Electronic bill pay system
First Claim
1. A method for electronically paying a bill, the method comprising the steps of:
- forwarding a bill pay order to a first processor, said bill pay order including information identifying said biller, an amount owed, and a consumer-biller account number;
determining whether said consumer has sufficient funds to cover said amount owed;
comparing said information identifying said biller to a local biller file to determine a biller financial institution identification number for a financial institution designated to receive funds for said biller;
generating a payment message including said information identifying said biller, said amount owed, said consumer-biller account number, and said biller financial institution identification number;
forwarding said payment message to a network if said step of determining whether said consumer has sufficient funds is satisfied; and
routing said payment message to said biller financial institution over said network using said biller financial institution identification number.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for electronically paying a bill is described in which a bill pay order is forwarded to a first processor. The bill pay order includes information identifying a biller, an amount owed, and a consumer-biller account number. The method determines whether the consumer has sufficient funds to cover the amount owed, and compares the information identifying the biller to a local biller file to determine a biller financial institution identification number for a financial institution designated to receive funds for the biller. A payment message is then generated which includes information identifying the biller, the amount owed, the consumer-biller account number, and the biller financial institution identification number. The payment message is then forwarded to a network if the consumer has sufficient funds. The payment message is routed to the appropriate biller financial institution over the network using the biller financial institution identification number.
853 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method for electronically paying a bill, the method comprising the steps of:
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forwarding a bill pay order to a first processor, said bill pay order including information identifying said biller, an amount owed, and a consumer-biller account number; determining whether said consumer has sufficient funds to cover said amount owed; comparing said information identifying said biller to a local biller file to determine a biller financial institution identification number for a financial institution designated to receive funds for said biller; generating a payment message including said information identifying said biller, said amount owed, said consumer-biller account number, and said biller financial institution identification number; forwarding said payment message to a network if said step of determining whether said consumer has sufficient funds is satisfied; and routing said payment message to said biller financial institution over said network using said biller financial institution identification number. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A bill pay system, including:
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an order entry device, accessible by a consumer, for generating a bill pay order message including data representing a biller identification (BID) number, an amount owed, and a consumer-biller (C/B) account number; a communications link, coupled to said order entry device, to forward said bill pay order message to a first processor; said first processor comparing said BID number to a biller file to determine a bank identification number (BIN) identifying a biller financial institution designated to receive funds for said biller; said first processor generating a payment message including data representing said BID number, said amount owed, said C/B account number, and said BIN; said first processor forwarding said payment message to a network; said network routing said message to said biller financial institution based on said BIN; and said biller financial institution determining a biller account to which funds equal to the amount owed are to be deposited by comparing said C/B account number to a biller account number table maintained by said biller financial institution. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification