System, method, and computer program product for receiving and processing payments

• US 7,627,524 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2005
• Issued: 12/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: U S Payments LLC
• Original Assignee: US Payments LLC (U.S. Payments)
• Inventors: Bennett, Jim, Neece, Tim, Thompson, Jamie
• Primary Examiner(s): Hamilton; Lalita M
• Application Number:
  US11/321,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20060173779A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,433 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/39, 705/40
• US Class Current: 705/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product is provided that is capable of receiving and processing payments from a payor. In one embodiment, the system includes a processing element capable of identifying a payor account, the payor account being associated with a payor and with one of a plurality of billers, and the payor account comprising payor account data. The processing element also is capable of accessing the payor account data. The processing element also is capable of receiving data representing a payment from the payor to satisfy a financial obligation evidenced by the payor account. The processing element is further capable of sending a notice to the one of a plurality of billers indicating that the payment has been received.

Claims

1. A system for receiving and processing payments from a payor to a third-party biller, comprising:

a processing element capable of identifying a payor account, the payor account being associated with a payor and with one of a plurality of third-party billers, and the payor account comprising payor account data, said processing element also is capable of accessing the payor account data collected and stored by the one of a plurality of third-party billers;

a remote kiosk in operable communication with said processing element and structured to operate as an interface for the payor to input data;

said processing element also being capable of receiving, through said remote kiosk, data representing a payment from the payor to satisfy a financial obligation evidenced by the payor account, and wherein said processing element is further capable of sending an electronic notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers distinct from the payment indicating that the payment has been received.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is further capable of proposing to the payor a plurality of biller categories, wherein each one of the plurality of third-party billers is associated with at least one of the plurality of biller categories, said processing element being capable of receiving data representing the one of the plurality of biller categories selected by the payor, said processing element being capable of proposing to the payor at least one third-party biller associated with the selected one of the plurality of biller categories, said processing element being capable of receiving data representing the third-party biller selected by the payor, said processing element being capable of receiving data representing an account identifier associated with the payor account, and wherein said processing element is capable of verifying the account identifier.

3. The system according to claim 2 wherein said processing element is capable of verifying the account identifier by at least one of using a verification algorithm associated with the third-party biller selected by the payor or matching verifying data against the payor account data.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the payor account data comprises data representing information from the group consisting of an amount due, a payment due date, the amount of prior payments, and the dates of prior payments.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is capable of at least one of accessing the payor account data from a data cache received periodically from the one of a plurality of third-party billers or receiving the payor account data in real-time from the one of a plurality of third-party billers.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is capable of processing the payment by sending instructions to transfer funds in an amount equal to the payment from the payor to a bank account of the one of a plurality of third-party billers.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is capable of sending a notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers by at least one of periodically sending batch payment data to the one of a plurality of third-party billers or sending real-time payment data for each payor to the one of a plurality of third-party billers when the payment is received.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is capable of sending a notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers upon receipt of a payment from a payor in a predefined subset of payors.

9. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is capable of enforcing a payor-specific payment limitation.

10. The system according to claim 9 wherein the payor-specific payment limitation specifies that the payment must be in paper currency.

11. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is capable of proposing to the payor at least one of a plurality of targeted messages, wherein the at least one of a plurality of targeted messages that is proposed is determined based upon at least one of a plurality of attributes.

12. The system according to claim 11 wherein the at least one of a plurality of attributes is selected from the group consisting of the date the payment is received in relation to the date the payment is due, payor account data, the one of a plurality of third-party billers, and one of a plurality of biller categories.

13. The system according to claim 11 wherein the at least one of a plurality of targeted messages comprises an offer to the payor to subscribe to a service option from the one of a plurality of third-party billers to which the payor does not currently subscribe.

14. The system according to claim 13 wherein said processing element is capable of receiving the payor'"'"'s acceptance of the subscription offer, and wherein said processing element is further capable of sending a notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers indicating the payor'"'"'s acceptance.

15. The system according to claim 1 wherein said processing element is capable of counting the paper currency received in a receptacle from the payor to determine the amount of paper currency received from the payor, the receptacle having a maximum capacity of paper currency that can be received, said processing element is further capable of calculating a capacity percentage, the capacity percentage being equal to the amount of paper currency received in the receptacle divided by the maximum capacity of paper currency that can be received.

16. The system according to claim 15 wherein said processing element is capable of sending a notification when the capacity percentage reaches a predefined value.

17. The system according to claim 15 wherein said processing element is capable of storing data representing the capacity percentage as a function of elapsed time, said processing element also being capable of estimating, based at least in part upon the stored data, the amount of time that will elapse before the capacity percentage will reach a predefined value, and wherein said processing element is further capable of sending a notification based upon the estimated elapsed time.

18. A computer program product for processing payments from a payor to a third-party biller, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code stored therein, the computer program product being in operable communication with a remote kiosk, the computer-readable program code comprising:

an executable portion for identifying a payor account, the payor account being associated with a payor and with one of a plurality of third-party billers, and the payor account comprising payor account data, said executable portion accesses the payor account data collected and stored by the one of a plurality of third-party billers, said executable portion receives, through the remote kiosk, data representing a payment from the payor to satisfy a financial obligation evidenced by the payor account, and said executable portion sends an electronic notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers distinct from the payment indicating that the payment has been received.

19. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion identifies the payor account by proposing to the payor a plurality of biller categories, wherein each one of the plurality of third-party billers is associated with at least one of the plurality of biller categories, said executable portion receives data representing the one of the plurality of biller categories selected by the payor, said executable portion proposes to the payor at least one third-party biller associated with the selected one of the plurality of biller categories, said executable portion receives data representing the third-party biller selected by the payor, said executable portion receives data representing an account identifier associated with the payor account, and wherein said executable portion verifies the account identifier.

