Invoiceless trading and settlement method and system
First Claim
1. A method for a customer to obtain an early payment discount for an order from a supplier by paying the supplier via a settlement bank, the method comprising the steps of:
- establishing by the customer an agreement with the settlement bank for settling orders placed by the customer, the agreement including a service fee and a rate of interest to be paid to the settlement bank by the customer in exchange for the settlement bank paying suppliers for orders placed by the customer;
transmitting from the customer an order message including an order for an item to the supplier;
receiving by the customer, in response to the order message, a shipping notification indicating that the order has been filled;
after the shipping notification is received by the customer, transmitting by the customer a payment message to the settlement bank to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less an early payment discount agreed upon between the customer and the supplier based on the supplier receiving payment for the order within a predetermined time period; and
after the discounted payment to the supplier for the order has been made on a first date, paying by the customer to the settlement bank a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee and an interest amount calculated from the rate of interest for a time period between the first and second dates.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems consistent with the present invention overcome the shortcomings of existing trading systems by providing an invoiceless trading system that creates incentives for customers to pay suppliers within a predetermined period of time, such as a settlement period. Specifically, the invoiceless trading system enables a customer to obtain a discount on orders placed with suppliers in return for an immediate payment (e.g., within 24 hours) by the customer. The supplier receives payment within the predetermined period of time, and the customer receives additional cash benefits by providing an early payment to the supplier. To communicate with and transfer funds between customers and suppliers, the invoiceless trading system may use an electronic gateway and a settlement bank. In addition to creating an incentive to embrace e-commerce, both customers and suppliers avoid the need to manually process orders and use invoices to complete transactions.
52 Citations
64 Claims
-
1. A method for a customer to obtain an early payment discount for an order from a supplier by paying the supplier via a settlement bank, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing by the customer an agreement with the settlement bank for settling orders placed by the customer, the agreement including a service fee and a rate of interest to be paid to the settlement bank by the customer in exchange for the settlement bank paying suppliers for orders placed by the customer;
transmitting from the customer an order message including an order for an item to the supplier;
receiving by the customer, in response to the order message, a shipping notification indicating that the order has been filled;
after the shipping notification is received by the customer, transmitting by the customer a payment message to the settlement bank to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less an early payment discount agreed upon between the customer and the supplier based on the supplier receiving payment for the order within a predetermined time period; and
after the discounted payment to the supplier for the order has been made on a first date, paying by the customer to the settlement bank a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee and an interest amount calculated from the rate of interest for a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method for a settlement bank to settle an order for a customer so that the customer obtains an early payment discount for the order from a supplier by paying the supplier by a funds provider via the settlement bank within a predetermined time, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing by the settlement bank a settlement bank agreement with the customer for settling the order placed by the customer with the supplier by paying the supplier using funds provided by the funds provider; and
receiving, by the settlement bank, a payment message from the customer to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order on a first date using funds from the funds provider, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less the early payment discount, the early payment discount being based on a fiscal attribute of the customer, wherein after the first date, the customer pays to the funds provider by a second date a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus a service fee established between the customer and the funds provider and an interest amount calculated from a rate of interest established between the customer and the funds provider based on a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A method for a settlement bank to settle an order for a customer so that the customer obtains an early payment discount for the order from a supplier by paying the supplier by a funds provider via the settlement bank, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing by the settlement bank a settlement bank agreement with the customer for settling orders placed by the customer by paying suppliers using funds provided by the funds provider; and
receiving by the settlement bank a payment message from the customer to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order on a first date using funds from the funds provider, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less an early payment discount agreed upon between the customer and the supplier based on the supplier receiving payment for the order within a predetermined period of time, wherein after the first date, the customer pays to the funds provider by a second date a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus a service fee and an interest amount calculated based on a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A method for a settlement bank to settle an order for a customer so that the customer obtains an early payment discount for the order from a supplier by paying the supplier via the settlement bank, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing by the customer an agreement with the settlement bank for settling orders placed by the customer, the agreement including a service fee and a rate of interest to be paid to the settlement bank by the customer in exchange for the settlement bank paying suppliers for orders placed by the customer;
receiving by the settlement bank a payment message from the customer to the settlement bank to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less an early payment discount agreed upon between the customer and the supplier based on the supplier receiving payment for the order within a predetermined time period; and
after the discounted payment to the supplier for the order has been made on a first date, paying by the customer to the settlement bank a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee and an interest amount calculated from the rate of interest for a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
-
34. A method for a funds provider to pay a supplier via a settlement bank for an order placed by a customer so that customer obtains an early payment discount when the supplier receives payment for the customer'"'"'s order within a predetermined time, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing by the funds provider a funding agreement with the customer, the funding agreement including a service fee and a rate of interest to be paid by the customer to the funds provider for providing funds via the settlement bank to the supplier, wherein the customer instructs the settlement bank to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order on a first date using funds from the funds provider, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less the early payment discount based on a fiscal attribute of the customer;
after the customer instructs the settlement bank, providing funds by the funds provider to the settlement bank for paying the discounted payment to the supplier for the customer'"'"'s order by the first date; and
after the first date, receiving by the funds provider from the customer by a second date a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee and an interest amount calculated from the rate of interest based on a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. A method for a funds provider to pay a supplier via a settlement bank to settle an order for a customer so that the customer obtains an early payment discount for the order from the supplier by paying the supplier via the settlement bank, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing by the funds provider an agreement with the customer for providing funds for settling orders placed by the customer, the agreement including a service fee and a rate of interest to be paid to the funds provider by the customer in exchange for providing funds to the settlement bank for paying suppliers for orders placed by the customer;
providing funds by the funds provider to the settlement bank to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order on a first date, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less an early payment discount agreed upon between the customer and the supplier based on the supplier receiving payment for the order within a predetermined time period; and
after the first date, receiving from the customer by the funds provider a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee and an interest amount calculated from the rate of interest for a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
-
-
51. A method for a funds provider to pay a supplier via a settlement bank for an order placed by a customer so that the customer obtains an early payment discount, the method comprising the steps of:
-
establishing by the funds provider a funding agreement with the customer, the funding agreement including a service fee and a rate of interest to be paid by the customer to the funds provider for providing funds via the settlement bank to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less an early payment discount agreed upon between the customer and the supplier based on the supplier receiving payment for the order within a predetermined period of time; and
after the discounted payment to the supplier for the order has been made on a first date, receiving from the customer by the funds provider by a second date a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee and an interest amount calculated from the rate of interest based on a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
-
-
58. A method for enabling a customer to obtain an early payment discount for an order from a supplier by paying the supplier via a settlement bank using an electronic gateway, the method comprising the steps of:
-
permitting the customer to establish an agreement with the settlement bank for settling orders placed by the customer, the agreement including a service fee and a rate of interest to be paid to the settlement bank by the customer in exchange for the settlement bank paying suppliers for orders placed by the customer;
permitting the customer to transmit an order message including an order for an item to the supplier;
permitting the customer to receive, in response to the order message, a shipping notification indicating that the order has been filled;
after the shipping notification is received by the customer, permitting the customer to transmit a payment message to the settlement bank to make a discounted payment to the supplier for the order, the discounted payment being an amount equal to a cost for the order less an early payment discount agreed upon between the customer and the supplier based on the supplier receiving payment for the order within a predetermined time period; and
after the discounted payment to the supplier for the order has been made on a first date, permitting the customer to pay to the settlement bank a negotiated payment equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee and an interest amount calculated from the rate of interest for a time period between the first and second dates. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
-
Specification