CA2690090A1

CA2690090A1 - Methods and computer-readable media for enabling secure online transactions with simplified user experience

Info

Publication number: CA2690090A1
Application number: CA2690090A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Stephane Maxime Francois Fortier; Jean Bouchard; James Francis Fagan; Sean Maclean Murray; Sanro Zlobec
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: BCE Inc
Priority date: 2007-06-04
Filing date: 2007-10-11
Publication date: 2008-12-11
Anticipated expiration: 2027-10-11
Also published as: US20100174649A1; CA2689864A1; US9430517B2; US10649984B2; US9600518B2; WO2008148185A1; US11687605B2; US20090089357A1; CA2689863C; WO2008148180A1; CA2690030A1; US20180032569A1; US20090109877A1; US10078660B2; US20210056152A1; CA2689863A1; CA2654400A1; WO2008148184A1; US20090089356A1; US20210124788A1

Abstract

A method, which comprises determining a logical identifier used for communication over a network portion managed by a service provider and transmitting to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of the service provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses the logical identifier. Also, a method, which comprises determining a logical identifier used to identify a device during a request for an online transaction; identifying, based on the logical identifier, a third party that has agreed to act as a payer for the online transaction; providing a user of the device with an opportunity to confirm the third party as the payer for the online transaction; and completing the online transaction based on input from the user.

Description

1 METHODS AND COMPUTER=READABLE MEDIA FOR ENABLING
2 SECURE ONLINE T'RANSACTIONS WITH SIMPLIFIED USER

8 This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional 9 Patent Application No. 60/941,830 filed on June 4, 2007 and hereby incorporated by reference herein.

The present invention relates generally to online commerce and, more 16 particularly, to methods and. computer-readable media for enabling secure 17 online transactions in which the user experience related to effecting such 18 transactions is simplified.

23 Online transactions are becoming increasingly common. Naturally, a user 24 must first be online (i.e., have access to the Internet) before he or she can make an online transaction. Accordingly, in a typical residential Internet 26 access scenario, a user employs customer premises equipment (such as a 27 computer equipped with a modem) to log in to a service provider account, 28 whereupon the customer premises equipment is authorized by the service 29 provider to access the Internet. At this point, the user is "online" and is free to use the customer premises equipment in order to browse among the multitude 31 of servers (i.e., merchant websites) from which online transactions can be 32 effected. Typically, the user identifies a particular merchant website, browses 33 the goods or services offered, and identifies those items of interest (e.g., by 34 adding them to an electronic "shopping cart").

' CA 02690090 2009-12-04 2 One of the most important yet sensitive aspects of electronic commerce is the 3 "checkout" phase, whereby payment data (e.g., credit card information) needs 4 to be provided to the merchant website in order to purchase the items of interest (namely, those in the electronic shopping cart). Here, many things 6 can go wrong from a security and/or a user experience standpoint. For 7 example, incorrect or fraudulent payment data may be provided via the 8 merchant website, or the user may discover that he or she has insufficient 9 funds or credit to pay for the items of interest. Compounding these difficulties is the sheer amount of time that the user needs to expend attempting to 11 purchase one or more items of interest. Moreover, due to the fear of identity 12 theft, certain users are reluctant to provide merchants with their credit card 13 numbers online under any circumstances.

Against this background, there is a need in the industry for solutions that will 16 enable secure online transactions to take place, in which the user experience 17 related to effecting such transactions is simplified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

22 A first broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a method, which 23 comprises determining a logical identifier used for communication over a 24 network portion managed by a service provider and transmitting to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online transactions involving a payer 26 and a payee an indication of the service provider having agreed to act as the 27 payer for at least one online transaction requested by a requesting device that 28 uses the logical identifier.

A second broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a network 31 entity, which comprises an interface configured to communicate over a 32 network portion managed by a service provider; and a processing unit 33 configured to determine a logical identifier used for communication over the 34 network portion and to transmit to a computing apparatus adapted to effect 1 online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of the service 2 provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction 3 requested by a requesting device that uses the logical identifier.

A third broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a computer-6 readable medium comprising computer-readable program code which, when 7 interpreted by a network entity, causes the network entity to execute a 8 method. The computer-readable program code comprises first computer-9 readable program code for causing the network entity to determine a logical identifier used for communication over a network portion managed by a 11 service provider; and second computer-readable program code for causing 12 the network entityto transmit to a computing apparatus adapted to effect 13 online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of the service 14 provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses the logical identifier.

17 A fourth broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a network 18 entity, which comprises means for determining a logical identifier used for 19 communication over a network portion managed by a service provider; and means for transmitting to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online 21 transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of the service 22 provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction 23 requested by a requesting device that uses the logical identifier.

A fifth broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a method, which 26 comprises determining a logical identifier used to identify a device during a 27 request for an online transaction; identifying, based on the logical identifier, a 28 third party that has agreed to act as a payer for the online transaction;
29 providing a user of the device with an opportunity to confirm the third party as the payer for the online transaction; and completing the online transaction 31 based on input from the user.

33 A sixth broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a network 34 entity, which comprises an interface configured to communicate with devices 1 requesting online transactions; and a processing unit. The processing unit is 2 configured to determine a logical identifier used to identify a device during a 3 request for an online transaction; identify, based on the logical identifier, a 4 third party that has agreed to act as a payer for the online transaction;
provide a user of the device with an opportunity to confirm the third party as the payer 6 for the online transaction; and complete the online transaction based on input 7 from the user.

9 A seventh broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable program code which, when 11 interpreted by a network entity, causes the network entity to execute a 12 method. The computer-readable program code comprises first computer-13 readable program code for causing the network entity to determine a logical 14 identifier used to identify a device during a request for an online transaction;
second computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to 16 identify, based on the logical identifier, a third party that has agreed to act as a 17 payer for the online transaction; third computer-readable program code for 18 causing the network entity to provide a user of the device with an opportunity 19 to confirm the third party as the payer for the online transaction; and fourth computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to complete 21 the online transaction based on input from the user.

23 An eighth broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a network 24 entity, which comprises means for determining a logical identifier used to identify a device during a request for an online transaction; means for 26 identifying, based on the logical identifier, a third party that has agreed to act 27 as a payer for the online transaction; means for providing a user of the device 28 with an opportunity to confirm the third party as the payer for the online 29 transaction; and means for completing the online transaction based on input from the user.

32 A ninth broad aspect of the present invention seeks to provide a memory 33 storing data for access by an application program being executed by a 34 clearinghouse entity, the memory comprising a data structure representing an 1 association between (I) logical identifiers for use by devices in requesting 2 online transactions and (II) respective service providers having agreed to act 3 as payers for online transactions requested by devices that use those logical 4 identifiers.
6 These and other aspects and features of the present invention will now 7 become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the 8 following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction 9 with the accompanying drawings.

14 In the accompanying drawings:
16 Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an architecture allowing a customer of a service 17 provider to enjoy various telecommunications services in accordance with an 18 embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows potential contents of a database maintained by the service 21 provider and which associates logical identifiers to customers.

23 Fig. 3A shows potential contents of a premium customer list maintained by the 24 service provider.
26 Fig. 3B shows potential contents of a database indicative of trust relationships 27 established between the service provider and various network sites.

29 Fig. 3C shows a consolidated database made up of the databases in Figs. 3A
and 3B.

32 Fig. 3D shows a consolidated database made up of the databases in Figs. 2 33 and 3C.

1 Fig. 4A shows a flow of messages illustrative of a scenario Where a user of a 2 computing device interacts with a network site in order to request an online 3 transaction, and where the service provider determines that the online 4 transaction is susceptible of taking place and consequently issues a voucher that is sent to the network site.

7 Fig. 4B is a flowchart showing steps in processing of the voucher by the 8 network site.

Fig. 4C depicts a "mode of payment" window presented on the computing 11 device used to request the online transaction.

13 Fig. 5 shows a flow of messages illustrative of a scenario where the user of 14 the computing device interacts with a network site in order to request an online transaction, and where the network site determines that an online 16 transaction is susceptible of taking place and consequently contacts a 17 gateway associated with the service provider.

19 Fig. 6 shows a flow of messages illustrative of a scenario where the user of the computing device is online, and where the service provider determines 21 that an online transaction is susceptible of taking place and consequently 22 broadcasts a voucher to multiple network sites.

24 Fig. 7 shows an architecture similar to that of Fig. 1, but where there are multiple service providers and where there is provided a clearinghouse entity.

27 Fig. 8 shows a flow of messages illustrative of a scenario where the user of 28 the computing device interacts with a network site in order to request an 29 online transaction, and where the network site consults with the clearinghouse entity in Fig. 7 to identify a service provider having agreed to act as a payer for 31 the online transaction.

33 Fig. 9 shows a flow of messages illustrative of an example process by which 34 the database of Fig. 2 may be populated.

2 Fig. 10 shows a flow of messages that may be exchanged when the user's 3 computing device is powered up.

Fig. 11 conceptually illustrates creation of a mapping between logical 6 identifiers and customers.

8 It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for 9 the purpose of illustration of certain embodiments of the invention and are an aid for understanding. They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of 11 the invention.

16 Fig. 1 depicts an architecture allowing customers of a service provider to enjoy 17 various telecommunications services, notably Internet access, in accordance 18 with an embodiment of the present invention. The service provider provides 19 customer premises equipment with access to a public data network 14 such as the Internet. Specifically, the service provider operates a network access 21 server 23 that allows a connection to be established between customer 22 premises equipment 12 located at a service point 38 and the public data 23 network 14. In this way, a user 10 of customer premises equipment 12 can 24 interact with network sites (such as merchant websites) connected to the public data network 14.

27 In this embodiment, customer premises equipment 12 comprises a computing 28 device 16 and a network interface unit 18, although it should be appreciated 29 that customer premises equipment 12 may comprise other components in other embodiments. Computing device 16 may be implemented as a personal 31 computer (PC) such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet 32 PC. The computing device 16 is provided with at least one input device such 33 as a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, a stylus, a microphone, etc., as well 34 as a display and possibly one or more other output devices (e.g., speakers) 1 that enable interaction between user 10 and computing device 16. Computing 2 device 16 is operative to run a software application implementing a network 3 application (e.g., a web browser) with which user 10 can interact via the 4 display (and possibly one or more other output devices) and the at least one input device in order to access and interact with network sites of the public 6 data network 14.

8 Network interface unit 18 enables customer premises equipment 12 to 9 exchange data over the public data network 14 via a network portion 20. For example, in various embodiments, and depending on the nature of network 11 portion 20, network interface unit 18 may be implemented as a modem such 12 as a broadband modem (e.g., a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem or a 13 cable modem) or a narrowband modem (e.g., a dial-up modem). Although it is 14 shown as being a separate component in Fig. 1, network interface unit 18 may be integrated into computing device 16 (e.g., it may comprise a card slotted in 16 computing device 16). In other embodiments, the network interface unit 18 17 may be implemented as part of a home gateway or router forming part of the 18 customer premises equipment 12.

Network portion 20 may traverse one or more network elements and comprise 21 one or more physical links and one or more logical links. For example, 22 network portion 20 may comprise a physical link 17 between network interface 23 unit 18 and a network element 21. Physical link 17 may comprise one or more 24 of a copper twisted pair, a coax cable, an Ethernet link, a fiber optic link (e.g., fiber to the premises (FTTP)) and a fixed wireless link, to name a few non-26 limiting possibilities. Depending on the nature of physical link 17, network 27 element 21 may be a DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM), a cable modem 28 termination system (CMTS), a modem pool, or another type of network 29 element. Network portion 20 may also comprise a dedicated logical link 19 between network element 21 and another network element 23 that provides 31 access to the public data network 14. For instance, network element 23 may 32 be a network access server (NAS), a router, or another type of entity operated 33 or managed by the service provider. For ease of understanding, but without 1 limiting the scope of the invention, network element 23 will hereinafter be 2 referred to as an "access server".

4 In order to exchange data over the public data network 14, customer premises equipment 12 communicating over network portion 20 is identified by a logical 6 identifier. In various non-limiting embodiments, the logical identifier may be 7 an Internet Protocol (IP) address (e.g., in compliance with IPv4 or IPv6) or a 8 proprietary address, label, or tag. The logical identifier may be static, in which 9 case it does not change over time (e.g., a static IP address).
Alternatively, the logical identifier may be dynamic, in which case it may change over time (e.g., 11 a dynamic IP address).

13 The logical identifier may be selected by a network element that is part of, or 14 connected to, network portion 20, such as access server 23. Specifically, access server 23 may select the logical identifier when customer premises 16 equipment 12 is activated (e.g., when network interface unit 18 and/or 17 computing device 16 is/are powered-up) or otherwise regains network 18 connectivity and/or at certain time intervals which may range from an hour or 19 less to several months or more. For instance, in embodiments where the logical identifier is a dynamic IP address, access server 23 can select the 21 logical identifier in accordance with the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol 22 (DHCP) using a pool of IP addresses.

24 Access server 23 has access to a database 40, which associates logical identifiers to customers as shown in greater detail in Fig. 2. Access to 26 database 40 may be provided via a service provider network 42. One manner 27 of populating database 40 will be explained in further detail later on. For now, 28 suffice it to say that when computing device 16 requests access to the public 29 data network 14 over network portion 20 leading to customer premises equipment 12, a logical identifier is selected for use by computing device 16.
31 Similarly, when other devices request access to the public data network 14 32 over other network portions, individual logical identifiers are selected for use 33 by those devices as well. Because the service provider knows which 34 customers are located at which service point locations via which network 1 portions, the service provider can associate individual logical identifiers to 2 individual customers and it is this information that is stored in database 40.

4 For example, the service provider may know that a certain customer "Bob Smith" is located at service point 38 (e.g., by virtue of a service and/or billing 6 relationship stored in a customer service database), and also knows that 7 network portion 20 leads to service point 38. Therefore, by selecting the 8 logical identifier, say, "1.2.3.4" for use by a device that requests access to the 9 public data network 14 over network portion 20 (such as computing device 16), the service provider has in fact associated customer "Bob Smith" with 11 logical identifier "1.2.3.4", and accordingly stores this relationship in database 12 40.

14 It should be noted that although user 10 requires customer "Bob Smith's"
credentials to access the public data network 14, it is not necessarily the case 16 that the user 10 is in fact Bob Smith, the person. For example, user 10 could, 17 at a given point in time, be Bob Smith or his wife or any of his children, for 18 example. Nevertheless, one need not take this distinction into account in the 19 present specification unless specifically noted otherwise.
21 As mentioned previously, user 10 can use customer premises equipment 12 22 to access and interact with network sites of the public data network 14.
These 23 network sites can be implemented by servers 301...30N connected to the public 24 data network 14. The servers 301...30N and the network sites that they implement are operated, managed or otherwise associated with various 26 entities, including, for example, companies, governmental organizations, non-27 profit organizations, and individuals. Each of the servers 301...30N
comprises 28 suitable hardware, firmware, software, control logic, or a combination thereof 29 for implementing a plurality of functional components, including an interface and a processing unit. The interface of each of the servers 301...30N is 31 adapted to receive messages from and send messages to communication 32 equipment (such as customer premises equipment 12) connected to the public 33 data network 14, as well as to receive data from or send data to other 34 elements (e.g., computers or databases) communicatively coupled to that 1 server but not necessarily connected to the data network 14. The processing 2 unit of each of the servers 301...30N is adapted to effect various processing 3 operations to implement that servers functionality.

Assume now that server 30n (1 s n s N) implements a merchant website, 6 which is operated, managed or otherwise associated with a merchant.
7 Interaction between user 10 and the merchant website implemented by server 8 30n typically involves the network browser implemented by computing device 9 16 interacting with server 30n in order to allow user 10 to view, hear or otherwise be exposed to content (e.g., web pages) of the merchant website 11 implemented by server 30n via the display and/or one or more other output 12 devices of computing device 16, and possibly to supply information (e.g., by 13 entering text, selecting an option, etc.) and/or one or more commands (e.g., by 14 clicking on a graphical button or a hyperlink) via the at least one input device of computing device 16.

17 Occasionally, during interaction with the merchant website implemented by 18 server 30n, user 10 may desire or need to request an online transaction 19 requiring payment. Such online transactions involve a payer and a payee, where the payer is a party that is to provide funds to the payee and the payee 21 is a party that is to receive the funds from the payer. Depending on the nature 22 of the merchant website implemented by server 30n, an online transaction 23 requiring payment may involve purchasing of product(s) and/or service(s) 24 offered on the merchant website; settlement of a bill for a previously obtained product or service; making a donation to a charity or other institution through 26 the merchant website; etc. It will be appreciated that various other situations 27 may arise in which online transactions requiring payment may be desired or 28 may need to be effected.

In accordance with a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the 31 service provider will have agreed to act as the payer for online transactions 32 requested by certain customers, hereinafter referred to as "premium 33 customers". With additional reference to Fig. 3A, these premium customers 34 are identified in a "premium customer list" 52 stored in a database 50 which 1 can be accessible to access server 23 via the service provider network 42.
2 The premium customer list 52 can be populated in a variety of ways. It is 3 envisaged, for example, that a customer desirous of appearing on the 4 premium customer list 52 can contact the service provider (e.g., via phone, fax, e-mail, in person, etc.) and make a request to be added to the premium 6 customer list 52. Naturally, the service provider may exercise its discretion in 7 allowing a prospective premium customer to appear on the premium customer 8 list 52. In particular, the service provider may study the credit history of the 9 prospective premium customer and/or other related information and, if certain criteria are satisfied, may allow the prospective premium customer to indeed 11 be added to the premium customer list 52. The service provider may charge a 12 monthly or per-transaction fee to the customer in question. In another 13 scenario, the service provider may offer certain qualified customers who are 14 not yet premium customers the opportunity to be added to the premium customer list 52. Such an offer may be communicated to these targeted 16 customers in the form of an insert with their monthly bill or via an email 17 message or a telephone inquiry, for example.

19 Database 50 may also include, for each premium customer on the premium customer list 52, information related to certain restrictions, such as a 21 pecuniary restriction, applicable to that premium customer. Specifically, an 22 example of a pecuniary restriction that may be applicable to a particular 23 premium customer may represent a maximum dollar amount of an online 24 transaction for which the service provider will agree to act as the payer.
Still other information may be included such as temporal restriction (e.g., times of 26 the day or days of the week during which the service provider will agree to act 27 as the payer for an online transaction requested by the particular premium 28 customer), and so on.

With additional reference now to Fig. 3B, there is shown a further database 31 60, which is optional, and is indicative of trust relationships that have been 32 established between the service provider and various ones of the network 33 sites. Database 60 may be accessible to the access server 23 via the service 34 provider network 42. Specifically, database 60 includes a list of Whitelisted or 1 blacklisted network sites (e.g., merchant websites). A white'listed network site 2 and a blacklisted network site can be defined by the service provider s 3 agreement or unwillingness, respectively, to act as a payer for online 4 transactions requested by premium customers visiting those sites.
Specifically, while the service provider will be in agreement to act as the payer 6 for online transactions requested by premium customers visiting a whitelisted 7 network site, the opposite is true for a blacklisted network site. The whitelisted 8 or blacklisted sites can be identified by their logical identifiers (e.g., IP
9 addresses) or by their uniform resource locators (URLs).
11 As part of the trust relationship formed between the service provider and a 12 particular one of the network sites, a mechanism is established to allow the 13 service provider to act as the payer for online transactions involving premium 14 customers visiting the particular one of the network sites. For example, an account for the service provider can be set up by the merchant website 16 implemented by server 30n, with the result being that the service provider's 17 account will be debited in order to consummate an online transaction for which 18 the service provider has been identified as the payer. In an alternative 19 scenario, the service provider may provide a credit card or other source of funds each time an online transaction for which the service provider has been 21 identified as the payer is about to be consummated.

23 Furthermore, with additional reference to Fig. 3C, it is also contemplated that 24 the information in databases 50 and 60 can be combined into a single database 70 and further customized for each premium customer. Specifically, 26 database 70 includes a premium customer list which may also specify a 27 pecuniary and/or temporal restriction for each premium customer on the 28 premium customer list. In addition, each premium customer on the premium 29 customer list is associated with a set of whitelisted or blacklisted network sites. Thus, it is envisaged that the set of whitelisted or blacklisted network 31 sites may be different from one premium customer to another.

33 Furthermore, with additional reference to Fig. 3D, it is also contemplated that 34 the information in databases 70 and 40 can be combined into a single 1 database 80 so as to provide, in association with each premium customer, the 2 same information as in database 70 in addition to the logical identifier that has 3 been selected for use by devices accessing the public data network 14 from 4 the service point location associated with that premium customer.
6 In operation, access server 23 (including one or more network entities that 7 may be associated therewith) functions in a way that will now be described 8 generally and then in some detail in the context of a specific example.
9 Generally speaking, access server 23 monitors data exchanged by various devices using various logical identifiers to determine the logical identifiers of 11 those devices susceptible of requesting an online transaction with one or more 12 of the servers 301...30N. Furthermore, access server 23 determines whether 13 these logical identifiers are associated with premium customers. In the case 14 where a premium customer has been identified in this manner for a particular logical identifier, access server 23 sends a voucher to the server involved in 16 communication with the device that is using the particular logical identifier.
17 The voucher indicates that the service provider has agreed to act as the payer 18 for an online transaction that is susceptible of being requested by a device 19 using the particular logical identifier.
21 With reference now to Fig. 4A, consider now the example scenario where user 22 10 interacts with the merchant website implemented by server 30n using 23 computing device 16 in order to select one or more products and/or services 24 for purchase. This may involve user 10 using an online shopping cart implemented by server 30n. In this non-limiting example, computing device 26 16 employs logical identifier "1.2.3.4". Because communication between 27 computing device 16 and server 30n occurs via access server 23, the latter 28 can make a determination that an online transaction is susceptible of being 29 requested by a device that is using logical identifier "1.2.3.4" (which, in this case, is computing device 16). In one example, this determination can be 31 made based on analysis of the data exchanged between computing device 16 32 and server 30n. In an alternative embodiment, access server 23 can make a 33 determination that an online transaction is susceptible of being requested by 34 the nature of the website being visited by computing device 16. 'For example, 1 certain websites (such as ebay.com) are more 'likely to result in requests for 2 online transactions than others (such as cnn.com).

4 Meanwhile, access server 23 also determines the identity of the customer associated with logical identifier "1.2.3.4". This can be achieved by consulting 6 database 40. In this particular example, let the customer in question be "Bob 7 Smith". Access server 23 then consults database 50 to see whether "Bob 8 Smith" is a premium customer, i.e., whether "Bob Smith" appears on the 9 premium customer list 52. If "Bob Smith" is not a premium customer, then no further steps need be taken and, indeed, access server 23 may cease 11 analysis of the data exchanged between computing device 16 and server 30n.

13 However, if "Bob Smith" is a premium customer, which is assumed to be the 14 case here, then access server 23 sends a voucher 90 to server 30n. In accordance with two non-limiting possibilities, the voucher 90 can be 16 encrypted if it is to be sent over an untrusted channel (such as the public data 17 network 14) or it can be sent over a secure channel separate from the public 18 data network. The voucher 90 sent to server 30n may be in the form of an 19 electronic message comprising logical identifier "1.2.3.4". The voucher 90 may be encoded in a format that alerts server 30n as to its significance, 21 namely that the service provider has agreed to act as the payer for an 22 eventual online transaction requested by a device that uses logical identifier 23 "1.2.3.4" (which, in this case, is computing device 16). Of course, the voucher 24 90 sent to server 30n may comprise additional information that can be obtained from database 50, such as a pecuniary and/or temporal restriction 26 associated with the eventual online transaction. The voucher 90 sent to 27 server 30n may further contain information regarding the service provider 28 responsible for managing the entity from which the voucher 90 is being sent.
29 Such information may be provided in a message header, for example. It should be appreciated that for security purposes, the voucher 90 may also 31 specify a time-out period after which the information contained therein is no 32 longer valid.

1 It should also be appreciated that an additional verification can be performed 2 by access server 23 prior to transmittal of the voucher 90 in order to confirm 3 that a trust relationship has indeed been established between the service 4 provider and server 30n. In one embodiment, this verification can be performed by consulting database 60. In another embodiment, this 6 verification can be performed by consulting database 70 for the information 7 pertaining to customer "Bob Smith". In fact, consultation of database 60 to 8 confirm the existence of a trust relationship with server 30n (or consultation of 9 database 70 to confirm that server 30n is included among the whitelisted -or not blacklisted - network sites for customer "Bob Smith") can be performed as 11 an initial step so as to avoid unnecessary analysis of the data exchanged by 12 computing device 16, in the event that no trust relationship was actually 13 established with the server 30n (or in the event that server 30n is a blacklisted 14 - or not whitelisted - network site for customer "Bob Smith").
16 Upon receipt from access server 23 of the voucher 90 indicative of the service 17 provider having agreed to act as the payer for an online transaction that is 18 susceptible of being requested by a device using the particular logical 19 identifier (in this case, logical identifier "1.2.3.4"), server 30n functions in a way that will now be described. Generally speaking, and with reference now to 21 Fig. 4B, at step 440, server 30n creates a record for the particular logical 22 identifier, and stores therein information regarding the service provider 23 responsible for managing the service provider entity that sent the voucher 90, 24 which information may be contained in a message header of the voucher 90.
It should be appreciated that a validation stage may take place to ensure that 26 the service provider information being received in connection with the voucher 27 90 concurs with the identity of a service provider with which the merchant 28 website implemented by server 30n has established a trust relationship. If the 29 voucher 90 also specifies a pecuniary and/or temporal restriction, or a time-out period, such information is also stored in the record for the particular 31 logical identifier. Similar records can be created for other logical identifiers 32 used by devices involved in potential transactions with the merchant website 33 implemented by server 30n. The records may be kept in a memory of server 34 30n.

2 Meanwhile, interaction of computing device 16 with the merchant website 3 carries on, as do possibly other interactions involving other devices.
Although 4 the interaction involving computing device 16 may be aborted at any time, it is assumed for the purposes of the present example that it reaches the "check-6 out" phase. This is a phase where user 10 indicates that he/she desires to 7 purchase the selected product(s) and/or service(s), for instance, by selecting a 8 "check-out" option on the merchant website implemented by server 30n. This 9 constitutes a request for an online transaction by the computing device 16.
Customarily, the merchant website implemented by server 30n would 11 subsequently prompt user 10 to provide payment information towards the 12 selected product(s) and/or service(s). However, in accordance with a non-13 limiting embodiment of the present invention, and with continued reference to 14 Fig. 4B, at step 450, server 30n is configured to verify whether there exists a record for the logical identifier of the computing device 16, which is in this 16 case "1.2.3.4". If not, then at step 460, user 10 is prompted to enter payment 17 information such as credit card information. User 10 then indicates his/her 18 intent to submit an order to purchase the selected product(s) and/or service(s) 19 using the entered credit card information, for instance, by selecting a "submit order" option on the merchant website.

22 However, if there exists a record for logical identifier "1.2.3.4", then at step 23 470, the merchant website implemented by server 30n identifies from this 24 record the service provider that has agreed to act as the payer for online transactions requested by a device having this logical identifier. At step 480, 26 the identified service provider is then charged for the amount of the 27 transaction, while applying of course the pecuniary and/or temporal 28 restrictions in effect, and assuming that the time-out period, if applicable, has 29 not expired. With the identified service provider having been charged for the amount of the transaction, the online transaction is deemed to have been 31 consummated as far as user 10 is concerned. It is envisaged that server 30n 32 may then delete the information in the record associated with logical identifier 33 "1.2.3.4", although in other embodiments it may be desirable to keep this 1 information in memory for a certain period of time to allow further transactions 2 to take place.

4 There are various ways in which the service provider identified at step 470 can be "charged" for the amount of the transaction. In one example, an account 6 for the service provider can be set up by the merchant website implemented 7 by server 30n, with the result being that the service provider's account will be 8 debited whenever an online transaction for which the service provider has 9 been identified as the payer is consummated. In another example, a handshaking process may be established between server 30n and a 11 predetermined entity managed by the service provider (e.g., a transaction 12 manager) during the course of which a credit card or other source of funds is 13 identified by the service provider to server 30n. Once it has the credit card (or 14 other) information for the service provider, the merchant website implemented by server 30n proceeds in a conventional manner to obtain payment. In yet 16 another example, the merchant website implemented by server 30n may have 17 standing instructions to use a certain credit card or other source of funds 18 whenever an online transaction for which the service provider has been 19 identified as the payer is consummated. In still another example, the voucher 90 sent by access server 23 to server 30n (and whose contents are stored in 21 the record for logical identifier "1.2.3.4") may identify a credit card or other 22 source of funds to be used as payment on behalf of the service provider. In a 23 still further example, the merchant website implemented by server 30n may 24 send an invoice to the service provider.
26 It should be appreciated that rather than automatically charge the service 27 provider identified at step 470 for the amount of the transaction, the merchant 28 website implemented by server 30n may present user 10 with an opportunity 29 to actively participate in identification of the payer for the current transaction.
More specifically, server 30n may be configured to interact with computing 31 device 16 to cause the appearance of a window, dialog box or other graphical 32 user interface that provides user 10 with a choice of whether or not to exert 33 the option of having the service provider pay for the selected product(s) and/or 34 service(s).

2 For instance, as shown in Fig. 4C, the merchant website implemented by 3 server 30n can cause the web browser implemented by the computing device 4 16 to present a "mode of payment" window 480 having a first input area 482 and a second input area 484. The first input area 482 includes a region 486 6 that illustrates a name or logo of the service provider identified at step 470 (in 7 this case, "SP1"), along with an input mechanism 488 for selecting this service 8 provider as the mode of payment. The second input area 484 includes a 9 region 490 that illustrates a name or logo of a particular credit card, along with an input mechanism 492 for allowing user 10 to select the particular credit 11 card as the mode of payment. Other input areas 494 similar to the second 12 input area 484 can also be provided for other credit cards or payment 13 facilities. If user 10 selects input mechanism 488 (e.g., using a mouse), then 14 the transaction proceeds as described above in the event where the service provider identified at step 470 was automatically charged for the amount of the 16 transaction. However, if user 10 selects input mechanism 492, then the 17 transaction proceeds in a customary manner, requiring user 10 to input credit 18 card information, and so on.

Once the online transaction has been consummated as described above, 21 under the assumption that the service provider identified at step 470 has paid 22 for the product(s) and/or service(s) selected by user 10, the amount of the 23 transaction is then charged to the customer, in this case "Bob Smith". This 24 can be done at various points in time. Specifically, in a first example embodiment, as soon as the merchant website implemented by server 30n 26 issues a receipt for the online transaction to the service provider (including a 27 confirmation of the total dollar amount of the online transaction), the service 28 provider can immediately charge "Bob Smith" by adding the total dollar 29 amount to "Bob Smith's" account. In a second example embodiment, where the service provider used a third-party credit card or other source of funds to 31 pay for the purchased product(s) and/or good(s), the service provider may 32 wait to receive an invoice from the credit card company or a receipt from the 33 merchant website, following which the service provider charges "Bob Smith"
34 by adding the total dollar amount to "Bob Smith's" account. The service 1 provider may also wish to reconcile the invoice from the credit card company 2 with the receipt from the merchant website.

4 In another example, rather than debiting an account set up specifically for "Bob Smith", the service provider may charge the total dollar amount of the 6 online transaction to a payment instrument (such as a credit card) that has 7 been provisioned by "Bob Smith". Thus, "Bob Smith" is effectively paying by 8 credit card, but the credit card number is not revealed to the merchant 9 website.
11 The service provider may also charge a service fee on a per-transaction basis.
12 This service fee may be charged to the merchant website or to the customer 13 ("Bob Smith") or both, depending on business considerations.

It should thus be appreciated that the above described solutions allow 16 enhanced security and convenience for premium customers, since there is no 17 need for such customers to disclose credit card information when making 18 purchases from certain merchant websites that are trusted by the service 19 provider but not necessarily by customers. There are also advantages for the service provider, which can increase its revenues through service fees 21 charged to its premium customers and/or merchant websites, while the risk of 22 fraud- particularly identity theft - is kept low. This is due to the fact that 23 knowledge of the logical identifier used by a particular device can be traced to 24 a physical location (namely, the service point location where the device is situated), which is in turn traceable to a specific customer. There are also 26 advantages for the merchants, since they can now tap into a wider base of 27 customers through their trusted relationships with service providers, while the 28 risk to merchants arising from fraud by the service provider is considerably 29 lower than the risk from fraud by the average internet populace.
31 It should be appreciated that additional mechanisms can be implemented by 32 server 30n and/or the service provider in order to maintain integrity of online 33 transactions. These indude, among others, a mechanism for the issuance of 1 transaction t s by the merchant website implemented by server 30n and a 2 mechanism for the tracking of parcels sent to a physical address.

4 One will appreciate that although the aforesaid methods are secure enough to ensure that the logical identifier used by a particular device can be traced to a 6 specific customer, the question still remains as to whether user 10 should be 7 permitted to request online transactions. One situation where this question 8 may be raised is in a residential environment where computing device 16 may 9 be used by a number of family members, some of which are adults and others children. Here, even though the customer may be "Bob Smith" (who appears 11 on the premium customer list 52 in database 50), the authority of user 10 to 12 request online transactions may not be established. In order to resolve this 13 situation, the service provider may request "live" authorization of user 10 by 14 way of an authorization process. In an example of an authorization process, user 10 is asked to furnish a code which can be compared to a known 16 authorization code in order to allow or prevent user 10 from continuing with 17 the online transaction.

19 Specifically, the need to effect an authorization process in association with a particular customer may be stored as an additional column in database 50 or 21 70, in this case for customer "Bob Smith". The authorization code can also be 22 stored in database 50 or 70, or elsewhere.

24 In order not to disrupt ordinary Internet access to user 10 (e.g., browsing that does not involve online transactions), it may be desirable to effect the 26 authorization process only at the point where an online transaction is 27 susceptible of being requested, or at the very point of being requested.
28 Accordingly, the aforesaid "mode of payment" window 480 presents an 29 appropriate opportunity to effect the authorization process for user 10 in order to deal with the situation where multiple potential users (e.g., adults and 31 children) are susceptible of using the same customer account, but where it is 32 desired that some of those potential users (e.g., children) not be allowed to 33 make online purchases.

1 Specifically, access server 23 can monitor the appearance of the "mode of 2 payment" window 480 and commence the authorization iprocess by pre-3 empting the "mode of payment" window 480 with a new screen / window /
4 dialog box that prompts user 10 to enter a code for eventual comparison to the authorization code. Alternatively, access server 23 can commence the 6 authorization process by triggering a call back to user 10 at a telephone 7 number pre-registered to customer "Bob Smith". Alternatively, when sending 8 the voucher 90, access server 23 can pre-inform the merchant website 9 implemented by server 30n of the authorization code for customer "Bob Smith", and the "mode of payment" window may comprise a region where user 11 10 is prompted to enter a code for comparison to the received authorization 12 code. Other possibilities within the scope of the present invention will now be 13 apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, now described with 16 reference to Fig. 5, consider again the example scenario where user 10 17 interacts with the merchant website implemented by server 30n using 18 computing device 16 in order to select one or more products and/or services 19 for purchase. This may involve user 10 using an online shopping cart implemented by server 30n. In this non-limiting example, computing device 21 16 employs logical identifier "5.6.7.8". In this alternative embodiment, it is 22 server 30n (rather than access server 23) that makes a determination that an 23 online transaction is susceptible of being requested by a device that is using 24 logical identifier "5.6.7.8" (which, in this case, is computing device 16).
In addition, server 30n determines the identity of the service provider responsible 26 for managing the service provider entity (in this case, access server 23) from 27 which the merchant website implemented by server 30n is being accessed. In 28 one example, these determinations can be made based on analysis of the 29 data received by server 30n.
31 Server 30n then sends a request message 510 to a gateway 28 associated 32 with the service provider responsible for managing access server 23. This 33 gateway 28 may be reachable at a known location over the public data 34 network 14. The request message 510 includes logical identifier "5.6.7.8".

1 MeanWhile, server 30n creates a record for logical identifier "5.6.7.8", where 2 information regarding the service provider responsible for managing access 3 server 23 is stored, and where information responsive to the request message 4 510 will be stored when it is received from the gateway 28.
6 The gateway 28 receives the request message 510 and determines whether 7 the logical identifier identified therein is associated with a premium customer.
8 To this end, and in context of databases 40 and 50, the gateway 28 first 9 determines the identity of the customer associated with logical identifier "5.6.7.8 by consulting database 40. In this particular example, the customer in 11 question continues to be "Bob Smith". The gateway 28 then consults 12 database 50 to see whether "Bob Smith" is a premium customer, i.e., whether 13 "Bob Smith" appears on the premium customer list 52. If "Bob Smith" is not a 14 premium customer, then the gateway 28 may send a deny message 520 to server 30n, indicating that the service provider is not willing to act as a payer 16 for online transactions requested by a device that uses logical identifier 17 "5.6.7.8".

19 However, if "Bob Smith" is a premium customer, which is assumed to be the case here, then the gateway 28 returns an accept message 530 to server 30n.
21 The accept message 530 is similar to the previously described voucher 90, 22 except that it need not comprise logical identifier "5.6.7.8", since it is already 23 assumed to be known to server 30n. The accept message 530 does however 24 signify that the service provider has agreed to act as the payer for an eventual online transaction requested by a device that uses logical identifier "5.6.7.8"
26 (which, in this case, is computing device 16). The accept message 530 sent 27 to server 30n may comprise additional information that can be obtained from 28 database 50, such as a pecuniary and/or temporal restriction associated with 29 the eventual online transaction.
31 It should also be appreciated that an additional verification can be performed 32 by the gateway 28 prior to transmittal of the accept message 530 in order to 33 confirm that a trust relationship has indeed been established between the 34 service provider and server 30n. In one embodiment, this verification can be 1 performed by consulting database 60, which will yield a negative result in 2 certain unusual circumstances, namely Where the request message 510 will 3 have been from an untrusted merchant website. In another embodiment, the 4 verification by the gateway 28 can be performed by consulting database 70 for the information pertaining to customer "Bob Smith" in order to confirm whether 6 server 30n is included among the whitelisted (or not blacklisted) network sites 7 for customer "Bob Smith", assuming that customer "Bob Smith" is included 8 among the premium customers for whom information is stored in database 70.

Upon receipt from the gateway 28 of the accept message 530 indicative of the 11 service provider having agreed to act as the payer for an online transaction 12 that is susceptible of being requested by a device using logical identifier 13 "5.6.7.8", server 30n functions in a way that will now be described.
Generally 14 speaking, server 30n stores in the aforesaid record for logical identifier "5.6.7.8" an indication that the service provider has agreed to act as the payer 16 for an online transaction that is susceptible of being requested by a device 17 using logical identifier "5.6.7.8". If the response message 530 also specifies a 18 pecuniary and/or temporal restriction, or a time-out period, such information is 19 also stored in the record for logical identifier "5.6.7.8".
21 Meanwhile, interaction of computing device 16 with the merchant website 22 carries on, as do possibly other interactions involving other devices. It is 23 assumed for the purposes of the present example that the interaction involving 24 computing device 16 reaches the "check-out" phase, where user 10 indicates that he/she desires to purchase the selected product(s) and/or service(s), e.g., 26 by selecting a "check-out" option on the merchant website implemented by 27 server 30n. This constitutes a request for an online transaction by the 28 computing device 16. The remainder of this example scenario is identical to 29 that given above.
31 In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, now described with 32 reference to Fig. 6, consider the example scenario where user 10 has not yet 33 begun interacting with any merchant website, but has merely employed 34 computing device 16 to gain access to the public data network 14 from service 1 point 38 associated with customer "Bob Smith". In the manner described 2 previously, access server 23 provides computing device 16 with a particular 3 logical identifier (say, "9.10.11.12"). Therefore, although access server 23 can 4 consult database 40 to determine that "Bob Smith" is online, access server does not necessarily have a reason to suspect that an online transaction will 6 be requested by a device using logical identifier "9.10.11.12".
Nevertheless, 7 access server 23 may consult database 50 to determine whether "Bob Smith"
8 is a premium customer and, if so, access server 23 may consult database 60 9 to determine the identity of one of more whitelisted network sites.
Alternatively, access server 23 may consult database 70 to determine the 11 identity of one or more whitelisted network sites for customer "Bob Smith".
Let 12 the whitelisted network sites be those implemented by servers 30a, 30b and 13 30c (1 s a, b, c 5 N). Following this, access server 23 broadcasts a voucher 14 92 to servers 30a, 30b and 30c.
16 The voucher 92 broadcast to servers 30a, 30b and 30c may be in the form of 17 an electronic message comprising logical identifier "9.10.11.12". Again, in 18 accordance with two non-limiting possibilities, the voucher 92 can be 19 encrypted if it is to be sent over an untrusted channel (such as the public data network 14) or it can be sent over a secure channel separate from the public 21 data network. The voucher 92 may be encoded in a format that alerts each of 22 servers 30a, 30b and 30c as to its significance, namely that the service 23 provider has agreed to act as the payer for an eventual online transaction 24 requested by a device that uses logical identifier "9.10.11.12" (which, in this case, is computing device 16). Of course, the voucher 92 broadcast to 26 servers 30a, 30b, 30c may comprise additional information that can be 27 obtained from database 50, such as a pecuniary and/or temporal restriction 28 associated with the eventual online transaction. The voucher 92 sent to 29 servers 30a, 30b and 30c may further contain information regarding the service provider responsible for managing the entity from which the voucher 31 92 is being sent. Such information may be provided in a message header, for 32 example. It should be appreciated that for security purposes, the voucher 33 may also specify a time-out period after which the information contained 34 therein is no longer valid.

2 Upon receipt from access server 23 of the voucher 92 indicative of the servicce 3 provider having agreed to act as the payer for an online transaction that is 4 susceptible of being requested by a device using logical identifier "9.10.11.12", each of servers 30a, 30b and 30c functions in a way that will now 6 be described. Generally speaking, each of servers 30a, 30b and 30c creates 7 a record for logical identifier "9.10.11.12", and stores therein information 8 regarding the service provider responsible for managing the service provider 9 entity that sent the voucher 92, which information may be contained in a message header of the voucher 92. It should be appreciated that a validation 11 stage may take place to ensure that the service provider information being 12 received in connection with the voucher 92 concurs with the identity of a 13 service provider with which the merchant website implemented by the server 14 in question (namely, one of servers 30a, 30b or 30c) has established a trust relationship. If the voucher 92 also specifies a pecuniary and/or temporal 16 restriction, or a time-out period, such information is also stored in the record 17 for the particular logical identifier. Similar records can be created for other 18 logical identifiers used by devices involved in potential transactions with the 19 merchant website implemented by server in question. The records may be kept in a memory of the server in question.

22 Consider now the scenario where user 10 interacts with the merchant website 23 implemented by server 30a using computing device 16 in order to select one 24 or more products and/or services for purchase. This may involve user 10 using an online shopping cart implemented by server 30a. It is assumed for 26 the purposes of the present example that interaction with the merchant 27 website carries on until it reaches the "check-out" phase. This is a phase 28 where user 10 indicates that he/she desires to purchase the selected 29 product(s) and/or service(s), for instance, by selecting a "check-out"
option on the merchant website implemented by server 30n. This constitutes a request 31 for an online transaction by the computing device 16. The remainder of this 32 example scenario is identical to that given above.

1 In the above examples, databases 40, 50, 60 and 70 were assumed to be 2 directly accessible to access server 23. However, where a merchant can be 3 contacted by multiple service providers, a clearinghouse model can be 4 employed. Specifically, some of the information contained in the databases 40, 50, 60, 70 may be stored by a third party, hereinafter referred to as a 6 "clearinghouse", which is trusted by multiple service providers and multiple 7 merchants whose websites may be contacted over the public data network 14.
8 To this end, reference is made to Fig. 7, which is based on the architecture in 9 Fig. 1, but where multiple access servers 23A, 23B are associated with respective service providers. Also, Fig. 7 illustrates a clearinghouse server 11 810 having access to a database 820, which associates logical identifiers to 12 service provider payers. That is to say, the database 820 can be queried 13 based on a particular logical identifier to output the identity of a service 14 provider that has agreed to act as the payer for online transactions requested by a device that uses the particular logical identifier.

17 The database 820 can be populated in a variety of ways. For example, each 18 service provider (e.g., via the respective access server 23, 23A, 23B) can 19 periodically send messages to the clearinghouse server 810 to instruct the latter to add to the database 820 certain logical identifiers for which it agrees 21 to act as the payer. It is envisaged that the logical identifiers being added to 22 the database 820 will be those associated with premium customers as far as 23 the particular service provider in question provider is concerned. Other 24 messages sent by the service provider (e.g., via the respective access server 23, 23A, 23B) may be to instruct the clearinghouse server 810 to remove 26 certain logical identifiers from the database 820, which can occur when the 27 associated customers change status and are no longer considered premium 28 customers by the service provider in question. Also, when a given computing 29 device goes offline (i.e., is no longer connected to the public data network 14), its associated logical identifier can be removed from the database 820 (and, 31 for example, placed back into the pool of IP addresses) in order to prevent 32 security breaches and also to prevent the mis-association of logical identifiers 33 to customers in an environment where logical identifiers are assigned in a 1 dynamic fashion. The information in the database 820 can thus be kept up to 2 date by the various service providers.

4 It should be appreciated that the database 820 may also include, for each logical identifier associated with a service provider payer, information related 6 to certain restrictions, such as a pecuniary restriction, applicable to 7 transactions requested by devices that use the logical identifier in question.
8 An example of a pecuniary restriction is a maximum dollar amount of an online 9 transaction for which the service provider will agree to act as the payer.
Still other information may be included such as temporal restriction (e.g., times of 11 the day or days of the week during which the service provider will agree to act 12 as the payer for an online transaction requested by the particular premium 13 customer), and so on. It is also envisaged that in some embodiments, service 14 providers may send, along with logical identifiers, the identities of the associated customers, to be stored in the database 820, whereas in other 16 embodiments, anonymity may be preserved.