20. The computer program product according to claim 19 wherein said executable portion verifies the account identifier by at least one of using a verification algorithm associated with the third-party biller selected by the payor or matching verifying data against the payor account data.

21. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion accesses the payor account data by at least one of accessing a data cache received periodically from the one of a plurality of third-party billers or receiving the payor account data in real-time from the one of a plurality of third-party billers.

22. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion processes the payment by sending instructions to transfer funds in an amount equal to the payment from the payor to a bank account of the one of a plurality of third-party billers.

23. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion sends the notice by at least one of periodically sending batch payment data for a plurality of payors to the one of a plurality of third-party billers or sending real-time payment data for each payor to the one of a plurality of third-party billers when the payment is received.

24. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion sends the notice upon receipt of a payment from a payor in a predefined subset of payors.

25. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion enforces a payor-specific payment limitation.

26. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion proposes to the payor at least one of a plurality of targeted messages, wherein the at least one of a plurality of targeted messages that is proposed is determined based upon at least one of a plurality of attributes.

27. The computer program product according to claim 26 wherein the at least one of a plurality of targeted messages comprises an offer to the payor to subscribe to a service option from the one of a plurality of third-party billers to which the payor does not currently subscribe.

28. The computer program product according to claim 27 wherein said executable portion receives the payor'"'"'s acceptance of the subscription offer, and wherein said executable portion sends a notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers indicating the payor'"'"'s acceptance.

29. The computer program product according to claim 18 wherein said executable portion counts the paper currency received in a receptacle from the payor to determine the amount of paper currency received from the payor, the receptacle having a maximum capacity of paper currency that can be received, and wherein said executable portion calculates a capacity percentage, the capacity percentage being equal to the amount of paper currency received in the receptacle divided by the maximum capacity of paper currency that can be received.

30. The computer program product according to claim 29 wherein said executable portion sends a notification when the capacity percentage reaches a predefined value.

31. The computer program product according to claim 29 wherein said executable portion storing data representing the capacity percentage as a function of elapsed time, said executable portion estimates, based at least in part upon the stored data, the amount of time that will elapse before the capacity percentage will reach a predefined value, and wherein said executable portion sends a notification based upon the estimated elapsed time.

32. A method of receiving and processing payments from a payor to a third-party biller, comprising:

identifying a payor account, the payor account being associated with a payor and with one of a plurality of third-party billers, and the payor account comprising payor account data;

accessing the payor account data collected and stored by the one of a plurality of third-party billers;

providing a remote kiosk in structured to operate as an interface for the payor to input data;

receiving a payment through the remote kiosk from the payor to satisfy a financial obligation evidenced by the payor account;

processing the payment; and

sending an electronic notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers distinct from the payment indicating that the payment has been received.

33. The method according to claim 32 wherein said identifying step comprises:

proposing to the payor a plurality of biller categories, wherein each one of the plurality of third-party billers is associated with at least one of the plurality of biller categories;

receiving data representing the one of the plurality of biller categories selected by the payor;

proposing to the payor at least one third-party biller associated with the selected one of the plurality of biller categories;

receiving data representing the third-party biller selected by the payor;

receiving data representing an account identifier associated with the payor account; and

verifying the account identifier.

34. The method according to claim 33 wherein said verifying step comprises at least one of using a verification algorithm associated with the third-party biller selected by the payor or matching verifying data against the payor account data.

35. The method according to claim 32 wherein said accessing step comprises at least one of accessing the payor account data from a data cache received periodically from the one of a plurality of third-party billers or receiving the payor account data in real-time from the one of a plurality of third-party billers.

36. The method according to claim 32 wherein said processing step comprises sending instructions to transfer funds in an amount equal to the payment from the payor to a bank account of the one of a plurality of third-party billers.

37. The method according to claim 32 wherein said sending step comprises at least one of periodically sending batch payment data for a plurality of payors to the one of a plurality of third-party billers or sending real-time payment data for each payor to the one of a plurality of third-party billers when the payment is received.

38. The method according to claim 32 wherein said sending step is performed upon receipt of a payment from a payor in a predefined subset of payors.

39. The method according to claim 32 further comprising enforcing a payor-specific payment limitation.

40. The method according to claim 32 further comprising proposing to the payor at least one of a plurality of targeted messages, wherein the at least one of a plurality of targeted messages that is proposed is determined based upon at least one of a plurality of attributes.

41. The method according to claim 40 wherein the at least one of a plurality of targeted messages comprises an offer to the payor to subscribe to a service option from the one of a plurality of third-party billers to which the payor does not currently subscribe.

42. The method according to claim 41 further comprising:

receiving the payor'"'"'s acceptance of the subscription offer; and

sends a notice to the one of a plurality of third-party billers indicating the payor'"'"'s acceptance.

43. The method according to claim 32 further comprising:

counting the paper currency received in a receptacle from the payor to determine the amount of paper currency received from the payor, wherein the receptacle has a maximum capacity of paper currency that can be deposited; and

calculating a capacity percentage, the capacity percentage being equal to the amount of paper currency received in the receptacle divided by the maximum capacity of paper currency that can be received in the receptacle.

44. The method according to claim 43 further comprising sending a notification when the capacity percentage reaches a predefined value.

45. The method according to claim 43 further comprising:

storing data representing the capacity percentage as a function of elapsed time;

estimating, based at least in part upon the stored data, the amount of time that will elapse before the capacity percentage will reach a predefined value; and

sending a notification based upon the estimated elapsed time.