US20020049672A1 - Quick user payment authorization of electronically presented bills - Google Patents

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.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD
• The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce and more particularly to electronic presentation of an aggregation of bills from different billers.[0001]
BACKGROUND ART
• 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.[0002]
• 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.[0003]
• 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.[0004]
• 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.[0005]
• 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.[0006]
• 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.[0007]
• 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.[0008]
• 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.[0009]
OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION
• 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.[0010]
• 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.[0011]
• It is a further object of the present invention to provide a technique for electronically presenting bills in a form desired by a payor.[0012]
• 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.[0013]
SUMMARY DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
• 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.[0014]
• 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.[0015]
• 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.[0016]
• 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.[0017]
• 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.[0018]
• 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.[0019]
• 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.[0020]
• 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.[0021]
• 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.[0022]
• 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.[0023]
• 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.[0024]
• 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.[0025]
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 depicts a bill processing network in accordance with the present invention.[0026]
• FIG. 2 depicts a functional block diagram of the bill processing network of FIG. 1.[0027]
• FIG. 2A depicts a simplified block diagram of the CF station of FIG. 1.[0028]
• FIG. 2B depicts a simplified block diagram of an exemplary payor station of FIG. 1.[0029]
• FIG. 3 depicts various types of payor stations which can be utilized in the bill processing network of FIG. 1.[0030]
• FIG. 4 depicts a payor enrollment screen in accordance with the present invention.[0031]
• FIG. 5 depicts another payor enrollment screen in accordance with the present invention.[0032]
• FIG. 6 depicts a still further payor enrollment screen in accordance with the present invention.[0033]
• FIG. 7 depicts a simplified flow diagram of the operation of the bill processing network depicted in FIG. 1.[0034]
• FIG. 8 depicts a payor welcome screen in accordance with the present invention.[0035]
• FIG. 9A depicts bill presentment information which includes a new bill summary screen in accordance with the present invention.[0036]
• FIG. 9B depicts bill presentment information which includes an unpaid bill summary screen in accordance with the present invention.[0037]
• FIG. 9C depicts bill presentment information which includes another type of bill summary in accordance with the present invention.[0038]
• FIG. 10A depicts a pre-bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0039]
• FIG. 10B depicts another pre-bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0040]
• FIG. 11 depicts bill presentment information which includes a detailed bill screen in accordance with the present invention.[0041]
• FIG. 12A depicts a bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0042]
• FIG. 12B depicts a different bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0043]
• FIG. 12C details certain aspects of the bill payment authorization screen of FIG. 12B.[0044]
• 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.[0045]
• FIG. 14 depicts a biller category screen in accordance with the present invention.[0046]
• FIG. 15 depicts a screen having bill presentment and payment authorization information in accordance with the present invention.[0047]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
• FIG. 1 depicts a[0048]communications network100, 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 stations110a-110d,payor stations120a-120d,financial institution (FI) stations130a-130cand acentralized CF station140. The biller stations110a-110dmay represent individual merchants, utility companies, service providers, bank credit card companies, or other individuals or entities to whom a payment is owed.Payor stations120a-120dmay represent individuals or entities which have purchased or ordered goods or services or otherwise have an outstanding debt to the billers represented by stations110a-110d.The payors represented bystations120a-120dmaintain 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 stations110a-110dmay also maintain one or more deposit accounts in the financial institutions represented by stations130a-130c.TheCF station140 serves as a centralized bill processing system as will be described in detail below.
• FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the bill processing network depicted in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the[0049]CF station140 is interconnected, via thenetwork100, with each of the biller stations110a-110dand each of thepayor stations120a-120d.Accordingly, each of the billers represented by stations110a-110dcan transmit, via thenetwork100, billing information to each of the payors represented bystations120a-120das appropriate through theCF station140.
• As shown in FIG. 2A, the[0050]CF station140 includes a network interface (NI)405 for receiving and transmitting communications via thenetwork100. Thestation140 also includes aprocessor410 and amemory420. Thestation140 could, for example, be a high powered work station, minicomputer, mainframe computer or other type of network computing device which serves as a network server, or any combination of such devices. Thememory420 stores, inarea420a,biller data such as the biller's name, remittance center address, deposit account number with one of the financial institutions represented by stations130a-130c,account numbers for respective payors represented bystations120a-120d,network address, e.g. an e-mail address, and other biller related information of each of the billers represented by stations110a-110d.Payor data is stored inmemory area420band will typically include such information as the payor's name and address, account numbers with respective billers represented by stations110a-110d,checking account number with one of the financial institutions130a-130c,network address, e.g. an e-mail address, and other payor related information.
