Electronic statement presentment system
First Claim
1. An electronic statement presentment system suitable for delivering an electronic statement from a biller to a customer, said electronic statement presentment system comprising:
- an origination workstation arranged to receive customer statement data for a customer from a biller, said customer statement data including a customer identifier and being associated with a template identifier and a consumer service provider identifier;
a switch computer arranged to receive said customer statement data from said origination workstation and to route said customer statement data based upon said associated consumer service provider identifier; and
a generation workstation arranged to receive said customer statement data from said switch computer, said generation workstation being associated with said consumer service provider identifier, said generation workstation being further arranged to receive a template identified by said associated template identifier and to combine said customer statement data and said template to generate an electronic statement.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic statement presentment (ESP) system replaces the preparation and mailing of paper statements and invoices from a biller with electronic delivery. Electronic statements have the same look as paper statements as well as including video, audio, graphics, and custom enclosures. Statements are segmented into mandatory and optional components to minimize download time. The ESP system operates independently or is an enhancement to any suitable electronic bill payment system. A central switch computer coordinates template storage, validation, routing and message passing between billers, workstations and consumer financial institutions (CFI). A template authoring workstation (TAWS) creates a template of static biller information to serve as a basis for the electronic statement. The template is stored in a template library at the switch. The switch validates the template by sending it to a template validation workstation (TVAL). Batches of customer statement data are sent from a biller'"'"'s legacy invoicing system to a statement origination workstation (SORG) along with a template identifier. The switch sends the template to the SORG where the customer data is validated by comparison to the template identified. The batch of customer statement data is sorted by a statement generation workstation (SGEN) identifier associated with each customer record. The sorted batches are sent to the switch where they are routed to the appropriate SGEN based upon the SGEN identifier. Each SGEN generates an electronic statement for each customer from the statement data and the appropriate template. A CFI associated with each SGEN delivers each electronic statement to the appropriate customer using a customer identifier in the statement data and uses any chosen medium.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. An electronic statement presentment system suitable for delivering an electronic statement from a biller to a customer, said electronic statement presentment system comprising:
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an origination workstation arranged to receive customer statement data for a customer from a biller, said customer statement data including a customer identifier and being associated with a template identifier and a consumer service provider identifier; a switch computer arranged to receive said customer statement data from said origination workstation and to route said customer statement data based upon said associated consumer service provider identifier; and a generation workstation arranged to receive said customer statement data from said switch computer, said generation workstation being associated with said consumer service provider identifier, said generation workstation being further arranged to receive a template identified by said associated template identifier and to combine said customer statement data and said template to generate an electronic statement. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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2. An electronic statement presentment system as recited in claim I further comprising:
a template library associated with said switch computer arranged to store at least said template, said template being associated with said template identifier within said template library, said template library being arranged to provide said template to said generation workstation based upon said template identifier, whereby said template library serves as a central repository of templates for at least said generation workstation within said electronic statement presentment system.
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9. A computer-implemented method of delivering an electronic statement from a biller to a customer, said method comprising:
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receiving customer statement data from a biller for a customer at a central switch computer, said customer statement data including a customer identifier and being associated with a template identifier and a consumer service provider identifier; routing said customer statement data from said central switch computer to a generation workstation based upon said consumer service provider identifier; receiving a template identified by said template identifier at said generation workstation; combining said customer statement data and said template to generate an electronic statement for said customer; and providing said electronic statement to a consumer service provider. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-implemented method of delivering electronic statements from a biller to a plurality of customers, said method comprising:
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receiving a batch of statement data from a biller having an associated template identifier, said batch of statement data including individual customer statement data for a plurality of customers, each of said customer statement data including an associated customer identifier and being associated with a consumer service provider identifier; sorting said batch of statement data from said biller based upon said consumer service provider identifier associated with said each customer statement data, said sorting step producing a plurality of sorted batches of customer statement data each having an associated consumer service provider identifier; routing said sorted batches of customer statement data to a plurality of generation workstations based upon said consumer service provider identifier associated with said each sorted batch of customer statement data; and combining at least one of said customer statement data with a template identified by said associated template identifier to generate an electronic statement for a customer, whereby said electronic statement may be provided to a consumer service provider for delivery to said customer via a medium utilizing said associated customer identifier. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-implemented method of facilitating the delivery of an electronic statement from a biller to a customer using a central switch, said method comprising:
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receiving at said central switch a template having an associated template identifier; receiving at said central switch customer statement data including a customer identifier and having an associated template identifier and an associated consumer service provider identifier, said customer statement data originating from a biller and representing information to be delivered to a customer from said biller; determining a generation workstation to which said customer statement data will be sent based upon said associated consumer service provider identifier; and routing said customer statement data from said central switch to said determined generation workstation based upon said consumer service provider identifier so that said generation workstation combines said customer statement data with said template to produce an electronic statement, whereby said electronic statement may be delivered to said customer via a medium utilizing said associated customer identifier. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer-implemented method of generating an electronic statement for delivery to a customer of a biller, said method comprising:
