System and method for paying bills electronically
First Claim
1. A bill payment system for allowing subscribers to pay their bills via electronic funds transfer, comprising:
- billing equipment includingmeans for preparing a billing statement of each of the subscribers'"'"' current charges, at least a first of said billing statements including a pre-authorization form to be completed by subscribers to pre-authorize payment of future bills via electronic transfer,means for creating an approval record for each of the subscribers who pre-authorize electronic bill payment, andmeans for generating a unique approval number for each of the subscribers who have pre-authorized electronic payment and to be used by said pre-authorized subscribers to approve electronic payment of said current bill;
means common to subscribers for storing approval records of subscribers andmeans for approving electronic payment of the subscribers'"'"' current charges in response to signalling from subscribers, said payment approval means includingmeans for prompting subscribers for information and detecting subscribers'"'"' responses and other information, andmeans for comparing subscribers'"'"' responses with information in said means for storing said approval records.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic bill payment system and method include billing equipment for creating approval records and generating approval numbers for each pre-authorized subscriber. The system also includes an interactive payment approval apparatus into which subscribers dial to approve payment and which determines, based upon information collected, whether to initiate electronic funds transfer. An approval record data base and a call history log data base are also part of the bill payment system. To approve electronic bill payment a subscriber, once pre-authorized, need only dial up the payment approval apparatus and enter the assigned approval number. A series of security checks and comparisons are performed to guard against accidental and malicious entry of approval numbers. Once all security checks are cleared, a confirmation number is announced to the subscriber, and an electronic funds transfer is initiated.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A bill payment system for allowing subscribers to pay their bills via electronic funds transfer, comprising:
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billing equipment including means for preparing a billing statement of each of the subscribers'"'"' current charges, at least a first of said billing statements including a pre-authorization form to be completed by subscribers to pre-authorize payment of future bills via electronic transfer, means for creating an approval record for each of the subscribers who pre-authorize electronic bill payment, and means for generating a unique approval number for each of the subscribers who have pre-authorized electronic payment and to be used by said pre-authorized subscribers to approve electronic payment of said current bill; means common to subscribers for storing approval records of subscribers and means for approving electronic payment of the subscribers'"'"' current charges in response to signalling from subscribers, said payment approval means including means for prompting subscribers for information and detecting subscribers'"'"' responses and other information, and means for comparing subscribers'"'"' responses with information in said means for storing said approval records. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for a subscriber to control a payment approval apparatus to electronically pay a bill via electronic funds transfer, comprising the steps of:
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receiving from the subscriber pre-authorization to pay his or her bills via electronic funds transfer subject to their review and approval of a current billing statement; creating an approval record for the pre-authorized subscriber, said approval record comprising the name and address of the subscriber'"'"'s banking institution and subscriber'"'"'s bank account number to be debitted and being stored at storage means, which stores approval records of multiple subscribers; generating an approval number which uniquely identifies the subscriber'"'"'s current bill; providing the subscriber with a billing statement for the current billing period which includes said approval number and dialing instructions for approving electronic payment of the bill; upon the subscriber dialing into the payment approval apparatus, as instructed, and entering said approval number, comparing said entered approval number with said approval number contained in each of said approval records at said storage means to identify the corresponding approval record; and if a match is found, causing an electronic funds transfer to occur from the subscriber'"'"'s banking account for the amount indicated in the billing statement. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification