Teired key communication system and method in support of controlled vendor message processing

A system in furtherance of establishing mutual message acceptance between a subscriber and a provider, wherein the subscriber has a plurality of pre-existing accounts with the provider, comprising:

• an electronic message portal comprising a machine having a processor and a communication link and including means for transmitting one or more encrypted messages including content between the subscriber and the provider and means for establishing one or more relationships between the subscriber and the provider;
• a subscriber database under control of the electronic message portal and including authentication data concerning each subscriber and any established relationships between each subscriber and each provider;
• a subscription request module comprising code executing on the processor of the machine of the electronic message portal and operative so as to configure the processor to combine the subscription request with at least a portion of the authentication data concerning the subscriber so as to define an inquiry message;
• a provider machine having a processor and having a port exposed on an outside of a firewall of the provider;
• and
• an inquiry service module comprising code executing in the processor of the provider machine so as to configure the processor to:
• process each inquiry message received from the electronic message portal;
• identify the subscriber with the plurality of pre-existing accounts;
• and
• communicate each pre-existing account identified with the subscriber to the electronic message portal so that the establishing means can establish the one or more relationships between the subscriber and the provider.

A system managing the presentation to a subscriber of secure content that has been received over a distributed computer network such as the Internet, at least a portion of the secure content comprising invoices that require an action comprising at least a payment or a payment authorization by the subscriber, comprising:

• a computer having a memory and a processor therein operative to execute code and coordinate user action through associated input and output devices;
• a subscriber profile including subscriber action preferences in relation to providers of secure content and types of secure content that are received over the distributed computer network;
• a reader application comprising:
• a graphical user interface (GUI) module executing in the processor of the computer and operative to configure the processor to organize the secure content that has been received over the distributed computer network on the associated output device in accordance with at least one criteria using information included in metadata that accompanies the secure content;
• and
• an action module executing in the processor of the computer and in operative cooperation with the GUI module so as to configure the processor to automatically act on a portion of the secure content received over the distributed computer network on the basis of an action required and an action date included in the metadata and to do so in accordance with the action preferences in the subscriber profile.

A subscription-based, computer-implemented system in support of advertising local-vendor services to a particular subscriber, comprising:

• a server having a processor and a memory;
• a relationship database in communication with the server;
• a subscriber database in communication with the server and identifying a plurality of subscribers each having a subscriber profile including at least a subscriber location and one or more established relationships with one or more of a plurality of providers;
• a provider database in communication with the server and identifying the plurality of providers registered with the system;
• an eDoc transaction processing module executing within the processor of the server and configuring the processor to controllably distribute encrypted content between one of the plurality of subscribers and one of the plurality of providers using metadata that accompanies the encrypted content;
• a tracking module comprising code executing within the processor of the server and configuring the processor to:
• (1) identify a payment transaction made between any of the plurality of subscribers and any of the plurality of providers using a portion of the metadata, and
• (2) include in the relationship database at least the identity of the provider and the identity of the subscriber in said identified payment transaction;
• a communication link connectable to a machine of the particular subscriber among the plurality of subscribers;
• a request processing module comprising code executing within the processor of the server and configuring the processor to respond to a request through the communication link, the request identifying a vendor service of interest to the particular subscriber;
• the request processing module being operative to:
• (1) obtain the subscriber location of the particular subscriber from the subscriber database;
• (2) determine a set of providers among the plurality of providers in the provider database that provide the vendor service of interest to the particular subscriber and that are within a prescribed tolerance of the obtained subscriber location;
• and
• (3) identify a particular provider within the set of providers that is included in the relationship database;
• and
• an ad server module in communication with the request processing module and comprising code executing within the processor of the server and configuring the processor to cause an ad of the particular provider to be served to the particular subscriber's machine in reply to the request.