US 5,465,206 A · Electronic bill pay system

Abstract

A bill pay system wherein participating consumers pay bills to participating billers through a payment network operating according to preset rules. The participating consumers receive bills from participating billers (paper/mail bills, e-mail notices, implied bills for automatic debts) which indicate an amount, and a unique biller identification number. To authorize a remittance, a consumer transmits to its bank (a participating bank) a bill pay order indicating a payment date, a payment amount, the consumer's account number with the biller, a source of funds and the biller's biller identification number, either directly or by reference to static data containing those data elements. Bank C then submits a payment message to a payment network, and the payment network, which assigns the biller reference numbers, forwards the payment message to the biller's bank. For settlement, the consumer's bank debits the consumer's account and is obligated to a net position with the payment network; likewise, the biller's bank receives a net position from the payment network and credits the biller's bank account. If the consumer's bank agrees to send non-reversible payment messages, the consumer's bank does not submit the transaction until funds are good unless the consumer's bank is willing to take the risk of loss if funds are not good, in the case of a guaranteed payment network. The biller's bank, upon receipt of the payment message, releases the funds to the biller, and provides A/R data to biller in a form which biller B has indicated, the form being one which does not have to be treated as an exception item to the biller. The biller's bank is assured of payment by the payment network, unless the transaction is a reversible transaction according to the preset rules of the payment network. In specific embodiments, the consumer initiates the bill pay orders manually, via paper at an ATM, via PC, or via telephone keypad.

An electronic funds transfer network for transferring funds from a consumer account to a biller account, wherein a funds transfer from the consumer account occurs when a first transaction processor applies a debit portion of an accounting transaction to the consumer account and a funds transfer to the biller account occurs where a second transaction processor applies a credit portion of a resulting accounting transaction to the biller account, comprising:

order input means for consumer input of a bill pay order, said bill pay order including at least a reference to a biller identification (biller ID), a payment amount, and an identifier of a consumer-biller account to be credited, wherein said consumer-biller account is used to determine amounts owed to a biller by a consumer;
a first transaction processor, configured to at least maintain a balance of the consumer account and process debit portions of accounting transactions against the consumer account, said first transaction processor being a computer operated for a consumer financial institution with whom the consumer maintains the consumer account;
means for transmitting said bill pay order from said order input means to said first transaction processor;
payment data packet generation means, controlled by said first transaction processor, for generating a payment data packet based on said bill pay order, said payment data packet comprising at least data fields indicating said biller ID, said payment amount and said consumer-biller account identifier;
an electronic packet transfer network which electronically couples said payment data packet generation means at an originating node to a plurality of similar nodes, wherein each node is uniquely identified by a financial institution identifier (BID), said electronic packet transfer network including destination translation means for translating said biller ID field of said payment data packet into a pointer to a destination node;
a second transaction processor located at said destination node, configured to at least maintain a balance of the biller account and process credit portions of accounting transactions against the biller account, said second transaction processor being a computer operated for the biller financial institution with whom a biller maintains the biller account;
payment data packet accepting means, coupled to said electronic packet transfer network and to said second transaction processor, for accepting said payment data packet from said electronic packet transfer network and applying a credit transaction to the biller account according to said payment amount field of said payment data packet;
and
a biller accounts receivable data processor, coupled to one of said electronic packet transfer network or said payment data packet accepting means, which processes biller data included in said payment data packet and provides said biller data in a form used by said biller to update said consumer-biller account to reflect a credit based on to said payment amount.

6 more elements

Electronic bill pay system

Life of this patent

Electronic bill pay system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims30