Abstract: A trusted third party payment system includes one or more network interfaces that communicate with a device to receive bill information about bills of a bill owner and to communicate with devices to receive bill helper payment instrument information and to communicate with systems operated by billers of the bill owner, and a central processing unit that uses the payment instrument information to pay the bills to the billers systems with funds of the bill helpers. The bill owner, the bill helpers, the billers and the trusted third party are all distinct entities. The system also receives bill helper contact information and electronically communicates to the bill helpers (e.g., email, text message, Facebook or Twitter message) that the bill owner has requested help paying the bills. For at least one of the bills, the CPU pays partial amounts of the bill with funds of each of multiple bill helpers.

Abstract: A computer system includes one or more network interfaces configured to, for each of a plurality of benefactors, send to an electronic device of the benefactor information specifying an item desired by a beneficiary, wherein the item is offered for sale by a merchant at a price. The interfaces are also configured to, for each of the plurality of benefactors, receive from the benefactor electronic device information specifying a portion of the item price the benefactor agrees to pay. The computer system also includes a central processing unit (CPU) configured to determine that a sum of the portions of the item price the plurality of benefactors agreed to pay has reached the item price and in response pay the merchant for the item.