared among some or all members 1 17 of the consented group 1 18.

[0048] The group manager 206 forwards the amount to be debited from an account of the user 102 to the payment processor 208. The payment processor 208 can be any commercially available processor or part of the group manager 206 allocated to processing the payment. The payment processor 208 debits an account of the user 102 by an amount equal to the cost of the online content. On performing the payment, the payment processor 208 generates the payment confirmation message for authorizing the browsing device 104 of the user 102 to access the online content from the merchant Website 1 12.

[0049] Further means of communicating 202 is used for sending the payment confirmation message generated by the payment processor 208 to the browsing device 104 of the user 102. The means for communicating 202 can be a gateway that may send a payment confirmation message through various transmission protocols, for example as HTTP protocol. The payment confirmation message may contain a confirmation of payment for the online content and authorization for the browsing device 104 to access of the online content provided by online content provider 106. After the step of sending the payment confirmation message to the browsing device 104 of the user 102, the group manager 206 generates the payment sharing request. The means of communicating 202 is used to send the payment sharing request to the browsing devices 104 of the members 1 17 of the consented group 1 18. As explained with regard to FIG. 1, the payment sharing request may include details that identify the online content and details that identify and which are attributable to the user 102 requesting the online content. The payment sharing request results in display of two hyperlinks, one usable ioi uue ung aim one usauie ioi

declining the sharing of online payment.

[0050] By selecting an appropriate hyperlink to accept or decline a payment sharing request, the member 1 17 engenders the confirmation acknowledgement sent from his browsing device to the payment system 108. The means of communicating 202 receives the confirmation acknowledgement and transfers the acknowledgement to the group manager 206. The group manager 206 calculates the number of the positive confirmation acknowledgements and accordingly calculates the amount of funds to be debited from the account of each member 117 agreeing to share payment and the amount of funds to be refunded to the account of the user 102. The information calculated is forwarded to the payment processor 208. Upon receipt of the amount information, the payment processor 208 debits the account of each member 117 agreeing to share payment (aka "payment sharer") with the calculated dollar amount and credits the account of the user 102 with funds equal to the calculated amount determined by the group manager 206. The time at which a collective amount of multiple payments is transferred to the account of the online content provider 106 is predefined as per the agreement between the online content provider 106 and the payment system 108.

[0051] FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D represent a flowchart depicting one embodiment of the method steps of the invention. According to an embodiment of the invention, the online content provider 106 provides a merchant Website 1 12 which offers downloadable online video content. The user 102 browsing the Internet 1 10 on a browsing device 104 can view a list of hyperlinks for the videos that are available on the merchant Website 1 12. The user 102 also can view the duration and price of online video content along with the hyperlink. In step 302, the user 102 chooses online video content by clicking on hyperlink of the desired online video content. In step 304, clicking the hyperlink sends a shared payment request to the payment system 108 from the browsing device 104 of the requesting the user 102. An externally-embedded software code embedded on the merchant Website 112 enables the merchant Website 1 12 to communicate with the Web browser 114 running on the browsing device 104.

[0052] In step 306, the means for communicating 202 receives the shared payment request from the browsing device 104 of the user 102. The HTTP shared payment request includes but is not limited to the Web browser 114 cookie information or an identification cookie, the online content details, details of the user 102, information relating to the online content provider 106 and information relaung ιυ me meiun in w eusiie i i . rui processing the shared payment request, the group manager 206 accesses the payment system database 204 in step 308. Details related to the user 102 and the consented group 118 are processed by the group manager 206 in step 310. The amount of funds in the account of the user 102 is compared with the cost of the online video content. If the funds available are less than the amount of payment required for the online content access, then in step 312, the group manager 206 identifies members 117 who have consented to making a divided payment collectively in case any user 102 of the consented group 118 to which the members 1 17 belong has insufficient funds.

[0053] Taking an example as discussed in FIG. 1, the cost of the video online content is one (1) dollar for the user 102 for individual view. If nine (9) other members 1 17 also accept to share payment and view the video online content and the total cost for ten (10) the users 102 is nine (9) dollars, an individual amount of ninety (90) cents is debited from each payment sharer in the consented group 1 18. For the case in which the user 102 has only sixty (60) cents in his account, the remaining forty(40) cents are debited from the accounts of the members 117 who have consented to making divided payments in case of insufficient balance. The rights for divided payment could be reserved and decided when the user 102 registers with the payment system 108 and joins the consented group 1 18. When joining the consented group 118 each existing member 1 17 of the consented group 118 is displayed the joining request on a browsing device 104 wherein the display is generated by the group manager 206. Each existing member 1 17 of the consented group 118 has the option to accept or decline allowing the user 102 the rights to make a divided payment when the account of the user 102 contains insufficient funds.

