Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for facilitating a financial transaction. During operation, the system receives a request for a financial transaction from a merchant, wherein the financial transaction involves a payment to the merchant. Next, the system obtains a unique transaction identifier for the financial transaction. The system then associates the unique transaction identifier with the request to facilitate reconciliation of the financial transaction. Finally, the system forwards the request along with the unique transaction identifier to one or more financial institutions for subsequent processing of the financial transaction, which can involve reconciliation and/or settlement of the financial transaction.

Abstract: A system and method for reconciling a payment to a merchant (e.g., from a credit card issuer or processor) with a set of credit card transactions corresponding to the payment. A reconciliation facilitator assigns unique transaction IDs to credit card transactions submitted by the merchant. The reconciliation facilitator issues authorization requests for some or all of the transactions, and also submits a settlement request for authorized transactions, wherein one or both types of requests include the unique transaction IDs of the associated transactions. When a set of transactions is settled, their unique IDs are received as part of the settlement data, and the reconciliation facilitator can identify the settled transactions to the merchant (e.g., through his accounting or point-of-sale software).

Abstract: A system and method for reconciling a payment to a merchant (e.g., from a credit card issuer or processor) with a set of credit card transactions corresponding to the payment. A reconciliation facilitator assigns unique transaction IDs to credit card transactions submitted by the merchant. The reconciliation facilitator issues authorization requests for some or all of the transactions, and also submits a settlement request for authorized transactions, wherein one or both types of requests include the unique transaction IDs of the associated transactions. When a set of transactions is settled, their unique IDs are received as part of the settlement data, and the reconciliation facilitator can identify the settled transactions to the merchant (e.g., through his accounting or point-of-sale software).