Inventory-based payment processing system and approach

For use in an automated transaction processing system that processes business transactions involving buyers and providers relative to an inventory of items to which merchant offerings in the transactions apply, a system comprising:

• a data storage means for storing buyer-specific profile information and contract data for each buyer, each of the respective contracts being defined as a function of one of the plurality of buyers and a predefined business relationship between the one buyer and at least one provider;
• and
• a transaction processing means for processing transactions involving merchant offerings subject to an inventory according to the stored contract data and profile information, the transaction processor processing means also for
• auditing a transaction involving a buyer and at least one provider using transaction data, inventory data corresponding to an inventory to which the transaction applies, and stored contract data for the transaction,
• processing payment for a transaction on behalf of the buyer in response to the auditing function indicating that payment is appropriate for the transaction, and
• assessing a transaction processing fee against at least one of the parties to the transaction for which a payment is processed.

For use in an automated transaction processing system that processes business transactions involving buyers and providers relative to an inventory of items to which merchant offerings in the transactions apply, a method comprising:

• using a data storage arrangement, storing buyer-specific profile information and contract data for each buyer, each of the respective contracts being defined as a function of one of the plurality of buyers and a predefined business relationship between the one buyer and at least one provider;
• and
• using a computer processing arrangement,
• processing transactions involving merchant offerings subject to an inventory according to the stored contract data and profile information,
• auditing a transaction involving a buyer and at least one provider using transaction data, inventory data corresponding to an inventory to which the transaction applies, and stored contract data for the transaction,
• processing payment for a transaction on behalf of the buyer in response to the auditing function indicating that payment is appropriate for the transaction, and
• assessing a transaction processing fee against at least one of the parties to the transaction for which a payment is processed.