Method and system of combined billing of multiple accounts on a single statement
First Claim
1. A method of combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts, comprising:
- receiving account data for the plurality of customer accounts electronically from time-to-time by a service provider from each of a plurality of billers;
acquiring ownership of receivables represented by the account data by the service provider under contractual arrangements with the plurality of billers upon receipt of the account data;
automatically calculating account charges for the plurality of customer accounts from the account data;
aggregating the account charges for at least one customer on the plurality of customer accounts;
automatically formatting a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges; and
automatically rendering the combined bill to the customer;
wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts is a recurring bill account, wherein the customer continues to purchase products or services from at least one of the billers after the service provider acquires ownership of the receivables associated with the account data received, and wherein the service provider acquires ownership of receivables associated with the subsequently purchased products or services after receiving account data for the customer account from the at least one biller.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computerized method and system for combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts includes computer applications which automatically assemble and aggregate account charges, such as usage charges, fees, finance charges, discounts, rebates and rewards, for the customer on the plurality of accounts. The system also automatically formats a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges and renders the combined bill to the customer. The account charges are automatically calculated by a computer application from account data for the customer'"'"'s accounts, which is transmitted to the computer application from one or more storage devices, for example from vendors of energy, such as electricity and gas service, retail, such as credit cards, and communications, such as telephone and Internet service.
297 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method of combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts, comprising:
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receiving account data for the plurality of customer accounts electronically from time-to-time by a service provider from each of a plurality of billers; acquiring ownership of receivables represented by the account data by the service provider under contractual arrangements with the plurality of billers upon receipt of the account data; automatically calculating account charges for the plurality of customer accounts from the account data; aggregating the account charges for at least one customer on the plurality of customer accounts; automatically formatting a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges; and automatically rendering the combined bill to the customer; wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts is a recurring bill account, wherein the customer continues to purchase products or services from at least one of the billers after the service provider acquires ownership of the receivables associated with the account data received, and wherein the service provider acquires ownership of receivables associated with the subsequently purchased products or services after receiving account data for the customer account from the at least one biller. - 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)
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46. A system for combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts, comprising:
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means for receiving account data for the plurality of customer accounts electronically from time-to-time by a service provider from each of a plurality of billers; means for acquiring ownership of receivables represented by the account data by the service provider under contractual arrangements with the plurality of billers upon receipt of the account data; means for automatically calculating account charges for the plurality of customer accounts from the account data; means for aggregating the account charges for a least one customer on the plurality of customer accounts; means coupled to the aggregating means for automatically formatting a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges; and means associated with the formatting means for rendering the combined bill to the customer; wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts is a recurring bill account, wherein the customer continues to purchase products or services from at least one of the billers after the service provider acquires ownership of the receivables associated with the account data received, and wherein the service provider acquires ownership of receivables associated with the subsequently purchased products or services after receiving account data for the customer account from the at least one biller. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49)
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50. A method of combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts by a service provider, comprising:
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entering contractual arrangements with a plurality of billers to have their account data for the plurality of customer accounts delivered to a service provider electronically; receiving the account data electronically from time-to-time during a billing cycle by the service provider from each of the billers, each reading out transactions one at a time to an accounts receivable computer system of the service provider; storing the account data at a customer level in a computer database of the service provider; acquiring ownership by the service provider of receivables represented by the account data under the contractual arrangement when the account data is received by the service provider; remitting payment for the receivables to the billers by the service provider under the contractual arrangement within a pre-determined period after receiving the account data; automatically calculating account charges for the plurality of customer accounts from the account data; aggregating account charges for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts; automatically generating a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges at a pre-determined cycle time for the customer'"'"'s account; and automatically rendering the combined bill to the customer as a debt of the customer to the service provider as owner of the receivable represented by the combined bill; wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts is a recurring bill account, wherein the customer continues to purchase products or services from at least one of the billers after the service provider acquires ownership of the receivables associated with the account data received, and wherein the service provider acquires ownership of receivables associated with the subsequently purchased products or services after receiving account data for the customer account from the at least one biller.
