Electronic payments with risk based selection of type of debiting of the payer's deposit account
First Claim
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1. A method of paying bills using a computer, comprising the steps of:
- receiving requests to pay a plurality of bills of a particular merchant on behalf of a plurality of particular consumers;
searching a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers including each of the plurality of particular consumers, to identify the deposit account numbers of the deposit accounts of each of the plurality of particular consumers;
paying the plurality of bills of each of the plurality of particular consumers by a single financial instrument.
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Abstract
A computerized payment system by which a consumer may instruct a service provider by telephone, computer terminal, or other telecommunications means to pay various bills without the consumer having to write a check for each bill. The system operates without restriction as to where the consumer banks and what bills are to be paid. The service provider collects consumers'"'"' information, financial institutions'"'"' information and merchant information and arranges payment based on a financial risk analysis to the merchants according to the consumers'"'"' instructions.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method of paying bills using a computer, comprising the steps of:
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receiving requests to pay a plurality of bills of a particular merchant on behalf of a plurality of particular consumers;
searching a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers including each of the plurality of particular consumers, to identify the deposit account numbers of the deposit accounts of each of the plurality of particular consumers;
paying the plurality of bills of each of the plurality of particular consumers by a single financial instrument. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of paying bills using a computer, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
searching a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer; and
,directing payment of the bill from funds in the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of paying bills using a computer, comprising the steps of:
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receiving an instruction to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
searching a database having deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identify the deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer;
selecting a payment type; and
,directing payment of the bill by the type of payment selected from funds in the identified deposit account. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of paying bills using a computer, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
searching a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer;
paying the bill from funds in a deposit account of the service provider; and
,transferring funds to the deposit account of the service provider from the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a computer readable medium; and
computer software stored on the computer readable medium, the computer software comprising a set of instructions directing a computer to perform the steps of;
receiving requests to pay a plurality of bills of a particular merchant on behalf of a plurality of particular consumers;
searching a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers including each of the plurality of particular consumers, to identify the deposit account numbers of the deposit accounts of each of the plurality of particular consumers; and
,paying the plurality of bills of each of the plurality of particular consumers by a single financial instrument.
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22. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a computer readable medium; and
computer software stored on the computer readable medium, the computer software comprising a set of instructions directing a computer to perform the steps of;
receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
searching a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer;
paying the bill from funds in a deposit account of the service provider; and
,transferring funds to the deposit account of the service provider from the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number.
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23. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a computer readable medium; and
computer software stored on the computer readable medium, the computer software comprising a set of instructions directing a computer to perform the steps of;
receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
searching a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer; and
,directing payment of the bill from funds in the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number.
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24. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a computer readable medium; and
computer software stored on the computer readable medium, the computer software comprising a set of instructions directing a computer to perform the steps of;
receiving an instruction to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
searching a database having deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, to identify the deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer;
selecting a payment type; and
,directing payment of the bill by the type of payment selected from funds in the identified deposit account.
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25. A system for paying bills using a computer, comprising:
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means for receiving requests to pay a plurality of bills of a particular merchant on behalf of a plurality of particular consumers;
a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers including each of the plurality of particular consumers, searchable by the computer to identify the deposit account numbers of the deposit accounts of each of the plurality of particular consumers at one of the plurality of associated financial institutions;
means for paying the plurality of bills of each of the plurality of particular consumers by a single financial instrument.
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26. A system for paying bills using a computer, comprising:
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means for receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, searchable by the computer to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer; and
,means for directing payment of the bill from funds in the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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28. A system for paying bills using a computer, comprising:
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means for receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, searchable by the computer to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer;
means for paying the bill from finds in a deposit account of the service provider; and
,means for transferring funds to the deposit account of the service provider from the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number.
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29. A system for paying bills using a computer, comprising:
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a communications switch connected to a network for receiving requests to pay a plurality of bills of a particular merchant on behalf of a plurality of particular consumers;
a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by a plurality of consumers including each of the plurality of particular consumers, searchable by the computer to identify the deposit account numbers of the deposit accounts of each of the plurality of particular consumers; and
,a computer processor in communication with the network and the database for paying the plurality of bills of each of the plurality of particular consumers by a single financial instrument.
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30. A system for paying bills using a computer, comprising:
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a communications switch connected to a network for receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, searchable by the computer to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer; and
,a computer processor in communication with the network and the database for directing payment of the bill from funds in the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. A system for paying bills using a computer, comprising:
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a communications switch connected to a network for receiving a request to pay a bill of a particular merchant on behalf of a particular consumer;
a database of deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, searchable by the computer to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer at one of the plurality of associated financial institutions; and
,a computer processor in communication with the network and the database for paying the bill from funds in a deposit account of the service provider and transferring funds to the deposit account of the service provider from the deposit account represented by the identified deposit account number.
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33. A database for use with a system for paying bills using a computer, comprising:
deposit account numbers, each representing a respective deposit account maintained at one of a plurality of associated financial institutions by one of a plurality of consumers including the particular consumer, the database being searchable by the computer to identify a deposit account number of the deposit account of the particular consumer at one of the plurality of associated financial institutions.
Specification