Electronic purchasing method and apparatus

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at an account management computer, an authorization request message, said authorization request message including transaction information identifying a transaction and a payment account code associated with an issuer;

determining, by said account management computer, that said payment account code is a limited use account code identifying a financial account at said issuer and said limited use account code is a member of a set of limited use account codes associated with a buyer;

identifying, by said account management computer, a pre-authorization record associated with said limited use account code; and

transmitting, by said account management computer, an authorization response message, said authorization response message based on a comparison of said preauthorization record with said transaction information and said authorization response message is used to authorize said transaction.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

parsing said authorization request message to obtain said payment account code;

querying an account database based upon said payment account code;

receiving said limited use account code matching said payment account code;

querying a pre-authorization database based upon said limited use account code;

receiving said pre-authorization record;

parsing said pre-authorization record into a plurality of pre-authorization data elements;

transforming at least one of said plurality of pre-authorization data elements into a use restriction; and

applying said use restriction to said transaction information to create an authorization decision, wherein said authorization response message comprises said authorization decision.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said authorization response message is an approval based at least partially upon said comparison, wherein said comparison comprises comparing said transaction information with pre-authorization data elements stored in said pre-authorization record.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said terms of said pre-authorization record comprises at least one of a transaction amount, a merchant identifier, and a period of validity.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein said terms of said pre-authorization record comprises a merchant identifier, wherein said merchant identifier includes a standard industrial code (SIC) corresponding to said merchant.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein said comparison of said preauthorization record with said transaction information comprises comparing a pre-authorization amount to a transaction amount.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein said comparison of said preauthorization record with said transaction information comprises comparing a period of validity to a transaction date, wherein said pre-authorization record comprises said period of validity, and wherein said transaction date is determined from at least one of said authorization request message or a current date determined by said authorization computer.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating a plurality of said limited use account codes with said buyer to create said set, wherein each of said limited use account codes identifies separate financial accounts at an issuer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of said limited use account codes are selected from said set of limited use account codes.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a pre-authorization request identifying a proposed transaction, said pre-authorization request including proposed transaction information identifying a prospective item and a prospective amount of said proposed transaction; and

selecting as said limited use account code, one of said set of limited use account codes associated with said buyer for use in purchasing said item, said selection based on an identity of said buyer and an availability of one of said limited use account codes.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

creating said pre-authorization record comprising said limited use account code and said proposed transaction information; and

forwarding said selected said limited use account code to said buyer for use in conducting said proposed transaction.

12. A method, comprising:

submitting, by a computer, a request for a payment account identifier to an account management system, said request including purchase information for a transaction;

receiving, by said computer and in response to said submitting, a payment account identifier allocated by said account management system for use in said transaction, said payment account identifier being a limited use account code selected from a pool of limited use account codes; and

providing, by said computer, said payment account identifier for payment in said transaction.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving, at said computer, settlement information confirming completion of said transaction, said settlement information including a transaction date, a transaction amount, and said purchase information.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said settlement information is received from said account management system in response to said account management system receiving a settlement request from a merchant.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein said providing comprises providing said payment account identifier to a client, and wherein said account management system receives a settlement request and wherein said account management system provides settlement information to said client.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein said purchase information comprises at least one of an item identifier (ID) or a merchant ID.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein said submitting is in response to receiving, by said computer, a purchase request.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

submitting, by said computer to an issuer system, proposed transaction information identifying a proposed transaction, said transaction information including information identifying an item to obtain, and an amount of said proposed transaction, wherein said issuer system creates a pre-authorization record comprising said limited use account code and said proposed transaction information.

19. A method, comprising:

submitting, from a merchant computer, an authorization request message including transaction information identifying a transaction and a payment account code, wherein said payment account code identifies a payment account at an issuer, and wherein, in response to said submitting, said issuer determines that said payment account code is a limited use account code identifying a financial account at said issuer and said payment account code is a member of a set of limited use account codes associated with a buyer and said issuer identifies a pre-authorization record associated with said limited use account code; and

receiving, at said merchant computer, an authorization response message, said authorization response message authorizing said transaction based on a comparison of said preauthorization record with said transaction information.