RATING E-COMMERCE TRANSACTIONS
Methods of the present invention allow for rating eCommerce transactions. An exemplary method for rating an eCommerce transaction may comprise the steps of identifying a plurality of data indicating the trustworthiness of a Hosting Provider, a Merchant, and/or a Customer, collecting the data, and generating a Transaction Trust Rating for an eCommerce transaction, with the Transaction Trust Rating being based upon the collected data. The Transaction Trust Rating may be stored in a Repository accessible to Internet users. A Transaction Trust Rating Indicator (indicative of the Transaction Trust Rating) also may be provided to the Hosting Provider, Merchant, and/or Customer and may take the form of a certificate for display on a webpage, a change in color of an address bar on a browser, and/or an alphanumeric ranking.
1 . A method, comprising:
receiving, by at least one server computer, a request to execute an eCommerce transaction;
identifying, by the at least one server computer, a merchant for the eCommerce transaction, a hosting provider hosting a website of the merchant, and a customer of the eCommerce transaction;
identifying a first metric indicating a trustworthiness of the merchant;
identifying a second metric indicating a trustworthiness of the hosting provider;
identifying a third metric indicating a trustworthiness of the customer;
calculating a fourth metric indicating a trustworthiness of the eCommerce transaction using the first metric, the second metric, and the third metric;
when the fourth metric exceeds a predetermined threshold, executing the eCommerce transaction; and
when the fourth metric does not exceed the predetermined threshold, rejecting the eCommerce transaction.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metric indicates a reputation of a domain name registered to the merchant.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metric indicates the website of the merchant is or is not secure socket layer (SSL) certified.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second metric indicates that the hosting provider satisfies or does not satisfy a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second metric identifies a security history of a system operated by the hosting provider.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the third metric identifies a purchase history of the customer.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the third metric indicates that the customer is or is not authorized to use a credit card.
8 . The method of claim 1 , including, after calculating the fourth metric, transmitting an indication of the fourth metric to at least one of the merchant and the customer.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the indication of the fourth metric is a graphic configured for display on a web page.
10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the indication of the fourth metric is at least one of a certificate for display on a webpage, a change in color of an address bar on a browser, and/or an alphanumeric ranking.
11 . The method of claim 1 , including, when calculating the fourth metric, applying a weighting to at least one of the first metric, the second metric, and the third metric.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the fourth metric includes summing numerical values of the first metric, the second metric, and the third metric.
13 . A method, comprising:
identifying a first metric indicating a trustworthiness of a merchant of a transaction;
identifying a second metric indicating a trustworthiness of a hosting provider of the transaction;
identifying a third metric indicating a trustworthiness of customer of the transaction;
calculating a fourth metric indicating a trustworthiness of the transaction using at least two of the first metric, the second metric, and the third metric; and
when the fourth metric exceeds a predetermined threshold, executing the transaction.
14 . The method of claim 13 including, after calculating the fourth metric, transmitting an indication of the fourth metric to at least one of the merchant and the customer.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the indication of the fourth metric is a graphic configured for display on a web page.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the indication of the fourth metric is at least one of a certificate for display on a webpage, a change in color of an address bar on a browser, and/or an alphanumeric ranking.
17 . The method of claim 13 , including, when calculating the fourth metric, applying a weighting to at least one of the first metric, the second metric, and the third metric.
18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein calculating the fourth metric includes summing numerical values of the first metric, the second metric, and the third metric.
19 . A system, comprising:
at least one server computer in communication with a network, the at least one server computer including a processor configured to:
identify a first metric indicating a trustworthiness of a merchant of a transaction;
identify a second metric indicating a trustworthiness of a hosting provider of the transaction;
identify a third metric indicating a trustworthiness of customer of the transaction;
calculate a fourth metric indicating a trustworthiness of the transaction using at least two of the first metric, the second metric, and the third metric; and
when the fourth metric exceeds a predetermined threshold, execute the transaction.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the processor is configured to, after calculating the fourth metric, transmit an indication of the fourth metric to at least one of the merchant and the customer.