US20040064410A1 - Integrated electronic bill presentment and payment with improved activation - Google Patents

Abstract

A service provider activates subscribers for electronic presentment of bills and for electronic payments by receiving, from a first subscriber, information identifying a first of a plurality of billers and information that the first biller associates with the first subscriber. The service provider also receives, from a second subscriber, information identifying a second of the plurality of billers and information that the second biller associates with the second subscriber. The service provider transmits to the first biller a request for verification of validity of the received information which the first biller associates with the first subscriber, and receives a verification of validity responsive to the transmitted verification request. Based on the received verification of validity, the service provider activates the first subscriber for electronic presentment of bills of the first biller. On the other hand, the service provider activates the second subscriber for only electronic payment of the second biller, without any verification from the second biller of the validity of the received information that the second biller associates with the second subscriber.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS
• This application is a continuation of (1) pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/795,314 (Docket No. 3350-005A) entitled “Electronic Bill Processing with Enhanced Bill Availability Notification and/or Enhanced Bill Presentation”, filed Mar. 1, 2001, which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/034,561 (Docket No. 3350-005) entitled “Electronic Bill Processing”, filed Mar. 3, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,322, issued Sep. 11, 2001), and (2) pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/250,711 (Docket No. 3350-031 B) entitled “System And Method For Electronically Providing Customer Services Including Payment Of Bills, Financial Analysis And Loans”, filed Feb. 16, 1999, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/372,620 (Docket No. 3350-031) entitled “System And Method For Electronically Providing Customer Services Including Payment Of Bills, Financial Analysis And Loans”, filed Jan. 13, 1995 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,072, issued Feb. 16, 1999), which is in turn a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/736,071 entitled “Electronic Bill Payment”, filed Jul. 25, 1991 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,113, issued Jan. 17, 1995). Pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/795,314 (Docket No. 3350-005A) and Ser. No. 09/250,711 (Docket No. 3350-031 B) are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.[0001]
• This application is also related to U.S. Application Serial Number ______, entitled “INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC BILL PRESENTMENT AND UNIVERSAL PAYMENT”, filed Jun. 30, 2003, (Docket No. 3350-0106); U.S. Application Serial Number ______, entitled “FLEXIBLE INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC BILL PRESENTMENT AND PAYMENT ”, filed Jun. 30, 2003, (Docket No. 3350-0106A); U.S. Application Serial Number ______, entitled “INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC BILL PRESENTMENT AND RISK BASED PAYMENT”, filed Jun. 30, 2003, (Docket No. 3350-0106B); U.S. Application Serial Number ______, entitled “INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC BILL PRESENTMENT AND PAYMENT”, filed Jun. 30, 2003, (Docket No. 3350-0106C); and U.S. Application Serial Number ______, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BILL DELIVERY AND PAYMENT OVER A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK”, filed Jun. 30, 2003, (Docket No. 3350-0106E).[0002]
TECHNICAL FIELD
• The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce and more particularly to integrated electronic presentation and payment of bills from different billers.[0003]
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.[0004]
• 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.[0005]
• 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.[0006]
• Payors 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]
• 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.[0008]
• For example, it has been common for many years for consumers to pay monthly bills by way of a personal check written by the consumer and sent by mail to the entity from which the bill or invoice was received. Consumers have used other ways to pay bills, including personally visiting the billing entity to make a cash payment. In today's economy, it is not unusual for a consumer to have several regular monthly invoices to pay. Writing individual checks to pay each invoice can be time-consuming and costly due to postage and other related expenses.[0009]
• Accordingly, a need exists for a method whereby a consumer can contact a single source and inform the source to pay various bills of the consumer, to have the source adjust the consumer's account with the consumer's financial institution (i.e., bank, credit union, savings and loan association, etc.) to reflect a bill payment, and to actually pay the billing entity a specified amount by a particular time. The system should be efficient and not unreasonably expensive and relatively simple for a consumer to interact with.[0010]
• Some banks have attempted to provide a service for making payment to a few billing entities to which the banks have established relations. The banks that do provide that type of service are limited in that they provide the service only for their own customers since the banks have not developed a system for accurately acquiring and processing account numbers and balances of customers of all other banking institutions and coordinating that information with bill payment. Furthermore, banks have not developed a system for managing the risks involved in providing such a service and the inherent complexities of providing the service to consumers other than the bank's own customers.[0011]
• Therefore, a need exists for a single source system that would be available to any consumer, regardless of where the consumer banks and regardless of what bills are to be paid.[0012]
• 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.[0013]
SUMMARY DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention is designed to fulfill the above listed needs. The invention provides a universal system that works regardless of the consumer's financial institution and bill to be paid. The present invention provides a computerized system by which a consumer may pay bills utilizing the telephone, a computer terminal, or other electronic, data transmission means. Transactions are recorded against the consumer's account wherever he or she banks. The consumer may be an individual or a business, large or small. The present invention works regardless of where the consumer banks.[0014]
• The present invention further provides integrated bill presentment and payment with improved biller set-up system. A unique aspect of the invention resides in its capacity to flexibly and efficiently activate subscribers desiring electronic bill presentment service, as well as those subscribers wishing only to make electronic payments. Furthermore, the system also facilitates the activation of those subscribers wishing to have both their bills presented electronically and the presented bills paid electronically. Additionally, subscribers requesting activation for electronic payment, can also be activated, in a manner which is transparent to the subscriber, for electronic presentment of those of their bills which are available for electronic presentment. Hence the invention, as will be described further below, provides a single integrated platform for activating different subscribers and different billers for electronic payment and/or presentment services.[0015]
• The system includes a processor. The processor may include a single or multiple processing device(s), such as processing devices included in one or more mainframe computers. The processor is configured, e.g. programmed, to receive first biller information, such as a name, address, and/or other information identifying a first of a plurality of billers and first subscriber information, such as an account number that the first biller associates with a first subscriber. This information is typically received from the first subscriber as part of the enrollment process, although it could be received at other times. It should be understood that billers may be merchants or other types of billers, including non-merchant billers.[0016]
• The processor also receives second biller information identifying a second of the plurality of billers and second subscriber information that the second biller associates with a second subscriber. This information is likewise typically received from the second subscriber as part of the enrollment process, but could be received at some other time.[0017]
• The system also includes a memory configured to store the received first and second biller information and the received first and second subscriber information. The memory can be any type of storage device and could, for example, take the form of a hard, floppy or compact disk, optical disk, random access memory (RAM), or some other form. The memory will commonly be configured to include a relational database, with the first biller information and the first subscriber information being stored in relationship to some identifier, e.g. a name, address or other identifying data, of the first subscriber, and the second biller information and the second subscriber information being stored in relationship to an identifier of the second subscriber.[0018]
• The processor is further configured to direct, to the first biller identified in the received first biller information, a request for verification of validity of the received first subscriber information. If the first subscriber information is valid, the processor receives, from the first biller, a verification of validity responsive to the transmitted verification request.[0019]
• The processor can then activate the first subscriber for electronic presentment of bills of the first biller, based on the received verification of the validity, thereby enabling the first subscriber to receive bills of the first biller electronically. It will be understood that the electronically presented bills may be detailed bills and/or summary bills, which normally include only a summary of the detailed bill information.[0020]
• On the other hand, the second subscriber is activated by the processor for only electronic payment of the second biller, without verification of the validity of the received second subscriber information. In this regard, the processor is preferably further configured to receive payment information that a financial institution associates with a payment account of the second subscriber. The financial institution could be a bank, brokerage firm or other type entity that maintains deposit, credit, debit or other types of accounts, which can be used to make payments, for its customers.[0021]
• The received payment information is preferably also stored in the memory and may, in some implementations, be advantageously received by the processor concurrently with the applicable subscriber information, although this is not mandatory. The processor typically also activates the first subscriber for electronic payment of bills of the first biller, based on received payment information for the first subscriber. It will be recognized that the payment information will normally also be verified, e.g. through the applicable financial institution prior to completing activation for electronic payment of bills.[0022]
• According to another aspect of the invention, the memory is further configured to store a list, sometimes referred to as a “pick list”, identifying multiple of the plurality of billers, e.g. a list identifying those of the plurality of billers whose bills are available for electronic presentation. The first biller might be a first of the multiple billers. The second biller may not be one of the multiple billers.[0023]
• The processor is further configured to transmit the list to the subscribers. A subscriber may select billers from the transmitted list. Accordingly, the received first biller information may be indicative of a selection by the first subscriber of the first biller from the identified billers in the transmitted list. On the other hand, the received second biller information could be indicative of typed information entered by the second subscriber. In accordance with other aspects of the invention, the processor is further configured to receive, from the each subscriber, a request to be activated, and to direct the stored list to the subscriber, in response to the activation request.[0024]
• The multiple billers identified in a stored list could, if desired, include first billers having bills available for electronic presentment and second billers which do not have bills available for electronic payment. In such a case the first biller might be one of the first billers and the second biller might be one of the second billers.[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. FIG. 2B depicts a simplified block diagram of an exemplary payor station of FIG. 1.[0028]
• FIG. 3 depicts various types of payor stations which can be utilized in the bill processing network of FIG. 1.[0029]
• FIG. 4 depicts a payor enrollment screen in accordance with the present invention.[0030]
• FIG. 5 depicts another payor enrollment screen in accordance with the present invention.[0031]
• FIG. 6 depicts a still further payor enrollment screen in accordance with the present invention.[0032]
• FIG. 7 depicts a simplified flow diagram of the operation of the bill processing network depicted in FIG. 1.[0033]
• FIG. 8 depicts a payor welcome screen in accordance with the present invention.[0034]
• FIG. 9A depicts bill presentment information which includes a new bill summary screen in accordance with the present invention.[0035]
• FIG. 9B depicts bill presentment information which includes an unpaid bill summary screen in accordance with the present invention.[0036]
• FIG. 9C depicts bill presentment information which includes another type of bill summary in accordance with the present invention.[0037]
• FIG. 10A depicts a pre-bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0038]
• FIG. 10B depicts another pre-bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0039]
• FIG. 11 depicts bill presentment information which includes a detailed bill screen in accordance with the present invention.[0040]
• FIG. 12A depicts a bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0041]
• FIG. 12B depicts a different bill payment authorization screen in accordance with the present invention.[0042]
• FIG. 12C details certain aspects of the bill payment authorization screen of FIG. 12B.[0043]
• 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.[0044]
• FIG. 14 depicts a biller category screen in accordance with the present invention.[0045]
• FIG. 15 depicts a screen having bill presentment and payment authorization information in accordance with the present invention.[0046]
• FIG. 16 is a diagrammatical representation of the creation of a consumer database in accordance with the present invention.[0047]
• FIG. 17 is a diagrammatical representation of the establishment of a merchant's (billing entities) database and the making of payments in accordance with the present invention.[0048]
• FIG. 18 is a diagrammatical representation of the creation of a consumer pay table in accordance with the present invention.[0049]
• FIG. 19A is a diagrammatical representation of a payment processing cycle in accordance with the present invention.[0050]
• FIG. 19B is a continuation of the diagram of FIG. 19A.[0051]
• FIG. 19C is a continuation of the diagram of FIG. 19B.[0052]
• FIG. 20 is a diagrammatical representation of a computer hardware system that may be used for creating a consumer database and a consumer pay table, establishing a merchant's database, and accomplishing the payment processing cycle shown in FIGS.[0053]16-19C.
• FIG. 21 is a diagrammatical representation of another computer hardware system that may be used for creating a consumer database and a consumer pay table, establishing a merchant's database, and accomplishing the payment processing cycle shown in FIGS.[0054]16-19C.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
• Overview of Selective Features[0055]
• 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.[0056]
• 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.[0057]
• 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.[0058]
• 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.[0059]
• 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.[0060]
• 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.[0061]
• 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.[0062]
• 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.[0063]
• 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.[0064]
• 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.[0065]
• 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.[0066]
• 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.[0067]
• Payment processing includes, for example: gathering payor information and creating a master file with banking or other financial institution information and routing codes; inputting payment instructions by the payor at a convenient location (e.g., at home), typically remote from the payment service provider, by using an input terminal; applying the payment instructions to the payor's file; using computer software to examine various files to determine such things as what is the appropriate form of payment based on variables involving banking or other financial institutions and merchants or other payees; comparing each transaction against a dynamic credit file and routing based on set parameters; and, if the system determines that everything is ready for payment to be made, adjusting the payor's account (usually by debiting) and making payment directly to the billing entity or other payee. The single source service provider for payee payment could be any entity with the capability to practice the invention as described hereinafter. The foregoing and other objects and advantages will become more apparent when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings and following detailed description.[0068]
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONNetwork Infrastructure
• FIG. 1 depicts a[0069]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 (Fl)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 bystations130a-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[0070]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.
Electronic Bill Presentment
• As shown in FIG. 2A, the[0071]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, which will sometimes be referred to as a merchant master file database and is described further below with reference to FIG. 17, biller data such as the biller's name, remittance center address, deposit account number with one of the financial institutions represented bystations130a-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 area420b, which is sometimes referred to as the consumer database and described further below with reference to FIG. 16, and 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 thefinancial institutions130a-130c, network address, e.g. an e-mail address, and other payor related information.
• The billing information received by the[0072]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[0073]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[0074]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[0075]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[0076]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[0077]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.[0078]
• The payor may request the available billing related information by, for example, inputting one or more commands on the[0079]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[0080]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 require only summary bill presentment information, and thus online 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[0081]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.
General Payment Processing
• Although payment processing will be described in further detail with reference to FIGS.[0082]16-21, the following provides an overview of certain aspects of the processing relating to the payment of presented bills.
• As discussed above referring to FIG. 2, the[0083]CF station140 is linked via thenetwork100 to variousfinancial 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[0084]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[0085]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 bystations130a-130cto the appropriate biller's deposit account maintained at one of the financial institutions represented bystations130a-130c. Theprocessor410 also generates an instruction to transmit the electronic funds transfer instruction via thenetwork interface405, over thenetwork100 to the applicable payorfinancial 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[0086]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'sfinancial 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[0087]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 bystations130a-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, sometimes referred to as a draft, for the appropriate amount against funds in the applicable payor's checking account maintained at one of the financial institutions represented bystations130a-130c.
• The[0088]processor410 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, i.e. the remittance advice, 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.
Distributed Functionality
• Referring again to FIG. 2, rather than having all operations performed by the[0089]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 thefinancial institution stations130a-130c. It may, in some instances, be preferred to have theCF station140 linked to thepayor stations120a-120dand biller stations110a-110dvia thefinancial institution stations130a-130c.
• For example, it may be desirable in some cases for the biller stations[0090]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 appropriatefinancial institution station130a-130c. In such cases, there could be a preference to have the payment instruction processed by theCF station140 or at thefinancial institution station130a-130c. In still other cases, it may be beneficial for all communications to be transmitted through thefinancial 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[0091]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.
Notifications of Bill Availability
• Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 2A, the[0092]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.
Enrollment
• Turning now to FIGS.[0093]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[0094]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 payees, including 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. This information will typically be used to populate a consumer database, as will be described further below with reference to FIG. 16.
• FIG. 5 depicts[0095]further enrollment screen1600 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 thescreen1600. 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[0096]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[0097]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 applicablefinancial 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.
• All of the gathered payor information will typically be used to populate a consumer database, as will be described further below with reference to FIG. 16.[0098]
• 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.[0099]
CF Station Operations
• FIG. 7 provides a simplified flow diagram which summarizes operations of the[0100]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[0101]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[0102]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[0103]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.
• As will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS.[0104]16 to21, if the determinations instep740 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 for the payor's deposit account at one of the applicable financial institution represented bystations130a-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 or draft, theCF station140 generates a hardcopy check or draft with the appropriate account information and directs the mailing of same to the biller instep770.
User Interfaces
• Referring now to FIGS.[0105]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[0106]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[0107]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[0108]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 appropriatefinancial 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 transferred from the payor's checking account, the customer care request can be directed to the appropriate[0109]financial institution station130a-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[0110]payor station120a-120d.
• It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, if the[0111]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 afinancial 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[0112]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[0113]pay indicator910a, amark indicator910b, or a delete indicator910c, associated with each summarized billing. By clicking on thepay indicator910ausing thepayor input device465, a signal is transmitted to theCF station140 to direct payment of a particular billed amount on the due date. By clicking on indicator910c, 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 the[0114]payor 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[0115]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.
• In[0116]screen930, 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[0117]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[0118]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 preauthorized payments.
• [0119]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[0120]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[0121]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, it 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[0122]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[0123]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[0124]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[0125]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[0126]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[0127]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[0128]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[0129]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[0130]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[0131]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[0132]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[0133]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[0134]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[0135]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.
Processing Payments to Billers and Other Payees
• Payment processing will now be described in further detail with reference to FIGS.[0136]16-21.
• FIG. 16 illustrates the steps in the creation of a consumer database for use with the present invention. The first step in the process is to establish a consumer's data records on the system. This may be accomplished by the consumer completing an[0137]authorization form1600, which may include some or all of theenrollment screens500 and600 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, would contain the needed information to input into the system concerning the consumer. As has been discussed above with reference to FIG. 5, this information may include the consumer's name, address, telephone number and other applicable information. The consumer would also provide a voided check from the consumer's personal checking account, or the consumer's personal checking account information via theenrollment screen600 as previously described with reference to FIG. 6.
• The consumer's information may then be manually input via a[0138]keyboard1652, or otherwise automatically entered into theconsumer database record1622, which forms part of thepayor data420bdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A. Default amounts may be set for an individual credit line parameter and for a total month-to-date parameter. These amounts establish the maximum unqualified credit risk exposure the service provider is willing to accept for an individual transaction and for the collective month-to-date transactions of a consumer. As explained hereinafter, the service provider may be at risk when paying a consumer's bills by a check written on the service provider's account.
• From the voided check or entered checking account information, the consumer's bank routing transit and individual account numbers at an institution are input into the computer system. This information may be edited against an internal financial institutions file (FIF) database[0139]1624 of the present invention. It will be recognized that the FIF database1624 may also be stored at thememory420 shown in FIG. 2A or could be stored at another location accessible to theCF processor410. FIF1624 is a database of financial institutions' identification codes and account information for the consumer. This file is used to edit[s] the accuracy of the routing transit number and the bank account number. If the numbers do not correspond with the correct routing and bank numbers, they are rejected in1623 and the data entry is done again. FIF1624 in conjunction with the software stored inarea420cof thememory420 shown in FIG. 2A of the present invention also allows theCF processor410 to update[s] theconsumer database1622 for both electronic and paper draft routing and account information. The needed information may be obtained from each banking institution and each consumer.
• As appropriate, the consumer is notified by the service provider of his or her local phone number access and personal security code for informing the service provider that a bill is to be paid. This information may be stored in a phone access table[0140]1626. Of course, no local access phone number is required if the Internet will be used to inform the service provide that a bill is to be paid. The personal security code may be much like an ATM machine four digit code.
• In addition, to the extent necessary or as otherwise desired to comply with federal law, an electronic pre-note[0141]1628 will be created to be sent to the consumer's bank to inform the bank that the service provider is authorized to debit the consumer's account. For further security to the service provider, a consumer credit record1630 may be obtained. The default credit limit amounts over which the service provider may be unwilling to assume financial risk may be modified based on the information obtained from the credit report1630.
• In FIG. 17 the steps are shown for establishing merchants to be paid and the making of a payment. The consumer must inform the service provider or processor of a merchant's name, address, phone number and the consumer's account number with the[0142]merchant1732. As described above with reference to FIG. 4, this can be done usingenrollment form550, which avoids the need for the consumer to enter all of the necessary information for billers named in the listing inblock560. The term “merchant” as used herein is intended to pertain to any person or entity that the consumer wishes to pay and is not to be limited to the usual merchants most consumers pay, such as the electric company, a home mortgage lender, etc. Thus, the term “merchant” should be understood to include the billers describe above, as well as any other payee. This information is put into a merchant master file database1842 (MMF), to the extent it is not already included in theMMF1842. TheMMF1842 and the addition of merchants to theMMF1842 will be further described with reference to FIGS. 18 and 19. TheMMF1842 is stored as payee data inarea420aof thememory420 shown in FIG. 2A.
• The consumer may also indicate whether the merchant is a variable or fixed merchant. A variable merchant is one in which the date and amount of payment will vary each month. A fixed merchant is one in which the date and amount remain the same each month. If the merchant is fixed, the frequency of payment may be other than monthly, such as weekly, quarterly, etc. The consumer should inform the service-provider of the date on which the merchant is to be paid and the amount to be paid.[0143]
• Through a telecommunications terminal[0144]1734 (e.g., a push-button telephone such astelephone430 ormobile phone340 of FIG. 3, or computer terminal such as thePC310 ornotebook computer350 of FIG. 3, which serves as thepayor station120 described in FIG. 2B), a consumer may initiate payment of bills. Through the terminal, the consumer may access his merchant list and input the payment date and amount. The system may be provided with apayment date editor1736 to insure that the date is valid and logical (i.e., payment dates already in the past or possibly a year or more into the future would be questioned). The consumer interfaces with the service provider via afront end processor1740 communicating through a network. Thefront end processor1740 may, for example, form part of theCF process410 ofCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A.
• As payments are initiated, a consumer “checkbook register” may be created and automatically updated to reflect this activity. The merchant list can be visible on the consumer's personal computer screen,[0145]e.g. display460 of thepayor station120 shown in FIG. 2B. On a personal computer a consumer may enter merchant payment amounts and payment dates, e.g. usinginput device465 of thepayor station120 shown in FIG. 2B, on the computer screen,e.g. display460 of thepayor station120 shown in FIG. 2B, and then transmit this information to the service provider, e.g. using thenetwork interface455 of thepayor station120 shown in FIG. 2B.
• By telephone, the list may be presented by programmed voice. The voice may be programmed to ask the consumer if a particular merchant (selected from the consumer's MMF, which may be updated from time to time) is to be paid and to tell the consumer to press 1 if yes, or[0146]press 2 if no. If yes, the voice may instruct the consumer to enter the amount to be paid by pressing the numbers on a touch tone phone. The asterisk button could be used as a decimal point. After the amount is entered, the voice may ask the consumer to enter the date on which payment is to be made to the merchant. This may be accomplished by assigning each month a number, such as January being month 01. The consumer may then enter month, day and year for payment. The programmed voice may be accomplished with a VRU (voice response unit) available from AT&T or other vendors. It may communicate with a data processor to obtain consumer information. At the end of the consumer's session on the terminal a confirmation number may be sent to the consumer, instep1632, providing a record of the transaction.
• In FIG. 18 the steps are shown for the creation of the consumer pay table[0147]1838 and making updates to it. The consumer's files of payment related requests may be received at the service provider on afront end processor1740 that interfaces with the telecommunications network, e.g. thenetwork100 of FIGS. 1 and 2. The consumer's records may be edited1844 for validity by comparing to the merchants' account scheme. Any new merchant records, fromstep1732 of FIG. 17, are added to the consumer's pay table1838. New merchants are compared to theMMF1842 and appropriately cross-referenced to the pay table1838 to check if a merchant record already exists in theMMF1842. If no merchant record exists, a merchant record will be created on theMMF1842.
• Payment records may also be received on the service provider's processor. The payment may first go through a validation process against the pay table[0148]1838. The validation process checks for duplicate payments and if duplicates are found they are sent to a reject file1839. The validation process also verifies that merchants are set up and may check for multiple payments to be paid to a particular merchant. Orders for payment go to the consumer pay table1838 to determine when the payment should be released and how it will be released for payment. The consumer pay table1838 can be stored as payor data inarea420bofmemory420 withinCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A.
• The service provider may pay merchants by a draft or check (paper) or by electronic funds transfer. To create a draft that will pass through the banking system, it must be specially inked. This may be accomplished by a printer which puts a micr code on drafts, like standard personal checks.[0149]
• For example, as shown in FIG. 20, the[0150]front end processor1740 may be a DEC VAX which is connected to an IBM main frame46 Model 4381. Consumers may call bytelephone2035, a number that passes through the private bank exchange (PBX)2039 and contacts avoice response unit2041 in association with thefront end processor1740. Thetelephone2035 could, for example, be a hard wired phone such astelephone430 of FIG. 3 or a wireless phone such asmobile phone340 of FIG. 3. The private bank exchange (PBX)2039 could be part of thenetwork100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
• After the consumer's payment instructions are received an analysis is performed to determine the most cost effective and least risk mode of payment for the service provider to use. One preferred mode of payment is electronic funds transfer through the Federal Reserve Automated Clearing House (ACH)[0151]Network2047, which could be part of thenetwork100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. If the service provider is not a bank, a bank intermediary may be needed to be connected to the Federal Reserve Network. Another payment mode is a charge to the consumer's credit card through theRPS Network2049, which could also be part of thenetwork100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Additionally, an IBM Laser Printer attached to amicr post printer2048 may be used by the service provider to senddrafts2076 orconsolidated checks2078 to merchants.
• The[0152]main frame2046, the functionality of which can be included in theCF processor410 ofCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A, has data storage means2050, which may form part of thememory420 ofCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A, and runs the FIF1624 andMMF1842 programs, which may be stored in thearea420cof thememory420 inCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A. It may also have a tape drive or telecommunication interface, such asinterface405 of theCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A, for accomplishing electronic funds transfer. It should be recognized that various other hardware arrangements could be used to accomplish the present invention.
• FIG. 21 illustrates a similar arrangement for use when the consumer is using a[0153]personal computer2137, which is shown to be either a MS/DOS or Macintosh PC, to instruct the service provider. The personal computer may access thefront end processor1740 through the standard X.25Network2143, which could be part of thenetwork100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
• Referring now to FIGS. 19A, 19B and[0154]19C, the payment process is shown. This process may be performed by theCF station140 in accordance with the bill payment software stored inarea420cof thememory420 as shown in FIG. 2A. The payment process may be cycled1956 each day or more or less frequently. The first step is to establish when payment items are to be processed. This may be accomplished through aprocessing calendar1958. Aprocessing calendar1958 may be built into the system, e.g. stored in thearea420cof thememory420 in theCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A. Thecalendar1958 enables the system to consider each date, including weekends and the Federal Reserve holidays. Payments are released from the consumer pay table1838 using the due date. Any bank date, payments, or payments within a period such as four business days may be released the same day. All future payment dates would be stored in the consumer pay table1838. On-line inquiry may be made on the consumer pay table1838. The service provider has on-line capability to make changes to the consumer payment upon request until the day the payment is released. A consumer's merchant change may also affect the consumer's payment on the pay table1838.
• The method of payment to the merchant may be either paper (draft or check) or electronic. There are several factors in the process used to determine if a payment will be released as a paper item, or an ACH electronic transaction (automated clearing house; service provider is a party to transaction).[0155]
• Each consumer may be assigned a status such as: active=good; inactive=bad; and, pending=uncertain, risky. If a consumer's status is pending[0156]1960, when reviewing the payment file with theprocessing calendar1958, the payment should go out as adraft paper2076, as shown in FIG. 19C, to protect the service provider. When payment is made by draft, the service provider is not a contractual party to the transaction. The consumer's bank account codes are actually encoded onto the draft prepared by the service provider and act much like the consumer's personal check. The draft has been specially designed for this process. The draft is payable to either the service provider or the particular merchant. This allows the draft to be delivered to the merchant for payment and depositing, but allows the draft to be legally payable by the bank, with proper authorization. Additionally, posting information for the merchant is contained on the body of the draft. To the applicant's knowledge, it is the first time a draft has been used in such a manner and with this unique design to accomplish this.
• If the consumer's bank transit number does not indicate an electronic bank[0157]1962 (i.e., a banking institution that will accept electronic funds transfer), the program associated with FIF1624, which may be stored in thearea420cof thememory420 in theCF station140 shown in FIG. 2A, sends the payment as a draft. A pre-note1628 is required anytime,step1964 determines, new banking information is entered on a consumer and the bank shows on FIF1624 as an electronic receiving bank. The pre-note period is ten (10) days under federal law. Any payments released during this period are sent as paper.
• The third manner in which the service provider may pay bills is by a check written on the service provider's[0158]account2078. A consolidated check may be written if many customers have asked the service provider to pay the same merchant. Under this method of payment the service provider assumes some risk since the service provider writes the check on its own account. The service provider is later reimbursed by the (consumer's) banking institution.
• As a means of minimizing risk to the service provider, any transaction may be compared to the[0159]MMF1842 credit limit. For example, if the check limit is greater than zero and the payment is $50.00 or less instep1966, the item may be released as electronic1974 or byservice provider check2078. If the payment is greater than $50.00 but less than or equal to the merchant credit limit, as determined instep1968, the payment may be released as anelectronic payment1974 orcheck2078. Any payments within the merchant's credit limit, as determined instep1968, are added to the consumer's monthly ACH balance instep1972. This provides a monthly total billing day to billing day summary of the consumer's electronic payment activity. Any transaction may be compared to the consumer'sdatabase1622 credit limit parameters. If a payment amount is greater than the consumer's credit limit, as determined in step1970, the item is released as adraft2076 which is written on the consumer's account. If the payment amount plus the total of electronic payments in a particular month is greater than the consumer's credit limit instep1971, the item is released as adraft2076. Items not released as paper are initiated as an ACH debit against the consumer's account instep1974.
• The[0160]consumer database1622 may be reviewed for proper electronic funds transfer (EFT) routing. Payment to the merchant may be accomplished one of three ways, depending on the merchant's settlement code. Various merchant's settlement codes may be established. For example, a merchant set up with a settlement code “01” results in a check andremittance list 2078 being mailed to the merchant. Merchants with a settlement code, such as “10” produce an ACH customer initiated entry (CIE). Merchants with a settlement code, such as, “13” produce a remittance processing system (RPS) credit.
• In the consumer pay table[0161]1838, for fixed payments, a payment date gets rolled to the next scheduled payment date on the pay table. The number of remaining payments counter is decreased by one for each fixed payment made. For variable payments once made, the payment date is deleted on the consumer pay table1838. The schedule date and amount on the consumer pay table roll to zero. A consumer payment history may also be provided which show items such as process date as well as collection date, settlement method, and check number in addition to merchant name and amount.
• The software of the present invention is designed in part to make several decisions relating to particular transactions for consumers. The following example is provided to more fully describe the software. This example is not intended to limit the application to the details described in the example and is only provided to further enhance the description of the invention already stated above.[0162]
• For this example, assume that a consumer has five transactions of varying amounts for which the consumer has asked the service provider to arrange payment. For simplicity, assume that the five payments are to be made on the same day. First, the[0163]consumer database1622 is edited to validate the status, banking institution, and pre-note flags associated with the consumer's requested payments, insteps1960,1962 and1964. The account numbers provided by the consumer for the merchants to be paid, are also checked to determine if they are valid instep1965. Assuming the merchant account numbers are valid, the program begins with the first dollar analysis.
• For purposes of this example, the five payments the consumer has requested are in the amounts of: $25.00; $75.00; $150.00; $250.00; and $1,000.00. The program will consider each dollar amount individually as it goes through the various edit modes. The first edit may be called a $50.01 edit in[0164]step1966. In this example, any transaction that is less than $50.01 is automatically sent as an ACH debit, instep1972, to the consumer's account. This means that the service provider uses ACH to electronically transfer funds from the consumer's account to the service provider's clearing account.
• In this example, the initial payment of $25.00 will satisfy the $50.01 edit and therefore will be paid without any further edits being conducted for this particular payment. Continuing with the example, the next edit may be a merchant dollar edit in[0165]step1968 that is established for the specific merchant to which the transaction is being sent. For purposes of this example, this edit is set at $100.00 for all merchants. Different dollar edits can be incorporated for different merchants. In the example, the second payment request of the consumer, for $75.00, meets the $100.00 merchant edit parameter and is sent as an ACH debit to the consumer's account. Note that the $75.00 payment would not have satisfied the $50.01 edit and therefore would have passed on to the second edit which in this case, is the merchant dollar edit.
• The remaining three payments in the example exceed both the $50.01 edit and the merchant $100.00 edit and therefore, go to the next edit. In the example, the next edit is for a consumer individual transaction limit set at $200.00 in step[0166]1970. The $150.00 payment is less than the $200.00 consumer individual transaction limit and is, therefore, sent as an ACH debit to the consumer's account and paid. The other two remaining payments yet to be made exceed the $200.00 limit in this example and pass to the next edit.
• In the next edit, which happens to be the last edit in the example, the consumer's month-to-date “unqualified” risk limit is checked. In the example, the month-to-date limit is set at $1,500. Assume that for this particular consumer $400.00 of month-to-date payments have already been made on the consumer's behalf. Added to the $400.00 would be the three payments made above for $25.00, $75.00 and $150.00. So an additional $250.00 is added to the $400.00 month-to-date for a total of $650.00 “unqualified” risk for the current month-to-date amount in[0167]step1971. The next payment to be made is for $250.00 and would fall within the $1,500 month-to-date limit when added to the current $650.00 risk amount. Therefore, the $250.00 payment is made and an ACH debit is sent to the consumer's account. This brings the total month-to-date “unqualified” risk amount to $900.00. The final $1,000 payment has not been paid and would send the “unqualified” risk amount over $1,500 when added to the $900.00. Since the final payment of $1,000 in the example fails the consumer month-to-date limit edit, the $1,000 payment would be sent as a paper draft directly drawn on the consumer's account, and for which the service provider has no liability. In the example, the final step would be updating the consumer month-to-date current total to $900.00.
• 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 breadth and spirit of the invention as disclosed herein.[0168]

Claims (16)

I/We claim:

1. A method of activating billers for subscribers for electronic presentment of bills and for electronic payments, comprising:

receiving (i) first biller information identifying a first of a plurality of billers and first subscriber information which the first biller associates with a first subscriber, and (ii) second biller information identifying a second of the plurality of billers and second subscriber information which the second biller associates with a second subscriber;

transmitting, to the first biller identified in the received first biller information, a request for verification of validity of the received first subscriber information;

receiving, from the first biller, the verification of the validity of the first subscriber information responsive to the transmitted verification request; and

activating (i) the first subscriber for electronic presentment of bills of the first biller, based on the received verification of validity, and (ii) the second subscriber for only electronic payment of bills of the second biller without verification of validity of the received second subscriber information.

2. A method according toclaim 1, further comprising:

receiving payment information which a financial institution associates with a payment account of the second subscriber; and

the second subscriber is activated for electronic payment of bills of the second biller, based on the received payment information.

3. A method according toclaim 2, wherein:

the second subscriber information and the payment information are received concurrently.

4. A method according toclaim 1, wherein:

the first subscriber information includes a first biller account number which the first biller associates with the first subscriber; and

the second subscriber information includes a second biller account number which the second biller associates with the second subscriber.

5. A method according toclaim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, to the first subscriber and to the second subscriber, a list identifying multiple of the plurality of billers;

wherein the first biller is a first of the multiple billers, and the second biller is not one of the multiple billers;

wherein the received first biller information is indicative of a selection of the first biller from the identified multiple billers in the transmitted list, and the received second biller information is typed information entered by the second subscriber.

6. A method according toclaim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the first subscriber, a request to be activated for only electronic presentment of bills; and

transmitting, to the first subscriber, a list identifying multiple of the plurality of billers having bills available for electronic presentment in response to the request;

wherein the first biller is a first of the identified multiple billers in the transmitted list;

wherein the received first biller information is indicative of a selection of the first biller from the identified multiple billers in the transmitted list.

7. A method according toclaim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the first subscriber, a first request to be activated for electronic payment of bills;

transmitting, to the first subscriber, a first list identifying multiple of the plurality of billers, including the first biller and not the second biller, having bills available for electronic presentment, in response to the first activation request, wherein the received first biller information is indicative of a selection of the first biller from the identified multiple billers in the transmitted first list;

receiving, from the first subscriber, first payment information that a first financial institution associates with a payment account of the first subscriber; and

activating the first subscriber for electronic payment of bills of the first biller, based on the received first payment information.

8. A method according toclaim 7, further comprising:

receiving, from the second subscriber, a second request to be activated for electronic payment of bills;

transmitting, to the second subscriber, a second list identifying multiple of the plurality of billers, including the first biller and the second biller, some of which have and some of which do not have bills available for electronic presentment, in response to the second activation request; and

receiving, from the second subscriber, second payment information which a second financial institution associates with a payment account of the second subscriber;

wherein the received second biller information is indicative of a selection of the second biller from the identified multiple billers in the transmitted second list;

wherein the second subscriber is activated for only electronic payment of bills of the second biller based also on the received second payment information.

9. A system for activating billers for subscribers for electronic presentment of bills and for electronic payments, comprising:

a processor configured to receive (i) first biller information identifying a first of a plurality of billers and first subscriber information that the first biller associates with a first subscriber, and (ii) second biller information identifying a second of the plurality of billers and second subscriber information that the second biller associates with a second subscriber; and

a memory configured to store the received first and the received second biller information and the received first and the received second subscriber information;

wherein the processor is further configured (i) to direct, to the first biller identified in the received first biller information, a request for verification of validity of the received first subscriber information, (ii) to receive, from the first biller, the verification of validity of the received first subscriber information responsive to the directed verification request, (iii) to activate the first subscriber for electronic presentment of bills of the first biller, based on the received verification of validity, and (2) to activate the second subscriber for only electronic payment of the second biller without a verification of validity of the received second subscriber information.

10. A system according toclaim 9, wherein:

the processor is further configured (i) to receive payment information that a financial institution associates with a payment account of the second subscriber and (ii) to activate the second subscriber for only the electronic payment of bills of the second biller, based also on the received payment information; and

the memory is further configured to store the received payment information.

11. A system according toclaim 10, wherein:

the processor is further configured to receive the second subscriber information and the payment information concurrently.

12. A system according toclaim 9, wherein:

the first subscriber information includes a first biller account number which the first biller associates with the first subscriber; and

the second subscriber information includes a second biller account number which the second biller associates with the second subscriber.

13. A system according toclaim 9, wherein:

the memory is further configured to store a list identifying multiple of the plurality of billers;

the first biller is a first of the identified multiple billers, and the second biller is not one of the identified multiple billers;

the processor is further configured to direct the list to the first subscriber and to the second subscriber; and

the received first biller information is indicative of a selection of the first biller from the identified multiple billers in the directed list, and the received second biller information is indicative of typed information entered by the second subscriber.

14. A system according toclaim 9, wherein:

the memory is further configured to store a list identifying multiple of the plurality of billers having bills available for electronic presentment and the first biller is a first of the identified multiple billers;

the processor is further configured to receive, from the first subscriber, a request to be activated for electronic presentment of bills, and to direct the stored list to the first subscriber in response to the activation request; and

the received first biller information is indicative of a selection of the first biller from the identified multiple billers in the directed list.

15. A system according toclaim 9, wherein:

the memory is further configured to store a first list identifying multiple of the plurality of billers, including the first biller, having bills available for electronic presentment;

the processor is further configured (i) to receive, from the first subscriber, a first request to be activated for electronic payment of bills, (ii) to direct, to the first subscriber, the stored first list, in response to the received first activation request (iii) to receive, from the first subscriber, first payment information that a first financial institution associates with a payment account of the first subscriber, and (iv) to activate the first subscriber for the electronic payment of bills of the first biller, based on the received first payment information; and

the received first biller information is indicative of a selection of the first biller from the identified multiple billers in the directed first list.

16. A system according toclaim 15, wherein:

the memory is further configured to store a second list of multiple of the plurality of billers not having bills available for electronic payment, and the second biller is one of the identified multiple billers in the stored second list;

the processor is further configured (i) to receive, from the second subscriber, a second request to be activated for electronic payment of bills, (ii) to direct, to the second subscriber, the stored second list in response to the second activation request, and (iii) to receive, from the second subscriber, second payment information which a second financial institution associates with a payment account of the second subscriber;

the received second biller information is indicative of a selection of the second biller from the identified multiple billers in the directed second list; and

the second subscriber is activated for only electronic payment of bills of the second biller based also on the received second payment information.

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