Methods and systems for paying a bill using a transaction card account

A computer for processing a bill payment by a consumer using a transaction card account, said computer coupled to a database, said computer configured to:

• receive bill pay data and an authorization message for storage within the database, wherein the bill pay data is submitted by the consumer for processing by a bill payment outsourcer, the bill pay data including data representing the bill to be paid to a biller and the transaction card account associated with the consumer to be used to pay the bill, and wherein the authorization message requests an approval message confirming that the transaction card account includes sufficient funds to pay the submitted bill;
• process the bill pay data and the authorization message for transmission to an issuer associated with the transaction card;
• receive the approval message from the issuer after the issuer has confirmed that the transaction card account includes sufficient funds to pay the submitted bill, the approval message provided to the bill payment outsourcer;
• and
• transmit funds data representing a transfer of funds from the transaction card account to the biller for paying the bill.

A network based system for paying a bill using a transaction card account, said system comprising:

• a first computer associated with an acquirer processor and a bill payment outsourcer;
• a second computer associated with an issuer processor and an issuer holding said transaction card account;
• and
• an interchange server system coupled to a database, said interchange server system further coupled to said first computer and said second computer, said interchange server system configured to:
• receive bill pay data and an authorization message for storage within said database, wherein the bill pay data is submitted by the consumer for processing by said first computer, the bill pay data including data representing the bill to be paid to a biller and the transaction card account associated with the consumer to be used to pay the bill, and wherein the authorization message requests an approval message confirming that the transaction card account includes sufficient funds to pay the submitted bill;
• process the bill pay data and the authorization message for transmission to said second computer;
• receive the approval message from said second computer after said second computer has confirmed that the transaction card account includes sufficient funds to pay the submitted bill, the approval message provided to said first computer;
• and
• transmit funds data representing a transfer of funds from the transaction card account to the biller for paying the bill.

A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for paying a bill using a transaction card account, said program comprising at least one code segment that:

• submits bill pay data by a consumer for processing by a bill payment outsourcer, the bill pay data including data representing the bill to be paid to a biller and the transaction card account associated with the consumer to be used for paying the bill;
• receives the bill pay data and an authorization message for storage within a memory, wherein the authorization message requests an approval message confirming that the transaction card account includes sufficient funds to pay the submitted bill;
• processes the bill pay data and the authorization message for transmission to an issuer associated with the transaction card;
• receives the approval message from the issuer after the issuer has confirmed that the transaction card account includes sufficient funds to pay the submitted bill, the approval message provided to the bill payment outsourcer;
• and
• transmits funds data representing a transfer of funds from the transaction card account to the biller for paying the bill.