US20030191711A1 — System and method for obtaining customer bill inf…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 87 words

1 . An electronic bill payment system comprising: a user interface for enabling a user to enter user financial account information and user access information for use in accessing a biller website and for initiating payment at said biller website from a user financial account; and a bot program for using said user access information to access said biller website, said bot program using said user financial account information to initiate a payment on behalf of the user at said biller website from said user financial account.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 87 words

1 . An electronic bill payment system comprising: a user interface for enabling a user to enter user financial account information and user access information for use in accessing a biller website and for initiating payment at said biller website from a user financial account; and a bot program for using said user access information to access said biller website, said bot program using said user financial account information to initiate a payment on behalf of the user at said biller website from said user financial account.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 38 words

2 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a scheduling component enabling the user to schedule a payment initiation date, said scheduling component further allowing the user to define payment rules.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 31 words

3 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 2 , wherein said payment rules comprise a manual payment rule, an automatic payment rule, and a recurring payment rule.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 40 words

4 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a payment validation mechanism to review information associated with said payment prior to making said payment to ensure that said payment will be successfully processed.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 53 words

5 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a login verification mechanism to validate said user access information for accessing said biller website and verifying said user access information used to access said biller website and determining any potential problem in advance of making a payment.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 50 words

6 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: an automated user ID and password feature for facilitating online setup of a user account at said biller website for the user if the user does not have a user account with said biller website.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 39 words

7 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 6 , wherein said automated user ID and password feature captures user information from the user which is necessary to set up online access with said biller website.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 44 words

8 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 6 , wherein said automated user ID and password feature attempts to use a preferred ID and a preferred password provided by the user to set up online access with said biller website.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 54 words

9 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 8 , wherein said automated user ID and password feature automatically creates a new user ID and a new user password that meets the biller website requirements if said preferred user ID and/or said preferred password are not valid at said biller website.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 32 words

10 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a credit card bill payment component for enabling the payment of a bill with a credit card.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 32 words

11 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a debit card bill payment component for enabling the payment of a bill with a debit card.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 33 words

12 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: stored valued card bill payment component for enabling the payment of a bill with a stored value card.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 32 words

13 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a smart card bill payment component for enabling the payment of a bill with a smart card.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 30 words

14 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a check payment component for enabling the payment of a bill with an electronic check.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 54 words

15 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a backup account payment mechanism which enables the user to select at least one user financial account which will be used to settle a bill if the bill is not settled with a payment from said user financial account.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 42 words

16 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 1 , further comprising: a bill presentment component for gathering user bills from billers, said electronic bill payment system being operative to pay electronic bills gathered by said bill presentment component.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 75 words

17 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 16 , wherein said bill presentment component comprises: an agent program acting as a proxy for the user for accessing a biller website using said user access information, said agent program scraping said biller website to obtain bill data for said user, said agent program returning said user bill data from said biller website to said bill presentment component for presentment to said user.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 49 words

18 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 16 , further comprising: a bill balancing feature for computing the current balance of said user financial account by subtracting from an account balance the amounts of bills paid since the last time the account balance was updated.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 27 words

19 . An electronic bill presentment and payment system as defined in claim 1 , wherein said bot program runs at off-peak hours to ensure faster processing.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 243 words

20 . An electronic bill presentment and payment system comprising: a bill center for enabling a user bill to be presented and paid over the Internet, said bill center enabling a user to enter user access information and user financial account information; an first agent program acting as a proxy for said user for accessing a biller website using said user access information, said first agent program scraping said biller website for user bill data, said first agent program returning said user bill data from said biller website to said bill center; an automated account setup option for facilitating online set up of a user account at a biller websites for said user if said user does not have a user account with said biller website; a first account bill payment component for paying bills from a first user financial account, said user financial account information including information relating to said first user financial account; a second account bill payment component for paying bills from a second user financial account if payment of bills from said first user financial account is not possible, said user financial account information including information relating to said second user financial account; and a second agent program for using said user access information to access said biller website, said second agent program using said user financial account information to initiate a payment from at least one of said first and second user financial accounts at said biller website.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 243 words

20 . An electronic bill presentment and payment system comprising: a bill center for enabling a user bill to be presented and paid over the Internet, said bill center enabling a user to enter user access information and user financial account information; an first agent program acting as a proxy for said user for accessing a biller website using said user access information, said first agent program scraping said biller website for user bill data, said first agent program returning said user bill data from said biller website to said bill center; an automated account setup option for facilitating online set up of a user account at a biller websites for said user if said user does not have a user account with said biller website; a first account bill payment component for paying bills from a first user financial account, said user financial account information including information relating to said first user financial account; a second account bill payment component for paying bills from a second user financial account if payment of bills from said first user financial account is not possible, said user financial account information including information relating to said second user financial account; and a second agent program for using said user access information to access said biller website, said second agent program using said user financial account information to initiate a payment from at least one of said first and second user financial accounts at said biller website.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 89 words

21 . An electronic bill payment system, comprising: a user interface for enabling a user to enter user access information allowing a user to access a biller website, said user interface also allowing said user to select at least one of a plurality of payment options for initiating payment at said biller website; and an agent program for using said user access information to access said biller website, said agent program using said selected payment option to initiate a payment on behalf of said user at said biller website.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 89 words

21 . An electronic bill payment system, comprising: a user interface for enabling a user to enter user access information allowing a user to access a biller website, said user interface also allowing said user to select at least one of a plurality of payment options for initiating payment at said biller website; and an agent program for using said user access information to access said biller website, said agent program using said selected payment option to initiate a payment on behalf of said user at said biller website.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 40 words

22 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 21 , wherein said plurality of payment options includes at least two from the group consisting of a checking account, a credit card account, and a debit card account.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 50 words

23 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 21 , further comprising: an automated account setup agent program for facilitating online set up of a user account at the biller website for said user if said user does not have a user account with said biller website.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 93 words

24 . An electronic bill payment system as defined in claim 21 , wherein said user interface further allows said user to select at least one of a plurality of backup payment options for initiating payment at said biller website, said electronic bill payment system further comprising: a backup agent program for using said user access information to access said biller website, said agent program using said backup payment option to initiate a payment on behalf of said user at said biller website if said selected payment option fails to settle a bill.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 69 words

25 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: setting up a user to settle bills at a biller website by acquiring user access information required to access said biller website and user financial account information to perform a payment at said biller website from said user financial account; and initiating payment at said biller website using said user access information and said user financial account information.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 69 words

25 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: setting up a user to settle bills at a biller website by acquiring user access information required to access said biller website and user financial account information to perform a payment at said biller website from said user financial account; and initiating payment at said biller website using said user access information and said user financial account information.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 25 words

26 . A method as defined in claim 25 , wherein said user financial account is a credit card account or a debit card account.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 30 words

27 . A method as defined in claim 25 , further comprising: accessing said biller website using said user access information to scrape user bill data from said biller website.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 32 words

28 . A method as defined in claim 25 , further comprising: automatically setting up a user account for initiating payment at said biller website based on said user financial account information.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 49 words

29 . A method as defined in claim 25 , further comprising: enabling said user to select a primary payment account and at least one backup payment account, wherein said backup payment account is used to settle a bill if a primary payment account fails to settle a bill.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 100 words

30 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: enabling a user to enter user access information required to access a biller website; automatically setting up a user account at said biller website if said user has not set up a user account at said biller website; enabling said user to enter user financial account information necessary to perform a payment at said biller website, said user financial account information includes a credit card information or a debit card information; and initiating payment at said biller website using said user access information and said user financial account information.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 100 words

30 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: enabling a user to enter user access information required to access a biller website; automatically setting up a user account at said biller website if said user has not set up a user account at said biller website; enabling said user to enter user financial account information necessary to perform a payment at said biller website, said user financial account information includes a credit card information or a debit card information; and initiating payment at said biller website using said user access information and said user financial account information.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 119 words

31 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: providing an interface for a user to enter user access information required to access a biller website, wherein said user access information is validated at said biller website; automatically setting up a user account at said biller website if the user has not set up a user account at the biller website; accessing said biller website using the user access information to scrape user bill data from the biller website; providing an interface for the user to enter bill payment information necessary to pay a bill at the biller site; and initiating bill payment at the biller website using the user access information and the bill payment information.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 119 words

31 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: providing an interface for a user to enter user access information required to access a biller website, wherein said user access information is validated at said biller website; automatically setting up a user account at said biller website if the user has not set up a user account at the biller website; accessing said biller website using the user access information to scrape user bill data from the biller website; providing an interface for the user to enter bill payment information necessary to pay a bill at the biller site; and initiating bill payment at the biller website using the user access information and the bill payment information.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 55 words

32 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: prompting a user to enter user access information for a biller website; prompting the user to select at least one of a plurality of bill payment options; and using the user access information to access and initiate a bill payment at said biller website.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 55 words

32 . A method of paying bills via the Internet, comprising: prompting a user to enter user access information for a biller website; prompting the user to select at least one of a plurality of bill payment options; and using the user access information to access and initiate a bill payment at said biller website.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 43 words

33 . A method as defined in claim 32 , wherein said plurality of bill payment options at least one selected from the group consisting of a check payment option, a credit card payment option, a debit card payment option, and combination thereof.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 51 words

34 . A method as defined in claim 32 , further comprising: prompting the user to select at least one of said plurality of bill payment options as a backup option, wherein said backup option is used to settle a bill if the primary payment option fails to pay a bill.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 36 words

35 . A method as defined in claim 32 , further comprising: automatically setting up a user account at said biller website if the user has not set up a user account at the biller website.

System and method for obtaining customer bill information and facilitating bill payment at biller websites

Abstract

Inventors

Bibliographic Details

Claims Analysis

References Cited (Backward Citations)

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Assigned Categories & Tags

Assign Category Tag