Abstract: A facilitator computer for making electronic payments. The first and second parties are a payee and a payer, who maybe a vendor (with a vendor computer) and a purchaser (with a purchaser computer). The method involves a message from the vendor computer, identifying the vendor computer and transaction details, which is received by the facilitator computer (trusted thrid party). Subsequent processing by the facilitator computer, involving interaction with the purchaser computer leads to a secure payment transaction. In coordinating the transaction, the payment server may check as to whether the customer's computer is available (on-line) and/or whether the goods or services are supplied at a timed rate. The identity of the vendor and purchaser computers is verified and authenticated against a known list of computer identities to improve security in the system.