Electronic account presentation and response system and method

• US 6,493,685 B1
• Filed: 02/10/1999
• Issued: 12/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation, Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: The Chase Manhattan Bank (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Ensel, Laura A., Rykowsky, William E., Fuertes, Louis A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jeanty, Romain
• Application Number:
  US09/248,495
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34, 705/38, 705/10, 707/10
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

An Information Interface Provider (IIP) acting as the interface between a biller and its customers for both the presentment of electronic bills to the customers and for the processing of payments from the biller'"'"'s customers. The IIP creates and electronically publishes bills to the biller'"'"'s customers in response to data provided by the biller and processes the payments in response to instructions provided by the customers. Bill publication is accomplished by any and/or all channels of distribution which are effective in reaching the customers of the biller including Internet web sites, Email and personal digital assistants, for example. Once billing data has been received by the IIP, the IIP formats the billing data for storage in its own internal database and then performs the task of reformatting the bill for the particular channel(s) of distribution selected by the customer. Several types of customer payments are processed by the IIP including Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, credit or debit card payments, paper checks, smart card payments, and digital currency payments. Once the IIP has debited the consumer'"'"'s account for the payment, it credits the account of the biller. The IIP consolidates all of the Accounts Receivable (A/R) information and presents the biller with a single file which can then be used by the biller to update its own internal A/R systems.

Claims

1. A system for presenting information from at least one provider to a plurality of customers over a plurality of electronic channels of distribution, the system comprising:

a formatting processor for receiving the information from the provider and formatting the information for storage, wherein the information received from the at least one provider is bulk information that includes a first portion of information related to customers that do not desire to receive the information electronically;

a splitting processor coupled to the formatting processor, the splitting processor identifying the first portion of the bulk information from the at least one provider related to customers that do not desire to receive the information;

a database server for (i) receiving and storing the second portion of information from the bulk formatting processor, and (ii) storing customer data including customer preference data identifying at least two preferred electronic channels of distribution over which respective customers desire to receive the information; and

an application server coupled to the database server and the plurality of electronic channels of distribution, the application server (i) receiving the second portion of the bulk information from the database server, (ii) formatting the second portion of the bulk information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data, and (iii) distributing the second portion of the bulk information to at least one of the plurality of customers over one of the at least two preferred electronic channels of distribution with respect to the at least one customer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the database server includes a template database for storing at least one template used by the application server in formatting the information for distribution over one or more of the plurality of electronic channels.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the database server includes an information database for storing the second portion of the bulk information formatted for storage by the formatting processor.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the splitting processor is operable to retain the first portion of the bulk information and pass the second portion of the bulk information to the formatting processor.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the information database includes at least summary information and detailed information.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the application server is operable to format the summary information and distribute the summary information to the customers.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the database server further comprises a marketing insert database for storing marketing information, the application server (i) formatting the marketing information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data, and (ii) distributing the formatted marketing information to the at least one customer along with the information.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the database server further comprises a response database for storing response information received by the application server from the at least one customer in response to the distributed information.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the database server further comprises a customer service database for storing customer service information used for tracking customer problems identified by customers, the customer service database being accessible by the at least one provider.

7. The system of claim 7, wherein the application server is operable to format the detailed information such that the at least one customer may view the detailed information.

11. A method for presenting information from at least one provider to a plurality of customers over a plurality of electronic channels of distribution, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving the information from the at least one provider, wherein the information received from the at least one provider is bulk information that includes a first portion of information related to customers that do not desire to receive the information electronically;

slitting processor identifying the first portion of the bulk information related to customers that do not desire to receive the information electronically

formatting second portion of the information for storage;

storing the formatted second portion of the bulk information;

storing customer data identifying at least two preferred ones of the plurality of electronic channels of distribution over which respective customers desire to receive second portion bulk the information;

formatting the second portion of the information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data; and

distributing the second portion of the bulk information to at least one of the plurality of customers over one of the at least two preferred electronic channels of distribution with respect to the at least one customer.

12. The method of claim 11, for further comprising the step of storing at least one template for formatting the second portion of the bulk information for distribution over one or more of the plurality of electronic channels.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of discarding the identified portions of the bulk information.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of formatting the second portion of the bulk information for storage further comprises the step of generating at least summary information and detailed information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the steps of formatting the second portion of the bulk information for distribution and distributing the information comprise the steps of formatting the summary information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels and distributing the summary information to at least one of the customers.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of formatting the detailed information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels such that the detailed information may be viewed by the customers.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

storing marketing information;

formatting the marketing information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data; and

distributing the marketing information to the customers along with the information.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

receiving response information from the at least one customer in response to the distributed information; and

storing the response information.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of transmitting the response information to the at least one provider.

20. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

storing customer service information used for tracking customer problems identified by customers; and

permitting the at least one provider access to the customer service information.

21. A system for presenting billing information from at least one biller to a plurality of customers over a plurality of electronic channels of distribution, the system comprising:

a formatting processor for receiving the billing information from the at least one biller and formatting the billing information for storage, wherein the billing information received from the at least one biller is bulk billing information that includes first billing information related to customers that do not desire to receive the billing information electronically;

a splitting processor coupled to the formatting processor, the splitting processor identifying the first billing information related to customers that do not desire to receive the billing information electronically;

a database server for (i) receiving and storing second billing information from the formatting processor, and (ii) storing customer data including customer preference data identifying at least two preferred electronic channels of distribution over which respective customers desire to receive the second billing information; and

an application server coupled to the database server and the plurality of electronic channels of distribution, the application server for (i) receiving the second billing information from the database server, (ii) formatting the second billing information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data, and (iii) distributing the second billing information to at least one of the plurality of customers over at least one of the two preferred electronic channels of distribution with respect to the at least one customer.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the database server includes a template database for storing at least one template used by the application server for formatting the second billing information for distribution over one or more of the plurality of electronic channels.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the database server includes an electronic bill database for storing the second billing information formatted for storage by the formatting processor.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the splitting processor is operable to retain the first billing information and pass the second billing information to the formatting processor.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the information database includes at least summary billing information and detailed billing information.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the application server is operable to format the summary billing information and distribute the summary billing information to the customers.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the application server is operable to format the detailed billing information such that the customers may view the detailed billing information.

28. The system of claim 21, wherein the database server further comprises a marketing insert database for storing marketing information, the application server (i) formatting the marketing information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data, and (ii) distributing the formatted marketing information to the at least one customer along with the billing information.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the database server further comprises a response database for storing response information received by the application server from the at least one customer in response to the distributed billing information.

30. The system of claim 21, wherein the database server further comprises a customer service database for storing customer service information used for tracking customer problems identified by customers, the customer service database being accessible by the at least one biller.

31. The system of claim 21, further comprising a payment processor for receiving payment instructions from the at least one customer in response to the distributed billing information, the payment processor executing the received payment instructions.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the database server further comprises a response database for storing the received payment information and storing payment status information reflecting the status of the execution of the received payment instructions by the payment processor.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein the payment processor is coupled to an external Automated Clearing House (ACH) network, wherein certain of the received payment instructions are requests to debit customer'"'"'s Demand Deposit Accounts (DDA), and wherein the payment processor is operable to execute the certain received payment instructions by transmitting debit instructions to the ACH network.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the payment processor is operable to transmit credit instructions to the ACH network with respect to an account of the at least one biller in response to the transmitted debit instructions.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein the payment processor is coupled to an external Merchant Processing network, wherein a plurality of the received payment instructions are requests to debit customers'"'"' credit or debit card accounts, and wherein the payment processor is operable to execute the plurality of received payment instructions by transmitting debit instructions to the Merchant Processing network.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the payment processor is operable to transmit credit instructions with respect to an account of the at least one biller in response to the transmitted debit instructions.

37. The system of claim 31, wherein the enrollment database is operable to store automatic payment instructions specified by the customers and the payment processor is operable to execute the automatic payment instructions.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the automatic payment instructions specify a time at which the automatic payment instruction is to be executed and wherein the payment processor is operable to execute the automatic payment instructions at the specified time.

39. The system of claim 31, wherein the database server includes an enrollment database for storing the customer data, wherein the enrollment database stores customer payment account information identifying at least one account of each customer against which payments by the customers are to be debited.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the payment processor is operable to execute the received payment instructions in response to the customer payment account information stored in the enrollment database.

41. The system of claim 31, wherein the payment processor is operable to generate a consolidated account receivable file reflecting all payments executed by the payment processor during a predetermined period of time.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the payment processor is operable to transmit the consolidated account receivable file to the at least one biller.

43. The system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of electronic channels of distribution are selected from the group consisting of Internet web site, Email, personal digital assistant, voice response unit, video phone, programmable cellular phone, interactive cable TV, interactive satellite TV, smartphone, telephone, facsimile, Automated Teller Machine (ATM), and pagers.

44. The system of claim 21, wherein the system is operable to present billing information with respect to a plurality of billers, the system further comprising a plurality of database servers, each database server corresponding to one of each of the billers, each of the plurality of database servers comprising databases related to the customers of the biller corresponding to the database server.

45. A method for presenting billing information from at least one biller to a plurality of customers over a plurality of electronic channels of distribution, the method comprising:

receiving the billing information from the at least one biller, wherein the billing information received from the biller is bulk billing information that includes first billing information related to customers that do not desire to receive the billing information electronically;

a splitting processor identifying the first billing information related to customers that do not desire to receive the information electronically;

formatting second billing information for storage;

storing the formatted second billing information;

storing customer data identifying at least two preferred ones of the plurality of electronic channels of distribution over which respective customers desire to receive the second billing information;

formatting the second billing information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data; and

distributing the portion billing information to at least one of the plurality of customers over one of the at least two preferred electronic channels of distribution with respect to the at least one customer.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of storing at least one template for formatting the second billing information for distribution over one or more of the plurality of electronic channels.

47. The method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

retaining the first identified billing information; and

passing on the second billing information for formatting and storage.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein the step of formatting the second information for storage comprises the steps of generating at least summary billing information and generating detailed billing information.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising the steps of formatting the summary billing information for distribution and distributing the summary billing information to at least one of the customers.

50. The method of claim 48, the steps of formatting the detailed billing information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels and permitting at least one of the customers to view the detailed billing information.

51. The method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

storing marketing information;

formatting the marketing information for distribution over at least one of the electronic channels in response to at least some of the customer data; and

distributing the marketing information to the at least one customer along with the billing information.

52. The method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

receiving response information from the at least one customer in response to the distributed billing information; and

storing the response information.

53. The method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

storing customer service information used for tracking customer problems identified by customers; and

providing access to the stored customer service to the at least one biller.

54. The method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

receiving payment instructions from at least one customer in response to the distributed billing information; and

executing the received payment instructions.

55. The method of claim 54, further comprising the steps of:

storing the received payment information; and

storing payment status information reflecting the status of the execution of the received payment instructions.

56. The method of claim 54, wherein certain of the received payment instructions are requests to debit customer'"'"'s Demand Deposit Accounts (DDA), the step of executing the received payment instructions comprising transmitting debit instructions with respect to the certain received payment instructions to an external Automated Clearing House (ACH) network.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising the step of transmitting credit instructions to the ACH network with respect to an account of the at least one biller in response to the transmitted debit instructions.

58. The method of claim 54, wherein a plurality of the received payment instructions are requests to debit customer'"'"'s credit or debit card accounts, the step of executing the received payment instructions comprising transmitting debit instructions with respect to the plurality of received payment instructions to an external Merchant Processing network.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising the step of transmitting credit instructions with respect to an account of the at least one biller in response to the transmitted debit instructions.

60. The method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

storing automatic payment instructions specified by at least one of the customers; and

executing the automatic payment instructions.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the automatic payment instructions specify a time at which the automatic payment instruction is to be executed, the method further comprising the step of executing the automatic payment instructions at the specified time.

62. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of storing customer payment account information identifying at least one account of each customer against which payments by the customers are to be debited.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the step of executing the received payment instructions is in response to the stored customer payment account information.

64. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of generating a consolidated account receivable file reflecting all payments executed during a predetermined period of time.

65. The method of claim 64, further comprising the step of transmitting the consolidated account receivable file to the at least one biller.

66. The method of claim 45, wherein billing information is presented to customers of a plurality of billers, the method further comprising the step of maintaining a plurality of databases, each database corresponding to one of each of the billers and containing data related to the customers of the biller corresponding to the database.