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receiving customer statement data for a customer of a biller at a generation workstation, said customer statement data including periodic information desired by said biller to be delivered to said customer and having an associated template identifier and an associated customer identifier; selecting a template identified by said template identifier associated with said customer statement data, said template including static information desired by said biller to be delivered to said customer; a combining step for performing the function of combining said customer statement data and said template to generate an electronic statement for said customer, said electronic statement including said periodic information and said static information; and providing said electronic statement to a consumer service provider associated with said customer, whereby said consumer service provider delivers said electronic statement to said customer via a medium utilizing said associated customer identifier. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A generation computer apparatus for generating an electronic statement for delivery to a customer of a biller, said generation computer apparatus comprising:
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a receiving mechanism for receiving customer statement data for a customer of a biller, said customer statement data including periodic information desired by said biller to be delivered to said customer and having an associated template identifier and an associated customer identifier; a template embodied in a computer-readable medium and identified by said template identifier associated with said customer statement data, said template including static information desired by said biller to be delivered to said customer; and a combining mechanism for combining said customer statement data and said template to generate an electronic statement for said customer, said electronic statement including said periodic information and said static information, whereby said electronic statement is provided to a consumer service provider associated with said customer for delivery to said customer via a medium utilizing said associated customer identifier.
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30. A computer-implemented method of sorting statement data from a biller having a plurality of customers, said method comprising:
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receiving a batch of statement data from a biller including a template identifier, said batch of statement data including individual customer statement data for said plurality of customers, each of said customer statement data including an associated customer identifier and being associated with a consumer service provider identifier; sorting said batch of statement data from said biller based upon said consumer service provider identifier associated with said each customer statement data, said sorting producing a plurality of sorted batches of customer statement data each having an associated consumer service provider identifier; and transmitting said sorted batches of customer statement data to a central switch computer for distribution to a plurality of consumer service providers based upon said associated consumer service provider identifier, whereby each of said individual customer statement data may be combined with a template identified by said corresponding template identifier to generate an electronic statement for delivery to one of said customers utilizing said associated customer identifier. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. An origination computer apparatus suitable for sorting statement data from a biller having a plurality of customers, said origination computer apparatus comprising
a receiving mechanism for receiving a batch of statement data from a biller, said batch of statement data being associated with a template identifier and including individual customer statement data for said plurality of customers, each of said customer statement data including an associated customer identifier and being associated with a consumer service provider identifier; -
a sorting mechanism for sorting said batch of statement data from said biller based upon said consumer service provider identifier associated with said each customer statement data, said sorting mechanism arranged to produce a plurality of sorted batches of customer statement data each having an associated consumer service provider identifier; and a transmitting mechanism for transmitting said sorted batches of customer statement data to a central switch computer for distribution to a plurality of consumer service providers based upon said associated consumer service provider identifier, whereby each of said individual customer statement data may be combined with a template identified by said corresponding template identifier to generate an electronic statement for delivery to one of said customers utilizing said associated customer identifier. - View Dependent Claims (35)
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36. A computer-implemented method of creating a template for delivery to a customer of a biller as part of an electronic statement, said biller associated with an accounts system including at least one customer record of customer statement data having a plurality of data fields, said method comprising:
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identifying a subset of said data fields in said customer record for inclusion in said template, said subset of said data fields representing a portion of said customer statement data that said biller desires to deliver to said customer in said electronic statement; producing a template database describing said subset of data fields and their relationships to one another in said electronic statement; producing a generation program arranged to generate said electronic statement utilizing said portion of said customer statement data and said template database; and grouping said template database and said generation program into said template, whereby said template is subsequently combined with said portion of said customer statement data from said biller accounts system to generate said electronic statement for delivery to said customer. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A template data structure embodied in a computer-readable medium suitable for generating an electronic statement for delivery to a customer of a biller, said biller associated with an accounts system including at least one customer record of customer statement data having a plurality of data fields, said template data structure comprising:
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a template database indicating a subset of said data fields from said customer record and indicating relationships between data fields in said subset of said data fields, said subset of said data fields representing a portion of said customer record that said biller desires to deliver to said customer in said electronic statement; placement instructions indicating data locations for said portion of said customer record within said electronic statement; and a generation program arranged to generate said electronic statement utilizing said template database, said placement instructions and said portion of said customer record, whereby said template data structure is subsequently combined with said portion of said customer record from said biller accounts system to generate said electronic statement for delivery to said customer. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification