Abstract: Under an agreement between a buyer and a supplier, the buyer agrees to a minimum purchase and receives a flexible early-payment rebate on each individual transaction between the two. Because of the purchase and early-payment agreement, the transaction services can be bundled with other services such as foreign exchange and insurance. This “bundling” may be performed electronically based on business rules and preferences, and is described as the “augmentation” of financial services with electronic payment services within a network including buyer and supplier. Thus, on a per-transaction basis, each transaction can receive a rebate, be covered by insurance, and receive the benefit of favorable foreign-exchange rates. The buyer can configure a system such that specific services are applied to specific transactions. The buyer or supplier can also generate reports that detail the rebates, as well as the savings associated with each transaction by service.

Abstract: Prospective variable early-payment rebates under a purchase agreement are expressed as income streams to a buyer through use of a rebate calculation process, and these flows are monetized and secured. The rebates are based on contractual obligations between a buyer and a seller. The rebates are “performance based” in that the earlier a buyer pays off its account with a supplier, the larger the rebate. These monetized rebates form a new asset class that can be sold just like any other financial instrument. The buyer, based on predictable cash outflows, can receive income from these future rebates sooner, allowing it to potentially fund large-scale projects. A computer system determines the amount of the rebates, rates them based on the likelihood that they will be received, and determines their current value. Investors purchase these instruments, in the form of bonds or notes, and receive payment in principle and interest. A third-party issues financial instruments, secured by the rebates.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention allow a user to replace unwanted content, such as advertisements, in data distributed over a network with wanted content. Data include Web pages, Internet television broadcasts, Internet radio broadcasts, or any other kind of data that contains content. The data, such as a Web page, is ultimately presented on the user's system, presenting the user with the wanted content. Wanted content includes, among other things, personal photographs, advertisements that the user has expressed interest in, and even advertisements for which the user is compensated for viewing or listening to. In accordance with the present invention, a user opts in to a system that replaces unwanted content with wanted content. The user opts in by providing information that helps determine (a) what content he does not want to see and thus will likely ignore if presented to him and (b) what content he would likely find interesting and thus likely view.