Electronic bill presentment and payment system
First Claim
1. A method for electronically presenting and remitting payment of bills, comprising the following steps:
- generating a bill and associated payment remittance information at a biller, the payment remittance information being arranged within a data structure according to a format prescribed by the biller, the data structure having one or more open data fields to hold data that a consumer can enter or alter and one or more closed data fields to bold data that the consumer cannot alter, the remittance information further including hidden structured remittance data that is kept hidden from the consumer;
electronically transmitting the bill and associated payment remittance information to the consumer;
enabling the consumer to authorize electronic payment of the bill;
associating the electronic payment with the payment remittance information; and
transmitting the payment remittance information, including the structured remittance data, from the consumer back to the biller in the format prescribed by the biller.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A bill presentment and payment remittance system is configured for use over an electronic network, such as the Internet. The bill presentment and payment remittance system allows the biller to create a bill and payment remittance information in a format specified by the biller. The biller submits the bill and associated payment remittance information by electronically transmitting it over the Internet to the consumer. The consumer authenticates that the bill did indeed come from the indicated biller. The bill is presented in a user interface which provides a line-by-line itemization of the bill, along with a predefined dispute reasons which the consumer can check to challenge particular items on the bill. The bill can then be automatically or manually adjusted to reflect any disputed amounts. Payment of the bill is preferably in the form of a "direct debit check" that is formed by the consumer software using the billing and remittance information provided in the bill to automatically name the biller as the payee. The consumer completely controls the payment authorization, specifying the amount to be paid (either partial or full), and the date for the payment to be made, and the account from which the money will be drawn. The electronic payment and any dispute criteria are associated with the payment remittance information. The payment instruction and remittance information are then transmitted in the biller prescribed format back over the Internet to the biller. In this manner, the payment remittance information is automatically returned directly to the biller in the format that the biller chooses, without intervention by the consumer. The biller executes the payment instructions sent to it electronically by the consumer by sending them onto the biller'"'"'s bank.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for electronically presenting and remitting payment of bills, comprising the following steps:
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generating a bill and associated payment remittance information at a biller, the payment remittance information being arranged within a data structure according to a format prescribed by the biller, the data structure having one or more open data fields to hold data that a consumer can enter or alter and one or more closed data fields to bold data that the consumer cannot alter, the remittance information further including hidden structured remittance data that is kept hidden from the consumer; electronically transmitting the bill and associated payment remittance information to the consumer; enabling the consumer to authorize electronic payment of the bill; associating the electronic payment with the payment remittance information; and transmitting the payment remittance information, including the structured remittance data, from the consumer back to the biller in the format prescribed by the biller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for electronically presenting and remitting payment of bills, comprising the following steps:
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generating a bill and associated payment remittance information at a biller, the payment remittance information being arranged within a data structure according to a format prescribed by the biller, the data structure having one or more open data fields to hold data that a consumer can supply or alter and one or more closed data fields to hold data that the consumer cannot alter, the remittance information further including structured remittance data that is kept hidden from the consumer; electronically transmitting a bill and associated payment remittance information from the biller to at least one intermediary; electronically transmitting the bill and payment remittance information from the intermediary to the consumer; presenting the bill to the consumer without revealing the structured remittance data; enabling the consumer to specify payment instructions which include at least one of a payment amount and a payment date; electronically transmitting the payment instructions and payment remittance information from the consumer to the intermediary; and electronically transmitting the payment remittance information including the structured remittance data, from the intermediary back to the biller in the format prescribed by the biller; and settling accounts between the consumer and biller using the payment instructions. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:
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storing a bill and associated payment remittance information, the payment remittance information being arranged within a data structure according to a format prescribed by the biller, the data structure having one or more open data fields to hold data that a consumer can supply or alter and one or more closed data fields that hold data that the consumer cannot alter, the remittance information further including structured remittance data that is kept hidden from the consumer; presenting the bill to the consumer without revealing the structured remittance data; enabling the consumer to specify payment instructions including at least one of an amount to be paid on the bill, a payment date, and an account from which to draw payment, while prohibiting the consumer from altering data contained in the closed data fields; associating the payment instructions with the structured remittance data; electronically transmitting the payment instructions to initiate payment of the bill; and electronically routing the payment remittance information, including the structured remittance data, in the biller prescribed format to the biller so that the structured remittance data is automatically returned to the biller without intervention by the consumer. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An electronic bill presentment and payment remittance system including a network, a biller computing unit with computer-readable medium, and a consumer computing unit with computer readable medium, the computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:
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operatively linking the biller computing unit and consumer computing unit to the network; generating a bill and associated payment remittance information in a particular format at the biller computing unit, the remittance information including structured remittance data that is kept hidden from a consumer; transmitting the bill and payment remittance information over the data network from the biller computing unit to the consumer computing unit; receiving the bill and payment remittance information at the consumer computing unit and presenting the bill to the consumer without revealing the structured remittance data to the consumer; and facilitating entry of payment instructions including at least one of a payment amount and a date at the consumer computing unit, and following said entry, automatically routing the payment remittance information, including the structured remittance data, in the particular format to the biller computing unit. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A computer-readable medium having a data structure for bill and payment remittance information used in an electronic bill system, the data structure comprising:
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an account identification data field to hold information identifying an account to which a bill is being posted; an amount data field to hold a payment amount entered by a consumer toward payment of the bill; a date data field to hold a payment date entered by the consumer; a payee data field to hold an identity of a payee of the payment amount, the payee data field being closed to the consumer so that the consumer cannot enter the payee; the account identification data field, the amount data field, and the date data field being organized according to a particular format prescribed by an originator of the bill to collectively define payment remittance information; an originator address data field to hold a network address of the bill originator for use in routing the payment remittance information containing the account information data field, the amount data field, and the date data field back to the originator in the particular format; and structured data to hold remittance data that is kept hidden from the consumer.
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Specification