Electronic bill presentment and payment system
First Claim
1. A system for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
- a consumer terminal;
a biller terminal in communication with said consumer terminal; and
a switching network for routing presentment and payment information between said consumer terminal and biller terminal, said switching network being a multi-standard switch capable of receiving messages using more than one format.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A switching system for the electronic presentment and payment of bills between a Consumer and a Biller. The system includes an open, interoperable switching network for routing bill summary information between a Biller and a Consumer. Bill summary files are generated by a Bill Service Provider. Consumer Service Providers poll the Bill Service Providers through the switching network for newly generated bill summary files. The bill summary files are routed through the switching network to the appropriate Consumer Service Provider. Customers of the Consumer Service Provider log on to the web site of the Consumer Service Provider to access bill summary data. In addition to viewing the bill summary files electronically, the Consumer can initiate electronic payment of previously presented bills or bills that have not been presented electronically. Accounts of the Billers and Consumers are settled periodically by the switching network and reports are generated of the historical transactional activity of the exchanges over the network. Detailed information concerning a bill is accessible by the consumer only via a direct communication with the Biller, e.g., a hyperlink to the web site of the Biller, not via the switching network.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A system for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
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a consumer terminal;
a biller terminal in communication with said consumer terminal; and
a switching network for routing presentment and payment information between said consumer terminal and biller terminal, said switching network being a multi-standard switch capable of receiving messages using more than one format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
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a consumer terminal;
a biller terminal in communication with said consumer terminal; and
a switching network exchanging billing information between said consumer and biller terminals, said switching network routing bill summary data generated by a biller terminal for presentment at said consumer terminal, complete bill data being accessible only by communicating directly between the consumer terminal and biller terminal. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
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generating a bill summary file;
storing the bill summary file at a biller service provider device;
polling by a consumer service provider device through a switching network newly generated bill summary files stored at the biller service provider device; and
routing via the switching network the stored newly generated bill summary files from the biller service provider device to the consumer service provider device.
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- 18. The method in accordance with claim 18, further comprising presenting the bill summary file to a consumer via the consumer service provider device.
- 22. The method in accordance with claim 22, wherein prior to said transmit step further comprising verifying that sufficient balance exists in consumer'"'"'s account to cover bill.
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25. A system for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
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a consumer terminal;
a biller terminal in communication with said consumer terminal; and
a switching network for routing presentment and payment information between said consumer terminal and biller terminal, said switching network adopting an Interactive Financial Exchange message standard protocol.
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26. A system for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
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a consumer terminal;
a biller terminal in communication with said consumer terminal; and
a switching network for routing a payment message for a particular bill between said consumer terminal and biller terminal, irrespective of whether the particular bill has been previously presented to said consumer terminal.
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27. A method for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
routing a payment message for a particular bill between a consumer terminal and a biller terminal via a switching network, irrespective of whether the particular bill has been previously presented to said consumer terminal.
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28. A system for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
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a consumer terminal;
a biller terminal in communication with said consumer terminal; and
an open, interoperable switching network for routing presentment and payment information between said consumer terminal and biller terminal.
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29. A system for electronic presentment and payment of bills over a network, comprising:
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a consumer terminal;
a biller terminal in communication with said consumer terminal; and
an open, interoperable switching network for routing presentment and payment information between said consumer terminal and biller terminal, said switching network settling all credits and debits over a predetermined period.
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Specification