Method of billing an online purchase

A method of billing an online purchase of a user, comprising:

• a) detecting a first article selected by the user for a first online purchase at a first online provider;
• b) at least temporarily storing a first article data set associated to the first article in a first transmission data set associated to the first online provider;
• c) detecting a first check-out message of the user by means of which the user indicates intended completion of the first online purchase at the first online provider;
• d) detecting an identification input of the user for identification at a billing center;
• e) transmitting the first transmission data set associated to the first online provider to the billing center different from the first online provider;
• f) detecting a second article selected for second online purchase by the user at a second online provider;
• g) at least temporarily storing a second article data set associated to the second article in a second transmission data set associated to the second online provider:
• h) detecting a second check-out message of the user by means of which the user indicates intended completion of the second online purchase at the second online provider;
• i) transmitting the second transmission data set associated to the second online provider to the billing center different from the second online provider;
• j) detecting a final check-out message of the user by means of which the user indicates intended final completion of online purchasing;
• k) billing the first and the second online purchase with respect to the user by the billing center based on the first and second transmitted transmission data sets relating to the first and the second online provider;
• and
• l) billing the first and the second online purchase with respect to the first and the second online providers based on the first and second transmitted transmission data sets relating to the first and the second online provider, wherein
• with regard to d) the user registers once by specifying the identification input at the billing center and specifying a credit card account and a bonus system user account and
• the billing of the first and the second online purchases with respect to the user is implemented by the billing center by
• k2) debiting an amount of an official means of payment from the credit card account of the user and by
• k3) debiting an amount of a bonus means of payment from the bonus system user account of the user, wherein the credit card account is associated to a credit card entity and the bonus system user account is associated to a bonus system entity, and
• wherein with regard to k2) in billing the first and the second online purchase with respect to the user by the billing center by debiting an amount of an official means of payment from a credit card account of the user an official means of payment data set is transmitted from the billing center to the credit card entity and the credit card entity credits a corresponding amount of an official means of payment to a respective clearing account of the first and second online provider in accordance with the transmitted means of payment data set or the credit card entity credits a corresponding amount of an official means of payment to a respective clearing account of the billing center in accordance with the transmitted official means of payment data set, and
• wherein with regard to k3) in billing the first and the second online purchases with respect to the user by the billing center by debiting an amount of a bonus means of payment from a bonus system user account of the user a bonus means of payment data set is transmitted from the billing center to the bonus system entity and the bonus system entity credits an amount of an official means of payment which corresponds to the billed amount of the bonus means of payment to a respective clearing account of the first and second online provider or the billing center on the basis of the transmitted bonus means of payment data set,
• wherein with regard to a) the user makes a selection with respect to the first article to be purchased at the first online provider by means of a user terminal which is connected to a server of the first online provider over a packet-switched network;
• with regard to c) after selecting the first article the user generates the first check-out message at the user terminal which is transmitted to a server of the billing center over the packet-switched network;
• the server of the billing center generates a session identification which is transmitted to the server of the first online provider over the packet-switched network;
• with regard to e) the server of the first online provider generates the first article data set with respect to the first article selected by the user and transmits this data set together with the session identification as the first transmission data set to the server of the billing center over the packet-switched network;
• e2) the server of the billing center by transmission of the session identification over the packet-switched network initiates a generation of a superordinate user interface on the user terminal which at least comprises a final check-out button for initiating the final check-out message to the server of the billing center;
• with regard to f) the user makes a selection with respect to the second article to be purchased at the second online provider by means of the user terminal which is connected to a server of the second online provider by the packet-switched network;
• with regard to h) after selecting the second article the user generates the second check-out message at the user terminal which is transmitted to the server of the billing center over the packet-switched network;
• the server of the billing center transmits the generated session identification to the server of the second online provider over the packet-switched network;
• with regard to i) the server of the second online provider generates the second article data set with respect to the second article selected by the user and transmits this data set together with the session identification as the second transmission data set to the server of the billing center over the packet-switched network;
• with regard to j) the user operates the final check-out button of the superordinate user interface generated on the user terminal in order to indicate intended final completion of online purchasing, whereby
• j2) the final check-out message is transmitted from the user terminal to the server of the billing center over the packet-switched network;
• with regard to k2) and k3) the server of the billing center transmits the means of payment data set and the bonus means of payment data set over the packet-switched network to a server of the credit card entity and a server of the bonus system entity, respectively;
• and the server of the credit card entity and the server of the bonus system entity, respectively, initiates on the basis of the transmitted means of payment data set or the bonus means of payment data set, respectively, a credit entry of an amount of the official means of payment which represents a price of the selected articles in a clearing account, and
• wherein the billing center after the transmission of the means of payment data set to the credit card entity and after the transmission of the bonus means of payment data set to the bonus system entity determines whether sufficient credit for billing exists prior to completing the first and second online purchase at step l) by receiving a feedback from the credit card entity and the bonus system entity indicating whether the credit card account has a sufficient credit line and the bonus system account of the user has a sufficient credit for billing the first and the second online purchase with respect to the user.