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51. A system of combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts by a service provider, comprising:
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means for entering contractual arrangements with a plurality of billers to have their account data for the plurality of customer accounts delivered to a service provider electronically; means for receiving the account data electronically from time-to-time during a billing cycle by the service provider from each of the billers, each reading out transactions one at a time to an accounts receivable computer system of the service provider; means for storing the account data at a customer level in a computer database of the service provider; means for acquiring ownership by the service provider of receivables represented by the account data under the contractual arrangement when the account data is received by the service provider; means for remitting payment for the receivables to the billers by the service provider within a pre-determined period after receiving the account data; means for automatically calculating account charges for the plurality of customer accounts from the account data; means for aggregating account charges for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts; means for automatically generating a combined bill for the customer at a pre-determined cycle time for the customer'"'"'s account; means for automatically formatting a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges; and means for automatically rendering the combined bill to the customer as a debt to the service provider as owner of the receivable represented by the combined bill; wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts is a recurring bill account, wherein the customer continues to purchase products or services from at least one of the billers after the service provider acquires ownership of the receivables associated with the account data received, and wherein the service provider acquires ownership of receivables associated with the subsequently purchased products or services after receiving account data for the customer account from the at least one biller.
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52. A method of combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts by a financial institution, comprising:
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entering contractual arrangements with a plurality of billers to have their account data for the plurality of customer accounts delivered to a financial institution electronically; periodically receiving the account data electronically during a billing cycle by the financial institution from each of the billers, each reading out transactions one at a time to an accounts receivable computer system of the financial institution; storing the account data at a customer level in a computer database of the financial institution; acquiring ownership by the financial institution of receivables represented by the account data under the contractual arrangement when the account data is periodically received by the financial institution; remitting payment for the receivables to the billers by the financial institution under the contractual arrangement within a pre-determined period after receiving the account data; automatically calculating account charges for the plurality of customer accounts from the account data; aggregating account charges for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts; automatically generating a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges at a pre-determined cycle time for the customer'"'"'s account; and automatically rendering the combined bill to the customer as a debt of the customer to the service provider as owner of the receivable represented by the combined bill; wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts is a recurring bill account, wherein the customer continues to purchase products or services from the at least one of the billers after the service provider acquires ownership of the receivables associated with the account data received, and wherein the service provider acquires ownership of receivables associated with the subsequently purchased products or services after receiving account data for the customer account from the at least one biller.
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53. A system of combined billing for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts by a service provider, comprising:
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means for entering contractual arrangements with a plurality of billers to have their account data for the plurality of customer accounts delivered to a service provider electronically; means for periodically receiving the account data electronically from time-to-time during a billing cycle by the service provider from each of the billers, each reading out transactions one at a time to an accounts receivable computer system of the service provider; means for storing the account data at a customer level in a computer database of the service provider; means for acquiring ownership by the service provider of receivables represented by the account data under the contractual arrangement when the account data is periodically received by the service provider; means for remitting payment for the receivables to the billers by the service provider within a pre-determined period after receiving the account data; means for automatically calculating account charges for the plurality of customer accounts from the account data; means for aggregating account charges for at least one customer on a plurality of customer accounts; means for automatically generating a combined bill for the customer at a pre-determined cycle time for the customer'"'"'s account; means for automatically formatting a combined bill for the customer from the aggregated account charges; and means for automatically rendering the combined bill to the customer as a debt to the service provider as owner of the receivable represented by the combined bill; wherein at least one of the plurality of accounts is a recurring bill account, wherein the customer continues to purchase goods or services from the at least one of the billers after the service provider acquires ownership of the receivables associated with the account data received, and wherein the service provider acquires ownership of receivables associated with the subsequently purchased products or services after receiving account data for the customer account from the at least one biller.
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Specification