Directing payments to satisfy periodic financial obligations

• US 9,129,268 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2010
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yodlee Incorporated (Envestnet Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Yodlee Incorporated (Envestnet Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hazlehurst, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayles, Ashford S
• Application Number:
  US12/724,749
• Publication Number:
  US 20100250416A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,002 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/00 Payment architectures, schemes or protocols apparatus for performing or posting payment transactions G07F7/08, G07F19/00; electronic cash registers G07G1/12
• 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 20/26 Debit schemes, e.g. "pay now"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/405 Establishing or using transaction specific rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

Methods, computer program products, and systems, related to financial payments are provided. Data corresponding to payments made by a first financial institution is analyzed to identify periodic financial obligations and a specific biller associated with each obligation. A visual user interface including a mechanism through which a user can submit a make-payments notification is generated and provided to a client computer. A first make-payments notification identifying an obligation and a specific biller is received. A determination is made as to whether the specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the obligation identified in the make-payments notification, and if so, a cease-billing instruction is caused to be sent to the specific biller. A billing instruction, instructing the first specific biller to automatically request payments from a second financial institution to satisfy the obligation, is caused to be sent to the first specific biller.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

collecting, in a first computer system, data corresponding to one or more user transactions from a second computer system of a first financial institution, where each transaction is an individual payment made by the first financial institution, wherein the data describes respective individual payments;

extracting, from the data corresponding to the one or more user transactions, information that identifies one or more periodic financial obligations of a first user, wherein each periodic financial obligation is a regularly repeating obligation that the first user owes to a particular biller;

identifying, from the extracted information, the one or more periodic financial obligations of the first user;

associating, in the first computer system, a specific biller with each identified periodic financial obligation;

providing a visual user interface to a client computer of the first user, where the visual user interface identifies one or more specific billers, where each specific biller is associated with at least one of the periodic financial obligations of the first user, and where the visual user interface provides a mechanism through which the first user can submit a make-payments notification identifying one of the one or more specific billers;

receiving, in the first computer system and from the first user, a first make-payments notification, where the first make-payments notification identifies a first specific biller associated with a first periodic financial obligation of the first user and a second financial institution for satisfying the first periodic financial obligation of the first user;

determining, in the first computer system, that the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, wherein automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic obligation includes the first specific biller charging or debiting an account of the first user at the first financial institution without direct user input; and

in response to determining that the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, sending a first cease-billing instruction to the first specific biller, where the first cease-billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to stop requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, and sending a first billing instruction to the first specific biller, where the first billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to automatically request payments from a second financial institution to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation;

collecting, in the first computer system, additional data corresponding to one or more additional user transactions; and

examining, by the first computer system, the additional data to determine when the first financial institution has stopped making payments to the first specific biller to meet the first periodic financial obligation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the data corresponding to one or more user transactions includes a description of each user transaction; and

identifying a periodic financial obligation includes using the descriptions of one or more user transactions to identify automatic payments.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data corresponding to one or more user transactions includes a description of each user transaction; and

identifying a periodic financial obligation includes using the descriptions of one or more user transactions to identify periodic payments.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

categorizing one or more user transactions into a respective transaction category, and

wherein identifying a periodic financial obligation includes using the transaction categories of one or more user transactions.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

identifying a periodic financial obligation includes using the identity of a second specific biller with whom the transaction is conducted.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first specific biller is further associated with a second periodic financial obligation of the first user; and

the method further comprises;

determining whether the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the second periodic financial obligation from a third financial institution, and if so, causing a second cease-billing instruction to be sent to the first specific biller, where the second cease-billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to stop requesting payments to satisfy the second periodic financial obligation from the third financial institution; and

causing a second billing instruction to be sent to the first specific biller, where the second billing instruction instructs the second biller to automatically request payments from a second financial institution to satisfy the second periodic financial obligation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving in the first computer system an enrollment notification, where the enrollment notification indicates that the first user authorizes the collection of the data corresponding to the one or more automatic user transactions.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for each identified periodic financial obligation, predicting in the first computer system a future value of revenue for the second financial institution associated with making payments to a specific biller to meet the periodic financial obligation.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

calculating an incentive associated with each identified specific biller, where the incentive is a benefit the first user will receive for requesting that the second financial institution make payments to the specific biller to meet one or more periodic financial obligations, where the incentive is calculated based on the predicted future value of revenue for the second financial institution associated with making payments to the specific biller to meet the one or more periodic financial obligations; and

wherein the visual user interface further displays the incentive associated with each identified specific biller.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

calculating a fee amount;

causing a payment request to be sent to the second financial institution, where the payment request specifies a payment equal to the fee amount; and

receiving a notification in the first computer system that a payment equal to the fee amount has been received from the second financial institution.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting in a first computer system data corresponding to one or more user transactions through a first financial institution;

analyzing the data to determine revenue received by the second financial institution as a result of the payments made to meet the first periodic financial obligation;

generating, in the first computer system, a report of the received revenue; and

causing the report to be sent to the second financial institution.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying a user transaction as a periodic financial obligation based on a description of the user transaction, the description describing the user transaction as a monthly service charge.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying a user transaction as a periodic financial obligation based on a categorization of the user transaction as a periodic payment.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying a user transaction as a periodic financial obligation based on an identity of a biller associated with the user transaction.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying, from the one or more user transactions, a plurality of user transactions that each identify a particular biller and a respective payment of a similar amount; and

identifying the plurality of user transactions as periodic financial obligations.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying, from the one or more user transactions, a plurality of user transactions that each identify a particular biller and a particular date of payment; and

identifying the plurality of user transactions as periodic financial obligations.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of the user from the data comprises identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of the user from the data that are not paid by automatic payment.

13. A computer storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions, that when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

collecting, in a first computer system, data corresponding to one or more user transactions from a second computer system of a first financial institution, where each transaction is an individual payment made by the first financial institution, wherein the data describes respective individual payments;

extracting, from the data corresponding to the one or more user transactions, information that identifies one or more periodic financial obligations of a first user, wherein each periodic financial obligation is a regularly repeating obligation that the first user owes to a particular biller;

identifying, from the extracted information, the one or more periodic financial obligations of the first user;

associating, in the first computer system, a specific biller with each identified periodic financial obligation;

providing a visual user interface to a client computer of the first user, where the visual user interface identifies one or more specific billers, where each specific biller is associated with at least one of the periodic financial obligations of the first user, and where the visual user interface provides a mechanism through which the first user can submit a make-payments notification identifying one of the one or more specific billers;

receiving, in the first computer system and from the first user, a first make-payments notification, where the first make-payments notification identifies a first specific biller associated with a first periodic financial obligation of the first user and a second financial institution for satisfying the first periodic financial obligation of the first user;

determining, in the first computer system, that the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, wherein automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic obligation includes the first specific biller charging or debiting an account of the first user at the first financial institution without direct user input; and

in response to determining that the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, sending a first cease-billing instruction to the first specific biller, where the first cease-billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to stop requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, and sending a first billing instruction to the first specific biller, where the first billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to automatically request payments from a second financial institution to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation;

collecting, in the first computer system, additional data corresponding to one or more additional user transactions; and

examining, by the first computer system, the additional data to determine when the first financial institution has stopped making payments to the first specific biller to meet the first periodic financial obligation.

14. A system comprising one or more computers programmed to perform operations comprising:

collecting, in a first computer system, data corresponding to one or more user transactions from a second computer system of a first financial institution, where each transaction is an individual payment made by the first financial institution, wherein the data describes respective individual payments;

extracting, from the data corresponding to the one or more user transactions, information that identifies one or more periodic financial obligations of a first user, wherein each periodic financial obligation is a regularly repeating obligation that the first user owes to a particular biller;

identifying, from the extracted information, the one or more periodic financial obligations of the first user;

associating, in the first computer system, a specific biller with each identified periodic financial obligation;

providing a visual user interface to a client computer of the first user, where the visual user interface identifies one or more specific billers, where each specific biller is associated with at least one of the periodic financial obligations of the first user, and where the visual user interface provides a mechanism through which the first user can submit a make-payments notification identifying one of the one or more specific billers;

receiving, in the first computer system and from the first user, a first make-payments notification, where the first make-payments notification identifies a first specific biller associated with a first periodic financial obligation of the first user and a second financial institution for satisfying the first periodic financial obligation;

determining, in the first computer system, that the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, wherein automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic obligation includes the first specific biller charging or debiting an account of the first user at the first financial institution without direct user input; and

in response to determining that the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, sending a first cease-billing instruction to the first specific biller, where the first cease-billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to stop requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution, and sending a first billing instruction to the first specific biller, where the first billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to automatically request payments from a second financial institution to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation;

collecting, in the first computer system, additional data corresponding to one or more additional user transactions; and

examining, by the first computer system, the additional data to determine when the first financial institution has stopped making payments to the first specific biller to meet the first periodic financial obligation.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the first periodic financial obligation from the first financial institution;

the data corresponding to one or more user transactions includes a description of each user transaction; and

identifying a periodic financial obligation includes using the descriptions of one or more user transactions to identify automatic payments.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the data corresponding to one or more user transactions includes a description of each user transaction; and

identifying a periodic financial obligation includes using the descriptions of one or more user transactions to identify periodic payments.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more computers are further programmed to perform operations comprising:

categorizing one or more user transactions into a respective transaction category, and

wherein identifying a periodic financial obligation includes using the transaction categories of one or more user transactions.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the first specific biller is further associated with a second periodic financial obligation of the first user; and

the operations further comprise;

determining whether the first specific biller is automatically requesting payments to satisfy the second periodic financial obligation from a third financial institution, and if so, causing a second cease-billing instruction to be sent to the first specific biller, where the second cease-billing instruction instructs the first specific biller to stop requesting payments to satisfy the second periodic financial obligation from the third financial institution; and

causing a second billing instruction to be sent to the first specific biller, where the second billing instruction instructs the second biller to automatically request payments from a second financial institution to satisfy the second periodic financial obligation.

19. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more computers are further programmed to perform operations comprising:

for each identified periodic financial obligation, predicting a future value of revenue for the second financial institution associated with making payments to a specific biller to meet the periodic financial obligation.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the one or more computers are further programmed to perform operations comprising:

calculating an incentive associated with each identified specific biller, where the incentive is a benefit the first user will receive for requesting that the second financial institution make payments to the specific biller to meet one or more periodic financial obligations, where the incentive is calculated based on the predicted future value of revenue for the second financial institution associated with making payments to the specific biller to meet the one or more periodic financial obligations; and

wherein the visual user interface further displays the incentive associated with each identified specific biller.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the one or more computers are further programmed to perform operations comprising:

calculating a fee amount;

causing a payment request to be sent to the second financial institution, where the payment request specifies a payment equal to the fee amount; and

receiving a notification that a payment equal to the fee amount has been received from the second financial institution.

28. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying a user transaction as a periodic financial obligation based on a description of the user transaction, the description describing the user transaction as a monthly service charge.

29. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying a user transaction as a periodic financial obligation based on a categorization of the user transaction as a periodic payment.

30. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying a user transaction as a periodic financial obligation based on an identity of a biller associated with the user transaction.

31. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying, from the one or more user transactions, a plurality of user transactions that each identify a particular biller and a respective payment of a similar amount; and

identifying the plurality of user transactions as periodic financial obligations.

32. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of a user from the data comprises:

identifying, from the one or more user transactions, a plurality of user transactions that each identify a particular biller and a particular date of payment; and

identifying the plurality of user transactions as periodic financial obligations.

33. The system of claim 14, wherein identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of the user from the data comprises identifying one or more periodic financial obligations of the user from the data that are not paid by automatic payment.