U.S. patent application number 09/820955 was filed with the patent office on 2002-05-02 for electronic bill processing with bill normalization and templating.
This patent application is currently assigned to CheckFree Corporation. Invention is credited to Au, Ralph, Bradley, Kenneth W. III, Bringardner, Clarence M., Kitchen, Bill, Moses, Ginger B..
Application Number | 20020052840 09/820955 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 21877194 |
Filed Date | 2002-05-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020052840 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kitchen, Bill ; et
al. |
May 2, 2002 |
Electronic bill processing with bill normalization and
templating
Abstract
A method of electronically presenting billing information,
includes receiving billing information associated with a plurality
of different billers, different portions of which represent bills
for different payors. Requests are received from respective payors
for current billing information, responsive to which bill
presentment information corresponding to the applicable portion of
the billing information is transmitted to the requesting payor.
Inventors: |
Kitchen, Bill; (Lewis
Center, OH) ; Moses, Ginger B.; (Lewis Center,
OH) ; Au, Ralph; (Powell, OH) ; Bringardner,
Clarence M.; (Columbus, OH) ; Bradley, Kenneth W.
III; (Westerville, OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Alfred A. Stadnicki
Fifth Floor
1146 Nineteenth Street, NW
Washington
DC
20036
US
|
Assignee: |
CheckFree Corporation
|
Family ID: |
21877194 |
Appl. No.: |
09/820955 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09820955 |
Mar 30, 2001 |
|
|
|
09034561 |
Mar 3, 1998 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/40 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/0855 20130101;
G06Q 40/025 20130101; G06Q 20/04 20130101; G06Q 40/02 20130101;
G06Q 20/10 20130101; G06Q 20/385 20130101; G06Q 20/102 20130101;
G06Q 30/04 20130101; G06Q 20/108 20130101; G06Q 20/14 20130101;
G06Q 40/00 20130101; G06Q 40/06 20130101; G06Q 40/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/40 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
1. A method of electronically presenting billing information,
comprising the steps of: receiving billing information associated
with a plurality of different billers, a first portion of the
billing information representing bills for a first payor and a
second portion of the billing information representing bills for a
second payor; receiving a first request from the first payor for
current billing information representing bills for the first payor
and a second request from the second payor for current billing
information representing bills for the second payor; and
transmitting first bill presentment information corresponding to
the first portion of the billing information to the first payor
responsive to the first request and second bill presentment
information corresponding to the second portion of the billing
information to the second payor responsive to the second
request.
2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
transmitting a first notice to the first payor of the availability
of the first bill presentment information and a second notice to
the second payor of the availability of the second bill presentment
information; wherein the first request is received responsive to
the first notice and the second request is received responsive to
the second notice.
3. A method according to claim 2, wherein: the first notice is
included in a first e-mail transmission to the first payor; and the
second notice is included in a second e-mail transmission to the
second payor.
4. A method according to claim 2, wherein: the first e-mail and the
second e-mail are transmitted via the Internet.
5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
transmitting a first notice to the first payor of the availability
of the first bill presentment information, wherein the first
request is received subsequent to the transmission of the first
notice; and transmitting, subsequent to the receipt of the first
request, a second notice to the first payor of the availability of
the first bill presentment information if the bills represented by
the first portion of the billing information remain unpaid for a
specified period of time after transmission of the first bill
presentment information to the first payor.
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the billing information
is first billing information and the plurality of different billers
is a plurality of different first billers, and further comprising
the steps of: receiving, subsequent to the receipt of the first
billing information, second billing information associated with a
plurality of different second billers, a first portion of the
second billing information representing bills for the first payor;
receiving a third request from the first payor for then current
billing information; and transmitting third bill presentment
information corresponding to the first portion of the first billing
information and the first portion of the second billing information
to the first payor responsive to the third request.
7. A method according to claim 6, wherein a second portion of the
second billing information represents bills for the second payor,
and further comprising the steps of: receiving notice of payment of
the bills represented by the second portion of the first billing
information; receiving, subsequent to receipt of the notice of
payment, a fourth request from the second payor for then current
billing information; and transmitting fourth bill presentment
information corresponding to the second portion of the second
billing information to the second payor, without transmitting the
the second bill presentment information, responsive to the third
request.
8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the billing information
is first billing information and the plurality of different billers
is a plurality of different first billers, and further comprising
the steps of: receiving, subsequent to the receipt of the first
billing information, second billing information associated with a
plurality of different second billers, a first portion of the
second billing information representing bills for the first payor;
receiving notice of payment of some of the bills represented by the
first portion of the first billing information; receiving,
subsequent to receipt of the notice of payment, a third request
from the first payor for then current billing information; and
transmitting the first bill presentment information, excluding that
corresponding to the first portion of first billing information
representing bills for which the notice of payment has been
received, and third bill presentation information corresponding to
the first portion of the second billing information to the first
payor responsive to the third request.
9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: storing the
first bill presentment information in association with an
identifier of the first payor and the second bill presentment
information in association with an identifier of the second payor;
and reading the first bill presentment information from storage
responsive to the first request and the second bill presentment
information from storage responsive to the second request; wherein
the first bill presentment information read from storage is
transmitted to the first payor and the second bill presentment
information read from storage is transmitted to the second
payor.
10. A method according to claim 1, wherein: the transmitted first
bill presentment information includes a listing, displayable as
single page, of respective billed amounts owed by the first payor
to each of more than one of the plurality of the different billers;
and the transmitted second bill presentment information includes a
listing, displayable as single page, of respective billed amounts
owed by the second payor to each of more than one of the plurality
of the different billers.
11. A method according to claim 1, wherein: the transmitted first
bill presentment information includes a listing, displayable as,
single page, of respective billed amounts paid by the first payor
to each of more than one of the plurality of the different billers;
and transmitted second bill presentment information includes a
listing, displayable as single page, of respective billed amounts
paid by the second payor to each of more than one of the plurality
of the different billers.
12. A method according to claim 1, wherein: the first portion of
the billing information is associated with only one of the
plurality of different billers; and the second portion of the
billing information is associated with only one of the plurality of
different billers.
13. A method according to claim 1, wherein: the billing information
is detailed billing information; and the first bill presentation
information includes a summary of the first portion of the detailed
billing information associated with at least two of the plurality
of different billers; and the second bill presentment information
includes a summary of the second portion of the detailed billing
information associated with at least two of the plurality of
different billers.
14. A method according to claim 1, wherein the billing information
is first billing information and the plurality of different billers
is a plurality of different first billers, and further comprising
the steps of: receiving, subsequent to the receipt of the first
billing information, second billing information associated with a
plurality of different second billers, a first portion of the
second billing information representing bills for the first payor;
transmitting, prior to the receipt of the second billing
information, a first notice to the first payor of the availability
of the first bill presentation information; transmitting,
subsequent to transmission of the first bill presentment
information and the receipt of the second billing information, a
second notice of the availability of the first bill presentment
information and second bill presentment information corresponding
to the second billing information; receiving a third request from
the first payor for then current billing information; and
transmitting the first and the second bill presentation information
to the first payor responsive to the third request.
15. An electronic bill presentment system, comprising: a memory
configured to store billing information associated with a plurality
of different billers, a first portion of the billing information
representing bills for a first payor and a second portion of the
billing information representing bills for a second payor; a
processor configured to generate first bill presentment information
corresponding to the first portion of the billing information,
second bill presentment information corresponding to the second
portion of the billing information, a first signal directing
transmission of the first bill presentment information responsive
to a first request for current billing information, and a second
signal directing transmission of the second bill presentment
information responsive to a second request for current billing
information; and a network interface configured to receive the
first request from the first payor and the second request from the
second payor, and to transmit the first bill presentment
information to the first payor responsive to the first signal and
the second bill presentment information to the second payor
responsive to the second signal.
16. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the processor is
further configured to generate a first notice of availability of
current billing information, a second notice of availability of
current billing information, a third signal directing the
transmission of the first, notice of availability and a fourth
signal direction the transmission of the second notice of
availability; and the network interface is further configured to
transmit the first notice to the first payor responsive to the
third signal and the second notice to the second payor responsive
to the fourth signal.
17. A system according to claim 16, wherein: the third signal
includes a network e-mail address of the first payor and the fourth
signal includes a network e-mail address of the second payor.
18. A system according to claim 17, wherein: the network e-mail
address is the Internet e-mail address.
19. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the processor is
further configured to generate a first notice of availability of
current billing information and a third signal directing the
transmission of the first notice of availability and a second
notice of availability of current billing information and a fourth
signal directing the transmission of the first notice of
availability; and the network interface is further configured to
transmit the first notice to the first payor responsive to the
third signal and the second notice to the first payor responsive to
the fourth signal; and the first request is received subsequent to
the transmission of the first notice and the second notice is
transmitted subsequent to the receipt of the of the first
request.
20. A system according to claim 19, wherein: the processor is
configured to generate the second notice and the fourth signal only
if the bills represented by the first portion of the billing
information remain unpaid for a period of time after generation of
the third signal.
21. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the billing
information is first billing information and the plurality of
different billers is a plurality of different first billers; the
processor is further configured to: direct the storage of the first
billing information and the second billing information in the
memory, and generate third bill presentment information
corresponding to at least a part of the first portion of the first
billing information and a first portion of second billing
information associated with a plurality of different second
billers, the first portion of the second billing information
representing bills for the first payor, and generate a third signal
directing the transmission of the third bill presentment
information responsive to a third request for then current billing
information; and the network interface is further configured to:
receive the first billing information, receive the second billing
information, receive the third request from the first payor, and
transmit the third bill presentation information the first payor
responsive to the third signal.
22. A system according to claim 21, wherein: a second portion of
the second billing information represents bills for the second
payor; the processor is further configured to: generate fourth bill
presentment information corresponding to the second portion of the
second billing information and excluding the second bill
presentation information, and generate a fourth signal directing
transmission of the fourth bill presentment information, responsive
to a fourth request for then current billing information. the
network interface is further configured to: receive notice of
payment of the bills represented by the second portion of the first
billing information, receive, subsequent to receipt of the notice
of payment, the fourth request from the second payor, and transmit
the fourth bill presentment information to the second payor without
transmitting the second bill presentment information, responsive to
the fourth signal.
23. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the billing
information is first billing information and the plurality of
different billers is a plurality of different first billers,
wherein: the processor is further configured to: direct the storage
in memory of the first billing information and second billing
information associated with a plurality of different second
billers, the first portion of the second billing information
representing bills for the first payor, and generate third bill
presentment information corresponding to the first portion of the
first billing information, excluding that representing bills for
which notice of payment has been received, and the first portion of
second billing information, and generate a third signal directing
the transmission of the third bill presentment information
responsive to a third request for then current billing information;
and the network interface is further configured to: receive,
subsequent to the receipt of the first billing information, the
second billing information, receive the notice of payment of some
of the bills represented by the first portion of the first billing
information, receive, subsequent to receipt of the notice of
payment, the third request from the first payor, and transmit the
third bill presentment information, responsive to the third
signal.
24. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the processor is
further configured to: direct storage of the first bill presentment
information in association with an identifier of the first payor
and the second bill presentment information in association with an
identifier of the second payor, and read the first bill presentment
information from storage responsive to the first request and the
second bill presentment information from storage responsive to the
second request; the first signal directs the transmission of the
first bill presentment information read from storage to the first
payor and the second signal directs the second bill presentment
information read from storage is transmitted to the second
payor.
25. A system according to claim 15, wherein the processor is
further configured to: generate the first bill presentment
information to include a listing, displayable as single page, of
respective billed amounts owed by the first payor to each of more
than one of the plurality of the different billers, and generate
the second bill presentment information to include a listing,
displayable as single page, of respective billed amounts owed by
the second payor to each of more than one of the plurality of the
different billers.
26. A system according to claim 15, wherein the processor is
further configured to: generate the first bill presentment
information to include a listing, displayable as single page, of
respective billed amounts paid by the first payor to each of more
than one of the plurality of the different billers; and generate
the second bill presentment information to include a listing,
displayable as single page, of respective billed amounts paid by
the second payor to each of more than one of the plurality of the
different billers.
27. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the first portion of
the billing information is associated with only one of the
plurality of different billers; and the second portion of the
billing information is associated with only one of the plurality of
different billers.
28. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the billing
information is detailed billing information; and the processor is
further configured to generate the first bill presentation
information to include a summary of the first portion of the
detailed billing information associated with at least two of the
plurality of different billers, and the second bill presentment
information to include a summary of the second portion of the
detailed billing information associated with at least two of the
plurality of different billers.
29. A system according to claim 15, wherein: the billing
information is first billing information and the plurality of
different billers is a plurality of different first billers; the
processor is further configured to: generate third bill
presentation information corresponding to a first portion of second
billing information associated with a plurality of different second
billers, the first portion of the second billing information
representing bills for the first payor, generate, prior to receipt
of the second billing information, a first notice of the
availability of the first bill presentation information and a third
signal directing transmission of the first notice, generate,
subsequent to transmission of the first bill presentment
information and the receipt of the second billing information, a
second notice of the availability of the first bill presentment
information and the third bill presentment information and a fourth
signal directing transmission of the second notice, and generating
a fifth signal directing the transmission of the first and third
bill presentment information responsive to a third request for
current billing information responsive to a third request for then
current billing information; the network interface is further
configured to: receive the first billing information, receive the
second billing information subsequent to receipt of the first
billing, transmit, prior to the receipt of the second billing
information, the first notice to the first payor responsive to the
third signal, transmit the second notice to the first payor
responsive to the fourth signal, receive, subsequent to
transmission of the second notice, the third request from the first
payor, and transmit the first and the third bill presentation
information to the first payor responsive to the fifth signal.
30. An electronic bill presentment network, comprising: a
communications network; a plurality of biller stations each
configured to transmit billing information associated with a
respective one of a plurality of different billers via the network;
a network server configured to (i) receive the transmitted billing
information, (ii) store the received billing information such that
a first portion of the billing information representing bills for a
first payor is associated with the first payor and a second portion
of the billing information representing bills for a second payor is
associated with the second payor; a first client station configured
to transmit, via the network, a first payor request for current
billing information; a second client station configured to
transmit, via the network, a second payor request for current
billing information; wherein the network server is further
configured to receive the first payor request and to transmit first
bill presentment information corresponding to the first portion of
the billing information via the network responsive to the first
request, and to receive the second payor request and to transmit
second bill presentment information and second bill presentment
information corresponding to the second portion of the billing
information via the network responsive to the second request.
31. A network according to claim 30, wherein: the network station
is further configured to transmit a first notice of availability of
current billing information to the first payor via the network and
a second notice of availability of current billing information to
the second payor via the network subsequent to receipt of the
billing information.
32. A system according to claim 30, wherein: the communications
network is the Internet.
33. A system according to claim 30, wherein: the first client
station is configured to transmit, subsequent to the transmission
of the first payor request, a second payor request for then current
billing information via the network; and the network server is
further configured to receive notification of the payment of some
of the bills represented by the first portion of the billing
information, to receive the second payor request after receipt of
the notice of payment, and to transmit the first bill presentment
information corresponding to the first portion of the billing
information representing only the remaining unpaid bills via the
network responsive to the second payor request.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates generally to electronic
commerce and more particularly to electronic presentation of an
aggregation of bills from different billers.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Historically the billing process has been a three party
process. More particularly, the typical billing process consists of
billers, such as merchants, utility companies, service providers
and bankcard companies, preparing hardcopy paper bills either
directly or through an independent bill preparation service
provider. The bills normally consist of detailed billing
information relating to the goods or services purchased or ordered,
including a detailed itemization of the billed charges. The billing
information also includes the total charge, due date for payment
and, in many cases, the minimum amount which must be paid by the
due date.
[0003] The hardcopy billing information relating to each individual
biller is then placed in a separate envelope and mailed through the
postal service to the applicable payor. The envelope may also be
stuffed with other materials such as other product offerings, e.g.,
special discounts or new goods or services. Hence, each payor has
historically received billing information from each biller as an
individual hardcopy piece of correspondence received by mail.
[0004] Most, although not all, billers bill on a periodic basis,
such as each calendar month or every thirty days. However, although
billers may issue bills covering similar periods of time, e.g.,
thirty day periods, individual billers may have billing cycles and
bill issue dates which vary. For example, some monthly billers may
have a billing period which extends from the fifteenth of one month
to the fifteenth of the next month, while other billers may have a
monthly billing period which extends from the last day of one month
to the last day of the following month. Further, even if different
billers bill charges incurred over identical periods, the issue
dates of the bills can vary widely. Accordingly, payors typically
receive bills at various times throughout, for example, any given
calendar month.
[0005] To complete the billing process individual payors have
historically made payments directly to each individual biller by
hardcopy paper check drawn against a financial institution and
mailed via the postal service to the biller's remittance center. A
returnable portion of the billing information received from the
biller is typically returned with the check. The biller must then
present the check for payment through the payor's financial
institution before the payment funds can be actually received by
the biller and applied against the payors account.
[0006] Systems have been implemented to allow payors to pay bills
electronically. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,113 which is
assigned to the assignee of the present application, discloses a
system for electronic payment of bills received by individual
payors from various billers. Recent improvements have been made in
electronic bill payment systems, such as those disclosed in U.S.
patent application Ser. No. _______ (Attorney docket no.
33500-00001) entitled An Electronic Bill Payment System with
Merchant Identification, filed on Dec. 19, 1997 and U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/010,193, entitled Dual Source Remittance
Processing, filed on Jan. 21, 1998, both of which are also assigned
to the assignee of the present application and are incorporated
herein by reference. Such systems allow the payor, using a home or
office computing device, e.g. a personal computer, to access a
centralized payment station, e.g. a server, via a network. Based
upon the payor's authorization, the centralized station can access
funds in the payor's checking account at a financial institution to
pay various billers in accordance with payment instructions
received from the payor via the network. The payments may be made
either by electronic funds transfer or by hardcopy paper check to
the individual billers.
[0007] Although advances in electronic bill payment systems have
significantly automated remittance processing, these systems have
not eliminated the need for payors to continue to receive large
numbers of hardcopy paper bills from individual billers. Hence,
bill presentment has remained a tedious and expensive task both in
terms of the preparation and the distribution of billing
information.
[0008] Recently, a centralized bill presentation system has been
proposed. As proposed, billing information is forwarded to a
centralized system by multiple billers. The received billing
information is accumulated over some prespecified period of time
corresponding to a billing cycle and then forwarded in a single
transmission to the applicable payors. Although the proposed system
could result in some reduction in the cost of distributing bills,
it has numerous disadvantages.
[0009] For example, since the proposed system transmits billing
information to an individual payor only after bills from different
billers have been accumulated over a predefined period of time,
such as a calendar month, bills which have been issued early in the
cycle may be received too late to avoid charges for late payment.
Further, since billing information is only made available after the
completion of a full billing cycle, even if a particular payor
would prefer to review and pay bills on an ongoing basis throughout
the billing cycle, the payor must wait until after the end of the
cycle to receive a single batch of bills. The payor will therefore
need to allocate a large block of time after receipt of the
transmitted accumulated billing information to review and pay the
associated bills. Hence, the proposed system is inflexible in
dealing with individual payor demands. Although the proposed system
may electronically transmit the accumulated billing information to
the payors, because all information is sent in a single
transmission significant communications network resources will be
required for each transmission if detailed billing information is
to be provided to each payor.
OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
[0010] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide a technique for electronically presenting billing
information in a manner which facilitates the timely payment of
bills by payors.
[0011] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
technique for electronically presenting billing information from
different billers when desired by the payor.
[0012] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
technique for electronically presenting bills in a form desired by
a payor.
[0013] Additional objects, advantages, novel features of the
present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art
from this disclosure, including the following detailed description,
as well as by practice of the invention. While the invention is
described below with reference to a preferred embodiment(s), it
should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.
Those of ordinary skill in the art having access to the teachings
herein will recognize additional implementations, modifications,
and embodiments, as well as other fields of use, which are within
the scope of the invention as disclosed and claimed herein and with
respect to which the invention could be of significant utility.
SUMMARY DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0014] In accordance with the invention, an electronic bill
presentment system includes a memory, such as an electrical or
optical storage device, a processor, such as a high speed
microprocessor, and a communications network interface. The system
may take the form of one or more servers interconnected to a
private or public bill presentation network, e.g. the Internet.
[0015] The memory stores billing information, associated with
various billers, representing bills for various payors. Preferably
the billing information is received from the billers or their
representatives, e.g. bill consolidators, via the network interface
and is stored on the memory by the processor in association with an
identifier of the appropriate payor.
[0016] In a typical operational sequence, the processor accesses
the memory to read the stored billing information. Using this
information, the processor generates bill presentment information
which corresponds to a portion of the billing information which
represents bills for a first payor. The processor also generates
bill presentment information which corresponds to other portions of
the billing information which represents bills for other payors.
The bill presentment information may relate to paid bills, unpaid
bills or bills having another desired status, or any combination
thereof. The bill presentment information, may be a detailed bill
which includes all the applicable billing information, could be a
summary of the applicable billing information, or could be a simple
retransmission of all or some of the applicable billing
information. Some or all of the bill presentment information may
also be stored in the memory.
[0017] Preferably, the bill presentment information includes a
summary listing of all bills of a desired status, such as all paid
or unpaid bills. Beneficially, the bill presentment information
includes a listing of respective billed amounts owed by the payor
to a number of the different billers, which can be presented as one
or more pages on a display, such as the monitor of a payor's home
or office computer. The bill presentation information could also
include a formatted version of all the applicable billing
information, such as a full detailed presentation of a bill, which
can be presented on a display so as to appear substantially similar
to the conventional hardcopy bills which are regularly received by
mail today.
[0018] The processor generates signals directing transmission of
the applicable bill presentment information responsive to requests
for current billing information, received by the network interface,
from respective payors. The network interface transmits the
applicable bill presentment information to the appropriate payor
responsive to the applicable signal.
[0019] Preferably, the processor generates a notice of availability
of current billing information to each of the payors for whom
billing information has been received by the system and stored in
the memory. In this regard, the processor generates a signal
directing the transmission of each notice, responsive to which the
network interface transmits a respective notice to the appropriate
payor. Each notice may be an e-mail message addressed to the
network e-mail address, e.g. an Internet e-mail address, of the
appropriate payor.
[0020] According to other aspects of the invention, the processor
may also generate a further notice of availability of current
billing information and a signal directing the transmission of this
further notice to a payor after some period of time has passed
subsequent to the applicable billing information having been first
noticed to or requested by the payor. For example a further notice
may be generated if no request for bill presentment information is
received for some period of time after a first notice of
availability has been transmitted. An additional notice may also or
alternatively be generated if no notice of payment of some or all
of the bills represented the applicable portion of the billing
information has been received by the system for some period of time
after bill presentment information has been requested by a payor,
transmitted to a payor or viewed by a payor. The network interface
transmits this further notice to the applicable payor responsive to
the signal.
[0021] According to further aspects of the invention, the processor
may continuously update the bill presentation information based
upon the new bill related information, such as additionally
received billing information representing new bills to be paid or
the payment of bills which were represented by billing information
previously received by the applicable payor. In this regard, the
processor, if desired, can generate new bill presentment
information corresponding to some or all of the portion of the old
billing information which represents bills for a particular payor,
e.g. that which represents only those bills which have been paid or
remain unpaid, and the portion of the new billing information which
represents bills for the same payor, e.g. newly paid bills or new
outstanding bills. If, for example all the bills represented by the
applicable portion of the old billing information have been paid,
the new bill presentment information would only include the
applicable portion of the new billing information. This new billing
information may be associated with the same and/or different
billers as the previously received billing information, but would
more typically relate to different billers. The processor also
generates a signal directing the transmission, via the network
interface, of the new bill presentment information to the
applicable payor responsive to the payor's request for the then
current billing information.
[0022] In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, an
electronic bill presentment network is provided. The electronic
bill presentment network includes a private or public
communications network, such as the Internet, interconnecting
multiple biller stations, multiple client stations and a network
server.
[0023] The biller stations each transmit the billing information
associated with a respective one of the different billers to the
server via the network. The network server receives and stores the
transmitted billing information. The received information is stored
such that the portion of the billing information representing bills
for a particular payor is associated with that payor. Using a
client station a payor can transmit, via the network, a request for
current billing information. The network server receives each payor
request and transmits bill presentment information, which
corresponds to an appropriate portion of the billing information,
to the applicable payor client station via the network responsive
to the request.
[0024] As discussed above, if desired, the network server can
transmit a notice of availability of current billing information to
payors via the network. The client stations may transmit,
subsequent to the transmission of a first request for current
billing information, one or more additional request for then
current billing information via the network. Hence, applicable
current bill presentation information will be provided on-demand to
the payor.
[0025] Beneficially, the network server receives notification of
the payment of bills represented by the respective portion of the
billing information applicable to each payor. In such a case, the
network server only transmits or retransmits that part of the
applicable bill presentment information which corresponds to the
portion of the billing information representing the remaining
unpaid bills via the network responsive to a payor request for
information regarding outstanding bills which is received by the
network server after receipt of the notice of payment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0026] FIG. 1 depicts a bill processing network in accordance with
the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 2 depicts a functional block diagram of the bill
processing network of FIG. 1.
[0028] FIG. 2A depicts a simplified block diagram of the CF station
of FIG. 1.
[0029] FIG. 2B depicts a simplified block diagram of an exemplary
payor station of FIG. 1.
[0030] FIG. 3 depicts various types of payor stations which can be
utilized in the bill processing network of FIG. 1.
[0031] FIG. 4 depicts a payor enrollment screen in accordance with
the present invention.
[0032] FIG. 5 depicts another payor enrollment screen in accordance
with the present invention.
[0033] FIG. 6 depicts a still further payor enrollment screen in
accordance with the present invention.
[0034] FIG. 7 depicts a simplified flow diagram of the operation of
the bill processing network depicted in FIG. 1.
[0035] FIG. 8 depicts a payor welcome screen in accordance with the
present invention.
[0036] FIG. 9A depicts bill presentment information which includes
a new bill summary screen in accordance with the present
invention.
[0037] FIG. 9B depicts bill presentment information which includes
an unpaid bill summary screen in accordance with the present
invention.
[0038] FIG. 9C depicts bill presentment information which includes
another type of bill summary in accordance with the present
invention.
[0039] FIG. 10A depicts a pre-bill payment authorization screen in
accordance with the present invention.
[0040] FIG. 10B depicts another pre-bill payment authorization
screen in accordance with the present invention.
[0041] FIG. 11 depicts bill presentment information which includes
a detailed bill screen in accordance with the present
invention.
[0042] FIG. 12A depicts a bill payment authorization screen in
accordance with the present invention.
[0043] FIG. 12B depicts a different bill payment authorization
screen in accordance with the present invention.
[0044] FIG. 12C details certain aspects of the bill payment
authorization screen of FIG. 12B.
[0045] FIG. 13 depicts bill presentment information which includes
a listing of information related to bills which have been
authorized for payment in accordance with the present
invention.
[0046] FIG. 14 depicts a biller category screen in accordance with
the present invention.
[0047] FIG. 15 depicts a screen having bill presentment and payment
authorization information in accordance with the present
invention.
BEST FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0048] FIG. 1 depicts a communications network 100, which can be a
private or public network such as a wide area network (WAN), the
Internet or some other type of communication network for linking
biller stations 110a-110d, payor stations 120a-120d, financial
institution (FI) stations 130a-130c and a centralized CF station
140. The biller stations 110a-110d may represent individual
merchants, utility companies, service providers, bank credit card
companies, or other individuals or entities to whom a payment is
owed. Payor stations 120a-120d may represent individuals or
entities which have purchased or ordered goods or services or
otherwise have an outstanding debt to the billers represented by
stations 110a-110d. The payors represented by stations 120a-120d
maintain accounts with one or more of the financial institutions,
which may, for example, be banks, credit unions or other type of
financial institution or any combination. Each of the billers
represented by stations 110a-110d may also maintain one or more
deposit accounts in the financial institutions represented by
stations 130a-130c. The CF station 140 serves as a centralized bill
processing system as will be described in detail below.
[0049] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the bill processing
network depicted in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the CF station 140
is interconnected, via the network 100, with each of the biller
stations 110a-110d and each of the payor stations 120a-120d.
Accordingly, each of the billers represented by stations 110a-110d
can transmit, via the network 100, billing information to each of
the payors represented by stations 120a-120d as appropriate through
the CF station 140.
[0050] As shown in FIG. 2A, the CF station 140 includes a network
interface (NI) 405 for receiving and transmitting communications
via the network 100. The station 140 also includes a processor 410
and a memory 420. The station 140 could, for example, be a high
powered work station, minicomputer, mainframe computer or other
type of network computing device which serves as a network servers
or any combination of such devices. The memory 420 stores, in area
420a, biller data such as the biller's name, remittance center
address, deposit account number with one of the financial
institutions represented by stations 130a-130c, account numbers for
respective payors represented by stations 120a-120d, network
address, e.g. an e-mail address, and other biller related
information of each of the billers represented by stations
110a-110d. Payor data is stored in memory area 420b and will
typically include such information as the payor's name and address,
account numbers with respective billers represented by stations
110a-110d, checking account number with one of the financial
institutions 130a-130c, network address, e.g. an e-mail address,
and other payor related information.
[0051] The billing information received by the CF station 140 from
the respective billers represented by stations 110a-110d via the
network 100 is normalized by the server processor 410 in accordance
with the bill presentment software stored in memory area 420c.
Different portions of the normalized bill information are stored in
memory area 420d in association with a respective identifier of the
appropriate payor represented by station 120a-120d to whom that
portion of the billing information relates.
[0052] The bill presentment software also generates a summary of
the received billing information from each of the billers
represented by stations 110a-110d for each of the payors
represented by stations 120a-120d and stores the summary
information with an identifier of the applicable payor in the
memory area 420e. Bill templates are stored in memory area 420f.
The bill templates can be merged with the normalized billing
information to electronically present the billing information to
the appropriate payor represented by station 120a-120d in
substantially the same form, including detailed billing
information, biller logo, color and terms and conditions, as has
historically been provided to the payor in hardcopy. Network
software is stored in area 420g of the memory 420.
[0053] Once the billing information has been processed by the
processor 410 so as to be available for access by the appropriate
payors, the processor 410 in accordance with the bill presentment
software instructions stored in memory area 420c, generates an
e-mail or other message to notify the applicable payors represented
by station 120a-120d of the availability of bill presentment
information. The processor 410 also generates a signal directing
the transmission of the message, via the network interface 405, to
the applicable payors using a network address, e.g. an e-mail
address, stored as part of the payor data in area 420a of the
memory 420.
[0054] As shown in FIG. 3, the payor 120a-120d may be represented
by a personal computer (PC) 310 interconnected to the network 100
by a modem, a television (TV) 320 interconnected to the network 100
via a set top box, a touch tone telephone 330, a mobile phone 340,
a notebook computer 350 interconnected to the network 100 by a
modem, or some other network device. It will recognized by those
skilled in the art that the network device could be of virtually
any type capable of receiving a voice, graphic, or textual message.
If different types of payor station devices are utilized, the payor
data will include an identification of the particular type of
network device being utilized by the payor. If audio devices such
as telephone 330 or mobile phone 340 are utilized, the processor
410 is configured to include a voice synthesizer to generate voice
messages and a voice signal converter to transform received audio
messages into digital signals of processing at station 140 in
accordance with the bill presentment software instruction stored in
memory area 420c.
[0055] Referring now to FIG. 2B, an exemplary payor station 120
capable of receiving e-mail messages will now be described. Station
120 includes a payor processor 450 which is interconnected to a
memory device 470. The memory stores the payor client software in
area 470a and the network software in area 470b of the memory 470.
It will however be recognized that, if desired, the memory 470
could be eliminated in and that storage of the payor client
software could be implemented on the memory 420 of the CF station
140. A network interface (NI) 455 interconnects the payor station
120 to the network 100. Messages transmitted by the CF station 140
to the payor station 120 are received via the network interface 455
and processed by the processor 450 in accordance with the network
software stored in area 470b of memory 470.
[0056] In a customary e-mail notification processing sequence, the
processor 450, in accordance with the network software instructions
stored in memory area 470b, directs the presentation of an
indicator on the display 460 of the payor station 120 to notify the
applicable payor that an e-mail message has been received. Using
the input device 465, which may be a keyboard, mouse or other input
device, the applicable payor can access the e-mail message and
request the available billing related information from the CF
station 140.
[0057] The notification mechanism may alternatively be implemented
directly in the bill presentment client rather than via e-mail.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that there may be
many possible implementations of a notification mechanism.
[0058] The payor may request the available billing related
information by, for example, inputting one or more commands on the
input device 465. Responsive to these commands, the processor 450
generates and directs the transmission of the request, via the
network interface 455, to the CF station 140. The generated request
could, for example, take the form of a reply e-mail message, an
instruction to access a web page at the CF station 140 if the
network is the Internet or some other instruction as will be well
understood by those skilled in the art. If desired, the e-mail
message could include an icon or other indicator which can be
activated using the input device 465 to automatically link the
payor station 120 to the CF station 140 to access bill related
information.
[0059] Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the processor 410 of the
CF station 140, in response to the request received from the payor
station 120a-120d, directs the transmission of the requested bill
presentment information, via the network interface 405, to the
applicable payor station 120a-120d. The transmitted bill
presentment information may need to be generated by the processor
410 responsive to the payor request or may be already stored in the
memory 420. For example, the processor 410 may either retrieve the
applicable template(s) and normalized billing information from
memory areas 420f and 420d and merge this information to generate
requested detailed bill presentment information. On the other hand,
the processor may simply retrieve information stored in area 420e
of memory 420 if only bill summary information is requested. It
should be noted that by storing unmerged templates and normalized
data and merging this information only responsive to request for
detailed information, the required memory to store detailed bill
presentment information can be significantly reduced. It should be
understood that, in many cases, the payor will required only
summary bill presentment information, and thus on-line processing
to merge the templates and normalized billing information will not,
in many cases, be required. However, preferably, detailed bill
presentment information dynamically generated by merging template
and normalized data may be cached to support re-retrieval requests
responsively.
[0060] Referring again to FIG. 2B, the payor station 120a-120d
receives, via network interface 455 of payor station 120, the bill
presentment information transmitted by the CF station 140 over the
network 100. The payor processor 450 processes the received
information in accordance with the payor client software stored in
memory area 470a and directs the presentation of the received bill
presentment information on the display 460 of the payor station
120.
[0061] As discussed above referring to FIG. 2, the CF station 140
is linked via the network 100 to various financial institution
stations 130a-130c which represent financial institutions with whom
checking accounts are maintained by one or more of the payors
represented by stations 120a-120d and/or deposit accounts are
maintained by one of more of the billers represented by stations
110a-110d. A payor, having received bill presentment information,
can now request that payment of one or more bills be made to the
appropriate biller(s) represented by station(s) 110a-110d.
[0062] In this regard referring again to FIG. 2B, the payor
processor 450 generates, in accordance with the client software
residing in memory area 470a, a payment instruction and an
instruction directing the transmission of the instruction, via the
network interface 455, over the network 100 to the CF station 140.
Referring again to FIG. 2A, the payment instruction is received and
processed by the processor 410 of CF station 140. The processor
410, responsive to the received payment instruction and in
accordance with the bill payment software stored in memory area
420c, directs the payment of the applicable bills either by
electronic funds transfer or by hardcopy check.
[0063] If the payment will be made by electronic funds transfer,
the CF processor 410 generates an electronic funds transfer
instruction to electronically transfer the appropriate amount from
the applicable payor's checking account maintained at one of the
financial institutions represented by stations 130a-130c to the
appropriate biller's deposit account maintained at one of the
financial institutions represented by stations 130a-130c. The
processor 410 also generates an instruction to transmit the
electronic funds transfer instruction, via the network interface
405, over the network 100 to the applicable payor financial
institution station 130a-130c and/or an originating financial
institution and or originating financial institution to the
Automated Clearing House (ACH) network or similar financial network
for funds transfer.
[0064] The processor 410 also generates, in accordance with the
bill payment software instructions stored in memory area 420c, a
message indicating the amount of payment remitted and the
associated payer account number, along with an instruction to
transmit the message, via the network interface 405, over the
network 100 to the appropriate biller station 110a-110d. This
remittance advice information may flow directly to the biller
station 110a-110d or be routed with the payment through the
biller's financial institution 130a-130c, which would deliver the
information to the biller station. It should be recognized that the
biller station to which the payment notice is transmitted may be
different than the biller station from which the billing
information is transmitted.
[0065] If the payment will be made by hardcopy check, the CF
processor 410 generates an instruction to print a hardcopy check
for the appropriate amount against funds in CF station 140's
checking account. The applicable payor's checking account
maintained at one of the financial institutions represented by
stations 130a-130c is debited appropriately via ACH (resulting in
electronic funds transfer to the CF station account) or via some
form of "good funds" debiting through a direct electronic
connection to the financial institution (resulting in electronic or
wire funds transfer to the CF station account). The check may be a
"single check" remitting only a single payor's payment to a
particular biller, or a "check and list", combining the remittance
from multiple payers to a particular biller. Alternatively, the CF
processor may generate an instruction to print a hardcopy check for
the appropriate amount against funds in the applicable payor's
checking account maintained at one of the financial institutions
represented by stations 130a-130c. The processor 410 also
generates, in accordance with the bill payment software
instructions stored in memory area 420c, a message indicating the
amount of the payment(s) remitted and the associated payor
account(s). The printed message and check are then mailed to the
applicable biller remittance center. It should be recognized that
the location to which the payment notice is sent may be different
than the location of the biller station from which the billing
information is transmitted.
[0066] Referring again to FIG. 2, rather than having all operations
performed by the CF station 140, certain operations can be
performed directly by other network stations and certain
information can be transmitted directly between the payor stations
120a-120d, the biller stations 110a-110d and the financial
institution stations 130a-130c. It may, in some instances, be
preferred to have the CF station 140 linked to the payor stations
120a-120d and biller stations 110a-110d via the financial
institution stations 130a-130c.
[0067] For example, it may be desirable in some cases for the
biller stations 110a-110d to communicate some or all bill related
information via the network 100 directly to the payor stations
120a-120d while the notices of the availability are generated and
transmitted by the CF station 140 directly to the appropriate payor
stations. This facilitates biller control over bill related
information which could be stored exclusively on a memory device at
the appropriate biller station. In other cases, it may be
advantageous for all payment instructions to be transmitted
directly from the payor stations 120a-120d to an appropriate
financial institution station 130a-130c. In such cases, there could
be a preference to have the payment instruction processed by the CF
station 140 or at the financial institution station 130a-130c. In
still other cases, it may be beneficial for all communications to
be transmitted through the financial institution station 130a-130c
but all processing to be performed by the CF station 140.
[0068] As indicated above, if desired, all or part of the billing
information may be retained at the biller stations 110a-110d. For
example, it may be desired that detailed bill presentment
information be retained at the biller stations 110a-110d while
summary bill presentment information be stored and provided by the
CF station 140. Although billing information may be maintained by
the biller stations 110a-110d, the request for such information may
be directed through the CF station 140 to the appropriate biller
110a-110d in order to provide a third party audit trail or meet
other desired objectives.
[0069] Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the CF processor 410, in
accordance with the bill presentment software stored in area 420c
of the memory 420, preferably tracks and stores information
relating to requests or transmissions of bill presentation
information to payors after the notice of availability. The CF
processor 410 also preferably receives, stores and tracks a signal
from the payor stations 120a-120d relating to when a notice of
availability bills has been viewed by the applicable payor. In this
way, the processor 410, in accordance with the bill presentation
software instructions, may transmit a reminder notice of the
availability of bills, for example, if no request to view the bills
has been received for some period of time after the payor has
viewed the notice or if bills represented in previously requested
bill presentment remain due and unpaid after some period of time.
It may be desirable to send reminder notifications one or more
times at fixed intervals, e.g., weekly, after the initial viewing
of the notice of availability or the initial request for bill
presentment information. A reminder notice could alternatively or
additionally be sent just prior to the bill due date as a final
reminder to the payor before late payment or interest charges will
accrue.
[0070] Turning now to FIGS. 4-6, the payor enrollment process
performed by the CF processor 410, in accordance with the bill
presentment and bill payment software instructions stored in memory
area 420c, will be described. Upon request by an existing or
potential payor represented by a payor station 120a-120d,
enrollment interface information is electronically transmitted via
the network 100 from the CF station 140 to the applicable station
120a-120d. The information is provided so as to be capable of
processing by the payor processor 450 and presented in one or more
screens on a display 460 of the payor station 120. It will of
course be recognized that, although the enrollment process is
described with reference to a payor station of the type shown in
FIG. 2B, the process could be easily implemented with other types
of payor stations.
[0071] The initial enrollment screen 550, as shown in FIG. 4,
includes a listing in block 560 of billers from whom bills can be
received electronically. An indicator 565 indicates those billers
whose bills can be received electronically and who can also be paid
electronically as previously described. The payor using the input
device 465 of the payor station 120 can select any or all of the
billers identified in the listing in block 560 for electronic bill
presentation and/or electronic payment, if applicable. The account
number for the payor's account with each selected biller is
inserted in block 562 using the payor input device 465. The payor
is also given the option, in block 570, of identifying other
billers not included in the listing in block 560. Since all billers
from whom electronic bills are available are listed in block 560,
block 570 is reserved for those billers, for example, the paper
boy, babysitter, lawn boy, etc., to whom the payor desires to make
payments electronically through the CF station 140 based upon
hardcopy bills received directly from the biller.
[0072] FIG. 5 depicts further enrollment screen 500 transmitted by
the CF station 140 to the payor station 120a-120d during the
enrollment process. This screen is also presentable on the display
460 of the payor station 120. This screen facilitates the gathering
of payor data which is necessary or desirable for the processing of
bills. Using the input device 465 of the payor station 120, the
payor enters his/her first name, middle initial, and last name in
block 510 of the screen 500. The payor is also requested to enter
his/her social security number in block 520 and mother's maiden
name in block 525. The maiden name of the payor's mother is
requested for subsequent verification purposes. The payor's address
is also requested to be entered in block 530. In blocks 540, both
home and office telephone numbers are requested.
[0073] It should be noted that although the payor's account numbers
for those billers selected from the listing in block 560 of FIG. 4
are requested, in certain implementation it may be preferable to
obtain the account numbers from the billers as part of the
information to be forwarded to the CF station 140 by the applicable
billers selected in block 560 of FIG. 4. By eliminating the need
for potential payors to provide an account number, the enrollment
process can be simplified somewhat from the enrollee's prospective.
However, it should be noted that in most cases it will be
beneficial to request that the payor enter an account number for
each selected biller.
[0074] Turning now to FIG. 6, another screen 600, transmitted from
the CF station 140 to the payor station 120 during the enrollment
process, depicts an exemplary portion of a conventional personal
check in block 610. Within this block, the areas of the check
having the routing and transit number (RTN) and the account number
are indicated. The RTN and account number for the applicable
payor's checking account with the applicable financial institution
130a-130c are entered in block 620. Additionally, in block 630, log
on information is entered in the form of a user name and password
to complete the enrollment process.
[0075] Upon enrollment, the billers from whom electronic bills have
been requested and the financial institutions from whom checking
account withdrawals have been authorized are notified, supplied
information is verified and additional information is
requested.
[0076] FIG. 7 provides a simplified flow diagram which summarizes
operations of the CF station 140 during bill processing. It should
be noted that the operations are described with the CF station 140
serving a centralized role within the bill processing network of
FIGS. 1 and 2. Those skilled in the art will understand that the
described operations could be performed as appropriate by stations
other than the CF station 140 within the network shown in FIGS. 1
and 2, as has been previously described above.
[0077] As indicated in step 705, the CF station 140 receives
billing information from the biller stations 110a-110d via the
network 100. The received billing information is normalized,
summarized and stored in steps 710 and 715 at the CF station 140.
In step 720, the payor is notified of the availability of bills by
message transmitted from the CF station 140 to the payor station
120a-120d via network 100. In step 725, the CF station 140 receives
a request for bill presentation information from the applicable
payor station 120a-120d. The bill presentment information is
transmitted over the network 100 by the CF station 140 to the
applicable payor station 120a-120d in step 730, responsive to the
request. The bill presentment information may include only a
summary of bills or one or more detailed bills formed by templating
the normalized data before transmission. If desired the transmitted
bill presentment information could include both summary and
detailed bills.
[0078] In step 740, the CF station 140 determines if bill payment
instructions have been received for those bills represented by the
previously transmitted bill presentation information. This
determination may, for example, be made at some predefined period
after the receipt of a request for or transmission of the bill
presentation information. If not, the payor is again notified of
the bill availability in step 720.
[0079] Optionally, the payor station 120a-120d may be configured to
transmit a notice to the CF station 140, responsive to the viewing
of the notice of availability by the applicable payor. In step 735,
the CF station 140 determines if a request to receive bill
presentment information has been received for those bills
represented by the previously transmitted notice of availability.
This determination may, for example, be made at some predefined
period after the initial viewing of the notice of availability of
bill presentation information. If not, the payor is again notified
of the bill availability in step 720. If a request has been
received, the process continues at step 730.
[0080] If the determinations in step 740 is positive, in step 755,
the CF station 140 determines if, in accordance with the payment
instruction, the bill is to be paid by electronic funds transfer.
If yes, CF station 140 transmits, via the network 100, an
electronic funds transfer instruction to the payor's deposit
account at one of the applicable financial institution represented
by stations 130a-130c in step 760. The CF station 140 also
transmits, via network 100, a notice to the applicable biller
station of the payment in step 765. If payment is to be made by
check, the CF station 140 generates a hardcopy check with the
appropriate account information and directs the mailing of same to
the biller in step 770.
[0081] Referring now to FIGS. 8-15, the payor, at his/her own
prerogative, can access the bill presentment information at the CF
station 140 via the network 100 at any time. For example, this
contact may be initiated by using a payor station 120a-120d to
contact the CF station 140 at a Web site on the Internet.
[0082] Upon initiating contact with the CF station 140, the payor
is welcomed, as shown in FIG. 8, by a screen 800 transmitted by the
CF station 140 to the payor station 120a-120d for presentment on
the payor station display 460. The screen 800 includes notification
of bills in block 810 and of messages in block 820 which have not
been previously transmitted to the payor. In this particular
instance, no new bills or messages are indicated. If new bills
and/or messages are available, the payor can, using the payor
station input device 465, click on indicator 810a to access the new
bills and indicator 820a to access the new messages.
[0083] From screen 800, the payor can also access either bill
presentment information related to previously transmitted billing
information, including information relating to unpaid bills or paid
bills, as well as information relating to previously accessed
messages by clicking on indicator 830a to receive the unpaid bills,
indicator 840a to access bill presentment information related to
paid bills, and indicator 850a to access other messages. The payor
can also select categories as indicated in block 870 by clicking on
indicator 870a. Responsive to clicking on indicator 870a, the CF
station 140 will transmit a screen which will be described below
and allows the payor to categorize billers in any desired
manner.
[0084] The payor can also contact customer care by inserting a
topic of interest in block 860 and clicking on the indicator 860a.
Alternatively, block 860 may offer a pulldown list of selectable
topics, similar to block 560 in FIG. 4. In such a scenario, the
payor would select one of the topics prior to clicking on indicator
860a. By clicking on the indicator 860a, a message is sent from the
payor station 120a-120d to the appropriate customer care station.
The customer care station may be the CF station 140 for all topics,
or could alternatively be the CF station 140 for certain topics,
the appropriate financial institution station 130a-130c for other
topics and/or the appropriate biller station 110a-110d for still
other topics.
[0085] For example, if the inquiry topic relates to the accounting
of certain funds transfer from the payor's checking account, the
customer care request can be directed to the appropriate financial
institution station 130a-130c. If the indicated topic relates to a
particular merchant billing, the customer care request can be
directed to the appropriate merchant station 110a-110d. If the
inquiry is of a more general nature, the customer care request can
be directed to the CF station 140.
[0086] The customer case messaging option shown in FIG. 8 and
described here may be beneficially provided on some or all screens
presented on the payor station 120a-120d.
[0087] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, if
the CF station 140 serves as a centralized gateway for all
communications, all customer care requests could be directed to the
CF station 140 and it may be unnecessary for the payor to indicate
a topic of interest in block 860. Likewise, if all pertinent
information is available at the CF station 140 then all customer
care inquiries could also be directed to and disposed of by
customer care represented by the CF station 140 rather than being
forwarded on to a financial institution station 130a-130c or biller
station 110a-110d for response.
[0088] Referring now to FIG. 9A, as noted above, if new bills are
available, a summary of these bills can be accessed by clicking on
indicator 810a. Similarly, if new messages are available, these
messages can be accessed by clicking on indicator 820a. By clicking
on indicator 810a when new bills are indicated, a screen 900, as
shown in FIG. 9A, is transmitted from the CF station 140, via the
network 100, to the payor station 120a-120d, processed by payor
processor 450 and presented on the payor display 460. The screen
900 includes bill presentment information 910 which summarizes the
new bills which have been received since the payor last requested
bill presentment information related to unpaid bills. The summary
information includes the biller name, amount of the new bill and
the due date for payment of the bill.
[0089] As indicated in FIG. 9A, the applicable biller logo may be
displayed as part of the presentation. The payor is given the
option of clicking on a pay indicator 910a, a mark indicator 910b,
or a delete indicator 910c, associated with each summarized
billing. By clicking on the pay indicator using the payor input
device 465, a signal is transmitted to the CF station 140 to direct
payment of a particular billed amount on the due date. By clicking
on indicator 910c, the displayed bill presentation information
relating to a particular biller is deleted. By clicking on
indicator 910b, the bill summary information relating to one or
more particular bills is marked and by then clicking on indicator
915 the detailed bill presentment information relating to these
particular bills can be retrieved from the CF station 140. The
payor also has the option, using the payor input device 465, of
clicking on block 920 to access a summary of all unpaid bills from
the CF station 140. The unpaid bill summary will be substantially
in the form of bill summary 910, but will include a summary listing
of all unpaid bills rather than just listing new unpaid bills.
[0090] FIG. 9B depicts screen 930 which can be transmitted from the
CF station 140 to present summary bill related information at the
payor station 120a-12d in a categorized manner. As shown, by
clicking on indicator 935, categories of billers are changed in
block 940. For example, in screen 930 the category has been set to
unpaid bills and accordingly, a summary of all unpaid bills appears
on the payor display 460. Other categories could be, for example,
utility bills, paid bills, questioned bills, credit card bills or
any other category which may be desirable under the particular
circumstances. In screen 930, one or more of the check blocks 945
can be clicked on along with the pay bill indicator 950 to direct a
communication from the payor station 120a-120d to the CF station
140 instructing particular bills which are summarized in screen 930
should be paid on the due date. Indicator 955 allows the check
blocks 945 to be reset in the event that a block is inadvertently
checked.
[0091] FIG. 9C depicts still another screen 960 which can be
transmitted from the CF station 140 to the appropriate payor
station 120a-120d for presentation on the payor display 460. As
shown, the listing contains a current bill summary with payee names
965, total bill amounts 970, minimum payment amounts due 975,
payment due dates 980 and bill status 985. Indicators 990 indicate
that a pre-bill payment authorization has been made with respect to
particular bills. Such authorizations will be described below. The
status may, for example, be indicated as unpaid, as being processed
if payment has been previously directed by the payor, or as on hold
if the bill has been previously questioned by the payor.
[0092] As indicated in block 992, the payor can direct that all
bills summarized in the bill summary of FIG. 9C be paid by clicking
on the indicator 992a. Clicking on indicator 992a will result in
the payor processor 450 directing a communication to the CF station
140 to pay all of the listed bills by the due date. Alternatively,
as indicated in block 994, the payor can click on the indicator
994a to direct payment of the minimum amount due on all listed
bills be paid by the payment due date. To the extent that the
payment of bills have been preauthorized by the payor, clicking on
indicator 992a or 994a will not affect the pre-authorized
payments.
[0093] Block 996 identifies the category of billers with respect to
whom bill related information is summarized in screen 960. An
indicator arrow 996a can be clicked on to scroll through various
categories of billers to change the information summarized on
screen 960, as has been previously described with reference to FIG.
9B. Additionally, dates can be inserted in block 998 to limit or
extend the amount of bill summary information which is displayed.
The arrow indicator 998a can be used to change the "TO" date.
[0094] By clicking on one or more indicators 965a and the retrieve
indicator 999, detailed bill presentment information relating to
particular bill summary items can be accessed from the CF station.
By clicking on one or more of the indicators 970a and the pay
indicator 997, an instruction to pay the total billed amount
associated with particular bills will be communicated to the CF
station 140. By clicking on one or more of the indicators 975a and
the pay indicator 997, an instruction will issue to the CF station
140 to make payment of the minimum amount due on particular
bills.
[0095] Turning now to FIG. 10A, a pre-bill payment authorization
screen 1000 is shown. The screen is transmitted from the CF station
140 to the appropriate payor station 120a-120d for presentation on
the payor station display 460. The pre-bill payment authorization
screen 1000 allows the payor to identify billers in column 1005
whose bills are pre-authorized by the payor for payment by the CF
station 140. More particularly, the payor can designate in column
1010 a fixed payment amount, a maximum payment amount or an
instruction to pay the total amount due or minimum amount due for
any named biller. Further, the payor can specify, if so desired, in
column 1015, a frequency at which such payments are authorized.
[0096] As shown in FIG. 10A, the payor can also authorize payment
of the total amount billed for all billers identified by an
asterisk 415 in FIG. 4 by filling in a period of authorization in
block 1020 and clicking on indicator 1020a. Similarly, if the payor
wishes to pre-authorize payments of the minimum amount due on all
bills, the period of authorization can be inserted in block 1025
and indicator 1025a can be clicked on. As indicated by block 1030,
an indicator 1030a can be clicked on to direct that notification of
and bill presentment information associated with bills for which
payment is pre-authorized not be forwarded to the payor. The payor
also has the option, as indicated by block 1035, of clicking on
indicator 1035a to receive notices and presentations of bill
presentment information associated with the bills which have been
pre-authorized for payment by the CF station 140.
[0097] FIG. 10B depicts an alternative screen 1050 which may be
utilized in setting up pre-bill payment authorization. Screen 1050
is transmitted from the CF station 140 to the applicable payor
station 120a-120d. Billers identified in block 1060 and associated
account numbers identified in block 1065 can be changed by clicking
on indicator 1055. Alternatively, the payor can enter a biller name
in block 1060 and the payor's account number with the particular
biller payments will appear automatically in block 1065. By
clicking on indicator 1070, the payor can direct the CF station 140
not to transmit notices and presentations of bill presentment
information relating to the particular biller indicated. By
clicking designator 1075, the payor can direct the CF station 140
to continue to transmit notices and bill presentment information
regarding unpaid bills of the identified biller. By clicking on
indicator 1080 after entering an amount in block 1085, the payor
can pre-authorize the CF station 140 to pay bills of the indicated
biller up to the maximum amount indicated without further
authorization.
[0098] As indicated above, the payor station 120a-120d can also
access the detailed bill related information stored at the CF
station 140. As shown in FIG. 11, detailed bill presentment
information, identified with referenced numeral 1110, is
transmitted as screen 1100 by the CF station 140 responsive to a
request for such information from the payor station 120a-120d. By
clicking on indicator 1120, the payor station 120a-120d will issue
an instruction directing the payment of the bill through the CF
station 140. The bill can also be deleted from the screen by
clicking on indicator 1125.
[0099] Responsive to clicking on indicator 1120 at payor station
120a-120d, a screen 1200, as shown in FIG. 12a, is transmitted by
the CF station 140. The screen 1200 includes a check 1205 which can
be presented by the payor processor 450 on the display 460 at the
payor station 120a-120d. The check 1205, as shown, resembles a
conventional hardcopy personal check. The name of the applicable
biller automatically appears in the block 1210. An appropriate
payment date automatically appears in block 1215. It should be
noted that the indicated payment date may pre-date the payment due
date included on the bill presentment information of FIG. 11 to
reflect when the payment must be made to ensure timely arrival and
avoidance of late charges. The lead time may vary depending on the
remittance method (hardcopy check or various forms of electronic
funds transfer). The total bill amount is also automatically
indicated in block 1220.
[0100] The payor can modify the date and amount of the payment if
so desired. As an option, the payor can also indicate in block 1225
that the amount shown should be paid to the biller more than once,
for example, monthly or semi-annually. This feature will typically
be most useful where a fixed payment amount is payable on a fixed
periodic basis to the applicable biller. The payor then clicks on
the pay bill indicator 1230 to direct transmission of an
instruction from the payor station 120a-120d to the CF station to
make payment to the designated payee, i.e., biller, in the
designated amount on the designated date.
[0101] FIG. 12B depicts an alternative bill payment screen 1250.
Screen 1250 includes a check 1255 which is similar to check 1205 of
FIG. 12A, but which can be used in connection with the payment of
individual bills from a bill summary screen such as those
previously described with reference to FIGS. 9A-9A. More
particularly, responsive to the pay indicator, in the bill
summaries shown in FIGS. 9A-9C, being clicked on at the payor
station 120a-120d, the CF station 140 transmits screen 1250 to the
payee station. The check 1255 includes block 1260 in which an
individual biller's name can be inserted by scrolling through
billers names appearing on the bill summary using the arrow
indicator 1260a. The bill due date or a date which allows time for
hardcopy mailing of a check to the biller automatically appears in
the date block 1265 for the listed bill of the selected biller.
[0102] In the screen 1250, the block 1270 must be filled in by the
payor to indicate the desired payment amount. Block 1275 can be
scrolled by clicking on the arrow indicator 1275a to select the
period of payment as has been previously discussed with reference
to block 1225 in FIG. 12A. FIG. 12C further details screen 1250 to
show that block 1275 can be expanded to provide multiple options
with respect to the payment period for selection by the payor.
[0103] Once the check 1255 has been appropriately filled out the
payor can then click on the pay bill indicator 1280 to transmit an
instruction from the payor station 120a-120d directing the CF
station 140 to pay the selected biller in accordance with
information contained in the filled check 1255. If, on the other
hand, changes in the check information are required, the payor can
click on indicator 1285 to reset check 1255 and restart the process
of selecting a biller for payment and filling in the amount of the
payment to be made.
[0104] Referring to FIG. 13, a screen 1300, having a payment list
1305 including those bills which have been paid or on which
instructions for payment have been received, is generated by the CF
station 140. Responsive to a request from the payor, the screen
1300 is transmitted via the network 100 to the appropriate payor
station 120a-120d. The screen 1300 is presentable on the payor
display 460. The screen includes a listing of billers in column
1310 and a listing of the date on which payment has or will be made
in column 1315. The amount of the authorized payment is listed in
column 1320 along with the period at which such payment is
authorized in column 1325. A payment confirmation number is
referenced in column 1330. This number can be used to identify the
particular transmission or payment of interest should the payor
wish to make any inquiries to customer care regarding the payment.
In column 1335, the status of the payment is indicated. For
example, as indicated, the status may be that payment has been
processed or may be pending awaiting a due date of payment. In
column 1340, the payor is provided with various options depending
upon the status of the payment. For example, where payment is
pending, the payment authorization can be stopped or edited. In
those cases where payment has been made, the payor can make
inquiries relating to those payments.
[0105] FIG. 14 depicts a screen 1400 which, responsive to a request
from a payor, is transmitted by the CF processor 140 to the payor
station 120a-120d. Screen 1400 allows the payor to establish
certain categories of billers, as has been previously discussed.
For example, the biller may, in block 1405, establish categories
for utilities, credit card companies, school, tennis related
activities and any other categories as may be desired by an
individual payor. By clicking on the reset indicator 1410, the
payor can modify the listed categories. The selected categories and
any changes to the category listings are saved by clicking on
indicator 1415.
[0106] FIG. 15 depicts a particularly beneficial screen 1500 for
bill presentment and payment. As shown, the CF processor 140
transmits for presentation on the payor station display 460, a
screen having an area 1505, which includes biller-specific bill
presentment information, including the biller name, biller address
and payor account number with the biller in block 1510. The area
1505 also includes a block 1515 having the biller invoice number
and invoice date to the extent applicable. A block 1520 presents
information which includes the purchase dates, product/service
descriptions and the associated billed amounts, along with the
total amount due and minimum payment due. A block 1525 indicates
the payment due date.
[0107] In section 1530 of screen 1500, a check 1535 is shown which
includes information similar to that of check 1205 which is
described above with reference to FIG. 12A, with the exception that
the check 1535 includes an invoice number in block 1540 and a click
on indicator for approving the payment in block 1545. As in FIG.
12A, the payment due date and the total payment amount can be
modified. An area 1550 of the screen 1500, has indicators which can
be clicked on to access other information. As shown, indicator
1555a can be clicked on to access other terms and conditions as
indicated in block 1555, and indicator 1560a can be clicked on to
access advertisements which the biller wishes to include with the
bill presentment as indicated in block 1560.
[0108] An indicator 1565a can be clicked on to access customer care
as indicated in block 1565. The customer care access can, if
desired, be similar to that described with reference to FIG. 8. Any
customer care inquiry will automatically reference the particular
account number referred to in area 1505 of the screen 1500, and may
also reference the invoice number referred to in area 1505. By
clicking on indicator 1570a, the payor can determine if payment has
already been made as indicated by block 1570. If payment has been
made, by clicking on indicator 1570a a canceled check stamp will
appear on the check 1535 to indicate that the check has been
cashed.
[0109] Accordingly, utilizing the screen 1500, a payor can access
all information on a single screen necessary to review detailed
bill presentment information relating to any particular bill, make
payment of that bill in a desired amount and access other
information, such as terms and conditions and advertisements, which
would normally be included in a hardcopy mailing of bill. The payor
can also determine that payment of the bill has in fact been
received by the applicable biller. Should the biller have questions
regarding the bill or payment, by simply clicking on indicator
1565a, customer care can be accessed.
[0110] It will also be recognized by those skilled in the art that,
while the invention has been described above in terms of one or
more preferred embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Various
features and aspects of the above described invention may be used
individually or jointly. Further, although the invention has been
described in the context of its implementation in a particular
environment and for particular purposes, those skilled in the art
will recognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto and that
the present invention can be beneficially utilized in any number of
environments and implementations. Accordingly, the claims set forth
below should be construed in view of the full breath and spirit of
the invention as disclosed herein.
* * * * *