Electronic bill presentation and payment method and system
First Claim
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1. A method of electronically presenting bills for a customer, comprising:
- subscribing the customer to a bill presentment system for receiving electronic bills and paper bills for the customer;
notifying a plurality of billers that the customer has subscribed to the bill presentment system, the billers including electronic-based billers and paper-based billers;
receiving, at a location, an electronic bill and a paper bill for the customer from one of the billers;
scanning the paper bill received for the customer to generate electronic image information;
extracting first optical character recognition (OCR) data from the electronic image information by treating the electronic image information as a single zone;
searching the first OCR data for at least one numeric identifier of a type of the scanned paper bill;
identifying the type of the scanned paper bill by comparing the at least one numeric identifier to a list of types stored in a memory;
extracting second OCR data from the electronic image information using a template corresponding to the identified bill type, wherein the template includes zone information for locating portions of the billing information;
extracting billing information from the second OCR data;
comparing the extracted billing information with known information;
based on the comparison, combining the electronic bill and the extracted billing information into a customer bill presentation; and
presenting the customer bill presentation to the customer.
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Abstract
A comprehensive electronic bill presentment and payment system and method is described. Bills can be received by the system, in any electronic format. Bills can also be received by the system through conventional paper-based channels. Paper bills are scanned and information is extracted from the scanned bill images using OCR techniques. Bill payments can be issued using either electronic or paper-based methods. A single electronic bill presentment and payment interface is provided which shields the user from evolving billing practices.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of electronically presenting bills for a customer, comprising:
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subscribing the customer to a bill presentment system for receiving electronic bills and paper bills for the customer; notifying a plurality of billers that the customer has subscribed to the bill presentment system, the billers including electronic-based billers and paper-based billers; receiving, at a location, an electronic bill and a paper bill for the customer from one of the billers; scanning the paper bill received for the customer to generate electronic image information; extracting first optical character recognition (OCR) data from the electronic image information by treating the electronic image information as a single zone; searching the first OCR data for at least one numeric identifier of a type of the scanned paper bill; identifying the type of the scanned paper bill by comparing the at least one numeric identifier to a list of types stored in a memory; extracting second OCR data from the electronic image information using a template corresponding to the identified bill type, wherein the template includes zone information for locating portions of the billing information; extracting billing information from the second OCR data; comparing the extracted billing information with known information; based on the comparison, combining the electronic bill and the extracted billing information into a customer bill presentation; and presenting the customer bill presentation to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of electronically presenting and paying paper bills for a customer, comprising:
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receiving and processing a paper bill in a location for the customer; identifying the contents of the received paper bill; scanning the received paper bill to generate electronic image information; extracting first optical character recognition (OCR) data from the electronic image information by treating the electronic image information as a single zone; searching the first OCR data for at least one numeric identifier of a type of the scanned paper bill; identifying the type of the scanned paper bill by comparing the at least one numeric identifier to a list of types stored in a memory; extracting second OCR data from the electronic image information using a template corresponding to the identified bill type, wherein the template includes zone information for locating portions of the billing information; extracting billing information from the second OCR data; validating the extracted billing information; extracting an image of a payment remittance stub from the paper bill; and presenting the extracted billing information to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of electronically presenting and paying paper bills for a customer, comprising:
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receiving a paper bill at a location for the customer; identifying the contents of the paper bill; scanning the received paper bill to generate electronic image information; extracting first optical character recognition (OCR) data from the electronic image information by treating the electronic image information as a single zone; searching the first OCR data for at least one numeric identifier of a type of the scanned paper bill; identifying the type of the scanned paper bill by comparing the at least one numeric identifier to a list of types stored in a memory; extracting second OCR data from the electronic image information using a template corresponding to the identified bill type, wherein the template includes zone information for locating portions of the billing information; extracting billing information from the second OCR data; validating the extracted billing information; extracting an image of a payment remittance stub from the paper bill; storing the extracted image of the payment remittance stub; presenting the extracted billing information to the customer; receiving a payment instruction from the customer; printing a paper check drawing funds from an account of the customer in response to the received payment instruction; and printing the stored scanned image of the remittance stub for the paper bill. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A system for electronically presenting and paying bills for a customer comprising:
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a computer; and a storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by the computer, perform a method comprising; subscribing a customer to a bill presentment system for receiving electronic bills and paper bills for the customer; notifying a plurality of billers that the customer has subscribed to the bill presentment system, the billers including electronic-based billers and paper-based billers; receiving an electronic bill for the customer; receiving a paper bill for the customer; scanning the received paper bill to generate electronic image information; extracting first optical character recognition (OCR) data from the electronic image information by treating the electronic image information as a single zone; searching the first OCR data for at least one numeric identifier of a type of the scanned paper bill; identifying the type of the scanned paper bill by comparing the at least one numeric identifier to a list of types stored in a memory; extracting second OCR data from the electronic image information using a template corresponding to the identified bill type, wherein the template includes zone information for locating portions of the billing information; extracting billing information from the second OCR data; validating the extracted billing information; and transmitting to the customer information representing the electronic bill and the extracted billing information. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification