US Patent 8160935 Payment service capable of being integrated with merchant sites

A computer-implemented service acts as an intermediary between merchant sites and users thereof, and enables the users to purchase items on the merchant sites without having to create accounts with such sites. A user may invoke the service from a web page of a merchant site, and complete a purchase transaction, without having to browse away from the merchant site. The service may either forward the user's payment information to the merchant's system to enable the merchant to charge the customer, or may charge the user on behalf of the merchant. In some implementations, the service enables users to make single-action purchases from the merchant sites.