System and method for issuer originated payments for on-line banking bill payments

• US 7,958,030 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2005
• Issued: 06/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa USA, Inc. (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kemper, Lynn, Lawrence, Kimberly, Patterson, Barbara
• Primary Examiner(s): Borlinghaus; Jason M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Norman; Samica L
• Application Number:
  US11/217,691
• Publication Number:
  US 20060080243A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,106 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

Techniques for processing on-line banking bill payment requests are provided. A bill payment request is received from an operator of an on-line banking bill payment web site. The operator may be a bank. The request is for payment of a bill using a portable consumer device. A transaction request is then generated for an issuer and sent to the issuer for authorization. The issuer then sends a response indicating whether the transaction request is approved or declined. Remittance information for a biller is generated if the transaction is approved. The remittance information is then forwarded to the operator of the on-line banking bill payment web site for forwarding to a user of the portable consumer device. Additionally, the remittance information is sent to an acquirer or cash management bank, which can forward the information to the biller associated with the bill payment request.

Claims

1. An issuer originated bill payment system for processing a request for on-line banking payment of a bill associated with a biller, the system comprising:

a payment transaction processing system configured to receive an on-line banking bill payment request for paying a bill using an account associated with a portable consumer device, wherein the bill payment request is originated by an entity different from the biller associated with the bill; and

an authorization and settlement processing system configured to interact with an issuer of the portable consumer device and an acquirer to process the on-line banking bill payment request to satisfy payment of the bill using the account associated with the portable consumer device,

wherein the payment transaction processing system and the authorization and settlement processing system are between the issuer and the acquirer and are configured to use the bill payment request to generate a transaction message that is sent to the issuer before communicating with the acquirer associated with the biller,

wherein the issuer is configured to approve or decline the transaction message for the on-line banking bill payment request before the issuer originated bill payment system communicates with the acquirer and send a response message indicating whether the transaction message was approved or denied to the authorization and settlement processing system,

wherein the authorization and settlement processing system is configured to generate remittance information for the biller when the transaction message is approved,

wherein the authorization and settlement processing system is configured to send the remittance information to the acquirer, wherein the acquirer communicates the remittance information to the biller associated with the on-line banking bill payment request, and wherein the remittance information is used to settle the bill,

wherein the issuer is the entity that originates the bill payment request, and the bill payment request is originated after a user of the portable consumer device contacts the issuer, and

wherein the issuer is a bank that issues the portable consumer device, and wherein the acquirer is a bank that has a business relationship with the biller.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the authorization and settlement processing system is configured to send the remittance information to the payment transaction processing system, and the payment transaction processing system is configured to send the remittance information to a bill processor.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the bill processor communicates the remittance information to the user.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the authorization and settlement processing system receives settlement information for the transaction message from the acquirer and is configured to send the settlement information to the issuer.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the authorization and settlement processing system is configured to send the remittance information to a cash management bank configured to settle the transaction with the biller.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the payment transaction processing system comprises a biller file, wherein the biller file comprises supported biller information.

7. The system of 1 wherein the payment transaction processing system further comprises a biller activator, an authenticator, a transaction generator, and a remittance information generator.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the payment transaction processing system is configured to receive on-line banking bill payment requests in different formats.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein the transaction message is in the same format as transaction messages for portable consumer device transactions other than on-line banking bill payment requests.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the portable consumer device is a debit card.

11. A method for processing on-line banking bill payment requests, the method comprising:

receiving an on-line banking bill payment request for paying a bill using an account associated with a portable consumer device at a transaction processor, wherein the on-line banking bill payment request is originated by an entity different from a biller associated with the bill;

generating a bill payment transaction message using the bill payment request in the transaction processor, which is between the issuer of the portable consumer device and an acquirer associated with the biller, before communicating with the acquirer associated with the biller;

forwarding the bill payment transaction message to the issuer of the portable consumer device before communicating with the acquirer associated with the biller;

obtaining an approval or denial from the issuer with respect to the on-line banking bill payment request before communicating with the acquirer associated with the biller;

generating remittance information for the biller associated with the on-line banking bill payment request upon the on-line banking bill payment request being approved; and

settling the on-line banking bill payment request between the issuer and the acquirer,

wherein the issuer is the entity that originates the bill payment request, and the bill payment request is originated after a user of the portable consumer device contacts the issuer,

wherein the issuer is a bank that issues the portable consumer device, and wherein the acquirer is a bank that has a business relationship with the biller.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending the remittance information to a bill processor.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the bill processor communicates the remittance information to a user of the portable consumer device.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending the remittance information to a cash management bank configured to settle the transaction with the biller.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending the remittance information to the acquirer associated with the biller, wherein the acquirer communicates the remittance information to the biller associated with the on-line banking bill payment request, wherein the remittance information is used to settle the bill using the portable consumer device.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the transaction processor is a first transaction processor, and wherein the method further comprises:

sending the on-line banking bill payment request to a second transaction processor configured to interact with the issuer and the acquirer to process the on-line banking bill payment request.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first transaction processor formats the on-line banking bill payment request such that it is compatible with a format used by the second transaction processor.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving activation information for the biller, the activation information needed to enable on-line banking bill payment requests associated with the biller to be processed.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein obtaining approval from the issuer comprises obtaining pre-approval from the issuer.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein the portable consumer device is a credit, debit, or stored value card.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the transaction processor is further configured to process credit and debit card transactions.

22. The method of claim 11 wherein the transaction processor is further configured to process credit and debit card transactions.

23. A method for processing on-line banking bill payment requests, the method comprising:

receiving an on-line banking bill payment request for paying a bill associated with a biller using an account associated with a portable consumer device at a transaction processor, wherein the on-line banking bill payment request is originated by an issuer of the portable consumer device;

generating a transaction message using the bill payment request in the transaction processor that is between the issuer of the portable consumer device and an acquirer associated with the biller, before communicating with the acquirer associated with the biller;

sending the transaction message to the issuer of the portable consumer device;

obtaining an approval or denial from the issuer of the portable consumer device with respect to the on-line banking bill payment request before communicating with an acquirer associated with the biller;

generating remittance information for the biller associated with the on-line banking bill payment request upon the on-line banking bill payment request being approved; and

settling the on-line banking bill payment request between the issuer and the acquirer,

wherein the issuer is a bank that issues the portable consumer device, and wherein the acquirer is a bank that has a business relationship with the biller.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising sending a confirmation to a user associated with the portable consumer device, wherein the confirmation states that the on-line bill payment request has been received and approved by the issuer.