18 In operation, and with reference to Fig. 8, consider the example scenario 19 where user 10 interacts with the merchant website implemented by server 30n using computing device 16 in order to select one or more products and/or 21 services for purchase. This may involve user 10 using an online shopping cart 22 implemented by server 30n. In this non-limiting example, computing device 23 16 employs logical identifier "13.14.15.16". In this embodiment, server 30n 24 makes a determination that an online transaction is susceptible of being requested by a device that is using logical identifier "13.14.15.16" (which, in 26 this case, is computing device 16).

28 Server 30n then sends a request message 910 to the clearinghouse server 29 810 which is reachable at a known location over the public data network 14.
The request message 910 includes logical identifier "13.14.15.16".
31 Meanwhile, server 30n creates a record for logical identifier "13.14.15.16", 32 where information responsive to the request message 910 will be stored when 33 it is received from the clearinghouse server 810.

1 The clearinghouse server 810 receives the request message 910 and consults 2 database 820 to identify the service provider payer, if any, associated with 3 logical identifier "13.14.15.16". If database 820 contains no indication of a 4 service provider payer in association with logical identifier "13.14.15.16", then the clearinghouse server 810 may send a deny message (not shown) to 6 server 30n indicating this fact. However, if database 820 does contain an 7 indication of a service provider payer in association with logical identifier 8 "13.14.15.16", which is assumed to be the case here, then the clearinghouse 9 server 810 returns an accept message 930 to server 30n.
11 Under a first non-limiting possibility, the accept message 930 is similar to the 12 previously described accept message 530, except that it specifies the identity 13 of the service provider payer that has been successfully identified in 14 association with logical identifier "13.14.15.16", namely the identity of the service provider that has agreed to act as the payer for an eventual online 16 transaction requested by a device that uses logical identifier "13.14.15.16".

18 Under a second non-limiting possibility, the accept message 930 specifies an 19 account number for the service provider payer. Specifically, the service provider may have different accounts created with different merchant 21 websites, and this information may be stored in database 820 or in a separate 22 database. In order to obtain the account number for the service provider 23 payer with the merchant website implemented by server 30n, the 24 clearinghouse server 810 determines that the request message 910 was received from server 30n and then consults the appropriate database (either 26 820 or a separate database) on the basis of this information to obtain the 27 account number for the service provider payer as would be understood by the 28 merchant website implemented by server 30n.

Under a third non-limiting possibility, the accept message 930 specifies an 31 alternate source of funds (such as a credit card number or a billing address for 32 invoicing) instead of or in addition to the identity of the service provider payer.

1 Under any of the a'bove non-limiting possibilities, the accept message 930 2 sent to server 30n may comprise additional information that can be obtained 3 from database 820, such as a pecuniary and/or temporal restriction 4 associated with the eventual online transaction.
6 Upon receipt from the clearinghouse server 810 of the accept message 930, 7 server 30n stores in the aforesaid record for logical identifier "13.14.15.16" the 8 identity of the service provider payer and/or the account number for the 9 service provider payer and/or credit card information for the service provider payer, depending on the format and contents of the accept message 930. If 11 the response message 930 also specifies a pecuniary and/or temporal 12 restriction, or a time-out period, such information is also stored in the record 13 for logical identifier "13.14.15.16".

Meanwhile, interaction of computing device 16 with the merchant website 16 carries on, as do possibly other interactions involving other devices.
Although 17 the interaction involving computing device 16 may be aborted at any time, it is 18 assumed for the purposes of the present example that it reaches the "check-19 out" phase, where user 10 indicates that he/she desires to purchase the selected product(s) and/or service(s), e.g., by selecting a "check-out" option 21 on the merchant website implemented by server 30n. This constitutes a 22 request for an online transaction by the computing device 16. The remainder 23 of this example scenario is identical to that given above.

Turning now to Fig. 9, an example process by which the database 40 may be 26 populated will be described. In this example, the architecture of Fig. 1 is 27 further detailed to include an operation support system (OSS) 122. The OSS
28 122 represents a collection of systems that perform management, inventory, 29 engineering, planning, repair and other functions for the service provider providing network access to customer premises equipment 12 at service point 31 38. In this light, one of the functions of the OSS 122 may include 32 management of network elements, assets and equipment. Thus, the OSS 122 33 maintains a mapping 124 between, on the one hand, ports of various access 34 multiplexers or other network elements under control of the service provider 1 and, on the other, service point locations of various customer premises 2 equipment (such as customer premises equipment 12) connected to those 3 ports. In this case, the mapping 124 maintained by the OSS 122 relates a port 4 104 of network element 21 to a service point location, i.e., the location of service point 38 where customer premises equipment 12 is located. This 6 service point location may be expressed as a civic address, a set of geo-7 coordinates, or any other information identifying where the service point 38 is 8 located.

Also, in this example, network element 21 is an access multiplexer. In one 11 embodiment, the access multiplexer 21 may be a DSLAM. Access multiplexer 12 21 is connected to access server 23. Access server 23 provides access to the 13 public data network 14. Communication between access multiplexer 21 and 14 access server 23 can take place over the dedicated logical link 19 between these elements. Dedicated logical link 19, which may traverse an intervening 16 access data network (not shown), can be implemented in various ways. For 17 example, in one embodiment, dedicated logical link 19 may be implemented 18 as an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) permanent virtual circuit (PVC). In 19 another embodiment, dedicated logical link 19 may be implemented as a virtual local area network (VLAN). It will be appreciated that various other 21 implementations of dedicated logical link 19 are possible.

23 Access multiplexer 21 allows data arriving from access server 23 along given 24 ATM PVCs, VLANs or other dedicated logical links to be sent over corresponding physical links via corresponding one of its ports, and vice 26 versa. Thus, access multiplexer 21 can be said to implement a mapping 134 27 between, on the one hand, dedicated logical links and, on the other, ports of 28 access multiplexer 21. In this example, the mapping 134 implemented by 29 access multiplexer 21 relates dedicated logical link 19 to port 104 of the access multiplexer 21. In two example embodiments, the mapping 134 can 31 be maintained by either access multiplexer 21 or the OSS 122.

33 The architecture shown in Fig. 9 further comprises an authorization element 34 142 connected to access server 23. The nature of the connection between 1 access server 23 and the authorization element 142 is immaterial and can 2 take on many forms. For example, in one embodiment, the authorization 3 element 142 may be a server (e.g., an Authentication, Authorization, and 4 Accounting (AAA) server) responsive to queries from access server 23. In such an embodiment, the authorization element 142 and access server 23 6 may communicate using the Remote Authentication Dial In User Service 7 (RADIUS) protocol, a description of which is available at 8 www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2865.txt. In another embodiment, the authorization element 9 142 may be a functional element integrated with access server 23.
11 In this example, access server 23 is operative to maintain a pool 127 of pre-12 allocated logical identifiers that can be used by various customer premises 13 equipment, including customer premises equipment 12. In some 14 embodiments, the pool 127 of logical identifiers may be built up as a cooperative effort between access server 23 and the OSS 122, while in other 16 embodiments, it may not be necessary for the OSS 122 to be involved in 17 creating the pool 127 of logical identifiers. In still other embodiments, the pool 18 127 of logical identifiers may be maintained by the authorization element 142, 19 and may be made accessible to the authorization element 142 without needing to pass through access server 23.

22 It will be appreciated that numerous modifications and variations of the 23 architecture of Fig. 9 are possible. For example, in some embodiments, 24 access multiplexer 21 can be omitted. This may be true in embodiments where the customer premises equipment 12 implements a wireless access 26 point. For instance, in such embodiments, the connection between the 27 wireless access point and access server 23 may be provided by a dedicated 28 point-to-point link. As another example, in some embodiments, instead of 29 dedicated logical link 19, there may be a shared link leading to the customer premises equipment 12.

32 Reference is now made to Fig. 10, which illustrates an example of a possible 33 event flow upon activation of the customer premises equipment 12, which may 1 occur, for instance, as network interface unit 18 and/or computing device 16 of 2 customer premises equipment 12 is/are powered up. Thereafter:

4 - Customer premises equipment 12 establishes physical layer connectivity with access multiplexer 21 over physical link 17.

7 - This is followed by establishment of Ethernet connectivity between 8 customer premises equipment 12 and access multiplexer 21.

- Customer premises equipment 12 verifies its ability to communicate using 11 Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE). For a more detailed 12 explanation of PPPoE, one may refer to Internet Request For Comments 13 (RFC) 2516, available from the Internet Engineering Task Force 14 (http://www.ietf.org), hereby incorporated by reference herein.
16 - Next, assuming that customer premises equipment 12 has the ability to 17 communicate using PPPoE, it verifies whether it should make a so-called 18 "access request" automatically or in response to user input (which can be 19 obtained via a software application). For purposes of this example, let it be assumed that conditions have been met such that customer premises 21 equipment 12 should make an access request.

23 - Customer premises equipment 12 begins entry into PPPoE communication 24 by broadcasting an "initiation" packet over dedicated logical link 19.
26 - Access server 23 responds to receipt of the initiation packet by sending an 27 "offer" packet to customer premises equipment 12. Thus, at this stage, it 28 can be said that a logical connection 182 has been defined between a first 29 endpoint (i.e., customer premises equipment 12) and a second endpoint (i.e., access server 23).

32 - Following receipt of the offer packet, customer premises equipment 12 33 sends an access request 184 to access server 23 with the ultimate goal of 34 accessing the public data network 14. The access request 184 may 1 comprise credentials that can be hard coded or programmably installed on 2 customer ;premises equipment 12. Alternatively, the credentials may be 3 entered by user 10 via computing device 16.

- Upon receipt of the access request 184 containing the credentials along 6 dedicated logical link 19, access server 23 executes an authorization 7 procedure as follows. Access server 23 communicates the credentials to 8 the authorization element 142, e.g., via a RADIUS Access-Request 9 message 188. In response to receipt of the credentials from access server 23, the authorization element 142 determines whether the 11 credentials allow access to the public data network 14. For example, this 12 can be determined by consulting a database (not shown). If the 13 credentials allow access to the public data network 14, the authorization 14 element 142 returns an acceptance message (e.g., a RADIUS Access-Accept message). On the other hand, if the credentials do not allow 16 access to the public data network 14, the authorization element 142 17 returns a refusal message (e.g., a RADIUS Access-Reject message). For 18 purposes of this example, assume that the credentials allow access to the 19 public data network 14, resulting in issuance of an acceptance message 190. In this example, two alternatives are possible:

22 - Alternative 1 (where the pool 127 of logical identifiers is maintained by 23 the authorization element 142): the authorization element 142 obtains a 24 logical identifier 193 from the pool 127 of logical identifiers that is maintained by the authorization element 142. The logical identifier 193 26 is sent to access server 23, which then considers the logical identifier 27 193 as being reserved for use by devices that will communicate over 28 dedicated logical link 19.

- Alternative 2 (where the pool 127 of logical identifiers is maintained by 31 access server 23): responsive to receipt of the acceptance message 32 190 from the authorization element 142, access server 23 obtains a 33 logical identifier 193 from the pool 127 of logical identifiers that is 34 maintained by access server 23. The logical identifier 193 so obtained 1 is considered by access server 23 as being reserved for use by devices 2 that will communicate over dedicated logical link 19.

4 - Access server 23 sends a"confirmation" packet back to the customer premises equipment 12, thus completing establishment of a PPPoE
6 session between the endpoints of the logical connection 182.

8 - Additional handshaking may be performed between customer premises 9 equipment 12 and access server 23 in order to establish a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) session between the endpoints of the logical connection 11 182.

13 - Following this, further handshaking may be undertaken between customer 14 premises equipment 12 and access server 23 in order to establish an Internet Protocol Control Protocol (IPCP) session between the endpoints of 16 the logical connection 182.

18 - During the IPCP session, access server 23 releases the logical identifier 19 193 towards customer premises equipment 12, in order to allow the latter to identify itself using the logical identifier 193 in future communications 21 over dedicated logical link 19.

23 The fact that access server 23 knows that devices communicating over 24 dedicated logical link 19 will use a specific logical identifier 193 allows access server 23 to construct and maintain a mapping 144 between, on the one hand, 26 various dedicated logical links (such as dedicated logical link 19 and others) 27 and, on the other hand, logical identifiers corresponding to those dedicated 28 logical links.

Furthermore, with reference to Fig. 11, by combining the mapping 124 with the 31 mapping 134, the OSS 122 can create an intermediate mapping 166 between, 32 on the one hand, dedicated logical links and, on the other hand, service point 33 locations of customer premises equipment having logical connections with 34 access server 23 which traverse those dedicated logical links. In this 1 example, the intermediate mapping 166 would associate the dedicated logical 2 link 19 to the service point location of customer premises equipment 12. In 3 one embodiment, the OSS 122 transmits the intermediate mapping 166 to 4 access server 23.
6 Next, access server 23 combines the intermediate mapping 166 (received 7 from the OSS 122) with the aforementioned mapping 144, thus creating a 8 further intermediate mapping 176 between, on the one hand, logical identifiers 9 (such as IP addresses) and, on the other, service point locations whose logical connections with access server 23 traverse respective dedicated 11 logical links over which devices are expected to communicate using those 12 logical identifiers. In this example, the further intermediate mapping 176 13 would specify that the logical identifier 193 corresponds to the service point 14 location of customer premises equipment 12, i.e., the location of the service point 38 where customer premises equipment 12 is located.

17 Finally, access server 23 combines the further intermediate mapping 176 with 18 information maintained in the aforementioned customer service database, 19 which stores an association between customers and service point locations.
The outcome is a final mapping 178 between, on the one hand, logical 21 identifiers (such as IP addresses) and, on the other, customers. The final 22 mapping 178 is stored in database 40, where logical identifiers are 23 unequivocally associated with individual customers.

Of course, those skilled in the art will be able to contemplate other ways of 26 causing customer premises equipment 12 to send the access request 184 27 over the logical connection 182 between customer premises equipment 12 28 and access server 23, as well as other ways of selecting a logical identifier for 29 use by devices communicating over dedicated logical link 19. It should further be mentioned that, in some cases, the establishment of the aforementioned 31 PPPoE, PPP and/or IPCP sessions may not be required. This is particularly 32 the case where dedicated logical link 19 would be a VLAN.

1 It should also be appreciated that the access servers 23, 23A, 23B and the 2 network servers 30, ...30N can be caused to carry out one or more of the 3 methods described herein by executing computer-readable program code 4 stored by one or more memories. Of course, the methods described herein may also be carried out using hardware devices having circuits for performing 6 one or more of the functions described herein.

8 It should further be appreciated that although the above references to online 9 transactions have involved a computing device requesting an online transaction with a merchant website over the public data network 14, it is also 11 within the scope of the invention for the computing device to be implemented 12 as a communication device and to request an online transaction with a called 13 party reachable over the public data network 14. Specifically, the 14 communication device could be embodied as a VoIP phone, a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) phone equipped with an analog terminal adapter 16 (ATA), or a soft phone (i.e., a computer equipped with telephony software).
17 For its part, the called party can be a purveyor of goods or services. In this 18 scenario, an access server (or a group of entities associated therewith) at the 19 service provider (which is the entity that provides communication services to the communication device) operates in the above described manner to (i) 21 determine the logical identifier used by the communication device to 22 communicate over a network portion managed by the service provider and (ii) 23 transmit to the called party an indication that the service provider agrees to act 24 as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by a device (such as communication device) that uses that logical identifier.

27 While specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and 28 illustrated, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous 29 modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:
.cndot. determining a logical identifier used for communication over a network portion managed by a service provider; and .cndot. transmitting to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of said service provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses said logical identifier.

2. The method defined in claim 1, wherein said determining comprises monitoring data exchanged between the requesting device and the computing apparatus.

3. The method defined in claim 2, wherein said data is exchanged during a precursor phase to a specific future online transaction requested by the requesting device.

4. The method defined in claim 1, wherein said indication is transmitted in the form of a message that also specifies said logical identifier.

5. The method defined in claim 1, further comprising transmitting to the computing apparatus an indication of validity of a time period during which said service provider has agreed to act as the payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses said logical identifier.

6. The method defined in claim 1, further comprising:
.cndot. identifying a customer associated with said logical identifier; and .cndot. determining whether said customer is a premium customer;
wherein said transmitting is effected only if said customer is a premium customer.

7. The method defined in claim 1, wherein said computing apparatus is associated with a merchant, said method further comprising:
.cndot. determining whether said merchant is a trusted merchant;
wherein said transmitting is effected only if said merchant is a trusted merchant.

8. The method defined in claim 1, further comprising:

.cndot. identifying a customer associated with said logical identifier; and .cndot. determining at least one restriction associated with transactions involving said customer.

9. The method defined in claim 8, further comprising transmitting to said computing apparatus an indication of said at least one restriction.

10.The method defined in claim 9, wherein said at least one restriction indicates a maximum dollar amount per transaction.

11. The method defined in claim 9, wherein said at least one restriction further comprises a temporal restriction.

12.The method defined in claim 1, wherein said determining comprises receiving an indication of said logical identifier sent by said computing apparatus during a precursor phase to a specific future online transaction requested by the requesting device.

13.The method defined in claim 1, wherein said determining comprises determining that the requesting device has gained access to a data network to which access is controlled by the service provider.

14.The method defined in claim 1, wherein said computing apparatus is associated with a specific trusted merchant from a plurality of trusted merchants.

15.The method defined in claim 14, further comprising transmitting to other computing apparatuses associated with other trusted merchants an indication of said service provider entity having agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses said logical identifier.

16.The method defined in claim 15, wherein said transmitting is effected prior to an online transaction involving any of the trusted merchants and a device that uses said logical identifier.

17.The method defined in claim 1, wherein said logical identifier is an Internet Protocol address.

18.The method defined in claim 1, further comprising completing a specific future online transaction requested by the requesting device.

19.The method defined in claim 18, further comprising:
.cndot. identifying a customer associated with said logical identifier;

.cndot. querying a user of the requesting device to elicit user-submitted authorization information; and .cndot. comparing said user-submitted authorization information to a priori authorization information associated with said customer;
wherein said completing is effected or not effected in dependence upon an outcome of said comparing.

20.The method defined in claim 18, wherein completing the specific future online transaction comprises providing payment information to said computing apparatus to allow said service provider to be charged for the specific future online transaction.

21.The method defined in claim 20, wherein said computing apparatus is associated with a merchant, and wherein providing payment information comprises identifying an account established by said merchant for said service provider.

22.The method defined in claim 18, further comprising:
.cndot. identifying a customer associated with said logical identifier; and .cndot. charging said customer after the specific future online transaction has been completed.

23.The method defined in claim 22, wherein charging said customer comprises debiting an account for said customer by an amount relating to the specific future online transaction.

24.The method defined in claim 23, wherein charging said customer comprises charging an amount relating to the specific future online transaction to a payment instrument provisioned for said customer.

25.A network entity, comprising:
- an interface configured to communicate over a network portion managed by a service provider; and - a processing unit configured to determine a logical identifier used for communication over said network portion and to transmit to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of said service provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses said logical identifier.

26.A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable program code which, when interpreted by a network entity, causes the network entity to execute a method, the computer-readable program code comprising:
.cndot. first computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to determine a logical identifier used for communication over a network portion managed by a service provider; and .cndot. second computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to transmit to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of said service provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses said logical identifier.

27.A network entity, comprising:
.cndot. means for determining a logical identifier used for communication over a network portion managed by a service provider;
.cndot. means for transmitting to a computing apparatus adapted to effect online transactions involving a payer and a payee an indication of said service provider having agreed to act as the payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses said logical identifier.

28.A method, comprising:
.cndot. obtaining an indication that a third party has agreed to act as a payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses a particular logical identifier;
.cndot. when a specific future online transaction is requested by a requesting device that uses the particular logical identifier, completing said transaction by requesting payment from the third party .

29.The method defined in claim 28, wherein said obtaining is in response to determining that the requesting device is susceptible of requesting the specific future online transaction.

30.The method defined in claim 28, wherein said obtaining occurs before the requesting device requests the specific future online transaction.

31.The method defined in claim 28, further comprising determining the particular logical identifier.

32.The method defined in claim 31, said method implemented by a network server, said method further comprising monitoring data exchanged with the network server to determine the particular logical identifier.

33.The method defined in claim 31, further comprising receiving an electronic voucher containing said indication.

34.The method defined in claim 33, wherein said electronic voucher conveys information indicative of a time-out period associated with a validity of said electronic voucher.

35.The method defined in claim 33, wherein the third party is a service provider that manages a network portion over which the requesting device requests the specific future online transaction.

36.The method defined in claim 35, wherein said electronic voucher is received from an entity associated with said service provider.

37.The method defined in claim 36, further comprising sending a message to said entity associated with said service provider, said message indicative of the particular logical identifier.

38.The method defined in claim 37, wherein said electronic voucher is received in response to sending said message to said entity associated with said service provider.

39.The method defined in claim 35, wherein said electronic voucher is received from a clearinghouse entity that maintains an association between a set of service providers and, for each given service provider in the set, a respective set of logical identifiers for which the given service provider has agreed to act as a payer for online transactions requested by devices using those logical identifiers.

40.The method defined in claim 39, further comprising sending a message to said clearinghouse entity, said message indicative of the particular logical identifier.

41.The method defined in claim 40, wherein said electronic voucher is received in response to sending said message to said clearinghouse entity.

42 42. The method defined in claim 28, further comprising providing a user of the requesting device with an opportunity to confirm the third party as the payer for said specific future online transaction.

43. The method defined in claim 42, wherein requesting payment from the third party as the payer for said transaction is carried out only if the user confirms the third party as the payer for said transaction.

44.The method defined in claim 42, wherein providing the user with an opportunity to confirm the third party as the payer for said specific future online transaction comprises interacting with the user via a graphical user interface.

45.The method defined in claim 44, further comprising presenting via said graphical user interface a graphical conveyance mechanism enabling the user to supply said user input.

46.The method defined in claim 45, wherein said graphical conveyance mechanism enables the user to make a selection regarding the method of payment for said specific future online transaction between (I) the third party and (II) an alternate source of funds.

47.The method defined in claim 42, wherein completing said transaction comprises debiting an account established for the third party if the user has confirmed the third party as the payer for said transaction.

48.The method defined in claim 42, wherein completing said transaction comprises invoicing the third party if the user has confirmed the third party as the payer for said specific future online transaction.

49.The method defined in claim 42, wherein completing said specific future online transaction comprises obtaining an identification of a payment instrument provisioned for the third party if the user has confirmed the third party as the payer for said specifif future online transaction.

50.The method defined in claim 42, further comprising completing said specific future online transaction by obtaining a credit or debit account number from the user if the user has not confirmed the third party as the payer for said specific future online transaction.

51.A network entity, comprising:
- an interface configured to communicate with devices requesting online transactions; and - a processing unit configured to:
- obtain an indication that a third party has agreed to act as a payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses a particular logical identifier;
- complete said transaction by requesting payment from the third party when a specific future online transaction is requested by a requesting device that uses the particular logical identifier.

52.A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable program code which, when interpreted by a network entity, causes the network entity to execute a method, the computer-readable program code comprising:
.cndot. first computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to obtain an indication that a third party has agreed to act as a payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses a particular logical identifier;
.cndot. second computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to complete said transaction by requesting payment from the third party when a specific future online transaction is requested by a requesting device that uses the particular logical identifier.

53.A network entity, comprising:
.cndot. means for obtaining an indication that a third party has agreed to act as a payer for at least one future online transaction requested by a requesting device that uses a particular logical identifier;
.cndot. means for completing said transaction by requesting payment from the third party when a specific future online transaction is requested by a requesting device that uses the particular logical identifier.

54.A method, comprising:
- receiving from a party a message conveying a particular logical identifier used by a particular device in requesting an online transaction;
- consulting a data structure based on the particular logical identifier to obtain information regarding a service provider having agreed to act as a payer for an online transaction requested by a device that uses the particular logical identifier;

- providing a message to the party, said message conveying said information regarding the service provider.

55.The method defined in claim 54, wherein the information regarding the service provider comprises an identity of the service provider.

56.The method defined in claim 55, wherein the message further comprises a restriction associated with the online transaction.

57.The method defined in claim 56, wherein the restriction is at least one of a pecuniary and a temporal restriction associated with the online transaction.

58.The method defined in claim 54, wherein the party is an online merchant.

59.The method defined in claim 58, wherein the information regarding the service provider comprises account information created by the online merchant for the service provider.

60.The method defined in claim 59, wherein the message further comprises a restriction associated with the online transaction.

61.The method defined in claim 60, wherein the restriction is at least one of a pecuniary and a temporal restriction associated with the online transaction.

62.The method defined in claim 54, wherein the information regarding the service provider comprises identification of a payment instrument.

63.The method defined in claim 62, wherein the payment instrument is a credit card account or debit card account.

64.The method defined in claim 55, wherein the information regarding the service provider comprises a billing address for invoicing.

65.The method defined in claim 64, wherein the message further comprises a restriction associated with the online transaction.

66.The method defined in claim 65, wherein the restriction is at least one of a pecuniary and a temporal restriction associated with the online transaction.

67.A method, comprising:
.cndot. monitoring data exchanged between a requesting device and a computing apparatus adapted to carry out online transactions involving a payer and a payee; and .cndot. based on a result of said monitoring, transmitting to the computing apparatus an indication that a service provider which manages a network portion used by the requesting device to exchange said data has agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by the requesting device.

68. The method defined in claim 67, wherein the requesting device is identified by a logical identifier.

69. The method defined in claim 68, further comprising determining the logical identifier from said data.

70.The method defined in claim 67, wherein said monitoring comprises determining from said data that a specific online transaction is susceptible of being requested by the requesting device.

71.The method defined in claim 70, wherein said data is exchanged during a precursor phase to said specific online transaction.

72.The method defined in claim 70, wherein said data includes an indication that the specific online transaction has been requested.

73.The method defined in claim 70, wherein said determining comprises determining that the requesting device has gained access to a data network to which access is controlled by the service provider.

74.The method defined in claim 67, further comprising transmitting to the computing apparatus an indication of validity of a time period during which said service provider has agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by the requesting device.

75. The method defined in claim 68, further comprising:
.cndot. identifying a customer associated with said logical identifier; and .cndot. determining at least one restriction associated with transactions involving said customer.

76.The method defined in claim 75, further comprising transmitting to said computing apparatus an indication of said at least one restriction.

77.The method defined in claim 76, wherein said at least one restriction indicates a maximum dollar amount per transaction.

78.The method defined in claim 76, wherein said at least one restriction further comprises a temporal restriction.

79.A network entity, comprising:
- an interface configured to communicate over a network portion managed by a service provider; and - a processing unit configured to monitor data exchanged over the network portion between a requesting device and a computing apparatus adapted to carry out online transactions involving a payer and a payee and, based on a result of the monitoring, to transmit to the computing apparatus an indication that the service provider has agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by the requesting device.

80.A computer-readable medium comprising computer-readable program code which, when interpreted by a network entity, causes the network entity to execute a method, the computer-readable program code comprising:
.cndot. first computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to monitor data exchanged between a requesting device and a computing apparatus adapted to carry out online transactions involving a payer and a payee; and .cndot. second computer-readable program code for causing the network entity to transmit to the computing apparatus, based on a result of the monitoring, an indication that a service provider which manages a network portion used by the requesting device to exchange said data has agreed to act as the payer for at least one online transaction requested by the requesting device.