• The billing information received by the[0051]CF station140 from the respective billers represented by stations110a-110dvia thenetwork100 is normalized by theserver processor410 in accordance with the bill presentment software stored inmemory area420c.Different portions of the normalized bill information are stored inmemory area420din association with a respective identifier of the appropriate payor represented bystation120a-120dto whom that portion of the billing information relates.
• The bill presentment software also generates a summary of the received billing information from each of the billers represented by stations[0052]110a-110dfor each of the payors represented bystations120a-120dand stores the summary information with an identifier of the applicable payor in thememory area420e.Bill templates are stored inmemory area420f.The bill templates can be merged with the normalized billing information to electronically present the billing information to the appropriate payor represented bystation120a-120din 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 inarea420gof thememory420.
• Once the billing information has been processed by the[0053]processor410 so as to be available for access by the appropriate payors, theprocessor410 in accordance with the bill presentment software instructions stored inmemory area420c,generates an e-mail or other message to notify the applicable payors represented bystation120a-120dof the availability of bill presentment information. Theprocessor410 also generates a signal directing the transmission of the message, via thenetwork interface405, to the applicable payors using a network address, e.g. an e-mail address, stored as part of the payor data inarea420aof thememory420.
• As shown in FIG. 3, the[0054]payor120a-120dmay be represented by a personal computer (PC)310 interconnected to thenetwork100 by a modem, a television (TV)320 interconnected to thenetwork100 via a set top box, a touch tone telephone330, amobile phone340, anotebook computer350 interconnected to thenetwork100 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 telephone330 ormobile phone340 are utilized, theprocessor410 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 atstation140 in accordance with the bill presentment software instruction stored inmemory area420c.
• Referring now to FIG. 2B, an[0055]exemplary payor station120 capable of receiving e-mail messages will now be described.Station120 includes apayor processor450 which is interconnected to amemory device470. The memory stores the payor client software inarea470aand the network software inarea470bof thememory470. It will however be recognized that, if desired, thememory470 could be eliminated in and that storage of the payor client software could be implemented on thememory420 of theCF station140. A network interface (NI)455 interconnects thepayor station120 to thenetwork100. Messages transmitted by theCF station140 to thepayor station120 are received via thenetwork interface455 and processed by theprocessor450 in accordance with the network software stored inarea470bofmemory470.
• In a customary e-mail notification processing sequence, the[0056]processor450, in accordance with the network software instructions stored inmemory area470b,directs the presentation of an indicator on thedisplay460 of thepayor station120 to notify the applicable payor that an e-mail message has been received. Using theinput device465, 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 theCF station140.
• 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.[0057]
• The payor may request the available billing related information by, for example, inputting one or more commands on the[0058]input device465. Responsive to these commands, theprocessor450 generates and directs the transmission of the request, via thenetwork interface455, to theCF station140. The generated request could, for example, take the form of a reply e-mail message, an instruction to access a web page at theCF station140 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 theinput device465 to automatically link thepayor station120 to theCF station140 to access bill related information.
• Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the[0059]processor410 of theCF station140, in response to the request received from thepayor station120a-120d,directs the transmission of the requested bill presentment information, via thenetwork interface405, to theapplicable payor station120a-120d.The transmitted bill presentment information may need to be generated by theprocessor410 responsive to the payor request or may be already stored in thememory420. For example, theprocessor410 may either retrieve the applicable template(s) and normalized billing information frommemory areas420fand420dand merge this information to generate requested detailed bill presentment information. On the other hand, the processor may simply retrieve information stored inarea420eofmemory420 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.
• Referring again to FIG. 2B, the[0060]payor station120a-120dreceives, vianetwork interface455 ofpayor station120, the bill presentment information transmitted by theCF station140 over thenetwork100. Thepayor processor450 processes the received information in accordance with the payor client software stored inmemory area470aand directs the presentation of the received bill presentment information on thedisplay460 of thepayor station120.
• As discussed above referring to FIG. 2, the[0061]CF station140 is linked via thenetwork100 to various financial institution stations130a-130cwhich represent financial institutions with whom checking accounts are maintained by one or more of the payors represented bystations120a-120dand/or deposit accounts are maintained by one of more of the billers represented by stations110a-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.
• In this regard referring again to FIG. 2B, the[0062]payor processor450 generates, in accordance with the client software residing inmemory area470a,a payment instruction and an instruction directing the transmission of the instruction, via thenetwork interface455, over thenetwork100 to theCF station140. Referring again to FIG. 2A, the payment instruction is received and processed by theprocessor410 ofCF station140. Theprocessor410, responsive to the received payment instruction and in accordance with the bill payment software stored inmemory area420c,directs the payment of the applicable bills either by electronic funds transfer or by hardcopy check.
• If the payment will be made by electronic funds transfer, the[0063]CF processor410 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 stations130a-130cto the appropriate biller's deposit account maintained at one of the financial institutions represented by stations130a-130c.Theprocessor410 also generates an instruction to transmit the electronic funds transfer instruction, via thenetwork interface405, over thenetwork100 to the applicable payor financial institution station130a-130cand/or an originating financial institution and or originating financial institution to the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network or similar financial network for funds transfer.
• The[0064]processor410 also generates, in accordance with the bill payment software instructions stored inmemory area420c,a message indicating the amount of payment remitted and the associated payor account number, along with an instruction to transmit the message, via thenetwork interface405, over thenetwork100 to the appropriate biller station110a-110d.This remittance advice information may flow directly to the biller station110a-110dor be routed with the payment through the biller's financial institution130a-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.
• If the payment will be made by hardcopy check, the[0065]CF processor410 generates an instruction to print a hardcopy check for the appropriate amount against funds inCF station140's checking account. The applicable payor's checking account maintained at one of the financial institutions represented by stations130a-130cis 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 payors 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 stations130a-130c.Theprocessor410 also generates, in accordance with the bill payment software instructions stored inmemory area420c,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.
• Referring again to FIG. 2, rather than having all operations performed by the[0066]CF station140, certain operations can be performed directly by other network stations and certain information can be transmitted directly between thepayor stations120a-120d,the biller stations110a-110dand the financial institution stations130a-130c.It may, in some instances, be preferred to have theCF station140 linked to thepayor stations120a-120dand biller stations110a-110dvia the financial institution stations130a-130c.
• For example, it may be desirable in some cases for the biller stations[0067]110a-110dto communicate some or all bill related information via thenetwork100 directly to thepayor stations120a-120dwhile the notices of the availability are generated and transmitted by theCF station140 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 thepayor stations120a-120dto an appropriate financial institution station130a-130c.In such cases, there could be a preference to have the payment instruction processed by theCF station140 or at the financial institution station130a-130c.In still other cases, it may be beneficial for all communications to be transmitted through the financial institution station130a-130cbut all processing to be performed by theCF station140.
• As indicated above, if desired, all or part of the billing information may be retained at the biller stations[0068]110a-110d.For example, it may be desired that detailed bill presentment information be retained at the biller stations110a-110dwhile summary bill presentment information be stored and provided by theCF station140. Although billing information may be maintained by the biller stations110a-110d,the request for such information may be directed through theCF station140 to the appropriate biller110a-110din order to provide a third party audit trail or meet other desired objectives.
• Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the[0069]CF processor410, in accordance with the bill presentment software stored inarea420cof thememory420, preferably tracks and stores information relating to requests or transmissions of bill presentation information to payors after the notice of availability. TheCF processor410 also preferably receives, stores and tracks a signal from thepayor stations120a-120drelating to when a notice of availability bills has been viewed by the applicable payor. In this way, theprocessor410, 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.
• Turning now to FIGS.[0070]4-6, the payor enrollment process performed by theCF processor410, in accordance with the bill presentment and bill payment software instructions stored inmemory area420c,will be described. Upon request by an existing or potential payor represented by apayor station120a-120d,enrollment interface information is electronically transmitted via thenetwork100 from theCF station140 to theapplicable station120a-120d.The information is provided so as to be capable of processing by thepayor processor450 and presented in one or more screens on adisplay460 of thepayor station120. 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.
• The[0071]initial enrollment screen550, as shown in FIG. 4, includes a listing inblock560 of billers from whom bills can be received electronically. Anindicator565 indicates those billers whose bills can be received electronically and who can also be paid electronically as previously described. The payor using theinput device465 of thepayor station120 can select any or all of the billers identified in the listing inblock560 for electronic bill presentation and/or electronic payment, if applicable. The account number for the payor's account with each selected biller is inserted inblock562 using thepayor input device465. The payor is also given the option, inblock570, of identifying other billers not included in the listing inblock560. Since all billers from whom electronic bills are available are listed inblock560, block570 is reserved for those billers, for example, the paper boy, babysitter, lawn boy, etc., to whom the payor desires to make payments electronically through theCF station140 based upon hardcopy bills received directly from the biller.
• FIG. 5 depicts[0072]further enrollment screen500 transmitted by theCF station140 to thepayor station120a-120dduring the enrollment process. This screen is also presentable on thedisplay460 of thepayor station120. This screen facilitates the gathering of payor data which is necessary or desirable for the processing of bills. Using theinput device465 of thepayor station120, the payor enters his/her first name, middle initial, and last name inblock510 of thescreen500. The payor is also requested to enter his/her social security number inblock520 and mother's maiden name inblock525. The maiden name of the payor's mother is requested for subsequent verification purposes. The payor's address is also requested to be entered inblock530. In blocks540, both home and office telephone numbers are requested.
• It should be noted that although the payor's account numbers for those billers selected from the listing in[0073]block560 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 theCF station140 by the applicable billers selected inblock560 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.
• Turning now to FIG. 6, another[0074]screen600, transmitted from theCF station140 to thepayor station120 during the enrollment process, depicts an exemplary portion of a conventional personal check inblock610. 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 institution130a-130care entered inblock620. Additionally, inblock630, log on information is entered in the form of a user name and password to complete the enrollment process.
• 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.[0075]
• FIG. 7 provides a simplified flow diagram which summarizes operations of the[0076]CF station140 during bill processing. It should be noted that the operations are described with theCF station140 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 theCF station140 within the network shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as has been previously described above.
• As indicated in[0077]step705, theCF station140 receives billing information from the biller stations110a-110dvia thenetwork100. The received billing information is normalized, summarized and stored insteps710 and715 at theCF station140. Instep720, the payor is notified of the availability of bills by message transmitted from theCF station140 to thepayor station120a-120dvianetwork100. Instep725, theCF station140 receives a request for bill presentation information from theapplicable payor station120a-120d.The bill presentment information is transmitted over thenetwork100 by theCF station140 to theapplicable payor station120a-120dinstep730, 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.
• In[0078]step740, theCF station140 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 instep720.
• Optionally, the[0079]payor station120a-120dmay be configured to transmit a notice to theCF station140, responsive to the viewing of the notice of availability by the applicable payor. Instep735, theCF station140 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 instep720. If a request has been received, the process continues atstep730.
• If the determinations in[0080]step740 is positive, instep755, theCF station140 determines if, in accordance with the payment instruction, the bill is to be paid by electronic funds transfer. If yes,CF station140 transmits, via thenetwork100, an electronic funds transfer instruction to the payor's deposit account at one of the applicable financial institution represented by stations130a-130cinstep760. TheCF station140 also transmits, vianetwork100, a notice to the applicable biller station of the payment instep765. If payment is to be made by check, theCF station140 generates a hardcopy check with the appropriate account information and directs the mailing of same to the biller instep770.
• Referring now to FIGS.[0081]8-15, the payor, at his/her own prerogative, can access the bill presentment information at theCF station140 via thenetwork100 at any time. For example, this contact may be initiated by using apayor station120a-120dto contact theCF station140 at a Web site on the Internet.
• Upon initiating contact with the[0082]CF station140, the payor is welcomed, as shown in FIG. 8, by ascreen800 transmitted by theCF station140 to thepayor station120a-120dfor presentment on thepayor station display460. Thescreen800 includes notification of bills inblock810 and of messages inblock820 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 payorstation input device465, click onindicator810ato access the new bills and indicator820ato access the new messages.
