Method and system for processing internet payments
First Claim
1. A system for effectuating electronic payments using a credit transfer via an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network, the system comprising:
- at least one account system operated by a first institution and tangibly embodied in a processing system, the at least one account system maintaining a plurality of electronic payment accounts for a plurality of customers of a first bank, at least one of the plurality of customers having a demand deposit account at the first bank;
a bank interface coupled to the at least one account system and coupled to the first bank, the bank interface tangibly embodied in the processing system, the bank interface transmitting and receiving financial information related to the demand deposit account of the at least one customer and related to the electronic payment account of the at least one customer, the at least one account system funding the electronic payment account of the at least one customer from the demand deposit account of the at least one customer; and
a customer interface coupled to the at least one account system, the customer interface providing an interface for the plurality of customers to the at least one account system, the customer interface;
establishing an interface with a first customer including a log-in to establish interface with the first customer, the interface with the first customer utilizing encryption to provide protection to the interface with the first customer;
accepting a command from the first customer to transfer funds from the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account to an electronic payment account of another customer, the command including account information identifying the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account; and
transferring the command to the at least one account system; and
the at least one account system effectuating the commanded transfer of funds through the EFT network, such effectuating of the commanded transfer of funds including transmission of an EFT credit message representing a credit in an amount of the electronic payment, the transmitting of the EFT credit message constituting a pushing of funds to the electronic payment account of the another customer, the electronic payment account of the another customer being a virtual private locker (VPL) which is a receive-only account, the account number of which is known to the first customer, a payor of the funds, the customer interface transferring the command to the at least one account system, which effectuates the commanded transfer of funds, includes the account system;
receiving the command; and
receiving the account information identifying the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account; and
sending, through the EFT network, a verification message to the electronic payment account of the another customer to verify the VPL'"'"'s existence and identity;
receiving from the VPL a response message that includes a description of an owner of the VPL;
interfacing with the first customer to input a selection from the first customer regarding whether the another customer is to be provided with information such that the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account is identifiable to the another customer, and inputting selection from the first customer that the another customer is not to be provided with information such that the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account is identifiable to the another customer;
wherein in such pushing, a payee account number of the another customer, the payee, is transmitted over a network without the account information of the first customer, the payor; and
wherein the pushing of funds, without the account information of the first customer, is constituted by the payee not being provided with information such that the payor account is identifiable to the payee.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for effectuating Electronic Funds Transfer credit messages. The main structural components of the system include a Payment Portal Processor (Web Broker), an Internet Pay Anyone (IPA) Account, a Virtual Private Lockbox (VPL) and an associated Account Reporter, the existing EFT networks, and a cash card for accessing a VPL or IP account. The Web Broker is a software application that provides a secure portal for accessing (linking to) either the user'"'"'s Demand Deposit Account (DDA) or an IPA account and can be combined with the functionality of a traditional digital Wallet. Consumers use a Web Broker enhanced Wallet to fund their account, shop on the web, pay bills, pay anyone, store electronic receipts and transaction history, and check their recent Web Broker enhanced Wallet activity. The IPA account is a special purpose account with limited functionality for making electronic payments in the form of EFT credit messages. The VPL is a limited function receive only account for receiving electronic payments through the EFT. The Account Reporter is a portal to view transaction history and balance of IPA and VPL accounts, provide online, real-time transaction reports, and to reconciles accounts receivable/purchase records against incoming EFT payment records. A physical card can be associated with either an IPA or VPL account in order to provide PIN debit capability.
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Citations
92 Claims
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1. A system for effectuating electronic payments using a credit transfer via an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network, the system comprising:
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at least one account system operated by a first institution and tangibly embodied in a processing system, the at least one account system maintaining a plurality of electronic payment accounts for a plurality of customers of a first bank, at least one of the plurality of customers having a demand deposit account at the first bank; a bank interface coupled to the at least one account system and coupled to the first bank, the bank interface tangibly embodied in the processing system, the bank interface transmitting and receiving financial information related to the demand deposit account of the at least one customer and related to the electronic payment account of the at least one customer, the at least one account system funding the electronic payment account of the at least one customer from the demand deposit account of the at least one customer; and a customer interface coupled to the at least one account system, the customer interface providing an interface for the plurality of customers to the at least one account system, the customer interface; establishing an interface with a first customer including a log-in to establish interface with the first customer, the interface with the first customer utilizing encryption to provide protection to the interface with the first customer; accepting a command from the first customer to transfer funds from the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account to an electronic payment account of another customer, the command including account information identifying the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account; and transferring the command to the at least one account system; and the at least one account system effectuating the commanded transfer of funds through the EFT network, such effectuating of the commanded transfer of funds including transmission of an EFT credit message representing a credit in an amount of the electronic payment, the transmitting of the EFT credit message constituting a pushing of funds to the electronic payment account of the another customer, the electronic payment account of the another customer being a virtual private locker (VPL) which is a receive-only account, the account number of which is known to the first customer, a payor of the funds, the customer interface transferring the command to the at least one account system, which effectuates the commanded transfer of funds, includes the account system; receiving the command; and receiving the account information identifying the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account; and sending, through the EFT network, a verification message to the electronic payment account of the another customer to verify the VPL'"'"'s existence and identity; receiving from the VPL a response message that includes a description of an owner of the VPL; interfacing with the first customer to input a selection from the first customer regarding whether the another customer is to be provided with information such that the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account is identifiable to the another customer, and inputting selection from the first customer that the another customer is not to be provided with information such that the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account is identifiable to the another customer; wherein in such pushing, a payee account number of the another customer, the payee, is transmitted over a network without the account information of the first customer, the payor; and wherein the pushing of funds, without the account information of the first customer, is constituted by the payee not being provided with information such that the payor account is identifiable to the payee. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92)
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43. A system for effectuating electronic payments using a credit transfer via an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network, the system comprising:
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an electronic payment account system operated for the benefit of a bank and tangibly embodied in a processing system, the account system maintaining a plurality of electronic payment accounts for a plurality of customers of the bank; a bank interface coupled to the electronic payment account system and coupled to a demand deposit account system of the bank, the bank interface tangibly embodied in the processing system, at least one of the plurality of customers having a demand deposit account maintained in the demand deposit account system, the bank interface transmitting and receiving financial information related to the demand deposit account of the at least one customer and related to the electronic payment account of the at least one customer, the at least one account system funding the electronic payment account of the at least one customer from the demand deposit account of the at least one customer; and a customer interface coupled to the account system, the customer interface providing an interface for the plurality of customers to the account system, the customer interface accepting a command from a first customer to transfer funds from the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account to an electronic payment account of another customer through the EFT network by transmission of an EFT credit message representing a credit in an amount of the electronic payment, the transmitting of the EFT credit message constituting a pushing of funds to the electronic payment account of the another customer, the electronic payment account of the another customer being a virtual private locker which is a receive-only account, the account number of which is known to the first customer, the command including account information identifying the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account, and the customer interface transferring the command to the at least one account system which effectuates the commanded transfer of funds, such effectuating of the commanded transfer of funds including a pushing of funds directly from the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account to the electronic payment account of the another customer, and wherein the customer interface transferring the command to the at least one account system which effectuates the commanded transfer of funds includes the account system; receiving the command; receiving the account information identifying the first customer'"'"'s electronic payment account; sending, through the EFT network, a verification message to the electronic payment account of the another customer to verify the VPL'"'"'s existence and identity; and receiving from the VPL a response message that includes a description of an owner of the VPL; wherein in such pushing, address information associated with a payee account number of the another customer, the payee, is transmitted over a network without the account information of the first customer, the payor; and where the pushing of funds, without the account information of the first customer, is constituted by the payee not being provided with information such that the payor account is identifiable to the payee. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A system for effectuating an electronic payment between a payor and a payee using a credit transfer to the payee via an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network, the payor having a payor account at a payor institution and the payee having a payee account at a payee institution, the payee account being a virtual private locker which is a receive-only account, the account number of which is known to the payor, the system comprising:
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a payee directory, the payee directory containing at least one identification of the payee and a correspondence between the at least one identification and the payee account at the payee institution; a first software component coupled to the payee directory and tangibly embodied in a processing system, the first software component accepting the at least one identification and an amount of the payment from the payor, the first software component generating a payment instruction identifying the payee institution, the payee account and an amount of the payment, the first software component further communicating the payment authorization to the payor institution after (i) sending, through the EFT network, a verification message to the payee account of the payee to verify the VPL'"'"'s existence and identity and (ii) receiving from the VPL a response message that includes a description of an owner of the VPL; and the first software component interfacing with the payor to input a selection from the payor regarding whether the payee is to be provided with information such that the payor account is identifiable to the payee, and inputting selection from the payor that the payee is not to be provided with information such that the payor account is identifiable to the payee; a second software component at the payor institution coupled to the first software component and coupled to the EFT network, the second software component tangibly embodied in the processing system, the second software component receiving the payment instruction and transmitting from the payor institution to the payee institution through the EFT network an EFT credit message representing a credit in the amount of the payment, the transmitting of the EFT credit message constituting a pushing of funds from the payor to the payee, wherein in such pushing a payee account number of the another customer, the payee, is transmitted over a network without account information of the first customer, the payor; and wherein the account information includes at least one selected from the group consisting of;
account number, pin number, credit card number, bank name, financial merchant and expiration date of account; andwherein the pushing of funds, without account information of the first customer, is constituted by the payee not being provided with information such that the payor account is identifiable to the payee. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. A system for effectuating an electronic payment between a payor and a payee using credit transfer via an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network, the payor having a payor electronic payment account at a payor institution and the payee having a payee electronic payment account at a payee institution, the payee further having a virtual private locker (VPL) account at the payee institution, the virtual private locker account being a receive-only account, the account number of which is known to the payor, the system comprising:
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a first processor generating a payment identification identifying the payee institution, the first processor tangibly embodied in a processing system, the payee electronic payment account and an amount of the payment, the first processor further communicating the payment identification to the payor institution; and the first processor interfacing with the payor to input a selection from the payor regarding whether the payee is to be provided with information such that the payor electronic payment account is identifiable to the payee, and inputting selection from the payor that the payee is not to be provided with information such that the payor electronic payment account is identifiable to the payee; the first processor further sending, through the EFT network, a verification message to the payee electronic payment account to verify the VPL'"'"'s existence and identity, and receiving from the VPL a response message that includes a description of an owner of the VPL; a second processor at the payor institution coupled to the first processor and coupled to the EFT network, the second processor tangibly embodied in the processing system, the second processor receiving the payment identification and communicating from the payor institution to the payee institution through the EFT network an EFT credit message representing a credit in the amount of the payment, the communicating of the EFT credit message constituting a pushing of funds from the payor to the payee, wherein in such pushing a payee account number of the payee'"'"'s virtual private locker account is transmitted over a network to identify the account to which the funds are pushed without account information of the payor, the EFT credit message including identification information that includes the information in the credit message that is unique to the payor, the identification information consisting essentially of a transaction ID (identification), the transaction ID being an identification that is provided to the payor at the time of a transaction to which the electronic payment is associated; and wherein the account information includes at least one selected from the group consisting of;
account number, pin number, credit card number, bank name, financial merchant and expiration date of account. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
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Specification