[0054] The members 117 who allow the divided payment thus form a subgroup within the consented group 1 18, termed as the trusted group. A member 117 who joins the trusted group is termed as a trusted member. The user 102 also may have the option to become the trusted member for any other member 1 17. The details for trusted group and trusted member are discussed in conjunction to FIG. 4. In the preceding example, assume that only five(5) trusted members have consented the rights to making a divided payment in case of an insufficient balance in the account of the user 102. In step 314, the forty (40) cents payment is equally divided among the five(5) members 117, and the group manager 206 calculates a debit amount of eight(8) cents for the accounts of each trusted member 1 17. This information is sent to the payment processor 208. In step 316, the members 117 identified by the group manager 206 for making me uiviueu ayment ioi me remaining forty(40) cents are charged eight(8) cents each, and the payment processor 208 debits eight(8) cents from the account of each member 117 agreeing to share in the payment.

[0055] If the user 102 has a sufficient balance in his account, then step 318 is followed, and the payment processor 208 debits that account by one (1) dollar. The payment confirmation message for the payment of one (1) dollar is sent by the means of communicating 202 to the browsing device 104 of the user 102 in step 320. The payment confirmation is forwarded to the Web server 1 16 without any editing by the browsing device 106 in step 322. In step 324, the Web server 116 receives the payment confirmation message and grants access to the browsing device 104 for accessing the online video content from the Web server 1 16.

[0056] In step 326, the group manager 206 generates the payment sharing request and sends the request to the browsing devices 104 of all members 1 17 via the means of

communicating 202. In step 328, the Web browser 1 14 on each browsing device 104 will display two hyperlinks, one for accepting the payment sharing request and one for declining the payment sharing request. If a member 117 selects the acceptance hyperlink, a positive confirmation acknowledgement is generated, and if member 117 selects the decline hyperlink, a negative confirmation acknowledgement is generated. The confirmation acknowledgement is sent to the payment system 108 by the browsing device 104 of each member 1 17 in step 330. In step 332, the group manager 206 checks whether any positive confirmation acknowledgement has been received.

[0057] In the example of the online video content, a minimum of nine (9) positive

confirmation acknowledgements are required. If there are at least nine (9) positive confirmation acknowledgements received by the payment system 108, the group manager 206 calculates the amount to be debited from the account of each member 1 17. In step 334, the payment processor 208 then debits the amount of ninety (90) cents from each account associated with members 117 who agreed to share payment. In step 336, the account of the user 102 receives a credit of ten (10) cents because the price per member 117 for shared online video content is ninety(90) cents and the user 102 had paid one(l) dollar initially. The payment confirmation message is generated by the payment processor 208 and is sent by the means of communicating 202 to payment sharing members 117 of the consented group 118 in step 338. The payment confirmation message is forwarded to the Web server 116 by the browsing devices 104 of the members 1 17 in step 340. In step 342 the Web server 116 receives the payment coiinrmauon mess ge aim grams ccess io the browsing devices 104 of the payment sharing members 1 17 for the online video content.

[0058] In the step 344, the group manager 206 checks the payment records from the payment system database 204 and identifies whether the user 102 made the payment from his own account or by divided payment as in a case of insufficient balance. If no browsing device 104 of the member 1 17 sends a positive confirmation acknowledgement to the payment system 108, the group manager 206 executes step 344 and verifies whether or not payment was made from the account of the user 102 or by divided payment. If the payment has been made from the account of the user, the process of collaborative payments stops. If the divided payment is confirmed, then in step 346, the group manager 206 accesses data associated with the user 102 from the payment system database 204 and retrieves the account balance information. In step 348, the group manager 206 compares the account balance with the total refunding amount, which in the current example is forty (40) cents. In a case of insufficient balance, step 346 is repeated without exhaustion until sufficient balance is available in the account of the user 102. When sufficient funds are available in the account of the user, the payment processor 208 debits that account by forty (40) cents in step 350. The payment processor 208 further credits the account(s) of trusted member(s) 117 involved in the divided payment in step 352 and the process of collaborative payment stops. The user 102 cannot make subsequent payments using the payment system 108 unless the user 102 refunds the trusted members 1 17.

[0059] FIG. 4 represents one embodiment of the features of group dynamics for the

consented group 1 18. The members 1 17 of the consented group 118 may accept or decline the joining request of the user 102 for forming a trusted group 404 with the user 102 for making the divided payments when the user 102 does not have sufficient funds in his account stored in the payment system 108. The members 117 who accept the joining request are referred to as trusted members 406. When the user 102 has insufficient monetary balance, the required amount is debited from accounts of the trusted members 406 in trusted group 404 in an equally distributive manner. Further, in FIG. 4, the trusted members 406 who accept the payment sharing request are referred to as payment sharers. If, for example, only five(5) members 1 17 accept the joining request then the user 102 has only five(5) trusted members 406. Moreover, if only nine (9) members 1 17 accept the payment sharing request, there will be nine(9) ti usieu memueis tuo ^i.e. pay mem

sharers).

[0060] FIG. 5 A and 5B represent an example GUI on a browsing device 104 interacting with the Web browser 114. On merchant Website 112, a content hyperlink 502 is displayed. The user 102 may click on the content hyperlink 502 to initiate the collaborative payment process. Also displayed is the price detail 504 for the online video content available. The price detail 504 has both single user 102 view price and consented group 1 18 view price listed on the merchant Website 112. For any user 102 the price of the online video content is one(l) dollar but if ten(10) users 102 (i.e. members 1 17) of the trusted group 404 watch the same online video content, the price per user 102 is ninety(90) cents. The online video content is displayed on video display screen 506. In figure 5B, the Web browser 114 displays the accept hyperlink 508 and the decline hyperlink 510 on the browsing device 104 of the member 1 17. The member 1 17 can choose either one of the accept hyperlink 508 or decline hyperlink 510 in order to share or not share the online payment with the user 102.

[0061] It is noted that the foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present invention. While the present invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment, it is understood that the words, which have been used herein, are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Changes may be made, within the purview of the appended claims, as presently stated and as amended, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention in its aspects. Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the present invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1) A collaborative online payment method for purchasing online content provided on a Website by an online content provider for displayed over a browsing device communicating with the Website over a communication network, the collaborative online payment method comprising steps of:

a) receiving a user request to purchase online content from a browsing device accessing the Website providing the online content;

b) sending a shared payment request to the browsing devices of members of a consented group to which the user belongs, wherein the shared payment request is initiated by the receipt of the user request to access the online content;

c) receiving a confirmation acknowledgement from one or more members of the consented group; and

d) authorizing the user and the one or more acknowledged members of the consented group to access the online content.

2) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein the online content is a video, image, audio, webpage, text, document or any online viewable content.

3) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein the online content is an online service.

4) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein in the step of sending the shared payment request, the shared payment request is sent when the user clicks on a hyperlink provided on the Website for accessing the online content on the browsing device.

5) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein the shared payment request further comprises the online content details.

6) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein the shared payment request further comprises the browsing device details.

7) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein in the step of authorizing the browsing device for accessing the online content further comprises processing the payment from a monetary account of the user. 8) The method of collaborative online payment oi uiaim i, wiieiem m me siep oi authorizing the browsing device for accessing the online content further comprises sending a payment confirmation message to the browsing device of the user.

9) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein in the step of authorizing the browsing device for accessing the online content further comprises transferring the payment confirmation message to the online content provider by the browsing device of the user.

10) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein in the step of authorizing the browsing device for accessing the online content further comprises granting access to the online content by the online content provider to the browsing device of the user.

11) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein the payment sharing request further comprises the online content details.

12) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein the payment sharing request further displays a hyperlink to accept or decline the sharing of payment on the browsing devices of the members of the consented group.

13) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein in the step of sending the confirmation acknowledgement by the browsing devices of the one or more members of the consented group, each confirmation acknowledgement is sent when a member of the consented group clicks on the hyperlink to accept sharing of payment.

14) The method of collaborative online payment of claim 1, wherein the consented group is formed by a method comprising:

a) registering a user with a payment system database;

b) sending a group joining invitation to the user;

c) receiving acceptance of the group joining invitation by the user; and d) sending a user addition request to the existing members of the consented group registered with the payment system database.

15) A system for collaborative online payment for an online content provided over a Website by an online content provider for displayed on a browsing device in communication with the Website over a communication network, the collaborative online payment system comprising: a) a browsing device in communicauon wmi me uummumuauuii neiwoi mai displays an online content from the merchant Website through a Web browser running on the browsing device;

b) a merchant Website hosted by a Web server of an online content provider, wherein the Web server is in communication with the communication network, thereby enabling a browsing device to access the merchant Website; and

c) a payment system in communication with the communication network, the payment system comprising:

(i) a means for communication, wherein the means for communication receives a shared payment request from the browsing device of a user and confirmation acknowledgements from one or more browsing devices of members of a consented group to which the user belongs, and wherein the means for communication sends a payment sharing request to the members of the consented group and a payment confirmation to each of the one or more browsing devices transmitting a confirmation acknowledgement;

(ii) a payment system database for storing details associated with each user and each member of the consented group, including individual user account balances and member account balances;

(iii) a group manager accessing the payment system database over the communication network and processing details of the members, details of the consented group and details of account balances; and

(iv) a payment processor for processing the payment, wherein the payment processor debits and credits the payment account of the user, debits and credits one or more payment accounts of the members and credits an account balance of the online content provider.

16) The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the shared payment request sent by the browsing device of the user to the payment system comprises the online content details and the browsing device details. 17) The system as recited in claim 16, wherein uie wuwsmg ueviue ueians runner comprise identification details for the payment system and the consented group details of the user.

18) The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the confirmation acknowledgement further comprises details identifying the browsing devices of the one or more confirmed members.

19) The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the payment sharing request further comprises the online content details and the details associated with the user.

20) The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the payment confirmation message further comprises authentication details of the browsing device for the online content provider which enables access to the online content.