System and method for assuring commercial regulatory compliance

A payment gateway system configured to allow or deny transactions or to allocate and effect payment of portions of transaction funds among multiple recipients, the system comprising:

• a computer system configured as a server to operate as payment gateway in a network, the computer system having a processor, memory and storage for data and one or more e-commerce applications which, when loaded into memory run on the computer system whereby the processor executes a series of operations which facilitate automated payment transactions, between a seller and a buyer of goods and services, in coordination with one or more payment service providers, wherein the one or more applications functionally position payment gateway operation as an intermediary between the seller and the payment service provider so that information confirming verification and approval or a denial, provided from the payment service provider, is communicated through the payment gateway to the seller, informing the seller whether the sale can be completed or is to be denied, wherein the one or more applications include a rules based engine configured to run one or more logic based rules and to determine one or more of the following:
• whether to block or authorize transaction based on both the goods and services to be purchased and buyer location at the time of initiating a payment transaction;
• and
• allocation of portions of a transaction payment to the seller and a one or more members in a group comprising a tax authority, a party imposing a convenience fee, a party imposing a reseller fee, a party imposing a shipping charge, and a party designated to receive a charitable contribution.

A method by which a payment gateway processes requests for financial transactions and payments, the payment gateway comprising a server, a processor, memory and storage, the storage being a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing (i) program steps for execution on the processor to respond to the requests for financial transactions and payments and (ii) information useful for implementing rules to determine compliance of the transaction, the method comprising executing on the processor steps to effect:

• receiving, from a point of sale, information about a transaction initiated by a buyer of a service or goods, including current location information of the buyer, and transaction information relating to payment by the buyer, into the server of the payment gateway;
• and
• performing a series of program steps based on rules or laws applicable to the buyer's transaction, wherein execution of the program steps by the processor implements a compliance and payment process, based on compliance rules and funds approval of the transaction, whereby funds may be allocated to the transaction of the seller, execution of the compliance and payment process providing a decision based on the received location information of the buyer as to whether to block or authorize the transaction wherein,
• when the compliance and payment process provides a decision to authorize the transaction, the program steps provide a request to the payment provider service for transfer of electronic funds to provide the seller's payment for sale of the service or goods.