METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING MESSAGES IN A BILL PAYMENT AND PRESENTMENT SYSTEM OVER A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
First Claim
1. A method for electronically routing billing information over a communications network, comprising:
- allowing first entities and customers to participate in an electronic system for at least one of bill payment and bill presentment, said electronic system having a centrally located computer system;
allowing a plurality of customer service providers to interface with one or more of said customers;
obtaining said billing information from said first entities with respect to one or more of said customers;
providing a centrally located switching system which allows for at least one of server to server, file to server, server to file and file to file connectivity, in part through the use of a file distribution agent, coupled to said electronic system, for coordinating the routing of messages between said customer service providers and said first entities;
generating at a given one of said customer service providers or at a given one of said first entities first application files comprising said messages;
forwarding said first application files to said centrally located computer system; and
converting at said switching system said first application files into an appropriate form for delivery of said messages to one or more intended recipients comprising at least one of;
said customer service providers, andsaid first entities.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a bill payment and presentation system, a method for electronically routing billing information over a communications network is provided, using an open financial exchange communication protocol. The method provides for a centrally located mainframe system and a switching system for coordinating the routing of messages between customer service providers and biller service providers. In particular, the method collects at the CSPs and at the BSPs mainframe application files comprising the messages, forwards these files in batch mode to the mainframe system and converts with a switching system these mainframe files into web-enabled addresses, allowing for the effective transmission of financial billing information in flat-file and/or Internet-based form.
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Citations
4 Claims
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1. A method for electronically routing billing information over a communications network, comprising:
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allowing first entities and customers to participate in an electronic system for at least one of bill payment and bill presentment, said electronic system having a centrally located computer system; allowing a plurality of customer service providers to interface with one or more of said customers; obtaining said billing information from said first entities with respect to one or more of said customers; providing a centrally located switching system which allows for at least one of server to server, file to server, server to file and file to file connectivity, in part through the use of a file distribution agent, coupled to said electronic system, for coordinating the routing of messages between said customer service providers and said first entities; generating at a given one of said customer service providers or at a given one of said first entities first application files comprising said messages; forwarding said first application files to said centrally located computer system; and converting at said switching system said first application files into an appropriate form for delivery of said messages to one or more intended recipients comprising at least one of; said customer service providers, and said first entities. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. In a system for at least one of bill payment and bill presentment, a method for electronically routing billing information over a communications network, comprising:
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providing a switching system for routing messages including said billing information between one or more customer service providers and one or more first entities; providing multiple connectivity options into said switching system, said options including an open connection over public lines and a closed-line connection; forwarding by one of said customer service providers or one of said first entities first application files including said messages with one or more intended recipients over said closed-line connection to said switching system; and converting at said switching system said first application files into Internet accessible addresses for delivery of said messages to said intended recipients over said public lines.
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Specification