PAYMENT SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR BROKERING CONSUMER-PAY TRANSACTIONS

1 . A computer-implemented method of conducting a payment transaction, said method comprising:

receiving, at a programmed computer, an indication to submit payment for a principal amount owed to a merchant;

identifying, at said programmed computer, a consumer rate and a merchant rate for calculating a platform fee owed to a platform operator, said platform operator brokering payment for said principal amount owed to said merchant;

generating, at said programmed computer, a first transaction part representative of said principal amount owed and a second transaction part representative of said platform fee owed; and

transmitting, using said programmed computer, said first transaction part and said second transaction part to a payment gateway to process said payment transaction.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said consumer rate and said merchant rate are identified based on a selected payment method.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said payment method is a credit card, a debit card, a pre-paid card, a charge card or an ACH transfer.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said consumer rate identified is not equal to said merchant rate identified.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said consumer rate identified is equal to said merchant rate identified.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said consumer rate and said merchant rate are retrieved from a pre-defined rate table.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a cover value and a subsidy value are provided by said merchant.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein said platform fee is calculated based at least in part on said cover value and said subsidy value provided by said merchant.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein said cover value is a maximum monetary amount on which said merchant is willing to cover said platform fee.

10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein said subsidy value is a percentage rate said merchant is willing to pay for accepting said selected payment method.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein said platform fee is comprised of a cover amount, a subsidy amount and a consumer fee amount.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said cover amount is calculated by multiplying said cover value provided by said merchant with said merchant rate.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said subsidy amount is calculated by determining a difference between said principal amount and said cover value provided by said merchant, and multiplying said difference with said subsidy value provided by said merchant.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said consumer fee amount is calculated by determining a first value representative of a difference between said principal amount and said cover value provided by said merchant, determining a second value representative of a difference between said consumer rate and said subsidy value provided by said merchant, and multiplying said first value with said second value.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said platform fee amount is said consumer fee amount when said cover amount and said subsidy amount are zero.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said first transaction part is received at said payment gateway interfacing with a merchant account, said principal amount owed being credited to said merchant account.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said second transaction part is received at said payment gateway interfacing with a platform operator account, said platform fee owed being credited to said platform operator account.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a failure associated with processing said second transaction results in a rollback of said first transaction, said failure resulting in cancellation of said payment transaction.

19 . A computer system for conducting a payment transaction, said computer system comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device communicatively coupled to said memory, said processing device configured to:

receive an indication to submit payment for a principal amount owed to a merchant;

identify a consumer rate and a merchant rate for calculating a platform fee owed to a platform operator, said platform operator brokering payment for said principal amount owed to said merchant;

generate a first transaction part representative of said principal amount owed and a second transaction part representative of said platform fee owed; and

transmit said first transaction part and said second transaction part to a payment gateway to process said payment transaction.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium programmed to include instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause said processing device to perform a method of conducting a payment transaction, said method comprising:

receiving an indication to submit payment for a principal amount owed to a merchant;

identifying a consumer rate and a merchant rate for calculating a platform fee owed to a platform operator, said platform operator brokering payment for said principal amount owed to said merchant;

generating a first transaction part representative of said principal amount owed and a second transaction part representative of said platform fee owed; and

transmitting said first transaction part and said second transaction part to a payment gateway to process said payment transaction.