Dynamic biller list generation

• US 7,792,749 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2000
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Checkfree Services Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Checkfree Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ganesan, Rayi
• Primary Examiner(s): Colbert; Ella
• Application Number:
  US09/734,694
• Publication Number:
  US 20020013768A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,555 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/40, 705/42, 705/35, 705/39, 705/44
• US Class Current: 705/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/00 Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• 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 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/14 specially adapted for billing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

A method, system and article of manufacture for processing bill payment information. Information identifying a payee is processed. The information is information identifying a payee to whom a payer intends to electronically direct payment. The processing determines if bills of the payee are available electronically. If the bills of the payee are available electronically, a notice is transmitted to the payer informing the payer that the bills from the payee are available electronically.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

executing computer-implemented instructions performed by one or more processors for;

receiving, by a bill presentment and payment central clearinghouse, a request that is not associated with electronic bill presentment, the request comprising information identifying a payee of a payor, and the request comprising one of (i) a payment request or (ii) a request to add the payee to a pick list associated with the payor, wherein the payor has not previously activated electronic bill presentment from the payee through the clearinghouse;

accessing, from at least one database by the clearinghouse utilizing at least a portion of the received information identifying the payee, stored billing information;

identifying, by the clearinghouse from the accessed billing information, a bill presentment information associated with the payee;

generating, by the clearinghouse, a notification of the identified bill presentment information associated with the payee; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, the generated notification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a bill presentment information associated with the payee comprises:

matching the at least a portion of the received information identifying the payee to at least a portion of the billing information; and

determining, subsequent to the matching, that the bill presentment information is available in the billing information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a bill presentment information associated with the payee comprises identifying an indication that the payee is an electronic biller capable of providing electronic bill presentment to the payor through the clearinghouse.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payor, a request to activate electronic bill presentment of bills for the payor from the payee through the clearinghouse; and

initiating activation of electronic bill presentment in response to the received request.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein initiating activation of electronic bill presentment comprises:

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payee, a notification of the request to activate electronic bill presentment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying a bill presentment information associated with the payee comprises identifying an indication that an electronic bill from the payee for the payor is available through the clearinghouse.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payor, a request to receive the electronic bill; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, information associated with the electronic bill.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payee, a notification of the request to receive the electronic bill.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payor, a request to pay the electronic bill; and

remitting, by the clearinghouse to the payee, a payment for the electronic bill.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying the payee comprises first information identifying the payee, and further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

identifying, by the clearinghouse, second information identifying the payee; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, the second information identifying the payee,

wherein the notification is transmitted to the payer with the second information identifying the payee.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

storing, by the clearinghouse in the at least one database, the information identifying the payee,

wherein identifying a bill presentment information comprises identifying a bill presentment information (i) subsequent to storing the information identifying the payee, or (ii) prior to storing the information identifying the payee.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessed billing information comprises first bill information, and further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payee, second bill information associated with bills of the payee;

identifying, by the clearinghouse from at least a portion of the second bill information, an electronic bill of the payee that is available for the payor through the clearinghouse; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, a notification of the available electronic bill of the payee.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second bill information is received subsequent to the receipt of the information identifying the payee.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified bill presentment information comprises first bill presentment information, wherein the generated notification comprises a first notification, and further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

determining, by the clearinghouse, information identifying the payor;

accessing, from the at least one database by the clearinghouse utilizing at least a portion of the determined information identifying the payor, stored electronic billing information for the payor;

identifying, by the clearinghouse from the accessed electronic billing information for the payor, an electronic bill for the payor that is available to the payor through the clearinghouse;

generating, by the clearinghouse based at least in part on the identification of the electronic bill for the payor, a second notification of a second bill presentment information; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, the second notification.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the payee comprises a first payee, and

wherein the identified electronic bill for the payor comprises an electronic bill that is a bill of a second payee different than the first payee.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the generated second notification comprises an indication that the second payee is an electronic biller capable of providing electronic bill presentment to the payor through the clearinghouse.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the generated second notification comprises an indication that the electronic bill from the second payee for the payor is available through the clearinghouse.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

storing an indication of the identified payee in the pick list associated with the payor.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the pick list comprises multiple payees identified by the payor, and further comprising executing computer-implemented instructions performed by the one or more processors for:

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, a presentation of the pick list, wherein the presentation includes the generated notification of the bill presentment information.

20. A system, comprising:

a communications interface associated with a bill presentment and payment central clearinghouse and operable to (i) receive a request that is not associated with electronic bill presentment, the request comprising information identifying a payee of a payor, and the request comprising one of (a) a payment request or (b) a request to add the payee to a pick list associated with the payor, wherein the payor has not previously activated electronic bill presentment from the payee through the clearinghouse, and (ii) transmit a notification to the payor; and

at least one processor associated with the clearinghouse and operable to (i) receive the information identifying the payee from the communications interface, (ii) access, from at least one database utilizing at least a portion of the information identifying the payee, stored billing information, (iii) identify, from the accessed billing information, a bill presentment information associated with the payee, (iv) generate the notification to the payee, the notification including the identified bill presentment information, and (v) direct the communications interface to transmit the notification to the payor.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the processor is operable to identify the bill presentment information associated with the payee by:

matching the at least a portion of the received information identifying the payee to at least a portion of the billing information; and

determining, subsequent to the matching, that the bill presentment information is available in the billing information.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the bill presentment information associated with the payee comprises an indication that the payee is an electronic biller capable of providing electronic bill presentment to the payor through the clearinghouse.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein:

the communications interface is further operable to receive, from the payor, a request to activate electronic bill presentment of bills for the payor from the payee through the clearinghouse; and

the at least one processor is further operable to initiate the activation of electronic bill presentment in response to the received request.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the processor is further operable to direct the transmission, to the payee, of a notification of the request to activate electronic bill presentment.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the bill presentment information associated with the payee comprises an indication that an electronic bill from the payee for the payor is available through the clearinghouse.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the communications interface is further operable to receive, from the payor, a request to receive the electronic bill; and

the at least one processor is further operable to direct the transmission of information associated with the electronic bill to the payor.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to direct the transmission of a notification of the request to receive the electronic bill to the payee.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein:

the communications interface is further operable to receive, from the payor, a request to pay the electronic bill; and

the at least one processor is further operable to direct the remittance, to the payee, of a payment for the electronic bill.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the information identifying the payee is first information identifying the payee,

the at least one processor is further operable to identify second information identifying the payee, and

the communications interface is further operable to transmit, to the payor, the second information identifying the payee with the notification.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to store, in the at least one database, the information identifying the payee, and

wherein the identification of the bill presentment information by the at least one processor occurs one of (i) subsequent to storing the information identifying the payee, or (ii) prior to the storing the information identifying the payee.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the billing information includes first bill information,

the communications interface is further operable to receive, from the payee, second bill information associated with bills of the payee, and

the at least one processor is further operable to (i) identify, from the second bill information, an electronic bill of the payee that is available for the payor through the clearinghouse and (ii) direct the transmission, to the payor, of a notification of the available electronic bill of the payee.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the second bill information associated with bills of the payee is received by the communications interface subsequent to the receipt of the information identifying the payee.

33. The system of claim 20, wherein:

the bill presentment information is a first bill presentment information,

wherein the notification is a first notification,

wherein the at least one processor is further operable to (i) determine information identifying the payor, (ii) access, from the at least one database utilizing at least a portion of the determined information identifying the payor, stored electronic billing information for the payor, (iii) identify, from the accessed electronic billing information for the payor, an electronic bill for the payor that is available to the payor through the clearinghouse, (iv) generate, based at least in part on the identification of the electronic bill for the payor, a second notification of a second bill presentment information, and (v) direct the transmission, to the payor, of the second notification.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the payee is a first payee, and

wherein the electronic bill for the payor is a bill of a second payee different than the first payee.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the second bill presentment information comprises an indication that the second payee is an electronic biller capable of providing electronic bill presentment to the payor through the clearinghouse.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the second bill presentment information comprises an indication that the electronic bill from the second payee for the payor is available through the clearinghouse.

37. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further operable to direct the storage of an indication of the identified payee in the pick list associated with the payor.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein:

the pick list comprises multiple payees identified by the payor,

the at least one processor is further operable to direct the communications interface to transmit a presentation of the pick list to the payor, and

the communications interface is further operable to transmit the presentation to the payor, wherein the presentation includes the generated notification.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the presentation includes the bill presentment information.

40. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code configured to be executed to facilitate:

receiving, by a bill presentment and payment central clearinghouse, a request that is not associated with electronic bill presentment, the request comprising information identifying a payee of a payor, and the request comprising one of (i) a payment request or (ii) a request to add the payee to a pick list associated with the payor, wherein the payor has not previously activated electronic bill presentment from the payee through the clearinghouse;

accessing, from at least one database by the clearinghouse utilizing at least a portion of the received information identifying the payee, stored billing information;

identifying, by the clearinghouse from the accessed billing information, a bill presentment information associated with the payee;

generating, by the clearinghouse, a notification of the identified bill presentment information associated with the payee; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse, to the payor, the generated notification.

41. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the bill presentment information associated with the payee is identified by:

matching the at least a portion of the received information identifying the payee to at least a portion of the billing information; and

determining, subsequent to the matching, that the bill presentment information is available in the billing information.

42. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the bill presentment information associated with the payee is identified by identifying an indication that the payee is an electronic biller capable of providing electronic bill presentment to the payor through the clearinghouse.

43. The computer program product of claim 42, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payor, a request to activate electronic bill presentment of bills for the payor from the payee through the clearinghouse; and

initiating activation of electronic bill presentment in response to the received request.

44. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payee, a notification of the request to activate electronic bill presentment.

45. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the bill presentment information associated with the payee is identified by identifying an indication that an electronic bill from the payee for the payor is available through the clearinghouse.

46. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payor, a request to receive the electronic bill; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, information associated with the electronic bill.

47. The computer program product of claim 46, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payee, a notification of the request to receive the electronic bill.

48. The computer program product of claim 46, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payor, a request to pay the electronic bill; and

remitting, by the clearinghouse to the payee, a payment for the electronic bill.

49. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the information identifying the payee comprises first information identifying the payee, and wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

identifying, by the clearinghouse, second information identifying the payee; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, the second information identifying the payee,

wherein the notification is transmitted to the payer with the second information identifying the payee.

50. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

storing, by the clearinghouse in the at least one database, the information identifying the payee,

wherein the bill presentment information is identified (i) subsequent to storing the information identifying the payee, or (ii) prior to storing the information identifying the payee.

51. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the accessed billing information comprises first bill information, and wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

receiving, by the clearinghouse from the payee, second bill information associated with bills of the payee;

identifying, by the clearinghouse from at least a portion of the second bill information, an electronic bill of the payee that is available for the payor through the clearinghouse; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, a notification of the available electronic bill of the payee.

52. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the second bill information is received subsequent to the receipt of the information identifying the payee.

53. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the identified bill presentment information comprises first bill presentment information, wherein the generated notification comprises a first notification, and wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

determining, by the clearinghouse, information identifying the payor;

accessing, from the at least one database by the clearinghouse utilizing at least a portion of the determined information identifying the payor, stored electronic billing information for the payor;

identifying, by the clearinghouse from the accessed electronic billing information for the payor, an electronic bill for the payor that is available to the payor through the clearinghouse;

generating, by the clearinghouse based at least in part on the identification of the electronic bill for the payor, a second notification of a second bill presentment information; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, the second notification.

54. The computer program product of claim 53, wherein the payee comprises a first payee, and

wherein the identified electronic bill for the payor comprises an electronic bill that is a bill of a second payee different than the first payee.

55. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein the generated second notification comprises an indication that the second payee is an electronic biller capable of providing electronic bill presentment to the payor through the clearinghouse.

56. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein the generated second notification comprises an indication that the electronic bill from the second payee for the payor is available through the clearinghouse.

57. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

storing an indication of the identified payee in the pick list associated with the payor.

58. The computer program product of claim 57, wherein the pick list comprises multiple payees identified by the payor, and wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to be executed to facilitate:

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, a presentation of the pick list, wherein the presentation includes the generated notification of the bill presentment information.

59. A method, comprising:

executing computer-implemented instructions performed by one or more processors for;

receiving, by a bill presentment and payment central clearinghouse, a request that is not associated with electronic bill presentment, the request comprising information identifying a payee of a payor, wherein the payor has not previously activated electronic bill presentment from the payee through the clearinghouse;

storing an indication of the identified payee in a payee pick list associated with the payor, the payee pick list comprising one or more payees identified by the payor;

accessing, from at least one database by the clearinghouse utilizing at least a portion of the received information identifying the payee, stored billing information;

identifying, by the clearinghouse from the accessed billing information, a bill presentment information associated with the payee;

generating, by the clearinghouse, a notification of the identified bill presentment information associated with the payee; and

transmitting, by the clearinghouse to the payor, a presentation of the payee pick list, the presentation comprising the generated notification.

60. A system, comprising:

a communications interface associated with a bill presentment and payment central clearinghouse and operable to (i) receive a request that is not associated with electronic bill presentment, the request comprising information identifying a payee of a payor,

wherein the payor has not previously activated electronic bill presentment from the payee through the clearinghouse, and (ii) transmit a presentation to the payor; and

at least one processor associated with the clearinghouse and operable to (i) receive the information identifying the payee from the communications interface, (ii) store an indication of the identified payee in a payee pick list associated with the payor, the payee pick list comprising one or more payees identified by the payor, (iii) access, from at least one database utilizing at least a portion of the information identifying the payee, stored billing information, (iv) identify, from the accessed billing information, a bill presentment information associated with the payee, (v) generate the notification to the payee, the notification including the identified bill presentment information, and (vi) direct the communications interface to transmit the presentation, the presentation comprising the payee pick list and the generated notification.