Method and Apparatus for Automated Bill Timeline

• US 20130124376A1
• Filed: 10/26/2012
• Published: 05/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HMBay Patents, LLC
• Original Assignee: Connexive, Inc.
• Inventors: Lefebvre, Martin Claude, Wiman, Lucas
• Granted Patent: US 8,738,477 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/306 using TV related infrastructures external card used for payment with client device H04N21/4185
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for displaying a plurality of bill due dates, the method comprising: displaying an account identifier for each bill in the plurality of bills; showing a timeline with a due date indicator for each bill in the plurality of bills, the timeline disposed proximate to the account identifier; and wherein each of the account identifiers and timelines are disposed along an axis relative to the other account identifiers and timelines

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying a plurality of bills, each bill having a corresponding bill due date, the method comprising:

displaying using a computer an account identifier for each bill in the plurality of bills;

displaying using a computer a timeline with a due date indicator for each bill in the plurality of bills, the timeline disposed proximate to the account identifier; and

wherein each of the account identifiers and timelines are disposed along an axis relative to the other account identifiers and timelines.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the axis is a vertical axis and wherein the timelines are left aligned and have a common time scale.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of bills has a corresponding due date and wherein the timelines are sorted by the corresponding due date for the bills.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein for each bill the corresponding account identifier and timeline is surrounded by a corresponding background.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4,

wherein each bill has a corresponding status,

the method further comprising using the computer to display at least one of a background color, fill pattern, line color of each corresponding background based on the corresponding status associated with the respective bill.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each bill has a corresponding status, the method further comprising displaying an icon proximate to the timeline, the icon corresponding to the status of the corresponding bill.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the displaying using a computer the timeline further comprises assigning a color to one of the timeline, the due date indicator, and the background based on a condition selected from the set comprising:

paid, unpaid, size of payment, and autopay set.

8. A computer-implemented method for displaying a plurality of bills, each bill having a corresponding bill due date, the method comprising:

displaying using a computer a plurality of regions each vertically disposed to one another,

each region corresponding to one bill,

each region comprising an account identifier and a timeline with a due date indicator for the corresponding bill,

wherein each of the timelines within the plurality of regions are left aligned with one another and share a common time scale; and

providing using the computer in at least one region in the plurality of regions a display an item comprised of at least one of a link and a button, the item operative to trigger the display by the computer of at least one of a message corresponding to the bill, an explanation of the bill, payment initiation, marking a bill paid, marking a bill as autopay.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising displaying using the computer in at least one region in the plurality of regions a billing history.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the billing history comprises a bar graph display.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the bills in the plurality of bills selected from a blended set comprising at least two of already paid bills, currently due bills, anticipated bills, and non-recurring bills.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the bills in plurality of bills selected from a set comprising at least two of manually input bills, automatically extracted bills, and estimated bills.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein at least one bill in the plurality of bills is an estimated bill comprising at least one of an estimated amount and an estimated due date.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the estimated due date based on prior bill due dates.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the estimated amount based on past payments.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising displaying a payment accounts region proximate to the plurality of regions, the payment accounts region showing at least one account balance for a payment account used to pay at least one bill in the plurality of bills.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising displaying an anticipated expenses region proximate to the plurality of regions, the anticipated expenses region showing a graphical representation of the amount of anticipated bill expenses over a predetermined time period.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising displaying a payment accounts region within at least one region in the plurality of regions, the payment accounts region showing at least one payment method for the corresponding bill.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising displaying a notice indicator region within at least one region in the plurality of regions, the notice indicator region describing a notice source for the corresponding bill.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising displaying a payment indicator region within at least one region in the plurality of regions, the payment indicator region describing a payment mechanism for the corresponding bill.

21. A computer-implemented method for generating instructions on a first computer for a second computer to display a plurality of bills, each bill having a corresponding bill due date, the method comprising:

generating on the first computer a plurality of instructions to display a plurality of regions each vertically disposed to one another

each region corresponding to one bill,

each region comprising an account identifier and a timeline with a due date indicator for the corresponding bill,

wherein each of the timelines within the plurality of regions are left aligned with one another and share a common time scale,

wherein the plurality of bills comprised of bills from at least two distinct classes; and

transmitting the plurality of instructions from the first computer to the second computer over a network to the second computer, such that the instructions enable the second computer to render a display the bills in accordance.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the two distinct classes selected from the set comprising:

paid, current, anticipated, and non-recurring bills.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the two distinct classes selected from the set comprising:

manually entered bills, automatically identified bills, and estimated bills.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the plurality of instructions comprise HTML.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the generating further comprises generating on the first computer instructions with respect to at least one region in the plurality of regions for the display of at least one of a link and a button operative to trigger the display by the computer of at least one of a message corresponding to the bill, an explanation of the bill, payment initiation, marking a bill paid, marking a bill as autopay.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the generating further comprises generating on the first computer instructions with respect to at least one region to include an icon indicative of a status associated with the corresponding bill.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the generating further comprises generating on the first computer instructions with respect to at least one region to set a background color, fill pattern, or outline color indicative of a status associated with the corresponding bill.