System and method for paying bills and other obligations including selective payor and payee controls
First Claim
1. A third-party bill paying system, comprisingstorage for payee information for each of a plurality of payees,storage for payor information for each of a plurality of payors, the payor information for a payor identifying a plurality of payees authorized by the payor to receive transfers of funds from the payor, and control parameters defining the manner in which transfers of funds are to be performed,a payee communications interface receiving for use by the third party, bill data from each of said payees,a funds transfer interface generating, in the absence of specific authorization from a payor, one or more electronic funds transfer messages from the third party transferring funds for the payor and a payee using bill data received from the payee, the stored payee information for the payee, the stored payor information for the payor, and /or the control parameters stored for the payor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for paying bills without requiring interaction with the payors disclosed. The system includes a payor control interface, a communications interface, a bill generator, and a TCF message generator. The bill generator generates bill records from payor and payee information stored within the system for recurring bills. The bill generator may also generate bill records from the payor and payee information and from bill data messages received from payees. The generated bill records are used by the TCF message generator to generate the EFT messages for transferring funds electronically between payors and payees. Payors may alter the payment amount and date for a bill as well as reverse payment of a bill already paid. Payees are also able to alter recurring bill records or may present bill data so that bill records reflecting variable obligation amounts may be generated.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1. A third-party bill paying system, comprising
storage for payee information for each of a plurality of payees, storage for payor information for each of a plurality of payors, the payor information for a payor identifying a plurality of payees authorized by the payor to receive transfers of funds from the payor, and control parameters defining the manner in which transfers of funds are to be performed, a payee communications interface receiving for use by the third party, bill data from each of said payees, a funds transfer interface generating, in the absence of specific authorization from a payor, one or more electronic funds transfer messages from the third party transferring funds for the payor and a payee using bill data received from the payee, the stored payee information for the payee, the stored payor information for the payor, and /or the control parameters stored for the payor.
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10. A bill paying system, comprising
storage for payee information, storage for payor information for each of a plurality of payors, the payor information including control parameters established by payors for controlling transfers of funds to a payee from the payor establishing the control parameters, a funds transfer interface generating electronic funds transfer messages causing a transfer of an identified amount of funds for an identified payor and an identified payee using bill data, the stored payee information for the payee, the stored payor information for the payor, and/or the control parameters stored for the payor, a payor communication interface for communicating with an interactive device under the control of a payor, the payor communication interface causing the interactive device to perform a menu driven interactive procedure, the interactive procedure including presenting to a payor a menu of one or more transactions each representing a payee'"'"'s bill and identifying an amount of funds to be transferred from the payor to the payee in payment of the bill, the payor communication interface being responsive to the payor'"'"'s authorization by direct entry and selection of an item in the menu representing a transaction presented to the payor using the interactive device, to deliver bill data to the funds transfer interface and cause the funds transfer interface to initiate the funds transfer identified by the transaction selected by the payor.
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19. A third-party bill paying system, comprising
storage for payee information, storage for payor information for each of a plurality of payors, a payee communication interface communicating with a payee to receive for use by the third party, bill data from the payee identifying a payment amount to be transferred from a payor to the payee, a payor command interface to receive a reversal directive from a payor to reverse a payment, a funds transfer interface generating, in the absence of specific authorization from an identified payor, one or more electronic funds transfer messages from the third party causing transfer of an identified amount of funds from the identified payor and to an identified payee using bill data, the stored payee information for the payee, and/or the stored payor information for the payor, and generating one or more reverse electronic funds transfer messages causing transfer from a payee and to a payor an amount of funds previously transferred from the payor to the payee in response to a reversal directive received from a payor.
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26. A method of paying bills using a third party, comprising
storing paying information for each of a plurality of payees, storing payor information for each of a plurality of payors, the payor information for a payor identifying a plurality of payees authorized by the payor to receive transfers of funds from the payor, and control parameters defining the manner in which transfers of funds are to be performed, receiving for use by the third party, bill data from each of said payees, generating, in the absence of specific authorization from a payor, one or more electronic funds transfer messages from the third party transferring funds for the payor and a payee using bill data received from the payee, the stored payee information for the payee, the stored payor information for the payor, and/or the control parameters stored for the payor.
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35. A method of paying bills, comprising
storing payee information, storing payor information for each of a plurality of payors, the payor information including control parameters established by payors for controlling transfers of funds to a payee from the payor establishing the control parameters, communicating with an interactive device under the control of a payor, causing the interactive device to perform a menu driven interactive procedure, the interactive procedure including presenting to a payor a menu of one or more transactions each representing a payee'"'"'s bill and identifying an amount of funds to be transferred from the payor to the payee in payment of the bill, and responding to the payor'"'"'s authorization by direct entry and selection of an item in the menu representing a transaction presented to the payor using the interactive device, to generate an electronic funds transfer message causing a transfer of an amount of funds from a payor to a payee, using the stored payee information for the payee, the stored payor information for the payor, the control parameters stored for the payor, and/or bill data for the transaction selected by the payor.
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44. A method of paying bills using a third party, comprising
storing payee information, storing payor information for each of a plurality of payors, communicating with a payee to receive bill data from the payee for use by the third party, identifying a payment amount to be transferred from a payor to the payee, generating, in the absence of specific authorization from an identified payor, one or more electronic funds transfer messages from the third party causing transfer of an identified amount of funds from the identified payor and to an identified payee using bill data, the stored payee information for the payee, and/or the stored payor information for the payor, and receiving a reversal directive from a payor to reverse a payment made to a payee, and in response to a reversal directive from a payor, generating one or more reverse electronic funds transfer messages causing transfer from a payee and to the payor an amount of funds previously transferred from the payor to the payee.
Specification