US 2006/0080240 A1 · Electronic payment transaction system

Abstract

An electronic payment transaction system for enabling customers to pay creditors via at least one manual payment to an intermediate trustee at a trustee site includes a trustee processor, a creditor transaction processor linked to the trustee processor, and a host processor. The trustee and creditor transaction processors are located at a trustee site, while the host processor is located at a host site, which is remote from the trustee site. After receiving a creditor billing statement, a customer visits the trustee site and accesses the creditor transaction processor to obtain account information. The customer then tenders payment manually to a clerk who enters the payment information into the trustee processor, applying the tendered balance to an amount due a creditor. The payment information is then transmitted to the host processor. Once complete, the host processor transmits funds to the appropriate creditor.

Claims25

Dependent claims

An electronic payment transaction system for enabling customers to pay creditors via at least one manual payment to an intermediate trustee at a trustee site, the system comprising:

a trustee processor disposed at the trustee site operable to process the at least one manual payment transaction and to communicate with a creditor transaction processor;
a creditor transaction processor disposed proximate the trustee processor for receiving information from a customer pertaining to a payment to a creditor, wherein the creditor transaction processor is operable to communicate with a host processor and to process information pertaining to the payment to a creditor;
and
a host processor disposed at a service provider site remote from the trustee site and adapted to communicate with the creditor transaction processor, wherein the host processor is operable to receive the customer payment information from the creditor transaction processor.

1 more element

An electronic payment transaction system for enabling customers to pay creditors via at least one manual payment to an intermediate trustee at a trustee site, the system comprising:

a trustee processor disposed at the trustee site to generate and store a record of manual payment;
a creditor transaction processor disposed proximate the trustee processor for receiving information from a customer pertaining to a payment to a creditor, the creditor processor operable to communicate with the trustee processor and to process a the information pertaining to payment to a creditor using the record of manual payment;
a host processor disposed at a service provider site remote from the trustee site, the host processor operable to communicate with the trustee processor and operable to receive customer payment information from the trustee processor.

A method of enabling customers of a creditor to visit a trustee site and manually tender payment in response to receiving from the creditor a creditor statement including a customer account balance owed to a creditor, wherein each creditor is associated with a respective creditor site and customer payments tendered at the trustee site are applied to the customer account balance, the method comprising the steps of

(a) receiving a payment at the trustee site from a customer visiting the trustee site and manually tendering a customer payment;
(b) processing, via a trustee processing system disposed at the trustee site, the manually tendered customer payment and storing a record of the manual payment to provide a credited amount;
(c) receiving, via a creditor transaction system disposed proximate the trustee system, customer account information including the customer account balance and processing a creditor payment in which at least a portion of the credited amount is applied to the customer account balance;
(d) transmitting to a service provider site, at selected transmission times, customer payment information accumulated between the transmission times, wherein the customer payment information includes the amount credited to the customer balance, and wherein the service provider site is located at a site remote from the trustee site.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Electronic payment transaction system

Life of this patent

Electronic payment transaction system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims25