System and method for automatic bill payment
First Claim
1. A method for automatically paying bills, the method comprising:
- scanning a received bill;
accessing a standard template library (STL);
matching the received bill to a bill template from the STL;
using the bill template to identify data areas;
reading parameters from data areas on the received bill; and
, transmitting a payment in response to the parameters.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided for automatically paying bills. The method comprises: scanning a received bill; accessing a standard template library (STL); matching the received bill to a bill template from the STL; using the bill template to identify data areas; reading parameters from data areas on the received bill; and, transmitting a payment in response to the parameters. Some common parameters to be read form the data areas of the received bill include the account number, the service provider address, the due date, and the amount owed. Some aspects of the method further comprise establishing an accessible on-line checking account. Then, transmitting a payment includes electronically debiting the checking account and electronically submitting the amount due to the service provider drawn on the checking account. Alternately, a check can be generated for the service provider drawn on the checking account. If a check is generated, it is printed with populated fields such as the payee'"'"'s name, the amount, the account number, and a signature. Other aspects of the method further comprise: accessing an on-line server master template library; and, downloading templates into a local database standard template library. The on-line server master template library includes templates in a first plurality of languages. Therefore, downloading templates into a local database standard template library includes selecting a language.
33 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for automatically paying bills, the method comprising:
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scanning a received bill;
accessing a standard template library (STL);
matching the received bill to a bill template from the STL;
using the bill template to identify data areas;
reading parameters from data areas on the received bill; and
,transmitting a payment in response to the parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for automatically paying bills, the method comprising:
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scanning a received bill with billing information encoded as barcode;
accessing billing information barcode format;
decoding parameters from the received bill barcode; and
,transmitting a payment in response to the parameters.
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14. An automatically bill paying system, the system comprising:
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a scanner having an input to accept a received bill and an output to supply a scanned readout of the bill;
a standard template library (STL) including a plurality of bill templates;
a bookkeeper having a port connected to the scanner output to received scanned bills and a port connected to the standard template library to receive bill templates, the bookkeeper matching the received bill to a bill template from the STL, using the bill template to identify data areas, and reading parameters from data areas on the received bill; and
,a treasurer having a input to receive parameters from the bookkeeper and a output to supply a payment in response to the parameters. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for automatically paying bills, the system comprising:
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a scanner having an input to accept a received bill with barcode information and an output to supply a scanned readout of the bill barcode;
a bookkeeper having a port connected to the scanner output to received scanned bills and a port connected to receive the barcode format, the bookkeeper reading parameters from the barcode on the received bill; and
,a treasurer having a input to receive parameters from the bookkeeper and a output to supply a payment in response to the parameters.
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Specification