Integrated bill presentment and payment system and method of operating the same
First Claim
1. An integrated system for the presentation and payment of bills, comprising:
- at least one processor; and
a memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing;
a first module which, when executed by the processor, receives billing information from billers, from biller service providers, and from biller-side consolidators;
a second module which, when executed by the processor, sends billing information to customers, to customer service providers, and to customer-side consolidators, wherein said second module is also capable of receiving payment instructions from customers, from customer service providers, and from customer-side consolidators;
a third module which, when executed by the processor, initiates payment in response to payment instructions received from customers, from customer service providers, and from customer-side consolidators, the third module configured to select a payment type based on payment type preference criteria maintained by the system; and
a connection logic module which interconnects said first, second, and third modules and facilitates communication therebetween, the connection logic module configured to, when executed by the processor, detect the extent of electronic bill presentment and payment service to be provided by each of the first, second, and third module and to initiate that provision of service of each module, and to;
receive a request from a customer to pay a biller;
determine whether the bill should be paid through a biller payment provider or a customer payment provider; and
if the bill is not determined to be paid through the biller payment provider or the customer payment provider, initiate paying the biller using the selected payment type.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated bill presentment and payment system and an associated method are disclosed which can accomplish the entire process of bill presentment and payment directly with billers, customers, and their respective financial institutions, but which are also capable of interfacing with independent biller service providers, independent customer service providers, independent consolidators, and/or independent payment providers. The integrated bill presentment and payment system and method of the present invention can link directly to billers and customers, and can also access and distribute billing information from third party biller service providers or consolidators and participate in the distribution of the billing information to customers through third party customer service providers and consolidators. The integrated bill presentment and payment system and method of the present invention can make payments on behalf of customers itself, and can also forward payment instructions to third party payment providers if required.
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. An integrated system for the presentation and payment of bills, comprising:
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at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing; a first module which, when executed by the processor, receives billing information from billers, from biller service providers, and from biller-side consolidators; a second module which, when executed by the processor, sends billing information to customers, to customer service providers, and to customer-side consolidators, wherein said second module is also capable of receiving payment instructions from customers, from customer service providers, and from customer-side consolidators; a third module which, when executed by the processor, initiates payment in response to payment instructions received from customers, from customer service providers, and from customer-side consolidators, the third module configured to select a payment type based on payment type preference criteria maintained by the system; and a connection logic module which interconnects said first, second, and third modules and facilitates communication therebetween, the connection logic module configured to, when executed by the processor, detect the extent of electronic bill presentment and payment service to be provided by each of the first, second, and third module and to initiate that provision of service of each module, and to; receive a request from a customer to pay a biller; determine whether the bill should be paid through a biller payment provider or a customer payment provider; and if the bill is not determined to be paid through the biller payment provider or the customer payment provider, initiate paying the biller using the selected payment type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A system which facilitates the interconnection of mutually incompatible electronic bill presentment and payment system components, comprising:
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at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor and storing; a biller-side module which, when executed by the processor, receives billing information from billers, biller service providers, and consolidators, said billing information being representative of discrete bills originating with a plurality of different billers; a customer-side module which, when executed by the processor, provides said billing information to customers, customer service providers, and consolidators, and receives payment information from customers, customer service providers, and consolidators, said payment information being in satisfaction of discrete bills originating with a plurality of different billers; and a payment module which, when executed by the processor, initiates the payment of at least some of the discrete bills originating with a plurality of different billers in response to said payment information, the payment module configured to select a payment type based on payment type preference criteria maintained by the system, with the biller-side module, the customer-side module and the payment module coupled to a connection logic module which, when executed by the processor; receives a request from a customer to pay a biller; determines whether the bill should be paid through a biller payment provider or a customer payment provider; and if the bill is not determined to be paid through the biller payment provider or the customer payment provider, initiate paying the biller using the selected payment type.
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53. A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code storing; a first module which, when executed by a processor, receives billing information from billers, from biller service providers, and from biller-side consolidators; a second module which, when executed by the processor, sends billing information to customers, to customer service providers, and to customer-side consolidators, wherein said second module also receives payment instructions from customers, from customer service providers, and from customer-side consolidators; a third module which, when executed by the processor, initiates payment in response to payment instructions received from customers, from customer service providers, and from customer-side consolidators; and a connection logic module which interconnects said first, second, and third modules and facilitates communication therebetween, the connection logic module configured to, when executed by the processor, detect the extent of electronic bill presentment and payment service to be provided by each of the first, second, and third module and to initiate that provision of service of each module, and to; receive a request from a customer to pay a biller; determine whether the bill should be paid through a biller payment provider or a customer payment provider; and if the bill is not determined to be paid through the biller payment provider or the customer, payment provider, initiate paying the biller using the selected payment type.
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54. A computer program product, comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code storing; a biller-side module which, when executed by a processor, receives billing information from billers, biller service providers, and consolidators, said billing information being representative of discrete bills originating with a plurality of different billers; a customer-side module which, when executed by the processor, provides said billing information to customers, customer service providers, and consolidators, and receives payment information from customers, customer service providers, and consolidators, said payment information being in satisfaction of discrete bills originating with a plurality of different billers; and a payment module which, when executed by the processor, initiates the payment of at least some of the discrete bills originating with a plurality of different billers in response to said payment information, with the biller-side module, the customer-side module and the payment module coupled to a connection logic module which, when executed by the processor; receives a request from a customer to pay a biller; determines whether the bill should be paid through a biller payment provider or a customer payment provider; and if the bill is not determined to be paid through the biller payment provider or the customer payment provider, initiates paying the biller using the selected payment type.
Specification