• From[0083]screen800, 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 onindicator830ato receive the unpaid bills,indicator840ato access bill presentment information related to paid bills, andindicator850ato access other messages. The payor can also select categories as indicated inblock870 by clicking onindicator870a.Responsive to clicking onindicator870a,theCF station140 will transmit a screen which will be described below and allows the payor to categorize billers in any desired manner.
• The payor can also contact customer care by inserting a topic of interest in[0084]block860 and clicking on theindicator860a.Alternatively, block860 may offer a pulldown list of selectable topics, similar to block560 in FIG. 4. In such a scenario, the payor would select one of the topics prior to clicking onindicator860a.By clicking on theindicator860a,a message is sent from thepayor station120a-120dto the appropriate customer care station. The customer care station may be theCF station140 for all topics, or could alternatively be theCF station140 for certain topics, the appropriate financial institution station130a-130cfor other topics and/or the appropriate biller station110a-110dfor still other topics.
• 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[0085]130a-130c.If the indicated topic relates to a particular merchant billing, the customer care request can be directed to the appropriate merchant station110a-110d. If the inquiry is of a more general nature, the customer care request can be directed to theCF station140.
• The customer case messaging option shown in FIG. 8 and described here may be beneficially provided on some or all screens presented on the[0086]payor station120a-120d.
• It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, if the[0087]CF station140 serves as a centralized gateway for all communications, all customer care requests could be directed to theCF station140 and it may be unnecessary for the payor to indicate a topic of interest inblock860. Likewise, if all pertinent information is available at theCF station140 then all customer care inquiries could also be directed to and disposed of by customer care represented by theCF station140 rather than being forwarded on to a financial institution station130a-130cor biller station110a-110dfor response.
• Referring now to FIG. 9A, as noted above, if new bills are available, a summary of these bills can be accessed by clicking on[0088]indicator810a.Similarly, if new messages are available, these messages can be accessed by clicking on indicator820a.By clicking onindicator810awhen new bills are indicated, ascreen900, as shown in FIG. 9A, is transmitted from theCF station140, via thenetwork100, to thepayor station120a-120d,processed bypayor processor450 and presented on thepayor display460. Thescreen900 includesbill presentment information910 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.
• 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[0089]pay indicator910a,amark indicator910b,or adelete indicator910c,associated with each summarized billing. By clicking on the pay indicator using thepayor input device465, a signal is transmitted to theCF station140 to direct payment of a particular billed amount on the due date. By clicking onindicator910c,the displayed bill presentation information relating to a particular biller is deleted. By clicking onindicator910b,the bill summary information relating to one or more particular bills is marked and by then clicking onindicator915 the detailed bill presentment information relating to these particular bills can be retrieved from theCF station140. The payor also has the option, using thepayor input device465, of clicking onblock920 to access a summary of all unpaid bills from theCF station140. The unpaid bill summary will be substantially in the form ofbill summary910, but will include a summary listing of all unpaid bills rather than just listing new unpaid bills.
• FIG. 9B depicts[0090]screen930 which can be transmitted from theCF station140 to present summary bill related information at thepayor station120a-12din a categorized manner. As shown, by clicking onindicator935, categories of billers are changed inblock940. For example, inscreen930 the category has been set to unpaid bills and accordingly, a summary of all unpaid bills appears on thepayor display460. 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. Inscreen930, one or more of the check blocks945 can be clicked on along with thepay bill indicator950 to direct a communication from thepayor station120a-120dto theCF station140 instructing particular bills which are summarized inscreen930 should be paid on the due date.Indicator955 allows the check blocks945 to be reset in the event that a block is inadvertently checked.
• FIG. 9C depicts still another[0091]screen960 which can be transmitted from theCF station140 to theappropriate payor station120a-120dfor presentation on thepayor display460. As shown, the listing contains a current bill summary withpayee names965, total bill amounts970, minimum payment amounts due975, paymentdue dates980 andbill status985.Indicators990 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.
• As indicated in[0092]block992, the payor can direct that all bills summarized in the bill summary of FIG. 9C be paid by clicking on theindicator992a.clicking onindicator992awill result in thepayor processor450 directing a communication to theCF station140 to pay all of the listed bills by the due date. Alternatively, as indicated inblock994, the payor can click on theindicator994ato 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 onindicator992aor994awill not affect the pre-authorized payments.
• [0093]Block996 identifies the category of billers with respect to whom bill related information is summarized inscreen960. Anindicator arrow996acan be clicked on to scroll through various categories of billers to change the information summarized onscreen960, as has been previously described with reference to FIG. 9B. Additionally, dates can be inserted inblock998 to limit or extend the amount of bill summary information which is displayed. Thearrow indicator998acan be used to change the “TO” date.
• By clicking on one or[0094]more indicators965aand the retrieveindicator999, detailed bill presentment information relating to particular bill summary items can be accessed from the CF station. By clicking on one or more of theindicators970aand thepay indicator997, an instruction to pay the total billed amount associated with particular bills will be communicated to theCF station140. By clicking on one or more of theindicators975aand thepay indicator997, an instruction will issue to theCF station140 to make payment of the minimum amount due on particular bills.
• Turning now to FIG. 10A, a pre-bill[0095]payment authorization screen1000 is shown. The screen is transmitted from theCF station140 to theappropriate payor station120a-120dfor presentation on thepayor station display460. The pre-billpayment authorization screen1000 allows the payor to identify billers incolumn1005 whose bills are pre-authorized by the payor for payment by theCF station140. More particularly, the payor can designate in column1010 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, incolumn1015, a frequency at which such payments are authorized.
• As shown in FIG. 10A, the payor can also authorize payment of the total amount billed for all billers identified by an asterisk[0096]415 in FIG. 4 by filling in a period of authorization inblock1020 and clicking on indicator1020a.Similarly, if the payor wishes to pre-authorize payments of the minimum amount due on all bills, the period of authorization can be inserted inblock1025 andindicator1025acan be clicked on. As indicated byblock1030, anindicator1030acan 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 byblock1035, of clicking onindicator1035ato receive notices and presentations of bill presentment information associated with the bills which have been pre-authorized for payment by theCF station140.
• FIG. 10B depicts an[0097]alternative screen1050 which may be utilized in setting up pre-bill payment authorization.Screen1050 is transmitted from theCF station140 to theapplicable payor station120a-120d.Billers identified inblock1060 and associated account numbers identified inblock1065 can be changed by clicking onindicator1055. Alternatively, the payor can enter a biller name inblock1060 and the payor's account number with the particular biller payments will appear automatically inblock1065. By clicking onindicator1070, the payor can direct theCF station140 not to transmit notices and presentations of bill presentment information relating to the particular biller indicated. By clickingdesignator1075, the payor can direct theCF station140 to continue to transmit notices and bill presentment information regarding unpaid bills of the identified biller. By clicking onindicator1080 after entering an amount inblock1085, the payor can pre-authorize theCF station140 to pay bills of the indicated biller up to the maximum amount indicated without further authorization.
• As indicated above, the[0098]payor station120a-120dcan also access the detailed bill related information stored at theCF station140. As shown in FIG. 11, detailed bill presentment information, identified with referenced numeral1110, is transmitted asscreen1100 by theCF station140 responsive to a request for such information from thepayor station120a-120d.By clicking onindicator1120, thepayor station120a-120dwill issue an instruction directing the payment of the bill through theCF station140. The bill can also be deleted from the screen by clicking onindicator1125.
• Responsive to clicking on[0099]indicator1120 atpayor station120a-120d,ascreen1200, as shown in FIG. 12a,is transmitted by theCF station140. Thescreen1200 includes acheck1205 which can be presented by thepayor processsor450 on thedisplay460 at thepayor station120a-120d.Thecheck1205, as shown, resembles a conventional hardcopy personal check. The name of the applicable biller automatically appears in theblock1210. An appropriate payment date automatically appears inblock1215. 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 inblock1220.
• The payor can modify the date and amount of the payment if so desired. As an option, the payor can also indicate in[0100]block1225 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 thepay bill indicator1230 to direct transmission of an instruction from thepayor station120a-120dto the CF station to make payment to the designated payee, i.e., biller, in the designated amount on the designated date.
• FIG. 12B depicts an alternative[0101]bill payment screen1250.Screen1250 includes acheck1255 which is similar to check1205 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 thepayor station120a-120d,theCF station140 transmitsscreen1250 to the payee station. Thecheck1255 includesblock1260 in which an individual biller's name can be inserted by scrolling through billers names appearing on the bill summary using thearrow indicator1260a.The bill due date or a date which allows time for hardcopy mailing of a check to the biller automatically appears in thedate block1265 for the listed bill of the selected biller.
• In the[0102]screen1250, theblock1270 must be filled in by the payor to indicate the desired payment amount.Block1275 can be scrolled by clicking on thearrow indicator1275ato select the period of payment as has been previously discussed with reference to block1225 in FIG. 12A. FIG. 12C further details screen1250 to show thatblock1275 can be expanded to provide multiple options with respect to the payment period for selection by the payor.
• Once the[0103]check1255 has been appropriately filled out the payor can then click on thepay bill indicator1280 to transmit an instruction from thepayor station120a-120ddirecting theCF station140 to pay the selected biller in accordance with information contained in the filledcheck1255. If, on the other hand, changes in the check information are required, the payor can click onindicator1285 to resetcheck1255 and restart the process of selecting a biller for payment and filling in the amount of the payment to be made.
• Referring to FIG. 13, a[0104]screen1300, having apayment list1305 including those bills which have been paid or on which instructions for payment have been received, is generated by theCF station140. Responsive to a request from the payor, thescreen1300 is transmitted via thenetwork100 to theappropriate payor station120a-120d.Thescreen1300 is presentable on thepayor display460. The screen includes a listing of billers incolumn1310 and a listing of the date on which payment has or will be made incolumn1315. The amount of the authorized payment is listed incolumn1320 along with the period at which such payment is authorized incolumn1325. A payment confirmation number is referenced incolumn1330. 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. Incolumn1335, 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. Incolumn1340, 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.
• FIG. 14 depicts a[0105]screen1400 which, responsive to a request from a payor, is transmitted by theCF processor140 to thepayor station120a-120d.Screen1400 allows the payor to establish certain categories of billers, as has been previously discussed. For example, the biller may, inblock1405, 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 thereset indicator1410, the payor can modify the listed categories. The selected categories and any changes to the category listings are saved by clicking onindicator1415.
• FIG. 15 depicts a particularly[0106]beneficial screen1500 for bill presentment and payment. As shown, theCF processor140 transmits for presentation on thepayor station display460, a screen having an area1505, which includes biller-specific bill presentment information, including the biller name, biller address and payor account number with the biller inblock1510. The area1505 also includes ablock1515 having the biller invoice number and invoice date to the extent applicable. Ablock1520 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. Ablock1525 indicates the payment due date.
• In[0107]section1530 ofscreen1500, acheck1535 is shown which includes information similar to that ofcheck1205 which is described above with reference to FIG. 12A, with the exception that thecheck1535 includes an invoice number inblock1540 and a click on indicator for approving the payment inblock1545. As in FIG. 12A, the payment due date and the total payment amount can be modified. Anarea1550 of thescreen1500, has indicators which can be clicked on to access other information. As shown,indicator1555acan be clicked on to access other terms and conditions as indicated inblock1555, andindicator1560acan be clicked on to access advertisements which the biller wishes to include with the bill presentment as indicated inblock1560.
• An[0108]indicator1565acan be clicked on to access customer care as indicated inblock1565. 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 area1505 of thescreen1500, and may also reference the invoice number referred to in area1505. By clicking onindicator1570a,the payor can determine if payment has already been made as indicated byblock1570. If payment has been made, by clicking onindicator1570aa canceled check stamp will appear on thecheck1535 to indicate that the check has been cashed.
• Accordingly, utilizing the[0109]screen1500, 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 onindicator1565a,customer care can be accessed.
• 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.[0110]

Claims (33)

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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 2, wherein:

the first e-mail and the second e-mail are transmitted via the Internet.

5. A method according toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 17, wherein:

the network e-mail address is the Internet e-mail address.

19. A system according toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 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 toclaim 30, wherein:

the communications network is the Internet.

33. A system according toclaim 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.

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